Chapter 243
Rushing through the lush fields, Lee Shin furrowed his eyebrows at the chaotic scene on Island forty-three. To his surprise, the White Elves, who should be guarding the central island, had gathered there in large numbers.
"Finally, you are here," Genia greeted Lee Shin, her face pale.
"What's going on?" Lee Shin asked.
"We've been receiving continuous support requests from Earth. They told us that the gods have launched a massive attack on Earth,” Genia replied.
Lee Shin simply nodded, as it was something he had already expected.
"Is the Gate okay?" Lee Shin asked.
"Yes, but given the situation, we can't be sure when it will close. So you might want to hurry up," Genia replied, her voice laced with urgency.
Sensing Genia’s concern, Lee Shin headed straight for the Eternal Gate. Upon arrival, he saw injured challengers getting transported, panting and covered in sweat. It was a chaotic battlefield, to say the least.
"Did they flee here to escape the enemies?" Lee Shin asked.
"Yes, that’s right, because the enemies can't use the Eternal Gate."
Bloodstained bandages and shattered equipment littered the area. The sounds of exhaustion echoed from all directions. The residents of Lardel Archipelago and the challengers who had taken refuge here were bustling about.
Woong—!
Another challenger came through the Eternal Gate: Kang Sang-Jun. He was covered in blood and sweat. And behind him stood another familiar face.
“Mr. Lee Shin!” Kang Sang-Jun greeted Lee Shin.
"Are you okay? And who's behind you?" Lee Shin asked, concern evident in his expression.
As Lee Shin lifted the other guy’s silver hair, a lifeless, pale face and dying eyes were revealed.
"Vuela!" Lee Shin shouted in shock, not expecting to see him there.
"Lee Shin..." Vuela whispered as he struggled to speak. "Keugh!"
Kang Sang-Jun laid Vuela on a stretcher, and Lee Shin could finally see his missing leg. Lee Shin immediately reached for Martyr and tried to evoke divine power to heal Vuela, but Vuela stopped him.
"Just go... quickly," Vuela said to Lee Shin, trying to send him to where help was needed more.
"Mr. Lee Shin, South Korea is in danger right now,” Kang Sang-Jun also looked at Lee Shin with pleading eyes.
Lee Shin had to clench his teeth and reluctantly release his grip on Martyr.
"I'm so sorry," Lee Shin said, looking at Vuela.
Lee Shin swiftly turned around and entered the Eternal Gate, passing through the narrow corridor filled with the injured. Beyond it lay an underground chamber; thankfully, this area still had electricity, so bright lights illuminated the area.
"Master!" Park Hye-Won shouted with excitement, looking at Lee Shin.
Lee Shin could hear Park Hye-Won's voice as soon as he crossed the gate. Her call drew the attention of the others; they turned to look at Lee Shin.
"Lee Shin?"
“Wait, Mr. Lee Shin is here?”
Park Hye-Won only addressed one person as her master—Lee Shin. He had finally arrived.
"Master, the people outside are…” Park Hye-Won tried to explain the situation to Lee Shin.
"Yes, I know,” Lee Shin replied.
No matter how tough the situation was, Park Hye-Won had never shed tears before. However, now, tears streamed down her face as she sobbed. Lee Shin lightly patted her shoulder and walked past her.
"Stay here and help the people here," Lee Shin said to Park Hye-Won.
"Sob.." Park Hye-Won continued to cry.
The constant cries and screams of the people around them continued to echo in Lee Shin’s ears. Could he ever forget the desperate and gruesome scene before him? Even without the Immortal Sphere, Lee Shin believed that he could never erase the emotions he was experiencing now. After attempting to gather his thoughts, he made his way outside.
"Ha..." Park Hye-Won sighed.
Park Hye-Won had been using her wind magic to move people, but she abruptly fell to her knees, her legs giving out. It was partly due to exhaustion but also because she felt a sense of relief as she watched Lee Shin ascend the stairs to save Earth.
"Please… Deliver us from this hell," Park Hye-Won muttered, looking at Lee Shin.
***
As soon as he left the underground chamber, a dark Gate appeared. Deafening sounds reverberated from all directions.
Babababam—!
Soldiers and challengers on all sides fought fiercely to prevent the monsters from swarming in.
"What about the support from the US? Is the barrier analysis still ongoing?" a Commander shouted at his Corporal."Yes! Unless we can get closer to the barrier stone, it will take a while!" the Corporal reported.
"Damn it! This is so frustrating!" the Commander shouted with anger.
The Commander, overseeing the troops in the area, angrily threw an empty magazine. Seeing that, Lee Shin approached him and tapped on his shoulder.
"What! What do you wan—” The Commander’s angry reply came to an abrupt halt when he realized the newcomer was Lee Shin.
The Commander's eyes widened in surprise.
"M-Mr. Lee Shin?” the Commander asked.
"What’s all that about the barrier stone?” Lee Shin asked. "Ah! Well, waves are spreading behind the massive Gate, generating a barrier. Our intel suggests that a barrier stone is responsible for the waves and the barrier," the Commander explained.
The commander quickly regained his composure and calmly explained the situation to Lee Shin.
"So then, do we just need to break the barrier stone?" Lee Shin asked to confirm.
"Yes, then we can receive external support," the Commander replied.
"Understood," Lee Shin replied.
Lee Shin immediately took off into the sky, leaving the commander and the soldiers in awe as they watched him grow smaller in the distance.
"Can Lee Shin really break through those monsters and break the barrier stone?" the Corporal asked the Commander.
"Hey! He’s Lee Shin. Have faith in him,” the Commander replied.
"But what about those god-like beings guarding the place?" the Corporal questioned again.
Zap!
“Ouch!” the Corporal shouted.
The Commander had smacked the Corporal’s head and was shaking his head.
"Stop worrying about trivial matters and fire again," the commander advised.
"Yes, Sir!" the Corporal replied.
Pizz—!
Suddenly, a loud sparking sound came from above. Next, monster corpses started raining down; startled, the people beneath quickly moved away to avoid the corpses.
"W-what are these! What’s going on!" the Commander stuttered as he stared in disbelief at the incredible sight.
Using psychokinesis and levitation magic, Lee Shin effortlessly flew through the sky, activating mana as the monsters tried to get to him.
Krrraaak—!
Khaaaak—!
Screams echoed from all directions. In the blink of an eye, Lee Shin extended both hands, summoning ten strands of thunderbolt that he wielded like a whip. The thunderbolts wrapped themselves around the monsters, quickly tearing them in half. The ground quickly became slick with the blood of the falling monster corpses. However, Lee Shin ignored the carnage and unleashed his next spell.
[Lightning Chain]
The thunderbolt tendrils left Lee Shin's grasp and scattered in different directions, striking the monsters and bouncing off them.
[Ice Age]
Simultaneously, a wave of frigid air swept across the entire battlefield. The charging monsters froze instantly and shattered upon colliding with the lightning.
‘Hmmm… Is it over there?’
The barrier stone remained concealed behind the massive Gate, which contained an immense amount of dimensional energy. Detecting the barrier stone was challenging due to the overwhelming flow of dimensional energy in the Gate. Therefore, Lee Shin found it quite impressive that the United Earth could discover the barrier stone’s existence.
- I see that there are some troublesome fellows there.
- Hahaha... I can feel the power of the gods! They look delicious. Let’s eat them. With my power, you can do it easily.
Lee Shin’s gaze fell on two gods. Judging by their divine powers, they were at least mid-ranking gods.
‘Are they protecting the Gate and the barrier stone?’
Pizz—!
Electrical energy crackled in Lee Shin’s clenched right hand as he held it in the air.
"You cannot pass through this place, human," the gods said to Lee Shin.
Lee Shin responded by hurling a lightning sphere, radiating a blue glow, at the gods blocking his path. Disregarding the hundreds of converging monsters, Lee Shin slowly unfurled his hand, causing the sphere, crackling with electric currents, to rapidly expand in size.
Pizz—! Pizz—!
In an instant, the entire space was engulfed in radiance. The monsters caught within the range dissolved and disappeared while the gods struggled to survive using their divine powers.
- Haha. That will be pointless.
[You have taken away the divine power due to Chaos.][You have taken away the divine power…]
[Your divinity class has increased by 1.]
[You have taken away the divine power…]
The two gods seemed stunned. Their divinity was stripped away, so they vanished without even a scream.
‘Huh…’
Lee Shin had simply mixed Chaos into his mana. Since these gods were mid-ranking gods, he had expected it to be an easy fight, but this was just a walk in the park. As he absorbed the gods' divine power, he experienced an indescribable sense of satisfaction and pleasure.
- Well, well. How does it feel? It feels pretty good, isn't it?
The God of Chaos continued to provoke Lee Shin from the side, but he tried to remain calm and save his words. In all honesty, though, he felt like he was under the influence of an unfamiliar drug. As a reward for defeating the two gods, he had increased his divinity class by three.
"Huh? How is this even possible?" Lee Shin exclaimed, shocked by the rapid rise in his divinity class.
- Well, there's nothing that can't be done.
- Lee Shin! Snap out of it! Chaos must not consume you!
One side chuckled and tempted Lee Shin, while the other side worried and warned him. Lee Shin made an effort to regain his composure; with a surge of mana, he hurled a mass of blue mana over the Gate. The lump of blue mana divided into ten strands and circumvented the Gate, striking the barrier stone located behind it.
Crack!
The translucent protective barrier enveloping Daejeon wavered and vanished.
"The barrier is down!"
"Request support immediately!"
"Currently, fifteen countries, including the United States, China, Japan, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, are on standby for deploying challengers!"
"Monsters are still coming out of the Gate! Tell them to send as many challengers this way as possible, and the rest of the military forces should focus on dealing with the monsters!"
"Yes, Sir!"
The scale of the attack had escalated to a level far beyond anything seen in the past. The number of casualties reached a critical point, posing a life-or-death situation for South Korea. The battlefield in Daejeon lay in ruins, with recovery seeming almost impossible.
Kim Kang-Won, the leader of the SWCG Task Force, stood outside the barrier and bit his lip, checking the situation inside with his team members.
Buzz—
- The barrier is gone. You may proceed inside. Challenger Lee Shin has joined the fight inside.
A message came from their earpieces. Their initial plan to advance and support the Eternal Gate side now seemed unnecessary.
‘With Mr. Lee Shin here, our focus should be on preventing them from entering from the outside.'
[Ice Call]
Dozens of ice shards materialized in the sky, swiftly striking the airborne monsters. From a vantage point, Kim Kang-Won could see bright lights gathered in an area.
'That place must be...'
The bright lights had converged over the Magic Academy in Daejeon. This place served as a vital hub where talented students gathered to learn and develop their magical abilities. An intense battle raged within, with hordes of monsters pouring in.
“Mr. Para McMatain is protecting the Academy. So, let's just join the Academy first!" Kim Kang-Won gave orders to his Task Force.
"Yes, Sir!" replied the members of the Task Force.
Kim Kang-Won swiftly donned his visor helmet and revved his motorcycle.
Vroooommm—!
Six motorcycles roared ahead, their exhausts creating a cacophony as they swiftly cleared the obstructing monsters, reaching the front gate of the Academy. Kim Kang-Won and his team members removed their helmets and hurriedly entered the Academy.
Babababam—!
The Academy’s protective barrier was already partially demolished, riddled with holes. Outside, Para and the academy professors were fighting two gods.
"You guys go inside and check on the students first! I'll join you later after I assist Mr. McMatain," Kim Kang-Won said to his Task Force members.
"Yes, Sir!" the Task Force members replied.
Kim Kang-Won promptly drew two pistols and aimed at the monsters chasing his team members. He fired with precision, targeting their heads.
Bang! Bang!
Thud— Thunk—!
The bullets sent the two monsters flying through the air, crashing into the building wall. Slowly, they regained their footing. The loud gunfire drew everyone's attention to Kim Kang-Won, prompting him to unleash all of his mana.
"I'll draw their attention, so just hurry up and go in fast!” Kim Kang-Won shouted to his Task Force members.
Click!
He retrieved a rifle from his back, shouldered it, and steadied his aim.
Bang bang bang bang bang—!
Subsequently, he fired a barrage of bullets. As one of the monsters was struck and plummeted from the building, another approached Kim Kang-Won. He put an approaching monster in a headlock, smoothly drew his greatsword from his side, and thrust it into the creature. His movements were fluid, but the number of enemies only increased with time.
“Where are these creatures even coming from?!” Kim Kang-Won muttered as he looked at the approaching monsters.