# Chapter 82
“Ga-Gate grade…!”
A terrified, clamorous voice echoed behind Jaehee. The voice belonged to a B-class Esper who was protecting the Guides. Feeling the enormous wavelength covering his entire body, he immediately activated the wavelength meter. The reading continued to climb beyond the original measurement.
“B-class… No. What is this…?”
Please, B-class… he hoped. But that was wishful thinking. The reading that had surpassed C-class and was heading toward B-class didn’t stop there but continued to soar. Finally, a reading he had never encountered before floated before his eyes. His pupils trembled.
“Re-Recalibrating Gate grade!”
Trying his best to hide the trembling from fear, he strained his neck and shouted.
“Current Gate grade is not C-class… it’s A-class!”
A statement that put everyone on edge poured from his mouth. His shout spread widely around the temple.
“……”
But no one turned to look at his cry from behind. They just maintained their tension, staring fixedly at where the dark red arrow had flown from.
The injured Espers were the same. Despite suffering severe injuries to their thighs from the dark red arrows, they all moved to maintain formation according to Dohyun’s orders, unable to predict what would happen.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
At Dohyun’s command, everyone heightened their abilities.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps gradually grew louder in the Espers’ ears. The pure white temple interior, which seemed to be tens of meters long, was filled with dark shadows, and someone was walking out from that pitch-black darkness. One step. One step. The closer the distance, the more the enormous wavelength made their bodies tremble. It wasn’t just one or two. The overlapping sounds of numerous footsteps suggested at least ten individuals.
And then revealed was a beautiful appearance. Pointed ears, snow-white skin. A quiver of arrows on the back and a massive bow. An arrogant sneer looking down on humans.
It was a monster resembling a human, a type never seen before. Among these monsters was one uniquely riding a black horse. Unlike the other monsters, he had dark skin like the black horse he rode. The strongest wavelength intensity was coming from him. He opened his mouth toward the Espers.
[Humans.]
The monster’s voice spread throughout the temple. Everyone’s faces were filled with surprise, as they had never once seen a monster that could speak or hide its wavelength.
[Welcome to this place.]
But not Jaehee.
‘Why is that monster here now…?’
Only Jaehee, who had experienced the future, recognized the monster before his eyes. Jaehee’s eyes trembled. The beings before him were B-class monsters called Elves. And the one riding the black horse among them was the A-class boss monster, Dark Elf, who shouldn’t be appearing now.
He couldn’t fail to recognize him. The Dark Elf occupied one of the major events in the original story.
‘Yoo Jiwoon.’
The Dark Elf was the boss monster of the Gate that heralded the spectacular entrance of one of the main characters of this story, the main bottom.
Jaehee’s expression darkened.
‘Why on earth?’
Why did he appear now? At the end of that thought, one hypothesis emerged.
‘Could it be…’
Because they accelerated Geonwoo’s manifestation to erase the one-sided bond?
Thinking about it, that seemed to be the beginning. In line with that, the formation of the Gate where Dohyun would lose his leg also accelerated, and now the Dark Elf, who shouldn’t be appearing yet, had emerged before them.
Then it was highly probable that the timing of the main bottom’s appearance had also changed. The original story was adjusting the flow of the narrative like fitting together misaligned puzzle pieces.
Jaehee gritted his teeth. To preserve the original story, he needed to find and protect Yoo Jiwoon. Because S-class Esper Choi Geonwoo, who would protect Yoo Jiwoon as in the original story, wasn’t here right now.
‘I must find him quickly!’
That’s when it happened. Suddenly, the Dark Elf’s gaze fixed on Jaehee. He harbored a bright yet cruel smile at the corners of his mouth. It couldn’t be helped. The Dark Elf, like an Esper, desired Guide’s guiding energy and was a being that could absorb guiding energy according to his will.
Drip. Drip.
Something was in the Dark Elf’s hand. Jaehee’s gaze moved to the Dark Elf’s hand, and soon his face contorted mercilessly. Blood was dripping abundantly from his hand. The path he had come was stained with that blood. It wasn’t the Dark Elf’s blood. It was blue. Parasite blood. The Dark Elf was holding dozens of parasites in his left hand, squeezing the life out of them.
Seuseuseusuk-!
Numerous parasites struggled in his hand to survive. But it wasn’t just his hand. Behind him, countless parasites were rolling on the temple floor, bleeding.
Seeing this, all remaining questions were finally answered.
‘So… that’s why.’
The ants not attacking Guides. The reason he used Minhun to burn the ants that instinctively tried to attack Jaehee when he invaded their territory. Those weren’t actions desired by the parasites. To survive from the Dark Elf who held their lives, they controlled the ants and Minhun according to his will. When the parasites tried to touch Jaehee, he shot an arrow to kill them. Because if a Guide were to die, the guiding energy would disappear with them.
“Everyone…!”
Jaehee immediately opened his mouth. The A-class monster Dark Elf was on a completely different level from the queen ant or ant swarm. Moreover, the numerous parasites he held in his hand!
Additionally, the situation now was different from before the regression. Because it wasn’t the time for the main bottom to appear, the Dark Elf who had opened the Gate entrance to send Dohyun out in the previous timeline now showed himself. That meant he had no intention of letting them leave alive.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-!
Just then, before Jaehee could finish speaking, the ground shook violently.
“Wh-What is this?”
Minhun’s confused eyes trembled. Others were the same. Everyone’s senses were heightened sharply.
“Monsters are… approaching!”
Minhun shouted in terror. Bleeding profusely, he stood by Jaehee to protect him.
Starting with the Dark Elf, the wavelengths of all beings in the Gate were getting closer and closer. Thousands, tens of thousands, no, an uncountable number of various C-class and D-class monsters that hadn’t been seen until now were gathering toward the temple in response to the call of the Dark Elf who controlled the parasites. The parasites, to survive, had brought all the monsters in the Gate here as the Dark Elf desired. That vast number caused the entire ground to vibrate intensely.
“Kughk!”
The first to encounter trouble was the Esper protecting the Guides. Before his eyes, countless bees suddenly appeared. It was an overwhelming number to face alone. A painful groan burst from his mouth.
“Aaargh!”
While he was confronting them, screams from the Guides immediately sounded from behind. Spider-type monsters with blue patterns on their backs appeared in front of the Guides.
It was a split-second moment. Numerous spiders sprayed webs, enveloping the surroundings of nine Guides. Dense spider webs divided the space, blocking the Guides’ radiant guiding energy. It was perfect control.
The other nine Espers had no chance to help. In front of the nine Espers, many leader specimens, as large as the 10-meter queen ant, crawled out of the forest and charged at them.
“Why! Why are different organisms appearing in the ants’ territory!”
Invading another organism’s territory only happened when fighting to take over that region. But now, numerous monsters in the Gate were fighting together in the ants’ territory.
Confused by the incomprehensible situation, an Esper bellowed and immediately used his ability. The numbers were incomparable to the ant swarm; even the sky wasn’t visible. The ground couldn’t be distinguished. Countless organisms instantly surrounded the area around the temple. The scene before them was filled with nothing but insects and beasts.
But no matter how much they fought, the numbers didn’t decrease. Organisms that wouldn’t die even when killed unless their heart area was targeted. Added to that, beings that should be in their own territories gathered in one place to become the Dark Elf’s minions. It wasn’t just insects. Man-eating plants in the forest, even animal-type monsters, charged at the Espers with insanity in their eyes.
This was no longer the ants’ territory. It was the Dark Elf’s hellish sanctuary. The pure white temple, broken as if swept through by a war, was evidence of the Dark Elf’s massacre of monsters.
And now, the Dark Elf was about to carry out a new massacre here.
Kang Dohyun, who emitted the strongest wavelength.
Lee Jaehee, who possessed the highest purity guiding energy.
The prey was determined.
A cruel smile spread across the Dark Elf’s face.
