Rather than the social chaos of people suspecting each other, it was far more lethal and dangerous for the demons to devour key figures one by one and erode their fighting strength. Yoon Taegyeom determined that he needed to somehow draw public attention and instill a sense of urgency in the Awakeners.
“This is so frustrating I could go crazy.”
As Yoon Taegyeom clutched his head, a massive shadow approached him. It was Alexander Gray, whom he’d thought had already departed to handle the Yeouido Gate.
“Haven’t you left yet, Alexander-nim?”
“You seemed to be wrestling with an interesting dilemma.”
Alexander wiped away his usual frivolous, carefree smile and looked down at Yoon Taegyeom with serious, sharp blue eyes.
“You seem to be suffering from a headache because of the stubbornly blocked bureaucratic nonsense from Korea’s Management Bureau higher-ups. About revealing the existence of the demons, I mean.”
“…You heard?”
“I heard everything quite clearly. Including the idiotic decision to embrace a bomb while using stability as an excuse.”
Alexander reached out over the table and lightly tapped Yoon Taegyeom’s report.
“No need to agonize over it. We’ll officially brief the entire world about this matter in the name of America’s Empire Guild.”
“Pardon?”
Yoon Taegyeom’s eyes widened.
An official announcement from Empire Guild meant that the American government would move. But at the same time, it also meant that Empire would shoulder the full responsibility for the arrows of blame—the tremendous fear, criticism, and chaos from people worldwide regarding this incident in Korea and the demons.
It was a radical decision, far removed from the image of the selfish businessman who’d use shallow tricks to get into Ian’s good graces.
“Alexander-nim. Are you serious? If Empire takes the lead in making the announcement, there will be enormous panic. There’s no reason for you as Guild Master to bear that responsibility and social condemnation…”
“Have you forgotten who I am, Team Leader Yoon?”
Alexander grinned. It wasn’t arrogance, but eyes that oozed with the firm confidence of the strong.
“I’m the Master of Empire, leading the Awakeners not just of America, but of the entire world. Avoiding danger and chasing only profit is what third-rate merchants do.”
Alexander readjusted his grip on his hammer and turned around. His broad back felt more massive than ever before.
“Sometimes you need to move for the world’s sake, not for immediate gain. Willingly shouldering the heavy cross that no one else wants to bear. That’s what a true ‘hero’ is.”
“Alexander-nim.”
“Well then, shall this magnificent hero go smash some monster heads? Make sure to watch the briefing later, Team Leader Yoon.”
Alexander laughed heartily as he left the situation room. Watching his retreating figure, Yoon Taegyeom slightly parted his tightly closed lips. He’d always thought of him as an arrogant American who only fumbled around, but now he finally understood clearly why that man reigned at the world’s number one position.
Bzzzzt—
Right after Alexander left, Yoon Taegyeom’s personal smartphone rang sharply. The caller was Empire Guild’s chief secretary, Sarah.
—Team Leader Yoon! Please tell me our Guild Master didn’t declare he’s going to pull off some crazy stunt there again, did he? We just got contacted to set up a press room and gather reporters from media outlets worldwide!
“Ah.”
At Sarah’s desperate cry coming through the receiver, Yoon Taegyeom felt the grand emotion he’d just felt from Alexander’s back crumble slightly. No. Still, the mindset he held was genuine.
“Secretary Sarah. This time it’s not a crazy stunt, but truly a heroic decision he’s made. I’ll send you the detailed materials separately. I suggest you take some antacid beforehand when you review them.”
Yoon Taegyeom hung up with a bitter but somehow relieved smile. The massive gears had finally begun turning in the right direction.
***
At that same time.
In a secluded residential alley in downtown Seoul, where the blaring sirens had subsided and an uneasy silence had settled.
“Haa, haa…”
An ordinary office worker who’d been running to a shelter after hearing the sudden emergency gate warning on his way home from work sat leaning against the narrow alley wall, gasping for breath. Fortunately, the gate had closed and no monsters had emerged, but his legs had given out from extreme fear and he simply couldn’t stand up.
“I survived. I really thought I was going to die.”
Just as the man was exhaling a sigh of relief while patting his chest.
Slither.
The pitch-black shadow cast at his feet began to writhe irregularly like living mud. The moment the man felt something off and looked down.
“Huh?”
From within the shadow that had turned into a swamp, a jet-black hand suddenly burst out and gripped the man’s ankle with fierce strength. The hem of his pants where the fingers touched turned black and burned away.
“Aaaaaaah! Wh-what is this! Let go, let gooo!”
The man screamed and struggled, but it was useless. The shadow instantly wrapped around the man’s waist, covered his chest, and soon rose up to his chin. The man’s pupils dilated with fear as his breath was cut off.
Then came the horrific sound of rupturing. Bones and flesh melted like mud as the man’s body was sucked into the shadow. It was a clean predation that left not a single drop of blood—and also a theft.
The alley fell into silence. Shortly after, the shadow pooled on the ground made an eerie sound as it surged upward and slowly began to take human form.
The skeleton aligned, and flesh was layered on. Then eyes, nose, and mouth formed, and disheveled hair was perfectly replicated. To be precise, that wasn’t all that was replicated. The wrinkled suit the original man had been wearing, even the faux leather watch on his wrist. The shadow had recreated the ordinary office worker it had just devoured exactly as he was.
“……”
The demon who had perfectly donned the man’s shell tapped the ground with the toe of its dress shoe while examining its new body. Then it slowly, very sweetly licked up the human memories and knowledge flooding into its mind as it twisted the corners of its mouth up grotesquely.
“The name is Kim Minchul. Age is thirty-two. Workplace is? Oho.”
The demon picked up an employee ID card that had fallen from the man’s pocket.
[Taeseong Logistics & Distribution]
At first glance, it looked like an ordinary subcontractor, but in the memories of the man the demon had absorbed was very interesting information. This company was one of the places that regularly delivered Awakener-exclusive goods and food supplies to none other than ‘Stigma Guild.’
“Kukuk. So this is human society. I’ve picked up an excellent shell.”
The demon looked up at the glittering forest of buildings shrouded in stale air, its eyes gleaming.
The demon’s red eyes flashed chillingly in the darkness.
“Wait for me, arrogant Saint. Using this weak shell, I’ll rip out your heart the moment you feel most at ease.”
The man who’d been smiling chillingly then casually smoothed out his wrinkled clothes with his hand. And as if nothing had happened, he walked out toward the bright lights with light steps.
The most covert and lethal blade aimed at humanity’s savior was hiding among humans.
***
The A-rank gate in Jongno. A Management Bureau employee standing guard in front of it glanced sideways at the two people standing next to him. The naturalized S-rank Awakener Vermouth and Healer Ian. The two who were currently the hot topic.
‘But is it okay to send just the two of them?’
At least Vermouth would have adapted to gates to some extent, but not Ian, right? The time period was too short when he calculated it.
‘But they must have sent them because it’s fine.’
He trusted the Management Bureau’s Yoon Taegyeom.
“This has been classified as [Blood Citadel].”
“Blood Citadel?”
“Yes. The monsters that mainly appear in this A-rank gate are undead types. Zombies, ghouls, and vampires. It’s a somewhat tricky dungeon because you can get poisoned if you’re carelessly wounded, but…”
Instead, upon hearing those words, Ian’s expression brightened. After all, wasn’t light what the seeds of darkness were weakest against? For a user of divine power, undead were the easiest monsters to deal with.
“Will you be alright?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine.”
Ian answered gently and entered the dungeon together with Vermouth.
“This will be easy.”
“This will be easy.”
As soon as they entered, the two looked at each other and smiled.
Uuuuurgh!
Before long, zombies and ghouls that had caught the scent of living people came rushing, but there was no need to worry at all.
Slash—! Crunch!
Each time the silver trajectory cut through the air, zombies and ghouls were swept away with terrible screams. Even the bats hanging from the ceiling and dropping down were no exception. Vermouth didn’t let a single monster pass behind him.
Ian observed the overwhelming scene of carnage from one step back with an indifferent expression. Though the terrible stench stabbing his nose kept making him furrow his brow, he was used to it enough to endure. And it wasn’t like he had nothing to do. When Vermouth finished off the zombies and ghouls that burst out, he purified the ground where the dead had been.
‘At this level, it’s easy even without touching them.’
“Is it okay for it to be this easy?”
That thought suddenly occurred to him, but what did it matter? First of all, quickly closing the gate was important, so it wasn’t a bad thing.
