Past Life Returner

Chapter 264

He shouldn’t have tried to use my name as that didn’t change the end result.

[You have completed the quest ‘Fight Until There’s Only One Person Left.’]

[Potential Threat: You have exterminated 318 Awakened.]

I returned to the city.

[Guild members: 52,820]

[Guild members: 44,991]

[Guild members: 31,500]

[Guild…]

Seong-Il appeared when the number fell to twenty thousand. He seemed to be in agony, and blood was dripping from his fists. He swore with a disgusted face and looked around for an object to vent his anger. Then, he started breaking the buildings. They were already ruined due to the night raids, so they collapsed immediately.

When the sound of the building caving in faded away, Seong-Il raised his voice, “Thousands died on the blade of their fellows!”

He was standing in the middle of the dust. I wondered if I should have been glad that I wasn’t in the same group as him. Although I had a returning stone, the return location was still set as the Kciphos’ Ice Castle.

He shrieked, “This is insane. It’s the most sickening feeling ever in my life. Where are you going?”

I responded, “Headquarters.”

“I’d like to tag along, but I won’t be able to get on your dragon.”

“Yeah, that’s why. I will go alone and be back before the night raid.”

I felt nauseous.

The situation had turned to the absolute worst. There was no standard of referring to which stages were the ‘top,’ but things didn’t end with the number of Awakened being reduced to one-third. Entire stages where the quest had occurred had lost the power to finish Act Two, Stage One. There was nothing else to describe this other than a ‘disaster.’ Tens of thousands of victims were on our stage. There were countless victims.

Lee Tae-Han’s city looked depressed from the sky. I actually heard people sobbing. Those who had returned from the quest site were covered in blood and sitting down everywhere in despair. Many of them were severely injured to the point that they would die soon.

A huge shadow clouded them, and they hurriedly prepared for battle as they saw me on the skeletal dragon. Those who were aware of the dragon began mentioning my name.

“Stop! Stop! It’s him!”

I headed to the city hall as soon as I jumped off from the dragon. The situation were the same inside the building and on the street. The smell of blood filled the air, and people sitting in the disorderly hallway looked at me. Some of them still emitted murderous intent. I soon spotted Lee Tae-Han in the middle of the hallway, and he had fallen into despair. He moved weakly and guided me to the room he used as an office without saying anything.

“Where is Kim Ji-Ae?” I asked.

He replied wearily, “We agreed to gather in the city hall yard… if anything unexpected happened. If she is alive, you will be able to meet her there. She must be alive… She must…”

His voice was weak.

“Odin… Doom Kaos… The System… What the hell are we doing here?” he finally wailed.

Then, my vision suddenly became blurry, and I could barely see Lee Tae-Han’s drooping body. It was a sign of danger. I was holding on to it with all my might, but my thoughts continued one after another. The top stages must have been started by the high-level Awakened from Revolucion and Tomorrow. They couldn’t escape the shock of this disaster. This stage was in better shape as I was here, but the others would have difficulty surviving even if they risked their lives. Tonight’s night raid would be their crisis.

The tower I had built with a lot of effort was collapsing. Doom Kaos was trying to tear up the command of the World Awakened Association with a single gesture. Seong-Il was outraged that he had to commit two meaningless murders, and Lee Tae-Han was feeling hopeless because of Doom Kaos’ horrifying power. However! I was the one who was swayed by the most intense emotions at this moment!

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!!!

The breath that brushed my philtrum was hot. The veins on my temples wriggled and pulsed out of control as if they weren’t mine, and my heart pounded fast against my chest wall. I sat in a wooden chair and breathed heavily, and I felt the pressure in my eyes soar up. My eyes were about to burst. I wanted to destroy something like Seong-Il. I couldn’t control myself.

Blargh.

I vomited on top of my feet, and a sour smell pierced my nostrils.

“Are you okay?” Lee Tae-Han asked cautiously.

“Take them.”

I took out some items from my inventory and put them in Lee Tae-Han’s hands. He looked at the A-class items and raised his head.

I instructed, “Give some to Angela and Gunnarson, too. Also, to the guys in important positions.”

Lee Tae-Han was coming to a somber realization.

I continued dully, “...Tonight is going to be the most critical moment.”

The disaster wasn’t over yet.

***

I returned to my city after seeing Ji-Ae in the city hall yard.

“What’s wrong? Did that bastard Lee Tae-Han not listen to you?” Seong-Il asked agitatedly.

I simply said, “You should go to the next city.”

He fell silent, clearly confused.

I elaborated, “Help other cities because I can handle monsters here by myself.”

I handed some items to Seong-Il. Now, the only thing left in my inventory was my main set.

“Yes, I’ll go to the City Seven.”

Seong-Il was about to say something more after that, but then turned around. It was twilight when he left. The sky turned red like blood spread in the water. The sun crossing the horizon was as ominous as the eyeballs of Doom Arukuda in the Baclan’s territory.

“Odin… Doom Kaos… The System… What the hell are we doing here?”

Lee Tae-Han’s bitter words lingered in my ears. Then…

[You have completed the quest ‘Potential Threat.’]

[You have obtained a diamond box for completing the quest.]

[You have gained 154,500 XP.]

The quest that had told us to kill each other was now over, with no rhyme or reason. The Spirit had said that we could repeat it again whenever we wanted, but it had vanished.

[Explorer has been activated.]

[About Doom Kaos’ Consumed Power (Explorer Reward)

Most of Doom Kaos’ authority in the System has disappeared. As a result, his remaining power is concentrated only on the quest ‘Birth of Doom Man,’ and it has become impossible for him to disrupt the System any further.

Content: The quests ‘Potential Threat,’ ‘Assassination,’ and ‘Ruler’ will be removed from all Awakened’s windows. Similar events will no longer occur.]

It meant the malicious part of the System was now gone.

“Keuk. Keuk keuk…”

Something wet dripped down.

***

It used to be called the Black Zone in the past, and it was now called the Dangerous Zone. Even on that shitty night, monsters poured out from there and invaded my city.

[Odin’s Wrath: LV.6 - 99.99%]

[Odin’s Wrath has increased by 0.01%.]

[Odin’s Wrath has leveled up.]

[Odin’s Wrath: LV.7 - 00.00%]

It didn’t stop for a single second. After wiping out the things that came into my city, I helped the neighboring city where Seong-Il didn’t go. Then, a message popped up.

[Guild: The defense of the city (Eleven) has collapsed.]

Things were hectic as I traveled to the city where the Chinese Awakened was concentrated.

[Guild: The defense of the city( Four) has collapsed.]

[Guild: The city (Eleven) is in danger.]

[Guild: The city (Four) is in danger.]

Damn it. I only had one body. That city was named ‘Four’ as it was located in the direction of four in a clock. They were close to Lee Tae-Han’s city, but his city must be in a bad situation as well.

I turned around because I thought it was reasonable for me to save the completed cities with the guild headquarters and those close to me. As the message warned, the outer walls of those two cities had been broken. The flying monsters were persistently biting down on the watchtower, and the high-class Baclans, the Queen’s followers, were pulling down the outer wall with all their might. Therefore, the long-distance dealers who were protected by the defensive structure were now exposed to Baclans. On one side, weapons that poured out flames were trying their best, but it seemed to be a matter of time before it collapsed.

Everyone was desperate, and they were tangled up with Baclans with severe injuries. There were some running away toward the boundary to survive, and some squad captains were screaming to condemn them. The organized world was collapsing overnight.

Huff, huff.

My skeletal dragon understood my anger. Then, it quickly soared up in the sky and split the air with dark energy.

Kuaaaaak-

The dark breath pummeled the monsters in the watchtower. Some of them circled the air in a hurry, but the dragon didn’t miss a single one of them. Like a water cannon extinguishing a fire, nothing was left in the place where the skeletal dragon’s breath had swept through.

After clearing the sky, I got off the dragon and started from the City Hall. I rushed to the collapsed main entrance, then stabbed, sliced, and tore the monsters apart. The Awakened were helping me by not being around me. They knew that my flames and deathly energy could not only take away the monster’s life but also their own. Therefore, they repeatedly shouted while backing up.

“Get out of the way! Clear Odin’s way!!!”

Their ghastly pale faces started to regain vitality as I slaughtered my way through. I reached the area where Awakened bodies were spread around in a chaotic manner. Tongues were hanging out of their mouths, guts were spilling out from their abdomens, faces were sunken, and limbs had fallen off their bodies. The dead didn’t feel pain, and they couldn’t die again. The monsters were the only living things at the moment, so there was no reason to conserve my wide-range skills.

Flames blazed up the road. The fragments of the buildings that exploded struck the Baclans heads and ripped their bodies apart. I wanted to even tear their souls apart as they had impacted my association. Even then, I felt something keep whispering in my ear. My infuriated heart was purring out orders.

Kill them. Kill them. Kill them all.

This was the day when innocent lives were taken away. The other top stages would also get dried out and die down.

[Guild: The city (Eleven) has been destroyed.]

Fucking hell.

A wavelength spread from the light pillar in the far center of the stage.

[The light pillar has entered the first stage of danger.

* Attack Power will be reduced by thirty percent until the light pillar gets destroyed.]

***

I defended my city alone and supported two other cities. Seong-Il, who had reached the master section, was also dispatched to another city. I even gave out all my items except for my main set. Nevertheless, one city was completely devastated as the impact of the disaster remained and even those who came back alive from the quest were extremely wounded.

After that night…

[Guild members: 14,002 Awakened.]

The number used to be close to seventy thousand, but it had plunged after these two events. If my stage was like this, then the other areas must have been in more despair and in a worse situation than us. From a macroscopic perspective, it wasn’t something to be just mad about since all the malicious acts including the Spirits tricks had been suspended in the Stage of Advent even after this horrible night was over.

Those who hadn’t been pinpointed as top stages had gained privileges. The Awakened there would grow as before and go outside, gaining more strength. I was aware of all of this, but the problem was that my emotions didn’t follow logic. The muscles under my left eye continued to twitch, and my stomach was still upset regardless of my will.

I felt a swift surge of anger when I saw the Awakened who were still out of their mind. They needed to prepare for tonight’s raid, but they were sitting there, crying. The morning after the disaster and the attack was catastrophic. If Lee Tae-Han was doing the same thing as them, I was about to kill him first. However, he was yelling at the captains in his office.

“Gather everyone together! Including those in Bronze level one if they can walk!”

Ji-Ae must have been there as well, but I ordered everyone except Lee Tae-Han to leave. He said when they left the room, “Hello.”

I brought up the main point right away.

“The danger of the light pillar increases each time one city is destroyed and if we can't destroy the next layer of boundary within the hidden time limit. Our items will be incapacitated in level two, traits in level three, and all our capabilities in step four. If one more city falls to ruin, everything will be over.”

When such a situation came, it was no longer a question as to whether I could lead this stage or not. Even I would have difficulty surviving then. Therefore, in the past, there were many stages that couldn’t move on to Act Two, Stage Two. The stage with the highest casualty rate was always Act Two, Stage One. Lee Tae-Han’s expression didn’t change much because we were already in dire circumstances. He didn’t even mention anything about the items I lent him yesterday. At any rate, I wasn’t here to listen to him expressing gratitude towards me.

“There is a debuff to my Attack Power. There is no additional force to offset that and we should rebuild the defense structures. Things are not going well.”

“I will help you build the wall. Actually, for all the cities on our stage.”

Basically, I was saying that I would complete all the boundary quests in the city by myself.

“I will support neighboring cities, so send the minimum number of troops to them.”

That was the only way for all of us to survive. I didn’t intervene in the other cities as occupying one could upgrade my level, but things were different now. It seemed like I would have to finish all the boundary quests in Act Two, Stage One alone. I had to work on quests during the day and constantly hover around the cities at night until Stage One was over. I would monopolize the XP from destroying the fourth floor of the boundary, but that wasn’t the issue at the moment.

Although the malicious part of the System had vanished, Doom Kaos had thrown me for a loop. I wasn’t sure whether survival was possible as so many of my men had died.

I grabbed Lee Tae-Han’s shoulders and looked him in the eye before firmly saying, “Focus on defending the cities. Then, I’ll finish the rest.”