Part 1, Chapter 6 (20)

The Oracle’s prophecies are fulfilled through dreams. They see the possibilities that might occur in the world through the medium of ‘dreams,’ and after waking, they meticulously record them to foresee great dangers in the future.

And those prophecies always came true precisely. Ever since inheriting the superpower from the previous Oracle, their prophecies had a 100% reliability.

Until two months ago.

“This dream again?”

The Oracle aimlessly walked through a ruined city. They walked, and walked, and walked. However, the surrounding scenery was nothing but a concrete graveyard, with no sign of human presence.

Kkaaaak-

“Ugh! You startled me.”

A bird flapped its wings and flew across the sky between the buildings. The Oracle calmed their startled heart and spat on the ground.

“Those bird bastards keep popping up every damn day.”

A monstrous bird scattering azure flames. For about two months now, it had been a malicious pest that appeared in the Oracle’s dreams, tormenting them.

From the sudden appearance of the dimensional gate incident in Seoul to Gwanggeom’s death, that monstrous bird always appeared whenever ‘something not seen in dreams’ happened.

“What kind of trouble is it going to cause now….”

The Oracle missed the previous Oracle. For an ordinary American boy, fields like astrology and dream interpretation were far too difficult.

“If it weren’t for the world destruction prophecy, I would just shut up and live my life.”

The deceased previous Oracle-a gypsy woman-had made her final prophecy, risking her life, and passed on her superpower to the boy.

December 25, 2025. Christmas, about five and a half years from now.

“‘The one from the stars shall destroy the world.’ …If it weren’t for the Oracle, that would have been true nonsense.”

The Oracle scratched their pink-colored hair vigorously. Since there was no way to ask someone who was already dead, the Oracle had to figure out how this ‘dream’ would manifest in reality.

Kkaaaak

Pudeuk. The Oracle was dumbfounded by something that fell on their head. This sensation, they definitely hadn’t felt it wrong. The Oracle moved their hand and picked up whatever had fallen on their head.

‘Bird poop?’

The Oracle’s pupils trembled uncontrollably. Until now, it had only startled them, but this was the first time it had messed with the Oracle like this. The Oracle threw the blue poop to the ground and looked up.

“You bastard-“

Kkaaaak Kkaaaak Kkaaaak Kkaak

Kkaaaak Kkaaaak Kkeoeoeok Kkaak

Before they knew it, countless birds were gliding in flocks across the sky. And from near the tails of those birds, something began to fall like rain.

“You want me to make a prophecy based on this?”

The Oracle bit their tongue. They absolutely couldn’t die from being hit by those contaminants falling like rain.

Thus, the Oracle died in the dream, and the observation ended.

* * *

5:13 AM, Oracle’s private jet over the Sea of Okhotsk.

“Uwaaah?!”

The Oracle screamed as they woke up from their sleep. Due to their more violent awakening than usual, Gawain, who was sitting in the co-pilot’s seat right next to them, reached out in surprise.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, uh, yeah. …Except for feeling like absolute shit.”

Gawain made a stern expression at the Oracle’s harsh words.

“You should speak more politely. As long as I’ve been entrusted with your education by your father, Oracle-nim-“

“Ah, seriously! I’m telling you, the dream was weird! Suddenly, the sky was full of birds….”

Aeeeng–! Before there was even time for discipline, a monster alarm blared. The number of monsters detected on the radar reached dozens, even hundreds, to the extent that signals were coming in from the Korean Peninsula all the way to the Oracle’s private jet.

And those signals were appearing from both the southern and northern ends of the Korean Peninsula.

“W-what?!”

“Busan, Dandong. Simultaneously in two places?”

[Captain! It’s a lull here now! Uwaaah?! M-my arm has parasitic worms!]

A call came in from Busan. Jilpungek, Himeji Hayate, screamed as they sliced up the parasitic worms trying to bite their arm.

[W-we caught Moby Dick, and now parasitic worms are pouring out from inside! It’ll take some time to kill them all!]

[What are you doing?! Why aren’t you killing them faster?! If you birthed them, you clean them up!]

A white-haired woman brushed past Jilpungek. Jilpungek, feeling a surge of emotion, stabbed the head of an attacking parasitic worm with their sword.

[Hey, you too, you f-…. Damn it! Anyway, the situation here is over! Moby Dick is dead, we just need to clean up the leftovers! Take your time coming!]

Jilpungek cut off the communication. The two were momentarily dumbfounded by the storm-like call, but soon came to their senses and checked the signals from Dandong, China.

“Dozens, no, hundreds of B-class monsters?!”

“Busan is overflowing with A-class ones! …What’s wrong with the satellite again?”

The satellite images of the night sky also went dead. The mana concentration near the Yalu River was so dense that it was hard to believe it was simply B-class monsters pouring out like mushrooms after rain. Gawain furrowed their brows.

“Could it be that S-class monster that appeared in Seoul?”

“What the hell is that now?”

The Oracle snapped. They had never heard or seen anything about an S-class monster appearing in Seoul, neither in dreams nor in reality.

“It’s a monster that appeared while the Oracle was observing. Like the legendary Demon Dragon Vortigern-“

“If something like that appeared, you should have woken me up immediately!”

“It appeared five minutes ago….”

“Damn it!”

The Oracle cursed again and searched through the records. As Gawain said, a Black Dragon soared north, spewing azure flames. The Oracle pointed at the map and the Black Dragon’s location, shaking their head.

“So that thing already flew all the way there? That makes no sense. Neither chronologically nor physically.”

“It seems like a separate incident. The monster is now passing over Pyongyang. In contrast, the monsters in Dandong appeared suddenly. I think a ‘nest’ might have popped up.”

“What? Are you kidding me? Why are so many situations not in the prophecy suddenly exploding now?”

The Oracle irritably connected to the satellite feed of Dandong. It didn’t seem to be the effect of a dimensional gate; the video signal was clear. That made the Oracle even more frustrated.

Chijik. The satellite feed, which had just been passing over another region, showed the dawn sky of Dandong. At the countless monster reactions appearing from what was presumed to be a nest, the Oracle tore at their hair.

“Ah, goddammit.”

Blue birds were flying in the Dandong sky. Each bird emitted the signal of a B-class monster and attacked the heroes. The Oracle’s gaze returned to the clock.

“How can a prophetic dream come true so quickly?!”

The time the Oracle’s observation ended was 5:13 AM. Exactly two minutes later, a nest appeared in Dandong, and birds flapped their wings.

* * *

At that time, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport, Sakhalin Island.

The woman, with her arms crossed, endlessly checked the wristwatch on her left hand. Unlike the smartwatch on her right hand, the wristwatch, which exuded an old-fashioned analog charm, was already pointing to 5:15 AM.

“They’re really making people wait.”

The woman tightened her clothes. Since the matter was urgent, she had prepared within 10 minutes and ‘transferred’ from Moscow to Sakhalin, but the plane that was supposed to pick her up hadn’t even arrived yet.

The woman pressed her smartwatch to call Gawain. Fortunately, Gawain answered the call quickly.

“What’s going on, Captain? Is the private jet coming this way right now?”

[I apologize, Undine. It seems the Oracle and I need to head towards China.]

“Suddenly? Ah, because of Unjang?”

[Yes. It seems the situation is serious. The Oracle seems to have observed the world’s destruction again. …Though I find it difficult to tell you the details.]

The white-haired woman, Vladimir R. Anastasia, furrowed her delicate brows.

“World destruction? Like last time, isn’t it too sudden?”

[The Oracle has already prophesied the world’s destruction several times. Fortunately, it hasn’t happened yet, but you never know.]

“Alright. I’ll join you. Should I go down to Busan first?”

[No, please go to China.]

The Oracle appeared on the screen, their hair completely disheveled.

[Busan will be taken care of soon. Right now, a flock of birds has appeared in China, and it’s a complete mess.]

“A flock of birds?”

The Oracle sent the relevant data. Upon seeing the flock of azure phoenixes, Undine spat out the vodka she had just been drinking.

“Puhok, Keuheueu, hey! What is this?! Why are these things here?!”

[That’s what I’d like to know. They just appeared out of nowhere. Things that weren’t even in the prophecy.]

“…Not in your prophecy?”

Undine wiped away the vodka that had trickled down from her lips. Undine’s expression, as if she was thinking about something, changed by the moment.

“…Alright. Then I’ll go to Busan first and then join you.”

[No, I’m telling you, Busan is already being taken care of!]

“Is there a problem with me going to Busan? Aren’t you curious what will happen to you if my father finds out I’ve left the palace?”

[Hey! Don’t threaten people like that, you damn drunkard! You fu-]

[Aaaah! Long live Her Majesty the Queen! Aaaah!]

The Oracle, thoroughly enraged, spewed out profanities that couldn’t be uttered. While Gawain was spouting some nonsense to shut the Oracle up, the woman turned off the screen.

“As if things weren’t already unsettling enough to drive me crazy.”

Undine’s body vanished from the airport.

* * *

5:16 AM, Yalu River Monster Nest.

“The Yellow Heaven is dead, the Blue Heaven will rise!”

I loudly shouted as I kicked the hero who had crossed the Yalu River back into the water. I wondered if they could hear me underwater, but I wanted to shout it out anyway.

“Kuheoeok, Kuluk!”

The man resurfaced and spat out water. But soon, a Mini Phoenix perched on his crown and pecked the man’s head, knocking him unconscious. The azure flame flowing from the Mini Phoenix’s beak burned away all the mana in the man’s body.

“Alright! Kill the monsters, and for humans, threa-… no, knock them unconscious!”

– The Core says it’ll eat well.

“…No. Bring the Cores to the nest.”

Unlike during the Seoul Reclamation Operation, when they were used as messengers or Divided Spirits for transfer, Mini Phoenixes could now be used as a means of attack.

Thanks to continuously producing Mini Phoenixes through the cube, their number had already well exceeded a hundred. Chinese hunters raised their gun barrels to the sky for an untimely falconry, while the Mini Phoenixes leisurely dodged attacks and targeted their prey.

Among them, those who barely managed to cross the river were intercepted directly by me, Deokbae, and Phantom, preventing their river crossing. The number of heroes knocked unconscious had already reached 250.

It was such a large number that it made me wonder if all the heroes near the border had rushed out. Though most of them were C- or D-class.

“There’s no end to it, even if we keep killing them.”

“Hey, we’re not killing them right now. Don’t say things that’ll make people misunderstand.”

Phantom picked up a Core that was rolling on the ground with a Tentacle. Near the Core, there were traces of crushed rock fragments. I received the Core from Phantom and imbued it with mana.

“Heoeo, Heo, Heoeok!”

The Core glowed, and Deokbae revived. Even though I had given him a Spirit Stone, Deokbae crossed the river himself to intercept the hunters and became a target for both hunters and heroes.

“It seems there are no more heroes trying to cross the river, so should we cross over from here?”

Phantom gathered its Tentacles neatly, as if preparing to jump. The wriggling sight reminded me of Moby Dick’s second form, sending shivers down my spine.

“Hey! Stop messing around and fight!”

After throwing Deokbae across the river, I was disgusted by the association between Phantom’s Tentacles and Anisakis, but then quickly finished a brief explanation before Phantom could misunderstand.

Anisakis is a colony (群體) monster, and although thousands of them are individually A-class monsters, they are ultimately a bonus stage that provides immense experience and Core rewards.

A good medium for tremendous growth, if you can just endure a bit of disgust. Of course, this world isn’t a game, so we’ll just be getting Cores like crazy.

I exchanged words with Phantom about Anisakis as I leaped across the river. I retrieved Deokbae, whom I had already thrown, revived him, and then struck the heroes, knocking them unconscious.

“Phantom! Control it well so the enemies don’t die!”

“I’m already doing that, aren’t I?!”

Killing them would have been troublesome. Just like when I interfered with the Seoul Reclamation Operation, this battle also had the restriction of not killing the attacking heroes.

“Get out of the way!”

One of Phantom’s Tentacles wriggled greatly, and Phantom immediately slammed that Tentacle onto the ground.

Kwaang! Blackish-gray flames shot up from the ground where the Tentacle struck. I had just punched a hero in the abdomen when the flames that shot up next to me made me involuntarily exclaim in admiration.

“When did you copy the Black Dragon again?”

“Right before you turned me into a monster. I’m only collecting A-class ones now.”

“Oh, really? Good job. …Hmm.”

I’ll have to ask later what abilities Phantom copied and stored in its Tentacles.

Before I knew it, all the Chinese heroes in this area were subdued, and the Mini Phoenixes grabbed the collars of the unconscious people and laid them out horizontally. It looked exactly like corpses laid out after a mass death, which wasn’t a pleasant sight.

I pressed my smartwatch to call Beacon.

“Ah, Beacon, come in. The first wave has safely ended. Where are you now?”

[We just passed Pyongyang. The Black Dragon is flying at top speed.]

The Black Dragon’s flight speed, without my mana support, reaches subsonic levels, so it should arrive at the ‘nest’ stronghold in about 15 minutes.

“Good. Deploy the defensive line immediately upon arrival. We’ll continue pushing north from here.”

[Captain-nim, you absolutely must not kill them? Later, during negotiations with the Round Table-]

“Of course. Beacon, you can explain it well later. If we take too many hostages, even the leader of the Round Table will fly over from England immediately.”

[Haa, understood.]

I could hear Beacon’s sigh even from here. Since Haneulseong and Architect had moved into the public eye, I had to make good use of Beacon, who was put forward as the representative face of the Azure Syndicate. In the future, they would have to face and negotiate with the president, branch managers, and even the head of the Hero Association.

“Don’t worry. They say if you know yourself and your enemy, you won’t be defeated in a hundred battles, right? I know all the members of the Round Table inside and out, so rest assured. Except for one.”

“Who is it?”

Phantom subtly approached, perking its ears. Phantom, Gaeul, had quite enjoyed hearing about the secret history of the world from me since becoming a superpower user. Since it wasn’t a big problem, I mentioned it as it was.

“It’s a hero from a Russian noble family, someone who will die two years from now.”

“…? Didn’t you know everything about the future?”

“……I only know what I know. I don’t know what I don’t know.”

I know everything about the original story-especially the settings related to the heroines-but I don’t know the details of past events, especially those abroad. However, I do know one thing.

“A Round Table member who will be eaten if Fenrir awakens? Anyway, they’re not an important person.”

I don’t even know their name. They were just a character mentioned as ‘someone like that existed in the past,’ and since they were already deceased by the time of the original story, I couldn’t recruit them as a comrade. They were someone not worth bothering with.

“More importantly, let’s focus on the person right in front of us now.”

I changed into my monstrous human form, pointed forward, and stood at the end of the broken bridge. Phantom and Deokbae also seemed to sense something and stepped back from me.

[Both of you, protect the nest.]

“Okay.”

“Understood.”

They must have noticed it too. The charge of the God of War, shaking the very ground as they approached from the north. Although the lingering mana approaching from afar wasn’t as vast as Seok Harang’s, it was sharp like a blade honed by a master craftsman, piercing my skin with pain.

“Hey, don’t tell me….”

“I think you’re right.”

[They’re coming.]

With the thunderous sound of hooves, a red and green human-horse figure stopped at the end of the bridge opposite me. A red unicorn clad in black iron armor, and a hero in a green battle robe riding atop it.

Unjang (Cloud General), Xiaolin (Little Forest).

The human I first met after falling into this world, and I, were now facing each other like this after a full two months.

“…….”

Unjang said nothing. But the beard-long hair-hanging below their mask was trembling ever so slightly.

[Why are they trembling so much?]

Are they afraid because they met me as a monstrous human, or did they recognize me as the same person as my true form and my monstrous human form?

Either way, it doesn’t matter. I clenched my fist tightly and drew forth my mana.

[The monstrous human of the Azure Syndicate. Phoenix.]

“……!”

Unjang loosened their grip on the reins. Fortunately, it seemed my intention was conveyed, and their subtly trembling hand became steady.

“……Unjang, the hero of the Round Table.”

No more words were needed. Red Hare snorted, pawing the ground, ready to leap, and Unjang gripped their spear tightly, reinforcing their Guandao with mana.

The Yalu River at dawn, where the sun would soon rise. In the middle of it, a single leaf, from who knew where, gently floated down to the water’s surface.

Three. I took a step forward.

Two. Red Hare lowered its stance.

One. Light gathered on Unjang’s Guandao.

The moment the single leaf touched the water’s surface.

The monstrous human and the hero simultaneously leaped from the bridge.

[Can you hear me? I have something to ask.]

When I get back, I’m going to shove a triple shot of coffee down Seok Harang’s esophagus. Definitely.