Chapter 179 – Struggle [King's Servants]

“Q11 is dead. Along with her legion.”

“What happened to the body?”

“It exploded.”

“The legion?”

“Becoming food for the beasts.”

“Are we to abandon Q11’s legion?”

“If Q11 were alive, it might be different, but under the current circumstances, helping them is meaningless.”

“What is King’s will?”

“Nothing has been conveyed.”

“Who killed Q11?”

“He left riding a crow, heading east.”

“You pursue him. I will go to King to inquire about Q11’s legion.”

“Agreed.”

“Good luck.”

“Likewise.”

Looking down at the ground from the void, Siguk sank into thought.

‘It’s definitely a strange world. Monsters with human faces… But that can’t be the reason I was brought to this world.’

Caw-!

‘What truth did they want to show me that they brought me here? To an era with YK, not JH…’

Caw-!

‘First, I should go ask the old Druid lady. See if she knows anything about monsters with human faces.’

Siguk’s will was conveyed directly to the crow.

The crow flew straight from Gangnam Station to the site of the YK Building in Samseong-dong.

Caw-!

The crow let out a cry and soon landed on the ground.

Then, the children playing a primitive game of stick-driving in the building’s courtyard scattered in surprise.

Seeing this, Siguk chuckled.

Even though they had shared a meal, it seemed the violent impression he had made initially wasn’t easily forgotten.

“You’re back, and not even a day later.”

A cat spoke to Siguk.

“I have something to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you happen to know anything about monsters with human faces that speak human language?”

At Siguk’s words, the cat’s pupils trembled for a moment.

Siguk didn’t miss it.

“It seems you should meet and speak with her directly.”

At the cat’s words, Siguk nodded.

“Wait here for a bit.”

Siguk conveyed that intention to the crow and then entered the building.

The children merely watched Siguk with fearful, trembling eyes, stealing glances.

Passing by those children, Siguk entered the old woman’s room.

The old woman was already half-sitting up in bed.

“Do you know something?”

Siguk pulled up a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs.

The old woman took a sip of water and opened her mouth.

“I know. I couldn’t not know.”

“What’s your relationship with them?”

For a moment, anger flashed across the old woman’s wrinkled face.

“They are my enemies.”

“Enemies?”

“Because they killed my husband and my children.”

Siguk nodded.

“Where did you encounter them?”

“Over there, near Anyangcheon.”

“What form did they take?”

“It was a Queen Ant, but only the face was human. A vicious woman. She spoke Korean very fluently.”

“May I ask… what you did?”

“I killed it. Along with all the ants it was leading, in one go.”

The old woman nodded.

“Was that the one that killed your husband and children?”

“No. I killed that one with my own hands.”

“Then isn’t it over?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

The old woman took another sip of water.

She closed her eyes for a moment and practiced mind control.

Siguk waited for her to regain control of her emotions.

Thirty seconds later, she opened her eyes with a calmer expression.

“Man-faced monsters… In the end, they are all one.”

Man-faced monsters.

That is, monsters with human faces were a new type of monster that appeared after Fenrir and Ululu Tumbebe committed mutual suicide.

Possessing human-level intelligence and monstrous ferocity, they appeared indiscriminately across monster species, from Orcs to Giant Mantises, delivering a coup de grâce to the collapsed human civilization.

“They engaged in reproductive activities incessantly, as if reproduction was their sole purpose.”

Their reproductive activities knew no species boundaries.

Those in the form of insectoid monsters abducted human women to nurture embryos. Later, deeming human women inefficient, they even abducted human men so that female man-faced monsters could receive their sperm to nurture embryos.

“Of course, I know it didn’t yield any particularly miraculous results. Fertilization itself was rare to begin with.”

The old woman’s husband and children—specifically her sons, aged 25 and 23—were also abducted by man-faced monsters.

The monster, which was of a reptilian lineage, tried to use their seed to create embryos.

“But it didn’t work. And then… it… as soon as it decided my husband and sons were no longer needed, it threw them as food to the ordinary monsters it had birthed.”

By the time the old woman stormed the monster nest, all she could find was her son’s half-chewed, spat-out skull.

She slaughtered the monsters.

And she had the man-faced monster, the leader and mastermind of the abductions, eaten alive by her own summoned creatures.

“From then on, I hunted down any man-faced monster I could find, no matter the cost. Before I knew it, they were no longer seen in Seoul. Now I’m too old to move around, so I haven’t gone out… It seems they’ve returned to Seoul without my knowing.”

The old woman looked at Siguk and asked.

“Are they still trying to reproduce using people?”

Siguk shook his head.

“According to the witness, they were receiving seed from male monsters.”

“I see…”

“Do you happen to know anything else about them? Like if there’s someone behind them?”

“Behind them?”

Siguk told the old woman about the events with the Queen Ant, omitting certain details appropriately.

Listening quietly with a serious expression, the old woman let out a sigh and took a long drink of water after Siguk finished speaking.

“It’s a very strange story… but I’m sorry. I don’t know anything beyond that.”

“Is that so? Well… can’t be helped.”

Siguk slowly rose from his seat.

As he was about to leave, the old woman spoke.

“Incheon… if you go to the site of the old Namdong District Office in Incheon, there should be a Necromancer.”

“A Necromancer?”

“He’s not a bad person. Just an eccentric. Anyway, if you go to him, you might get the answers you want. He researches monsters as a hobby.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Well, I’m not sure if he’s still there. The last time I met him was 20 years ago… I was quite healthy back then too…”

Siguk nodded and smiled.

“Thanks, I’ll give it a try.”

With that, Siguk went outside, ignoring the children’s gazes, mounted the crow, and flew west.

Watching that scene through the cat’s eyes, the old woman, alone in her room, let out a sigh and quietly wiped away tears as she recalled her husband and sons, long buried in the passage of time.

“The crow flew west.”

“Who did it meet before leaving?”

“It met a woman who raises beasts.”

“What did they discuss?”

“I couldn’t hear properly. But it seems they talked about us.”

“Can you subdue the woman?”

“Impossible. The woman is stronger than us. Old, but still strong.”

“Good. Then you follow the crow.”

“Understood. Does King still have no word?”

“None.”

“Understood.”

While flying towards Namdong District, Incheon Metropolitan City, Siguk could see many things.

People living like the primitive people of Gangnam Station in Dongjak District; people in Yangcheon District building crude, house-like structures centered around someone who appears to be a Superhuman; people being chased by what seem to be Monsters; people catching and beating what seem to be Monsters; people eating what seem to be Monsters; people being eaten by what seem to be Monsters…

Truly observing the very tableau of 21st-century humanity, Siguk pondered and pondered again what meaning the truth he was supposed to see could possibly have.

‘Is it to stop this future from coming?’

But being here like this, there’s no way for Siguk to prevent the end of the world in which he lived his second life.

‘In this world, Ivan Ivanov died in 2028 and Russia collapsed, throwing the whole world into chaos. But where I lived, that didn’t happen.’

Recalling the terrible reality the world faced after the collapse of the Russian Federation, Siguk crossed his arms.

‘But in this world, there was Ululu Tumbebe to rival Fenrir. But where I lived, Ululu Tumbebe was already dead, leaving only that Fenrir character in the end…’

If in 2099 the Earth’s axis shifts and the speed of Dungeon Breaks accelerates, throwing the world into uncontrollable chaos, then that Fenrir character could very easily make the world his own.

‘What truth are they trying to show me…? If they really wanted to show me the truth, wouldn’t it have been better to send me to 2099?’

While Siguk was lost in such thoughts, the crow had already arrived at the site of the old Namdong District Office in Namdong District, Incheon Metropolitan City, where the sun was setting in the west.

Caw-!

The crow let out a light cry and landed on the ground.

Siguk stood on the empty lot, where only a rusted sign reading <Namdong District Council> remained as a trace of its past use as a district office, and looked around.

Not a single Necromancer, not even an ant, was in sight.

‘It was 20 years ago… Well, it’s entirely possible he moved… Huh?’

Suddenly, Siguk spotted a single tree that looked completely out of place with its surroundings.

A tree standing alone in an empty place with only dirt and concrete dust.

Although Siguk didn’t know much about botany, he at least knew that this tree, an umbrella acacia, was not one found naturally in Korea but rather in savannas.

‘That thing only grows in Africa…’

The information about the umbrella acacia tree, which was included in the regional briefing he received for the Africa Expedition.

Remembering that, Siguk slowly approached the tree.

Under the large tree, Siguk tried using his All-Seeing Eye Skill.

All that entered his vision was information about the tree.

Nothing more, nothing less.

‘It doesn’t seem like Incheon has turned into a savanna climate… Clearly…’

Siguk quietly stroked the tree with his hand.

• Welcome.

At that moment, a Telepathy rang in Siguk’s mind.

Siguk immediately realized it came from the tree.

‘A tree using Telepathy?’

Siguk’s face twisted into a bizarre expression.

• Having seen monsters with human faces, don’t be so surprised by a mere tree that sends Telepathy.

The tree was right.

Siguk let out a disbelieving chuckle, removed his hand from the tree, looked at it, and spoke.

“Do you understand whether I speak or think?”

• Unless I am directly connected to you, it is impossible to understand if you do not speak.

“Alright. Then let me ask. Was there a Necromancer here? I heard he was an eccentric.”

• There was.

“There was? So, he’s not here now?”

• He died 15 years ago.

“Died?”

• During an experiment, his Mana became entangled and he ended up vomiting blood and dying.

Siguk made a face of utter disbelief.

“A survivor after the collapse of human civilization died because he couldn’t control his Mana?”

Siguk’s voice carried clear mockery.

Then, instantly, even though there was no wind, the tree branches trembled and made a strange sound.

• I clearly acknowledge that you are a powerful being, a being beyond human. But I will not tolerate you disparaging my friend in that manner.

At the tree’s words, showing clear anger, Siguk nodded and raised both hands.

“Okay. Got it. I take it back.”

• Thank you. Had you known what my friend was researching, you wouldn’t have mocked him like that. To show tolerance for rudeness born of ignorance and to enlighten that ignorance was my friend’s teaching.

“He must have majored in philosophy or something. So, what experiment was he doing?”

• An experiment to break down the walls between parallel universes.

Instantly, Siguk had to erase the condescending feelings he held towards the deceased.