CHAPTER 72
072 - Already?

The farther they got from the city, the harder it became to drive. It was because the intact roads were gradually disappearing.
Although he could still manage to drive the car, the roads weren't the only problem. Hordes of monsters that charged at them at a moment's notice were also an issue.
"Leave the outside to me, Jinwoo! You just focus on driving!"
Chartia took charge of dealing with the monsters.
The vines she extended struck, grabbed, and threw any monsters that recklessly charged at them, eliminating them all.
Among them were some rather large and heavy ones. For those, a flower bud would bloom on a vine and spit! out a seed. The seed flew like a shotgun blast, piercing the monster's head and scrambling its brain.
Gurgle…
Foaming at the mouth, the monster crashed to the ground with a thud. Whether big or small, no monster could touch the vehicle protected by Chartia.
"Is everything taken care of?"
"Not yet. There are still some chasing us from behind."
Looking in the side mirror, he could see quite a few beast-like monsters running after them. At a glance, they looked like wolves, but a closer look revealed their tongues were split into three.
About a dozen wolf-type monsters were chasing them, their trifurcated tongues hanging out as they panted.
"There are a lot of monsters. I don't think there were this many near the city…"
"That's because Hunters often clear out the areas near the city."
Not only did the city have a barrier to block and repel monsters, but Hunters also periodically cleaned the surrounding areas.
When a monster horde was confirmed near the city, the Bureau would post a bounty, and Hunters or guilds seeking the reward money would hunt them down.
Jinwoo had primarily been active inside Gates, so he wasn't familiar with that kind of work, but he had heard about it.
"This side is fine, so just focus on driving, Jinwoo! Are you having any trouble?"
"I can still manage for now."
The road was rough, but it wasn't completely destroyed. It was still more or less drivable.
Leaving the monster disposal to Chartia, Jinwoo focused entirely on driving.
No, not entirely. In his mind, he was asking the glass bead—the God of the Moonlight Forest—a few questions.
'It didn't sound like you were just telling me not to trust Grisella. When you said not to trust anyone, who were you referring to?'
If she had wanted to warn him about Grisella, she could have just said so. Don't trust her.
But the God of the Moonlight Forest had told him not to trust anyone but herself. Who exactly did "anyone" include? Did she mean the minions, including Grisella and Vertus? Or did she mean not just the minions, but all of the Lords as well?
[The latter… is correct.]
'You're saying the other Lords can't be trusted either.'
It wasn't a difficult statement to accept.
It was just that on the 3rd Floor, Vertus had said that not all Lords of Erosion accepted Erosion and wielded its power.
He had claimed that some among them rejected it and were searching for ways to cut out and remove, or seal, the Seed of Erosion.
Was she saying that even those beings were ultimately untrustworthy?
'While we're on the subject, let me ask. Are you a Lord? The same as them?'
Since the topic had come up, Jinwoo asked her directly. Was she, the God of the Moonlight Forest, the World Tree, also one of them, a Lord?
He was sure he'd heard before that the Lords were divine spirits in whom Seeds of Erosion had been planted. In the beginning, there was the First Monarch, and his power was split into twelve and planted in twelve divine spirits.
That was how the twelve Lords were born. If so, what exactly was the thirteenth, the World Tree?
[…]
There was no answer. He didn't know if she couldn't hear him or was just pretending not to know.
'If you don't answer, no more cartoons. Don't you want to see the next episode?'
[…!]
There was still no reply, but he could feel a severe agitation. Her feeling of frantically stamping her feet, unsure of what to do, was transmitted to him completely.
For her emotions to be conveyed so clearly yet for there to be no answer meant it was the kind of question that couldn't be answered. Either there was a reason for it, or some kind of restriction was in place.
"Phew! All taken care of."
Just then, Chartia, who had been leaning halfway out of the car, came back in. It seemed she had finished dealing with all the monsters.
He checked the side mirror, and sure enough, there were no monsters chasing them anymore. Since they were moving quickly, he couldn't confirm their corpses, though.
"Good work."
"It was nothing. Ah, it looks like Mayor Ma Doo-sik's side has successfully completed the transport as well."
"Did you get a call?"
"No. I'm monitoring her myself."
Chartia said with a grin.
From what he heard, she had planted a seed on the Elf without telling Ma Doo-sik. Through that seed, she was monitoring Grisella's movements.
"This is a classified matter that the mayor is handling personally. Is it okay for you to do that?"
"It's for the 'just in case' scenario. You never know, that Elf might suddenly attack. Oh, it looks like Hunter Shin Do-woong has joined them."
If Shin Do-woong was there too, then Grisella was being monitored by a total of three S-class Hunters.
With that level of surveillance, she wouldn't be able to make a move easily, even if she had some scheme in mind. Ma Doo-sik wasn't a fool, and Chartia was monitoring her thoroughly, so she would let him know immediately if anything happened.
He could relax and focus on the minion of Erosion that had appeared in the East Sea.
"We're getting close."
And then, the sea began to come into view.
At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But soon, a thick fog began to roll in.
"Is it an enemy!?"
Chartia reacted sensitively and prepared to unfurl her vines. But the enemy was still far away.
In the distant sea, the shadow of a ship was approaching.
"Hmm…"
Jinwoo infused his eyes with mana and peered through the fog. It was a dense fog where only the silhouettes of objects could be seen, but it couldn't block Jinwoo's vision.
What appeared was a worn-out, dilapidated ship on the verge of falling apart. On its bow, a skeleton stood leaning on a staff, its cloak fluttering.
As the skeleton struck the deck with its staff—Thump!—ghost-like skeletons began to rise from all over the ship.
"A ghost ship… I suppose. The one on the bow is probably a Lich."
"A Lich?"
At Jinwoo's words, Chartia's expression turned slightly troubled. A Lich was a rather troublesome opponent.
A being positioned at the top of the undead hierarchy. They were weak alone, but the armies they commanded were not to be taken lightly.
Even so, an S-class Hunter could handle it, but she thought it would still take a considerable amount of time.
"Chartia. I'll take the lead, so please provide support."
"Ah, yes!"
It was common sense for the swordsman to be at the vanguard and the mage to guard the rear. Chartia nodded in agreement.
It was only when Jinwoo drew the Sky Sword and swung it that she realized she had misunderstood.

The Lich, Elvanov.
The ship carrying him crossed the sea and charged toward the land. The ship, which should have naturally stopped, continued its advance without pause. Even on land, its speed didn't decrease in the slightest.
Instead, the ghost ship continued its violent voyage, destroying all traces of civilization in its path.
'I will devour everything.'
Elvanov's eyes glowed with a chilling blue light.
His Lord had given him two tasks. One was to destroy and devour every living thing he saw.
That was not much different from the usual instinct of the undead. He would have done it anyway, even without an order.
What was important was the second mission.
To find and retrieve a divine object located somewhere on this star.
'The one who took the divine object is also human. If I destroy human settlements as I find them, I will eventually discover it.'
The Lich Elvanov, who had once made an entire kingdom tremble in fear. Destroying a single city was nothing to him.
He cackled, thinking he could easily carry out his orders and return. It was just then that a brilliant light fell upon his head.

KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KABOOM!
A bolt of lightning struck, sweeping away the Lich's entire army. The ship, which was on the verge of breaking, truly shattered and collapsed, and the Lich on the bow lost its balance and fell.
It tried to right itself mid-fall and fly into the sky, but by then it was too late. Jinwoo's sword split it in two and absorbed the Black Flame.
Clack… clack…
The Lich moved its stiff bones and reached out a hand. The hand was directed not at Jinwoo, who had defeated it in a single blow, but at something else.
To be precise, it was aimed at the Scabbard of the Sky God in his other hand.
'It must know this is the Sky God's scabbard.'
Or perhaps it had received prior instructions. If you find this scabbard, retrieve it immediately.
'He would want it back.'
This was the divine object that the Sky God, the Lord of the Ceiling, had left on the 3rd Floor. It wasn't just abandoned; it was an item placed there to exert influence from the Gate.
Since Jinwoo had destroyed the temple and stolen it, of course he would want it back. It wouldn't be strange if he had given strict orders to all the minions he sent to Earth.
However, it was said that there was no specific pattern yet in the actions of the minions appearing all over the world.
Perhaps…
'It's because they don't know where the scabbard is.'
They likely didn't know where on Earth the scabbard was located.
If they knew the divine object was in Seoul, they might gather all their forces and converge on the city at once.
If that happened, no matter how strong Jinwoo was, he wouldn't be able to stop them. The damage would be even greater than when New York fell during the Ireland incident.
'…I'll have to be careful not to show the scabbard in front of Grisella.'
CRACK!
Jinwoo struck the Lich with the scabbard, completely shattering its bones. With no arms left to move, the being was helpless as it disintegrated and scattered into the air. Only its flame flowed through the sword and was wholly absorbed by Jinwoo.
The ghost ship that had been arbitrarily docked and the remnants of its army all vanished. With a few streaks of lightning and a single swing of his sword, an entire ship disappeared in an instant.
"I-It's over?"
Chartia, who had been preparing for battle, let her arms fall limply. The battle she had imagined was one where an endless wave of skeletons would surge forward, Jinwoo would struggle to break through, and she and Jinwoo would fight back-to-back to defeat them.
But in reality, Jinwoo had ended it with just a few swings of his sword.
Even though a Lich was considered a monster an S-class Hunter could handle, she hadn't expected it to start and end so easily.
"This side is finished. Should I call and ask if there are any other Erosions?"
"Oh, should we?"
Chartia felt drained. She had been quite tense, but the matter had ended so simply.
Jinwoo put his sword back into his inventory and took out his smartphone instead. He called Ma Doo-sik, and after a short wait, the other party answered.
—Yes, Hunter Kang Jinwoo. Do you perhaps require support?
"No. We're finished here."
—Finished? You've already dealt with it?
Ma Doo-sik was surprised for a similar reason as Chartia. Though, of course, not as much as Chartia, who had witnessed it firsthand.
"Is Grisella there?"
—Yes. She is.
"Could you ask her where the next Erosion is?"
He could hear Ma Doo-sik asking on the other end of the line. He called for Grisella and explained the situation.
—What? He already defeated the Lich Elvanov?
Then, a voice unable to hide its surprise came through the phone. Jinwoo's eyes narrowed at how overly shocked she sounded.