Chapter 179: Great Invasion (4)

One against ten million.

Person123’s 72-hour live battle was being broadcast across the entire world, and countless people were flocking to the rift in Gangneung.

“Do not come any closer! This is a military operations zone!”

The scene was already in chaos from the endless crowds.

It was only natural, since Person123 himself had appeared in reality and was fighting there.

The military had set up temporary barricades around the barrier and was controlling people’s access.

Even so, the soldiers themselves were visibly tense as they kept glancing beyond the barrier.

Person123 still looked perfectly fine, but the military could not avoid preparing for the possibility, however slight, that he might be overwhelmed. That was their role.

Of course, every monster died as soon as it came out of the rift, so not a single one had even managed to approach the barrier so far.

Meanwhile, Kim Seo-hyeon’s family had also come to the scene in person.

“Seo-hyeon...”

Kim Seo-hyeon, who had suddenly headed straight for the rift in Gangneung, had once again made a choice to save countless lives.

After urging the Climbers to vote and having the rift in Gangneung opened, he was fighting alone while carrying everything on his shoulders.

Kim Seo-hyeon had told them not to come to Gangneung under any circumstances, but as his family, they still had no choice but to come. Because Kim Seo-hyeon was here.

However, they could not even see Kim Seo-hyeon struggling beyond the barrier because the crowd and the military blocked their view, so they had no choice but to watch the broadcast on their phones.

It was currently the 48-hour mark.

The monsters pouring out, and Kim Seo-hyeon fighting among them as light flashed around him.

His family, too, had never directly seen him fight until now.

“I-Isn’t that black tiger the one my brother summoned? Why does it keep sitting around doing nothing instead of helping?”

Kim Seo-ah stamped her feet anxiously as she watched the broadcast.

Plli had been ordered to deal only with any monsters Kim Seo-hyeon might miss, but since Kim Seo-hyeon was not missing any, it was simply sitting there wagging its tail.

Other people marveled at and stood in awe of Person123’s overwhelming power, but his family could only watch with worry.

“...”

Meanwhile, there was also someone lingering near Kim Seo-hyeon’s family.

It was Ye Cheon-wi, who had flown all the way from China as soon as the rift in Gangneung opened.

When the Great Invasion began, Ye Cheon-wi had luckily been in Qingdao, which was included within Battlefield 3.

He had come to Gangneung early in order to watch Person123’s battle in person, and also to help if any unexpected variable arose.

Then he happened to spot the familiar face of Kim Seo-ah.

He had no choice but to immediately realize that the three people were Kim Seo-hyeon’s family.

Originally, Ye Cheon-wi had planned to join the believers of the Church of Person123 praying off to one side and pray together with them, but a far more important mission had arisen.

He was now circling around Kim Seo-hyeon’s family without drawing attention, guarding them.

'There are far too many people...'

It would be better for their safety if they stayed somewhere less crowded.

While keeping an eye on Kim Seo-hyeon’s family, Ye Cheon-wi also glanced repeatedly at the battle.

Of course, he had not the slightest doubt that Kim Seo-hyeon would deal with all ten million monsters.

All he had to do was make sure that nothing threatened the safety of that person’s family until the Great Invasion ended.

Meanwhile, Taylor in America.

She was watching the situation in Gangneung while resenting the fact that she could not go to South Korea herself.

“He really is a monster...”

The director of the U.S. Climber Bureau, who was watching alongside her, muttered as he looked at Person123, who was still fighting without showing even the slightest sign of exhaustion after 48 hours.

America had always been serious about understanding Person123’s data.

Of course, it was not because they viewed humanity’s savior as a threat.

No, no one knew what the future held, so it could not be said that such considerations were completely nonexistent, but separately from that, it was only natural to gather information on the most important person in the world at present.

But ever since the Nightmare Floor 8 clear, Person123 had displayed so many absurd miracles in succession that trying to assess his capabilities had become nearly meaningless.

Even now, while watching Person123’s battle directly, the director once again felt that it was all meaningless.

Including that enormous golden barrier surrounding the rift, Person123 was endlessly using skills of tremendous power that seemed to be at least Epic-grade.

And he had not even used the wide-area technique that Climbers had testified could freeze an entire area during the North Korea incident and the Joint Battle.

He still did not appear to be showing anything close to his full power.

...Just how in the world were they supposed to measure that man’s limits?

The only new information America had been able to learn about Person123 from this battle was that his stamina and Willpower were effectively inexhaustible. Enough for him to fight for days without rest.

There were now 24 hours remaining until the end.

It was still too early to celebrate, but at this rate, he would succeed.

Taylor also watched the screen with a tense expression.

'Please, keep going...'

She firmly believed as well.

That Person123 would end the Great Invasion exactly as he had promised, without a single human casualty.

Time continued to pass...

And finally, only 10 minutes remained until the Great Invasion ended.

[Cola: Wow, it’s really almost over now]

[Yamada; How the hell can he fight for three whole days without sleeping even once...! He really is no different from a transcendent being]

[Beetle: Fuck, how does this even make sense lol He really killed all ten million by himself hahahahaha]

[Wind: Everyone hurry up and pray toward South Korea. This is the final all-out cheer]

[12OClock: Yeah, I was already doing that]

[Brilliant: Keep going, Person123! You’re finally almost there!]

The people who thought it was over at this point were already half in a festive mood.

The civilians and soldiers at the scene were also watching with faces full of hope and joy.

But it was when only the final 3 minutes remained.

CRACK-

[Disaster: ? Fuck, what is that? Why is it doing that?]

[Vodka: Emergency! The rift is getting bigger!]

Along with the chilling sound of space tearing apart.

The rift began splitting open even wider.

***

I killed monsters and killed monsters and killed monsters...

As day and night changed several times, I kept fighting.

I had trained far harder than this countless times in the Mental World, so honestly, it was not particularly difficult. Mentally, either.

For nearly 72 hours, I had spawn-killed every monster that came out of the rift.

And finally, the end was in sight.

[Nightmare]

Participants: 1,473,610

Time Limit: 8 years 334 days 12 hours 5 minutes 36 seconds

Highest Floor Reached: 17

The time when the Great Invasion began had been 8 years 337 days 12 hours 2 minutes 10 seconds.

Now there were about 3 minutes left.

I was still dealing with the monsters without letting my guard down until the very end when...

“...?”

What?

I wiped out the small fry with Elemental Arrow Barrage and looked at the rift.

The monsters had suddenly stopped coming out as though someone had turned off a faucet.

'There are still 3 minutes left?'

Just as I found it strange.

CRACK-

The rift suddenly began splitting open even wider.

I watched the sight with startled eyes.

The crack in the rift stretched vertically upward without stopping...

“...!”

It even shattered the Cradle of Light I had deployed and continued stretching into the sky.

It shattered in an instant, so I could not even restore its durability with Willpower.

Screams rang out from all around. The entire area descended into chaos.

I cursed inwardly.

Fuck, I knew it was ending way too smoothly.

The rift only stopped after stretching higher than a high-rise building, reaching nearly several hundred meters into the sky.

The vertically elongated rift then split horizontally through the middle.

A colossal rift split into the shape of a cross.

Then space opened in all four directions as though a surface were being unfolded.

I thought I knew what was about to happen.

'All the remaining ones are going to come out at once.'

Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands.

They would all pour out of that colossal rift at once.

Of course, dealing with them would not be a problem, but...

The people around me were the problem.

The one fortunate thing was that the rift had expanded upward into the sky, so the people were not directly caught in it.

But even I could not cover that entire enormous area while protecting everyone.

Not in my current state.

'I’ll have to use it.'

I had wanted to finish this without using it if possible because I did not want to waste time waiting for the cooldown.

I stopped time and began Mental Concentration.

My level had risen a lot too, and at this point, it felt like my body might be able to endure using the Demon King’s power even without Radiant Incarnation...

But I was not certain. It was a little ambiguous.

I could not gamble with people’s lives, so I decided to use Radiant Incarnation.

FWAAAAASH!

The moment I finished Mental Concentration and used Radiant Incarnation.

RUMBLEEEEE...!

Immediately afterward, a number of monsters beyond imagination poured out of the rift all at once.

A truly massive army of hundreds of thousands of monsters.

Then I’ll leave it to you.

I handed my body over to the Demon King.

'You can’t let even one person die.'

The Demon King snorted as he took control and shot upward.

He stretched out a hand toward the army of hundreds of thousands of monsters.

An immense cold endlessly compressed, then covered the entire rift.

A pure white light flashed.

***

Even the barrier Person123 had deployed shattered apart, and the rift stretched endlessly into the sky.

Everyone watching was stunned.

“T-The barrier has been destroyed! The rift is getting... getting even bigger...!”

The reporter covering the scene spoke in a trembling voice, having fallen into panic.

People screamed. The crowd surged away from the rift in the opposite direction.

“Aaaah...!”

Kim Seo-hyeon’s family was swept up in the wave as well.

As they were being pushed along in confusion, someone stood behind the three of them and held back the people surging toward them.

“This way.”

It was Ye Cheon-wi.

He protected Kim Seo-hyeon’s family as he moved them to one side.

Kim Seo-ah recognized his face and looked startled, then turned back toward the rift with trembling eyes.

“M-My brother is over there...!”

“He will be all right.”

But even Ye Cheon-wi could not hide his rigid expression as he said it.

The area around the rift in Gangneung turned into utter chaos in an instant.

“...Everyone, get a grip! Hold formation!”

The soldiers also stared at the rift, terrified.

At the sight that followed, someone let out an involuntary gasp.

“Ah...”

A colossal rift covered an entire section of the sky.

Monsters poured out of it.

The number was beyond imagination, incomparable to anything before.

It’s all over.

Someone naturally thought that.

And then it happened.

A single beam of light rose from the place where Person123 had been.

The next moment.

FLASH-!!

The entire world was dyed white.

The people who had been running away in panic all stopped at once.

Feeling an eerie chill, everyone looked toward the rift.

“...?”

Someone blankly stretched out a hand on reflex.

A single drifting ice crystal landed on their palm and gently melted away.

The monsters that had come out of the rift were nowhere to be seen.

Only finely shattered ice crystals were falling like snow.

[The ‘Great Invasion’ has ended.]

Everyone looked upward.

Amid the swirling snowstorm, a single point of light floated in the sky.

“...Ahhh.”

One believer of the Church of Person123 fell to their knees with tears of emotion streaming down their face.

“God... He is our god...”

One by one, the other believers followed, all kneeling and bowing toward the light.

A quiet silence descended.

Kim Seo-hyeon’s family also stared blankly at the light, unable to look away, while Ye Cheon-wi gave a faint smile.

...WAAAAAAAAAH!

Soon, thunderous cheers erupted.

All the civilians shouted Person123’s name in wild excitement.