“......So this is.”
“Monsterland in the north.”
The Inhuman Demon Realm was the closest place to the Wall.
But in truth, that territory wasn’t all that wide.
The entrance to the Demon Realm.
The broad area near the Wall was called Monsterland.
Even this place was overflowing with enormous numbers of monsters.
Unlike before, now that the blizzard had cleared,
snow lay piled everywhere, but it wasn’t hard to guess what it must have looked like before.
“......To think that ordinary city became ruins like this.”
“Shh.”
When someone said that,
the person beside them jabbed them in the ribs and corrected them in a small voice.
“Keep it down. This is the Demon Realm’s entrance.”
“......Ah.”
“We don’t know how many monsters are around us. Stay as quiet as possible...... and act carefully.”
The number of people gathered was in the thousands.
Normally, it would’ve been enough power to defeat any pack of monsters.
......GULP.
The moment they entered Monsterland,
you could see people tensing visibly.
There were two reasons.
First.
No matter how you looked at it, they were running while avoiding the enemy.
‘Up until now we held as much as we could with the fortresses as strongpoints, but.......’
‘Those giants were absurdly strong.’
‘Now that we’ve abandoned all the fortresses...... we’ll get chased down before long.’
The monsters of cold and the giants leading them were still pursuing them in real time.
Not long ago, during the assault on the source, these people’s morale had soared,
but repeated battles with the giants had dragged their morale all the way to the bottom.
And.
The second reason was......
‘......Avoiding those giants is fine, but.’
‘Are we just dodging wolves to jump into a tiger’s den?’
Because where they were headed
wasn’t exactly a place you could call safer than those giants’ den.
Monsterland was where monsters gathered in the greatest numbers.
And what they were headed toward was none other than—
“Just coming here is basically suicide...... and you’re saying we’re going all the way into the Demon Realm.”
The Inhuman Demon Realm.
A place where monsters that couldn’t overcome the cold had fled to and settled.
If you said they moved to escape the cold, they might sound fragile,
but you couldn’t say those monsters were weak.
In the end, being bound by the environment was the same even for powerful monsters.
Even those cold monsters were the same in that they were weak to heat.
To the humans of Gyeonggi Province,
the Demon Realm’s presence carried an enormous weight.
‘Even the Chair’s assault failed there.’
No—was it just a failure?
The Assault Team came back shattered in the Demon Realm.
All they brought back was testimony that it was a place humans could never reach.
From the stories left by those who had gone into the Demon Realm back then,
it felt like it wasn’t this world at all, but a depiction of some hellscape.
The humans of Gyeonggi Province feared the Demon Realm even more than the source of the cold.
And so.
When Shin Youngjun first insisted they had to head for the Demon Realm,
people dismissed it as nonsense......
“Still, it’s what all the leaders discussed and decided. There must be a reason.”
“......What the hell are they thinking.”
But in the end, now—
all the survivors of Gyeonggi Province, carrying only the bare minimum,
had even abandoned the Wall and were crossing Monsterland.
Even though it was obviously nothing but suicide,
the reason they chose it was simple.
“We have to trust Youngjun.”
It hadn’t been long since Shin Youngjun joined the Association.
Before that, what he’d been doing wasn’t properly known,
but the humans of the Northern Branch—and those close to them—could hear about his past.
“Because Youngjun...... said he came from the Demon Realm.”
“......No matter how I think about it, it’s hard to believe.”
That he—
had survived for months inside the Demon Realm.
“You might not be able to believe it, General, but we confirmed it’s true. Youngjun...... is someone who survived for months beyond that Demon Realm.”
At that,
people who didn’t know Shin Youngjun could only nod faintly, half-dumbfounded.
“It’s ridiculous, but...... still.”
“That’s about what it would take to show that kind of power.”
It was hard to believe he survived beyond the Demon Realm,
but it was just as hard to believe the achievements he’d shown.
“Even Youngjun...... probably wasn’t that overwhelming from the beginning. He must have gained that power in the process of surviving the Demon Realm.”
“.......”
“He survived alone inside the Demon Realm even when he was weak. Maybe...... he has know-how that lets humans move around inside the Demon Realm.”
Han Iseo said it with tension in her voice.
That was exactly what made people follow Shin Youngjun and head for the Demon Realm.
“......I never said I survived alone.”
“......?”
Shin Youngjun, walking at the front, said that,
but the people overwhelmed by Monsterland’s atmosphere didn’t have the room to ask what he meant.
*****
And then.
A little later.
“So this is...... the Demon Realm.”
“Gulp.”
The place called the Inhuman Demon Realm.
They arrived at the entrance to a vast forest.
“Since we’ve come this far, I’ll tell you a few precautions.”
The true Demon Realm.
When they reached the forest’s edge,
Shin Youngjun looked over the leaders of each branch and spoke.
“First, for what’s about to happen ahead, you need to trust me completely and follow behind me.”
“......?”
“If you can’t trust me and you break formation, I can’t take responsibility for your safety.”
People nodded with tense expressions.
Seeing that, Shin Youngjun nodded and continued.
“Second...... as you all know, I’m a human.”
“......Huh?”
At that,
people answered a little blankly.
“Of course you’re human.”
“......Your abilities are a bit unprecedented, but is there anyone who doubts that?”
“Well, I’m glad you believe me.”
Shin Youngjun gave a short laugh and moved into the Demon Realm.
People followed him with trembling steps.
SSSSSHK—
CRACKLE.......
Even in Monsterland, you could feel an enormous number of monsters,
but compared to inside the Demon Realm, it wasn’t even a match.
An overwhelming number of presences pressing in from all sides.......
And movements of powerful magic powers.
‘W-what is this...... damn it.’
‘No way. Every one of these presences is a monster?’
A number of presences far beyond common sense.
If it were a mass of weak monsters, that would be one thing, but—
‘This magic power.......’
‘......Each and every one is an absurdly strong monster.’
If they were ordinary monsters,
Awakeners with enough experience could handle them.
But the problem was......
this was the Demon Realm.
A place where monsters from all across Gyeonggi Province had gathered.
Which meant there were also existences inside it that stood out even there.
“H-hey, you guys.......”
“?”
“Look at the sky.”
At someone’s words, they reflexively looked up.
Through a gap hidden by dense branches—
“W-what is that.”
“Is that...... a bird?”
“A bird?”
The shape visible through the gap.
People who saw it muttered blankly.
“What kind of bird is that big.......”
A monstrous bird of such massive size that it shouldn’t have been able to fly by physics alone.
The monstrous bird looked down at the Association’s people from overhead.
-.......
As if it had interest in the humans of the Association,
the monstrous bird circled over their heads for a long time.
GULP.......
“W-wait...... that can’t be.”
Then.
One of the group spoke in a trembling voice.
“Isn’t that the ‘man-eating bird’?”
“If it’s the man-eating bird...... don’t tell me!”
In the past.
There had been an operation planned to assault the Demon Realm, the warmest region, to overcome the cold.
It was an assault the Chair and the Assault Team attempted with everything they had,
but that assault ended in a miserable failure.
And at that time,
a few pieces of information about the life inside the Demon Realm became known.
“T-the one that supposedly snatches and eats even elephant-sized monsters with ease......?”
“It’s definitely it. That monster that dodged Shooting Unit Captain Jang Ji Han’s attacks like it was nothing and ate people......!”
The ‘man-eating bird’ was one of them.
So powerful and vicious among the monsters the Assault Team faced,
it was one of the names the surviving Assault Team members reported while trembling in terror.
That bird flying above their heads meant—
in other words......
“Is it trying to hunt us......!?”
“......!”
People who realized it trembled in fear.
A powerful monster the Chair’s Assault Team couldn’t even purge.
If that monster attacked them,
it was obvious there would be enormous casualties.
‘Damn it.’
‘We never should’ve come to the Demon Realm......!’
This trip to the Demon Realm, followed unwillingly because leaders decided it.
From the very entrance, the moment they met a mighty monster, people’s eyes watered,
“W-we have to run.......”
Someone broke away from the group
and tried to run outside the Demon Realm, but—
“Stop!”
“......!”
The man who spotted the one trying to leave.
“W-what do you mean stop.......”
“I warned you.”
Youngjun shouted firmly.
“If you leave this formation, I can’t protect you.”
At that,
the Awakener who tried to run spoke with reddened eyes as if wronged.
“Then right now.......”
“.......”
“Right now you’re saying you can protect us from that man-eating bird?”
At that Awakener’s words,
Shin Youngjun answered calmly, like he couldn’t believe they were asking.
“Yes. That’s what I said.”
“......?”
“So stop making a fuss and follow me. We still have a long way to go.”
After saying that,
like the monstrous bird circling above their heads didn’t even exist—
“.......”
“A-are we really just going?”
Shin Youngjun kept walking, utterly calm.
“W-what do we do?”
“F-for now...... let’s follow him.”
“That man said he came from the Demon Realm. So...... he must know something.”
And so.
People moved forward, conscious of the monstrous bird above them.
How long did they walk like that?
The gigantic monstrous bird looked over the group, then—
-......KIRROOK.
After looking at the front of the group,
like its interest had cooled, it flew back up toward the sky.
“T-the man-eating bird.......”
“It’s moving away.”
A fiend said to have swallowed several elites of the Central Branch.
When the man-eating bird left, people could finally breathe out in relief.
“D-did we live.......”
“We got lucky. They said the Assault Team got attacked the moment the man-eating bird flew overhead.”
“My god. We’ve barely entered the Demon Realm and we’re already seeing a monster like that.......”
People relaxed at the thought that they’d survived,
but even so, they couldn’t help getting chills.
“So this is the Demon Realm.......”
“This time we got lucky and the monster withdrew, but that means there are more monsters like that.......”
This place that crushed the Assault Team into a miserable defeat.
They were reminded all over again that the monsters here were on another level.
*****
......Even after that,
something similar happened a few times.
ROOOO......
“That one is......!”
“I’m sure of it. That monster the Assault Team suffered—it’s the white lion!”
The existence that supposedly overwhelmed the Assault Team while leading only a small pack.
A lion with wings on its white hide looked down at them ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ from high in the mountain range.
They said even the sword strikes of elites in the Assault Team couldn’t pierce that hide.
A being the Assault Team’s Awakeners repeated like a nightmare, and yet—
GRRROOOOM.......
“D-did it go?”
Even though the lion clearly noticed them,
it stared down at them for a moment, then turned away and moved off into the distance.
“W-wait. Everyone, get away from the water!”
“......?”
“It’s a giant snake!”
When the group tried to pass near the water for a moment—
-......SSSHLURK.
Tens of meters long.
Thick enough to easily exceed 30 feet.
A gigantic snake surfaced from the water and stared at them.
A monster said to coil its tongue around people who passed close to the water, drown them inside the water, then eat them—vicious beyond measure.
Everyone tensed at its appearance, but—
-SSSHLURK.
SSSSSS......
“......?”
The gigantic snake stared at them for a moment,
then clicked its tongue once,
and disappeared back into the deep water.
“......Something’s weird.”
And.
Only then did people notice what was strange.
“The monsters.......”
“They’re not attacking.”
Maybe that was why it was the Demon Realm.
The number of monster presences you could feel was enormous.
Even if weaker than the monstrous bird that flew in the sky,
or the white lion that radiated terrifying might,
or the giant snake that surfaced at the water—
there were plenty of strong, ominous magic-power presences pressing in from all directions.
The survivors numbered over several thousand.
Unlike usual, they couldn’t even hide their presence.
‘Normally, it would be natural for a few battles to break out with monsters hunting prey.......’
And yet.
“Come to think of it...... it started back in Monsterland.”
“We haven’t fought even once, have we......?”
Ever since they entered Monsterland,
they hadn’t been attacked even a single time.
“......What is it?”
“It’s weird. There are this many monsters...... so why.”
What people could feel was......
the monster presences around them,
STEP.
moving away.
The man walking at the very front of their group,
as if he had no intention of hiding his magic power at all—letting it spill out as he walked.
“Shin Youngjun.......”
“It’s like they’re avoiding him, isn’t it?”
SSSSSK—
PAPAPAPAPAPAPAK!
“I told you we have a long way to go. Hurry and follow.”
They were moving away from Shin Youngjun.
......As if,
no matter what, they wanted to avoid him.
