Chapter 302 Season 2 : Demon King’s Tower - The world after 2 years 2
A man was dashing through the plains.
'They went further than I thought.'
It seems they had already run far while Hansoo had been coming out from the egg.
Despite having chased them for quite a while, he could not feel their presence at all.
Of course it wasn't like he was upset or anything.
Since the distance between them was clearly getting shorter from the footprints.
And the air that he hadn't tasted for such a long time felt really great as well.
Whooosh.
Hansoo breathed in deeply as he chased the footprints.
It was cold enough to freeze the entire body of a normal person but it was just very cool to Hansoo.
He felt like he breathing in a breath of cool, refreshing morning air.
Hansoo smiled as he chased after the footprints.
Sensations he couldn't feel for the past 2 years.
He had thought that he had grown used to being isolated as he was constantly fighting with a small group of elites or by himself but being fully conscious in a place where there was nobody else for 2 whole years was truly a different sensation.
2 whole years in which he could not do anything, see anything or get in contact with anybody.
He had thought that it would be a calm vacation but it was more of a torture than fighting everyday.
'...I guess a person needs to do things they are good at.'
Tatatatak!
Hansoo continued to mumble as he kept chasing after the footprints while not leaving behind a single footprint due to his now much lighter body.
The time he had been inside the egg was so torturous that the sound he had heard in the midst of it sounded like the voice of an angel.
Of course he couldn't find out who it was.
Not even if it was a male or female.
He didn't know if they were friendly or were an enemy.
Whether they were sad for him or looking down on him.
The single line that they left behind.
He didn't know who it was and what they had actually left behind.
But one thing was clear.
'That person was not just anyone.'
A power that destroyed the entire mountain around him just to get to the egg he was in.
That strength was something even Hansoo, who was inside the egg at the time.
Hansoo smiled again.
'Good. Very good.'
2 years.
It was not a long period of time.
But in order to get stronger and throw everything away to achieve that, it was more than enough time.
Even more so if that person was already powerful or had a lot of potential.
The Abyss was a place best suited for people like that.
A world made to create monsters.
He had been worried that there might only be weaklings because they were fighting with each other but it seemed there was a person who had reached the ceiling already.
'I should go find that person.'
It seemed like it would be hard to find the person but thankfully they had kindly left behind a clue.
As if the person wanted to talk to himself.
He chased after the invitation letter that the person had left behind.
The four who had taken his invitation to be exact.
And there was only a single emotion inside him.
Curiosity.
The 2 years during which he had been isolated.
How had the world changed?
When the Abyss fell down upon them in the past, the Otherworld and the Abyss had both completely broken down.
But thanks to him controlling the amount of information he let out, the Otherworld hadn't completely broken down this time.
Which meant that the people had a bit of buffer.
Thought he difficulty would've been much higher than in the past, the humans had become unbelievably stronger than they had been in the past.
Since he had set up the Red, Orange and Yellow zones in such a way that they would constantly create powerful soldiers.
The danger rose and the humans grew stronger.
But Hansoo could only guess, he couldn't know for sure how this world had changed.
Since there were too many variables for anyone to predict the future accurately.
'Well, time to check.'
As Hansoo was about to continue after the footprints after he had looked at the steel elevator in the distance.
Rumble.
From the distance.
Hansoo felt something within this senses that had spread far and wide.
And the moment he sensed this.
Hansoo frowned.
'How fast.'
He was feeling it more and more.
If the humans were alive then there should be some form of signal in the sky, like a flare or something.
No, there should at least be a trace.
But even after so long, there was only a vast plain.
As if everything had died.
Which meant one thing.
'They've been pushed back huh.'
He didn't know what was going on in the other places.
Since once the elevators descended, the worlds would get shredded apart.
The elevators were a supernatural structure that separated the worlds into different floors.
The different floors would become completely separated and house a society and a world of their own.
But one thing was clear regarding the 1st floor of the the Green Zone.
The humans weren't the only owners of this place.
Squirm.
Hansoo felt something in the edges of his field of perception.
Something that he couldn't fully make out despite his greatly improved senses.
He could only sense that something was approaching him.
But if the ground was shaking this much despite him not being able to sense it… It only meant one thing.
'It's a race that is self-ruled*. Right from the get-go… I guess they really got pushed back far.'
(TN: Self-Ruled : I translated this literally because I couldn't think of a better wording. Basically these guys don't have a set hierarchy and have a community of equals with no true leader.)
The races that were self-ruled were hard to deal with unless one knew how to deal with each different kind properly.
But on the other hand, their weakness was known then it was much easier to deal with than a race with a normal hierarchy.
This was why information was the most valuable thing to humans, this was why the first thing Hansoo had told the adventurers was the method to deal with these self-ruled races.
It shouldn't be hard to deal with them but from seeing these things being everywhere and going after the adventurers… It meant that the humans had been pushed back really far.
'What the hell caused all of this?'
He had given them specific orders to deal with this but it seemed something unexpected had happened.
These self-ruled race types were almost impossible to detect or sense.
They could only check with their eyes.
And he couldn't just leave before seeing it with his own eyes.
Since some of them would chase after people in order to kill them even if it took an eternity to do so.
If someone didn't want to deal with an entire race because they escaped from one member, then they would need to deal with them properly in the first place.
Rumble.
Squirm.
Hansoo finally could see what the creature was as it approached him.
Shshshshshsh.
Past the snow covered plains.
And sometimes through the blizzard.
A 2 dimensional being approaching like a shadow.
'Dakramas.'
Creatures that hid between the dimensions and hunted other race by assimilating them into their own dimension.
They hid if they were being attacked.
If the enemy escaped then they would come out to attack or drag them into their own dimension.
But Hansoo was disappointed.
'They got pushed back by these guys?'
Of course they were indeed a hassle to deal with.
But there was a clear cut method to deal with them.
The Rebanol Scales that one could acquire after killing the common hierarchy race Rebanols.
Weapons applied with ground scales of Rebanols, a race that evolved to hunt Dakramas, could easily penetrate through the pocket dimensions they were hiding in.
They were easy pickings after that, a few stabs and they were easily dealt with.
This wasn't the only method.
The Beynol race, the race that the Dakramas predated on.
If the scent sacs underneath their wings were taken and lit on fire, a red light would explode out that would cause the senses of the Dakramas to become greatly hindered.
A defensive mechanism the Beynol race had developed.
But there was no way for Hansoo, who had just woken up, to get the Rebanol Scales or the scent sacs of the Beynols.
'They're really swarming this place. I guess I'll just deal with them here…'
It wasn't impossible.
Just annoying.
Crunch.
As Hansoo poured his strength into the Forked Lightning.
Piiiing!
In the distance.
Something flew towards him attached to an arrow.
'...That?'
As Hansoo frowned at the red capsule on the tip of the arrow.
A powerful red light exploded out from the sudden red light.
Boom!
The moment the surrounding shadows got swept by the red light.
Shhhhhhhhhk!
Shaaaaak!
The shadows that were quickly approaching them seemed to have been extremely shocked as they started to jump around in multiple directions.
Like their five senses had been disturbed.
And Hansoo knew what caused this light.
'Beynol's Powder.'
As Hansoo turned his head towards where the arrow had come from.
"Hey! Run!"
"God! I told you we should just leave him alone! You crazy bastard of a captain!"
In the distance.
He could see the two males and two females shouting at him.
'The ones I was chasing… Why are they here?'
According to his calculations, they should be much further ahead and even if they did remain behind due to something, there was no reason for them to save him.
The Beynol's Powder was not a complete solution to the Dakramas, they might be killed as well.
And as he expected.
"Uaaa!"
"Bastards! Just wait right there!"
The Dakramas who were a bit further away and had taken less of an impact from the red light started to charge towards Hansoo to deal with him first.
And the group that shot the arrow started to quickly run away.
'Hmm. They should know that they could get swept into the fight.'
People who carried around the Beynol's Powders should definitely know this.
The group who had started to run away looked at Hansoo for a bit and then quickly moved away.
............
A few moments later.
In a cave a bit away.
The group of four people started to breathe roughly.
"Haaa…"
"Fuck! Crazy maniac! Are you a superhero or something? Don't just go around saving anybody!"
The girl named Misun shouted towards the man named Taesang.
And in the distance.
Tatatak.
'...Anybody? Feisty huh.'
Hansoo chuckled at the words of the girl inside the cave.
It was quite a funny sight to behold after just coming out from a situation where they could've died.
But Hansoo didn't laugh at them.
He knew that they were quite capable.
'Good ability. Good coping methods.'
Though they were screaming, they had made sure to block sounds from escaping as well as covering up where they were hiding.
They were bickering only after they had created a safe hideout.
A normal adventurer or some random monster wouldn't even know that these four would be inside this cave.
And though they had saved him, they had erased all the traces on the way to the cave.
'They are wary of me huh.'
Though being wary was one thing, it seems they couldn't let see him die.
Hansoo came to a decision.
'The box first.'
Then.
Whooosh.
Hansoo quickly headed towards the four people within the cave.