The Second Calamity

Thirty top Awakeners from each faction, including An Sang-ik, were formed into one team.

And after a long discussion with Japan, they were granted permission to enter the Yellow Gate and were on their way to Japan.

“It is a shame. I think the era when airplanes existed was better.”

There was an old man who spoke familiarly to An Sang-ik, who was serving as the representative of the personnel deployed in this operation.

“When will old man Han Sang-gil retire?”

“Tsk, can I retire?”

An Sang-ik smiled lightly. He looked out at the distant sea and said,

“When I look at that sea, I can only think that our situation is truly pitiful. After the Gate incident, now successive wars. What a ridiculous sight we make.”

“It is remarkable that we endured all of that. It would not have been strange if we had already fallen and been torn to pieces during the First Korean Peninsula War.”

During the Korean Peninsula War, truly many heroes lost their lives.

They threw away their lives like blades of grass with the single conviction of protecting their homeland while carrying their mission.

The result of that was the current Republic of Korea, and the future.

“I also live while carrying many regrets.”

At An Sang-ik’s sudden confession, Han Sang-gil burst into hearty laughter.

“That is why you cannot step down from that position. Because you have to somehow make that Kim Dae-san fellow restrain himself.”

“He is a friend with many ambitions. And his ability is also outstanding.”

“That is why all the more, he needs someone by his side to control him. If not, he is the kind of fellow who would do everything as he wished, isn’t he?”

“That is right. But now I feel even that will become difficult.”

Han Sang-gil thought he understood why.

“In the end, it is greed. Once you let it go, you will learn that it was all futile.”

“I will never know for my entire life because I cannot let it go.”

The emotions of the two men flowed as time flowed, but the world, which had no way of knowing that, only felt heartless.

“But I was surprised.”

“By what?”

“That Geum Seong-chan fellow, did he not hate the current government?”

“It is not that he hates the government. He hates that Kim Dae-san fellow. And he merely hates him. He understands everything. Why that fellow persecuted us….”

“It is an unfortunate thing.”

In truth, during the Daegyeokbyeon, there had been quite a few black mages drunk on power on the Korean Peninsula as well.

Their rampages felt like a common phenomenon, and in reality, some black mages who became convinced that they could grow stronger through necromancy caused tremendous incidents.

Massacre. Because when humans were desperately struggling to survive against monsters, there were black mages who slaughtered civilians with no sin and no power for their own advancement and cultivated their power.

And at that time, Kim Dae-san lost all of his beloved family.

At the time, there had been a black mage who coveted the power of the 8th Circle through Lichification, and it was an incident in which he caused terror in Seoul, the most populated city, resulting in tens of thousands of victims.

The Lichified black mage had raided Kim Dae-san, who had been operating a shelter and protecting people, along with his family. At the time, Kim Dae-san had barely saved the world after nearly dying while facing the black mage, but in the end, he could not save his family and met a horrific conclusion.

From then on, Kim Dae-san, who had been called a ‘hero,’ began the persecution of black mages, and that result had continued until now.

An Sang-ik thought that perhaps even now, Kim Dae-san was wary of Geum Seong-chan, who had become an 8th Circle black mage, and wanted to remove him somehow.

“Still, now it feels as if he is approaching with appeasement rather than persecution, so that is fortunate.”

“I do not know whether that is fortunate. Was there anyone without a story?”

As they went through the Daegyeokbyeon, everyone lost someone precious.

The world was harsh and desperate to the point that cases where someone protected everyone completely were not common.

Now, the survivors were enduring while burying all of that in their hearts, but wounds could not be easily hidden or healed.

“Our lives may be full of futile things, but I hope the future will not be the same.”

“That must be why we are moving forward now.”

The two men were trying to bury their emotions in the sea and let them flow away.

There was a secret space covertly prepared deep underground beneath the Black Magic Academy.

That place was also an evacuation facility, but it was also like someone’s hidden home.

‘I tried applying what I learned from the Magic Tower’s secret laboratory, but it is quite useful.’

The size of the space was roughly five hundred pyeong. It was quite large, but it was not suitable as a place to train magic.

Because if a wide-area spell was used even once, a radius of several hundred meters would be devastated, so no matter how well the space was made and maintained, it was only natural that it would be destroyed. It was that narrow.

However, there was also a reason I considered it sufficient.

‘The artifacts seized from Pi Jin-hyeok and the mages are useful.’

The various relics and devices decorated everywhere, the various forms of magic circles and engravings that now encompassed the entire space, were harmonized together and exerted tremendous synergy. And thanks to the characteristic of sub-space, an even wider space than what could be seen lay behind the background.

It meant that even if the visible walls were destroyed, the space itself would not be destroyed.

It was simply something like a device prepared for the convenience of the being who had to live there.

I settled comfortably in the center of that space.

Then I opened my personal sub-space and thrust my hand inside.

I thought of one book, and the moment it was caught in my hand, I took it out of the sub-space and drew blood from my finger.

And the moment I dropped one drop onto the eye-shaped magic circle in the center of the book,

Tap. With the light sound of a water droplet falling, the book shone brilliantly and wriggled. Then the Necronomicon, transformed into a grotesque form that could not be called a book and that it had never shown until now, split wide open and opened its mouth.

-It seems you finally feel like making a contract? -

“Yeah. You said you wanted desire from me, but that part seems to be quite lacking too.”

-Then that is even better for me. When I take away all that is lacking, I am very curious how you will be corrupted. -

“Well, I do not think that is bad either, but I have another price. Will you hear it?”

The Necronomicon was silent for a moment. So I opened the sub-space again, and when I took out quite a large number of Magic Stones from inside, it looked at them and sneered.

-Are you saying you will pay with mere Magic Stones? Mere? -

“They are not just simple Magic Stones. They are Magic Stones with something truly incredible dwelling inside them.”

At those words, the Necronomicon showed curiosity.

In truth, this thing was a pervert that somehow processed the user’s soul into the form it wanted, then chewed, tore, tasted, and enjoyed it deliciously.

However, because this came with the condition that it itself also had to pay a great price, it was in a state of suffering from a kind of frustration.

I had learned this fact through the book Han Sang-gil possessed, and in any case, I had an alternative that could currently satisfy that desire.

-What is it…? -

“These Magic Stones contain humans tormented by various desires. You wanted desire from me, but compared to the desires they harbor, the desire I possess has only dust-like value.”

Then I held out a Magic Stone in which a Cultist of Ruin I had captured long ago had been sealed and said,

“This is a Magic Stone containing a monster of sexual desire. That person’s desire is condensed endlessly inside it.”

-You are now trying to trade with me by using another human’s soul as the price. Do you know that? -

“Of course I know. You must have known at least that I am not a righteous human, right?”

Keu, keukeukeu. Interesting. You are a very interesting human. You do not know how great a price you are paying. -

The act of receiving something by using another person’s soul as the price. I was certainly committing a sin that could not be washed away from me.

As such, the price I could obtain would be great.

“One will not satisfy you, will it? But interestingly, I have many. The price I have to pay should be of no concern to you either. What will you do?”

I had made the deal, so it was time to hear the answer.

A moment later, the silent Necronomicon opened its mouth again and spoke as if drooling.

-Its value is by no means low compared to what I must give, so I will accept the deal. But causality can never be ignored. You will shoulder all the worst things that can be felt in the world. And when you die and go to the spirit world, you will pay the price thoroughly. -

“What a laughable thing to say. In the end, both you and I are just ignorant fools selling our souls to devils. If you understand, then let’s begin.”

The Necronomicon laughed for a long while as if amused, and soon, with the words that the contract was complete, one soul disappeared, and countless pieces of information began filling my mind.

‘It is quite burdensome…. The amount of information surpasses imagination. This thing may perhaps be a grimoire of an even higher grade than I thought.’

The road ahead was far and arduous, like nine hundred million li, but for now, there was no helping it.

A reason to become stronger had appeared.

The Yellow Gate in Chengdu, China, began to run wild.

Numerous Awakeners had to escape outside, and as a result, no one was harmed inside the Yellow Gate, but in the end, they were scheduled to suffer damage outside.

“Everyone, prepare for battle! A monster will appear!”

They were the generals of the Chinese authorities commanding everyone, and the masters who received that order were confused.

“So it ended up like this after all.”

“Damn it, how was I supposed to know this would happen? Shouldn’t we run away as we are?”

“They say most of the higher-ups have run away. Damn it…. How is this going to turn out…?”

“If I resolve this matter well, I am getting married.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. You don’t have anyone to marry, do you?”

“Hey, isn’t that too harsh?”

They were speaking as if making trivial jokes, but it was their own method of relief because the tension had grown too excessive and their bodies had stiffened. However, the change was sudden, and in an instant, the Yellow Gate disappeared. As they faced the being standing there alone, goosebumps rose all over everyone’s bodies.

An unknown being that radiated such mighty power that the word ‘monster’ naturally flowed out.

Outwardly, it merely had the form of a young girl, but the pressure they felt overwhelmed the thousands of Awakeners present. At that moment, which made it feel as if time itself had stopped, the girl standing alone slowly flew into the air, looked down at everyone, and said,

[ Revere me, for the Apostle of the second Calamity God has descended upon this land…. I, Saturn, declare this to you. Die. ]

At that moment, a tremendous force erupted. It was an aura that seemed as if it would tear everything apart at once, and everyone was terrified by a presence worthy of swallowing despair.

However, unable to collapse, they finally stood on the world with both legs and rushed toward the enemy.

Even though fear had occupied their minds, their instincts ordered them to eliminate the opponent before their eyes.

[ I love foolishness. Die in despair and grief. ]

And thus, the battle began.