To make sure they couldn’t act as a group, the Moon people were spread across the world and kept under surveillance. However, they hadn't been blindly separated. They were allowed to choose where they wanted to live. Every country had tried its best to listen to their preferences.
Of course, Plu-El chose Korea, and Aruwen and a large number of Moon people chose it too. Thus, Korea contained a great number of Moon people, and a portion of this great number had been stationed near the location Sungyoon had previously been in.
Suh-guhk!
A sword danced through the air as it severed the head of the monster and sent it flying through the air.
Kwah-jeek!
An ax flew down, and another monster’s body vertically split into half.
Puh-uh-uhng!
A fireball burned two monsters at once.
The Moon people were very skilled at killing monsters.
They were not like Connectors, who had taken up their profession to make money. The Moon people had been fighting monsters since they were young. They had fought in gruesome battles to secure their survival. In some ways, they were the true specialists when it came to killing monsters.
‘The higher-ups made a pretty bold move.’
After Hyunwoo gave his confession, humanity’s relationship with the Moon people improved. Yet, the government sending the Moon people into battle was something Sungyoon could've never imagined. Moreover, the government had even equipped the Moon people with weapons.
‘Well, that’s none of my business. The higher-ups can worry about that.’
Sungyoon started moving once again.
Puh-uhk!
He suddenly saw the monster diagonally opposite of him fall over; a long arrow protruded from the monster's forehead.
‘Amazing.’
Sungyoon was sure that the one who had efficiently killed monsters like this was Aruwen. Aruwen was hitting all his shots from the helicopter hovering in the air.
A lot of monsters had appeared in this place, but a lot of Connectors and Moon people had been mobilized in response, who settled this mess in short order.
The battle here had ended, but this was not the only place experiencing a monster attack.
“Mr. Woo Sungyoon! Please get in! We have to move to the next location!”
Someone screamed loud enough to pierce through the sound of the helicopter’s rotor. Sungyoon lightly jumped off the ground and entered the helicopter, which was flying low to the ground.
The helicopter then flew toward the site of the next battle.
***
Sungyoon continued to fight. Too many monsters had appeared, so it was a mess in many places. Moreover, hordes of monsters weren’t the only ones to attack Earth.
‘Humans?’
In the beginning, he thought all Connectors were on the same side. This was why he was about to leave them alone. However, he saw a Connector bash in the head of another Connector who was about to apply the killing blow on a monster. There was no way they were on the same side.
Above all else, that monster wasn’t acting hostile toward this Connector. In fact, it acted as if he were its ally.
Sungyoon could only think about what had happened with Sung Hyunwoo.
“You saw that?”
The Connector realized Sungyoon was watching him, and a surprised voice emanated from his heavy armor.
“I was wondering who it was. It’s the Knight. Ah ha ha! This is awesome!”
The man clad in the heavy armor lifted his mace.
“I heard Kevil really misses you. I’ll be able to gain some notoriety if I can kill you.”
‘Kevil.’
He had mentioned Kevil, one of Grenoid's officers and the demonic monster that used flames to attack others.
“Are you like Sung Hyunwoo? A traitor to humanity?”
“No. We're the new rulers of humanity.”
The Connector's eyes rose in a devilish manner.
“We were born because of your desires. We lived like trash, but we can now have a proper life in the future. We will be the rulers of this planet!”
There was too much rage and resentment dripping from each word to call it the raving of a mad man.
However, Sungyoon didn’t even blink an eye.
‘These people are releasing monsters to kill humans, yet they are talking about being the new ruling class.’
He didn’t care what past this armored Connector had. He wasn’t curious at all.
‘You might have lived a tough life, but my life wasn’t that easy either!’
Kwahhhng!
Sungyoon’s ax clashed against the armored Connector’s mace.
“Hmmph! You're called the Knight, but in the end, you're just in the upper-intermediate class in terms of skills! I’ll show you that plenty of Connectors out there are stronger than you!”
The man’s mace moved at an incredible speed. Even though he was wearing heavy armor, his movements were fast.
It looked as if the mace would break through the gap between Sungyoon’s ax and shield and slam into his body. However, Sungyoon’s eyes were tracking the movement of the mace.
“Hoo-ahhhhhhht!”
The man had swung his mace with both hands. His skill was superb as the mace moved past the shield to head toward Sungyoon’s face. Although Sungyoon was wearing a helmet, the mace was high in rank and it was made to bash armor. If the blow landed, it would inflict a critical wound on Sungyoon.
The armored Connector let out a self-satisfied smile.
However, Sungyoon’s shield was already moving at that moment.
Tuh-ung!
The corners of Sungyoon's shield hit one of the arms holding the mace, and the mace shook. Using that opportunity, Sungyoon smoothly moved his face to dodge the mace.
‘What!’
The armored Connector was shocked. This time, Sungyoon swung his ax at him.
“Eeek!”
The man barely dodged the ax, and he quickly retreated a step.
Sungyoon didn’t give him respite. He summoned his halberd and used its long reach to attack him.
Tuh-uhng!
The man’s shield blocked the halberd.
Sungyoon once again closed the distance as he swung his hammer.
Kwahng!
“Koo-ahhhhk!”
A large explosion erupted when the hammer hit the shield, and the armored Connector let out a scream.
‘What the hell is this!’
Sungyoon swung, stabbed, bashed, and crushed his opponent. The armored Connector couldn’t even think in front of the barrage of attacks. The Knight’s ability to instantly activate his Gems was well known, but this was beyond expectation.
Sungyoon was faster and stronger than he had expected.
“Shiiiiiiiit!”
The armored Connector knew he was in danger if he gave any more ground, so he forced himself to charge. He tried to bum-rush Sungyoon.
Kwahhhhng!
“Ahhhhhhhhhk!”
The explosion created by the hammer finally reached his left arm, and the armored Connector felt burning pain.
‘His Gems are much higher in rank than I expected!’
However, the armored Connector knew was a possibility, and he had been prepared for it. He once again tried to rush Sungyoon.
Tuh-uhng!
Sungyoon’s armor touched the heavy armor of the man, and the sound of metal grating against metal rang out.
“Dieeeeeee!”
Spittle flew from the armored Connector’s mouth as he used every ounce of strength in his body to bring down his mace.
“Idiot.”
Sungyoon mumbled.
Pul-luhk!
Sungyoon’s cape turned into wings.
Kwahnnng!
His body accelerated like a bullet as he pushed back the armored Connector.
“Koo-oooooohk!”
The man’s body slid backward. His helmet rattled, and it caused his neck to be slightly revealed.
‘Now!’
Sungyoon summoned his sword and stabbed in the gap.
Chwahk!
The chilling sound of flesh being destroyed resounded in the air. At the same time, electricity flowed through the man's body.
“Goo-roo-roo-roo-roo-roo!”
He couldn’t even scream since the sword had pierced through his neck. Blood kept coming out of his mouth as he convulsed from lightning.
Poo-shoohk!
Sungyoon withdrew his sword. The sinister-looking armored Connector fell to the ground, his body devoid of any strength.
Soo-roo-roohk!
The man's armor was unsummoned.
‘As expected, he was a high rank Connector.’
Sungyoon looked down at the man’s Device. All of the Gems were high rank Jewel Gems, and he even saw an Emerald rank Gem amongst them. Sungyoon’s highest rank Gem was the Ruby rank Gem, and the Emerald rank Gem was a rank higher.
This Connector's boasts weren’t hot air.
‘I can’t believe a man of his caliber joined the monsters.’
Sungyoon put the corpse into his storage Gem and moved to rejoin the fight.
Afterward, it didn’t take long for Korea's Connectors to kill all the monsters that had invaded their country.
***
“How much damage was done?”
The Mayor asked Sungyoon, who had just returned.
“They are making an estimate. However, it's almost a certainty that a lot of people died.”
“Shit!”
The image of the girl eaten by the monster appeared inside Sungyoon’s head. In a flash, her face changed into Shinhae’s face. Sungyoon quickly shook his head. He had already called Shinhae and Jimin and confirmed their safety.
The Mayor tapped the desk with his fingers.
“What’s the meaning behind this surprise attack?”
“I believe they are trying to paralyze us into inaction.”
Plu-El opened the door and entered the room. Her Device was on her arm.
‘As expected, she participated in the battles.’
He hadn’t seen Plu-El when he returned, so Sungyoon had assumed she had been mobilized too.
“That’s the most likely explanation. If we are focused on defense, we can’t pay attention to other locations. They would love that.”
The Mayor let out a sigh. He kept mumbling to himself as he started analyzing the current situation.
Plu-El approached Sungyoon. She looked him up and down and made sure he wasn’t wounded.
“It seems both of us got through this ok.”
“It was all thanks to you.”
“No. I did nothing.”
“I’m serious. Honestly, I would've been in trouble without this.”
Sungyoon pointed at a Gem, a white Gem.
At a glance, it looked like a White rank Gem, but it wasn't.
“You said this is called the Bone Gem?”
“That’s right.”
Plu-El reaffirmed it.
The Bone Gem was a Gem made from the bones of a Connector. A Connector's abilities decreased when they were far away from the source of magical energy. This Bone Gem allowed one to use the full extent of one’s power. This was the reason the Moon people could previously use the full extent of their powers on Earth.
“I met someone stronger than me. If we had fought on equal footing, I would've been in trouble.”
Sungyoon had been able to fight at peak performance thanks to the Bone Gem. The Connector in the heavy armor was like all the other Connectors on Earth; he was fighting with a handicap.
“You don’t have a large supply of it, right?”
“Yes. We made it just in case. We never expected to fight on Earth like this.”
“That's unfortunate.”
If they had a mass supply of these Gems, humanity would have the advantage on Earth.
“This is a problem. If they continue this, our dreams of taking back Armstrong city will just be dreams.”
The Mayor stomped in frustration.
If monsters continued to attack humanity, humanity wouldn't be able to do anything. The prospect of losing this war became real, and humanity would become paralyzed by fear.
The Mayor looked at Plu-El.
“Is there any way we can stop monsters from crossing over to Earth?”
“Since our enemies can use portals, it will be difficult to stop them. In fact, the number of locations with pools of magical energy will increase, and monsters will appear more frequently.”
The Mayor panted as if he were an animal.
‘As the technology for using moonstones releases magical energy, the magical energy remains here on earth. It doesn’t get destroyed.’
Plu-El had explained why magical energy existed on Earth now.
Humanity had made great strides in developing technology that generated energy from moonstones, and moonstones were still being consumed. The number of locations where the magical energy pooled would increase with time.
‘Thankfully, the magical energy doesn’t cause any harm to normal people.’
In its basic form, magical energy was benign to people.
The magical energy within the labyrinths was a type of magical energy used to make the seal. It had a poisonous quality, and it didn’t allow normal humans into the labyrinths. This was especially true regarding the Great Labyrinths.
Sungyoon then activated his storage Gem and took out the corpse.
“Huh? What the hell is this?”
The Mayor, who had been bemoaning, asked the question.
“He was a human that attacked alongside the monsters. He's a very high rank Connector. I would like you to confirm his identity.”
“He’s trash like Sung Hyunwoo.”
Plu-El glared at the corpse with disdain in her eyes.
“Mmm. It might be a clue. We might be able to track down other traitors with the information we learn. I understand. I’ll take charge of this task.”
The Mayor agreed to Sungyoon’s request without hesitation.
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