The team members were all armed with the relics Yonghoon had brought.
Kangwoo was holding the spear that Yonghoon had retrieved from the cave last, and Jimin was holding the spear of the man who had died first.
Lastly, team leader Han took a stance with the round shield that the Chinese man had been carrying.
The shield that team leader Han was holding exhibited almost the same defensive power as the turtle monster’s shell he had used before, but because he had changed shields, he could no longer draw the monsters’ attention.
Many cat monsters passed by team leader Han and pounced on the other team members.
But the other team members were already waiting for the monsters.
Kangwoo thrust his spear at the cats charging at him. Luckily, these cats seemed to be E-Rank. E-Rank monsters without special abilities were easily knocked back by a strong spear attack.
As Kangwoo thrust his spear, he tilted his head at the strange sensation coming from it. It felt as if the spear was whining for Dimensional Power.
The special ability of the relic flashed through Kangwoo’s mind.
After swinging the spear widely to drive back the cats attacking him, Kangwoo poured his Dimensional Power into the spear.
As the spear absorbed Kangwoo’s Dimensional Power, it began to glow brighter and brighter. Kangwoo pushed as much Dimensional Power as he could into the spear and looked ahead.
In front of him, the cat monsters that had been pushed back by his attack were looking for an opening to strike back.
Kangwoo felt his spear continuously whispering something to him. He moved his body according to the spear’s guidance.
He thrust the spear toward a nearby cat monster. Although the distance was still too far for the spear to reach the monster.
But the Dimensional Power contained within the spear didn’t stop there. The moment the spear halted, the Dimensional Power shot forward.
Pwak!
A hole was pierced through the cat monster’s head. At the same time, blood spurted from the back of its head. The Dimensional Power that had shot out from the spear had penetrated the cat monster’s skull.
Kangwoo instinctively pierced a hole in the head of the monster next to it and then tried to thrust his spear at a cat monster further back.
But he realized that his Dimensional Power was almost depleted and stopped moving.
Regaining his senses, Kangwoo’s eyes widened.
This felt like a type of throwing weapon. It was the first time he had seen an attack where Dimensional Power itself was launched.
Kangwoo, who had been rejoicing, suddenly staggered. The Dimensional Power consumption was severe. It was definitely not a power that could be used recklessly.
As Kangwoo staggered, the last remaining cat monster’s eyes gleamed. The cat monster, which had been intimidated by his earlier attack, immediately charged at Kangwoo. Kangwoo calmly blocked the cat monster’s attack.
Jimin grew a bit anxious as she watched the cat monsters fall under Kangwoo’s attack. Her spear should have some special ability too, but it wasn’t reacting at all.
She was also in the middle of fighting three cat monsters surrounding her. Her skills had improved significantly, allowing her to fight evenly against E-Rank monsters.
As the battle intensified, Jimin shook off thoughts about special abilities from her mind. This wasn’t the time for distractions.
Jimin’s spear moved faster and faster, and she focused even more on the fight. Then, she began to feel a tingling sensation from her spear. Overjoyed, Jimin began pouring her Dimensional Power into the spear.
The spear began to glow brightly.
As Jimin fought off the cat monsters’ attacks, she began to feel her mind clearing. Her body also felt lighter. It started to feel like time around her and time for herself were moving differently.
She surrendered her body to that sensation.
At that moment, she started moving like a flash of light.
The cat monsters couldn’t react properly to her sudden burst of speed. Lines appeared across their bodies, and blood spurted from those lines.
She began to toy with the three cat monsters.
The monsters couldn’t block her attacks and soon collapsed in front of the panting Jimin.
Jimin beamed across her whole face. She was extremely satisfied with the spear’s special ability.
But then she felt hollow inside and collapsed on the spot. She had gotten too excited and consumed too much Dimensional Power.
Moreover, the spear’s special ability accelerated the human body. Her muscles had been strained. As she sat there, more cat monsters began approaching.
Team leader Han, who had been blocking the cat monsters charging at him with his shield in front of Kangwoo and Jimin, defeated the monsters and saw Jimin collapsing.
Clicking his tongue, team leader Han moved toward Jimin. While Kangwoo was still fighting well, Jimin seemed unable to continue the battle.
Team leader Han bounced back the attacking cat monsters with his shield and retreated to stand in front of Jimin. It seemed best to block the cat monsters here and wait for Kangwoo to join.
But the cat monsters were smarter than expected.
Two cat monsters continued attacking team leader Han while another circled around to attack Jimin from behind.
Team leader Han grew anxious. Worried, he filled his shield with Dimensional Power and slammed it against the monster attacking him.
Boom boom boom!
Team leader Han was bewildered. He had definitely struck only one cat monster with his shield. Yet all three cat monsters around him were sent flying.
As he looked around in surprise, he saw a green barrier surrounding him. The barrier had started from his shield and was encasing both him and Jimin.
Shocked by the rapid drain of Dimensional Power, he reduced the Dimensional Power being supplied to the shield. Immediately, the barrier that had formed around them disappeared. Only then did team leader Han understand the shield’s ability.
Shortly after, Kangwoo, who had been fighting the cat monsters, managed to regroup with team leader Han. Jimin, who had been sitting down, also partially recovered and stood up again, and they formed a defensive formation around team leader Han.
Feeling reassured by the stabilized formation, team leader Han looked back. Except for the monsters that had charged at them, the rest had attacked the team members in the rear.
But when team leader Han turned around, he regretted his concern. The situation there was almost completely resolved.
Yonghoon was standing guard in front of Dohyeon and Sunhee, who had no defensive abilities. He swung a sword emitting a sky-blue light, slaughtering the cat monsters approaching them.
The cat monsters, startled by Yonghoon’s attack, tried to avoid him, but they soon stumbled due to Sunhee’s ability and were finished off by Yonghoon.
Already, more than ten monsters were lying dead around Yonghoon and the team members.
Team leader Han stopped worrying about Yonghoon’s side and joined forces with Jimin and Kangwoo to face the monsters. Although they had consumed a lot of Dimensional Power and couldn’t use special abilities, the three D-Rank Awakened began to overwhelm the monsters.
The cat monster that had first been beaten back by Hyangseol and retreated, seeing its summoned cats defeated, started to back away. It seemed like it was trying to escape.
“I can’t let you get away like that. Now it’s my turn!”
Dohyeon, who had been standing behind Yonghoon, stepped forward. He pointed both arms forward and scattered Dimensional Power around the cat monster.
“Reverse Gravity!”
Numerous paving stones behind the retreating cat monster began to rise into the air.
The dozens of paving stones floating behind the cat monster soon rained down toward it.
Startled, the cat monster began to run forward to avoid the paving stones.
Although paving stones without Dimensional Power couldn’t easily harm the cat monster, the monster, already wounded and having witnessed its comrades fall, wasn’t in a state to make rational judgments.
And eventually, the last cat monster was finished off by Yonghoon.
“Ugh, this is so exhausting. I can’t do anything because I’m always running out of Dimensional Power.”
Jimin sat on the ground, panting and complaining.
Kangwoo and team leader Han agreed with her words.
The abilities possessed by these relics were truly outstanding, but the Dimensional Power consumption was too severe. They were not abilities that could be used recklessly.
“Still, it looked incredibly cool. Like heroes from a movie.”
Dohyeon’s eyes were filled with envy. He looked at Yonghoon with longing eyes.
“Is there any chance you could get a relic for a Telekinesis Ability User? I’ll pledge my loyalty to you, Captain!”
Only then, having recovered a bit of energy, team leader Han spoke to Dohyeon.
“This was just a test of the relics. We haven’t even decided if we’re going to use them yet, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“Huh? Really?”
Dohyeon made an expression of surprise at team leader Han’s words.
“Do you know how much these weapons would cost on the market? Plus, we risked our lives to retrieve them. There’s no way we can just use them freely.”
Kangwoo backed up team leader Han’s words.
Listening to them, Jimin stroked her spear. Her expression looked very regretful.
Yonghoon chuckled at their conversation. He had plenty of money. But he felt it wouldn’t be fair to just give the relics to them.
“Then for now, let’s say I’m lending them to Team Crazy. That way, there shouldn’t be any major issues.”
At Yonghoon’s words, team leader Han nodded.
“As long as they’re not used elsewhere, that would be best. We can calculate the rental fee from the team’s operating budget and pay the captain.”
At those words, Jimin’s face lit up. She was thrilled both to be able to use the spear and not have to spend her own money.
After finishing his words, Yonghoon turned his head back. There was Hyangseol, her eyes wide open.
“How is it? Does it seem like a team worth joining?”
At Yonghoon’s words, Hyangseol smiled brightly and replied.
“Yes! Of course. It’s absolutely the best!”
The team members approached her, welcoming her as a new member, and everyone rejoiced.
“Alright then, shall we call the recovery team?”
Team leader Han picked up his phone and called Shilla Heavy Industries.
As everyone expected, Hyangseol adapted well to Team Crazy. She was once again amazed by the Dimensional Power training using Dimensional Cores and admired the respect Team Crazy received from others.
Hyangseol did her best to synchronize with the team. Although there were still many dangers due to her low level, she gradually blended in.
As time passed, Hyangseol adapted to the team, and Korea succeeded in establishing a new Safe Zone in Pohang.
However, the Safe Zone installation in Pohang turned out to be far more difficult than expected. Unlike before, the monsters were moving systematically by species.
It didn’t feel like a human-led strategy yet, but the sight of seemingly simple insect monsters acting like wolves chilled everyone’s spine.
As a result, the Safe Zone installation in Pohang caused more casualties than anticipated, and both the government and Awakened felt that something was about to happen.
Moreover, this wasn’t just happening in Korea. In other countries too, monster movements changed, and some nations failed again in establishing Safe Zones.
Fortunately, the United Kingdom succeeded in both Safe Zone installations attempted at the start of the new year. As one of the world’s strongest nations, having six Safe Zones allowed the UK to breathe a sigh of relief.
However, like other countries, cities in the UK where Safe Zones hadn’t been established fell into despair due to the monsters.
Oxford city was one of those cities. Oxford University, one of the most famous universities in the world, had already been abandoned, and only about 20% of the residents remained, struggling in despair.
This was a park in Oxford city.
Although the early summer sun shone down on the park, sadly, without anyone to maintain it, the place gave off a desolate atmosphere.
At some point, a strange phenomenon began to occur in the center of the peaceful park.
The air in the park started to grow heavier little by little. The once bright surroundings darkened, and wind began to sweep across the park.
Then, a moment later, the air at the center of the park began to tear apart violently. It looked as if an invisible monster’s hand was ripping open the sky.
Eventually, a black hole formed at the center of the park, and from within it, a furry hand reached out. As time passed, more arms and the upper body of a giant beast emerged, and soon after, a massive monster appeared in the middle of the park.
The monster was enormous. Standing on two legs, the giant, hairy monster reached nearly 15 meters in height. It looked like a gigantic orangutan, and for a moment, it seemed to close its eyes and fall into thought while standing on the ground.
After a short while, the monster opened its eyes, looked straight ahead, and began to move.
However, the direction it moved was not toward the city center of Oxford. Instead, the monster was heading toward a field that led to a wheat field.
The monster kept moving while gazing beyond the field. There lay London, the capital of the United Kingdom.