Although he was no longer trying to actively level up, Go Hyung-Chul was still an almost high ranker. He didn’t stop hunting or start neglecting his skills all this time, so he was still close to being a high ranker.

“Well… They were nothing more than disposables anyway.” Go Hyung-Chul scratched his head with the back of his dagger. The blade was wet with blood, and only headless corpses were around him.

“So they’ve been maintaining the barrier by sucking energy from low-level rankers like these,” Go Hyung-Chul mumbled. The nonchalance from a second ago was gone, replaced by a serious look. “They should be thanking me. Even death is better than this.”

For several days, Go Hyung-Chul had been collecting information with Heo Sung-Hoon. They soon learned that the Caravan Guild was recruiting newbie rankers. The newbies were being dispatched to important areas resembling a magic circle’s formation. Go Hyung-Chul then realized it was really a magic circle.

A trap that used hell’s magic.

‘This is bad,’ Heo Sung-Hoon thought. Many such units were being destroyed right now, breaking the magic circle and releasing terrible dark magic spread to the world.

Fwoosh.

The white feather hanging on his shirt slowly turned black and crumbled away. It was an angel feather used as a tool against sorcery. If he didn’t have this…

‘I would have been taken over by it.’ 

Sorcery was like poison to those susceptible to it. In fact, it could kill even those nearly immune to it. Go Hyung-Chul would have been caught in this trap had he been unprepared.

“It wouldn’t have been pretty.”

Thankfully, he was very well prepared. Go Hyung-Chul, Heo Sung-Hoon, and the Grigory members had wanted to destroy these units upon learning about them. Fortunately, Hamiel and the other two angels—sensitive to sorcery—helped them work safely.

It was disturbing that these dead rankers did not know they were mere sacrificial lambs. Sorcery was slowly overtaking them, and they would have soon lost their sanity, becoming mindless beasts.

“I guess it’s done.” Go Hyung-Chul could feel the dark energy slowly dissipating. He could tell that most of the units assigned around Gi-Gyu’s home had been destroyed.

Now…

“It’s your turn, Kim Gi-Gyu,” Go Hyung-Chul whispered.

***

Their immediate plan was to destroy a branch of the Caravan Guild. Gi-Gyu knew almost everything about this particular branch, and based on his information, this would be a piece of cake. Still, he spent much effort coming up with a perfect strategy.

Gi-Gyu mumbled, “Because this is just the beginning.”

With this, he was about to start an arduous battle. Gi-Gyu knew he couldn’t and wouldn’t stop until he got it done. Of course, he would take short breaks in between, but they would only be to prepare for the next battle. There was no way of knowing when this war would end or when he would get a chance to rest.

Still, he would keep going forward and preparing for what would come.

“The thing is…” Gi-Gyu mumbled, thinking about readying himself for his powerful enemies. He wasn’t confident about the outcome. It wasn’t that he was afraid of Ironshield or Andras. Based on Lou’s data and what he had seen, Gi-Gyu believed he could even fight them both simultaneously.

But…

‘Ha Song-Su.’ This was what Gi-Gyu feared the most. When he first met this man, he had realized there was something extraordinary about him. And now, he knew he didn’t know the half of it.

Ha Song-Su and Ha-Rim.

Would Gi-Gyu be able to defeat them? Gi-Gyu was told that Ha Song-Su had trounced Lee Sun-Ho and Lucifer. Scarier still was that there was absolutely nothing known about Ha-Rim. Heo Sung-Hoon’s report wasn’t of much help.

“Since that incident, those two haven’t been seen. This is why players worldwide are even more fearful of them. There is nothing scarier than the unknown.”

This was what Sung-Hoon had told Gi-Gyu earlier. Alas, Gi-Gyu could only keep training while doing his best to perfect Lou’s physical body. Soon, he would have to face the two mysterious figures.

‘I’m just not ready right now,’ Gi-Gyu thought grimly. Ha Song-Su had defeated both Lee Sun-Ho and Lucifer simultaneously, so there was no way Gi-Gyu could beat him.

But…

Gi-Gyu couldn’t remain in hiding until he was strong enough. It was time to make his move.

“Grandmaster,” Hart whispered.

It had been a long time since Gi-Gyu talked to Hart, so he smiled.

Hart asked, “Is something worrying you?”

“Will I be able to do this?”

Hart became quiet, understanding Gi-Gyu’s doubts. But soon, he confidently said, “Everything will work out according to your wish, Grandmaster. Please remember that you are…”

Hart gave Gi-Gyu a bright smile. Gi-Gyu had never imagined that a skull could smile, let alone in such a beautiful way.

Hart finished his sentence, “Our god.”

Gi-Gyu grinned and announced, “Let’s go.”

“Well, you’ve wasted enough time,” muttered Lou.

“Please be respectful toward the Master,” El warned.

Lou and El were in their physical forms, and Gi-Gyu left the gate listening to the all too familiar bickering.

***

Tap, tap, tap.

A creature tapped its fingers together with a blank face, carrying a long spear on his back.

“So the barrier broke?” the creature asked.

“That’s right,” a man answered with a respectful bow. This current speaker was a human, but the creature with the spear was…

Fwoosh.

The creature’s eye color became blood-red.

He was a demon.

“The entire unit was massacred. I believe that it was…” the human explained.

“Are you saying ‘he’ is back? The one Andras warned me about?”

“Yes, I believe so.” The human trembled, aware he couldn’t defeat this demon no matter what.

Not too long ago, this creature was a human; now, he was a player-demon hybrid created by Andras.

The human man bowed even deeper and suggested, “Shouldn’t we contact the headquarters?”

Stab.

“Ackkkk!” A piercing scream was heard, followed by a gruesome flesh-ripping sound. Officially, this human was the branch manager of a Caravan Guild secret branch; however, he was a puppet, existing solely to assist the hybrid demon before him. This human was a greedy human who craved demonic power to rule the human world.

But, right now, the greedy human had a spear sticking out of his right shoulder. Actually, it wasn’t a spear—it was the demon’s arm. The demon’s arm looked humanoid a second ago; it had transformed into a long spear to stab the human’s shoulder.

The demon asked, “Don’t you trust me?”

“O-of course I do!”

“Do you think I can’t defeat this man?”

“N-no! I would never d-dare,” the man stammered.

Slowly, the demon’s spear left the human’s shoulder.

The man kneeled and bowed deeply as he begged, “I wouldn’t dare to question you! You’re a great master who holds a Seat of Power!”

The human glanced at the demon with a maniacal smile. He was bleeding heavily, yet his eyes were filled with madness and cultist belief as he whispered, “Why would I ever dare to defy the great Lord Haures?!”

“...”

The demon named Haures slowly grinned and replied, “Of course.”

His spear-like arm returned to its original form, and he began tapping his fingers again. He whispered, “After all, I’m General Haures.”

Haures smiled and added, “And my specialty is hunting.”

“O-of course.” The human bowed down again.

Haures smiled and ordered, “Get ready to hunt. It has been a long time since I went out, so this should be fun.”

The spear on his back slowly became transparent.

***

“The cleanup is complete,” Heo Sung-Hoon said to Gi-Gyu.

Go Hyung-Chul had been sent on an assignment, so only Sung-Hoon and the Grigory members—who were taking care of the remaining patrols—had greeted Gi-Gyu when he had arrived.

“Good job,” Gi-Gyu replied apathetically. Some players with lower levels flinched when they felt his intense aura. His energy was currently acting predatory because of his mood.

Lou muttered coldly, “Keep your energy down. Or do you want to kill your allies?”

Gi-Gyu didn’t reply, but he controlled his power as Lou had suggested. It appeared that he was more anxious than he had thought. Then, he said to Lou, “Thanks.”

“I’m glad you aren’t apologizing for it.”

In the past, Gi-Gyu would have apologized for something like this. But he had changed. It was a subtle difference, but Gi-Gyu had matured even more recently. Lou, El, and Heo Sung-Hoon smiled proudly.

Heo Sung-Hoon explained, “This isn’t the only barrier around your house. We will see two more barriers after breaking the primary one based on what we found. Unfortunately, we still don’t know the exact details.”

Sung-Hoon seemed apologetic as he continued, “When we escaped the last time, we quickly passed through the primary barrier, so we never got the chance to learn about the other layers. We know there are two more barriers because that’s what Go Hyung-Chul found out.”

It appeared that Go Hyung-Chul was more talented than everyone believed. Sung-Hoon and Grigory had been researching this for a long time, but Go Hyung-Chul figured it out in a few days.

Hamiel bowed deeply in greeting and explained, “The barrier activates the moment you leave this house, Grandmaster. I believe it gets activated by a large amount of dark or divine energy.”

This meant that Gi-Gyu, Lou, or El had to activate it. Gi-Gyu wondered just how much Andras knew about him.

Gi-Gyu asked, “What about the non-players? What will happen to them?”

“They will get hurt,” Sung-Hoon replied sadly.

Unfortunately, the KPA could no longer evacuate or warn the citizens. If the Caravan Guild truly cared about the people, they would have warned them by now. But no such thing had happened. If a battle took place like this, most non-players living nearby would get hurt.

Resigned, Hamiel stated, “At least there aren’t many humans around.”

“Are you saying a small sacrifice is acceptable?” Gi-Gyu asked.

Sung-Hoon and Hamiel became very quiet.

“El.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Do you think you can protect the non-players?” Gi-Gyu asked.

El seemed troubled by this request. “If the humans are gathered together in a small area, then perhaps. But if they are spread out, I won’t be able to do it alone.”

“Then?”

El turned to look at the other three angels and replied, “If I have them with me, I should be able to protect the weak humans.”

“Then go ahead.”

Hamiel seemed confused and protested, “But…! Grandmaster! Please rethink your decision!”

Gi-Gyu remembered Hart telling him that he was like a god to them. This was true as every creature synced with Gi-Gyu believed he was their god. Therefore, they considered what was about to come a holy war.

Hamiel believed being a part of this would be a great honor, but he was suddenly denied this gift. Hamiel couldn’t help but feel devastated.

Gi-Gyu’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Hamiel. He whispered, “Hamiel.”

Hamiel flinched when he caught Gi-Gyu’s cold stare. His grandmaster had never looked at him like this before.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Even El is obeying this command. Do you know why?”

Hamiel couldn’t answer. El was the angels’ idol, and she obeyed Gi-Gyu without question. Yet Hamiel had questioned his grandmaster, an act of great shame.

Gi-Gyu announced, “I’ll be back.”

“Of course, Master. Please be careful,” El whispered.

Lou looked at the angels for a moment before leaving.

Hamiel became flustered, thinking that Lou was laughing at them.

El rigidly asked, “Do you want to know why?”

Hamiel looked up.

El continued, “You remind me of the old me. So I’ll explain it to you.”

El’s voice was cold as ice. It was clear that she was furious at Hamiel for questioning Gi-Gyu.

El explained, “This mission is more vital than the battle itself.”

“Pardon? But how…?” Hamiel seemed confused.

El looked toward the door through which Gi-Gyu had left.

El answered, “Because this is what the Master wants us to do.”

“...”

This time, El smiled warmly at Hamiel and explained, “Our master doesn’t want to lose his human side. To protect this side of him, we must do this. It is our duty.”

Hamiel still couldn’t understand. How could something be more important than the battle itself? But he knew one thing. If El, who loved their master, wanted this, then this had to be the right thing to do.

“Of course,” Hamiel answered firmly.