Peace always shatters without warning, at the most careless moment.
An unexpected emergency gate opened at the top of a high mountain in Chuncheon. It was smaller than the one that had appeared in Seoul’s sky, but its color was strange. The gate, a reddish color close to black, rippled eerily before soon fixing itself in midair. However, due to the extremely tall trees nearby, it wasn’t clearly visible from outside.
Then, something poked its head out of the gate. At a glance, it resembled a human form but was more vicious. Where its eyes should be was emptily black, and its blade-like sharp teeth were red.
Shadow Stalker.
A race classified as demons, just like the giants. Their size barely exceeded 2 meters, but that wasn’t where their terror lay. They possessed the ability to hide in shadows and move through them.
“Fools.”
The Shadow Stalker that emerged from the gate opened its mouth and laughed.
“This is what happens when you send stupid giants.”
If they knew how to think, they shouldn’t have opened a gate at the nation’s center. Invasions were supposed to start from places no one knew about.
“Let’s throw a party.”
The ingredients for the party were the humans gathered in abundance at the bottom of the mountain. Following the gesture of the Shadow Stalker that emerged first, the shadows wriggled. If they had one more advantage, it was their large numbers.
Kieeeek!
With bizarre cries, the Shadow Stalkers that escaped from the gate began running down the mountain.
Ian was receiving tangerines from Hong Seoyoon with a sullen expression.
“It seems like you’re trying to placate me or something.”
He voiced his complaint, but Hong Seoyoon didn’t stop peeling tangerines.
“These are sugar-content-selected tangerines, so they’re expensive. You like tangerines. Eat a lot.”
“Aren’t you eating any, hyung?”
“My goal is to fatten you up.”
“What kind of goal is that?”
The drama they’d been watching since the afternoon had already reached its final episode. In the end, the legal wife joined hands with the woman her husband cheated with and destroyed the husband. The husband desperately pleaded, but the two women didn’t let him off.
“By the way, this really is impressive content.”
“Right? But it’s fun.”
“Can’t you watch something more normal?”
“No.”
Ian spoke firmly and smiled slightly. He’d been suffering all along, but the week of rest seemed to have had an effect. Outside, two S-rank Awakeners were probably searching for him with their eyes ablaze, but what of it?
‘Those two can suffer a bit more.’
He even had lazy thoughts of wanting to hide here forever like this. It would mean leeching off Hong Seoyoon, but since the person in question said it was fine, it would be fine.
In the drama, the two women who’d resolved everything were holding hands. And the moment they opened their mouths to say something.
Crackle— Bzzzzt
The clear TV screen distorted with noise. Of all times, the most important ending scene was lost just like that.
“Huh? What, did the satellite antenna break?”
Hong Seoyoon picked up the remote. But before he could press a button, the entire screen was covered with bright red warning text.
[Emergency Alert! High-concentration mana waves detected within a 1km radius. An emergency gate has opened at the summit of OO Mountain, so all residents at the bottom of the mountain are requested to evacuate. The location of the shelter is,]
At the same time, a sharp siren loud enough to tear eardrums shook the entire villa.
Weeeeeng—! Weeeeeng—!
“…What is that sound?”
Ian dropped the tangerine he was holding and jumped to his feet. For it to be a simple malfunction, the entire villa was vibrating faintly. A humming sound rose through the floor as if they’d entered the belly of a giant beast.
“Monster intrusion detection device.”
Hong Seoyoon’s playful expression instantly turned serious. The senses of an S-rank Awakener instinctively detected the killing intent piercing his skin.
“Get down!”
Hong Seoyoon urgently shouted as he pressed Ian’s head downward.
Immediately after, the living room’s glass windows shattered with a roar.
Kwaang—! Crash!
Before countless glass shards could pour down like weapons, the pitch-black darkness that had swallowed the garden surged into the living room like a tsunami.
“Kyaaaaa—!”
With a bizarre scream that seemed to tear space, the shadows sprawled on the floor instantly took on substance and shot up. Their forms were like amorphous black liquid, and where eyes should be, there was nothing. Seeing that, Ian’s pupils shook violently as if struck by an earthquake.
“Demons…?”
They weren’t simple magical beasts. The bastards he’d seen sickeningly for five years in another world. Top-tier assassination entities that hid and moved through shadows, silently severing the necks of careless Holy Knights.
Shadow Stalkers.
‘Why are they here?’
Ian doubted his own eyes. The fact that they had appeared in the real world—and in South Korea at that—was nothing short of a disaster. Last time it was giants, and now it was different demons. What Lancia had experienced before had arrived on Earth.
He didn’t even have time to be confused. The Shadow Stalker in the lead formed a sharp shadow blade and flew at Ian, aiming for his neck.
“Damn it!”
Hong Seoyoon clicked his tongue and blocked Ian’s front. Massive flames erupted explosively from both his hands.
Blazing red flames shot out from Hong Seoyoon’s fingertips and directly hit the Shadow Stalker. The flames of an S-rank Awakener were powerful. The creature’s body was engulfed in flames and pushed backward.
However, the other entities didn’t even scream—they became liquid-like and seeped into the shadows on the floor. The fire couldn’t follow them there. Under the furniture, in wall crevices, even the shadows of broken glass shards all became their hiding places.
“Fire resistance? These are troublesome bastards!”
Hong Seoyoon ground his teeth and roughly shoved Ian behind his back. He needed to at least let Ian escape, but it didn’t look easy. Still, if the gate had opened at the mountain summit, the monsters probably hadn’t reached the village yet.
A few Awakeners were assigned to each city to prepare for emergency situations. As things were, sending Ian there might be safer.
Hong Seoyoon’s back became soaked with sweat.
“Hyung, those guys are weak to light!”
That’s why they moved in the evening like now.
“Light?”
Hong Seoyoon began raising his firepower even more. The fire was red at first, but as the firepower increased, the color changed and soon shone white. Then the monsters hiding in the shadows screamed and burst out. Some even fled hurriedly back outside the building.
“Wow, that’s intense!”
Still, now that they knew the method, they could hold out.
“Ian. Any chance you’re thinking of running away?”
“Nope.”
Has this person gone crazy? When he’s pouring out power like mad right now, what would happen if Ian disappeared? Hong Seoyoon could die. Shadow Stalkers weren’t such easy opponents.
“I’m not going!”
Then there was only one answer.
“Ah, why! You said you could perfectly hide your body if you were alone! It’s safer to go to the city and hide in a bunker right now!”
“Forget it, okay? What if hyung dies!”
Even when strangers die, humans feel sad, so how could he leave Hong Seoyoon behind?
“And there’s a city down there! If those guys decide to run, they’ll arrive quickly. So we absolutely can’t retreat from here. At least if there’s prey, they won’t leave that spot.”
They were creatures who wouldn’t be satisfied unless they killed every living thing in their path. If they let them go here, the village would obviously become a hellscape in an instant by those bastards running down the mountain through the shadows. Civilians would die instantly just by touching those shadows. Ian stood stubbornly and looked at Hong Seoyoon.
Ian’s eyes were resolute. His fingertips were trembling slightly with fear, but he didn’t back down.
It was the instinct of the otherworldly hero ‘Saint’ who had fought for five years on the battlefield carrying countless lives on his back. He’d sung songs about wanting to rest, but he couldn’t stand by and watch death before his eyes. That wasn’t something to do even if he wasn’t a Saint.
“Are we the prey?”
Hong Seoyoon forced a smile.
“Yep. So hang in there.”
“Going to kiss me again? If your hyung finds out, he’ll try to kill me.”
It was so like Hong Seoyoon to make jokes even in a moment like this.
“I’ll stop you from dying.”
“Well, that’s reassuring.”
In the end, Hong Seoyoon gave up on persuading Ian. Instead, he began actively attacking the Shadow Stalkers.
Kwaang!
Hong Seoyoon kicked off the ground and made a massive pillar of fire surge up. He didn’t stop moving even while spewing curses. He wrapped the villa’s surroundings with a massive flame barrier, blocking the retreat route so the Shadow Stalkers couldn’t descend to the city as much as possible.
