885

 [Chapter 220]

[Unresolved (4)]

Mine, Barbatos.

He was holding Yu Su-jin's back and feeling satisfied.

The Twelve Seats, twelve players considered the best in this country.

He couldn't help but be satisfied after capturing one of them.

"Now then, what should I do with you? Should I filter out your insides and leave just the form, or should I put you in formalin?"

"..."

"Ah, it's better not to resist. The moment you move, I'll pull the trigger on that head."

"...Who are you people?" "I told you. Mines. I'm not happy about the perception that we're a different class from the Seven Devils, but I prefer the sound of 'Mine' to 'new human species'. I'm Barbatos."

Barbatos shrugged.

Whenever Yu Su-jin showed signs of resistance, he touched her head with the trigger.

Each time, Yu Su-jin stopped resisting and looked for another opportunity, repeating this pattern.

"Give up. You have no chance of winning."

Barbatos declared.

The rear could be said to be occupied by the Slayers he led.

The players can't escape.

If they try to escape, Barbatos's Slayers occupying the rear will chase them.

Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely─

"─You cannot win."

Barbatos was confident.

But that was his overconfidence, and soon became his downfall.

As a result of focusing all his attention on monitoring Yu Su-jin's actions─

─Fairy Enchantment

Machina Sniper

Barbatos failed to notice the existence of a sniper targeting him from a distance, outside his detection network.

By the time he realized, it was too late.

Because the bullet had already left the muzzle and was coming for him.

Boom!!

A thick beam of light struck him.

At that moment, Yu Su-jin saw her chance and knocked away Barbatos's gun.

She rolled on the ground and pulled out a knife from her chest.

"Well done."

<Silver Bullet> Son Ga-yeon.

Yu Su-jin praised her <The Seed> and quickly stabbed the knife into Barbatos's chest.

"Kyaaaaaaah!!!"

The tide turned.

Barbatos experienced a lag phenomenon and faced a crisis of annihilation.

☆

Literally.

Darkness is being torn away.

The ice rain created by Ryu Yeon-hwa was continuously pouring into <Abyss >'s world.

Cold air spread thickly in the darkness, gradually turning the place into a winter world.

"H-how is this possible...! Don't tell me you've embodied a myth!?"

<Abyss > was shocked.

He couldn't believe his world was shaking.

But Ryu Yeon-hwa had no answer.

She created an ice path in the air and slid on that path to jump into <Abyss >'s world.

Han Mae-ryu Ultimate

North Wind and Snow

Ryu Yeon-hwa stepped into the darkness.

By then, snow was swirling endlessly in <Abyss >'s world.

The foundation of winter was laid.

Then as she swung her spear with all her might, cold air spread radially from her center.

"Impossible... You don't even feel the sensation of falling? How can you move freely in my world!!"

Darkness freezes.

As if ice was cracking, fissures were appearing in the world.

<Abyss > dodged Ryu Yeon-hwa's spear and denied it several times.

Then Ryu Yeon-hwa spoke for the first time.

"Because I am snow, ice, cold air, and winter."

"What does that mean!" "Winter just comes, anywhere."

She herself is winter.

It was a meaningful statement.

But <Abyss > had heard those words before.

He contorted his face.

"Nam Gung Seong-un said the same thing... Yes, have you reached the state of becoming nature itself?"

The state of effortless nature.

The previous generation <Divine Spear> Nam Gung Seong-un called it a state comparable to manifesting a myth without actually manifesting one.

<Abyss > recalled old memories and stuck out his tongue.

"Nam Gung Seong-un reached that state after his late thirties!! Are you saying you have even greater talent than him!?"

It was unbelievable.

But Ryu Yeon-hwa was proving it.

<Abyss >'s world was breaking apart.

And─

─Beast Transformation

Phoenix Wings

Liger Blaster

Noh Eun-ha flew in.

Ryu Yeon-hwa quickly moved away without even confirming his presence.

Eun-ha took her place.

Eun-ha's gun barrel was filled with lightning.

"My wife is quite amazing."

Eun-ha grinned.

At that moment, lightning erupted.

─────!!!

In the world cracked by Ryu Yeon-hwa.

The electron cannon fired from Eun-ha's blaster created a thunderous roar.

Blue electric current made a huge hole in the cracking world.

At the same time, it created a large hole in <Abyss >'s chest.

"Kuhek...!"

<Abyss > coughed up blood.

He clutched his chest and fell into the darkness.

"No─oh─Eun─ha─aa─!!"

The darkness fades.

The black world regains its color.

<Abyss >, falling into the abyss, kept calling Eun-ha's name.

☆

<Abyss >'s myth disappeared.

The world returned to normal.

But <Abyss > wasn't dead yet.

"Kuk..."

He writhed on the ground.

The Slayers protected him.

Eventually, he placed his hands on the ground and struggled to raise his body.

"Huh, huk, kuk...!!"

It's the price of manifesting a myth.

Moreover, he had been defeated while manifesting a myth.

Not only was his soul being lost, but the rank of the myth he had built up until now was falling.

Thud

<Abyss > coughed up blood.

He collapsed on the ground again.

Kneeling and shaking his body.

His old body wasn't enough to handle the myth.

"With this, the tide has turned."

Eun-ha said, looking down at <Abyss > from the crimson world.

As he said, the situation had changed.

Unlike before, the Slayers' momentum was greatly reduced.

Their morale was broken by <Abyss >'s defeat to Eun-ha.

...I'm having a hard time enduring too.

Meanwhile, Eun-ha was also internally dealing with the burden of the myth.

He had manifested a myth twice in one day.

It was amazing that his two legs were still stuck to the ground.

That's how optimized his Mine body and gift were for handling the price of the myth.

He wanted to withdraw the myth, but if he did that, the players' morale might drop.

Enduring the pain.

Eun-ha maintained the myth with the most composed face possible.

The Pandora Clan members seemed to notice this.

[Are you okay?]

[I can manage. How are the others?]

[How are they... Everyone's much better thanks to your myth.]

Jin Seo-na sent telepathy.

All Pandora Clan members were safe.

Eun-ha was relieved at that fact.

Meanwhile, Ryu Yeon-hwa also seemed worried about him.

Ryu Yeon-hwa kept trying to come in front of Eun-ha.

It was as if she was determined to protect him.

Eun-ha was grateful for her consideration and spoke to her.

"Yeon-hwa noona."

"Yes."

"How's the other side?" "Nam-hoon and Woo-bi led a party to provide support. Gangneung city players should have been additionally deployed."

"Then they should have managed to breathe a little easier there too."

Eun-ha nodded after hearing the news from Ryu Yeon-hwa.

Since reinforcements had been sent to the battlefield where <Yama > Kang Hyeon-cheol was, they should be able to prevent casualties somehow.

Now the problem is those guys...

Eun-ha glared at the Slayers.

Having manifested a myth, he had to kill as many Slayers as possible.

He wanted to eliminate them all here if possible, not leaving any root of trouble.

But even though they had barely gained the upper hand, their own damage was considerable.

If the people here fight the Slayers with all their might... We might be able to win somehow.

However, in exchange for eliminating the Slayers, they too would lose their lives.

The second manifested myth couldn't protect them all.

Eun-ha decided to make the choice to save more people.

That is, to leave this place as it is.

Just then─

"─Seong-un raised you well. To think you'd drive <Abyss > to this state without manifesting a myth. Even with Eun-ha's help, it's still amazing."

""""...."""

Suddenly, a subspace opened.

Mastema appeared from it, and Baek Seo-jin walked out.

He glanced at <Abyss > who was getting up with the Slayers' support and turned his gaze to Eun-ha.

"I never expected you'd have prepared a separate detachment. You're really meticulous." "So? Are you saying you'll be my opponent now?"

"Hmm, I suppose there's no one else who can be your match but me."

The situation became uncertain again.

A few more Slayers walked out of the subspace Mastema opened.

The aura they emitted was considerable.

Above all, Eun-ha was wary of Baek Seo-jin's presence.

Even after using a myth twice...

Can I beat this person?

Outwardly he provoked Baek Seo-jin, but.

Inwardly, Eun-ha was considering the scenario if a battle broke out.

He couldn't tell.

Baek Seo-jin's abilities were unknown.

Especially his myth.

Eun-ha was cautious of him.

Then Baek Seo-jin smiled.

"But I wonder if you can really be my opponent. Do you think you can fight me with that body?"

"It's not impossible."

"You're being unnecessarily stubborn. Do you think I'll fall for such provocation? But if I were to fall for it anyway, let's experience it once."

Baek Seo-jin lit his cigar.

He exhaled smoke.

At that moment, the space trembled.

Darkness flowing from Baek Seo-jin's body encroached on the surrounding area.

It was a completely different density from the darkness <Abyss > controlled.

Everything swallowed by his darkness was losing its existence.

"How is it?"

"..."

Eun-ha's world was also swallowed.

It was useless even if he tried to resist.

Baek Seo-jin's darkness sharply grabbed the tip of the flame.

The erosion started from there.

The power of the flames was diminishing.

"Your myth can't exert its power even though I haven't fully manifested my myth. Do you understand what this means?" "..."

"Even if you raised the rank of your myth by defeating Armageddon's myth, even if you became a being surpassing a living myth. Your myth can never defeat my myth."

That is true darkness, he said.

Baek Seo-jin added.

He dropped the extinguished cigar on the ground.

Even the cigar was swallowed by darkness and disappeared.

...I don't know what kind of myth it is.

Meanwhile, Eun-ha was shocked.

Suddenly, without any sign, the world was eroded by Baek Seo-jin.

Moreover, he couldn't resist the erosion.

As a result, Eun-ha's myth was automatically withdrawn.

The myth was nullified.

"Now then, the situation has returned to its original state, so we need to see what to do..."

At that moment, Baek Seo-jin looked around.

And he examined the Slayers.

Their condition was serious too.

"Even if one side survives, the surviving side won't last long in this situation."

Baek Seo-jin analyzed the situation.

He clenched his right hand.

The darkness that had dyed the world black soon flowed back into his body.

"Since the tide has turned on that side too, I can't focus only on here."

Baek Seo-jin gave a bitter smile.

He spoke to Eun-ha.

"Well, you won." "..."

"I revealed myself like this to kill you perfectly... But in the end, I have to let you live in this situation, so you've won. By now, the Mana Management Organization must have learned about my defection, right?"

Eun-ha didn't answer.

It was as Baek Seo-jin asked.

The fact that Ryu Yeon-hwa appeared here means the Mana Management Organization must have noticed Baek Seo-jin's defection.

Even if Baek Seo-jin dealt with the players here, his identity as a villain would be revealed.

"Then I need to change my strategy. It doesn't suit my taste, but given the situation, I need to preserve as much force as possible and overthrow this country."

Moving in the darkness is over.

Now that everything has been revealed, I'll come to the forefront.

The people present understood the gist of those words.

It's a coup d'état.

Baek Seo-jin has declared that he will now stage a coup against this country.

"I've inflicted enough damage on you, so I'll withdraw here. The next time we meet, you and I will have a life-or-death battle."

Mastema opened a subspace.

The Slayers enter it.

Baek Seo-jin also turned around.

His cloak fluttered as he spoke.

"If I win that battle, the era of monarchs will come again."

At that time, surely.

You and I will declare ourselves kings and return to before the reconstruction.

A whirlpool of war will come.

Baek Seo-jin muttered as he stepped into the subspace.

"So, see you then, Eun-ha."

Baek Seo-jin enters the subspace.

As the opened space closed,

Only then did the atmosphere that felt like holding one's breath disappear.

""""...."""

There was nothing in the direction the players were looking.

Only the destroyed forest and road indicated that a life-or-death battle had taken place just moments ago.

"Damn it..."

By then, Eun-ha couldn't resist the recoil and fell to his knees on the ground.

He had no strength left to move.

☆

At the same time Baek Seo-jin disappeared.

The Slayers fighting in other places also received the retreat signal.

"Tch, we have to withdraw like this. In the end, we couldn't even touch the other guys because of these ones."

The Slayers clicked their tongues.

<Yama > Kang Hyeon-cheol, <Thunder God> Lee Do-jin.

They were held up dealing with just these two people.

In the end, they even showed the stage of manifesting myths.

If we hadn't aimed for a surprise attack from behind, we might have made them manifest myths.

Munch munch

However, no matter how strong they were, they couldn't defeat the majority.

Kang Hyeon-cheol and Lee Do-jin met their deaths in exchange for letting the players escape.

"Burp. That was hard work eating. The lightning was better than I thought. The feeling of it still pricking my stomach somehow feels good."

Halphas, who had swallowed Lee Do-jin whole, then patted his belly.

His stomach was swollen and bloated.

Then he burped.

Lightning crackled out.

"Look at this! This! I can use <Thunder Transformation> after eating <Thunder God>!!"

Halphas said in an excited tone.

He wrapped blue lightning around his body.

"Can I eat that too?"

Then Halphas pointed at Kang Hyeon-cheol lying on the ground and asked.

 One of his shoulders was deeply gouged.

It was where Halphas had bitten off a piece.

<Puppeteer > Lee Dong-hyuk immediately stepped forward.

"Isn't your power limited to using the ability of one person you've eaten? Hand this one over to me."

"But I want to eat it..."

"This is my puppet. Don't touch it. I said I was aiming for <Thunder God>, but you didn't listen and went ahead and ate him. So I'll take <Yama > at least."

"Tch..."

"Tsk, there are torn parts here and there, it'll be work to repair it. I'll have to attach a mechanical arm on one side."

While examining Kang Hyeon-cheol's corpse.

<Puppeteer > frowned.

While he had tried to maintain the body as much as possible while facing Lee Do-jin, Halphas had damaged Kang Hyeon-cheol's corpse during the battle.

It seemed turning him into a puppet would be quite a tricky task.

At that moment, a subspace opened.

Mastema walked out.

"Although the players' damage was minimal, it's fortunate we gained something. It's as good as obtaining <Flame Transformation> and <Thunder Transformation>."

Mastema smiled.

The Slayers who had been resting after the battle snickered.

"Then let's move quickly. The players will be in pursuit."

Following Mastema's instructions.

The Slayers and Mines moved into the subspace.

No living beings could be found where they had been.

What remained there were only fallen trees, collapsed ground, traces of fierce battle, and corpses.

The place left with only the dead was extremely desolate and quiet.

☆

Baek Seo-jin had defected.

<Yama > and <Thunder God> had died.

Their bodies were not found, but the circumstances pointed to their deaths.

<Holy Mother> is said to be repeatedly fainting and waking up, denying reality like a madwoman.

The news spread quickly through the world.