133
133 — Following New York, Again
The target was already decided. The egg of black flames was growing massively in size even at this very moment.
It was an enormous size. It had already grown to the size of a house. He had never seen flames this large before. Even Jeraxon's flames were at the level of a small torch compared to this.
Because it was so large, he wasn't sure if he could cut it down in one strike. However, it was still black flames, so if he kept cutting at it, it would eventually disappear.
The problem was that landing even one strike wasn't easy.
Clang—
Lin Shenlin blocked Jin-woo's sword as he aimed for the egg of flames. The headless body deflected Jin-woo's sword, and the head that emitted light flew up on its own and fired a powerful beam.
Though it couldn't compare to a Breath attack, it had considerable power. The sword wielded by the body was no less skilled than Lin Shenlin had been when alive. Rather, with the God of Light's power added to Lin Shenlin's memories and body, the power was even stronger.
"Kugh."
[ Huhu, do you think that's enough? ]
The God of Light laughed as if enjoying herself and provoked Jin-woo. Jin-woo wasn't one to fall for such taunts, but it was true that this wasn't easy. If it had been Lin Shenlin himself, it would have been much easier...
"What is that egg?"
[ It's a secret. You'll find out soon enough anyway, so don't rush me. ]
She said it was a secret, but she didn't seem to have much intention of hiding it. When she said he'd find out soon, did that mean something would be born soon?
If so, the role of Lin Shenlin's body was clear. To buy time until the egg hatched. To hold down Jin-woo, the only one here who could cut through flames.
'Even if something is born, I doubt it will be stronger than Silvern or Jeraxon...'
But even so, he couldn't ignore it. The reason he could fight freely against the two dragons was that the battlefield had been the Spirit Realm. A place where he could focus on combat without worrying about collateral damage.
In fact, when he fought Silvern and when he fought Jeraxon, there had been terrain changes to the degree of the earth splitting and mountains collapsing.
But this was Earth. Moreover, it wasn't far from the metropolis of Hong Kong. The distance wasn't exactly close, but for an existence like Jeraxon, it was a distance that could be covered in an instant with a few wingbeats.
If such a powerful being ran wild here...
'It's far more serious than Ireland.'
It would be much harder to deal with. In terms of pure size, it probably wouldn't be larger than Ireland. Looking at the speed at which the egg was growing and the God of Light's tone when she said ‘soon’, it couldn't possibly grow that large.
The problem was the possibility of hostility. Ireland had no hostility at all and had simply moved, but the God of Light was different. Since she was causing this on Earth, she must have an unfavorable purpose.
Hwaryuk—
The egg grew a bit larger. Even now, it was growing larger by absorbing flames from various places.
Jin-woo tried to approach to cut it before it was too late, but was blocked by Lin Shenlin, more precisely, by the God of Light wearing Lin Shenlin's shell.
[ There really isn't much time left, so can't you just watch quietly? Interfering with the birth of new life is a bad thing. ]
"New life? Why are you giving birth to such a thing here instead of in the Spirit Realm?"
[ Because this star has reached its end. ]
What?
[ Jeraxon devoured countless stars, and this star was also one of his prey. And he's eaten almost all of it. Even if I don't tell you, you, as a resident of this star, should know well, right? ]
It was a story he didn't need to hear. Everyone who was human knew that over 99% of Earth's land was covered by the Black Land.
[ Is there any point in extending this star's lifespan? Rather than struggling to continue a difficult life, it seems better to give up once and aim for the next. I'm only trying to show kindness, you know. ]
"...Your shitty personality is as always."
Lin Shenlin's head laughed. Ignoring the profanity Jin-woo spat out, she continued speaking.
[ Do you know this? Light signifies beginnings and governs the birth of life and stars. It always arises from darkness, and the darker the blackness, the more brilliant the light that is born. ]
That was the salvation she proposed.
To pronounce euthanasia on a star on the verge of death, and then give birth to new light from the ensuing darkness.
In other words, it was like pressing the reset button on a broken computer—no, throwing away the broken one and buying something entirely new.
But Earth was an existence that couldn't be compared to such things, so Jin-woo found it hard to accept her words.
Her words were the same as immediately singing of destruction, so it was something that Jin-woo, who was living in the present, or current humanity, could not accept.
She wasn't even hiding her purpose, so no further conversation was necessary. Jin-woo swung his sword, and Lin Shenlin's body blocked two sword strikes. However, the third sword cut through the torso, and the fourth sword cut through the head.
Finally, the fifth strike shot toward the egg of black flames, creating a large scratch and crack on its surface.
'Did I wound it?'
As expected, the size was too large to cut through in one strike. But if he kept cutting like this, it would eventually collapse. He thought so, but the egg's momentum remained unchanged. Rather, brilliant light burst forth from the cracked opening.
[ It's too late. The Light of Beginning has already descended. ]
The egg of black flames. Brilliant light bursts from the cracked surface. However, deep inside that light, in an even deeper place, there was a flame where white and black things were entangled.
It was a form he was seeing for the first time, but the energy felt from it was similar to Jeraxon's flames he had seen in the Spirit Realm. In other words...
'It's not just a fragment.'
This was different from the case with Grisella. Unlike that time when she sent down part of her soul to achieve her purpose, this time it wasn't just a fragment.
[ My name is Praysiar. I am the Lord of Luminescence who governs the Light of Beginning and the Darkness of End. ]
The egg shattered, and a monster resembling an angel revealed itself.
***
The first thing visible was the wings. Wings that looked similar to a bird's yet completely different, even divine.
However, what was at the center of the wings was a monster. The silhouette was of a woman's form, but upon closer look, it was somewhat different. The body was made of chitin of unknown material and gave off an unpleasantly glossy sheen, and on the head, two pairs of threads resembling antennae whirled.
Unlike the bright wings, the torso was very dark, and the hair was unkempt and disheveled, adding to the gloomy and bewitching atmosphere.
Despite this, she wore refined garments as if she were a saint, but there was an eeriness that couldn't be concealed even by that.
'For now, I need to start the battle here.'
Cutting it down before it was born had failed. Then he had to at least fight here. The worst case would be losing it here, and the best would be fighting even farther away.
[ Hmph. ]
As if mocking Jin-woo, Praysiar stretched her body forward and accelerated. The creature that passed Jin-woo in an instant flew toward the place with the most humans nearby. Hong Kong.
The black flames that had formed the egg's shell followed her. From that filthy thing, like black stains on white wings, likewise black flame-bearing minions and monsters poured out.
"Damn it!"
Jin-woo immediately followed, but he had no wings. While it was possible to fly briefly with magic items, it wasn't enough to chase Praysiar, who was flying at full speed.
He was able to return to Hong Kong much later than she, and by then, the barrier that had been covering Hong Kong had already been shattered.
***
—Weeeeeeeing!
—Emergency! Emergency! Everyone evacuate! Please evacuate to the nearest shelter!
What struck Hong Kong was an unprecedented disaster. A flying being, like an angel never seen before, seized control of the city's airspace. Her white wings were beautiful, but from the black flames covering the wings, hideous monsters poured out.
They destroyed buildings, demolished factories, and overturned rivers and roads. People hurriedly hid underground, but the city, being half-destroyed, was faster than everyone evacuating.
"Block them! Evacuate the people!"
"What kind of lightning strike from the blue is this?!"
Fortunately, there were many Hunters staying in Hong Kong. It was already a city with many Hunters, but now there were Hunters from around the world gathered for the matter of the White Land.
S-rank Hunters blocked the strong entities, and A-rank Hunters dealt with the small fry. B-rank and lower Hunters helped evacuate citizens and secured safety.
The scale was insufficient to protect the entire city, but they could protect some parts. However, they too were on the verge of panic, no different from ordinary citizens.
"What on earth is that? It seems to have flown from the direction where the White Land is!"
"No one will know that, right? Satisfy your curiosity later and first kill the monsters in front of your eyes!"
As there were many strong and experienced Hunters, their response was quick too. Though it was messy with everyone belonging to different organizations, they at least thoroughly protected their assigned areas. Having sufficiently heightened their awareness of large-scale disasters due to Ireland incident, that effect was clearly demonstrated.
However, it was different from Ireland incident. Back then, S-rank Hunters were summoned simply to block the approaching disaster. But those now gathered in Hong Kong were those whom Praysiar had intentionally lured and gathered.
"Aaaaagh!"
"Kuaaaaaaah!"
The rain was still falling. The toxic rain that melted the flesh of dead Hunters, refined them into black flames, and delivered them to Praysiar. Though it was said to have no effect on the living, it was still deadly poison.
"Qu-quickly gather the S-ranks!"
"Most of them are already responding!"
"Then why aren't they blocking it?!"
Relatively brave officials and commanders tried to grasp the situation, but there was no way they could. The S-ranks here all belonged to different organizations, and even considering that, the situation was too urgent.
Kurururung—!
Then lightning struck, directly hitting the angel above Hong Kong. Countless lightning bolts fell on each wing, and similar baptisms of lightning fell on nearby monsters as well.
"Kuhahahaha!"
The Thunder Emperor Reinhardt, an S-rank Hunter from London. The old man with a bushy beard laughed loudly, yet with eyes that weren't smiling at all, he wielded lightning.
"What are you!"
His voice rang out loudly, penetrating even the noisy rain. Not a question of who, but what. The energy felt from Praysiar was that alien. He didn't get the feeling at all that they were the same type of creature.
[ ..... ]
Praysiar's response was to ignore him. Far from replying, she didn't even look at him. The countless falling lightning bolts seemed to have no more effect than a gentle breeze.
"...Following New York, again."
He had felt a similar sense of powerlessness during Ireland incident. At that time, the Thunder Emperor had fired lightning over ten thousand times to pierce Ireland's shell, but hadn't achieved much.
It wasn't just the Thunder Emperor. The disaster in New York, where every distinguished S-rank gathered from various countries, felt powerless alike.
What happened now in Hong Kong was similar to that. The difference was that the progression was incomparably faster. Compared to Ireland's slow steps that were slow to match its bulk, Praysiar's wings were fast.
Then, within the stream of lightning, a single light sparkled. Lightning was also a source of energy with a strong light, so the light hidden between them was difficult to discover. Reinhardt discovered it just before it was fired.
'Oh no...!'
He didn't know what it was, but that light was ominous. He hurriedly tried to twist his body, but it was too late. It seemed like it would be fired immediately and pierce through his heart.
A single sword blocked it. The sharply raised blade split the light, and the lengthily split light scattered backward, exploding with a roar. Feeling cold sweat flowing, Reinhardt spoke the name of the man before his eyes.
"Kang Jin-woo...?"
"It's been a while, Reinhardt."
Jin-woo didn't know English, so he just spoke, but fortunately, Reinhardt had learned some Korean since the New York incident. He was at a level where simple communication was possible.