By Zephyria 
The Management Bureau, having rented an open lot near a US military base in Pyeongtaek, had made thorough preparations to contain the Aberrations even before the home country had recovered from the damage caused by the anomaly’s rampage. The search for the Aberrant Realm was suspended. All Enforcement Division agents were mobilized, except for a minimum number of personnel tasked with rescuing victims should they occur.
Jeong Ing-bar felt a sense of déjà vu while inspecting the Major Abnormal Weapon. In the middle of the open lot, so far away that he was barely visible to the naked eye, stood a man alone. Unlike the heavily armed agents, he was calmly smoking a cigarette, looking as if he had come out for a leisurely stroll.
‘Reminds me of the Smiling Man.’
The difference was that Jeil Heon was not carrying unnecessary equipment like an Inner Ear. This was because Kang Suk-young had snapped at him, telling him not to pretend to be modest and carry things he was just going to break anyway.
Beyond the visor of his helmet, Jeong Ing-bar glanced toward the command vehicle where Kang Suk-young was located. Despite the whispers that she had vehemently opposed Jeil Heon’s plan from the start and still did, she was doing her absolute best to back him up.
He thought it was a strange relationship between comrades and colleagues. No matter how great an agent and Bearer Jeil Heon was, Kang Suk-young trusted him enough to opt for a reckless operation that threw him alone in front of a powerful anomaly.
As the agents surrounding the lot held their breath, the time arrived. Jeil Heon crushed his cigarette, wiped his hands, and picked up the eogunggu he had placed beside him. The Powerful Bow, which no ordinary strength could even draw, bent taut in his hand.
After drawing it a few times to gauge the tension, he notched an arrow and raised it perpendicularly toward the sky. Ping. As he released the string, the arrow soared into the air, drawing out a long sound like a Whistling Arrow.
Peeeeee.
Loud enough for the agents surrounding the lot to hear. Loud enough for the Vengeful Spirits, who had not forgotten the sound of their master’s bow, to hear.
The moment he took a breath, the air changed.
The once ordinary respiration became unfamiliar. The instinct of a prey animal, gradually forgotten as humans built civilization, was revived. That thing was born from humans, yet it was a being that preyed upon humans. Jeong Ing-bar felt a throb in his right arm and wrapped his hand around it. He didn’t even need to check the Measuring Device to see the Corruption Level rising rapidly.
A vanishingly rare True Slaughter Grade Aberration, the Ten Thousand Waves Flute, had appeared. One that could be called a Special Guard Unit.
Fashioned from human longing, it possessed no clear form. A hazy veil, similar to the Dividing Mist, shimmered constantly, changing the shapes it projected. At times, it took the form of the Sea Dragon that first bestowed the Ten Thousand Waves Flute; at others, it depicted a cavalryman charging with a spear, or the image of commoners with hands clasped in prayer.
This is not good. Jeil Heon narrowed his brow. An anomaly whose form is not fixed is more troublesome to deal with.
Countless invisible eyes gazed at him from beyond the veil.
「Is it you who dared to call us with the Elder’s bow?」
「Neither human nor anomaly.」
「The Seoljuk, who failed to even become an anomaly, is but a human.」
Is that so. Jeil Heon wore a bitter smile. In the eyes of those who had dealt with other anomalies for ages, he already appeared as something other than human.
「Why do you possess the General’s bow?」
“I had an audience with Your Highness recently.”
There was a stir within the opaque veil. If a crowd of humans had been standing there, Jeil Heil would have heard a chaotic murmur.
“He has forgiven his son. He no longer wishes for your subordinates to destroy themselves, consumed by old grudges. Six hundred years have passed; the country is gone and the royal family has collapsed. Is this not enough?”
「Hah!」
A sharp sneer erupted.
「How many do you think have tried to deceive us in the meantime?」
「Did you think we would believe you just because you stole the bow and impersonated him?」
「Even after hundreds of years, shallow tricks do not change!」
「Since you are not human and those behind you are soldiers, do not expect our mercy.」
The anomalies beyond the veil were arrogant. Bound to the flute, they likely couldn’t even approach the Royal Ancestral Shrine. If they were the type to be easily persuaded by a few words, they wouldn’t have been dominated by centuries of resentment. Jeil Heon calmly organized his thoughts and prepared for an attack.
「You shall also be held accountable for the crime of insulting the Elder!」
The energy filling the surroundings surged violently like a wave, revealing murderous intent. It would gladly trample any obstacle in its path under hoof, turning them into a bloody pulp to fulfill its longing.
The Essence of the fox demon boiled over.
The Ten Thousand Waves Flute was an Aberration that had suppressed and subdued other anomalies for the peace of humanity. Furthermore, its Core Spirit had been corrupted by the grief and resentment of various Spirits. Now that it had decided to antagonize humans, its energy flipped to the opposite extreme. Contamination began to erode human reality.
The ground, which had felt solid beneath his feet until a moment ago, suddenly turned squishy like flesh, and pulses throbbed as if blood were flowing through thick veins beneath the skin. Sssss, sssss. As breathing sounds echoed from deep underground, the distant horizon vanished.
The clear sky shone even brighter. A pair of suns and a pair of moons flickered with brilliant light, as if competing in luminosity. Between those lights, the distorted air writhed, swallowing birds and insects that were helplessly sucked upward. From the void that drank the flesh and blood of crushed creatures, countless eyeballs sprouted and stared directly at the humans.
The sensation of air, which should have been imperceptible, became a vivid weight pressing down on the body. Movement within the extremely dense air felt like stirring through transparent jelly.
“Herregud (My God)…”
Jeong Ing-bar let out a stunned groan. Naturally, the Management Bureau had foreseen this situation and made full preparations. He wore a Reinforced Exoskeleton Suit that protected every inch of skin, a Flame-Resistant Mask equipped with a filter to purify contamination, and a Shielding Helmet to protect his mind.
Even so, his perception began to blur. He felt an impulse to move forward toward the infinite expanse of land—not a horizon, but a ground that rose and fell with breath. The possessed Aberration within him howled, wanting to tear through the stole on his right arm—which had been newly consecrated by a priest in preparation for battle—and spring forth.
The gaze of the countless staring eyeballs was sweet. He wanted to reveal everything about himself beneath that gaze. Take off this cumbersome suit and clothing. Scratch away the epidermis and split the dermis. Cut through the subcutaneous fat and tear into the muscle. Rip out the blood vessels and expose the white bone. Offer up the internal organs in their original form. Holding fresh, steaming intestines in both hands…
K-BOOM!
Jeong Ing-bar, who had been about to dismantle his suit in a trance, flinched violently at the sudden explosion. A pillar of fire soared like a waterspout, centered around the man standing bare-bodied without any protective gear in the middle of the distant lot. It was only then that he felt the undulating air heat up.
The heat spread like a ripple, sweeping away the contaminated perception. Then, Kang Suk-young’s piercing command echoed through the Inner Ear.
— Soldiers! Who are we? We are agents of the Water Abnormality Worship Management Bureau, loyal to our fatherland and protectors of our compatriots. We are not prey to be eaten by those things; we are humans! Do not bother with containment. Kill all Aberrations!
As the voice imbued with a Purification Spell pierced his brain, he barely escaped the sweet impulse and regained his reason. He could now hear the Strange Sounds of the Aberrations he hadn’t noticed until now, and see the forms of the Aberrations newly fashioned from the contaminated reality.
Using rational judgment rather than blurred perception, Jeong Ing-bar expelled the possessed Aberration. The moment his freed arm grabbed an amorphous Aberration flowing down from the sky, he fired his gun. Another agent shattered the corroding fragments of the Aberration with a machete.
His squad members, having come to their senses, quickly deployed into formation.
“Captain, isn’t this still better than the day the barrier disappeared? The surrounding environment being contaminated is a pain, but the Aberrations themselves are manageable!”
“Your mouth is back to normal quickly, even after almost dying from contamination just now.”
Though he responded with a joke, Jeong Ing-bar looked around anxiously. While the agents were recovering their reason one by one and killing the Aberrations, the real problem was the overflowing contamination.
Even at this moment, reality was being rapidly eroded. They had come prepared to stop the spread of contamination, and the US military base would have been prepared as well, but the purity was higher than expected. At this rate, it would take less than 30 minutes to reach the nearby village.
In the planned operation, Jeil Heon was to deal with the Ten Thousand Waves Flute while the Enforcement Division backed him up and cleared the Aberrations. However, just as he began to wonder if it was time to change the operation given the situation—