By Zephyria “I’ll purify!”
Declaring this, Yohan leaped onto the rooftop ledge and raised his spear. Dazzling radiance flashed from the black and white Eternal Stone. The people, who had been dancing bizarrely as human cordyceps, slowly turned their vacant eyes towards Yohan.
To them, who were experiencing a confusing and somewhat painful joy, Yohan appeared like a suddenly appearing lighthouse. It was when they were staring blankly, lost in thought. A dazzling swarm of light poured down from above the rooftop.
Saaaaa-. Giving the illusion of a lapping water sound, a dazzling waterfall flowed down from above the building. The people directly below, who were engulfed by the swarm of light, let out cries. The bizarre fungi clinging to their bodies and the evil parasites that had taken root within them melted away instantly without a trace. As the hallucinations and enchanting effects disappeared, people finally saw reality clearly and were stunned.
“What is that? What is that?”
“Wh-what am I doing here…?”
“Aaaah! It’s a monster!”
The people, regaining their senses and properly facing the mushroom spores and monsters, screamed. Instinctively knowing they had to touch the light, they hastily pulled their bodies away from the dirty and harmful place. And they looked up to find the source of the light. Pedestrians fleeing and people hiding in buildings all turned their gazes towards the source of the intense light.
Yohan couldn’t pay attention to people’s gazes. He was solely focused on preventing the spread of these spores. At his will, the swarm of light circled the building, which was spewing out the spore mist, with a gulping sound.
He considered deploying a Purification Field, but since he didn’t know what might emerge from inside that building, he put it off for now. Purification, as it was powerful, eradicated everything deemed harmful, so he might not be able to grasp the situation accurately. Besides, this was enough for now.
“Yakrin. Destroy the building.”
“Yes, Team leader!”
Seo Yakrin, who answered as if she had been waiting, had her eyes immediately flare golden. Her hair rippled as golden Psychokinesis surged. Then, it formed into the shape of a giant hand and grasped the building that was spewing spores.
“Wow, th-that’s insane. It’s like watching a movie.”
A man filming from a nearby rooftop exclaimed, his hands trembling from awe. This was his first time seeing Team Sun up close, so he suppressed his fear. He had the expectation that Team Sun would save them anyway.
He diligently filmed Yohan, who was pouring down the swarm of light, and Team Sun. At the same time, he tilted his head, feeling a sense of déjà vu. He felt like he had seen the face of the person using this unfamiliar ability somewhere before. Moreover…
“The ability looks like a Purifier’s, no matter how I look at it?”
As the man muttered, Seo Yakrin’s giant golden hand crushed the building with a crunch. Fragments of the wall rained down, but stopped above the citizens’ heads. What appeared from between the cracked and burst walls was a giant cocoon on the verge of metamorphosis.
Almost simultaneously, the Corrupted who touched Yohan’s swarm of light lost their illusion abilities, and Park Seung-min also regained his senses.
“Ugh! Aaaah!”
Park Seung-min screamed in terror, witnessing the ominous, giant cocoon right in front of him. What in the world was happening? He had been receiving cheers from fans just moments ago, hadn’t he? Confused, he tried to flee but stumbled. The crowd was so dense. He cried out in agony.
“Move, I said move! You bastards! Do you all want to die!”
“Don’t push! There are too many people! Uh…?”
A citizen, recognizing Park Seung-min trapped in the crowd, grabbed him in panic.
“B-B-Awakened Park Seung-min! You’re a High-level Awakener. Do something!”
At that cry, people actually surged towards Park Seung-min again. They believed that a High-level Awakener could surely protect them. Park Seung-min cursed inwardly. Bastards! I can’t do anything right now! I can’t do anything! There’s something wrong with my ability! Seeing him flustered, unable to even emit a speck of light, people began to doubt him.
“But that light, isn’t that a purification ability? I saw it on the internet.”
“It looks like another Purifier is using their ability right now, not Park Seung-min.”
“They said you could Awaken if you came here!”
“I came here trusting you, you fraud! What are you going to do about this!”
“Are you sure you’re a High-rank Purifier? Why can’t you do anything?”
“Come to think of it, haven’t you never properly shown your ability?”
The people, having regained their senses and recognized the reality, murmured amongst themselves. Park Seung-min’s face turned pale. Doubtful gazes surrounded him from all sides. Unable to escape anywhere, Park Seung-min stammered awkwardly.
“I, I… I….”
Just as other Purifiers, and Jeong Si-young, a High-level Awakener, instinctively felt suspicion looking at Park Seung-min, Park Seung-min also instinctively recognized the swirling swarm of light around him. This was… purification power. Someone else’s light, not his own. It was a purification power so overwhelming that he couldn’t even compare. It wasn’t even comparable to his first day of Awakening.
“No, no….”
While Park Seung-min desperately denied reality, the giant, ominous cocoon above them writhed. Mushroom spores sprouting from the cocoon repeatedly puffed out their caps and emitted dense spores. Blocked by the wall of Psychokinesis, they didn’t reach the people, but it was enough to plunge those below into panic.
Spores fell from above, and with the unfamiliar light swirling all around, people were in disarray, unable to do anything.
“G-Go Jae-won! Go Jae-won!”
Park Seung-min pushed through the crowd, desperately calling for Go Jae-won. However, Go Jae-won, who had been nearby just moments ago, had vanished somewhere. He had fled in fear as soon as Team Sun appeared. Then, someone who had been observing the place where the waterfall of light was flowing shouted.
“I know that person! Team Sun’s parachute…! It’s Yang Yohan! It looks like Yang Yohan is using purification abilities right now!”
As soon as someone shouted this, surprisingly and strangely, people could clearly recognize the face of the person standing on a distant rooftop. It was as if someone had artificially provided them with glasses.
“What?”
Why is Yang Yohan’s name coming up here…? Park Seung-min muttered blankly and slowly turned his head. Even Low-rank Awakened individuals had slightly better eyesight than others, enough to distinguish the person standing on the rooftop.
“Yang Yohan…?”
While he mumbled again, lost in thought, Team Sun’s assault continued.
To block the constantly scattering spores, Joo Ho-young, with Seo Yakrin’s help, leaped as if flying towards the giant mushroom cocoon. Jjeng! Jjeojeojeong! The moment Joo Ho-young’s feet touched it, the mushroom’s cap froze with a clear sound. Spores no longer scattered. The writhing cocoon became bumpy and thrashed. It felt like something was about to burst out from within.
“Where do you think you’re going! Not a chance!”
Yoon Seung-ryong leaped from rooftop to rooftop, moving to the highest point, and a terrifying toxic miasma emanated from his body. It surged and fell like a tidal wave, enveloping the mushroom. Its movement, like living snakes, was astonishing control no matter how many times he saw it. The cocoon convulsed under Yoon Seung-ryong’s paralyzing poison, its movements subsiding.
“Everyone, stay in your places!”
Next, Lee Chan-ha, who approached, cast a blue barrier over the citizens’ heads. Following that, Lee Hyun-muk stood beside Yohan. People held their breath, watching the two. Yohan, who wielded the dazzling spear and swarm of light, was undeniably a Purifier. Park Seung-min’s face drained of color, turning pale.
“No, it can’t be. It can’t be…”
No matter how much he denied it, the scene before his eyes did not change. Park Seung-min looked down at his hands. The meager, tiny thing he had managed to muster was barely visible, buried in the light emitted by Yang Yohan.
“Yohan, it’s going to be loud, so cover your ears.”
At the gentle instruction, Yohan quickly covered his ears. Then, Lee Hyun-muk pulled his arm, holding the spear, back. It wasn’t a performance for the Little Sheep team like before, so the veins on his forearm bulged, turning a deep blue. The spear flew towards the cocoon, which bore the mark of the Flood.
Swaaaaeek! The spear, thrown with immense force, cut through the air with a tremendous sonic boom. It flew fiercely and plunged deep into the cocoon. Then, before the being inside the cocoon could do anything more, an enormous lightning strike descended.
Kwareureung! Kwaaang! Kwareureureung…!
Dark lightning, completely different in nature from Yohan’s light, struck repeatedly with deafening roars. The lightning, which darkened the world as if absorbing light, hit the lightning rod plunged into the cocoon. Unlike the dazzling light below, the area above was endlessly dark.
An immense current surged through the cocoon. The cocoon trembled in its final struggle and then shriveled flat. The mushroom burned black and drooped. Only after lightning struck several more times did the attack stop.
Only then did people finally exhale the breath they had been holding. Even though they knew the monster was finished, everyone was still terrified due to the sheer immensity of the attack just moments ago. Some collapsed, others were deathly pale and struggling to breathe.
At that moment, the swarm of light spread across the ground began to move.
While it might be manageable for Little Sheep, Yohan, still unskillful in controlling such a vast purification power, had to use the spear as a medium. The light waves flowed gently across the ground in the direction the spear moved. People looked down at the ground, mesmerized by the beautiful and enchanting sight. The wave of light swept over people and the building stained with contaminants without missing a spot. Wherever the swarm of light passed, even the accumulated grime on the building disappeared. It was like a brand-new building.
“I, I’m healed…! My hands! I don’t have to wear gloves anymore!”
Someone cried out in amazement. It was someone who had Contamination Symptoms even before attending the rally. Then, others, confirming their bodies had returned to normal, were moved and shed tears. The gentle wave of light swept over each person, without exception.
Except for one person, Park Seung-min.