episode_0077

– Roar!

A beast charged towards him. Its crimson fur fluttered in the wind. Its jaws opened wide as it let out a roaring cry.

Redleaf Hound. It was easily twice my size. If I had seen it with my own eyes, my vision would have been completely obscured.

As I thought about this, I couldn’t help but be bothered by the red fur of the Redleaf Hound.

As the name suggests, it originally had red fur… but through spatial perception, I could observe ‘human blood’ in that fur.

Especially near its jaws.

Gritting my teeth, I clenched my fist. I poured my mana into it, activating the Iron Body Technique, and covered it with a protective barrier.

I didn’t like the look of its jaws. From above, I struck down with my fist.

– Thud!

I felt the flesh give way, followed by the shattering of something hard underneath. The unpleasant sensation of something squishy bursting out was clearly transmitted through my fist.

The gaping jaws closed shut. The teeth clashed together and shattered. The eyeballs that popped out in shock were almost comical.

I had killed one. But one Redleaf Hound was not enough.

Even in the midst of battling in the dungeon, my spatial perception did not fail me. Two more Redleaf Hounds rushed towards me. I immediately activated my mana.

Roar! The wings of the sky, which were draped like a cloak, spread out.

‘Shape Transformation.’

The sharp-edged wings of the sky were thrust forward.

Clang! The forehead of the leading Redleaf Hound was pierced. Unlike its usual flailing, it cleanly pierced through the flesh and skull.

As it fell, another one rushed towards me from behind.

I pushed more mana into the wings of the sky. Swish! The wings slashed through the neck of the charging Redleaf Hound.

– Slash!

Blood gushed out from the severed neck. The fierce eyes of the Redleaf Hound widened, and it collapsed to the ground as if its strength had left its legs.

With a thud, the sliding Redleaf Hound slid closer. I quickly approached the struggling creature.

I raised my foot, infused it with mana, wrapped it in a protective barrier, and struck down with force. Crunch! The massive head shattered, and blood splattered on the ground.

Frowning, I took a few steps back. Perhaps because of its large body, there was a lot of blood being expelled.

I activated my spatial perception. Out of caution, I carefully observed the surroundings.

Everything was red. Not only the blood spewed by this creature but also the bodies of the monsters piled around.

All the monsters in the vicinity were dead. After confirming this, I turned my head.

A little distance away, there were people hiding among the rubble of a collapsed building. A man, a woman, and a child sandwiched between them. They seemed to be a family.

I opened my mouth…

“It’s okay now… It’s okay… damn it, jaws.”

I clenched my teeth and tapped on my smartwatch.

Although the external connection was cut off, the basic functions were still intact. It was a function derived from the power of the Tower of Adjustment, and it would be troublesome if even this was not working.

[It’s safe now. Please move to the evacuation point quickly.]

“Thank you, thank you so much…!”

The man bowed repeatedly.

With disheveled hair, dust-covered and torn clothes with a hint of bloodstains, he looked like a refugee.

The man seemed disoriented as he thanked me and turned towards the direction of the evacuation center.

The woman, who resembled a man in ragged clothes, ran with trembling legs full of fear.

However, it was surprising how firm her hands were as she held onto the child.

– Huff…

Even in the midst of it all, she scanned the direction they were heading with spatial perception. After confirming that there were no monsters, she exhaled a breath filled with exhaustion.

It had been almost two hours since they were caught up in the dungeon rampage.

After bringing the child to the shelter.

Without rest, she wandered around the area caught up in the rampage, killing monsters, rescuing and evacuating people who couldn’t escape due to various reasons.

Spatial perception was superior to the observation ability of most high-level superhumans. Finding people who couldn’t evacuate was something I excelled at in this space.

Killing monsters was not difficult either. The dungeon was Grade 4.

The standard hierarchy of the monsters that appeared was at most Grade 8, and considering the influence of the dungeon, it did not exceed Grade 7.

Even the enemy wolves that had just rushed at me were Grade 7. I caught over a hundred of those guys. It wasn’t difficult, but it was draining in many ways.

I checked my condition for a moment.

It was just draining. My physical stamina was fine, but I was burning out my circuits and cores to compensate for the depletion of mana.

It was somewhat manageable in the Tower of Growth.

Some of the burning out was intentional to induce growth, and the mana density inside the tower was so high that even a little absorption was more than enough.

Although the mana density had increased significantly inside this rampaging dungeon… it couldn’t compare to the inside of the Tower of Growth.

‘Grade 4, I should be thankful… I guess.’

I continued to kill monsters. Most of them were enemy wolves, and at most Grade 7.

I occasionally encountered other superhumans. Most of them were out hunting monsters and there were also those moving in parties to rescue people.

Their numbers were small, but the fact that there were other superhumans besides me was somewhat comforting.

I also rescued people. I guided those who were paralyzed with fear and couldn’t come out of the building to the shelter, and continuously cleared out the monsters on the way to the shelter.

There were many dead bodies.

‘……’

I bit my lips. There were people caught in the collapsing buildings due to the dungeon rampage. Many were suddenly killed by the monsters… devoured.

Spatial perception conveyed it all without filtering.

The heavy bodies crushed under the collapsed buildings, the bodies left behind without being swallowed by the monsters, the meat dough-like substance in the monster’s stomach…

“Damn it.”

I felt nauseous. I wanted to vomit my heart out, but I didn’t have the luxury to do so.

Because there might be more bodies piling up while I vomit. It wasn’t that unbearable, so I could endure it.

I did the same now. I quickly checked my condition and stomped on the ground. Climbing up the outer wall of the building, I jumped to the rooftop and moved on by leaping over to the next rooftop.

I keenly felt the performance of my body. Going up to the rooftop of the building with one or two leaps, moving between the rooftops of the buildings by leaping.

It was a movement that I couldn’t even imagine before.

“Are there… no more survivors now?”

The dungeon rampage did not engulf the entire city of Sifnaha.

Several dungeons rampaged together, expanding their range, but it was impossible to swallow the entire city of Sifnaha, even though it was small.

However, a considerable number were swallowed. At least more than half of the population was included in the range, and there were many people caught up in it.

It was somewhat manageable as Sifnaha belonged to a small city. If this had happened in a large city… with a large population, I didn’t want to imagine.

‘……’

The dungeon rampage. The representative disaster of this world.

The reason for losing the current territory, including Africa, is nothing but a minor disaster that will come as easily as having a meal after Siyolam graduates, if the story goes as planned.

It remains uncertain whether I will wake up later… compared to the invading towers, it’s just a minor disaster.

Should I face it? The sudden thought made my head spin. I felt too weak to confront such a disaster…

*Sigh…*

I exhaled and inhaled deeply. Pushing aside the rising anxiety, I focused on my spatial perception to gather information.

Quite some time had passed. As the supernaturals, including myself, continued to lead survivors to the shelter steadily, there were no more survivors to be found through spatial perception, only a plethora of monsters.

I scattered the prepared meal. I intended to conserve my magic.

Initially, I was worried that wandering monsters might attack people, so I cleaned up the area, but now there were no people left to attack.

“Should I head to the shelter now?”

I roamed around the area ravaged by the rampage several times. Since I had scanned the area through spatial perception, there was no need to worry about missing anyone.

I changed direction. I had rescued all the people I could. All that was left were bodies that were impossible to rescue.

If I were to consider villains or monsters skilled in sorcery, it would be appropriate to eliminate them one by one… but for now, it seemed unnecessary.

I arrived at the shelter shortly after. Using my agility, I easily crossed the rooftop.

At the edge of my spatial perception, I noticed the entrance to the shelter. Monster corpses were piled up around it like mountains.

When I first arrived, there were only two guarding the entrance, but now there were about six patrolling the area.

The momentum I felt… seemed weaker than me. Perhaps it meant my growth was abnormal. With a strange expression, I firmly planted my feet on the ground.

“……!”

I tried to push forward. The moment I tried to push the ground, an inexplicable intuition struck my spine.

It was not just a feeling, but a strong gut feeling that could not be dismissed as a mere mood swing.

Since experiencing a genuine gut feeling when creating the 13th cycle, I had not thought of intuition as purely negative.

And now… it was even more so. Regardless of the process, the fact that danger was imminent was firmly ingrained in my mind.

Is there no process? I might be wrong. Just across from the shelter, at the edge of my spatial perception, a red-furred beast entered.

A beast with red fur. I did not think it was a Red Leaf Dog.

It had red fur. It looked the same. But it was different. If a normal Red Leaf Dog’s fur looked like dirty blood, the blood streaked on its fur was disgustingly different.

It was huge. It was even more massive. A normal Red Leaf Dog was about twice my size, but this one was easily three times as large.

It stood on two legs, making it appear even more massive. My spatial perception observed the monster.

The distance was easily over a few hundred meters. Its sharp blood-red eyes pierced through to this side.

A sense of life pounded through my body. It felt as if my limbs were stiffening, but thankfully, my survival instinct allowed me to move.

I stopped my feet as my intuition had suggested. It was the same now.

Without looking back, I gathered my magic.

I wielded my strength excessively.

I surrounded myself with thick energy.

Not stopping there, I spread my wings wide open in the sky.

I reluctantly drew out my sword and formed a defensive spell around me.

I had never missed an opponent’s attack through spatial perception before.

Freshman Welcome Day, when I collided with Hong Yeonhwa, I showed an intention to rush forward, but my body didn’t respond and we collided.

The same thing happened with Katsuki Yusei, who flew towards me. I definitely observed it, but my body didn’t follow.

The sparring with Professor Atra was no different. Of course, I kept my guard up, but I observed all the attacks. The reason I couldn’t avoid them was because my movements were sluggish.

And even now, it was the same.

I saw the attack.

The body that leaped through the air, crushing the ground, the thick front paw that was forcefully pulled back and then swung forward, and the crimson mist enveloping it…

– Thud!

The defensive magic couldn’t hold up for a moment and was pierced through.

The gleaming sword cut through effortlessly, as if slicing through butter. Even with my armor on, it was the same.

Next, the wingtip in the sky was torn off, followed by the shredded armor covering my body.

A massive front paw approached. Just its size alone was enough to cover my upper body and then some.

– Bang!

My mind went blank. Already burdened by spatial awareness, a tremendous shock hit me physically.

Bones jutted out. The body that had fallen from the rooftop was now a mess on the ground.

– Thud!

It felt like a scream was about to escape. Fortunately, perhaps due to the suddenness of it all, there was no time for a scream.

My distant mind was grasped. Strangely, it became clearer than before.

Because I felt death. My eyelids trembled with pain. I relied on spatial awareness to keep my body intact.

A chunk of my left arm was torn off. Though the bone wasn’t exposed, the sense of loss was palpable.

If any defense element had been missing from that attack, I would have died. It wasn’t just a chunk of my arm being torn off; my arm would have been ripped off and my stomach slashed.

– Thud!

A rough vibration passed through the ground where my body lay. A giant beast leaped and landed on the road a little away from me.

– Grrrr…

A growl echoed in my ears. Though I had heard similar sounds for hours, the monster’s sound felt entirely different.

‘…That.’

It seemed like I had seen a similar creature somewhere. No, it was almost identical to the one I remembered from the original.

My sharpened mind, facing death, quickly unearthed similar information from the original memories.

In 〈Savior〉, no definitive final boss was designated.

There were several entities that felt like final bosses, but the game system didn’t precisely define them.

And while not as definitive as a final boss, there were many powerful entities as well.

‘……’

The entity name, Aerus of Blood Clouds.

Ranked as an Alpha in the Association’s Measurement Hierarchy, 3rd tier.

A monster that would devour countless top-tier heroes in the distant future.

The entity before me, before its growth, was revealing its true form right in front of me.

* * *

[Player Adjustment System: Pioneering]

[Detecting the Trial Approaching the Player]

[Quest “Beast of the Crimson Mist” Activated]

…

[The Player Encounters a Crossroads]