Chapter 172 – The Battle (Part Seven)

*KABOOM!*

Fragments scattered in all directions as a massive explosion erupted, its shockwave reaching the Awakened at both ends of the barrier.

Naturally, the blast didn’t discriminate between Aegis and Eclipse, threatening to sweep everyone away.

Though all present were among the world’s top-ranking Awakened, most were exhausted from the fierce battle, and with several injured, the situation was perilous enough.

Yet, even as the explosion washed over them, no one was swept away.

Their positions were readjusted by a powerful physical intervention, moving them to a place the blast couldn’t reach. Despite floating in the sky, the distorted space and gravity had no effect on them.

*SWISH!*

Min Ji-hoon, having teleported in an instant, swung his spear.

It was a powerful strike, but Baek Il-ho raised an arm to block it without so much as flinching, absorbing the entirety of the impact.

He then extended his arm, intending to return the absorbed shock.

But his arm cut through empty air. Min Ji-hoon had already vanished without a trace.

*STAB!*

A spear pierced through Baek Il-ho’s back, emerging from his chest on the other side.

Of course, his ability absorbed even this physical intrusion that had penetrated his body, restoring him to his original state, but Min Ji-hoon’s assault didn’t end with a single attack.

His continuous spatial leaps were incomparably smoother and faster than those of other space-ability users. Baek Il-ho was powerless against Min Ji-hoon’s movements as he traversed space freely, without any restrictions.

*THWACK!*

After dozens of strikes, Baek Il-ho caught the spear as it came thrusting toward him once more.

“You should know this is pointless… What are you trying to do?”

Baek Il-ho asked, pausing for a moment.

Min Ji-hoon’s spear strikes were undeniably fast and powerful, but they weren’t threatening.

To Baek Il-ho, who possessed the ability of absorption, they were nothing more than meaningless gestures.

Moreover, the power he absorbed from the attacks was steadily accumulating within him.

But Min Ji-hoon paid no heed to that fact as he answered.

“I’m just trying to find out.”

*SCHWIIING!*

The force he unleashed carried a tremendous power that cleaved through a vast expanse of space, tearing apart Baek Il-ho and the surrounding terrain.

Despite the ability’s immense aftereffects, which caused the entire area to ripple, Baek Il-ho simply tilted his head slightly and asked.

“Find out what?”

“Where your limits are.”

With a short reply, Min Ji-hoon extended his arm and simultaneously leaped through space, planting his fist in Baek Il-ho’s face.

Once again, Baek Il-ho didn’t even budge.

“Limits…”

Baek Il-ho swiftly grabbed Min Ji-hoon’s outstretched arm.

“I don’t have such a thing right now.”

“Is that so?”

Min Ji-hoon, his arm caught, showed no sign of panic. Instead, he used his free hand to grab the arm that was holding him.

The moment Baek Il-ho sensed something was wrong, the entire space around them distorted as if being sucked into something.

Min Ji-hoon had begun to manifest his large-scale spatial manipulation ability.

*RUMBLE!*

The surroundings closed in, and they began to be pulled down into the fractured earth. A mere spatial designation ability wouldn’t be enough to escape this place.

Min Ji-hoon had vanished, and the bizarre sounds of jumbled spaces relentlessly assaulted the ears.

Trapped and unable to move, Baek Il-ho was crushed between the twisted dimensions.

“Guhk!”

Baek Il-ho had experienced something like this before.

It was in the early days of the Awakening, not long after the Gates first appeared.

The first time he had ever been subjected to a powerful mental illusion attack from a high-ranking monster, the sight of strangely squashed and deformed objects and spaces endlessly flooding his vision was enough to drive a person mad.

But now, with a mental fortitude that allowed him to calmly enjoy such illusions, this was no hallucination. It was reality.

The constantly encroaching space pressed in on his entire body from all sides, vividly and overwhelmingly, surpassing the physical interference Baek Il-ho could withstand.

Blood began to burst from various parts of his body, accompanied by the sensation of pain, which he was feeling for the first time in this life.

Even at this moment, his ability was protecting him, but the intense pressure continuously created openings.

And just then, Min Ji-hoon, who had disappeared, reappeared.

An immense force, concentrated at the tip of his spear, pierced through Baek Il-ho.

*KRA-KOOOOM!*

The terrifying force sent Baek Il-ho plummeting far below.

***

*Tsssss.*

The turbulent space around them calmed down once more.

Baek Il-ho lay collapsed in the middle of the cold ground, blood pouring from the wound in his abdomen.

“So it’s still not enough, I see…”

Baek Il-ho muttered, coughing.

The higher an Awakened’s rank, the greater the power gap between the top and bottom of that tier. Even among SS-Ranks, abilities could vary immensely.

And the man he had just faced, Min Ji-hoon, was a man who had once reached the pinnacle.

“I was planning to wait until you died, Min Ji-hoon, precisely because I feared this would happen… but that bastard Il-hyeon really screwed up my plans.”

Baek Il-ho turned his head and laughed hollowly.

His gaze fell upon Min Ji-hoon, who was slowly walking toward him.

Tossing the spear he held to the side, he asked.

“In the future you experienced, when did I die?”

“You had six months left, at most. But now…”

Baek Il-ho didn’t finish his sentence.

Despite having dominated the fight, Min Ji-hoon’s complexion was so grim that he looked more concerning than the loser.

Sensing his gaze, Min Ji-hoon let out a faint smile, then flicked his fingers, restoring the distorted space to its original state.

The destroyed Aegis headquarters returned to its former appearance, and the ground became pristine, without a single scar.

Everything was back to how it was, save for the severed barrier, as if time itself had been rewound.

“Is it over…?”

“Okay, everyone move in!”

As the fight concluded, the government Awakened who had been waiting outside the barrier swarmed inside.

They moved to apprehend the members of Eclipse within.

The leader of the government’s Response Team 3, Cha Myeong-jun, instantly closed the distance to Baek Il-ho, the mastermind of the incident, and drew his sword.

As the prone Baek Il-ho stared blankly at him, Cha Myeong-jun swung his sword at his neck without a hint of hesitation.

*CLANG!*

But Cha Myeong-jun’s sword was stopped by Min Ji-hoon’s hand.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Min Ji-hoon, thank you for your efforts. Please leave the rest to us.”

“I believe I asked what you were doing.”

As Min Ji-hoon’s icy gaze fell upon him, Cha Myeong-jun took a small step back.

“The order for the masterminds of this incident is summary execution, not capture. You must understand that we can’t just lock a monster of this caliber away in a prison.”

A battle so surreal it was hard to believe even after witnessing it firsthand.

Furthermore, upon receiving the report that the orchestrator was the legend of the past, Baek Il-ho, it wasn’t hard to guess what decision the higher-ups had made.

If they were to carelessly imprison an Awakened of this magnitude and he were to escape, a disaster greater than Gates and monsters could unfold once more.

The order for the summary execution of those who had tried to overthrow the government was, in a way, to be expected.

But Min Ji-hoon wouldn’t let him be.

“I will handle things here. You will not touch anything. Go back.”

“That’s…”

*SNAP!*

With a flick of Min Ji-hoon’s fingers, all the government Awakened, except for Cha Myeong-jun, were expelled outside the barrier.

With Baek Il-ho down, there was no one left on the scene who could resist his spatial abilities.

Cha Myeong-jun looked around and then shouted in an angry voice.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

“I only banished them outside the barrier, so you don’t need to worry.”

“That’s not the problem! Surely you don’t intend to let these terrorists escape?”

“I said I would handle it.”

Min Ji-hoon replied curtly.

Cha Myeong-jun stepped closer, pressing him intensely.

“If you continue to act this way, we’ll have no choice but to see you as their accomplice! Even for you, such an act cannot be condoned…”

*Whoosh.*

Cha Myeong-jun vanished mid-sentence.

Without so much as a simple gesture, Min Ji-hoon had banished him from this place.

He had dropped him in the middle of the sea off the coast of Busan, hundreds of kilometers away. Even a high-ranking Awakened would have a hard time getting back.

Baek Il-ho, who had been watching quietly, asked Min Ji-hoon.

“…What are you going to do?”

“Go.”

“You’re just going to let me go like this?”

“Should I kill you here instead?”

Min Ji-hoon growled.

Then, he teleported all the Eclipse Awakened inside the barrier somewhere else.

“The people following you now… twenty years ago, they were comrades who fought alongside us, risking their lives. If it were just you, Baek Il-ho, I might be able to close my eyes and stain my hands with blood, but I can’t do more than that.”

“…”

He fell silent at the sight of Min Ji-hoon’s dead, sunken eyes.

Baek Il-ho knew better than anyone what he had gone through in the past, just as he knew his own past.

“I’m tired now. Too tired to choose one of the difficult options right in front of me. So just go.”

At his words, Baek Il-ho nodded, and an Eclipse member teleported him away.

As Baek Il-ho, the last member of Eclipse, disappeared, the white curtain surrounding the area lifted. Only then did people enter to transport the injured and manage the scene.

***

“Team Leader! I’m so glad you’re safe!”

Ghost, his upper body covered in blood, shouted as he ran to Lee Soo-yeon.

Lee Soo-yeon, who had just woken up and was clutching her head, startled and grabbed his shoulder.

“What’s this? Why are your clothes like this? Are you hurt?”

“What do you take me for… This is someone else’s blood.”

“Oh… thank goodness. What about the other team members?”

“For now, everyone in Team A is safe.”

The other teams had suffered severe damage, including injuries and several fatalities, but Team A’s members, including Seok Pil-joon who had been injured elsewhere, had not sustained any major harm.

“Then what about Il-hyeon and Hyeon-seo? Are they safe too?”

“Ah, about that…”

Ghost suddenly trailed off, looking troubled.

Frowning, Lee Soo-yeon pressed him.

“Don’t tell me something happened.”

“Well… they said he suddenly disappeared. Without anyone knowing.”