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Chapter 77 - Underworld Guest (5)

-Myuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

The ridiculously excited Onyx chattered so quickly he was impossible to comprehend as he jumped into Kang Shin-hyuk’s arms. Kang Shin-hyuk quickly used his spiritual power to heal and help him deal with the golem fragments.

“It’s okay now. They’re not an enemy.”

-Myu…

He patted the barely calm Onyx a couple more times as he looked around. The moles were crowded outside of the room, shouting, as the inside was too bright and hot for them to enter.

“Savior, please save us!”

“The kingdom is overturning!”

“Savior, the claws for the great king!” Kang Shin-hyuk extinguished the fire in the oven so that the moles could enter, recovering the unburnt firewood. It was super expensive firewood that cost 8,000 HP per kg, after all.

“Anvil, have you heard?” The Jijoo king rushed in, grabbing onto his leg.

“Yeah, I know. What surrounds this kingdom isn’t just metal.”

“if it’s not just metal, what is it?!”

“A golem.”

“…What?” The king stiffened in place. Kang Shin-hyuk turned towards the terminal he had crafted with the king hanging onto his leg.

“Is there a good place to grasp the situation?”

-I will summon an auto walk that will lead to the command room. Plug the device into a nearby wall.

Kang Shin-hyuk put one of the claws into the walls that had turned purple. Curiously, the claw sunk into the wall as it split into a hole. What was even more surprising was that the hole gradually expanded into a passageway large enough for humans. Eventually, an escalator on the floor, much like the ones at an airport, was formed.

“The level of tech in this world is incredible.”

“I can understand a golem. But the idea of making an entire facility a golem…I can’t do it.” Even Shin Eunah, who was close to the peak of magic on Earth, said so. But what was worrisome was that this facility didn’t seem to be built for the moles. In other words, before the moles had arrived here, there was already an intelligent organism with the ability to create such a facility.

‘So where did they go…?’ Shelter buried deep in the dark, designed for human proportions…Kang Shin-hyuk was able to think of a few scenarios starting from that information. This facility had probably been made by humans long before these moles had arrived. They were fighting against a crisis some time ago but couldn’t overcome it, leaving only this underground shelter behind.

“I have to call Claire.”

“I’d prefer not to bother her when she’s moving on her own. She’ll be alright.”

“Alright, then shall we go first?” Kang Shin-hyuk calmed the moles by telling them that the vibrations were just from the facility reactivating. After finally calming down, they stepped aboard the escalator. It started moving at a blazingly fast speed right away, and the king let out a scream as he hung on to Shin-hyuk’s leg desperately.

“There was a passage like this in the underworld?!”

“Not originally, the golem changed his body to create it.”

“Senior, it sounds cooler like that.” They came to a sudden stop in front of a wall. Reconnecting the terminal to it caused the wall to disappear and open up to a huge space. Several monitors were installed in the wall opposite them, displaying the underground kingdom in real-time.

“Amazing.”

“Look here.” Shin Eunah quickly noticed something peculiar on one of the monitors. The entire screen was shaded over.

-Commander, the external situation has been identified. Shelter 32 is currently being attacked by monster forces with a 99.7% match of those on the ground.

Reports flowed out from the terminal as Kang Shin-hyuk stared at the monitor. Was that hazy form a monster?

“What kind of monster is it?”

-The name humanity gave it was ‘swallowing fungus.’ It is a parasitic monster that reproduces through spores. The spores are absorbed through the respiratory system, draining the victim of their stamina and magic, eventually killing them. Due to its overwhelming production rate and ability to pierce magical shields, it was a huge danger shortly after the outbreak.

“Oh…” Kang Shin-hyuk listened to the terminal’s explanation with a cold sense of sorrow welling inside of him.

-However, it had trouble going underground, and mankind extensively studied as to why. This is because the toxins contained in the underground mineral benadelite prevented its spores from growing.

“They blocked it off?” If you shut it off, wasn’t there a possibility that fog of spores would seep into the basement? No, wait, what if moles poked holes into those defenses? The spores would slowly permeate into the underground, reproducing and descending further and further down. Kang Shin-hyuk felt a chill run through him. If the golem was correct, then they were in as much danger as the moles were. Of course, so far, it had only been able to spread among the mole children.

-Humanity built several evacuation facilities underground using benadelite, but unfortunately, only a few made it into them. Those who barely survived were divided into several shelters, which were in standby.

This is where this shelter had been waiting until Kang Shin-hyuk had inadvertently created a terminal to access the golem.

“So are you doing that now?”

-The area where the Swallowing Fungus was found was blocked off shortly after identifying the situation. However, spores may have already made it inside, so additional processing is required. Fortunately, the amount shouldn’t be large, so it shouldn’t lead to an emergency situation.

With the explanation over, Kang Shin-hyuk immediately contacted Claire using the Hero Universe’s whisper system to get her location. They took off, arriving at her location shortly after, thanks to the facility’s resources. Claire had an expression of shock on her face as the wall moved out of the way to reveal them, which turned to confusion as Kang Shin-hyuk hurriedly explained the situation.

“Is it a monster? No, I don’t feel any life. Fungus…no, I don’t that’s it either.”

-Any number of non-living monsters exist. The name is for convenience, but it is clear that they are a monster with hostility towards humanity.

“Of course, looking at the behavioral patterns…” Claire seemed a bit odd to him, but Kang Shin-hyuk pressed on after the shelter facility checked her for the spores.

“Isn’t it poisonous?”

“It is but that’s a wide category. Bacteria are living things, but biotoxins are poisons, right? Any substance that harms us is called a poison. It just depends on how this poison works.”

“I see…” As expected of an alchemist, she offered a concise explanation. Kang Shin-hyuk looked at her with admiration as she struck a pose. She’d be really cool if she didn’t do that.

“Then, Anvil, what can we do? We need to dig deeper…”

“If you do that, the shelter will collapse. Please wait.” The king was still anxious as Kang Shin-hyuk let out a sigh.

“If it stays like this, will the situation be resolved? Will those spores be able to enter here?”

-The temporary quarantine has been completed, and the facility is undergoing maintenance, so further inflows should be blocked. If you use benadelite to deal with the spores that have already invaded the shelter, no further damage will occur.

“Alright, let’s start working right away.”

“Then, my claws…”

“I’ll make you some later, be patient.”

-The terminal is converted to use for eradication. Insert the commander’s magic after plugging it into the marked area on the lower front controller.

Kang Shin-hyuk moved over to a switch in the command room he was directed to and plugged the terminals in with spiritual power. It had asked for magic, but he made the terminals with spiritual power, so he thought it would be fine.

-Detecting the input of high-efficiency energy compatible with magic. Your device’s performance will increase dramatically.

It was successful. The claws had grown bigger as he pulled them free of the terminal. It was shaped the same, but now it was sized to fit a human’s knuckles rather than a mole’s. There was also a small little hole at the end of the sharp claws.

-By spraying benadelite particles treated with special chemicals through these, the spores can be eradicated. It can also be injected into the body to remove any spores present. As a result of the commander’s strength, it was completed as a higher-level object.

“How did you guys die off with this tech…?” Checking the item, it was now A-rank. It felt a bit absurd, but he put the claw on and left the command room.

“Then let’s start working.”

“That posture’s pretty good! Now just turn on the light in your eyes again.” He was feeling a bit better now. In a destroyed world, he held the tool that could destroy the monsters that had wrecked it. He felt it was a pretty cool scene.

-Commander, we have a problem.

However, the terminal stopped him just as he was above to move.

-The Swallowing Fungus has begun to invade through the barrier.

“…You said you can block it?”

-The Fungus appears to have mutated during the time the facility was shut down. It’s moving slowly, but it is progressing through the barriers. Decision: Impossible to eradicate. Evacuate!

“This is the evacuation site?!” He had just grabbed hold of this artifact, and now it was useless! He shouldn’t have believed the golem’s words; this civilization was ruined, after all!

“You have to dig a hole too!”

“Are you still on about that?!” Perhaps the fact that he had operated the facility had further angered the Fungus. The king kept asking Shin-hyuk about the claws, who wanted to use them on the king’s head.

“You need magic, right?” It was then that Shin Eunah let out a sigh and stepped forward.

“Then I’ll do it. Maybe it’ll be fine.”

“Eunah…?”

“Senior?” They tried to stop her, but the administrator sent a message at that moment.

-The idiot finally realized her role. Let her go; she’ll be safe.

“Yeah…?”

“What you were curious about, I’ll tell you now.” Shin Eunah took a step forward as her body began to float in the air.

“Everyone get away. Especially the moles.”

“I already hid everyone inside!”

“They’re fast.”

“Good. Then, I’ll start.” An enormous amount of mana began to flow out of Shin Eunah. Claire grabbed Shin-hyuk’s arm in fear.

“Oh, it’s the first time I’ve actually seen it…” Shin Eunah’s body emitted light that was gradually increasing in intensity. It was a highly concentrated mana.

-The activity of the Fungus becomes more intense as it senses mana. Evacuate from the power source!

Kang Shin-hyuk disregarded the announcement of the facility. Soon after, the walls of the benadelite collapsed, and a dark gray fog was pouring in, absorbed into Shin Eunah’s body.

“Wait a minute, it doesn’t matter how much mana you have, it would run out in no time…!”

“No.” Claire asserted so with a gaze full of awe as she watched Shin Eunah.

“That’s her trait.”

“Trait? The nature of her lightning?”

“Huh. That’s one of them. The trait she awakened when she was five is different.” Five years old? Kang Shin-hyuk recalled something about Shin Eunah when she was five. Wasn’t that when she entered the Hero Universe?

“Eunah…is the only human with two traits.” Immediately as Claire said that Shin Eunah’s body radiated an even more brilliant light after absorbing all of the fog, no matter how much mana the Fungus ate, it couldn’t handle her mana. More fog began to pour in, but her expression looked relaxed as the mana kept discharging from her.

“…Wow.”

“This is my friend, but…even I have to admit this is crazy…”

“This power…”

What could its source be? She was like a god who deserved genuine reverence.

In a distant world, the true power of the Thunder Empress was revealed.