Securing the Jackal Mask

I shot Cheon Seung-hyuk.

From my perspective, it was just firing into empty space from the command center.

The unidentified bullet passed through the distortion point and crossed over.

Right after, the chain/penetration effect kicked in. The explosions from the monsters around Cheon Seung-hyuk were so loud I had to turn down the volume.

Mission accomplished—fire support right on plan.

"Keep firing like this. I don't know anything beyond that."

As Ollie had said, the command center's facilities were top-notch, barely managing to simulate Cheon Seung-hyuk's third-person view.

Plus, with the contact shot trait, it was basically like firing without aiming, so I couldn't help any more than this.

Our team's ultimate goal was always [Holy Relic Recovery and Destruction].

Everything else (like Cheon Seung-hyuk's survival) ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was beyond my ability or obligation to worry about.

Of course, his death would hurt me too, but he'd gone in knowing the plan. He'd handle it himself.

"Going all out now."

Fire support per the plan. But I didn't say "in moderation."

"...!!!"

Floating chunks of monster flesh and bone all around.

No mercy whatsoever. No chance to resist.

Just a force that erased them from existence.

Logically, something like that shouldn't exist... but

Had he come in with me to recover the Holy Relic?

Every time I saw it, that incomprehensible, otherworldly destructive power.

The anxiety that one day it might turn on humanity—even fighting as allies now, it always left a lingering unease—but right now...

How reassuring.

Just having backup, not fighting alone, was huge support. And the one who showed up was Unregistered.

The strongest person Cheon Seung-hyuk knew.

"..."

A flood of thoughts, but no time for them.

No matter who he was with—even Unregistered—this was a gate interior no different from hell. Alone in the heart of the battlefield, the outcome wouldn't change.

Cheon Seung-hyuk, momentarily stunned, decided to press on without relaxing. At that instant,

"!!!"

The monsters swarming Cheon Seung-hyuk exploded all at once.

No pattern to the blasts. A subtle time lag, but they burst almost simultaneously.

Even Cheon Seung-hyuk froze in place, awed by the overwhelming destruction, staring at the blood and flesh.

Reaching from unseen, even the lich sounded flustered. But

The real show was just beginning.

Another explosion.

Relentless. Like cleaning house,

"!!!"

Unregistered went full berserk.

As if all the power shown so far was nothing, like he was about to show the monsters what true hell looked like.

The invisible "formless strikes" were insanely mad and violent compared to before.

Then,

'...No way.'

The mysterious black holes (●) that had warped Cartibes' barrier surface, creating rifts—

Twelve of them appeared, sucking in all nearby monsters, compressing them into tiny spheres.

That absurd power.

That alone had been outrageous. A bizarre energy sphere no one in the world could even make one of.

...Now twelve at once.

The red mist filling the area got sucked in too.

The distant mist was safe from the spatial distortion, hiding the gate interior view, but

At least around here, no smoke remained at all.

'My mind's going weird.'

The spatial warping sound echoing in twelve layers was maddening enough, but

The noise of monsters compressing into spheres evoked grotesque sensations I'd never imagined.

"..."

Cheon Seung-hyuk just stood there, lost in the spectacle. Unregistered's rampage left no room for action.

Who could understand the feeling that everything alive was being wiped out?

For a moment, my agent's image flashed in my mind.

That little girl's cool voice seemed to echo.

"!!!"

This time, "ice" spread suddenly from thin air.

Murderously lethal ice magic, beyond what even high-ranker Paeng Je-won could pull off.

If not for ally status, just being nearby would've frozen him solid.

It spread everywhere. How many ice spells cast simultaneously?

Double casting? No way.

Triple? Laughable.

At least twelve layers.

Could a dragon manage this?

No monster dared approach Cheon Seung-hyuk.

No, there were no monsters left to approach.

Frozen, compressed, exploded,

Torn to shreds, crumpled into twelve spheres, surfaces entirely iced over—

Around Cheon Seung-hyuk, nothing. Void.

Everything was erased.

"..."

Honestly, I'd thought I'd caught up a bit.

Three years of dying and killing against otherworldly swordmasters.

Reaching "fundamentals" I might never have touched, melting them down bit by bit,

Make it all mine, or even midway, I thought I'd surpass Unregistered.

Sweeping Korea's gates solo, subconsciously thinking, 'I can protect Korea without you.'

Rivalry.

That was Cheon Seung-hyuk's feeling toward Unregistered.

Once upon a time.

Then, in an instant, Cheon Seung-hyuk's vision flooded with golden radiance.

Monsters touched by the light disintegrated into black dust without a scream, as if rejected from existence.

Even the red mist around vanished completely.

This was

'...Divine power.'

Holy power on a higher level than Yoon So-i's [Sanctuary Deployment], blanketing the entire gate interior.

Physical. Magic.

And holy.

"..."

Inside the gate.

No one watching, no injuries, enemies everywhere.

Unregistered thrashed freely like a fish in water, smashing and destroying.

As if unleashing his true, hidden form.

"...Huuu."

For the first time in his life, Cheon Seung-hyuk felt it.

Fear.

Overcome it with willpower. He was an ally now.

Cheon Seung-hyuk glared with both eyes wide.

"...You're listening, right? Unregistered."

Knowing he was, Cheon Seung-hyuk gave simple orders. Nothing fancy.

"I'll recover the Holy Relic fast."

There, the barrier tattered, exposing the real [Jackal Mask].

All Cheon Seung-hyuk had to do was grab it.

"Hoo. Hoo..."

Thanks to Unregistered, he reached the relic without resistance.

Even with zero knowledge, he knew it was real. The energy was on another level.

He gripped the Holy Relic. Then,

The Jackal Mask's item info appeared before Cheon Seung-hyuk's eyes, along with an unfamiliar message.

"Kuhuk!"

Purple energy burst from the Jackal Mask, shaking Cheon Seung-hyuk's insides. Black blood surged up.

He tried inventory storage fast, but [Your rank is too low to handle it] rejected it.

Pain like his hand was being repelled. But Cheon Seung-hyuk clutched the relic to his chest, enduring the energy.

"Kuhuk!"

He pulled an artifact from inventory.

As he activated it,

"What about you—what are you going to do...!"

Cheon Seung-hyuk hesitated. It was single-use, only for him.

Thanks to Unregistered's power, he'd gotten the relic.

Invisible, but definitely here.

"Answer me! Holy Relic recovered—we'll return! My method only takes me! Do you have a way out too?!"

Then,

"..."

A silent message received.

"Returning."

No time to drag it out. The relic was making his mind hazy; worst case, he'd pass out here.

"Thanks."

With that, Cheon Seung-hyuk's form flashed and teleported away.

Staring intently at the gate interior to the last, in his vision,

A faint haze rose.

"..."

The gate interior was empty.

Management Bureau Team 1 Leader Kim Chun-gyu arrived at the return site. Pre-registered on a Seoul high-rise rooftop.

Gate entry's massive variable meant high chance of reopening, so full force concentrated here.

Yoon So-i had Sanctuary deployed, waiting. Then,

"!!!" "!!!"

Cheon Seung-hyuk appeared in the Sanctuary. The spent Respawn Ruby blackened and shattered.

Clutched to his chest: the Jackal Mask.

"Hunter Cheon Seung-hyuk succeeded!"

"Success!"

Kim Chun-gyu reported near-shouting to the Director. High-rankers sighed in relief.

But terrifying energy poured from the relic. Cheon Seung-hyuk's body darkening.

Yoon So-i maxed holy power, reinforcing Sanctuary and compressing it around the relic in his arms.

The energy raged inside but didn't leak.

Using remaining power for heals, she asked nearby Hongmaehwa's Seol for help.

Seol chanted, extracting red energy and relic power from Cheon Seung-hyuk's body as much as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠possible.

Once minimal measures done, Kim Chun-gyu checked his face and yelled.

"Hunter Cheon Seung-hyuk! You okay?! How could you go in alone so recklessly?!"

Cheon Seung-hyuk replied weakly.

"...Wasn't alone."

"?"

"Unregistered... fought with me."

"What?! Really?!"

Unbelievable.

Getting into the gate was the Bureau's headache and gold sink.

Unregistered fighting inside? Incredibly grateful, but worry first.

Unregistered might pull it off, but in humanity's first such attempt, was he unscathed?

Then,

"...Hah."

Never even hoped for this.

Shared gate entry plan via email, but who could've imagined Unregistered helping.

"We'll do our best."

Kim Chun-gyu replied to empty air.

Real answer would be in actions anyway.

Then,

"It's genuine."

Yoon So-i, analyzing the recovered relic, said.

Same structure as fake, but faint soul energy inside.

"As expected, the real one handles 'soul absorption.' But seems it didn't absorb many in Korea. Only faint soul energy compared to empty fake."

Destruction attempt failed. Difference from fake:

"Must destroy with equal or similar rank power."

Yoon So-i's analysis: Needs Holy Relic-grade item.

"Not easy. Holy Relic rank means constellation-level."

"..."

Yeah.

Have to scour for Holy Relic-grade items to destroy it. Problem: They're world-rare. Destruction-related ones? Questionable existence.

"We'll search max. Make relic ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aftercare more solid."

Like Japan incident, breaking barriers was issue.

"Can keep suppressing mask from escaping barrier. But like Cartibes, must leave part of my power—needs quick handling same as before."

"Do that."

Per Kim Chun-gyu's order, Yoon So-i took Jackal Mask elsewhere.

"Unregistered was really there?"

Remaining Hongmaehwa's Seol pressed heavily injured Cheon Seung-hyuk.

Face still pallid, he slowly rose, answering.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"...?"

"How do you meet him? Why're you always tangled with Unregistered?"

Cheon Seung-hyuk swept back messy hair, baffled.

But Seol shoved him down flat. Dark energy still leaked from his body.

"Stay put. Still need to extract more. Answer. What's the secret?"

"...Enter the gate interior."

"?"

"Might figure it out. Who you're chasing."

Thus, Korea's world-first [Gate Entry Operation] ended with the historic feat of recovering the real Holy Relic.

Chain-penetration semi-auto massacre.

Chain-penetration shadowless shots.

Per Ollie's advice, applied white bullets to max firepower.

Chain-penetration white bullets (ice bullets).

Then white bullet reset.

Second white bullet (holy bullets).

"..."

Gate interior completely cleared.

As Cheon Seung-hyuk returned with relic, ended Jenny's distortion point.

"Holy Relic recovery complete."

Poured solid DPS, so counts as proper help.

For cleanup, reminded Bureau and re-emphasized Power Fragment recovery.

Seoul and Korea's gate crisis should see visible change now.

"Hah. Hah."

Jenny, succeeding high-difficulty distortion magic, sweated profusely this time—exhausted.

"D-did I do well... Captain?!"

So focused, she didn't know how battle ended.

"Perfect. Jenny. Couldn't have without you."

"Hah! Too relieved!"

True. Contact shot on Cheon idea—conception to execution, all Jenny.

Ollie still tweaking dashboard post-battle for perfect 'ally pairing system'.

I took Jenny out of command center, cracked window.

Cheon Seung-hyuk's return spot: that rooftop.

Screen showed Yoon So-i's Sanctuary and all involved gathered there.

Raised scope to 32x, scouted them visually.

Wanted to confirm relic safe exit.

Hongmaehwa's Seol there too. Chanting over Cheon Seung-hyuk, then shoving rising him back down.

Then,

"!!!"

Just saw something insane on Hongmaehwa's hand.

Slim, long fingers with oversized ring.

Ring sparkled iridescent in sunlight.

My eyes instinctively locked on.

"Jenny."

"Yes! Captain!"

"Check all emails from Hongmaehwa so far."

Realized it.

Embedded in Seol's ring,

"...Not a single character missing."