Chapter 699

Missiles raced through the sky, heading directly to Sokcho City.

But what the government didn't know was that there were still some survivors left in that city, and these survivors had been making every effort they could to stay alive and evade the monsters' pursuit of them. The city still had living and breathing people, even though there were only a few of them left. Given this fact, if a nuclear missile struck the city, the situation would not end well, wouldn't it?

Megalodria, who had taken control of the entire area after subjugating the monsters randomly, cast a glance at the humans driven to the place by the skeletons. They were so tiny that they would not even fill in the gaps between his teeth. But Davey had clearly told him to keep them alive. He had also instructed Megalodria to find and save at least one more. In any case, Megalodria could make that happen if it wanted to.

But something was stimulating Megalodria's senses from far away. So when Megalodria saw something flying toward them at breakneck speed, it flapped its wings and took off without any hesitation. Obviously, while Megalodria was gathering its breath in its mouth, it didn't forget to inform Davey of what was going on.

Bzzt... Bzzt, bzzt!!!

Just as a tremendous amount of energy gathered in its mouth, Megalodria finally caught a clear sight of what was coming their way.

[It's a delicacy!]

Nothing could fool its nose, even if its other senses could be.

Megalodria immediately released its breath at the approaching missile, and an enormous pillar of light tore across the sky, burning everything in its path before finally hitting the missile.

Thud!!!

The missile exploded on impact, unleashing a conglomerate of radiation and heat along with the shockwave. However, before they could spread throughout the area, a raging storm enveloped them with an intangible force, crushing and compressing them.

Megalodria looked at the compressed seed of great catastrophe, then gobbled it all up without any hesitation.

[Hmm...]

Megalodria hummed softly. After a short moment, it patted its belly and released a loud burp.

[Hmmm!!! This is very delicious!!! Give me more! Come on, humanity!]

The calm and composed appreciation of the King of Mythical Beasts, who ate the key to humanity's extinction, rang in the area.

***

'Megalodria,' Davey called out, sending his thoughts to Megalodria to find out the current situation.

But the answer came only after a long time of waiting.

[Contractor, you shouldn't bother me when I'm eating.]

'Stupid bastard. Tsk.'

The response Davey got assured him that Megalodria was fine. He was also able to find out that nuclear missiles were a one-of-a-kind delicacy that suited Megalodria's palate.

But even though Davey was relieved to know Megalodria was okay and that the situation was taken care of, that did not necessarily mean that the people behind the launch of the missile would no longer pay the price for the hostility they had shown him.

"Do you know how many survivors are left in Sokcho?"

The men frowned at Davey's question, which didn't hold the same politeness as earlier.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you know how many survivors I have found and gathered in Sokcho, the place that you just sent a nuclear missile to?"

Sokcho was not the only city with survivors. People who were unable to escape were still lingering in other cities and trying their best to survive. They had been there, either because they couldn't run away or because they simply chose to stay. But regardless of the situation, the fact that they existed remained unchanged.

"You're all fucking bastards, huh?"

The president was shocked, and he immediately jumped to his feet, exclaiming, "Wh-what nonsense are you spouting?! A nuclear missile?!"

Silence descended upon everyone gathered in the room at the president's outcry while some exchanged looks with each other.

"Speak!!! Tell me what the hell is he talking about?!"

"Your Excellency, I was going to report it. We just used the small nuclear warheads that the Allied Army sent to us a while ago..."

Bang!!!

The president lunged forward and grabbed one of the men by the collar. "Look here, Minister Kwak Byung-Cheol. Are your ears working, huh? I obviously told you during the meeting that you should never drop any nuclear weapons."

"I have heard it clearly. However, we wanted to try and take care of it before things got out of hand..."

"There are survivors there!!!"

"It's very difficult to reclaim the land there! Some of those survivors even deliberately stayed there and refused to take refuge with us!!! Do you think that's what matters?! Can't you see that if that black dragon moves here, we'll all be done for?!"

It seemed like the possibility of Megalodria being an ally did not cross their minds.

"So, you chose to throw that huge chunk of radiation in our own land?!"

Everything was a mess. Given that the military's influence had become powerful enough to bypass and disregard the president's orders, it was reasonable to say that the coup d'etat was successful.

In the first place, in the event of a war, the military would be granted command, allowing their power and influence to grow. But the situation was too messy. It seemed like they twisted it in favor of the military's side.

"This... you crazy bastards!!!" The president screamed furiously, the veins on his neck protruding from the strain. "You are all murderers!!!"

"As long as we can stop sacrificing others, it doesn't matter if we are labeled as murderers."

"You'll definitely regret it." The president clenched his teeth.

"I sure hope so."

They had declared where they each stood on the matter, stating their own beliefs. But none of them reflected on what they had done or even showed a hint of regret.

Based on this scene alone, Davey could confidently say that the power and influence of the president were much weaker than he initially thought.

"Let me remind you that the negotiations are over," Davey reiterated, earning everyone's gazes. He no longer bothered with honorifics and didn't even care to speak politely. Even then, no one in the room expressed a sliver of dissatisfaction.

"You will reap what you sow. You shouldn't have done this in the first place if you knew it was your own allies. "

"We do not need you to understand our actions. Leave. Someone who is trying to destroy humanity is neither needed nor accepted in Korea. But the fact that you helped us out remains. So to show our gratitude, we will not be going after you until you've left this place."

Davey did not personally make them suffer the consequences of attacking him and his men. In fact, he didn't have to do anything other than keep his mouth shut for them to get their comeuppance. But there was something that Davey could not bring himself to accept—the thought that innocent people would have to pay for a mistake they didn't make.

"Sooner or later, you will regret what you have done."

***

Daegu was so crowded that it could already be considered the second capital of Korea. Most of the evacuees had gathered downtown, their numbers nearly filling the streets. All of them went to great lengths, enduring hardships and using whatever means possible to live through such a difficult time. Despair replaced the smiles on some of their faces as they continued to live and walk in this grim and dark world.

A man, who was wrapped tightly from head to toe, appeared in the middle of this crowded downtown.

"Shit... Fuck," he spat and growled under his breath.

The man took out the gloves he was wearing, revealing a pair of hands that were covered with what seemed to be black fur.

"Fuck," he murmured as he glared at his hands.

The people cheered as a massive barrier device, provided to every country on Earth by the Church of Neltarid, was slowly being installed in the area.

Since their safety would be guaranteed to some extent and the threat of monsters would be significantly reduced, everyone couldn't conceal their joy. They jumped and cheered as they watched the barrier device get installed.

The cheers of the people continued as they all waited for the device to be activated. But Yoon Tae-Gang, who was covered from head to toe, didn't seem to share the merriment, given how he glared fiercely at the people around him.

Swoosh-!

Yoon Tae-Gang wore his gloves once again and turned around to leave. But as soon as he did, he bumped into one of the passersby.

Slam-!

"Shit. Do you have no eyes..."

The passerby's words trailed off when he saw Yoon Tae-Gang's face hidden underneath the hood of his robe. Then, without saying another word, he retreated and ran away.

Yoon Tae-Gang looked completely hideous. Hair had grown so much on his face that it was entirely covering his features... Or was it just a beard? But that was not all. His neck, chest, stomach, legs, arms, hands, and feet—all of them were covered in hair. In fact, he had so much hair on every inch of his skin that it was difficult to tell if he was a monkey or a human, and when anyone saw him, they could only look at him with fear.

Although he could not see it, Yoon Tae-Gang felt like the people around him were laughing at him. And so his hatred for these people grew more and more.

"Fuck you, you bastards," Yoon Tae-Gang muttered with a fierce and vicious smile on his face. "That's right. Die. All of you should die."

Vwoooong!!!

Not long after, the device was activated. Then...

Chhhk!!! Vwooooong!!!

When a flash of cyan light shot out of the device, the people's cheers grew louder and more fervent.

Yoon Tae-Gang, who was watching the scene silently from afar, held his hand to his ear and said, "Mission accomplished. There was a bit of a problem, but it seems like the Saint of Tionis failed to figure out what the item is."

He then left the scene. And when he did, changes began to happen as blazing flames engulfed the device, which had been shooting rays of light into the sky.

"Huh... huuuuuuh?!"

Panic surged among the throng of people while the changes in the device continued. It didn't take long for the rays of light, linking the device and the sky, to force the space above to crack open until a huge gate appeared.

The device was actually an item that served as an offering to summon one of the Malicious Spirits. A fissure then appeared in the sky because of this item. A heartbeat later, a terrifying eye opened and peered at the Earth from within the gaping chasm.

[Aah... Those shadows are whetting my appetite...]

It was Meses, the Malicious Spirit that devoured shadows. He was a being that got stronger the more he consumed shadows. Now, he had awakened and began to move.

And the gates of catastrophe opened above the people because they failed to learn the truth.

***

After the successful emergence of Meses, Yoon Tae-Gang was leisurely getting ready to depart Korea. But a frown tugged at his lips because of the hair that covered his entire body.

"I have to find a way that will help me deal with this matter first," Yoon Tae-Gang murmured to himself as he waited for a helicopter to pick him up.

He had already accomplished his goal. He had helped Malicious Spirit Meses descend upon the Korean peninsula, which was currently in a very precarious situation.

There were far too few Malicious Spirits on Earth at the moment. And since their goal was to summon a higher-ranking Malicious Spirits and wreak havoc on Earth, they decided to call forth Meses. But unless the situation was special, Meses would continue to move slowly. That was why they had to bring him straight to Earth.

They hijacked the transportation of the barrier device sent by the Church of Neltarid to Korea, then replaced it with the item they had.

But Yoon Tae-Gang had made a mistake and was caught by his other team members. This had forced him to kill them. It didn't really matter much to him, though, since they weren't on his side anyway. He was completely different from them.

But it wasn't just that. He was also met with many other unexpected situations, like how he had lost control over the monsters and nearly died on the spot because he was a novice at handling them. And so he had thought that summoning the Malicious Spirit in Sokcho was the only option he had.

But in a surprising turn of events, a being that the Malicious Spirits were wary of appeared. It was the person the Illuminati had been exchanging information about—the Saint of Tionis. He had appeared in front of them.

But it was because of his sudden arrival that Yoon Tae-Gang succeeded in transferring the summoning core and sending it to be used by the people.

Now, it was time for him to leave this place. But...

Swoosh!

"Fuck. What the hell, you bas..."

Thump!!!

That was their plan. And it had nothing to do with the tricks and schemes that the vicious black-haired boy had devised.

"Where do you think you're going? If you did something evil, then you have to be punished," a calm and relaxed voice said.

"Y-you?!" Yoon Tae-Gang shouted in surprise, his eyes growing wide.

Yoon Tae-Gang knew the owner of the voice, and so he was rendered stunned. But there was no stopping the man. So in the end, Yoon Tae-Gang collapsed on the ground, glaring sharply at the man through the black hair that was covering him from head to toe.

'This bastard. This bastard knew everything from the beginning! And he's the one who made me like this!'

That was right. They had all been playing on the palm of this man's hand all along.

But there was a question that lingered in Yoon Tae-Gang's mind: why did the man wait until this moment?

"The girl you killed wants you to receive punishment. I don't know about the others, but I can damn well grant a dead person's wish."

As expected, this man truly knew.

'How the hell?'

Yoon Tae-Gang wanted to ask him, but he could not open his mouth to ask.

"It seems like you're itching to know why I let you be and even allowed you to do what you've done... Did I get that right?" Davey asked with a smile.

Yoon Tae-Gang desperately clung to the last vestige of his consciousness as he continued to stare at Davey.

"It's nothing much. I didn't let you call Meses over here because I was angry at those brainless people in the military. Hmm. Yeah. I just needed Meses to come out here on his own."

As for the meaning of his words...

"Curious? Do you want to know why I led you to create this situation?"