Chapter 31 – Joint Operation (Part Four)

“A Scavenger?”

Il-hyeon muttered, looking down at the fallen man.

The man, with messy long hair and a beard, had a black tattoo near his neck.

When he removed the man’s shabby Defensive Coat, he saw the tattoos extended down both arms.

“I’d heard there were a lot of petty thieves abroad who targeted cores… but for an Awakened with an ability like this to be a Scavenger.”

An ability that even Il-hyeon couldn’t sense… he could probably rob a bank in broad daylight and not get caught.

“Then again, I used to be one myself…”

Il-hyeon let out a small laugh as he remembered the past.

His time as a Scavenger, less than a month ago, was hardly ancient history.

This man probably had his own reasons for doing this.

A single B-rank core could be sold on the black market for enough money to live on for a lifetime. He might have needed quick cash or was hoping to strike it rich; there were many possibilities.

Everyone has their own story, after all.

Besides, seeing as he was knocked out in one hit, he didn’t seem very strong, regardless of his ability.

‘I should tie him up and go. The urgent matters come first.’

With monsters still pouring out, there was no time to drag the man out of the city and hand him over.

The location of the next point, received from Jeong Jin-seong, was blinking on the GPS displayed above his watch.

Il-hyeon pulled a piece of rebar from the nearby building debris and shaped it into a rope.

Remembering his opponent was also an Awakened, he made sure to transform it into something much stronger, then tied the man up tightly and secured him to the floor in an inconspicuous corner.

All the while, the man showed no signs of waking up.

In case the immobilized man encountered a monster, Il-hyeon created a wall to completely conceal him before heading to the next location.

He unsummoned the golem, mounted the wolf’s back, and effortlessly leaped over ruined buildings and shattered overpasses, reaching his target in no time.

After scaling a wall, Il-hyeon looked down from the top of the building. The phoenix, which had followed him, landed on his head.

“Hey, I told you not to sit on my head… Found them!”

About twenty Creeps and one Kreiger were visible nearby.

Il-hyeon immediately charged forward on the wolf.

He pounced on them before the monsters even had a chance to react.

The wolf attacked the Kreiger lagging at the very back, while Il-hyeon leaped from its back and landed on the other side.

‘First, clear out the small fry!’

Having landed, Il-hyeon looked at the Creeps lined up in front of him.

Behind him, the wolf and the monster—two massive figures—were locked in a tangled battle.

While it buys time by tying up the ace monster, I’ll deal with the rest first.

With that thought, Il-hyeon placed his hand on the ground.

The road began to heave and writhe as if in an earthquake.

And then, more than twenty giant insects burst from the ground.

These iron-armored insects, looking as if they were clad in heavy armor, immediately attacked the Creeps.

*Kreeegh!*

Attacked suddenly from below, the Creeps struggled and fought back.

The iron-armored insects swarmed the Creeps, climbing on top of them in a tangled mess, their pincers piercing the monsters’ bodies.

A bloody battle between monsters had broken out unexpectedly in the middle of the city.

Il-hyeon joined the fray, easily killing the Creeps one by one.

*Crunch!*

After crushing the last one’s head, Il-hyeon wiped the sweat from his brow.

He felt he’d used a bit too much of his ability at once.

Using his ability consumed more energy than one might think.

But he had been delayed by the unknown man, so he had to finish this as quickly as possible; it couldn’t be helped.

*Boom!*

The loud noise made Il-hyeon turn around.

The wolf, thrown by the Kreiger, crashed into a building. Its form soon crumbled, and its connection to Il-hyeon was severed.

Still, it had held out for a long time against a B-rank monster.

In that time, however, the Kreiger had already finished preparing its attack and spewed a black, toxic gas from its back toward Il-hyeon.

The potent toxin melted everything in its path, even a few of the iron-armored insects, as it surged forward.

Just before the toxin could engulf Il-hyeon, the phoenix spread its wings and blocked the way.

*Fwoooosh!*

Red flames and black toxin collided, spewing smoke.

Soon, the toxin that the Kreiger had launched with all its might dissipated, and Il-hyeon, who had been behind the phoenix, stood unharmed.

But the phoenix, its color darkened to a murky black, lost its strength and collapsed to the ground.

Its burning body faded like dying embers.

And then.

*Fwoom!*

The phoenix reappeared, bursting forth with even more intense flames.

It looked even stronger than before, showing off its ruby-like feathers as it spread its wings wide.

The summons Il-hyeon created were born not only with the appearance he intended but also with specific abilities.

Of course, that didn’t mean anything was possible, but he could decide whether a summon would be focused on power or durability, and what kind of abilities it would possess.

Everything was created based on what was in Il-hyeon’s mind.

Thus, the ability painstakingly granted to the phoenix: immortality.

No matter how many times it was killed, it would be reborn from the undying flames.

There was essentially no way to kill it other than subduing its master, Il-hyeon.

The reborn crimson phoenix flew up and charged at the Kreiger.

*Boom!* A large explosion erupted, and flames burst from the monster’s body.

The phoenix shot out of the explosion and soared into the sky, while Il-hyeon used his transformation ability.

Dozens of spikes materialized around the Kreiger, stabbing it from all sides, and the ground beneath its feet sank.

As the Kreiger teetered, having momentarily lost its balance, the phoenix descended vertically from above its head.

*KABOOM!* Another violent explosion of fire erupted, and the powerful impact forced the Kreiger to its knees.

*Krooooar!*

The Kreiger let out a ferocious breath.

It had taken significant damage, but it was too much to expect it to fall right away.

Meanwhile, the iron-armored insects Il-hyeon had summoned swarmed all over the monster’s body.

They bit with their mouths and stabbed with their pincers, drawing blood.

The Kreiger swung its arm, crushing one of the insects.

Despite the considerable amount of power he had poured into the attack, the tenacious life force of the B-rank ace monster refused to be extinguished easily.

Il-hyeon decided not to delay any longer and executed his final move to end it in one blow.

The phoenix, flying in the sky, changed direction and flew toward the monster again.

Even while surrounded and attacked by the iron-armored insects, the Kreiger raised its arm to defend itself.

*BOOM!* Fire erupted from the Kreiger’s swinging arm, and the phoenix was sent flying.

But the real finishing card was somewhere else.

It was flying in from behind Il-hyeon, who was riding on the back of a translucent hawk he had summoned to be as invisible as possible.

‘Now!’

Leaping high toward the monster, Il-hyeon swung his sword fiercely.

With a deep slicing sound, two-thirds of the Kreiger’s neck was severed.

*Kreeeegh!* Il-hyeon balanced on the thrashing monster’s body and continued to saw through its neck.

*Shhlick! Thud!*

The Kreiger’s head rolled onto the ground, and its separated body collapsed to the side.

“Hoo!”

Il-hyeon quickly unsummoned the iron-armored insects.

As their forms vanished, the asphalt and cement that had composed their bodies scattered onto the ground.

They weren’t small like mice, and there were many of them, so maintaining the summons had taken a considerable toll on his stamina.

He stared down at his AT Sword, stained with monster blood.

A weapon designed to kill monsters.

Its strength wasn’t just about its hardness.

This sword, made from the Ether of a monster’s core, was a weapon that dealt exceptionally fatal damage to monsters, which lived and moved based on Ether.

That was why most ability users carried AT-series weapons.

Il-hyeon’s reason for using one was the same.

“Hm? Wait a second…”

Sensing a massive presence, Il-hyeon warily surveyed his surroundings.

-Be careful, right around you is…

Lee Soo-yeon’s voice from the communicator was cut off before she could finish.

*CRASH!* The commercial building right next to him shattered, and a monster burst out.

No less than three Kreigers appeared, looking down at Il-hyeon.

“No way. Even for me, three at once is too much…”

Il-hyeon flinched back.

He had grown quickly enough to face B-rank monsters consecutively, but three at once was still too soon.

Besides, he wasn’t in top condition.

The three Kreigers roared fiercely at Il-hyeon in unison.

The phoenix perched on Il-hyeon’s head spread its wings, warily watching the monsters.

Just as he was about to summon the hawk to escape, Ghost’s voice came through.

-Il-hyeon, a spear is headed your way.

“What are you talking…”

*KABOOOM!*

A long spear, making all sorts of clamorous noises as it pierced through several buildings from a great distance, perfectly penetrated the Kreiger’s head.

With a huge hole in its head, the monster collapsed to the ground without doing anything.

Stunned by the sudden attack, the other two Kreigers looked around, searching for whoever threw the spear.

But no one, including Il-hyeon, had any idea where the spear had been thrown from.

*Swiiish! Bam!*

And the spears that followed gave no explanation.

They simply pierced the Kreigers’ heads once more—no, twice more—with perfect accuracy.

The monsters, their heads precisely impaled by the spears flying with incredible force, collapsed lifelessly.

With three B-rank monsters dispatched in an instant, Il-hyeon walked over and picked up a spear.

This massive spear, almost large enough to be a siege weapon, was no ordinary weapon; it was a high-rank, Ether-treated spear.

The only place with enough money to burn to use something like this for throwing was probably his own company.

“What kind of ability is this?”