Chapter 26 – B Rank (Part One)

The transport plane’s altitude dropped rapidly.

Then, the detailed sight of the ruined city came into everyone’s view.

Seok Pil-joon, who was sitting opposite, spoke up after seeing the scene.

“This wasn’t even a surprise Gate. How did things get this bad?”

Just as he said, the Gate that had appeared here in the Philippines had opened a full four hours ago.

Four hours was more than enough time to prepare properly or request help from elsewhere.

But now, the city was a complete wreck.

“The local Awakened team took it on and got wiped out. If you rack up a few high-rank monster kills, you can get into a good corporation. They were probably aiming for that, bribed some government officials, and took on a job they couldn’t handle.”

Jeong Jin-seong said with his arms crossed.

Awakened had careers, too, and they were considered more important than one might think.

Just as real combat differed from tests, scanners alone couldn’t determine an Awakened’s true strength.

Therefore, to gauge their skills and reliability more accurately, an Awakened’s accomplishments and the monsters they’d dealt with were meticulously recorded and made public.

The more difficult, high-rank monsters one killed, the more their skill was proven.

That was why the Filipino Awakened team that had been wiped out was willing to pay bribes to secure this site, where they could aim for both the core’s value and a career boost.

This public information was prime material for journalists in the Gate department and was also used as data by fans of famous Awakened to argue over who was superior.

Lee Soo-yeon and Jeong Jin-seong were monsters in their own right, with the number of A-rank monster types they’d killed exceeding triple digits.

Based on such careers, they were ranked within the top 20 of the GSPN’s Global Power Rankings.

Il-hyeon’s career, while still modest, was also being recorded piece by piece since his recent debut.

In particular, his solo takedown of the Smoker in Russia—a C-rank monster notorious for being tricky—had become a hot topic.

“Still, that’s just reckless. Taking on a B-rank Gate without any experienced members… those crazy bastards.”

Lee Soo-yeon shook her head, her expression one of utter disbelief.

They had gambled with their lives.

And the price for their bravado was the death of all thirty or so C-rank Awakened on their team at the hands of the monsters.

On top of that, the government’s evacuation and safety perimeter efforts were poorly executed, leading to a rise in civilian casualties.

“Well… thanks to that, the information got to us late. All the monsters are a new type we’ve never seen before. Be careful.”

What remained were fewer than 80 monsters in total, about 10 of which were B-rank ace monsters.

That was all the analysis team had been able to tell them for now.

Since these were new monsters that had never appeared before, there was no other information or specific warnings.

As Jeong Jin-seong finished speaking, the transport landed, and they immediately dispersed.

There was no time to gather leisurely and chat.

The Gates had all already closed.

They had to hunt down the monsters scattered throughout the city.

Unlike other cases, the number of monsters wasn’t overwhelming, so eliminating them quickly was far more effective than trying to rescue citizens.

Il-hyeon transformed the ground beneath him, creating a giant hawk, which he mounted and rode swiftly to the west.

While flying low, he spotted three monsters.

They were humanoid monsters with inverted-triangle heads, each wielding a large sword with both hands.

Il-hyeon leaped from his perch and plunged his sword into the back of one monster’s neck.

Meanwhile, the hawk, without slowing, swooped down on another monster.

The massive hawk grabbed the monster’s head with one talon, slammed it into the ground, and dragged it for a good distance.

The monster’s head was nearly ground in half against the pavement before it was thrown, tattered and broken, into a building.

Crash!

In an instant, two D-rank monsters were dead, and the last one was mercilessly impaled by spikes that shot out from the ground on all sides.

Its entire body, limbs and all, was riddled with holes, and it died, unable to move.

Whew! Il-hyeon whistled, and the hawk instantly flew back to him.

Almost snatching him up, the hawk carried him on its back as it flew through the city.

-One ace monster down.

-Five base monsters down in the east.

In that short interval, transmissions from his teammates came through, and Il-hyeon gave a brief report of his own.

“Three base monsters dealt with in the west, too.”

-Okay, confirmed.

Lee Soo-yeon, who had been the first to encounter and eliminate an ace monster, spoke up.

-Be careful. You can’t use your special powers when you’re near this ace mob.

-What an annoying bastard. I see why the first team got wiped out.

Ghost grumbled.

Just as some Awakened possessed special powers, monsters occasionally appeared with special abilities of their own.

The probability increased sharply with higher-rank monsters.

That was why even the most skilled and powerful Awakened had to approach A-rank or B-rank monsters with caution.

Furthermore, the ability this monster possessed might not matter to a pure martial artist, but for those with special powers, it was a huge penalty.

-It could be dangerous. Ghost, rendezvous with Il-hyeon.

-Location confirmed. On my way.

“Confirmed.”

Ghost and Il-hyeon replied to Jeong Jin-seong’s order.

*I definitely need to be careful…*

Il-hyeon cautiously scanned his surroundings.

If he couldn’t even use his powers against an already dangerous B-rank monster, it would be impossible for him to face it with his current strength, no matter how you looked at it.

Unlike the other team members, it was like having two of his trump cards sealed away.

“Damn it!”

But in that moment, the very thing he had feared happened.

A sharp spear suddenly flew from the right, piercing the hawk’s belly.

It instantly lost its balance and began to fall to the ground.

“Damn it, I’ve run into one!”

-What? Where are you now?!

Lee Soo-yeon asked urgently, but he didn’t even have a moment to answer.

The one who threw the spear, a pitch-black monster, had already leaped right in front of him as he fell.

It all happened in a flash.

It took no time at all for it to pull the spear from the hawk’s belly mid-air and swing it at him again.

A speed that an ordinary Awakened wouldn’t have even been able to react to.

But Il-hyeon was on a different level from his past self, and a far cry from ordinary.

He reacted to the speed instantly and stretched out his arm.

He intended to transform the adjacent building and attack the creature.

But in that moment, he realized his mistake.

*Right, she said my powers would be blocked…!*

Seeing his blunder, Il-hyeon grimaced.

He had almost instinctively reached out to use his powers without thinking.

This was one of the reasons the monster’s power-sealing ability was so deadly to Awakened who were used to their powers.

Just when he thought he was in real trouble.

“Huh?”

Il-hyeon’s expression changed once again.

His power activated just fine, and a fist that emerged from the transformed building slammed into the pitch-black creature.

The monster, which had been about to swing its spear, was smashed into the ground.

Il-hyeon did a half-turn and landed softly on the ground.

He didn’t know how it happened, but his power had manifested without any issue, even right in front of a monster with a power-suppressing ability.

-Kang Il-hyeon, answer me! Are you okay?

“Yes, I’m fine. But my powers are working perfectly fine?”

-What…? No, then just hold on for a bit! I’m heading your way.

Lee Soo-yeon said, relieved.

It was strange, but she figured that as long as he could use his powers, he should be able to hold out.

But Il-hyeon himself was more ambitious, taking it a step further.

*I think I can take this one…*

He gripped his sword, met the monster’s gaze, and stepped forward.

The Ability of Predation had caught the scent of its prey.

* * *

A B-rank monster.

He had never faced one alone, nor had he ever tried.

In the detailed examination he’d received at Aegis, he had barely scraped by with a C-rank result, and Il-hyeon knew very well how big the gap between one rank was.

But why?

For some reason, he felt he could win.

A week had already passed since his return from Russia, and he had been on quite a few missions in that time.

During that week, he had been able to absorb a vast amount of Ether.

An amount that would have been impossible to acquire anywhere else, but thanks to joining Aegis, he had a steady supply.

As he absorbed Ether, his special power and physical abilities had developed dazzlingly, and he was rapidly accumulating the combat experience he had previously lacked.

He could tell that he was markedly different from when he first joined.

On top of that, there was the creature’s most troublesome aspect: its power-sealing ability.

For some reason, it didn’t work on him at all.

It was as if the creature’s ability didn’t even exist.

Of course, even so, the fact remained that his opponent was a B-rank monster.

Moreover, he had no idea of his opponent’s true strength.

Thinking rationally, taking on an ace monster alone in this situation was a foolish thing to do.

But his instincts were telling him.

That this creature was his prey.

Clang!

The monster’s black spear and Il-hyeon’s sword collided.

Il-hyeon raised both arms to block the sharp spear shaft as it came crashing down fiercely.

Kgggrrrk! With their weapons locked, their gazes met.

He could see the pitch-black creature’s eyes.

A monster’s eyes.

What were they thinking behind those eyes, why did they attack people, where did they come from?

These were questions he’d always had since becoming an Awakened and facing monsters.

But even countless researchers hadn’t found any answers, and it wasn’t as if Il-hyeon could figure it out either.

The only thing he could be sure of right now was that the monster before him was staring straight into his face, and he could feel a thick killing intent emanating from it.

As if it had appeared for the sole purpose of killing people.

That irritating gaze stirred up a natural hostility within Il-hyeon.

Il-hyeon stomped his foot, and the ground surged upward.

Dozens of sharp spikes appeared, aiming for the monster.

But a B-rank ace monster was not on a level to be defeated by something like that; it easily leaped up to evade the attack.

Just as the attack was about to be nullified, Il-hyeon immediately stretched his hand upward, pointing in the monster’s direction.

The sharp spikes instantly changed direction, rapidly chasing after the creature.

As the spikes extended toward it as if dancing, the monster swung its spear and shattered them all to pieces.

In that opening, Il-hyeon pulled a lighter from his pocket, lit it, and tossed it upward.

The lighter, thrown into the sky, shattered, and a powerful flame erupted, engulfing the monster suspended in mid-air.

Fwoosh!

As if from a flamethrower, a pillar of fire shot straight up into the air, brightly illuminating the surroundings.

Just then, a spear shaft flew out from within the flames.

Il-hyeon barely managed to parry the spear that was flying with enough force to pierce straight through his head, and it spun through the air before embedding itself in the ground.

The slightly singed monster landed on the ground and glared at him.

Il-hyeon didn’t hesitate, rushing at the creature that had so carelessly discarded its weapon.

Conveniently, the monster didn’t flee either, but came toward him.

But he soon had to twist his body away from a chilling presence.

Swish!

The spear that had been stuck in the ground suddenly flew back, narrowly grazing the hem of Il-hyeon’s clothes.

And returned to the monster’s hand.

Without breaking its stride, the monster charged at Il-hyeon, black spear in hand.

After exchanging four blows while off-balance, Il-hyeon was struck in the face by an unorthodox swing of the spear shaft and sent flying.

He flew through one building and crashed into the wall of the building beyond it.

The Defensive Coat he was wearing crackled.

“Ptui!”

Il-hyeon spat out the foreign object in his mouth.

A half-broken molar, mixed with blood, came out.

In the midst of this, the spear came flying again.

This time, the spear flew wide of Il-hyeon, destroying the building’s pillars and walls.

Rumble! With a loud noise, the building began to collapse.

As Il-hyeon was about to quickly get out of the way, he noticed startled children right next to him and used the ground to create a large golem.

The golem, which emerged as the ground sank, used its two arms and body to block all the falling debris.

Il-hyeon summoned a wolf to evacuate the children, then dusted himself off and stood up.

It felt less like fighting a monster and more like fighting another Awakened.

It was clearly different from the creatures he had faced until now.

For a monster, its weapon proficiency and combat intelligence were on another level.

It had probably seen the children and chosen to destroy the building behind him with a thrown spear instead of aiming directly at him.

*And that pisses me off even more.*

Il-hyeon raised his sword.