Chapter 48 – Easy Pickings (Part Three)

“Whoa…”

The people standing on the collapsed bridge stared blankly at the churning river and the corpses floating on its surface.

Their gazes soon turned to Il-hyeon, who had dispatched two B-rank monsters—both top-tier among their kind—in an instant.

“Aegis…?”

one of the Awakened muttered, squinting.

He wondered if this was the Awakened from Aegis’s Alpha Team who was said to be in Europe.

“That’s right! He was speaking Korean earlier. But I’ve never seen his face before.”

“I know. There’s no way we wouldn’t know someone with that level of skill.”

“Ah, isn’t he the new member who joined the Alpha Team a while back? His name was something like Kang…”

The Awakened, who had been fighting for their lives just moments before, were now engaged in a heated discussion.

While it was a distant story for them, Aegis was a dream workplace for any Awakened, so they followed news about it with great interest.

Using his ability, Il-hyeon roughly fished the two giants out of the river and dropped them on the other side of the bridge.

He sent the Phoenix back up to scout and looked around.

There were still people cowering in fear, unable to cross the bridge.

If he destroyed the bridge now, he could worry less about monsters getting across.

But that would be the same as abandoning the people who were fleeing this way, trying to escape even at this late stage.

Without hesitation, Il-hyeon reached out his hand. The middle section of the damaged bridge writhed and began to stretch, connecting the two sides.

Although it was thinner and lacked pillars, he had hardened it to be even sturdier than before, so there was no fear of it collapsing.

“Wait…”

Il-hyeon’s expression suddenly hardened as he watched people hurry across the bridge to escape the city.

A mouse, darting across rooftops, acted as his scout, and he could clearly see a blue mutant monster rapidly approaching.

He had been uneasy when he saw it moving steadily upward, and now his worst fears were being realized.

“What should I do…”

Il-hyeon was torn, his gaze shifting between the bridge over the river and the direction the monster was coming from.

People were still evacuating, and simply destroying a bridge wouldn’t be enough to stop an A-rank monster.

Was it right to give up and let the monster pass, or should he try to stop it?

There were likely far more people beyond the bridge who hadn’t been able to evacuate, and it was painfully obvious they would be slaughtered, civilians and police alike.

But if he died trying to stop it here, there would be no one left to properly fend off not just the mutant, but the other monsters as well.

Perhaps it was better to let it pass and prevent greater chaos.

“Bullshit.”

Il-hyeon muttered with a smirk.

His pride wouldn’t allow him to back down here.

“I just need to buy some time.”

Saying it as if it were the easiest thing in the world, Il-hyeon climbed onto the bridge, warned people that a monster was coming, and helped the injured evacuate.

All the while, he periodically checked the mutant’s location and recalled the Phoenix from the sky to prepare for battle.

The wolf was currently busy holding back the hound monsters trying to escape from the west and couldn’t help him.

*Swoosh! Crackle!*

Before long, a chilling cold swept over the area, and the giant of blue flame appeared.

Everything in its path froze, cracked, and shattered.

Even the other monsters scattered in all directions at the appearance of the blue giant.

Il-hyeon quickly got off the bridge and went to meet it head-on.

Fighting too close to the bridge would endanger the civilians.

And so, the two met.

The blue giant looked down at Il-hyeon, who was holding his sword, and then slammed its hammer into the ground.

*Thoom!* A shockwave of blue light radiated in all directions.

It was the same type of ability used by the other giants Il-hyeon had killed.

But its effect was completely different.

*Crackle!*

“Urk!”

Intense sparks suddenly flew from his body.

Unlike before, even Il-hyeon’s sword and Defensive Coat, both using high-rank cores, ceased to function.

As it was a unique ability from a fellow A-rank monster, a higher-grade core wasn’t enough to simply ignore it.

“This stuff is expensive!”

Il-hyeon quickly threw off the coat.

Then he drew his sword.

‘Even my sword is dead…’

Il-hyeon looked down at his sword with a grim expression.

Defeating a monster one rank higher with only his ability, without an Ether Sword, was next to impossible.

In that moment, the giant’s hammer swung again.

*Thoom!*

The road shattered, and sharp shards of ice shot out in every direction.

Il-hyeon, who had swiftly dodged, reached a hand toward a nearby streetlight.

The metal pole began to swell and grow at an incredible speed.

The massive pole wrapped itself around the giant’s body.

The wildly growing metal bound the creature’s entire body, and Il-hyeon immediately moved on to his next action.

*Rustle!* One by one, a swarm of insects rose from the ground.

Dozens of white insects appeared and latched onto the giant.

He had unleashed a torrent of abilities tailored to his opponent, but Il-hyeon didn’t stop there.

A building that the giant had passed and frozen began to warp violently.

It then transformed into a golem large enough to completely dwarf the mutant monster.

*Groooar!*

The summoned golem raised its massive arms, intending to crush the monster.

But its attack was caught and stopped by the monster’s hands.

The tree branches and insects that had swarmed it to impede its movement all froze upon contact with the blue flames and didn’t last long.

Although he had instantly conceived and summoned a model capable of resisting the cold, it still couldn’t hold out for long.

The summoned insects only managed to inflict a few minor wounds on the giant’s body before being thrown off.

*Crash!*

The blue giant’s hammer swing shattered half of the golem’s face in a single blow.

The broken parts froze over rapidly, and the frigid ice slowly began to consume the golem.

“Dammit!”

Il-hyeon stretched out both arms and pulled with all his might.

*Ruuuumble!* A towering skyscraper tilted and came crashing down, burying both the giant and the golem.

*Craaash!*

A deafening roar echoed as a thick cloud of dust billowed out.

Even for an A-rank monster, it would be hard to emerge unscathed after taking a direct hit like that.

But he didn’t utter a cliché line like, “Is it over?”

Even he didn’t think it would end that easily.

*Smack!*

A fist flew through the thick smoke.

Il-hyeon saw it coming and tried to dodge, but it was impossible.

His feet were frozen solid to the ground.

Though he managed to break the ice with a burst of strength, he couldn’t evade the attack.

*Boom!* The Phoenix quickly intervened, but it wasn’t enough to block the punch, and they were both sent flying.

“Agh, damn… didn’t see that coming.”

Il-hyeon groaned and turned over, lifting a trembling arm.

His side and right arm were frozen solid.

Being on the receiving end of his own favorite tactic of transformation felt even worse.

The Phoenix, which had collapsed beside him, reignited with embers and regained its strength, reviving itself.

If the Phoenix hadn’t shielded him with its body, he would have been helpless without his Defensive Coat.

Still lying on the ground, Il-hyeon stretched out his remaining left arm.

He poured his last ounce of strength into raising the river water.

A massive body of water, large enough to cover the sky, transformed into a water dragon and flew toward the giant as if to swallow it whole.

But the giant swung its hammer once more, and Il-hyeon’s attack froze on the spot, creating a colossal ice sculpture.

As the ice dragon fell and shattered, Il-hyeon muttered in despair.

“Ha, damn. I guess this is still too much for me…”

The giant slowly approached Il-hyeon.

The creature, dragging its hammer, opened its mouth wide, its cheeks tearing as frozen pieces of skin fell off.

“Three minutes… no, let’s just hold out for one more minute.”

Il-hyeon said, looking at the Phoenix.

He then broke off the ice that was spreading across his arm and side.

He let out a brief groan from the wicked pain in the frozen areas.

But once the ice was gone, he could move well enough. It wasn’t over yet.

If he couldn’t win, he just had to hold on.

*Tap!* Il-hyeon grabbed onto the Phoenix.

The Phoenix quickly took flight, and the spot where Il-hyeon had been just a moment before was instantly shattered.

Ice shot out unexpectedly from empty space, and a hammer swung menacingly.

Il-hyeon and the Phoenix performed an aerial ballet between them.

Amidst the chaos of surrounding buildings exploding, Il-hyeon taunted the giant by using his ability to hurl falling debris at it every now and then.

But this wasn’t a sustainable strategy.

A glancing blow from the hammer froze one of the Phoenix’s wings, causing it to lose balance and tumble to the ground with Il-hyeon.

“Ugh, my ability won’t even activate now.”

Il-hyeon scrambled to his feet and stretched out his arm, but his ability didn’t respond.

He was completely drained.

He was only still in the fight thanks to the Phoenix’s ridiculous regenerative power, but with his equipment and ability both neutralized, the situation was becoming impossible to handle, even by force.

As a blue fireball approached the fallen pair, Il-hyeon and the Phoenix suddenly floated into the air.

No, every object in the vicinity was floating.

“What the…?”

As Il-hyeon’s eyes widened in surprise, the massive monster’s body was also lifted into the air.

Just moments ago, it had been a terrifying opponent, but now, unable to even balance itself as it flailed in the air, the creature looked ridiculous.

Furthermore, while Il-hyeon and other objects were lifted only slightly off the ground, the giant in front of him rose much higher before stopping.

*Cruuunch!*

Though it was just floating there without being attacked, the giant’s body suddenly began to twist and break.

An immense gravitational force from a single point began to pull the giant in, mercilessly sucking in bone, flesh, and even the blue flames.

The creature struggled frantically to escape, but it was useless.

It was as if a tiny, invisible black hole had appeared, pulling the creature in until, moments later, its original form was unrecognizable, compressed into a round, bloody mass in midair.

It had been compressed so tightly that it was less than a tenth of its original size.

“One bridge secured. Send the north side through first.”

Il-hyeon’s head snapped up toward the voice coming from somewhere.

A woman was descending from the sky.

She wasn’t falling or flying, but simply landing softly on the ground.

“I wasn’t expecting much. You’re alive?”

she said, looking at Il-hyeon.

He hesitated, feeling awkward in his current position in front of a stranger, when the woman flicked her hand.

Il-hyeon’s floating body dropped with a thud.

*Would it kill her to put me down gently?*

“Ugh, thank you for your help.”

Il-hyeon shot to his feet.

He then looked at the woman’s face, which he hadn’t seen clearly before.

It was just as he had expected.

As far as he knew, there was only one person who could use such an ability.

“You probably already know, but I’m Seol Ah-yeong. It’s a pleasure.”

Seol Ah-yeong gave a radiant smile.

Combined with her pure, beautiful face, it was a smile that could instantly captivate any man.

Even Il-hyeon, who had recently built up some resistance from seeing so many beautiful women on TV, couldn’t stop a smile from forming on his lips.

“I didn’t expect the government response team to provide support.”

Il-hyeon said.

The woman standing before him was a member of the government’s response team.

In fact, “member” was an understatement. At the young age of her early twenties, she was the leader of Response Team 1, the government’s top combat force—a true prodigy.

Fittingly, she possessed an S-rank ability, one of the few in the world, and was an A-rank Awakened who currently ranked in the world’s top ten based on her average records alone.

If Aegis had the rising star Lee Tae-hee, who was expected to become the world’s fifth S-rank Awakened, the response team already had the established Seol Ah-yeong.

Though with her extensive experience and her status as a top-ten Awakened, the term “rising star” hardly suited her anymore.

“Besides, this site had a low priority, and with the electronic equipment down, I thought support would be delayed…”

“Ah, well, we were originally going to the A3 Gate, of course. That was the most urgent. But your team leader lost contact and asked for support here first. It was a good choice, but I wonder if your leader is even still alive.”

Hearing such a different tone emerge from that pure smile as her lips twisted, his favorable impression instantly vanished.

Il-hyeon’s expression hardened at the suggestion that another team member might be in danger.

“Then you should hurry and go support the other side!”

“And what about here?”

“There’s only one ace monster left here. So hurry…!”

But Seol Ah-yeong, listening to his urgent pleas, let out an amused laugh.

“Another team is already headed there. They’ll be a little later than us, but it’s not like we’d make it before it’s all over anyway.”

“Haaah…”

Exhausted by her words, Il-hyeon wiped his face.

“One left, you say… It’ll be quick then. Just wait a bit. The transport can’t take off while there are still monsters around.”

As she said, with an ace monster with special abilities still active, the aircraft couldn’t fly.

Seol Ah-yeong beckoned with her finger, and something shot out from the grotesquely balled-up corpse in the air.

*Thwip!* The monster’s core, glowing with a brilliant white light, landed in her hand.

Being a rare mutant, its core was certainly very different from a normal one.

It was slightly larger than average, and its light was tinged with a bluish hue.

She was likely securing it because the core of a rare mutant was invaluable for research purposes.

“A lot of people died.”

Seol Ah-yeong said, looking at the bodies of people scattered around.

Being right in front of the only bridge out of this area, more civilians and monsters had gathered here, resulting in a higher body count.

“Doesn’t your conscience bother you?”

“Excuse me?”

Il-hyeon asked back, completely taken aback by her sudden question.

“You have talent. You should be fighting for the people who are sacrificed like this, not just chasing after big scores. Why don’t you leave that place and join our team? If you need cores to absorb, we can provide them. We have far more than Aegis, you know.”

“What in the world are you talking about… No, how did you know about that?”

He had never publicly disclosed the details of his ability.

But Seol Ah-yeong spoke as if she already knew about his devouring ability.

“Ha, did you really think we wouldn’t have done a background check on you? How naive.”

Il-hyeon stared at her, dumbfounded by her audacity.

*It’s not like secretly investigating someone is something to be proud of. How can she say that so triumphantly to my face?*

“Hoo… I’ve already received plenty of scouting offers from the government. And I’ve refused them all, of course.”

“Sending a few underlings is a far cry from this.”

Il-hyeon stared at her in disbelief, but she paid him no mind and continued.

“Think about it. Aegis might be big, but in the end, it’s just one corporation. Can it really compare to us? One of your team leaders was just carried out on a stretcher not long ago, wasn’t she? How pathetic for a team leader to fall for such a cheap trick…”

“That’s enough, don’t you think?”

A hint of irritation crept into Il-hyeon’s expression.

At his tone, Seol Ah-yeong looked surprisingly clueless, then her face changed to one of contempt.

“Ooh, scary. I didn’t take you for the type. Barely a month and you’re already overflowing with team spirit?”

“Team spirit my ass. You should watch what you say.”

Il-hyeon said, reining in his temper, but Seol Ah-yeong just scoffed, crossed her arms, and continued her speech.

“I’m just trying to be helpful… Do you really think you have anything to gain by making an enemy of us? Or has all the praise you’ve been getting gone to your head?”

*I’ve really gotten myself tangled up with a crazy bitch.*

Honestly, Il-hyeon was in shock.

From what he’d seen in news articles and on broadcasts, the public image of her was that of a perfect person with incredible skill, a kind and pure image, and a beautiful face to match. This was a completely different person.

“The one who’s mistaken here is… huh?”

Il-hyeon trailed off, staring blankly at something right beside her.

The Phoenix, which had been wandering around after the fight, was now standing right next to Seol Ah-yeong.

Its gaze was fixed on her hand holding the core, and now it was even leaning its face in close.

*Crunch!*