Chapter 170

Even with that, the attacks of Arthur, an S-class Hunter, had no effect at all.

And the other Hunters from Alters who saw this fact widened their eyes in shock.

“T-This can’t be!”

Flustered, Arthur began to unleash a barrage of attacks towards Ayu.

But each time, his sword failed to leave a single scratch on Ayu’s body, merely swinging through the air.

Cold sweat began to form on Arthur’s forehead.

As if he had seen something that shouldn’t exist in this world, he stared blankly at Ayu with a pale face.

“10 seconds.”

When Ayu, with a bored expression, declared 10 seconds, Arthur was sent flying.

Thud, bang, bang, crash!

Even after crashing to the ground, Arthur rolled several times before finally stopping.

“Ugh, ugh, gurgle…”

Then, as if his internal organs were damaged, he began to vomit blood and tremble.

“These insignificant things are causing such a fuss. They’re even worse than the guy I fought recently, Namgung.”

Ayu looked at Arthur with a pitiful expression, as if he wasn’t even worth fighting, and then walked briskly towards me.

Her expression seemed to say, “Did I do well?” so I decided to pat her head.

“Hehe.”

It was fascinating how the girl, who had just been the embodiment of Cheonma, became so docile in front of me.

“You can heal him right away.”

Meanwhile, I pointed at Arthur and spoke to Pentagon, who was watching us.

Relieved, Pentagon sent a healing-type Hunter over there.

He won’t die, so we can save him somehow.

For now, if you see a Returner, run for your life. Though they’ll probably run away too.

“I’m sorry. Arthur is new to the Hunter world, so he didn’t know any better and caused a scene.”

“We also spoke too harshly. He had every right to be upset, so we understand.”

As I said this, I wrapped my arm around Ayu’s shoulder.

Seemingly understanding that it was a gesture of approval, Ayu happily rubbed her cheek against my shoulder.

“Now, are you done with your business?”

“…Yes.”

Pentagon seemed to clearly understand what it meant when we said we didn’t need support and stepped back.

It was fortunate that there was someone quick to grasp the situation and flexible on the Alters’ side.

“Then, we’ll take our leave.”

As I began to walk away, the three of them immediately followed.

The Alters members could only watch us blankly.

Not all Returners are like us.

Feeling sorry that they happened to encounter us this time, we headed to the next floor.

—

After that, we continued to clear the floors.

Before we knew it, we had broken through the 20th floor.

Looking up, countless black buildings stretched into the sky.

The sky was night.

Clearly, there had been bright sunlight up until the previous floor, but now it was night.

‘If we stay here too long, people will go crazy in no time.’

If the environment keeps changing like this, there’s a limit to how much people can adapt.

“Baekseolhyang.”

At that moment, Eun-hyeon, who had been using her detection abilities, called us to a halt.

It seemed she had sensed something, as everyone looked at her, and she was staring at a building.

“It’s over there.”

As soon as I heard that, Keraf was in my hand.

“I’ll bring it down.”

Immediately, red sparks began to fly from Keraf.

I loaded the Thunderbolt I had created to sever and pulled the trigger.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak!

The storm of red electricity that flew out struck the building.

At that moment, two figures emerged through the storm of electricity.

“I’ll take one.”

While I loaded the next Thunderbolt, Ayu transformed into Cheon Hong-ryun and leaped forward.

Fluttering her skirt, Ayu flew in, now holding a sword.

As Ayu clashed with one figure, the other flew towards us.

“Are they really planning to lift this directly?”

At that moment, Baekseolhyang, wearing black gloves, and Eun-hyeon, with nine tails, stood in front of me.

Zzzzeng!

At that moment, the black figure was blocked by the opaque barrier Eun-hyeon had created.

Seeing this, Baekseolhyang thrust her fist forward, imbued with an invisible energy.

Zzzzeng!

Baekseolhyang’s fist clashed with the black figure, sending them rolling across the ground.

Meanwhile, as Eun-hyeon pulled out the Stone Plate, I aimed Keraf at the creature.

“…Bones?”

Baekseolhyang, feeling something strange when her fist made contact, clenched and unclenched her hand.

Hearing this, I focused my gaze, and the wind that blew shook the black figure.

At that moment, what appeared beneath the black figure was a white skeleton.

The Dimensional Being, slightly different in form from a human, looked at us and clicked its teeth.

“…A skeleton?”

As I wondered, since Dimensional Beings like this were often found in fantasy dimensions, the black shadow once again enveloped its body.

“It must be from a ruined dimension, the world of the dead.”

At that moment, Baeksan recognized it and spoke to me.

A ruined dimension.

Hearing that, I realized what it meant.

“…Baeksan, if the Tower of Apocalypse disappears, could it be?”

“I don’t know everything.”

Baeksan hadn’t observed every dimension, after all.

“But among the dimensions where the Tower of Apocalypse disappeared, not a single one survived properly.”

The importance of the Tower of Apocalypse hit me in that moment.

“Click-”

At that moment, the sound of teeth clashing against the black figure was heard again.

And I also understood what they wanted from the Tower of Apocalypse.

‘They want to save their ruined dimension.’

Whether that’s possible or not, I don’t know.

But one thing is certain: they are our enemies.

I immediately fired the loaded Thunderbolt.

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak!

The red lightning bolt struck the black figure.

At that moment, as the lightning bolt flew, two black swords emerged from the figure’s arms.

Kwa-jik!

The red lightning bolt I had fired was split in half.

Seeing the strange sight of the lightning being split, it seemed they had some special ability.

At that moment, Baekseolhyang and Eun-hyeon charged forward.

“Kang Ha-chan, you hold the key to their weakness.”

I threw Keraf aside and grabbed Bazra.

As Baeksan said, I held the key to their weakness.

Zzzzap-

At that moment, red lightning surged over my body.

I had been tirelessly working to improve my Aura proficiency.

Zzzzap!

At the same time, like the Thunderbolt earlier, I severed the Aura enveloping my body in half.

‘50%.’

Though not average output, I had reached a level where I could halve my full output.

Thus, with my physical abilities rapidly amplifying, I immediately stomped the ground.

Zzzzzap!

With the red sparks flying, my shadow blurred.

In an instant, I closed the distance and saw the black figure facing Baekseolhyang and Eun-hyeon.

As soon as it saw me, it swung its sword, but that was a foolish move.

Because my arm was already reaching towards its sword.

Zzzzap!

With the sparks flying, my hand lightly touched the blade of its sword.

At that moment, cracks spread instantly along the sword, shattering it.

“Click-”

A panicked sound came from the black figure.

Even if it had intelligence, it was still a Dimensional Being.

It had the worst compatibility with my abilities.

Thus, as I shattered its sword, I grabbed its head.

Kwa-jik!

At that moment, the black figure was torn apart, and cracks spread from its skull throughout its body.

Kwa-ji-ji-ji-jik!

With that, the skeleton was completely shattered, scattering across the ground.

As I exhaled, the sound of something crashing echoed from afar.

Looking up, I saw Ayu had completely torn apart the black figure and subdued it.

I had trusted Ayu, which is why I had taken down the other Dimensional Being.

Getting information from Heuksan would be enough with just one of them.

“Ayu.”

As I called her and approached, she looked at me while stepping on the black figure.

“I’m not sure if we can get any information from this guy.”

As Ayu asked while looking down at the black figure, who didn’t even seem to feel pain, I also felt troubled.

The skeleton scattered from the black figure was clearly a Dimensional Being.

The only difference was that it had intelligence.

‘They were probably waiting here to block reinforcements from behind.’

If it had been Alters, they might have suffered significant damage.

“Don’t worry. I can handle it.”

At that moment, Baekseolhyang crouched in front of the skeleton Ayu had subdued.

Then, her gloved hand began to draw something.

As I watched with wide eyes, Baekseolhyang clapped her hands as if she was done.

At that moment, a white jade star formed between her hands.

“That is.”

“I borrowed a part of the Crown. With this, I can glimpse some of their recent memories.”

As she said this, Baekseolhyang placed it on the black figure’s forehead.

“Of course, the target will be damaged.”

What a terrifying ability.

But unlike me, Eun-hyeon and Ayu seemed familiar with it.

They must have used it often in front of them.

Meanwhile, the star disappeared into the skeleton’s head.

Thud!

At that moment, the skeleton’s body shook violently.

It was as if all its memories were being sucked out.

As I watched in amazement, the star, now turned black, rose from the skeleton’s forehead.

Baekseolhyang took the star and held it in her hand.

At that moment, Baekseolhyang frowned for a moment, then opened her eyes.

“Baeksan has already passed through. It seems the other two have taken the Lord’s side.”

“You didn’t catch Baeksan?”

“It seems we couldn’t.”

Well, even Heuksan is strong in front of Baeksan.

At this level, we probably couldn’t have caught him.

“The problem is, these two are just lackeys. The real ones must be the two who went ahead.”

I looked at Baekseolhyang as she said this.

“Can we chase them?”

“Yes, given their strength, it shouldn’t be too hard. But there’s one thing that bothers me.”

Baekseolhyang frowned slightly as she looked ahead.

“The part about their purpose is all blocked.”

“So they’re involved too.”

It seems this side is also obscured by the Tower of Apocalypse.

“Alright. Let’s go find Baeksan first.”

Hearing my words, everyone nodded.

At the same time, Ayu’s camellia petals fell on the skeleton’s body, causing it to shatter into pieces and disappear.

Seeing this, we immediately began to move towards the next floor.