Chapter 164
Chapter 164. Airport
“Paras hasn’t contacted us.”
“The mark disappeared, right? Isn’t he already dead?”
“No! I’m sure he’s alive and well.”
“Then why hasn’t he sent any news?”
Paras, who had hidden himself among the survivors in Suncheon to track the movements of the heroes near Yeosu.
Though the people from another world had faith in his remarkable mission execution skills.
But now, the promised time had long passed, and there was still no remote report from him.
One of those waiting darkened his expression and said, “To be precise, he’s probably unable to contact us. There’s a high chance he’s gotten caught in something like a magic handcuff.”
“How on earth was something like that created…?”
“Don’t underestimate the level of Earth.”
A device that forcibly suppresses the mana of living beings.
If it had killed a criminal, that would’ve been one thing, but such items didn’t exist in Ajesia.
While earth had advanced magic engineering at a level easily accessible even to ordinary people, in Ajesia, even high-ranking powers rarely got to see such things.
This was due to the two worlds having built entirely different histories.
“Those heroes can distinguish between ordinary people and us.”
“Tsk! In that case, we might as well give up on Paras.”
“Even though he had a nasty personality, he was quite a decent guy…”
From the fallen Ajesia to arriving on Earth and up until now.
It wasn’t easy to give up on a comrade who had spent a significant amount of time together.
However, they realized there was no effective way forward and fell into silence.
Bang!
At that moment, the tightly shut door swung open, and someone stepped inside.
A woman completely covered in blood from head to toe entered.
She raised her blood-soaked right hand high and announced, “Yap yap! Jerry is back!”
“Jerry! What’s with all that blood!”
“Uh, you see? Among the mutants, there are some that just don’t listen to me at all. So, I kinda….”
The woman called Jerry licked the blood off her fingertips.
She looked quite pleased despite the complaints.
“Leaving the monster production to you, and you go and kill monsters instead?”
“I only killed 21 of them!”
“Only 21?!”
A man’s jaw dropped in shock.
It wasn’t a matter of monster production but rather mass slaughter.
“I hope you didn’t touch the IUPC?”
“I didn’t kill them.”
“That means you did touch them.”
“Dehehe!”
Jerry winked and made a V sign next to her eye.
At her light-hearted gesture, the people from another world sighed.
Already, more than seven IUPC members had been heavily injured from being hit by her.
But since she always brought back results that exceeded expectations, it was hard to scold her too much.
“By the way, what’s wrong with the atmosphere here?”
“…It seems Paras got caught by the heroes.”
“Heh?”
Hearing that Paras had been captured, Jerry’s eyes widened.
“Paras got caught? He’s not dead, right?”
“He’s not dead yet.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Kane, who was managing the map on the wall, looked towards the Suncheon region where the heroes’ marks were clustered.
For some time now, there had been no sign of Paras’s mark in Suncheon.
But Kane could capture the moment of his life ending through a bond spell he had formed with Paras in advance.
“Looks like there’s a guy over there with some keen senses?”
“Escaping from space distortion isn’t pure luck at all.”
“Hmm? But why do those guys seem to be scattering?”
“…?!”
At Jerry’s sudden observation, the gazes of the people from another world turned to the map.
Just as she said, the heroes’ marks that had been gathered in Suncheon were moving away in different directions.
“Are they trying to go to different areas?”
“No. They had gathered to head to Yeosu, so that’s unlikely.”
“That’s gonna make things a lot messier.”
While the people from another world whispered about the changes in the expeditionary force, Jerry, who had been looking at the map while sucking the blood off her fingers, said, “I’ll go up and check it out.”
“What?”
Jerry was saying she would go up by herself to deal with the heroes.
Someone worriedly asked, “Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Hey, you don’t trust me?”
“……”
“If you don’t trust me, then who will you trust?”
She might have some slight issues with her mental state.
But Jerry was exceptionally gifted among the survivors of Ajesia’s demise.
She was deployed only for significant tasks due to her excellent combat ability and her ability to command monsters.
“I’ll bring Paras along while I’m up there. Well, if he’s already dead, then that can’t be helped.”
Jerry smiled brightly while looking at the map.
*
“See you all at the destination.”
“Yes!”
As soon as Park Jae-kyung announced their entry into Yeosu, Yoo Ji-han’s party followed closely behind Yoon Do-ha’s team, led by Park Jae-kyung.
Right behind them was Jung Young-wook’s party.
The other heroes from the expeditionary force also split up into three party combinations just like them.
Nam Ho-yeol, who was hanging on Chilla’s back, asked Yoo Ji-han, “Are we really crossing over the mountains?”
“Yes.”
The route of the group was devised by Yoo Ji-han according to Park Jae-kyung’s instructions.
As a result, they were going around in a very inefficient path, crossing several small mountains instead of taking a proper road.
“We’ll only move along unmaintained paths, even on top of the mountain.”
When considering the stamina and time consumed, it seemed exceedingly inefficient.
Yet, Yoo Ji-han firmly believed this direction was correct.
No matter how well-prepared they were, it was unlikely that traps would be set in sparsely populated mountains.
And such thoughts turned out to be completely correct.
As Park Jae-kyung led his party out of Suncheon and arrived near Yeosu Airport.
There hadn’t been a single threat or monster encounter.
Yoo Ji-han looked around at the others and thought, ‘Looks like there’s no one being tracked here.’
The ones being tracked seemed to be the heroes who had separated from Suncheon.
They were probably entangled in some other incident by now.
“Let’s stop by the airport briefly before heading to the city hall.”
The scattered expeditionary force had agreed to meet at Yeosu City Hall.
Since the airport was a crowded place, it was reasonable to stop and check things out.
“Vice Guild Master!”
“Oh, you all are here too.”
At that moment, a group of heroes who had parted ways in Suncheon approached Park Jae-kyung.
However, their expressions were far from normal.
“You should take a look over there.”
“Yes?”
The direction the heroes were pointing, hiding behind a wall, was the long, straight street leading to the airport’s front gate.
Normally, there would be a long line of vehicles there.
But now, monsters and humans were lined up together.
“It’s the IUPC.”
Members of the IUPC with drugs inserted into their bodies.
Yoo Ji-han, who was hiding behind the wall, scrutinized their appearance.
There were a few who had dyed all their hair, but it was clear they were all from the same group.
From the looks of it, Yeosu Airport had already fallen into their hands.
“There are citizens over there.”
“…It really is.”
On one side of the airport’s parking lot were people bound by ropes with their arms restrained.
Park Jae-kyung gritted his teeth as he watched them, all with their heads down or frozen in fear.
“What should we do?”
“All heroes, prepare to attack.”
As Park Jae-kyung gave the order, the dealers prepared their attacks.
Crossbows and bows were armed with arrows, and mana gathered around the mages.
At that moment, Yoo Ji-han spoke up, “Our party will move towards the citizens.”
“Got it.”
Park Jae-kyung accepted Yoo Ji-han’s request without much thought or hesitation.
He had faith in him now.
“Ho-yeol, I’m counting on you.”
“Leave it to me.”
The role of protecting the support team was taken up by Jung Young-wook’s party.
Once all the preparations for the attack were completed.
“Fire!”
Attacks poured forth towards the airport’s main gate.
Kwah-kwah-kwah-kwah—!
The first strike hit the most threatening monsters.
The IUPC members were visibly startled by the unexpected ambush.
Some came rushing out to see what the commotion was about outside.
[Fire Wall]
A large wall of fire summoned by Kim Si-hu rose up between the bound citizens and the IUPC members.
It was to block the enemies’ approach.
“Thunk!”
“Gurk!”
After Chilla knocked away the man blocking their path with her shield, Yoo Ji-han’s party reached the bound citizens.
Hope was evident on the faces of the citizens as they faced the heroes.
“Kak!”
“Kak!”
At that moment, monsters were leaping over the [Fire Wall].
They were mutated flying monster creatures.
“Yu-ri!”
“Yes!”
Min Yu-ri shot magic arrows at them, as if she had been waiting for this.
Several of the monsters fell to the ground after being hit by her arrows.
However, among them, one particular creature was exceptionally adept at avoiding attacks.
It was the one with a person riding on its back.
‘So there was a reason for riding around like that.’
The closer the controller was to the monster, the faster and nimbler it seemed to move.
It definitely wasn’t risking their safety for nothing.
Flap! Flap—!
As the mutated creatures flapped their wings vigorously, black feathers rained down.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Yoo Ji-han and Chilla cleared the falling feathers that were aimed at the people around.
Following that, Kim Si-hu and Min Yu-ri took down one monster each.
As the attacks and defenses were carried out in a stable manner, the situation at the airport front was soon cleared up, thanks to the efforts of the other heroes.
At that moment, a white object caught Yoo Ji-han’s eye as he sheathed his sword.
“What’s with the bones scattered over there?”
“……”
“……”
“……”
In response to his question, the surviving IUPC members couldn’t answer.
Because it was obviously human bones.
Moreover, bones stained with still-fresh blood.
“You crazy bastards!!”
“Hey, hey, calm down.”
“The Vice Guild Master is staying calm, too.”
As the heroes realized that citizens had been eaten by the monsters, their anger flared up.
But they quickly regained their composure, realizing that gathering information was essential first.
“Jae-kyung, what are we going to do with these guys?”
“We don’t have the luxury to take them with us.”
Park Jae-kyung, holding her sword, looked down coldly at the captured IUPC members.
Half of them were already dead, and she seemed ready to wipe out the remaining remnants immediately.
“Can I handle this?”
“Go ahead.”
Yoo Ji-han, having easily obtained Park Jae-kyung’s permission, approached one of the men.
He was someone whose face was brimming with defiance, even after being captured by the heroes.
Unable to suppress his rage, he huffed as Yoo Ji-han asked, “What were you doing at the airport?”
“Ha! You think I’m going to tell you?”
Swoosh!
Just once.
In a single stroke, the man who refused to answer had his neck cleanly severed.
There was no need to check for a pulse; it was an instant kill.
The man, who met his end with a smirk aimed at Yoo Ji-han, had his head roll across the ground.
“Yikes!”
At the sight, the expressions of the IUPC members turned pale.
On the other hand, Yoo Ji-han, shaking the blood off his sword, maintained his poker face and said, “If you want to uphold your loyalty to the end, then by all means.”
“……”
“However, just know that we’re past our limit, so we can’t treat you kindly.”
Yoo Ji-han aimed the sword at another IUPC member.
When the same question fell, the man remained silent, pondering deeply, but—
Swoosh!
Without waiting for an answer, Yoo Ji-han struck at his neck.
“Next.”
As the blade that had beheaded two men pointed towards a third person, a woman who had been silent until now spoke sharply.
“That wicked murderer…!”
“Chilla!”
“Thunk!”
At Kim Si-hu’s shout, Chilla punched the woman in the head.
She collapsed with a high-pitched scream, and Yoo Ji-han remarked, “I’ll set a rule for you.”
“……?”
“I ask the questions, and you answer. Anyone who breaks this simple rule dies. Got it?”
At his chilling declaration, all the IUPC members froze in place.
