Chapter 145: The Beginning of the Cataclysm

The fallen giant.

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked back and forth between his hands and Yashin’s face.

He had grown stronger.

And.

‘He’s a strong Hero.’

He had seen the power of Yashin with his own eyes.

Even if the giant had already died, the Hunter’s ability to minimize the damage by tearing the giant’s entire body apart in just a few seconds was worth noting.

‘Why?’

Then, a question arose in his mind.

Why had such a talented person gone unnoticed in the future?

Japan definitely existed in the future. It wasn’t a country that had perished like China, nor was it quiet like Egypt.

However, he had never heard of a Hunter at this level coming from there before…

"

Argh

."

Lee Jun-Kyeong suddenly grabbed at his head.

He had been floating in the air with the wings of flames he had been given by , but he suddenly lost strength and crashed down.

Although he had been able to manage to keep his balance before falling to the floor, the piercing pain in his skull didn’t go away.

"Are you okay?" Yashin asked, reaching out to Lee Jun-Kyeong, who was reeling from the pain.

“...”

Surprisingly, the pain went away a little.

Lee Jun-Kyeong was briefly embarrassed by the strange situation.

Crash!

However, he knew he had to get it together at the ensuing explosion.

A regular gate would disappear once the boss died, but a gate that had collapsed and become broken was different.

The monsters that had already escaped the gate weren’t bound to the boss. Instead, they were completely separate entities, just like those troll or giant monsters that were running around.

“...”

Yashin’s expression hardened, and the same went for Lee Jun-Kyeong.

A monster was heading to the hotel where it was believed that there still would be people.

Lee Jun-Kyeong tried to move first.

Tadadak!

However, Yashin had already made his move. Running at high speed, he was moving like a gale while Lee Jun-Kyeong followed suit.

Boom!

Although the explosions were still continuing in Cairo, most of the auras of the monsters had disappeared.

‘Is this where one would say, a diamond is still a diamond even if it’s in a dunghill?’

The Nile had lost a lot of strength after Set’s rebellion, but they were still blocking the monsters. At the helm were Horus and Inebu.

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked back at the situation behind him for a moment while in front of him, he heard the clear sword sing again.

Shing.

An invisible blow tore through the monster that was about to attack the hotel.

As the giant fell, they could no longer feel the presence of any monsters around the hotel.

Crash!

However, part of the hotel still collapsed alongside the fallen giant.

Yashin quickly jumped up and caught a woman. She was wearing traditional Japanese clothes and had long, straight hair. Strangely, she was in Yashin’s arms with a calm expression, even in the midst of all this chaos.

"That's a relief," Yashin murmured in Japanese.

Lee Jun-Kyeong closed his mouth for a moment as he looked at Yashin and the woman in the other man’s arms.

Zzzt.

The pain in his head tightened again.

[ gazes upon you.]

Then, he heard the voice of the bastard once again.

***

It had been an S-Grade Gate Break, but things had still settled quite quickly.

The first reason was because it had happened in the capital of a country. The second was that it was where the Nile was founded.

Finally, the third reason that it had been settled quickly was that Heroes from all over the world were gathered in Cairo for the conference.

The Heroes, who had seemed unlikely to step up, had come out and faced the monsters for some reason.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had his hunches as to why.

‘They must have recognized the seriousness of the situation.’

He thought that they had recognized that they would have to act differently from before and that cooperation between the different organizations would be more important than ever.

“Good job,” Yeo Seong-Gu said with a dusty face as he patted Lee Jun-Kyeong on the shoulder.

“You too, Hyung.”

Many of Cairo’s residents had been rescued by Yeo Seong-Gu.

He had both dealt with the monsters and also rescued people with the power of the Bifrost.

With him, Lee Jun-Kyeong also met Horus.

“Thank you,” Horus said as he bowed to Lee Jun-Kyeong and Yeo Seong-Gu with a sincere expression. Behind him stood Isis, Inebu, Bastet, and Numek.

They all seemed exhausted, judging from the way their mana circulated unsteadily.

"Don't mention it,” Yeo Seong-Gu answered with a smile.

It had only been a short while after the matter had ended.

"So it seems you're going to leave now."

The reason they had all gathered here was that they had intuited that Lee Jun-Kyeong was about to return home.

This was the beginning of the change.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had said that the beginning would occur simultaneously around the world, and Korea was no exception. Thus, it was time for him to go back to his home country, Korea.

“I’ve received too much help from you,” Horus said, offering his hand to Lee Jun-Kyeong. He was bandaged all over his body again, all the way up to his forearm.

However, through the loosened bandages, Lee Jun-Kyeong could see that a little bit of flesh had been restored to his bones.

“It’s the same for me as well,” Lee Jun-Kyeong replied, taking the offered hand.

Their work in the Nile had been completed.

Just as he had planned from the start. Lee Jun-Kyeong had saved Horus. In addition, although he hadn’t expected to, he had also fought a fierce battle with Set.

He had grown considerably and had become aware of a lot.

‘My purpose for coming here was…’

It had been to get rid of the variables he had created.

However, he realized that by doing so, he had also committed the act of creating even more variables. Moreover, this had also been an opportunity to understand how to use these variables.

“I really did receive a lot from you all as well,” he said again.

More important than anything else, he had received something life-changing as well.

[ has ended your sponsorship.]

[The one who had been sponsored by has received a title.]

[A link to remains.]

[Under ’s influence, you have acquired the power of the Endless Flame.]

[ swears it will aid you one day.]

.

Its voice continually sounded, offering multiple notifications.

Lee Jun-Kyoeng knew, above all, at least he had received this.

[ glares at the dried-up sun.]

Lee Jun-Kyeong smirked.

Regardless of what this bastard says, he had received what he should have received.

"As I said the other day…the Nile desires to join together with you," Horus said in a rather grave voice.

“It would be nice if we could have obtained aid with Cairo’s restoration, but…but that’s just a small wish.”

The light in Horus’ eyes turned steely.

"Egypt can still rise on its own."

Lee Jun-Kyeong already knew what Horus was alluding to.

Cairo may have suffered extensively from Set’s rebellion and the successive gate breaks, but their potential had been shown during the S-Grade Gate Break.

Moreover, there was their wealth as well.

‘There is a reason it’s known as the world’s primacy.’

It was said that their hidden possessions amounted to enough wealth to purchase an entire country.

Because they had that power at their fingertips, Lee Jun-Kyeong responded confidently, “As long as you overcome the cataclysm well, then Egypt will see the light once again.”

“The light you say…”

Horus smiled at that.

“You are the light of Egypt as well. Don’t ever forget that… Egypt will come to your aid when you need us.”

“Thank you.”

As Lee Jun-Kyeong and Horus looked at each other again, someone else spoke from the side.

“Thank you.”

The man thanked Lee Jun-Kyeong, and even though he looked exhausted, he had a bright expression.

“Inebu.”

It was Inebu, the man who had called him to Egypt. Lee Jun-Kyeong knew that they had a strange relationship of sorts.

“Thank you,” Inebu said again. It was all he had wanted to say.

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at him and felt that the Hunter had grown up.

He had been a youthful and inexperienced fledgling, but now, he was exuding an expression and aura that matched his former title as the Leader of the Warguard of Egypt.

As Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled as he noticed Inebu’s changes, Horus stated, “I know this is shameless of me to ask…”

Yeo Seong-Gu and Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at him.”

“I have a favor to ask of you,” Horus said with a subdued expression. Before they knew it, as Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over, Inebu and all of the Egyptians also had subdued expressions.

“It seems as though what you called the cataclysm has begun. Also, Egypt has suffered more damage than we had expected.”

It was heavy.

His voice was also heavy.

“Because of that, I don’t think we can leave Egypt for the time being. Furthermore, there will also be a shortage of personnel that we can send on expeditions or to carry out missions.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong waited for Horus to finish while wondering what kind of request it could be that the introduction to it was so long.

“If, by chance, you meet Set again…”

Like Lee Jun-Kyeong, Horus also seemed convinced that he would have survived.

Lee Jun-Kyeong heard him speak through the link that was still shared by the two of them, a voice that couldn’t even be heard by Yeo Seong-Gu.

–Can you look for the Eyes of Osiris?

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s eyes widened.

The Eyes of Osiris was a divine item like Zeus’ lightning, similar to the Bifrost.

–Set had the Eyes of Osiris when they disappeared. He most likely took them with him. That’s why I’m sure he’s still alive. I can still feel the weak aura emitted by it. I ask this of you.

Horus secretly bowed to Lee Jun-Kyeong with his eyes wide with sincerity.

–Find the Eyes of Osiris for us.

***

“We really got conned here, didn’t we?” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he rubbed at his temples.

The treatment he had received in Egypt was beyond imagination.

Although it was true that he had been given the glory of Ra, connected to Horus, and had even saved the Hunter as well, the way that they were treating him was almost unbelievable.

However, he had finally figured out why they had been so good to him.

He grumbled, “To think they would ask me to find the Eyes of Osiris.”

It had been to ask Lee Jun-Kyeong for a difficult favor.

As Horus had said, Egypt was not in a situation where they could dispatch personnel to find the missing Set or the Eyes of Osiris.

However, since they knew Lee Jun-Kyeong was chasing after Set’s backing, they had assumed that he would face Set or the Eyes of Osiris one day.

Thus, they had asked him to find them.

But still, to ask him to go find their divine item…

“That’s probably why they were being so nice to you,” Yeo Seong-Gu said to him as he laughed.

Horus didn’t seem to want Yeo Seong-Gu to know, but that didn’t concern Lee Jun-Kyeong. Yeo Seong-Gu was someone he could rely on.

“

Whew…

”

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Lee Jun-Kyeong let out a long sigh inside the shaking fuselage of a plane.

He had wanted to go back to using the Bifrost, but the Bifrost wasn’t something that could be used without end. Not only had he continued to use it after going to England, but he had also sent Jeong In-Chang and the others back to Korea with it.

The Bifrost had also even been used to save the residents of Cairo, so it was now overloaded.

It was only unusable for a short while, but they didn’t have enough time to wait around for it to recharge.

Shake, shake.

Still, having judged that things were still relatively okay, they were traveling back on a plane. It was the same for the remaining Heroes as well.

There hadn’t been any monsters to invade the sky yet, so they all had flown back in their respective planes.

“At times like this, the planes always crash in the movies. Don’t they?” Yeo Seong-Gu joked.

“...”

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at him ominously, and Yeo Seong-Gu’s expression also quickly hardened in return, realizing that his words could become seeds.

“How is the investigation into Odin's disappearance going?” Lee Jun-Kyoeng asked in order to change the atmosphere.

“We’re still tracking him down,” Yeo Seong-Gu responded, his expression still stiff. “He disappeared in his Territory. There has never been a case like this before… All we can do is trust that something ridiculous hasn't happened.”

Odin was an important person in Korea, where the cataclysm was looming.

Moreover, Lee Jun-Kyeong still needed him.

‘I haven’t even been able to get back what I’ve invested yet.’

He hadn’t been able to get paid for the hard work he had done for Odin.

Lee Jun-Kyeong knew that the Association President was still needed.

Even if Odin was to be taken out one day, he had to be the one who did it. That was why they had to find him.

Lee Jun-Kyeong circulated his mana stream. What he had to do now was to figure out a way for him to find Odin with it, who had grown another level this time.

“About the backing hidden behind Set…is it, by chance, what you had mentioned before…”

“Yes. It seems it is the man in black.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong felt like it was that person again.

He was convinced that the person who had secretly supported Utgard-Loki, the king of Utgard in China, and the person behind Set, whom Set called

that being

, was the same person.

Moreover,

that being

…

‘Could he be someone who wasn’t in the original history…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong wondered if it was someone he hadn’t heard about. Also, there was something else he had doubts about.

“For some reason…”

Shake, shake.

The air quivered as Lee Jun-Kyeong looked out the window and said quietly, “I suspect that the man in black is also involved in Odin’s disappearance.”

“...”

In the high-speed plane, the two closed their eyes for a moment, thinking about the future silently.

Then, just as Yeo Seong-Gu had joked about.

BOOM!

There was an explosion.