Chapter 71

Chapter 71
## Chapter 71: The Shadow of Victory

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From the dawn of history, those who rely on the art of summoning to combat their foes have been forced to choose between two distinct philosophies.

One must either overwhelm the opposition through the sheer weight of numbers or place their entire faith in a select few summons of devastating power.

The decaying cadaver standing before me had clearly opted for the first path. It was a localized apocalypse of swarming life. Its physical form served as a literal hive for larvae and flies, with a jagged rupture in its stomach acting as a font that endlessly vomited forth a nightmare of predatory insects.

Some of these creatures were grotesquely oversized, while others mimicked the scale of common household pests.

“It looks like a localized sandstorm.”

To a distant observer, the theater stage would appear to be swallowed by a low-hanging, charcoal-colored thunderhead. However, this was no weather phenomenon; it was a dense, living shroud composed of millions of insects huddling together.

The entity had encased the entire outdoor arena in a pulsating dome of chitin and wings. Every single aerial predator was desperate to burrow into my skin, consume my marrow, and plant the seeds of the next generation within my pulse.

“To hell with this.”

Stumbling through this chaotic vortex were the remnants of people. Their skin was a sieve of puncture wounds, leaking translucent insect eggs from every hole.

These were the remains of those who hadn’t escaped in time. They had been converted into biological incubators. I watched as eggs beneath their translucent skin shuddered, ruptured through the dermis, and took flight, guided by a singular instinct to hunt me down.

“True triumph is forged in the fires of numerical superiority.”
“I’m not in a position to disagree.”

If victory is the goal, crushing the enemy under a mountain of bodies is the most logical route. I channeled Paradox Flame, incinerating the vitality of the lunging swarms as I forced my way toward the source.

“Please… help… it hurts…”

The civilians-turned-nests were still clinging to the last threads of consciousness. The monster likely assumed their pleas would make me hesitate.

It was wrong. I moved with clinical efficiency to end the agony of those living hives.

“Cold-blooded.”
“Perhaps. But in a mess like this, survival demands a lack of sentiment.”

There was no salvation for them; their bodies were already lost to the swarm. It was far more merciful to grant them a quick end than to allow them to function as perpetual biological refineries for the enemy.

Pity was a luxury I couldn’t afford, especially when I had no intention of letting this insect army grow any larger than it already was.

“You are a peculiar specimen.”
From within the swirling cyclone of wings, the monstrosity let out a raspy observation.

The secret was in reading the current. I had to monitor the trajectory of the encroaching bugs and adjust my stance with the fluid grace of a fallen leaf on a stream.

The shimmering blue paths manifesting around me caused the mana in the atmosphere to resonate, systematically eroding the enemy’s magical reserves. Simultaneously, the Paradox Flames I commanded from every angle acted as a specialized furnace, burning away the physical stamina of any insect that dared get close.

“What are you actually trying to achieve here?”

The creature provided an answer.

“I represent the silhouette cast by victory. I am the rot and the ugliness that is the silent price of every great achievement.”
“That’s not what I asked.”

Ignoring my dismissal, the creature lifted a rotting hand and closed its fingers into a fist. The dispersed cloud of insects suddenly condensed, knitting themselves together into a massive, writhing spear.

“We are the enforcers of the inevitable. We are the guardians of birth and the midwives of the end, the harbingers of ruin for a flawed existence. You provide the friction, and we provide the erasure. The terrified masses have named me Balea.”
The lance of interlocking insects launched toward me, shrieking with the deafening roar of a jet engine.

Dark fire wrapped around my own spear, and the blue trajectories lashed out in a blur, striking the incoming projectile dozens of times. My counter-offensive dismantled the insect spear with such frantic precision that I appeared to be a silhouette of multiple warriors at once.

Chitinous wings, shattered carapaces, and foul fluids rained down in a heavy mist. Shattering the spear gave me the opening to lunge forward, driving my point deep into the chest of the being known as Balea.

The impact rang out sharply as my weapon bit through the center of its torso.

“Why do you monsters always talk in riddles? Give it to me straight, you freak.”

As Balea stumbled backward, the insects surged again, creating a dizzying whirlpool of vibration and noise that clouded my vision. I stared through the haze at my opponent.

How many of these entities existed? What was their ultimate agenda? What ties did they have to the bloodline of the descendants of Dangun? The questions were piling up without answers.

Suddenly, the air crackled with discharge, and the airborne swarm began to drop like stones, their limbs twitching in terminal spasms.

“The non-combatants have been moved to the safe zone. The perimeter is clear for five kilometers.”

Han Sang-ah stepped up to my flank, her blade held low. Electricity was the natural predator of the insect world—a lesson learned from both classic video games and high-voltage traps. Violet sparks danced dangerously along the length of her steel.

“Where’s Jeong Oh-hoon?”

“Positioned on the north rooftop.”

Good—he was never suited for the thick of the fray anyway. As if to confirm Han Sang-ah’s report, a series of high-velocity rounds tore through the air, detonating upon impact and vaporizing clusters of the swarm.

“Where is the rest of the cavalry? We’re in the heart of Seoul.”

The Hunter Association couldn’t possibly be ignoring an outbreak of this scale.

“The Association is paralyzed by protocol. They won’t risk sending in unvetted hunters to a zone this volatile. They’ve put out a priority call for high-ranking licensed professionals only.”

That meant we had a thirty-minute window before backup arrived.

“Then let’s wrap this up before they get here.”

“Are you confident?”

I rotated my spear, siphoning the physical energy from the nearest insects as I gave my answer.

“Reasonably.”

Between Jeong Oh-hoon’s surgical suppression from the heights and the unspoken rhythm Han Sang-ah and I had developed through countless missions, this was winnable. We didn’t need to kill every bug; we just needed to endure.

Our true objective was the putrid vessel of So-hwi, the anchor for this entire infestation.

“Most of these minor pests can’t even get through my gear.”

Han Sang-ah’s overcoat was a high-tier artifact recovered from the depths of Bratzuk’s fridge. It provided a passive defense that rendered the bulk of Balea’s swarm toothless against her.

That simplified our tactics significantly.

“You manage the crowd.”

With an impenetrable coat and lightning at her fingertips—the ultimate deterrent for bugs—she was the logical choice for area suppression.

She was far more suited for the grind than I was.

“Understood. I’ll focus on thinning the herd…”

And I would dismantle the core entity. Jeong Oh-hoon would provide the safety net for anything that slipped through.

It was time to execute.

“This is a walk in the park compared to that fridge, right?”

“Easily.”

With a final nod, Han Sang-ah dove into the thick of the swarm. Her lightning-infused blade was a blur of geometric precision, each strike calculated to deliver just enough voltage to drop a target instantly.

“There are still survivors trapped in there.”

“Is there any saving them?”

Han Sang-ah asked the question without breaking her lethal rhythm.

“No. The process is irreversible. They are either permanent hosts or they die.”

Those were the only two options. Han Sang-ah’s sword erupted in a brilliant flash of arc-light. The heads of the shambling victims hit the pavement in unison.

“I might be mistaken, but I had to be sure.”

“If there was a miracle cure, I chose to swing based on your word. That burden is mine, so keep your head in the fight.”

With that weight dismissed, Han Sang-ah charged deeper into the endless sea of chitin. As she drew the majority of the swarm’s attention, the density of insects protecting the main body thinned out, giving me a clear path.

“Don’t call this a foul. You’re the one who said victory belongs to the side with the numbers.”

I hoped it wasn’t about to backtrack on its own philosophy. That would be embarrassing.

With a wet, nauseating sound, chunks of fungal, decaying flesh sloughed off the monster’s frame. A mass of insects began biting into one another, forming a structural lattice that served as a bone substitute. Rotting, pus-slicked meat adhered to this frame, shaping a massive, crude bludgeon.

Balea gripped the weapon and leveled it at me. Simultaneously, a geyser of oppressive mana erupted from its core, causing the hair on my arms to stand.

Despite the fact that I had been slowly draining its reserves, it still possessed a staggering amount of power.

“Face me.”
It swung the club with a violent gust, releasing a cloud of toxic spores. I braced myself and surged forward. The heavy weapon came whistling down toward my skull.

The second my spear met the club, I redirected the kinetic energy with everything I had, forcing the trajectory into the ground.

The asphalt exploded. A shockwave of pure mana radiated outward, completely leveling what remained of the stage. Being at the epicenter, I was thrown back by the sheer force of the displacement.

“You absolute lunatic.”

It wasn’t just air pressure; it felt like a freight train had clipped me. But the monster didn’t give me a moment to breathe. We closed the distance instantly, trading blows in a frantic, high-stakes melee.

Defense, evasion, and counter-striking merged into a single, desperate instinct as Balea and I fought like possessed men.

‘This is getting dangerous. The tide is shifting.’

Its speed was becoming erratic and overwhelming, forcing me to rely on pure muscle memory. I couldn’t understand it—how was a summoner fighting with this level of martial prowess? Usually, the puppet master is the weakest link.

“Gugh!”

A dull thud echoed as the club finally found my ribs. The force bypassed my guard, rattling bone and bruising internal organs. I was sent skipping across the ground like a stone until I slammed into a reinforced wall.

I spat a thick glob of blood and tugged at the hem of my tactical suit. Shattered fragments of reinforced plating spilled out onto the ground.

“You have a fondness for… high-grade alloys, I see.”

The plates were pulverized. If I hadn’t been wearing them, my ribcage would be dust right now. It wasn’t a comforting thought.

If I couldn’t dodge the next one, the result would be the same.

“Do you finally comprehend the gap between us?”
“I’ve got a pretty good idea. One hit and I’m spitting teeth.”

The reality was simple: in terms of raw output, I was outclassed. This thing was a tier above even Lee Se-eun.

I forced myself up, wiping the crimson from my chin.

“Hey… you can’t keep this up much longer, can you?”

Silence was my only answer. To exert this much pressure through a vessel as frail as So-hwi… the body had to be hitting its breaking point.

Up until Han Sang-ah and Jeong Oh-hoon intervened, the creature had been pacing itself. But now, it had spiked its mana to a level that was literally melting its host from the inside out.

The flesh was failing. I gripped my spear with renewed focus.

“I can finish you long before this shell disintegrates.”
“And even if you die, your true self is safe. You trade a temporary body to remove a thorn in your side. A win for you.”

It was a possession via contract. To Balea, So-hwi’s body was just a disposable tool.

“You possess knowledge that should be beyond your station. Secrets that your kind was never meant to hold.”
It tightened its grip on the insect-bone club once more.

“I’m going to feel this in the morning. My body really deserves a better owner than me.”

Maybe a steak dinner if I survived. I coughed up more blood and shouted over the noise of the swarm.

“Han Sang-ah, I’m dropping the field. Coordinate with Jeong Oh-hoon and hold the perimeter!”

I cut the Paradox Flames that were protecting my immediate surroundings. Instead, I poured every drop of that power into my spear. The fire began to pulse along the blade, radiating a dark, solar intensity.

“That flame… it is an anomaly.”
“Stare at it all you want, you won’t figure it out. Not that you’ll have the time.”

The game was simple now. I just had to accelerate the decay of So-hwi’s failing body. If I fell under the weight of its club before the flesh gave out, it was over. But if I could outlast the vessel, the victory was mine.