< Chapter 67. Seoul, Demon, Saint 1 >
===============================
One hour had passed since Lee Hyunwook entered the first portal.
Click- Identification and encirclent of 20 Event Map locations created throughout Seoul completed, awaiting orders
Imdiately after hearing that transmission, Woo Seong-moon lifted his mana ssenger.
"From now on, we're starting the annihilation operation."
Secrecy was of utmost importance to the secret organization known as the villains.
They operated in the shadows, laying their eggs where the world couldn't notice, awaiting the day their power and machinations would envelop the earth. That was their objective.
However, there were tis when they had to take active steps to seize sothing.
For such tis, they had tails to be cut off ready to be put on the front line
Among these were the known Outliers of the antisocial terrorist organization.
"Damn it, why did the boss give us such a task?
"Holland, shut up and just do it, it's almost over anyway."
"I an, we're not miners, and for three days straight, what the hell is going on with this place without sunlight"
The players mobilized for this demon summoning mining operation were also mbers of the Outlier organization.
They were originally active mainly in South Arica, dealing with drug trafficking and human trafficking.
But three days ago, after receiving orders from the higher-ups, they were suddenly sent here through Shadow Link and have been mining non-stop for three days. They couldn't help but feel like slaves.
"Ha, damn it But where the hell are we? It's not under the Pacific Ocean, is it?
"Holland, you really Doesn't it seem like Billy isn't telling us on purpose? There must be a reason.
Thus, they were being thoroughly used without even knowing the existence of the villains.
However, the leader of this site, Billy Smith, a mber of the Outlier's executive committee, was different.
He was a villain himself.
He knew very well what this operation ultimately ant.
Saint, that bitch should be stripped naked and hung in the streets'
He had hated the saint after experiencing a certain incident.
Four years ago, he was caught smuggling drugs into the Republic of Chad.
Fortunately, he managed to burn all the potential evidence with fla magic
The problem was that so of his colleagues were warlocks'.
"Damn it, who arbitrarily decides that the dark magic category is evil"
In the case of magicians, one could acquire dark magic skills through a certain trigger,
but many countries legally restricted the use or possession of dark magic by defining it as evil.
Especially in the Republic of Chad, being a land of the World Tree, there was considerable anti-dark magic sentint.
Even the Saint herself would weirdly intervene to torture and punish players who learned dark magic Billy's colleagues were all executed' by her.
Fortunately, Billy had not learned dark magic yet, so he was able to save his own life.
That damn woman, laughing like a demon after gouging out Olynyk's eyes I can't forget that face.'
He shuddered when he thought about that ti.
Huff Billy! The work is done!
Before they knew it, the last Fragnt of Calamity had been mined.
"Good, Ill contact them, tell the group to rest until the Shadow Baron' arrives."
But then, it happened.
Dang
The sound of a bell ringing from sowhere, it was the brass bell installed at the corner of the event map.
At that, the organization mbers about to take a break stood still with tense expressions.
"."
It was the Watcher's bell, an alert item signaling that a new player had entered this event map.
It was sothing that should never ring.
Billy pulled a wand from his waist and gestured with his head.
"Hey, what are you doing? Seal off the entrance right now and check what's going on!"
In addition to the Watcher's bell, there were also caras installed at the entrance.
But then, the tankers blocking the entrance caught sight of sothing.
"Huh? What's this?"
Whirr
A small tallic sphere was slowly flying along the long corridor towards them. All eyes were fixed on this unknown object. It looked like a very intricately crafted tal bead.
It stopped right in front of the tankers, and they had no choice but to retreat hesitantly.
"I don't know what this is, but it doesn't seem very dangerous. Its just a small bead."
One of the tankers said this, tapping it with his shield.
BeepBeepBeepBeep
"And when you touch it, it makes so cute sound like a chick."
"No! That's not a chick sound, it's a countdown"
At that mont, a blue light flashed, and five tankers were swept away by the explosion.
Zheong!
No one had anticipated that such destructive power would emanate from such a small object.
"Ugh!"
Three of them died instantly, and the other two seed to have sustained serious injuries, staggering.
"Crap It's an attack!"
"Pull yourselves together and grab your weapons!"
In the aftermath of the explosion and the rising smoke, Billy turned his head to look at soone.
"Damn it, Holton! Hurry up and contact the upper echelon to report this!"
"Yes!"
"And let the other locations know about the attack too, so they can prepare for any possible attacks!"
The man called Holton nodded and lifted his mana ssenger, but
"Ugh!"
With a death rattle, Holton's pupils dilated, and his body collapsed.
A black spike-like object was embedded in his neck.
Then, an unfamiliar voice ca from sowhere.
"Anyway, contacting them will be useless."
And from the ceiling, sothing blurred slowly descended.
Soon, the invisibility magic dissipated, and its true form was gradually revealed
A man dressed in a black combat suit, it was Lee Hyunwook.
He reached out his hand towards Billy. Then, as if Billy's thick gold necklace had beco a dog collar, it dragged him forward, and Lee Hyunwook strode forward, grasping Billy's neck.
"Gurk!
"Because you guys are the last"
"Crap, the last, what do you an by that"
Even as his carotid artery was being compressed, Billy tried to swing the wand in his left hand.
Thump!
That was, until his wristwatch exploded, blowing his wrist clean off.
"Arghhhhh!
Following that, Lee Hyunwook's hand, which was gripping Billy's neck, twisted, and Billy's cervical spine broke.
Billy thus closed his eyes in vain, his deep-seated heartfelt desire to witness the saint's end unfulfilled.
anwhile, 8 shadows poured down from the ceiling.
They clung to the scrambling organization mbers' heads like evil spirits.
The next mont, fountains of blood simultaneously erupted from the necks of 11 organization mbers.
Swoosh
Those shadows were 8 assassin-class players.
"Clear!"
In just a few seconds, the thugs in the pit were all subdued.
Lee Hyunwook looked around at the scene that had unfolded in the blink of an eye and nodded his head in amazent.
As expected of the Shadow Dragon Syndicate. Clean work.'
The special forces of AMT Intelligence Secret Services, the , were formidable opponents. This infiltration unit, composed of players of rank B and above, were likely direct disciples of Cheon Myung-ho, a master of assassination.
And the existence of the organization called Shadow Dragon Syndicate is probably still unknown to the villains.'
It was a secret organization ford so covertly under the leadership of Woo Seong-moon that even the president was unaware of it.
Woo Seong-moon predicted that in the future, it would be not governnts or corporations, but individual players who would influence the world and secretly cultivated this organization of assassin players to keep in check the power of those absolute players.
And for the security of the organization, he took great care in selecting only trustworthy agents and assured their loyalty personally.
Lee Hyunwook heard sowhere that there was a bit of brainwashing involved using curses.'
Woo Seong-moon is a man who would tolerate such unethical acts for the sake of the country.'
At that mont, one of the special forces mbers approached Lee Hyunwook and offered a mana ssenger.
"Director Woo Seong-moon's mana communication."
This is Director Woo Seong-moon. As of the current ti, all targets have been successfully subdued.
It was a success for all the surprise operations conducted at 18 other locations as well.
"But the quest is still in progress. It seems we need to destroy the Fragnts of Calamity."
Just as destroying the World Stone would close the gates, the goal of this quest's success was the Fragnts of Calamity.'
And as Lee Hyunwook said, when they took those fragnts out of the event map and crushed them,
Rumble
With a vibration, the event map was closed.
Such operations occurred simultaneously at 20 locations, and soon
[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the Event Quest !]
It's really over.'
It had been only 1 hour and 40 minutes since Lee Hyunwook entered the first portal.
A total of 19 simultaneous attacks on the event maps, a perfect success.
With swift and decisive counter-terrorism operations, Seoul was once again protected.
Then, the rewards began to fall before his eyes.
[You have acquired Special Awakening (Unique)]
-This item is bound upon acquisition.
I did well to hold onto the one I got during the last wave without using it.'
The Special Awakening item could be fused with another to upgrade to a Level 2', which could then be used to raise the rank of one skill by two levels.
[You have obtained an Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom.]
[You have obtained an Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom.]
[You have obtained an Ancient Coin of the Underground Kingdom.]
Why are there three Ah, is it ti to start scattering these?'
This was a hint of the imminent appearance of the Dwarf race.
At this ti, players who obtained this would probably have thought it was just junk, so it might be possible to collect them from auctions or sothing.
And that wasn't all.
[Congratulations! You have achieved a special achievent.]
-A new achievent had been added.
Lee Hyunwook checked the details and could not help but be surprised.
[Achievents List]
3)Savior of Seoul
-Condition: Prevent the destruction of Seoul twice.
-Effect: All abilities' greatly increased within Seoul ( 100%)
All abilities increased by a whopping 2 tis.
Even though it was limited to Seoul, this was an unbelievable figure.
Savior of Seoul, I never thought I would be the first to obtain this title'
Inferno is commonly called The Savior of Busan.'
That's because Inferno actually saved Busan,
but also because he also holds the title Savior of Busan.'
In Busan, Inferno's abilities are doubled, so no one dared to target Busan.'
Thus, until the Necromancer's invasion, Busan had been an impregnable fortress.
Frequent attacks will continue targeting Seoul, whether its now or in the future. This has turned out very favorably for .'
[Current controllable tal weight: 302kg]
-Enhanced Sensing ( 30%) is in effect.
-Strong Bones ( 10%) is in effect.
-World Boss Monster Slayer ( 5%) is in effect.
[Savior of Seoul ( 100%) is in effect: Stacks with other upper effects.]
This ant that the previous boosts could be doubled too due to the stacking ability.
Good, this makes things a bit easier.'
Lee Hyunwook suddenly looked up at the sky.
This isn't the end for you guys'
He predicted correctly that the battle against the demon summoning would not end here so simply.
* * *
Ki Baek-jun had really lost his temper only once this year. It was when the 4th wave had failed, and the traces of his fury remained in the form of a huge hole on one side of the office wall.
And now
Kwaang!
A new hole adorned his office when the wall right next to it crumbled down.
With all this commotion, the secretarial staff on the other side of the wall were startled, jumping up from their seats.
"F*ck, damn it, how the hell did?"
Ki Baek-jun unleashed his fury as he took off his watch.
Black ripples of energy began to swirl around his hands.
The employee who had just started his report to him began stepping back slowly, trembling all the while.
"Tell again, what just happened? Co on, say it again"
"Yes, yes, all over Seoul at all 20 locations, communication has been cut off, simultaneously."
It ant that the demon summoning had failed.
"What's the reason for this!? There should have been surveillance around the event map, right?!!"
"That Suddenly they just appeared out of nowhere, threw smoke bombs, and infiltrated in the blink of an eye, so they couldn't be properly identified. However, considering the consistency of their uniforms, it suggests that they might be a special forces group affiliated with the governnt."
The villains had long since planted informants within the Republic of Korea's higher ranks. The fact that this incursion went undetected even by their information network ant that whoever was behind it had moved very secretly.
"Damn it! Why do problems that have never happened before keep happening!
Kwaang!
As he smashed a third hole in another of his walls and yelled his frustration, laughter erupted from sowhere.
"Uhahaha It's the first ti I see President Ki so heated!"
Sitting on a leather sofa, there was a Hispanic man with slicked-back white hair laughing.
He had a Cuban cigar in his mouth, and the skin visible beyond the smoke was as pale as a corpse.
"Ricardo, you find this situation funny?"
Ricardo Oliveira, better known by his moniker Blood Lord',
He was also the master of the Five Slaughterers', a Vampire Lord'.
"Calm down, President Ki, you prepared for the 4th wave's failure by planning the demon summoning, and you even prepared the Sacrificial Brigade' in case that failed. You've prepared for everything, so why so heated?"
Yes, unexpected failure had ignited his anger,
but it was also true that he had prepared the next plan for this mont.
"Phew Seems like I have no choice but to use my last resort now"
Ki Baek-jun tried to suppress his anger, pouring whiskey into a glass deliberately slowly.
"Ah, this is the last resort? There's no 4th plan?"
"Ricardo Had you even anticipated the failure of the 4th wave in the first place?"
Ricardo inhaled his cigar deeply and nodded.
"Well, I never dread that Carol would die there. I was rather fond of that woman, tsk, a pity she was really sothing in bed Ah, did you have your turn with her yet?"
Ki Baek-jun ignored his comnt and made a phone call sowhere.
"Team Leader Choi, it's . Begin Plan B, the Sacrifice Operation, now."
At those words, Ricardo chuckled.
"Heh To think you can say commit mass suicide' so blandly"
At that remark, Ki Baek-jun frowned, turned away, and yelled into the phone.
"Team Leader Choi, damn it, why all the talk! Do you think I'll spare you if you don't throw yourself into it?"
Sowhere in Seoul, there were 40 warlocks gathered.
Their main mission was to open a gate to the Abyss' and pour the Fragnts of Calamity' into it. That was the official thod for summoning Abaddon' as specified in the quest'.
However, there were other thods of summoning a demon as well.
One of them involved sacrificing several lives of warlocks who had gained power from a demon.
That was Ki Baek-jun's Plan B', and for this mont, he had placed a suggestive spell' on the warlocks.
"If it's not done within 5 minutes, the suggestive spell will be triggered and burn their brains out."
It was his resolve to summon a demon to this land by any ans necessary to call forth the Saint.
He then took a long drink of his whiskey, trying to calm his excitent, and uttered one last command.
"Oh, and tell Team Okita Kaito to get ready, it's about to start."
"Oh Sword Saint Okita Kaito!"
Upon hearing that na, Ricardo also seed excited and straightened up.
"I'd like to see his Subspace Iai Technique for myself, I should go watch it!"
* * *
After successfully completing the operation, Lee Hyunwook stood in front of a military truck.
The truck belonged to the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Anti-Demon Brigade, and the person who got out from the passenger seat was An Min-tae.
"Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, I've brought the items you requested!
When the trucks cargo area was opened, there were two Aerial Drop Device (Prototype) inside.
"But what's the matter all of a sudden? Why does sothing serious always happen wherever you go?
"Its a big problem for too.
"It seems like Sergeant Lee Hyunwook always brings bad luck.
Actually, it was because he always ran towards the bad things, but this ti was an exception.
This was a problem that even Lee Hyunwook hadn't anticipated.
"Hey, don't jinx it. If you say things like that, sothing might really happen.
"Eh, as if I have that kind of talent"
But then
Zheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
A loud noise resonated from sowhere, and An Min-taes mouth slowly opened.
Far away in the north, a red pillar of energy shot up into the sky.
As it reached the clouds, the color of the clouds began to stain with the hue of blood.
"What is that?"
What the heck is."
Wait, seriously?? He really jinxed it??
Everyone nearby gaped at the unknown phenonon unfolding before them.
At a glance, it was evident that a serious incident was occurring.
For those who had just recently endured the hellish wave a few days prior, it was a scene that could only bring PTSD.
However, Lee Hyunwook didn't seem as surprised as everyone else.
He lightly tapped An Min-tae's shoulder.
"An Min-tae, this is on you. As they say words can beco seeds, right? Looks like sothing serious has happened again."
"What? What the what is this?"
Lee Hyunwook closed the trucks cargo area and looked up at the northern sky.
He knew all too well what that was.
So, theyve really summoned an avatar of a demon with a massive sacrifice.'
Throughout this operation, Lee Hyunwook was troubled.
He wondered how they would react if he thwarted their plans
The conclusion he ca to was they will not give up.'
They are determined to eliminate the Saint here by any ans necessary.'
Lee Hyunwook took the truck to the assembly point in Yongsanwhere Woo Seong-moon was located.
Upon his arrival, Woo Seong-moon, who had been receiving reports from his aides, turned around.
And along with the aides, they crowded toward Lee Hyunwook.
"Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, let's have a word.
His voice remained calm, but his face had tightened sowhat.
"You have done an excellent job so far, but it seems we have another situation to address now.
Lee Hyunwook nodded.
"The demon is being summoned by another thod. Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, you see it that way too, don't you?"
"Yes, it certainly looks like it. It seems the terrorists had prepared another thod."
Woosungmoon nodded and continued speaking.
"As I ntioned before, the easiest way to stop this demon summoning is undoubtedly through the Saint. Of course, there are other thods, as demonstrated by the actions of Sergeant Lee Hyunwook just now, but it seems the ti has co to choose a definitive solution. The Saint will co and will enfold the entirety of Seoul into a Holy Field.'"
The skill Holy Field', one of the Saints abilities, was ant to block the descent of a demon's power.
Of course, the cost of this move would be astronomical, but it was sothing that had to be humbly accepted.
"And just now, the Saint has arrived in Seoul."
Even using a jet from Africa to the Korean Peninsula, it wouldn't have been possible to co this quickly.
She must have used hyper-regional teleportation' with the power of the World Tree.
"But as you know the Saint has been subjected to assassination threats."
"Yes, that's right."
There had been three assassination attempts so far. Of course, there had not actually been any real danger yet.
The twelve Paladins who protected her had been an incredibly solid barrier.
However, the second threat had been quite traumatic for her since a close one had betrayed her,
and since then, she had been reluctant to leave the Saint's Do.
"While her guard forces are indeed impressive, we also have a duty to ensure the Saint's safety on our side. Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, I would like to request your participation in this operation as well."
"Yes, if we use Huginn, it would be a significant help in the protection operation."
Huginns extended senses and high-altitude vision provided the best surveillance capabilities.
"Yes, that's right. Sergeant Lee Hyunwook is the only one who can handle Huginn."
Lee Hyunwook nodded his head.
"Understood. I will do my best as well."
The Saint, who in her past life had set out to purify a Seoul that had been corrupted,
was murdered by the hands of villains just three days after arriving in Seoul.
I know the cause behind her senseless assassination.'
Reviews
All reviews (0)