Chapter 114
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Gate (3)
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The bustling streets near Gangnam Station.
A weekend in this busy district would normally be a sea of people, but for some reason, the crowds were thinner than usual.
Hey. I told you we should postpone. Don't you see the sky?
The reason was none other than the Gray Out. Most people had chosen to stay quietly at home due to the strange phenomenon.
Of course, there were those who didn't.
Come on. The Association said there were no magic reactions.
Still, you never know.
And honestly, a Gray Out? If this was really dangerous, it'd be the same anywhere in Seoul. Unless you're planning to flee the country.
A strange, ashen sky stretched from South Korea to North Korea and Japan. The Association had named this phenomenon the 'Gray Out'.
I guess you're right, but
Forget it. Let's go. We're running out of time.
A desensitization to danger.
Most citizens, accustomed to South Korea's safe environment, had become somewhat numb to the risk of disaster.
You worry too much. How many guilds are concentrated around Seoul? You really think something's going to happen?
That's true.
And sometimes, that desensitization invites great calamity.
*Ching, ching!*
The sound of something shattering echoed.
A cracking noise, like a mirror breaking.
Hmm? Did you hear something?
A sound?
*Clang! Kang!*
Huh? For real. What is that noise?
Like a mirror breaking?
The cracking sound echoed rhythmically.
L-Look!
It was then that someone pointed to the sky and shouted.
A A Gate!
Space itself had split open.
It was, without a doubt, the unmistakable form of a Gate.
Everyone's faces filled with horror.
Th-The alarm? The Gate alarm didn't go off!
Report it! Call it in!
Shit! The call won't go through! There's no signal!
What? It's true! My phone's dead too!
As the Gate grew larger, so too did the citizens' anxiety.
It was then.
This is superhuman Lee Kanghyun of the Changcheon Guild! From this moment, the Changcheon Guild will take command of the situation!
A A superhuman!
We're saved!
Several superhumans descended among the panicking citizens.
They were superhumans from the Changcheon Guild, whose headquarters was nearby in Gangnam.
All citizens, please proceed to the underground bunkers immediately! Our guild members will guide you!
With those words, three superhumans broke away from the formation.
Please remain calm! It's alright!
If you just follow our instructions, everyone can evacuate safely!
Scenes like this were unfolding all across downtown Gangnam.
All sorts of superhumans, having immediately grasped the unusual situation, had rushed to the scene and were urging citizens to evacuate.
Guild Master! All citizens in the vicinity have been guided to safety!
Among the guilds guiding the evacuation was, of course, the 'Bihon Guild'.
Do one last sweep. There might still be people who haven't evacuated.
Yuhwa replied to the guild member's report with a grave expression.
Yes! Understood!
The Gate will fully open in five minutes, so you must be back before then.
Yes! Everyone, let's go!
As the guild members disappeared once more, Yuhwa was left alone, lost in thought.
Gray Out.
She muttered, checking her smartphone. As expected, there was no signal. The internet was down too. Because of this, she couldn't contact the government or other guilds.
A concept superior to the Black Tortoise's signal jamming.
Something different from the Black Tortoise's ability, which simply blocked signals, must be at work.
Yuhwa put her smartphone back in her pocket and looked up at the sky.
The already enormous Gate was still growing.
This is dangerous.
From its appearance, it's clearly a discharge-type Gate.
Its size is about a quarter of the 'Disaster-Class Gate' that opened recently.
Based on size alone, one could estimate it holds 250,000 to 300,000 magic power.
In other words, it's classified as a large-scale Gate.
If I could just contact the monitoring center, I'd know the exact numbers.
She never imagined there'd be communication problems in Seoul, let alone in the middle of Gangnam.
Is this an effect of the Gray Out?
Signal jamming during a Gate's appearance, perhaps. As Yuhwa was lost in thought,
*Chiiing, chiiing Kaaang!*
The cracking sounds coming from the rift ceased.
The calm before the storm.
The silence before a typhoon.
It was a sign that the Gate was about to open.
Already!
Yuhwa's eyes widened.
The Gate's formation is too fast! It should have taken another five minutes to open!
In that instant, the sky opened.
Run!
Aaaaaah!
From the massive rift in the air, black, grotesque beings rained down.
They spewed out in all directions, like a swarm of flies scattering.
A portion of them were falling in Yuhwa's direction.
Black masses.
Clumps of filth, perhaps.
Hmph!
Yuhwa immediately drew upon her magic power. There was no time to wait for her guild members to return.
She immediately used 'Materialization' to conjure magical weapons all around her.
In that moment, Yuhwa's pupils trembled.
This is?
The flow of her magic was weaker than usual. By about thirty percent. The power had weakened by the same amount.
No way!
Yuhwa quickly checked her status window.
===
[Yuhwa]
[Personal Profile]
[Stats]
[Skills]
[Traits & Skills]
===
She selected Stats.
===
[Combat Stats]
[Non-Combat Stats]
===
She opened only her Combat Stats.
===
[Strength] B-Rank (47/99)
[Agility] B-Rank (71/99)
[Stamina] A-Rank (37/99)
[Magic Power] S-Rank (57/99)
[Senses] A-Rank (87/99)
===
So far, everything was the same as usual.
But the very last entry was the problem.
===
Insight: Affected by an unidentified debuff. All stats decreased by 30%.
===
An unidentified debuff?
Insight.
It was one of Yuhwa's extended traits, an ability that allowed her to visualize the buffs and debuffs affecting her body.
She couldn't count how many crises she had overcome thanks to this Insight.
Which made this all the more terrifying.
An unidentified debuff that even Insight couldn't penetrate.
What in the world is
But there was no time to continue that thought.
!
*Kwoooaaaaah!*
The black masses of filth that were plummeting to the ground came into view.
Undead!
Masses of undead.
Dozens, hundreds of undead with repulsive appearances that inspired immediate disgust were clumped together, falling from the sky.
*Paaaang!*
The next moment, the first mass crashed to the ground.
A sound like flesh being crushed against the pavement echoed.
It was, in fact, the sound of grotesque, zombie-like beings being flattened on the ground.
So about a third of them are just acting as a cushion.
A silver lining in a dark cloud.
Yuhwa drew upon her magic power once more.
Fortunately, large-scale extermination battles like this were Yuhwa's specialty.
*Shwaaaek!*
Yuhwa fired the weapons she had materialized in a single volley toward the undead horde.
*Puk! Pahak!*
The undead horde was helplessly swept away by Yuhwa's attack.
A single sword pierced through ten undead.
Even wood would be tougher than this.
They're weak.
Even with all her stats reduced by thirty percent, she hadn't expected them to die so easily.
Is this really a 300,000 magic power discharge-type Gate?
Is it just an empty shell of a Gate, large in size only?
As she squinted her eyes in thought,
*Kuwoooooh-!*
Suddenly, the undead that had been completely crushed upon impact with the ground began to reform.
Regeneration?
As if time were reversing, they were slowly returning to their original forms.
That wasn't all.
*Guwooooh.*
*Gaaaaak!*
The undead that had been turned to rags by Yuhwa's barrage of weapons also began to slowly revert to their original state.
There were no exceptions.
Whether their heads were shattered, hearts pierced, or bodies dismembered.
Sooner or later, they were all regaining their original forms.
Of course
So it's a Gate that poured all its magic power into regeneration, not strength.
Even the third that she thought had served as a cushion were squirming, pulling themselves out of pools of blood. There had been no loss of forces from the start.
Yuhwa bit her lip and once again fired her magical weapons.
I hope reinforcements arrive before my magic power runs out.
Scenes like this were playing out all over Gangnam.
* * *
Hoo.
Yuhwa was panting heavily. It had only been fifteen minutes, but she was already drenched in sweat.
The magic consumption is much higher than usual.
Losing not just magic power, but also other non-combat stats like Senses, was proving to be a painful handicap.
Trying to fight as she normally would with her weakened power, her control was starting to falter.
As a result, her use of Materialization was cruder than usual, and the corresponding magic consumption was severe.
Just stay down! You filth!
The undead legion, on the other hand, hadn't diminished by a single one. She was growing weary of the undead that regenerated no matter how many times she struck them down.
This is bad.
There's a limit to how long she can hold out.
A human's stamina and magic power are finite.
And I can't run away
But she couldn't run.
As a superhuman, fleeing from such grotesque monsters was unthinkable.
In the end, all Yuhwa could do was hold on until reinforcements arrived.
Even if reinforcements do come, is there any way to deal with this immortal army?
She had never in her life seen monsters with such ridiculous regenerative abilities.
Even if only a foot is left, it starts regenerating from there.
Yuhwa fired her magical weapons, gritting her teeth.
What am I supposed to do!
As she fumed inwardly,
*Fwoooosh-!*
A sound like a meteor falling from the sky echoed.
Reinforcements!
Yuhwa looked up in surprise.
Sure enough, more black masses were pouring down.
They were three times larger than the masses of filth that had fallen before.
No way.
Worse, this time it wasn't a cluster of undead falling.
It was a single creature. She could tell just by its repulsive form, visible even from a distance. An undead monster famous enough for even Yuhwa to recognize.
Corpse Collector?
The worst kind of monster, one that grew in size by collecting corpses, with a trait that made its strength increase exponentially the more living creatures it devoured.
And five of them were now falling toward various parts of the city.
Yuhwa bit her lip.
An immortal army before me. Corpse Collectors from the sky. And my stats are down by 30%.
On top of that, communications are down, so I have no idea what's happening elsewhere.
One disaster was piling on top of another.
What should I do? What can I
Soon, blood trickled from Yuhwa's lip.
There's no way.
Just as a stream of blood trickled from her tightly clenched fist,
*Fwoooooosh-!*
Kyah!
Suddenly, a massive pillar of flame erupted before her.
A pillar of white fire, soaring high into the sky as if to incinerate everything.
It completely burned away even Yuhwa's magical swords that had been piercing the air.
*Guwoooooh!!*
The immortal horde at the center of the pillar of fire began to scream.
They're not regenerating?
The hordes that had been burned to ash never revived.
Could it be
Is their weakness the fire attribute?
As her eyes widened at the thought,
*Fwoosh!!*
*Kwaaaang-!*
Two more pillars of fire shot up.
Pillars of similar thickness and height as the first. They precisely incinerated only the immortal horde.
The firepower was so immense that the heatwave alone sent signboards flying. She was stunned by the overwhelming force.
The Witch of Flames?
The world's 5th-ranked superhuman.
The Witch of Flames.
Could she be here?
No.
The Witch of Flames couldn't be here. In the first place, her flames weren't white like this.
!
Yuhwa's pupils dilated. If it was white flame, then surely.
Sorry. Setting up the magic amplification circle took longer than I thought.
At that moment.
A familiar male voice echoed from right behind Yuhwa.
A charming, low-pitched voice.
But well, it looks like I'm not too late.
Yuhwa quickly turned her head and exclaimed.
Seoyul-ssi! What in the world?
Her eyes fell upon Kang Seoyul's form.
Three pairs of fiery wings shimmered on Kang Seoyul's back.
His eyes shone like the sun, and his black hair had turned a brilliant crimson.
In his right hand, he held a staff bearing the unique pattern of 'Cheonbyeon'.
On his left hand, he wore the 'Grace of Mana' that Yuhwa had gifted him.
And finally, instead of the peculiar necklace Pi Jinho had given him, a captivating necklace with a red jewel stood out.
Blessing of Ifrit?
The 'Ancient Relic of the Spirit Tribe,' 'Blessing of Ifrit,' which she had received from the Collector and given to Kang Seoyul.
Its effect was definitely.
Yes. It's Spirit Possession.
Kang Seoyul grinned and stomped his foot on the ground. *Thump!*
The next moment.
*Piiiiing-!*
*Kaaang!*
A vast magic circle lit up, centered on Kang Seoyul.
Named by Kang Seoyul himself.
The Princess-Style Ancient Magic Amplification Circle.
It began to spread out endlessly, as if to cover the entire area.