Chapter 178: Those who Protect (2)

The citizens were shaking in fear. The people hiding in buildings could hear the sound of creatures approaching from the north.

Kw.a.n.g! Kwaang!

Soon there was a battle.

The explosions and screams made it seem like the world was ending.

"Oh...Lord.”

People closed their eyes and prayed to G.o.d.

But that hope was like torture. The explosions and screams of the Awakened gradually diminished.

In other words...it meant that defeat was coming.

The civilians would just be weak victims to the creatures. Hundreds of thousands of humans would die before help arrived. They would be slaughtered by the creatures. The young children, elderly people and everyone else.

The anxiety of the citizens soared.

Hwaaaaack!

At that moment.

The outside was gloomy...

Then a bright light appeared from the sky.

A door opened in the sky and two humans descended to the ground.

 

Heaven’s Will and the Dambi guild who protected the west arrived in the centre. They heard the sound of explosions from afar, but it was quiet when they approached.

Was it finished?

If so, it was likely to have ended badly. The 200 Awakened wouldn’t have been able to stop all the creatures.

“Are we too late?”

“d.a.m.n. Speed up a little more. We have to save at least one more person.”

Kim Yong-woo bit his lip. Originally he had a lot of self-interest, but that had changed over the past few years. He sincerely hoped for the safety of the people and moved quickly.

Kim Yong-woo and the other guild members were speechless as they reached the centre.

First of all, the corpses of the creatures were strewn around. There were also dead Awakened, but the number of creature corpses was overwhelmingly higher.

He had no idea what had happened.

He thought they had been too late. Normally, the creatures wouldn’t have been able to be stopped. He had hope but the reality wasn’t that simple.

“I am Kim Yong-woo from Heaven’s Will. The centre, please answer me.”

He tried the radio but it was quiet.

Alin stared at the wounds on the corpses of the creatures.

"Most of the creatures were killed by two people. Who...?”

The stab wounds were divided into two major types. This meant that two people had dealt with the creatures.

Kim Yong-woo opened his mouth.

"The place where people are gathered isn’t far from here. We will know when we get there.”

They headed deeper towards the place where civilians were gathered.

A heavy atmosphere.

Kim Yong-woo and Alin moved quickly.

 

There were less corpses as they neared the shelter containing the civilians. It seemed some of the creatures had been cut down while fleeing.

Creatures running away?

That wasn’t impossible. Creatures had instincts and would withdraw if they felt like they were going to die. But...that was only low grade creatures. Intermediate and above creatures wouldn’t retreat. That would only occur if a huge difference in strength was displayed.

For example, the Saviour. At first, they mistook him as prey but eventually they ran away. Still, a large number of creatures was killed by him and people called him the ‘Saviour.’

And...there were intermediate cla.s.s creatures among the corpses. There were occasionally some advanced creatures.

‘Was there someone this strong among the humans?’

It wasn’t the Saviour. His fights were straightforward and concise. There was tremendous violence but it was also ‘cool.’

On the other hand, these two people didn’t show signs of that. It seemed like there was a slight struggle. Even so, it was clear that they had great power.

Kim Yong-woo entered the shelter.

Soon he could see people gathered together.

“Eh...? Guild Master.”

At the centre were two familiar people.

Yoo Eun-hye and Edward!

Yoo Eun-hye saw Kim Yong-woo and gave an awkward laugh.

The two of them had left a letter stating ‘we are going to train’ and then returned roughly two weeks later.

"It is fortunate that you have returned now.”

Kim Yong-woo sighed and relaxed. The safety of the citizens was a big problem so the burden on his shoulders was very heavy. Fortunately, the two of them could stop the creatures without much damage.

Many people were wondering about their emergence, but Kim Yong-woo dragged them into a corner.

"By the way, where have you been?”

"I told you, training. Has it really only been two weeks since I left the letter?”

The weary-looking Yoo Eun-hye said. Kim Yong-woo frowned and nodded.

“Only two weeks? Look out there! It has been extremely hard in the meantime!”

They had barely slept in the past three days. At night, they couldn’t sleep at all. Edward wasn’t very helpful but Yoo Eun-hye was different.

He was tired and in pain but Yoo Eun-hye showed no signs of reflection.

She spoke with an embarra.s.sed voice.

"Our concept of time is very different...”

"Noona, we have become stronger. Don't be sad."

Edward’s appearance was unchanged but he seemed more mentally mature. Edward patted Yoo Eun-hye’s shoulder in order to console her. In order to check that it wasn’t a dream, Kim Yong-woo asked again.

“What is going on? Where did you go?”

"We went to a training room. The man that people call ‘Saviour’...he wanted us to become stronger.”

“What?”

He exclaimed loudly.

Based on Edward’s silence, it didn’t seem to be a lie.

Yoo Eun-hye’s following words were more shocking.

"I can't believe it but...we were training there for over 1,000 days. We couldn’t get out until we cleared the room...I was desperate.”

"1,000 days? That is...”

"Doesn’t it explain why Edward and I can deal with so many creatures?”

Kim Yong-woo closed his eyes. He couldn't keep up with the story.

However, the situation backed up Yoo Eun-hye’s story. Even if the two of them were strong, there were limits.

Now they had broken past the limits due to the training room.

"People won’t believe that so we’ll need to rework the story. Phew ~”

Everyone in South Korea would be focused on the two of them.

Yoo Eun-hye asked with a puzzled expression.

"Can’t we just say it?”

"Well, a story that doesn’t make sense will become complicated when it involves the Saviour. It needs to be spiced up a little bit. It also has to be simple, d.a.m.n. A spotlight will be shone on you after receiving the Saviour’s recognition. I hate that.”

Kim Yong-woo didn’t like the Saviour. Yoo Eun-hye didn’t argue about this. Everyone’s beliefs were different.

"Well, you seem to be able to take care of things. Can I take a little break? I want to sleep for a long time...”

“Yes. I will rest today and get to work tomorrow.”

Edward interrupted.

"Please give me a bed beside Noona.”

“Are you crazy? You are a man and a woman! You will each have a separate room. Even if there is no room, I will make it.”

Duk!

Kim Yong-woo turned around. He had roughly heard the situation and now he needed to adapt it. Then Kim Yong-woo halted and said to Yoo Eun-hye.

"But what is your age now? Are you older than me?”

"Shut up!”

 

Seven days afterwards.

The creatures’ attacks stopped.

The people cheered. Heaven's Will had made the largest contribution and their names were widely proclaimed.

In particular, Yoo Eun-hye and Edward became major stars. Although they weren’t widely known, they were like celebrities in South Korea.

The strongest among the Awakened. Both of them hunted advanced creatures alone, so the Awakened followed them.

Everyone was relieved and started using their strength to rebuild.

However...to their despair, a ma.s.sive air strike occurred.

 

"Duke Martin...”

I muttered quietly as I looked inside the crystal ball.

I watched the blood and screaming from the ma.s.sive air raid.

I heard reports from Roy, Rose and Chrisley and launched an investigation.

As a result, I was able to confirm that someone was behind the creatures.

Duke Martin! I was familiar with him.

‘Pandemonium. He is persistent until the end.’

He was one of the demons under Pandemonium.

Pandemonium had probably intervened. Martin wouldn’t have moved to South Korea without his permission.

Why was he attacking South Korea instead of my dungeon?

The Trees of Life and Death. It was unlikely that he hadn’t noticed. However, he had already prepared the systematic attacks in advance.

‘Revenge?’

The girin and South Korean Awakened had raided Pandemonium’s empty dungeons. Pandemonium would have been outraged. Among the grand dukes, Pandemonium especially despised humans.

It was enough for him to think about retaliation.

However, he knew that my dungeon was here. Of course, he didn’t know that I had a relations.h.i.+p with the humans...

My decision here was important.

It was a good excuse to get rid of a demon. A pretext to ‘eliminate’ him.

However, humans wouldn’t be able to stop Duke Martin. Yoo Eun-hye and Edward had satisfactory growth but a duke was a different story.

‘It isn’t an all-out attack yet. He is sending out feelers.’

I touched my jaw while staring in the crystal ball.

The Awakened were stopping the attacks of the creatures.

It was a state of continual fighting.

‘It is possible that it is just simple payback. However, he doesn’t seem to be just attacking...perhaps he is looking for something?’

If it was retaliation then he would strike all at once. After determining the power of the humans, he would strike like a storm. That was Pandemonium’s nature.

It meant there were other reasons.

The Trees of Life and Death. The timing wasn’t right.

‘I need to look for it.’

I was very curious about the reason.

I couldn’t guess so I had to determine it directly.

“Yihi. Prepare the griffin, Gigantes and the hydra. I will be going out.”

“Yihihihi. Master, can Yihi go as well?”

“...You?”

My eyes narrowed.

It was a well established fact that the dungeon fairy couldn’t leave the dungeon.

I had never heard anything that contradicted this opinion.

Yihi saw my expression and explained.

"I couldn’t originally do this, but now I can. Yihi wants to see the outside of the dungeon!”

I only thought about it for a moment.

What would the consequences be if Yihi went outside?

"You shouldn’t do anything other than what I tell you to.”

“Yihihihi. Absolutely. I will listen to Master’s words.”

Listen?

Although I was somewhat dubious, she was firm.

Her eyes were burning with the will to go outside.

Anyway, I needed someone to move the high cla.s.s creatures.

“Be prepared.”

“Yes ~ yihihihihi!”

Yihi danced with glee.