RG 96

“Alright, let’s deal with that first.” Unable to bluntly tell Ryu Seonghyeon to leave, Cover offered a perfunctory reply and shot Eun Woojeong a glare. “If you want to talk to me, cooperate properly. If not, get lost now.”

“Hmm.” Eun Woojeong, looking mildly troubled, glanced at Cover, who remained silent and expressionless. He chuckled lightly, answering in a teasing tone, “Well, fine. You’re a valuable asset, after all. I’ll let it slide.”

Not that he really meant it. Cover curled his lips into a mocking smirk before turning his gaze elsewhere.

Though he’d suggested focusing on the situation at hand, Cover had no intention of idly chatting even after the rift was sealed. A part of his mind was constantly occupied with concerns about Cha Sahyeon.

Wandering around in Cover’s current form wasn’t ideal either. Worse, thanks to that infuriating Eun Woojeong, the connection between Cover and Cha Seohu had been exposed, requiring even greater caution.

‘Kwon Taehyeok will probably spout useless nonsense, so I’ll ignore him. As for Big Bro Seonghyeon, I’ll just talk to him when I visit the Circle Guild later.’

The real issue was Eun Woojeong. There was only one plausible reason he had come all this way to find Cover. It likely had to do with new information related to the cult they’d uncovered last time. Alternatively, Kwak Seunggyu from the lab was nearby, and this visit could involve him.

Whatever the case, it was worth hearing him out.

‘…I’ll talk to him if I have time. If not, I’ll put it off.’

It would have been reassuring if Cha Sahyeon were in someone else’s care, but the fact that Kwon Seoyul was watching over him made Cover uneasy. Despite his skills, Seoyul’s trashy personality was far from ideal for Sahyeon’s emotional well-being.

Having made up his mind, Cover kicked aside the corpse at his feet and slashed at the incoming goblins.

Kiiaaak!

The screeching goblin horde numbered well over thirty. They’d been drawn to the powerful aura emanating from the S-class presence.

That, at least, was manageable. The bigger issue was the sheer number of goblins causing some to scatter in different directions.

Although other Hunters had been dispatched to assist around Gyeongbokgung Palace, the situation was still precarious. A single moment of distraction, and monsters could slip past into Gwanghwamun, endangering civilians.

“Vicemaster.” To contain the stragglers, something powerful was necessary. Cover turned to Ryu Seonghyeon. “How about pulling off a little surprise?”

“Excuse me?” Ryu Seonghyeon blinked, puzzled by the sudden suggestion. Even while fending off the ferociously charging goblins, Cover found himself thinking that Seonghyeon’s confused expression was endearing.

“You know that wide-area attack you used during the competition? Remember it?”

Ah. Realizing what Cover meant, Ryu Seonghyeon blinked in recognition.

“We can’t let the monsters spread out. Draw their aggro and keep them concentrated here.”

Cover wasn’t eager to cause further damage to the palace, but the area was already a battlefield in ruins. Restoration work would be inevitable anyway, so they might as well go big and take out the monsters efficiently.

Understanding the plan, Ryu Seonghyeon nodded. “Got it.”

The moment he replied, a radiant light burst forth from Ryu Seonghyeon’s body. A golden glow expanded outward, forming into defined shapes before shooting skyward like fireworks.

The light formed much faster than it had during the competition, a clear sign of Ryu Seonghyeon’s growth. Smiling secretly behind his mask, Cover swung his blade, slicing a goblin in two as it lunged toward the light.

The dazzling lights in the sky soon rained down to the ground. Each glowing orb, hardened like stone, pierced through the goblins below and crashed into the earth.

Boom! Crash!

Kreeeek! Keeck! Kyahh!

The sound of lights embedding into the ground mingled with the guttural death cries of goblins. The earth shook violently, sending plumes of dust into the air.

“Impressive. So clean and precise.”

Watching the beams strike their targets with precision, Eun Woojeong offered a simple observation. Cover, hearing this, felt even prouder than Ryu Seonghyeon himself.

‘Of course. Who do you think taught him?’

Thanks to Ryu Seonghyeon’s efforts, the goblins’ attention was drawn, and more than half their numbers were wiped out. Calculating quickly, Cover estimated the time until the next wave.

‘Wasn’t the wave interval around 30 minutes? Usually, a rift spawns monsters five or six times. Would this insane rift follow the same pattern?’

Even a reduced wave interval of 30 minutes was staggering. If the monster numbers increased on top of that…

Cover bit his lip in frustration. He decided to finish off the remaining goblins and regroup for a strategy meeting. But just then—

Giiiiiiing!

“…!”

The sound was both unsettling and disturbingly familiar. A chill ran down Cover’s spine as he gasped and looked up at the rift. “This is insane.”

As if answering his worst fears, the rift pulsed with an ominous red glow, and new monsters began emerging.

With jet-black feathered wings and goat-like heads on massive humanoid bodies, the A-class demon species, Baphomet, appeared one after another. Not even ten minutes had passed since the goblins emerged, and already the next wave had begun—this time with far higher-ranked monsters.

“What in the world…” Kwon Taehyeok muttered, narrowing his eyes.

This rift was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. The crimson light, the massive opening, the shrinking intervals between waves, and the erratic monster ranks—all of it defied logic. The immediate problem was handling the Baphomets. The bigger concern was the uncertainty of when the next wave would strike.

While they stood momentarily stunned, twenty Baphomets with leathery wings began scattering through the air.

Cover, biting his lip hard, rushed forward and shouted, “Stop them at all costs!”

Flying monsters were already challenging to deal with. Add their demonic nature, and the stakes were even higher.

Demonic species weren’t just stronger and more vicious than other monsters—they were also deadly toxic. All their bodily fluids were both acidic and poisonous. If an ordinary person even stepped in their blood, they’d suffer severe burns or have their flesh melt away.

There was no way they could allow these creatures to spread into the city. Following Cover’s lead, Kwon Taehyeok and Ryu Seonghyeon sprang into action.

Cutting through the remaining goblins, they rushed past Geunjeongmun and onto Yeongjegyo, where one of the Baphomets had already descended.

Flapping its wings furiously, the Baphomet let out a nails-on-glass screech, its long, black tongue slithering out from between jagged teeth.

Sensing the powerful aura radiating from Cover, one of the Baphomets dove straight at him. Its razor-sharp claws aimed for his throat, but Cover managed to block the strike with his blade, though the force sent him skidding backward.

“Ugh…!”

Already struggling without any active skills, Cover was quickly overwhelmed as two or three Baphomets at a time swarmed him. The same held true for Kwon Taehyeok, Ryu Seonghyeon, and Eun Woojeong, who were similarly engaged in frantic combat.

‘We’re holding up, but what about the other Hunters?’

Grinding his teeth, Cover deflected another attack and found an opening to strike. His blade pierced through a Baphomet’s abdomen, but even as it gurgled its last breaths, the creature lashed out violently.

Unless its head was severed, a Baphomet would continue to fight relentlessly, slowing down their attempts to eliminate them.

Meanwhile, the sound of human screams rang out clearly from near Gwanghwamun.

“We need more support!”

“Take them down! We have to take them down!”

The other Hunters knew just as well that they couldn’t allow the Baphomets to spread further.

However, capturing the flying monsters proved to be a daunting task. Many Hunters resorted to throwing themselves recklessly into battle, doing whatever they could to keep the situation from spiraling further out of control.

The number of injured began rising at an alarming rate. With screams growing louder and more frequent, Kwon Taehyeok and Ryu Seonghyeon fought desperately to handle the Baphomets attacking them, but their efforts barely made a dent.

Keaaak!

“Hah… hah…” Cover panted heavily as he beheaded the third Baphomet that had come at him.

For now, he had no more enemies directly targeting him, but there was no time to rest. Just as he moved to assist the other Hunters—

Giiiiiiing!

A terrible noise reverberated across the sky, shaking the earth itself. The blood in Cover’s veins felt as though it had drained away entirely, leaving a cold chill in its wake.

He looked up.

‘This… can’t be.’

It was impossible. It shouldn’t be happening. And yet, it was.

The rift convulsed violently, as if mocking their last vestiges of hope. From within the swirling distortion emerged something massive, something unmistakable.

Craaaack! Crash! Riiip!

The rift’s edges twisted and splintered as a colossal monster clawed its way out. The demonic creature had the form of a dragon, its grotesque body sprouting seven faces like malignant growths.

Under a storm-laden sky streaked with lightning, the enormous beast twisted its massive frame. Staring up at it, Cover exhaled the creature’s name in a strained whisper.

“Leviathan…”

S-class demon species were rare sights.

Before his regression, such monsters had appeared frequently across the globe. But here and now, they were all but unheard of. For most of those present, this would be their first encounter with a demon of this caliber.

Kyaaaak! Kraaak!

The remaining Baphomets howled in a frenzy, their excitement palpable at the emergence of a being far stronger than themselves. Now, there were the Baphomets, the Leviathan, and the rift that stubbornly refused to close. Staring up at the chaotic sky, Cover was briefly overwhelmed by a wave of helplessness.

‘Why on earth?’

This was no longer just about strategy or survival. A deeper, more fundamental question gripped him—what exactly was this rift?

At first, he had assumed it was the work of Kwak Seunggyu. But now, he wasn’t sure.

Could Kwak Seunggyu, or even the lab, truly have created this? Something of this scale? How? Was it even possible?

“…”

Cover’s gaze lowered slowly, settling on Ryu Seonghyeon, who was fighting fiercely nearby. Then he looked at Kwon Taehyeok and Eun Woojeong. He wasn’t ready to give up. The bizarre rift, now spitting out even an S-class demon species, terrified him. But it wasn’t enough to make him quit.

Still, a strange sense of confusion clouded his mind. For the first time, Cover felt truly lost—uncertain of who, or what, he was really up against.

‘Stop. Just stop thinking.’

Pressing his temples to ward off a piercing headache, Cover shut his eyes tightly for a moment before reopening them. He could fight. He would fight. There was nowhere left to run.

Taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip on his sword and stepped forward. And then—

Ding!

A sudden notification chimed. His wide, dark eyes trembled with uncertainty as he processed the unexpected message.

《Sub Quest has arrived!》

《Sub Quest: Eliminate the source of the rift (Class S)》

[Sub Quest: Eliminate the source of the rift]

Eliminate the source of the rift to shut it down. Once the source is destroyed, the rift’s duration will end immediately.

*Rift duration remaining: 1 hour 18 minutes 57 seconds

“This… what the hell…?”

Cover’s face twisted in dismay as he read the quest details. A quest now, of all times? Eliminate the source of the rift? How in the world did the system even know about that?

As his mind spiraled through questions, the unexpected happened.

Crackle!

Sparks jumped from the quest window, and another status screen appeared in its place.

《ë□□ì□¬ì□□ì□´ ë□□ê°□를 ì¹□ë □ì□µë□□ë□¤》

《ë□□ì□¬ì□□ì□´ ë□□ê°□를 ì¹□.》

《ë□□ì□¬ì□□ì□´ ë□□ê°□ paid.》

《ë□□ì□¬ì□□ì□´ paid the price.》

《ë□□ì□¬ì□□□ paid the price.》

The glitching, cracked status window was disturbingly familiar. Cover froze, his face pale as the broken display flickered and vanished. In its place, a normal-looking status screen appeared, as if nothing had happened.

《The Sub Quest difficulty is being adjusted.》

《Adjusting…》

《Adjustment complete.》

《Sub Quest: Eliminate the source of the rift (Class C)》

《The location of the source will now be displayed!》

《Current location of the source: Next to Geunjeongmun Gate》