#273. Fight.
Kang Moo-hyuk's warning went unheeded. Even Jang Deok-gu and No Song-rin, caught off guard by the inexplicable turn of events, missed their chance to act.
The hunters clustered against the wall, with Kang Moo-hyuk at their center, staggered the moment they laid eyes on Thomas.
They hadn't even met his gaze directly, yet they couldn't escape the golden light radiating from his eyes, spilling everywhere like an inescapable haze.
All the hunters in the underground chamber lost consciousness and collapsed—everyone except Joo Se-ah.
It's the same phenomenon as back then. So it's the same kind of entity after all?
Kang Moo-hyuk recalled the being summoned by the goblin queen—the one dubbed the 'Unknown Entity'.
The color of the light it emitted was different, but this ominous aura evoked the darkness of that day. And like then, he himself remained unaffected.
Why has something like this happened?
He didn't know the reason, but one thing was certain.
Aila's prophesied warning hadn't unfolded underground—it had happened on the surface.
And.
Things are unfolding in a direction different from Aila's concerns. She doesn't know everything about this entity either.
He thought back to what had transpired on the surface just moments ago.
Twenty minutes before breaching the hive.
Thomas's consciousness flickered back momentarily. As if entranced, he groped for the syringe and plunged it into his arm.
One, two, three...
The solution, far exceeding a lethal dose, surged through his veins the instant it entered his body.
His blood vessels couldn't withstand the ferocious rush. Veins bulged grotesquely across his skin, twitching wildly on their own.
His body began to swell, so violently it felt like it might burst at any moment. Thomas hurriedly grabbed a suppressor and shoved it into his mouth.
As the surging power intensified, the force reining it in grew stronger in turn.
The two forces clashed, pushing and pulling against each other, unleashing unresolved pressure that hammered at the vital points throughout his body.
The shock was so intense that Thomas couldn't stay conscious. To escape the agony, he fled into the depths of his mind.
But the pain pursued him. When he could flee no further, he dove even deeper, seeking oblivion.
And in that instant, he crossed a certain line. The pain vanished. Only a warm, brilliant light filled everything.
"Thomas Hunter!"
Kang Moo-hyuk shouted as he descended the hill. He had moved the moment he saw Thomas inject the overdose.
He was appalled by the utterly unforeseen action. Even with the suppressor, no one could predict how long a body could endure such potent poison.
"Thomas!"
"......"
Kang Moo-hyuk called out again as he drew near, but there was no response from Thomas.
He looked up into the air.
Thomas floated there, light as a cloud. His eyes closed, body utterly still, swaying like a sleepwalker.
Kang Moo-hyuk sensed his form growing faint. It wasn't actually vanishing; the mana aura swelling within Thomas's body was simply distorting the perception.
Soon, the mana engulfed his entire form. That was when Thomas moved. He slowly turned his head and looked down at Kang Moo-hyuk.
It was like a golden puppet staging a marionette show in midair—somehow awkward and unnatural.
Kang Moo-hyuk rubbed his eyes fiercely and looked up again. The golden glow encircling Thomas had vanished entirely, leaving him floating in the sky as before, eyes still closed.
Thomas descended to the ground, eyes shut, and spoke.
"Shapim quoknot lab shi drakt?"
Kang Moo-hyuk staggered. It was a language etched in his memory. Not heard through the ears, but resounding in his mind. Just like with the Unknown Entity he'd first encountered in North Pocheon, he understood the words.
"I didn't summon you."
The golden-eyed being asked again.
"Ramjau jima deul akhak?"
"The owner of that body didn't summon you either. You just came here on your own whim."
"Deuhlapts holdu shi akkezum rib glabtzon."
"What? What language is that?"
"A tongue from a very distant place."
"Kuhak!"
Kang Moo-hyuk clutched his ears and dropped to one knee. The voice reverberated so powerfully it made his skull vibrate.
"My apologies. It's been ages since I spoke through vocal cords; I'm still adjusting."
Thomas—or rather, the Unknown Entity borrowing Thomas's body—adjusted the volume and continued.
"I am the Ruler of the Golden Eyes. One who exists by borrowing the name of an Outer God. State your reason for summoning me. So long as it doesn't violate causality, if the tribute's worth suffices, I shall grant one wish through this borrowed tongue."
"......"
Kang Moo-hyuk couldn't utter a word.
He had questions aplenty.
What was the true nature of the 'Unknown Entity'? What were Outer Gods? What tribute? How had it appeared here?
But the phrase "wish through this borrowed tongue" gave him pause. Speaking rashly felt like inviting something catastrophic.
"A taciturn one, eh. Silence is ever useful."
The Ruler of the Golden Eyes smiled in satisfaction. Then it surveyed the surroundings and frowned.
"This world reeks. It's infested with seeds of darkness. I had no intention of lingering anyway, but for you and this body's owner to hear my voice means you both possess the qualification."
Kang Moo-hyuk couldn't hold back any longer.
"What qualification?"
"Hm? You summoned without knowing?"
"Knowing what?"
"Much I'd like to explain, but will you be all right? If I stay long, this body's owner will exhaust all his life force."
Kang Moo-hyuk instinctively realized Thomas was the tribute.
But he had no intention of abandoning either his questions or Thomas.
"Make it short and simple."
The Outer God, eyes still closed, seemed to ponder sky and earth before speaking.
"This body's owner and you differ from the beings of this world."
"Differ?"
"I lack the skill to say it more briefly. Time's running out. No true desire?"
"Desire?"
In that instant, a long-cherished wish flashed through Kang Moo-hyuk's mind.
"Yes. That very thought. Voice it aloud with your tongue."
"If I speak it, you'll grant it?"
"So long as it doesn't violate causality, if the tribute weighs enough."
For reasons unknown, Kang Moo-hyuk feared voicing it. Gritting his teeth, he spat it out.
"The extermination of all monsters."
"Monsters? You mean the seeds of darkness? I'd love to say 'as you wish,' but the scales tip too far. I cannot."
"You made it sound like you could do anything..."
"I attached conditions. The price must match the value. Purging darkness that has invaded a world exceeds what you two can offer. But those reeking things below? I could manage that much."
"And the price is Thomas's life?"
"This body's owner drew near 'Adumra's Underworld' the moment I descended. Blessed by Hadanos, he won't die immediately, but his fate depends on the ordeal he endures."
"Nothing but cryptic nonsense."
"Do not seek to comprehend an Outer God's realm. One last question: Shall I purge the darkness below?"
Kang Moo-hyuk had no choice.
The being before him felt more dangerous than the carnivorous wasps underground, but from the conversation, the Ruler of the Golden Eyes would soon depart.
Regrettably, its enigmas would have to wait. Securing immediate gain came first.
I'm no better. In this absurd situation, all I can think of is killing monsters. I'm not right in the head.
Even his thoughts conveyed to the Ruler.
"Wise choice. To calculate so rationally with me before you. Possessing such mental fortitude without Hadanos's blessing. Indeed, qualified. Now speak. Voice your wish with your tongue."
Kang Moo-hyuk borrowed the Ruler's words to make his wish.
"Send all the monsters below—no, all the seeds of darkness—back to Adumra's side."
"Fallen souls cannot enter Adumra's Underworld, but I grasp your intent."
The Ruler of the Golden Eyes rose into the air once more.
"Witness me fulfilling the pact."
Kang Moo-hyuk's body lifted with it. He was drawn into Thomas's embrace.
The ridiculous pose would have been comical under normal circumstances, but he couldn't laugh. The mana emanating from the close presence alone threatened to shatter his mind. Clenching Thomas's collar, he forcibly clung to his fading consciousness.
Thomas's palm turned toward the ground.
The phoenix plummeted. It was a phoenix on an entirely different scale from before.
Embracing the earth like an egg, the phoenix made the soil soften and thicken, melting it in an instant. It bored straight into the underground.
The Ruler descended into the searing heat below.
Kang Moo-hyuk felt his body cooking. Sensing it, the Ruler conjured a barrier. The space inside instantly blocked the intense heat.
"Filth abounds. First, let's save those blessed by Hadanos."
With more incomprehensible words, the Ruler extended a hand, firing a golden beam.
That was where Kang Moo-hyuk's memory ended.
The Ruler of the Golden Eyes extended a hand toward the carnivorous wasps.
Numerous phoenixes soared forth. Flames erupted with each wingbeat, swelling into waves. The waves became a tsunami, sweeping everything. All the wasps swarming underground crumbled to ash.
Piles of monster ash accumulated before Kang Moo-hyuk's eyes. In disbelief, he approached and scooped up a handful of dust.
It was a fight so anticlimactically simple. All the effort and blood shed until now felt utterly negated.
Should I call this a victory since the monsters are dead? Or lament how pathetically small humanity seems, risking lives against such trivial foes?
Kang Moo-hyuk gazed at the Ruler of the Golden Eyes.
"Time's up. One foul seed remains, but leave its end to Hadanos's design."
"Leaving now?"
"We may meet again someday. Or never. For you mortals, whose eternity is so brief, never meeting us would be fortune."
"One more question before you go."
"The scales have tipped far already, but for this rare outing, I'll allow it."
"What are you? Why do you make this world seem so insignificant?"
"Nothing in the cosmos escapes insignificance. Not you, not I. Don't deem yourselves insignificant. Keep fighting, and enlightenment will come. The design is already rooted here; using it rightly is your part. I'm curious how you'll wield it. Now. The. Time. Has. Come."
Wupk dikt.
The light faded.
Kang Moo-hyuk repeated the Ruler's parting words.
"Fight?"