Chapter 180 : The Hole
Chapter 180: The Hole
“─!”
Baek Woohyun leaped from the rooftop without hesitation and let out an intense roar. Within it was a thickly laden killing intent that said he would definitely kill them all.
The chain scythe gripped in his hand also unfurled lengthily according to that will. Very long, as if to ensure not a single one could escape.
By the time the enemies reacted half a beat late to this ambush committed so openly, with not even a thought of concealment—
Chwareureureuk!
The chain scythe that had been unfurled long enough to reach the entire range where the enemies gathered was swung as it was.
The chain, not the scythe, was blunt and naturally possessed no cutting power, but that didn’t matter at all.
Because the iron chain imbued with ‘Superhuman’ strength could break and tear apart human bodies far too easily.
Think of mooring lines used on ships.
How could a mere thick rope be sharp enough to instantly sever the body of whoever it struck?
If the force contained is strong, even paper can cut a person, and the chain Baek Woohyun swung possessed that much power.
“Insane…”
In short, it wasn’t at all strange that all the security guards within the chain’s range became security/guards with their upper and lower bodies separated.
Though the hunting dogs who barely reacted and survived with injuries, or the Hellhounds who managed to endure relatively intact, might not feel that way.
Looking at the Hellhound man’s pupils shaking as he spat out curses made that clear.
“The opponent is a Two-Headed class! Attack accordingly!”
“”Understood!””
Was this what it meant to be Hellhounds, the greatest force employed by the research facility-Corporate Alliance, even if they died soon?
He declared that Baek Woohyun was a strong fighter of at least Two-Headed class even among Hellhounds and issued instructions to the hunting dogs. Truly swift judgment and accurate response.
Furthermore, realizing that he too must give his all using everything at his disposal, he even activated the equipment issued to Hellhounds.
While the hunting dogs bought time even briefly, his scheme was to supplement his somewhat lacking power with relics containing Otherworld power.
“…!”
Baek Woohyun wasn’t one to just watch that sight.
Having already experienced the Otherworld power used by Hellhounds once, it was an object of caution for him.
He had never encountered it ‘over there,’ and because the source of the power was ‘Abrasax-Deus,’ he had no choice but to be careful.
That’s why, unlike before when he had half-deliberately allowed it, this time he moved before the opponent could fully draw out the Otherworld power contained in the equipment.
Taat!
Just before the eye symbolizing Otherworld power opened, Baek Woohyun appeared before the Hellhound man as if teleporting and swung the military dagger held in reverse grip.
Under the watch of the flashing inverted eyes, the blade tore through space like lightning. It was an intense slash, intense enough to carve a clear trajectory in the air.
“[Air Bubble]!”
Though the Hellhound hadn’t expected Baek Woohyun to reach before him this quickly while ignoring all other factors, surprisingly he succeeded in using a defensive technique.
If he had immediately rolled away and fled here, he might have definitely survived. Baek Woohyun couldn’t have kept chasing him while ignoring the other hunting dogs.
Of course, if he had that level of crisis response capability, he wouldn’t have been a headless Hellhound. He would have had at least one head attached.
For the man who was just an ordinary(?) Hellhound, this was the absolute limit.
Kwajijik!
“What?!”
The [Air Bubble] created by the Hellhound couldn’t withstand the military dagger Baek Woohyun swung. An extremely natural result.
Following the trajectory drawn by the slash, the transparent bubble split as it was, and through that gap, a hand shot in and snatched the Hellhound’s neck.
Realizing the process that would follow, he tried to do something with a face pale with terror, but Baek Woohyun didn’t give him a second chance.
Udeuk!
“The… leader died?”
“Wh-what do we do?”
The Hellhound’s death!
That was no different from saying the battle occurring here had essentially reached its end.
There was no way the remaining hunting dogs would charge at Baek Woohyun, who had killed the strongest leader, with confidence that they could win.
It didn’t take long to completely clean up those who fought half-heartedly while looking for any possibility of escape.
“……”
Having swept away all the enemies, Baek Woohyun wiped the blood from his military dagger and waited for Kim Hana. The noise coming from over there was gradually decreasing.
Since the presences he sensed with his Ki perception were almost cleaned up except for Kim Hana, he didn’t feel the need to go help.
As expected, before long Kim Hana appeared holding a longsword dripping with blood. She too seemed to have eliminated quite a few enemies.
“Well, I didn’t expect to get caught before you, junior. I was fairly confident.”
“I was lucky.”
“Lucky…”
Kim Hana looked at the humbly smiling Baek Woohyun with narrowed eyes.
She, who knew best in the Otherworld Management Bureau about Baek Woohyun and how strong he was, had an extremely meaningful expression.
At a glance, it seemed she was guessing something, or perhaps she had some conviction. Or both applied.
“……”
Baek Woohyun didn’t bother asking what she was thinking.
Because he noticed that Kim Hana wouldn’t answer anyway and would evade it.
So he merely gave a faint smile.
“…Well, fine. Let’s go with that. That’s not what’s important right now. Let’s go in right away!”
“Yes.”
The two, Baek Woohyun and Kim Hana, entered the now completely undefended house and faced a dimensional gate flickering with violet light.
It was rippling in a color so vivid it couldn’t be compared to the ash-gray that was the typical color of Reverse World dimensional gates.
That’s why it felt like a threat several times more dizzying than the other Reverse World dimensional gates they had seen several times.
“It means the Otherworldification has fully ripened.”
Kim Hana sighed while looking at the violet dimensional gate.
With her fairly long career as an Otherworld Management Bureau agent, she noticed how dangerous the dimensional gate before her was.
Honestly speaking, this was threatening enough that she worried even she might not come out alive.
“We might really die if we go in. Are you still okay with this?”
“Of course.”
“Alright. Then let’s go.”
After the formal Q&A, Baek Woohyun and Kim Hana stepped toward the Reverse Otherworld dimensional gate.
Due to the Reverse Otherworld characteristic of not having the passage that should exist after the dimensional gate, the two reached the different space immediately upon crossing the gate.
It was a bizarre place full of violet sky and earth dyed blue, where no house could be seen despite having formed inside an ordinary house.
“”……!””
Having finally entered the Reverse Otherworld, Baek Woohyun abruptly raised his head and looked in one direction. And Kim Hana did the same.
Because they realized immediately upon entering the enormous attraction, the powerful gravitational pull pervading the space itself called Reverse Otherworld.
It was an absolute flow that anyone, whether they had supernatural abilities or not, couldn’t help but feel.
Taat!
Baek Woohyun and Kim Hana immediately started running toward the center of the gravitational pull without even conversing!
They knew very well that when something ominous happened, they should first check the scene directly rather than discussing what to do.
Because countermeasures made by talking without even knowing the cause would likely remain meaningless armchair theory when actually facing the problem.
‘The researchers…!’
The two who were running saw researchers collapsed on puddles made of their own spilled blood enter their vision.
Because of that, their movements became even swifter. The hunting dogs, Hellhounds, and security guards were annihilated at their hands, and the researchers died too?
In other words, it meant that whoever was pulling tricks in the Reverse Otherworld was from the Otherworld side. That was absolutely unacceptable.
“Keu…uu…”
“…! Over there! The fourth researcher on the right is still alive!”
“Keep running!”
Huung!
As Baek Woohyun shouted while running, Kim Hana used the wind wrapped around her body to pick up the researcher he mentioned.
She brought the researcher before her as quickly and cleanly as possible without worsening the wounds, then shouted with wide-open eyes.
“Snap out of it!”
“Uu…u, wha…t…”
“What the hell did you bastards do here!”
“We, we… Keulleok!“
The researcher, whose internal organs seemed damaged as he vomited blood profusely, muttered weakly.
Perhaps belatedly realizing he was dying, the answer to the question came out quite obediently.
“To draw… more, Otherworld… power…”
“Draw Otherworld power? Don’t tell me!”
“…We drilled… a ‘hole’…”
“”……!””
The eyes of Baek Woohyun listening beside and Kim Hana interrogating simultaneously widened greatly. Because they understood the researcher’s answer that they ‘drilled a hole.’
It meant that the research facility-Corporate Alliance had finally drilled a hole in the dimensional barrier separating the Otherworld and Earth.
Not a dimensional gate that could somehow be opened or closed, but a hole that would continue to exist until it was filled!
“How could you do such an insane thing!”
“……”
“Keuuuu…”
Kim Hana spat out curses at the accident caused by the research facility-Corporate Alliance. Baek Woohyun also glared at the researcher with eyes full of killing intent.
Because bastards like this were the reason he thought all who cooperated with the Otherworld, regardless of faction, should all be killed.
Otherworld collaborators could never be satisfied with the results they obtained. Continuously pursuing more, they inevitably crossed lines that shouldn’t be crossed.
Just like right now.
“Spareー”
The unconscious researcher’s neck snapped completely, and Kim Hana flung him away while running as if throwing away trash.
Given how deep his wounds were, rolling on the ground several times like that would likely increase his chances of dying, but her face showed she didn’t care about such things at all.
The purpose of obtaining information from him was already achieved anyway, and considering what he and his colleagues did, dying was letting him off easy.
Even now when they were trying to somehow prevent the Otherworld from coming over, they drilled a hole in the dimensional barrier!
“There!”
Hwaaak!
Having finally reached the place where powerful gravitational pull was occurring, Baek Woohyun and Kim Hana felt the sensation of crossing an invisible curtain.
What they faced was a massive Otherworld Lord hidden within the curtain, Tempest Lord, and the Doppelganger standing on his hand, Abrasax-Deus.
Just as Baek Woohyun had guessed before coming here, Abrasax-Deus had brought Tempest Lord and committed this act.
‘The hole…!’
Baek Woohyun, who was first looking for the hole in the dimensional barrier that was said to be drilled, widened his eyes greatly. He found the hole’s location, but it was far too unexpected.
Kim Hana’s reaction was the same as his—she too seemed to have confirmed where the hole in the dimensional barrier was.
“Insane.”
Huuuuung-!
This time even Baek Woohyun couldn’t help but spit out curses. This was truly a scene he couldn’t have imagined even ‘over there.’
Because the ‘hole’ generating powerful gravitational pull was drilled right in the center of Tempest Lord’s chest!