Chapter 285. City of the Abandoned (5)

The rogues of this place called themselves wild dogs. Abandoned yet choosing freedom, they were beasts that fed on corpses as punishment for that choice.

“Get him!”

Nine wild dogs lunged at a single man, so fast they were nearly invisible.

Clank!

A spiked flail swung wildly, aiming to crush the prey’s skull. A poisoned dagger sliced through the air, targeting the space between the brows. Twin blades, wielded by gaunt hands, carved toward his flanks. Sharp, saliva-dripping teeth snapped toward his throat.

“Here I come!”

Black, red, and blue flames surged upward above their heads.

The flames coalesced into a massive set of gnashing jaws, clamping open and shut. It was the embodiment of their will to devour the rare prey in a single bite and burn it to nothing.

“That’s an interesting skill,” Eun-Ho said.

“Are you surprised? Hahahaha!” one of them jeered.

The weapons in their hands were nothing more than tools. Their true weapons were the killing intent honed over centuries and the madness of those driven insane by hunger.

“Have you ever heard of madness beyond mere aura?!”

Abandoned, fleeing, and finally losing their sanity, their desires took form as ominous flames that sought to swallow their prey whole.

The sheer crushing weight of their hunger could freeze someone in place. Even brushing against it would set one ablaze with their desire, dragging the soul into an abyss of terror.

Crunch—

“We’ll enjoy this—”

Whoosh—

As those jaws descended upon their target, Lee Eun-Ho vanished.

“... meal!”

The enticing prey slipped through their ranks like a shadow.

Fwoooosh!

The jaws snapped shut on empty air.

Crack! Clang—

The wild dogs’ blades collided with each other instead, long after their target had disappeared.

“Where did that bastard go?!”

The starving beasts lifted their heads, searching for their vanished prey. They should have looked down.

Sssssss—

The ground was collapsing, and blood-red sand began swallowing them whole.

“What the hell? What’s wrong with the ground?!” one cursed.

“It’s a swamp! Move, now!”

Though in truth, realizing it sooner would not have changed anything.

“Where the hell are we supposed to run?!” The emaciated man with short-cropped hair looked around frantically, but all he saw was sinking sand. “Damn it! Why now of all times?!”

“Don’t tell me that bastard did this—”

“What! You think he’s a god? He can’t do things like this.”

The entire desert was sinking. It was less like a skill and more like a natural disaster.

“Keugh! I-I can’t breathe!”

Fsssssh—

The flaming jaws that had been gnashing moments ago sank helplessly into the sand. Like a deflated balloon, they lost all strength and collapsed.

“Ah.” A short distance away, Eun-Ho watched the scene, sighing quietly. He muttered, “Was that too much?”

“Wait! Keugh!”

Eun-Ho frowned slightly, tilting his head as if troubled. Yet, the corners of his lips lifted into a faint smile. “You guys are weaker than I expected.”

“What the hell is he saying! Urk!”

“You fu—aaaah!”

***

[The Plague Swamp has been activated!]

[Please designate the area!]

Eun-Ho had used the ability countless times. It came from the relic he had received from the Management Bureau director, one that the King of the Corrupted Desert had even upgraded for him.

[Area has been designated!]

[Remaining uses: 3/5]

As always, Eun-Ho flicked his finger and marked the zone that would turn into a mire, then waited.

However, an additional announcement followed.

[Your rank has increased.]

[Changes to rank are now being applied.]

Rank increased? Eun-Ho wondered.

Indeed, he had seen messages like that before.

[Congratulations!]

[You have absorbed the memory fragment left by a predecessor.]

[The predecessor’s will continues.]

[Your rank has slightly increased.]

It happened when Eun-Ho absorbed some kind of a memory orb of the curly-haired boy.

[Through a miraculous strategy that made the impossible possible, your rank has increased!]

Then, it happened again after he defeated the former chairman.

This is insane. So my increase in rank is not just a simple quicksand or swamp, but a disaster that rewrites the terrain itself, Eun-Ho thought.

Rumble—

The desert surged like a living thing. Like a tsunami, waves of sand swallowed the enemies whole, devouring them with ravenous hunger.

Sssssss—

Furthermore, the sand had changed. Eun-Ho knew it well because he had tasted it earlier. It had been dry to the point of lifelessness. Now, it clung with a thick and viscous texture, dragging everything into its depths.

The emaciated enemies, the massive body of the Abandoned Ridge, crumbling houses, and half-collapsed walls... Eun-Ho thought.

[The Plague Tempest has evolved.]

The skill used to be a swarm of black insects that surged forward like a gale, crawling across skin in a grotesque tide.

[Summoning Plague Vermin!]

The ground swelled upward, and a colossal shadow loomed over the mire. A gigantic serpent revealed itself.

“What the hell?!”

“He was a summoner?!”

Its head had no eyes nor nose but only a gaping maw. The creature stretched endlessly, lined with countless legs like a centipede. Then, from its back fluttered four wings, beating like those of a fly.

Kweeeeeek—!

The Plague Vermin spewed forth its bile. From its wide-open jaws poured an endless stream of dark green sludge and bloated insects. As the manifestation of plague spread in every direction, the desert itself lost its color.

“P-please! Urk!”

“S-save meeeee!”

That wasn’t all.

“D-don’t come any closer!”

“Fuck! Stay away!”

The massive creature moved, crushing and pulverizing everything in its path.

“Aaaaargh!”

Thud—!

It even slammed into a grinding mass of stone that had been trying to escape. The once-mighty mountain shattered as if it had never been sturdy to begin with.

A towering structure of rock collapsed. Following that, head-sized boulders, shoulder-sized slabs, massive chunks like thighs, and stones as wide as feet all came crashing down in a chaotic cascade.

“Wow,” said Eun-Ho.

A swamp powerful enough to overturn the desert, when paired with a summoning, appeared like something dragged straight out of hell.

The gnashing jaws the wild dogs had created were long gone without a trace. All that remained was a reversed food chain and the screams of the rogues who had finally realized their place.

I did this, but even I think it’s horrifying, Eun-Ho thought.

Still, horrifying or not was beside the point.

“W-we’ll do anything you say!”

“Please, forgive us!”

Only those ready to talk seemed to be left alive.

Letting out a small sigh, Eun-Ho stepped forward.

“Alright. I’m looking for a short-haired beauty or a dark-skinned man.” Eun-Ho said calmly, then glanced around at the survivors. “Who’s seen them? Show of hands?”

***

“Is that everything?” Eun-Ho asked.

“Y-yes... that’s all!” the bald man stammered.

His face was swollen blue and purple as he knelt, nodding frantically.

“So let me get this straight,” Eun-Ho said. “The company sends you slaves, and you throw them into fights to make money?”

“Y-yes, that’s right!”

“And the ones who escaped and survived... that’s you lot?”

“T-there are more groups besides us but not even a hundred, I reckon... Most of them got eaten—ah, n-no, I mean...”

Eun-Ho listened as they explained the fighting pits known as the arena, and about the City of the Abandoned.

“Anyway, there haven’t been any escapees recently,” the bald man added.

“Why not?” Eun-Ho asked.

“W-we’re not sure either, but there’s a rumor that the slave supply has dried up...”

Which meant the company had stopped sending them.

“Of course they did,” Eun-Ho said flatly.

“Huh?”

Because I took over that company, Eun-Ho thought.

“No need for you to worry about that,” he continued, “now hand it over.”

“Huh? Hand over what?”

“Everything you’ve got.”

The bald man’s bruised scalp trembled as his eyes went wide.

“Why?” Eun-Ho tilted his head. “You want another round of the plague?”

“N-no! Of course not! W-we’ll give you everything! H-here!”

“Put your underwear back on,” Eun-Ho said.

“Y-yes sir!”

The spoils he gathered were varied. At first glance, they looked like worn-out junk, but they weren’t.

[Runaway’s Turban]

- A turban woven from cloth imbued with the grudges of the abandoned.

- When the wearer holds their breath, their presence fades, making them difficult to detect.

This item was something that could, at least a little, fill the gap Yul had left behind.

[Gravity Snare]

- A trap developed by hunters specializing in large monsters.

- The binding strength increases in proportion to the target’s weight.

- The heavier the prey, the more completely it is immobilized.

- Maximum Capacity: 10 tons

It was the very snare he had once looped around the neck of the Abandoned Ridge, before the Plague Vermin smashed it apart and buried it in the mire.

[Starving Wild Dog Fluid]

- Grants a fleeting sense of fullness when consumed.

- Warning: When the effect ends, the user will experience overwhelming hunger that is so intense that it feels as though their stomach is tearing apart, their vision blurs, and their mind goes numb.

- Duration: 5 minutes

Then, there was a cursed concoction that delivered a truly horrific kind of hunger.

Rustle—

Eun-Ho wrapped the grimy turban around his head. Immediately, a foul stench stabbed into his nose. “Ugh.”

At the same time, his hands seemed to blur faintly like they were fading from sight.

“Friend!”

At that moment, the Crow came waddling over, having barely finished treating its injuries. It had splinted its wing using a wooden stick taken from the enemy, then wrapped it in relatively clean cloth.

Tilting its aching head, it searched for Eun-Ho. “I’ve more or less finished cleaning up. Hmm? Where did you go?”

“I’m right here,” Eun-Ho said.

Only then did the crow flap its broken wing in surprise. “Huh?!”

Not bad, Eun-Ho thought.

If anything, these items were quite useful.

Is this how they had managed to survive in such a brutal wasteland all this time?

“Hold on. I’m almost done,” Eun-Ho said.

The Crow glanced at the rogues kneeling in nothing but their underwear. “Very well. What will you do with them, Friend?”

“Y-you don’t have to worry about us!”

“Please just spare us! We swear we’ll never show our faces again!”

They had no weapons nor items and barely even clothes. With just skin and bones, they didn’t seem like much of a threat anymore.

“Let’s bury them,” Eun-Ho said.

“Eek?!”

Still, Eun-Ho had no intention of letting those who tried to eat him walk away unharmed.

“W-wait!”

“W-we gave you everything! Kyaaaah!”

“Stay buried for a while,” Eun-Ho said calmly. “If I remember later, I might dig you back out.”

Assuming you’re still alive by then.

“There’s that rock-head over there too, Friend!” pointed out the Crow.

“Oh, right.”

At the tip of the Crow’s beak lay a pile of collapsed stone.

“It really turned into a pile of rocks, didn’t it?”

“Looks like it,” Eun-Ho replied.

Tap.

The Crow pecked at a rock larger than itself, then spat. “Doesn’t look very tasty!”

Still, to think it had collapsed from a simple body slam by the Plague Vermin...

“What kind of Adamantine Body is that supposed to be?” Eun-Ho muttered.

As he bent down and picked up one of the scattered chunks, a window appeared.

[The Abandoned Ridge’s Index Finger]

- The index finger of the Abandoned Ridge. It’s excessively large, but incredibly sturdy.

- It seems possible to absorb it through processing.

“Hmm?”

No wonder the rock seemed oddly elongated. The blunt one beside it was a thumb, while the massive chunk next to that was probably a shin.

What the hell? But it’s not even a skeleton. No wait.

A thought flashed through his mind, and his eyes lit up as he scanned the scattered rocks.

This is exactly like those Skeletons I had rescued from Iro’s lab.

Back then, they had broken apart into skulls, shoulder bones, and the like.

If that was the case, it would work.

A grin slowly spread across Eun-Ho’s face as he stepped forward. “Hey, Rock-Head.”

The scattered chunks of stone didn’t move an inch.

“Quit playing dead and get up,” Eun-Ho said flatly.

“What is it, Friend?” the crow asked.

“Want me to bury you all the way down to the mantle?” Eun-Ho added.

The rock flinched.

“I saw that just now. Where’s your head? I’m thinking of wedging it between that bald guy’s legs I buried earlier.”

At that, the trembling stopped, and the Abandoned Ridge barely managed to open its eyes. “What. Why. What do you want?”

“Oh, there you are,” Eun-Ho said.

“I-I won’t eat you! Not you, not even that crow! I’ll give it up!” the Abandoned Ridge shouted.

“What are you talking about? I’m the one who’s going to eat you,” said Eun-Ho.

“Huh?”

“Hand over that Adamantine Body of yours.”

The stone head flinched and quivered.

- It seems possible to absorb it through processing.

“Go on,” Eun-Ho said. “Try that processing thing.”

He picked up a small stone to cover one of his fingers, then used a larger chunk to cover his entire right foot.

If I could strip the creature’s body apart and cover myself with it, what would happen then?

“You think anyone would carve up their own body to give it away?!”

It was a bit cruel, sure.

“But where’s that guy who was trying to eat me earlier?” Eun-Ho asked.

“That’s...”

“You’re huge,” Eun-Ho continued, “losing an arm or two won’t kill you, right?”

“Are you insane?! Just kill me instead!”

“You don’t think I can?”

“That’s right! You saw it yourself just now! I can’t be killed no matter what!”

Eun-Ho smirked faintly. “One of my teammates is a very capable researcher. He developed a special kind of cement. Perfect for the likes of you, who won’t die. Pour it over, and you’ll stay sealed for a thousand years or ten thousand.”

The already rigid stone seemed to stiffen even further.

“Cooperate,” Eun-Ho said. “I’ll at least leave your head intact.”

“Who the hell do you think you’re threatening?!”

Eun-Ho could threaten properly if he wanted to, but he just didn’t have time to argue. “I already heard about the path, so that’s enough. Now get in there for a bit.”

“What? Where are you—”

“Summon.”

Fwoosh—!

A metal door materialized in the middle of the desert. Eun-Ho opened the door behind, in which his adorable Skeletons were waiting. Sure enough, the moment the door clicked open, a cluster of Skeletons rushed out.

“Commander!”

“Is it finally time?!”

“Preparations are complete. Where is the enemy?” The assistant instructor grimly stood among them, brandishing his sword raised. “Hm? This is—”

“Take it,” Eun-Ho said.

“Is this a remnant of the former chairman? Should I destroy it?”

“No, not that. It’s training material. It’ll assemble itself, so just train it.”

“What? What do you me—”

Ignoring the confused assistant instructor, Eun-Ho called out to the one peeking from the back, “Hey. Number Ten.”

“Yes, Commander!”

“You’ve had it rough as the youngest, haven’t you?”

“Pardon? N-not at all! I’m ready to devote myself completely for you, Master, and my seniors!”

“Good. That’s exactly the spirit I need.” Then, Eun-Ho pointed at the pile of stones. “That’s your junior.”

Number Ten’s empty eye sockets widened. “Huh?!”

“Make it just like you.”

At the same time, the Abandoned Ridge’s own eye sockets seemed to sink in. “W-wait! Hey! Where are you taking me?!”

“Somewhere nice,” Eun-Ho replied.

“No, I... Hey! Stop! Come on!”

“There’s plenty to eat there. So just go hunt for yourself,” Eun-Ho added.

“Put me down, you bastard!”

Clang—! Thud!

Dozens or even hundreds of stone fragments trembled violently with rage. However, that was as far as it got, unless one had the courage to withstand the gleaming fire in the Skeletons’ eyes.

Crack—

Skeleton Knights grabbed hold of the stones, tightening their grip.

“Heh heh heh.”

“A rather lacking recruit.”

“It will need a lot of training.”

***

Far from the enraged Skeletons and furious pile of rocks stood the Arena.

Behind the overseers’ warehouse, between nearly collapsed abandoned buildings, two men sat crouched low. One wore a black turban and the other had a baseball cap pulled deep over his face.

“The chairman changed?!” the turbaned man asked.

“Shh!”

“Is that true?!”

“Yeah! Have you ever seen me make shit up?”

The one in the cap waved away the smoke drifting from his nose and mouth. “You remember that guy who used to handle food supplies for the Arena?”

“The pig?”

“Yeah, him. That bastard’s hometown senior has some serious pull in Sector Four. Apparently he overheard the shareholders talking.”

If it came from the shareholders, then it was probably true. Even if it wasn’t, rumors that managed to drift all the way out here were usually based in fact. After all, the people of the City of the Abandoned only heard anything when the entire universe shouted it in unison.

Damn.

Their lives had always been like candles in the wind. However, this was different. It was not a bureau director nor some executive. The chairman who created this city and buried it deep within shadows had fallen.

The man in the black turban licked his dry lips. “What do you think is going to happen to this place?”

The question pressed down hard. Anxiety wrapped all around him. No one could answer it with certainty.

Whoooosh—

However, they at least knew one thing.

“Blood will blow through this city like the wind.”

They all knew that the world had changed, and that change would swallow the City of the Abandoned as well.