Thousands of demon beasts filled the street.
The uncountable number of demon beasts was like a beehive. They ran wild in the middle of a city and ruthlessly attacked civilians.
‘There are more of them compared to what we saw at subjugation in Sokcho.'
And at least in Sokcho the civilians had already evacuated; the same couldn't be said for what they were seeing.
"Krrrrrruk!"
"Aaaah!!"
"M-My leg!! My legggggggg!!"
—Overflowing blood.
—Nauseating screams and wailing that rang the eardrums.
It was a scene similar to that of Italy that Ohjin had seen through Lee Shinhyuk's memories.
‘No.'
Ohjin’s eyes shone keenly.
‘It's not to that extent yet.'
The entire city wasn't taken over by demon beasts like Rome had been in the vision.
Instead, demon beasts had just begun to run amok.
‘I can prevent it.'
He had to prevent it.
Not for the people that would get ripped apart and die from the demon beasts, but to protect the land where he would continue to live with Ha-eun.
"Ha-eun."
"…Yeah?"
"Support me from the back."
"Okay."
Click—
Ha-eun moved both her arms to the back of her head and removed her eyepatch.
The Dragon Eye shone ferociously as flames surged around her body.
Boom!—
"Aahhhhh!"
"T-Taeho!!"
There were two male teenagers that looked to be in high school.
A demon beast opened its mouth wide to attack the normal students that would have been enjoying frivolous jokes and contemplating whether to go to a PC cafe or karaoke just moments ago.
"Kirararararak!!"
"Uahhhhhhhh!!!"
"A-Avoid it!"
—An ear-splitting scream.
"Fuu."
Crouched down, Ohjin took a step forward with his left foot.
Bzzzzzzzzt!!—
Blue lightning wrapped around his legs.
Boooooom!!—
With a loud noise like that of a cannon, Ohjin’s body shot forward.
"Hmb!"
A spear pierced through the neck of the demon beast that was charging at the teenagers.
Swish!—
Twisting it, he sliced down.
Black blood gushed out like a fountain.
"Ah…"
"T-Thank—"
Ohjin didn't have the leisure to listen to the words of appreciation. He turned his body around and headed to the other demon beasts right away.
‘The demon beasts aren't all that different from the ones in Sokcho.'
However—
"Kyarararak!"
"Goddamit, my ears are going to explode."
—it wasn't an exaggeration to say he was completely different from back then.
Bzzzzzzt!!!—
Blue feathers of lightning wrapped around Ohjin’s right arm. He aimed at the demon beasts and extended his arm forward.
‘Lightning Shot.'
Hundreds of feathers made of lightning shot forward in a cone.
The bodies of three demon beasts shredded and exploded as they got caught in the attack.
‘It's not enough.'
Despite instantly killing three demon beasts with a single blow, several times that number of demon beasts surrounded him in an instant.
He needed to push them back with even more speed and power.
Bzzzzzzt!!—
The blue lightning at the spear's blade ignited into flames.
Ohjin could immediately feel his mana deplete at a faster rate once he used Lightning Flames.
"Haa."
Exhaling out a short breath, he swung his spear.
—From up to down.
—From down to right.
—From right to up.
Slash! Slash! Slice!—
"Krruk!"
"Kshiauk!!"
Demon beasts with a hideous appearance—looking like horrifying experiments conducted by a mad scientist—split apart by the fierce torrent of spear strikes.
"Krrurururraa!!"
"Kyhaata!"
"Krieukk!!"
It seemed that other demon beasts heard the commotion as more of them started to gather up in the area.
The earth shook as if an earthquake had occurred as hundreds of demon beasts ranging from two meters to five meters tall gathered up.
It was as if a tsunami was about to crash down.
"Fuu."
Ohjin took in deep, slow breaths.
Spin—
He rotated his spear and pierced it into the ground.
‘Blue Lightning.'
He concentrated mana into the blade of the spear that dug into the concrete.
‘A little more…'
It wasn't enough to sweep away all of those monsters at once.
He slowly closed his eyes.
Enormous amounts of mana that could potentially explode his mana circuits spurted out.
‘Lightning Charge.'
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt!!!!—
Blue Lightning and Lightning Charge combined.
The force that wanted to spread out and the force that wanted to implode at a single point collided, causing each other to amplify.
"Argh."
Using so much mana at once caused his mana circuits to swell up like they were about to tear at any moment.
It was a risky situation like that of a balloon that was inflated above its limit.
[My child! Any further will…!]
Vega shouted out with a pale expression.
‘I can do it.'
Blue Lightning and Lightning Charge.
Ohjin had combined a single skill multiple times to amplify its force several times in the past, but it was his first time attempting to merge two skills with different natures.
Combining two different skills into one was a convoluted task like drawing a circle on one hand and a star on the other, but…
‘If the one doing it is me, It's possible.'
There was no way he couldn’t.
It was intuition that was close to certainty.
He wasn't putting trust in his talent.
—The vigorous training he had repeated every single day.
—The days he spent struggling to handle mana freely like it was a part of his limbs.
—The sweat that drenched his body and his body that gasped for air.
That was what he trusted.
Bzzzzzzzzzzt!!!—
Blue Lightning and Lightning Charge combined.
"Die."
The edges of his mouth tilted up as he twisted the spear that was dug into the ground.
Cr-Cr-Cr-Crack!!—
The ground split apart.
Boom! Boom! Rumble!!—
The concrete ground exploded upwards like shattering glass.
"Krieekeeeek!"
"Kiruik! Kkruk"
"Gruuuuuuaaak!!"
The hundreds of demon beasts charging towards Ohjin lost their balance and swayed.
"Hmpf!"
Bzzzzzt!—
As he raised his spear, clusters of blue lightning surged up from the cracks in the concrete.
A burning smell stimulated his nose.
The lightning that shot up like an ascending dragon ravaged the hundreds of demon beasts.
-Ring!
[You have successfully merged two different kinds of skills!]
[Your understanding of the two skills increases drastically!]
[《Blue Lightning Lv4》has increased to 《Blue Lightning Lv7》]
[《Lightning Charge Lv4》has increased to 《Lightning Charge Lv7》]
Thanks to the successful merging of skills, several messages appeared in succession, and both Blue Lightning and Lightning Charge increased by three levels at once.
"Phew."
Stumble—
Ohjin’s body lightly swayed, as he had poured out too much mana at once.
[Sigh. You make this lady's heart sink every time.]
Vega generated lightning and wrapped it around Ohjin’s swaying body.
As the lightning covered his body, he felt a comfortable sensation like being encompassed in fluffy blankets.
"Grrr. That guy seriously isn't right in his mind."
Riak shook his head with a fed-up expression.
Soon, he looked at the road that had become a mess with sharp eyes.
Hundreds of demon beasts had turned into ash from Ohjin’s strike, but several times that number was still gathering up.
"Hmpf."
Riak puffed air out of his nose and lowered his stance.
He slightly glanced in Ohjin’s direction and spoke,
"Rookie, you aren't possibly tired just because of that single attack, are you?"
"Of course."
Ohjin, who was wrapped in Vega's lightning, fixed his grip on his spear and got back on his feet.
He aimed his spear at the uncountable number of demon beasts that had replaced the spots of their fellow dead kind in an instant.
"Growl!"
"Krik! Krurik!"
He faced the crowding demon beasts by relentlessly swinging his spear with Riak.
The number of demon beasts decreased at a quick pace, however—
"Ugh!"
—there were simply too many of them.
"Ohjin!"
Ha-eun, who was facing the demon beasts coming from the opposite direction, quickly stretched her arm out.
Snap!—
Waves of flames spewed out as she snapped her fingers and ravaged the dozens of demon beasts that were surrounding Ohjin in an instant.
"Kirriruk! Kiek!"
"Kuaaaaa!!"
"Don't you dare!!"
Ha-eun turned around with an angry expression and spread her arms out to encompass her entire body in flames.
She hadn't been able to use her powers properly in the fear that civilians might get caught up in her attacks, but most of the people nearby had evacuated while Ohjin and Riak were fighting with the demon beasts.
"Borrowing the name of the Celestial of Draco, Eltanin, I hereby command you—"
Fwooooosh!—
With Ha-eun at the center, dozens of flame dragons were created.
"—Oh, flames… dance."
The flame dragons that moved around freely like living organisms wrapped around the demon beasts and swallowed their bodies whole with their massive mouths.
"…Wow," Ohjin exclaimed as he looked at the demon beasts getting helplessly swept away.
—The power of the flame dragons was incomparable to the ones he had seen before.
‘Is this the strength of an 8-Star Awakener?'
When it came down to pure destructive force, it was even embarrassing to compare the fusion skill he had used only moments before.
Fwooooosh!!—
"Kieeeeeeek!"
"Karak… krru."
Over three hundred demon beasts turned into ashes from Ha-eun's firepower.
However…
‘There's still a lot of them.'
Demon beasts kept gathering up without stopping, almost as if they were getting mass-produced at a factory.
* * *
* * *
[Argh… where on earth are the other Awakeners!]
Vega frowned while she bawled out.
As she said—
‘What are the other Awakeners doing?'
—when demon beasts were running amok in the middle of Seoul, it made no sense for them to be the only ones facing them.
Ohjin kept pushing back the charging demon beasts by slashing with his spear and observed the surroundings.
"Y-You're an Awakener, right?!"
"Please help those people!!"
The people who evacuated far away and were in hiding shouted out while pointing towards a woman.
The woman's expression distorted violently as the people's attention focused on her.
"Are you crazy? It's already difficult enough to protect my own body. What do you mean, help them?"
She coldly brushed off the people who stuck to her and ran away.
"…"
She wasn't the only one.
The moment the other Awakeners nearby had seen the demon beasts that numbered thousands, they didn't even think about fighting and just ran away immediately.
[Th-Those abominations to god and mankind! How could the ones who have been enlightened by the stars show such an irresponsible demeanor!]
Vega chewed her lips as she looked at the escaping Awakeners.
Compared to the furious Vega, Ohjin looked at Awakeners, who gradually became more distant, with a calm expression.
‘Well, this is only natural.'
No one would want to face off against thousands of demon beasts.
The world they lived in already made it hard enough to protect one's own life, let alone taking care of the lives of others.
‘It's the same for me.'
What did it matter if other people died or not? The reason he was still fighting with the demon beasts was that it was still manageable. Ohjin was also planning to take Ha-eun and escape once things got out of hand.
Though once that happened, receiving Vega's criticism couldn't be helped.
‘I'm not going to sacrifice my life for people I don't even know the names of.'
He had no plans on rationalizing his actions and saying that it was just how the world worked.
It was fine if others admonished him for being selfish.
It didn’t matter if others berated him for being a coward.
If it was to protect the things precious to him, the circumstances of others was none of his business.
‘I should start securing an escape route.'
Ohjin slowly backed off while fighting the demon beasts.
As the Awakeners had all run away, there was no way to fend off the endless numbers of demon beasts alone.
When Ohjin turned around with the same thought—
Bang!—
"Ohjin!!!"
—around a hundred Awakeners appeared with a loud noise.
General Manager Han, who was positioned at the front, quickly approached Ohjin.
"So you arrived here first!!"
"How did you…"
"We gathered up our staff and came here as soon as we heard the alert!"
General Manager Han frowned violently as he raised his fist towards a demon beast.
As Ohjin looked around, he recognized some familiar faces that he had seen in the Association.
‘Even Choi Woojin came.'
One of the most skilled individuals within the Association who was known as ‘The Hound' had also followed General Manager Han into the battlefield.
"Other guilds are also on their way here, so you can take this time to catch your breath."
General Manager Han stretched his arms and walked forward.
Thud, thud—
Dozens of people whose footsteps matched exactly appeared as they followed General Manager Han's back.
They were faces that were also familiar to Ohjin.
"Isn't this much more severe than back in Sokcho?"
"…Who would've thought such a huge amount of monsters would suddenly appear in the middle of Seoul."
Putting aside Park Changhyun, who was making a fuss, Lee Woohyuk approached Ohjin.
"I'm sorry for being late."
Lee Woohyuk gave a light bow and slowly walked towards the gathering demon beasts.
"We'll take care of things—"
Swish, swish, swish!!!—
Fierce gusts of wind stormed forward as Lee Woohyuk pulled out his sword.
The charging demon beasts' bodies tore apart and started to gush out blood as if they were cut by a beast's claws.
"—from now on."
The members of the Valhalla guild behind Lee Woohyuk each took out their weapons.
[Indeed! This is what you call the ones enlightened by the stars! Fortunately, there aren't only irresponsible beings.]
Vega smiled brightly and exhaled a deep breath of relief.
"…Ha."
Ohjin subconsciously chuckled as he took his time looking around at Han Joonman, Lee Woohyuk, and the Awakeners who had gathered to save the people from the demon beasts.
‘It looks like I'd thought of it too one-dimensionally.'
There were Awakeners who ran away as their lives were in danger, but there were also Awakeners who ran to the scene in order to save people once they heard the news.
‘They're people I can't possibly understand, but…'
Ohjin smiled faintly and looked at the backs of Han Joonman and Lee Woohyuk, who were walking towards the demon beasts.
"Damn it. They’re pretty cool."
T/N: Tsundere Ohjin. Also!
Eltanin, also known as Gamma Draconis, is the brightest star in the constellation of Draco. It has 1.72 times the mass of the Sun and is 154.3 light years away from the Solar System.
