Flood (3)
The moment I revealed it, I felt the gazes around me shift. Even President Jin, who had her hand on my shoulder, let her eyes gleam with interest. There was even a hint of admiration. She clearly hadn't expected me to step forward and declare it so boldly on my own. But to me, it was only natural.
Before the world changed, before I went into hibernation, before I deserted. I had grown sick of others using me for political gain, so I simply stopped doing anything at all. If they wanted to use me freely, I let them. After all, being used had never caused me any real problems. In my youth, avenging my family had been enough. Not long after, avenging my commander had been enough. Once exhaustion set in, even that became too bothersome. I lived simply because I wanted to survive, and fending off those who kept clinging to me had grown tiresome.
But I couldn't afford to think that way now. Even with my limited knowledge, I understood. Most of the people gathered here were stronger than me, and those who weren't possessed significant influence. Nothing in this world could be accomplished alone. I had learned that lesson over a very long time.
Besides, I was no longer alone. Out of nowhere, I had gained two daughters and a servant who called me her master. Family was family. And I had never neglected my family. Once they were gone, it would be too late.
And in this labyrinth, I needed both power and influence. So that my family could live happily. So that they could simply live. I knew this was the perfect opportunity.
“Father, so suddenly…”
I turned to look at Maribella. She was scanning the room with a flustered expression. My daughter would risk her life to fight for me if I were in danger. But even she couldn't fully protect this lineup. The anxiety on her face, her rapidly beating heart, the way her eyes darted across the crowd. They lingered especially long on President Jin and the Demon King. It meant those two were the strongest here.
I met her eyes to reassure her. She was still trembling with uncertainty, perhaps because we hadn't built enough trust yet. But I had to show her what a father should look like.
“I don't know what the prophecy everyone knows says, but if it's referring to the one favored by darkness, then it's undoubtedly me.”
“How abrupt. Can you prove it?”
The one questioning me in a high-handed tone was a woman with striking red hair and an overbearing presence. According to the briefing, she was Mercenary Captain Ribga.
“If I wanted to, I could.”
She raised an eyebrow. I glanced around the room.
“You're quite confident. Do you have something to back that up?”
This time it was a girl with a large, bushy tail—some kind of squirrel or chipmunk beastkin—who spoke. I answered immediately.
“Yes. Because Tilia and President Jin would know.”
Those who had touched the darkness could recognize its avatar. It was only a hypothesis, but there was no need to verify it.
“It's true.”
“Well, since I brought it up myself, I can't exactly take it back now.”
Tilia spoke in a monotone while President Jin grinned and nodded. Her intentions were obvious. She wanted control. Perhaps she even wanted to use me. From what I'd heard, she was a crazy bitch. The problem was that she was a calculating, powerful crazy bitch. If she were as easy to handle as Lyshe, it might be different, but she was no pushover.
In that case, I had to push forward now.
“But whether I'm the avatar or not isn't important in this situation.”
Ribga's overbearing face twisted as if to say how could that not be important? Nevertheless, I continued confidently.
“I know the origin point of this flood.”
Flood: A phenomenon where monsters overflow and attack the city. Originally, the origin point would have been unknown, but all the materials had been provided.
The regions displayed alongside the flood warning. The alerts flashing across every subway station. The story I'd overheard from Bishara and Maribella about the sudden surge in fairy numbers. The flood that had escalated into a major disaster after decades. The current situation where every member of the upper class had gathered. Everything had served as a clue for me.
“Floods usually have a cause,” Tilia said. “The appearance of a commanding alpha entity, or a mutated individual triggering a mass migration of displaced monsters. Frequent adventurer deaths. Or an adventurer corrupted by a curse carrying out the exact scenarios mentioned earlier.”
She explained, and I recalled the time I'd seen a massive swarm of fairies with Jenia and Moare. Maribella was probably remembering our first meeting during the fairy extermination as well. Back then, the fairies had been aggressive but somehow passive. The fact that they only appeared late during my fight with Corben was proof of that. I hadn't known at the time, but Maribella had once mentioned in passing that fairies were sensitive to sound. It was because they communicated with each other through song.
Even so, the fairies had been sleeping and only appeared belatedly. That had been strange. It hadn't felt normal. It was as if they had been preserving their numbers, resting while waiting for the right moment.
“Therefore, the avatar's claim has merit.”
That's why she agreed with my assertion. After her explanation ended, I swiped across the smartphone screen to move the map.
“This movement route, the already occupied subway stations—it's all far too tactical. It feels like an encirclement. They're putting pressure on our front lines and stretching our defensive perimeter thin.”
As everyone quietly focused on me, I felt a familiar sensation. I had been created to become the commander of superhuman soldiers. Although circumstances had left only the commander and me as the remaining superhuman soldiers, the South Korean government had planned to position me as commander once Baek Seolah noona trained many more. As practice, I had commanded countless soldiers and participated in endless operational plans. Later, I had even been the one to lead those plans myself.
Doing my best not to get lost in the strangely nostalgic feeling, I continued.
“There will be a commanding entity. To use Tilia's words, an alpha entity.”
Just as I was explaining, the door burst open. President Jin's face first frowned, then twisted with an expression that went beyond irritation into something resembling rage.
“Hik.”
A boy—no, a girl?—who looked terrified by that expression walked in. A androgynous girl with a creaking posture who nonetheless approached President Jin. She whispered to her, clearly scared out of her wits. She was obviously one of President Jin's subordinates. President Jin clearly hated being interrupted, yet the girl had still come in to deliver information. It meant the situation was bad.
When I stared at her, President Jin only let out a sigh after the girl withdrew.
“Looks like your guess was right, Avatar.”
“Just call me Ha Jinwoo.”
“Fine, Avatar. A nymph has been sighted.”
Nymph. 'It's a hybrid of the northern Chernobyl nymph—'
A faint memory flickered past. It had come up when explaining fairies. A monster that grew naturally in Chernobyl. I listened as President Jin, who had waved her subordinate away with a hand gesture, continued.
“Nymphs are higher entities than fairies. I don't know why a nymph would be here, but apparently an adventurer encountered it just now and survived.”
“A nymph would certainly qualify as an alpha entity,” the previously silent dog beastkin girl said.
“That's not the problem. This… surviving bitch says this nymph is a mutated entity.”
Tilia's eyes widened. She rolled her eyes for a moment, sighed, and then walked out. Ha Eunha let out a small “Ah!” and tried to follow, but President Jin stopped her.
“Don't follow. She's going to check it herself. She'll look into its memories and make a judgment.”
“She can do that?”
“She's the Archmage. Ribga!”
The taciturn mercenary captain nodded silently. President Jin told her, “Have your mercenaries take over the defensive line. We need to guard the underground labyrinth entrance.”
“What about the outer walls?”
“We'll have to block those with mercenaries too.”
Ribga frowned and crossed her arms. “Who's going to take down the nymph? The guide can't be counted as combat strength, and everyone else will be protecting their own territories. You, the Demon King, and Tilia can't go into the labyrinth.”
“Well, I suppose we'll have to put a bounty on it and get the adventurers moving.”
While President Jin and Ribga talked, I glanced at Maribella. My daughter was watching me while stroking her own arm with her other hand. I knew what I had to do.
“I'll take it.”
“What?”
“To be precise, my Blood Clan and I will handle it. My servant here will come along as well.”
President Jin's eyes burned like flames behind her sunglasses as they fixed on me. It was an intimidating gaze. The gaze of a Master-class adventurer, someone stronger than me. But I didn't flinch.
“Hire us.”
“…And why should I? There are cheaper ways.”
She snorted and snapped her fingers.
“If I put a bounty on the nymph's head, adventurers will come running. Why should I pay expensive money to hire the Blood Clan?”
I didn't answer. Neither did Maribella. The door burst open once again. Tilia entered with a slightly crumpled expression.
“Don't say it like that. You should hire them. The situation has become serious.”
“That's for me to decide. So, what's the result?”
“This nymph is a mutated entity.”
Expressions hardened. Nevertheless, Tilia continued.
“Confirmed abilities include visual obstruction. It also possesses the intelligence to utilize the environment and ambushes. It will actively use its abilities and its stronghold.”
President Jin clenched the hand she had been waving around.
“Not something an ordinary adventurer can handle. But… if it's the avatar, it's different.”
As gazes converged on me, Tilia spoke.
“The emission and wide-area detection of micro-currents. A sense that is neither visual, olfactory, nor auditory. It's close to tactile but closer to a sixth sense. It's his own unique sense.”
As President Jin's previously indifferent eyes gleamed behind her sunglasses, Tilia added, “I recommend hiring him.”
President Jin grimaced at those words. Sharp, non-human teeth showed between her fiercely twisted lips. Through those teeth, she let out a long sigh.
“Tilia isn't the type to talk nonsense. Hey, Avatar.”
“It's Ha Jinwoo.”
“Are you confident? I don't like it when my investments turn into garbage.”
I thought about it. I didn't know the odds. I didn't even know what level the nymph was or what kind of enemy it would be. But I did know that I had a chance.
“On the battlefield, nothing is ever certain. But one thing is.”
I picked up the smartphone from the table and slipped it into my pocket.
“I've never once given up on a fight just because the situation looked difficult.”
On the contrary, I craved even greater adversity and more adventurous adventures.
President Jin frowned as if my answer didn't please her, then scratched her head with a sigh.
“Maribella Malefis, head of the Malefis Blood Clan.”
“Yes.”
“The Adventurer Guild is issuing a commission. The completion condition is the extermination of the flood's cause, the mutated entity known as the nymph. There is no additional pay or advance payment.”
As Maribella watched, President Jin continued.
“Upon completion, the reward will be twenty labyrinth platinum coins.”
The amount didn't register with me, but Maribella's eyes widened and her heart began racing. It was clearly an enormous sum.
I nodded to Maribella. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and spoke.
“I swear on the name and honor of the Blood Clan that we will complete this commission.”
“Good. Make sure we don't operate at a loss.”
President Jin chuckled, then sighed. Once she stepped back, Tilia approached me.
“Ha Jinwoo, take Eunha with you.”
“…Is that okay?”
“I raised Eunha myself. She can take care of herself and will be helpful.”
The Archmage herself was confident. It would be excessive to hope my daughter wouldn't get hurt. Instead of being overprotective, I nodded.
Me, the Blood Clan knights, Maribella, Eunha, and Vertea. It felt like enough to finish the job, yet I didn't let my guard down.
“Good luck.”
I gave a slight smile at the hand that simply patted my arm and left the room.
*
When Maribella, who had returned to Guro District to gather the knights, rejoined us, we were descending onto the tracks at Hangangjin Station to head toward Seongdong District, where the adventurer had reportedly encountered the nymph.
“My lord, the station has been secured.”
“Good. Maintain vigilance. Field command is yours, Felkid.”
“As you command.”
While the Blood Clan knights, fully armed, scanned every corner and watched for ambushes, I stared into the darkness stretching out before me. The damp, humid subway walls. The long tracks that welcomed us with darkness so thick you couldn't see an inch ahead. As if to add to all that desolation, the faint song of fairies could be heard in the distance.
We watched as the Hangangjin Station sign flickered back and forth between Korean and Russian.
“It's labyrinth erosion. A phenomenon that occurs when the labyrinth detects a particularly strong and anomalous mutated entity and becomes confused about its ruler.”
As I listened to Ha Eunha's explanation, I drew the short sword I'd hung in front of my shoulder. The song was gradually getting closer.