Sudden Gate Break - Part 2
Was this the first wave of the surge?
The monsters began to pour out in droves once again. Watching them, Cheon Se-ah, famous as the Ice Witch, performed a miracle.
As an Awakened with the ability to manipulate the ice attribute, she gathered the moisture from the air to create massive chunks of ice—or something similar—to perform her feats.
In an instant, a colossal wall of ice manifested before our eyes, guiding the stampeding Hellhounds directly toward us, preventing them from scattering in other directions.
‘An Awakened user is indeed a tricky opponent. Plus, her ability activation is incredibly fast; responding to her wouldn't be easy.’
I briefly calculated the scenario with Cheon Se-ah as an enemy. Seeing the Hellhounds rushing toward us, I asked her, “Can you handle this?”
“What do you take me for?”
With that, she reached out her hand with a confident expression. Spikes erupted from the ice walls she had erected on the left and right, skewering the Hellhounds instantly.
Dozens died on the spot, while others whined in pain, nursing severe wounds.
However, the defining characteristic of a Hellhound is that they become even more ferocious when they smell blood.
I didn’t think a veteran like Cheon Se-ah would be unaware of that fact. As if to confirm my expectation, her second ability manifested immediately.
The Hellhounds, excited by the blood, charged at us blindly. But a transparent ice wall appeared in front of us, and the charging hounds collided with it, painting the clear barrier with their blood.
“Do you intend to just keep them trapped?”
“No? The temperature inside will keep dropping. I could lower it to what they call Absolute Zero, but these aren't strong enough monsters to warrant that. They usually die around minus 70 degrees Celsius.”
Most things would freeze to death at that temperature.
I nodded at her obvious statement and took flight into the air once more. I checked for the people who were finally starting to poke their heads out due to the commotion, and confirmed the photo that had just been transmitted to me.
‘Hmm, it’s uniform, as if it were intentionally split. What are the odds of a break occurring like this?’
No matter how I looked at it, I judged it to be impossible. Since my hypothesis was correct, the important question was who was involved.
‘Someone capable of manifesting this much power... The Doomsday Cultists have recently lost their strength, and Pi Jinhyuk of the Tower, the highest authority, doesn't have this level of power.’
If one were to quantify the magic power required to form a Grade 6 Gate, it would fall under the category of 8th Circle magic.
However, Pi Jinhyuk was estimated to be somewhere between a 7th Circle Master and an 8th Circle Beginner.
By a mage’s standards, unless one is an 8th Circle Master, they cannot exert power comparable to 8th Circle dark magic.
‘Perhaps they are standing in the gap, but surely someone of that stature wouldn't collude with the Doomsday Cultists. If so, is this an external factor, or the emergence of a new player?’
I couldn't ignore the probability that the Doomsday Cultists were involved, so a cautious approach was necessary.
I needed to examine the place where this Gate should have originally appeared, so I sent a message spell toward the ground.
“I will go check another location, so please take care of this place.”
Cheon Se-ah shouted from below.
“Don’t worry about it! I’m the Ice Witch, remember!”
Leaving behind Cheon Se-ah, who was showing quite a bit of confidence in her ability and her moniker, I began to move rapidly by repeatedly using short-range leaps. Not long after, I arrived near my destination and looked down at the ground, where a fierce battle was underway.
As the dim sun began to rise, I unleashed my magic power.
Many Awakened looked up at me, but I ignored their gazes, locked onto all the Hellhounds with my magic, and created the Wind Blades I had used before coming here, slicing through the necks of the hounds.
Blood splattered everywhere, and as thousands of Hellhounds collapsed in an instant, the Awakened below were left in a state of bewildered agitation.
I slowly lowered my altitude and came face-to-face with a familiar face.
“Mr. Gu Haesang, it’s been a while.”
“...Has that area already been taken care of?”
“The first wave was cleared quickly, and the Ice Witch has taken charge of the second wave. I came here to identify the cause.”
Just then, a woman who seemed quite tense spoke up.
“N-nice to meet you! My name is Park Miso!”
“She is our team’s advisor.”
“Nice to meet you. I saw the data you sent. Have you confirmed it?”
After speaking to Park Miso, I asked Gu Haesang, who nodded.
“...It was indeed split very uniformly. The probability of that... Park Miso told me it converges to almost zero. Is that true?”
“I think so, too. That’s why I came to check for myself. I’m planning to head over there.”
I pointed toward the underground drainage system.
“...There are still many monsters inside.”
“I’ve never been wounded by something as trivial as a Hellhound. Let’s go.”
I took a light step forward, and Gu Haesang followed, speaking urgently.
“This is an operational zone. It’s restricted to civilians. No matter who you are, isn't your official status that of a civilian?”
“Then let’s go together. Aren't you curious?”
Gu Haesang swallowed hard, and Park Miso asked, “Can... can you really find the cause?”
“If I see it for myself, I’ll be able to tell if it’s artificial or natural.”
“If it’s artificial... the culprit would be inside, and since a Grade 6 Gate has such high energy levels... wouldn't it be dangerous, given that a high-ranking Awakened might be involved...?”
She looked worried, but seeing her, I curled the corners of my mouth and said,
“You should be worrying about the opponent rather than me. Everyone here knows... who the real danger is, don't they?”
Park Miso swallowed hard again. However, Gu Haesang replied calmly.
“I don’t think you’re a danger. Calling the hero who saved this country a danger? The bastards who spew such nonsense have already been crushed by my hands. So, don’t say things like that.”
“I’m grateful. That you think that way. Let’s go for now.”
And so, we began to walk toward the drainage system.
* * *
“The Hellhound’s weak point is its nape. Even if you wound other parts, they’ll just keep charging wildly. They’re of the hound family, but they’re called Zombie Dogs for a reason.”
As I said this, I used Dead Rise with a light burst of magic, raising the dead Hellhounds as zombie dogs.
“Zombie dogs have stiff and unnatural movements. But against Hellhounds, they make the perfect shield.”
Gu Haesang and Park Miso watched in silence as I explained calmly.
The zombie dogs and Hellhounds clashed in battle.
But the funny thing was that the Hellhounds, which had been biting into the zombie dogs, suddenly began to writhe and crawl on the floor as if having a seizure.
“Hellhounds have a habit of craving ‘blood.’ That’s why they get excited and go berserk when they see it. Furthermore, their craving includes gluttony. Just by reviving a freshly dead Hellhound as a zombie dog, the zombie dog’s saliva and blood become a potent poison. And they end up eating it.”
The Hellhound thrashed about before going limp. It wasn't dead yet.
The paralytic poison mixed in the zombie dog’s blood acted first to stiffen its body, and then a stronger neurotoxin stimulated the rigid body, destroying it from within.
In less than a minute, the Hellhound died from the poisoning.
The funny thing is that humans don’t succumb to poison this quickly.
Humans would last at least 10 minutes before the paralysis set in, but Hellhounds have a very active metabolism, causing the poison to spread throughout their entire body rapidly.
Thanks to this, simply operating zombie dogs makes dealing with the swarms of Hellhounds a simple task.
“Dark magic... is amazing.”
At Park Miso’s words, Gu Haesang replied,
“During the war, dark magic was treated as a national military asset. In fact, when the war between the three countries was at its peak, it was often the case that whichever side’s dark mages won the battle was considered the victor of the entire conflict.”
“Ah, I think I’ve heard that story, too. And back then... you, you were very active...”
Park Miso hesitated, glancing at me.
There was no reason for her to be so cautious, but because the rumors were so ominous, I answered nonchalantly.
“I just used every method available to survive. It wasn't just me; everyone who stood on the battlefield was forced to make such choices.”
Those who walked the battlefield pretending to be clean didn't last long before becoming corpses.
We utilized even their corpses to fight the war, and every corpse, friend or foe, was merely a useful tool to a dark mage.
In the end, the war turned sharply due to the small number of survivors, and Korea, which had a relatively higher number of those survivors, pushed back Japan and China to achieve victory.
In reality, the three countries still maintained the worst possible relationship, but such issues were a global problem as well.
There were still many countries currently at war.
Not many countries had found stability and recovered their daily lives.
Even the daily lives that had been reclaimed were lives filled with scars. People were simply living their lives, taking one step after another while carrying bodies covered in countless wounds that could never return to the way they were before.
“We’re here.”
We arrived at the Gate entrance just in time. Looking at it, the word ‘as expected’ flowed out of me naturally. I confirmed that the area around the Gate was distorted by powerful fluctuations and unleashed my magic power.
Crackle— the moment my magic touched the fluctuations, black sparks flew. The meaning was simple.
‘Dark magic, huh. Which bastard is it?’
There aren't many people capable of exerting this much power. And considering there were multiple distorted fluctuations in the area, I could tell that someone of a relatively lower level had used a special medium to amplify their power.
The culprit was a dark mage. Thinking of someone with a background capable of using an amplification artifact, I considered the Black Tower and the Dark Mage Association, but since the Association had no interest in such things, I was certain the Black Tower was involved.
‘Why on earth would the Black Tower do something like this?’
For what purpose?
The question clouded my mind, but just then, Park Miso examined the surroundings and spoke as if she had reached a conclusion similar to mine.
“Looking at the magic power and the distortion, it seems like multiple mediums were used... but don't ordinary dark mages lack the capacity for this?”
“Are you certain a dark mage did this?”
At Gu Haesang’s question, Park Miso nodded, and Gu Haesang asked me,
“Is what Miso said true?”
“It is. A dark mage was involved, and at least a 6th Circle Master must have been connected to it.”
“...There aren't many 6th Circle Master dark mages in the country.”
“Forty-seven. Twenty of them belong to the Dark Mage Association, and the rest belong to the Black Tower or regional guilds. Check the CCTV and trace the movements of the dark mages.”
“...Understood.”
Leaving the two busy people behind, I moved forward. And it was just as I reached out to touch the Gate.
A black hand suddenly popped out, grabbed my arm, and pulled.
“Mr. Kim Suhyun!!”
Gu Haesang’s desperate voice erupted, but I didn't struggle against the force pulling me in. As I was sucked in, I thought,
‘Bold. Was this intentional?’
Come to think of it, a spreading-type break had occurred. What were the odds of it manifesting right in front of my house?
‘I’ll accept your invitation.’
I didn't know who it was, but I had the feeling they had anticipated I would react this way.