Chapter 201 – The Last, Not the End (Part Four)

The sky was filled with a vermilion hue.

The Gate that had opened, blanketing the sky, showed no signs of closing.

The original master had come and seized control of the Gate that Eclipse had forcibly kept open for a counterattack. Unless they defeated the very source allowing monsters to cross dimensions, there was nothing they could do.

The ground groaned and cracked.

Countless vines extending from the giant monstrous plant covered everything, eroding the land.

The Awakened who had plunged into the heart of the disaster cut through the black vines, which moved like living monsters, as they pushed forward.

Screeech!

Each vine moved as if it were an independent entity, attempting to devour every living thing, including the Awakened.

The attacks were most concentrated on Il-hyeon, who stood at their forefront.

CRASH!

Il-hyeon unleashed a massive slash forward, severing dozens of enormous vines at once.

The screaming vines spewed black blood and thrashed about. Il-hyeon and his team advanced, stepping over them.

All special abilities on Earth had been completely nullified, but slashes and sword ki, which were not Abilities, could still be used without issue.

This was precisely why the first power granted to Baek Il-ho during his initial regression had been of this kind—to fight back in a situation just like this.

“Watch out…!”

“I know!”

Slice!

A hidden vine targeted a member of Aegis, but his sword reacted instantly, splitting the vine in two.

Everyone here was a master, skilled enough to be considered representatives of the world’s Awakened.

They were veterans, counted among the best of the high-ranking Awakened, and they wouldn’t be taken down so easily.

Although many had been injured in the fight against Eclipse and had to fall back, not a single one of those who had drawn their swords had fallen behind as they broke through along the shortest path.

BOOM!

But as they closed some distance, roots suddenly shot up from the ground beneath their feet.

A staggering number, easily in the thousands.

The sentient roots, their massive maws gaping wide, launched a surprise attack in unison.

The attack, which came without a trace, threw the monstrous roots and the Awakened into a chaotic melee, and a fierce battle ensued.

Kieeeek!

“Get away!”

Seol Ah-yeong leaped into the air, swinging her sword as she shouted.

The seven roots reaching for her were all severed.

Even though her greatest weapon, her Ability, was sealed, as the leader of Response Team 1 and their strongest fighter, she was still putting on an incredible display.

However, not everyone could evade the creature’s surprise attacks as she had.

The attack left a dozen Awakened too injured to continue fighting, and one person, the first to be targeted, even had their leg torn off.

Of course, there were a few healers who could have provided immediate treatment on the spot, but with all Abilities sealed, they were useless.

“Are you all right…?”

“Forget it! Just go!”

The man, bleeding profusely, yelled at his comrade who was about to turn back.

Hearing the shout, his comrade turned and ran, chasing after the vanguard without stopping.

He was right.

There wasn’t even time to look back.

If they failed to defeat the creature, everything would be over. And as the monster before them expanded endlessly, even the slightest delay was unacceptable.

BOOM!

Il-hyeon vaporized a massive wall formed by a bundle of vines and pressed forward without slowing down.

Dozens of roots shot up fiercely from the ground to his left, but he didn’t even spare them a glance.

CRASH!

A powerful slash unleashed by Lee Soo-yeon swept through the black roots, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.

Sheathing her sword, she immediately kicked off the ground and ran alongside Il-hyeon.

“How do you plan on dealing with that thing?”

Lee Soo-yeon asked, tilting her head.

In the direction she indicated, their destination and the enemy they had to stop at all costs—the final guardian—stood firm.

The creature’s massive torso, surrounded by writhing, crunching vines, was so intimidating that even she, who had faced all kinds of monsters, didn’t dare think she could cut it.

Slicing through such a monstrous plant in its entirety without any Abilities was next to impossible.

Seeing how it constantly multiplied, its regenerative power seemed considerable. And from their experience with other Managers and guardians, they knew it wouldn’t die from just a few attacks.

“It won’t die easily, just as it looks. But it has a weakness.”

“A weakness…?”

“It’s similar to the monsters we’ve fought. I can see a core inside its torso.”

“Really? I thought Managers didn’t have cores.”

she asked in surprise.

Unlike the ordinary monsters they had fought, none of the Managers possessed cores.

It was one of the clear distinctions, aside from their distinct sentience and intelligence.

And the first guardian defeated by Baek Il-ho, the three-eyed giant, had been no different.

The only way to counter their dreadful regeneration was to thoroughly deplete their life force; they were not opponents that could be easily defeated.

But the final guardian before them now was slightly different.

‘I’m sure of it.’

Il-hyeon could see it clearly.

Even with all Abilities nullified, the intuition and sight granted by his Predation Ability remained.

There was a nucleus that endlessly supplied energy to its massive body, a focal point that constituted its very form.

The spot where the black sphere, the initial seed, had landed.

It felt very similar to a monster’s core.

‘If I can just destroy that…’

Even without using it directly, he could feel that his Predation Ability was still faintly active, and he sensed that the creature’s nucleus could be destroyed.

However, it wouldn’t be as easy as targeting the core of an ordinary monster.

The creature had divided its nucleus into three pieces, and this wasn’t a situation that would end by simply targeting a single weak point.

“Three of them…?”

Lee Soo-yeon was stunned by Il-hyeon’s explanation.

But she quickly shook her head.

“No, it’s much better than just charging in blind.”

A difficult condition, to be sure.

But the discovery of such a weakness brought a glimmer of hope to a fight that had seemed hopeless just moments ago.

Of course, that didn’t mean victory was in sight.

They hadn’t even closed half the distance to the monstrous plant’s center, and the creature had yet to reveal its true nature.

Il-hyeon could read its immense energy, but he couldn’t gauge the exact extent of its true power.

Even before the Abilities were nullified, no premonition of the future related to this creature had worked, which was why he couldn’t see the future related to the use of nuclear weapons, a closely connected matter.

“We need to split into three groups. Please relay this to the others.”

Front, left, and right.

He pointed out the locations of the nuclei, which were separated within the massive torso that extended roots and vines in all directions.

It was a structure of precisely one main core and two auxiliary cores. The central core, in particular, was so solidly formed that it couldn’t be touched without first destroying the auxiliary cores on either side.

If Il-hyeon could use his Predation Ability without hindrance, he could have destroyed the creature’s nucleus just like a regular core without any help, but that was impossible in the current situation.

To do so, they first had to destroy the two side cores to disrupt the balance of its power source.

No matter how solid a structure was, once shaken, cracks were bound to appear. In that opening, he could use his Predation Ability on the creature’s nucleus and surely destroy it.

Il-hyeon would naturally charge toward the center where the main core was, and the formations for the other directions were quickly organized.

BOOM!

The roots and vines continued their relentless assault.

The closer they got to the creature’s torso, the more ferocious the attacks became.

In the midst of a battle no different from a warzone, casualties continued to mount as the teams were being divided.

Their fast pace allowed them to close the distance meaningfully, but many had fallen along the way, leaving mostly team-leader-level Awakened.

Il-hyeon’s team was the exception, with no one falling behind, though a few of the animal-type summons had been struck down.

But even in the midst of such chaos, the veterans’ concise and swift communication allowed the formations to be established quickly.

In an instant, the running Awakened split into three groups.

First, the right flank was composed of Il-hyeon’s team members, including Alpha and Beta, along with the other summons.

The left flank was taken by the Response Team’s Awakened, led by Seol Ah-yeong, and the head of Aegis, Ryu Jin-tae.

It was an unlikely combination, but each flank needed a reliable powerhouse they could trust.

If even one side failed and couldn’t destroy an auxiliary core, the main core would be untouchable, and the fight would end before they even had a chance to contest it.

Now, only one front remained.

The most treacherous path, leading to the center of the monstrous plant that blotted out the sky.

BOOM!

As expected, a tremendous barrage of attacks rained down on Il-hyeon.

The creature was most wary of Il-hyeon, and he was charging straight for the location of the main core, naturally drawing far more attention than the other two groups.

A slash from Il-hyeon cut through hundreds of writhing black roots in a single blow, simultaneously clearing the blocked path.

They had already entered the monstrous plant’s sphere of influence, so thick roots densely covered the ground and the space overhead.

But even after he cut down hundreds in an instant, the creature showed no signs of stopping.

A viciously extending vine swung out, filling his entire field of vision.

Five streams of sword ki and slashes, each with a different form, shot out, and the black vines were shredded to pieces, spewing viscous blood.

Il-hyeon was still in the recovery motion from his last attack. This time, it wasn’t his sword, but the others behind him.

“The rear is clear.”

“Let’s do this.”

Lee Soo-yeon and Jeong Jin-seong.

And the Aegis team leaders who had broken through this far without falling.

They all stood behind Il-hyeon, and without hesitation, he took the next step forward.