Chapter 99

The leader is at least a Level 5. The tent, drenched in black rain, had holes like the ozone layer.

The creature showed no hesitation even as it melted its own kind. Its goal was truly the hotel, and it attacked the surrounding man-eating plants with black rain to clear the way inside. The asphalt in front of the hotel melted, leaving no safe place to step. Pools of black liquid, emitting heat, gradually melted the ground.

Although one of its wings was torn by Cha Haya's sword, the creature, leaning to one side, continued to pour out black rain without pause. If this continues, the hotel itself might be corroded. Moreover, there were still hundreds of locusts left. They were chewing and swallowing the landscaping trees and fountains around the hotel.

Aiming at the leader floating in the air was tricky. Thanks to the leader's friendly fire, most of the locusts heading for the entrance had melted, but it was uncertain how long Seo Un's tent could hold. He was already drenched in sweat from using cosmos to protect the hotel. First, he needed to deal with this creature... Seo Un looked around for Cha Haya, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Kang San! Yoo Chan! Cha Haya, where are you!?"

He shouted, but the guild members were too busy cutting and slicing the locusts. Whether they were protecting the leader or following its orders, the locusts attacked the man-eating plants with their sharp claws and jaws. Even the Level 5 man-eating plants struggled against the overwhelming numbers of the mutants. The tent was almost completely torn apart due to the leader's continuous black rain.

Just as Seo Un was gauging the floating creature with Matahari in hand, someone leaped from the hotel rooftop and stabbed the leader's head with a sword. A long, intense white sword energy left a lingering trail, and the creature, along with the person, began to fall from the 30th floor.

"Crazy! Cha Haya!"

Seo Un immediately retracted the tent, and the floor melted with a sizzling sound from the final toxic blast. The amount of poison it had just released was almost a large puddle.

The giant body crashed with a deafening boom, and the ground shook like an earthquake.

"Wow, what a stench. I should have brought a mask."

Cha Haya stood on the flattened leader, even holding its severed head.

"Lord, I have beheaded the enemy leader!"

He grinned and waved the head at Seo Un. In Seo Un's eyes, which had been terrified by Cha Haya's fall, he saw the flesh melting off his bones.

"Crazy bastard! Your hand is melting! Let go quickly!"

Seo Un ran over and poured purple energy into Cha Haya's melting hand and leg.

Now, Seo Un's offensive cosmos, which used to take the form of sword energy, appeared as small, fine purple buds when he used his healing ability. From a distance, it looked like sword energy, but up close, it was clearly a cluster of small buds.

Cha Haya, who found the smell incredibly good, lowered his head and sniffed Seo Un's neck, where he held his hand.

"You, do you have some kind of affection for your hand?! And if you're going to the rooftop, you should tell me first!"

Cha Haya, who was insensitive to pain, was the one who was more agitated. Seo Un's back was exposed as he focused on healing. Cha Haya, still in that state, raised his good hand and stretched it out toward the approaching locusts.

A white energy formed from his hand and spread out, enveloping the remaining hundreds of locusts. Even if they tried to jump and escape, they only smashed their heads against the barrier he created.

"Kang San, Yoo Chan, if you don't want your insides to burst, come out!"

Cha Haya, whose skin had regenerated, raised his voice. The locusts, who had been bathing in the creature's bodily fluids, came out of the cube he had started to lift into the air, calling it a welcome sound.

"Cha Seo Un, where are you going?"

Cha Haya grabbed Seo Un, who was moving away.

"Where am I going? I need to deal with the remaining mutants."

Seo Un, hoping the wounds were all gone, ran out with Matahari in hand. As soon as he moved away, the foul smell filled his lungs again. Cha Haya turned his gaze to the cosmos barrier he had created. He wanted to finish quickly to avoid the stench and instead rub his nose in Seo Un's sweet scent.

The cube, which had been a sphere, now gradually shrank, trapping the locusts inside. The sound of them being crushed and broken was still chilling.

Creak, the face of the locust at the front twisted grotesquely and then burst, unrecognizable. As they struggled to escape, they often cut each other with their claws and jaws.

The other guild members, except for Ta Cheon, turned pale at the one-sided slaughter. They had cut, sliced, and burned mutants before, but never on such a large scale. The method of trapping them in a small space and crushing them to death was cruel, even for mutants.

Cha Haya, with a slight smile, focused more and contracted the cube. Squish, after one more crush, no mutants were left alive. As he continued to shrink it, the sound of vomiting could be heard.

"Cha Haya."

Seo Un, who was dealing with the remaining locusts, called him. He seemed to notice the lump in Seo Un's throat.

He clenched his fist, and the cube containing the mutant corpses burst into flames. The pile of mutant corpses also burned fiercely. Instead of the disgusting sight, a savory smell, like grilling skewers, stimulated the senses. Yoo Chan threw the locusts he had collected into the burning cube and pile, seemingly not intending to eat them but focused on extracting the black stones from the burned corpses.

The only thing left from the completely incinerated mutant corpses was the black stones. They fell to the ground like beads but were quite heavy.

"The last one, this is the end!"

Kang San separated the head from the body of the giant locust and shouted. Seo Un finally retracted the tent blocking the hotel entrance and took a deep breath. Looking around, he saw that no one was dead, only injured. The only fatalities were Abdulraziz and the hotel staff he had attacked.

While the guild members were cleaning up the area with the injured, the Ta Cheon guild members collected the black stones and headed into the hotel.

As Cha Haya whispered something in Seo Un's ear, Seo Un's eyes met Kim Seo Kyung's inside. Seo Un's gaze turned cold before shifting to Abdulraziz.

Kim Seo Kyung, watching Ta Cheon's members collect Abdulraziz's body, spoke. Lee Gwan Woong stood beside her.

"Seems we need to redefine the top-tier species."

The Ta Cheon guild members, looking at the body, all had somber faces, suggesting a strong bond. They do have camaraderie, she thought. She had hoped this incident might put a leash on Ta Cheon, but the locust mutants had derailed her plans. Kim Seo Kyung pressed her temples a few times.

"Only those two have overlapping abilities, right?"

Lee Gwan Woong, who had been silent, now held his staff and looked at the ground.

"If there are no other man-eating plants hiding the same ability, it's just those two."

"Both of them are in Ta Cheon, which is a headache."

Lee Gwan Woong hadn't expected Cha Haya's abilities to be that strong.

The ability to create a space to trap mutants... If it were a person, or even a man-eating plant, they would have been crushed and exploded in the top-tier species' cosmos, dying a horrible death.

If the powerful were also righteous, it would be perfect, but can we just leave a monster like him alone? Moreover, it's now confirmed that Cha Seo Un has healing abilities. If there is a god, this can't be. This is an unfair balance. Lee Gwan Woong clicked his tongue.

And the Ta Cheon members openly displayed their power to the guild members. The guild members' gazes, watching Ta Cheon collect Abdulraziz's body, were filled with fear and disgust, something new. By showing the overwhelming power difference, Ta Cheon had demoralized the guild.

To fight Ta Cheon in the future, the first step would be to eliminate the guild members' fear. Without a clear belief in victory, no one would risk their life.

"Actually... Secretary. There's one more piece of bad news."

Can there be worse news than this? Lee Gwan Woong looked at Kim Seo Kyung with displeasure.

"Kim Han Sol. I just heard that he has reawakened as a top-tier species."

Despite having dealt with all the mutants, Lee Gwan Woong's face turned dark.

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