Chapter 147
“I thought as much. You people only look impressive on the outside—inside, you’re nothing but a grotesque race.”
“Shut up!”
“Die!”
Enraged by Damian’s mockery, the Awakened of the Northern District launched their attack.
Chwahak!
Dozens of different skills shot toward Damian’s life.
As befitting the Northern District’s elite, each of their skills carried tremendous power.
Even a mere graze would tear apart Damian’s frail body in an instant.
Damian knew that as well—he was an Awakened too.
His awakened ability was Navigator.
In other words, a guide.
It had no combat capability whatsoever.
He could slightly alter the Navigator ability to disrupt an opponent’s sense of direction, but killing someone through force was impossible.
Knowing that, he didn’t even attempt a clumsy dodge.
KWA-KWA-KWANG!
Countless skills bombarded Damian, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
“Nothing special.”
“He’s dead.”
Just as the Northern District Awakened became certain of Damian’s death—
Chwahaak!
Suddenly, a black tentacle burst out from within the dust.
In an instant, it wrapped around the neck of a dwarf Awakened.
“Ghk! Wha—”
Crack!
Before he could finish speaking, the tentacle snapped his neck.
Seeing the dwarf die instantly, the Awakened cried out in alarm.
“What the—?”
“Everyone, be careful!”
At that moment, Damian stepped out through the dust.
But his appearance was completely different from before.
From head to toe, Damian was clad in jet-black armor.
The black tentacle that had taken the dwarf’s life withdrew into the chest of that armor.
Damian stroked his chest and muttered,
“Prism Armor. An item I found in the same dungeon as the Spirit King’s Crown.”
Normally, it takes the form of an ordinary belt, but when the wearer injects mana or faces danger, it transforms into armor.
Prism Armor protects its wearer with a will of its own, like a living organism.
The tentacle that had burst from the chest was proof of that.
“You killed Yollo…”
“Everyone, be careful. He’s wearing a strange item.”
“That won’t change anything.”
Unable to contain their rage, several Awakened charged at Damian again.
Most of them were melee-type Awakened who used cold weapons like swords and blades.
They rushed to within arm’s reach of Damian in an instant—and just as they were about to swing—
Hwoosh!
Suddenly, black tentacles shot out from Damian’s chest.
Like whips, they lashed forward and instantly wrapped around the attacking Awakened.
“Ghk!”
“This much—!”
The Awakened tried to cut the tentacles coiling around their bodies with their weapons.
But the tentacles that emerged from Prism Armor didn’t even receive a scratch.
With terrifying strength, the black tentacles tightened their grip.
“Forget the tentacles—attack the main body!”
“You cursed human… using such a monster!”
Seeing this, the remaining Awakened attacked Damian to rescue their comrades.
They believed that if they took down Damian, who wore the armor’s core, everything would be resolved.
Already, more than ten tentacles had extended.
They assumed there couldn’t be any more left to attack.
But they would soon realize how grave a miscalculation that was—
by force.
Chwahaahahak!
Another dozen tentacles burst out from Prism Armor.
Like venomous snakes, they shot toward the Awakened.
“Damn it!”
“Ghk!”
The Awakened scattered in all directions like a swarm of locusts, trying to evade the tentacles.
But the tentacles pursued them as if they had a will of their own.
BANG!
As they broke through the air, sonic booms exploded.
The aftermath was devastating.
“Urk!”
“Gah!”
The Awakened fell one after another like flies swatted midair.
In truth, their condition matched that image—crushed as if struck by a giant fly swatter.
“This… can’t be!”
Serian’s face turned deathly pale.
Those struck by the tentacles were all among the strongest in the Northern District.
And yet they were slaughtered like dogs without even putting up a fight.
It was a humiliation the Northern District had never experienced before.
Awakened are not immortal.
In battle, they can die, or be wounded.
They die fighting other districts, battling monsters, or clearing dungeons.
For an Awakened, death is always close at hand.
But even so, the meaningless slaughter unfolding before their eyes made no sense.
“What on earth is that armor…?”
“Y-Your Majesty! It’s cursed armor! We must kill him immediately!”
Eli’s urgent voice rang out as she fought fiercely with Alexandro.
Though Serian found her voice irritating, this was no time to dwell on personal feelings.
She urgently spoke to the man standing behind her.
“Broy! You’ll have to step in.”
“I’ve been waiting, Your Majesty!”
The man replied and stepped forward.
He had an ordinary build.
Yet strangely, his voice was rough and carried a deep resonance.
The reason became clear immediately.
The moment he cast off the robe he was wearing, his physique began to change.
Crunch! Crack-crack!
With the sound of tearing flesh, his body swelled to more than twice its size in an instant, coarse hair sprouting all over.
His mouth jutted forward, sharp fangs protruding.
Two ears stood upright like a dog’s, and his eyes glowed with a crazed red light.
The man called Broy was a werewolf.
Among the beastmen who followed Serian, he was considered one of the strongest.
“Grrroooar!”
Broy let out a roar.
A werewolf’s howl carried the power to dominate an opponent’s mind.
It had an effect similar to Fear—something only A-rank or higher monsters could produce.
Broy focused his howl entirely on Damian.
An average Awakened would have their body frozen and their psyche shattered.
But Damian was completely unaffected.
Prism Armor protected its wearer from external curses and various status effects.
The price, however, was that it burned away the wearer’s life force and mana.
Because of that, Damian had avoided using Prism Armor whenever possible.
It couldn’t be sustained for long, as it consumed both life force and mana.
But now that everything had fallen into place, he had nothing left to hold back.
Glancing sideways at Serian, Damian spoke,
“You’re not leading the other races. You’re hiding behind them. The Queen of the Other Races? Their last hope? Just how much have you wrapped yourself in lies to protect yourself? From now on, I’ll tear apart your veil of hypocrisy piece by piece.”
Whoosh!
An ominous black aura burst forth from his entire body.
It was the light emitted by Prism Armor—
a glow fueled by the burning of his life force.
The more his life burned, the stronger Damian became.
Seeing this, Serian muttered,
“He’s completely insane.”
The deep-rooted hatred and fury directed at her by a single human made her feel fear.
But she could not retreat.
If she were to submit to Damian, the lives of the Northern District’s other races would become even harsher.
Even if she had to bear all the hatred and curses of the world, she had to protect them.
‘More than anything… I can’t let that cursed monstrosity be released into the world.’
Her gaze shifted toward the warehouse behind Damian.
***
“To recreate a dungeon like this… unbelievable.”
The old man muttered as he looked around.
The place he stood in was the Spectrum Prison—specifically, within the violet portrait space.
Even for him, a barrier master, the space was so perfectly isolated from the outside world that it drew admiration.
Spectrum Prison was, in essence, a type of barrier.
But even he, as a barrier specialist, had no confidence in creating something of this scale.
It was impossible without the aid of an item.
“As expected… it must be the power of that so-called Spirit King’s Crown.”
Just then—
“Shouldn’t we intervene now?”
A low voice suddenly came from behind him.
The old man turned to see three men in black suits.
“Oh? Seems my shadow was getting uncomfortable?”
“My apologies.”
One of the men bowed his head.
The old man smiled faintly.
“Well, of course. You’re human too—it must’ve been stifling.”
The ones hiding within the old man’s shadow were members of the Shadow Unit.
Like the execution squad directly under the mayor, they were a special operations team that answered only to the old man.
Kidnapping key figures, assassinations, surveillance—those were their primary duties.
They possessed the ability to hide within shadows.
As long as there was a shadow, they could perfectly blend into their surroundings and conceal their true forms.
But the old man was an exception.
He possessed the rare ability of a barrier master.
A barrier cast by such a master completely sealed off external space.
Because of that, without his permission, even the Shadow Unit couldn’t dare hide within his shadow.
It was only possible because he allowed it.
Their mission was to locate and abduct the Navigator from the White Bear Caravan.
For that purpose, they had hidden within the old man’s shadow near the caravan.
But when Spectrum Prison was activated, they ended up trapped inside the violet portrait space.
Even so, they weren’t worried.
The old man was with them.
Dungeons and barriers of this kind were his specialty.
No Awakened in Neo Seoul could match him in this field.
“Can you break it?”
“Tch. Breaking it is possible… it’ll just take time.”
The old man clicked his tongue.
True to his profession, he was barely affected by Spectrum Prison.
He had cast a barrier around himself, blocking external interference.
But destroying the dungeon or escaping it was a different matter.
He could escape—but it would take time.
At that moment, one of the Shadow Unit members spoke cautiously,
“The mayor ordered us to secure the Navigator at all costs. To do that…”
“Tch! Can’t be helped.”
The old man clicked his tongue again.
No matter how infamous he was as a numbered member of the execution squad, he was still merely a subordinate of Jin Geumho.
If it was Jin Geumho’s order, he had no choice but to obey—even if it meant jumping into the fires of hell.
“I’ll forcibly open a gate in the dungeon. The impact won’t be small, so prepare yourselves.”
“Yes, sir!”
The men responded in unison.
The old man closed his eyes and began gathering mana.
To forcibly create an exit in a dungeon, one must first understand its structure and principles.
Synchronizing his mana with the dungeon’s mana to analyze its structure was the most difficult part—it required complete concentration.
Hummm!
Just as his hand began to glow blue with resonance—
KWA-KWA-KWA!
The violet portrait space suddenly shook violently.
“What is this?”
The old man was startled.
One of the Shadow Unit members spoke cautiously,
“Could it be an earthquake?”
“A dungeon is a world separate from reality. Earthquakes cannot exist here.”
“Then…?”
“Something outside is affecting the dungeon. That’s certain.”
“What? How is that possible? There are no monsters nearby. Don’t tell me… a human is influencing the dungeon? That’s impossible—”
The man denied his own thought.
A dungeon was an entire world.
To influence it required an unimaginable level of power.
Such a being couldn’t possibly exist.
At that moment—
Crack!
As if to completely refute his assumption, the violet portrait space began to shatter like glass.
“Are you kidding me—?!”
KWA-A-MA-MA!
Through the shattered gap, an enormous wave of sand poured in.
The old man’s eyes widened.
Because standing upright atop the incoming sand like a tidal wave—
was a man.
“Ze… On?”