After the monster fell, the scattered people cautiously approached it.
However, by the time they got close, there was no one around the monster.
Yonghoon and Elena were up on the rocky mountains. Elena, who had experienced spatial movement outside of a Warp Zone for the first time, looked around with a fascinated expression.
“Come sit over here.”
Yonghoon called her to the place where a blanket was laid out.
Elena, still not fully adapted to Yonghoon’s change, cautiously obeyed his words.
Yonghoon looked at Elena sitting down and sank into thought. He pondered how best to explain things to her.
He could either pretend not to know anything or tell her everything.
Pretending not to know felt a bit wrong, considering how much she had helped him. But telling her everything wouldn’t be good for either of them if he wasn’t going to take her along.
Seeing Yonghoon deep in thought, Elena carefully asked a question.
“Are you a Linker by any chance?”
Instead of answering, Yonghoon responded with a question.
“How much do you know about Linkers?”
Elena pouted slightly when Yonghoon answered her question with another question.
Still, she answered him.
“They’re people who explore other worlds and return. The government even issued official notices saying not to misunderstand because their eye colors are different. It was on the radio too. At first, there were even grand welcoming ceremonies……”
Elena trailed off mid-sentence. It seemed the rest of the story was uncomfortable to talk about.
Yonghoon waited for her to continue.
Eventually, Elena opened her mouth again.
“It’s just a rumor, but some Linkers apparently caused problems due to schizophrenia, and some even joined the rebels. So now everyone keeps quiet about it.”
Schizophrenia, huh. It was definitely a plausible story. Many other Linkers were confused by their dual personalities, and forcibly controlling another personality surely wasn’t easy.
But rebellion sounded a bit abrupt. Surely they had undergone thorough mental training before being sent out-did spending too much time in another world cause it?
Yonghoon shook his head. It was just a rumor anyway. Listening to her story helped him decide what to say.
“I am a Linker.”
At Yonghoon’s words, Elena focused intently, her eyes sparkling.
“There are quite a few things I can’t talk about, but I’ll tell you a few things. First, I am indeed a Linker, and I’m currently hostile to the government. I came from a place far from here.”
Elena wasn’t too surprised by Yonghoon’s story. She had somewhat expected it.
“There was a fight at the dimensional Warp Zone yesterday. It’s not certain, but New Berlin City might have issued a wanted notice for me. Since there were people who saw us together, it’s better not to return to the city. You might be mistaken for my accomplice.”
Elena’s expression darkened at Yonghoon’s words.
“If there’s a city you want to go to, let me know. If it’s not too far, I’ll take you there.”
Elena looked at Yonghoon with a strange expression.
After staring at him for a moment, she spoke as if she had no other choice.
“I want to go to New Prague. It’s quite far-can you manage it?”
Yonghoon recalled a map of Europe in his mind. The distance from here to Prague was about 300 km. He didn’t know the exact location, so he would need to use spatial movement several times, but it wasn’t too far.
“It’s possible. I’ll escort you there.”
“Um, what will you do after that, Yonghoon?”
“After I see you off, I’ll handle a few things and then try to return to where I lived.”
Elena stared at Yonghoon as he spoke, then eventually let out a sigh. She slapped her cheeks with both hands and forced a cheerful expression.
“It can’t be helped. I’ll just think of it as having traveled to many places thanks to you.”
“Do you have anything you need to bring?”
At Yonghoon’s question, Elena shook her head.
“All my personal belongings are here. I just need to take my backpack. The blanket and rifle are hunting party property, but no one will complain if I take them.”
After saying that, she looked down below.
There, people were gathered around the monster, chatting and tending to the unconscious Awakened.
“It looks like the dimensional Warp Zone got pretty damaged, huh? Warp failures are really rare……”
It wasn’t just “pretty damaged,” but Yonghoon didn’t explain further.
“Still, it’s a shame. You took down that monster all by yourself. Even though it’s not alive, you could have gotten a decent reward…… Just selling the Dimensional Core on the black market would fetch a lot……”
She looked at the monster with some regret. A moment later, Elena slung her backpack over her shoulders and spoke to Yonghoon.
“Let’s go.”
She showed no complaints toward Yonghoon, who kept dragging her around.
Yonghoon grabbed her shoulder and looked south. They leapt through space.
Thirty minutes later, Yonghoon and Elena appeared atop a building in the old city center where they could see New Prague’s wall.
The beautiful buildings that had withstood countless years meant nothing against the appearance of monsters. Only grotesque ruins remained of the city.
Elena’s face was pale from over ten instances of spatial movement covering tens of kilometers each, and Yonghoon frowned at the sight of New Prague before him.
“This fortress city looks quite small. But the defenses seem pretty tight.”
The New Prague fortress city before them looked about the size of New Warsaw when he had first seen it. Compared to New Berlin, it was a tiny city.
“Still, it’s far from the Dead Zone, so it’s not bad for hunting. The city itself is just in a pretty remote location.”
Elena, finally recovering from her motion sickness, answered Yonghoon.
Yonghoon looked at Elena.
But he couldn’t tell from her expression why she had wanted to come here.
“You didn’t get paid again this time-will you be okay for living expenses?”
At Yonghoon’s words, Elena gave a bitter smile.
“There’s still the Association, so I’ll just have to find a job.”
It seemed she was running out of money.
“Wait here for just an hour.”
Leaving those words behind, Yonghoon disappeared from the spot.
Elena was bewildered by Yonghoon’s sudden departure.
She stared at the place where Yonghoon had been, then turned to look at New Prague’s wall.
“I never thought I’d come back here……”
This city was filled with her love and hatred. It was where her family had lived and where her parents had died. She had left the city right after their deaths.
She looked at the city wall with cold eyes.
Before she knew it, an hour had passed, and just as Elena was starting to worry, Yonghoon reappeared before her.
Elena’s eyes widened in shock at the bloodstains on his hand.
Yonghoon placed several gems into her hand.
They were Dimensional Cores. The stunned Elena looked up at Yonghoon.
“It’s not much of a thank-you gift, but you can consider it a parting present.”
Elena stared blankly at Yonghoon at his words.
“And from now on, don’t go near the capital or the dimensional Warp Zone.”
Yonghoon gave her one last warning as she stood there dazed.
Yonghoon placed a hand on her shoulder.
“I’ll send you to the entrance of the wall now.”
“Wait a second.”
Elena shouted urgently. Yonghoon tilted his head at her cry as Elena’s face moved closer to his.
Elena stood on her toes and kissed Yonghoon. Yonghoon’s eyes widened in surprise.
A moment later, she pulled back and spoke to Yonghoon.
“It’s a farewell greeting.”
Yonghoon, looking at her slightly sorrowful face, opened a dimensional tunnel. Her figure disappeared before his eyes.
Elena appeared behind a building near the main gate.
She turned her head to look at the building where Yonghoon had been. He was no longer there.
After staring at the building for a moment, she began walking toward New Prague.
She had another reason for coming to New Prague. It was her hometown, but it was also a city where rebels had long been active.
Because of that, the fortress city’s development had stagnated, and the government’s vigilance was intense. She even knew some people among the rebel forces.
Until now, she had closed her eyes and ears to their stories, but after seeing Yonghoon these past few days, she had started to think differently.
At the very least, she wanted to hear their side of the story.
And-
‘Maybe, just maybe, I’ll see him again……’
With her own will, Elena stepped forward.
After sending Elena off, Yonghoon used spatial movement to return to New Berlin. Since he already knew the coordinates of New Berlin City, it didn’t take long to get back.
The next place Yonghoon appeared was the ruined dimensional Warp Zone building. He entered a building that was far more destroyed than when he had left.
Now, more than half of the building was destroyed, making it seem completely beyond repair. It was practically a ruin at this point.
Yonghoon activated his senses and scanned the surroundings, but he didn’t see any people or monsters nearby. It seemed everyone had left.
Yonghoon went to the place where he had fought yesterday. Standing before the pile of debris, he opened a dimensional tunnel.
It felt a bit like grave robbing, but he couldn’t just leave things as they were.
Yonghoon opened a dimensional tunnel and began exploring the debris. The shimmering space continuously illuminated the wreckage.
After a moment, he reached into the dimensional tunnel and pulled out a bloodstained Dimensional Core and a shield.
It was an A-rank Dimensional Core and a Relic shield. He wasn’t sure if he could use a shield from this dimension, but its performance was certainly outstanding. He would have to check it back home.
Yonghoon took the items and stepped outside the building. Traces of monsters rushing out stretched all the way toward New Berlin City.
Yonghoon used spatial movement to travel to New Berlin City.
Yonghoon appeared atop an old building near New Berlin City. He frowned as he looked at the city.
One side of the city’s wall had been blown open, and countless monster corpses were lined up near the collapsed wall.
Yonghoon tilted his head as he looked at the corpses. Humanoid monsters covered in fur were lying everywhere.
“Are those the corrupted humans called Deathmen?”
They were definitely different from humans contaminated by Dimensional Beasts. The fallen monsters hardly looked human at all.
Enormous plumes of smoke were rising from the city. Once his Dimensional Power stabilized, Yonghoon used spatial movement to move onto the wall.
The view of the city from atop the wall was devastating.
Countless buildings had collapsed, and many were still burning.
Fierce gunfire echoed from various places, and he could see explosions erupting. But one side of the city remained intact. It seemed the Awakened were holding off the monsters’ advance.
On the roads, he could see the corpses of large monsters, the Deathmen he had seen earlier, as well as civilians and soldiers.
Amazingly, there were even corpses of Dimensional Beasts lying on the boulevard.
Yonghoon was extremely surprised to see a dead Dimensional Beast.
Although he had defeated Dimensional Beasts himself, seeing one lying dead with its side blown open and its shell completely shattered was shocking. He couldn’t help but be astonished at the sight of the punctured hard shell.
It was then.
A violent explosion erupted from within the city center. Judging by the glowing orb soaring into the sky, there seemed to be another Dimensional Beast.
Yonghoon used spatial movement to move closer to where the monster was.
The monster was in the central plaza of the city. On one side, he could see barricades and tanks set up to block the monsters, while on the other side were piles of monster corpses.
And in the center of the plaza, there was a Dimensional Beast and a woman fighting it.
The Dimensional Beast’s shell was cracked and it was bleeding from multiple wounds, while the woman darted around it at lightning speed.
The superiority was clear.
The Dimensional Beast once again launched glowing orbs in all directions. The orbs swept across the plaza, destroying nearby buildings, barricades, and tanks, either blasting them away or engulfing them in flames.
The explosion was so powerful that even where Yonghoon stood, he could feel the scorching heat.
It seemed everyone had already evacuated.
There were no other people near the plaza. Only in the distance, behind buildings, could he see people who appeared to be Awakened taking cover.
The glowing orbs had no effect on the woman with the flowing long hair. Her movements were incredibly fast. She had already dodged to a different spot long before the orbs arrived. Even Yonghoon found it difficult to follow her movements.
As the glowing orbs swept past, she pulled back the spear she was holding. Light burst from her spear.
However, the distance between her and the Dimensional Beast was quite far. An attack from here wouldn’t reach the Dimensional Beast.
She threw her spear. The spear she hurled flew toward the Dimensional Beast at tremendous speed.
The amazing thing was that the light from the spear didn’t disappear. She was able to launch a spear imbued with Dimensional Power.
The spear struck the Dimensional Beast’s body and exploded.
Boom!
The Dimensional Beast’s body burst apart. Already wounded and bleeding, the Dimensional Beast collapsed from the spear attack. Its shell was shattered.
It was the same type of wound he had seen on the other Dimensional Beast from atop the wall. It seemed she had killed that one too.
She, who had been standing still and staring at the Dimensional Beast, tilted her head and then looked toward the building where Yonghoon was.
‘Did she spot me?’
It seemed he had leaked Dimensional Power the moment he saw the flying spear imbued with Dimensional Power.
It wasn’t time to confront her yet. Yonghoon used spatial movement to escape the city.
Brigadier General Hans, the city’s commander, and other Awakened rushed to her side.
“Is there a problem?”
Seeing her expression, Brigadier General Hans asked politely.
“No. I must have been mistaken.”
She shook her head at Brigadier General Hans’s words.
“Now that we’ve finished handling things here, let’s head to the dimensional Warp Zone. We need to find out who caused this.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
At her words, everyone present began moving busily.