Chapter 45 – No Time to Spare (Part Five)

In front of a Gate over five meters tall.

More than thirty Awakened stood in a circle around the rift.

They were all Awakened affiliated with the local government.

“I’ve never seen a rank this high… It won’t be too dangerous, will it?”

“With this many people, we should be able to buy some time. We just have to hold out until Aegis arrives.”

The man replied to his anxious colleague, as if telling him not to worry.

When a B1-rank surprise Gate appeared in Belgium, the government immediately requested help from Aegis, but other high-rank Gates had burst open simultaneously in other locations as well.

So, the government hastily gathered all available forces from the surrounding areas and dispatched them.

“More are coming over there.”

The man pointed to the sky.

Two helicopters, which had hastily gathered personnel from a neighboring city, were flying in side by side.

It wasn’t just those two helicopters; Awakened were rushing in from other places as well.

“Oh, I heard Mertens is on one of those helicopters.”

another Awakened, who had been exchanging texts, said.

At that, gasps of admiration erupted from all around.

As a B-rank Awakened and one of Belgium’s star players, there wasn’t a soul in the country who didn’t know him.

“I thought he was working for Haman overseas. So we’re fighting alongside him? For real?”

“Why are you making such a fuss over that? Mertens is one thing, but Aegis will be here soon. Are you going to have a heart attack then?”

“Oh, my god. I can’t believe it.”

The man covered his face with his hands, and laughter spread among the other Awakened.

Since they worked directly in this industry, their admiration for high-ranking Awakened, including those from Aegis, was immense, if not more so.

In any case, their lighthearted conversation eased the tension and created a slightly excited atmosphere.

“Wait…”

An Awakened who felt a strange sensation froze.

At the same moment, the blood-red rift began to churn.

The Gate throbbed violently like a beating heart, instinctively evoking a sense of revulsion. The dead silence, contrasting with its turbulent movements, made it even more repulsive.

The surrounding Awakened all drew their weapons and took a step back, preparing to fight.

The tension returned, pressing down on everyone.

It was a job they had always done, but this time, the letter of its rank was different.

That simple letter of the alphabet made a world of difference.

And finally, a monster emerged from the opening of the rift.

A giant of fire, its entire body ablaze.

It was over four meters tall and held a massive, flaming hammer in one hand.

A crimson light poured from its skull-like eyes, and it exuded an overwhelming pressure rarely seen.

“An Ace Monster…?”

the man muttered, staring blankly upward.

The giant looked down at him in return.

And it raised its hammer high above its head.

“Damn it! The Ace came out right away! Run!”

the man shouted, and the Awakened began to scatter in all directions.

Their original objective was to stall for as much time as possible.

With a B-rank monster appearing the moment the Gate opened, contrary to their expectations, charging in now would be pointless.

*CRASH!*

The flaming hammer slammed into the ground.

Simultaneously, a massive shockwave erupted, engulfing the city as it spread out in all directions.

The city’s lights vanished, and the approaching helicopters faltered in mid-air.

“Ugh!”

Caught in the shockwave, the man fell, his eyes fixed on the helicopters losing power.

The two helicopters spun out of control, lost their balance, collided, and ultimately exploded.

And that was the last thing he ever saw.

*Thud!*

The ground shattered beneath him.

* * *

“Aaaargh!”

A man engulfed in flames screamed.

He rolled on the ground to extinguish the fire clinging to his body, but these were no ordinary flames. They refused to die out, consuming his defenseless form.

A massive hound watched him struggle in agony, as if mocking him.

This creature, a Base Monster from the Gate, was covered in flames, just like the giant.

“These sons of bitches!”

Forced to watch the man die from across the street, another man cursed.

He was leaning against a wall, his legs scorched, trying to conceal his presence.

“Toby! What do we do?”

“What do you mean, ‘what do we do’?! We can’t hold on. When is Aegis getting here?”

The man furiously threw down his malfunctioning coat.

The situation was completely untenable.

Due to the monster’s special ability, all electronic devices in the city had gone haywire.

As a result, they were isolated with all communication to the outside cut off, and even their Defensive Coats and AT-series weapons had stopped working.

The monsters were already strong, but with such a bizarre ability, there was no way for them to fight back.

With people unable to evacuate properly, they had to face the monsters with their bare hands.

It was a desperate situation where they couldn’t even handle the Base Monsters properly.

Forget helicopters; even passenger cars would malfunction upon approach, so they couldn’t expect reinforcements to arrive quickly.

“Aaaah!”

Just then, a sharp scream echoed from a nearby street.

It wasn’t just one person; it was the sound of several voices screaming together.

Judging by the ferocious barking that followed, it seemed that civilians who hadn’t evacuated yet had been discovered and were being chased.

“Ha… damn it.”

The man and his colleague looked at each other.

Stepping forward now was no different from suicide.

But before they could even consciously process that thought, their bodies moved on reflex.

“To hell with it!”

The two of them gripped their swords and charged out simultaneously.

As expected, a group of civilians was being chased. They hadn’t gotten far before being caught and surrounded by the monsters.

Attracted by the noise, a total of nine creatures now encircled the area.

As if they enjoyed toying with people, they surrounded the civilians without killing them immediately, content to watch them tremble in fear.

*Stab! Thwack!*

The two Awakened burst in from behind an unsuspecting creature.

The hound, with two swords embedded in its back, thrashed wildly.

Normally, such a fatal blow would have felled it instantly, but the weapons in their hands were not functioning AT Swords.

Even with an Awakened’s superhuman strength, it was difficult to pierce the creature’s thick hide with a non-functional sword.

“Ughhh!”

But the two hacked away with all their might, and one of the hounds soon lost its strength and collapsed.

They had managed to kill just one, but the other eight hounds now surrounded them.

In the meantime, the civilians had scrambled to escape in another direction. The two raised their AT Swords, which were now no better than ordinary blades.

This was satisfying enough, in a way.

“Let’s take one more with us.”

“I really don’t want to die like this.”

They stood back-to-back, letting out hollow laughs.

The thought that this was their final moment felt strangely empty.

*Bark, bark, bark!*

The creatures howled fiercely and lunged forward to finish them off.

Or rather, they tried to.

But suddenly, unknown vines wrapped around each of the hounds’ ankles, causing them to flip over or stumble where they stood.

They were thin, grayish vines, but so tough and sturdy that the creatures couldn’t break free.

They thrashed about wildly, almost convulsing in their attempts to escape, but the result was the same.

“What’s going on…?”

While both sides were bewildered, a person suddenly tumbled down from the sky.

He was wearing a black coat, suggesting he was an Awakened, and he was a young East Asian man.

Then, as he extended his arm, a large, magnificent red bird—the likes of which they had never seen—landed on his left forearm.

“That was a close call. Are you okay?”

Il-hyeon said as he approached.

But the two men couldn’t understand his words and were unable to reply.

“Ah, right. The communicators are broken.”

Il-hyeon muttered, scratching his head.

Due to the monster’s ability, the GPS, communicators, and even the built-in translation function were unusable.

However, perhaps because they used high-grade cores, Il-hyeon’s Defensive Coat and sword were completely unaffected.

“Well then…”

Il-hyeon waved his hand, and thorns shot up from the ground.

The heads of the eight ensnared monsters were pierced simultaneously, and they died instantly without a chance to resist.

Il-hyeon approached one of them and swiftly extracted its core.

The exact location of the core inside the monster’s body was clearly visible to him, so unlike before, a single motion was enough.

“Now, how should I use this one?”