Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Uninvited Guest (9)

Da-jeong and the others were not the only ones who watched the fight.
At some point, Ahn Geun Seok and Go Ho-Kyung also came to a nearby building to watch.
Unexpectedly, they had a complex expression plastered on their face.
After all, the fact that the monsters on the 13th floor had come out means that Giudecca’s trust on them had faded.

Up until now, Giudecca had given infinite trust to the humans who had become his subordinates.
He didn’t nag at them even when they found no success and cheered for their every failure.

However, Giudecca sent the creatures from the 13th floor directly now.
They were the fusion of humans and monsters–the more completed version of Sniffles.
That fact made Ahn Geun Seok and Go Ho-kyung confused.

“…maybe Giudecca-nim doesn’t need us anymore.”

“At this point of time, I don’t think that’s the case.
The fact that they came out like that means they believe that they have a chance of winning.” Secretary Go Ho-Kyung denied his words.
However, she herself doubted whether that was really the case.
Those monsters were imprinted with stats that surpassed those of ogres and even had a resurrection function.
There was no way they could win.

“With the fighting power they showed me not too long ago, they can never win.
I hope they ran away…”

“But it looks like they’re going to fight.”

“Imbecile.”

The fight really started.
As expected, Seongho and his crew were busy defending themselves.
The rabbit man who had the power of an ogre fought a desperate hand-to-hand fight, but that was all.
It was evident that the side with the lower stats would be pushed back even if it looked like their power was on par.
Even if they punched together, the rabbit man couldn’t stand up for a while as if the blow he got was big.

“I told you, they can never win, didn’t I?

“By the way, that woman seemed to be a native of Lotus.
To think he managed to bring her here….”

“She must be a knight from that Ezekium or something.
Though, she doesn’t look very useful.”

As Ahn Geun-seok said, the knight was too tired to even try to attack.
They could clearly see that the damage that the Guidecca’s son dealt on her had begun to stack up.

Of course, Seongho wasn’t all that well either.
At first, he just talked with Giudecca’s daughter, but suddenly, they got into a fight.
Maybe fight was too good of a word.
After all, Seongho was the only one who got hit by Giudecca’s daughter.

Ahn Geun Seok clicked his tongue.

“Just how ballsy he is to decide to fight them outright? He’s not even reacting properly.”

“He has no fatal injuries yet.
Considering that he bought a knight from Lotus here, he probably had some hidden card.”

“He’s suffering, though?”

“Maybe he’s waiting for a chance.”

“By the way, when did you start rooting for them?”

At the words of his boss, Go Ho-Kyung’s face became serious.

“Cheering? I just…”

Before she could even finish her words, the fight progressed.
An ether in the shape of a flower bloomed from Seongho’s sword.
Ahn Geun Seok and Go Ho-Kyung almost fell to their bottom as they tilt their upper bodies without realizing it.

“What the hell is that?”

“It must be the trump card that he had been hiding until now.”

“Did he find it in Lotus?”

The result that the flames of the ether produced was as great as its appearance.
When he ran it across the woman’s shoulders, her arms and shoulders exploded at the same time.
Then, Seongho’s body glowed in gold.

Ahn Geun-seok groaned when he saw it.

“He have an elixir? Its drop rate is atrocious, but it looks like he’s extremely lucky.”

“You made something like that for nothing… That person is using it very well.”

“It can’t be helped.
In fantasy games, elixir is a must.”

“Since when did Survival Life become a fantasy game?”

“There are goblins and orcs, so it’s a fantasy game.”

While the two were bickering, another big thing happened.
An arrow that appeared from somewhere flew like a homing missile and pierced the monsters.
That wasn’t the end of it.
The monsters then flopped like fish caught in a harpoon, then stopped moving.
At that moment, Seongho’s ether fire sliced the heads of the three one after another.
It was truly an unbelievable sight to see.

“Damn, what the hell is that? Seems like I must go myself.”

At the distance they were now, ability analysis did not work.
So, Ahn Geun Seok tried to get closer, but he was stopped by his secretary.

“Wait a minute, Boss.
The atmosphere is not good.”

“It has been like that since earlier.”

“I think Giudecca-nim will appear in person.”

“…”

It was actually happening.
Parts of the disintegrated monsters wriggled together and began to take on human form.
Then, Giudecca’s ether took over the surroundings.
Other people might not know, but Ahn Geun Seok and Go Ho-kyung could clearly feel it.

“It’s all over… Looks like he’s really going to take him this time.”

“It must be difficult for him to wait any longer.”

“So what are we going to do?”

Giudecca’s purpose was to make a vessel to contain himself.
All he needed was a high-level man to be the base for the bowl and a woman to be the wrapping paper.
In this case, the woman did not have to be a human being.
It’s possible to remodel an enhanced ghoul.
Or, Giudecca himself could transform into a female body.
Because to Giudecca, gender has no meaning.

“Perhaps…”

When Go Ho-Kyung tried to make a negative guess, a large arrow shot out into the air and pierced Giudecca’s newly formed body.
And an explosion of ether followed.

A scream, which sounded like a million monsters screaming at the same time, made Ahn Geun Seok and Go Ho-Kyung terrified.
Not only that, the ether connection they had with Giudecca was also being cut off.

“What is this, why is it like this?”

“The explosion took a toll on Giudecca-nim!”

“What kind of thing… this doesn’t make sense!”

Unlike Ahn Geun Seok, who denied the situation, Go Ho-Kyung was relatively calm.
SInce Giudecca’s protection disappeared from their effect column, it means that Giudecca had lost its mind.

Go Ho-kyung shook her head towards her boss who was bewildered.

“This is not the time to be like this! We need to move right now.”

“How… what should we do?”

“I’m going to the Great Labyrinth, so boss, please look over them.
Shouldn’t we find out what happened?”

“Ah okay.”

While the two were doing that, Seongho completely blew Giudecca’s body away with his ether sword.
Ahn Geun Seok then came to his senses and gnashed his teeth.

“What do you hope to achieve by wounding Giudecca-nim? Monsters will pour out of the Great Labyrinth!”

As he said, the entrance to the Great Labyrinth vibrated violently, and monsters began to jump out of it as Giudecca’s control on them was completely released.

Ahn Geun-seok’s face was distorted with despair as he glared at the entrance.

“What the hell have you done…”

It’s over.

.
.
.

Giudecca’s pseudo-body was dead.
It had completely scattered, not even the slightest bit of flesh remained.
However, because of that a commotion happened, but nothing could pull us away from the success we just achieved.

I approached Seokhyun, who was holding Giudecca from behind.

“Seokhyun.”

However, he didn’t move even after I called him.

Did he get caught in an ether explosion? If so, light would soon wrapped around his body and make him disappear.
But even after waiting for a while his body did not move from the cold ground.

“Seokhyun.” I approached him and called him again.

No way… An ominous feeling crept up into my heart.
A bolt of ether bomb was shot by someone from the second portal.
It occurred to me that it couldn’t have only affected Giudecca.
After all, Seokhyun was right next to Giudecca.

When I turned him over, I could see black bruises all over his body.
It was a wound that would have been healed within a minute in normal circumstances.
But currently, nothing has changed.

Da-jeong came out of the second dimensional door at that moment.
She hurriedly ran over and almost threw her body towards Seokhyun’s body.

“How are you? Why is Rapwi like that?”

“Hold on.” I opened the dimensional slot and placed the resurrection scroll in his hand.
But still, nothing happened.

Dajeong’s lips trembled.

“Could it be that Rapwi is dead? really?”

“…”

“It can’t be! His unique skill is Infinite Resurrection.
He has died and resurrected more than 10 times so far.”

I calmed her down and asked her.

“What was that thing you shot?”

“That… It was something that Tibris made after he heard that it was written in the journal that overloading Ether could damage Giudecca…”

“Even if it could hurt Giudecca, there’s no reason he will like this.”

Da-jeong wiped the tears from her eyes.

“It was because he was too close… An ether explosion occurred inside him and blew the system itself…”

I lost my strength and sat back down at her answer.
After all, it meant that the ether bomb that blew up Giudecca also destroyed Seokhyun’s system.

Da-jeong stroked Seokhyun’s cheek and sobbed.

“I-I didn’t know that he’s holding that bastard…”

I didn’t know she would shoot an ether bolt either.
The lack of communication was what caused this disaster to happen.

While we stared blankly at the sky, Seokhyun suddenly coughed.

“Cough, Cough, Cough… I think I’m gonna die.”

“Huh?”

“R-rapwi… Y-y-you alive?”

Seokhyun stood up and immediately fixed the crooked rabbit headband resting on top of his head.

“Wow… I thought I was going to die.
For a moment, my vision went dark.”

I grabbed his shoulder and asked.

“Just what in the world happened? We thought you were dead after getting caught in that ether explosion.”

He grinned.

“I also thought I was really dead this time.
After all, my status window is scattered.
But you know… I met someone in my dream?”

“Who?”

“A child.
I met a child playing in front of a big tree.
I couldn’t see her face, but she looked like a girl.”

I remembered Seokhyun eating the elderwood fruit at that moment.

Could it be that it was the Elderwood that prevented his system from collapsing?

I grabbed Seokhyun’s hand and pulled him into a hug as he struggled to get up.

“My head is dizzy because I really died and came back to life.”

“Are you okay? Can you walk?”

“I will be better soon.”

“You fools!”

What is this again…

Da-jeong and I looked towards the source of the scream.
It turns out, it was the familiar Ahn Geun Seok who was screaming.

“You guys! You dare to attack Giudecca-nim? Do you know what will happen because of that? Do you fucking now?”

“Wait a minute.” Da-jeong handed Seokhyun over to me, and she stepped forward.
She then raised her middle finger towards Ahn Geun Seok.

“Fuck you, you asshole!”

“What?”

“We’re ready to take down Giudecca at any moment! If you appear in front of us one more time, I’m going to put an ether bomb in your ass and explode it!”

Go, go, Da-jeong, go!

Ahn Geun Seok was left speechless, probably taken aback by her momentum.
But then, he pointed into the entrance of the Great Labyrinth.

“Look over there! That is the result of your action! The monsters in the Great Labyrinth are jumping out and rampaging! What are you going to do with that?”

“What do you mean what are we going to do! We will stop them by hunting them!”

“Then, what about those who cannot afford it! Will you just let them die?”

Da-jeong accepted without being pushed back a bit.

“Since when did you guys care about people! If you are a monster, just roar like a monster!”

“You will regret it!”

“I’ve never seen a guy who said that and made me really regret it!”

I feel relieved.

Ahn Geun-seok immediately disappeared as if he had nothing more to say.
We then rode Da-jeong’s gryphon and looked around the entrance of the Great Labyrinth.

“Isn’t that Ghost?”

“Even the Minotaur came out.” It’s a mess.
All the monsters in the Great Labyrinth popped out, making the streets of Seoul even more messy than before.

As there were a lot of people near the entrance to the Great Labyrinth, everyone was screaming and running away.
Other monsters were terrifying, but I’m sure they were even more terrified because of Ghost because of their appearance.
It was also a hard monster to fight as ectoplasm coating and mental resistance were needed to counter such non-physical monsters.

It looked like I would have to suffer for a while.
Through the auction house, I told the shelter members to post the monster walkthrough.
And we flew back to the shelter.

.
.
.

Seoul, which was already a complete wilderness, became even more disorganized due to the monsters that came out of the Great Labyrinth.
However, the damage they caused was surprisingly small.
It was due to how calm people were in the situation.
After all, those who have survived to this day were no longer rookie survivors.
They were veterans who at the very least had 20 levels under their belt and had fought countless monsters.

As soon as a monster they had never seen before appeared, they made themselves scarce and searched for information.
Just in time, our members spread the information about how to deal with it and they quickly learned it.
However, the fact that the damage inflicted by the monsters was small did not mean that there would be hope for the future.

Da-jeong grumbled as she watched the ghost wandering around the night sky.

“Now we can’t even walk around at night without a resistance ring.”

“It’s a good thing they didn’t appear during the day.”

“Can we see it if we take a picture of it with our smartphone?”

“I don’t think so?”

“They are real ghosts, huh?”

We had a meal with a large bonfire lit in the empty lot of the Korean shelter.
Beef was on the menu.
When he saw it, Seokhyun showed intention to kill a minotaur to harvest its meat, saying that it might be similar to beef.
Thankfully, he gave up after we pleaded to him desperately.

“So you ate it all by yourself this time?” Da-jeong stabbed me in the side.

“It’s not because I want to eat it…”

“I know, I know.
But in the end, you ate it, right?”

“Yeah.”

I killed three Giudecca’s children and even its pseudo-body.
As a result, more than 3,000 points came to me and my level became 47.
It rose by 3 levels in just one fight.
On top of it, three of my skills were replaced and a new additional effect was bestowed to my unique ability.

However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.
The 100 or so Aether Stones were consumed to insert a bamboo spear into Giudecca.
In my opinion, it was a bit of a waste.
Moreover, it wasn’t completely killed either, it was just a blow.
Still, it was clear that Giudecca had lost consciousness, so it would be easier for us to attack the Great Labyrinth from now on.

Da-jeong shook my shoulder and urged me.

“Show me that one more time, quickly.”

“Wait a minute.”

I raised both hands and summoned the dimensional hole.
This additional effect needs no explanation whatsoever in my opinion.
After all, it literally summoned a hole.

The size of the hole could be increased or decreased easily, so that other people could enter and exit through it.
Anyone who entered would come out through another hole I opened.
Which means, the dimensional hole could be used as a shelter too.

It’s also good for attacking, after all, if I let the enemy rush inside and open it from the sky, they would simply fall.
Since several can be opened at the same time, it was the most useful among the additional effects so far.

But, the positioning of this skill was a bit tricky.
Well, that’s something which could be solved by practice.

Da-jeong thrust her finger into the dimensional hole summoned in my left hand.
Then her fingers protruded from the dimensional hole on top of my right hand.

Looking at that, she laughed sinisterly.

“Don’t you think we could have a lot of fun with this?”

This pervert…

Anyway, that’s not what’s important now.

I asked Margretha, who was eagerly eating beef.

“Is everything okay on Lotus?” I asked her as she had crossed over to Lotus with Tibris and scouted the Ezekium Garrison.

“Well, as expected, it was a mess over there.
All the Transcendental Knights have been summoned.
The magic tower was unexpectedly quiet, though.”

Since I had robbed them blind.
I’m sure they would flip the entire continent over to look for me.
But something’s a little strange.

Tibris said cautiously, “This is just my guess… I could be wrong.”

“it’s okay.
You can say anything.”

He mustered up his courage and put the ribs in his hand down before speaking thoughtfully.

“Since the magic tower is quiet… I think that maybe they are tracking our coordinates.
As I said, it’s almost impossible to open the gate to this dimension without coordinates, but if all the magicians of the Magic Tower are mobilized, it shouldn’t be impossible anymore.”

That’s indeed a problem…

“Then… are you saying that people from there are coming here?” Mikyung asked anxiously.

“It is a matter of possibility.
I just want you to know that the possibilty is not zero.
The magic tower has been robbed, if it were me, I would use all means to catch the thief.” Tibris shrugged her shoulders.

“That should be okay.” Seokhyun said.
“If they come here, we will just beat them all up.
Because we are stronger than before.”

To be precise, only I became stronger.
Seokhyun and Dajeong were still the same as they were a few days ago.

“When the ogre comes out, will you let me eat it first?” Da-jeong whispered in my ear.
Eating an ogre was such a barbaric thing to say.

The next day after the trouble-full night, an ogre finally appeared.