Somebody murmured with a trembling voice. Of course, it wasn’t confirmed as the final figure yet. But that alone changed their gazes.
“…”
In the deafening silence, Yoon-seok watched their reactions. Should he say that it was like looking at an alien? The challengers who made eye contact with him stealthily averted their eyes. The challenger named Jovan was no different.
‘What the hell are these numbers…’
He didn’t know how Maria’s skill was used nor how precise it was, but he figured it was likely a simple combination of all stats. Converting combat power to figures was completely absurd for Yoon-seok, so he followed Michael’s request to be certain. Since he’d acquired many things from b Predation}, he expected that his power wouldn’t lag far behind.
‘Well, in that sense, I guess they don’t understand…?’
Stats and skill rankings weren’t everything but only served as a basic standard of measurement. And Jovan’s figure was eleven million. Michael said there were fewer than six challengers with such a level, and even if they were combined, they couldn’t help but be anxious against the demon with a figure of sixty million. But two hundred million in this situation?
For them, it was natural that Yoon-seok looked like a monster.
‘It was said that Earth’s power was the weakest. I guess that’s true.’
Yoon-seok clicked his tongue bitterly. According to Elle, the full-fledged invasion had yet to begin. Stronger invaders would emerge in the future. But now that a challenger from another dimension was playing tricks, they couldn’t even stop him? Unless he wanted the world to end, Yoon-seok had to protect Earth even in the future.
Thinking so, he felt like it was a waste of time.
“I think we’ve had enough proof. Shall we start now?”
Michael, who was still mesmerized by Yoon-seok’s results, nodded.
“Yes, yes! Let’s go to the roof. The helicopter is on standby.”
Did they have a lot of confidence in the objectivity of Maria’s combat power measurement? They might have asked what power he had and how he planned to fight, but they didn’t say anything until the moment they were inside the helicopter. It seemed that Yoon-seok would take care of everything once he arrived at their destination.
Dududududududu!
A helicopter carrying Yoon-seok, Jovan, and Michael departed toward their destination. Honestly, he thought flying with his wings would be faster…
Apart from the armed forces, he wasn’t confident to visit the area in the vast ocean with nothing but his bare body. Yoon-seok closed his eyes, hoping they would arrive soon.
“Uh, Mr. Choi Yoon-seok…?”
As if there were many issues to report to his superiors, Michael, busy calling people during the ride, suddenly turned to Yoon-seok.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry to interrupt your rest, but I’ve got a request from my superiors….”
“Request?”
Michael sweated as he spoke.
“Uh…can we take a picture of him fighting and use it for coverage? Oh, of course, it’s not live. If you want a mosaic, we can do it for you. If there are any other conditions, we’ll try to fulfill them as much as we can.”
“…”
When Yoon-seok stared at him without answering, Michael’s face turned even whiter. He began to make excuses.
“The whole world is anxious about this. In third world countries, it’s not uncommon for riots to happen.”
“So?”
“If we can release a scene of you destroying the invader, the public’s anxiety will be greatly eased.”
It was a classic American hero-making. Yoon-seok could already predict how they would utilize the footage politically. But…
“I-it’s not my opinion, but a question from my superiors…I’ll tell them that I can’t.”
“No, say it’s okay.”
Yoon-seok said yes. It seemed that the transaction’s debt would disappear after this incident, but this way, he could erase it and let them secure more protection around his parents. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason why he said yes…
“What?”
“Tell them I’ll record it. And you don’t have to blur it out. It’s okay to disclose my personal information, except for my name and age.”
“…Really?”
Michael looked like he barely survived by clutching at straws.
“Thank you. We will never forget this favor as the U.S. government.”
When Yoon-seok closed his eyes again, Michael radioed here and there with a happy voice and started making preparations. Then, Jovan, who didn’t say a word even after getting on the helicopter, spoke.
“…What should I do to become this strong?”
He hadn’t even seen him in combat yet, so it was awkward to ask that kind of question, but…
Yoon-seok gave him a mild answer.
“Well, I don’t know either.”
Perhaps that wasn’t the answer Jovan was looking for. But, Yoon-seok meant it. He didn’t know; he just somehow ended up like this. If he had to find out why…
Wasn’t it because he kept challenging himself and survived? To be honest, Yoon-seok thought they were weak rather than him being strong.
“But I know why you’re weaker than me.”
“Because I’m a mission challenger.”
That’s what Jovan said. But that wasn’t what Yoon-seok was trying to say.
“No, it was because you didn’t challenge the things you couldn’t do.”
There was no way that a mission challenger wouldn’t know what Yoon-seok meant. The mission choice of difficulty was available, but the duel trials had no choice. He just had to keep challenging himself, and Yoon-seok fought as hard as he could, no matter if his opponent was tough or not. He repeated several times, and now he was here.
“…”
Maybe he felt something in Yoon-seok’s words? Jovan was lost in thought. Thanks to this, Yoon-seok was able to organize his thoughts without any interference until they’d arrived.
‘There’s no way he got called to the Tower, has he?’
Yoon-seok remembered Kang Hyung-woo, who lost contact with him. It may be a stretch to think that he’d lost contact because he was brought to the Tower, but…
Somehow he had that thought. Of course, it didn’t matter much if his guess was accurate.
‘But it does bother me.’
Kang Hyung-woo would have to be careful in the future. Don’t bump into him on Earth or the Tower. Even if he had given up on taking revenge, he had no intention to let him live either.
“We’ve arrived.”
Yoon-seok opened his eyes at Michael’s words. A mysterious creature made of dark brown mucus was spotted below the helicopter. He wasn’t sure if it was living, but it wriggled non-stop, proving that all parts of it were active.
“This is the line of demarcation for helicopters. If we go any further, it will launch a long-range attack from the main body.”
That meant they were finally at their destination. Yoon-seok took out his swords. It was a custom and premium equipment made of stone taken from the tears in space that Michael arranged for him. Unfortunately, it was incomparable to what Yoon-seok had in the tower.
“There’s an assistant in the helicopter next to us. If you fall, they will assist you in recovering you.”
Michael pointed to a helicopter flying in place close by. There were several helicopters in the sky, perhaps because it was a place that drew attention from all over the world. Many places filmed this side with cameras, perhaps because they had already told them in advance, it was approved.
“…”
Yoon-seok looked down. Hundreds of ships were seen floating on the unpolluted beach. Challengers were aboard every ship, trying their best to prevent the area from expanding.
“No, I don’t need support.”
“What?”
Leaving Michael with a blank look on his face, Yoon-seok jumped out of the helicopter. Michael hurriedly shouted on the radio. He must have asked for assistance from the supporting challengers. But…
“Avatar.”
Watching the wings spread out from Yoon-seok’s back, Michael put down his walkie-talkie.
“…”
Huge wings sprang out from his back. It was a foreign sight he had never witnessed before in his life. However, Michael thought that somehow it matched Yoon-seok very well.
‘Was that why he didn’t need mosaic…?’
As soon as his wings spread, Yoon-seok’s expression also changed. He didn’t know what skill it was, but no one would be able to recognize Yoon-seok.
“Light of Purification.”
A brilliant light exploded around Yoon-seok as he descended, forming a halo that somehow felt sacred. But the mysteriously eerie reddish hue contrasted sharply with the divine feel. He looked like an angel but also a devil at the same time.
‘As I expected.’
Yoon-seok’s lips crept up.
Light of Purification, which evolved into a permanent skill for one-time use, could purify all unclean beings. This invader, called the Hatchery, was one of the seemingly unclean beings.
Screeeeeeeeeech!
When the brilliant light spread around Yoon-seok, the Hatchery’s body, which covered the sea, melted without a trace. But maybe the invader felt pain, too.
“Queckkkkkkkk—!”
With a frustrated scream, the main body of the Hatchery that used to be an island rose like a mountain in the center and began to emit a slimy, dark red substance. Yet…
Chikkkkkkkkkk!
The dark red mucus was melted down without a trace as soon as it entered the light. Now, Yoon-seok, who had nothing to worry about, scattered the Light of Purification to purify the areas farther away. The invader couldn’t defend itself.
“Really…”
The many challenges and national figures watching the scene were struck speechless. They were all thinking the same thing.
“That is the same kind of human as us…?”
There were standards in the world based on common sense, and when the challengers emerged, their standards were renewed. However, even by that standard, Yoon-seok was far beyond anything they knew. With the spread wings and glowing light around him, he didn’t feel like a human being in any way.
“S-Savior…!”
However, some people felt their hopes surging when they saw Yoon-seok. If there was a man of that power on Earth, they might be able to survive the impending end. If this video were released to the public later, most of the crowd would accept it similarly. Perhaps a new religious group would emerge following him as a Messiah.
That’s why many of the government officials watching felt a great surge of fear. If he were a savior or hero, it would be fine. There wouldn’t be any problems. However, most of them read the reports of Yoon-seok’s crimes at Hanguk Hospital.
Yoon-seok didn’t follow modern law. Perhaps it might be a matter of course. The current rules of society were concepts that existed because the power of a group went beyond an individual. Yet Yoon-seok’s power had already exceeded all the units of a group.
“If God is called God because he’s an absolute man, then what’s the difference with him?”
Tower, Challenger, Doomsday…Yoon-seok seemed like something divine that would end all this chaos. A government official licked his lips bitterly. A world where God existed…
“That’s terrible.”
It would be a paradise for some, but hell for others.
He flew with glowing light around him. However, two-thirds of the area had already been purified. It was an outrageous achievement, considering how they couldn’t handle the ever-growing area even with the world’s resources brought together.
Despite that, Yoon-seok remained on guard.
‘I think it’s going to come out….’
With that thought.
“Sphere of Chaos.”
The demon he saw on the video appeared. He was stretching his palms toward Yoon-seok from the main body of Hatchery.
Whoooooosh!
The moment Yoon-seok immediately turned away from the area, a huge sphere of destruction formed at the point where Yoon-seok was one second ago.
‘Found you.’
Yoon-seok flew toward the demon. Instead of running away, the demon opened his palm to Yoon-seok again. He didn’t seem to realize it was meaningless. Maybe it would have been effective against those who lack mobility or speed, but if there was a five-second delay, Yoon-seok couldn’t lose.
Swoooooooooosh!
The distance narrowed in a split second. It was only now that the demon looked perplexed.
‘Enhanced Speed.’
Yoon-seok used his power to shift in front of the demon. His exposed neck caught Yoon-seok’s eye. If he had wielded his sword, he could have finished him off with a single blow. But…
Slapppppp—!
Yoon-seok slapped the demon with the back of his left hand instead of using his sword.
「A duel has been established.」
「Get ready. The duel will begin soon.」
Saving the Earth was one thing, but he intended to take everything he could. Well, even if not, there were a lot of questions he wanted to ask the demon. Of course, they wouldn’t just spit out the truth…
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