Chapter 174: Homebound Pt. 11

Ungnyeo’s expression turned cold.

“Are you sure they’re Hunters?”

When they had returned to their home in Gyeonggi-Do, all they had found were traces of their families running away from something. But to think they would be fleeing from Hunters instead of monsters.

“...”

Anger and worry descended on the faces of the residents of Heaven Lake Village—no, now the Hunters, the members of the White Tiger Clan. Furthermore, they hadn’t left their home in Gyeonggi-Do without any preparations either. Ungnyeo had created multiple barriers to protect their family members, but when they had returned, the barriers had already disappeared.

To be more specific, someone had forcibly broken the barrier. But to think it had been Hunters. This could have only meant one thing, that these Hunters had deliberately invaded.

"By chance…”

With an extremely stiff expression, Ungnyeo mustered up the courage to ask a question to Fenrir.

“Corpses. None. No one was killed,” Fenrir responded without even listening to the question.

“

Whew…

”

Sighs of relief could be heard from all around them.

“Mr. Won-Hwa.”

The loudest sigh came from the man who had followed Lee Jun-Kyeong from China who was also nicknamed Hwa Tuo. He turned his head.

“For now, I want to allow the people to rest first. Mr. Won-Hwa, can you help me with that?”

Won-Hwa nodded. “Of course.”

The party had left Seoul and had traveled to their home in Gyeonggi-Do, but they hadn’t been able to get there without sacrifice. The cataclysm had already begun in Gyeonggi-Do. This was a time when no one could know when a group of monsters would appear, so the roads had been made unpassable.

If there were only one thing that they could have said had been a relief, it was that they had still been able to travel through the mountains.

–Rest until we call for you again.

After all, they had someone that could be called the ruler of the mountains: Sangun. In the midst of this cataclysm, he, too, was changing.

“Has your strength fully returned?” Ungyneo asked.

“Not yet.”

Sangun had lost much of his strength after having died and come back to life, but was now beginning to regain his strength.

“However, it seems that most of it should return after a little while.”

Although he lay in Ungnyeo’s arms in the form of a small puppy, the aura that radiated from him was definitely not normal, similar in strength to when he had dominated and reigned over Mt. Baekdu.

Sangun was gaining much in this cataclysm as well.

“But…”

One of the quietest members of the party suddenly opened their mouth. It was a gloomy voice, and the hood was pulled so deep over the figure’s face that it was impossible to tell who was under the cloak. However, whoever it was, it was obvious that they were extremely emaciated.

“If you’ve regained your strength, can’t you change your appearance? Why do you still look like a puppy…”

With a choking sound, Sangun cleared his throat and responded, slightly embarrassed, “Ahem. I feel more comfortable this way.”

“...”

Flustered, Sangun’s white fur seemed to turn red for a moment.

Ungnyeo had been stifling her laughter and looked over at the emaciated figure who had asked Sangun a question. “How is your condition?”

The figure wearing the hood carefully pulled it back at Ungnyeo’s words, the exposed face withered beyond belief. However, it was impossible to hide the rising vitality emanating from within the figure.

Ungnyeo spoke again, calling out to the figure, “Hyeon-Mu.”

***

“How are you feeling?”

A voice came to Lee Jun-Kyeong’s ears as he came to his senses. He could see Yeo Seong-Gu looking down at him after forcibly opening his eyes. He then calmly looked around and discovered that he was in an unfamiliar place.

“We’re still in Gwangmyeong,” Yeo Seong-Gu said.

“I see,” Lee Jun-Kyeong responded, slowly getting up.

“How is your body?” the Hunter asked again.

“It’s fine. In fact, it’s a bit bewildering how normal I feel.”

Although it seemed that the sudden growth had put a strain on his body, when Lee Jun-Kyeong came to his senses again, he found that his condition had risen to being nearly perfect. It felt as if overflowing vitality was circulating all throughout his body.

“Good.”

This time, he asked, “How is the situation?”

He sat down on the bed and shook his head slightly to clear his mind. Aegir, who had ruled over Gwangmyeong, had died, and the survivors had escaped. He wanted to find out what had occurred to the city and the residents after he had passed out.

“Look for yourself,” Yeo Seong-Gu said as he pulled back the curtain.

Swish!

“...”

In front of him was the sight of ruins being bathed in intense sunlight. There was nothing left of the city that used to be filled with buildings lined up one after the other, and there were even random little holes in the ground here and there. While he took in the sights of the city with bewildered eyes, he heard Yeo Seong-Gu’s voice again from behind him.

“Don’t worry, because the residents are safe,” stated the bald man. “Also, Hel conducted its job quite well. Although there was a small issue…”

“What happened?” Lee Jun-Kyeong interjected.

“The destruction even reached the place where we had planned to evacuate the residents.”

“Hm…”

Yeo Seong-Gu continued, “By chance, we found an even safer place than where we had originally planned for.”

To Lee Jun-Kyeong’s surprise, Yeo Seong-Gu pointed toward the hideous holes that littered the ground.

“A natural cave was created by the explosions. The terrain is good, and the gold that had been created by Aegir hardened quite well, so there isn’t any fear of it collapsing either…

“And the surrounding monsters should have been cleared up in the midst of the fight as well.

“That’s right. Currently, it’s the safest place in Gwangmyeong. We’ve moved the residents into it for now.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong then asked, “Then we are in…”

Yeo Seong-Gu had said that they had moved the residents to the cave, but he had woken up in an intact building.

“The residents need furniture and food if they are to stay there for a while, so we’ve had the Hunters roaming around the surrounding buildings to search and secure supplies. As for us, I brought you to a nearby building for your safety.”

Creak.

Just as Yeo Seong-Gu finished, the door opened.

“Why do I always seem to be late?” a familiar laughing voice said.

Jeong In-Chang was standing in front of the door, looking over at Lee Jun-Kyeong and Yeo Seong-Gu.

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked back over at him and responded jokingly, “It’s because you’re always so busy.”

Whenever Lee Jun-Kyeong would get hurt or go unconscious, Jeong In-Chang would always find a solution to whatever they had to handle. Perhaps because he saw the trust in Lee Jun-Kyeong’s eyes, Jeong In-Chang awkwardly scratched at his chin.

“Well… I think that our urgent food issue has been handled for the time being,” Jeong In-Chang said, sounding embarrassed.

Rustle.

Lee Jun-Kyeong stood up. His body was full of vitality, but his head still felt a little hazy because he had passed out earlier. As he looked out the window, his gaze gradually became clearer.

“...!”

Then, as if he had noticed something, he quickly found his necklace. It had somehow remained intact even after such fierce battles.

“...!”

Unfortunately, no light emanated from the necklace that he was holding.

“What’s wrong?”

“Is something the matter?”

Yeo Seong-Gu and Jeong In-Chang both asked him a question at the same time as they could probably both feel his bewilderment.

“England…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong spoke to them with a gaze filled with anxiety.

“Something seems to have happened in England.”

***

Merlin’s necklace was not something that was normal. In fact, by her description, it would be safe to assume that it was even a form of magic itself.

‘As long as there is nothing wrong with me, the necklace will always exist in a completed state.’

The necklace was connected to Merlin. That was why finding out it had lost its power while he was unconscious was something incredibly alarming. The necklace had lost its luster, turning into an ordinary accessory.

“Just what…”

What happened to Merlin? Lee Jun-Kyeong knew the power that Merlin and Arthur held. They were some of the strongest Hunters in the world, and he thought they would be able to survive, no matter what adversity they faced. But, something had happened to such an entity.

“Could it have been something in the cataclysm…”

Based on everything he had seen and felt, anything could have happened in the cataclysm.

'There are things I don't know.'

He had come to realize that there were more things that didn’t exist in the book of the Demon King or even in the records of history.

Step.

Listening to the footsteps coming from afar, Lee Jun-Kyeong asked the person approaching him a question, “How was it?”

In response, Yeo Seong-Gu looked over at him and shook his head.

“It didn’t work. It’s nearly impossible to communicate whatsoever with the outside world.”

At Lee Jun-Kyeong’s request for him to investigate what had happened in England where Merlin resided, Yeo Seong-Gu had attempted to use the Bifrost to investigate, but didn’t make much headway.

“The Round Table is strong. You don’t have to worry too much,” Yeo Seong-Gu said as if he was trying to reassure his friend. However, Lee Jun-Kyeong’s expression didn’t relax at all.

"The last thing we said…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at Yeo Seong-Gu as if he had remembered something about Merlin.

“The last time I spoke to Merlin, she had said that she was going to go meet with Olympus.”

“...”

“Zeus is gone, and…do you think that Olympus could have something to do with the troubles in England?”

“I don’t know.”

The battle had ended, but for some reason, uneasiness continued to plague their party.

The only good thing was that the situation in Gwangmyeong had turned out better than they had expected.

“We should head out,” Jeong In-Chang said.

Lee Jun-Kyeong and Yeo Seong-Gu nodded.

They weren’t in a normal room. Instead, they were in a dusky cave. However, even without a single flame, the walls of this peculiar cave glowed on their own.

"How amazing."

Fortunately, with Jeong In-Chang’s interruption, the topic changed.

“This cave was created by the melting and hardening of Aegir’s body, and…”

“We’ve even warded off the monsters.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong, Yeo Seong-Gu, and Jeong In-Chang all looked at each other and smiled.

There were still many monsters left in Gwangmyeong, as the Hunters who had followed Aegir’s orders hadn’t cleared out any of them before. Furthermore, a large number of Hunters had died while escaping from the gymnasium. Although the future of Gwangmyeong was uncertain, fortunately, a cave like this had appeared.

Yeo Seong-Gu commented, “Of course, it doesn’t seem to be like this because of Aegir’s gold.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked back at the walls of the cave. The cave seemed to be composed of a mix of dirt, stone, gold, and black ash. The black ash had an unknown origin and it had mixed into the walls.

He himself had also been instrumental in creating this grotesque cave that had also cleared out the monsters in the vicinity. Although it would take some time for them to figure out exactly what had happened, it was fine as long as it was safe. It was fortunate that the residents would have a safe place to stay until they were able to get help from other Hunters.

As the party moved along with Jeong In-Chang, they were received by the cries of people.

“Wow!!!”

People overflowed with liveliness. They were happy to have survived and joyous to be able to feel their hungry stomachs and encourage one another.

“...”

Although it was difficult for the Hunters to join with the others just yet, they could see that the Hunters were getting closer to the residents, little by little. The children were even expressing their gratitude by bringing the food they had been given to the Hunters to share with.

“So, what’s going to happen here, now?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked Yeo Seong-Gu.

There was no more time left for them to stay in Gwangmyeong. Now that the cataclysm was progressing so rapidly, they had to hurry to Gyeonggi-Do.

However, the Hunters that resided here were those who had followed Aegir. Even if those that remained said that they were fighting for the residents, it was impossible that there wouldn’t be any ones who had agreed with Aegir wholeheartedly.

As the one who defeated Aegir, along with Yeo Seong-Gu and Jeong In-Chang, the three knew that although they wouldn’t have to worry about any abnormal behavior from the Hunters while they were here, it could happen again as soon as they left.

Once they left, the Hunters could dominate the people again. Of course, while there would be those who would fight against it, it wouldn’t be easy.

“I got in touch with Incheon. They will be sending Hunters here as things seem to have improved a lot over there.”

"What a relief."

"And,” Yeo Seong-Gu looked over at Lee Jun-Kyeong and brought up a heavy topic. “I don’t think I can go to Gyeonggi-Do.”

“Do you plan to stay here?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked.

Yeo Seong-Gu just shook his head.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“No. I think I should go to Seoul.”

“...”

“No matter what anyone else says, the place with the most Hunters is Seoul. Moreover, they are all Hunters who can help people in the midst of this complete mess.”

Yeo Seong-Gu continued with a wry smile on his face, “I think I should go to Seoul and sort out the situation there, first.”

After all, a ruler had appeared in Seoul, and the city had become a sea of fire.

Lee Jun-Kyeong couldn’t respond easily, and just turned back, looking at the residents.