Chapter 140: The First Strike Back

“I-I… a missile?”

“Is that not possible?”

“…It seems a bit difficult.”

“Why?”

“……”

At that, Lee Tae-sung found himself at a loss for words.

Setting aside whether the technology to build one existed, wouldn’t legal issues be a problem?

*’But can you really apply Korean law to Ascendants?’*

No international law would apply either.

After all, they weren’t even Earthlings!

“…I’ll discuss that issue with you later. Since we’ve met like this, could you perhaps lend me some assistance?”

“Hmph. What do you want to know?”

Hakseon asked in a flat tone, unlike when he had been discussing physics.

That made sense.

An enormous amount of knowledge lay dormant in his mind, and many had sought it since his Lower Realm days.

-Elder!

Please share even a fraction of that knowledge!

-I’ve gathered all the gold coins in the world! Please at least consider me worthy of becoming your disciple!

However, although Hakseon’s need for knowledge was satisfied, he didn’t particularly enjoy dispensing it.

Of course, he liked it when others admired and praised his knowledge.

But that novelty wore off after a few times.

Moreover, the knowledge others sought to learn was mediocre in Hakseon’s eyes, and those who learned it only scratched the surface before withdrawing…

So naturally, when Lee Tae-sung said he had a question, Hakseon’s interest waned.

“Could you take a look at this?”

“!!??”

When Lee Tae-sung placed a stele on the living room table, Hakseon’s eyes went wide.

“An… O-Outer God’s incantation?”

An obligation given to Ascendants.

It was to protect their homeworld, the Lower Realm Dream World, from the enemies scattered across the universe.

That was the duty left by the first Ascendant and the only rule subsequent Ascendants must follow.

Furthermore, since one had to be somewhat insane to Ascend in the first place, they had considerable pride.

They wouldn’t want their homeland to be wrecked by an unknown god.

Thus, Hakseon had also clashed with invading Outer Gods several times and had studied them extensively in the past.

The incantation before him was related to such Outer Gods.

“What do you want to do with this? Surely you don’t intend to interpret it and serve the Outer God…”

“Absolutely not. First, let me explain how I obtained this.”

Lee Tae-sung explained the relationship between Earth and the Outer God’s Vanguard.

He had already eliminated two of them, and in the process of foiling their latest scheme, he acquired this stele.

“I went through a lot to get it, but both my master and Goeseung said it was a dangerous item with no practical use. I hated the thought of just throwing it away… then I heard about you, Hakseon.”

“You’ve come to the right person. Those brutish martial fools would have no idea how to utilize this.”

“……”

Though that insult covered all the Ascendants he owed, including his master, Lee Tae-sung remained silent.

“I’ll need to examine it, but I think I can do a thing or two.”

“Oh…! Specifically, what’s possible?”

“I can pinpoint the locations of those who scattered this on Earth and open a spatial gate to go there.”

“!”

Lee Tae-sung was shocked.

Until now, he only knew the Outer God’s Vanguard existed but couldn’t strike first.

They were in outer space, so he could only passively block their schemes.

But now, with Hakseon’s words, a chance for counterattack arose.

“Please do!”

“Very well. In return, get me some physics books. I want to study in between deciphering the incantation.”

“Ah, you don’t need to buy books. I’ll show you a method. Since the Wi-Fi is connected, it should work right away. First…”

Unlike Cheonoecheon, where only pre-downloaded offline books could be read, here it was unlimited.

Even if a book wasn’t in a subscription store, that was fine.

For more specialized books, he could use the internet library.

Nowadays, even textbooks from famous overseas universities were copied and stored online; he could access them for a fee.

That was pocket change to Lee Tae-sung, so he was willing to provide an unlimited credit card for Hakseon.

And Hakseon’s dopamine levels went through the roof at Lee Tae-sung’s actions.

“Kheuheuheu… hundreds of thousands? Millions of new books? Puhuheuheu… This place is the true Cheonoecheon! How dare that countryside call itself Cheonoecheon.”

“Uh… Hakseon?”

“Hwahahahaha! Come now. Let me, Hakseon, personally assess how great Earth’s knowledge is.”

Mad with delight, Hakseon entered his room holding the tablet with the apps and websites in one hand and the stele in the other.

*’…Will he be okay?’*

Lee Tae-sung stared at the closed door with unease.

He feared that when Hakseon suddenly emerged from the room, he’d be holding some terrifying invention in that hand.

Several days passed since Hakseon locked himself in his room, enjoying his happy time.

The other Ascendants were also given free time.

After all, they had succeeded in bringing Hakseon here.

They deserved ample reward.

-Do not cause any trouble, understood? Absolutely not!

But Lee Tae-sung warned them strongly.

He had already experienced what happened when he let them loose once.

So he added the terrifying threat that if anything happened, he wouldn’t summon them again.

Naturally, that worked on the Ascendants.

“Mad Demon. You just need to be careful. Just you.”

“Says whooooo~.”

Goeseung quietly left, saying he was going to visit a Korean temple.

He heard there was a large temple in the city, so he went there out of curiosity.

That left Yeomje and Mad Demon, who were now walking through the sky.

“Don’t use your strength needlessly. Think of the people down there as fragile—they’d die if we so much as tapped them. Got it?”

“Hmph. Being so weak is a problem, you knowww. A Gate appearing would be more entertaining.”

“Don’t say that in front of my disciple. It’ll be trouble.”

Yeomje shook his head.

He thought he lived without caring about others, but he was far behind Mad Demon.

*’With that insane personality and immense power, they say ancient evil cults worshipped him as a god…’*

He was much older than Yeomje, so Yeomje had vaguely heard such stories.

*’Seems like there were plenty of madmen back then. Worshipping an empty head like that.’*

Yeomje snickered and turned his gaze.

He saw a large complex of buildings in the mountains.

They had come to the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy in Daejeon.

At Hakseon’s request.

-You guys.

If you’re going out to play, do me a favor.

-What?

Why should I bother?

When Hakseon first asked, Yeomje scoffed.

The situation was completely different from when they visited his thatched hut.

Now, Yeomje didn’t need to ask to look at the tablet; Hakseon was already more addicted to Earth than anyone.

-You won’t help?

This is related to Taeseong-gong’s request too.

-…What do you need?

If he invoked Lee Tae-sung’s name, even the mighty Yeomje couldn’t refuse.

-Anyway, while studying physics, I came across something called a nuclear fusion reaction.

I want to ignite one, so I need you to get me the materials.

It’d be nice to have samples too.

I hear there’s a research institute in Korea.

Can you go there?

-What does that have to do with studying the stele?

-I’ll tell you.

My studies and the stele research might seem different, but from an academic perspective, they’re connected…

-Enough.

I get it.

I don’t want to hear your nagging here, so I’ll bring it for you.

Yeomje left to do the errand, and Mad Demon, being bored, came along to Daejeon.

“Let’s finish the errand quickly and have fun. I want to go to a movie theater.”

It was said to be different from watching on a tablet or projector.

Yeomje was quite looking forward to it.

“Can I come tooooo?”

“As you wish.”

And so the two Ascendants infiltrated the research institute building.

—

The Outer God’s Vanguard had released a mist on Earth that nullified Hunters’ powers.

Le-Bleric, who was researching the mist, died, so they could only use prototypes instead of the finished product.

But that was enough.

For the primitive Earthlings, this would suffice.

Because as the Vanguard died off, a balance was struck.

An opportunity born from sacrifice.

They created steles inscribed with incantations praising the Outer God.

Then they dropped them on places with heavy human negative emotions.

Since they were prototypes, they activated by feeding on those emotions.

Shibuya was the first target.

A Gate appeared in the city center, and the sky turned red, overflowing with human anxiety.

The Black Mist instantly ignited and swallowed Shibuya whole.

Eventually, not only corrupted Hunters but also corrupted ordinary citizens would serve the Outer God.

The whole Earth would naturally become subjugated to the Outer God! That was the Vanguard’s goal.

Of course…

Their dream became mere fantasy.

Even though their influence increased, it was difficult to monitor what was happening on Earth in real time.

So they could only guess from the results, but they couldn’t understand what was happening.

Yet venturing out to check was too dangerous—like Le-Bleric.

Fear of death left them stuck in space, frantically speculating.

*Woooong!*

Then, the dimensional wall began to shake.

The dimensional wall, which shouldn’t even tremble unless someone passed through, was shaking.

The Vanguard members tilted their heads in confusion.

They couldn’t even imagine that an Ascendant had succeeded in deciphering the incantation, pinpointed their coordinates, and even opened a hole there.

And then, a part of the wall collapsed, creating a small hole.

As they stared in shock, a massive explosion erupted from the hole, engulfing them.

*Kwaaang!*

A massive explosion blanketed the silent space.