Chapter 222 A Despicable Existence

Archie raced over, "--I found one of your mates! This is 'im, right?!"

As the blonde-haired man stepped to the side, he found his eyes reuniting with a familiar sight that made him move instinctively.

"Korain!" He yelled out with a smile.

The one-armed, burly man looked just as surprised as him with wide eyes that were brimming with tears, "Jeong-Hui…?! It really is you!"

No other words had to be said as they embraced tightly; for Korain, finding the red-haired young man was a heart-lifting achievement.

Korain patted his back as some tears managed to escape his eyes, "...You made it! Damn it! You've got to stop throwing your life on the line like that…!"

"But I made it, didn't I?" He smiled.

"You did…" Korain nodded.

Archie stayed silent, taking a few steps back as he let the two catch up as he awkwardly looked the other way.

As they let go after a solid minute of an embrace, it still felt surreal. Though he had many questions, the first of which came obviously:

"...The others…?" He began to ask.

Korain nodded, "Everybody made it. Sol, Yeong-Un, Ma-Ri, Eunji, Xiaodan…Everybody, Jeong-Hui. I'm not sure that would've been able to happen if it wasn't for you…You're a crazy kid."

"Heh…" He laughed, finally feeling somewhat at ease for the first time in what felt like forever, "...I'm guessing…you haven't found anybody else yet, have you?"

Korain slowly shook his head with a look of regret in his eyes, "I tried looking, but…no luck so far. Luckily, that guy there found me lugging myself towards a tavern–stopped me right before I drank my worries away."

"That's good, then," he smiled, "I need you sober if we're going to find everybody else."

"'Suppose you're right," Korain smirked.

A new vigor and optimism painted itself over his bleak slate as he smiled brightly, holding his fist out towards his reunited friend, "Let's find everybody and beat this thing!"

"Hell yeah!" Korain agreed, bumping his knuckles against his.

Archie added himself in, joining the fist bump, "Count me in, too, mates!"

Just like that, a new fire ignited with the reuniting of Gangcheori underway–though separated, there was nothing stopping them now.

–

[Valley of The Old Cataclysm | Outskirts of Yinlong]

[Within the Yinlong Empire, the Twelve Winged Generals continued to gather…Unknown to those ascending the Tower, these twelve would be their chosen obstacles of the first floor.]

"...Stay back, Eunji…"

Saying this to the hazel-haired girl with glasses, the leader of Gangcheori spoke in a whisper, staying in front of the girl as she kept her hand near the handle of her rapier.

"Yeah…" Eunji nodded, gulping as she tucked herself behind the boulder, holding her staff close to her chest.

The two of them were hiding behind a large boulder in a quarry; the land was devoid of life as the valley was carved out from the rest of the flourishing fields.

Ma-Ri kept watch, peeking around the side of the boulder at the sight that persisted in the center of the lifeless valley of bleached stone.

One man stood, surrounded by massive, draconic beasts that walked on two legs, covered in bright-blue scales.

[Dragon Bruiser | Level 32]

There were half a dozen of the powerful, tall creatures, though their attention was not on the two young women, but the man who stood calmly with his arms folded over his chest. It was a man they knew well, and one that was a sore sight.

He had flowing, silver hair, dressed in a gray uniform that was outfitted with silver gauntlets and greaves; his radiant eyes were calm, watching the dragons that encircled him.

[Baek-Hyeon | Level 54]

"...If you're going to attack, then do it already," Baek-Hyeon said boredly, "I don't have all day."

It seemed his calmly issued challenge spurred one of the bipedal dragons to attack as one lunged towards him with its talons pointed towards his flesh.

Without batting an eye, his hand moved to his sword as the scarlet blade on his back was drawn in a fraction of a millisecond, unsheathed as a flash of red hissed through the air.

"GRAAK!" The dragon yelped.

The humanoid beast fell past him as its shoulder split from its neck with a massive cut stretching from its shoulder and through its body was carved in an instant.

"--" Baek-Hyeon remained calm.

A subtle, intangible essence flowed from the slain, draconic monster and into the man as the kin of the felled beast snarled and roared out at him.

Ma-Ri, still watching while hiding beside Eunji, silently wished the draconic beasts would end the traitorous man, but no such miracles were born in the encounter.

As another of the beasts lashed out, swiping at the man, he effortlessly raised his left arm, blocking the strike with his own limb as the talons of the beast sliced his forearm. The claws of the scaled beasts were as sharp as katanas, curved and lengthy like daggers.

CHNK.

Yet, there was no damage done–it sounded as if steel had met steel.

It was beneath the light-gray sleeve of the man's uniform: durable, azure scales that protected his forearm. The sight of it made the draconic beast, seemingly of some intelligence, snarl in confusion while the man smiled.

"...How do you like it? That's my 'Assimilation System'," Baek-Hyeon said.

Without any fear for his own wellbeing, the man sheathed his sword, wielding no weapon as he waited for the beasts to attack.

As the draconic fiends came at him from all sides, he effortlessly dodged the ferocious claw swipes and tail swings, evading snaps of their jaws as he countered with just his fists, possessing divine strength in his knuckles as they were all blasted back with shock wave-inducing impacts.

It was the constitution of an angel; such a factor assimilated into his being made the physical existence of Baek-Hyeon simply divine in nature.

From simple blows, lacking in technique or form and simply fueled by supernatural strength, the scales of the beasts were shattered and their tough exteriors caved in like brittle.

He's too powerful. It's just our luck that we crossed paths with him…The only silver lining is…maybe he hasn't noticed us, Ma-Ri thought.

As she watched, a flicker of hope came as one of the pulverized, blue-scaled beasts launched back up directly towards Baek-Hyeon's unguarded back, spreading its jaws wide at it went in for a bite.

FWOOSH.

Though any hope of the Assimilation System wielder's defeat was gone in a flash.

Even with his back turned, Baek-Hyeon defended himself without batting an eye as a spear forged of golden radiance manifested in an instant, propelling downward and piercing through the throat of the beast before its fangs could reach the man.

"...Did he…?" Eunji asked quietly, shivering behind the boulder.

Ma-Ri was still watching cautiously, nodding, "He did. He wiped them all out without a scratch."

"Ngh…" Eunji groaned quietly in dismay.

After wiping out the ravenous dragon bruisers, the silver-haired man turned his gaze around–looking directly towards Ma-Ri with his keen, golden eyes.

"--!" Ma-Ri instantly withdrew behind the boulder.

Eunji noticed the visible shock on the usually stoic woman's expression, "Ma-Ri…"

"Quiet," Ma-Ri whispered.

The sound of the man's footsteps was heard loud-and-clear in the dead valley, echoing out as it was unmistakable approaching the two girl's direction. As the leader, responsible for the lives of her comrades, the last thing Ma-Ri had hoped for was an encounter with Baek-Hyeon at a sensitive time like this, but she kept her hand ready by her sheathed rapier.

"--" Ma-Ri kept herself pressed against the back of the large rock, preparing herself.

As the echoes of Baek-Hyeon's footsteps came within less than a dozen meters away, they stopped.

The reason for the footsteps being stifled was clear to both Ma-Ri and Eunji as well as something else filled the silence: the air was whistling, as if something was rapidly descending from the sky.

"...What?" Baek-Hyeon squinted, looking up.

There was something descending; falling from the blue skies, a shadow closed in quickly before–FWOOOM.

This mysterious being's arrival caused Baek-Hyeon to jump back as a cloud of dust was kicked up. Both of the young women stayed behind the boulder, just as ignorant as Baek-Hyeon to who the unknown visitor.

"How fortunate I am! The Great Emperor summons me and I find quite the interesting person stepping on our soil, slaying our skin!" A boisterous, booming voice of a man yelled out.

The dust began to clear, revealing a tall, burly figure standing high and mighty, facing the Assimilation System user.

"To step onto the great land of Yinlong and spill the blood of dragons–death is a sentence far too light for you!" The man with a flowing, dark-brown mane of hair called out.

[Yinglong Empire | One of The "Twelve Winged Generals" | Mengyao, The Impervious | Level 80]

Such a level caught even the confident Baek-Hyeon by surprise as his eyes widened once registering the unknown figure.

The one named Mengyao possessed a mighty beard, which stretched down to his tanned-brown chest which was covered in tattoos; onyx scales protected his bare arms and ribs as horns protruded from the sides of his head.

"...Eighty?" Baek-Hyeon muttered to himself.

"Speak no whispers in the presence of Mengyao, The Impervious!" The man boomed.