Chapter 900

EP.900 [Light Novel Side Story] Death Dinass of the Sky Creator Vol. 2 Ch. 017

Managers create monstrosities, and monstrosities create monsters.

Even though the underground passages of Seoul had already been thoroughly cleaned up once, the appearance of monsters was clear evidence that there was someone creating these monsters.

“Team 1! Two-minute break! Team 2, engage in 10 seconds!”

Xian shouted from near the center of the platform. While the mixed team of heroes and hunters known as Team 1 held back the swarm of monsters, the ability users of Team 2 from Death Dinass began to channel their magic power.

“They’re coming!”

The moment Yuna beside Xian gave the warning, wolves leapt out of the darkness and pounced on the group. Nuri and Ha Yujun jumped down onto the tracks to fight them head-on, while Raon on the platform above smashed any wolves trying to climb up with her spear.

“Sorry, Raon-nee!”

When Nuri, whose focus had slipped, failed to stop a passing monster, Raon hurled her spear at a monster trying to run up the stairs on the opposite platform.

Screech!

“Huff, huff!”

“Nice job!”

Since the initial attack of seventeen wolf monsters, both the quantity and quality of the monsters kept increasing. Just when it seemed tough to keep going with their current strength, the hunter who had first recharged their depleted magic power stepped onto the tracks.

“Hey, blondie! I’m going too!”

As the hunter temporarily assigned to Team 1 tried to step forward to support while calling out to Xian, Xian raised her hand to stop him and pointed to the area Team 1 was guarding.

“This side’s fine, so please block over there! We’ll be right there!”

Just as Xian finished speaking, the cry of a monster could be heard from Team 1’s direction. The hunters drew their various weapons and clashed with the monsters, while Team 2 panted heavily as they finished off the last of the monsters.

“As I said before, aim for the necks! That seems to be their weak point!”

“So how did you figure that out? Gah!”

While the members of Team 1 wondered how Xian had noticed the weak points of monsters they’d never seen before, the ability users swung their weapons at the charging wolf monsters with open jaws.

“Team 2, rest… No! Retreat to the platform!”

Xian, who had been about to order a magic power recharge, perked her ears and ordered Nuri and Ha Yujun to disengage. They immediately split left and right and ascended to the platform, while Xian jumped down onto the tracks.

“Yuna! Red ones!”

“Yes!”

Xian pulled out a gun from her coat pocket and caught the bullets Yuna threw her mid-air, quickly loading them. Glancing sideways, she confirmed that Nuri and Ha Yujun hadn’t yet recovered their expended magic power.

Grrr!

More wolves than before appeared at the end of the tracks. Just as Ha Yujun was about to rise to counterattack, Xian fired her gun faster.

BOOOOM!!

Brighter than the flare illuminating the platform, a dazzling light erupted from the gun’s muzzle. The bullet, roaring like thunder, swept away the wolf monsters like crimson meteors.

Swooshhh.

Xian immediately opened the chamber and discarded the magic-depleted bullet onto the floor. The heroes and hunters glanced sideways at Xian’s gun, but the monsters didn’t even give them that brief respite.

“Damn, they don’t even drop cores!”

Unlike regular monsters, those created by monstrosities don’t drop cores. Simultaneously products of pure evil designed solely to exterminate humanity and traitors who have forsaken humanity themselves, these monsters are nothing short of abominations.

“Uncle! Let’s just go capture them directly!”

“Yeah! How long are we gonna keep holding them off?”

As the prolonged battle wore on, complaints arose from both sides. Though Xian’s leadership was efficient without any unnecessary complications, the accumulating mental fatigue and desire to capture the monstrosity proved hard to resist.

“Gah! Whether we block or charge, it’s all the same—catching monsters!”

Finally, the complaints exploded. A C-Rank Hunter wearing a red scarf ran into the inner part of the underground passage.

“Hold it! Don’t… Damn it!”

Though Xian shouted loudly to stop him, it was futile. Instead, others who had been hesitating also sprinted toward the inner part of the underground passage, unwilling to be outdone.

What if this guy tries to grab the 100 billion won first? Xian had incentivized the hunters’ participation with money, but that action came back to bite her now.

“Damn.”

In the end, only Xian’s team remained on the platform of Daelim Station. Fortunately, they were given time to regroup, and Xian gathered her teammates to one side of the platform.

“Yuna, have the monstrosities’ signals been updated?”

“Yes. There are 19 except for one whose whereabouts are unknown.”

“They aren’t moving together. All of them are scattered.”

Xian confirmed the signals of the monstrosities on the map again.

Except for one remaining stationary in the南山 Tower, most were heading towards the outskirts of Seoul, and one among them was desperately trying to escape through Guro.

“It definitely seems like they’re moving underground.”

Each time Xian checked the route of the monstrosity moving through Guro, she became more confused. Though it seemed like it was fleeing, its unpredictable movements didn’t seem like they were happening on the surface. Could it be trying to escape via the subway tunnels? But the heroes had already taken their positions at each station long ago.

The reason Xian’s team had stationed themselves near a station in Guro was to capture any monstrosity that might try to escape through the underground. So far, they’d only ended up catching endless monsters.

“Xian, what if…”

Raon recalled being kidnapped.

“When I was abducted, that space wasn’t like a waiting room or an emergency shelter. It was definitely somewhere ‘expanded separately’ within the subway tunnels.”

“…Are the villains digging tunnels underground?”

“It’s not impossible.”

Ha Yujun supported Raon’s hypothesis while bandaging a scratch on his arm.

“There are ability users who can make underground bunkers, right? If villains can do it, why not? They used to live in Seoul too; they wouldn’t just squat at stations forever, would they?”

“Creating separate living spaces underground…?”

Xian nodded while staring beyond the subway tunnels. There were no signs of new monster creations for now. Xian tapped her magical gear and called Seok Harang, who was probably running around the entire Seoul area suppressing the flood of monsters.

Static. Static.

Perhaps due to being underground, the connection with Seok Harang wasn’t good.

“I need to contact central HQ.”

“Aren’t you just stirring up trouble unnecessarily? It’ll only cause more confusion.”

“And besides, think about it. If we discover it, our chances of catching the monstrosity increase, right? We save on capital too.”

Xian scratched her head in frustration and pointed inside the platform.

“Then let’s check it out. See if they’re really trying to escape through tunnels.”

Xian’s team carefully descended from the platform and moved further into the underground passage.

Meeooowww!

After Xian’s team left, a small black cat leisurely followed behind in the empty subway platform.

* * *

<At that moment,南山 Tower.>

“Haa, haa!”

The heroes panted heavily as they climbed the emergency staircase. It was good that they set out to catch the monstrosity that hadn’t moved from南山 Tower among the nineteen, but unexpectedly, the heroes had to climb the emergency staircase all the way to the top of the mountain.

It wasn’t on the lower floors. They meticulously searched the building in case it was hiding, but the monstrosity didn’t appear.

“We’re at the observatory level now!”

The leading hero shoulder-barged the door to the observatory level. A hunter supporting the nearly-fallen hero noticed a giant standing by the window and flinched.

“What, what is that?”

“Hey! Did you find it already?!”

“……”

The giant said nothing. As if its sole purpose was to gaze at Seoul, it silently took in the evening view of Seoul beyond the glass.

“Seoul is still beautiful.”

“Huh?”

Is he crazy? While the hero doubted the giant’s mental state, the hunter noticed something peculiar flowing from the giant’s eyes and drew his sword.

“It’s a monstrosity!”

Though he should have captured it alone to claim the 100 billion won, the hunter shouted to call for backup anyway. Those who were about to ascend to the upper floor all rushed to the observatory level where the hunter was, surrounding the giant.

Still turning his back to them, the giant continued to gaze at the scenery of Seoul, lost in melancholy.

“It’s been over five years since I’ve seen sunlight. Who would’ve thought I’d see it again like this?”

“……This voice?”

From the crowd surrounding the giant, Usa and Park Hyung-tae stepped forward, trembling. The giant also turned around as if recognizing Park Hyung-tae’s voice.

“Nice to see you, nice to see you. Is this the first since the Great Cataclysm?”

“…Damn it!”

Park Hyung-tae lifted his cane and instantly created a water arrow to shoot. The water arrow, filled with the full power of an A-Rank hero, had enough force to pierce steel plates, but upon hitting the giant’s body, it bounced off, hit the floor, and pierced through the glass.

“Hehe, it’s really nice to see you. …I just got tired of walking around, so I came up here.”

The man took out an old, torn bowler hat and placed it on his head. Park Hyung-tae gasped for breath and shouted into his magical gear.

“Evacuate immediately! Descend the mountain! Retreat from南山 Tower!”

“I was waiting to be killed because it was bothersome to go around killing people, and this is perfect!”

The giant slammed his fist into the ground.

Soon,南山 Tower began to shake.

* * *

Clunk clunk.

“Kyaaa?!”

A sudden earthquake startled Yuna, and the group crouched low in caution. Fortunately, it wasn’t strong enough to collapse the ground, and Xian released her left arm that had embraced Yuna and cleared her throat.

“Hmph. Looks like someone has discovered a monstrosity. Quite far away.”

Xian pressed her magical gear to receive information, but it was useless. They had descended deep enough into the subway tunnels that the communication wasn’t getting through. Upon hearing that other ability users had begun battling the monstrosity, Nuri stopped and asked Xian.

“Uncle, are you really planning to give 100 billion won if we catch a monstrosity?”

“…Why ask again?”

“Just feels like a promissory note. And maybe another slip of the tongue.”

Stopping his steps, Xian sighed deeply and made excuses.

“…Once I’ve said it, I have to keep my word. And this time, I want to leave a definite impression, so I’ll gain some real benefits from it. Specifically…”

Xian glanced at Yuna and declared.

“I’m planning to apply for guild registration based on this incident in Seoul. Seriously. Raon, are we almost there?”

“It seems we need to go a little further.”

“Then let’s talk while we move.”

Xian briefly mentioned using the funds Oracle left behind.

To leave a good impression across the country as a foreigner, I need a grand performance.

Since capturing the monstrosity might make all previous achievements null and void, this time I’ll stir up something big enough that no one can argue against it.

A man dispatched from another country contributing 2 trillion won for peace and security—Xian decided to take full advantage of the situation. Though it wasn’t his own money.

“So you’re drawing attention by throwing that money around for aggro?”

“…If it’s the monstrosities of Fenril, it’s worth it.”

Publicly, capturing a manager’s monstrosity doesn’t provide a way to use the tainted core, but Xian was different. Thinking about the future events, “research subjects” were insufficient at twenty. He didn’t explain the specific methods, but the group seemed to either accept—or pretend to accept—Xian’s words.

“So now we’re considering the possibility that Fenril’s monstrosities escaped to Seoul—”

“Here.”

Raon pointed at a brick hidden by the wall. When Yuna shone light on it, a color distinctly different from the surrounding walls caught their eye. Raon signaled to Ha Yujun, and the two inserted their hands into a small groove at the bottom of the wall.

Creak.

The heavy wall moved slightly. The narrow space barely wide enough for an adult male to squeeze through caused Ha Yujun to shake his head.

“I can’t get through this.”

“…Let’s be satisfied with finding it for now. Huff.”

Xian crouched down in front of the narrow cave that was too cramped to be a ventilation shaft. With four of them—Xian, Yuna, Raon, and Nuri—the width was sufficient to enter.

“Mr. Ha, please go up to the surface and contact central HQ. Check the subway tunnels thoroughly for secret passageways like this one. A monstrosity might escape through here.”

“Understood. …You’re actually going in there?”

Xian nodded while adjusting his coat as closely as possible to his body and crouched down. Just as he was about to enter, Raon and Nuri blocked his path.

“You don’t know what’s ahead, Uncle, what are you going to do?!?”

“We’ll take the lead. Isn’t that our role as vanguards?”

“Eh? Uh, yeah. Sure.”

Faced with Raon and Nuri’s firm determination, Xian reluctantly yielded his place to them. While Nuri and Raon argued over who should lead, Yuna quietly approached Xian and whispered in his ear.

“Please enter last, Mr. Xian.”

“Why?”

“In case anything happens, you need to be the first to run away.”

“…”

Though slightly offended, Xian couldn’t help but agree.

Excluding his gun, he himself was undeniably the weakest among the four, a fact he felt most painfully.

Ultimately, after a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, Nuri took the lead, followed by Raon, Yuna, and finally Xian crawling into the secret passage on all fours.