Chapter 892

EP.892 [Light Novel Side Story] The Death Dinast of Creation Heaven Volume 2 009

Bang!

Xian, holding Yuna in his arms, safely landed on top of the elevator after climbing up the rope. Already Nuri and Ha Yu-jun were waiting at the platform after breaking through the ceiling. Nuri puffed her cheeks and spoke.

“Uncle, are you here for a date? There’s absolutely no tension, right?”

“…Yuna couldn’t use repel magic, so this happened. Luckily, I have a bit of strength.”

Xian clenched his fist. As Xian adjusted his coat behind him, Nuri almost threw up but managed to hold it in upon seeing Yuna fixing her appearance.

“Halmanghananh.”

“…It seems like we’ve come to the right place.”

Ha Yu-jun pointed towards the dark railway tracks while lowering his voice. All the emergency exit lights were smashed, leaving no light except for the magical glow they emitted like torches.

Click, Click. Xian fiddled with the switch attached to the wall, but there was no response as if the electricity was cut off.

“Hmm.”

“What do we do now? If the kidnapper discovers us, they will surely devise some scheme.”

“That’s true. It’s dangerous to investigate if it’s a trap. But it’s fine.”

Xian pointed inward while grabbing Yuna’s shoulder from behind.

“Yuna, which way do you think?”

“Hmm… We don’t need to go this way.”

Even while tilting her head, Yuna raised the staff she had slung on her back. Nuri tightened her expression and drew her sword, while Ha Yu-jun, startled by the sudden battle readiness, also gathered his magic power and straightened his posture.

Xian clicked his tongue and pulled out his gun.

“No matter what, it seems like the kidnappers weren’t alone. Yuna, Flash Bang!”

“Everyone, cover your eyes!”

Paf! Yuna burst a flash of light from her staff, illuminating the platform like a rising golden sun. The mysterious figures crawling up from the railway were revealed in the light.

Kieeeek!

Kyaahaaak!

“Shit! My eyes!”

“…Battle Preparation! Just five D-Rank Monsters! Intercept!”

There was some damage to our side, but Xian aimed his gun at the monsters. Soon, the monsters leaped onto the platform.

* * *

Monster.

Humans who have been cursed by corrupted magic, discarding their dignity like trash and becoming monsters themselves.

Occasionally, someone becomes a monster against their will, but nine times out of ten, they choose to become one willingly.

Though retaining a human form, they are no longer human.

The treatment of monsters has been debated between those advocating rehabilitation and those calling for execution, but the tide turned after the infamous <Eiffel Tower Terror Incident>, the worst crime in human history.

Immediate execution. Upon sighting a monster, kill instantly without breaking the core.

Like the undead in legends, their bodies vanish upon death, leaving only the core – yet externally, they appear no different from humans. However, distinguishing whether someone is a monster is simple.

Eyes. Those who have become monsters emit a purple magical aura, impossible to hide even with contact lenses or sunglasses.

Just like the four monsters that ambushed Xian’s group.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Xian swung his gun like a sword, deflecting the baseball bat wielded by the monster. The monster, seemingly offended that his attack didn’t work on the powerless Xian, increased his magic power and swung the bat again.

Kaang! Ka-aang!

Xian continued to deflect the bat with the tip of his gun, letting the impact travel through his arm to his body, and finally reaching Yuna, whom he held with his left hand.

“Mr. Xian!”

“I’m fine!”

Without firing a single shot or taking any offensive stance, Xian focused solely on blocking attacks aimed at Yuna. The monster, licking his long tongue with lustful intent, stared at Yuna.

“You horny bastards!”

Xian had suspected from the moment of the kidnapping, but his fears were confirmed. If it were a villain like the one from May, they would have kidnapped Nuri for her value as a hostage.

“Khuh, kuhkhh!”

But the monsters ignored Nuri, instead targeting the more mature figure of Chon Bom-i. Xian thoroughly protected Yuna from their disgusting desires.

“Kuhuhu!”

“They can’t even talk like humans!”

The more Xian protected Yuna, the more persistently the monster targeted her. Xian pressed Yuna’s arm tightly with his left hand to block the monster’s attacks.

“Nuri!”

“Eh!”

Nuri dodged the monster’s rough hands and slashed it with her sword. The monster, split in half by blue magic, dissipated into purple smoke with its final scream.

Tugurururu.

A core rolled out where the monster had dispersed. Another monster reached for it, but Ha Yu-jun shoved him away, causing the core to fall onto the tracks.

“Kiiik!”

The monster attacking Yuna cautiously backed away before charging at Nuri. Nuri, keeping an eye on the monsters ahead while trying to secure the core, was startled by the surprise attack from behind and stepped back.

“Kihid!”

The monster tumbled along the ground, grabbing the core. He prepared to flee onto the tracks, but Nuri hastily swung her sword, though unable to reach him in time.

“Damn!”

Ha Yu-jun tried to drive away the two monsters blocking his path, but they seemed determined to secure the core.

Pababat!

As the light from Yuna’s flash faded, the monsters quickly fled across the tracks. Nuri and Ha Yu-jun were still breathing heavily from the tension of battle.

“Uncle!”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Releasing Yuna, Xian jumped down onto the tracks first. Nuri and Yuna followed gently, and Ha Yu-jun reluctantly trailed behind, muttering curses under his breath.

“If we keep going like this, what will happen when we enter the dungeon…?!”

“Tsch.”

Xian lowered his voice to warn them. Then he deliberately made some noise by tapping his feet a couple of times.

Crackle, crackle.

“…All sounds are heard. An ambush would be meaningless at this point.”

Time is also short. Xian took a deep breath and extended his hand toward Yuna, who glanced at Ha Yu-jun before pulling a bullet from her inner pocket and handing it to Xian.

“Everyone, focus.”

Tap-tap! Xian pulled out a virtual keyboard and typed out the plan.

[The monsters we saw earlier are nearby. We’ll make as much noise as possible when we charge in. The number is probably…seven-no, eight.]

Ha Yu-jun tilted his head. How did Xian know the exact count without using any detection devices?

[If it’s a monster, kill it immediately and turn it into a core. If it’s human, just subdue them. …Fortunately, there are no B-Rank or higher here.]

Xian crouched low, ready to dash forward. Nuri stood beside him, running her fingers along the edge of her sword, while Ha Yu-jun kept watch from the opposite side.

[Yuna will cover the rear.]

Creak. Yuna, standing behind the three, held her staff forward, ready to counter any rear attacks.

[‘Charge’ will signal the start.]

Xian carefully moved forward. Ready to burst out at any moment, Nuri and Ha Yu-jun also maintained their positions.

“Three.”

Xian’s voice echoed through the tunnel-like underground passage. After briefly closing his eyes, Xian grinned and kicked off the ground, sprinting forward.

“Charge!”

“I knew it!”

“Hyaaaaaaa!”

Making as much noise as possible, and as fast as they could.

Blue and green magic surged forth like light from both sides of Xian, and Yuna fired a flare from the rear, illuminating the darkness.

“Gyuk?!”

“Kyeek?!”

Monsters hiding in various places – the ceiling, the rail floor, gaps in the emergency exits – let out cries of confusion. Xian spotted the monster relentlessly targeting Yuna and immediately aimed his gun while charging forward.

“Found you!”

“Three?!?”

“Three of us charging in, you perverted bastards!”

Bang! As Xian aimed his gun, the monster squinted but tried to dodge, keeping an eye on the gun’s direction. Xian chased the monster’s movements, but thanks to bending his body low and infusing it with magic power, the monster managed to move faster than the gun’s turning speed.

The monster grinned, revealing sharp teeth.

“Fool! When I first saw you, I thought-”

Puuh-eek!

“Here’s some candy for you.”

Xian kicked the monster’s face with the front of his boot, sending him flying. Though no magic power was infused, the impact hit the monster hard. Xian slammed the monster into the ground with satisfaction.

“How dare you look at other people’s women like that!”

“……!”

The gazes of Ha Yu-jun and Nuri momentarily shifted to Yuna. Yuna, gathering magic power with her staff, casually turned around.

“Don’t worry about it. She’s just ‘a studio employee,’ not my woman. This kind of behavior from Mr. Xian isn’t new.”

“…Is that so?”

Nuri sighed in relief and slashed unconscious monsters with her sword. Ha Yu-jun, looking somewhat uneasy, grabbed the flailing monster’s wrist and punched him.

“…….”

Puck! Puck! Emotionally charged kicks from Xian repeatedly struck the monster.

* * *

<At that time, near Daerim Station Base Camp>

“What are you doing?! You’re just standing there watching while a team from the same district enters the subway station?!”

Seok Harang scolded the two individuals with a sleepy yet irritated expression.

Leader and guild master of <Megrez> B-Rank Ability User Seo Ye-seong, and Team Leader dispatched from <Cheongsong> B-Rank Ability User <Sea of Blood> Jang Je-hee.

Neither were accustomed to being reprimanded, as they were responsible parties sent from major guild subsidiaries to Guro, but their opponent was someone whose power easily overshadowed their backgrounds.

“That… We received notice less than ten minutes after she went missing that they were entering the station…”

“There was nothing we could do. Your side kept ignoring our communications…”

The two could only make excuses before the white-haired witch. Indeed, Xian had only mentioned contacting them if there was news about Chon Bom-i’s discovery, nothing else.

And Xian did contact them.

‘Chon Bom-i seems to have been kidnapped. We’re entering Daerim Station.’

To both of them, it felt like a bolt from the blue.

They had followed Kim Nori here to Guro despite no financial gain, and neither expected such a major incident on their first day. The same went for Seok Harang, the overall supervisor.

“How can you just rush into a dungeon like this, even though a teammate went missing?!”

“That’s…”

“Enough! We’ll send a rescue team immediately! Daerim Station, right?!”

Seok Harang stretched her hand toward the sky, releasing magic power.

“All heroes, gather at Daerim Station! We’ll rescue the Oracle Studio members who entered the ‘dungeon’!”

At 2:30 AM on March 2nd, heroes participating in the Seoul Recovery Operation began to assemble at Daerim Station, the entrance to the dungeon, under Seok Harang’s urgent summons.

* * *

Crack!

Ha Yu-jun hurled the monster onto the platform, and Nuri sliced it cleanly in half with her sword. The monster’s body dissipated into purple smoke upon instant death, leaving only the core near its heart, which rolled across the floor.

“That makes seven total.”

Xian picked up the core that had touched his heel and carefully placed it in a plastic bag. Already, several cores collected in individual bags were in Xian’s possession, with zippers sealing in the leaking magic aura.

“Good job, everyone. Brother, you’ve worked hard too.”

Xian announced the end of the battle. Yuna and Nuri relaxed their tension and caught their breaths, but Ha Yu-jun kept his guard up, scanning the surroundings. Xian shook the eight packs lightly.

“Brother, there’s none left. We’ve caught them all.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, really. All the monsters here are captured.”

Xian placed the bags on the ground and pulled out a marker from his bag, starting to write letters. Five D’s and three C’s.

“We’ve caught three C-Rank and five D-Rank monsters.”

“…Still, referring to monsters as ‘animals’ feels a bit off, doesn’t it?”

Ha Yu-jun asked with a slightly queasy voice. While Yuna and Nuri didn’t show it openly, they also felt somewhat uncomfortable. But Xian firmly drew the line.

“No, they’re worse than wild beasts. …Personally, I don’t even want to consider monsters as human.”

“Uncle has monster phobia?”

“Yeah. I hate monsters.”

Xian’s straightforward declaration made the others exchange awkward smiles. Monster hatred was spreading worldwide, especially among those who had lost family to monsters. So without pressing further, the group reviewed the results of this battle.

“Discovery of monsters hiding in the underground passage, acquisition of eight monster cores. Still no sign of Miss Chon Bom-i.”

“Aren’t there others inside? Uncle mentioned there might be B-Rank ones.”

“That’s true.”

Xian wiped the bloodstains off his weapon and asked Yuna.

“Yuna, where do you think Miss Chon Bom-i is?”

“…Hmm, she’s not here.”

“What?”

Nuri, eager to leave the platform, was taken aback.

“Then what do we do now? Her trail led here. Are we just catching monsters and calling it a day?”

“Catching eight monsters won’t cover up the mistake of losing one person. We might even get criticized.”

Ha Yu-jun scratched his head and asked.

“But Nuri, you were freaking out when Miss Bom-i disappeared, yet you’ve been surprisingly calm since coming down here… Everyone else seems a bit like that too.”

“Huh? …Ah?! Uncle! Hurry up and find her!”

“…Sigh, fine. This kid notices things, but what can you do.”

Xian scratched his cheek while lightly tapping his magical gear with his finger. A map appeared, showing three green dots. Two were near Xian, and one was elsewhere. Ha Yu-jun curiously asked.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a location tracker. I set it up after that incident-”

“Xian!”

Someone called out to Xian from the elevator door and rushed down breathlessly. Checking his watch and nodding, Xian asked Raon.

“It’s been over ten minutes. No one came up?”

“…No. Unfortunately, no one came. Since there was no news from you, I came down first.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Ha Yu-jun felt increasingly awkward but remained silent due to Xian’s indifferent attitude. Xian pointed toward the deeper part of the railway to Raon.

“Let’s go save Miss Chon Bom-i who’s likely in there. Raon, you lead the way.”

“Yes? …Understood.”

Raon gripped her staff with trembling hands but carefully jumped down from the platform, with Nuri following closely to assist and Ha Yu-jun quietly trailing behind.

“You’re too slow. It’s frustrating, move aside.”

Xian played with the trigger while sticking close behind Raon. Raon raised her arm to stop Xian.

“There might be traps. Dangerous-”

Sweeet! An arrow-like object flew toward Xian from afar. Before Nuri or Ha Yu-jun could react, the arrow was heading straight for Xian, who widened his eyes.

“Xian!”

Thud! Raon lunged forward, shielding Xian with her back. The crude arrow, imbued with magic, pierced through her bodysuit and embedded itself in Raon’s back, aiming for Xian’s heart.

“Ugh.”

Raon groaned. The arrow had penetrated her body suit and lodged into her back.

“Damn!”

“Yu-jun Oppa! Intercept!”

Nuri rushed toward the source of the arrow, encircling herself with magic power. Ha Yu-jun glanced at Raon then swiftly followed the guidance of the flare fired by Yuna, swinging his fist. Xian took a step back, while Raon, panting heavily, raised her hand.

“I’m fi, ne.”

“No, I’m not fine because of this.”

Xian suddenly sighed deeply while saying something random. Yuna stood beside Xian, pointing her staff protectively at…

Raon.

“……What are you-”

“Our team’s tank is actually an avoidance tank, remember? That’s why Nuri and I argued a lot…”

“??”

Xian smirked at Raon’s confused face.

“Because she’s absolutely not the type to throw herself in front of others to save them. Out of fear.”

“?!”

Bang! The sound of thunder echoed loudly through the underground passage as Xian’s gunshot pierced Raon’s heart.