novelraw Chapter 138 : Mission 10: The Hunters of Old (11)
Chapter 138 : Mission 10: The Hunters of Old (11)
December 11, 2050, 6:00 AM.
Cheongnyangni Gate, central control room.
A sharp alarm, like nails on a chalkboard, blared as a graph materialized on the screen.
Shin-woo’s face drained of color as he took in the data.
“What is this…?!” he whispered.
Every graph related to the Gate had surpassed its critical point, and the numbers were still climbing.
Figures like these hadn’t been seen in thirty years. A spatial distortion value this high hadn’t been recorded since the end of the Gate War.
“This can’t be…”
Shin-woo whipped his head around to look at the camera feed from inside the Gate Room.
Crack… Craaack…
It was breaking—space itself.
Fissures spiderwebbed across the area around the Gate, and an ominous violet light seeped from the cracks.
And then… something came.
A long, reptilian leg—its thick carapace glinting—pushed through a fissure, its tip stepping into their reality.
“…?!”
Shin-woo had seen that leg once before.
Horrified, he roared at the top of his lungs, “Everyone, look away from the screens!”
“Sir?”
“Turn them all off! Now! Do not look at the Gate!”
Most of his subordinates obeyed instantly.
But one man, busy analyzing the data, failed to turn away in time and saw the “something” emerge.
“Ugh, ahhh, ah, ugh…?”
The man’s eyes flooded with black, and blood burst from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
“S-sorry, Commander…”
In a flash, he drew the pistol from his hip, pressed it under his chin, and—Bang!
Blood sprayed across the control room like a fountain.
Though drenched in his subordinate’s blood, Shin-woo fought to remain calm.
“Contact the supply room and call for Mental Barrier Equipment! Until it gets here, don’t even glance in that direction!”
“C-Commander, what in the world just appeared at the Gate…?”
“The Gate hasn’t opened yet!”
That was the truth. The “something” was merely standing on the other side of the door.
And just its presence was enough to cause this.
Shin-woo gritted his teeth. “We connected the Gate Particle Storage Tank after the last battle, yes?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Pump every last particle left in that tank into the Gate Room. We have to seal it.”
“But Commander, the spatial distortion value is too high! The particles we have in reserve will only be enough to stabilize it for a moment!”
“Seal it anyway! By any means necessary, now!”
Teeth clenched, his men began remotely operating the Gate Particle Storage Tank.
The reserved Gate particles poured out, covering the Gate like wet cement. The portal, which had been churning as if about to overflow, slowly began to stabilize.
“We’re suppressing it, but the particle tank is being consumed at an extreme rate!”
One of his men turned to Shin-woo, his eyes trembling.
“It won’t last long! Commander, what is that thing?”
“…A Demon Lord.”
A collective gasp of horror swept through the room.
“This wasn’t just a simple Gate rampage,” Shin-woo uttered.
He wore an expression unseen on his face for thirty years—an emotion absent at his granddaughter’s funeral, at the scene of his rebellion, or even before the highest officials of the government.
“This is… a Demon Lord’s ‘invasion.’”
Fear.
***
Lord-class monsters are broadly categorized into three tiers.
First, the Boss-level monster.
These appear in typical Gates and are either exceptionally strong individuals of their species or an entity chosen on-site by the Gate Core.
While far more powerful than common monsters, their weaknesses are well-documented, with the Gate Core being the most obvious.
An appearance can cause damage on the scale of a large town or a small city, earning them the classification “city-level.”
Second, the Lord-level monster.
Also known as a Prime or Gate Master, this category represents the apex of a species. It is, in name and in fact, the master of a Gate. A boss of bosses, its power increases exponentially.
Its arrival can cause damage on the scale of a large city or a small nation, earning it the classification “nation-level.”
Even a Lord-level monster is an exceedingly rare and historic threat, capable of inflicting catastrophic damage.
But there is something higher.
The final, third tier.
The Demon Lord-level monster.
An unclassifiable anomaly that transcends even a Gate Lord. A lord of lords, its power is beyond any quantifiable measure.
A manifestation can cause damage on the scale of a large nation or an entire continent, earning it the classification “continent-level.”
In the thirty years since the first Gates opened, only five Demon Lord-level monsters have been confirmed worldwide. Of those, the only one successfully subjugated was the demon dragon Deyana Ludens, who descended upon the Republic of Korea thirty years ago.
The other four Demon Lords are still expanding their territories across the globe, wreaking destruction on a continental scale.
Every operation to subjugate them has ended in failure.
Humanity is still in retreat.
The only reason the Republic of Korea had enjoyed thirty years of relative peace in this horrific world was because it had miraculously defeated a Demon Lord and escaped its sphere of influence.
But right now, of all places, beyond the Cheongnyangni Gate, a Demon Lord-level “something” was dipping its toes into their world.
***
The Demon Lord had not yet entered this world.
It was merely waiting on the other side for the door to open.
But still, a wave of unease rippled out.
Its mere proximity was enough for every Awakened in the area to feel a sickening lurch in their gut.
“What was that?”
Outside the Cheongnyangni Gate. The junkyard.
A place where old buses and cars were stacked in neat rows, like Lego blocks or coffins in a morgue.
The convicts dozing here, hidden behind a rusty sign that read “Cheongnyangni Station Transit Center,” jolted from their light sleep.
“Something feels wrong.”
This was the Deck 2 team, led by Jail Mojik.
She pressed a hand to her fluttering chest and glanced to her side. “Hey, Vice-Deck Leader. You feel that?”
“…We’re in enemy territory. Probably just nerves.”
Powerbomb answered curtly, but his muscular body, stiff from the night, was already tensing.
His heart pounded, and goose bumps prickled his back.
I’ve felt this before…
When was it?
Just then, the faint sound of footsteps echoed from the other side of the junkyard.
“…?!”
Instantly on alert, the Deck 2 team exchanged glances and prepared for battle. Jail Mojik readied her Weaving, and Powerbomb gathered energy in his fists.
The soft crunch of footsteps drew closer.
The moment their owners rounded a tower of scrapped cars…
“…The hell?” Jail Mojik relaxed, lowering her hands. “It’s just the Deck 3 team. You scared me.”
The newcomers were indeed the Deck 3 team, the Glasses Society, led by Cultist.
The five convicts, all wearing glasses, were equally startled but visibly relieved upon recognizing them.
“Oh my gosh, Powerbomb!”
Bookworm, the Vice-Deck Leader of Deck 3, spotted Powerbomb, and her eyes sparkled behind her glasses as she scurried over.
“Meeting you in a place like this! It must be fate! Eeee!”
“…”
“I’m cold and scared, so I’m just gonna stick close for a little bit, okay~?”
Looking down at the small woman squirming as she clung to him, Powerbomb finally understood the nature of this churning feeling.
This was the feeling of being well and truly fucked.
Like when he was arrested. Or when he signed the enlistment papers for the Black Parade. Or when this woman first showed interest in him.
It was the instinctual alarm that screamed something was terribly wrong…
Shoving Bookworm’s forehead away with a single index finger, Powerbomb clicked his tongue.
What’s about to happen at this Gate…?
Meanwhile, the two team leaders had started their own conversation.
“Cultist.”
“Jail Mojik.”
After a nod of acknowledgment, they shared their status.
“Can’t get through to the commander. Comms are completely dead. You, Cultist?”
“The same. It seems The Knights have done something.”
“And… you felt that tremor just now, didn’t you?”
“I did. Something unusual seems to be happening.” Cultist offered a placid smile. “Which is why I’d like to make you a proposal.”
“What is it?”
“As you can see, our Glasses Society is composed mostly of ranged ability users… ‘mages,’ so to speak. On the other hand, you Deck 2 folks are mostly close-quarters fighters… ‘warriors,’ if you will.”
“Or we could just say we’re a bunch of meatheads and you guys are a bunch of four-eyes.”
“In any case, don’t you think our teams complement each other perfectly?”
Cultist extended a hand for a handshake.
“Let’s join forces, Deck 2 Leader. If our two teams unite, we can make it out of this hellhole alive.”
Jail Mojik stared at him with a dubious expression.
The proposal itself was sound, but the problem, as always, was the one proposing it.
Can I really trust this venomous con artist?
But even as the thought crossed her mind, she found herself shaking his hand.
Jail Mojik seethed internally.
Damn it, this bastard’s bewitching ability…!
Contrary to her inner thoughts, her words came out smoothly.
“I’m counting on you, Cultist. Let’s do this.”
“Heh heh. The pleasure is all mine.”
And so, just as the alliance between the Deck 2 and Deck 3 teams was formed…
“So you’re all gathered here.”
A low voice, laced with clear killing intent, echoed from above.
The startled convicts looked up to see a figure standing atop a high pile of scrapped cars.
A knight clad in thick, full-body armor, wielding a long, massive sword—a claymore.
The Vice-Commander of The Knights, Chevalier.
At the same time, Hunters from The Knights began to emerge from all corners of the junkyard, forming a perimeter.
“You pests.”
As the flustered convicts scrambled to prepare for battle, Chevalier kicked off the tower of cars and launched himself into the air, descending like a cannonball.
“I’ll exterminate every last one of you!”
The Black Parade Convict Unit, combined team of Deck 2 and 3.
Engagement with The Knights’ Vice-Commander, Chevalier, initiated.
***
Cheongnyangni Gate, sewage treatment facility.
Deck 1 team. Temporary camp.
“What is this feeling, my heart’s aflutter~”
Status Window, having just woken up, suddenly clasped his hands to his chest and began to sing.
“For some reason, I just can’t get to sleep~”
“Someone shut that guy’s trap…” Razor, also just awake, grumbled and pulled his blanket over his head.
Beside him, Jae-hee sat up, scratching his bedhead. “Seriously, what was that just now? My heart was… pounding like crazy.”
Even Rabid Dog, who had been on watch, and Soju Bottle, who had been passed out drunk, were slowly stirring, having felt the same tremor.
But Razor, still sleepy, just rolled himself tighter in his blanket. “Your heart’s pounding? You thinking about someone you like…?”
“Huh? Does that mean your heart pounds like this every time you think about Jail Mojik?”
“Yeah… I get all fired up just thinking about her…”
“Oh my, listen to him! There’s nothing this man won’t say.”
Status Window was now belting it out. “I’m curious ’bout the news from across the world, carried on the breeze~!”
“Agh, damn it! What the hell is that song?! Somebody sew that pig’s mouth shut!”
As even Razor finally shot up in a fit of temper, Status Window bellowed the next lyric.
“Hel—LO!”
But the thunderous song was cut short.
Creeak—
The door to the sewage treatment facility had swung open.
A patrolling Hunter from The Knights walked in, letting out a huge yawn.
“Haaam… what’s that sound, like a pig being slaught—?”
The eyes of five convicts and one old soldier met.
“Ah.”
A brief silence ensued.
“Whaaaaaa?!”
The terrified old soldier spun around and started to run.
Glaring at his back, Razor shrieked, “Grab that old geezer, boys!”