Team Crazy ran like the wind.
Using the enhanced physical abilities of Awakened, Team Crazy leapt over flowerbeds and dashed across the training field in a straight line toward the west.
Yonghoon’s face was grim as he ran. The other team members followed behind him with equally hardened expressions.
In Yonghoon’s ear, the situation on the western defense line kept coming through.
[Ant-type monsters have breached the primary defense lines! Thirty seconds until they reach the secondary line!]
[Please hold out just a little longer at the secondary line! D-Rank Awakened are on their way!]
As Team Crazy ran, they saw members of the eastern secondary defense line passing by. The E-Rank Awakened team had apparently already headed west, and only F-Rank Awakened and support troops remained in sight.
“We’re counting on you!”
“Let’s go!”
The F-Rank Awakened shouted at Team Crazy as they passed, and the support troops standing to the side saluted them in silence.
Yonghoon stared straight ahead. Antennas were visible above the trees.
They were almost at the Dimensional Movement Blocking Device.
The Awakened waiting at the western secondary defense line stared ahead with grim faces.
The explosions that had echoed from the front just moments ago had ceased.
It was clear that the support unit had been annihilated.
Soon, the monsters would appear right in front of them.
The Awakened were so tense their mouths were dry.
But the first to appear weren’t monsters.
Cresting the hill were Awakened who had fled from the primary defense lines.
The Awakened guarding the secondary line watched them running this way, their expressions hardening. Some were already torn between staying and fleeing.
The face of Team Leader Yang, who was in charge of the secondary defense line, darkened. He was the team leader of Team 7 under the Link System and was acting as the temporary commanding officer of the secondary line.
He deliberated seriously. If he let the other Awakened through, the secondary line might collapse too. But it was also hard to point a spear at fellow humans.
But his dilemma was soon rendered meaningless.
“Kyaaah!”
Giant ants appeared behind the fleeing Awakened. The ants chased after them, killing the Awakened at the rear one by one.
The ant monsters seemed intent only on clearing the humans obstructing their path, attacking only those directly ahead.
But with over a dozen ant monsters still remaining, they filled the path and swept forward toward the humans.
“Damn it!”
Team Leader Yang gritted his teeth as he gripped his spear.
He wanted to rush forward and save people, but if he broke formation here, the Dimensional Movement Blocking Device behind them would be in danger.
Although a third defense line was set up in front of it, it was effectively the last line and had little real combat strength.
If a D-Rank ant monster reached that point, the device would almost certainly be lost.
The Awakened watching the massacre of their comrades hardened their expressions. Even those who had thought about fleeing now raised their weapons with grim resolve.
They had realized that running would be useless in the face of what was coming. The Awakened at the secondary defense line waited for the ants with determined faces.
And then-
“Everyone still alive?”
A rough voice called out from behind the defense line.
Some of the Awakened let out faint chuckles.
It was Instructor Seo’s voice. He had arrived, leading the southern teams.
Instructor Seo immediately merged into the formation and stepped forward. He frowned as he saw the ant monsters approaching the defense line while slaughtering the Awakened.
Instructor Seo narrowed his eyes. Behind the head ants, he could see ants that were at least one head taller.
“Shit, what? They said D-Ranks wouldn’t show up for at least another month? They said the same thing over there too-those research center bastards always get the most important things wrong.”
The instructor scanned his surroundings.
“Counting me, we’ve got two Defense-types, one Strike-type, and one Assassin-type. If I use Contaminate, that’s one Defense-type out too.”
He counted the number of D-Rank Awakened nearby and clicked his tongue.
There were only three-Eunseo, the Team 7 leader, and himself. The other two were up north dealing with the stray dogs.
“Feels like I just got a one-way ticket to hell.”
Instructor Seo licked his lips and stared ahead. The ant monsters were nearly upon them.
Instructor Seo shouted loudly.
“Team Leader 7, get over here now! Eunseo, get over here too! All other Awakened, deal with the regular ants! Avoid the D-Ranks!”
Team Leader 7 rushed over to Instructor Seo. Eunseo also left her team and approached him.
Instructor Seo quickly spoke to the two of them.
“Each of us grabs one D-Rank no matter what. If the guys who went north make it back in time, we live. If not, we’re all dead.”
Eunseo and Team Leader 7’s faces stiffened.
“Eunseo takes the left, I’ll take the center, and Yang takes the right. Move when the ants hit the line.”
Eunseo and Team Leader Yang nodded.
“What’s the Control Room saying? More D-Ranks? Did one show up among the regular Awakened?”
Instructor Seo muttered as he stared ahead.
“Maybe Yonghoon? I think he could pull it off.”
Eunseo replied, brushing her tied-up hair back.
“Probably. It’d be great if that guy turned out to be D-Rank too. Either way, he has to get here in time to be useful.”
Instructor Seo’s face hardened mid-sentence.
The lead ants had collided with the defense line.
“Now!”
Amid the screams and roars of Awakened and ants alike, the three D-Rank Awakened charged toward the ant monsters they were assigned.
The ant monsters, without support from the Soldier Ants, engaged in fierce battle with the Awakened at the front lines.
Fortunately, the reduced number of ant monsters could barely be held off by the Awakened at the secondary line, now joined by those Instructor Seo had brought.
Moreover, the Awakened from the primary line who had arrived just before the ants gave up running and joined the fight when they saw their comrades battling.
The front line held firm.
If they could hold out long enough for Awakened from other areas to arrive, they might just make it.
The D-Rank Awakened holding back the D-Rank monsters were performing brilliantly. It was a known fact that monsters of E-Rank or higher couldn’t be handled by Awakened of the same rank, but these three were managing to stall them.
Eunseo was undoubtedly a highly skilled Awakened.
In front of the monster, she kept deflecting the biting attacks of the Soldier Ant and its stomping legs from above by angling her shield.
Her arm had started to go numb from the constant impacts, but Eunseo circled the monster, blocking its advance.
Instructor Seo also blocked the ant monster’s advance with his shield, preventing it from moving forward. Enraged by the shield in its way, the monster attacked him furiously.
Using his assassination ability, Instructor Seo managed to dodge its attacks. The constantly shifting mental state made it hard to respond, but he barely held on.
But unlike them, Team Leader Yang looked dangerously unsteady as he tried to dodge the monster’s attacks.
As a D-Rank Strike-type Awakened, Team Leader Yang was fast, but he lacked the skill to face a D-Rank monster alone.
“Aaargh!”
Instructor Seo turned his head at the sound of Team Leader Yang’s voice from the side.
Team Leader Yang had been bitten and lifted into the air by the ant monster. It raised him up and then clamped its jaws shut.
Blood sprayed in all directions. The ant monster tossed the corpse aside and charged forward.
Instructor Seo’s face darkened. There was no one left here or at the third defense line capable of stopping the charging ant monster. He pictured the Dimensional Movement Blocking Device being destroyed.
Distracted, he started to get pushed back by the ant monster in front of him.
Unexpectedly, the Soldier Ant that had broken through the defense line couldn’t advance any further.
It was because of the backup forces.
Already armed with grenade launchers, the troops poured all their firepower into the lone ant monster. Explosions and flames erupted around it, and the ant monster was blown backward by the firestorm.
The ant monster got back up immediately, but the continued explosions made it hard to move forward.
But the explosions didn’t last long. They had used up all the loaded grenades.
The ant monster, enraged, charged at the soldiers. The soldiers threw down their weapons, pulled out grenades, and removed the safety pins with solemn expressions. All that remained was to release the safety handles.
“Wait, don’t throw those!”
A woman’s voice rang out from behind the soldiers. Startled, the soldiers froze just before releasing their grenades-and the ant monster closed in.
The soldiers shut their eyes.
A single person darted between the soldiers with their eyes closed.
Boom!
A loud sound rang out in front of the soldiers. When they opened their eyes, they saw an Awakened holding a shield, blocking the ant monster’s attack.
The Awakened had blocked the ant monster’s strike and was being pushed back.
He shouted toward the rear.
“Captain, I’m losing in strength! I don’t think I can hold it much longer!”
Hearing team leader Han’s voice, Yonghoon shouted as he set Sunhee down from his back. He had been carrying her after she had slowed down midway.
“Please hold on just a little longer!”
Yonghoon shouted to team leader Han and charged forward.
Yonghoon’s sword was glowing.
“Tsk.”
Team leader Han clicked his tongue, adjusted his shield, and charged at the monster again.
The ant monster also charged toward team leader Han, who was rushing at it.
The two clashed once again.
This time, team leader Han held his ground. Though he was pushed back a bit, he managed to block the ant monster’s attack.
As Yonghoon approached, he saw team leader Han’s back and leapt upward. He stepped on Han’s shoulder and launched himself forward. The ant monster’s face appeared before his eyes.
It was a Soldier Ant.
Yonghoon quickly searched his mind for information on Soldier Ants.
‘Weak points are the eyes and legs!’
He wildly stabbed his sword toward the ant monster’s eyes.
But the Soldier Ant saw the sword flying toward its eyes and pulled its face back.
Even while dodging, the Soldier Ant used its antennae to sense its surroundings and successfully avoided Yonghoon’s attack.
Taking advantage of that moment, Jimin and Kangwoo joined the attack. Meanwhile, behind team leader Han, Sunhee began timing her entry.
Landing on the ground, Yonghoon gave a bitter smile-it was like a battle from the other world. But the team’s assassin-type Awakened was different.
Seeing Sunhee anxiously bouncing on her feet, unable to find an opening, Yonghoon refocused on the fight.
As the ant lunged its head at him, Yonghoon rolled to the side and swung his sword with all his might at the ant’s front leg.
Slice!
One of the ant’s legs was half-severed by Yonghoon’s sword. Seeing the ant scream toward the sky, Yonghoon shouted to his teammates.
“Attack the legs!”
The teammates raised their spears and began smashing down on the ant’s legs.
Eventually, with three of its legs shattered, the Soldier Ant could no longer move. Seizing the opportunity, Sunhee leapt in, climbed onto the Soldier Ant’s back, and successfully contaminated its Dimensional Core.
Yonghoon carried Sunhee on his back and fled from the ant with the rest of the team.
Yonghoon shouted toward the support troops standing in the rear.
“Now! Throw the grenades!”
At Yonghoon’s command, the soldiers snapped to attention and hurled grenades at the ant. With a massive explosion, the ant was blown to pieces.
As the members of Team Crazy lay flat on the ground watching, a scream rang out. When Yonghoon turned his head toward the sound, he saw Instructor Seo being flung backward.
The ant monster Instructor Seo had been fighting dashed forward again. Without giving the nearby Team Crazy members time to react, it broke through the defense line and rampaged through the now-unarmed support team, heading straight for the Dimensional Movement Blocking Device.
Yonghoon clenched his teeth.
“Help take down the ant monster Eunseo is fighting.”
Yonghoon shouted loudly to his teammates and started running toward the Soldier Ant. He did his best to close the distance.
The Soldier Ant was sprinting rapidly down the road. A little behind, Yonghoon was chasing after it.
Yonghoon gritted his teeth and pushed strength into his legs.
But the Soldier Ant was too fast, and at Yonghoon’s current speed, it seemed unlikely he’d catch up before it reached the device.
Still, Yonghoon didn’t give up and ran desperately.
Antennas began to appear above the trees.
In the end, Yonghoon failed to catch up to the ant monster.
Even now, with the device right before him, Yonghoon was still several meters behind the ant monster.
Yonghoon looked ahead. There, he saw Awakened with pale faces. Worse yet, there were only a few E-Rank Awakened-most were F-Rank.
If the third defense line team clashed like this, it would be over. The ant monster would surely break through.
Yonghoon clenched his teeth. He couldn’t think of any other way.
He began creating a hole in space before him. Even while running, he focused intensely and succeeded in opening the hole.
Yonghoon immediately leapt into the hole.
As he entered, the ant’s face came right up to his.
He had only one chance. He thrust his glowing sword toward the ant’s eye.
Before the ant monster could even register Yonghoon’s sudden appearance, the skewer-like sword pierced deep into its eye.
With the combined speed of Yonghoon and the monster, the sword reached deep into the ant monster’s brain.
The ant monster, still running with Yonghoon hanging from it, stumbled and collapsed in front of the third defense line.
The blow from Yonghoon’s sword had ended its life.
Yonghoon tumbled to the ground with the ant monster. Having used all his Dimensional Power, he could no longer move.
Lying on the ground, Yonghoon looked up at the sky. The tall antennas came into view.
In the distance, he heard the voices of his teammates calling his name.
It seemed Eunseo and Instructor Seo had taken down the remaining ant monster.
But Yonghoon was too exhausted.
Ignoring the voices, Yonghoon quietly closed his eyes.
That day, the Dimensional Movement Blocking Device in Seoul was successfully installed.