Chapter 581. Eventually (2)

I'll have to pour one opportunity into this. In the beginning, we just need to buy enough time for people to escape to the shelters.

The sorceress opened her mouth and chanted an incantation.

—Flash!

Just as the blue flames Jeong Haseong had unleashed were beginning to subside, this spell was activated at the precise moment.

“I thought this when I saw it in the cave before, but...”

“Mmm?”

“As expected, the summon called forth by that book looks like a mollusk. Especially the way it moves.”

“By any chance, do you find things like octopus gross, Haseong-ssi? Or is your expression so bad because of the memories of what happened before?”

Wriggle.

For the record, this was a phenomenon created by magic, so it didn’t make a separate sound. However, just as the national hero had evaluated, a mass of light that significantly resembled a cephalopod burst onto the road.

—Whoosh!

The Legendary-rank artifact, the Book of Annihilation, could forcibly drive an opponent to the point of 'Mana Exhaustion' if the incantation was recited correctly.

—Flutter, flutter.

That must be why the beast caught in the tentacles was struggling so violently, clearly hating it.

“Mmm.”

Esther narrowed her eyes and scanned the air. A few seconds later. She finished her judgment and spoke firmly.

“It seems to be having some effect, but as expected, even the [Book of Annihilation] can’t deal significant damage.”

The very fact that the target was struggling like that was proof that they hadn’t managed to drain much of the opponent’s strength. They had no choice but to approach the situation in a different way now.

‘Come to think of it, there was something Hunter Kim told us before the battle.’

For the record, a certain alien mage had predicted to some extent that the situation would turn out like this. Furthermore, since he had been an authority on [Weapon Golem Studies] in his past life, the alien had taken this opportunity to inform the Earthlings of a common weakness of monsters with certain attributes...

—Whoosh!

Unlike typical Alphaurians, Kim Giryeo did not hesitate to share precious information when it came to a critical moment. The identity of the golem's weakness he had tipped off to humanity was none other than subtly applied heat.

‘He said if it looks hard, there’s a high probability this will work!’

Since fire rarely occurred naturally on Alphauri, the adhesives or materials used there were often weak to prolonged high temperatures. Moreover, the Archmage who had appeared on Earth had hastily assembled various golems under the pretext of conserving mana. The joints of the winged beast already lacked durability to begin with.

“I'll ask you to cover me from now on.”

“Of course!”

“If I'm focused on using a skill, I won't be able to react easily even if something flies at me from the surroundings—”

By the way, for some reason, there had been a faint smell of espresso in the street for a while now. Jeong Haseong found this strange for a few seconds before quickly turning his thoughts back to the more important matter.

‘Can we really do well as Hunter Kim instructed?’

Though worry came first, there was only one option. Jeong Haseong generated as much heat as possible and attacked the monster again.

—KABOOM!

Sensing an abnormality in its body, the golem flapped its wings and tried to move quickly away from the spot. The human psychics didn’t stop and continued to press the beast.

“The Neo Sisters’ Ace Team has also just arrived!”

“Choi Jin-ssi too! They say she set up on top of a nearby building as soon as the coordinates were pinpointed!”

“Tell Choi Jin-ssi to maintain the temperature immediately!”

The natives of Earth are infinitely lacking in the evolutionary stages required for Alphaurins to switch into. However, because external factors had applied stress and urged them along, a certain level of growth had already been achieved.

“Oh! By the way, the wing movements are quite… It seems like they’re being restricted even by A-rank skills…”

The fangs developed by humanity were actually capable of wounding even ancient magic. A scene soon unfolded that looked as if a scientist who had treated test subjects recklessly was now being attacked by a creation that had grown stronger than expected.

“Ah! No! The [Binding] is already broken. Tell all the support teams on the buildings to run!”

“Yes, Hunter Esther!”

However, separate from achieving brilliant growth. The thing that appeared on the street was a powerful foe that far surpassed existing S-ranks. Explosion skills. Or the use of artifacts, and so on. The hunters gathered at the spot tried various things after that, but they failed to inflict proper damage on the monster before them.

‘*It won’t even budge.*’

For now, there was no answer other than buying time and accumulating heat damage. Jeong Haseong broke into a cold sweat as he sensed a difficult future. At that moment, what came to his mind was the small number of S-rank hunters in South Korea. Of course, thanks to the small population, it seemed only one monster had been drawn here, but…

‘*For now, Hunter Kim Giryeo is handling the dangerous area alone.*’

Still, asking just two S-ranks to resolve this situation was a bit too much.

‘*Kang Changho. Is that unpleasant man performing his duties well right now?*’

*Mutter, mutter.*

‘*Recalling what Hunter Kim Giryeo briefed us on a few days ago, he’s supposed to have gone near the artificial island as an assistant…*’

A fleeting moment. A grumbling sound flows from within someone.

‘*Dammit. If only our country had just one more S-rank hunter!*’

Jeong Haseong blamed the hunter who was late to deploy for a long while before quickly turning his thoughts elsewhere.

‘*Especially now, the absence of a powerful [Wind] attribute Awakened is so regrettable.*’

If asked why he came to desire a specific attribute and nothing else, the reason was simple.

*Swoooosh.*

The current situation required restraining that monster with several eyes in a limited space as much as possible. It was only because there were skilled hunters around that they could maintain a confrontation without casualties. A weak Awakened would have no way to avoid the area-of-effect attacks created by the heavy enemy. However, psychic powers that called forth wind happened to be ones that could ‘create great pushing force even with small amounts of mana.’

‘*As expected, there’s nothing like those skills for stopping a monster in the city center.*’

Jeong Haseong expressed his regret.

‘*Should I try to deal with it by gathering even low-rank wind power as a makeshift measure? It’ll be hard to tie its feet down with only [Telekinesis] skills.*’

However, no matter how much he furrowed the bridge of his nose, reality did not change. Due to the environmental characteristics of the planet Earth, the most common miracle manifested here was [Pyrokinesis]. Atmospheric attribute skills, possessed by individuals like Seonwoo Yeon, were paradoxically far removed from intense imagery, making it difficult for humans to awaken them naturally.

Consequently, the population of S-rank wind masters here was limited. Even searching the entire world, examples of Awakened who perfectly fit the category were, at most…

***

“Watch out!”

They hadn’t expected it to be this strong since it looked so delicate, but as expected, it simply couldn’t be restrained. The white magical beast that had appeared tore apart the [Binding] the Japanese hunters had attempted. And it charged bodily toward the lead hunter in charge of the field. In other words, toward Moritake Ito.

‘*Gasp.*’

If he took that hit directly, it was certain his body would be pulverized. He had to avoid it somehow.

‘*Dammit!*’

Moritake Ito, who had set out to evade, immediately regretted his previous choice. He had rolled on the ground, expecting the enemy to move in a straight line. However, the monster that was approaching veered to the left and followed its target exactly. At a speed faster than expected, the Japanese hunter froze, unable to even let out a proper groan.

—*Whirrrrrrr.*

But it was what happened immediately after. The fire attribute Awakened named Ito had originally tried not to close his eyes. Naturally, in a situation facing an enemy, it was better to maintain visibility somehow.

“Ugh!”

However, from a certain moment, a massive gust of wind blew from his side. He couldn’t help but squint his eyes.

—*KABOOM!*

Even if it was winter, for such a sudden wind to arise…

‘*Wind power strong enough to momentarily push back a giant monster?*’

Earth was a planet that had not yet developed mage-scientifically. Fundamentally, there were very few atmospheric attribute mages here who could produce great power instantaneously.

“This is perhaps… Ah! As expected!”

The identity of the person who used the technique quickly became clear.

“My goodness.”

*Crunch.*

Amidst the bleak noise unique to the season, someone was walking incessantly. For the record, the current time was clearly winter. Furthermore, the place where the monster had stopped was in the eastern region of this nation. Since certain regions of Japan accumulate an enormous amount of snow every winter, the Awakened who had just revealed himself had to struggle through heavy snow that completely covered his ankles.

*Crunch.*

*Crunch.*

Soon, a specific image was reflected to the people. An ivory-colored short puffer jacket. Slightly long hair. And a green wool scarf, and so on.

“Ranker Iori!”

Whatever the clothes he wore, his face was familiar. However, the reason the named psychic’s expression was stiff was not actually because of the bad weather.

“Uh, that guy… He said he was going to stay cooped up in another region and just pretend to work.”

“Shh, watch your mouth!”

The mysterious winged monster that had appeared was a powerful foe that dealt heavy wounds with just a graze. In other words, even if they somehow got through the immediate crisis, threats to their lives would appear continuously hereafter. And yet, to have to come to the front lines like this just because he was an S-rank…

“—I cannot understand Kim Giryeo-ssi of South Korea.”

The psychic who manipulated the atmosphere spoke.

“Come to think of it, some foreign Awakened declared they would only move in after Kim Giryeo-ssi collapses on the artificial island.”

“Th-that’s, well... that ranker told other people not to come in the first place...”

“This is an attitude that treats that Korean ranker purely as a test subject.”

While A-rank Awakened in the distance were hurriedly attempting a second restraint of the beast. lori spoke with a scowl.

“There's so much trash in the world, so for what purpose did that Korean take on such a dangerous duty?”

Yet, while expressing his opinion aggressively.

“Truly, I’ve thought this for a long time, but that ranker is a saint I really cannot understand.”

The S-rank named lori had actually been keeping a person close to his side for a while now.

—Tight.

The young man was supporting an elderly person. In fact, he had discovered a resident of Hokkaido who had failed to evacuate from the snowfield and had been protecting them thoroughly ever since.