Chapter 25: The Devil’s Gate

I hurriedly sent Taewoon a return notification and checked the real-time monitor again.
On the monitor was the boss monster of the S-Class gate.

The monster resembled a human in form, but its skin was red as if it had been flayed, and parts of it were black as if burned.
Its head was covered in bone and horns, and long wings, which on closer inspection were also made of bone, hung from its back, longer than its body.

From its appearance, it seemed to be a devil, not a monster.
Devils were beings that only appeared in myths, so it was utterly unbelievable.

I had wondered why the shelter was so quiet, but it was because everyone was holding their breath, overwhelmed by the devil’s bizarre appearance.

The Espers on the screen were also pale with fear, their faces hardened.
It was as if they were foreseeing their own deaths.

At the gate, the Espers, led by Taewoon and Sung Yohan, focused their attacks on the devil, but strangely, it had no effect.

The devil also used a fire-attribute ability, just like him.
Unlike his red fire, it was a black fire.

The more he used his abilities against the devil, the faster his gauge dropped.
I was certainly angry at him, but perhaps because of the affection I had developed over three years, I was worried about him.

Eventually, his guiding level dropped below 30%.
If it went down to 25% and the sleep chip was activated, he would be killed by the devil.
I didn’t want that to happen.

I continued to send him return notifications and even told him to return through the earpiece, but the earpiece that should have been in his ear was gone.

“Why aren’t you coming back!”

It seemed he was in a situation where he couldn’t respond to the return call.

As he got closer to a rampage, his movements became slower than usual, and the power of his abilities also diminished.
It was a situation where I couldn’t help but worry, but all I could do was send return notifications.
I took out my frustration by punching my thigh.

In the end, he was attacked by the devil and fell to the ground.

His fallen figure was not caught on the monitor.
Knowing his stubborn nature, he would never come to the shelter in this situation.

I estimated the location where he had fallen.
Fortunately, it was near the shelter.
Since it wasn’t far, I thought I could bring him back.
Or if I guided him right away, his condition would improve quickly.

I immediately ran to the exclusive room and changed into my special combat suit.
I couldn’t put on the suit properly because of the sweat on my hands.
Minseong-sunbae, who had followed me at some point, helped me and asked in a worried voice.

“Shinui-ssi, you’re not planning on going outside, are you?”

“…I think I have to go.”

I couldn’t just stand by and watch him die.
I didn’t want to end our relationship with his death either.

At my words, he also began to put on his special combat suit without hesitation.

“Sunbae, why are you putting it on?”

“I’ll go with you. I can’t let you go alone, Shinui-ssi.”

“No. You’ll be in danger too.”

I kept trying to stop him, but he shook his head, handed me two energy guns, and said.

“Did you forget we’re a team? You just have to bring back Esper Hyun Taewoon safely.”

It was a dangerous situation, but if he was with me, I would be able to bring Taewoon back safely.

“Sunbae, thank you.”

I couldn’t think of anything else to say but thank you.
He smiled and then ran with me to the shelter door.

The shelter managers were so engrossed in the real-time monitor that they didn’t even notice us approaching the door.
The moment the door opened, they finally noticed and called out to us, but we were already outside.

The outside was filled with the smell of blood and screams.
Everywhere I looked was covered in black flames and the corpses of civilians and Espers, most of whom were so horrifically killed that they were unrecognizable.

It was literally hell.

I held the guide-exclusive energy gun tightly, ready to deal with monsters at any moment, and looked for him.

“Hyun Taewoon!”

No matter how loud I shouted, my voice was drowned out by the screams and the sounds of the monsters.
Still, as I approached the estimated location, I was able to find him, coughing up blood and trying to get up.
But there were too many monsters in the way.
At my hesitation from the overwhelming sight, Minseong-sunbae spoke.

“I’ll cover you, so go to Esper Hyun Taewoon.”

I nodded vigorously and ran towards him with Minseong-sunbae’s help.

“Hyun Taewoon!”

I ran to him, shouting at the top of my lungs so he could hear my voice.
My wavelength reached him before my voice did.
He, who felt my wavelength, finally spotted me.
His face contorted, mixed with despair.

He teleported in front of me in an instant and shouted.

“Go back to the shelter!”

“You’ll go into a rampage if you stay like this. We have to go to the shelter together!”

“I’m fine, so you go back!”

If he confronted the devil like this, there was a high possibility that he would die.
I raised my head and checked the devil’s movements.
The devil had already come out of the gate and was slaughtering the Espers.

The horrific sight of Espers being dismembered and killed unfolded before my eyes.
I grabbed his wrist and led him towards the shelter.

“Taewoon, let’s go to the shelter. You’re in too much danger right now.”

“You’re in more danger than I am. Go back quickly.”

He pushed me towards the shelter and told me to go, but I couldn’t leave him like this, so I grabbed his arm and pleaded.

“Just grant me this one request. Please, let’s go together.”

“Go!”

I could see the devil had already descended onto the road.
Sung Yohan and the team leader-class Espers were confronting it.

“I feel like I’ll never see you again if you go like this. Let’s go to the shelter!”

At my words, he finally frowned and nodded as if he had given up.
Relieved at that, I was about to tell him to teleport to the shelter when I felt a dark and ominous energy pierce through my body.

When I turned my head in that direction, the devil was standing there.

The devil was at least 200 meters away from me, but I met its black eyes.
The moment I did, my head began to ring incessantly, and blood started to pour not only from my nose and ears but also from my eyes.

At that sight, he was surprised and tried to quickly move me to the shelter, but in an instant, pressure was applied to my body, and I floated into the air before rolling on the ground.

My whole body felt like it was on fire, and I couldn’t breathe.
The taste of iron filled my mouth, and my body wouldn’t move properly.

When I rolled my eyes to look at my body, my entire right arm was torn off and gone.
Other parts were also covered in blood, as if they had been cut hundreds of times by a blade.

Before long, someone approached me.
I knew immediately from the wavelength that it was him.

“I told you to go back to the shelter!”

My hearing must have been damaged as well, as his voice sounded so distant.

He, too, had been caught in the devil’s attack with me just before, as his entire left face was burned black, so much so that it was unrecognizable.
At that sight, tears burst out.

At my appearance, his face also looked like it was about to cry, but he hurriedly looked around and searched for a Healer-class Esper.
However, the surrounding Awakened had either died from the devil’s ability or were injured like me and couldn’t move.

He kept moving his lips and saying something, but at some point, I couldn’t hear his words.

I could see Joo Wonjae running quickly towards us.
He stopped with a hardened face when he saw me, but then he ran to him and said something.

As I lost my hearing, fear gripped me in an instant.
I told him I was scared, that I couldn’t hear, but I didn’t even know if I was speaking properly.
I just kept calling his name.

With my remaining arm, I barely grabbed his clothes.
Fortunately, he held my hand with both of his, put his face against mine, and said something as if to tell me not to worry, but I couldn’t hear that either.

I had a feeling that he would leave me and go.
I told him not to go, but in the end, he pulled his hand away and ran off with Joo Wonjae.

His lips were mouthing, ‘I’ll be back.’
He said he would be back, but right now, I wanted him to stay by my side.
More than the pain, being left alone here was so scary.

As I watched his retreating back, I felt my vision gradually blurring.
Every time I breathed, my lungs ached, and I couldn’t breathe properly.

I gasped for breath and called his name softly, but he, who was already gone, never answered.

I had a premonition that I was going to die.
At that thought, I hated him so much for leaving me behind.
I could only think of how much I hated him.

Before I knew it, the surroundings were piled with people’s corpses, and the reek of blood and the stench from exposed entrails boiled up.
I didn’t want to die like them.
But now, I had no sensation in my body.
I couldn’t breathe properly, so I would die soon.

I waited for him to return, breathing shallowly.

Every time I exhaled my slowing breath, I felt my senses and emotions dying one by one.
I tried to endure by thinking of him so as not to die, but he and Joo Wonjae, who had disappeared, did not return until I breathed my last.