Chapter 29: The Unexpected Arrival

“Instead, I’ll take this.”

Han Dokyeom picked up the fist-sized orb lying beside Agon. A strange, unsettling sensation crept up his fingertips. It was an object he instinctively recoiled from touching.

Inside, a swirling black vortex depicted a chaos that threatened to pull him in.

This was the ‘Power of Envy,’ one of the fourteen authorities scattered by the ‘Saints’ for their amusement. It was also the very first authority to manifest in the world.

Moreover, a Great Sin Authority always required a ‘vessel’ to contain its immense power.

Urrrrrroong—

Above their heads, the light began to fade. Ores embedded in the ceiling fell one by one, signaling the impending end.

The ground trembled as if the very ley lines were twisting. As a distorted gate, its collapse arrived even sooner than expected.

“Han Dokyeom, we need to leave now.”

‘I know, I know—’

Despite Han Yuseong’s strained words, Dokyeom offered no reply. Instead, he simply gazed at Agon, who lay stretched out, blinking with clear eyes.

Those eyes, reminiscent of the ocean, captured the fleeting moment.

For Agon, this place was where countless of his kin were buried. It was a place of both beginning and end.

He must have sensed his own impending death here, just as his brethren had.

With a short sigh, Dokyeom rose and moved closer to Agon, settling down beside him. Together, they looked up at the sky.

“Agon.”

Dagons were creatures that lived in groups. They were monsters that secretly built Atlantis-like settlements deep within the abyssal sea caves, far from human reach.

They knew the sun and the moon, but they remained ignorant of the world above the land.

“Replenishing your hydration would be as simple as drinking water. And now that you have a human form, there’d be no aversion from others,” Han Dokyeom mused.

He tilted his head slightly, meeting Agon’s abyssal gaze. Agon, his face devoid of expression, merely blinked his blue eyes slowly.

Han Dokyeom’s eyes crinkled as he flashed a wide smile.

“If there’s no reason to endure this, why not just come with me?”

Within Agon’s eyes, the crumbling world was reflected. For a fleeting moment, he seemed to be contemplating something.

“What do you say? Even if I look like this, I’m confident I can feed you well.”

Han Dokyeom subtly turned his head, tapping the insignia beneath his ear as he spoke. In the Dagon’s emotionless eyes, a flicker of shadow emerged.

It was desire, and then suspicion.

Dagons themselves were not creatures easily tamed or communicated with. They possessed an exceptionally strong bond with their own kind.

This led to an overly deep exclusiveness towards other species. Given their fierce and brutal disposition, a docile Dagon like Agon was rare.

He was, in fact, considered remarkably patient for his kind.

This made him, in Dokyeom’s eyes, even more suitable to become the ‘vessel’ for this Authority.

“Alright. Let’s make a deal then.”

“……”

“I’ll provide you with a place to sleep and food, and you just have to swallow this. Simple, right? And don’t worry, you won’t end up like that mutant.”

‘Because I’ll be watching you 365 days a year. Keeping you right by my side.’

Han Dokyeom added a smile to the end of his words. Though Orias’s exasperated remarks, like ‘You’re insane,’ flashed before his eyes, he casually ignored them.

The dungeon was collapsing. In a world turning white, Agon gazed at Dokyeom with an intensity as profound as his first stirring.

It was a look born of losing everything, yet his eyes remained impeccably clear.

As those vivid blue eyes blinked, a resolve silently formed within them, even as the light began to dim.

****

More than twenty marine boats scoured the black night sea, violently cutting through the waves. Every vessel, like a fishing boat, had its work lights on and sirens blaring, meticulously searching the gloomy night waters.

The warning tape, cordoning off the beach, fluttered in the chilly sea breeze. Nearby shops and homes, evacuated after a break alarm, were utterly dark—not a single light could be seen anywhere.

From Eulwangri Beach to the uncharted depths of the sea, all search teams had spent several busy days trying to locate the ‘Red Gate.’

The police and Hunters stationed on the desolate beach already looked utterly exhausted. After all, it had been a week.

It had been that long since the S-rank guild masters of the three major guilds—who normally snarled at each other on sight—had gritted their teeth and joined forces just to find the ‘Red Gate.’

Hundreds of Hunters had been deployed, combining forces from the three major guilds and the Association. Dozens of Hunter divers were also involved, yet there was still no tangible clue about the gate.

“With all these people, how come there’s no sign of this damn gate?” someone grumbled, chewing on bread for a late-night snack.

A Hunter sitting nearby retorted, “The higher-ups are saying it’s better if it just never shows up. Honestly, we’re the ones busting our asses, and we get nothing.”

“The best outcome, of course, would be for it to just vanish into the ground,” another Hunter chimed in. “But wouldn’t you know it, that Red Gate is supposedly a Dagon habitat.”

“If those things burst out in a Gate Break, the entire coastline will be utterly devastated, like a swarm of great white sharks. Thinking about that, it absolutely has to be resolved.”

“At this point, I’m starting to wonder if what Hunter Ju Uiryeong said wasn’t just idle chatter,” another muttered, a hint of skepticism in their voice.

“All the testimonies from the workers who came out with him matched, though,” a different Hunter pointed out.

With conflicted expressions, the Hunters clicked their tongues, their gazes fixed on the boats traversing the inky black sea. Despite the ‘Red Gate’ being broadcast nationwide and causing an uproar, the past few days had been surprisingly peaceful.

“Everyone, finish your bread quickly; we need to resume patrols.”

“We’ve been eating this same bread for days,” grumbled a Hunter who seemed to be the youngest. “It’s so tasteless, how are we supposed to eat it?”

The youngest-looking Hunter grumbled, swatting the bread in his hand aside. Just as another Hunter clicked their tongue at this, an emergency siren pierced the night from far out at sea.

Wiiing— Wiiing—

All the Hunters’ gazes collectively shot towards the sea. The twenty-plus boats immediately changed course upon hearing the siren, converging on a single spot.

At the center of the wailing siren, an inexplicable spray of water boiled with foam.

Their stunned expressions lasted only a moment before the Hunters threw aside the bread they were eating and sprang to their feet. Some radioed nearby Hunters, others grabbed their gear, and still others began untying the ropes of the makeshift boats moored at the dock.

While everyone moved in a frenzy, only one person remained remarkably still, their gaze fixed on the surging waves. Their slowly blinking eyes seemed to be measuring something.

“You idiot, what are you doing right now! Can’t you see everyone frantically preparing?! You slacker…!”

Someone yelled a harsh reprimand at the youngest, and the tense atmosphere spread. Yet, the youngest Hunter did not tear their gaze from the towering waves. *Chwa-reuk*, the eerie sound of the waves echoed.

“…Senior, I think there’s something there. Over there, coming in a straight line…”

“What could possibly be there in this situation…!”

The Hunter, who had been spitting as they scolded, reluctantly looked in the direction the pale fingertip pointed. But before they could even finish their sentence, their eyes blinked in the same stunned manner as the youngest.

Indeed, something was approaching at high speed, kicking up foam. Behind the sound of the waves, a long trail of foam appeared on the sea.

Someone swallowed hard. The white, breaking foam grew larger and larger. Its speed was beyond words.

It might be a monster from the gate. Realizing this, the Hunters immediately drew their weapons and assumed battle stances.

However, their vigilance proved futile; the foam vanished instantly before their eyes.

A moment later, the vanished foam erupted from beneath the dock, spraying water like a torpedo explosion. The figure visible amidst the surging water was a monster with six arms.

“Aaaah!”

The startled youngest screamed, stumbling backward from where they stood. Other Hunters immediately charged forward, swords drawn.

But when the monster landed on the dock where the youngest had been standing, the Hunters’ eyes widened in disbelief.

It was a person. A perfectly intact person, moreover, carrying two other individuals on their back.

While everyone remained frozen, the man carrying two people violently flung one of them off, almost as if discarding them.

It was Han Yuseong. Thrown off by Agon, Han Yuseong skillfully rolled his body to land before his back hit the ground. A low growl rumbled from Agon’s mouth.

Han Dokyeom, draped over Agon’s shoulder, was coughing with such force it seemed his body might shatter.

Water he hadn’t managed to swallow gushed out with his coughs.

“Cough, cough…! Ugh, damn it… I think I swallowed some of those mutated creatures’ blood, ugh… cough…”

After several more coughs, Han Dokyeom, utterly drained, sprawled out on the dock. The black sky, which he hadn’t seen in a long time, shimmered like the deep sea.

‘Well, at least we made it out.’

It had taken a while to exit due to the mutated fish species lurking in front of the gate, but he had to admit it was a successful escape.

If Agon hadn’t gone ahead to deal with the creatures, Dokyeom and Han Yuseong would undoubtedly have become monster food right there, never having breathed the outside air.

He’d held his breath and come ashore; a mouthful of mutated blood was a minor inconvenience.

“Han Dokyeom, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m… mostly alright…”

His entire body was heavy with fatigue. Dokyeom struggled to his feet, wiping his wet cheek and blinking his dazed eyes.

The world seemed to sway. Behind the sighing Han Yuseong, several flashlights shone their way.

Dokyeom wiped the moisture from his face and squinted, trying to focus his vision.

The faces illuminated by the light were all utterly bewildered. With half-closed eyes, Dokyeom abruptly asked the complete strangers before him, “Who are you?”