Chapter 321

Sungyoon had thought he had found a way of predicting where the ritual sites would be. He had thought this tiresome hide & seek with Kevil would come to an end.

However, he had been way too optimistic.

“They discovered one in India.”

Sungyoon spoke as he ended the call.

He looked annoyed as he put down his cellphone.

Tim leaned his back against a tree. Some of the snow on the tree branches fell to the ground.

“We are in Canada. That’s on the other side of the world.”

“Were there no Connectors nearby?”

Unlike the disappointed Tim, Grace wanted more information.

After the night Grace had searched out Sungyoon’s room, her attitude towards him had turned colder for a while. However, her behavior towards him had returned to being normal now.

“The nearest Connectors capable of dealing with this situation was in China.”

“That’s far. Were they near the border by any chance?”

“We weren’t that lucky. By the time they arrived, they found no trace of Kevil.”

“As expected, there are too many locations that we have to cover. It is impossible.”

The number of Connectors in existence was small, but the lack of manpower was further exacerbated by the fact that the number of Connectors capable of dealing with Kevil was smaller.

Plu-El surmised these locations were used to create a massive magic circle, which had expelled magical energy from earth.

Since the magic circle had to react with all the magical energy of earth, these locations were hotspots for magical energy.

“However, it isn’t like before where we have zero information. We are in a better spot. We don’t have to shoot blindly. Our predictions were correct.”

Tim tried to cheer up everyone. It helped that he was telling the truth.

At the very least, Kevil had been appearing only in old ritual sites. The problem remained that there were many of these locations.

“How’s the damage?”

It was Emily that asked the question this time.

“Two infantry companies protecting each site was destroyed. The Mana Knight bullets had no effect on Kevil.”

Everyone’s face darkened.

“However, it isn’t all bad news. According to the security cameras that we set up, the number of monsters being led by Kevil has decreased significantly. It proves that there is no reinforcement coming for him.”

Kevil was very strong, but he was one monster. In some cases, it was more troublesome to fight numerous above-average foes.

Above all else, the enemy’s fighting force had decreased. That was significant in itself.

“There were some casualties, but it can’t be compared to before. The Connectors are back to defending earth. That is a factor, but a large part of it has to do with the number of monsters under Kevil’s command. There are fewer of them, and it is causing Kevil to attack less.”

“The frequency of the rituals also decreased.”

Once they laid it all out like that, they realized it wasn’t all bad news.

“However, the sacrifices haven’t ended yet. It’ll only be possible if we end Kevil once and for all.”

Sungyoon put his party members on alert once again.

“That rat bastard! That bastard is basically a rat trapped in a cage!”

“However, time is on its side. It becomes stronger as more magical energy returns to earth.”

Tim groaned when Grace pushed back on his assertion.

“You are right, Ms. Grace. However, Mr. Tim isn’t wrong either.”

Sungyoon looked at the sky.

It was the time of the day where the sunlight wasn’t as bright. This was why he could see the moon in the sky. It was white.

“There is no way the Grenoid and its underlings will do nothing like this. They’ll come up with a plan.”

***

“Shit! Is there any other plan we can try?”

The dark being wearing a robe swiveled its head.

It glared at a person, who had expressed his grievance. Jinsoo was the one who had complained, yet he lifted his chin.

“What? Do you have a problem with what I said? You weren’t able to predict this in the first place, yet you still have self-respect for yourself?”

Jinsoo went further. He baited the robed figure.

Udocus’s robe started to shake. It was clear that it was trying to hold back its extreme anger.

Killing intent started to emanate to its surroundings.

“Kim Jinsoo. Stop it.”

“Jeez. You shouldn't take their side so much, Mr. Hyunwoo! How long have we been stuck on this dreary moon? I’m not like those dumb rabbits! I like the smell of earth better than the smell of this dank labyrinth!”

Then he continued his spiel about the blue ocean and the blue sky.

However, he stopped speaking when Hyunwoo glared at him.

“Tsk! I can’t even complain now.”

Jinsoo surged to his feet.

“I guess I should have expected it. Even the mighty Udocus doesn’t know everything.”

He looked towards Hyunwoo as if he wanted Hyunwoo to agree with him. However, the look in Jinsoo’s eyes told a completely different story. He knew Hyunwoo was playing his own game, so Jinsoo planned to play his own game too. It was as if he was daring Hyunwoo to call him out on it.

Hyunwoo smirked.

“Alright. You should stop antagonizing him. If he gets really mad, I can’t hold him back.”

“Omg! I’m so scared! I should start running away!”

The two men exchanged glances. They tried to see what each other was planning. Both men suspected each other of hiding things, so it was an exchange based on distrust.

Jinsoo hummed as he left.

“I’ll apologize in his place.”

“…no need.”

Udocus’s reaction was very cold.

It turned its back on the two men in a cold manner. That was all it did to reveal its displeasure.

‘It seems its pride has been hurt.’

If Udocus was his normal self, it would have blown off Jinsoo’s arm. It would do just enough damage that could be fixed through a healing spell.

‘Kim Jinsoo realized this, so he tried to get a dig in.’

As always, Kim Jinsoo was quick on the uptake.

“I admit it. I never expected them to thwart my plan like this. I never expected those bastards from the past to set up such a device.”

Hyunwoo became surprised twice. He first became surprised when Udocus correctly guessed who had created the force field. He became surprised for the second time when Udocus admitted his mistake.

“Still, I am also confident in my intelligence. I won’t take this lying down.”

Udocus spoke in derision underneath the hood.

“Do you have some kind of a plan?”

“I already told Kevil what to do next.”

“You were able to contact him?”

According to the information he had, the monsters didn’t have a way of communicating through space.

“I told him a couple of things before he went down.”

“You were prepared for this scenario?”

“I didn’t expect it, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t prepare contingency plans. Also, two plans’ll work pretty well in this scenario.”

As expected, this monster wasn't to be underestimated. Hyunwoo once again had that thought.

“Then you don’t have to beat yourself over this. I don’t get why your pride is hurt.”

“I prefer not to use those methods. The fact that I’m using those backup plans means my original plan went awry. Moreover, one of the two plans is my last resort. That is why I can’t standby and do nothing.”

It slowly turned around to look at Hyunwoo once again.

“I have to move. I have to make preparations too.”

It never expected the insects to land a body blow. It started to move to hit back.

***

Kevil was proving hard to catch.

Security cameras were mounted on all the suspected locations. A lot of manpower was deployed too. This was why it wasn’t hard to spot Kevil.

The problem remained that no Connector, who could defeat Kevil, could show up on time.

Until now, Kevil slaughtered all the nearby infantry units. Then it finished the ritual before leaving with plenty of time to spare.

Kevil even smiled towards the cameras that it spotted.

It reached the point where Kevil was becoming a problem that couldn’t be ignored. This was why the people on top came up with a special plan.

-How do you feel, Knight?

A voice could be heard through the communication device. The one speaking through the communication device wasn’t far away.

Sungyoon towards the front.

“It was fun in the beginning, but it is starting to get very boring.”

-Ha ha ha! I see.

The pilot, who was piloting the fighter plane, laughed. He was transporting Sungyoon.

-I’m sure It was exciting to get on the fighter plane for the first time. However, it isn’t something nice to ride for a long time. This beauty isn’t meant for transporting people. It is meant to deliver weapons. I always complain about how uncomfortable it is in here.

The only thing they could see was the blue sky and white clouds.

Then there was the damned hot sunlight.

He had fund for several dozen minutes. If he was being generous, he looked at his surroundings with amazement for two hours. However, boredom set in after that.

“How long have I been on this plane?”

-It had been around 10 hours.

Sungyoon looked to the side. Three more fighter planes were flying in formation not too far away.

Sungyoon’s other party members were in those planes.

-This is an unprecedented order. Since we have no idea where the enemies would show up, they want you guys to be ready in the air. They put you all into fighter jets.

Sungyoon once again let out a sigh when he heard the pilot’s words.

Currently, Sungyoon was sitting in the cramped back seat, and he was trying to kill time doing nothing.

An airborne tanker had been deployed for this plan too.

In the beginning, he looked at pictures of Shinhae, and he listened to some music. However, he could keep that up only for a day or two. In the end, he tried to sleep through it. If he couldn’t sleep, he just blankly stared outside.

“Still, it can't be helped. The number of people being sacrificed is growing.”

-It is something I would expect the Knight to say. Also, I can’t help but be amazed at Connectors like you. We have to go through rigorous training to get used to flying in a fighter jet, yet Connectors like yourself were able to adapt quickly.

“I guess that is one way to look at it. However, you guys are the ones protecting the skies of earth. You carry out a very important job. You can be proud of yourselves.”

-Ha ha! You aren’t wrong!

It seemed the pilot was a big fan of Sungyoon.

He was silent when Sungyoon was asleep or otherwise occupied, but sometimes the pilot tried to strike up a conversation with him.

Since Sungyoon was bored, he welcomed the conversations.

At that moment, the pilot received a communication.

-They’ve appeared!

Sungyoon’s dead eyes regained life.

“Where?”

-It isn’t too far away! We can reach it in 30 minutes at top speed!

The four fighter jets turned at the same time. They flew towards the location where Kevil had shown up.

***

When the four fighter jets were close to the destination, they quickly descended from the air.

-Are you ready?

“Of course!”

-I’m ready for it, but I have no idea if this is the right thing to do!

The pilot’s voice wavered a little bit.

“Thank you for worrying about me, but I’ll be fine!”

-Well, we have no other choice since we are already here!

The fighter jet quickly decelerated.

-I wish you luck!

The pilot gave a thumbs up. Sungyoon put his thumbs up in response.

Clank!

The plane’s canopy was released, and the winds buffeted against them.

Sungyoon stood up.

The air felt like a hammer as it slammed into him. However, he already wore his armor, so it had no effect on him.

Tuhk!

He grabbed the side of the cockpit. When he was hanging off it, he let go.

Ssaeng!

The fighter jet flew into the distance.

Sungyoon’s body was in the air, and he was rapidly falling towards the ground. Afterward, his party members also jumped out of their respective planes.