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93. Start of a Catastrophe
The overboss of the radical faction, Zekil, had commanded Dark Lady to detonate the dungeon portals.
At his command, Dark Lady detonated 8 portals spread throughout the nation by condensing the leftover mana in the portals.
However, almost as if the heavens above were helping them, 3 additional portals also blew up at the same time.
They were Awakened as well. All they needed were texts from the association to confirm it.
On top of that, they had confirmed with the president of the association as well.
Zekill called in both Dark Lady and Piero.
The radical faction had already lost two leaders.
There was a need for Zekill to see through this carefully.
Any additional losses in his forces or interruptions to the plan would seriously hinder them through the long run.
The leaders gathered, and Zekill opened his mouth.
“Dark Lady. I heard that you prepared 8 locations for the project.”
“Yes. That’s correct, sir Zekill.”
“However, you already know that 11 portals exploded. What happened?”
“Yes. The two nearby Incheon Wolmi-do and the one near Gapyeong Calbongsan weren’t prepared by me.”
“Is that so? Hm……”
At her answer, Zekill looked at Piero while speaking.
As Joker’s underling, he had risen as the new leader.
There was a chance that he was behind this.
“Piero. Did you do this?”
“No, sir Zekill.”
“…….”
“I gave all my efforts to assist Dark Lady with the 8 portals.”
“Then why did 3 additional portals….”
“Sir Zekill. At this current situation, we can only hope that the heavens above are helping us.”
Dark Lady declared it so.
However, Zekill was quite doubtful of the current situation.
That was to be expected, since Korea was about to become a massive warzone due to the portals.
Once Korea was expelled from the international organization, it would become the headquarters of the radical faction.
But for some unknown reason, portals beyond level 32 were exploding here.
If it was a natural portal explosion, there wasn’t much need for concern.
With his strength, he could stop 2 to 3 portals without much concern.
What he was worried about was that it was done by other factions.
Since it was timed perfectly with their movements, he theorized that there were spies within his faction.
However, he did not worry for long.
He tried to think of it as the heavens above assisting them.
Joker and Ghost.
He already had lost a massive amount of his fighting forces.
Due to them, the plan had met a huge obstacle.
He could no longer stand still.
Organizing his thoughts, Zekill opened his mouth once more.
“Blowing up at the same time, almost as if promised…. Dark Lady.”
“Yes, sir Zekill.”
“Follow this trail to Wolmi-do.”
“What do you mean…”
“You would already know that if it was an artificial explosion, evidences of that would be left around the portal.”
“…..”
“The dice has already been cast. Soon, this nation will receive a hit that it cannot recover from. What I worry is that others not of our faction has detonated the portals, and wish for a world different from our goal.”
“Understood, sir Zekill. I shall head to Wolmi-do to check on the situation.”
“Good. Piero, you shall….”
“I shall head to Gapyeong, sir Zekill.”
“Good. If you find something, report to me immediately.”
“Yes, sir Zekill.”
“Yes, understood.”
“One more thing!”
Zekill paused for moment.
At this, Dark Lady and Piero swallowed their saliva in anticipation.
It didn’t take long for him to speak again.
“Those who are heading to Incheon and Gapyeong to defend against the portal explosions, such as the Awakened of the association….”
“…..”
“…..”
“Annihilate them all.”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
With the explosion of the portals, Zekill planned to announce themselves to the world.
The strength of the faction that hid for so long would be shown to the world, and the nation that would become powerless in their wake would be dominated under them.
The future of the nation would become uncertain with portal explosions of such scale.
And if Zekill and his leaders could get in the way of the defense, the nation would end in ruins.
Finishing his commands, he headed to Busan using Warp.
After his departure, Dark Lady summoned all of her lackeys.
Piero was to head to Seoul and prepare his troop to depart.
In front of 500 members or so, Dark Lady spoke.
“The day has come.”
With just a single phrase from her, a cheer enough to shake the ground poured out.
“Yeah!”
“Woo!”
When Dark Lady raised her hand, everyone became quiet at once, focusing on her words.
“We shall follow his orders and head to Wolmi-do.”
“…..”
“And we shall annihilate all the dogs of the association and government as they try to defend against us!”
The sounds of a warcry rang once more.
Letting the vice leader take command of her troops, she headed for Wolmi-do.
However, she did not know at the time, Min-Cheol was also heading towards the exploded portal in Incheon.
****
Jong Ho prepared to head to Changwon as Min-Cheol had asked him to.
It was one of the 11 portals that had detonated.
Thankfully, it was a level 30 portal.
Jong Ho checked the GPS information the association sent.
Warp would not work unless the caster had previously visited the target location.
That’s why it wasn’t possible to directly Warp to the exact location of the portal’s explosion.
“I guess this is the closest I can get to?”
When he worked as a manager for the Awakened, he had traveled all around the nation.
Trying to remember the past, he was trying to use Warp to the closest location of the explosion.
Thankfully, he remembered that he had once visited Changwon Daesan before.
The location wasn’t far from the explosion.
It was a while ago since Min-Cheol had left for Incheon.
Next to Jong Ho was Ho Jin, who was in the middle of a call with commander Yoon Jong-sun.
“Commander. It’s Ho Jin.”
“Yes. What is the occasion?”
“There’s a few things I needed to inform you, so I called.”
“As you are already aware, the situation is chaotic due to the portal explosions……”
“I was with Mr. Min-Cheol until a moment ago.”
Due to the call coming in at a hectic moment, it was true that he wanted to end the call quickly.
However, the commander had heard the name Min-Cheol from him.
Understanding that this was a crucial matter, he urged Ho Jin to continue.
“Yes. What did he say? Did he decide to stand with us?”
“Yes. Min-Cheol has left for Incheon, where two portals have exploded. Also, a powerful Awakened is heading for Changwon.”
“Does that mean….”
“Yes. It means that you do not have to use up manpower on those two locations.”
“I understand. Where will you head to then?”
“For now, I shall head to where you are at.”
“Alright.”
“Where are you heading towards right now?”
Assuming that the call would become lengthy, Jong Ho tapped Ho Jin’s shoulders and spoke.
“Hyung-nim, I’ll be going first.”
Instead of answering, Ho Jin held Jong Ho’s hand tightly and nodded.
Even with that small gesture, Jong Ho was moved.
He nodded his head as well and used Warp.
Daesan, the place where he arrived at, was in chaos.
-SCREEECH!
-BOOM!
“AHHHH!”
“You’re all crazy! Beat it!”
“Stop it! You piece of shit!”
“……”
With the information that the portals have exploded came disorder.
People poured out in droves to escape the monster threat.
Part of the city were in flames.
Citizens had attacked the stores to raid food due to the fact that no one knew how long this would last.
On the roads, cars were bunched together like crumpled paper, people screaming and blasting their horns at one another.
Blankly looking at this view unfold before him, Jong Ho sighed.
“Ha……”
The selfishness of people were evident as they only cared for their own lives.
To be fair, it would be strange if that wasn’t the case.
Leaving the scene behind, he quickly moved towards where the GPS was pointing at.
****
The portal was shaking fiercely.
It was almost as if the portal was ready to explode at any given time.
No one from the association had arrived yet.
However, there was one female standing in front of the portal.
She had short hair that barely peeked from her helmet.
Her body was petite to the point that the staff she was carrying seemed like a burden.
Furthermore, she was quite short.
Approaching her, Jong Ho confirmed her identity and couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Woah! You, you are….”
She had a childish face of someone who was in her early 20s.
Without much concern of how Jong Ho reacted, she looked at him from top to bottom and opened her mouth.
“It doesn’t seem like you’re from the association. Are you a local Awakened?”
To her question, he quickly cleared his dazed expression and answered.
It was a reaction akin to meeting a celebrity that one respected.
“Cough! Yes! That’s right. But perhaps are you…”
“I think you’ve reported to the the wrong location. This is a level 30 portal. Only magic attacks work here.”
“You’re Choi… Choi So-Hyeon, right?”
“I don’t think that’s very important in this situation?”
“It’s an honor to meet you in person.”
“Whew….”
Looking at the man who didn’t seem to understand what she was saying, she shook her head.
She even let out a long sigh.
The one guarding this place was Choi So-Hyeon.
The first person in the world to clear a level 28 dungeon.
She was not part of the association, so she had no reason to respond to this portal explosion.
She wasn’t even part of a guild, acting only on her benefit as she took down monsters.
However, here she was, defending against the portal.
Jong Ho looked at her with respect in his eyes and understood that the future of the nation really did hang on the outcome of this crisis.
The ring that Jong Ho was wearing, Balrock’s Treasure Storage, had many of Min-Cheol’s magic stored within.
In simple words, it meant that he would not lose in terms of combat power against the ranker Choi So-Hyeon.
No. Without a doubt, he possessed power easily far beyond her.
Jong Ho spoke.
“I am aware that physical attacks don’t work.”
“So you knew that and you still headed here? Do you plan to die a dog’s death?”
“Pfft. No.”
Choi So-Hyeon couldn’t understand why he laughed.
It was hard to tell if he really was sane.
Jong Ho, who had come here, was equipped with swords in each hand and armor that she couldn’t name. With his appearance, she was sure that he was a warrior class Awakened.
Scratching her chin, she asked.
“A tanker? Are you here to at least receive the attacks of the monsters? If that’s the case, turn around immediately. I’m not sure why you’ve come here, but it’s a level 30 portal. This is an opponent that even I will struggle against.”
It was then. The portal shook even more.
Since it was a level 30 portal, there weren’t that many monsters.
Previously, Min-Cheol skipped the dungeon due to the experience and the amount of monsters being few.
Jong Ho and So-Hyeon both looked towards the portal at the same time.
Almost as if waiting for their gaze, the portal began to spew out monsters one by one.
“Grrrrrr!”
“Woof! Grrrr!”
Almost as if protecting Jong Ho, Choi So-Hyeon put him behind her.
Condensing a skill with her staff and one free hand, she spoke.
“Stand back!”
-CRASH!
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