Chapter 116: Trinity Research Institute: 3rd Division (6)

Inside the Trinity Research Institute facility control room, the image of a Gray Reaper was displayed on the main monitor.

As shown on the monitor, the destructive test had ended in a complete failure.

Maybe that's why, the slightly excited atmosphere that appeared after they successfully blocked the Gray Reaper's ghost form, completely disappeared.

Numerous notifications flashed on the screen, casting eerie light on the faces of the security guards which were filled with worry.

“It doesn’t work.”

The chief of security’s self-mocking voice could be heard between the rapidly clicking sound of the keyboard and the intermittent beeping sound.

The Deputy Director, who had lost her mind and became an Object, had already melted and left no trace, but the Gray Reaper was still fine.

All kinds of destruction methods prepared by Trinity Research Institute were ineffective against them.

High heat that melted even the evolved Hungry Ghost.

A blade that tears apart any ghost Objects.

And shock waves that crushed shadows.

They all had no use against the Gray Reaper.

Only a few mechanisms, which restrict movement, including indestructible bubbles, were able to affect the Gray Reaper.

[ This is the Strike team, successfully sniping. We will continue to attack from a safe location. ]

At that time, news of the success of the strike team that went to attack the hostages echoed through the room.

The chief smiled meaningfully and waited for the reaction of the Gray Reaper shown in the monitor

At that moment, a huge vibration shook the room.

The monitor in the control room kept blinking pitifully, and people fell to the floor as they were unable to maintain their posture.

Then, all of the machines went black.

All electricity in the control room was cut off and darkness came.

The once solemn interior of the control room became noisy because of the urgent conversations which took place.

Fortunately, the power returned to the control room before long.

As the deafening sound of the emergency generator rang out, the control room regained its original atmosphere, but the same couldn’t be said beyond the monitor.

The Gray Reaper had disappeared.

All the bubbles that could not be destroyed by ordinary means had popped. The steel wall which was specially made to block Objects was also torn like a piece of paper.

And then, the chief saw something strange at the edge of the cracked wall.

A trace so small that people wouldn't notice it unless they looked carefully.

Void.

Something black that constantly ate the light.

The chief, who felt uneasy at the glimpse of the trace, had a premonition and hurriedly left the control room.

"Ah..."

Then he looked up at the sky and came face to face with the true void.

From one end to another, the sky was torn apart.

The sun disappeared, casting shadows on the ground, and a feeling of endless terror wafted from the void.

“W-what is this? Is this really what the Gray Reaper did?”

Like the Milky Way crossing the sky, the sky was torn into five strips.

There were also five scars on the ground as if it was a mirror reflecting the state of the sky.

Trinity Research Institute was torn apart.

It was really ridiculous.

There was no way humans could deal with something like that.

How can humans deal with something like that?

The chief hurriedly returned to the control room as his mind kept telling him to run away.

“C-chief. The strike team has been annihilated.”

A member of the security team reported to the security chief who was hastily collecting the car keys with an ashen expression.

When he looked at the monitor after hearing the member’s words, he saw a CCTV screen showing the torn apart strike team.

The strike team was completely annihilated literally in an instant.

Trying to keep the fear out of his voice as much as possible, the security chief spoke,

“All security forces, listen! Everyone disperse inside the lab. We should stall for time as much as possible! From this point on, we are giving up on containing and eliminating the Gray Reaper.”

The chief continued with as solemn and calm an expression as possible.

“Haha, you don’t know either, do you? Who would have thought that Gwanak-gu is the city of the dead?”

“I knew it would be like this!”

The interpreter's scream echoed through the streets of Gwanak-gu.

James and his group hid inside the building to avoid the endless crowd of people.

Even though they burned them, they still had no choice but to block the narrow entrance due to the endless crowds of people.

In the interpreter's opinion, the weapons James' bodyguards brought were very interesting.

On the outside, it looks like an old-fashioned torch made of iron, but after they fiddled with it, it turned into a flamethrower that violently spit white flames.

Is that American technology? The interpreter took a closer look at the torch lent to him for self-defence, and suddenly saw a frog.

The limbs of the frog were pathetically tied in the area of the torch which shone.

“STOP!”

As he was looking at the poor frog, one of the guards shouted and snatched the torch.

“Oh... I should have explained it to you earlier.”

Then James apologized.

“Never look at a frog tied to the torch.”

“It just looked like a poor frog. Is there something wrong?”

James let out a muffled voice and continued his explanation.

“You feel really sorry for that frog, don't you?”

“Yes, that’s right. After all, on top of being tied like that, both of its eyes and mouth sewn up.”

“You also wanted to set it free, right?”

“Yes, I decided to let it go first before listening to its story.”

James clapped his hands and spoke up.

“That’s it. Why do you think the frog can talk?”

"Huh?"

The interpreter looked puzzled.

Just why did he think it could talk?

“That frog is an evil frog that deceives people with its eyes and words. Of course, its very existence has the power to deceive people.”

“Isn't it too dangerous?!?!”

The interpreter walked away from the torch with a horrified expression.

"James!"

At that time, the security guard blocking the entrance shouted.

When James went and checked, the Gwanak-gu residents who had been persistently following them had begun to disperse.

“Just what in the world is happening?”

Looking up at the sky, James saw terrible scars spreading across the sky.

It was a handprint that tore both the sky and space apart.

It was such an overwhelming sight that James and his group could only stare blankly at the sky.

At that moment, the ‘White stone’, otherwise known as Relic Number 0 hidden deep in the briefcase held by James, began to emit light at regular intervals, like a heartbeat.

*******In the depth of the sinkhole that was absent of sunlight which was filled with silence and darkness, the air was frozen as if time had stopped.

It was a place filled by damp, stagnant air and dead, motionless objects.

In the middle of this abyss where darkness reigns, the Hungry Ghost began to stir.

The Hungry Ghost’s eyes, which had been closed for a long time, pierced through the darkness like shining beads.

Although its intellect no longer existed and only had its instincts remained, it felt a familiar sensation and opened its eyes.

Longing.

Creator.

White and warm light.

It seemed as if a long-forgotten voice was coming to the Hungry Ghost's mind.

"■■ prepare ■■. ■■ and when the sun ■■, ■■■■ devour everything ■■."

The Hungry Ghost got up from where it lay and started running toward the familiar warmth.