〈 Chapter 54 〉 Part 1 (11)
“Are you really sure about this, sir?”
Jeong-song was fidgeting anxiously, his eyes darting toward the battlefield in Guro. Cheol-pyo swung around and smacked the back of Jeong-song’s head, pointing at the watch on his wrist.
“We just need to focus on our own mission.”
On the small screen floated a secret order from someone higher up. Jeong-song’s eyes widened comically.
– Search the National Assembly building in Yeouido. Eliminate all beings found immediately.
“Commander—”
“This brat?!”
PFFT. Cheol-pyo swung again, landing another blow on the back of Jeong-song’s head. The guy had only been part of Pine Tree Unit for not long, still carrying traces of recklessness from his villain days.
“Listen up. We just follow orders. Got it?”
“But—”
“But nothing. Since B Team couldn’t join us, we’ll split into two groups to complete the mission. Understand?”
Cheol-pyo designated some members from the group that had followed him through countless missions already—seasoned veterans.
“You, you, and you—go with Jeong-song. The rest come with me to Yeouido.”
“Roger.”
The term “veteran” among Pine Tree Unit referred to those who’d completed numerous missions. And these missions were mostly carried out in the shadows under the President’s will.
Assassinations of VIPs, removal of undesirable elements, core thefts.
Though they were the breeding ground of crime, they had no choice but to carry on silently. Their origins as notorious villains made them familiar with criminal acts, and every successful mission reduced their sentences.
Jeong-song confirmed the mission once more with the squad members.
“…Ah, seriously?”
Jeong-song scratched his fiery red hair furiously. Meanwhile, Cheol-pyo had already disappeared into history, stepping onto the subway tracks.
“Do we really have to do this?”
“If you don’t want to, don’t. But your sentence won’t decrease—it’ll increase.”
At another member’s words, Jeong-song sighed deeply. He hadn’t realized it when he was a reckless villain running wild, but now that he was shackled by Pine Tree Unit, he understood the longing for freedom.
“But doing something like this…?”
– Eliminate spies hiding underground. (1 per day).
It was essentially a blindfolded hunt, but the meaning behind “spies” was clear.
Massacre.
In Dongjak’s underground tunnels, tens of thousands of refugees were hiding.
* * *
“There are currently 1 B-Rank and 4 C-Ranks missing! Pine Tree Unit has departed separately from Guro.”
“Understood.”
Unsa examined the map, confirming movements. With Pine Tree Unit acting as a separate force, A Team’s strength was further weakened.
“Actually, it’s better this way, Team Leader. Those Pine Tree guys always bring down the mood.”
“I thought they were quite capable as forces.”
People may think differently, but Pine Tree Unit heroes, given their background, were avoided by other heroes.
Rather, Unsa judging without preconceived notions was rather unusual.
“Hellhounds eliminated. Flame Giant captured. That’s the end of Guro.”
Unsa still stood above Deokbae. Tempest Lady poked the unconscious Deokbae repeatedly, checking for any reactions.
“You’ve handcuffed him with clouds? What if he escapes?”
“He won’t unless I lose consciousness.”
“Hmph. Anyway, what is this Flame Giant’s identity…?”
It was surprising to learn that the monster wreaking havoc at Doksan Station was actually a human special ability user and a villain. The veins flowing beneath his ashen-white rock-like skin emitted an eerie blue light.
“What should we do now?”
“I’ll report to the commander. We need to find the kidnapped heroes.”
Unsa called the commander. Jin-gwang’s expression on the screen didn’t look good.
“…”
Unsa paused her report, staring at the screen. The man who had been there just moments ago was gone.
“Commander, where is Hwakwon?”
– Rescue operations.
“Huh?”
– Running around Seoul like crazy conducting rescue operations. Honestly, it’s embarrassing…
Unsa received data from HQ regarding Hero Seung-hyeong’s movements. Starting from Anyang, he moved northward, covering Seoul extensively as if sweeping it with magic power.
“He truly sets an example as a hero. Even amidst this chaos, he’s trying to save anyone who might not have evacuated…”
– Don’t get the wrong idea, Unsa. Those left in Seoul are all criminals. Got it?
Unsa frowned, a rare sight.
“…I can’t agree with that. They’re just people who couldn’t escape Seoul. If being unable to flee from a crisis zone makes someone a criminal, then we would need to recapture everyone who lived here after reclaiming Seoul.”
– Tch! Shut up!
Unsa firmly cut off Jin-gwang’s words and continued.
“While I’ll follow the commander’s orders, please understand this one thing: We came here to defeat monsters and save people, not to pair up with villains or arrest innocents.”
Unsa took a breath and continued.
“Then, let’s resume the rescue operation for the kidnapped heroes. Signals may be interrupted along the way, so please bear with us. Over.”
– What?! Hey! You insolent…
Click.
Unsa turned off the screen. Tempest Lady looked at her uneasily.
“Are you okay? That was the commander, after all.”
“I’ll just face disciplinary action later for insubordination. Right now, rescuing the kidnapped heroes is the priority. Was there any response?”
Tempest Lady shook her head. There was no reaction from Guro where the Hellhounds had taken them.
“Not here. They must have moved elsewhere.”
“…Perhaps they went toward Gangseo or Yeouido.”
Unsa regretfully shook Deokbae’s shoulder.
“If he wakes up, we could extract some information, but we don’t have time for that. Team A! Let’s move to Guro—”
Huh? The magical energy in the air suddenly rippled violently. Unsa quickly scanned her surroundings and shouted.
“On guard!”
Heroes who were catching their breath after battle gathered around Unsa in confusion, forming a defensive formation.
No significant magical reactions were coming from HQ data, but the unpleasant sensation felt on-site suggested something was happening.
“Tempest Lady!”
At Unsa’s call, Tempest Lady shot straight up into the sky. The skilled wind sorceress demonstrated her mastery of air walking, soaring high to scan the area.
“……?!”
Shock. At first, she couldn’t believe it. It was a sight she’d never seen before, and even seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn’t accept it.
“…What madness!”
Tempest Lady quickly sent video footage to the heroes and HQ via her watch.
Unsa watched the footage below and gasped.
“…Resurrection?!”
Should they call it zombies or semi-flame monsters?
– Hey, abnormal reactions from the Hellhounds! Bodies of Hellhounds in both Guro and Gangnam are catching fire!
Fire erupted. But instead of cremating the corpses, the flames filled their wounds, transforming them into new four-legged bodies that rose up.
GRRRROOOOAAARRR.
One particularly noticeable Hellhound stood out among those glowing with blue flames.
The left half of its body, which had been vertically split in two by Jeong-song, was now entirely engulfed in blue flames, resurrected anew.
Since humanity began its war against monsters, such bizarre phenomena had never occurred.
“Is this the effect of the dimensional gate?!”
Unsa clicked her tongue while gathering her magic.
The world’s first appearance of the Fire Dragon’s dimensional gate. Though the gate had closed, opinions on its effects remained divided even among academic circles.
Already formidable, if these Hellhounds resurrected like zombies and charged again, the damage would be unimaginable.
“What do we do?!”
Tempest Lady descended hastily to seek advice. No command from Jin-gwang had yet arrived.
Was it petty revenge for Unsa cutting off the screen earlier, or was he too panicked to issue quick commands?
Unsa judged. If they stayed trapped in Guro, they’d be dead.
“…We’ll retreat north to Yeouido! It’s too late to escape south!”
“How do you plan to do that?!”
Carrying a bulky figure on her back, Unsa swiftly mapped out an escape route and relayed it to the heroes. Move north to Yeouido, circle east, and return via Gwanaksan Mountain.
“Let’s run!”
This was Unsa’s best judgment at the moment.
* * *
Meanwhile, Gangnam faced an even greater crisis.
“Damn it! What are those things?!”
One by one, the Hellhounds were rising.
A Hellhound with severed legs stood up with fiery ones. A decapitated Hellhound sprouted a fiery head atop its neck.
The blue flames filling their missing parts resembled a voodoo priest awakening zombies, terrifying the heroes as B-Rank monsters resurrected one by one.
“Don’t they usually come back stronger when they revive?”
“Argh, the spirits must have warned us to flee earlier!!”
The ritual master lay face-down on the road, sobbing. His hands were bound behind his back with cuffs designed to disrupt magical flow, and all the villains under his command were similarly restrained.
“Kukukuku, it’s the wrath of the gods! Divine punishment!”
The Black Flame Dragon rejoiced at the sight of the blue flames, mistaking the resurrection of Hellhound zombies for divine salvation.
WHACK.
The Black Flame Dragon fell backward, struck at the nape of his neck. Having expended his energy destroying the fusion device, he had already been subdued and cuffed.
“Damn. Should’ve brought Unsa along?”
Wind Master scratched his mouth regretfully. Cloud Master twisted his lips in agreement.
Water, Wind, Cloud.
The government grouped the water-controlling wizard, the wind-rushing old man, and the peculiar Devouring Cloud ability wielder into a team known as the Three Masters from mythology.
Even before being grouped as the Three Masters, Unsa, already renowned, became a promising A-Rank under the guidance of Wind Master and Cloud Master.
“If she were here, she would’ve devoured them all with her Devouring Cloud by now.”
“Don’t lament, old man. She’s struggling enough over there, isn’t she?”
The battlefield map showed unrest in Guro as well. Increasing red dots indicated the revived Hellhounds.
Gulp.
Hellhounds exuding flames surrounded the heroes. Wind Master’s decision to clear both roads for field control had become a fatal mistake.
“Cloud Master, how much magic power do you have left?”
“…Seventy percent? Still fine. Just need to avoid interference.”
Cloud Master glared at the fleeing villains far away. Sky Castle and other villains had already put considerable distance between themselves and the fight.
“I knew they’d do this.”
Heroes and villains. The option of fighting side-by-side against humanity’s dangers simply didn’t exist for villains. They prioritized their survival and fled the battlefield.
“I thought Sky Castle was decent at least.”
“Are there good villains and bad villains? Tsk tsk. No worries. This isn’t even a crisis yet!”
Wind Master roared boldly, boosting morale among the heroes.
Over a hundred zombie Hellhounds. Compared to the peak during the Pyongyang incident eight years ago, this was child’s play.
Cloud Master raised his staff high into the sky and shouted.
“Let’s take down three each!”
KYAAAAAAAAAAHHH!
The zombie Hellhounds charged at the heroes.
* * *
“Seriously, we need to leave Seoul! Sky Castle, this is insane!”
Subordinates were wavering. Terrified by the resurgent Hellhounds’ ferocity.
Having reverted to his original form after deactivating his special ability, Sky Castle adjusted his fedora. His shirt had already been shredded by the transformation.
“Just wait.”
He told them to wait briefly. Reinforcements would arrive, and survivors would be instructed to retreat.
FLUTTER.
A small bird descended from the sky. Subordinates armed themselves as the mini Phoenix flaring blue flames landed.
“So, it was you guys. What kind of magic did you pull?”
– If you’re short on hands, you borrow even a cat’s paw, right? Oh, these are Hellhound hands now?
Perched on a lamppost, the mini Phoenix spoke. Sky Castle recognized him from the National Assembly.
“You bastards! You tricked us!”
“What’s going on, Sky Castle…?”
His subordinates looked at Sky Castle as if he were the Black Flame Dragon. Sky Castle quickly realized what had happened from their puzzled expressions.
“Mental communication?”
– Correct! Your subordinates probably only hear bird chirps.
“Where are you? Are you hiding near Gangnam?”
– Nope. Not possible. But know this: we can see Gangnam from here. Our lookout’s eye is scanning all of Seoul right now.
“…You’ve enhanced your abilities like the Black Flame Dragon, huh? That’s why the beacon is attached to you.”
Sky Castle gritted his teeth. They had watched Gangnam turn into a mess right before their eyes while pretending not to notice.
Of course, he himself had refused the command. But he wasn’t calm enough to reflect on that yet, still caught up in the excitement of battle.
“You bastards! Is it so great hiding and watching from behind?”
– What are you talking about? We’ve been working hard in Guro too. Do you think this is our main force? The heroes’ main force is still in Anyang.
“What does that mean?!”
DING.
Sky Castle’s smartwatch buzzed. Worried it might break due to the transformation, he pulled out the watch hidden inside his fedora and checked the message.
“……!!”
The transmitted files were breaking news headlines arriving minute by minute. The content delivered from headquarters succinctly outlined the situation.
[Breaking News] C-Rank Hero Lee Gi-seong abducted by monsters
[Breaking News] A-Rank Villain Flame Giant captured by Unsa
[Breaking News] Total destruction of Guro Digital District. How much property damage?
[Breaking News] Shin Jin-gwang reiterates commitment to restoring Seoul
[Breaking News] When will S-Rank be deployed? Professor Do says, “Saving them will make them useless” drawing criticism
Breaking news updates minute by minute since the heroes entered Seoul for the restoration operation. Scanning just the headlines, Sky Castle quickly grasped the situation.
“Guro collapsed… and the S-Ranks haven’t moved yet?”
– That’s about it. Anyway, good job. Now, you guys should flee and hide over here until everything’s settled.
The mini Phoenix flew back up into the sky. Sky Castle stared blankly at its flapping wings before turning his eyes to the map that had just arrived on his watch.
“…Underground?”
– Ah, can you hear me? Sky Castle, you haven’t fallen yet, right?
A blond-haired, blue-eyed man appeared on the screen, his face smeared with soot. Behind him wearing a safety helmet, the words ‘Gangnam Station’ were visible.
– Came here to rescue people, but didn’t expect it’d be villains I’d be saving. If you don’t want to fall, come this way. We won’t wait long.
An escape route opened underground. The villains quickly headed toward the station.
