Chapter 202 – The Last, Not the End (Part Five)

Screeeech!

The cries of monsters filled the air as Il-hyeon swung his sword on the ground teeming with them.

Each time Il-hyeon extended his sword and unleashed a slash, the pitch-black tendrils swinging toward him were incinerated one after another.

But even as they fought, the monstrous plant’s sphere of influence continued to expand, and the ever-increasing tendrils and roots only intensified the assault.

Having just finished a major battle, Il-hyeon was exhausted. At this rate, he wouldn’t last much longer.

Yet, despite the dire situation, the last group heading for the core did not fall easily.

Those who had followed him this far, enduring the fierce attacks and remaining unscathed, were all A-rank Awakened and key team leaders representing Aegis.

With their overwhelming experience and skill, they advanced while protecting Il-hyeon from the concentrated attacks at the forefront, covering his blind spots.

Just as they had closed a significant distance.

Krrrrunch!

The tendrils, which they thought were only spreading outward, began to return to the monstrous plant’s core.

Of course, most of the tendrils and roots were still expanding their territory and consuming the land, but the hundreds of returning tendrils carried clutches of civilians procured from afar.

And they weren’t corpses, but captured, living humans.

“What is it trying to do…?”

Jeong Jin-seong muttered as he watched the scene, but what happened next unfolded so quickly there was no need to ask.

The massive, incessantly writhing body of the monstrous plant tossed the people carried by the tendrils into itself, and large holes that opened up all over devoured them like mouths consuming prey.

A few of them clicked their tongues at the sight, but the act of devouring people itself wasn’t shocking.

Monsters cannibalizing civilians was a common occurrence, a sight they had witnessed countless times as Awakened working on fronts all over the world.

But what appeared next was beyond their imagination.

Crunch! Crunch!

From the main body of the giant plant, pitch-black monsters burst through holes, extending their arms and poking their heads out one by one.

Their appearances varied wildly, but they were all massive and horrific creatures.

The moment Il-hyeon saw them, he knew.

It hadn’t simply created monsters within its body; the people who had just been dragged inside had been horribly mutated into those things.

*’So… that’s what it is.’*

Il-hyeon instantly grasped the situation.

The culprit behind all this—opening interdimensional passages and endlessly producing monsters.

It was the doing of that very monster, which had revealed itself in another dimension.

These beings, who opened Gates and brazenly invaded other dimensions, didn’t simply kill the prisoners from the colonies they conquered.

They meticulously transformed them into mindless monsters, sent them to attack other dimensions, and repeated the process over and over.

If they were defeated here, all of humanity’s survivors would suffer the same fate as the monsters they, as Awakened, had been killing all this time.

Kieeeeeek!

The monster’s deafening shriek pierced their ears.

The creatures that poured out from the plant’s body scattered in all directions.

And the majority of them swarmed toward Il-hyeon.

Kwang!

The Awakened clashed with the monsters, and another round of slaughter began.

Even knowing they were once human, there was no way to save them, so they didn’t hesitate to draw their swords.

Above all, the immediate problem was the stamina required to break through the endless flood of monsters.

*’Damn…!’*

Overcome by extreme exhaustion, Il-hyeon’s vision wavered for a moment, and a massive beast lunging from the side opened its maw wide.

The aftereffects of the blow he’d dealt to the White Tiger with all his might still lingered, and his balance didn’t quickly return.

Kwajik!

But it was the monster’s head that exploded.

Thanks to a sword thrown by Seong In-ha, who was close by.

“Get a grip, you bastard!”

Team B Leader Jo Yoon and Team D Leader Oh Ji-seok simultaneously stepped forward to protect Il-hyeon.

Oh Ji-seok, a prime example of a martial artist who had never possessed an ability, was practically flying as he fought the monsters.

As Il-hyeon staggered for a moment, Lee Soo-yeon stood beside him, grabbing his arm to support him.

Her face, too, was covered in sweat and blood.

“I’m sorry. I just lost my strength for a moment.”

“Even if we break through to the target, we have to hold out inside. Are you going to be okay?”

Lee Soo-yeon asked with a worried expression.

Although they were taking the brunt of the attack by pushing through the center, the distance they had to cover was naturally shorter than that of the teams that had gone around the sides.

At their current pace, they would be the first to arrive, and there wasn’t much distance left.

However, they could only complete their mission after breaking through once the other teams had destroyed the two auxiliary cores on the flanks.

In other words, if even one of the cores on the sides wasn’t destroyed, they would be isolated and finished.

And even though the center drew the most attention, the number of monsters that had gone to the left and right was also immense, so those teams would be struggling just as much.

For now, all they could do was trust that the others would succeed.

“We have to believe they won’t be late. Until then, we have to hold on somehow.”

Clenching his jaw, Il-hyeon gripped his sword again and stood up.

* * *

Kooong!

On the right flank, where Il-hyeon’s team members and summoned beasts had gone.

Though communication and telepathy were down, the situation there was much as the others had expected.

They were under a tremendous assault from the ceaselessly spewing monsters and the monstrous plant’s tendrils.

But there was one exception: their approach speed to the auxiliary core’s location was the fastest.

Riding atop agile summoned beasts like wolves, the team members were shaking off monsters and advancing at high speed.

“We’re almost there!”

Astrid shouted, slicing a massive monster that blocked their path in two after confirming their position.

But at that very moment, an enormous number of roots shot up from the ground beneath them.

Kwagwagwang!

The spiky roots pierced through the summoned beasts before they could even react.

As a result, the Awakened who had been riding them fell to the ground with their target just ahead, forced to face the countless monsters surrounding them.

Kirrrrk!

“Damn it!”

As a huge number of monsters swarmed in like a tide, Lee Dong-won, cursing involuntarily, slammed his fist down.

The blow instantly crushed the head of a charging monster, but as soon as one was down, another took its place. Even after dealing with that one, the monsters filling the area swarmed relentlessly, giving them no room to move.

“At this rate, there’ll be no end to them!”

“Gaaah!”

While Seo Jeong-hwa was speaking, the fingers on Jo Nam-seok’s left hand were severed as he fought the monsters.

Not only that, but with the overall battle situation worsening, Hyeon-seo quickly scanned her surroundings, taking everything in.

If they stayed put, they wouldn’t be able to advance and would inevitably be wiped out here from exhaustion.

She had to think of something.

There was only one chance.

Hyeon-seo exchanged a look with Ohara.

As they had planned beforehand, those team members who could use sword energy quickly exchanged signals.

Then, timing it perfectly, they simultaneously unleashed a powerful wave of sword energy.

Kwagwagwagwa!

The sword energy flew directly toward the core’s location.

It was a powerful combined attack that swept away all the monsters blocking the path and even sliced through the thick shell and tendrils surrounding the main body.

But it was too shallow.

They had succeeded in exposing the auxiliary core that needed to be destroyed, but they couldn’t actually destroy it.

In a way, it was to be expected.

The core of the massive plant before them had a sturdy structure that was unaffected by simple external impacts.

Only someone with the Predation ability could destroy it by directly touching it; sword energy from a distance or the hands of someone without the ability could never break it.

But they hadn’t launched the sword energy because they failed to anticipate this.

It was merely part of the plan.

Fwoooosh!

A phoenix suddenly appeared in the sky, breathing intense flames as it approached, sweeping the ground and picking up Hyeon-seo in an instant.

With her on its back, the phoenix closed in on the monstrous plant’s body at incredible speed.

It ignored the attacks of the tendrils trying to stop it, and once they were close enough, Hyeon-seo leaped down with all her might.

Kwagwak!

The phoenix’s body was mercilessly pierced by the extending tendrils, but Hyeon-seo’s mind was focused on only one thing.

The monster’s core, exposed and not yet regenerated.

Hyeon-seo forcefully plunged the two swords in her hands into it, then immediately reached out and gripped the core.

Jjeojeojeok!

The core, which had been unfazed even by the powerful sword energy, began to crack in all directions.

Hyeon-seo, who had inherited Il-hyeon’s Predation ability, was one of the few who could destroy the core, just like him.

Kwajijik!

The auxiliary core on the right flank was the first to shatter into pieces.

Groooaaar!

Not only did the monstrous plant’s body react violently, but the very earth where its roots were deeply embedded trembled and vibrated.

And the tendrils that had been rushing to snap Hyeon-seo’s neck collapsed in a heap.

With the power source responsible for one side shattered, the right flank’s activity was temporarily halted, buying them some time.

“The other side…?”

Hyeon-seo focused on the direction beyond her.

All that remained was the auxiliary core on the left.

S-rank Awakened Ryu Jin-tae and the team leaders representing the Response Team had gone there, but they too were struggling immensely.

“Keuk…”

Right in front of the auxiliary core’s location.

Ryu Jin-tae, standing on the main body, coughed up a stream of blood.

Right beside him, even Seol Ah-yeong of the Response Team lay on the ground, having coughed up blood. Countless tendrils were embedded in Ryu Jin-tae’s frozen body.

The auxiliary core was close enough for Ryu Jin-tae to touch just by extending his arm, but with his current strength, it was impossible.

Ryu Jin-tae, the only one on the left flank still conscious, didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger.

He coughed up blood, and the black tendrils opened their disgusting maws as if mocking the impaled Ryu Jin-tae.

Then, without immediately devouring him or finishing him off, they simply circled around him.

In response, Ryu Jin-tae, face to face with a black tendril, smiled back.

“Sorry, but I’m not the one with the final role.”

After all, only someone with the Predation ability can destroy the core.

And that wasn’t Ryu Jin-tae.

Just as the black tendrils tilted their heads as if they understood, a cry suddenly came from somewhere.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”

A mouse popped out from inside Ryu Jin-tae’s clothes.

The one meant to destroy the core was never Ryu Jin-tae, but Il-hyeon’s summoned mouse. The mouse seized the opportunity while the creatures were distracted and leaped onto the core right in front of it.

Screeeech!

The black tendrils went berserk and tried to lunge, but it was too late.

Kwajik!

Their second core was destroyed.

* * *

Pahk!

“Ugh…!”

Jeong Jin-seong, one of his arms torn off, bit his lip to suppress the pain.

Only a few minutes had passed since they had taken their position before the main core.

But under the relentless, concentrated barrage, the team that had charged head-on was on the verge of annihilation.

The creature’s relentlessly expanding power grew stronger, and more people were captured and turned into monsters.

Even Il-hyeon, who was desperately holding on, had a gaping hole in his chest.

Kuuuuung!

Just then, a massive impact was felt, followed by another.

The monsters in the center were still active, but the tendrils and roots on both flanks began to show strange signs.

“Now!”

Jeong Jin-seong, noticing the change, shouted, and the other remaining team leaders turned their heads.

But even without his words, Il-hyeon could see it clearly.

A crack had appeared in the creature’s seemingly impenetrable core.

Graaaaa!

A giant skeletal monster opened its maw wide to swallow Il-hyeon.

The threatening behemoth approached head-on.

But in this final moment, Il-hyeon steeled himself to squeeze out every last bit of his strength and took a step forward.

He hadn’t even swung his sword yet, making it look as if he was throwing himself into the creature’s maw.

But soon after, sword energy from the team leaders flying in from both sides behind him split the monster apart, clearing a path.

Il-hyeon leaped with all his might, now only a few meters away from the main core.

Kieeeeeek!

An incredible number of tendrils thrashed about, trying to stop him, but Il-hyeon finally brought down the sword he held so tightly.

Kwaaaaaaa!

The powerful slash cut through the tendrils and destroyed the creature’s shell, creating a path, and Il-hyeon landed squarely in front of its core.

Thud!

The large main core was in his left hand.

Without hesitation, Il-hyeon gripped it tightly and crushed it.