Chapter 48 - The Raw Meal (3) (2/2)

“Ha, Not helpful, but still……”

The giant slowly approached Il-Hyun.

The monster dragging the hammer opened its mouth wide, tearing its cheeks, and dropping frozen skin fragments.

“3 minutes…No, one more minute,” Il-Hyun said while looking at Phoenix.

Then, the growing ice was removed from his arms and sides.

Il-Hyun moaned for a while in pain.

However, even though he already removed the ice and was able to move about, the fight was far from over.

If he didn’t win, he would stop and hold it here.

Now!

Il-Hyun grabbed Phoenix’s body.

Phoenix soared quickly, and the place where Il-Hyun was a little while ago was shattered in an instant.

Ice stretched, and an unexpected hammer was thrown their way.

Il-Hyun and Phoenix flew in circles between them.

As nearby buildings ruptured, Il-Hyun used his medium-sized ability to fend off the rocks one by one while putting medicine to his wounds.

But there was still a long way to go.

One wing of the Phoenix, which was hit by a hammer, froze, losing its balance and fell on the floor with Il-Hyun.

“Ugh, I can’t attack back anymore,” Il-Hyun, who quickly woke up, extended his arm, but he couldn’t use his ability.

It was completely discharged and empty.

Fortunately, Phoenix had ridiculous regeneration, but both of his equipment and instincts were blocked.

It was a difficult situation to stop even now.

As the blue fireballs approached them, Il-Hyun and Phoenix suddenly floated in the air.

No, all the objects around floated in the air.

“What……?”

Il-Hyun was surprised, and his eyes widened, and now a massive monster body floated into the air.

He was terrified of this opponent, but now he hadn’t even been able to balance himself, and he even seemed funny struggling in the air.

Another thing is while Il-Hyun and many other objects are slightly lifted off the ground, the giant in front of him stopped after a long rise.

Quaddeuk!

There was no attack, but suddenly the giant’s body was bent and broken.

The big attraction was starting to compress the giant, even going through into bones, flesh, and blue flames without mercy.

He struggled like crazy to get out but to no avail.

Even a small, invisible black hole was formed as if it had been created inside it, and its body couldn’t be immediately recognized as it gathered in the air.

It was compressed tightly to a few tenths of its original size.

“You’re safe now. Please go to the north first.”

Following the voice from somewhere, Il-Hyun’s head turned up.

A woman was coming down from the sky.

She wasn’t falling or flying, it just sat down on the floor.

“I wasn’t expecting this. How are you still alive?” She said while looking at Il-Hyun.

The woman asked with hesitation.

Il-Hyun thought it was a little embarrassing to be treated like this by the first person he saw.

Then, Il-Hyun’s stood up as he came back to his senses.

If only I had slowed it down a little, it’s dead now?

“Ugh, thank you for your help.” Il-Hyun said when he woke up.

Then, he glanced up at the face of the woman he didn’t properly have a look at before.

It was likely the same face he expected it would be.

Il-Hyun knows there’s only one person who can use this ability.

“Don’t tell me, you’re Seol-young. Nice to meet you.”

Seol-young smiled brightly.

It seemed more than a smile, it was a smile that only someone with a pretty face could have.

Il-Hyun, who had recently become somewhat knowledgeable by seeing many beautiful people on TV, could not prevent himself from staring.

“I didn’t expect the government response team to support me,” said Il-Hyun.

Standing in front of him was Seol-young, and she’s part of a government response team.

In fact, she was a talent in her early 20s and is probably the youngest to serve as the head of the government’s top response team.

She was a holder of an S rank ability, and it’s one of the best in the world. She’s also an A-class Awakener who ranks among the top 10 in the world with just her average record.

If there is Lee Tae-hee who’s just emerging in Aegis and was among the hopeful candidates of becoming the fifth S-ranked Awakener in the world, then Ah Seol-young was already in the response team.

She had a lot of experience, and the word “genius” was not suitable because she was already among the top ten of high-ranking Awakeners.

“There was a low priority on the site, and I thought electronic equipment would go out and delay support.”

“Oh, originally, I was going to respond to the A3 gate. It’s the most urgent place, but the manager of the team told me to proceed here after losing contact. It was a good choice, and I didn’t know if anyone was still alive.”

Seeing that innocent smile, he spoke out a different line in his head, and suddenly, his face fell.

Il-Hyun’s expression hardened—other team members could be in danger.

“No! I have to quickly go and support other people!”

“So, what will you do here?”

“There’s one Ace Monster here, so I’ll go there……!”

But Seol-young laughed when he rushed. “Several teams have already gone there. They’re a little slower than us, but still, if you go there now, it would probably have ended before you’ve arrived.”

“Sigh……” Il-Hyun hid his face from the gloomy words.

“One left… Wait a minute, the monsters haven’t left yet. That means the planes cannot fly,” she said. Indeed, there’s still an Ace monster with such abilities that won’t let the aircraft float.

Seol Seol-young closer her fists, and something shook in the air between the masses of corpses.

Widely!

The while light core of the monster shining brightly came into her hands.

Indeed, as a rare mutant, it was very different from a common core. It was slightly larger than the standard size, and its light had a bluish aura to it.

Perhaps it’s a valuable core for research because of its rare mutation.

“A lot of them are dead,” Ah Seol-young said as she looked at the bodies of people lying around them.

Il-Hyun was able to defend in front of the bridge, so more citizens and monsters gathered there, causing that many corpses.

“Isn’t your conscience wounded?”

“What?”

One thing she didn’t really say was something else on her mind.

“You are talented. We must fight for these victims. Why not join our team instead? If you want to absorb a core, we can give you some. It’s more than what the Aegis can give you.”

“What are you talking about… No, how did you know this?”

There has never been a public disclosure of his ability. However, Seol-young said it as if she already knew about Il-Hyun’s predatory ability.

“Ha! Have you ever wondered if we did not even do a background investigation? You’re naive.”

Il-Hyun stared at her innocent eyes.

He’s not proud of what he’s secretly done behind the scenes. But how does he say that in front of a crowd?

“In the past… The Scouts were already fed up by the government. Of course, they refused every offer they were given.”

“It was very different from what I’ve been offered a few times before.”

Il-Hyun stared in embarrassment, but she continued to chat with him.

“Think carefully. When I meant is Aegis is a bit big, it’s because it’s a company. Would you like to solve this problem? Not long ago, a team leader was also removed, so…”

“Oh really?” Il-Hyun’s expression seemed annoyed.

By his tone, Seol-young looked terribly baffled, was he even surprised or not.

Her expression soon turned into pity.

“Don’t be afraid. I haven’t seen them that much, but I feel like I fully belong with Aegis in just a month.”

l-Hyun endured and said, “You belong to Nabal, and you are not supposed to say these things.”

Seol-young continued to speak with her arms crossed, and she was sneering at him.

“I am trying to get along… What good would it do to come here and pretend? Are you saying it’s honorable to be useless?”

He was yelled at by the bitch.

It was honestly a shock to Il-Hyun.

In the news articles and broadcasts, he was known to the public as the perfect person who had a tremendous ability with a good and pure image and a handsome face.

“The delusional one is me…huh?”

As Il-Hyun spoke, he stared blankly next to her.

After the fight, Phoenix hanged around Il-Hyun’s shoulder. Then It stood next to Seol-young.

Its gaze continued to focus on her hand that holds the core, and now, it was sneaking close.

Odo-tik!

Bang!