Chapter 21 - The Hidden Truth (2)

The Hidden Truth (2)

‘Nonsense!’

I1hyun murmured as he glimpsed down at the havoc that had taken place.

It wasn’t the 20-year evangelism when the gate first appeared.

In an instant, the city was obliterated, and the death toll was estimated to be in the four-digits now.

“It’s a fungus, and it will proliferate endlessly. Perhaps you’ve likely got to the subway Team leader Jeong, and I’ll go straight to the center and take care of the multiplying area.”

Said Lee Soo-yeon, trying to catch her nerves.

The monstrous fungus had made its presence often, always bringing with it the disasters that were hard to eliminate due to its rapid rate of multiplication.

What was worse was its quick human transmission, which draws psychological pressure as well.

I1hyun was not aware of the impending wreck yet.

“No… Does this happen frequently?”

Panicking, he asked.

All of them had their equipment ready and were just waiting for the right moment to take action.

“Even in Korea, where high-ranking awakened people are filled, there are several deaths at sudden gates. But did you think you could stop all of this from happening all over the world? On this extensive ground?”

It has been said that overseas was more dangerous than the domestic gates.

But this was never the case.

It was covered in the news that hundreds of thousands of people died or were injured at times, so it was really in their hands.

“I have never heard of this damage.”

“That’s right, of course, because the whole world is out and controlling the media. Government and international organizations.”

Replied Lee Soo-yeon curtly.

Ilhyun felt incredibly spinning when he heard unbelievable words.

It was a completely different world from what he had known so far and he was partially prepared for it.

“Anyway, I’ll explain in detail later, but first, put out the fire. Help rescue the citizens by reducing the number of outside populations as much as possible.”

All the other team members checked the equipment and were ready.

They landed on the rooftop of a five-story building in the heart of the city.

The deathly fungi were shattered by a sword at once as they approached them.

Three awakeners landed on the rooftops. Two of them advanced to impede the breeding

as much as possible. Meanwhile, the awakeners in the city were blocking the external damage.

All the monsters were out now, and the gates closed.

Ilhyun slowly pulled his sword.

The rooftop pictured a scene of a blockbuster movie. Ilhyun had to take action now.

First off, the monsters in front of him were the first thing to do.

The fungi flocked when they saw the plane landing.

“Leave it and go first.”

Seok Pil-jun said in a confident tone without looking back.

Ghost nodded and grabbed Ilhyun’s sleeve.

Whoo-hoo! Their translucent body suddenly disappeared into the building.

This was only his third experience in that state, so he barely looked ahead while holding his mental stability.

They made their way through the building into the ground and rose over the road.

Ilhyun muttered in vain.

“Uh… When does anyone adapt to this?” He said annoyingly.

“I do not know. I haven’t seen anyone who has yet.”

“Damn it.”

“Contact me if you need me!”

Without waiting for a response, Ghost disappeared heading towards the north.

Ilhyun looked around and found D-rank monsters, green in color, staring at him.

Perhaps among them, citizens who just laughed and enjoyed their daily lives were mixed, he mused.

“Hoo…”

Initially, this level could have been quite dangerous.

Ilhyun was now slowly realizing the rising strength in him after absorbing the new ether.

The result came out that he had no problem at all.

Hundreds of mice appeared as he deformed the floor.

In an instant, they scattered all over the road, and the survivors were found.

“Wow. Isn’t this convenient?”

Thick, smoky flames were rising from the building, the next door.

While he watched the flames, the monsters began to rush towards him.

Ilhyun lifted up his arms, his fingers tightly interlocking his hands. The flames that were engulfing the building suddenly poured out into the streets, the air becoming hazy from the heat. The flames, now white-hot, became stronger and stronger as Ilhyun focused his mind — now the furious inferno was devouring the surrounding monsters, the blaze’s tremendous momentum purging the dirty streets of organic life.

The fungi that had once lined the streets were burnt to cinders and the sidewalks covered in ash.

* * *

Ilhyun broke open the door and entered the basement under the building. A family of four were cowering in the corner. There were two parents, and a young brother and a young sister.

“I’m here to save you!” cried IIhyun, simultaneously placing a hand on his right ear and with his other hand tweaking his communicator.

The communicator’s built-in interpreter function translated his speech. The family stood, tears in their eyes, and looked at him as if he was their savior.

Ilhyun motioned for them to come out of the basement, and once he’d signaled to them, he summoned a pack of wolves. The family was amazed and somewhat frightened by the wolves who were suddenly appearing before them on the ground, but now IIhyun was imploring each of them to get on the backs of the wolves.

“We’ll use the wolves to get the monsters out of here, and then get out ourselves!” shouted IIhyun, and as he spoke he demonstrated how to get beasts moving by slamming the rear of his wolf. The wolf ran at the monsters, chasing them away. The family sighed with relief.

But before anybody could feel any sense of calm, a cloud of green smoke started rising from the side street.

“Look out!”, Ilhyun screamed too late, and before the family could even react, the smoke hit them.

Even on sinewy wolf-back, the family couldn’t avoid getting caught in the smoke, and they found themselves unable to move, and unable to scream out loud in the agony they now felt.

Their bodies melted and flowed to the floor.

“No!” Ilhyun shouted. Four innocent people died.

****

Thud! A giant fungus appeared. No, not quite a fungus; this was different from a fungus. This was moving around. It was an Ace Monster, a Smoker. Its large gray body was a looming 4m high, its face devilish with green smoke spewing out of its mouth as it exhaled. This monster was top of its class, the best of the C-rank: a very dangerous challenge for just Ilhyun to take on.

The monster unleashed a furious attack that would have broken IIhyun bones had he not been wearing a defensive coat. Ilhyun lifted his hands and conjured a fox enveloped in flames and cast it toward the Smoker, but the monster simply caught it and threw it back.

“Let’s go. One more time”, said Illyun.

He cast the fox once again and its flames grew redder. The fox now flew faster than before.

This time the smoker did not intend to avoid the fox itself, but he extinguished its flames with his hands.

Ilhyun, who had flanked the monster, and now behind it, put his hand out in an attempt to transform the body of the guy. A strong ether core in the Smoker’s body put a quick stop to this idea as it reacted with IIhyun’s power, halting it completely. This wasn’t an E-rank monster. Illhyun had to be smarter. He came up with a plan: he’d attack the monster’s outer layer. It worked. No sooner had he put this plan into action than the skin around the monster’s neck turned black and collapsed inwards. A gap appeared, and Ilhyun threw his sword deep into the monster’s neck.

“Kieek!”

Thud! The gigantic monster staggered and fell to the floor.

Ilhyun jumped down off the monster and landed gracefully sheathing his sword.

But what should have been a cause for celebration left Illhyun no sense of accomplishment. He felt neither elated nor remorseful.

“Damn… I just feel dirty.”