Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Of course, Seokhyun would not commit an act of violating a man… won’t he?

Please, please let it be the case…

However, without knowing about my anguish, Seokhyun kept shaking his hips.

“SEEEGGGSSS!!!”

The reason Seokhyun acted like that was to let the man know that he had entered serious mode. However, since it’s the first time the man had ever met Seokhyun, he interpreted it differently.

“I’ll tell you… I’ll tell you everything, so please…” The man cried and begged

I calmed down and asked the man. “Name?”

“Va-Vargo… Raffles.”

“Affiliation?”

“First scouting party under the Transcendence Knights…”

“Post location.”

“Th-that…”

Before I could say anything, Seokhyun turned to him. It seemed like he guessed my intent right.

“Wha-what are you trying to do?”

Slap!

Seokhyun slapped Vargo on the butt.

“Now this is a good butt!”

“S-stop… please stop!”

“Post location.”

When I said it in a slower tone in order to emphasize it, he quickly spewed out the answer.

“Th-thirty kilometers south of the Allegris Plains!”

“Tell me the location using the capital of the Ruat Kingdom as its base.”

“…Are you from Ruat? Once the military knows that you treated me like this…”

They will probably order an extermination order for me, right?

I pulled out the mithril blade and stuck it between his legs.

“If you hesitate or try to return my question with another question once again, I will make that thing between your legs unusable.”

Then Seokhyun whispered in his ear.

“You also won’t be able to use the back one anymore~”

“Ugh.”

As soon as he heard those words, Vargo’s body became tense.

“We both know you don’t want that to happen, so cooperate. Post location.”

“Uh… based on the capital of Ruat… it’s 65 km northwest.”

It’s that close?

Considering a hornbill’s speed, the people there could reach this place in just a couple hours.

“The institution, what of its size? Tell me starting with the highest level institution.”

“You.. Soldiers of the Ruat Kingdom… Ugh! So, sorry! It’s my fault!”

After Seokhyun lightly patted him on the back, Vargo shuddered and trembled.

“You are free to think whatever you want, but you’d better not say it out loud. Or, as promised, I will cut off your dick.”

When he heard the sound of a knife being drawn, he shouted quickly.

“Th-there’s the Transcendence Knights, the Royal Guard, the Order, and the Mage Tower under the General Headquarters!”

“What is the total number of people living there?”

“Including the civilians?”

“Everyone.”

“Slightly over seven thousand…”

How come they had that many people?

Both me and Seokhyun stuck out our tongues at the number of survivors. They seemed to be well organized on top of having a big scale.

Can their state even be considered as ‘have been destroyed by Giudecca’?

“Good. Next, tell me the number of Transcendence Knights.”

“I-I don’t know that much… What a scout can know is limited…”

It would mean the knowledge regarding the number of Transcendence Knights wasn’t widespread.

Well, I can’t really do anything about it…

I inquired more about this and that, but surprisingly, Vargo didn’t know much. It’s proof that the Ezekium Military controls the troops under its command strictly.

Lastly, I asked him about the talking ogre.

“There were rumors of a talking ogre going around. I was sent here to capture the ogre alive and bring it back…” He answered meekly.

“What are you planning to do with him?”

“I don’t know, but it looks like the Magic Tower was trying to do some kind of experiment with it…”

“To uncover the reason behind why that ogre has intelligence?”

“I think there was another reason, but I don’t know what. Really.”

As a mere scout, the information he possessed was limited. For more accurate information, I should ask a Transcendence Knight after capturing one. Though, it’s highly doubtful whether it’s possible to do it with our own strength.

When we inquired about the Transcendence Knight’s combat power, Vargo’s slumped shoulders rose up.

“Their strength? Even ten ordinary knights are no match against just a single one of them. They are true to their name, they have transcended humanity.”

“That’s kind of scary.”

When I deliberately lowered my head, he immediately became elated.

“If you release me, I can tell the knights to let it pass.”

“Are they this strong?” Seokhyun uprooted the tree in front of him as he asked.

Vargo’s mouth fell open at the sight.

“No-Nonsense…”

It seemed like the Transcendence Knights weren’t as strong as that. In other words, if I were to use the Abomination transformation, I would have the upper hand in a one on one fight. However, they have the numbers advantage, so it would be disadvantageous for us to fight a long battle against them.

By the way, what should we do…

No matter what we do with this scout, the Transcendence Knights would surely come. In the end, the only way was to make the ogre move from this place.

I made a plan and covered Vargo’s head with a bag.

“I already told you everything you wanted!”

“If I send you back like this, you will definitely be reprimanded, right?”

“…”

“Hang on a tree for a while. Then you will live.”

“W-what if a monster comes?”

“There’s an ogre nearby, so monsters will not dare to come. Well, if one still comes, I guess that’s just your luck.”

“HEY!”

Vargo tried to break free at that moment, but Seokhyun pounded him with his fists and slammed him into the ground.

It’s quiet now.

I proceed to tell Seokhyun my plan to convince Little Fist to move.

“Transform into Bomi and kick him out? That’s a good plan.”

“What the hell is Bomi?”

“I mean, Abomination is too long for a name, so let’s just shorten it and call it Bomi.”

I sighed and handed Seokhyun the bracelet. He put it on and walked into the cave. After a while, a roar was heard from the cave and the ogre came out running.

“A monster had appeared!”

You are the monster, you cowardly ogre.

.

.

.

Little Fist ran away from his home as we had planned. Befitting his cowardly nature, he was utterly terrified when he saw the Abomination, which was smaller than himself, and ran away. To follow up with our plan, I led him to a cave near the lake which was not far from the new location of our shelter.

Things have been going according to the plan up until that point.

However, I couldn’t help but agree that the abilities of Transcendence Knights were no joke. After all, using means unknown to us, they were able to immediately follow us.

I hid inside the portal with Seokhyun and watched them. The Transcendence Knights truly carry different air from Vargo. They all wore light leather armor and carried a sword as well as several axes around their waist. On top of it, their eyes were really no joke.

Should I say that they had the same air as a war veteran?

The three wandered around the lakeside and encountered a group of monsters; It was a group of goblins led by an orc.

The Transcendence Knight, who seemed to be the captain of the party, frowned.

“It’s a waste of time. Get rid of them quickly.”

“Understood.”

As one of them unsheathed their sword, the dozen or so monsters were cleared instantly. When their light footwork was combined with their swordsmanship, the monster’s attack could not even touch them. Even the orcs couldn’t resist properly.

To be honest, I was really amazed. Compared to their way of fighting, all I’d done so far was nothing more than child’s play.

When I told Seokhyun about it, he answered as he stroked his thin beard.

“Those who bear the title of knight are those who have devoted their entire lives to swordsmanship. It’s only natural that they would be that strong.”

At that time, Yoohyeon, who stood next to me while piloting the paper airplane, spoke cautiously.

“H-hyung… The scout that you hung in front of the cave… I think he’s dead.”

“Dead? They didn’t free him?”

“Blood was dripping from the bag… I can see the knife marks.”

“Damn it.”

I thought they would keep him alive, but to think that they killed him…

Just what kind of order did they receive?

I tried to use ability analysis on one of the knights. However, a message I hadn’t seen before popped up.

「The skill can’t be used on this object」

“What is this?”

The skill worked fine against Ahn Geun-seok and Go Ho Kyung. So why didn’t it work on these people?

I thought it was strange, but before I could even arrive at an answer, I was forced to put the thoughts away as I saw the captain of the Transcendence Knight party looking directly at the dimension gate. Then he slashed the ax resting at his side in an incredibly quick motion.

When the ax blade hit the dimensional door and made a sound, the rest of the Transcendence Knights immediately rushed at it.

Without waiting any longer, I immediately closed the dimensional door.

“They are complete madmen.”

“In what aspect?”

After hearing the story, Seokhyun smiled.

“If they can react that fast, it might be fun fighting against them. Open it again.”

“No, wait. I have something to think about.”

It was really suspicious that the Transcendence Knights could follow us all the way here. I was not arrogant enough to think that we leave no trace behind, but even so, they were able to follow us without even considering any other path, which was really strange. It was as if they knew exactly where we were. Moreover, they also have the ability to recognize the dimensional door.

“No matter how much I think about it, I think they are able to sense ether.”

“We can’t do that, can’t we?”

That’s right. Our senses were only able to catch movement, not the ether itself.

I called a scarab at that moment and asked about it. He then guided me to his studio. It was a place where the work of interpreting the journal which was looted by Geom-in was being carried out.

One of the guys handed me an interpretation.

「Your Excellency, Count Pistel of the Great Ezekium Empire.

The knights’ ether heart formation experiment was successful.

Up to 85% of the knights have ether hearts in their bodies, which will make them superior to any other knights in terms of combat power, endurance, and tracking power.

However, the side effects are as strong as the effects. Up to 95% of knights suffered ether poisoning, which made their health worsened every passing day.

It’s believed that more etherstone and funds support are needed to overcome the side effects.」

The translation ended there. All I could know from those translations was the fact that the Transcendence Knights had ether hearts in their bodies and that they were made through many experiments. It’s a possibility that their ether tracking ability was also created in a series of experiments.

“Then, it means that it would be dangerous to leave the portal open.”

Furthermore, there could have been a human who had the ability to block other people’s ability by interfering with the ether directly. Just like Joo Seung-cheol.

“This world is filled with ether, isn’t it? It’s only natural that there are monsters that would be far ahead of us here. So, let’s go ahead and find out more information.”

Seokhyun opened his mouth.

“No, wait. I need to find out more about their abilities.”

He sighed at my answer.

“Sometimes it’s easier to just fight rather than thinking about it.”

“By the way, what are the others doing?”

“Well, I haven’t seen them since before.”

The place where we were right now was at our dorm in Korea Shelter. However, in the repurposed large office, only Seokhyun and Yoohyeon were present.

Looking at the bulletin board, I found out that they had gone to the Great Labyrinth. It seems that the Chinese were at it again.

-Uh, I heard the Chinese are coming this way… There are so many of them.

-They again… What did they want now?

-You remember the guy called Zhao Ziwei who tried to manipulate the bottled water sale and got killed by Seongho, right? I think they want those points back.

-Are they crazy? He died because of his own hubris.

-I don’t know the reason, they just say that if they don’t get it back, they’ll die.

-Tell them to get lost. If we return the points, they’ll definitely ask for more.

-Uh, our president called. Anyone have time?

-Ahjussi is talking to an ogre right now, isn’t it? Let’s just go without him.

Looking at the auction house, it was said that confrontation was continuing in the labyrinth of Gimpo Airport. A significant number of Korea Shelter’s members were dispatched there.

In other words, it’s basically a war.

The justification the Chinese had was the points that they lost, but in fact, what the Chinese covet was the supplies the Korean had. Rather than starve to death as it is, it seemed that they wanted at least try once more rather than dying while doing nothing.

“Seokhyun…”

“I got it. I should go there, shouldn’t I? Be sure to tell me how strong the Transcendence Knights were later, okay?”

As I nodded my head, He jumped out of the window and started running somewhere.

I called out to him urgently.

“The way you are going right now is eastward! Go westward!”

“Hyung, I’ll guide him using the paper airplane.”

“Can you please?”

I left the task to Yoohyeon and opened the dimensional door. All that was left now were the three Transcendence Knights who were still looking at the dimensional door.

Those eyes really give me goosebumps.

“I felt the ether again just now. Looks like his ability is related to space.”

“It seems that he is a person with the ability to open a sub-space… Is he perhaps someone from Ruat?”

“Do you think those timid bastards dare to think of disobeying? Aren’t they people who tremble badly even when only one squad is dispatched against them?”

“Anyone with the ability to use that level of ether should be someone that has made a name for themselves.”

“We’ll have to ask the Magic Tower.”

The captain said so and crossed his arms in front of the dimension door. Then, he said as if to warn me.

“Let me warn you, you lurking rat. We already know that you lead the ogre to run away. If you reveal everything, I’m willing to give you a lenient punishment. As for time… 10 minutes should be enough.”

The Transcendence Knights next to him giggled.

“Our captain is too lenient.”

“If you don’t come out quickly, we will forcefully open the space. That will definitely not end well.”

What the… They seemed to have some means of revealing my portal.

The dimension gate itself was strong, but it was not immune to damage. One blow from an ogre’s fist cracked the dimensional wall. I don’t know what would happen if they used the ether blade against it.

Sooyeon’s buff… I still have it.

Let’s do it, then.

Outside, the knights were talking about their headquarters. It seemed that they were trying to contact their headquarters with the whispering jewel. But the captain clicked his tongue, clearly not liking the idea.

“It means our big chested vice-captain, Pistel, will definitely listen to the report as well.”

“That woman…will definitely try to take our credit.”

“That’s the problem. So let’s just solve it by ourselves. Let’s contact the Magic Tower directly and get some help from them.”

It’s not a really good idea to contact other departments because you don’t trust your boss…

What I’m going to do has been decided. I had to subdue them before they could pull out the whispering jewel. If they successfully called the Magic Tower, the situation would definitely escalate.

I lit the flash can and threw it out of the portal. As a roar erupted and dazzling light scattered everywhere, the Transcendence Knights groaned and retreated.

“Ugh!”

As I walked through the dimensional door and wore the Abomination Bracelet, I transformed into a monster.

The captain’s eyes widened as he regained his sight.

“Th-the test subject!”

What the heck is he talking about?

I hit him with all I got.

The captain of the Transcendence Knights party flew back as if he had been hit by a car.