Chapter 932 – #203_Crossroads
#926
1.
“Residential area in the southeast. A total of 21 demonic beast-type monsters have appeared.”
“As of this moment, changing from Code Orange to Code Red.”
“Activate all Angels on standby.”
The mascot Angels of Daejeon exist to protect Daejeon Metropolitan City.
Even if the intruders were not witches, but other humans, or even strange life forms using magic they had never seen before, it made no difference.
Angels soared into the sky simultaneously from hangars located throughout the city.
-Kraaaawraaawraaawra!
A giant nine-headed snake swallows an Angel.
It spews powerful acidic breath that corrodes even alloys in seconds, causing several Angels to fall like insects hit by insecticide.
A giant beast with a lion’s head is struck by a beam-type magic cannon, collapsing as it breaks through an outer wall.
The beast, rising from the rubble, countered the Angels by unleashing palm strikes with martial artist-like movements.
Encounters with beautiful humanoid combat weapons that look exactly like the monsters crawling over the near-future-esque concrete barriers.
It was a scene that felt beyond B-movie sensibilities, even absurd.
The advancement of magical engineering had not only benefited humans.
In a world where witches and humans interacted, the average hierarchy was much higher.
The fact that there were location-based androids capable of simultaneously fighting 16 witches of the 22nd tier in a single city was not particularly surprising.
However, even if homunculi used magic, they were different from witches.
Their large size and the massive amount of magical power that came with it.
The magical power possessed by a typical medium-to-large homunculus is several times that of an average great witch.
If they grew to the size of a kraken, it could even skyrocket to dozens of times more.
The reason why great witches today can easily hunt large homunculi is not because they have more magical power or can overpower them in a head-on fight.
It is because the techniques and magic they use, like hunters hunting beasts, are more exceptional.
It was as if sixteen 22nd-tier witches could easily eliminate a homunculus legion of that size.
In that sense, homunculi were the antithesis of location-based androids.
Location-based androids hunt witches using extreme efficiency and tenacity as their weapons, not individual excellence.
The main strategy of the Angels is to bite, hold on, and stretch out like ants, making the enemy tire and fall off on their own.
However, homunculi, whose size was different from witches, easily broke through the Angels’ encirclement and were also tireless.
“Ha… hahaha…! You bug-like bastards…!”
Priscilla was grinning as she watched the city crumble under the monsters’ feet.
The flames, burning brightly even under the heavy rain, brought her a sense of exhilaration that matched the disgust she had felt for this city.
“Die! Die more, more, more!!!”
Unlike Priscilla, who cheered and clapped, Urshula spoke in a displeased tone.
“If you had something like that, why didn’t you use it sooner?”
“Since the flood started, they don’t listen to the ‘King’s’ orders very well. It took me a little time because it was something I didn’t expect.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be someone who could predict everything?”
“Not that much.”
Lilith, taking the form of Paola Sochitl, the Witch of Cowardice, stood tall and looked at the King of Beasts, who was commanding the legion.
It was a fairly elaborate experiment created by utilizing and further developing Paola Sochitl’s magnetic magic.
To be able to summon homunculi that were dormant all over the world and form a legion.
Lilith also highly valued the strategic value of the King of Beasts.
She had planned to use it effectively in the future, but it ended up being rather meaningless.
It was because of the existence of the ‘Sluice Gate.’
An artifact that could give homunculi higher-level commands than the King of Beasts.
In fact, since the flood began, the number of troops that the King of Beasts could command had rapidly decreased, and it was still gradually decreasing.
Lilith had decided to use the King of Beasts as a discard without any regrets.
Urshula, who had no way of knowing such circumstances, needed Lilith’s help now.
“Are you going to guide us to the Sluice Gate now?”
“Of course not. My help ends here. You have to take care of the rest yourselves. In my opinion, the legion will hold out for at least three hours.”
It meant that they should take advantage of the chaos to get their hands on the Sluice Gate.
Even that was too good of a deal, so Urshula couldn’t easily let go of her suspicion.
Lilith had suddenly come to them and given them tempting information.
When they faced the Angel legion and were in danger, they thought they had fallen into a trap.
But now, she was willingly offering help and telling them to get their hands on the Sluice Gate.
“What exactly are you plotting?”
“If you keep suspecting my pure goodwill as some sinister scheme… isn’t it because your heart is too dark?”
“Bullshit.”
She didn’t expect to be told anyway.
But nothing in this world is given without a price.
Especially if the trading partner is Lilith, even the most delicious fruit should be suspected.
What benefit does this bring to Lilith?
Also, what dangers does it imply for Urshula and Priscilla?
Why doesn’t she move directly and insist on making offers?
Nothing was clear, but the time for choice came without delay.
“Do you know the location of the Sluice Gate?”
“It’s in the tallest tower in the center of the city.”
“We can’t get there.”
The defenses were weakened against the homunculi, and the Angels were a force to be reckoned with.
Even if they tried a frontal breakthrough, they would only get caught in the web like the homunculi struggling against the Angels rushing at them from all sides.
“I knew you’d say that, so I prepared.”
Lilith pointed to a certain place with her finger.
“There’s a subway in this city that was closed a long time ago. Go to Central Tower Station. There’s an entrance near there. The eyes of surveillance won’t reach you there.”
“That’s a pretty generic name.”
Whether to follow Lilith’s words and join her dangerous plan.
Or to give up their original goal and flee.
“I’ll go along with you one last time.”
“You know? There’s no other choice.”
Lilith smiled with half of her face distorted.
2.
The situation had gone awry.
The homunculi had added another layer to the already chaotic situation with the Angels.
It was clear that the hideout where Siwoo and his group were staying would soon be caught up in this chaos.
The Angels had failed to subdue the homunculi as expected, and the homunculi were steadily advancing, burning the city.
“Lilith has played another trick.”
It wasn’t hard to guess that Lilith was the one controlling the King of Beasts.
After all, wasn’t Lilith the root of all these incidents?
“This might be the only chance we have.”
But the fact that the situation had gone awry didn’t always mean that the path had disappeared.
Rather, it was the first and last chance for Siwoo and his group, who had been unable to move under the strict surveillance of the Angels.
“It could be dangerous.”
“I don’t know if the hardliners and Lilith have joined hands… but even if they haven’t, we won’t be the only ones taking advantage of this chaos. If the Sluice Gate is taken, it will be too late.”
That judgment was not reckless optimism or bravado.
It was the decisiveness that Siwoo had built up through countless crises.
“Okay, then I’ll give you some information too.”
Lydia, who had been listening quietly, added a word.
“I wasn’t just playing around after coming into the city. I looked around and searched here and there. I found something quite interesting.”
“What is it?”
“An underground passage. More precisely, there’s the now-closed Line 3. If we go there, we might be able to break through without attracting attention.”
“Why did you come to us with that information?”
“Oh, are you interrogating me again? I said it seems like a shortcut, but I don’t know what’s waiting at the end.”
Lydia shook her head and answered.
Underground passages leading to the Demon King’s castle are a common cliché.
If Lydia’s words were true, it would be a shortcut to the central tower, avoiding the Angels flying in the sky.
“Where is the entrance?”
“It’s not far from here. I saw a maintenance staircase about 2km away. It was locked, but that’s nothing.”
The direction Lydia pointed to was a point slightly off from where the homunculi were engaged in a fierce battle with the Angels.
“It seems too close. Isn’t there another place?”
“In this chaos, do you think anyone would care if we move quietly?”
It was still unknown how much they could trust Lydia.
But there was no time to hesitate.
Whether it turned out well or badly, they had to move.
They couldn’t just stand idly by and let the Sluice Gate be stolen.
“Let’s move first and worry later.”
Eloa shook off the fatigue from lack of sleep with a wash and took the lead, entering combat mode.
Since the elevator was out of order, the four of them jumped down the railing.
Then, they quickly ran to the passage that Lydia had guided them to, covered in Rinne’s concealment magic.
As they got closer to the battlefield, they could feel the tingling magical power waves on their skin.
Fortunately, the Angels were too busy dealing with the homunculi to notice Siwoo and his group moving quietly through the alleys.
“That’s the abandoned building over there.”
The place Lydia pointed to was an abandoned building that was withering away alone among the cyberpunk-like high-rise buildings.
They twisted open the locked door and went down the stairs, and the musty stench unique to the underground spread.
Rust had formed in various places, and black mold had grown, showing how unmanaged facilities die.
“It’s completely unmanaged.”
“Isn’t that better? It means it was out of everyone’s interest.”
Finally, the stairs reached the end of the underground.
When they opened the door, they realized that they were in the middle of a subway tunnel.
Perhaps because of the heavy rain, or perhaps because the drainage pumps were not working properly.
Rainwater that had flowed in from all over the city had collected like a swimming pool, reaching up to their waists.
But that was not a problem.
The four of them could use magic to fly, walk on water, and even submerge in the water without getting a single piece of clothing wet.
“Since we came in from that side… the direction to the city center must be that way.”
Siwoo lit up a decorative light and looked at one side of the half-submerged tunnel that was dark and gaping.
As Lydia had said, perhaps because it had been neglected and forgotten for too long, there were no separate surveillance equipment or Angels to be seen.
“No need for thanks.”
Ignoring Lydia, who was puffing out her chest, Siwoo and his group quickly ran towards the end of the tunnel.
