Beyond the Eternity

Only a few abilities could decimate such large groups of enemies at once. In our current group, only Kim Hyunwoo's Construction and Park Joonhyuk's Duplicates combined with Puppet Creation (Devil Arcana) came close, but even their combined power couldn't rival the sheer destruction Angelica was displaying.

As expected, the power of Gilgamesh was beyond comparison. But even if she could access his Hero King's Treasury, there was no way she could wield the Holy Relics inside with the same proficiency as Gilgamesh did. And yet she was wielding his authority with similar high level control.

What happened while she was away?

"Shit! The monsters from before are coming back."

Park Joonhyuk's voice yanked me out of my thoughts. I turned my head just in time to see a surge of grotesque, mutated creatures swarming toward us like a tidal wave. They were probably attracted by the noise of fighting and came this way.

There were too many, even for Angelica.

"Angelica, come this way quickly!"

The giant flame blade stopped moving when she heard my voice. Perhaps she was not expecting to hear my voice. In any case, she turned her head and moved towards my direction.

"Park Joonhyuk!"

"I'm on it!"

In a flash, Park Joonhyuk summoned an army of puppets and duplicates of himself. Those clones blocked the monster horde using their bodies while we ran away.

Once we were far enough away, Angelica slowed her pace and turned toward me, "Jakga... what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same. I didn't expect you to be in a place like this."

"Well, It's a long story. But..."

Angelica wanted to say something but Park Joonhyuk suddenly cut in before she could finish.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your little reunion. but we have company."

The horde of monsters flooded this way. Of course, the puppets won't be able to hold a horde of that size for long. At the very least, It seems some people had reached the bridge without harm.

The other people were not that lucky. If we don't escape somehow, we'll follow suit as well.

"It's impossible to outrun them. Let's go to higher ground."

"High ground? Is there any building we can use."

"How about that one?"

"No! We'll get concerned from all sides if we use that one."

"Then..."

I quickly swept my gaze in search of any high-rise building we could use.

Most of the buildings had been reduced to rubble or were too low to provide any real advantage.

... Ah, will that place work?

Amidst the destruction, my eyes settled on something in the distance. Although the building itself was partially destroyed, the top floors remained mostly intact.

"Over there. If we can reach the top, we can block off the stairwell."

"That place is good enough."

We took off, sprinting toward the skyscraper with the creatures hot on our heels. As we zigzagged through debris and crumbling structures, the sound of growling and gnashing teeth echoed behind us. They were gaining ground fast.

When we finally reached the building, my blood ran cold. The entrance was blocked by a massive pile of rubble—concrete slabs, twisted metal, and broken glass obstructed the doorway.

Park Joonhyuk cursed. "What the hell? The entrance is completely blocked."

"I will take care of it."

Since my overall stats was high enough, I instinctively reached for my sword. But before I could act, Angelica stepped out first.

KWANG!

In an instant, the giant flame blade from before was summoned and sliced through the debris as if it was made of butter. The rubble crumbled away, leaving a narrow gap wide enough for us to squeeze through.

I rushed to help Angelica who was staggering about. I said, "You're pushing yourself too hard."

"It's fine. We need to get inside."

We didn't argue. One by one, we ducked through the gap with Park Joonhyuk's clone holding the unconscious Soo Jinyoung being the last to enter before we blocked the entrance and reached the top floor.

I peeked through the broken window. The monsters flooded this way and scattered in all directions. It seems like we barely managed to escape their nose.

It was enough to catch our breath in the meantime. Even so...

... Somehow, we have managed to escape. But the whole situation does not sit right with me.

There was still a lingering threat of the Disaster and there was a possibility that he was directly controlling the Grade 4 Nightmare to spread the corruption. For all we know, we might be walking into a huge trap prepared on a silver plate.

I took a deep breath to suppress my anxiety. There was no time to let fear cloud my judgement. First, let's begin by gathering information.

I looked at Angelica and gave a faint smile. "Angelica, It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Jakga. But..."

"Yes?"

"What are you wearing?"

Angelica had been staring at the Def.Antimatter suit that I was wearing for a while now.

I opened my mouth, "You mean this? It's something I found while I was in Gangnam."

"Ah, Is that so?"

"Yes. But is anything wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"Are you sure? You can tell me anything, you know."

"Um, well..."

Angelica awkwardly scratched her cheek as if she was embarrassed. In the next moment, she opened her mouth and said something unexpected.

"I think you look ridiculous in that suit."

* * *

[A few constellations are laughing at the scene.]

[The constellation that like harems is disappointed at you.]

[The constellation, Architect of Destruction is shaking his head.]

I didn't know if I should laugh or cry.

My gaze dropped to the Def.Antimatter suit. It was built with a singular purpose: to combat antimatter threats, so aesthetics were clearly an afterthought. As a result, the design was plain and functional at best. Still, to hear that I looked ridiculous from someone I knew was enough to deal some serious critical emotional damage.

"Hehehe."

I turned my head to see Park Joonhyuk looking at me with a stupid expression. What the hell was he looking at?

Perhaps she must have noticed the situation, Angelica softened her expression and began to speak.

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant that your body shape looks weird in that suit, that's all."

"Don't worry. I understand."

I truly did. I coughed to gain her attention and wore a serious expression. While I was trapped in my reverie, Angelica had explained her side of the story. Even so, there are still some questions that was needed to be asked.

"So you weren't able to find the Historical Relic you were looking for?"

"Yes. By the time I got there, the item was no longer there."

"I see. Then?"

"I met someone in charge of a group."

"You mean a king?"

"That's right, but she didn't seem like a typical king. I remembered she called herself the High Priestess."

The High Priestess?

Was she targeting the Black Tortoise Sword? No, from what I've heard, It was unlikely that she was targeting the Black Tortoise Sword. Then what was it? Just what was she plotting?

"What happened when you confronted her?"

"Well about that, nothing happened. She surrendered rather easily before a fight broke out and gave me this."

Angelica pulled out a worn piece of parchment from her pocket and showed it to me. A talisman?

I frowned. Why would the High Priestess give something like this to Angelica? The whole situation didn't sit right with me. "Did she say anything else?"

"She said this talisman is an 'invisibility charm' that will hide my presence from monsters. But I didn't get a chance to ask more. Before I knew it, she and her followers disappeared without a trace."

The High Priestess disappeared without any explanation? The more I listened to her story, the more I thought it was strange. More importantly...

"What about the others?"

"We got seperated while we were heading to Gwanghwamun. We started disappearing one by one and I suddenly found myself in Songpa-gu. I don't know about Jung Yunhee, but Kim Hyunwoo should be with Lee Jongho-ssi."

Hearing that the other party members were okay was enough to calm down my anxiety. Although there was no way of knowing, but If Kim Hyunwoo was with Lee Jongho then he won't be okay. Besides, both of them were not weak.

The problem was Jung Yunhee.

Had she successfully saved that person? Where was she now? I know she would be able to survive on her own but would she be okay while protecting herself and another person?

"By the way, Jakga. Who is that?"

"Oh, him..."

Angelica was looking at Park Joonhyuk who has been silently listening to our conservation. It was obvious she would be curious about him but things will instantly become complicated if she learned about his real identity.

Before Park Joonhyuk could open his mouth, I sent a message to him using private communication.

—Whatever you do, don't reveal your identity as the representative of the Devil Arcana.

—Why? Isn't the king wars already over? Who is that woman anyways?

—Seriously, how can your memory be worse than mine? Don't tell me she meant so little to you that you've already forgotten her?

—Wait, don't tell me she's the blonde chick from back then? That can't be right. She wasn't nearly this strong when I ran into her at Sindaebang Station. How could she have gotten so powerful this fast, and without any special items? Even with a growth package, this shouldn't be possible.

—Her star constellation could be a great constellation, so it's not entirely impossible. Still, I'd advise against revealing that information too casually. She was close to the people you killed, and if she finds out, it's unlikely she'll take it well.

—I know. I was not going to reveal that information anyways.

It was good that he thought the same. If he said anything like 'Oh, I'm the Devil King', Angelica might attack him without hesitation.

Even so, I thought about his words.

I assumed that Angelica's star contractor was King of Heroes, Gilgamesh. But even then, It was still strange how she was able to advance so quickly.

Considering Gilgamesh's personality, It's unlikely that he would have given his Incarnation a 'starter pack' or a 'growth package', which means that Angelica was able to grow fast without any of those starter packages.

Was she hiding something that I did not know?

My heart refused to accept it but I couldn't deny that It was definitely something suspicious. There was also some loopholes in her explanation as well.

"Hey, Angelica. How did you..."

I wanted to confirm my suspicions but something suddenly appeared infront of my eyes before I could even finish.

[Warning! An emergency Fable has been generated]

It was a red system panel that carried a bad omen. I took a deep breath and read the message.

+

[Nightmare Scenario — Absolute Destruction]

Type: Emergency

Difficulty: SS

Clear Conditions: The Disaster of Storms is trying to spread the corruption by using the Grade 4 Nightmare. Defeat 'him' and prevent the 'corruption' from spreading any further.

Time Limit: 2 Hours

Rewards: 200,000 coins, plus an additional reward

Penalty: Seoul's Destruction

+

Since we received the goal of preventing, that person would have received the goal of destroying. In other words, the Disaster of Storms has been freed of his restriction to kill players.

Damnit. I thought we still had a lot of time left, but the 'story development' was accelerating much faster than I expected, and now we're caught in the middle of its climax.

I looked back at Park Joonhyuk and Angelica. It seems all of us were relatively thinking about the same thing.

It was time to face the 'destruction' and one of us might probably die.