Chapter 573
Everything has an order and a process. Naturally, this applied to mutated Gates as well.
Once the magic power level broke a certain threshold, an alarm would sound and all nearby people would be ordered to evacuate.
But it took only a few dozen seconds for an ordinary C-rank Gate to mutate and escalate into a [Monster Wave].
At such an unprecedented reading, the Gate management office could only suspect a measurement error.
The brief deliberation—less than a minute—ended when the Kraken, having torn through space and descended upon the world, destroyed the management office first.
Boom.
And the fire of disaster instantly spread in all directions.
The Kraken was not only the terror of the black sea, but also a king with formidable power. Under such a king were fierce and androgynous troops.
– Shshshk!
Fins flickering, gills gasping ceaselessly.
With the appearance of the mermen, who let out strange wails, the bustling intersection full of cars and people fell silent in an instant.
“What is that…?”
Someone’s voice of confusion was cut off before it could finish.
Shhk, crack!
It happened in a blink.
A barnacle-encrusted trident pierced a human body and kept flying, going straight through a car waiting at the light.
Crash!
Car fragments scattered with a blast.
As people stared blankly at the surreal sight, alarms installed at every corner of the intersection and warnings on their smartphones began to sound.
Wiiiiiii!
Ding. Beep beep beep. Buzzzzz.
Noise shattered the silence.
Looking back and forth between the flaming vehicles and the mermen standing tall, people finally realized the danger that had arrived right in front of them.
“M-monster!”
“It’s a [Monster Wave]!”
“Kyaaaah!”
With screams, the huge crowd on the street scattered in an instant.
To get even a little farther from the monsters, to survive, all thoughts of rules and laws vanished from their minds.
“Get the hell out of the way!”
“W-wait…!”
Crash! Bang!
“Argh!”
People trampled each other, cars ignored signals and sped off, mowing down pedestrians in the crosswalk.
Hoooonk, thud!
“Ugh!”
South Korea, which had the highest population density in the world after the Great Cataclysm.
Even so, in Busan, called the second city, an intersection instantly descended into chaos and terror.
But there are always exceptions.
Shshshk!
Four figures made their way against the current of fleeing people.
They were only four, but their calm eyes and swift, decisive movements marked them as seasoned Hunters.
“Three o’clock!”
“Okay. All at once?”
“Let’s cut down the ones in front first.”
“Don’t let them scatter!”
They didn’t know each other’s faces, but just a few words were enough.
They had each fought monsters for anywhere from one to ten years, and in situations like this, they knew exactly what needed to be done.
‘If we can’t stop them here… it’s over.’
‘We have to at least slow them down.’
Fortunately, there were only about a dozen mermen at the intersection. The Hunters, though not high-ranked, thought they could at least buy some time against that number.
“Spread out! Encircle them!”
But as they charged with that shout, they were instantly overcome by despair.
– Shshshshk!
The asphalt shuddered. The source of the tremor was hundreds of massive mermen charging forward.
Not the vanguard—this was the main force.
It was possible that even these overwhelming numbers were only a fraction of what awaited.
“…Ah.”
This was the end.
It was what everyone was thinking.
Fighting a dozen mermen was a life-or-death struggle, but four mid-to-low-ranked Hunters facing this many—it was nearly impossible.
No, without support from high-ranked Hunters, it was impossible.
“Waiting for backup and holding them off…”
“Hold out?”
To someone’s desperate words, a middle-aged Hunter muttered like a curse.
“Getting cut to pieces will happen a thousand times faster.”
“…Damn it.”
Their whole bodies felt heavy, like wet cotton. They had to fight, but it was overwhelming.
They had families, a will to live. The only thing keeping their feet from turning to run was their sense of duty and will as Hunters.
But even that time was running out.
– Ah, ahhh!
When had it appeared?
Atop a tall building, a pure white beauty with long, flowing hair like a pearl crown, sang a song that spread in all directions.
[Siren].
A witch who bewitches listeners and leads them to ruin with her beautiful voice. The queen of the black sea.
There was only one, but her powerful, sorrowful song was enough to dominate the entire intersection.
The people who had been screaming and fleeing stopped, mesmerized, as they saw the half-human, half-bird monster floating like an angel in the air.
The Hunters clenched their teeth, trying to resist the magic, but it wasn’t enough.
Drip, drip.
Blood trickled down their jaws, squeezed from between tightly clenched teeth.
The song digging into their ears sapped the strength from their hands, and the hundreds of approaching mermen became hazy shapes.
“God… damn it.”
Death was right in front of them. Not only for themselves, but for the thousands of civilians—there would be no escape.
And today’s massacre would only continue endlessly.
Even if high-ranking Hunters arrived, there was no way to protect all several million citizens of Busan.
‘Damn it, I never thought I’d die like this.’
It was too late. This was already beyond anyone’s control.
The middle-aged Hunter, having given up on everything, was staring at the Siren with glazed eyes when—
– Ah, ah, ah…!
Screeeech! Thwack!
With a powerful shockwave, the song stopped abruptly.
Jet-black blood burst out like the sea, and the wings that had been flapping so vigorously snapped.
The monster, half-human and half-bird, which had glided through the air like an angel, crashed down onto the asphalt road.
Whoosh, thud!
“Huh?”
– Sshsh?
As the enchanting magic in the song was cut off, their minds cleared.
The surviving humans and the mermen, who had witnessed the queen’s death before their eyes, all stared blankly at the fallen Siren.
Eyes wide open and frozen. From between the parted hair and the pearl crown knocked off by the impact, a long, sharp object protruded from her chest.
This was…
“A bone?”
The middle-aged Hunter’s uncertain voice slipped from his lips at that moment.
Swoooosh!
With a strange sound, a shadow fell over everyone’s heads. When people looked up at the sky, they saw it.
A massive, pure-white something covering the sky above, and at its center, a man stood tall.
“This king descends.”
A haughty, booming voice drilled into everyone’s ears.
The moment the golden hair caught everyone’s eye, the unidentified man pointed at the hundreds of mermen and spoke.
“You. Die.”
Hundreds of mermen’s eyes widened at once as the giant white object shadowing the intersection flashed.
Papapapapap!
Bone. It was bone. Sharper than any blade, faster than an arrow, in an instant, it rained down over the ground.
Screeeech! Crunch!
Thousands of bone fragments fired all at once, smashing scales and ripping fins apart.
Even the mermen who barely managed to deflect a few with their tridents were instantly turned into beehives by the next volley.
The bone downpour from the sky was meant for monsters alone.
In the midst of this terrifying scene, the frozen humans could only watch as the well-paved road was dyed with monster blood in a matter of seconds.
Thud, thud, thud.
In just ten seconds, nearly half of the two hundred mermen had fallen.
No, they’d melted away.
In this unexpected turn, one merman—seemingly a commander—cried out desperately.
– Sshsh, shshshshk!
– Sh. Sshsh!
As befits half-human, half-fish, mermen are quite intelligent monsters.
Following the commander’s orders, they moved in perfect formation, raising their massive shell shields and forming a wall, causing the mysterious man—the Skeleton King—to click his tongue.
“Such insolent creatures. They dare to resist this king?”
But that didn’t change the result.
The Skeleton King’s authority was a realm the likes of mermen could never touch.
“I’ll make you pay dearly for defying your king… Hm?”
Rumble, thud!
Sensing something off, the Skeleton King suddenly turned his head.
In the distance, he could see, beyond his mask and with his golden eyes, a swarm of mermen like a colony of ants, all rushing in.
“…Look at these things.”
Even at a glance, there were over five hundred.
And the Skeleton King, feeling even more indignant at their insolence, was suddenly reminded of something he’d forgotten.
‘Ah, undead.’
No matter how urgent things were, there was no way he could summon an undead army in the middle of a Busan intersection.
Especially not with a thousand humans watching him with wide eyes.
“Huh. That’s not right.”
Muttering with displeasure, the Skeleton King suddenly felt a surge of anger.
It was the face of a certain wretched human who had put these restraints on him.
‘What kind of damn human makes me go through this hell?’ Just thinking that he’d been purposely assigned the area with the most monsters made his chest bones twist with irritation.
Then, high in the sky, turning in the direction Jin Taekyung had gone moments earlier, the Skeleton King could see it.
Hwooooo—!
Gwoooooar!
Boom! Crash!
Even from a distance, the giant tentacle and explosion were clear as day.
The Skeleton King silently gazed at the scene, then turned his eyes once more toward the mass of mermen huddled on the ground.
“…Looking again, they almost look like a girl group.”
It was the first time such hideous mermen had ever looked pretty.
* * *
With the sound of explosions, seawater geysered up.
But compared to before, the assault was much weaker, and the range of the incoming attacks had clearly shrunk.
Perhaps the biggest reason was that the thirty tentacles had been reduced to nine.
Slash!
No, now it was eight.
– Gwoooooar!
“Now that’s a proper octopus.”
I launched myself at the wailing Kraken with all my strength.
Dodging its flying legs and leaping across the air, I saw a gigantic pair of eyes beneath my feet.
It was time to finish this.
Fwoosh—
Flames wrapped around the spinning spearhead. Focusing all my power, I thrust the spear down at its eye.
[Flame God Spear: Third Form – Takoyaki].
