The fight turned into a chaotic melee in an instant.
“Everyone, gather up! Don’t scatter!”
Dennis shouted loudly after slicing off a Soldier Ant’s head with his spear. But there weren’t many Linkers who could move as he commanded.
Due to the sudden appearance of monsters, the Linkers had already been scattered in all directions. It wasn’t easy for them to break through the monsters blocking their way and regroup.
Dennis gritted his teeth.
It was a completely unexpected situation.
The sudden appearance of countless monsters was surprising enough, but the fact that different types of monsters were attacking the Linkers in an organized manner was even more shocking.
Such an attack had only been heard of in rumors even in the other world, but never witnessed firsthand.
Even so, the Awakened began to gather little by little, breaking through the monsters’ interference.
Seven Awakened gathered around where Dennis was.
Among them, Instructor Seo and Grace could be seen.
But a greater enemy still remained for them.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion rang out. When Dennis and the Awakened turned their heads in surprise, they saw several Awakened being flung in all directions by the blast.
They were the Awakened who had been gathering on the opposite side, just like those gathered around Dennis. They had been so focused on fending off the incoming monsters that they missed the B-Rank monster’s attack.
Having been struck directly by an energy orb that would normally require a group of Defense-type Awakened to block, it seemed unlikely that they would all be unharmed.
At that moment, Instructor Seo shouted.
“It’s coming this way too! Defend!”
A B-Rank monster was now punching toward them. A bright light was bursting from its forceful punch.
Fortunately, Grace was able to react to Instructor Seo’s shout. She ran to his side and raised her shield, and the monster’s energy orb bounced off the defensive wall formed by Instructor Seo and Grace.
However, two C-Rank Defense-type Awakened alone couldn’t completely block a B-Rank monster’s energy orb without taking damage.
“Tch! We can’t go on like this! What’s the plan?”
Instructor Seo spat out a mouthful of blood and shouted at Dennis.
Grace’s face had also turned pale.
Dennis quickly assessed the situation. Communication was already blocked due to Dimensional Movement. Moreover, the monsters’ organized attacks made it unlikely that more Awakened could gather.
He made a decision.
“Damn it! We’re retreating! Strike-type Awakened, break through the front! Defense-types, cover the rear! Block the monsters’ energy orbs!”
Dennis and the Linkers began breaking through the swarming monsters to escape.
Yonghoon’s team was also engaged in a fierce battle.
They, too, were startled by the sudden appearance of monsters, but fortunately, the monsters were neither numerous nor particularly strong.
Awakened Kim Youngmin and Eunseo blocked the attacking monsters.
Eunseo repelled the charging monsters, and Youngmin eliminated them one by one. It seemed the two of them could handle the monsters that had appeared.
Behind them, Yonghoon and Samantha were keeping watch over the surroundings.
Samantha felt frustrated that her abilities were of little help in battles against monsters. In such situations, she ended up being the one who needed protection.
Watching Eunseo and Youngmin fight, she turned her gaze to Yonghoon, who was standing beside her.
Yonghoon’s eyes were fixed on an unexpected location. He had lifted his head to look at the rooftop of the hotel across the street.
Samantha followed his gaze.
“Ah, Director Robert and our Awakened!”
Only then did Samantha remember the Awakened who had gone up to the rooftop. In the sudden chaos, she had completely forgotten about them.
Behind Samantha, who was staring at the rooftop in shock, the air shimmered slightly. Yonghoon, who had already turned his body, thrust his spear toward Samantha’s face.
Thwack!
Yonghoon’s spear passed right by Samantha’s face and pierced the head of a transparent monster approaching from behind her. A leopard revealed itself midair, blood spraying from its head as it was flung backward.
“Gasp!”
Samantha screamed in shock, but Yonghoon calmly shook the blood off his spear.
Yonghoon scanned the surroundings. The monsters were almost completely dealt with. Youngmin was driving his spear into the chest of a fallen brown wolf.
It was clear that the monsters appearing here were weaker than those elsewhere. From the distant surges of Dimensional Power, one could tell the difference.
“I think I’ll head up to the hotel rooftop. What about the rest of you?”
At Yonghoon’s words, Samantha’s face lit up.
“Yes. Director Robert and our Awakened are there. We should go there and decide our next move. It’s high up, so it’ll be easier to assess the situation.”
The group quickly agreed. They decided to head to the hotel together.
Yonghoon and the Awakened immediately ran toward the hotel.
Robert was satisfied with the situation.
“Looks like we’ve eliminated most of the regular Awakened around the park’s outskirts, and as for the Linkers in the center–hmm, we’ve caught about half. As expected of Dennis, he managed to gather that many in the meantime. But escaping seems unlikely. Things are going almost exactly as planned.”
While checking the monsters’ status with his Dimensional Power, Robert sensed Dimensional Power rising from below.
Robert scratched his chin with his hand.
This area had been partially sealed against Dimensional Movement to protect the Singularity device. Thanks to that, the surviving Awakened were now heading toward him.
“That was close.”
He tapped a few buttons on the device next to him.
Soon, a black hole opened on the rooftop, and a giant tiger leapt out of it.
The tiger looked around upon emerging and quickly spotted Robert.
The giant tiger, over five meters long, approached Robert and stood by his side.
“Looks like the welcoming committee is ready.”
A cold smile appeared on Robert’s face as he looked toward the stairwell door leading to the rooftop.
Yonghoon and the Awakened raced up the stairs at high speed. The hotel was quite tall – a height that would have been exhausting for ordinary people.
But for Awakened with powerful bodies, it was only slightly more tiring than running on flat ground.
Samantha’s face was filled with worry.
A Dimensional Movement had just been detected on her smart watch from the rooftop.
The Awakened up there were lower-level compared to the others. Depending on the monster that appeared, it could be dangerous.
Samantha quickened her pace even more.
The group passed the 25th floor. Samantha was leading at the front, followed by Yonghoon, Eunseo, and Youngmin. The rooftop door was beginning to come into view.
Yonghoon, running behind Samantha, grimaced. He grabbed the scruff of Samantha’s neck and threw himself backward.
“Eunseo! Max shield!”
As he passed by Eunseo, Yonghoon shouted, and Eunseo instinctively raised her shield, pouring all her Dimensional Power into it.
Boom!
The door exploded, and flames spread down the stairwell. Fortunately, Eunseo was blocking the front. The flames, pushed back by Eunseo’s Dimensional Power, spread to the sides and scorched the walls before dissipating.
“Move outside!”
Yonghoon shouted from behind Eunseo. He was right. It would be dangerous to keep taking attacks in such a narrow stairwell. The group quickly escaped through the shattered door.
Samantha, who had rolled across the floor with Yonghoon, finally managed to reach the rooftop. The first thing she saw was the backs of her group blocking the door and, across from them, a giant tiger staring at them.
Flames were still flickering in the tiger’s mouth.
Samantha scanned the rooftop. She was looking for the Awakened who had been here.
Soon, she spotted the corpses of the United Kingdom Awakened in a corner of the rooftop. She suppressed a groan that threatened to escape.
“Where’s Director Robert?”
Samantha muttered in confusion when she didn’t see Robert among the corpses.
In response, Yonghoon pointed forward with his spear. He was pointing at the tiger.
Samantha looked in the direction he indicated with a puzzled expression. As Robert took a step to the side, his figure, previously hidden by the tiger, came into view.
Samantha couldn’t understand the situation.
“Director Robert? What’s going on?”
Seeing Samantha’s bewildered expression, Robert looked slightly troubled.
“Everyone keeps asking the same question. It’s a bit of a shame we got interrupted earlier.”
After a brief moment of thought, he shrugged at Samantha.
“Well, hearing it from the country’s representative isn’t too bad, I suppose.”
With that, he raised his hand.
“Then let’s clear away some of the dangerous elements before explaining.”
Robert pointed forward, and the tiger next to him charged at the group.
Watching this, Yonghoon shouted to Eunseo.
“Eunseo! Defend!”
The tiger’s body slam was blocked by Eunseo’s shield, and Yonghoon and Kim Youngmin began attacking from either side of her.
The tiger’s attacks were powerful. Every time it kicked, Eunseo’s Dimensional Power wavered from the impact, and Kim Youngmin’s strikes only managed to scratch its skin.
Fortunately, Yonghoon’s attacks were somewhat effective against the monster. Every time it tried to breathe fire, Yonghoon would strike, and their battle barely maintained a balance.
“It’s a C-Rank Dimensional Beast. Or should I say monster, in your terms? Either way, it’s not an easy opponent, so do your best.”
Watching the group fight the tiger monster, Robert turned his gaze to Samantha. She was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression.
He explained to Samantha once again.
“Hmm. It’s a bit complicated, but to put it simply, President Arthur, a few others, and I are part of an advance team from a dimension where creatures you call monsters live.”
As he spoke, his eyes gradually turned gray.
“We use Dimensional Connectors to cross into other worlds. When enough people cross over like this, the Dimensional Power of that world weakens, and eventually, auroras start to fill the sky.”
He looked like he was telling an old, fascinating story.
“Then, once the weakened Dimensional Power is breached, monsters from our dimension cross over, and we pit you Awakened against them to shake this world’s Dimensional Power through the resulting shock. As you get stronger, the leaking Dimensional Power accumulates in your bodies.”
He raised both hands and smiled at Samantha.
“And when the critical point is breached and Dimensional Beasts can cross over, we gather up all the Linkers and high-level Awakened we’ve been using and-” (he clapped his palms together) “-eradicate them.”
He now looked a bit tired.
“We leave the cleanup to the follow-up team and use the Dimensional Connector over there to travel to the next world.”
Robert pointed at a backpack that had been set aside.
Eunseo, who was blocking the tiger monster’s attacks, found it hard to understand what Robert was saying. What was a Connector, and what did he mean by coming from another world?
But what she found even harder to understand was Yonghoon, who was fighting the tiger beside her.
He wasn’t showing any of the strength he had displayed back in Korea. Even though the monster before them was strong, there was no way Yonghoon should be struggling like this.
It happened then.
As Robert finished speaking, Yonghoon’s spear suddenly sped up.
Yonghoon’s spear pierced a hole through the tiger’s body.
“Kraaaagh!”
The tiger monster spewed blood from its entire body and staggered backward. Everyone’s eyes turned to Yonghoon at the sudden change.
Yonghoon quietly let out a sigh.
His sigh felt like he was releasing all the burdens he had been carrying inside.
“It’s been a long time.”
Muttering softly to himself, Yonghoon threw the spear he was holding onto the ground.
The spear rolled across the floor, and he drew the Relic sword hanging at his waist.
Dimensional Power began pouring out of his body.
Until now, he had suppressed his Dimensional Power down to the bottom of B-Rank.
Now that he released it, the Dimensional Power that surged out far surpassed that of an ordinary B-Rank, sweeping across the hotel rooftop.
With a refreshed expression, Yonghoon raised his sword. His blade emitted a blue light.