Chapter 459. There's a Plausible Plan (2)
"It's sky blue."
The orb was slightly different in shape from the purple item that had summoned the [Iron Maiden] gate.
"I can roughly tell what that item is for. But that's a magic tool that activates very slowly."
To be honest, Kim Giryeo didn't really welco the fight they were about to unfold. From the standpoint of a soul well-versed in magical theory, every strange phenonon happening here was so obvious it felt as if he could grasp it in one hand.
"Besides, among the awakened ones... none of them seem to have any talent for spatial movent. If I just stop the staff from running away, that should be the end of it."
Therefore, there was only one thing the outsider was curious about.
"So then why did Kang Changho tell not to use a skill in the first place?"
From the perspective of soone from Alphauri, this dungeon-type artificial awakeners' clinic didn't show any particular any remarkable anomalies. The dungeon within a dungeon had been created solely because humans activated an item. Still, he was a wanderer who fell out of place in this world called Earth, so...
"Let's not jump to conclusions."
The alien displayed a certain patience.
"Maybe there's a device unique to this planet—sothing that's hard to detect with magic—installed nearby."
Kim Giryeo did not ignore Kang Changho's advice. And now, with no one recklessly interfering anymore...
"Even if there are only a few Koreans involved in artificial awakening research, it's still like a ship with its sails full in a fair wind."
An elderly man with dark skin began to speak.
"But we were genuinely grateful for the labor you provided up to now. Getting an S-rank to work for us without even paying minimum wage... opportunities like that are rare in this world, you know."
"Did you invite all the way here even though you knew I'd betray you?"
"Right, you b*stard. Why'd you poke around saying you wanted to analyze our organization...?"
"You've got so guts."
Clack. Clatter.
At the sa ti, sothing heavy and tallic dropped. The all-black awakened one, wearing a helt, had just removed two artifacts. It seed that the elderly technician's main bodyguard had been using those items to conceal his true amount of mana all this ti.
"What is this, so kind of sandbag training thod?"
The true rank of the core bodyguard, once revealed, was overwhelming. The extraterrestrial—still bearing a faint red mark on his T-shirt—quickly assessed the Earthling.
"That guy... he seed so insignificant in front of that I only just noticed him, but his mana reserves are almost on par with Jeong Haseong."
Brooklyn Morgan. Or Korea's Rank 1, and so on. Those Awakened are Earth's top-tier talents, born from odds so impossibly low it's almost miraculous. But now, out of nowhere, a completely naless, no-title, true powerhouse shows up?
"Why are geniuses—who should only appear when a god descends—this common?"
An Alphauri native sensed sothing statistically impossible.
"Ah."
But as soon as he focused his mind, the flow that reached the alien felt familiar.
[Dragon's Lung].
The helted lightning-type sorcerer was, in fact, a user of such an item. Honestly, when he encountered an artificial sorcerer in Japan, he was still uncertain. But seeing the example before his eyes now, the thod by which they extracted high-grade power through procedures had beco perfectly clear.
"Japan's fifth S-class wasn't implanted with the item because his organs were weakened from severe illness."
Those high-ranking ability users with suspiciously high dungeon-organ implantation rates... The craze for such items among Middle Eastern tycoons has mostly died down now. So considering the stabilized market price of the [Dragon's Lung], today's outco is actually quite easy to understand.
"Humans really are a clever species. Dungeon items, regardless of their rank, are fundantally materials highly compatible with mana particles, and they took advantage of that."
Mana and magical tools. Electricity and electrical wires.
It might not be the perfect example, but still—what would happen if you built a corridor inside a human body that lets a specific substance pass through extrely easily?
Judging by the circumstances, the mbers of this illegal clinic would first implant a [Dragon's Lung] into an ordinary person. Once the body beca sufficiently mana-friendly, they would then put the person under heavy stress. That was how they extracted high-quality superhumans with such a high success rate.
"Of course, if soone has almost no talent, they wouldn't even survive the mutation process in the first place."
Additionally, even if they do succeed in awakening, if you pour too much water into a vessel that can't handle it, sothing is bound to go wrong.
"It's an evolutionary thod that can only result in a vegetative state... or an early death."
The Alphauri evaluated the thod of using the [Dragon's Lung] that just ca to mind negatively.
"The sowhat fortunate part is that there are still almost no awakened doctors on Earth. You simply can't cleanly remove otherworldly flesh that has fully fused with a body part. In cases like Choi Jin, who has already used an item, fortunately, they won't beco a target."
Boom!
But the thought didn't last any longer. To be precise, it was around the mont when the superhuman with physical-enhancent abilities and the awakened one presud to have an electric attribute clashed with each other.
"Hmm."
The blond youth turned his head at the loud noise. The ergence of a new human with transcendent amounts of mana is usually sothing to celebrate. However, the new human born here had gone through a seriously problematic process, so there was no need to dwell on it further.
"On top of that, there are circumstances suggesting they even tried to harm one of South Korea's representative hunters, so from this point on, I should treat this as an incident that is clearly connected to soone I know."
The alien decided to completely dismantle those involved in the illicit procedures. Since Kang Changho's warning was still on his mind, he had no intention of using any openly fired offensive magic for now.
"What the heck is that?"
But just before the outsider's clumsy punches could begin, the artificial awakeners in the pocket dinsion suddenly revealed their brutal true nature.
"Crack!"
The mbers in black clothing pressed the healing kits, stained with a dark red liquid, against their own skin.
"They're planning to boost their stamina with no limit on the number of tis!"
No matter how beneficial a dicine is, abusing it recklessly always causes side effects. Seeing such a perfectly suicidal behavior, Kim Giryeo inwardly recoiled in disgust.
"Don't worry about Kang Changho. All the other staff, capture that outsider."
"Yes!"
"Target has changed, but since he's speaking Korean, he's no different from Jeong Haseong on the inside anyway! Shoot him and capture him!"
However, once again, there was no room for negotiation. It seed the mbers of the illegal enhancent clinic couldn't simply leave the outsider alone, and they quickly changed their target and charged toward him.
"Damn it."
The alien suddenly found itself into unfamiliar hand-to-hand combat.
Kicking. Punching. Blocking.
These sorts of actions are, of course, the kind that even soone without any specialized training can easily perform.
Crack!
Kim Giryeo slightly frowned as he attempted a simple strike, completely unlike the jabs of a skilled fighter.
"W, what... is so hard?"
"An item!"
"He got hit by a bullet earlier, but there's not even a sign of feeling cold!"
Stopping the mammals wasn't a problem in itself, but as the battle dragged on, it increasingly put the alien in a difficult position.
"-Thud!"
A living soul is, by nature, delicate, sensitive, and an inherently vague concept. But what happens if you casually break a bone and the opponent suddenly goes into shock?
Or what if you witness an example of exsanguination because a damaged area accidentally bled excessively?
"It's not easy trying to subdue a compatriot using sothing that's practically not even part of my own body."
Honestly, the alien wasn't soone who strictly adhered to a non-killing principle. On the other hand, they weren't reckless enough to commit murder blindly without understanding the context either.
"The problem is that nothing is certain yet. And with so many eyes watching, I can't even use a simple knockout spell comfortably. What am I supposed to do?"
Therefore, the alien, who could no longer kill them imdiately, maintained a sluggish defensive stance. Still, for a mage, the amount of mana in their body is a status symbol. His power was so great that even responding by blocking everything in a brute-force manner caused no issues.
"Hey, Korean!"
At this point, soone else's voice rang out. The pitch of the words was flat, but the volu was loud and powerful.
"Get out of the gate first!"
"?"
"I'll take care of things here myself."
Kang Changho shouted.
"Talk later! Absolutely do not use your skills."
Strangely, he was scolding while smiling. But at these words, the alien still hadn't even spotted a trace of youth, so it wasn't ready to leave.
"If I was just going to leave because soone chased out, I wouldn't have flown all the way here..."
Elusive movents. Golden hair. A speaker of Korean, among other things.
Based on the information revealed so far, the identity of this body seed mostly exposed anyway. Yet, when the sa suggestion popped up again, Kim Giryeo grew cautious.
"If I reveal my attribute here, could the clinic have so sort of additional asure ready?"
It was just a brief mont of thought.
"Ahhh!"
"What the!"
"Behind!"
"Just shoot that one too!"
Thud.
But just as the blonde man stopped moving, the enhanced-physical-strength individual suddenly changed direction with long strides. Whether it was because he judged that the compatriot would use a skill if left alone or for so other reason, Kang Changho aggressively advanced, even leaving the electric-attribute awakened being he had been subduing right where it was.
"Huh?"
Moreover, the mont he noticed the approach of this S-rank hunter, Kim Giryeo widened his eyes—for a sowhat different reason.
"By the way, I only looked over there for a few seconds, so why is this Korean blinded by his eyes—for a sowhat different reason."
A super artificial awakened being wearing the [Dragon's Lung]. Turning his head, he finally noticed the condition of the short figure. To exaggerate slightly, one could even compare him to an SS-rank, yet he was standing frozen in place, limbs drenched in blood.
"Against a mage whose attributes aren't even compatible..."
The miracle of generating electricity is usually swift, requires little concentration, and can even scatter mana over a wide area, making it a true natural enemy for ordinary enhanced-physical-strength individuals. Yet, Korea's S-rank pushed the central figure of the illegal procedure facility back. Given the innate difference in body mass, Kang Changho's skills wasn't completely unscathed either.
"The skin is scorched and mottled. Well, how could a human body possibly dodge lightning?"
Anyway, even after getting hurt like that, he still rushed to help a fellow Korean—it really makes you see people in a different light...
"This won't work."
Kim Giryeo finally changed his mind.
"I expected as much. Earthlings normally aren't very good at sensing the fluctuations of external mana caused by dungeons."
It seed that, as a seasoned mage, a situation had arisen where they would have to cast a spell at least once.
Smirk.
The area far behind, out of reach of Kang Chang-ho's [Dragon's Eye].
An old man with wrinkled hands stood there. Moreover, the sky-blue crystal he held in his arms had already begun to manifest its power.
"Bold enough to act like that in front of two S-ranks. To think such powerful items ca in a pair."
It was an entirely white artificial pillar, barely visible to mammalian eyes. More precisely, it was an object that often appears in EX-rank gates when a completely wrong answer is given—gates designed to test a creature's emotions or intelligence. Moreover, given the tendency of the gate's creator to have it crawl above humanity's heads, the extre heat radiated by the pillar's light was naturally...
"If you take a direct hit, you die."
Kim Giryeo no longer hesitated and unleashed his power to destroy the pillar. But he truly hadn't expected that the primitive man nad Kang Changho would react so extrely and recklessly, ruining the sorcerer's work.
Bang!
The enhanced human, who had closed the distance, snapped his jaw forward. He struck Kim Giryeo's lower jaw with all his might. If the alien hadn't been an SS-ranks awakener, his head might have been blown off from the impact.Kang Changho's interference with overwhelming force left the stranger completely defenseless, unable to anticipate the attack. Kim Giryeo's ongoing spell shattered instantly.
"Are you crazy?"
Moreover, the single strike created such a massive impact that even the disrupted concentration was barely an issue.
A flash.
When the whiteness before his eyes faded, so of the illegal clinic's staff had collapsed like autumn leaves. The attack emitted by the pillar of light had engulfed the humans.
"_ _"
"_ _"
Kim Giryeo was fortunately pushed out of the attack range by the impact of the blow. However, Kang Changho suffered damage according to the illegal clinic's plan.
Left waist. Forearm. Part of the thigh.
Although none of the vital organs necessary for survival were injured, the patient's condition had clearly beco unsuitable to broadcast on the news.
Technically, they're human, but from the perspective of the archmage, it was unbearably burdenso that a creature more than a guinea pig had ended up taking the damage instead.
"You didn't need to help."
The alien, utterly dumbfounded, first ntioned Kang Changho's mistake. But upon hearing this, one of the Korean ex-convicts began giving a strange response.
"Yeah. I was just about to say the sa thing."
Srrk, srrk, srrk.
Since he was standing with his back turned, the owner of the illegal clinic probably hadn't noticed the change in the 30-sothing Korean yet.
"Sa here. Honestly, I really don't need the help of any other awakened ones."
Kim Giryeo was certain. From the very beginning, the illegal clinic's staff must have had a solid plan. They possessed the amount of mana in their body is a practically a status symbol. His power was so great and an artifact capable of manipulating the mysterious phenonon known as a dungeon as if it were their personal tool.
If not for this unforeseen disruption, the old man's rosy future would surely have co true.
But everything collapsed the mont Kang Changho revealed the hidden "ace up his sleeve" he'd been keeping secret.
The face of the man whose upper eyelids had been scorched by the artificial awakener's electric attack finally began to change.
A vision of bright red blood rippling beneath the skin, with fresh flesh neatly sprouting over it.
Regeneration.
At this mont, Kang Changho revealed a highly efficient [Regeneration] skill related to self-healing. When debris from the building fell overhead, there was no caster's ritual required to maintain the magic. When he was burned by Jeon G Haseong's attack...he had simply chosen not to waste the most optimal ans unnecessarily.
"Originally, anyone who saw this scene would end up dead, but you'll have to start thinking now about what you're going to do."
Let's take a mont to consider the enemies' perspective. A physically enhanced individual is always sturdier and reacts faster than others. But if, after barely injuring such a person, what cos back is perfect and safe [Regeneration], how would that make them feel?
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