There were too many questions, and not enough answers. From the nature of Na Jungwoo’s powers to the baffling ease with which he’d fallen into the illusion—even if his sole weakness had been exposed, how could someone like him succumb so easily?
Kim Sibaek’s mind was far from fragile. Sharpened by years of monster hunts and battlefield experience, it couldn’t be so easily shaken. To break through his defenses, the attacker would need mana or divine power rivaling an S-rank. Or perhaps—
That illusion didn’t just confuse me—it reached deep, targeting the exact fear I tried to bury.
Could the illusionist have been one of the Paladins of Chaos, beings whose very essence was born of fear?
Maybe Earth’s newly emerged Paladins of Chaos also embodied fear itself. And if not that…
A deep crease formed between Sibaek’s brows. He hadn’t been able to confirm whether Edokers had truly vanished into the void when his core was destroyed and swallowed by the rift. Could it be that, just like Biendeoé had been pulled in during his return, Edokers hadn’t died completely and somehow crossed over to Earth?
But if Edokers still had enough power to summon a monster of this scale, Sibaek would’ve sensed it the moment he arrived.
[In the year 200X, the Earth’s Doomsday Clock stood at 11:54 p.m. But when the Cataclysm began and drastically reduced the planet’s overpopulated numbers, the clock was set back to 11:46 p.m.
Whether you’re a serious analyst or a doomsday denier, here’s one truth no one knows: It’s currently 11:59:59.000…1.]
[So let’s give it our all and try to stop Earth from ending again today! ㅇ_<]
[Quest 09]
[Conquer the Anxious Mist (0/2)]
[Time Remaining: 04:00:00]
Just in case, Sibaek had brought his sword bag. He drew his sabre and charged toward the monster, but just as he did, a wall of text suddenly filled his vision.
“Anxious Mist…”
So that’s what this monster was called on Earth.
His gaze fixed on the creature that had appeared near the Plume Ride—where he himself had stood just hours earlier. True to its name, Anxious Mist wielded fire attributes and had the terrifying ability to adapt, mutating into its most optimal form based on its surroundings. Even now, it twisted and writhed, gradually forming a body. Each time the flames surged, smaller monsters erupted around it like living embers.
Despite being a single entity, it continuously split itself into countless fragments—earning it an A-rank classification with the highest threat level under Earth’s standards.
[Death and Beauty complains that the fragments spawned from that thing don’t yield divine power when slain.]
“It’s because they don’t have cores—same as any hive-type. Nothing we can do about it.”
While Sibaek had been trapped in the illusion, the audience near the scene had finished evacuating. The presence of three S-rank Hunters from the 7777 Guild, including Tae Woon, helped keep panic to a minimum. Without them, an Eid Portal would’ve likely opened by now.
He could now see Hunters forming a defensive line in front of the inferno where monsters poured out. As he drew near, waves of heat slammed into him, suffocating and heavy.
“Hyung-nim!”
Pi Minhyung raised a hand in greeting, wiping thick sweat from his forehead. Sibaek asked right away, concerned.
“Seo-yeon and Seo-jun—are they safe?”
“I got them evacuated with a defensive magitech device. If we take down the monster quickly, they should be fine.”
Even if the device was technically safe, no parent could truly feel at ease. Minhyung’s voice was steady, but his expression carried a tension Sibaek hadn’t seen even during the Eid Portal incident.
Sibaek let it slide and focused on the situation at hand.
“What happened here?”
“It’s not an Eid Portal… It looks like a Monster Seed sprouted, but we’re not sure. I mean, this isn’t some remote area—it’s the middle of the damn city. Having Monster Seeds sprout back-to-back like this? Doesn’t add up.”
From a probability standpoint, Minhyung had a point—unless someone had triggered the Monster Seed on purpose.
[Death and Beauty asks if someone on Earth is secretly conducting research to artificially trigger Monster Seeds.]
It was something Tae Woon and Gwak Yoonsang had quietly warned him about. But Minhyung didn’t know. Sibaek decided not to bring it up.
“What about the other Hunters here?”
“Security team from the amusement park and the Greater Monster Subjugation Unit from the Capital Defense Command. The guild that handled security… let’s see… yeah, that emblem’s from Jeongmyeong.”
Sure enough, a Hunter who looked like an officer from the Greater Monster Unit was deep in conversation with someone wearing the insignia of Jeongmyeong Guild’s security chief.
“Where’s Tae Woon? Weren’t you two together?”
“Oh, something came up in the back—he’s handling it.”
“Well… as long as he’s here, we’ll figure it out somehow.”
Minhyung scratched his neck, glanced toward the direction he’d sent the kids, then bit his lip and sprinted toward the front lines. They couldn’t take Anxious Mist down yet. Until the mutation was complete and its core stabilized, it was invulnerable. It was a waiting game now—a battle of endurance.
“I’ll head inside the fire zone and check for anyone who hasn’t been evacuated.”
[Death and Beauty hides behind your shoulder, trying not to let the flames catch her feathers.]
The improvised defense line was far from perfect. They’d used shattered amusement park rides as makeshift barricades, cobbled together to hold off the fire-born monsters wreaking havoc.
Jeongmyeong Guild’s Hunters had been on standby for a possible Eid Portal, which meant they were low in numbers and unprepared for fire-type assaults. If not for Pi Minhyung and the Greater Monster Unit, the line would’ve crumbled already.
Which also meant there was a good chance the interior hadn’t been fully evacuated. Kim Sibaek leapt over the debris of twisted rides, eyes scanning the smoke and flame.
“H-Huh. Th-thank y—!”
Before the injured Hunter could even finish his words, Kim Sibaek had already moved on—his blade had pierced clean through the monster lunging for the man’s head. Leaping from one collapsing ride to another, he cut down the beasts crawling along the support pillars, all while searching for anyone left behind.
It was hard to say how long he’d been weaving through the chaos, cutting down monsters and scanning for survivors. Then—through the deafening clash of roaring beasts and shouting Hunters—he caught a faint, wheezing cough. Barely audible, the kind of sound anyone else would’ve missed if they hadn’t been listening for it.
The flames inside the defensive perimeter roared like a sea of fire, as if the whole area had been soaked in oil. Without hesitation, Sibaek took a breath and jumped down from the pillar.
The searing heat hit him like a wall. Coughing through the smoke, he bounded across patches of ground the fire hadn’t touched, cutting down the monsters erupting from the flames. Though they lacked cores and typically required multiple hits to kill, his divine power-laced blade reduced them to ash in a single swing.
Then he spotted them—two sisters, huddled in the gap between a collapsed carousel roof and a broken carriage.
The older girl, who looked to be in middle school, flinched at the sound of footsteps. Her eyes widened in terror—then filled with tears when she realized it was a Hunter, not a monster.
“Sniff… hic… sob…”
“Is your sister just unconscious?”
“Y-Yeah… but… her body’s really hot…”
He gently placed a hand on the younger girl’s flushed cheek. His palm glowed faintly as a wave of cool, soothing energy flowed into her. The girl let out a sharp, hot breath, then blinked slowly, lashes trembling.
“…Unnie…”
The older sister’s eyes grew even wider as she recognized him. As the fire calmed around them, Kim Sibaek scooped up the unconscious child in his arms. Then he crouched so the older one—who’d sprained her ankle—could climb onto his back. Without missing a step, he carried them both to safety.
He left the sisters in the care of the medics stationed at the protective magic circle where the security team was treating the injured—then turned right back around. He managed to save nine more lives from the blaze that day.
As the other Hunters realized what he was doing—rescuing civilians trapped inside—they fought harder, tightening the defensive line with grim determination. But not everyone felt the same.
“Dammit! We’re risking our necks for a bunch of nobodies? If we’ve got energy to waste on them, we should be pushing the line forward!”
The officer from the Greater Monster Subjugation Unit made sure his words were loud enough for everyone to hear.
What a load of self-serving crap. Wasn’t the whole point to hold the line until the monster’s mutation was complete? That was the actual strategy.
Sibaek didn’t even bother responding. He’d seen plenty of men like that—spineless types with no conviction, groveling before nameless gods, sneering at others because it was easier than confronting their own weakness.
He turned away, ignoring the man entirely.
Crack!
In the blink of an eye, darkness spilled across the ground like ink. Black, blade-like spikes burst upward, razor-sharp and fast—racing straight toward the officer.
