72
072 ― Already
The further they moved away from the city, the harder driving became. This was because proper roads gradually disappeared.
Even so, they could still manage to drive somehow, but the roads weren't the only problem. The monster hordes that charged at them at any time were also problematic.
"Leave the outside to me, Jin-woo, just focus on driving!"
Shartia took charge of dealing with the monsters.
The vines she extended struck down and grabbed the monsters that recklessly charged forward, throwing them all away to repel them.
Among them were some fairly large and heavy ones, and for those, she spat seeds with a thwip! from the flower buds that bloomed on her vines. The seeds that flew like buckshot pierced through the monsters' heads and scrambled their brains.
Gurgle—
The monsters foamed at the mouth and collapsed with a thud. Whether large or small, there wasn't a single monster that could touch the vehicle Shartia was protecting.
"Are you done clearing them out?"
"Not yet. There are still some chasing us from behind."
Looking in the side mirror, there were quite a few beast-type monsters running in pursuit. At first glance, they looked like wolves, but upon closer inspection, their tongues were split into three parts.
About ten or so wolf-type monsters were running with their split tongues hanging out of their mouths, panting.
"There are quite a lot of monsters. I don't think there were this many near the city..."
"Well, that's because Hunters often sweep the areas near cities."
Cities not only have barriers to block and drive away monsters, but Hunters also periodically clean them out.
When monster groups are spotted around cities, the Management Bureau puts up bounties, and Hunters or Guilds aiming for that money come to hunt them down.
Since Jin-woo was a Hunter who mainly operated around Gates, he wasn't well-versed in that kind of work, but he had heard that such things existed.
"This side is fine, so Jin-woo, just focus on driving! Driving is no problem, right?"
"It's still manageable."
Though the road was rough, it wasn't completely collapsed. It was still reasonably drivable.
Leaving the monster handling to Shartia, Jin-woo focused entirely on driving.
No, not entirely. In his mind, he was throwing several questions at the glass bead, at the God of the Moonlit Forest.
'It doesn't seem like you're simply saying not to trust Grisella. When you say don't trust everyone, who are you referring to?'
If she wanted to tell him not to trust Grisella, she could have just said that. Don't trust her.
But the God of Moonlit Forest said not to trust anyone except herself. Who exactly that ‘everyone’ refer to? Did she mean Grisella and the subordinates, including Bertus? Or did she include not just the subordinates but all the Lords as well?
[The latter... Yes.]
'You're saying the other Lords can't be trusted either.'
It wasn't difficult to accept.
It was just that in the 3rd floor, Bertus had said this. He said that just because they're called Lords of Erosion doesn't mean everyone accepts Erosion and wields that power.
Among them, there were those who rejected Erosion, and such individuals were devising methods to cut out and remove or seal the seeds of Erosion.
Are you saying that even those people are ultimately untrustworthy?
'Let me ask while I'm at it. Are you a Lord? The same as them?'
Since the topic came up, Jin-woo asked clearly. Whether the God of Moonlit Forest, the World Tree herself, was also a member of the same Lords as them.
Certainly, from what he had heard before, Lords were spirits with seeds of Erosion planted in them. There was the Lord of Beginning and Primordial, and his power was divided into twelve parts and planted in twelve spirits.
Thus the twelve Lords were born, but then what kind of existence was the World Tree, who was the thirteenth?
[......]
There was no answer. Whether she couldn't hear or was pretending not to know.
'If you don't answer, I won't show you any more animations. Don't you want to see the next chapter?'
[......!]
There was still no answer, but he could feel severe agitation. The feeling of being at a loss, stamping her feet in frustration, was transmitted completely.
Even though emotions were being conveyed so clearly, the fact that there was no answer meant this was the kind of question that couldn't be answered. Whether there were circumstances that made it so, or some kind of restriction was in place.
"Whew! All cleared up."
Just then, Shartia, who had been leaning halfway out of the car, returned. It seemed she had finished dealing with all the monsters.
Checking the side mirror, indeed, there were no monsters left chasing them. Since they were moving quickly, he couldn't confirm the corpses of those creatures.
"Good work."
"It was nothing much. Oh, it seems Mayor Ma Du-sik's side has also completed the transport safely."
"Did you get a contact?"
"No. I'm monitoring on my own."
Shartia said this with a grin.
From what he heard, she had planted seeds in the Elf without telling Ma Du-sik either. She was monitoring Grisella's movements through those seeds.
"Is it okay to do that when it's a confidential matter that the mayor is personally handling?"
"It's for just-in-case scenarios. That Elf might suddenly attack. Oh, it looks like Hunter Shin Do-ung has joined them, too."
If Hunter Shin Do-ung had come too, then Grisella was being monitored by a total of three S-rank Hunters.
With that much, even if that guy had some scheme, he wouldn't be able to move easily. Ma Du-sik wasn't a fool either, and Shartia was monitoring thoroughly, so if anything happened, they would let him know immediately.
He could focus on the Erosion subordinate that appeared in the East Sea with peace of mind.
"It's starting to come into view."
And the sea began to come into sight.
At first, nothing special was visible. But soon, the fog began to thicken heavily.
"Is it an enemy!?"
Shartia reacted sensitively and prepared to spread her vines. But the enemy was still far away. Far away in that distant sea, the shadow of a ship was approaching.
"Hmm..."
Jin-woo infused Magi into his eyes to see through the fog. It was thick fog where only the shadows of objects could be seen, but it couldn't block Jin-woo's vision.
What appeared was an old, tattered ship falling apart. At the bow of that ship, he could see a skeleton wrapped in a fluttering cloak and holding a staff.
When that skeleton struck its staff with a thump!, ghost-like skeletons began rising from various parts of the ship.
"It seems to be something like a ghost ship. The one at the bow is probably a Lich."
"A Lich?"
At Jin-woo's words, Shartia made a slightly troubled expression. When it comes to Liches, they're quite troublesome beings.
An existence positioned at the top of the undead hierarchy. Though weak when alone, the army they commanded was not something to be taken lightly.
Even so, an S-rank Hunter should be able to handle them sufficiently, but it would still take quite some time.
"Shartia. I'll take the lead, so please provide cover."
"Ah, yes!"
It's common sense for a swordsman to take the front and a mage to guard the rear. Shartia nodded at this thought, too.
When Jin-woo drew the Sky Sword and swung it, she realized she had misunderstood.
***
Lich Elbanoff.
The ship carrying him rushed across the sea toward the shore. The ship that should have naturally stopped didn't stop and continued forward. Even on land, far from stopping, its speed didn't decrease at all.
Rather, the ghost ship continued its violent voyage, destroying all traces of civilization in its path.
'Devour them all.'
Elbanoff's eyes glowed bright blue.
The mission given by his Lord had two parts. One was to destroy and devour all visible life.
This wasn't much different from the usual instinct of the undead. Even if it hadn't been a mission, it was something he would have naturally done.
The important thing was the second mission.
Find and retrieve the divine artifact somewhere on this planet.
'The one who took the divine artifact is also human. If I destroy human settlements as I please, it will eventually be discovered.'
Lich Elbanoff, who once made an entire kingdom tremble in the past. Destroying a city or so was nothing to him.
Thinking he could easily carry out his orders and return, he cackled. It was right after that when brilliant light fell upon his head.
***
KWAAAAANG!
Lightning struck and swept away all of the Lich's forces. The ship that was on the verge of breaking apart truly shattered and collapsed, and the Lich at the bow couldn't maintain his balance and fell.
While falling, he tried to regain his posture and fly up into the sky, but it was already too late. Jin-woo's sword split him in half and absorbed the black flames.
Clatter... clack....
The Lich moved his barely functioning bones and reached out his hand. The direction that hand pointed wasn't toward Jin-woo, who had defeated him in one strike.
No, precisely, it was toward the God of Sky's scabbard in one of his hands.
'So he knows this scabbard is the God of Sky's own.'
Or perhaps he had received instructions beforehand. To bring it immediately if this scabbard was discovered.
'He'd want to retrieve it.'
This was a divine artifact that the God of Sky, the Lord of the Oppression and Ceiling, had left in the 3rd floor. It wasn't just abandoned, but was an item installed to exert influence in the Gates.
Since Jin-woo had destroyed the temple and stolen it, they would naturally want to retrieve it. It wouldn't be strange if they had given firm instructions to all subordinates sent to Earth.
However, the actions of subordinates appearing around the world still didn't show any particular pattern.
Probably...
'They don't know where the scabbard is.'
Since they don't know where on Earth the scabbard is located, that would be why.
If they knew that a divine artifact existed in Seoul, they might immediately gather all their forces to Seoul.
If that happened, no matter how strong Jin-woo was, he wouldn't be able to stop them. The damage would be greater than when New York fell during the Ireland incident.
'...I should be careful not to show the scabbard in front of Grisella.'
Crack!
Jin-woo struck him with the scabbard, completely crushing his bones. The guy who had lost even his arms to move was helplessly annihilated and scattered into thin air. Only his flames entered Jin-woo completely through the sword.
The ghost ship that had been anchored at will and all of his remaining forces also disappeared. With a few lightning strikes and one sword slash, an entire ship vanished in an instant.
"I-is it over?"
Shartia, who had been preparing for battle, dropped her arms helplessly. The battle she had imagined was one where endless skeletons would surge forward, Jin-woo would struggle to break through, and she and Jin-woo would fight back-to-back against the skeletons.
But the reality was that Jin-woo had simply swung his sword a few times to end it.
No matter how much a Lich was supposed to be a manageable monster—by S-rank standards—she hadn't expected it to start and end so easily.
"Since this side is finished, shall we contact them to ask if there are other Erosions?"
"Oh, should we?"
Having been quite tense, Shartia felt deflated as things ended too easily.
Jin-woo put his sword into his inventory and took out his smartphone instead. He contacted Ma Du-sik and waited a moment before the other party answered.
—Yes, Hunter Kang Jin-woo. Do you need support by any chance?
"No. This side is finished."
—Finished? You've already defeated it?
Ma Du-sik was surprised for similar reasons as Shartia. Of course, not as much as Shartia, who had witnessed it directly.
"Is Grisella there?"
—Yes. She's here.
"Could you ask where the next Erosion is located?"
He could hear Ma Du-sik asking over the phone. He called Grisella and explained the situation.
—What? You've already defeated Lich Elbanoff?
Then a voice that couldn't hide its surprise came through the phone. At the unexpectedly shocked reaction, Jin-woo narrowed his eyes.