chapter 15
Wendigo
The gate that spat out a huge monster 15 meters tall slowly closed its mouth and began to scatter.
Ki-yi-yi-!
If there is a sound that creatures in hell make, is it like this?
An eerie scream emanating from the monster’s cage reverberated throughout the area.
It was common sense among common sense to attack monsters after the gate’s energy wave was scattered.
Common sense gained through sacrifice after countless awakened people in the past attacked monsters recklessly before the gate disappeared and died after being torn apart by energy like electricity.
Finally, the gate, like a whirlpool of mana, completely disappeared, and someone’s cry acted as the starting point of the attack.
“Kill!”
Adding those numbers one by one, the number of people currently gathered here is around seven hundred.
For once, seasoned people who fall into a blind spot to check the situation, low-ranking people who rush to get some ‘experience’ recognized by the system, and awakened people who get scared and fall behind.
Among them, who showed various behaviors, the majority of low-level Awakeners who rushed to get their experience points recognized by the system by inflicting even a slight blow were the first to clash, emitting all colors.
No, it looked like they were about to clash.
sigh-
The monster’s gigantic grip, which reached as far as the shin, was swung lightly, and the dozens of Awoken who were at the forefront turned into chunks of meat and scattered.
A group of people rushing out hardened like ice on the spot, and the scene filled with tension and heat was instantly covered with silence.
patter-
In the chilly atmosphere, the corpses of about ten people were scattered.
Koo Woo-
The monster’s lower body, which resembled that of a two-legged beast, began to move.
Kiyi Iik-!
A deformedly long and large hand stretched out with a demonic cry.
The moment it started at the entrance of the station, destroyed parked cars and buildings, and tried to reach the Awoken who were wandering in front of them.
Kwaaang-
The brakes were applied by one of the 6th Awoken on the scene.
Although the blocker was also pushed several meters backwards, flipping the floor with a rear view.
The monster’s hand, which had been properly struck by the strong sword, had only small scratches on it, as if it had been cut on paper.
“A monster and a physical type! You have to attack from a blind spot or lose strength from a distance!”
The middle-aged man gave a quick briefing on the characteristics of the monster he had grasped in a moment.
Among the monsters that appeared on Earth, those that were not in the information brought back by the returnees were quite common. Like the weird guy who just appeared.
In modern Earth, monsters were divided into two main types. Appearance and abilities.
The physical type of a monster is that it has a significantly different appearance and height from that of Earth, but has no magical ability. It meant a monster that used its body for combat.
While the man was briefing the monster’s hand with a greatsword, the awakened people within range quickly fled and joined the Wondae.
Right after that, the magic fired by the magic-type awakeners hit the guy’s face and chest.
Kwaaang-
Reality is different from games.
This means that unless the gap is so great that you can’t even feel the slightest bit of pain by crossing the critical point, the damage done will definitely accumulate.
Kki-Ik-!
Is there any damage?
Because of its huge body, the monster roared and staggered as it easily hit the attacks of the 4th, 5th, and 6th tier wizards who were with the greatsword man.
As if he had suffered quite a blow, he lowered his head and waved his arms in pain. The surroundings became a muddy field, and it turned hazy with rising dust.
“Strange.”
“What?”
A man with a greatsword escaped through the gap. A woman in her early 30s approached Jang Baek-gi, the 6th rank Awakener, and asked.
It was Jung Hee-jin, a magic awakener of the same 6th tier.
“It was a blow to block it, but it went in properly. But, I couldn’t even peel it off properly. just magic. Didn’t it go right in?”
“Yes, first of all, I only aimed for the head in a hurry, focusing on blows to get him out.”
It was an attack that included the magic of Jeong Hee-jin, a member of the same 6th rank, but it could not be regarded as a single blow because he hurriedly aimed only at the head to take out the alb.
The attacks of other hierarchical awakeners who assisted in the attack will also be inferior to that.
The back and forth didn’t match. It was because he was a monster who did not even show signs of pain even when he was properly hit.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s because of the pain… .”
Kiyi Iik-!
Jangbaekgi’s words were cut off by the monster’s scream.
Cuckoo- Cuckold-
and an unfamiliar sound.
A monster that could be seen at first glance because of all the dust and the wreckage of the building. The posture was almost the same as before.
“Me, etc. Didn’t something swell more than before?”
In a brief moment, his back was swollen enough to tell anyone who had ever faced a monster from the start.
Jang Baek-gi, waiting for the dust to clear and the man’s madness to stop, unconsciously saw his own greatsword colliding with him.
His gaze hurriedly turned to the corpses of the Awoken who had died at the hands of the first monsters.
“this… .”
Black rotting corpses, as if only one side had been corroded. It was the same phenomenon as the blade of his great sword.
In the meantime, behind the back of the monster that can be seen through the dust that has almost been lifted.
Kududeuk- Kkuduk-
A pair of huge wings were sprouting with a disgusting sound.
Wings with an ominous color much darker than the gray body.
Its purpose was not to fly.
flutter –
The puncture of the wings cutting through the air reached them hundreds of meters away. It was only then that the Awakeners of the 5th tier or higher realized that something similar to mana was being released from the monster’s wings and was pouring down.
“Poison! Everyone around mana! It rots when touched… !”
Kiki-Ik-!
Jangbaekgi’s cry was again interrupted by the monster that had finished something.
All of the high-ranking Awoken who heard Jangbaekgi’s words or felt something was wrong either wrapped mana around their bodies or created a shield to protect themselves.
However, those who were unable to release mana and those who were lower than the 3rd rank Awakeners and those who were slow to judge the situation had no choice but to be hit by the warm wind derived from the wings.
“Isn’t it just the wind?”
“what… ?”
A few seconds later, I heard questionable words from the awakened people around me who were not prepared.
“Gagging… .”
“Ouch… !”
Starting with their faces, the entire body began to necrotic at a rapid rate.
The skin rotted into black and the clothes corroded, and soon the skin peeled off, revealing red skin.
The reason their voices stopped as they sat down and groaned was that within a few minutes the bones of their faces were exposed.
The situation here, hundreds of meters away, is at least a nobleman.
The area around the monster screaming and flapping its wings had already become a hell in which humans could not live.
Koogoo Palace-
Buildings made of rebar and concrete collapsed powerlessly one by one, and the surrounding area was approaching blue-green beyond dark red due to a terrible oxidation reaction.
“I can’t get closer… .”
“That… . 6th tier monster… .”
Mana is not infinite. And whether it’s a shield or strong skill, if you eventually take damage, you have to replenish mana to reinforce it.
It would be crazy to go near a monster that is several times more toxic than here and fight a guy who lightly chews on a 5th tier monster with mediocre physical abilities.
Jang Baek-gi, who was the most experienced person in the field and possessed the highest level of military force, hurriedly shook his head.
“All Awoken below the 3rd level are excluded, and those above the 4th level must buy time and request support.”
The government must be watching the situation here, so all the 6th-tier Awakeners must be on their way in a hurry, but it seemed like they would have to endure enormous damage even with a guess.
‘Actually, I might be able to catch it.’
He had already spent close to 10% of his mana just to block the poison mixed with the light warm wind.
I don’t know if it can be dealt with in the long run. Even if it was about catching monsters, it was clear that Seongnam, or perhaps the entire southern part of Gyeonggi-do, would turn into hell.
As if he suddenly realized something he had forgotten, a returnee who was residing in a hotel in Gangnam appeared in Jang Baek-gi’s mind.
‘If so… .’
That time when I thought of the 10th year returnee who caused friction due to a series of events.
As if reading their thoughts, an exceptionally calm tone reverberated through the entire space in the middle of a quarrel.
“Wendigo?”
* * *
I arrived at Seongnam using my cell phone as a compass.
Upon entering the Moran Station area, I put my useless cell phone in my pocket.
It was because it was such a mess that it was possible to grasp the situation even without such a thing.
‘Things from the demon realm.’
As we approached the site, the smell of sulfur wafted through our nostrils.
However, it was not able to harm Ha Yeon-woo, who was not wearing mana, let alone marriage.
After walking a little further past the corpses who fell and died miserably while fleeing in the opposite direction of Moran Station, hundreds of people confronting the monsters appeared.
Let’s break through the panic among them casually and reach the lead.
“All Awoken below the 3rd level are excluded, and those above the 4th level must buy time and request support.”
The shape of a man with a great sword and a monster caught my eye.
“Wendigo?”
The man and woman in the lead look back reflexively.
“Who, who… .”
“uh! this person… !”
Unlike Jang Baek-gi, who turned her head at the words she didn’t understand but saw Ha Yeon-woo but couldn’t recognize him, Jung Hee-jin, a woman in her 30s who is sensitive to the current trend, recognized him at once.
“Returner! You are a returnee who just returned!”
Due to his exceptionally prominent face, public opinion admiring him has already spread on the Internet, with only a few blurry photos taken while heading to the hotel.
Jeong Hee-jin was also one of those people.
Hearing her words, Jang Baek-gi’s face turned bright for a moment, and he immediately began to ask questions.
“But it’s a Wendigo. Do you know anything?”
Ha Yeon-woo finally turned around and met the man’s eyes.
“Sixth rank?”
“It is.”
“Then get out. It won’t help anyway.”
“What is that… .”
Jang Baek-gi stopped the bewildered Jeong Hee-jin and said.
“Can you tell me why?”
Ha Yeon-woo, who was still looking at the two men and women, said as he moved to the monster.
“It’s a demonic monster. It’s a town shared by three monsters with Iji.”
I mean, it’s a monster with reason. On the Pan continent, they were called demon kings. Of course, I’ve never been summoned.
“Each of them has powers. And the Pandemonium monsters that follow them can imitate that authority, albeit clumsily.”
It’s not revealed exactly, but I got used to the environment and I was able to use it naturally, it was given to me by the demon king himself. There were several theories.
“Wendigo is the seed of the erosion monster, Dereb. In terms of humans, they are like siege weapons who are the first to find the land to be eroded and ‘purify’ it from their point of view.”
The eroded environment was nothing short of a natural fortress blessed by nature to them.
That alone is enough to eat half of the battle.
“Right now, we only let things rot, and if we keep going, we won’t be able to breathe.”
At that time, there was a reason why the Pan continent was not destroyed by them even though it had much weaker power than the current Earth.
It’s because he blocked such advance work by using ‘divine power’ that doesn’t exist here.
Of course, if it wasn’t for Ha Yeon-woo, who put an end to it, it was a problem that I don’t know what would have happened in the end.
Even without Ha Yeon-woo, they will eventually catch him. Even so, the reason I told them to leave was because it was rather a hindrance to me in front of them.
Ha Yeon-woo answered Jang Baek-gi’s question with a few short words, and was already ahead of her.
“mister. how to do?”
Jang Baek-gi, who was worried for a moment while looking at Ha Yeon-woo’s back, turned his back and spoke to the Awakeners.
“We will get out of our safety zone and be vigilant!”
* * *
“I have no fear.”
I wasn’t talking about the Awoken who threw back the display with people.
This is what I said after seeing a helicopter from a broadcasting station, which was obvious filming this place from afar.
Doing so without even measuring the safe distance was proof that this place had not yet been completely tainted by the war against monsters.
Kiyi Iik-!
Hearing Wendigo’s cry after a long time.
It was obvious that there was no information here.
How much do the returnees who lived on the Pan continent for 60 years know?
Demon monsters first appeared in the world by devil worshipers about 300 years after Ha Yeon-woo fell on the continent.
It was Ha Yeon-woo himself who stopped that.
Wendigo confirmed Ha Yeon-woo, who had come close to him. It stopped flapping its wings, releasing the aura of erosion, and raised its hands high.
Ha Yeon-woo, who was quietly watching the palm of a small building that was being taken down. Soon, he raised his hand lightly.