Warning Of Destruction

Change in the world was a matter of freedom.

And adapting to a changed world was also a matter of freedom. Some failed to adapt and were left behind, while others used the changing world to suit their capabilities or took the lead in driving that change.

Many of those currently called heroes were placed in such complex environments; some were falling behind, while others moved forward fiercely.

“Interesting. So, you failed?”

“Yes. ‘That man’ was there.”

“Tsk, if that troublesome fellow was the opponent, I shall acknowledge it.”

Oh Seung-u felt inwardly relieved upon hearing Representative Chu Myeong-hun’s words.

“How much manpower would be needed to handle the core at this point?”

“If the goal is to force a disposal, about thirty people would be needed. And there would need to be five second-generation members.”

“Why is that?”

“Because the scale of the government forces deployed consists of five second-generation members.”

He knew the military planned to deploy a large amount of manpower. However, Chu Myeong-hun was puzzled because he did not realize that much manpower had already been deployed.

Thus, Oh Seung-u observed the reaction and brought out the desired answer.

“It is said that he made a request to a government official. Apparently, the order came down through a direct line.”

“A direct line… That damn bastard only brings negative influences into my life at every turn.”

“Shall I dispatch personnel?”

“Forget it, I don’t have that kind of leeway right now. Let’s stop here.”

Oh Seung-u thought it was a relief but did not particularly show it. When Oh Seung-u asked if there was anything else to request, Chu Myeong-hun proceeded to ask for one thing.

“Put a tail on that man, Geum Seong-chan.”

“What should I retrieve?”

“Just keep track of his movements. Do not think of getting deeply involved, and you must never be caught or noticed.”

Oh Seung-u withdrew with an affirmative response.

Meanwhile, the remaining Chu Myeong-hun opened a locked drawer and activated the artifact inside. A moment later, a small image formed in the air, and he spoke while looking at it.

“The closure of the mine was a failure.”

-Tsk, being difficult, aren’t they? The cause? -

“It seems they happened to give the mine exploration request to ‘The Worst.’ Perhaps the higher-ups made that decision and secretly sent it down.”

-That fellow interferes with our events at every turn, though it’s not easy to eliminate him either… -

“The next target will have nothing to do with him, so there should be no problem with the progress. Do not forget the promise.”

-I know, I know very well… Where there is a will, there is an answer. -

Chu Myeong-hun clicked his tongue while looking out the window as the other party cut off the communication.

‘Damn black mage bastards, they should have been eradicated…’

He looked at the sunset sky with a face full of deep regret.

Today’s request location was a sewer-type Gate.

The monsters appearing inside were rodents and slime types.

In the narrow and dirty areas, rodent-type monsters had established themselves and held power, while slimes took up positions in the relatively large passageways to greet visitors; although it seemed like an unremarkable Gate, it could be said to be quite popular.

The reason was simple.

When an Awakener killed a monster, they could absorb a certain amount of ‘Magic Essence’ from it, and the interesting point was that these two extremely weak types of monsters emitted a larger amount of Magic Essence than expected.

Thus, there were stories that they were not actually weak monsters, but were treated as weak because they had a poor compatibility with humans.

That was because while exploring areas where these two monsters appeared, the remains of unbelievably powerful monsters were often discovered.

In some cases, there were remains of a ‘Drake,’ leading to instances of hitting a kind of jackpot and earning astronomical amounts of money.

“It feels like every nook and cranny has been dealt with, doesn’t it?”

Just as Go Yu-jin said, it felt as though every monster appearing here had been thoroughly cleared.

He actually emitted mana to scour the inside of the Gate thoroughly, but it was at a level where a living specimen could not be found even if he tried, feeling as though professional sweepers had already visited and cleared everything before leaving.

Furthermore, it seemed they had already recovered the slime cores, which could be considered an important byproduct.

“They cleaned it up thoroughly. Only the slime remains and rodent monster remains are troublesome to deal with, but since the Gate itself isn’t that large, I’ll handle them simply.”

“Are you going to make a slime lump and move it like last time in Yongsan?”

“Wouldn’t that be the most convenient way?”

He thought it was right to take the simple route if a solution could be found easily rather than going through various complicated processes.

Then, just as he lightly emitted mana and was about to use Dead Rise, an anomalous sensation was detected.

“…”

“Why?”

She was puzzled that he was not using magic in a situation where he should. So he asked Go Yu-jin.

“Which Awakener team did you say was in charge of this place?”

“I don’t know the name because it’s a low-ranking guild.”

“A low-ranking guild…”

“What’s the matter?”

“For now, follow me.”

Ending with those words, he moved his feet toward the inner part of the Gate. When they reached far inside, they arrived in front of a naturally collapsed wall; while she looked at this with confusion, Go Yu-jin also began to channel her mana as he stared at the wall.

After a moment, Go Yu-jin’s expression hardened.

“…How many people do you think died?”

“It seems at least fifty were murdered. I’d have to check the condition, but seeing as they were arranged in a certain pattern… I suspect it’s the work of the Cultists of Ruin.”

Madmen who sang of the world’s end and played tricks to summon absolute beings by offering blood sacrifices; among the incidents they committed, there were quite major ones, and though it was absurd, there were even cases where the ‘Demon Race’ was actually summoned.

The Demon Race, known as the species that brought Gates to this land; though it was unknown what their purpose was or how they covered the Earth with Gates, people eventually absorbed the powerful energy emitted from the Gates and, with the appearance of Awakeners, survived without being swept away by that torrent, yet the Demon Race remained a group shrouded in many secrets even now.

Those who admired and worshiped them, the Cultists of Ruin, were an evil in society and a cancerous presence.

“Would there be a Cultist of Ruin in that guild?”

It was a Gate that would close in a few hours anyway. This was because the core had already been destroyed and it had entered a closed state; the problem was that if the bastards who caused this mess got through this time safely, they would commit similar acts in the future.

“For now, it’s right to settle this.”

He immediately emitted mana onto the collapsed debris to compress it, then drilled a small hole large enough for one person to pass through.

He examined the condition of the victims as he entered, and their state was such that he could not help but frown; after lightly performing image work to leave data on a Magic Stone, he used Dead Rise to assemble and raise the victims.

“Would summoning the souls be too cruel?”

It was a method that gave the victims a second pain. However, there would also be those who gritted their teeth and endured to reveal the entity that made them this way.

“Let’s talk after I’ve collected them first.”

No one knew how far the scattered souls might have drifted.

Considering that it took nearly fifteen days from the occurrence of this Gate until its subjugation, the background of their sacrifice might not even be related to the current guild.

Furthermore, in cases where death occurred a long time ago, most souls were lost. Even if summoned, commonly called wandering spirits would be brought forth.

Occasionally, there were beings who harbored immense resentment and held on until the end, but such cases were rare.

After emitting mana anew, he used ‘Call of Spirit.’ Since the range was set to be not very wide, the mana consumption was not large, and he expected that monsters would not be mixed in with the summoned beings.

Then, after some time passed, a small lump of light formed before his eyes.

‘It came. I was lucky.’

-Who… summoned me? -

He immediately opened his mouth at the voice digging into his mind.

“I summoned you. It is to contain your grievances, so do not be angry.”

If by chance the summoned being felt rage, the mana used for the summoning would backflow. This meant that damage could also occur to him.

Black magic was rarely performed without a price.

-Grievances… -

Just then, while looking around, the soul fixed its gaze on a single corpse. It then let out a scream that could barely be heard by the ears, yet the resentment contained in that scream was conveyed in its entirety.

And a short while later.

The soul looked back at me again and spoke.

-What… should I do? -

The white soul was slightly tinged with red.

‘If it turns completely red or black, it becomes an evil spirit. At that point, it’s no different from having monsterized, so I’d have to eliminate it with my own hands; before that, I will obtain as much information as possible.’

He told it to recall the entity that made it this way, and he recorded and contained the fragments of memory the soul produced one by one.

And once it became clear that a Cultist of Ruin was involved, he spoke to the summoned one.

“I will avenge your resentment, but you will not be able to see it. I hope that you may be free, at least in the place you have gone to.”

As he forcibly dispersed the mana, the soul quickly scattered.

Thus, the magic ended, and the aftereffects came to him.

Part of the emotions felt by the soul dug into him. However, in this regard, he was relatively free.

‘The fact that I offered my emotions to the Necronomicon helps in cases like this.’

Some people went mad from the emotions held by a soul.

That meant the fragments being transmitted were an immense negative power. However, that did not apply to him.

It simply ended with the thought that they were feeling emotions such as rage, sorrow, and sadness.

‘Will there ever be a case that touches an emotional line enough for me to sympathize?’

He thought there might never be one in the future. Afterward, he began to move all the byproducts and the unjustly dead outside the Gate by using Dead Rise on a wide scale.

“Isn’t it hard?”

Countless emotions were contained in Go Yu-jin’s eyes as she looked at me.

“I’m looking forward to what kind of situation it would be if a moment where I should feel tired ever comes.”

“I really can’t stop you… Let’s go.”

Afterward, when they emerged outside the Gate, the situation was chaotic because of the countless human corpses, and a government official also came to ask in a panic at the sudden occurrence.

“What on earth are they?”

“They were hidden deep inside the Gate. They are victims sacrificed by the Cultists of Ruin.”

“Cultists of Ruin!”

The government official could not hide his shock, but soon looked around and spoke to me.

“Could you keep those people hidden separately?”

‘Why?’ he wondered, but the man spoke cautiously.

“Wouldn’t it just be noisy if this fact became known to the public?”

“It’s a matter that should become noisy, so I don’t know if there’s a reason to go out of the way to hide it.”

Furthermore, many people were diligently taking photos with their mobile phones and sharing them. Seeing the government official so anxious about it, he came to think that there might be something behind it.

‘Then again, even though it’s a Grade 2 Gate… it is strange that the subjugation request was entrusted to such an unknown guild.’

The person in charge of a Gate is determined based on its creation location. And managing it from start to finish is what the relevant government official—that is, the person in charge—who is currently called a ‘Gate Manager,’ does.

‘They might want to minimize responsibility, or if not that, they might be involved.’

It was a situation where a foul smell wafted from many directions.