“Hoo-ah…”

Go Byeonggap drained half a bottle of water in one go. He handed the remaining half to Seo Sihui, who, hanging her head like a ghost, fumbled to take it.

“Tough, huh?”

“…….”

Seo Sihui’s head gave a short tremble. After a few seconds of delay, Go Byeonggap realized that was meant as a nod. Even keeping her head up seemed too much for her.

Well, the power she had shown was almost miraculous. Changing the entire landscape of the world in just five minutes. Even the world’s fastest aircraft would be a sluggish grub compared to Seo Sihui.

Deciding to leave her alone for a bit, Go Byeonggap looked around. It was a canyon. A canyon so vast it would turn the one he’d seen in North Korea into a toy model.

“Damn it, where the hell are we?”

“…Grand.”

“What? What did you just say?”

Seo Sihui forced the words out.

“Grand Canyon.”

“Grand… Canyon? So we’re in America?”

“That would be right. The Grand Canyon isn’t in Korea or Romania, after all.”

“Well, thanks to you, I’m on a trip abroad I never planned for.”

“Mmph.”

Seo Sihui tried to get up but landed on her backside again. Go Byeonggap clicked his tongue inaudibly and stopped her.

“Why don’t you just sit still? Even that bastard couldn’t follow us all the way here.”

“That might be better.”

She gave up more easily than expected and slumped onto the dirt floor.

“It’s him. Exactly as I saw in my past life.”

“You mean the Holy Warrior, I take it.”

“Holy Warrior?”

“Ah, I never told you about that, did I.”

Go Byeonggap gave a brief explanation about the origin of the name ‘Holy Warrior.’ Seo Sihui didn’t really understand but pretended to follow along.

Whether she understood or not, Go Byeonggap kept talking.

“To stop Madmut, we need to take down six of those Holy Warriors… but after what just happened, I don’t even dare to think about it.”

Seo Sihui nodded wordlessly. Go Byeonggap wasn’t satisfied with that and spoke up immediately.

“You must’ve fought those bastards in your last life. You even took down Madmut. Don’t you have some killer know-how for crushing them?”

“Of course I do.”

“You do? What is it?”

Go Byeonggap asked, brimming with excitement. Seo Sihui answered in her characteristically flat tone.

“First, pick out the forty thousand strongest hunters on Earth. Then supply them with unlimited narcotic painkillers and stimulants, and have them fight.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“There’s no trick to dealing with those things. Only massive, absolute sacrifice. Honestly, I—”

She hesitated, then said abruptly.

“Reuniting with him brings my sense of reality back. I have no idea how you plan to face those creatures with the rabble you’ve gathered.”

Go Byeonggap swallowed the bitter taste coating his tongue. Saying something cool like ‘Goblins are the gods’ natural enemies’ to her would mean nothing.

“Maybe… it’d be better to try ambushing Go Geonryong again.”

“Let’s rest first before heading back. Crying over it here won’t change anything.”

“I understand.”

Night fell over the Grand Canyon. Seo Sihui, having recovered her energy, lifted Go Byeonggap and flew up. Instead of returning to Brazil, they headed for a portal she had set up in the United States.

Mercifully, the portal was intact. But it didn’t connect to Hanam. Beyond the portal lay a private house in Samcheok, Gangwon Province.

As soon as they passed through the portal, monsters appeared. They didn’t attack Go Byeonggap, who was wearing Illumission’s ring. But when he struck first, they charged with fury in their eyes.

“Kueeek—kkeuk!”

Even so, they were just low-tier monsters, so he dispatched them easily. Go Byeonggap debated whether to feel relieved or disheartened at this point.

‘No sign of people around. Now even minor low-tier monsters roam the streets.’

Had all those people really died? Or maybe survivors had banded together and were putting up a fight down south?

He’d thought about borrowing Seo Sihui’s power to launch a refugee rescue operation in the lower regions. But he quickly dropped the idea. The problem was Asvillam’s capacity.

Currently, Asvillam could barely handle just over 12,000 residents. Hadn’t it only recently recovered from a famine of sorts and barely stabilized?

Adding thousands more abruptly in this situation? Asvillam would surely collapse.

Go Byeonggap just hoped the people could hold out on their own.

The two hurried back to Seoul and slipped into Asvillam at a quiet spot.

Those who had been waiting for them—neck craned, breath held—sighed in relief at seeing both return with all limbs intact.

«My Lord, I am relieved to see you safe. I take it nothing went amiss.»

«Yeah, you’re looking at a man who’s fine. More to the point—was Asvillam quiet while I was gone?»

«A Grugle pack did surge in once, but we joined forces with the humans and beat them back. There were some wounded, but not a single death.»

«Wounded? From Grugles?»

Dorma answered with a look that could only be called apologetic dread.

«Yes. There weren’t many of them, but they were strong ones.»

«Goddammit. Outside it’s monsters losing their shit; in here it’s Grugles. Still—no deaths, so I’ll call that a win. You worked hard.»

«Not at all.»

Go Byeonggap called a meeting. The key figures all gathered, and he laid out the information he’d uncovered.

What followed was a debate on how to capture the six Divine Warriors—and, predictably, no clear answer emerged.

“We can’t even handle Illumission’s crew in Korea, so how the hell are we supposed to catch those monsters in Argentina? That’s just not realistic, aye.”

Han Changhun was right. The present reality was that putting out the fire in their own front yard was already more than they could manage.

* * *

The Illumission cleanup operation kept going. Those bastards snatched people up like murderers, then seemed to turn into actual ghosts themselves—the moment Byeonggap’s group crossed over to Earth, they swarmed like a stirred-up wasp nest in under five minutes.

Day by day, the fighting grew fiercer. The wounded and dead kept piling up. Still, amid all that, they had managed to destroy eight out of the twelve bases they’d identified so far.

Seo Sihui and twenty-three S-rank hunters had made the biggest difference.

«Everyone, dodge!»

«Yes!»

At Byeonggap’s command, the goblins scattered like mad. A thunderous roar followed, and a certain building in Seongbuk-gu collapsed into a heap of rubble.

The people and monsters underneath were crushed to pulp. Byeonggap’s party swiftly broke off and fled back into Asvillam.

The Illumission hunters chasing them were left looking like dogs that had chased a chicken right off a cliff.

Back inside Asvillam, the first order was a head count.

They had brought about 120 A-rank and below hunters along. Seventeen had died in this operation alone. The severely wounded were plenty too.

“Son of a bitch!”

Off to one side, Jeong Seongyeong was taking out her rage on the innocent ground. The deaths clearly had her fuming.

“These bastards. They’re getting meaner by the day.”

“Well, they’ve taken plenty of losses themselves—gotta figure their spite’s maxed out by now.”

“If you add up everyone we’ve lost so far, it’s over seventy. Keep going like this, and pretty soon there won’t be a single hunter below S-rank left.”

“Still, it’s too much for just us… Though I guess we’ve only got three spots left.”

On the other side, the hunters were nursing their exhausted bodies.

That was the moment.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A thunderous drumbeat echoed from the western wall. Heads snapped toward it in unison, eyes wide with silent question marks.

«Damn it!»

Go Byeonggap bolted without thinking. The eight goblins followed on his heels at once.

There was no reason to beat the drum unless it was an emergency. And in Asvillam, nine times out of ten, an emergency meant Grugle.

Byeonggap scaled the wall in a single sprint, shouting.

«What’s happening?!»

He couldn’t see him, but someone called down from above.

«Grugles are swarming in! The number—the numbers… they’re enormous!»

The voice shook badly. Byeonggap finally reached the wall’s parapet and stared past the jagged crenellations.

His jaw went slack.

A pitch-black line stretched across the horizon. Literally a pitch-black line.

Byeonggap ran a wishful loop through his head—maybe night was just falling along the horizon. But the line was closing in real time, and if his eyes weren’t playing tricks, those were Grugle.

Thousands was a joke. Tens of thousands was a joke. The very act of trying to count made fear seize him.

Grugle often flooded toward Baltadren. But they were weak on average, usually a few hundred strong at most.

This time, though—it was too much by any measure.

Byeonggap even found himself thinking he’d rather face a tsunami of the same scale.

He stood there, transfixed, staring into the distance. Kunta, the leader of the spirits, came huffing and puffing from the far end.

«You made it! I don’t need to explain the situation, do I?»

«Damn it, how many are those things?»

«I’ve got no way to explain it except a goddamn, motherfucking lot. What’s your call? At that march speed, they’ll reach Baltadren in an hour or two!»

Byeonggap chewed his lip. The hunters, reaching the wall a beat late, gasped at the distant sight.

Their overlapping groans buzzed in his ears. Irritation flared—he almost lashed out with a shout, but barely clamped his mouth shut.

There was no time to waste on thinking or venting now.

He bellowed.

«Hurry and treat the wounded! Gather every single person capable of fighting—no exceptions! I mean all forces in Baltadren! Send the harpies to Somnium! Tell them to gather everyone except a bare minimum crew to Baltadren!»

«Yes sir! Understood!»

The goblins moved fast. Byeonggap turned to the humans.

“I need your cooperation! Round up everyone except the non-awakeners! Tell them there’s a fight coming!”

Go Byeonggap pressed his thumb and forefinger hard into his temples before adding,

“Also make it known that anyone who doesn’t cooperate will be expelled. Everyone has to pool their strength.”

“Ah, got it! I’ll relay that for now!”

“Hey, Byeonggap, you…”

“I’m fine. Noona, go gather the people too. It’s urgent.”

“Uh, yeah. Got it.”

After the humans left, he looked at Castle Lord Kunta.

«Kunta.»

«I know! I’ll summon every spirit. Damn it! Why do those bastards keep swarming in!»

Having issued orders to everyone, Go Byeonggap stared ahead, fire in his eyes.

Why did it always have to come crashing in all at once?

‘It’s okay. It’ll be fine. The Grugles are weak. Seo Sihui is here, and we have plenty of SS-rank power. I won’t lose to lumps like that.’

He forced himself to calm down.

Baltadren grew busier than ever. Human, goblin, and spirit alike—everyone’s face was pale as they prepared for battle.

Contrary to worries, the humans showed a cooperative attitude. They had to. Weren’t they paying back their keep for being fed and housed all this time?

Even with every armory thrown open, weapons were woefully short. Some grabbed farming tools—shovels, hoes—and crowded into the plaza.

The force gathered that way totaled about seven thousand. The majority of those seven thousand were at the lower-awakener level.

Even non-combatants pitched in to help with the grunt work. They boiled water and scavenged stones. Stockpiling for a siege.

Meanwhile, the Grugle closed to within a kilometer. Light spirits created glowing beacons to illuminate the battlefield.

The sheer number of Grugle was sickening. What sent a deeper chill down his spine was their appearance.

Some among them were monstrously huge. Easily comparable to the ‘Titan’ they’d taken down together with the spirits last time.

The hastily scraped-together force of seven thousand marched onto the plains. Those capable of ranged attacks fell to the rear; the warriors stepped forward.

«Damn, there’s an endless horde of them.»

«You lot, merge with your souls.»

«Yes!»

Go Byeonggap gritted his teeth and drew his sword.

«Everyone!! Battle stations!!»

He roared, releasing a torrent of internal energy. His voice echoed across the plains, ringing out several times.

Goblins and humans alike yelled battle cries and drew their weapons.

The situation here was a bomb a hair’s breadth from going off.

“I need you to do your part. I’m counting on you.”

Right before the battle erupted. Go Byeonggap spoke to Seo Sihui, who stood close by. She nodded with a resolute expression.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you.”

Go Byeonggap looked forward again. Then he shouted with all the venom he could muster.

«All units, charge!!»

«Raaah!!»

«Hyaaah!!»

Seven thousand soldiers swept across the plain. The stampede of the host made the ground tremble as if an earthquake had struck.

Go Byeonggap ran at the very front, making a vow to himself. He would personally cut down three-tenths of those Grugle.

But a minute later, he had to rethink that plan entirely.

«Huh?»

“Wha— what is that?”

«What the hell are they doing?»

“What the…”

The charging army halted mid-stride. They just stood there, staring blankly ahead.

Hundreds of thousands of Grugle had raised their hands in unison, forming ‘X’ shapes.