Chapter 289
As the blue light all over his vision went away, his feet touched the ground . Sungyoon felt something crumble beneath his feet, so he looked down . He confirmed that he was standing atop the debris of a broken building, and it had collapsed further because of his landing .
‘As expected, there's no sound . ’
If he were on Earth, he would have heard a crunch . This situation meant that the air was completely gone from Armstrong city .
Sungyoon looked forward . The city had lost its owners; with no one to turn on the lights, it was dark everywhere . The light leaking through the holes and deep wounds in the outer wall wasn’t enough to illuminate the inner city .
However, since the city was overflowing with magical energy, Sungyoon's vision wasn't obstructed . In fact, he clearly saw that a fierce battle was ongoing around him .
It was unclear whether a lot of monsters were left behind in Armstrong city or the monsters had returned after being baited outside . Whatever the reason was, it couldn't change the fact that right now, a sea of monsters had engulfed the city hall .
Among them, one particular monster caught Sungyoon's eyes .
‘Is that Glaia?’
In terms of outer appearance, she was a ten out of ten . One had to show admiration for her beauty . This was especially true for her upper body, which was exposed for the world to see . However, all the admiration would disappear if one saw Glaia's lower body of a snake .
‘It’ swung its long nails . The Connectors worked in tandem to block her attacks, but it was clear that they were in a difficult situation .
A mountain of corpses lay near them . Most of them were monsters, but some were corpses of Connectors . The number of Connectors' corpses was very small compared to the number of dead monsters, but it was plenty enough .
The Connectors were barely maintaining their battle line, and it was clear that the monsters had the overwhelming advantage . The Connector who had returned through the portal had been right .
Wasting no more time, Sungyoon jumped into the battle line .
The blow felt very heavy . Sungyoon had pushed his shield forward, and he let out a silent groan on feeling the impact when his shield stopped the long snake tail .
As the Connectors looked at him with surprise in their eyes, Sungyoon gestured to them .
Fortunately, one of the Connectors understood his intent . He quickly jumped into the large hole where the safe was present .
‘I have to hold on for a short amount of time!’
Sungyoon checked his body .
‘There's no fear . ’
He had felt fear in front of Kevil . If he felt a similar type of fear from Glaia, he wouldn’t be able to fight . Thankfully for Sungyoon, this time, that brand of fear didn't emerge inside him .
Was he immune to it now? Or was there a delta to the manifestation of the fear like when he had fought against Kevil?
The reason didn't matter right now . He would have to analyze the difference at a later time .
‘I can’t feel the power either . ’
Sungyoon had felt strength surge inside him when he had chased away Kevil . Not experiencing the same sensation now made him a bit disappointed .
‘It's fine . I don’t have to hold out for long . ’
Sungyoon raised his shield and took a firmer grip on his ax .
Glaia’s eyes landed on Sungyoon, and 'it' let out a grin . The corners of her mouth rose in a broad smile .
‘It's a monster . That’s for sure . ’
Glaia’s face had changed in a frightening manner . When Sungyoon saw that, he inwardly muttered those words .
He could feel the shock pass through the shield once again .
‘Koo-oohk!’
Even his overclocked Gems couldn't deal with the shock from the impact .
He felt surreal since he couldn’t hear the sound of the attacks, but the heavy damage from the tail rooted him in reality .
‘I won’t be able to last long!’
In fact, Sungyoon was already close to his limits . His hand, which was holding the shield, was shaking . Sungyoon had increased his weight with gravity magic, so at the very least, he wouldn’t be sent flying backward .
However, he wasn’t alone in the fight .
An arrow flew past Sungyoon and went forward to hit Glaia’s shoulder .
Flinch!
The arrow burrowed into Glaia’s shoulder . The tip of the arrow didn’t go in deep; Glaia's soft skin was harder than it looked . However, the attack had stopped Glaia for a brief moment .
‘This is my chance!’
Sungyoon hadn’t let go of his ax even though his other hand had been throbbing from holding the shield .
Throb!
His hand stung . He had aimed for Glaia’s side, but she had dodged the blow . His ax had hit her lower body, which was shaped like a snake, and bounced off Its hard scales . But, he didn’t stop .
Sungyoon shoved his shield forward, and Glaia’s body budged because of the low gravity of the Moon .
Glaia’s eyebrows twitched . Her face became more distorted as she became angrier . She raised her hand to attack, but several arrows flew in toward her . Glaia deflected them and looked toward the source of the arrow attacks .
Aruwen calmly pulled back on his bow once again .
While Glaia was distracted, Sungyoon once again attacked its lower body .
Sungyoon's appearance had given the other Connectors some time to recuperate, and they now swarmed Glaia .
‘Bastards!’
Rage appeared in her eyes .
She hadn’t been putting too much effort into fighting these weak opponents as she considered them trash . However, things had changed with the involvement of Sungyoon and Aruwen . At the very least, Sungyoon and Aruwen got on her nerves .
In her irritation, Glaia swung her lower body in a large arc .
The Connectors quickly retreated .
Glaia had been bitten by the bugs around her . She raised her body into the air .
‘Danger!’
Before Sungyoon had arrived at the battlefield, Aruwen had given him a basic rundown of Glaia’s abilities . The information crossed his mind .
[First, her body is very powerful . It's to be expected since she's an officer amongst the monsters . However, the thing to look out for the most is her attribute . Like Kevil, who has the fire attribute, Glaia also has an attribute . It's weaker than Kevil’s fire, but more troublesome . ]
Right now, Glaia was about to use that very troublesome attribute .
‘Poison!’
As expected of a monster shaped like a snake, its attributes were also similar to a snake's . Glaia’s mouth started to move, and a green liquid squirted out of the mouth .
The green liquid came out with a considerable force behind it and covered a good amount of distance .
All the Connectors knew that nothing good would happen if they came into contact with the green liquid, so they quickly dodged .
Monsters were hit in the crossfire, and some of the liquid fell to the surface of the Moon . The liquid looked like saliva, and it was a very dirty attack .
However, the effect of the liquid was frightening .
The monsters and the part of the Moon's surface hit by the poison started melting . Then, the monsters' flesh started bubbling . If there had been air, smoke would have risen from the wounds . The monsters let out soundless cries as they rolled on the ground .
They were trying to get rid of the poison by rolling, but it wouldn't work . The monsters died, suffering great pain till the end .
‘What the hell!’
Sungyoon and the nearby Connectors became horrified at the sight . They were already afraid of dying, yet they had to now worry about dying in extreme pain too . Everyone made a note: dodge the poison at all costs .
Glaia once again spat out her poison . However, the poison attack wasn’t a concentrated stream like before . Now, she spat them in a manner that resembled the flow of a garden hose covered with fingers . Glaia kept spitting out her poison with greater speed and spread .
The Connectors quickly dodged the poison .
However, the poison had a wide spray pattern, so it couldn’t be easily dodged or blocked .
The poison hit some of the Connectors, and they writhed in pain . Even if they wore strong armor, these armors had gaps, and the poison inevitably seeped in through the gaps . The poison would then slowly melt away their bodies .
The Connectors who possessed lesser ranked Gems saw that their armors had started to melt .
The poison was powerful . Moreover, it didn’t discriminate between allies and foes . In fact, the number of monsters hit by the poison was much greater than the number of Connectors . However, the death of these monsters didn't even put a dent in the sea of monsters crowding the city hall .
‘The battle line…!’
The Connectors barely held on as they maintained a disciplined battle line . The tactic was quite effective against the monsters .
This time, Glaia shot her poison to disperse the battle line . The collapse of the battle line would be a much bigger problem than the death of a lot of Connectors .
Thankfully, the battle line didn’t immediately fall thanks to the enormous number of monsters in front of Glaia that were being killed by the poison . They created a buffer to the battle line, but it was only a matter of time before Glaia would breach the battle line .
Small cracks had already appeared in the battle line, and monsters were trying to push through them .
‘Even if we make a line once again, we’ll inevitably disperse if the poison is sent our way again . ’
Sungyoon made a fist .
‘Just a little more! We have to hold on!’
The Connector who had gone to retrieve the safe from the basement would be coming up soon .
Sungyoon unfurled his wings and suddenly accelerated forward . Since the poison had killed all the monsters in front of Glaia, a direct path to her had opened up . Glaia was looking toward a different location in a bid to hit an escaping Connector . She shot her poison as if she were playing a game .
Sungyoon instantly arrived in front of Glaia and used the momentum to swing his halberd .
Glaia’s body flinched .
Sungyoon injured her a little bit, and the stream of poison weakened . Before his feet could touch the floor, Sungyoon spun his body and swung his hammer up toward her head .
The hammer struck Glaia’s chin . Thankfully, the power generated by Sungyoon’s hammer was greater than the strength Glaia needed to open her mouth, and the blow forcefully closed the mouth . The poison had nowhere to go now, so it splashed into the surroundings .
Sungyoon once again unfurled his wings and immediately put some distance away from Glaia .
‘I hope the poison works on its body . ’
He looked at Glaia, who held her face that was drenched with her own poison .
However, things were never that easy .
Glaia glared at Sungyoon . It was a terrifying sight .
‘Shit! I should've known it wouldn’t work . ’
Just when Sungyoon again got into his fighting stance—
Flash!
A bright light exploded above Armstrong city . Even normal humans would be able to see this light .
A Connector stood in front of the portal with a steel box in his hands .
‘Success!’
Sungyoon made a fist . The Connector passed through the portal with the box, and the others, who had been maintaining the battle line, started to retreat too . It had all happened in the blink of an eye .
Portals started to appear all over Armstrong city . All the Connector units sent to the city activated their Flesh Gems containing the copied portal ability . The Connectors blocking the monsters all over Armstrong city quickly returned to the designated locations of the portals .
The battle had lasted a long time, but the retreat was instant .
In a flash, all the Connectors within Armstrong city disappeared .
Hoo-oohk!
The portal near the city hall closed as soon as the last Connector passed through . The monsters rushed toward the portal, but it was futile .
Glaia stared at the location where the portal had been with a dumbfounded expression . A forlorn expression appeared on her face as she realized that her actions had been an exercise in futility .
Sungyoon smirked at the sight .
Glaia glared at him, who was the last one left here . She wanted to dish out her frustration on Sungyoon, but Sungyoon had no plans of being her punching bag .
Sssk!
A portal appeared next to Sungyoon .
Glaia glared and charged at him at an incredible speed .
However, there was still some distance between them, and on top of that, Sungyoon was too close to the portal . Without any hesitation, Sungyoon jumped into the portal, and the portal disappeared at the same time .
Glaia had missed Sungyoon by mere seconds . Her claws passed through space instead of the portal . Sungyoon was gone, and Glaia could only tear apart the ground in her rage .