Fallen Lightbringers' Return

Chapter 61: Red Eyes

In essence, what Lee Dojin had planned was simple. In the first place, he wasn't the kind of person who could make ingenious plans, working step by step while predicting 10 miles ahead. And he never planned to be that kind of person. There were many people more suitable for that.

Ever since ascertaining he had transmigrated, his goals before the First Advent were as follows:

1. Join the Trailer

2. Reach Rank 1

3. Do the Special Quest

4. Receive the reward upon completion.

Anything in-between was just filler for him. That didn't mean the things he did were any less important, no, one could argue that putting Do Jiwoon in his place would have the greatest long-term effect, but he placed the reward here as the biggest priority, as this was the only place he could get it.

Ji-ah looked around her. She felt her whole body tingling, thinking how she was inside the enemy. "What do we do now?"

Lee Dojin followed her sight. "I'm unsure, quite honestly." He laughed. "In the first place, I'm rather thankful that we are even able to breathe in here. If we didn't have that flask, that thing would have already killed us."

"You've got to be kidding me." Ji-ah placed her hand on her face.

"Now, now, don't despair," Lee Dojin said. "As long as we are inside, it can't really get to us."

Hassan approached him. "What about the people outside?"

"It's fine," Dojin assured him. He glanced down at Seoul. Though it seemed as if everything was shrouded in darkness for them, the reality was quite the opposite, he imagined. Right now, the city should be engulfed in light. "Well, as long as you aren't a Player, that is."

This Special Quest was the reason he decided not to initiate people like Kim Jyejin or Heeson into the trailer.

Just as it was with the Hidden Questthough the darkness ignored civiliansany Player not associated with its activation will be mercilessly attacked by the summoned shadows without being able to fight back. The shadows could hit the player, but not vice-versa. That was the rule. And putting aside how he could not ascertain their safety upon the start of the Quest (and its high fatality rate), the Rank 1 Quest only allowed a maximum of 3 people.

"I suppose Jiwoon is having an incredibly hard time right now?" He chuckled as if amusing. With the dark fog hanging above Seoul, any Player within proximity was bound to be barraged by countless invincible shadows. Currently, anyone not part of his party would be fighting a fruitless endeavor, if they hadn't suffocated at the beginning already. "Though I don't remember anyone else who joined the Trailer in Seoul?" He rubbed his head and thought hard.

Even if the people he initiated into The Mirage miraculously survived Trailer, they'd without a doubt die as Lee Dojin activated the Rank 1 Quest. He only trusted Ji-ah, as she was the Mother of Ravens (though even for her it was a close call).

The black cloud suddenly rumbled, cutting Dojin's thoughts short. "R.. . est. Peace.. ." A low voice resounded throughout the darkness.

Hassan took a few steps back, he cocked his head, searching for the source. "What was that? What was that?"

Lee Dojin's eyes shot wide open. His mouth slacked down, enough for "Unbelievable." A burst of dry laughter escaped him. He didn't know whether to be happy or scared.

Ji-ah watched his reaction, unsure what to make of it. "Is something wrong? What was that voice?"

That was," he paused, "the shadow."

A pair of red eyes appeared in the distance, great of size, and with two black slits as pupils, staring directly at them, like a snake would watch its prey. Hassan and Baek Ji-ah felt their heart sink from fear. Cold sweat flowed down their bodies, leaving them incredibly cold.

Ji-ah's teeth clattered. "What is this," she said in a low voice. "It is as if I was dropped in an ice bath." Hassan swallowed his saliva. He couldn't press any words out. He kept taking steps back, but the eyes only felt closer.

Suddenly, the system notice rang out, and a message appeared in front of them.

[The warrior has successfully created a legacy. An additional reward will be issued. Please prepare to receive it.]

[The warrior has created a new life.]

[Reward will be issued upon completion of the Quest]

Lee Dojin patted the two terrified people on the shoulder. They twitched, though they woke up from their stupor. "You two are caught in its bloodlust," he answered Ji-ah's question. "Its control is rudimentary at best, but for people not used to it, it might feel as if you were staring at Medusas eyes." He glared at the face in the darkness. It glared back, releasing a stinging sensation on his skin. Other than that, it did not do much for him.

Baek Ji-ah was the first to gain her composure, though she could still not meet that things' eye. "What do we do against this? It feels like I am suffocating."

"Good question," Lee Dojin said. "Well, best would be not to get caught in the first place, but at times like these, it is best to send out your own bloodlust." As he said so, the air around him seemed to warp. The light in his eyes left, replaced by darkness. The smell of fresh blood surrounded him as if he had just committed a massacre. Staring at Lee Dojin, the giant red eyes opened wide, its irises shaking, and looking at Lee Dojin, it felt its death imminent. It could tell. That was real bloodlust. It crushed the microscopic killing intent the shadow shot out and quickly enveloped the whole area.

Promptly, the face disappeared, leaving only darkness again.

Hassan coughed out twice, the tension in his body releasing. He glanced at Lee Dojin. What kind of monster was he to drive away that thing? Though it wasn't directed at him, he still felt cold sweat flowing down his back. even though he was only grazed by it, the man still felt terrified to his core. But he composed himself. "Say, what was that message before? New life? It's not that hard to create new life." He never saw that kind of message before.

"Of course it doesn't mean just a baby or something." Lee Dojin shook his head. "It's congratulating us. For creating shadow so big it has gained sentience. Don't worry, that message is a good thing. Though The System itself is a piece of shit, the reward it gives is nothing to scoff at."

"I see." Hearing that, Hassan got excited. "But we have to complete the Quest first."

"That is a given."

Suddenly, the face appeared again, glaring at the three of them, Though it did not do much this time. "D.. . ie."

Ji-ah looked up. "How do you even defeat such a thing?"

"We got lucky. When I first thought about doing the mission, I thought I'd had to stay in the air, fighting the innumerable shadows from the outside," Lee Dojin said. "But The Systems quest is always there for a reason. The rewards always help you to clear the mission. The more you achieve in the process, the easier the subsequent ending. The flask of that space worm allowed us to survive inside here. No matter what, it cannot crush us while the effects are activated."

"That's nice and all, but this is just a giant blob. How do we fight something like this?"

"Well," He pointed at the eyes. "By destroying the face." He phased away, appearing at a distant node, right next to the face. He clenched his fist, and threw it out, promptly destroying the projection of eyes. It screamed out loud. Then disappeared, crushed. Lee Dojin lowered his hand. "This is the perfect opportunity. Every time we beat that face, it loses a part of its shadows. What do you all say, easy, right?"

The red glowing eyes reappeared in the distance, staring at him angrily.

"You should have said so from the start," Ji-ah shouted, excited. She brought her hand down, a pillar of light appeared above the face, smiting it and branding it to crisps. The woman laughed. "Now we are talking."

Hassan looked at Ji-ah and jumped back. "Damn, what was that?" His eyebrows shot up. What kind of Godlike ability did she get? Lee Dojin notwithstanding, that woman was a monster too.

Lee Dojin reappeared next to him, giving that man a good startle. "Can you use your ability to find the eyes." He searched through the darkness. Though he could see better than most people thanks to his title, the shadows were just too vast.

He nodded. A string appeared, only for him to see. It led him southwest, the eyes were there. Lee Dojin phased to the place, immediately destroying it. The three of them worked together like that. Hassan would locate its location, if it was nearby, Lee Dojin would give it a good punch. Further away, Ji-ah smote it to smithereens, both leaving nothing behind. For any normal human, the faces should not have been that easy to defeat. But the Korean duo's destructive ability was beyond charts.

Hassan activated his ability again. Suddenly, his eyes started stinging, and the string cut off. He lifted his head and saw there, were now tens of shadows in the air. The bloodlust they oozed, got him petrified again. "up," he shouted, and at the same time, realizing that they had mouths now.

Lee Dojin saw them too. 30, no, maybe 40 faces, all staring down on them. He activated Cosmic Steps again. Nodes appeared around him. "What level was it? 42? That means I have around 52 stars now? Quite a lot." He laughed. Looking at the stars, it was as if he were carrying a pocket universe around him.

The faces opened their mouths, smiling fiendishly. They appeared to be preparing an attack, but it was unsure what. Hassan flinched, hiding his face. Ji-ah cupped her eyes, fearing it was an auditory attack. But they were both wrong.

Lee Dojin laughed. He phased away, moving so fast from start to star, for Hassan and Ji-ah, it appeared as if he had multiplied. Their sight could not keep up with Lee Dojin. He seemed everywhere and nowhere at once.

The Cosmic Steps were not a teleportation ability. Rather, it allowed Lee Dojin to walk through shortcuts of this world, making what should be a long route, an instantaneous one. From the outside, it may look like he was wildly flashing around, teleporting from one space to another, but to him, it was all a straight line, the nodes neatly aligned. While the stars were alive, there existed no corners our hindrances for him. He could move once, and now with 52 stars, appear at 52 places almost at the same time.

Lee Dojin appeared before the eyes. "As long as you are within one kilometer, you will always only be one step away from me." He punched out, all faces crumbling at once, their ability never to be seen.