From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 172: Homebound Pt. 9

The dragon heart had finally evolved. Under the influence of the cataclysm, just as everyone else had grown, he had also grown as well.

“The Dragon of the Apocalypse’s heart,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he felt the burning flames.

The flames devouring him weren’t hot or vicious in any way. Rather, they were tranquil instead.

–Grrr.

Aegir had growled.

Both Lee Jun-Kyeong and the traitor had transformed into something else during the cataclysm, Aegir, who had transformed into something not human, was wary of Lee Jun-Kyeong transformation and backed away.

“What just happened…?” Jeong In-Chang said.

“...” Yeo Seong-Gu’s silence was obvious.

Click.

Lee Jun-Kyeong took another step forward.

Everyone would transform during the cataclysm. However, the longer it took for some people to undergo that change, the more dramatic that transformation would be.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had gained strength.

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> watches over the battlefield.]

‘How insane.’

And, thanks to the reliable support of <The Sky of the Apocalypse>, he had gained so much strength that he almost wanted to vomit from the sudden change.

At this moment, he was feeling something completely different from before. Black flames had enveloped his body, but Lee Jun-Kyeong could feel something else. There was the Madness that had tormented him, the devilish aura that dwelled in Muspel’s Spear, The demonic mana that was mixed into the blood of the monsters, the dragon’s blood, and…

“Mana….”

These were powers that composed him, and they all contrasted. Now, they had all mixed into one and were burning up from within him.

Despite that, he encountered none of their flaws. Whether it was being swallowed up by the devilish aura or Madness, or being overtaken by the demonic mana, or even the reversed flow of the dragon’s blood, none of that occurred.

All of his powers had been newly aligned under his mana and the newfound power of his black flame. It was a terrifying strength.

BOOM!

Lee Jun-Kyeong had taken a single step, but the ground had been completely crushed under his pressure.

“What is this…!”

His companions were stunned once they felt the unbelievable power.

“I guess I’ve received my overdue compensation all at once,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said, looking up at the sky momentarily.

His satisfied laughter seemed to be visible through the black flames.

While it was true that Aegir had transformed and was definitely dangerous, he was not in a completed state. Rather, it instead seemed as though the creature was becoming more and more unstable in the process of being completed.

Moreover, while he himself wasn’t in a complete state either, he was stable. That was the difference between the transformed Aegir and himself.

Lee Jun-Kyeong clenched his fist. In the place of the vanished Muspel’s Spear, something else was grasped in his palm.

–GROWL!

Aegir stepped back again, as if the creature had realized there was nowhere else to retreat to. Meanwhile, he settled into an attacking posture. A strange power that was neither mana nor anything they had seen before was radiating from him.

“Ugh!”

"Damn it!"

“Goongje!”

In the aftermath of the explosion of the creature’s aura, Yeo Seong-Gu, Jeong In-Chang, and the princess collapsed from the pressure. It felt as if the world was pressing them down.

Jeong In-Chang looked ahead as he rubbed his eyes. Something black and gold collided.

Shhhh.

A small sound then broke the silence, reminiscent of air escaping a balloon.

Jeong In-Chang quickly noticed where the change was coming from.

“In Aegir’s chest…!”

.

There was something black embedded in the chest of Aegir, who had turned into a golden giant.

The black thing was burning.

Crack!

The golden giant began to crack open like a golden egg.

–GEUGAHHHHHHHH!

Aegir was breaking apart and roaring so loudly that it seemed as though it would shake the very world. Even so, its strength hadn’t erupted out from its broken body as it had been sealed by the black thing that was embedded into his chest.

“It’s sealed…?”

Clang!

After the crack occurred, something began to change from within the black thing.

Zzt.

With a small resonance, everyone’s hearing disappeared for a moment.

“Ugh…”

Jeong In-Chang looked ahead as he clapped at his deaf ears.

Crack, crack, crack, crack!

The sound of something shattering spread out, and their hearing returned.

Swwwwft!

With a thunderous roar, the black thing distorted like a black hole and began to devour the golden giant.

***

London, the capital of England, was undergoing the cataclysm like the rest of the world. Everything was on fire, and the streets had been filled with the screams of people. The city that was normally filled with people’s laughter was now instead filled with the cries of monsters.

“GROARRRR!”

“CHWIIIK! CHWIIIIIK!”

However, there was something odd about it all. Right now, the screams of the people couldn’t be heard at all.

It was too soon to say that it was because everyone had died or that they had already been able to flee. Even if the sound were faint, it would still be normal for the screams of the people to still be heard. However, at this moment, only the cries of the monsters could be heard throughout London.

In this grotesque London, there was only one place where the voice of people could be heard: London Bridge, one of the symbols of London.

“Ha… ha…”

The sound of heavy breathing could be heard, and it wasn’t just one person struggling here either. Instead, it was dozens of Hunters.

“Damn, it…”

Around them were hundreds of dead bodies. In addition, there was someone wearing a robe, opposing them.

“How awesome.”

The dozens of Hunters who were still alive were glaring at the robed man. He was the one who had created all of the corpses.

“Chwiiiik!”

A monster that had been roaming around near London Bridge lost its temper and began to rampage toward the group, its target the man in the black robes. The monster was running toward the man as if it couldn’t feel anything that was happening around it at all.

“...”

The Hunters held their breath and just watched the situation unfold.

Within a split second, the monster that had been rampaging toward the man in the black robes fell down to its knees in front of him and groaned with its head down, almost reminiscent of a pet that had met its owner.

“Keureung…”

The man stroked the monster's head.

Clench.

Suddenly, before the Hunters could even notice, the monster’s head exploded.

The man in the black robes was now covered in the monster’s blood as he looked at the Hunters admiringly as he said, "It really is awesome.”

He then continued, “Did you really evacuate the people by setting up formations and shifting the axis of space? You really do have an incredible ability…”

Speaking in a low voice, the man in the black robes gazed over at a woman who looked exhausted.

“Merlin.”

Merlin was the head of the Round Table that protected Britain and was also a transcendent Hunter among the ranks of such as Odin and Zeus.

She should have been inside of the Round Table, but was gasping wearily on London Bridge. Next to her was Arthur.

“Merlin…!”

The two had received a fake Excalibur from Lee Jun-Kyeong, so their curse had been lifted for a while. However, they had been confined to the Round Table as the curse would be restored again if they were to ever exit its boundaries…

Of note, the cataclysm was now, so it had also changed them quite a bit as well. That was how they had been able to shift the axis of space and save the people in order to deal with the man that had attacked London and turned it into a mess.

Now, even while outside the boundaries of the Round Table, their curse was still temporarily lifted.

Merlin looked at Arthur and said, “Arthur… I’m okay.”

Arthur also seemed tired.

"Ha…”

The knights all breathed heavily. The dozens of surviving Hunters were all Knights of the Round Table, which had stepped out of the shadows for the sake of England herself. They didn’t do this because of a single monster.

“Just who the hell are you, really?”

No, it was because of only one man: the man in the black robes that stood in front of them. He had appeared in England while they had been driving out the monsters. He killed people and released even more monsters. He was by no means an ordinary man.

“Hmm….”

He fell silent for a while.

“...!”

Then, he soon shuddered as if in surprise.

The Knights of the Round Table exchanged glances nervously.

The power of the man in black had been astounding, and they had already lost many of their comrades at his hands. Just as they were thinking that they couldn’t lose their nerve, the man in black opened his mouth to speak.

“Oh dear,” he said. “Looks like that little brat has gone a step further.”

A different, laughing voice had come from his mouth this time.

The knights were watching his movements as the man looked into the distance.

Although they continued to turn back to look at Merlin and Arthur, asking for orders, they couldn’t. There weren’t any orders that could be given.

After all, to be a Hunter meant that the stronger one became, the more one would be able to see. Moreover, they couldn’t see a single opening at all.

The man in black was an iron wall–no, he was like a huge abyss. The aura they could feel was incredibly dangerous as if it would devour them at any moment. Thus, a standoff ensued.

“Ha-a-eup!”

But then, a reckless knight started to run forward, disobeying orders and running forward alone.

“Lancelot!” Merlin called out, but the knight was already on his way to face the man in black.

Lancelot had lost his companions. Furthermore, he had been forced to watch his people be slaughtered.

“I will make the opening!”

Although he was rushing forward recklessly, his eyes were calm with a tranquil gaze that no one had ever seen before. His lance ripped through the air as he advanced.

“Hold him down!”

Merlin also moved her wand. It was the signal to attack the man in black, whom they had been unable to attack easily with his overwhelming force.

“Knights of the Round Table,” Arthur murmured quietly as he pointed his sword at the man in black, who seemed to be bound in an invisible shimmer. He was in the form of a child, but at this moment, he looked as if he was an adult. Arthur was someone whom the knights only had a vague idea of his identity, but they still listened to his commands without saying a word.

He ordered, “Protect England.”

“Hail!!”

With a simple chant, the knights ran forward.

While the man in black was bound by Merlin’s mighty magic, Lancelot had succeeded in approaching the man in black at close range.

“Ha-a-eup!!”

His lance pierced the air and mana, reaching toward the man in black.

Swish!

Unfortunately, the lance bounced off the man as if it had been swatted aside. Lancelot had lost his weapon, which was a shameful occurrence as a knight. Undaunted, Lancelot took out his spare sword and swung it.

Shhing!

The results of his hellish training after sparring with the Underdog were about to be shown to the world.

Squelch!

A bone-shuddering cleaving sound rang out into the air.

“Lancelot!”

However, Lancelot had fallen. The man in black, who definitely should have been bound by Merlin’s power, had moved freely and cut him down. No one had been able to catch sight of what he had used to cut down Lancelot.

“A spear…”

Only Arthur had been able to see the man in black’s weapon: a black spear.

“Cut him down!”

“For England’s Justice!”

After Lancelot, the rest of the knights had reached the man in black.

They were knights that represented England, and these top Hunters of the World attacked the man at the same time. Storms raged, rain fell, and even the very space was torn apart.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

At that time only the sound of metal resounded, and Arthur shouted after gathering his strength, "Move!"

“Haaaaa-eup!”

The knights parted ways, and Arthur swung Excalibur with a gigantic force that seemed to push the dimensions apart.

Chaaaaang!

A great golden moon appeared in the world and plummeted down upon the man in black.