Chapter 204 – The Boundary between Reality and Virtual Reality (2)

“Captain. The Neutralization System is ready to be activated.”

“What about Earth’s Code?”

“The order has been given, and we’ll recover Kim-kahngchul in 5 minutes.”

“All right. Let’s go in.”

Ten minutes.

They had to take out Kahng-woojin first. Then they will take out Kim-kahngchul.

The mess caused in the world would be cleanly reverted, and everything will start over once again.

Captain Leone led his subordinates down the stairs of the Seoul Station.

***

Lee-soogyong hid Sooah behind her, and she spoke in a trembling voice.

“P…please step back.”

“It’ll be alright. This will take only an instant.”

Kim-kahngchul stepped forward with a blank expression on his face. He was doing what needed to be done.

“I won’t let you, you bastard!”

She hadn’t been threatened, but she could tell what he was about to do. She acted on her maternal instinct. She tried to protect her child.

Lee-soogyong wrapped herself around Kim-kahngchul

“Run away, Sooah!”

“Mom!”

“Hurry!”

At Lee-soogyong’s cry, Sooah hesitatingly ran towards the exit. On the other side of the door, the security guards were fallen all over the floor.

How could regular people hold back a Rank A Roused?

“Ah-ahk!”

Kim-kahngchul easily pushed Lee-soogyong away. She screamed as she fell to the floor.

“You won’t remember this anyway.”

Their fate would repeat again. He would no longer exist in this world, and she wouldn’t remember what had happened.

The sins he was committing right now would be wiped away.

“Chet.”

The delay was for a brief moment, but it was enough time for Sooah to sneak out through the door.

Kim-kahngchul quickly exited the room, and he came to a stop immediately. Cindy and Do-jiwon had been coming towards this very room. Moreover, one could see Sooah hiding behind them.

“Who are you?”

“Isn’t he Kim-kahngchul?”

Two slim beauties chatted to each other, and Kim-kahngchul’s expression hardened.

“What happened to the people here? Did you do this?”

“What’s going on?”

They tried to argue from a moral high ground, but the women were afraid.

They had come here to play without knowing what was going on. They arrived to find the security guards on the floor, and Sooah was being chased by a man. This particular man had been known as the greatest Roused of Korea, and he had been imprisoned in an isolation room. They faced him.

By any account, this was a suspicious and scary situation.

“Tsk.”

Kim-kahngchul ran forward. The promised time was close at hand. If he wanted to be saved from this false world, he needed to get the Code.

Large tears could be seen in the eyes of the child.

Paht.

Kim-kahngchul held a small awl in his hand. It was more than enough to snuff out this small life.

“Ah-ah-ahk!”

Kim-kahngchul charged forward like an angry bull. Do-jiwon and Cindy screamed. This was the only way they could fight back.

Hwah-roo-roohk.

Their screams saved them.

Hwah-ahk!

Cindy squinted from the heat as she looked at the flame in front of her. She had thought Kim-kahngchul was on fire, but after opening her eyes further, Kim-kahngchul was fighting with a ball of fire.

Hwah-roo-roohk，puhk!

The ball of fire was swinging its arms and leg. She started to see a form take shape.

It was a man wearing red clothes, which looked like Korean traditional robes.

He possessed white skin, and his hair, eyebrows and pupils were red. He was a handsome man with a distinctive look.

“Move. I’m trying to save the world.”

“No way.”

It was inappropriate for this situation, but the red haired man let out a light laugh. No matter how one looked at this situation, Kim-kahngchul was attacking three defenseless women. His actions was far from saving the world.

“I don’t have much time left！”

The red-haired man’s smile made Kim-kahngchul feel much more desperate.

“You should stop this.”

“Get out of the way!”

Unlike the desperate Kim-kahngchul, the other man acted as if he had all the time in the world.

The Roused in front of him was a Fire Element Roused, who was easily able to turn aside a Rank A Roused like him.

“This won’t do.”

Hwah-roo-roohk.

The man’s hands shimmered as if it was about to melt before it ignited. The flames reached out towards Kim-kahngchul. The bands of fire wrapped around Kim-kahngchul, and all his movements were restricted. He fell to the floor.

“Eeeek.”

Kim-kahngchul struggled on the floor, but he didn’t show any signs of giving up. He pursed his lips, and in a flash, a shiny needle flew towards Sooah’s head.

Poo-shoohk.

“How dare you?”

Hwah-roohk!

A wall of flame appeared in front of Sooah.

Before the needle could reach its target, it melted from the heat.

“Hmm. Should I burn you or not?”

Currently, the loops of flame was just restricting Kim-kahngchul.

Kim-kahngchul, who was tied up, just felt a warm sensation from the flame. However, if the temperament of the flame was changed a little bit, the bands of flame could turn Kim-kahngchul into ashes.

However, the man didn’t have to worry about what to do.

“Ah. Not yet!”

Suddenly, Kim-kahngchul shivered as he started to struggle.

His body slowly started to turn gray, and he disappeared as if he had never existed in this world.

The man had seen this numerous times before where beings disappeared without leaving behind a corpse.

“Uh? He was a Dimensional lord?”

He tilted his head in confusion. Do-jiwon and Cindy approached him, and they bowed towards him.

“T…thank you.”

It had already been several weeks, since they had moved to Alandal. They knew most of the well-known Roused, yet this was the first time they saw this man in front of them.

“Eh-ee, sister-in-law. It’s me.”

“What?”

When Do-jiwon and Cindy became surprised, the handsome man with the red hair grinned.

“It’s me, Sunggoo. I’m Sunggoo.”

He had won against the Curse of the Dragon’s Breath. He was born again as a Dragon Human hybrid. He was the Flame Man Hong-sunggoo.

“N…no way.”

“Huhk！”

Dojinwon and Cindy shook their head as if they couldn’t believe it.

Sunggoo was never this handsome….

***

Seoul Station.

“Hurry！”

At Captain Leone’s insistence, the party members quickened their steps. They relied on the light attached to the magnetic levitation cart as they ran down the dark tunnel.

“We are almost at our target.”

They were inside subway station building.

There were a long line of capsules interconnected to each other. Each capsule was labeled with numbers.

They were looking for a specific one.

G-529.

Leone gave the order when he saw the asian features of the man within the capsule.

“Start opening the hatch.”

“Yes, sir.”

The party members placed equipments that will open the capsule.

Weeeeeng!

They had done this numerous times, so their actions were in sync. In a flash, they had unlocked all the clasps that kept the capsule sealed.

“Open it.”

Poo-shoohng.

Chweeeek.

The air escaped, and a nude figure of a man could be seen. There were hoses placed in the man’s mouth and ears. There were devices attached to the head, heart and other body parts. It looked as if the man was stuck inside a spider’s web, and it looked creepy.

“Get him out of there.”

“Yes, sir!”

The connecting equipments were being pulled off, and the man had to be put on the cart. They just had to take him out now.

At this point, they had spent only 3 minute and 30 seconds.

Pah-jee-jee-jeek!

“Ah-ahk!”

A party member fell backwards when one of the equipment let out a spark.

“What’s wrong?”

“I…I’m not sure.”

“Just sever it with the cutter!”

“Yes!”

If they couldn’t pull it off with their hands, they would just cut the man free.

However….

Pah-jee-jeek!

However, party member’s body shook from being electrocuted. The electric shock was transferred when the cutter touched some unknown barrier made out of electricity.

“Ooh-uh-uh-uh！”

“Shit!”

Leone ran forward, and he was able to pull away his subordinate. The subordinate had already lost consciousness.

“What the hell is going on!”

Captain Leone had rescued several dozen people before. This situation was a first, so he was confused by the situation.

Chee-chee-chee-jeek.

He wasn’t sure if the smoke originated from the electric current, but it lingered around the nude man’s body.

“Was there some kind of powerful lock placed on him?”

He had always brought out Iello before. This was the first time he would be bringing Kahng-woojin into reality.

“Captain. We don’t have much time left.”

“Shit!”

Since he didn’t have a solution, it would be a waste of time to stand around here. Moreover, two of the party members was unconscious.

“Put everyone on the cart. We’ll save Kim-kahngchul first.”

“Yes, sir!”

The rest of the party gathered the two party members on the cart, and they hurriedly went towards Kim-kahngchul’s capsule.

***

Darkness.

In truth, it was impossible to tell if it was bright or dark outside. A small light appeared in the emptiness.

‘Ah.’

The light registered at the same time as the darkness. Then….

“Ooh-ehhhhk!”

He couldn’t fight the queasiness, so he emptied the content of his stomach.

“We have to move him. We don’t have much time left.”

At Leone’s words, the awakened Kim-kahngchul cracked open his eyes to look at his surrounding. The party members picked him up, and he was put on the cart. When he looked up at the ceiling from a prone position, the ceiling looked familiar.

‘Subway station.’

Was this the Moon World?

Or was this the real earth?

The fake… Did he finally shed the bonds of illusion?

Kim-kahngchul closed his eyes.

‘I was saved.’

He felt relief, and at the same time, he remembered something he had forgotten. His eyes opened wide as he spoke.

“Earth… Code… I’ve failed in acquiring…it.”

“What?”

Leone stood still for a brief moment, and his face crumpled.

“Shit. Let’s get out of here first.”

They had to get out of here within the 10 minute time frame. If not, the Guardians would resume their activities. The party members quickly walked out of there.

***

Flying Fortress Bibi’s Castle.

“Whew. That was a close call.”

Jung-minchan and the other members arrived late. All they could do was to console Sooah and the battered Lee-soogyong.

“There’s nothing I can say to make up for this, but I’m very sorry.”

This wasn’t an outsider, who broke in. Kim-kahngchul was someone they had locked away, and his surprise attack had almost resulted in a disaster.

“So where’s hyung-nim?”

“Mmmm.”

At Sunggoo’s question, Jung-minchan groaned. Hong-sunggoo had changed too much. If it wasn’t for his unrefined way of talking, Jung-minchan would have mistaken him for someone else. The atmosphere around him had completely changed.

“He said he had something he wanted to check out the Moon World, so he went there.”

“Which Dimension is that in?”

“That is….”

After he hesitated for a moment, Jung-minchan spilled everything he heard from Woojin. Sunggoo listened tcalmly, and he didn’t show any signs of being surprised as he replied.

“So we just have to protect little miss Sooah until hyung-nim comes back.”

It wasn’t just his appearance that had changed. He turned more simple-minded.

“Ah, yes. That is true, but….”

Jung-minchan had been taken aback by Kim-kahngchul’s surprise attack, but he now remembered the problem that was almost at their front door.

“A really powerful Dimensional lord is coming straight towards our fortress. His target is probably….”

Even if Minchan didn’t tell him, he could guess.

“I’ll go welcome him.”

When did Sunggoo become such a reliable man?

When confronted by Sunggoo’s confidence, Jung-michan gave a different opinion.

“How about we move the fortress to avoid the fight?”

“Eh-ee. We can run away after we attempt the fight.”

He wasn’t reliable. He might be reckless…

“Ah. Ms. Haesol will be back soon. Ms. Bibi.”

“Speak.”

“Heh heh. I’m not used to you now that you are all grown up.”

She had grown in terms of height, and she had developed exceptionally in some places. Sunggoo laughed awkwardly as he looked at Bibi.

“Ms. Haesol is bringing back friends, so may we move the fortress to the sea?”

“I can.”

“Then please do so. I’ll warm up by searching nearby for a fight.”

After arriving on deck, Sunggoo’s entire body turned red, and he jumped into the air.

He looked like a phoenix in flight, so the people of Alandal was mesmerized by the sight.

“We’ll head towards Incheon.”

Most of the population had left Seoul already. The nearest body of water was the western sea.

Bibi’s Castle moved towards that direction.

Afterwards, the Phantom Unit led by Blanka was assigned to protect Sooah. Dimensional lords might pull off a surprise attack, so the Undead army, Ratick tribe, Wyvern unit and the Fortress’s defense system was put on alert.

The non-combat personnels went below deck, and they headed towards the evacuation shelter. After Bibi’s Castle was put on emergency alert, they arrived over the western sea.

Zwahhhng.

The portal shimmered, and Che-haesol appeared.

Minchan fiercely greeted her.

“Ms. Haesol!”

“I’m sorry for being late.”

“No, I can relax now that commander Haesol is back. Please take command of our Units.”

He was only the Prime Minister. Che-haesol used to be a commissioned officer, so she was more qualified to command the battle. Moreover, she was a talent, who possessed Telepathic ability over groups.

“Ah. Anyways, my friends…”

“Yes. I guess our allies from Alphen is coming. How fortunate….”

Jung-minchan’s mouth fell open as he looked at the being that came out of the shimmering portal.

Shwahhhhk!

The portal became larger as if it was about rip apart. A body kept emerging from the portal as it climbed into the sky.

Koo-oh-oh-oh-oh!

After letting out a roar, the long body circled the the Flying Fortress before it jumped into the sea.

It looked a bit different from the traditional Dragons. Instead, it looked like the Eastern Dragons from the legends.

Koo-oh-oh-oh-oh!

The problem was the fact that it wasn’t just one of them. Seventeen Dragons had appeared.

On top of the deck….

The combat personnel assigned above deck…

The Ratick tribe, who was on standby with the Wyverns, were surprised.

Death Knights, who were the core force of Undead army also….

[How surprising.]

Even Lich Jaenis, who had protected Alphen for the past 200 years….

[Those are Water Dragons….]

These were the last Dragons of Alphen…. All the hardship she went through drained out of her, and Haesol let out a weak laugh.

“I made new friends.”