Regurgitating Hatred (4)

Countless emission-type gates had appeared at the same time, resulting in a situation called the countercurrent. It was a phenomenon that everyone had no choice but to recognize as countless monsters of different types came together to destroy the world and kill humanity. In a word, it was war. In the past, there had been three such incidents in Korea. Several other countries had only experienced two at most (Africa had already fallen into monsters’ hands when the first happened), so Korea was seen as being particularly unlucky in this regard. Yet now, as more than one-hundred irregular gates opened at once all over Seoul to pour out monsters, it became the moment that the world’s first countercurrent occurred. If Vanguard, the world’s number one battle guild, hadn’t found it earlier, Korea might’ve been blown away.

-Large land…new air…!

-We will conquer.

-We will take it.

Few people knew that the gates weren’t independent but rather interconnected. However, those who saw the monsters coming from within them, communicating with each other, would naturally realize it. The fact that there was a conspiracy lurking behind the gates that humans could not yet fathom, everyone who fought at the forefront to block the countercurrent could sense it. That was Vanguard and the Superhuman Association.

“Block the right side! They’re pushing us!”

“A new gate at 11 o’clock! It’s A-class!”

“Baekyang guild will take them on. Focus on this side!”

“Is the Alchemist here yet? Are they in Korea?!”

-Kiaaaah!

The chaos showed no sign of subsiding. Compared to ten years ago, when the third countercurrent occurred, the average level of superhumans had increased, but so did the number of monsters appearing. It made it difficult for superhumans lower than B-rank to move properly.

“Damn…this feels strange…!”

“S-rank elite monsters in the front! Vice-captain, please come out!”

“Come on…!” Ace Brett, the vice-captain of Vanguard’s third team, which had been struggling harder than any other guild, cursed as he charged forward. Thorny wolves were scattered about them, attacking the superhumans, but Ace Brett swung with a dagger of purple mana to cut them down without hesitation. The dagger’s curse imbued the wolves’ body, stealing their energy for Ace. As it robbed the monsters of their energy, the purple aura around the dagger gradually increased.

-Kiiii!

-Kyaaak! Kyaah!

“Kh!” The wolves realized what happened and tried to flee, but he didn’t let them. Anyone cut by the cursed dagger would not be able to escape except through death. The wolves were already bound to become Ace’s prey.

“Get off! Huh…?”

-Great…

As the energy continued to cover the dagger completely, Ace Brett came to face the elite monster that had just formed in front of the gate. It was a deformed giant wolf with sturdy black horns and a very sharp thorn under its chin.

-You are dealing with the curse of life, a power not permitted to humans…”

“An annoying monster that’s too chatty has appeared.” Ace had already roughly predicted that a monster that knew how to speak would appear. He knew because he had participated in the second one in the United States before joining up with Vanguard, who had saved him from the endless monsters that were there.

‘Well, that wasn’t much compared to this…’ At that time, he had realized the limits to what could be achieved through effort alone, that barrier that separated hard work from the truly talented. But he had no regrets. There were some superhumans who thought he was among those who were talented, but there were plenty of people he was forced to look up to.

-It is a power that isn’t controlled, cannot be controlled.

“Pretending to know what you’re talking about, monster?” His eyes shimmered in the light as he readied himself.

“Kh…!”

-I’ll show you.

“Ugh?!” He had to forget about attacking as he was forced to evade with all his might as blackthorns erupted from the floor beneath him.

-Kaooooo!

-Kiiiii!

-Kuhek, Kieee!

The superhumans following Ace Brett were elites and thus were able to avoid any serious damage, but the wolves around them were taken out by the thorns. The attack had spread out over a wide area without any warning or preparation. Wherever Ace Brett dodged, more thorns arose. He swung his dagger at them, but the moment they collided, the thorns sucked out his energy.

“Ugh…?!”

-Check.

The voice looked forward to his next move. The soaring thorns vanished as soon as they appeared as the energy of the giant wolf increased. It seemed similar to Ace’s own ability…but perhaps of a higher quality.

-Move. Show me your abilities.

“I hate monsters like this.” Ace grumbled and raised his head, feeling a bit refreshed. He could fight, but the issue was…

[Vice-captain Brett!]

A call came from the telepathic crew from the HQ.

[It is S+ rank! It may grow beyond that, so be careful. It is likely they disguised their ranks to disorient us!]

“The absorbed energy is temporarily amplifying their stats. It’s similar to me.”

[Yeah, but…okay! Support will be there soon, so please hold on!]

Ace knew his own abilities weren’t as effective. The energy he absorbed from his enemies could heal his own injuries or increase the power of his attacks, but to raise his rank to the next level? That wasn’t possible, yet this monster’s limits didn’t seem to end there.

-Check again!

“Go ahead and die!” The wolf rushed towards him through the blackthorns that flew through the air. He was wary of the thorns as he couldn’t tell where or when they would spring up. Moving cautiously, he condensed the energy of his curse and fired it at the wolf’s torso, who couldn’t absorb the energy that was already fixed in shape. But perhaps that was the wolf’s intention. It swung its tail with dozens of thorns at that moment.

‘It’s dangerous.’ Ace leaped away, making use of the survival skills that any top superhuman had. Even the giant wolf looked surprised as he jumped more than ten meters away.

“Now it’s checkmate for you…huh?” However, as he turned to fire off another attack in the air, his body stiffened. Anyone would be surprised by something falling from above them.

“What, monst-“

“I will never do another hero landing!”

“…Wow!”

“Don’t do anything!” Not a monster, but a man and a woman wearing black coats and masks had fallen together, landing side by side. Several questions crossed Ace’s mind at the sight, specifically why from above and what sort of guild dressed that way, but he was quick to realize the truth.

“Death puppeteer! The association’s secret weapon!”

“Don’t! Don’t say it!” Kang Shin-hyuk screamed as he sent out ten strands of spider webs to form a thick shield to block the giant wolf’s thorns. Blocking the attack, he then pulled his arms back as he stepped away, sending the thorns back at the wolf.

“Be careful of those thorns!”

“Don’t let them touch you!” The giant wolf avoided the thorns coming back at him as Shin-hyuk once more stretched out his web. Two strands of thread wrapped around the wolf’s forefoot, and three more wrapped around his hindfoot. The remaining five wrapped around his torso as poison and lightning ran through it.

-Kahak?!

Kang Shin-hyuk pulled the wolf down. It was an incredible sight as he easily dealt with an S+ rank monster before he even landed on the ground. Kang Shin-hyuk continued to step through the air thanks to his Wind Mastery as he handled the wolf.

“Thanks!” It was the perfect opening. Eleanor descended like a meteor with her javelin onto the wolf’s stomach. The spear rapidly expanded to five meters long as it hit, making use of the ability he had imbued it with. It was thanks to Do Woojin that he managed to make it.

“Haaaah!”

-Kaaahak!

The spear pierced right through the wolf and protruded from the other side. Eleanor hit the ground with the wolf, landing right on top of it.

“What the…” So much had happened in an instant that Ace Brett couldn’t help but mutter blankly. The death puppeteer had shown up with a random woman to kill an S+ rank monster instantly, so of course, it was surprising. Meanwhile, messages began to pop up in front of Kang Shin-hyuk as he landed onto the ground.

Only

-You have suppressed a being that was harmful to the order of things. Bonus based on membership level! You received 2,500,000HP! As a VIP bonus, you have received an additional HP bonus equivalent to 50% of the reward, for a total of 3,750,000HP!

-A 3,000HP bonus from this administrator who has admired your splendid appearance! If only that fox wasn’t here.

‘Thanks to the fact she was here, it was easy.’ Kang Shin-hyuk checked Eleanor’s safety before using the automatic routing function to store the giant wolf in his inventory.

“It’s amazing you dealt with it at once.”

“Let’s keep going. Don’t worry, I’ll share what was caught fairly.” The two turned away shortly, leaving Ace Brett to stare at their backs.

“You…how…?” The voice of Claire came from above, complaining about the name she had decided, but Kang Shin-hyuk ignored it.

“We’re the support.”