Chapter 151

〈 Chapter 151 〉 Part 1, Chapter 8, Section 11

At that moment. Yeouido, the Blue Wind Sect hideout C Hotel lounge.

“So you’re the first monster created by the leader and were occupying Yeongjong Island under the leader’s orders?”

[That is correct.]

Lighthouse Monster, Ji Hwa, was troubled by the appearance of this individual who claimed to be the first monster created by Phoenix. Though officially the leader of the Blue Wind Sect, he was in fact its core operational figure. He had sought such a position himself, and Phoenix acknowledged his abilities.

Monster No. 3, personally crafted by Phoenix. Amidst the ever-growing number of monsters, he took pride in being the third monster created after No. 2.

But what was this parachutist all about? And how should he judge the ‘three’ entities brought along by the parachutist?

“Wow, I didn’t know Seoul had changed so much. Did the Seoul Recovery Operation succeed?”

“…Elder, did you really live on Yeongjong Island until now?”

“Yes, I managed to survive somehow, hehe. Young lady, don’t worry about me. Isn’t there someone far more important here?”

Pointing at the temporarily disguised woman in the Blue Wind Sect uniform, Elder Park, who had arrived in Seoul with Western Sea Weapon, spoke. The woman with long black hair down to her knees wore a smartwatch borrowed temporarily from the Blue Wind Sect and said,

“Is the translation working well?”

Though speaking Chinese, her voice was translated into Korean. The remaining senior members of the Blue Wind Sect in Seoul couldn’t help but inquire about the woman’s identity.

“So you’re really….”

“Yes. I am Xiao Lin, an S-Rank Hero who dares to use the alias ‘Unjang,’ and this is my steed, ‘Red Earth.'”

“Nice to meet you.”

The horse itself spoke. Accurately, ‘Red Earth’ expressed its thoughts verbally. Ji Hwa was unable to regain his composure amidst the chaos before him.

“Hold on. Hold on just a moment. Let’s summarize.”

Ji Hwa tried to piece together the stories of the four beings who had entered Seoul and reached a conclusion.

“So Western Sea Weapon, you were guarding this elder on the leader’s orders when Unjang appeared with Red Earth over the sea. Unjang came looking for the leader, realized she couldn’t handle it alone, and thus came to Seoul where the leader is. Right?”

[That is correct. However, it seems our master has left her post.]

“How do you…?”

[I sensed it. The solar energy I always felt from this direction was absent on the way here.]

Western Sea Weapon conveyed its intentions through rapid typing on the tablet given by Yu I-shin. Ji Hwa desperately wanted someone to help with the unexpected situation.

“……Should I call Black Flame Dragon?”

“Let him be. If he finds out, he’ll fly across the Western Sea to save the spirits immediately.”

[Is Master in danger?]

Western Sea Weapon’s scales shimmered. Ji Hwa and Yu I-shin instinctively understood: Ah, another obsessive one like that guy.

“No, not at all. It’s just pretending to be in danger.”

A black-haired woman appeared and answered Western Sea Weapon’s question. Though plain-looking, the person within was anything but ordinary.

“Ah, President. You’ve come.”

Ji Hwa immediately stood up and bowed deeply. From the mouth of the black-haired woman flowed the real president and largest investor of the Blue Wind Sect, Yun Yuhwa’s voice.

“She’s set herself as bait. If things get dangerous, she’ll return to Seoul with full strength, so don’t worry.”

[Then that’s a relief.]

Western Sea Weapon seemed relieved. As news spread that Phoenix had left her post, naturally the one who was flustered was Unjang Xiao Lin, who had come to Seoul searching for Phoenix.

“……I will return to China.”

“Just a moment.”

Yun Yuhwa stopped Xiao Lin. Yun Yuhwa’s head also ached trying to understand why Xiao Lin, who should have been in China, would cross the sea even taking off her smartwatch.

“Exactly why are you here, customer, or rather Phoenix? Did you come seeking revenge for something that happened in China?”

“Revenge? That’s preposterous.”

Clenching her fists, Xiao Lin replied with a bright face.

“At any time, she said I could challenge her, so here I am to take her up on that offer.”

“……What timing.”

As Phoenix was flying across the Western Sea, Xiao Lin seemed to have been riding Red Earth across the Western Sea as well.

“Alright. Crossing paths happens often, so next question.”

Yun Yuhwa pointed to inside Xiao Lin’s clothes with her finger. Beneath the uniform, she still hadn’t changed out of her high-cut swimsuit.

“Why did you sneak in through the sea and hide your tracks?”

“……I have come to an enlightenment.”

Xiao Lin responded evasively with her eyes closed. For a moment, Ji Hwa and Yun Yuhwa suspected the translation app malfunctioned, but it was functioning properly.

“That day, after the battle where the person at the Yalu River awakened me, I deeply reflected on what I lacked again and again.”

“Suddenly what kind of confession-”

“And then I realized the truth.”

Ji Hwa attempted to interrupt but failed. Xiao Lin was already lost in her own world.

“Only that person can enlighten me to the true world of martial arts! The one who gave me my first defeat knew all my weaknesses just by looking at me!”

“Ah, another one obsessed with the customer, probably one of her wives.”

Yun Yuhwa clicked her tongue in genuine disdain. The thought dominating Yun Yuhwa’s mind was ‘which wife number is this one?’ filled with jealousy and irritation.

“Yes. Heroes, villains, nations, gender! Transcending all these, focusing solely on the world of martial arts allowed me to move forward! Only dueling with that person will give me the opportunity to reach the next level! The moment I defeat that person in battle, the awakening to SS Rank will surely come! Therefore, I have shed the shell of Unjang, no longer a member of the Round Table or a hero, but a natural person! I have transcended humanity!”

“Is there anyone here who logically understands what she just said?”

“Don’t know. How am I supposed to understand the mindset of S-Ranks?”

“Does one go insane to become S-Rank, or does becoming S-Rank make one insane?”

To reach S-Rank, does everyone have to be missing a screw somewhere or be crazy about something? Unfortunately, there were no S-Rank ability users present here. Fortunately, Xiaolin, who didn’t hear the Korean conversation, blinked earnestly.

“So please tell me. What is the reason that person is in danger? Could this be a plan to draw me out? Is she preparing beforehand for our duel atop the Forbidden City? Or is she battling Director Mo Taegyeong to capture me…?”

“Another crazy talk… cough. Excuse me.”

Ji Hua cleared his throat and changed the subject. Beside him, Red Earth glared.

“The leader is officially visiting China at the invitation of the Chinese government through the association, nominally as a monster controller.”

“But why say she’s in danger? She’s the strong one who defeated me.”

“The plane was shot down by the terrorist group known as Illusory Heaven.”

“Preposterous…?”

Xiaolin shook her head in denial.

“I’m here as the representative of the group called Illusory Heaven.”

“……?”

The Blue Wind Sect fell silent.

Xiaolin’s eyes turned gray. Western Sea Weapon raised its hand pointing at Xiaolin.

[If it were human, I’d risk my life to fight, but since it’s a monster… Apparently, it doesn’t seem to be a monster made by our master based on the story.]

The one who crossed the sea wasn’t a holy person but a monster.

Monster, Xiao Lin.

* * *

The work was done.

Using previously created Bright Flame Spirits and selected cores, we repeated the process countless times to create more Bright Flame Spirits.

“Subordinate No. 2. I hereby appoint you as the commander of this phantom brigade.”

“Ugh, thanks for the promotion. Did you expect this? What annoying task are you planning now?”

Deokbae gestured towards the bundle slung over his shoulder, clearly annoyed. Even with many helping, sorting through and examining over three thousand cores individually was no easy feat.

I pointed to the Bright Flame Spirit squadron floating neatly behind Deokbae.

“We’re going to look for Chaos Dragon now.”

“How?”

“I was about to explain that.”

I glanced at Deokbae once. He frowned but waved his hand signaling for me to continue.

“Hmm.”

Though his gesture irked me, I decided not to kill him as a reward for providing such a good idea.

“Whether it’s sleeping somewhere or discovered by an ability user, no one knows right now, including me. I can’t find it either.”

“So?”

“…Hmm. We’re going to make it come out on its own. Wake it up and have it find me directly.”

“How?”

I pointed to the Bright Flame Spirits. We already knew D-Rank cores made useless monsters, so we only used C-Rank Banshee cores to create monsters. Thus, we had five hundred of them. This number was enough to stir up the entire continent.

“Deokbae, have you heard something like this before?”

Clearing my throat, I sang acapella.

“♪♪♩ ♬♬♬♪♪♬♬”

“…I get that it makes me feel disgustingly bad instantly.”

Deokbae shivered. The short thirty-second song was enough to send shivers down his spine. Even the already dead-and-revived monsters winced at the destructive power of my singing.

“Hmph. Nothing beats this for waking people up.”

“Are you saying it’ll wake up just from this?”

“Nope. Not just once. We’ll keep singing until it shows up.”

“…So let me get this straight.”

Deokbae chuckled nervously, pointing at the floating ghost army.

“You want to teach this weird song to the Bright Flame Spirits to wake up Chaos Dragon, right now?”

“Yes.”

“Planning to unleash auditory terrorism on 1.3 billion people across the continent?”

“Nope. It’ll only be heard by ability users. More precisely, it’ll resonate with their magical powers. Especially those at the pinnacle, like spirits, will definitely hear it.”

“Are you seriously willing to make a million ability users bleed from their ears just to wake up one spirit?”

“What’s the problem? Compared to the entire population of 1.3 billion, a million is nothing. And besides…”

I shrugged.

“If anything goes wrong, we can always blame it on Mo Taegyeong.”

“…”

It seemed Deokbae finally ran out of words. I taught the lyrics to the Bright Flame Spirits while conducting like an orchestra.

[♪♪♩]

[♪♪♩]

The Bright Flame Spirits quickly mimicked my voice. Directly transforming into monster form to teach them, all 500 Bright Flame Spirits learned how to produce sound using magic power, causing Deokbae to cover his ears against the 500-part chorus filling the stone chamber.

“Yikes?!”

[♪♪♩ ♪♪♩]

[♪♪♩ ♪♪♩]

“What is this?! Why does it keep ringing?!”

Even covering his ears, Deokbae furrowed his brows against the persistent song. I aimed the magic-made baton at his core.

“It’s transmitted directly to the core, so ability users can’t avoid hearing it if they don’t want to. Especially those at the pinnacle like spirits will hear it even more clearly.”

“Are you serious? To wake up one spirit, you’re planning to make a million ability users bleed from their ears?”

“What’s the big deal? Compared to the entire population of 1.3 billion, a million is nothing. And besides…”

I shrugged.

“If anything goes wrong, we can always blame it on Mo Taegyeong.”

“…”

Deokbae finally seemed to run out of things to say. I instructed the Bright Flame Spirits while conducting with the baton.

‘To wake someone up, there’s the morning call.’

“Now follow along. We need the lyrics too for this alarm to be complete.”

The 500-part chorus of Bright Flame Spirits filled the royal tomb. Surprisingly, they learned the song quite quickly, and I showed them some memorable repertoire in admiration of their eagerness to learn.

About 40 minutes later, the crash course ended, and I issued orders to the Bright Flame Spirits.

“You all like talking, right? Then feel free to wander around and chat as much as you want. By the way…”

I held up seven fingers.

“Call out every seven minutes. Got it?”

The ghosts exited the royal tomb.

* * *

The border was sealed.

Mo Taegyeong blamed the airplane terrorism incident on the domestic large criminal organization ‘Illusory Heaven,’ plunging the international community into confusion.

Even some foreigners within China couldn’t leave, and all flights heading to China were canceled.

Despite astronomical economic losses, sealing the borders was chosen, and Mo Taegyeong used it as an opportunity to counterattack.

-This proves that the terrorist group ‘Illusory Heaven’ is a malignant tumor that must be eradicated. Even if it means cutting flesh, we cannot forgive terrorists.

The international community expressed respect for Mo Taegyeong’s decisive action. Of course, they couldn’t help but worry about the safety of foreigners within China, so heroes dispatched by the association would step in for those who wished to leave.

-The Party will cooperate as well.

Mo Taegyeong mobilized heroes from the Central Committee to safely escort those leaving China to Shanghai. Although some foreigners felt they were being monitored, they couldn’t focus on anything but escaping China after the airplane terrorism incident.

“They’re monitoring us, alright.”

“Shh. What if they hear?”

The heroes from the same school driving the vehicle carrying foreigners whispered. They spoke softly enough that the regular people in the back couldn’t hear, only ability users could.

“What were the features of the Level 1 search target again?”

“One woman with hair down to her knees. One extremely tall bald giant. And the monster controller whose plane got attacked by Illusory Heaven.”

“Tch. How do they plan to stop them running across this vast land… Hey, did you set the watch alarm?”

The man scowled at the irritating sound. His fellow hero from the same school shook his head.

“No… What is that?”

He too heard the strange sound. At first, it seemed normal, but the incessant repetition started to irritate him.

“Hey, whose phone is ringing?”

“Not ours.”

The foreigners in the back held up their smartwatches. There was no alarm, the screens were completely off, and they shrugged as if questioning what sound was ringing.

“But if it’s not theirs, then what is this sound…?”

They paused the car momentarily to focus on the sound. Somehow, it seemed like an English-mixed song with lyrics.

Dingdingding.

“Is this the start?”

Good morning.

“Morning…?”

Dingdingding. Pappap papa pappap papa Good morning.

“……What is this?”

Though unable to pinpoint where it was coming from, it kept bothering their ears. Meanwhile, the civilians in the back couldn’t hear it, which was incomprehensible.

Pappap papa pappappap Good morning

“Eh. Forget it. It’ll end soon. Probably some kind of hallucination.”

“Yeah. Considering the dimensional gate opened not too long ago. Tch, damn. What’s with the good morning at sunset?”

Pappap papa pappappap Beautiful day

They didn’t know.

This song would continue to ring in their ears until they reached Shanghai that night.

The start of the <Good Morning Terrorism> awakening a million ability users.

“…Hey, this keeps repeating, doesn’t it?”

“Has it been over seven minutes now?”

Dingdingding

Good

Mor

ning

It’s a beautiful day