Chapter 159 – Their Identity (Part Ten)

*Shunk! Thud!*

Il-hyeon pulled his sword from the man’s heart and stepped aside as the man in the red mask collapsed to the ground.

“Whew… It really worked?”

“I don’t know how to lie.”

The Peacemaker in his hand chirped in a clear voice.

Il-hyeon paused to catch his breath, his mind still a bit jumbled.

He had just returned from seeing the future, and the backlash hadn’t completely faded.

Peeking at a significant event in the distant future, like last time, was impossible as it consumed an immense amount of energy.

However, glimpsing the immediate future in his current location was possible with less power.

Of course, “less” was a relative term; it had cost him slightly more than half of an A-rank core’s energy to see just moments ahead.

But for him, facing an unknown and powerful enemy, paying such a price was entirely acceptable.

Il-hyeon’s sword diligently absorbed every last bit of ether from the core, and the Peacemaker smacked its lips as if disappointed.

“That was just a taste, Master.”

“Be patient. You’ll get fat otherwise.”

To think it still felt hungry after absorbing even a part of an A-rank core.

It seemed that having devoured half of an S-rank core the moment its Predation ability awakened, the Peacemaker’s appetite had grown just as large.

Considering how Il-hyeon himself had struggled to absorb a single E-rank core when his ability first manifested, the sword was a rather cheeky fellow.

Feeling a sharp pain in his shoulder, Il-hyeon quickly used his ability to heal the wound that had been gushing blood.

“I didn’t have full control just now.”

The ability to see the near future at will, provided he had the resources, was incredible, but it had nearly gotten him killed.

It was much better than the first time, but there was still a significant backlash after seeing the future. Just moments ago, he’d been in a daze and allowed a strike to land.

And that was while he was wearing an enhanced Defensive Coat with a dual-core system; its protective function hadn’t worked at all.

It was likely due to a related ability. If his opponent hadn’t been careless and had aimed to kill, the result could have been fatal.

“I’ll need to practice this beforehand to get used to it.”

Although it had side effects for now, he couldn’t give up the power of precognition in battle for such a minor reason.

The phoenix, which had been circling around, folded its wings and landed on Il-hyeon’s head. Il-hyeon chuckled and plucked it off.

He placed the squirming phoenix on his right arm and operated his watch to check the current situation.

The activated map displayed the Leviathan’s damaged control organs in red, while the parts that needed to be destroyed to reorient it were marked in purple.

The positions of his team members, marked as blue dots, were moving busily, swiftly working to turn the creature around.

A Gate that would have been impossible to handle without casualties if he were alone.

But having teammates he could truly rely on was a good thing.

“I should have time to check this guy out.”

Il-hyeon turned his gaze to the masked man’s corpse.

It was cold and stiff, clearly dead.

He would have liked to capture him alive and find things out, but given the current situation and the nature of his opponent, that wasn’t an option.

Above all, the masked man’s corpse was a vivid testament to what happened when you let your guard down against an enemy, and there was no need to repeat the same mistake.

Approaching, Il-hyeon knelt and slowly removed the man’s red mask.

“As I thought…”

Il-hyeon murmured quietly after seeing the man’s face.

His tone and expression suggested he had already known and expected the masked man’s identity.

‘He must have thought I didn’t know who he was.’

Il-hyeon scoffed.

Contrary to his opponent’s assumption, he had figured out his identity the moment the man displayed his ability to manipulate blood.

Il-hyeon had seen the future and fully grasped their identities.

To be honest, it was strange that he hadn’t noticed until now.

Almost as if he had been under some kind of suggestion.

“I have no idea why they’re doing this… but it doesn’t change anything.”

Il-hyeon glanced at the phoenix perched on his arm.

The phoenix then spread its wings powerfully, transforming into flames that engulfed the corpse.

*Fwoosh!*

In the intense blaze, the man’s body, along with the red mask, was charred black.

Then, it vanished within the flames of the ability, leaving no trace, not even a pile of ash.

“I’ll hear the real story tonight.”

***

“What’s the situation on your end?”

– A total of eight spots left. Given the locations of our assigned organs, it should be over in about five minutes.

Seong-won replied to Il-hyeon’s question, and at the same time, the Leviathan’s body began to slowly tilt.

*Rumble!*

As the beast’s colossal body tilted, a loud noise accompanied it, and the ground inside began to shake.

It seemed the Leviathan was moving erratically because too much time had passed.

If they didn’t act quickly, even after destroying all the sensory organs to adjust its course, the Leviathan could still veer off path and cause a disaster on the ground.

“Then it’s about time to start.”

Sheathing his sword, Il-hyeon began to run, pushing his speed to the maximum.

He had just destroyed the last organ he was assigned to and was now heading toward his final target: the Leviathan’s core.

Twenty years since the first Gate appeared.

A monster as massive as the Leviathan had never appeared before, but other large monsters of comparable scale had emerged a few times.

To efficiently kill such beasts in a short amount of time, one had to enter their bodies and aim for the core. Most teams, unless they had members with special abilities, chose this route.

However, large monsters of that size invariably had powerful monsters stationed around their cores.

The Awakened had named such monsters ‘Guardians,’ and it was highly likely they would be present here as well.

Reaching the entrance to the chamber containing the Leviathan’s core, Il-hyeon paused.

Then he took out four B-rank cores from his pocket and crushed them.

The ether overflowing from his hand streamed toward one point, flowing into Il-hyeon’s sword, the Peacemaker.

As the sword noisily digested all the ether, Il-hyeon entered without hesitation.

“Screeeech!”

As expected, there were four Guardians.

The humanoid monsters, whose bodies looked like they were made of tens of thousands of overlapping sharp thorns, charged at Il-hyeon the moment they saw him.

Their attacks, thrusting their blade-like arms simultaneously at incredible speed, were extremely threatening.

But Il-hyeon had already seen their movements vividly with his precognitive ability before he even entered the room.

*Swish!*

A swift counter bisected two of the Guardians. Having lost half their strength in an instant, the remaining guardian monsters fought back desperately, but it didn’t last long.

Given that Guardians relied heavily on coordinated attacks, their balance was shattered before the fight even truly began.

Shortly after the third one fell, the last one had all its limbs severed by a powerful sword strike. Its final struggle was futile as Il-hyeon grabbed its face head-on.

*Crrrack! Crunch!*

Its face completely crushed by Il-hyeon’s grip, the monster went limp and fell to the floor.

At the same time, the Leviathan tilted once more and began to turn its body.

Just as he began to worry that the floating Leviathan had noticed something due to the Guardians’ deaths, the communicator in his ear buzzed.

It was a transmission from the Aegis analysis team.

– Team Leader Kang! We’ve destroyed the last sensory organ. The Leviathan is turning south!

“Time until it enters the Mediterranean?”

– At its current speed, two minutes… no, one minute and twenty seconds should be enough! It’s getting faster.

Just as the analysis team said, the Leviathan’s speed was increasing. Any further delay would have seriously jeopardized the plan.

Moreover, its tilt was gradually shifting forward, causing its altitude to drop rapidly even now.

After the time mentioned by the analysis team had passed, Il-hyeon approached the core. He marveled at the Leviathan’s heart, which was exceptionally large for a core, and grabbed it firmly.

The core slowly began to crack, then shattered into pieces, emitting a white light and releasing the immense energy contained within.

An incredible amount of ether—more than Il-hyeon had ever seen in his life—began to pour out.

Befitting an S-rank monster, it held a vast amount of ether, necessary to sustain and move such a colossal creature.

*Whoooosh!*

Il-hyeon began to absorb the flowing white light as if determined not to miss a single drop, and after a few seconds, the light subsided.

“Ugh… Did I overdo it?”

Il-hyeon muttered, frowning slightly at the feeling of being bloated.

Having devoured an S-rank core with an absurd output all by himself, it was without a doubt a clear case of overdoing it.

However, having consumed an S-rank core once before, Il-hyeon’s “stomach” had also expanded, and he didn’t feel like anything was seriously wrong.

Aside from the queasy feeling in his stomach, he felt surprisingly fine. As he tilted his head in confusion, the Leviathan shook violently once more.

*Wooooong!*

As is known, a monster cannot survive once its core is removed, and the creature’s innards began to crumble.

Its falling speed increased dramatically, and its entire body began to collapse as if melting.

“Alright, let’s get out of here.”

Il-hyeon climbed onto the back of the enlarged phoenix.

He then used his Transformation ability to clear a path, weaving his way out, but it wasn’t easy as the crumbling remains of the monster’s body blocked the way.

But suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning fell from the sky, completely shattering one side of the Leviathan’s body and blasting a hole through it.

With a path cleared, Il-hyeon was able to escape without difficulty and came face to face with Astrid, who was hovering in the sky with her black wings spread.

Seeing Il-hyeon emerge safely, she flashed her usual confident grin, and Il-hyeon let out a small laugh.

And dangling from Astrid’s arm, having escaped with her, was Hyeon-seo, looking embarrassed.

“Haha… Good work.”