Chapter 191 – Predator (Part Three)

*Crunch! Crunch!*

Wings fully unfurled from the woman’s back, and her body twisted.

Her original form vanished, replaced by something no longer human as a dark, murky skin covered her.

A single flap of her abnormally large wings sent her accelerating in an instant.

*Clang!*

The monster’s long claws, arriving in a flash, clashed with Il-hyeon’s sword.

The monster’s momentum sent Il-hyeon skidding back, his feet dragging across the ground.

But it was only for a moment. Il-hyeon absorbed the powerful impact without issue and came to a halt.

With sword and claws locked, their faces were inches apart. The creature gaped open its horrifying mouth, filled with two or three rows of sharp teeth.

*Swish!*

Then, its wings, spread wide on either side, swung toward an opening in Il-hyeon’s defense.

Though they looked like skeletal branches, the wings that thrust in from close range were like sharp blades.

With both his arms pinned pressing against the creature, the swift attacks from either side were incredibly difficult to dodge or parry.

But the unfazed Il-hyeon had no intention of pulling back his sword or dodging.

Instead, he took a step forward and poured strength into his blade.

*Schwing!*

The monster’s claws, locked against his sword, were all sheared off, and a geyser of blood shot high into the air.

A standard sword used by the Awakened would not have been able to cut through claws of such hardness.

But Il-hyeon’s sword, Peacemaker, was in a league of its own compared to the master swords of the past, and Il-hyeon himself had grown accustomed to drawing out its true potential.

“That’s one.”

In a flash, Il-hyeon sliced the creature’s body in two and turned back around.

As expected, the severed parts of the creature began to writhe, starting from the head, and reattached themselves.

“Kraaaaaah!”

The monster let out a roar, its body twisting bizarrely.

Now that it had revealed its true form, the woman’s voice it had used just moments before was completely gone.

This was only natural, as its appearance and voice were merely imitations of the human it had devoured.

It dragged its newly regenerated claws across the ground.

It looked enraged.

Of course, for the one hunting it, the opponent’s fury was an excellent sign.

‘Six left.’

Il-hyeon carefully observed the opponent’s changes, assessed the situation, and immediately closed the distance.

There was nothing to gain by dragging it out. He would end this quickly.

As Il-hyeon rapidly approached, the monster swung its four arms and wings to counter, but it couldn’t keep up with his movements.

*Vwoom!*

A wave emanated from Il-hyeon’s body. The surrounding scenery turned gray as time slowed down.

Using instantaneous acceleration in that state, he moved so fast the monster’s eyes couldn’t even track him as he swept past.

*Splat!*

Black blood poured from the monster, its entire body diced to pieces in an instant.

With so many grievous wounds, its body couldn’t maintain its form and began to melt away, but just as before, it started to regenerate with an even more grotesque sound.

That’s two.

The creature now had only five lives left.

Enraged, the black monster let out a ferocious shriek.

*Crack!*

Wings sprouted rapidly from the monster’s back, growing incomparably larger than before and stretching high into the sky.

The cracking wings then split into multiple branches, spreading out in all directions like limbs and covering the entire area.

*Thud! Thud!*

They slammed into the ground like a tree taking root, exuding an intimidating presence without even launching a direct attack.

They filled the entire barrier, looking as if they would have expanded even further had Il-hyeon not set it up.

But that was not all.

The creature revealed its true form.

*Crunch! Squish!*

The monster’s main body dangled from the wings, which were now far too large for it.

Its body began to swell rapidly.

Swelling without end, its body finally burst, spewing a massive amount of blood from which a new form was generated.

Il-hyeon stepped back to avoid the raining blood and looked up.

It was completely different from its previous form, which had at least vaguely resembled a human.

Reddish blood vessels and muscle-like tendrils covered the sky, and a crimson energy filled the barrier.

The overwhelming stench of blood savagely assaulted his heightened sense of smell.

*Groooaaar!*

The monster’s upper body, now covered with dozens of mouths, roared fiercely.

He had faced many monsters, but he had never seen one as grotesque as this.

Even knowing what kind of creature it was, the sight was enough to make him scowl.

But Il-hyeon looked up at it calmly.

Thorns formed from clustered blood vessels shot out, aiming for Il-hyeon.

As the thorns rushed him from all directions like arrows, Il-hyeon placed a hand on the ground and injected his power into it.

*Rumble!*

Massive pillars erupted from the ground, tearing through the earth.

As the pillars blocked the countless thorns, shattering and breaking them in turn, the barrier was momentarily filled with dust and dirt.

*Whoosh!* The monster blasted away the dust with a burst of energy, revealing Il-hyeon mounted on a phoenix.

To stop his approach, the large mouth in the very center gaped wide open.

The crimson energy gathering within it exuded an ominous aura, even at a glance.

But before it could gather the energy and fire it at Il-hyeon, a sudden impact made the monster lose its focus.

The wolf he had teleported above it had sunk its teeth into the nape of its neck.

Its powerful jaws not only tore away flesh, but the sheer weight and size of the heavily transformed wolf caused the monster to stagger.

*Fwoosh!*

The crimson energy it had been gathering went wide, missing Il-hyeon completely.

At the same time, Il-hyeon leaped high from the phoenix’s back, raising his sword and drawing upon his power.

*Crack!*

A powerful slash enveloped the creature’s entire massive body.

But it wasn’t a simple slash.

The surrounding space distorted, and the sword strike tore through space itself, shredding the creature’s body along with it.

Even the wolf, which had turned its body at just the right moment, had one of its legs torn off.

Of course, having devoured a monster’s core and absorbed its regeneration ability, the wolf simply licked its leg for a moment before getting back into a fighting stance.

*Tssssss!*

The screaming crimson monster shuddered once, and its body began to regenerate again.

‘Administrators’ didn’t have cores containing ether, which meant they had no weak points.

The only way to kill them for good was to keep killing them until their life force was completely depleted.

And Il-hyeon pressed on, giving it no time to rest.

He already knew all the patterns the creature, with its four remaining deaths, would show.

The most dangerous factor for an Awakened facing a monster was the lack of information. Conversely, the information Il-hyeon could grasp with his precognition was one of his greatest weapons.

*Schwing!*

Il-hyeon’s slash tore through space once more, and the monster’s body was mercilessly ripped apart.

Three deaths, one after another, so fast it couldn’t even regain its senses.

Now, only its last life remained. The blood vessels floating in the sky all burst and rained down to the ground.

*Thud!*

The crimson monster, having fallen to the ground with the vessels, writhed on the floor.

Its swollen body had already deflated, returning to its original size and form.

“You lowly species…!”

The monster glared at Il-hyeon, its voice cracking.

Its eyes glistened as if casting a curse.

But Il-hyeon simply shrugged, unfazed.

“Well… I’ll be taking your abilities, thank you.”

*Stab!*

The sword pierced the monster’s face, and it collapsed limply to the ground.

As expected, there was no more regeneration. Judging by the energy he could feel, it was undoubtedly dead.

Wiping away his sweat, Il-hyeon approached the Administrator’s corpse.

He then extracted the vast amount of ether and the special power it possessed.

*Fwoosh!*

A white light flowed into his body, and Il-hyeon skillfully absorbed it.

An amount so immense it was unimaginable for an ordinary monster.

Even the core of an S-rank monster would feel vastly inferior in comparison.

His body felt even lighter than before the fight. Il-hyeon dusted himself off and stood up.

“It’s almost time…”

Il-hyeon muttered softly, checking the time on his watch.

He had killed one of the Administrators trapped in this world, but a greater threat remained.

It was absurd to entrust the fate of humanity to a man who was practically its enemy, but with Min Ji-hoon dead, there was no other choice.

“I hope he takes care of things on his end…”

***

*Rumble!*

The atmosphere rumbled, creating a deafening noise.

It was the effect of a Gate that had appeared in the sky without any warning.

The pitch-black fissure, unlike anything seen before, created a spectacle as if the heavens had been rent in two.

Countless small hands reached out from the fissure, grasping at the empty air and creating a bizarre atmosphere. From within, the face of a massive giant slowly emerged, shaking off the clinging hands.

A third eye on its forehead, seemingly twice the size of its other two, darted about ceaselessly, observing the new world.

Then, the giant’s rapidly scanning gaze came to an abrupt halt on a single spot.

It was not the sprawling city to one side, nor the place where appetizing citizens were fleeing.

It was the spot where a single man stood: Baek Il-ho.

“So, you decided to pay a personal visit since you lost contact.”

With a relaxed expression, Baek Il-ho toyed with the sword at his waist and looked up at the sky.

Their first guardian had arrived in the world.