Chapter 251: Not Human
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 251: Not Human
A meteor plunged from the high heavens, emitting a cross of crimson light. Despite the distance, it accompanied a thunderous roar as it struck the ground, carving an X-shaped scar across the Southeast District.
It was as if a red mark had been etched onto a treasure map to pinpoint a location—or perhaps a checkmark to signify a completed task.
—Rumble! BOOM!
The high-rise buildings, which served as landmarks for the Southeast District in this world, collapsed into rubble in an instant. All that remained were molten ruins, bubbling and frothing as if boiling.
After the debris of the towering structures shattered and settled into the vast underground space, a figure stepped out from the flames onto the fused, scorched earth.
"A fine sight."
While a swift response was being organized outside, those deep within the buildings or underground—who had been enjoying their illicit pleasures—had not yet managed to evacuate. The gaping hole in the ground was now filled with rubble, creating a surface that looked almost like leveled earth.
Beneath that surface lay the bodies of hundreds of people.
—Creeeak!
His body began to twist and distort like an inflating balloon. Yoo Eon’s back, now swollen to the size of a house, split open as if bursting, and hundreds of synthetic monsters began to pour out.
"Eat them all and move them outside."
With that short command, the hundreds of monsters began to devour the roughly ten thousand people remaining in the Southeast District.
"It’s fine if they get a few scratches, but try to keep them to a minimum."
These creatures had no teeth or digestive organs. While these synthetic monsters, based on Snowfield Trolls, possessed immense physical stats, they lacked any combat-related functions other than the specialized vision of the Evil Eye.
Inside their abdominal cavities, where the internal organs had been removed to leave a hollow space, was a fleshy storage area designed to hold humans. Shaped like a honeycomb, the monsters would pick up unresisting people and place them into their mouths for safekeeping.
But what of those who resisted?
"You motherf—! What the hell is—"
"H-Hey! Get back—"
Two explorers, elite combatants of the Antonio Brotherhood, were instantly severed into upper and lower halves. A single Snowfield Troll typically required a force of about three Cobalt-grade explorers to handle.
Even among the elites, few possessed combat power exceeding the Platinum Grade.
Of course, there were many people scattered throughout the Southeast District who had come from the outside to enjoy the Antonio Brotherhood’s illegal infrastructure. Among them were surely explorers who would resist to avoid being killed.
To sort through them, Yoo Eon had also prepared scavengers to collect the corpses. Synthetic monsters based on Direwolves, which didn't require high combat power, roamed around swallowing the scattered bodies to store them in their bellies.
Periodically, they would approach Yoo Eon and regurgitate the corpses they had gathered.
"Hmm, is this one missing a right leg?"
"Woof! Woof!"
Squatting atop the protruding rubble, Yoo Eon was assembling the corpses vomited up by the scavengers, which were three to four times larger than normal Direwolves.
Even if their limbs were shattered or they had lost a massive amount of blood, they could be restored to their original state once he stored them using his ability, healed them, and stitched them back together.
Once the human bodies were fully restored, Yoo Eon would spit them back out using his ability.
"Are you with the Antonio Brotherhood?"
"N-No! I’m an explorer from Wispales! I just... I just stopped by for a bit of gambling...!!"
"Right. Behave yourself."
He would send them back after a brief confirmation, though these questions weren't strictly necessary. He could simply check their brains while reassembling their broken limbs.
"I-I... I was an explorer in another town..."
"Where?"
"It’s a place quite far from here... I don’t think you’d know the name..."
Ultimately, the reason he questioned the humans he spat out was to ensure he hadn't missed anything or left them with any physical defects. It was also to ensure that news of the survivors' return periodically reached the area outside the Southeast District.
—Skreeee!
The bodies of monsters equipped with massive, sturdy spider legs transformed into hollow, rectangular skeletal frames, resembling large buses. Dozens of people were stacked neatly inside these frames, which were then transported toward the boundary of the Southeast District.
"400... no, 500 people. There sure are a lot of them."
The Southeast District, ravaged in an instant by thousands of synthetic monsters, had turned into a scene from hell. Synthetic monsters based on Snowfield Trolls forcibly dragged people out of shattered buildings and stuffed them into their mouths.
Once their bellies were full, they headed to the boundary of the district to spit the people out, a rescue operation repeated by hundreds of monsters simultaneously.
Of course, it wasn't as if there were no powerful explorers capable of easily slicing through monsters of this level.
"Who... are you?"
Yoo Eon sat perched upon the scorched, molten ruins. An explorer stood before him, pointing a sword in his direction.
"I am Gwen Neiders, a Palladium-grade explorer of the Stratos Clan, one of the three great clans of Roanmarie! To slaughter innocent people so ruthlessly... I shall bring you to justice!!"
His attire bore the heavy marks of battle. His entire body was soaked in blood, but his eyes were filled with resolve.
—Whoosh!
BOOM!
"Well, there was no need to go that far."
Gwen Neiders, who had so gallantly shouted of justice, was instantly pinned to the ground by the attack of a Synthetic Horus that had plunged down at the speed of sound. The forepaw of the Synthetic Horus, its body stained black and radiating a sinister red mana, prevented him from rising.
"Urgh...! Argh..."
The smoke from the fires, which had billowed up from the Horus's landing, was blown away in a perfect circle. Only then did Gwen look up at the sky, and his heart sank into despair.
'What...! What is this...?!'
Monsters covered in the same dark-red mana radiance were flying leisurely through the sky.
A Lich, its skull rattling amidst crimson flames. A massive, dark-red dragon whose vast wingspan blotted out the sun. Two boss-class monster entities, possessing a level of mana he had never seen before, were laying waste to everything in sight.
Even the creature pinning him down—was this not the 50th-floor boss entity he had only heard of, Horus?
"How...!!"
"You're not with the Antonio Brotherhood, are you?"
A knight clad in full-body armor approached and spoke to him nonchalantly. As the figure leaned in close, Gwen finally realized.
'Compound eyes?!'
Inside the exoskeleton that served as a helmet, compound eyes made of hundreds of tiny eyeballs were staring intently at him.
"I-I am... from Roanmarie...!"
"Right. Got it."
His vision suddenly went black. He felt as if he had been pulled into the entrails of a monster. Yet, strangely, he felt his entire body being healed. A moment later, he was tossed back out, feeling slightly damp.
—Thud!
"Go to the northern boundary. Find the people from the Mayerbridge Union and tell them not to touch the monsters inside the Southeast District."
"W-What...?"
"Do I have to say it twice?"
His tone was flat, but the mana underlying it was anything but. Gwen Neiders, his skin crawling with goosebumps, nodded slowly and backed away. Once he had gained some distance, he turned and bolted toward the north as if fleeing for his life.
"M-Mayerbridge Union!! I have a message—!!"
* * *
From the outside, the situation in the Southeast District looked like nothing short of a living hell. Starting with the red meteor that had suddenly struck the heart of the city, thousands of monsters had emerged, turning the area into a demon realm.
The only saving grace was that the monsters did not leave the Southeast District. Instead, they moved back and forth between the center and the boundary, rescuing people.
"What on earth are these things..."
Raya Delbaheim, watching the scene, felt cold sweat trickling down her spine. She could only stand there, trembling uncontrollably.
As a Palladium-grade half-elf, she believed she had survived many desperate battlefields over her century-long life, but this was different.
'If even four or five of those monsters teamed up against me...'
The monsters, shaped like Snowfield Trolls with black fur and glowing red eyes, appeared to be saving victims by periodically vomiting them out from their swollen bellies.
However, it was clear that the moment those things turned hostile, any explorer below the Cobalt Grade would be turned into mincemeat in an instant.
"Clan Leader—!! Where is the Clan Leader—?!"
"C-Clan Leadeeeer—!!"
"Rike! Shout a bit louder!!"
"Uwaaaah! Clan Leadeeeer!!!"
Rubia and Rike were desperately searching for Soles Getia.
"What is the matter, young ladies?"
Soles was currently inside the Southeast District boundary, so he wasn't here. Instead, Delbaheim, who held equal authority, heard Rubia's voice.
"Ah, Lord Delbaheim!! This man says he has a message—!!"
Just then, Gwen Neiders, who had escaped the hellscape of the Southeast District, was frantically searching for the Mayerbridge Union at the northern boundary.
"Y-You there! Are you the leader of the Mayerbridge Union?!"
"S-Something like that! For what reason are you looking for me?!"
"There’s a person inside...! He said...! Tell them not to touch the monsters inside the Southeast District..."
"A person?! What did he look like?!"
"I only know he was a man! He looked like a knight in full armor, but he didn't seem human...!!!"
"Ah...!"
Rike and Rubia, who had been waiting in line nearby and listening, spoke up.
"Could it be?!"
An appearance like a knight in armor. But not seeming human.
"It’s Mr. Aven!!"
"It’s Aven!"