World Destruction (7)
I bellowed at the top of my lungs, "Kill them all!"
"Kyaaah!"
The people around me screamed and bolted in every direction. Yoo Hwa chased them down, snapping necks one by one.
It had been exactly one day and four hours since we launched the terror suppression op. A shit-ton of those crazy monster terrorists had met their end by my hand.
The Monster Dissection Analysis Team must've been getting their asses handed to them—no news articles had popped up yet. Truth was, it was because I was stopping the terror. If I hadn't, this would've blown up into a global shitstorm. Terror attacks every two or three hours in one country alone? Yeah, no way that stays quiet.
Other countries dealing with this too?
These fuckers wouldn't limit it to Korea. Had to be happening abroad as well. The Association's foreign branches were probably grinding hard.
A phone hidden by some terrorist I'd missed blared out a scream laced with laughter. I snapped my fingers, sending demonic energy to punch through the guy's forehead where he was lurking.
"What the fuck are you even doing?"
Reporting locations via the terrorists' phones was fine, but did she have to go that extra mile with the theatrics?
I put my hands on my hips, surveying the sprawl of corpses. Even if I could control it, is this really manageable?
I was just one person; I couldn't seal off every victim from the start. In this one day alone, countless civilians had died, streets and buildings lay in ruins. Death itself was one thing, but how the hell do you silence this many corpses and survivors? Could something like this really be handled with mere "containment"?
No way the Monster Dissection Analysis Team's 1,200 staff could touch this.
Then they'd need help from foreign branches.
Naturally, that led me to the fact that overseas Associations were pitching in. The US population was roughly 340 million. If staff capped at 0.5% per country, that meant 1.7 million in the American branch alone. Of course, foreign Associations were swamped containing their own shit, but stopping catastrophes like this came first.
"Frame, what's next?"
"What?"
She made an X with her hands as she said it.
"That makes sense..."
Frame scampered off-screen with a clatter. A minute later, she came panting back.
She'd brought a chat log from some group.
"Where'd you get this?"
Frame's hunch was spot on. I'd been slaughtering them left and right, so now they were too scared to try anything.
Guess that means I'm out of a job.
I'd stopped all the groups' terror bullshit, so no need to keep this up. Shit, I'd gone way too hard. Shouldn't there be a bonus or something?
Ding.
"Kyak!" Frame headbutted her screen from the sudden alert and screamed.
"Frame, who sent this?"
Frame rubbed her head at my words, then swiped at the air.
"Huh. So they can't reveal their identity, got it."
Association high-ups. Weren't the Monster Dissection Analysis Team chief or Special Ability Agent Team 2 leader considered high-ups? If they were using that title officially, these had to be seriously high-ranking.
Sudden invite? Why now?
No way they were suddenly regretting the 200 billion. It was a fuckton for a one-off gig to a private contractor.
If they try to haggle it down, I'll flip the table.
But I always collect what's owed. The second negotiations started, I'd suit up and ram a black dragon through the Association.
"What?"
"Typical Association shit."
The kind of psychos who'd spin up a backroom just to catch one intruder. High-ups not being in reality? Totally tracks.
"Alright, wait an hour then head to the Association."
"This the spot."
I'd sent Yoo Hwa back to the Demon Realm for now and arrived at the promised location.
I'd wanted to stash Frame in the Demon Realm too, but sadly, no dice. Virtual life-form issues? A demon who couldn't enter the Demon Realm—what a joke.
Wait here and it'll auto-teleport me.
Probably the same tech from my first Association contact. Just hang out, blink occasionally, and—
"Hello."
She appeared. I closed and opened my eyes to a pretty woman in a suit greeting me politely.
"This is the workspace of the Association's high officials. You might've guessed, but it's another world."
"Yeah. So why'd you call me here?"
"Please follow me. Everyone's waiting."
She bowed once and started walking.
"Nah, get caught and we're fucked."
Frame whispered, but I shot it down. Association intel wasn't worth the hassle, and screwing up this alliance would be a pain.
Creeeak.
"Right here."
She cautiously opened a door, revealing... humans? Sitting there.
Hard to call them human. One with shadows cloaking their entire head, face invisible. Another writhing in tentacles. One normal-looking but with their neck twisted 180 degrees. A room full of things that strained the definition of "human."
I stepped slowly into the conference room.
Thud. I gingerly sat in the chair that screamed "expensive as fuck."
"So, what'd you call me for?"
Looking at them, I realized: these weren't the type to get petty over cash. So what was the reason?
A man stood from his chair. Human-ish, but weird texture—like stitched fabric and hands, puppet-like.
Korean Branch Chief. The big boss himself.
They went around introducing themselves. No exact count, but basically every branch chief worldwide in one spot.
Another shocker.
"You ignore national politics?"
The branch chiefs answered matter-of-factly.
"Then... why call me?"
The Korean chief gestured to the front seat.
"Hello."
Cosmic scenery unfolded in the air, followed by a refined woman's voice.
"I'm the founder of the Monster Management Association, XXXXXX. Though censored, so you won't hear the name."
The founder of this massive org.
"Big gun showed up."
I hadn't even imagined this. Branch chiefs were surprise enough; the founder? No way.
"Thank you first for answering my summons."
"No need to thank..."
A bit flustered, I mumbled back.
"To address your repeated question: the purpose."
The founder continued smoothly.
"As you've noticed, the Association is in emergency mode."
"Yeah, obvious."
Anyone clueless was an idiot.
"Due to one of the outer gods worshipped by the cultists: the Great Legacy."
"Knew it was that."
"You knew? Surprising."
Her tone was too flat for real surprise, but whatever.
"We know something not public yet: you have a close connection to the Great Legacy."
"Huh?"
First time hearing its name.
"Bluntly: our win chance against the Great Legacy is 30%."
Not abysmal, but far from good.
"But with you? It jumps to 65%."
"Wait, what the—"
"Thus, we've decided to seal you."
Darkness swallowed my vision.
"Please don't resent us."