Chapter 118

Thud!

"Do Jong-chan!"

The surging ground eliminated the mutant and blocked the flames. And his body was pushed back. Instead of lava, he saw the back of Branch Director Shin Gi-hyeon in front of his eyes.

"Fall back! Rest for at least 10 minutes and come back."

"N-no. I can also..."

"You're not in your right mind right now. Do as I say!"

The ground moved and pushed his body back.

Branch Director Shin Gi-hyeon, standing facing forward, wiped his soot-covered face. If 1st-grade Do Jong-chan, who had been at the rear, was in this state―of course, given Do Jong-chan's personality, he would have overexerted himself much more than others―the other personnel were needless to say. At least the veterans with longer years of service were enduring with their mental strength.

"They're coming fiercely."

More discouraging than an opponent who charged in with passion was an opponent who calmly spewed out lava without any agitation. Especially if their nonchalant actions were something that had to be blocked with all one's might on this side.

Boom, boom―!!!

At that moment, the entire ground shook greatly up and down. Along with the earthquake, the waves surged high right in front of the black mountain. The waves became a tsunami and gradually swelled in height as they approached the land. Of course, a large amount of lava was riding on the crest of that wave.

"A b-big one is coming! Over there!"

The branch director, who confirmed the situation with his eyes, urgently pressed the in-ear communication device.

"Everyone, get on top of the buildings!"

The hunters kicked the ground and jumped up. The hunter who barely hung his arm on the rooftop of a building was pulled up by the hand of a senior hunter.

Boom boom boom boom―...!

"Crouch down! The heat will be tremendous too!"

Whoosh!!!!!

A huge tsunami engulfed the land. The ground shook so violently that it was impossible to stand. The debris of the ruined village was swept away, and broken signboards and large glass shards flew around due to the hot wind. The smell of sulfur filled the air. Screams burst out from here and there at the impact that felt like burning the skin with fire.

The lava that had invaded deep into the land receded along with the wave down the slope. After a while, a few buildings whose first-floor walls had been completely melted by the lava collapsed. The hunters, who had been coughing due to the heat, had to dodge the collapsing buildings without even a moment to catch their breath.

However, only the lava in one specific spot wriggled violently as if resisting the attempt to slide down the road. It was below the two people from the flight team who were floating high enough not to be reached by the heat, instead of hiding in the buildings.

"What's with that, why is it doing that?"

"Be careful."

"Yeah. I've figured out how high it can rise now."

The lava was still surging upward in that spot and falling forward, trying to hold out, but it couldn't overcome the gravity of the downward slope. So even if it surged up to the maximum, it would be about 2m. Soram approached the lava showing abnormal behavior, holding his sword.

"Seeing that it's moving, there must be a core somewhere."

Soram descended a little more and examined the lava at a point about 3m away. At that moment, the wriggling lava pulled all the lava behind it and abruptly raised its head.

Grrrk, boom boom boom―...!

"Ack."

Soram hastily retreated, and Tae-un also grabbed Soram and pulled him back. The spot where Soram had been floating just a moment ago was engulfed by the arm of the lava.

"Huff, what, is it a trap? What, ugh...!"

As if not wanting to let the two escape, the lava raised its body again and pounced. As they flew back, Soram and Tae-un hurriedly stretched out their hands.

The power that reflexively poured out from the two mixed together and flew in front of the lava.

Boom―!

"Oh."

A wall mixed with blue and white colors was created in front of the two, and the lava that collided with it was blocked. Right. This kind of... technique was possible. Both of them looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions. In the meantime, Min-ki, who had moved above the mutant's head, cut out the core with his sword.

Poof―…

A large amount of lava turned to dust and scattered. With this, they had somehow overcome the lava brought by the sudden large wave.

"What did you two just do?"

"...The flight team's special move."

"It seems to consume a lot."

As he said, the technique proved that it was effective against lava, but the two were already out of breath. Even without saying it, they agreed not to use it twice. Because it was important to conserve strength here and cut down as many mutants as possible.

"Jin Soram, Chief Han-nim, don't get too injured either."

"You too."

Min-ki left a greeting and immediately moved back to various parts of the battlefield.

Sizzle!

And Soram and Tae-un's swords also moved. The faint light that had been falling from the sky had completely disappeared, as if the sun above the clouds had fully set. The sky, which had always only known to pour light on the surface of the water, had to reflect the red light emitted from the sea in a humiliating way today.

10:00 p.m., 10 hours after the dungeon outbreak.

The Great Rift had turned everything dark red. The hellish scene was mixed with the roar of collapsing buildings and the screams of injured hunters.

The black mountain remained the same as it had been eight hours ago. However, it was clear that if they stopped the defense, it would push up to the barricade in an instant. It was truly a desperate struggle against an overwhelming natural disaster. Doubts began to creep into the hunters' minds about whether a lull would ever come.

In the midst of that, another large wave carrying lava passed by. Then, the number of remaining combat-capable hunters was halved.

"Huff, huff..."

"Huff..."

Everywhere was a sea of fire, and the enemy's momentum hadn't changed at all, and the hunters were exhausted. Even Branch Director Shin Gi-hyeon, who commanded them, was in a state where he could collapse at any moment.

What should they do?

Without even time to think, he saw a mutant rising in front of a staggering hunter in the distance. It was when he was about to hurriedly move his heavy legs.

Bang!

At that moment... With the sound of a gunshot, the core embedded in the mutant's chest shattered. Branch Director Shin Gi-hyeon, who was about to raise his sword, looked in the direction the bullet had come from, and there stood Soram, aiming a smoking gun barrel.

Bang! Bang!

As a few more bullets hit, the mutant turned into smoke and disappeared.

"Where did you get that from?"

"I found it over there in the yard. There must have been a terrorist hideout. Eek, scary!"

Soram spread out the carrier he was carrying in front of the branch director. It was packed full of firearms.

"Now you're an accomplice too, Branch Director-nim!"

He glared at Soram fiercely, but he was lightly ignored. Then, the branch director shifted his cold gaze to Tae-un, who was standing next to him.

"..."

Tae-un also avoided eye contact, feeling the weight he had to bear when having a crush on Soram. Even though his heart was quite innocent, the target was not easy to handle.

"Han Tae-un, you take this too."

"...Okay."

Tae-un thought that if an investigation were to take place later because of this incident and he ended up in prison, it would be him. Because the carrier full of guns belonged to him…

It took about five or six bullets embedded in the core to destroy a mutant, and the speed was much slower than a hunter directly cutting it with a sword. However, it gave them a moment to catch their breath as they had been swinging their weapons with their entire bodies.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Click.

"Huh?"

Soram shook the gun a few times. Then he took out a magazine he had put in his pocket and pondered for a moment before bringing it to Tae-un.

"How do I change this?"

Tae-un realized... This guy is really inexperienced.

"How did you shoot the gun?"

"By feeling."

He inserted the new magazine with a few taps. The items in Soram's carrier were now openly shared and completely emptied.

"Everyone took a gun each, shouldn't we have used them sparingly?"

"No. Military supplies will soon come in from outside as support. Even the humans who had been sitting back, saying it's the hunters' jurisdiction, won't be able to stay still once they find out that guns work against the dungeon."

In the past, when the hunters had requested firearms, the agenda of 'If they wield swords with tremendous power and also hold guns, won't they become too threatening?' had dragged on for several days. However, if this situation was broadcast, they would swiftly send firearms, as they couldn't withstand the pressure from the public.

Anyway, thanks to the mysterious guns, they bought about an hour, and during that time, additional reinforcements sent from each branch, who had recognized the severity, arrived.

With the appearance of new people, the momentum of the lava that had engulfed the apartment complex temporarily retreated. However, it fell into another stalemate and sluggishly fought over positions. Soram and Tae-un, who had recovered their stamina a little, also grabbed their swords again and lifted their bodies.

Soram glanced at the dark sky and checked the time.

2:00 a.m., 14 hours after the dungeon outbreak.

"Aaaah! Damn it! Aaaaah! How long will it keep surging in!"

The flames flickering in the darkness were more visible, but they also brought fatigue. The battle had been going on for several hours now. It was exhausting even though it wasn't a fight to win but simply to endure.

"Ugh...!"

Lava grazed over the burned arm. The charred skin had long been covered in pus.

The veteran hunters who had said not to worry because this country had overcome it twice, the new hunters who had trembled in fear, the hunters who couldn't grasp the situation and thought it would be resolved soon, all of them were now in a miserable state. The more they faced the lava, the more they realized that the moment this lava crossed the barricade behind them, not only Busan but also the existence of the Republic of Korea could be in danger.

"Ugh, ugh!"

"Huff, haa..."

Most of the hunters were bleeding from their noses or mouths in addition to the injuries caused by the lava. It was because the hot smoke they inhaled while breathing had damaged their insides.

Please, how much longer…

The reason they didn't cry beyond their stinging throats was that they had to sharpen their senses and cut down the mutants in that moment. If one stopped, the other had to face two.

"Aaaah!"

They no longer knew how they moved their arms and legs. They just swung their arms when they saw a core in front of their eyes, and they couldn't even feel the pain of the lava grazing their bodies.

We have to endure, we have to endure.

Everyone remaining at the scene swung their arms with only that thought in mind. Their limbs were so heavy that they wanted to cut them off, and their vision became hazy. Yet, whenever they came to their senses and looked around, they despaired at the fact that they had been pushed back even further than at the beginning.