Ch.210210. The Final Chapter

Flowing Milky Way had nothing to hide. Though captured by Park Tae-sang, he remained composed.

“So what was your problem?”

“Problem?”

“There must have been something that made you join the Monster Corps? Like the other executives.”

Park Tae-sang was interrogating Flowing Milky Way alongside his subordinate Jaegers.

However, Flowing Milky Way merely twitched his red skin and sneered.

“Ah, you people are always like this. Looking for cause and effect. Usually that’s correct, but you should know there are exceptions.”

“If you cooperate, I’ll help solve whatever problem you have.”

Park Tae-sang was trying everything to extract information from this high-ranking executive.

The monsters’ current behavior was extremely suspicious.

According to Do Jong-hyun, things had “stabilized” enough for him to take a break after fighting frantically.

But most veteran Jaegers saw this as an ominous sign.

Having experienced turbulent times himself, Park Tae-sang felt the same, which is why he was conducting this interrogation.

“We’ve beaten information out of your comrades. We know you’re preparing for a great war.”

“Then why not just accept that? Why bother trying to persuade me? It’s meaningless.”

“No, all the executives we’ve taken down had heartbreaking stories. You’re the same, aren’t you? I heard you’re from ‘that side.'”

“Heartbreaking stories? Yes, I was discriminated against for being Native American when I was young… I lost my family.”

Flowing Milky Way suddenly began talking about his past.

“We lived in a restricted area, and even when we tried to attend normal schools, we faced many problems. Then that incident happened.”

“What incident?”

As Park Tae-sang leaned in with interest, Flowing Milky Way suddenly burst into laughter.

“That day, the kids wouldn’t talk to me and ignored me. I felt isolated and became afraid of school. And then finally…”

Flowing Milky Way’s expression seemed about to crumble into tears, but then he started laughing.

“Suddenly all my classmates were holding gifts to celebrate my birthday! It turned out everyone had been working together to help me adjust. It was truly a beautiful sight.”

“What?”

A vein bulged on Park Tae-sang’s forehead. Flowing Milky Way, seemingly enjoying the reaction, continued.

“Here’s another one. When I played rugby in middle school, there was a guy on the opposing team who racially insulted me. Of course, under current U.S. law, he’d be finished for doing that, but I deliberately asked to continue the game. I wanted to crush him with skill. But I failed! My teammates really cursed me out. They said I shouldn’t have held back. Hahaha!”

“Hey, are you doing this on purpose?”

Park Tae-sang slammed his fist on the table.

“Stop joking around. I’m being serious.”

“How amusing. Do you think I have any reason to be serious?”

“What?”

“What are you trying to find out? Everything is exactly as you’ve predicted. We’ve reached a point where both sides must commit their main forces to battle. We just need to prepare well, that’s all.”

“Even if I help resolve your grudges?”

Flowing Milky Way seemed unable to contain himself any longer and stamped his feet.

“This is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. You, who tormented us so much with that horn, are now this desperate. Well, I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. What I just told you is the truth.”

“What?”

“I had plenty of good memories with friends and went through a decent period of life.”

“Then why?”

At this point, Flowing Milky Way dropped the cocky attitude he’d been displaying.

Even though Park Tae-sang knew his life wasn’t in danger, his heart pounded.

Like a detective visiting a serial killer in a movie.

“Good friends, good job, good lover. All good. But I want to ruin this world. Because it’s attractive. Isn’t it natural to want to destroy something beautiful?”

“What?”

Park Tae-sang was dumbfounded by the absurd statement.

“You’re saying there’s no actual cause?”

“That’s right. Didn’t I tell you? I want to see this wonderful world crumble. It’s not a normal desire, but when the opportunity to fulfill it comes, why hesitate?”

“Are you fucking insane?”

Park Tae-sang spat out a harsh curse, but Flowing Milky Way remained detached.

“What exactly do you expect? Do you think opposing forces must have some tragic past and reality? I want to see the world fall apart, to witness the end of human extinction—an insane desire. Most people hide such thoughts inside, but mine just manifested outwardly. Understand? Ah, the other executives were deliberately chosen because they were easy to manipul—”

At that moment, Park Tae-sang’s fist sent Flowing Milky Way flying.

“You disgusting bastard! For such a pathetic reason!”

“As expected, you don’t understand. It may be trivial to you, but to me, it’s the most important value. I want to see it. The collapse of this world’s foundation.”

Flowing Milky Way began to cackle once more.

*

Silence. The whole world was quiet, like the calm before a storm.

At most, Dokgo Jun was dispatched to clean up remaining forces, but that was it.

Numerous gates had been dismantled, and the enemy no longer invaded.

This meant only one thing.

“So they’re finally gathering for one big showdown.”

Geum Do-hyun put a snack in his mouth. It was September, and though the academy had reopened with classes resuming as before, everyone looked grim.

They all knew what this silence meant.

Everyone was anxious, focusing on disaster evacuation and rescue.

It would be nice if today passed quietly too, but they were on standby for an emergency at any moment.

The atmosphere could be described as similar to when there were fractures between them—bustling with tension.

Hopefully, there would be no casualties.

[Understand? Since we have forces, we’ll mainly patrol inside and outside. We’ll join Jaegers worldwide to conquer the gates. You’ll be in charge of domestic defense.]

Cho Sung-hee assigned me to domestic defense. Naturally, Korea has been known for its high-level Jaegers and powerful monsters since the beginning.

That’s why Aerial came here too, and the standards are high. Entrusting this place to me is equivalent to making me the top priority.

“So we need to conserve our strength as much as possible.”

Since it would be risky for us to invade the enemy given our current power, we need to face them here.

Geum Do-hyun tilted his head back.

“But I’m jealous. I want to fight in an important role too. Damn! This great Geum Do-hyun also wants to be relied upon by everyone!”

“…I was trying to comfort you, but you don’t want that?”

“No. I’m just a side character anyway.”

“That’s still impressive in its own way.”

Geum Do-hyun looked at me for a moment, then patted my shoulder.

“Don’t worry, of course. I’ll fulfill my role.”

“That’s right. Do-hyun has been on your side since you were captured. He gathered everyone and was so worried.”

Gu Sang-heon dropped that comment and left.

Do-hyun’s face turned bright red with embarrassment.

“Gu Sang-heon, you jerk! Always appearing suddenly and dropping bombs like that!”

As Geum Do-hyun and Gu Sang-heon disappeared from sight, a large figure appeared before me.

“Min-woo?”

This giant was Han Min-woo. His sturdy frame sat down in front of me.

“I heard.”

I didn’t respond to Min-woo’s words. Given his personality, I needed to keep listening to his brief statements.

“What if the enemy doesn’t come at all and just waits?”

“Waits?”

“The enemy has grown huge and powerful. They might deliberately drag things out longer.”

Coming from Min-woo, this lengthy advice gave me a fresh perspective.

I had expected them to gather all at once, but what if they held out as long as possible?

Continuing to develop and grow until they had an overwhelming advantage?

“Hmm. That’s scary too. Could we go there?”

At that moment, I recalled Jun-hoo’s words. He said he went to where the ancient species was sealed and talked with it.

Jun-hoo might know something about this.

“I should ask Eun Se-rin and other collaborators to consider that possibility too.”

“Yes. I’m counting on you.”

Han Min-woo patted my shoulder and left. We definitely needed to consider the possibility of them forcing us into a defensive battle.

So much to do.

But such concerns proved to be a luxury. Suddenly, an alarm went off.

Simultaneously, all our class’s phones began ringing.

“It’s near the school!”

With Seol Yu-hwa’s words, I pulled out my card. As the school’s defense system activated, I leaped out the window in one bound.

“Huh? But what’s with this grade?”

However, the monster’s grade on my phone was just S-class. That might have been challenging before, but now it’s too weak for me.

I transformed into a wolf to face the enemy, and a squishy creature fell down.

“…”

This slime-like creature was an Actor Slime. It’s a type that physical attacks don’t work well against, but otherwise easy to deal with.

The problem was that it was now dividing in all directions right in front of me.

“How annoying.”

It was just a matter of spotting and killing each one, but I couldn’t help feeling something was off.

Why send such an easy opponent during this period?

The answer came immediately through my phone. Geum Do-hyun rushed over and showed me the message.

[SS+ class or higher attack in Ansan]

“What?”

I had no choice but to leave the monster to the others and rush to Ansan.

There, a new ancient species was already devastating the surroundings.

[Fusion]

I performed fusion and should have been able to slice the snake monster to pieces in one go…

But the horrifically destroyed scene before me told a different story.

*

Let’s assess the current situation.

Powerful entities like ancient species must be handled by priest-class or higher Jaegers.

But there aren’t many of them, and even they are absolutely outmatched in 1:1 fights against ancient species.

Overwhelming numbers are absolutely necessary.

Moreover, how those numbers fare depends on the ancient species’ nature—”relatively solid” ancient species tend to cause more severe damage.

Conversely, ancient species with special abilities can somehow be countered by veterans.

The precarious peace was broken by two attacks in one week.

Probing attacks were gradually increasing worldwide.

[Above all, unlike before, they’re deliberately targeting surrounding destruction.]

Monsters get exterminated. In other words, since it wasn’t exactly force versus force, we could somehow catch them. The difference was that the enemies now prioritized building and human casualties.

Some even ignored fights with Jaegers.

“This seems deliberate, doesn’t it?”

Do-hyun was also clicking his tongue. Monsters are destructive.

Using this formula, it started destroying the city while temporarily keeping me occupied.

The different level of destructive power of ancient species posed such a threat that cities had to implement emergency measures and keep people in shelters.

“This can’t keep happening…”

“That’s exactly why we’re here!”

Geum Do-hyun appeared before me again with a thumbs up.

“Like before, we’ll handle the weak ones. Several of us have reached the priest level now.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

But today was a bit different.

“It’s not just fodder. It’s an ancient species.”

With a roar that shook heaven and earth—

And that wasn’t the end. My phone rang again, notifying me of a new attack location.

Another one had arrived here. Simultaneously in the same area?

And all of them ancient species?

“Damn…”

What should I do?

If I face one, the other will prioritize destroying the city. And if that happens…

“Jong-hyun!”

Geum Do-hyun grabbed my shoulder.

“Trust us. We’ll hold out as long as we can.”

“Will you be okay?”

“It’s not like they’re ancient species, right? As long as they’re not the kind that even Dokgo Jun or Mr. Park Tae-sang got sick of.”

Geum Do-hyun gave another thumbs up.

“I’ll trust you. Thank you all.”

“No problem! Everyone! Let’s go! Hold out as long as possible!”

With their trust, I pulled out my golden card.