< Chapter 114: The Gate (3) >
Near Gangnam Station’s bustling district.
Unlike a typical weekend bustling with people, the area was unusually sparse.
“Hey, let’s postpone our plans. Don’t you see what the sky looks like?”
The reason was none other than the Gray Out. Most people had chosen to stay home due to the bizarre phenomenon.
Of course, there were those who thought differently.
“Come on, the association said there’s no magical reaction detected.”
“But you never know.”
“And honestly, if Gray Out is something dangerous, it would be the same anywhere in Seoul. Unless you plan to flee overseas.”
Ash-colored skies stretched from Korea to North Korea and Japan. The association had named this phenomenon “Gray Out.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“Enough. Let’s go. We’re running out of time.”
Insensitivity to safety.
Most citizens, used to Korea’s safety, are indifferent to the risk of accidents.
“You worry too much. There are several guilds around Seoul; what could possibly happen?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
However, this desensitization to safety can sometimes lead to significant disasters.
Clink, clink!
A sound like breaking glass resonated.
“What? Did you hear that sound?”
“Sound?”
Clink, clang!
“Huh? Really, what’s that noise?”
“Sound of a mirror breaking…?”
The sound echoed at regular intervals.
“Look, there!”
It was then that someone pointed at the sky and shouted.
“It’s… It’s a gate!”
Space had cracked open, manifesting an unmistakable appearance of a gate.
Faces turned to horror.
“Why isn’t the alarm sounding? The gate alarm didn’t go off!”
“Report it! Report it!”
“Damn! The phone isn’t working!”
“What? Mine isn’t working either!”
Alongside the enlarging gate, the citizens’ anxiety escalated.
It was at that moment.
“I am Lee Kang-hyun from the Changcheon Guild! From now on, this site is under our guild’s control!”
“Superhumans!”
“We’re saved!”
Several superhumans landed amidst the panicking citizens. They were from the Changcheon Guild, headquartered near Gangnam.
“Citizens, please move to the underground bunker immediately! Our guild members will guide you!”
With that, three superhumans moved out separately.
“Stay calm! You’re safe!”
“If you follow our guidance, everyone can evacuate safely!”
Similar scenes unfolded across Gangnam. Superhumans were detecting the anomaly and rushing to guide citizen evacuations.
“Guild Master! We have guided all nearby citizens to safety!”
Among those guilds guiding citizens was, of course, the ‘Bihon Guild.’
“Please double-check one last time. There might be people who haven’t evacuated yet.”
Upon hearing the guild member’s report, Yu Hwa responded seriously.
“Yes! Understood!”
“You must return before the gate fully opens in 5 minutes.”
“Yes! Everyone, let’s go!”
Leaving behind the invisible guild members, Yu Hwa was lost in thought.
“Gray Out.”
Muttering, Yu Hwa checked her smartphone. As expected, no signals. Neither could she access the internet. This disrupted communication with the government and other guilds.
‘…A concept superior to the Black Tortoise’s signal jamming.’
It was different from the Black Tortoise’s characteristic of simply blocking signals. Something else was at work.
Yu Hwa pocketed her phone and looked up at the sky. The already large gate was expanding.
‘It’s dangerous.’
Judging by its appearance, it was clearly an emission-type gate. Its size was about half of the recently-opened ‘Disaster-grade Gate.’
Simply looking at its size, it could be estimated to contain 250,000-300,000 units of magical power. In other words, it was a large-scale gate.
‘If I could contact the monitoring center, I would know the exact figures.’
She never expected a communication issue right in the middle of Seoul, let alone Gangnam.
“Is this the effect of Gray Out?”
Like jamming signals during the appearance of a gate. While Yu Hwa was lost in thought,
Ching, ching… Kaang!
The sound emanating from the crack ceased.
The calm before the storm.
A silence that signified the gate was about to open.
“Already?”
Yu Hwa’s pupils widened in shock.
The gate is opening way too fast! Normally, it should take at least 5 more minutes to open!
At that moment, the sky opened up.
“Run!”
“Ah!”
From the huge crack in the sky, dark, otherworldly beings started to rain down. Spreading out in all directions, they seemed like swarms of flies dispersing everywhere.
Some were falling in the direction where Yu Hwa was standing.
A dark mass.
A heap of waste?
“Ugh!”
Yu Hwa immediately gathered her mana. There was no time to wait for the other guild members to return.
She instantly used ‘Manifestation’ to create a magic barrier around her.
Just then, Yu Hwa’s pupils trembled.
“What…?”
The flow of mana was weaker than usual. Roughly 30% weaker, and the power of the barrier was also 30% weaker.
“Could it be!”
Yu Hwa quickly checked her stats window.
[Yu Hwa]
[Personal Profile]
[Stats]
[Skills]
[Special Abilities & Skills]
She selected Stats.
[Combat Stats]
[Non-Combat Stats]
She only opened the Combat Stats.
[Strength] B-rank (47/99)
[Agility] B-rank (71/99)
[Stamina] A-rank (37/99)
[Mana] S-rank (57/99)
[Senses] A-rank (87/99)
Everything was as usual so far.
But the last entry was problematic.
[Debuff: Affected by an unidentified debuff. All stats decreased by 30%.]
“An unidentified debuff?”
‘Detection’ was one of Yu Hwa’s special abilities, allowing her to see buffs and debuffs affecting her body.
Thanks to this ability, she had averted danger numerous times.
That made this unidentified debuff even more terrifying.
‘What on earth is happening…’
But there was no time to think further.
“!”
A horde of undead were within reach.
These undead were heinous clusters of rotting flesh and bone, and they started falling from the sky in groups.
The next moment, the first of the undead clusters hit the ground, making a sound as if the flesh was being crushed.
Indeed, the zombie-like beings were crushed upon hitting the ground.
“1/3 of them were the buffer, huh.”
Lucky in an unlucky situation.
Yu Hwa again gathered her mana. Her specialty was massive annihilation.
She fired the magical barriers she created with ‘Manifestation’ at the horde of undead.
The undead were completely helpless against Yu Hwa’s attack. A single blade pierced through ten zombies.
‘So weak.’
Even with her stats decreased by 30%, they were too easy to kill.
‘Is this really a 300,000-mana gate?’
Suddenly, the completely crushed undead began to regenerate.
“Regenerative abilities?”
They were very slowly reverting to their original form.
That wasn’t all.
The undead that had been obliterated by Yu Hwa’s barriers were also slowly returning to their original forms.
It made no difference whether their heads were smashed, their hearts pierced, or their bodies cut into pieces. They were reverting to their original forms, slowly but surely.
“So, it’s like that…”
‘This gate specializes in regeneration at the expense of its power.’
Even those who looked crushed were starting to emerge from the puddles of blood; there was never any loss of force to begin with.
Yu Hwa gritted her teeth and released another wave of magical barriers.
‘I hope reinforcements arrive while I still have mana left.’
Scenes like this were unfolding all over Gangnam.
* * *
“…Hoo.”
Yu Hwa was taking deep, ragged breaths. Only 15 minutes had passed, yet sweat was already trickling down her entire body.
‘The consumption of magic power is much greater than usual.’
Not just magic power, but her other non-combat abilities including senses had also been significantly reduced, which was quite painful.
Trying to fight with weakened strength, her control wavered slightly.
As a result, the use of her abilities were clumsier than usual, leading to extreme exhaustion of her magic power.
“Die already! You filth!”
On the other hand, the army of undead had not decreased at all. They kept regenerating, to the point where it was becoming tiresome.
‘Dangerous.’
There was a limit to endurance.
The stamina and magic power of a human are finite.
‘I can’t even run away….’
She couldn’t even think of running away. For a superhuman like her, leaving such abominations behind and fleeing was unimaginable.
All Yu Hwa could do was hold on until reinforcements arrived.
‘Would the reinforcements even be able to handle this immortal army in the first place?’
She had never seen a monster with such an unbelievable regeneration ability in her life.
‘Even if only one foot remains, it starts regenerating from there.’
Yu Hwa shot out a beam of magic power, clenching her teeth hard.
‘What am I supposed to do!’
Just as anger welled up inside her,
Whoooom!
A sound like a meteor falling from the sky reverberated.
“Could it be, reinforcements!”
Yu Hwa lifted her head in surprise.
Sure enough, large black masses were raining down. They were three times the size of the filth that had fallen earlier.
“…This is absurd.”
Moreover, this time it wasn’t an army of undead falling in clusters.
It was a single creature. Its horrendous appearance was visible even from a distance. An undead monster famous enough for Yu Hwa to recognize.
“The Corpse Collector…?”
A worst-case monster that collects corpses to increase its size, its strength grows exponentially as it devours living beings.
Five of them were dropping down towards various parts of the city.
Yu Hwa bit her lip.
‘In front of me is the immortal army. Above me, the Corpse Collectors. On top of that, my abilities are 30% down.’
Communication was also cut off; she didn’t know the situation elsewhere.
It was a pile-up of calamities.
‘What should I do? How should I….’
Blood started to trickle down from Yu Hwa’s lips.
‘…There’s no way.’
Just then, blood started to flow from the fists she had clenched tightly.
Whirrrrrrr!
“Ah!”
Suddenly, a giant pillar of fire erupted in front of her.
As if to burn everything, a brilliant white column of fire shot up to the sky.
It even incinerated Yu Hwa’s magic sword that had pierced the atmosphere.
Kwaaa!!
Screams started to come from the undead army at the center of the fire pillar.
“Are they…not regenerating?”
The ashes of the undead soldiers who had been burned to death did not come back to life.
“Could it be…?”
Is fire their weakness?
Just as she widened her eyes,
Whoooosh! Kwoaaang!
Two more pillars of fire erupted.
Just like before, these pillars of fire precisely incinerated only the undead army.
The firepower was so intense that even the signboards around were about to get blown away. She was astounded.
“The Witch of Fire?”
The 5th ranked among the world’s superhumans.
The Witch of Fire.
Could she possibly be here?
“No.”
There’s no way the Witch of Fire could be here. After all, her flames don’t have this white hue.
“!”
Yu Hwa’s pupils dilated fully. If it’s the white flame, then it must be…
“I’m sorry. It took longer than I thought to set up the magic circle for mana amplification.”
At that moment,
A familiar male voice echoed from behind Yu Hwa.
A voice, deep and charming.
“Seems like I’m not too late, anyway.”
Yu Hwa quickly turned her head and shouted,
“Seo-yul! What on earth…?”
She caught a glimpse of Kang Seo-yul.
Three pairs of fire wings were fluttering on Seo-yul’s back.
His eyes shone like the sun, and his black hair had turned a burning red.
In his right hand, he held a staff with a unique pattern of ‘Cheonbyeon.’
In his left hand, he wore the ‘Grace of Mana’ that Yu Hwa had gifted.
Finally, instead of the peculiar necklace gifted by Pi Jin Ho, a necklace with a captivating red gem caught the eye.
“Blessings of Efreet?”
The ‘Ancient Relic of the Spirit Race’ called ‘Blessings of Efreet’ that he received from the Collector and passed on to Kang Seo-yul.
Its effects were surely…
“Yes. It’s Spirit Possession.”
Kang Seo-yul grinned and stomped the ground with one foot.
The next moment.
Fiiiiiiing-! Kaaang!
A giant magic circle glowed, centered around Kang Seo-yul.
Kang Seo-yul’s own naming.
Princess-style ancient magic amplification circle.
It started to spread endlessly, enveloping the surroundings.
< Chapter 114: The Gate (3) > The end.
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