As time passed and humanity progressed, monsters also took on new forms.
Unlike the past when there were only monsters that unleashed simple attacks to satisfy their hunger, in modern times, intelligent monsters with the ability to think began to appear.
They observed humans to exploit their weaknesses and committed vicious acts such as using weaker beings as hostages instead of killing them. All methods learned from humans.
Fortunately in this misfortune, intelligent monsters were few in number. Highly intelligent monsters that could even mimic Esper abilities appeared once every few decades, if at all. The probability of encountering such a monster was as low as the probability of a Gate explosion accident occurring.
However, both of those rare events happened all at once today.
Due to the aftermath of the Gate explosion accident, hazy smoke mixed with contaminated substances swirled like fog throughout the entire area. Because visibility was blocked, everyone was identifying each other only by sound and dealing with wandering monsters.
“A-rank monster spotted in the 6 o’clock direction.”
A supporter with the ability to visualize sound and wavelengths relayed the situation in real-time to nearby offensive Espers.
“Size 3.5m, nine of them. Animal type… no, wait a moment.”
Due to the wavelength flows being mixed up from the explosion accident, it was harder to assess than usual.
“Individual identification impossible. Presumed to be mutants, so do not approach without a Barrier Master.”
Those who heard the supporter’s information moved with Barrier Masters to deal with the A-rank monsters.
Since it was right after the explosion occurred, there were few rampaging monsters. Fortunately, thanks to Barrier Masters being positioned everywhere, there had been no casualties yet, but over a third of the monsters had been eliminated.
Most of the low-danger-level small fry had all turned to ash in the explosion, and even A-rank monsters were rendered immobile. All that remained were those close to the highest rank.
Those things should have died.
The supporter grinding their teeth suddenly heaved their shoulders and dry-heaved.
“Kheuk….”
Because they weren’t wearing a gas mask due to concentrating on sound, red bloody water surged up from inside. However, they didn’t reach for the gas mask until the end. They gritted their teeth and held on to be the eyes for their colleagues whose vision was blocked.
“Wait, j-just a moment…!”
The supporter who had been amplifying their hearing with all their might suddenly raised their voice. The wavelength of the monster that had definitely been A-rank level suddenly began to change strangely.
“Everyone stop!”
The offensive Espers who had already started charging were all intermediate-level fighters. If they pooled their strength, they could eliminate an A-rank monster, but if the danger level increased, they had no chance of winning.
“Estimated rank S-rank! Evacuate!”
The supporter shouted at the top of their lungs, but it was already too late. The Espers had started attacking, and sure enough, soon sounds of struggling came from here and there.
The supporter, whose face turned pale at their colleagues’ screams growing louder, only repeated the word to evacuate. There was nothing they could do right now besides warning of danger. If someone like them with rock-bottom combat ability got involved, it would only increase meaningless deaths.
There were two S-rank monsters. One was already overwhelming, but two.
Even if all the intermediate guilds in this area joined forces, there was no hope of winning. This was originally an area where only B-rank Gates opened in the first place.
“Ah… no….”
The supporter, sensing everyone’s death, stared beyond the hazy fog while bleeding profusely from their nose. They had no intention of running away alone, leaving behind the colleagues who were blocking monsters from reaching them.
Knowing how terrible the mental anguish was for those who survived alone, they chose to die together with everyone instead.
The supporter, with a face of despair, slowly reduced the hearing they had amplified. Concentrating on sound only made their colleagues’ agonizing screams clearer.
Having withdrawn their ability, they wiped their nosebleed with trembling hands and closed their eyes. It was regrettable to leave without killing even one of those damn monster bastards, but they couldn’t even attempt it because they knew all too well that they didn’t have the power to win.
It was just as they were about to cover both ears with a face resigned to fate.
“Don’t give up.”
A gentle voice resonated through the air.
It was a voice that anyone who was a citizen of the Republic of Korea could never not know.
“Ryu, Ryu Tae… euhp!”
A heavy gas mask was placed on the face of the supporter who had jerked their lowered head up.
“Even if you know it’s a fight you’ll lose anyway, you have to fight until right before you die.”
Taeha, who had personally put the gas mask on the supporter, patted their hunched shoulders.
“That’s the only way you can die with a clear conscience, right?”
Just hearing the voice brought color back to the supporter’s pale face. They burst into tears of relief while nodding their head repeatedly.
That’s right, Guild Leader Ryu Taeha is absolutely right! Answering enthusiastically in their mind, they evacuated with their colleagues. Since he had come, there was absolutely nothing to worry about now.
After helping them escape with Telekinesis, Taeha made it rain around the area.
As the hazy air settled, six monster corpses were revealed. They were the ones he had dealt with immediately after arriving.
“There are two more.”
The eyebrows of Taeha, who was walking between the cleanly dismembered corpses, rose crookedly.
The hazy air that didn’t disappear even after pouring rain gathered like fog and began to intentionally block Taeha’s vision. It seemed to be the work of the S-rank monsters that had hidden themselves.
Highly intelligent monsters that mimic abilities….
Taeha had never actually encountered a highly intelligent monster either. They were beings he had only seen in documents.
With a light smile, Taeha stopped the rain to let them show off their tricks to their heart’s content. It was necessary to confirm to what level they could copy Esper abilities.
“Let’s see how much you’ve evolved.”
Broken Gate fragments flew toward Taeha, who was laughing leisurely. Lightly dodging them, Taeha whistled as if praising the monsters using Telekinesis quite skillfully.
After that, quite a variety of abilities rushed to harm him. The abilities had a wide range but were relatively monotonous attacks.
“Done? Or is there more.”
Taeha, who had dodged all their attacks, took out his pager.
So that’s why the noisy pager was quiet. The pager, overloaded with endless support requests, had died.
“You’ve done enough, right?”
Now that I’ve checked this much, I should finish it.
After roughly grasping the evolutionary level of the highly intelligent monsters, Taeha created a long sword. If there had been time, he would have captured them alive and handed them over to the research team, but now wasn’t a good time.
“You use invisibility the best. You hid quite perfectly.”
Praising them for hiding well, he approached the monsters. To Taeha’s eyes, being an S-rank or higher fighter, he could see blob-shaped faint shadows crawling on the ground.
No matter how perfectly they imitated invisibility, Taeha was several steps above them. At least for now.
Kwung-!
Thorn vines rising from the ground burst the monsters’ innards and scattered poison seeds throughout their bodies. Simultaneously, Taeha spread his Telekinesis and bound their bodies.
“Let’s never meet again.”
Taeha re-gripped his sword to deal with the monster with stronger energy first.
The monster bound by Telekinesis didn’t resist at all. Despite emitting strong heat, it didn’t even attempt to scream or run away.
It just remained bound quietly. While staring intently at Taeha.
“……”
Interested by that strange behavior, Taeha stopped attacking for a moment.
That wasn’t the only peculiar thing.
Generally, the higher a monster’s danger level, the larger its size. The stronger they were, the tougher and more massive their bodies.
However, these S-ranks were different. They were actually smaller than the other A-rank monsters that had reached 4 meters. Since they hadn’t released their invisibility yet, the exact appearance couldn’t be determined, but the form estimated in Taeha’s eyes resembled….
A person.
“Taeha.”
The corners of Taeha’s mouth, standing on the monster’s body, rose faintly.
The monster that released its invisibility had the complete form of a human. And it had the appearance of someone Taeha knew well.
“Where’s Jin?”
A gentle voice rang out vividly. Not just the voice, but even the expression it often made was identical.
It was exactly the appearance Taeha knew, as if torn from memory. Taeha, who had been staring intently at that familiar face, slowly lowered his sword.
“You have to set an example. You’re the older brother.”
As he also withdrew the foot that had been pressing on the monster’s abdomen, the soft voice became even clearer. Taeha knelt on the ground to hear it more clearly.
“Taeha, you’ll do well at everything.”
A beautiful hand enveloped Taeha’s cheek. Amazingly, even the sensation of the hand touching his cheek was exactly like the memory.
The gentle hand and kind voice that had illuminated the dark parts within him during childhood. It was his favorite memory, one he couldn’t forget even in death.
“Jin is weak, so you have to protect him for life.”
A metallic sound mixed with the gradually diminishing voice. Listening to that voice, Taeha wore a hazy smile.
“That’s right, Mother.”
He whispered while looking at the golden hair and beautiful eyes that had been passed down completely to Ryu Jin.
“I should.”
Moisture appeared in the woman’s bright eyes. Taeha, who was holding her hand and smiling, reached out to wipe away the tears forming in those beautiful eyes.
The moment he carefully placed his hand on the delicate corner of her eye, an Ice Spear pierced the forehead of the woman who resembled Ryu Jin.
“Tae, ha….”
Simultaneously, the woman’s entire body became an ice statue in an instant.
“What are you doing, Leader! Snap out of it!”
Yeoul, who appeared while shattering the woman’s solidly frozen body, threw a punch at Taeha’s cheek.
Not ending with just once, he successively drove his fist down on the same area like scratching, then immediately froze Taeha’s tattered cheek.
Only then did the corrosion stop on Taeha’s cheek that had been melting from touching the monster’s hand.
Even while getting his cheek beaten by the youngest, Taeha’s gaze was directed toward the shattered ice fragments.
“……”
The monster’s fragments with darkly rotted skin no longer had the appearance Taeha knew.
“…wanted to.”
“Fuck, what? What are you saying! I can’t hear you!”
Yeoul grabbed and shook the collar of Taeha, who couldn’t pronounce properly because of his frozen cheek. Thinking Taeha still hadn’t escaped from the monster’s hallucination, this time he struck his abdomen repeatedly.
However, Taeha hadn’t been captivated by the illusion in the first place.
He had recognized that what was before his eyes was a hallucination, and he also knew that his cheek was melting.
He simply accepted it. Because it was a face that didn’t even appear in his dreams, and it had been so very long.
