Part 1 Chapter 2 (5)

“Huh?”

An irritating sensation pricked my skin. I quickly stopped the car and focused on the energy I felt from afar.

“Ack! Can’t you drive straight?!”

Deokbae, who hadn’t buckled his seatbelt, had his neck snap back violently. The moment I was about to point that out, my smartwatch began to vibrate intensely.

Eeeeeeeeng—-

“It’s a monster alert. Where, Gwanaksan? A dimensional gate? Ugh. It must be chaos.”

Deokbae snorted as he looked out the window.

“Gwanaksan, huh….”

It’s not that far. The fragment of the god sleeping in Yeouido isn’t going to run away just because it’s delayed by a day. And if a dimensional gate opened in Gwanaksan, hundreds of monsters would surely pour out.

I glanced at the cross bag resting on Deokbae’s feet, then pressed down hard on the accelerator.

“Hey! The tire’s gonna burst! Don’t step on it!”

“I can reinforce it with mana! Let’s go for a ride, shall we!”

Seeing the speedometer rapidly pass 100, Deokbae quickly buckled his seatbelt.

* * *

Chaos.

Seung-hyung, who should have been making calm and rational judgments in any situation, didn’t know what to do with his chaotic mind and shouted at the film crew.

“Everyone! Run to the west!”

At the shout of the A-rank Hero, amplified with mana, everyone began to calm down. Seung-hyung cleared his throat and shouted again.

“I will block the dimensional gate! Support will arrive from the association soon. All of you, somehow escape to Gwangmyeong City!”

Gwangmyeong City hasn’t fallen yet. Since there aren’t many people, if they drive straight to Gwangmyeong City on the same road they came, they can overcome the immediate crisis.

“W-what about you, Seung-hyung-ssi?!”

The director hesitated, asking Seung-hyung’s intentions. Perhaps because the reason they came all the way to S University was his fault, he was completely disheartened, but the Hero’s sharp senses clearly told him what his true feelings were.

“I apologize, but I cannot help you all right now.”

Hwareuk.

Red flames flared up behind Seung-hyung’s upper body. The shape of the flames, as if he were wearing a peeled bear hide, clearly showed why his Hero name was ‘Fire Bear’.

“From now on, I’m going straight to close the dimensional gate.”

“Ah, I understand. See you alive!”

Starting with the director hastily fleeing, all the film crew began to run to their vehicles. Seung-hyung approached Cheon Gaeul, who had frozen with a pale face among them, and firmly clasped her hands.

“Gaeul-ssi, it’s okay. I told you, didn’t I? I’ll protect you.”

The light returned to Gaeul’s eyes, which had been blankly staring at Seung-hyung. Gaeul avoided Seung-hyung’s gaze and pulled her hands away.

“…Yes.”

Gaeul’s gaze fell on her high heels. The killer heels she wore to compensate for the height difference would be very difficult to run downhill in. Seung-hyung fussed, trying to take off Gaeul’s high heels.

“I’ll escort you to the van. No, I’ll take you to the station first. Just a moment-“

“No. It’s fine.”

Gaeul’s small hand pushed Seung-hyung’s shoulder away. That small hand, nearly half the size of his own, stood Seung-hyung up like a mountain.

“Seung-hyung-ssi, please go block the dimensional gate. That’s what a Hero does, isn’t it?”

“But-“

“I have legs too. If it’s hard, I can just take them off. I’m good at running. You know I’m two years older than you, right, Seung-hyung-ssi?”

At her sight, clenching both fists and striking a ‘fighting’ pose, Seung-hyung unconsciously let out a silly laugh.

Gaeul puffed out her cheeks and lowered her hands, then flinched at Seung-hyung’s gaze meeting hers.

“Gaeul-ssi.”

“?!”

Gaeul, who had lived with acting for over a decade since her child actor days, had an innate sense for human emotions. The product of that talent and effort told her that the man before her was speaking with 100% sincerity.

“I’ll really close the dimensional gate and come right back. If I come back alive after closing it, there’s something I really want to tell you…. You’ll listen, won’t you?”

“Hmph, I’ll listen.”

“Hehe.”

Seung-hyung smiled brightly like a child, then stood up and ran towards the mountaintop like a bear. Gaeul unconsciously blushed at the strong emotions Seung-hyung left behind and moved her steps towards the parking lot.

“….”

Gaeul’s nape was flushed red.

* * *

Dimensional Gate.

The countless gates to other dimensions that Seongju had opened from Terra to Earth. A monster wave phenomenon where gates open randomly as Seongju enters recovery and loses control.

Dimensional gates, appearing like mushrooms after rain, signal their advent by leaking anomalous mana reactions at their points of origin.

Humanity learned how to detect that unknown mana-the mana of Terra, contaminated by the Otherworld God-and alerted people to the danger through notification apps that were essential on smartphones and watches.

‘And then the Heroes and hunters nearby step forward.’

Dimensional gates are a race against time. If you don’t hunt down the monsters pouring out and quickly destroy the gate, stronger-ranked monsters will appear from it.

Heroes step forward to block dimensional gates to protect humanity, and hunters hunt monsters coming through the dimensional gates to obtain Cores.

‘So I have to clear it quickly before an S-rank appears for no reason.’

As long as a dimensional gate has appeared, even the most sluggish government wouldn’t be able to resist dispatching Gwanggeom.

‘Getting into a quarrel with Gwanggeom already is a bit much.’

A Hero who hid his power for some reason. If his identity is revealed and he comes at me with all his might, I can’t guarantee my life.

Either he dies, or I die. I have no intention of dying or killing him right now.

“So, are you going to rampage in Gwanaksan? I thought you said you’d handle the Yeouido matter and then hide for a while to expand your influence?”

“It’s a dimensional gate. If an S-rank monster or something similar appears in Seoul, I’ll be the one in trouble.”

“You’d probably just burn them all to death.”

I shrugged. The truck, with azure flames emanating from its bumper, slammed straight into the monster that had leaped onto the road.

Kwaang!

“I could do that if I wanted to. But then I’d be provoking the entire world. My identity would be revealed, wouldn’t it? Do you think I created the Azure Syndicate for nothing?”

Kkiiiiiik–!

I quickly turned the truck right at the intersection, shaking off the monster clinging to its side. The monster rolled on the ground and slammed into a guardrail in a very unfortunate spot.

“I need to collect all the fragments quickly, but what if my enemies find out I’m collecting them? Then I don’t know how each country will react. They might hide them at the bottom of the Mariana Trench to make them hard to find, or even load them onto a rocket and shoot them beyond outer space so they can’t be found at all. It’s infuriating.”

“Isn’t that a bit too paranoid?”

“It’s real.”

It’s as if the creators were crazy, making the de facto rulers of each country based on figures famous for being lunatics. Given that the German Chancellor is named Adolf Wilhelm, there’s no need to even mention other countries.

“The Azure Syndicate needs to have enough power to at least fight and win against an entire nation. Within five years.”

The truck rattled violently. A monster that had burst open a manhole cover and tried to leap out had its face ground by the reinforced tires.

“Perhaps it could even be America or Russia.”

“…That Azure Syndicate organization is even more messed up than I thought.”

“You’re also a member of that organization.”

I swerved the truck, breaking through the guardrail. The truck, falling from the overpass, slid onto the asphalt and sped forward.

Kkiiiiiik!!

Deokbae, who had been gripping the vehicle tightly, turned his head towards me and shouted.

“Hey!!!”

“I’m not deaf. If we follow the navigation, it’ll be a detour, so I’m taking a shortcut.”

The navigation hesitated as if its data connection had been lost for a moment, then re-routed.

“Huh? Ah. It’s telling me to go this way because it’s mapping the mountain.”

At the navigation’s guidance, which was showing the honest national road, I closed the app and opened my senses wide.

Woooong–

The direction from which an indescribable discomfort emanated. I recalled the map displayed on the navigation one last time and unbuckled my seatbelt.

“Alright, then, prepare yourself now, Jo Deokbae-ssi.”

“Prepare for what?”

Deokbae frowned deeply but followed my lead and unbuckled his seatbelt. I drove the truck straight ahead and rolled down the window.

Keugyayaaaak!

Behind us, monsters were running down the road like zombies. Even though they felt my aura, which was only that of a B-rank monster, their relentless pursuit was clearly due to the A-rank monster Core in Deokbae’s bag.

“…Hmm.”

I tapped the steering wheel, withdrew my mana, and then slammed on the brakes. The vehicle skidded from inertia and stopped before an embankment.

Deokbae, as if he had expected it, braced his entire body against the inertia. The slightly triumphant look in his eyes was a bit annoying.

“Jo Deokbae-ssi. Could you hand me the bag?”

I took the bag Deokbae handed me and unzipped it. I pushed aside the miscellaneous goods bought from the convenience store and took out the necessary items, holding them in my hand.

“Here.”

“…Huh?”

As I wrapped the veil around my neck, Deokbae took the bag and rummaged inside. A moment later, a red-stained monster Core was in Deokbae’s hand.

“What is this?”

“What do you mean? It’s the A-rank monster Core that couldn’t be sold and left us broke.”

I spread wings of fire behind my back, leaped over the truck, and struck down the charging monster.

Kyaaaak!

The monsters, seemingly frightened by my suddenly unleashed mana, couldn’t approach rashly and instead kept their distance, growling. Even if they were blinded by the A-rank monster Core, they seemed to instinctively sense the power of a predator stronger than themselves.

“Jo Deokbae-ssi. As you can see, these small orbs are magical items that bewitch monsters. Right?”

“I can tell just by looking. So?”

The monsters surrounding Deokbae and me were all drooling and seemed abnormal. They were already intoxicated by the drug-like scent emanating from the A-rank Core.

“I’m going to close the dimensional gate in Gwanaksan. But oh? Annoying Heroes are rushing towards the dimensional gate. It gets tiresome if my identity is revealed already, you see? But I can’t just leave it to the Heroes; Korean Heroes aren’t trustworthy enough yet, are they? Oh dear, it seems I have no choice but to go! So, Deokbae, I need you to draw some attention. I’ll close it quickly and come back.”

“In other words, you want me to draw aggro. Can’t you say it more concisely?”

“Yes.”

I tightly gripped the two orbs in my hand. Under the crushing grip, amplified with mana, the Cores gradually cracked on their surface, and then finally,

Pasasak!

They burst like balloons. Deokbae’s mouth fell open in surprise.

“You… that…. Right now….”

“Hehe. Watch closely. This is another power of your master.”

The fragments of the Core, floating above my hand, created a wind and soared above my head. Their original color vanished, and the fragments began to absorb the azure flames, a unique property of the Phoenix, becoming fiery jewels flowing with pure mana.

“A Spirit Stone. I made it, but it’s beautiful. What a waste, though.”

Deokbae’s gaze was fixed on the jewel, unable to tear away. I barely suppressed a bursting laugh, gripped the jewel, and turned towards Deokbae.

“Then, Subordinate No. 2. Today, you must become my guinea pig again.”

“…Guinea pig? Hey, you’re not seriously going to-“

I answered with a laugh.

The azure jewel spewed forth immense azure flames, engulfing Deokbae.

“Keoeoeok?!”

Deokbae screamed in pain and writhed. But the azure flames spewing from the jewel paid no heed to Deokbae’s screams, wrapping around his entire body and steadily growing in size.

“The pain is only for a moment. Soon, when you come to your senses, your perspective on the world will have changed. Hehe. Then, I’ll leave the troublesome things to you.”

Confirming that the azure flames enveloping Deokbae were taking on the form of a giant human, I quickly ran towards Gwanaksan.

“Kyaaaak!”

“…Hmm.”

A horde of monsters blocking the way ahead was visible. The monsters that had been hiding throughout Seoul’s asphalt jungle were agitated by the appearance of monsters much stronger than themselves and began to flee in a hurry.

“I need to collect D-rank Cores and sell them to Baek Sang-woo, but….”

Kkaegaeng!

I snatched the head of a leopard-type monster that had charged with its claws out. The monster thrashed its four limbs in the air, unable to do anything, and I threw the monster forward.

Kieek!

“How annoying….”

Mostly D-rank. C-ranks were visible here and there, but they were all just annoying small fry.

‘Still, I have to clean up the trash.’

Anyway, I’ll need to do a thorough cleanup of all of Seoul later. Whether it’s people or monsters, the calamity that has fallen upon Seoul, once it’s gone to ruin, must be completely swept away.

Kyaaang?!

I burn them, kick their heads, pull out their claws and throw them into their eyes. Before blood splatters and stains my clothes, I ignite flames to burn them away, moving forward little by little.

‘Should I increase my output moderately?’

Even if S-rank is too much, a B-rank level would have less risk. I slightly raised my mana and extended my hand towards the charging monsters.

Ttalkak.

I pressed my thumb into the air as if flicking a lighter. And simultaneously, azure flames ignited on the monsters’ bodies.

Kyaaaak!

Driven mad by agony, the monsters writhed on the ground. I stepped on the monsters’ corpses, leaped onto a building rooftop, and ran straight towards Gwanaksan.

Kkeueong!!

Burning all the monsters that dared to charge at the Phoenix.