By Zephyria 
“Bu-ooooo.”
Perhaps annoyed that the humans—who looked as if they could be easily crushed under its legs—refused to die and continued to pester it, the Kun let out a long cry. Sonic waves, vibrating heavily through the air, spread in circular ripples, pressing down on the surroundings.
Not missing the moment when those unable to withstand the sonic waves lost their footing, the Kun coiled itself around the remains of human structures sunken in the river—specifically, the wreckage of the bridges crossing the Han River. It was the Kun that had collapsed over thirty of the Han River’s bridges.
Having demolished the structures that were mere obstacles in its habitat, the Kun realized the utility of the debris that did not easily break or bend. They were perfect for attacking the humans who were bothering it.
The Kun’s judgment was correct. The strength and weight of the bridge steel, combined with the acceleration of the tentacles swinging them like clubs, delivered devastating power.
Until now, the raid teams had been unable to properly defend against this attack. No matter how effective the dealers’ attacks were, once the tankers’ defensive line collapsed, it was only a matter of time before the entire formation crumbled.
“Activate the protective magical tools!”
At Gwak Yun-sang’s command, the mages activated their magical tools. The tools unfolded all at once like blooming petals, blocking the Kun’s attack. With magic that had been improved from the past and the addition of Nasluik’s advice, the magical tools succeeded in the defense far better than expected.
Joy flickered across the people’s faces, but it did not last long.
Thump! Boom! The Kun, having coiled around several more pieces of steel, struck the magical tools in succession, causing cracks to spiderweb across them.
And just before the magical tools shattered into fragments, Gloiuken stepped forward.
“I offer the death of a profane life…”
Reciting a short prayer, Gloiuken raised her shield. The shield, which had been small enough to be a pauldron, expanded greatly upon the injection of divine power, just as it had when blocking the dragonfish’s attack.
Thump! Crash! Boom!
She defended against the crashing steel without budging an inch. As if displeased, the Kun’s attacks focused intensely on her, but Gloiuken did not retreat a single step.
The faces of the hunters, which had turned pale upon seeing the cracks in the magical tools, brightened.
“Waaaah! Long live the cult!”
“Do I just need to believe in the crow?!”
Amidst the hunters’ cheers and fierce attacks, the Kun’s legs were neutralized one by one. The intensifying attacks of the Kun were blocked by the tankers centered around Gloiuken. Now that the sole and absolute difficulty of the Kun raid had been resolved, they advanced with irresistible force.
“Bu-ooooo!”
The Kun let out a long cry that a human would describe as a neurotic voice. Simultaneously, water erupted like a fountain from the blowholes on its back. The water pouring from the Kun’s massive body was as violent as a squall.
It wasn’t just water pouring down. The magical beasts parasitizing the Kun were swept away by the current, falling in clusters.
‘I don’t know if this is the right analogy… but it’s like fish being washed ashore by a typhoon.’
Reading Kim Si-baek’s surface thoughts, Biyendwe made a face as if he had lost his appetite.
Though they were parasites, because the Kun was so massive, these magical beasts were by no means small. Along the banks of the Han River, the scent of blood from the battle between the hunters and the swarming parasitic magical beasts began to spread thickly.
“Aaaagh! How disgusting!”
Since most of the magical beasts resembled various types of parasites, the hunters participating in a raid for the first time were visibly nauseated. Lee Sarang’s screams, in particular, were loud.
Realizing that her screaming was proof that she was fighting hard, Kim Si-baek paid it little mind and pierced a magical beast with his sword while protecting another hunter. The transparent blade made of divine power sliced the writhing body of the magical beast in half in one stroke. He was glad that his divine power had recovered enough to use Sonas with ease.
Cutting tentacles, killing magical beasts, and treating the severely injured, Kim Si-baek moved busily, his gaze shifting toward one side of the battlefield. In the center of the magical power that was clotting black and swallowing the magical beasts, there was Tae-un.
Kim Si-baek’s eyes sank darkly as he looked at him. The real-time changing time limit of the quest overlapped over Tae-un’s figure. Looking back, there were coincidences that were strangely intertwined.
The system, which tried to blend Kim Si-baek into the ordinary daily lives of people, and Tae-un, who willingly made a place for him and encouraged him. The unnatural germination of the magical beast seed, which occurred as if waiting for the moment he would leave with Tae-un. The system that guided him to Sister Hyo-ju Agnes, and Tae-un, who had known of Cloud’s survival all along. Gu Yeong-min, whose magical energy went berserk immediately, as if someone had been watching closely and gave the order exactly when the tail was caught.
Tracing back the past with suspicion, there were layers of unnaturalness so overlapping that it was strange he hadn’t noticed sooner.
A heavy question was newly carved over the suspicions mixed with coincidence.
‘Why?’
Even assuming the suspicions were true, Tae-un’s actions were utterly contradictory.
Regardless of everything, the system led him in the direction of stopping magical beasts and saving people. Tae-un had also willingly assisted in this and hunted the magical beasts himself.
If his current hypothesis was correct, shouldn’t Tae-un have acted in the opposite manner? Why were the system and Tae-un helping him like this?
Furthermore, what on earth was the thing that would bring about the end of the world?
Kim Si-baek looked around the battlefield where the fierce combat continued. Because the vision had been from a high-angle bird’s-eye view, he couldn’t be certain, but it didn’t seem to be the same scene.
While recalling the vision, Kim Si-baek suddenly realized a contradiction. Whether in the present or the vision, he had been late to realize it because the hunters were wearing guild uniforms, but in one corner of the distant view, there was lush greenery.
On the other hand, the trees he saw now had bare branches.
The meaning of that fact was clear. …The seasons were different.
A low groan escaped Kim Si-baek’s lips. The system claimed that the final quest to prevent the apocalypse was next, but there was a difference of several months from the time shown in the vision.
The voice of the strange woman still caused a terrible headache. Tae-un endured the pain, biting his lip until it bled. It wasn’t far now. Just a little more…
Tae-un closed his eyes, completely blocking out his sight. The magical energy and divine power, which only he in this world could see, were manifesting and swirling. The clear light casting a brilliant radiance belonged to Kim Si-baek; the slightly weaker and dimmer light belonged to Gloiuken.
And in the center of the Han River lurked a muddy, massive mass of magical energy. Though heavily damaged by the hunters’ attacks, a powerful energy was still condensed within.
Since it wasn’t a magical beast he had germinated himself, he couldn’t control it like the giant vines of the Management Center, but evolving it was possible.
Tae-un evolved the Kun.
The record of the Kun found in the 〈Xiaoyaoyou〉 chapter of the 《Zhuangzi》 continues as follows:
The Kun transforms into a bird, and its name is the Peng.
The back of the Peng is unknown, whether it is several thousand li.
The magical beasts that evolved simultaneously within the individuality field took the forms of legend. The Strategy Department had speculated that if the Kun evolved, it would become a Peng, and Kim Si-baek, who had witnessed the bird’s-eye vision, considered it plausible.
Because of that, the countermeasures prepared by the raid team were aimed at a magical beast gliding through the sky. Since legends said its wingbeats caused gales, there was a high possibility it possessed wind-related abilities.
Even as they pushed the Kun—whose legs were more than half severed, whose scales were falling off, and whose flesh was gouged out—the hunters could not completely erase their anxiety. Hadn’t the magical beasts of the individuality field also evolved when cornered?
Thus, when the airflow finally began to change around the Kun, the hunters felt a sense of relief.
“Aerial raid team! Get ready!”
Guilds specialized in aerial attacks, including Great Arrow, caught their breath. When the hunters took a formation centered around them, the Kun’s evolution was finally complete.
“…!”
A shock bordering on terror descended upon the hunters who had been fully prepared. The sight unfolding before their eyes was twisted in the exact opposite direction, as if mocking their predictions.
Zhuangzi described the Kun as a giant fish, but in reality, the original meaning of the word ‘Kun’ refers to an extremely small creature, like a fish egg or a newly hatched fish.
The S-class magical beast of the Han River, the Kun, did not evolve into a massive body of several thousand li, but into a swarm of tiny magical beasts, small as fish eggs.