Chapter 46

[5th Awakening Attribute: Demonic Monster Summoning (Rank: S)]

Effect: You can summon a demonic monster from another dimension. The strength of the monster summoned will depend on the amount of demonic energy used at the moment summoning.

* The summoned demonic monster will see you as its master.

* You can summon one demonic monster every 3 months.

'Finally, I'll be able to use this.'

KangWoo looked at the description of his newly obtained attribute with great expectancy.

—An attribute that let him summon a demonic monster.

The value of the attribute depended on the summoned demonic monster.

'To be honest, summoning a buer would be more than good enough...'

The buer was almost as strong as an average seventh Awakening player.

'But it would be a bit lackluster.'

KangWoo's eyes were full of desire.

He could summon one demonic monster every three months.

Then, given the current situation, he had to try for the strongest one he could summon.

"That's why I got this."

KangWoo touched the S-rank access card.

There was only one reason why he hadn't immediately summoned a demonic monster and had waited for the S-rank gate entrance permission.

'The fissure fragments appear inside gates.'

It wasn't just the fissure fragments.

He had arrived on Earth through a gate.

'Maybe gates are some sort of bridges that connect Earth with other dimensions.'

That was the only possible way to explain why demonic monsters had started to appear inside the gates.

'And the higher the rank of a gate is, the stronger the demonic monster that appears is.'

That was something he had confirmed after killing the buer.

Of course, that didn't explain why he, the strongest being of Hell, had appeared in an E-rank gate.

'No, maybe it does make sense.'

KangWoo thought of his strength that had been sealed while crossing to Earth.

The Ten Thousand Demon Core's seal had gotten weaker thanks to leveling up and absorbing demonic energy from monsters, but he'd been quite weak when he'd first returned to Earth.

Taking his strength at that moment into consideration, it wasn't weird for him to appear in an E-rank Gate. '

Then, to summon a stronger demonic monster, he had to enter a higher-ranking gate.

"S-rank..."

KangWoo remembered Cha YeonJoo's worried face.

The S-rank gate was the highest-ranking type of gate in Korea at the moment.

There were only two in Korea—one in Suwon and another one in Pohang.

'I heard there are SS-rank or even higher rank ones in other countries.'

He really wanted to enter a gate with a ranking higher than SS, but that was realistically impossible.

The SS-ranked gates were in other countries, and the monsters that appeared in them were so strong that their access was restricted.

There was one in Japan, Hokkaido, and another one in Shangai, China.

Monsters had completely invaded those two areas, so not only was it that people couldn't go inside those gates, but the governments of both countries were busy trying to contain the monsters emerging from those gates.

'Realistically, the highest-ranking gate I'll be able to access is an S-ranked one.'

KangWoo thought that, later on, once time passed, he should visit that place where there weren't any more people.

Click-

"Having a car is definitely more comfortable."

After killing the buer, KangWoo had asked Chae YeonJoo for a car.

Of course, it wasn't one expensive as the one she used.

'They said it was worth more than a hundred thousand dollars.'

He'd heard the explanation about what model it was when he'd received it, but they all looked the same to him since he wasn't interested in cars.

KangWoo opened the door and grabbed the steering wheel.

He had learned how to drive and obtained a driving license while waiting for the S-rank gate entrance card.

Ting-

[Starting navigationion to Suwon Hwaseo Station.]

KangWoo turned on the navigation and drove to where the S-ranked gate was.

'As expected from an S-rank gate.'

Unlike the C-rank and B-rank ones, there weren't any players around the S-rank gate.

Instead of players, many soldiers were protecting the area around the gate.

'They said that the Hwarang 1st Squadron was protecting this area.'

The player group that the government owned.

The 1st and 2nd squadrons roamed around the S-rank gate, ensuring no monsters had escaped from it.

"Access has been confirmed."

KangWoo showed the entrance card to a member of the Hwarang Squadron protecting the gate.

"Woah."

KangWoo exclaimed in surprise after entering the gate.

There was a huge lake inside the gate, and there was a structure made of stones around it.

It was a place so beautiful that, if it weren't for the fact that S-rank monsters appeared in it, you would be able to use it as a vacation spot.

"It's quite big."

The inside of the gate was so wide that you couldn't see its end.

* * *

He didn't know exactly how big it was, but it couldn't be compared to the other gates he had been to.

'Did she say that it was as big as Seoul?'

He used the Authority of Observation while thinking about the information he had heard from Chae YeonJoo.

He went to a place hidden between stone walls to avoid being seen by monsters and prepared for the summoning.

'A demonic monster...'

KangWoo thought of the buer he had recently hunted.

The physical specs of the demonic monsters were often higher than those of the demons that lived in the same level of Hell.

But even if they were stronger, demons had intellect, but demonic monsters didn't.

Even though humans were physically weaker than lions and tigers but still ruled Earth, it was the same in Hell.

'Because of that, being able to control demonic monsters is a huge merit.'

Being able to control a demonic monster that bade his will covered their fatal flaw of not having intellect.

'The goal is a cerberus.'

Cerberus.

The strongest demonic monster that lived in the third hell. Even demons who lived in the fourth or fifth hell didn't dare to fight against it.

"Should I start?"

KangWoo closed his eyes and concentrated.

Whir-!!!

Strong demonic energy began leaking out from his body.

KangWoo gathered all the demonic energy he could use at the moment.

"Oof, oof."

Cold sweat dripped from KangWoo's forehead.

There was a strong wind current around him because of the demonic energy he was emitting.

Crack-!!

A crack began appearing on the ground , as it couldn't handle the demonic energy.

The ground under KangWoo began to split as if it were dry.

'Now!'

When the demonic energy peaked, KangWoo used all of it with his attribute.

Ting-

[Activating the 5th Awakening Attribute 'Demonic Monster Summoning' (Rank: S).]

[Creating a Fissure for the Summon.]

As a blue message window appeared, a fissure appeared in the air as if a glass had broken apart.

The fissure grew in size, and finally, a blue gate that was about 20 meters in diameter appeared.

"Blue...?"

KangWoo was surprised.

Usually, gates were either black, grey, or white.

He had never heard of a blue-colored gate appearing.

'Did it fail?'

KangWoo looked at the gate while frowning.

But even still, the gate was absorbing demonic energy.

He also hadn't received a message that said it had failed.

Ting-

[You've successfully created the fissure necessary for summoning.]

[A deeper fissure was created because of the influence of the Demonic Energy inside the Ten Thousand Demon Core (Rank: ???).]

[Because of damage in the Gaia System, it wasn't possible to stop a connection with another world.]

[A gate that leads to the Ernor Continent has been opened.]

"What...?"

KangWoo frowned after reading the message window.

'Where's the Ernor Continent?'

His expression hardened after reading words he couldn't comprehend.

[Summoning a Demonic Monster.]

A strong light shot out of the huge, blue-colored gate.

As the light that had filled the entire place died down, he saw the demonic monster.

"What's this...?" KangWoo mumbled after seeing the demonic monster that had come from it.

Black scales...

Two wings on its back...

Red eyes that belonged to a reptile...

"A dragon?"

The monster that appeared from the gate was a dragon that was bigger than the gate.

Ting-

[You've successfully summoned a Demonic Monster!]

[The daughter of Demon Dragon Cargas, the hatchling dragon 'Echidna (Rank: S)' has been registered as your summoned monster.]

[The summoned monster thinks of player Oh KangWoo as the owner, but if the level of loyalty drops, the summoned monster could hurt the summoner.]

"..."

KangWoo looked at the message window with his mouth closed.

He frowned while looking at the summoned monster called Echidna.

It wasn't because a hatchling dragon had become his summoned monster...

It was because of the current state of the hatchling dragon.

[Oof, oof...]

It seemed like it was about to stop breathing at any moment.

It was as if a sharp sword had cut its scales.

Behind the scales, he could see red flesh.

Echidna, who had received multiple attacks throughout its body, was bleeding.

'What's happening?'

The demonic monster he had summoned was about to die.

KangWoo walked toward Echidna.

Tap Tap Tap-

At that moment, other people appeared from the gate that Echidna had come from.

"Huh...?"

KangWoo was confused after seeing more people appearing from the gate.

There were five of them in total.

The dust covering their bodies made it look like they'd been fighting until just moments before.

"@#@%#@^%@#%!!"

The blond man in front of the group began moving his hand after seeing KangWoo.

'What is he saying?'

KangWoo frowned after hearing them scream in a language unfamiliar to him.

To understand what they were saying, KangWoo used the Authority of Translation.

After using the Authority, he understood the language that seemed alien to him at first.

"It's dangerous! Stay away from that evil demon dragon!"

After hearing the blond young man's scream, KangWoo became even more confused.

'Who are these bastards?'