LTTH C80

Chapter 80

When every corpse within the Sanctuary vanished, the ground trembled with a low, rumbling vibration.

“What the—?”

“An earthquake…?”

“Where did all the bodies go?”

Though the shaking resembled a quake, Hansol scanned the surroundings while steadying his balance. The ground hadn’t split. No nearby buildings had collapsed. So what was it?

“Hansol, how about using that Descent skill now?”

“…Right now?”

Hansol tilted his head at Kassie’s suggestion. Was Kassie telling him to use Descent and trap himself somewhere safe? He had no intention of doing so—Descent wasn’t the kind of skill one could waste casually. Divine Power, the resource it consumed, was far harder to replenish than skill points. He didn’t even know what increased it.

“I’ll hold off until I see a little more.”

“…If that’s your judgment.”

Because the Sanctuary had eliminated most immediate threats, Hansol postponed his decision. In hindsight, Kassie’s intuition had been right. He should have used Descent.

At the far edge of the Sanctuary, thin cracks began to spread across the concrete. They were fine—too fine for the naked eye—but everyone noticed the anomaly the moment the ground suddenly caved in. A pit opened, followed by a heavier, deeper tremor.

“Wh—what was that?”

“It’s shaking again?!”

“That’s… a sinkhole, isn’t it?”

A phenomenon once seen only on the news appeared before their eyes. Miraculously, no casualties occurred; everyone alive had already gathered close to Hansol. But even without injuries, the gaping, bottomless hole in the middle of the city was disturbing enough to command every gaze.

From within that ominous pit, something began to crawl out. The first visible part looked like twisting tree roots. Or were they legs? Those sprawling roots reached outward freely, and soon, the thing’s hidden body emerged.

“…My god.”

If Berthel had overwhelmed people with his sinister presence, this creature oppressed the world through sheer size. Its root-like limbs writhed upward, hauling its body onto the street. When the creature fully surfaced, its head nearly brushed the edge of a ten-story building. The earlier tentacled monster seemed adorable in comparison. This was the real monster—the true calamity.

“……!”

As every onlooker absorbed the creature’s form, text appeared in midair—just as it had on the day of the Great Cataclysm. Hansol’s eyes trembled violently.

“Ah…”

When confronted with a reality too absurd to accept, some people lost the ability to speak. Hansol could only gape silently at the impossible message before him.

“Hansol, just now….”

“…You saw it too?”

Hansol’s shaken eyes met Kassie’s blue ones. Kassie nodded faintly. If the message appeared for both of them, it meant everyone present had seen it—exactly like that day.

“…So this is what you meant,” Kassie murmured. “How are we even supposed to fight something like that?”

Hansol had the same thought. No matter how he imagined it, he couldn’t picture a way to defeat the thing before them. He couldn’t even picture it dying. The hopelessness was not theirs alone—every person within the Sanctuary and purification zone wavered.

A monster that looked immune to blades, magic, and reality itself— hunters’ morale plummeted. If they let fear consume them now, they would die without lifting a single hand in resistance.

They had searched endlessly for this monster. Now it stood right before them.

Whatever anyone else felt, Hansol had to regain his senses.

His unfocused gaze sharpened, returning to its usual deep black clarity.

“…We try anything. Everything.”

“You’re right. For now, we fall into basic formation,” the Tower Master said, moving quickly to steady the chaotic masses.

Tanks, led by James, stepped to the front. Close-range fighters formed the second line. Ranged fighters filled the third. Hansol took his place at the rear—a natural position for a healer, but horrifying for another reason:

He was the only healer left.

‘That’s right… there weren’t any others…’

Earlier, while searching for Sehyeon with Kassie, he hadn’t seen a single healer. He had optimistically assumed they were staying far behind. But deep down, he knew. The healer who would remain with these people to the end would be him. That was why he could not abandon them—not when he knew how hopeless a battlefield without a healer would be at its final moments.

He glanced back at the survivors he’d chosen to save. Only half as many civilians remained compared to the crowded front line of hunters.

Had they known? That a monstrosity like this would appear before what was supposed to be the safest place—the front of the Tower?

An emissary of an Outer God, Shumas, requests to speak with you. Do you accept?

“What?”

“What is the system saying?”

“What does that even mean?!”

High-grade monsters often possessed intelligence and speech. A-rank bosses and above talked routinely, so it wasn’t surprising that this creature could. The problem was: this wasn’t inside a Gate. And the system itself was facilitating the conversation.

“Speak with who?”

“Shumas—that’s the same name from the message, isn’t it…?”

The commotion wasn’t limited to hunters. The civilians behind Hansol panicked even more. A monster invading their world and now wanting to talk? No one here believed this “conversation” could be anything but disastrous.

“…….”

So no one answered. Only silence filled the space.

Time limit exceeded. Automatically accepting.

“……!”

“Why was it accepted?!”

“No one said yes!”

Everyone who had kept silent erupted in alarm. Again—again, the system made its own decision. The message flickered out without explanation, and moments later, crackling static echoed like a radio tuning in.

[#@$%&^!%$)_]

“…What?”

“Is that supposed to be speech?”

Though the prompt claimed this was a “conversation,” the creature’s first utterance was incomprehensible—some alien tongue. Hansol wondered absurdly if he was supposed to decipher it.

Then the creature spoke again.

[Ah. You can hear me now?]

Its polite tone contrasted so violently with its grotesque form that the dissonance alone was sickening.

[Ending all of you here would be trivial. Extremely trivial.]

Its massive root-limbs scraped across the ground, proving it could act on those words any moment.

[But I offer you an opportunity. There is something I require.]

“…Something it needs?”

“A monster… negotiating with us…?”

A one-sided declaration, yet enough to stir confusion. What could such a creature possibly need? It had the strength to kill everyone present. Killing and taking what it wanted would be easier.

[One human.]

The monster’s gaze—though it had no eyes—passed over the crowd and fixed upon Hansol. Hansol felt it immediately, like a cold fingertip pressed to his chest.

“Hansol, stay behind us.”

“There is absolutely no need for Hansol-nim to respond.”

The Tower Master and Kassie stepped forward, blocking the creature’s line toward Hansol. Its focus wavered slightly, but Hansol still felt its attention like a weight.

[Hand over that human, and you all may live.]

Berthel had been obsessed.

Now this thing was as well.

Why—why was every monster so fixated on devouring him?

Like a villain reciting a cliché ultimatum, the creature extended a root-limb—long and branchlike—pointing unmistakably at Hansol.