In a field far from the river, a bug-like monster was crouched still.
The soldiers who had been monitoring the monster were fleeing south, but whether even one of them could survive was unknown.
At some point, the space beside the crouched monster fractured in all directions, spreading like cracks in shattered glass. And then, the world darkened around the cracks.
It was as if darkness was pouring out from the fractured space.
As the cracks splintered into fine shards, a giant beast began to appear.
It was a Dimensional Fixed Beast.
It looked like a massive building was moving forward.
The armor-clad Larva, stretching several dozen meters long, wriggled forward. Soon, the entire body of the beast appeared in this world.
Once its entire body emerged, the beast came to a brief halt.
Moments later, the hard shell of its body began to glow.
The multiple layers of armor glowed in slightly different colors, and then the Larva let out a monstrous roar.
“Kuoohhhhh!”
Then the light from the beast’s armor spread in all directions.
The light expanded outward and transformed into a shockwave.
A ripple of energy surged through the air in all directions.
That energy passed the fleeing soldiers, swept across the field, the division headquarters, the soldiers fleeing on foot, and those riding in vehicles, reaching far and wide.
And moments later, as if it had exhausted its energy, the Larva stopped moving. However, the shell on its back still glowed faintly.
Then space around the beast began to ripple, and several types of massive monsters appeared.
It looked as though the beast had summoned other monsters.
The monsters began to move south.
As the strike team members all boarded the truck and started the engine, a strange sensation swept over them.
Among them, the more experienced members recognized what this feeling meant.
“Damn it, we’re too late.”
Yonghoon spoke as he rose from the cargo bed of the truck.
In his hand was a K-2 rifle. For Yonghoon, a close-range fighter, using a rifle was far more effective in this situation.
The other strike team members also grabbed their guns. Even those experiencing this for the first time followed suit after seeing the others move.
Though they hadn’t experienced it firsthand, it was a situation they’d heard about countless times before.
Yonghoon looked around.
It was quiet. Everyone stood still with their heads down.
The moment those people lifted their heads, hell would begin.
Their truck couldn’t move right away.
The engine of the decade-old truck and the mixed fuel they were using always had trouble at times like this.
Just as the truck finally started, the surrounding soldiers lifted their heads.
Their eyes were covered with a gray film. They had all been tainted by the energy of another world.
This was the true horror of the Dimensional Fixed Beast.
That beast had several abilities, one of which was to spread and maintain its Dimensional Power across a certain area around it.
When the beast spread its Dimensional Power, any lifeform without sufficient defensive Dimensional Power would be corrupted by the Larva.
Corrupted lifeforms had their original minds tainted, lost much of their judgment, and became fixated on a single goal.
Destroying beings from worlds they did not belong to became their ultimate mission.
And there was one more problem-the corrupted humans retained basic intelligence.
Just like now.
The soldiers who had lifted their heads briefly looked around, then disengaged the safeties on their rifles. They pulled the trigger at the targets in front of them.
Tatatatatang!
Leaving the sound of gunfire behind, the truck sped out of the division headquarters.
Behind the fleeing truck, the electronic equipment that had been blocking the monsters’ Dimensional Movement was being destroyed by the corrupted soldiers.
Now, the monsters could come through at any moment.
Boom!
Eventually, the generators exploded with a massive blast.
Leaving behind the division headquarters, now billowing with smoke, the truck began speeding through the center of Uiseong-eup.
“Die!”
People poured out from all directions.
Soldiers held guns, while civilians charged with knives, skewers, and even stones.
Countless people threw themselves at the truck with their bare bodies.
The truck ran over those blocking its path, and the Awakened in the cargo bed fired in all directions.
Those approaching the truck were shot, blood spraying as they collapsed.
Moments later, they stood up again.
Though blood flowed from their bodies and their movements slowed, they still moved toward the truck.
Humans whose very flesh had been tainted by the monsters’ dimension were now partly anchored in that other dimension.
Just like how Awakened who gained Dimensional Power became far stronger than ordinary people, these corrupted humans had become something else entirely.
Every Awakened riding the truck knew this truth.
But they still had to stop them to get the truck through. As expected, once they blocked the corrupted humans’ approach, the truck was able to move again.
But the truck didn’t get far.
Bullets rained down from the front. They came from a truck that had crashed into a storefront up the road.
When Yonghoon stuck his head out to look, he saw it was the truck of the soldiers who had fled the division headquarters ahead of them. It seemed they had been corrupted after barely making it this far.
The bullets shattered the already bloodied windshield and eventually burst the truck’s tires.
Screeeeech!
The driver, unable to check the front due to the gunfire, turned the wheel just as the tire blew, causing the truck to flip onto its side.
Kwang!
Fortunately, the truck flipped in such a way that its underside faced forward, shielding them from the gunfire ahead.
All the strike team members escaped safely behind the truck.
Even the Awakened who had been driving was safe, aside from minor injuries.
Awakened who had gained powerful physical abilities and fought countless battles didn’t even flinch at an accident like this.
Hiding behind the truck, Yonghoon looked around, searching for an escape route.
The main road was lined with overturned trucks and jeeps. It looked like they couldn’t escape that way anymore.
No matter how strong an Awakened was, there was no way to break through a road full of heavily armed soldiers.
With the main road blocked, they had to escape through the alleys. Fortunately, the town was small and they had already come far-just a bit more to go.
Yonghoon pointed toward an alley beside the truck, and everyone agreed.
The strike team immediately rushed into the alley.
The corrupted humans chasing the truck followed close behind.
The nine strike team members ran through the alleys of the town, while corrupted humans jumped out from behind and side alleys to attack them.
But in these narrow alleys, corrupted humans couldn’t stand against Awakened who had fought for over ten years.
Of course, if they had A-rank Awakened, they wouldn’t even need to run-but a group of nearly ten C-rank Awakened was still a formidable force.
When gunfire came, Defense-type Awakened blocked it in advance with shields imbued with Dimensional Power. When corrupted humans approached, Strike-type Awakened slashed and stabbed without mercy.
Not a single member hesitated to attack the people.
Because they knew there was no way to bring them back.
Occasionally, they saw familiar faces, but all of them swung their weapons indifferently-or in some cases, even with a smile.
Against Scout-type Monsters, they had to rely on piercing attacks due to their tough hides and Dimensional Power, but these corrupted humans could be slashed to the bone.
The attacks of Strike-type Awakened, capable of neutralizing Dimensional Repulsion, cut down the corrupted humans with ease.
It would’ve been better to have other types of Awakened like the Spatial Mover or Telekinesis Ability User they’d seen earlier, but they couldn’t expect that from a strike team meant to face Scout-type Monsters.
Cutting down the enemies blocking their path, the group charged forward. The end of the alley was in sight.
At this rate, escape seemed possible. In wide open areas, no one could keep up with the speed of Awakened.
They shook off the corrupted humans chasing them and pushed forward. The finish line was right ahead.
Suddenly, Yonghoon, who was at the front, raised his hand and stopped the group.
The group immediately halted at Yonghoon’s signal. Though there were three Majors, one for each team, they had all acknowledged Yonghoon’s combat experience and chosen him as the temporary leader.
Yonghoon narrowed his eyes at the shimmering distortion at the end of the alley. It was clearly a sign of Dimensional Movement.
The others noticed the situation too. Their expressions darkened. They were C-rank Awakened.
Without an Assassin-type Awakened, they had no way to kill monsters that had moved independently via Dimensional Movement.
“We have nine team members-close to the maximum number that’s ever taken down a Scout-type Monster. It’s doable. I mean, if we lose, we die anyway.”
It wasn’t that there had never been a case where C-rank Awakened without an Assassin-type had killed a Scout-type Monster.
There had been a time when twelve combat Awakened fought for over an hour to bring one down. But more than half of them died, so everyone just shook their heads.
At Yonghoon’s words, everyone nodded. It was a straight alley with no side paths anyway.
Behind them, corrupted humans were closing in, and now that a monster had started to appear, it was clear more would follow.
They had to break through.
The space ahead began to split, and a monster emerged from the rift.
A mantis over three meters tall appeared, and shortly after, another one followed. Everyone’s expressions grew darker. Dealing with even one was hard enough-now there were two.
Yonghoon turned around.
The humans that had been charging at them stopped about 20 meters away.
Hundreds of people stood silently with weapons in hand, saying nothing-it was an utterly chilling sight.
They probably didn’t intend to interfere in the battle between the monster and the strike team. But they stared at the group, ready to attack at the slightest opening.
The giant mantises that had appeared stood in a line, one in front and one behind. Judging by the formation, the one in front would fight while the one in back would block any escape.
As expected, they seemed to be getting smarter.
The mantis monster in front pulled out its wings and gave a violent shudder. It raised both arms.
Its two hands, shaped like scythes, glowed brightly, imbued with Dimensional Power. Getting hit by those would surely mean being sliced through along with the space itself.
Yonghoon raised his hand as well. The group took their positions. Thanks to their long combat experience, the formation came together naturally.
They began the battle.