The Dead Knights relentlessly targeted the weak points of my Monster.
I did my best, wielding the Railgun to drive the enemies back as much as possible, but the results still weren’t that great.
“Ugh.”
The Blessing of Light created by the Saintess surrounded the area, but we were too overwhelmed to hold our ground.
Countless bones were crushed beneath my Monster’s Army Boots, but it was still not enough to handle the continuous flood of enemies.
It was only a matter of time before the Monster collapsed.
“There are too many enemies!”
Most of the enemies’ attention was still drawn to the living armor, but a few began to approach us as well.
The Saintess, Ming Ming, and I worked hard to kill the Skeleton Soldiers swarming towards us.
***
A sudden explosion of Aether erupted in all directions, and with a thunderous roar, the Giant Colossus collapsed.
Still, the living armor had fulfilled its role.
It had already dealt with several Behemoths.
The remaining enemies hesitated at the explosion and then began to flee.
Victory was ours.
“Is it over?”
“Yeah.”
“Are we going after them?”
At those words, I shook my head.
It was a shame we couldn’t find the existence controlling the Dead, but the situation was not favorable right now.
“This is the best we can do for now.”
If we recklessly chased after the enemy here, survival would be tough.
I activated the Seeker’s Trait at the scene.
[You have defeated multiple top-tier Monsters.]
[Exploration Stat +40.]
[Enlightenment Stage 3 Progress: 300/300]
[Enlightenment Stage 4 Progress: 30/300.]
[You have reached Enlightenment Stage 3.]
[Level increased by 10.]
[Base HP has increased.]
[Base Aether has increased.]
[Base Intelligence has increased.]
[The number of summons you can control simultaneously has increased by 1.]
[You can now use the new Skill: ‘Levitation’.]
“Levitation?”
This was a Skill I hadn’t had before regression.
When I used the Skill, my feet lifted several centimeters off the ground before returning to normal.
“This will be useful for moving in rough terrain.”
An unexpected achievement.
“Hah… At least we can catch our breath.”
After clearing away the scattered bones, I found a decent spot and sat down. Ming Ming hopped off my shoulder and settled beside me.
“That was quite a struggle.”
“Yeah.”
The Saintess gazed at the rocky hills.
It had taken quite some time to deal with the enemy remnants, but in the end, we did it.
Now that the intense waves of enemies had passed, all that remained before our eyes was the half-burned wreckage of a ship.
“You said you research Monsters that come out of Gates scientifically…? Does that explain all this too?”
“Magic.”
“That’s all?”
“We could always try dissecting the beings that made all this.”
I pondered for a moment on how to explain to the Saintess, who looked unconvinced.
It was a question asked by many, not just her.
Why analyze things scientifically when they clearly defy science?
“Well… Because analysis is possible. These are physical objects that exist in reality. What is their chemical structure, what would genetic analysis reveal, do they shatter when matched to the right species? Even if they’re Taboo beings, we want to test how far our tools and knowledge can apply, and where their limits are.”
The fourth Gate might have a higher threshold for Taboo, but the principle of finding those limits through research still applied.
“That sounds complicated.”
“Yeah.”
The Saintess nodded tiredly.
The tension had finally released after the battle ended, especially since we’d been fighting nonstop since entering the Gate.
“Sorry. You’ve been through so much from the very first day.”
“Well… I’m still alive, so it’s fine.”
The Saintess adjusted faster than I expected.
I’d thought she was fragile at first, but she wasn’t all that different from other Grade 5 Awakened. In some ways, she was even better.
“I’m never eating gamjatang again.”
“The Police say they eat gopchang stew after seeing guts.”
“Then I’ll never become a Police officer.”
We made small talk to lighten the mood, but this wasn’t really the time to relax.
Monsters emerging from the Gate were becoming more numerous and stronger by the minute.
Luckily, my companions and I were growing just as quickly.
If I’d faced a Dead Knight like the one just now on my first day after regression, it would have been a nightmare.
“Let’s get moving—time to make money.”
At my words, the Saintess dusted off her cloak and got to her feet.
Most of what we found would go to the scrapyard, but any Artifact could fetch a good price at the Hunter Association.
Almost as if we’d agreed beforehand, each of us started working in our own way.
The Saintess stirred the wreckage of the ship’s hull with the tip of her Staff, while I used Telekinesis to search for Artifacts.
“That one looks promising, doesn’t it?”
“Really?”
I lifted a sword hidden between the fragments of the ship.
It was the sword used by the Dead Knight from earlier.
I hadn’t noticed during the fight, but looking again, it was quite a finely crafted weapon.
Not only did it contain Aether, but it was also adorned with small Magic Stone Fragments.
“Seems pretty decent.”
It wasn’t something I would use, but the armor worn by the Dead Knight also seemed worthwhile.
It looked like it could withstand modern weapons to some extent.
After gathering our equipment, I circled the Gate’s vicinity to search the area.
The rocky hills made it hard to find any signs of living creatures.
I needed to secure some botanical samples, but unfortunately, there were no plants in sight.
“Before we head out, let’s look around a bit more. There might be strange terrain or an enemy base nearby.”
“Alright.”
We carefully walked among the oddly shaped boulders.
Danger could be lurking anywhere.
The Dead might return, or other Monsters could appear.
We could handle them if necessary, but it was best to avoid unnecessary fights.
“Is this… a world that’s already perished?”
“It depends on how you look at it.”
It was one of Dr. Ryoo’s theories.
The Gate opens onto worlds already destroyed, and the beings that wiped out those worlds are now invading others.
There were counterarguments, but thinking about it now, it might be true.
Recently, even some of our own Researchers started to think that way. That Monsters that devoured more than one world were now trying to invade ours.
“Ah, I guess that could be.”
Maybe Goblins weren’t that big of a threat, but…
The Biological Robots of the second Gate, the Tentacle Dragon and Black Forest of the third Gate, the Giant Ants seen in North Korea, and the Army of Corpses from the fourth Gate—
Any one of them could destroy civilizations.
The Saintess fell silent, seemingly lost in thought at my answer.
We continued walking for a while longer.
And after about an hour—
Finally, we found something.
“Found one plant I can put in a Sample Vial.”
It wasn’t a Ruins or anything, but there were traces of hunting.
It looked like Skeleton Soldiers had hunted a large wild beast here.
There were no bones left at the scene, but there was still plenty of hide, blood, and bits of flesh.
A few plants were growing around it.
“Well, bones come from living creatures, so they’d have to obtain bones somehow.”
It made sense for them to hunt animals.
I approached the spot and put a tuft of fur from the dead beast into a Sample Vial.
“There must be a Ruins in this world too.”
There was always a Dungeon or Ruins near a Gate.
It made sense if the world had or once had intelligent species.
Thinking about it, even on our side, Gates usually opened in the middle of a city.
“Though there are always exceptions.”
“Let’s head back now. We’ve gathered enough loot and found something noteworthy.”
“Okay.”
The Saintess nodded.
Before the next visit, we’d need to figure out how to hunt the beings commanding that army.
And also how to find the Ruins of this Gate.
“Going to be busy again.”
***
Security around the Gate was tighter than usual.
Infantry Fighting Vehicles, fully armed soldiers, and dozens of Police officers.
But even more conspicuous were the Awakened from the Hunter Association, all equipped for combat. And there were several of them.
“They’re scared.”
More than anything, the fact that a hostile Awakened had fought in the city seemed to have shaken them.
The Association President looked at me with a grave expression.
“This is a total mess, Doctor.”
I nodded.
There were always things hidden from the public regarding Gate incidents, but when an event broke out in the city like before, it was impossible to keep it quiet. People aren’t stupid.
“Let’s move to another spot. Too many eyes here.”
Even though the security around the Gate looked impenetrable, it was actually hanging by a thread. Like a lamp before the wind.
That level of security could be blown away by a single Behemoth.
With just lower-grade Awakened and modern firearms—
“Yeah.”
Everyone around us was moving busily.
The Association President took me to an Infantry Fighting Vehicle near the scene, and the Saintess followed silently.
Inside, Dr. Yeon from the USFK and a military officer I’d seen before were already seated.
“This is Kim Lieutenant Colonel.”
Ah, I remembered seeing him before. I bowed my head in greeting, then squeezed into the tight space inside the vehicle.
I just picked a spot and sat down.
“So, what’s going on?”
The Association President fixed me with a serious look.
I let out a sigh.
“It’s just as you think. Someone tried to assassinate me to interfere with the isolation of the fourth Gate. Perhaps by mistake, they attacked Dr. Wi’s vehicle.”
“And then?”
“I killed the ones I could see. But I decided the Gate’s isolation took priority, so I entered the Gate first.”
The Gate’s isolation was more important.
Even if the Gate Worshippers couldn’t take over an entire city, they could certainly manage it inside a Gate.
The Association President nodded.
“And you don’t know who it was?”
“I’m not sure about their inner organization, but for now, I’m assuming they were Gate Worshippers.”
“I see.”
It was the same as before regression.
In the end, as Awakened grew stronger and knowledge of countermeasures accumulated, Monsters became a relatively manageable issue.
The only thing more terrifying than Monsters is people.
“We’ll need to plan a sweep… I heard from the Holy Knight about your hunt for Gate Worshippers in Mujin City.”
“Yeah.”
But that was a problem for a few hours later.
There was something more pressing now.
“There should be footage of the scene…”
I took out a Tablet from the Research Institute and connected it to the camera I’d just brought from the Gate.
“Let’s get back to the Gate.”
“Alright.”
“This is the trickiest Gate we’ve seen yet. There’s a new Monster we’ve temporarily named Behemoth.”
“Why call it Behemoth?”
“You’ll understand when you see it. It’s a Monster built like a tower of bones, and it throws Skeleton Soldiers at its enemies. It’s extremely dangerous. Even just one or two of them would break through this defense line easily.”
There was no doubt in my mind.
If just two Behemoths appeared and started throwing Skeleton Soldiers and Dead Knights everywhere, it would turn into a living hell in an instant, and the Gate’s defense line would be overrun.
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