Chapter 392: Protection of Heroes |
A few minutes ago.
“Kieek!”
Ryu Min, who had killed Boluak, was hunting the hosts without much difficulty.
‘I just need to catch one more.’
Although he had lost the guide, finding the hosts wasn’t hard.
There weren’t many countries left to check.
‘With the Rune of Light-Speed, I already know the locations of the remaining hosts, so it’s not difficult to find them.’
Now, he needed to quickly deal with the hosts and then focus on the remaining seeds.
This way, this timeline would regain its stability.
Ryu Min moved swiftly, crossing hundreds of kilometers in an instant.
In the last country he reached, New Zealand, he found the final host, who was harvesting biological energy by slaughtering humans.
Pazzz!
He struck it with the Rune of Lightning as soon as he saw it.
With that, he had caught all 300 hosts.
‘Now I need to find the seeds...’
There was no way to determine the seeds’ locations.
He didn’t know how many were currently disguised as humans.
‘Of course, with the Eye of Insight, which is an eternal item, I can see the opponent’s essence. But...’
Ryu Min didn’t have time to search through the entire world’s population.
‘Should I return to Ryu Won?’
He was about to head back home, but it wasn’t necessary.
A notification appeared.
[The target under the protection of the hero is being attacked!]
[You can use the hero’s touch for 10 seconds.]
[Please choose one of the following options.]
1. Move to the target
2. Bring the target
[Time remaining to choose: 00:00:10]
‘This notification means... is Ryu Won in danger?’
He regained his composure and instinctively made his choice.
‘I choose option 1.’
He needed to find out who the attacker was.
There was no other choice.
——————
Shine!
The surroundings changed in an instant.
What he saw was his younger brother being strangled.
Swish!
He drew his scythe and sliced through the arm, freeing the hand that was gripping his brother’s neck.
“Haah... B-brother?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah... But, are you really my brother?”
Why was he saying such things?
Moreover, he was looking at him with distrust.
The reason was clear through his brother’s thoughts.
‘Was he deceived by that monster?’
He had thought it was his brother and opened the door, only to be attacked by a creature.
That’s why he was reacting like this.
“Yes, I’m your brother. So calm down.”
“Okay.”
“But...”
“Who are you...?”
Ryu Min directed his gaze at the creature writhing in pain, observing its severed arm.
He immediately understood the being’s identity by reading its thoughts.
‘Is that guy... Arquizhar?’
Did Arquizhar attack his brother?
Looking deeper, he grasped the situation.
‘He used my picture from an online article to access the WallPad’s photo history, find the house address, and trick my brother with a fake video... This guy is really skilled at finding people, huh?’
He hadn’t expected the creature to come all the way to his home just because his face appeared on a security camera while he was capturing a host that had transformed into a cult leader.
“Are you... Black Scythe?”
‘First, I need to keep Ryu Won out of this...’
As soon as the hero’s protection’s invincibility ended:
“The conversation is over. Prepare to die.”
Ryu Min raised a barrier, isolating Arquizhar from Ryu Won.
“......!”
Arquizhar, shocked by the spatial change, looked at Ryu Min with incredulous eyes.
“How can a human open a spatial rift...?”
“I can do it.”
Ryu Min advanced, aiming his scythe.
He had clarified his doubts with the Rune of Mind.
“Now it’s time to unleash my wrath.”
“What are you saying...?”
In that moment, Arquizhar’s body split into 16 pieces.
Tuttututuk!
The dismembered parts of the black substance slowly reassembled.
In Arquizhar’s newly formed eyes, there was a hint of amazement.
“Does it hurt? It seems that you also feel pain when I use my scythe. Probably due to the effect of the branch of spiritual destruction, but for me, that’s perfect. I can cause you as much pain as I want.”
Ryu Min’s scythe gleamed again.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
This time, Arquizhar was split into 32 pieces.
Although it seemed liquid, it felt pain, as evidenced by Arquizhar’s twisted expression.
“Krrrr...!”
“Does it hurt?”
“......”
“This must be new for you. After all, you seeds are strong enough to toy with archangels. But look.”
Swish! Swish! Swish!
This time, it was split into 64 pieces.
“I also play with gods.”
The recovery process was slower due to the increased number of pieces.
“You messed with the wrong person.”
“Was it you who messed with us? Why do you interfere with our work?”
Arquizhar, though in distress, tried to defend itself.
“You’re the one interfering. Why are you trying to destroy this timeline that I created?”
“Are you saying you created it...?”
“In a way, yes.”
“......”
Arquizhar was speechless.
It realized it was fighting an entity far beyond its reach.
‘I can’t handle this. It would take Lord Deorant to deal with someone like this.’
Opening a spatial rift and causing pain in its liquid form were abilities beyond the ordinary.
This wasn’t an opponent it could manage.
Understanding this, Arquizhar had only one option left.
‘I must report to Lord Deorant as soon as possible!’
However, it had no way to contact Deorant.
They had spoken before, but since being sent to this timeline, it hadn’t seen him again.
‘Lord Deorant trusted us and sent us here. Deploying the seeds and hosts ensures the timeline’s destruction.’
That’s why it didn’t worry anymore.
There was no need for a means of communication.
The destruction caused by the seeds and hosts was inevitable.
But it hadn’t foreseen the appearance of someone capable of stopping them.
If it had known, it wouldn’t have left them in such a desperate situation.
‘What do I do? I need to escape this situation first...’
Arquizhar, who considered itself a superior being, tried to find a way out using its intelligence. However, Crash!
Before it could do so, Ryu Min disintegrated it with his scythe.
‘Damn it... The pain is unbearable.’
Though its body was in a liquid state, it felt a searing pain every time the scythe struck. It wanted to flee, but it was trapped in a spatial rift and could do nothing.
‘At least I need to counterattack. Maybe I can find a chance to escape.’
With that thought, Arquizhar didn’t reconstitute itself when it was split into 128 pieces. Instead, it scattered its liquid fragments in all directions to attack Ryu Min. It believed that if it at least touched his human body, it could absorb him.
And its plan worked.
‘How foolish! It seems I caught him off guard.’
Arquizhar smiled, certain of its victory, but only for a moment.
“Did you think you had won?”
“!!!”
It turned its head at the sound of the voice behind it.
“Do you know where you are trapped now?”
Another voice came from its side.
“You’re in a spatial rift.”
This time, the voice came from above.
“Here, I can do whatever I want. In other words, you’re fighting an illusion.”
All around Arquizhar were countless black scythes. There were so many that it couldn’t tell which one was real.
All those scythes disintegrated it over and over again.
‘Ahh, damn it...!’
Arquizhar was so torn apart that its soul nearly collapsed from the pain.
“You dared to attack my brother. Don’t think you’ll die in peace, monster.”
Just as Ryu Min raised his scythe for the final blow, the darkness surrounding them dissipated, revealing the interior of the house.
“Brother?”
“What... what’s happening?”
Arquizhar saw his brother behind Black Scythe, bewildered.
“Why did the spatial rift suddenly collapse...?”
Ryu Min also seemed puzzled.
Although he wanted to observe it longer, Arquizhar knew he had to take this chance to escape.
Whoosh!
It turned into liquid and quickly flowed toward the bathroom. Ryu Min tried to catch it, but Arquizhar had already gone down the drain.
“...Did I lose it?”
“Brother, are you okay?”
“Yes. Are you hurt?”
“Thanks to you, I’m not. But, what was that monster?”
“It was a Seed, a being superior to the Hosts, aiming to collapse our timeline.”
“More of those things? Are there others like it?”
“Yes. I don’t know where they are, but there are more.”
“Then what do we do? Shouldn’t we catch the Hosts too?”
Ryu Min shook his head.
“I’ve already eliminated all the Hosts. That’s why I was late.”
“So only the Seeds remain?”
“Yes, but I lost one.”
“What do we do now?”
“I’m going to follow it.”
Ryu Min seemed calm, as if he had intentionally let Arquizhar go.
“Wait here. I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have to eliminate the Seeds.”
With those words, Ryu Min disappeared like the wind.
——————-
“Hah, hah...! What kind of human is that...?”
Arquizhar, regaining its original form in a sewer, had experienced death at the hands of Black Scythe.
‘He’s not a normal human. I can’t even call him human. There are no humans who can manipulate spatial rifts.’
Even the Players were no exception.
‘Players are born from the survival game, and their level is comparable to that of a combat angel. But he toyed with a being like me, who can challenge archangels.’
That meant his claim of being able to toy with gods wasn’t an exaggeration.
‘Anyway, I was lucky.’
The collapse of the spatial rift allowed it to escape.
Black Scythe’s expression of surprise indicated that he hadn’t anticipated that situation either.
‘Does the use of spatial rifts have limits?’
He had probably exhausted his energy due to excessive use of his power.
‘In any case, this works to my advantage. I need to gather the Seeds and plan a strategy.’
Arquizhar sent a telepathic message to all the Seeds it knew.
-Can you hear me? Everyone?
-Who are you?
-I’m Arquizhar, authorized by Lord Deorant to be your leader.
-Leader?
Although it was their first time talking, everyone accepted his words. They had heard there was a leader among them.
-So you’re our leader.
-It’s a pleasure. Why are you contacting us suddenly?
-There’s an urgent matter. We need to gather. It’s better to discuss it in person...
-Urgent?
No Seed, bored as they were, rejected the leader’s call.
-Your voice sounds desperate. I’ll head over. Where do we meet?
-South Korea. You can track my frequency and find me.
-Got it. We’re on our way.
The gathering was in progress, and Arquizhar began searching for a suitable meeting place, unaware that someone was watching it.