Chapter 194 – The Greater Good (Part One)

*Rumble!*

The trees that densely covered the mountain were swept away and snapped all at once.

A green monster, covered in hard scales.

The eyes of the beast, which resembled a giant reptile, were filled with a yellow light, and its slit pupils stared at Baek Il-ho, who stood before it.

*Thump!*

Its slightly twitching tail whipped around in an instant, tearing up the ground and causing a thunderous landslide.

Yet Baek Il-ho, who had taken the direct hit, was completely unharmed.

Enraged that he was still standing despite the clear impact, the monster rampaged, tearing through its surroundings.

Its movements were so violent that simply being near it was life-threatening.

But Baek Il-ho didn’t even blink as he responded in kind.

Leaping high into the air in an instant, he descended toward the beast’s back and, without even drawing his sword, slammed his fist down.

*CRASH!*

A shockwave erupted, sweeping through the area, and the beast’s piercing shriek echoed thunderously.

“Kraaaaaaaaa!”

The cry was so loud it echoed not only where they stood but all the way to the nearby city.

A fist charged with the very energy absorbed from the creature’s own attacks.

Despite not being a strike with a weapon, Baek Il-ho delivered a staggering blow, creating a deep wound that not only bent the beast’s back but nearly tore it in two.

But even with such a wound, the monster only seemed to be in pain; it didn’t stop moving at all, thrashing its body wildly to shake Baek Il-ho off its back.

*Sizzle!*

Furthermore, the wound that had seemed irreparable was regenerating in an instant, returning to its original state.

A tenacious life force, incomparable to that of ordinary monsters, was one of their few definitive shared traits.

Just then, sensing a powerful killing intent from the side, Baek Il-ho drew his sword and turned.

*CLANG!*

Another monster charged at Baek Il-ho as he stood on the beast’s back, its arm clashing with his sword to create a sharp sound.

But the creature paid no mind to its own body being cut, continuing to advance as if to swallow him whole, forcing Baek Il-ho to leap back.

“This brings back memories. I had quite a hard time with you back in the first round.”

Baek Il-ho muttered, scanning the form of the monster that had attacked him.

If the green monster the woman had turned into resembled a scaled reptile, the man’s transformed state was closer to a humanoid monster.

Jet-black fur covered its shaggy body, and its upper torso was grotesquely swollen.

However, with its bizarre, four-way split jaw and over ten eyes, it could hardly be called an ordinary-looking creature.

The monster was already at least three times the size of an average man, but had it not stopped its transformation midway, it would have taken on a completely different form.

“Grrr… What have you been talking about?”

the creature asked, its voice rumbling from deep within its mouth.

Its transformed oral structure, a result of only partially assuming its true form, was not well-suited for human speech.

“It’s none of your business…”

“Die!”

*FWOOSH!*

Just then, the other beast, which had suddenly intervened from the side, unleashed a breath from its massive mouth.

Everything touched by the dark green breath immediately began to decay and rot.

Seeing that it didn’t hesitate to sweep up its own ally along with Baek Il-ho, it was clear this one was particularly hot-tempered and violent, even among the Administrators.

Of course, the black beast caught in the blast was not so weak as to die from its body merely rotting; rather, it charged at Baek Il-ho from within the noxious breath.

It swung its sharp claws, piercing Baek Il-ho multiple times.

But, as expected, no attack could get through to Baek Il-ho, who possessed an omnidirectional absorption ability.

Normally, the Administrators dispatched twenty years ago couldn’t have been unaware of his ability, which he had used since the early days, but because Hwayeon had tampered with their memories through powerful suggestion, they knew nothing of its specific details.

Calmly taking the attacks with his bare body, Baek Il-ho returned the absorbed impacts directly to them.

*BOOM!*

Caught in the absurd shockwave, the two beasts were sent flying at the same time.

Struck down by a blow incomparably more powerful than before, they couldn’t easily get back up.

Even so, this was nowhere near enough to finish them off.

Drawing his sword, Baek Il-ho kicked off the ground and instantly closed the distance he had just sent them flying across.

Of the two that had been blasted apart, the massive green beast immediately came into view; the blow to its back had already finished healing, leaving it completely unscarred.

But their means of recovery certainly had a limit.

*SHRED!*

The moment Baek Il-ho’s sword, Lawbringer, was drawn, a powerful sword aura engulfed the beast, tearing it to shreds.

Its healing ability, which began regenerating wounds the moment they were inflicted, was astounding, but that changed nothing.

He just had to keep cutting until it died.

* * *

*Click.*

As the battle ended, Baek Il-ho sheathed his sword.

The fight had ended so anticlimactically it was hard to believe he had just faced two Administrators.

The green-scaled beast was completely torn apart, mangled beyond regeneration, while the other monster, beheaded multiple times, lost its strength and reverted to its original human form.

He had known from the start that he had no chance of winning against Baek Il-ho head-on and had been looking for an opportunity to escape.

That was why, unlike the woman, he hadn’t revealed his true form, but in the end, his choice had been neither here nor there.

Before the true monster in front of him, there wasn’t even a moment to turn his back and run.

As Baek Il-ho approached, the man, mangled and covered in blood, stumbled backward.

For the first time in his life, he felt fear toward another species, and at the same time, a deep sense of humiliation washed over him for feeling such an emotion toward a mere human he had always disregarded.

And as if reading his thoughts, Baek Il-ho spoke.

“That grand title, ‘Dimensional Devourer,’ doesn’t seem to suit you very well.”

“You…!”

*SLASH!*

The man’s body split in two, spilling black blood as he collapsed to the ground.

“Even exchanging words with you is unpleasant.”

Baek Il-ho muttered, his brow furrowed.

With this, the last remaining Administrators were all finished.

But that didn’t mean everything was over.

Things were not yet fully corrected, and there was still the third regression to finalize everything.

And if his prediction was correct, the most troublesome mountain yet remained in this round.

*Fwoosh!*

Just then, space twisted slightly, and a man in a black coat suddenly appeared in mid-air.

Before Baek Il-ho, surprised by the familiar face, could even open his mouth, the man moved in an instant and landed on the corpses of the two monsters killed at Baek Il-ho’s hands.

He then placed a hand on each of their bodies and pulled something out.

*Zzzzt!*

An intense light flowed up his arms and into his body, fading away shortly after.

“If you keep gobbling things up like that, you’ll get a stomachache.”

Baek Il-ho said with a smirk.

Il-hyeon, who had turned to face him, then spoke.

“This isn’t the time to be picky.”

* * *

*Thud!*

Having escaped the city, Astrid and Marco landed in a forest a good distance away.

The members of A-Team, who had been tucked under their arms, also landed on their feet, but they were dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events.

“You two… you were safe?”

Lee Soo-yeon was the first to speak.

The rest of Alpha Team, excluding Il-hyeon, had gone to support the Response Team during the attack and were said to have been wiped out by Baek Il-ho. Yet here were two people they thought were dead, alive and well.

No, they had even helped them escape a situation where they were certain to die.

“I’m glad you made it safely and on time.”

The team members’ heads snapped around at the voice that came from behind without a sound.

And there stood Hyeon-seo, who had just revealed herself.

It was also Hyeon-seo who had been waiting here to teleport them away while Astrid and Marco went for the rescue.

“Oh my god…”

A situation where satellites had exploded and all communications were cut off.

They had more than a few questions for those who had suddenly appeared, but right now, there was a more pressing matter.

“The other teams… no, what happened to In-hwa?”

They had managed to escape safely, but Hong In-hwa, who had taken the child to C-Team, was still there.

“She’s probably dead by now. Once they noticed the approach to the city, it would have been difficult for C-Team in the rear to avoid being wiped out.”

Hyeon-seo said with surprising calmness.

“What? We have to go help right now…!”

*Crackle!*

Suddenly, the space to their left crackled with sparks and distorted.

It was clearly the prelude to a teleportation by an Awakened, and they watched nervously, wondering if Eclipse had tracked them down.

But by the time the distorted space settled down again, no one had come through.

Just as they were wondering what was happening, the space rippled like a shifting curtain, and figures began to emerge from within.

The first to appear were Gwen and Ohara.

And behind them were Hong In-hwa, whom they had thought dead, the child she had rescued, and even the Awakened from C-Team.

“Timjang…?”

“What in the world… I was sure I was dead…”

The revived survivors muttered with dazed expressions, unable to adjust to the sudden change in their situation.

It was only natural, as almost no one could adapt to the sensation of returning from death.

Moreover, unlike what the pleasant-sounding name might suggest, stealth abilities were normally useless against monsters and Awakened with sensitive senses, but Ohara’s power had shown a completely different result.

“We moved here as a first step to avoid being tracked by Eclipse, so we will move again immediately without delay.”

Hyeon-seo spoke and gave a signal, and Ohara, receiving her gaze, nodded.

She wanted to explain the situation slowly, but since they had brought along the people from Aegis, who were easier to track than Il-hyeon’s team members, they needed to shake off any pursuit as quickly as possible.

*Fwoosh!*

Their figures vanished from the forest and reappeared inside a large, unknown building.

“What…?”

“Where in the world is this…”

The members of Aegis looked around, unable to hide their astonishment.

The place they had been moved to contained not only Alpha, Beta, and Il-hyeon’s new team members.

Everyone who had been declared dead—no, who had actually fallen right before their eyes—from both Aegis and the Response Team was there, alive and well, looking back at them.