The Distorted City of Paris
As Yu Jinho made his way toward one of the beacons, battles erupted simultaneously throughout Paris.
The first clash occurred with the main force of the Yeokcheon Guild.
The Klyphoth followers glared at the team members with blood-red eyes.
Jennygatz's Serpent
Sian's Eye
Angmache's Claw
Dozens of snakes formed from dark mana poured forth. Countless pupils constricted their movements. Razor-sharp claws hurtled from thin air. This was black magic that manifested a demon’s concept or a fragment of its body.
Vibration Barrier
Multiple layers of defensive barriers blocked the dark magic. The assault was ferocious, shattering many of the shields, but an equal number instantly reformed to seal every gap.
“Carla!”
While the Klyphoth followers concentrated their barrage on Jiyoung, a figure shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
A woman wielding a long scythe. Carla’s back distorted and restored itself in rapid succession. She surrendered her body to the violent energy generated by spatial contraction and release rather than resisting it. More than a kilometer of distance vanished in a single breath.
Dimension Break
The landscape warped along the scythe’s arc. Powerful dark magic. Even the monstrous hides harder than steel plating. Nothing could exert its strength before the scythe’s concept, which shattered space itself.
Slaaash!
Blood sprayed like a fountain. Each swing of the scythe harvested multiple lives. With an expressionless face, Carla carved through both Klyphoth followers and monsters alike.
“Only two enemies. Stay calm and respond properly…”
“Arrogant fool. You’re not even treating me like a person?”
While the Klyphoth followers were distracted by Carla and Jiyoung, Ping Lei was not content to simply watch.
Thirty versions of Ping Lei now existed. Clones that fused his unique ability with Seon Magic charged forward.
Fierce gales swirled from every direction. The followers reacted a moment too late, but the wind wrapped in Seon energy tore through the black magic and drove straight inside.
Dark mana was a heresy that opposed natural law. When it collided with Seon Magic, which governed the proper order of things, it was inevitably overpowered.
The wind Seon Magic Ping Lei had deployed sent the clustered Klyphoth followers flying in every direction.
“Don’t have all the fun without me!”
Mechanic Control
Kimbaya Relic
Dozens of aerial constructs spread out and relentlessly targeted the scattered followers. Their destructive power fell far short of Nadia Cassel’s Pin Fang. Even so, it was more than enough to slaughter the followers left reeling by Ping Lei’s Seon Magic.
The four of them already possessed Ranker-level strength. While the Yeokcheon main force overwhelmed the Klyphoth followers, the situation at the other beacons was far more desperate.
“Haaahp!”
Explosive Tiger Layered Fist
Golden fist energy collided head-on with a Gehenna guardian’s shield. The black current covering the shield was crushed beneath the Fist Gang, and Shin Junseok’s fist punched straight through the guardian’s chest behind it.
“Now I just need to break through…”
Unholy Target
Banish
A brand burned onto Shin Junseok’s forehead. At the same time, a violet current wrapped around his entire body and hurled him more than a hundred meters backward.
A curse that lowers resistance combined with a banishment spell.
Shin Junseok swallowed a groan. This same sequence had repeated several times since the battle at the beacon began.
The Mugeuk Team consisted entirely of martial artists. In the current era, martial arts were still considered non-mainstream. Aside from the drawback of taking a long time to reach full effectiveness, there was one more critical weakness.
They were extremely vulnerable to debuffs.
“Their brains really are made of muscle.”
“Let us teach these intruders true terror.”
The Gaag Shebla sect specialized in curses and human sacrifice. Although they had no living offerings, the World Severance barrier recreated the environment of the otherworld, granting them an endless supply of dark mana.
The explosive breakthrough power characteristic of martial artists was repeatedly neutralized by curses, rendering their strength useless.
“I won’t be able to face Junior like this.”
Klyphoth followers were the most troublesome type of opponent. No team members had been injured yet, but in a war of attrition the Mugeuk Team—with its limited internal energy—would be at an overwhelming disadvantage.
After the exchange, the team members fell back to Shin Junseok’s side.
“Team Leader, we’ll open a path.”
“If we can reduce the number of curse casters, victory is possible.”
Shin Junseok shook his head.
“The casualties would be too high.”
The beacon assault was only the beginning of the Paris recapture operation. They had no idea what lay inside the black barrier surrounding the city.
“I’ll handle opening the path myself.”
“Team Leader, that’s too dangerous alone.”
“Please leave it to us.”
“The more numbers we commit, the higher our chances of success.”
Shin Junseok raised his internal energy. A golden membrane enveloped his entire body—his protective aura.
Manifesting internal energy across the whole body is terrible efficiency, but I have no choice.
Shin Junseok swallowed a sigh. He had expected the defensive forces at the beacon to be formidable. The summoned monsters from another world were strong, but the greatest problem was their overwhelming incompatibility.
If they took their time and attacked slowly, they could win. But they could not afford a slow siege in the heart of enemy territory.
With a solemn expression, Shin Junseok stepped forward. To reverse the flow of battle, he would have to push himself.
“Hold on a moment, mister.”
“Sergei?”
“Let me repay the debt from Dreamland.”
The mohawk-wearing man who had suddenly appeared laughed with a fierce grin. Kim Youngsoo, observing the overall battle, had redirected Sergei to support the Mugeuk Team.
“I’ve lost face. Thank you.”
“Khh khh, we’re the ones who owe the debt, so don’t worry about it.”
Sergei released the rearranged mana. An ice storm plummeted from the sky. The Klyphoth followers who had been hurling curses frantically recalled their dark mana and switched to defense.
“Excellent work.”
Shin Junseok withdrew his protective aura.
Right after the five beacons were destroyed, the black barrier enclosing Paris began to crumble without a sound.
Given the barrier’s enormous scale, even after collapse began, the interior remained hidden for some time. The scattered allies gathered at a leisurely pace. Once assembled in one place, they waited calmly for the barrier to finish falling.
“Master, at least we had time to regroup. That’s fortunate.”
“The enemy likely did the same.”
“Huh?”
“They will have identified our location and gathered their full strength.”
“Then it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other.”
Jiyoung openly displayed her disappointment.
“That’s a rather complacent thing to say. After we recapture Paris, it’s training time.”
“Ah, no—why does it always end up like that!”
“You need to learn when to hold your tongue.”
In her previous life she had been extremely taciturn. He missed those days. The world must have been brutally harsh for such a talkative girl to have lost her voice. Then again, thinking back on the era of destruction, it made perfect sense.
Between the collapsing barriers, the scenery of the great city gradually revealed itself.
“What on earth…”
“Where has my beloved Paris gone!”
Ellen’s piercing scream shook the surroundings. The capital of France, known as the City of Light—Paris. The magnificent city that had contained both history and beauty had vanished long ago.
Grotesque buildings reminiscent of Dreamland. Some were crushed into the ground, while others defied gravity and floated several meters in the air. Cars that belonged on the roads hung suspended in mid-air, motionless. People remained trapped inside their homes, looking around with fear-filled eyes.
A distorted cityscape. It could be called a surrealist painting. Or perhaps a haunted house decorated with a horror-house theme. The eerie landscape dyed the party’s eyes with tension.
Fortunately, the mortals here appear unharmed.
“I told you nothing serious would happen.”
The ones they should worry about weren’t the citizens of Paris, but themselves. Swallowing the rest of that thought, I pointed at the enemies beyond the barrier.
Dark Mamonts, Gehenna guardians, Fel Beasts—every monster we had faced until now swarmed in massive numbers. At a glance, their forces numbered in the thousands. During the time the barrier took to collapse, they must have gathered every soldier previously dispersed across Paris.
“Master, above us!”
A huge shadow fell across the ground.
“Kraraaaara!”
Crimson scales and vertically slit pupils. Long wings stretched from its back. A monstrous creature roughly fifteen meters long descended in a straight line, targeting the party.
“Lesser Drake?”
“Why is a named monster from the 67th floor…”
Concern clouded the faces of the Diamond-rank players.
A fallen dragon. A pitiful beast that has lost its original dignity and pride.
“Since it’s a lower dragon species, the word ‘fallen’ is appropriate.”
The Lesser Drake belonged to an entirely different class from the monsters they had faced before. Although it originated from the 60th floor range, its actual difficulty was one level higher. As the Yellow Storm member had mentioned, it was recognized as a named monster. They should treat it as 70th-floor difficulty.
And dozens of such Lesser Drakes were circling overhead.
“Whew. Looks like I need to take this seriously.”
“Guild Leader, Yellow Storm will keep the sky in check.”
“Hmph. My magic can turn them all into ice statues.”
The international Rankers burned with fighting spirit.
“I’ll handle those creatures.”
I poured cold water on their enthusiasm.
“Ark, can you manage?”
『They are excellent materials, my lord.』
“I’ll deliver them with as little damage as possible.”
Shrink
One step closed the distance to zero. The moment the Lesser Drake—who had been licking its chops—widened its eyes in shock—
Swoooosh—!
I drove Gwangseoji into its chest with blinding speed. Scales as hard as mithril were torn apart by the concentrated energy. Ignoring the slight resistance, I poured in more power. The drake’s heart could not endure the force and exploded with a dull bang.
The Lesser Drake’s corpse plummeted without even a scream. Normally I would have devoured it on the spot, but right now we needed to bolster our insufficient forces.
An eerie energy swallowed the Lesser Drake’s corpse. Red scales rained down. Then the flesh rotted and sloughed away, leaving only white bones.
Kwarurururu!
A lower dragon race reduced to nothing but bones. The Bone Drake unleashed a bizarre roar.
“I’ll increase the number of your comrades.”
I lightly kicked off the Bone Drake’s hip bone and leaped. Soaring effortlessly into the sky where the Lesser Drakes circled, I prepared for the next hunt.