Chapter 170: Seoul (5)
After dealing with all the monsters in the sky, Taesan turned his gaze to the ground below.
The monsters, seizing the moment when Taesan was absent, were flocking into the safe zone.
As the terrified people moved hurriedly to stop the monsters:
[You have activated Landing.]
Taesan, who was high in the sky, landed on the ground at a speed that seemed to defy the laws of physics.
Taesan threw a punch.
The monsters flew away in droves.
He then fired a Frost Arrow into the air.
The flying monsters were skewered and vanished.
“Whoa, whoa!”
People gasped in amazement. Taesan was single-handedly covering the sky and a range of hundreds of meters.
It was an amazing ability, but its limits were clear.
Taesan alone couldn’t defend the entire safe zone. On the opposite side of Taesan, monsters had already started to infiltrate slowly.
Grrrr.
The monsters continued to push with their bodies. The initially enthusiastic fighters were now faltering due to the overwhelming numbers.
Eventually, a few monsters managed to get their bodies inside the safe zone.
Grrrr.
The entire body of the monster twisted. The tentacles on its body swelled and its size grew larger.
“Eek!”
“Stop it!”
People swung their weapons desperately, but the monster, now huge, swung its tentacles with ease.
People hit by the tentacles were swept away like dominoes.
In an instant, a large hole was punched in the defensive wall. Kim Hwiyeon, who was defending another area, gritted her teeth and tried to relocate people.
At that moment, Lee Taeyeon, who was blocking in another direction, quickly rushed at the giant monsters.
She raised her sword towards the swinging tentacles.
[Lee Taeyeon has activated Evasion.]
The trajectory twisted, and the tentacles that slashed through the air struck the ground. Lee Taeyeon quickly pushed off the ground and leapt above the monster’s head.
[Lee Taeyeon has activated Strong Strike.]
Boom!
The monster was slammed into the ground.
Lee Taeyeon continued her attacks. Thanks to the effect of her Sword Skill ability, the monster fell without much resistance.
“Phew.”
Catching her breath, Lee Taeyeon moved again. With her joining, the strengthened monsters were falling rapidly.
People regained their composure and began to rebuild the defensive wall.
The pattern continued. When a few monsters breached the safe zone and attacked, Kang Taesan, Lee Taeyeon, and Kang Jun-hyuk dealt with the strengthened monsters.
The precarious balance continued with a creaking tension.
After a few hours, people successfully defended against the first wave.
“We did it!”
“Victory!”
Seeing the notification window announcing the quest’s success, people rejoiced. Kim Hwiyeon and Choi Baram quickly checked for damage and reorganized the personnel.
“So this is why we were told not to let them into the safe zone.”
Normally, monsters that two or three Easy Mode players could handle became exponentially stronger the moment they entered the safe zone. Choi Baram groaned.
The strengthened monsters were difficult for even Hard Mode players to handle alone.
“Still, with Lee Taeyeon and Kang Jun-hyuk, those two can handle it without any problems. They’re much stronger than expected.”
“I was a bit surprised too.”
They had known about the duo’s strength. But what they showed this time far exceeded Kim Hwiyeon’s expectations.
She vaguely guessed that their strength was due to the swordsmanship Taesan had taught them.
“We’ll need to make some adjustments.”
Only three people could perfectly deal with the strengthened monsters.
The next day, the personnel allocation was changed. Kang Jun-hyuk, Lee Taeyeon, and Kang Taesan each took charge of one of the three directions.
With all the arrangements done, the second wave began.
Grrrr.
The monsters appeared.
Their numbers were similar to the first wave, but the monsters were stronger. Easy Mode players could no longer hold them off properly.
The defensive wall started to collapse.
Grrrr.
The monsters that entered the safe zone mutated. Despite the people’s frantic attacks, the monsters merely shook them off as if they were annoying insects.
“Busy as hell.”
Kang Jun-hyuk murmured as he stomped the ground. He looked at the monster with serious eyes.
A monster that entered the safe zone and got strengthened was at least a D-class monster by Taesan’s standards. Until recently, Kang Jun-hyuk would have struggled to defeat it quickly.
But not anymore.
[Kang Jun-hyuk has activated Strong Strike.]
Boom!
He timed his follow-up attacks perfectly, slicing through the monster’s arms and slashing it hard. The monster’s body shook violently from the impact.
Crack.
The monster didn’t last long and vanished.
Kang Jun-hyuk chuckled.
“This is really too good.”
If it had been before learning the Ability Sword, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat it so easily. It was an incredible skill.
Moreover, Kang Jun-hyuk felt another advantage that Taesan didn’t notice.
Unlike Taesan, he had to worry about mana consumption.
Using a skill once required him to manage his mana, but the Ability Sword’s Strong Strike had no mana cost after the initial activation as long as the timing was right.
For him, who always felt the lack of mana, it was a huge benefit.
“Great.”
Kang Jun-hyuk’s eyes sparkled as he gripped his sword.
Lee Taeyeon and Kang Jun-hyuk continuously moved to deal with the strengthened monsters. Taesan, as before, covered hundreds of meters and the sky alone.
But even so, he couldn’t block all directions. Eventually, the delicate balance broke.
“Everyone, block with your bodies!”
“Do whatever it takes to stop them!”
People threw themselves at the monsters, trying to hold them back, resulting in inevitable sacrifices.
Thanks to the Hard Mode players’ efforts, the wave was overcome with relatively few casualties.
People celebrated the victory and took a rest.
The next day, the third wave began.
The monsters that appeared were stronger than the previous ones. Easy Mode players could hardly inflict any damage now.
The defensive wall was easily breached, causing more significant damage.
Many people died.
However, the survivors were no longer despondent.
Though they mourned and consoled the dead, they didn’t dwell on it. Everyone prepared for the future calmly.
Combining the populations of Gyeonggi Province and Seoul, there were twenty million people. Out of them, only 85,000 had survived.
They had witnessed too many deaths.
And they had fought their way here, overcoming the deaths. Their spirits wouldn’t break now.
Moreover, there was hope now.
Hope that they could win, that they could survive to see the future.
At the center of this hope was Kang Taesan.
A man who could single-handedly defeat thousands of monsters.
To those who knew the monsters’ strength, he was a miracle itself.
Thanks to him, people calmly completed their preparations.
The fourth wave began.
More people died.
There were times when the defensive wall was completely broken, and without Taesan’s help, they would have been annihilated.
But they won.
They prepared for the next battle again.
[The final wave is starting.]
“This is the last one.”
Kim Hwiyeon murmured with a twisted face. It was excruciating for her to think of people’s deaths only as numbers to manage them. Choi Baram spoke with a wry smile.
“You’d better get used to it.”
“But I won’t get used to it.”
Kim Hwiyeon grumbled as she lifted her head.
The defensive wall was thinner than before. However, their faces showed no despair. They were filled with hope that they could overcome it.
“We’re actually in a good situation.”
“I wonder about other regions.”
Choi Baram clicked his tongue. It was unimaginable to defend against such waves without Lee Taeyeon, Kang Jun-hyuk, and Kang Taesan.
“I hope they’re alive… but it might be hard.”
As Choi Baram murmured, power condensed.
The space began to open with an unsettling noise. People swallowed their saliva as they prepared to respond to the monsters.
The space split open, and the monsters burst out. People were stunned at their appearance.
“What’s with their shape?”
Until now, most monsters had been large humanoids or tentacled forms.
But the monsters that appeared this time were spherical.
And people quickly realized why they were shaped that way.
The monsters started rolling toward them. They were much faster than any previous monsters.
“No way.”
Kim Hwiyeon’s face turned pale.
“Block them with your bodies somehow!”
She shouted. People belatedly realized what was happening.
The monsters had changed their form to enter the safe zone no matter what.
People threw themselves at the rolling spheres, using their defense and health to slow them down.
“They’re really going all out.”
Taesan laughed as he dealt with the monsters. He stomped the ground.
[You have activated Ground Quake.]
The rolling spheres shook all at once. Taesan swiftly dealt with the momentarily slowed monsters.
[You have activated Decarabia’s Twisted Vegetation.]
Boom!
Roots sprouted up like bamboo shoots, forming a dome around the area.
“Whoa…”
People marveled at the roots covering the sky.
But there were limits. He had summoned the roots using all his Magi, but the area he had to cover was too wide.
“Argh!”
In the end, quite a number of monsters entered the safe zone.
People swallowed as they waited for the monsters to mutate.
Grrrr.
The spheres twisted and began to rise. Their forms were indeed different from the usual monsters.
“These are…”
They resembled mantises. Of course, their size was far beyond that of an ordinary human
.
The mantis-like monsters lunged at the people.
“Eek!”
“Stop them!”
Fighting the monsters, people noticed something strange.
The mutated monsters weren’t as strong as expected.
They weren’t weak, but Hard Mode players had to focus on defense to deal with them.
However, with the Hard Mode players gathered, they could handle them. Those who thought the final wave would bring even stronger monsters were bewildered.
And they soon realized why.
Kang Jun-hyuk rushed to defeat a monster. He activated his Evasion ability and thrust his sword.
The monster’s foreleg came down.
The Ability Sword’s Evasion ability twisted the trajectory of all incoming attacks.
Kang Jun-hyuk ignored the monster’s foreleg and attacked, and the trajectory of the leg indeed twisted.
Boom!
But the twisted foreleg stopped with a loud noise. Then it swung back and struck Kang Jun-hyuk’s back.
“Ugh!”
Kang Jun-hyuk groaned as he rolled on the ground. Feeling the throbbing pain, he frowned.
‘What is this?’
He was sure he had evaded the monster’s attack, but he got hit on the back.
Kang Jun-hyuk was bewildered. Lee Taeyeon was in a similar situation. She tried to gain the upper hand using Evasion and Strong Strike, but all her efforts were blocked.
[Lee Taeyeon has activated Evasion.]
She evaded the monster’s attack and tried to counterattack.
But the evaded monster’s arm suddenly stopped and then came flying back. In the end, Lee Taeyeon had to defend and widen the distance.
‘This is…’
Taesan’s situation was similar. He punched the monster’s arm.
Clang!
A solid sound rang out as the monster was pushed back.
Taesan’s eyes widened.
The monster didn’t fall even after his strike.
“I see.”
Taesan raised his sword and activated Evasion. As the monster had done to Lee Taeyeon and Kang Jun-hyuk, it quickly corrected the trajectory of its evaded arm and attacked.
He easily crushed it, but it was now clear.
A monster that countered the Ability Sword.
These monsters existed solely to kill Taesan.
The monsters began to converge. People were bewildered by the sight of the monsters gathering in the middle of a battle.
“What the…”
Taesan didn’t stand still.
He grabbed and crushed the monsters one by one.
But with so many monsters, he couldn’t crush them all.
The monsters started to merge. The mantis forms grumbled as they combined.
Finally, a single jet-black mantis stood.
[Monster 999 has appeared.]