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Chapter 35
“Kwaaaargh—!”
A hulking monster, nearly two meters tall, filled the entire field of vision.
Beyond its gleaming fangs, scraps of half-devoured human flesh still clung messily, and from the gashes all over its body, a sticky, toxic mucus oozed out—caustic enough to melt flesh on contact.
For any ordinary person, simply facing such a sight would have made their knees buckle.
But the Guardian Warrior who confronted it showed no change in expression. Raising his arm, he swung it at the beast.
Crunch—!
As the booster on his elbow spat flames, his fist—crafted from special alloy—smashed into the monster’s face.
His fist sank deep into the creature’s body.
From within that embedded arm, a massive cannon muzzle extended outward.
BOOOOOM—!
A shell blasted forth, tearing the monster’s body into pieces.
The scene became a grotesque mix of mangled monsters and human corpses.
And yet, even as beasts rampaged and shells exploded in the middle of the city, the world outside the building looked deceptively peaceful.
That was because the informants dispatched by the Pungyang Cho Clan were swiftly locking down all information.
“47th floor secured. We’re moving on. What about the intruder who attacked the Young Master?”
—“Currently engaged in combat with Young Master Cho Seong-hwan. From the combat analysis, the intruder is confirmed to be a Aura User… specifically, Imetal, a senior officer of Hahoe.”
“Hahoe…?”
Hearing the report, the Captain of the Guards furrowed his brow.
A high-ranking officer of Hahoe.
Which meant—this entire disaster was none other than the scheme of those traitorous scum.
Unleashing rampaging monsters in the very heart of Hanseong, then letting them loose to expose the Pungyang Cho Clan’s secrets to the outside world.
‘But they’ve made a grave miscalculation.’
There was no way the mighty Pungyang Cho Clan would establish a laboratory in the center of Hanseong without thorough countermeasures.
Emergency blast walls meticulously designed.
Special artificial bodies engineered for monster suppression.
Even without the Young Master, an Aura User, such measures were more than enough to subdue creatures of this level.
“Hmm?”
As the guardians continued eliminating the monsters within the building, one of them caught sight of a severed piece of a monster’s corpse.
Just the sight alone was enough to stir nausea.
But what was more disturbing—though it was reduced to nothing but an arm, a few fingers of flesh—it was still twitching, wriggling faintly.
Could it be… still alive?
Reports had said these things had tenacious vitality, but this level was beyond expectation.
“Captain, over there, that monster’s remains…”
The warrior, unsettled, tried to report the sight to his superior.
Chik… chiiik.
Just then, a transmission came through from the team that had entered the lower floors first.
—“This is Team 3! The massive beast held on the 39th floor is rampaging! With our current equipment, we can’t contain it—!”
“Understood. Maintain firewalls and hold your position. Reinforcements are on the way.”
After ending the transmission, the Captain turned back to face his men.
“We don’t have the luxury to waste time. Was it important intel?”
“N-no, sir.”
Caught in the Captain’s gaze, the warrior swallowed back the words he’d been about to say.
‘The priority now is to subdue these monsters as quickly as possible. A mangled corpse twitching a little shouldn’t amount to much… right?’
Thus, the guardians rushed downward to subdue the colossal beast on the 39th floor.
Squirm.
The monster’s flesh scrap that had just been seen twitched again, slowly beginning to crawl.
The bits clinging to the wall.
The shreds torn from human bodies by monstrous claws.
All of them… began wriggling, like larvae sensing an opportunity, inching toward the same spot.
And then, in the next instant—
Crunch, cr-runch…!
From the mass of gathered flesh, thin filaments began sprouting, like fungal hyphae.
Thousands—tens of thousands—of strands.
They tangled, intertwined, and fused, forming a single grotesque lump.
From the size of a fist, to that of a human body.
From the size of a human, to a monstrous hunk of meat over five meters tall.
The corpses, meshed together like snowballing sludge, swelled in size with sickening speed.
Grrrrrk—
From the completed mass of crimson flesh, dozens of mouths sprouted.
Human mouths.
Beast mouths.
Fish mouths.
Insect mandibles.
Even gaping maws from unidentifiable mollusks.
“Heeek—!”
It was as if all the world’s foulest abominations had been gathered and fused into a single, nightmarish form.
* * *
BOOOOOM—!
The incoming anti-tank rocket round detonated mid-air.
The corridor shook under the violent pressure wave, laced with traces of Aura Force.
Unable to pierce through that massive storm, the projectile had burst in mid-flight.
‘That’s it… all the heavy weapons I brought are spent. What’s left—just a few grenades and two submachine guns…’
Swallowing dryly, Imetal turned his gaze to the heir of the Pungyang Cho Clan standing across from him—Cho Seong-hwan.
That cold, unyielding stare looked down on him.
But beneath that proud façade, Imaetal could glimpse an unease that could not be hidden.
“You’re good at scurrying around, aren’t you? Like a filthy rat.”
“Then why don’t you try catching me properly? Or should I head downstairs and slaughter some of those precious Guardian Warriors of yours?”
“You bastard…!”
Hearing Imaetal’s taunting tone, Cho Seong-hwan’s face twisted in rage.
Even a “half-blood” like Imaetal was still an Aura User.
By simply imbuing a blade with Aura Force, he could slice through the artificial bodies of Guardian Warriors like tofu.
But that was merely the gap between an ordinary man and an Aura User.
Against a high-tier Aura User like Cho Seong-hwan, a “half-blood” like Imaetal was nothing more than rabble.
And yet—
‘Frustrating, isn’t it? To think someone like me, a half-blood, has managed to tie you down this long.’
Indeed, Imaetal had succeeded in holding Cho Seong-hwan at bay for over five minutes.
Unlike Cho, who had spent his life in polished halls, endlessly repeating sparring drills in controlled environments, Imaetal bore the weight of countless battles—real, bloody combat that honed instincts drills never could.
But now his weapons were depleted. Continuing the offensive any longer was impossible.
As much as he hated to admit it, his limits were drawing near.
Whoosh!
A storm of Aura Force lifted Imaetal’s body into the air. And soaring toward him came Cho Seong-hwan’s flail-staff.
For a normal human, even the shockwave grazing their body would reduce them to pulp.
But Imaetal, reinforcing his body with Aura Force, thrust out the armored plating strapped to his arm against the incoming chain-whip segment.
BOOOOOM—!
In the next instant, an explosion burst forth, throwing Cho Seong-hwan’s vision into disarray.
When the smoke cleared, Imaetal emerged—his arm trailing smoke.
The protective armor encasing his arm had been torn apart, baring charred flesh beneath.
“Reactive plating…! You laced explosives into your armor to absorb the impact?”
That was equipment meant for vehicles, even tanks. To wear it directly on bare flesh—was he insane?
But even as the thought crossed Cho’ mind, Imaetal whipped out the submachine gun strapped to his waist and unleashed a torrent of fire.
RATATATATATAT—!
He emptied a full 120-round magazine, yet not a single bullet touched Cho Seong-hwan.
Encasing him was a barrier of wind.
An Aura Force shield wrapped around his body, ironclad and impregnable.
“If you were wearing an artificial body, I’d already be minced meat by now.”
Indeed, an artificial body reinforced with special armor plating would have shrugged off such bullets and simply crushed him in return.
“But you nobles… you snot-nosed aristocrats can’t do that.”
Imaetal sneered at Cho Seong-hwan.
No artificial body.
Not even a neural mesh implant for daily functions.
His body was pure—untouched, unmodified.
All because of the Confucian tradition that one’s body, hair, and skin are sacred gifts from one’s parents and must not be altered. It had left the nobles obsessed with “bodily purity.”
“A measure to wring out every last drop of a Aura User’s power.
And yes, thanks to that, your Aura Force is disgustingly strong…”
“……!”
“But when I keep pouring on firepower like this, even a half-blood like me can tie you up for ages!”
BOOOOOM—!
As soon as his last bullet was spent, Imaetal discarded the submachine gun without hesitation and lobbed a grenade.
KR-KRAAANG—!
Smoke and thunder enveloped Cho Seong-hwan’s figure.
But then—
“You vulgar clown. How dare you flail about without knowing your place.”
CRACK—!
At close range, Cho Seong-hwan’s flail-staff slammed into Imetal’s arm.
A sickening crunch rang out as the bone snapped, and only then did Imaetal’s combat sensors finally trigger a danger alert.
Even the specially-engineered battle detectors had failed to catch Cho’s strike in time.
BOOOOOM—!
Imaetal’s body was hurled away, smashing into the wall.
“Khuhhh…!”
A dull ache climbed up his back, mingling with the searing agony of his shattered arm.
For an instant, darkness nearly swallowed his mind—but Imaetal forced himself to stay conscious.
As Cho had said earlier, if he collapsed here, he’d be dragged into the Pungyang Cho Clan’s laboratory and have his brain extracted like a specimen.
“No artificial body, so you thought you’d make up for it with firepower? Did you actually think cheap tricks like that would be enough to face me?”
Sweeping aside the haze of smoke with his flail, Cho Seong-hwan strode forward.
Aura Force poured from him in torrents, wind lashing so fiercely that one could scarcely open their eyes.
It was as if a demigod had descended to earth.
“Block me? You? A monster like you? That’s impossible.”
Of course.
Even if he was inexperienced in real combat, Cho Seong-hwan was still the heir of one of the most prestigious clans.
Imaetal—who couldn’t even defeat a single royal guardsman—could never hope to land even a scratch, no matter how meticulously he prepared.
“All I can do… at most, is five, maybe ten minutes. Holding you here, binding you to this spot—that’s all I can achieve.”
“And if you know that, why throw yourself into such a reckless fight?”
“Why else?”
In the corner of his vision, the timer on his display ticked into view.
Confirming the operation time, Imaetal let a triumphant smile curl across his lips.
“Holding you here—that’s our goal.”
“…What?”
Cho Seong-hwan’s expression twisted at those words.
Just then—
—“Young Master!”
A voice crackled from the communicator in his ear.
It was one of the Guardian Warriors, the men tasked with subjugating the rampaging beasts within the building.
“What is it?!”
Sensing that something had gone wrong, Cho shouted toward the device.
—“C-central floors! A sudden catastrophic event…!”
“What do you mean, catastrophic event?!”
—“I don’t know! Suddenly the monsters’ corpses all—! The cause… right now…!”
But the frantic voice was cut off.
Bzzzt… krrchhh…
Harsh static swallowed the signal, drowning the warrior’s words.
A mechanical failure? At a time like this?
Cho scowled, checking the communicator in his ear.
It flickered with a few dying sparks—then went dead.
He tried rebooting it, but nothing.
Not a simple malfunction or signal issue—the device itself had been utterly killed.
“What…? Why would a fully functional comm unit suddenly…?!”
He clenched his teeth in frustration, but then a chilling thought brushed past his mind.
Slowly, Cho turned, scanning his surroundings.
“Wait…”
The laboratory had been transformed into hell after the sudden monster outbreak.
The corpses of slaughtered researchers had littered the facility, not a single survivor left.
The beasts, gorging themselves on those corpses, had splattered mucus and filth in every direction.
And when the Guardian Warriors moved in, they had smashed the monsters’ armored shells to pulp.
Blood. Flesh. Filth. Slime.
A grotesque, nauseating mess had blanketed the laboratory.
But now—
“Why is it so… clean?”
It was all gone.
The monsters’ corpses.
The researchers’ remains.
Everything—vanished.
Not even scraps or stains. As though none of it had ever been there at all.
“…No way.”
Not a trace left behind.
An oppressive silence presses down on every corner.
Electronic devices collapsing into useless husks in an instant.
Cho Seong-hwan combed through his memory, and it didn’t take long to uncover the truth.
Records are restricted only to high-ranking officials and select commanders of the Royal Guards.
Data archived in a classified database.
Notes written during the Great War.
The first and most absolute rule of monster warfare:
[All personnel slain by beasts, and all beast corpses—must be incinerated.]
Not a single scrap of flesh. Not a single drop of blood could remain.
If even one piece was left unburned, the beasts’ remains and organic tissue would eventually congeal into one massive lump.
And that lump, once fully fused, would inevitably—
“No…”
THUD—!
By the time realization struck, it was already far too late.
As Cho Seong-hwan’s face darkened in horror, a colossal shockwave rattled the entire building.
His whole body prickled with numbness.
An alien sensation—yet one all too familiar.
It was Aura Force.
“KYAAAAAAHHHHH—!”
A shriek tore through the facility.
Aura Force erupted throughout the building, surging and clashing ceaselessly, while an eerie dissonance gnawed at Cho Seong-hwan’s senses without pause.
And in that grotesque sensation, he instinctively knew what had happened.
A Rift.
A Rift had opened right in the heart of the research facility he himself had built.
“Congratulations, Cho Seong-hwan.”
The voice came from across the chamber.
As Cho raised his eyes with clenched teeth, Imetal was there, speaking with smug finality.
“The heir of the Pungyang Cho Clan—Cho Seong-hwan—secretly researched beasts under the government’s nose, and then used them to open a Rift in the very center of Hanseong.”
Standing with a gaping hole in the wall behind him, Imaetal waved mockingly.
Prepared for escape, he yanked the pin from a smoke grenade he’d been holding.
“With this, you’re branded. There’s no wriggling free. You’re a traitor.”
Thick smoke billowed, swallowing Imaetal’s figure completely.
“Stop! You treacherous dog—what nonsense are you…!”
‘A Rift? Me? I opened it?’
What is he talking about?!
Grinding his teeth, Cho Seong-hwan lunged toward the hole through which Imaetal had fled.
FWOOOSH—!
The next moment, a blinding searchlight poured down from above.
A military helicopter? Dispatched by his clan?
Frowning, Cho squinted up at the sky.
And then—
“…Ha…!”
The instant he saw the helicopter shining upon him, his mouth fell open, and a cry—half scream, half despairing sigh—escaped him.
“You’ve done it now, Cho Seong-hwan. Truly ruined everything.”
Painted across the side of the aircraft was not the emblem of the Pungyang Cho Clan—
—but that of the Andong Kim Clan.
And from the helicopter, gazing down upon him, was the sole heir of that clan.
Kim Hyunwoo.
---The End Of The Chapter---
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