CH 354

The two smiling twins were as creepy as could be, and looking at them filled Gi-Gyu with anxiety and unease.

‘I need to do something.’ He had been momentarily stunned; now that he could think well again, he felt the flow of time and the twins’ stare directed at him.

“Hup!” Gi-Gyu tried to punch the black nucleus suddenly. His fist moved like a bullet, fast and baleful, but something like an invisible shield halted it in midair; Gi-Gyu was wide-eyed with shock.

“Ugh…” Gi-Gyu felt something sticky covering his fist and tried to yank it out, but it was stuck. He attempted to use Death and Chaos, but it was useless.

-You must be born…

-...with us.

The babies’ eyes shone, and their lips curled into an ugly grin; they had started moving. Gi-Gyu couldn’t appreciate the situation or the babies’ lallation, but what happened next topped those on his priority list. Suddenly, the nucleus expanded and swallowed everything.

[Predation will begin now.]

This was the skill Ironshield had gained thanks to Andras.

‘I can’t believe this skill works inside the shell too!’ Gi-Gyu hadn’t expected this, so he was nonplussed.

‘No!’ Gi-Gyu screamed silently as the black nucleus swallowed him. It was like being trapped in some extra-sticky jelly; it felt horrible. He flailed like a fish but still failed to escape.

And worse yet, the babies hadn’t stopped babbling; it felt like they were brainwashing him.

-You must be born…

-...with us.

And in the meanwhile, the agonized screams hadn’t stopped either.

-Save me…

-Please!

-Mom…

-It hurts… Kill us… Kill us…

The pained voices seemed to be piercing Gi-Gyu’s chest.

-Ackkkk…

‘Stop…’ The more Gi-Gyu tried to escape, the worse the screams became. The pain Gi-Gyu felt worsened, and he was losing consciousness. He could barely move, and he could only focus on getting rid of the screams.

“Ackkk!” Gi-Gyu screamed, ultimately failing to keep his pain contained. He melted into the countless screaming voices and Ironshield, and suddenly, he heard a system announcement.

[You have synced.]

Gi-Gyu realized that someone had force-synced with him.

***

Go Hyung-Chul shouted in shock, “What is happening right now?!”

The battle had ended a long time ago. The incredible giant, who could seemingly destroy the world, had fallen at the hands of his master and friend.

“Kim Gi-Gyu! Kim Gi-Gyu!” Go Hyung-Chul yelled as he ran toward the giant. But he was stopped by Kang Ji-Hee, Haures, Fenrir, and even the lizardman.

“No!”

“You can’t go that way!”

“Kwerk!”

“Kirrrk!”

Go Hyung-Chul was desperate. “Let go of me! I must get to him!”

When Go Hyung-Chul refused to stop and even unleashed his sorcerous energy, Fenrir finally stopped him by biting his neck.

“Kwerkk!”

“...!” Kang Ji-Hee looked shocked. She tried to stop the wolf, but Fenrir glared at her while holding Go Hyung-Chul in its mouth. Kang Ji-Hee froze, unable to do anything.

Another man, who had tried to stop Go Hyung-Chul, reassured her, “Don’t worry. He just fainted, that’s all.”

Kang Ji-Hee turned toward him. ‘I think his name is… Haures?’ 

She was certain this man was exuding demonic energy.

“Kwerrk.” Kang Ji-Hee was still staring at Haures when the giant wolf, Fenrir, put Go Hyung-Chul down on the ground. Just as Haures had claimed, Go Hyung-Chul was unconscious but unhurt.

Turning toward the giant, Haures muttered, “All of us are worried.”

The Dragon-Knight Order was circling the giant; the knight on the biggest dragon was in the middle.

Looking at Kang Ji-Hee, Haures continued, “Our master has always returned victorious.”

In a whisper, he added, “I didn’t get to see it, but…”

“Pardon?” Kang Ji-Hee asked in confusion.

“It’s nothing.” Haures seemed to relax a little as he turned toward the giant again. Ironshield, whose body had been split by Gi-Gyu, was regenerating again. The pieces slowly came together, but this didn’t mean that the giant was recovering. Ironshield was still on the ground, not making a sound or movement.

The problem was that the Gi-Gyu was inside the giant’s body.

‘And none of us can approach that giant,’ Haures thought in concern. The giant’s flesh was boiling and bubbling visibly. Just then, Hal, riding the Dark Dragon, dropped something on the giant. It looked like the small dagger he carried around for emergencies.

As the dagger fell, one of the bubbles boiling on the giant reached up and turned into a mouth.

“It ate that dagger…!” Kang Ji-Hee was in disbelief.

“That’s…” Haures seemed to know what was happening, but he didn’t speak it out loud.

An uncomfortable silence fell. Kang Ji-Hee stared at Go Hyung-Chul. She realized it was good that the giant wolf had knocked him out. Honestly, even death was better than being eaten by that giant. What Kang Ji-Hee had witnessed just now was too gruesome. She shuddered in fear.

‘And I’m not the only one who feels this way?’ Kang Ji-Hee looked around. Morningstar’s creatures seemed unworried about the current situation. She felt ashamed that she might be the only one scared. But she soon realized that the other members of the Angela Guild were shivering too.

They whispered, “Deputy Guild Master…”

These players were not weak by any means. They had trained for a long time and had faced countless dangers, but they still couldn’t help trembling.

‘They are afraid too.’ Kang Ji-Hee could tell that all of them feared that their existence might disappear completely by being eaten away.

“Don’t try to do anything stupid,” Haures whispered. Kang Ji-Hee looked at him and found that Haures was glaring at her and the Angela Guild members with his glowing eyes.

Haures continued, “Until our master returns, you must remain safe in our protection.”

Haures had used the word “protection,” but Kang Ji-Hee could have sworn that Haures had threatened her and her players not to move.

‘And he doesn’t want us to get close to that giant either.’ 

Still, Kang Ji-Hee nodded emphatically. And it wasn’t like she had the faintest interest in going anywhere right now.

Just then, they saw the giant shrinking.

***

‘Save me…’ The scream made Gi-Gyu open his eyes. He had almost lost consciousness.

‘I can’t believe I was force-synced.’ 

Gi-Gyu hadn’t tried to sync with them. Them, here, were the countless dead creatures Andras had forcefully injected into Ironshield. Their resentment and pain had tried to sync forcefully with Gi-Gyu.

But Gi-Gyu had managed to stop that. He had resisted and got himself free.

‘Where am I now?’ Gi-Gyu found himself in a dark place.

A moment later, he heard a switch being pressed, and the space brightened. The light was blinding and felt painful in his eyes. As his eyes adjusted, Gi-Gyu saw Andras’ face. Gi-Gyu had seen Andras’s face when he had synced with Mammon.

‘Andras…!’ Gi-Gyu noticed Andras was looking at him offhandedly. He tried to move his hands, but his body refused to listen.

‘This isn’t real.’ Gi-Gyu had experienced something similar many times before. It had happened so suddenly that he might have felt shocked and confused, but Gi-Gyu was experienced enough to remain calm.

His body and lips refused to move; it felt like this wasn’t his body. Gi-Gyu knew what this meant.

‘This is someone else’s memory.’ He was watching someone else’s experience. It had to be someone whose fragment was synced to Gi-Gyu.

‘Ironshield,’ Gi-Gyu thought.

At that same moment, Andras said the same name out loud, “Ironshield.”

This was the most logical answer because Gi-Gyu could think of only one person who would remember looking at Andras like this. His guess was proven correct because Andras knelt toward him as he said “Ironshield.”

Andras’ beautiful face came closer and whispered, “Don’t you think I know what you’re planning? Do you think I didn’t hear you mumbling your hit list whenever I’m away?”

Andras grinned widely.

‘Ironshield’s hit list.’ Gi-Gyu remembered the names the baby had been mumbling. The list included Andras, Kronos, and even Gi-Gyu himself.

“What a foolish dream. You really think you can leave this place because you want to?” Andras’ smile deepened. He stood up again and looked down at Ironshield. An unimaginable fury and pain filled Gi-Gyu’s chest.

‘These are the emotions Ironshield must have felt.’ Gi-Gyu frowned as his chest ached. He felt like all the blood was rushing to his brain. He imagined his eyes must be turning red. Gi-Gyu was feeling all the things Ironshield had felt toward Andras.

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‘He hated Andras just as much as I hated him,’ Gi-Gyu thought as he pushed away Ironshield’s emotions. Ironshield’s current emotions were similar to Gi-Gyu’s from the time he was being tortured by Rohan per Ironshield’s order.

‘Actually, Ironshield’s emotions feel even worse than mine.’ Gi-Gyu could tell that Ironshield suffered much more than he had.

‘Ha.’ Gi-Gyu smirked silently, failing to understand his own feelings.

“Alright. Since you want it so badly, I’ll give it to you,” Andras announced suddenly.

“...?” Ironshield’s face looked up to see Andras smiling.

‘But Andras has no intention of letting Ironshield go.’ Gi-Gyu saw in Mammon’s memory that Andras was planning something even more ominous for Ironshield. The evil look on Andras’ face suggested that he had a dark plan.

“Since you want it so desperately, I’ll let you meet Kim Gi-Gyu.” Andras laughed in amusement and undid Ironshield’s shackles one at a time. “Eat me and go meet Kim Gi-Gyu.”

Clank.

“Go to the Tower and wait for Kim Gi-Gyu.”

Clank.

Most of the shackles were undone now. The unpleasant sound of metal chains rang inside the room. When the last of the shackles was undone, Ironshield cried out like an animal. His neck seemed stiff, but he still managed to look at Andras.

“And…” Andras sniggered. “Go die at Kim Gi-Gyu’s hands. That has been your purpose all along.”

Crunch!

Like a starving wolf, Ironshield rushed to devour Andras.