By Zephyria First, they rested to achieve optimal physical condition. After sleeping soundly for two days, eating the restorative food Yoon Seung-ryong had meticulously prepared and offered, Yohan was fully prepared. They moved towards the city’s center, as reported by Seo Yakrin from high above. Yohan took a few deep breaths and extended his hand.
“Ho-young, a buff, please.”
Joo Ho-young, showing a rare hint of tension, grasped Yohan’s hand. As power flowed in from his companion, Yohan’s internal strength expanded terrifyingly. Hoo, Yohan took another deep breath and unleashed his power, which shimmered as if ready to burst forth.
A dazzling flash erupted. As always when unleashing powerful abilities, a halo appeared above his head. A swarm of light poured from it, spreading in all directions. A massive, round sphere of light slowly enveloped the city.
However, its size was slightly insufficient to cover everything. Even as Yohan gritted his teeth and stretched it as far as he could, it only covered a little over half of the city’s district.
Under the influence of the extensive Purification Field, the city slowly began to cleanse. Yohan watched with earnest eyes, hoping for some anomaly to occur. The air grew clear, and the chirping of birds echoed from somewhere. Buildings stained black revealed their original luster, as if their exteriors had been cleaned.
That was all. Yohan, his strength draining, was about to collapse from the mere result of cleaning just one district of the city. Lee Hyun-mook caught him. Yohan, sweating profusely and panting, soon slumped down, tears streaming as he sobbed in frustration.
“I think my idea was wrong.”
“Yohan-ssi…”
Joo Ho-young squeezed his hand sympathetically. The expressions of the other companions were equally troubled. Yoon Seung-ryong cheerfully exclaimed, “It’s good to live in a clean place!” but Yohan found no comfort. As he wiped his tears with his sleeve, Lee Hyun-mook, who had been silently gazing at the sphere of light, spoke.
“Perhaps the direction is wrong.”
“…What?”
Confused by his words, Yohan sniffled and lifted his head. Lee Hyun-mook continued slowly.
“Until now, our goal was to purify ourselves, so we purified the surface. But this time… we should aim for underground, not the surface. Purifying the air would be useless.”
“Underground…”
It was as if a bright lightbulb had turned on in his mind. Yohan’s eyes wavered. Lee Hyun-mook was right. His ability, inspired by an umbrella, had always been applied like covering the ground with a giant umbrella, only affecting the area above. But to purify this city, it made sense to target the area below ground, not above.
“Perhaps we should try again after recovering…”
“No, now…! I’ll do it right now!”
Cutting off Lee Hyun-mook, Yohan shouted. He had never felt his mind so clear or his concentration so sharp in his life. Before his words had even finished, he grasped the swarm of light that had been radiating and covering the city. Within his wide-open pupils, the swarm of light flickered like the Milky Way. Soon, the massive hemisphere that had covered the city slowly flipped sideways.
“Huh…”
Seo Yakrin looked up at the sky in astonished admiration. The gentle blanket of light that had draped the city plunged into the earth. As if transitioning from day to night, a dark red light once again cast itself across the sky. It was when the inverted sphere of light had half-disappeared.
Some malevolent entity took notice of them.
“……!”
Yohan, who was inverting the Purification Field, suddenly shivered. A chilling, indescribable sense of revulsion and discomfort washed over him. The Abyss was staring at them. Appalled by what Yohan had done, the ground began to shake. Everyone sensed that wicked gaze and intent.
Yet, from the Abyss’s reaction, Yohan felt an emotion closer to elation than fear. Leaning halfway against Lee Hyun-mook, he exclaimed excitedly,
“This is it, right? It’s the right way! This is how… we can get out of here!”
A white light bloomed in Yohan’s eyes. Just as when facing the Abyss, including the Flood, he gained new resolve and courage. The others did not stop Yohan. They instinctively sensed that this was the correct path. The earth tremors intensified, but Yohan moved the light sphere without regard.
“Oh no!”
As soon as Lee Chan-ha hastily erected a barrier, buildings began to crumble. Heavy concrete fragments rained down with a roar, but the barrier remained unshaken. Next, the sky was covered by pitch-black clouds. Since Yohan had already purified the city, there were no monsters present, so these were flying entities summoned from elsewhere.
“Not a chance!”
Seo Yakrin roared fiercely, and golden energy surged from his body like a beast. The bodies of the descending monsters, their wings folded, exploded, spilling blood. The monsters that landed and charged were dealt with by Yoon Seung-ryong. A giant monster was blackened and burned by crackling black lightning. Joo Ho-young, holding Yohan, poured all his energy into him. Everyone was desperate.
As the Purification Field was more than half-inverted, the earthquake intensified. Unable to stand any longer, Yohan collapsed onto the floor, focusing intently.
Please, please, please….
The city shook violently from the strong earthquake, and the ground cracked open. Yohan could feel the Flood, hastily gathered by the Abyss from deep within the fissures, bubbling and slowly rising like sewage seeping from a drain. Feeling a sense of dread, he clenched his teeth. Just a little more, just a little more…
But the surging Flood was faster. Despairing, yet not giving up, Yohan waited. From afar, he heard the sound of waves. What disaster was about to strike now? Yohan, tears and sweat streaming down his face, looked up, his eyes widening.
“That’s…”
A dazzling tidal wave of light was approaching. It was the wave of the Eternal Stones, awakened in vibrant colors by Yohan’s first purification.
At an event that had never occurred in the Abyss, both the monsters and the companions slaughtering them paused for a moment. Then, a flood of light poured down with a roar. The place where the eternally shining waves poured was not the city. It was the cracks in the ground caused by the earthquake.
“Ah…!”
Yohan let out a gasp. He could feel the Eternal Stones flowing into the ground, encircling the underground portion of the city. As the eternal things, the only ones unaffected by the Flood, pushed their way in, the city creaked even more. He could feel the city rising as much as the Eternal Stones pushed in.
The Flood, arriving a hair’s breadth too late, was blocked by the Eternal Stones and could not reach the city. The desperate struggle of things that had fallen into this terrible hell and worn down until they could wear down no further was blocking it. It was the true Flood. Then, as the Purification Field was completely inverted and covered the underground, an unexpected effect occurred. The resonance of the Eternal Stones touched by Yohan’s light.
The Eternal Stones beneath the city, like the one Lee Hyun-mook had given him, amplified Yohan’s abilities, exerting an unprecedented influence. The light surged, completely engulfing the city and overflowing, spreading upwards into the sky. A colorful aura rippled from the ground towards the heavens. Above the extensive aura, an artificial sphere formed of condensed light floated. Seeing it, Lee Hyun-mook murmured unconsciously,
“The sun…”
It was a sun created by the will to survive and the cries of countless beings. It was dazzling but never harmed the eyes of the beholder. It was simply warm and gentle rays of light. Monsters, driven by Madness and rage, began to regain their original free forms one by one.
From some empty space, a formless scream erupted. The malice that had clung tenaciously, refusing to release what it had swallowed, began to detach itself. The light became so intense that Yohan, unable to keep his eyes open, closed them, and the world inverted. The dark red sky and the repulsive atmosphere twisted and distorted. It crumpled. It shrank…
Unlike the dizzying fall felt when he first fell into the Abyss, Yohan felt his body floating and squeezed his eyes shut. After a moment that felt like an eternity or an instant, his ears went deaf. Then, as if emerging from an endless tunnel, the world opened up.
Instinctively sensing that something had changed, Yohan gasped for breath. He trembled, unable to dare open his tightly shut eyes. Someone walked a few steps and then collapsed.
“Outside….”
At those words, Yohan finally opened his eyes. The blue sky reflected in his wet pupils. Blink, blink… He blinked, but it didn’t disappear. Unlike the repulsive, distorted sky of the Abyss, which always seemed to be perpetually twilight, a shining sun and white clouds now resided there. The faint sound of a helicopter approaching could be heard from afar…
“I… I’m out? Outside? Really?”
Yohan stammered, asking. The others remained silent to his question. They were all simply staring with wide eyes, lost in thought. The air, incomparably sweeter than the Abyss, the cool breeze, the stinging sunlight—it was all unbelievable.
Yohan turned his head to look at the person holding him. In the sunlight, Lee Hyun-mook’s hair shone like threads of gold. His dark eyes, which always held a faint red glow, appeared a bright brown for the first time. Lee Hyun-mook, who had been gazing at the sky, turned his head.
“Yohan-ssi,” he called, his voice heavy. Breathing raggedly, he pulled Yohan into an embrace. He rubbed his cheek against Yohan’s until their hot breaths touched, then held him so tightly it was suffocating. For the first time, his body, having lost its composure, trembled.
“I’m glad you didn’t give up until the end. Thank you for making me… think that.”
At Lee Hyun-mook’s words, Yohan’s face finally contorted. Embracing the other man in return, he burst into tears like someone reborn into the world.