Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Black Gates Activate
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[Black Gate detected.]
[Black Gate detected.]
[Black Gate detected.]
[…]
Go Yohan's face twisted savagely at the warnings echoing in his mind.
The door he had already flung wide open, the one he had prepared for and awaited at any moment.
After all those long years of silence, merely testing the waters, they were finally beginning to move.
'Of all times.'
On his mother's birthday.
"Really now…."
Go Yohan curled one corner of his mouth as he spoke.
"You damned things."
At that moment.
"Captain, pardon the intrusion."
As Yun Seung-ah's hand touched him, Go Yohan's view flipped upside down.
High above Seoul.
Swoosh!
Everything came into view at once.
In Go Yohan's half-lidded eyes, countless threads of death were now visible.
"Yun Seung-ah."
As Go Yohan spoke, Yun Seung-ah's eyes began to glow as well.
Though she couldn't see the world through Divine Eye herself, the moment she could faintly sense it through him.
"Move out."
Yun Seung-ah issued orders to someone.
If the demons were starting to move, then the Apostles had to move too.
That's what she had raised them for.
"……."
Go Yohan still hadn't pinpointed every location where a Black Gate would open.
Unlike in the past, these Black Gates were scattered and explosive.
The traces he felt were tangled, making it impossible to fix their exact positions.
And then.
[Black Gate activated.]
Finally, the first Black Gate activated.
-Captain, don't worry.
The voices of Kim Si-on and Enbi came through Yun Seung-ah.
"Enbi, don't let your guard down."
The Apostles had experienced a few Black Gates so far, but always with Go Yohan by their side.
Their power was strong enough to tear low-level demons to shreds, but the demons' dark schemes and tricks were always a headache.
[Black Gate activated.]
The second, third, fourth….
As the activations of the Black Gates rippled out.
Bzzz! Bzzz!
Go Yohan's phone began buzzing like mad.
-Unconfirmed gate generated near Cheonan. All residents, please evacuate.
-Currently….
Disaster alerts from the Association kept blaring nonstop.
And then.
-Don't worry too much.
Lee Jae-kyung's welcome voice came through as well.
Though not an Apostle, he was the one who had stuck by Go Yohan's side for over ten years, supporting him.
The man who had forsaken glory and resolved to bear dishonor.
Last time, he had accepted him as a seed.
Even in Travania, he hadn't taken a single seed.
"I'll trust you. Be careful."
Go Yohan's first seed was Lee Jae-kyung.
'Not yet.'
One more remained.
Stronger than any of the currently open Black Gates.
Boom!
Was it because of the disaster alerts? Cars accelerating on the road collided, sending up an explosion.
Gates had become part of daily life for them, but the Association issuing such urgent warnings was truly rare.
And that was when.
Whoosh.
In Go Yohan's vision, he finally spotted the thread of the last Black Gate.
"…Captain."
As Yun Seung-ah's heavy voice rang out and his view shifted.
Rumble!
There, a black maw gaped open, arrogantly looking down at Go Yohan.
[Black Gate activated.]
The final activated Black Gate.
"…You damned things."
It was in Cheongdam.
*
*
*
Rumble!
The Black Gate's demonic energy was corrupting the surrounding land.
Cheongdam Street, one of Seoul's central districts and a symbol of wealth.
Boom! Roar!
It was collapsing and burning from the aftermath.
It should have been stocked full of defensive items for such events, but the Black Gate's demonic energy couldn't be blocked by such things.
The silver lining.
"Casualties seem minimal."
Far fewer victims than expected in this disaster.
The countless life signs were proof.
'It's all thanks to the Captain.'
Yun Seung-ah swallowed the words without voicing them.
Go Yohan had spent ages preparing for this day, layering double and triple spells and barriers to minimize damage.
It must have bought time before the gate's aftermath could fully erupt.
"……."
In the meantime, Go Yohan had been glaring up at the Black Gate from the sky.
"…It'll be fine."
Yun Seung-ah offered careful comfort.
A fact she knew, and Go Yohan knew too.
This place they now stood was his destination, where Go Minji had been.
Even with all those layers of preparation, a Black Gate opening right in front of them would have swept everything away.
Neither Go Minji's presence nor Kim Dayeon's could be felt.
"……."
He wanted to charge straight into the Black Gate, but he couldn't.
With Go Minji inside, if Go Yohan entered an unstabilized Black Gate, who knew what might happen.
That was when.
"Over here!"
"Hurry!"
As expected of a disaster in Seoul, Association members and nearby guild hunters arrived swiftly.
Spotting Go Yohan and Yun Seung-ah, they shouted.
"What are you doing here!"
"Are you a Player!"
They looked like Association Players, and from the emblems on their clothes, members of the Cheonsang Guild.
One of Korea's top 10 guilds, they must have been nearby, fortunately.
"Who the hell are you!"
The Association member yelled at the silent Go Yohan.
"…Huh? Isn't that face familiar?"
Someone from Cheonsang seemed to recognize Go Yohan.
"Whoever you are, Player or not, get over here now! This is now an Association operation zone!"
The Association member bellowed threateningly.
"Don't touch him right now."
Finally, Go Yohan spoke.
"No one enters until it's stabilized."
If that happened, they might get trapped in the demon realm, never to return.
"What the hell are you saying! Do you even know what that is?"
Perhaps because Go Yohan looked barely in his twenties, the Association member snapped back informally.
Whatever their attitude, they were just doing their jobs.
"Get lost, punk! This is Association and Cheonsang operation zone! You're Go Yohan the holy, right?"
"Go Yohan? That holy troublemaker?"
"Yeah, that's the punk. Go Yohan."
Some from Cheonsang seemed to realize who he was.
"A holy trying to overstep. This is our zone, punk. Heard you got disowned. Don't get greedy and step aside."
But their true intentions weren't so pure.
A gate they'd never seen before, whatever it was.
"Fuck. It's ours."
They'd weigh its value over the danger.
Go Yohan closed his eyes.
Even if he pulled the holy card as they said, human greed wouldn't yield.
Around age six, even if he warned of the demon invasion and its dangers.
'Nothing would have changed.'
Humans wouldn't truly grasp it until the situation hit them.
-Michael, what right do you have over my gold?
-It's mine. Mine!
Just like those in Travania.
Even the name of the great holy knight couldn't sway them; he couldn't expect it on Earth.
That's why.
"Yun Seung-ah."
He declared he would become a villain.
"Clear them out."
*
*
*
As Yun Seung-ah stepped forward slowly, the Association members panicked.
But.
Smirk.
Cheonsang was different.
"Haven't seen your face before. You a holy too?"
A holy bloodline showing up where the gate opened, and the woman with him.
Everyone knew Sword Ghost Lee Jae-kyung had guarded Go Yohan for years, so they figured she was another holy Player.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"This is our zone. Association approved it. You think we'd hand it over when we don't even know what it is?"
"If you don't move…."
Clang!
Cheonsang even drew their weapons.
"Let's do this. We've got the justification on our side."
"W-Wait! Everyone, calm down!"
The Association member tried to stop Cheonsang, but it was no use.
"Unless the holies bribed you, back off. This is our zone, legitimate exercise of rights. Got a problem?"
"It's a disaster right now…."
"We'll confirm if it's a disaster or what by checking ourselves! We're risking our lives for it!"
By then, Yun Seung-ah was already right in front of Cheonsang.
"Hah."
Yun Seung-ah let out a small sigh.
'The Captain said he'd become a villain.'
But to her, he was no villain.
It would be far more efficient to just crush them.
Yun Seung-ah slowly pulled something out.
Creak!
Thinking it was a weapon, Cheonsang swung their sword threateningly, but their bodies froze as if bound by thin threads.
"Wh-What…."
Moreover, what Yun Seung-ah pulled out wasn't a weapon.
"Cheonsang, 3rd Raid Leader. Kim In-ho."
Yun Seung-ah called the man's name.
"What… why!"
As 3rd Raid Leader of a top 10 guild, his face and name were well-known, naturally.
"Take it."
Yun Seung-ah released Kim In-ho's binding and tossed him a phone.
Kim In-ho caught it reflexively and listened to the voice.
"…? Guild Master?"
The voice on the other end was Cheonsang's Guild Master, Choi Cheon-sang.
"Yes? Yes?"
The voice he heard yelling every day—no way he'd mistake it.
Plus, the tone and situation made it clear it wasn't some fake.
"You're serious?"
-Yeah! You punk!
Choi Cheon-sang's voice was so loud, it cut through the commotion.
-Shut up and do what she says! If she says scram, scram! If she says follow, follow!
"No way…. Who the hell even is she…."
-…I'll tell you later.
No need for more words.
The call already ended.
"What'd he say?"
Yun Seung-ah said to Kim In-ho.
Everyone—Association members and Cheonsang guildies alike—watched the bizarre scene.
"…Cheonsang will seal off the gate area per your orders. Cheonsang yields gate priority…."
Kim In-ho's face showed he couldn't believe his own words.
"We'll leave it to Lady Sloth."
"Good job."