Chapter 675
Clang-clang-clang!
Clang-clang-clang!
A frantic exchange of sword blows.
Chun Yoosung, who had joined Teresa’s side after the unsettling encounter with the man, relentlessly pressured Gregory, who had been left alone.
“Keugh!”
Gregory bit his lower lip.
The sword strikes raining down were vicious and unrelenting.
After fighting high-ranking vampires in other dimensions, he’d thought he specialized in one-on-one combat, but the opponent in front of him was more difficult than any Lord-class enemy.
But something was off.
There was no questioning Chun Yoosung’s strength, but even so, he shouldn’t have been able to take down the returnee Tadayoshi Gensuke without a scratch.
“What happened? Did he pull some trick that doesn’t match his appearance? Or is he hiding a card he hasn’t shown yet?”
Gregory fired a crossbow at Chun Yoosung as he spoke.
Hoping to shake his emotions.
At the same time, he aimed for the heart, neck, and both thighs.
Clang-clang!
The crossbow bolts, coated in special silver, bounced off in front of Chun Yoosung.
Seizing the opening, Gregory slid to Chun Yoosung’s flank.
[Gregory activates Lv??? ‘Snowy Night Ambush’!]
Snowflakes fluttered as the Hunter of Darkness began his hunt.
Boom!
The thick knife stopped a hair’s breadth from Chun Yoosung’s collar.
A perfect ambush that erased scent, presence, and even Mana—yet it had been thwarted.
Chun Yoosung’s eyes turned cold.
Eyes so empty of emotion they were chilling.
“…….”
Sensing it wouldn’t be easy, Gregory instantly rotated his knife.
He deflected Chun Yoosung’s sword, created distance, then slashed his own palm.
Slash!
Thick drops of blood spilled from the deep gash.
[Gregory activates skill ‘Hunter of Darkness’!]
“Grrr!”
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Wolves with black manes were summoned.
They were no ordinary wolves.
A heavy stench of blood, enough to make your hair stand on end just facing them, clung to their bodies.
Mythical Beasts specialized in hunting vampires.
Tap! Tap!
The wolves, each over five meters tall, moved at speeds that didn’t match their bulk.
Leaving afterimages behind, they lunged at Chun Yoosung from multiple directions.
“That won’t work!”
[Unique Ability ‘Blessing of the Stars’ is activated!]
Golden light swirled around Teresa’s shield.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
The sacred radiance wiped out the wolves’ afterimages.
“Keeeeng!”
“Kuaaang!”
Pained howls burst from their mouths as Divinity pierced their eyes.
[Malang the Azure Dragon activates ‘Weather Modification’!]
A fierce gale rose, turning the battlefield into a place where keeping balance was difficult.
“Not all Mythical Beasts are the same. This noble body will show you what true power is!”
Colorful light scattered from Malang the Azure Dragon’s wish-fulfilling orb.
“We also have the Spirit Special Forces!”
“Tonight, we feast on wolf meat!”
“Battle mode activated!”
“Uwaaaaa!”
“Everyone shut up. My head hurts!”
The spirits of the Five Elements unleashed their treasured Mana as well, disrupting Gregory’s hunt.
As the wolves—specialists in pack hunting—were pinned down, gaps began to open in Gregory’s defense.
“You’ve probably been strutting around with your head held high just because you’re a returnee, but there’s no beating a gang-up.”
Behemoth leaped high into the air, then came down at full speed.
A terrifying storm followed.
Kraaaash!
The clouds split, and the cliff face was sheared apart.
The sword, infused with the power of an ancient species that governed the Apocalypse, cut through everything in its path and swept past Gregory’s body.
Gush! Gush! Gush!
Blood sprayed like a fountain.
Yet despite the gaping wound, not a hint of pain crossed the Hunter of Darkness’s face.
With a half-human, half-avian body, she could recover from most fatal injuries in under a second.
“Nothing goes as planned.”
Gregory let out a deep sigh.
No news of victory had come from Clemence, the Sorceress of Pain, who had unlocked the power of the Divine Seedling.
No, more than that.
Its energy was clearly waning compared to the start.
Proof that they were failing to lock in their advantage.
And with Tadayoshi Gensuke gone, it was safe to say the battle was already tilting heavily toward defeat. The wise move would be to admit loss and flee now.
‘But if I retreat that easily, those bastards won’t let me go.’
The primordial beings.
Once he accepted their commission, it was either success or death. To avoid being hunted down by those ruthless bastards, he had to use any means necessary.
‘Is there really no other choice?’
Gregory toyed with the glass bottles of red liquid tucked in his pocket.
Sacred Relics containing the blood of the True Ancestors he had hunted so far. They had the severe limitation of being one-time use, but if he used them…
But right then—
Whoooom!
A strange Mana cut in.
“……!?”
“……What is it?”
Everyone’s gaze snapped to the side.
Eden stood there, face drained pale, clutching an old book.
Cold.
The blood of everyone watching seemed to freeze.
A sinister energy spilled out—enough to snuff out the heat of the frantic battle.
“If it’s the same whether I die this way or that….”
Eden chuckled like he’d lost his mind.
Fear and the urge to survive gnawed through him until nothing else remained.
And the impact was powerful enough to overturn every existing plan.
“I’ll go to hell together. That way, my chances of surviving are higher.”
[Dimensional Junction is occurring!]
Crackle…!
Space and space overlapped.
Places that had been far apart collapsed into a single point.
—
Heh heh heh…!
It felt like being sucked into a black hole.
Before anyone could calm their churning stomachs, the changed scenery hit their vision.
“This is….”
Chun Yoosung’s pupils dilated.
Because a very familiar face stood right in front of him.
“Huh? Why are you here….”
Kang Jinhyuk, standing with the Spirit Kings, also spotted Chun Yoosung.
“Teresa and the rest of you too? What happened to the mission to track down the two returnees?”
“It’s a long story…. First, that man. We have to stop that man first!”
Teresa staggered as she pointed toward the leader of Swingbat.
Jack Eden had already pushed deep into Clemence’s vines.
Kang Jinhyuk’s eyes narrowed.
He caught the sticky stench of someone trying to stab him in the back.
Bang!
A bullet tore through the air.
At the same time—
[Gregory takes out the ‘True Ancestor’s Blood’ he had been storing!]
[True Ancestor ‘Hilbert’ Unique Holy Spear is unlocked!]
[Using the ‘Soul of the Black Winged Hand’!]
Black bats and crossbows fused into arrows with grotesque shapes.
They could think, change direction freely, and their power was ten times that of ordinary bolts.
Puhpuhpuhpuhpuhk!
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
Bullets and crossbows collided midair.
Hundreds, thousands of flashes erupted.
“Too bad, but you’ll have to deal with me first.”
Gregory wagged his index finger side to side.
Seeing him standing there with a cigarette in his mouth made it obvious who had the upper hand.
“Tch!”
“Of all times…!”
Chun Yoosung and Teresa sprang off in different directions.
They pushed their legs to the limit, desperate to keep the situation from spiraling again.
Sword Aura and Divinity carved down the vines crossing their path.
Even so—
‘Too late.’
They couldn’t make it in time with speed alone.
Kang Jinhyuk, wearing the Crown of Swiftness, unleashed his maximum speed.
[Wind Spirit King ‘Wingrasia’ bestows the Wings of Whirlwind!]
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
A spatial leap that linked point to point.
A huge corridor was torn open through the vines.
“Screee!”
“Screee…!”
Plants shrieked in agony.
Hiss!
Red heat rose along the cross-section Kang Jinhyuk had passed through.
He saw Eden at close range, handing something to Clemence.
Chwachwachwachwa!
The Serpent Sword stretched long.
One breath.
One second was enough.
Of course, on a battlefield where every second mattered, asking for even one second was an absurd luxury.
“Kyahahahahaha!”
With a sharp cry, an incantation in ancient runes spilled from Clemence’s mouth.
[Special item ‘Diary Written by Tragic Heroes’ is activated!]
As the grimoire’s pages began turning, something that should never happen became reality.
—
Returnees who had conquered worlds.
Needless to say, the worlds they lived in had disasters that carried the same meaning as the Apocalypse.
In some worlds, there were fire-breathing dragons.
In others, giants larger than mountains.
In some, beings that split the sea and swallowed ships whole.
And—
[‘The Age of Returnees’ begins.]
The ability being activated held the power to distort and manipulate not only space-time, but even dimensions.
“Geuooooo!”
“Meurahrararara!”
“Kuaaaa!”
End-level beings of all shapes and kinds emerged.
All of them were monsters capable of securing a place in the Tower of Trials.
“That’s a damn cheat of an item.”
Kang Jinhyuk bit his lip as he watched the cracks spew out countless high-ranking monsters. He’d thought he knew every existing grimoire, but this was a type even he had never seen before.
But the bigger problem was that it wasn’t just monsters crossing over.
Whoooom!
Numerous beams of light fell at once.
“Hmm….”
“This is a strange feeling.”
“The status window in front of me. I’m not the only one seeing it, right? Huh? My mind isn’t messing with me again, is it?”
“Yeah. I can see it too, so shut your mouth before I kill you first.”
Returnees carried deep wounds and old pains.
Being forced to leave their homes for a long time, willingly or not.
Returning after that hellish mission only to find the world they knew had changed beyond recognition.
All of it piled up, forming the returnees of today.
[Due to the first effect of the item, the influence of dark attribute within a 1km radius has increased by 5,000%.]
[Due to the second effect of the item, if ‘Veteran Corporation’ is annihilated, each person will be able to fulfill one wish of their choice.]
A bounty event.
And the reward was absurdly high.
Kang Jinhyuk had to find out what item Eden was holding—and which bastard had handed that dangerous toy to him.
“Wish….”
“Interesting.”
“If the system promised it directly, it won’t be a lie.”
“Yeah. Those guys must be the ones making a scene in the Tower these days. Looks like we can finally enjoy a proper raid.”
The returnees’ usual pessimism and cynicism faded. In its place, the urge to destroy and slaughter began to rise.
Twitch!
“Ku….”
Teresa steadied her trembling left arm with her right.
‘…This is dangerous in more ways than one.’