SWOOSH—!
A black shadow cut through the wind. Three figures were riding atop the wyvern Kaisel, flying like a ray of darkness through the hazy steam. Sung Suho, Cha Hae-In, and Sirka. The boiling hot river water passed beneath them. But before the warmth could even reach them, the river was already far behind.
'Thanks to Mother, we crossed comfortably. I need to get at least one wyvern as a soldier instead of clumsy dragonids. Or I should raise Ragnar somehow…'
[The Dragon King, the Monarch of Destruction, nonchalantly perks up his ears.]
"Suho." Cha Hae-In looked back at her son and asked,
"Since we've already crossed the border, shall I take you straight to where Mr. Woo Jinchul is?"
Suho couldn't help but chuckle at his mother's casual tone. Just from her words, it sounded like she was offering to drop him off at the academy on the way to the market. But her 'car' was too extraordinary for that, to the point of wrecking everyday life. Just by appearing, she drew the attention of the entire nation. Recalling the reporters who were shocked to see Cha Hae-In earlier, Suho thought about his mother's prime again.
'I knew that Mother was a national level athlete in the past, but she seems to have been much more famous than I thought.' Of course, he had heard several times that his mother was really successful in her time. But as her son, how much could he relate to that? Especially since it was something that happened before he was even born. From Suho's perspective, twenty years ago was a distant past, just like the story of how his parents met and dated before marriage.
"But where is Mr. Woo Jinchul?"
"The Association gave me the most recent coordinates they received." While Suho was answering Cha Hae-In's question,
"…Cha Hae-In." Sirka, who had been silent since crossing into North Korea, suddenly called out.
"What's wrong?" Cha Hae-In looked back at Sirka.
"This place is strange." She was looking down at the ground with a scary expression, rubbing her arms.
"The spirits living here… they don't seem right."
"Don't tell me, here too…?" Cha Hae-In's face hardened at Sirka's words. They had experienced rampaging spirits before, hadn't they?
'Facade Island'
The ice spirits of the Echo Forest living in the sanctuary of the ice elves… What was the fundamental reason why the ice spirits, who should have been living peacefully in the sanctuary, suddenly went berserk and rampaged?
[My liege.] Beru also gritted his teeth, staring ahead with narrowed eyes.
[The energy of Itarim is spread widely across this land.]
As Beru said, after crossing the hot river, the blue mist from the outer universe was heavily concentrated throughout this vast North Korean land. The density was higher than in any place he had seen before. In some ways, even beating the Loktak Field.
'At least India still has a functioning government, but North Korea doesn't even have that.'
[If we leave this place as it is, in the worst case, a huge Void Gate could open on this land. Perhaps… it has already begun.] Suho felt the gravity of the situation.
"Mother, I think we need to put out the urgent fire first."
"Yes. Let's take care of the field we see before going to Mr. Woo Jinchul." Cha Hae-In also nodded with a serious expression.
Since they had the coordinates, finding the Association President wouldn't take long. The bigger problem was the blue mist area so concentrated that it was visibly forming clumps. In any case, Woo Jinchul's purpose for coming to North Korea was to rectify this phenomenon, so the order didn't matter.
"Kaisel, let's go down." But when the wyvern lowered its altitude just slightly,
Caw—!
Caw! Caw Caw!
The spirits wandering in the air immediately attacked them.
[Flame Eagle]
[Flame Eagle]
[…]
[Wind Blade Crow]
[Wind Blade Crow]
[…]
"They're wild animals devoured by spirits!" Sirka shouted urgently.
"It's similar to the ice golems that appeared in our sanctuary! As expected, this place also has…!" Before she could even finish her sentence, their entire vision was suddenly covered with numerous birds.
SWOOSH—!
FWOOSH—!
As Sirka said, countless eagles, possessed by the rampaging fire spirits, charged recklessly with their bodies engulfed in flames; their blazing wings were like that of a phoenix… In the case of the crows possessed by wind spirits, every flap of their wings unleashed sharp wind blades that tore through the air. But so what…?
[They must be crazy. How dare they come here without fear.] Beru openly mocked them.
This was the problem with those who went berserk. Mere birds daring to attack a wyvern? There was no need to even use mana against these guys.
[KIAAAAAAAAAAA*!] Kaisel opened its mouth wide and roared at them.
BOOM BOOM BOOM…!
Air cannons erupted from its mouth in a straight line and swept over them. Along the path of that wind, bird bodies exploded like balloons. But Cha Hae-In scolded Kaisel instead.
"Kaisel, you can't do that. If you kill them, Suho won't get any experience points."
[KII…] Kaisel, about to open its mouth fiercely again, quickly dropped its snout with a sullen expression. But Cha Hae-In was a firm mother serious about her child's education.
"Suho…?"
"Uh, Mother?"
Suho's eyes instinctively twitched at his mother's gentle voice. He knew what this was. It was like the night before an exam…
"Go do your best."
Thud!
"…?!"
Cha Hae-In's hand pushed Suho's back without hesitation. From high up in the sky. Into the middle of the still numerous spirit birds.
"No, Moth…—!"
'How could she do this to him…!' While Suho fell helplessly, his mother's gentle smile as she waved at him gradually grew distant. The story of lions throwing their cubs off cliffs to raise them strong suddenly flashed through his mind, but…
'This is too high!' Even lions would probably shake their heads if they saw this! But now, instead of feeling bitter, he had to move to survive.
'Rulers Authority!'
Thump! Thump!
Although he was momentarily surprised, Suho skillfully stepped on the air and slowed his fall. At the same time, 'Kamish's Wrath' daggers were grasped in both his hands.
[Using Skill: 'Storm of Black Flames'.]
Flare! Rumble—!
KIAAAAA…!
KEEek!
[Flame Eagle has been defeated.]
[Flame Eagle has been defeated.]
[…]
[Wind Blade Crow has been defeated.]
[Wind Blade Crow has been defeated.]
[…]
The forms of the spirit birds, helplessly dying from the black flame, scattered as ashes in the air. Even the Flame Eagles, although they were of the same fire attribute, they couldn't compare to the flames of destruction.
'Honestly, they don't seem like they'll give me a lot of experience points, but I like that there are a lot of them.' There were easily thousands of them at a glance. It was hard to even count. It seemed like all the 'birds' in the area flocked here after seeing an unfamiliar creature invade their territory.
Whoosh—!
[My liege—!] Just then, Beru, who flew towards the falling Suho, relayed Cha Hae-In's words.
[She says to catch them all before you hit the ground!]
"…"
[She says she'll give you dragon bones as allowance if you succeed!]
"Seriously." Suho finally burst into laughter.
"You were going to give them to me anyway!" And his eyes changed.
Slash—! His dagger cut through the body of a Flame Eagle that recklessly attacked from the side. And…
"Arise!"
[Shadow extraction successful.]
[Shadow Eagle Lv.1]
[Knight Rank]
His hand grabbed the Shadow Eagle's leg. And it glided with its black steam-emitting wings spread wide. Suho, now soaring towards the area crowded with spirit-possessed birds, shouted,
"All those with wings, come out!"
Whoosh—!
At that moment, the shadow soldiers came out as if they had been waiting.
[Don't forget, the loyal subject you can trust in critical moments is me.] Among them, Lee Minsung, no, the Shadow Lancer Que, smiled proudly and raised his spear enthusiastically.
[Follow me, everyone!]
SWOOSH—!
Led by Que, numerous Shadow Lancers shot towards the birds possessed by spirits like arrows. At the same time, the shadow dragonids, commanded by Sita, also appeared and began to mercilessly slaughter the spirits. In the midst of that battle, Suho leisurely glided and ordered the Shadow Eagle,
"Guide me to the Gate you spirits came out of!"
Craw—!
The Shadow Eagle immediately understood Suho's order and changed direction.
"Oh my." Cha Hae-In's eyes sparkled as she saw that from above.
"You've become quite proficient in battle."
"If that's proficient… he seems incredibly stronger than the last time we saw him?" Sirka looked at Cha Hae-In with a dumbfounded expression.
But she once was the vice guild-master of the No. 1 guild in Korea, the Hunters, in a forgotten time, and the strongest 'purely' human S-rank Hunter in Korea. Moreover, she had seen the battles of the true Shadow Monarch, Sung Jinwoo, several times up close, so her standards were inevitably high.
"Kaisel, let's follow him." Kaisel followed Suho at Cha Hae-In's words. And Sirka's expression gradually hardened.
"The spirits' energy is getting stronger."
"You're right. Even at the first glance it seems like we've come to the right place."
Whoosh—!
Cutting through the fluttering blue mist, something absurd was waiting right where the Shadow Eagle led Suho.
"…What is that?"
A city.
A giant city surrounded by blue mist existed there. But the problem was that its appearance and atmosphere didn't seem North Korean at all.
"Is this really North Korea?"
KIAAAAA—!
Suho, gliding with the Shadow Eagle, saw the city up close and his eyes sharpened.
'A barrier?'
A transparent, hemispherical barrier surrounded the city.