Summoning (1)
At first glance, it looked no different from a junkyard—makeshift homes woven from the fallen debris of a collapsed city.
“Then I’ll be off, Ramu.”
Cough, cough! “Be careful out there, Oppa…”
A shabby young man, emerging from one of the shanties, was seeing off a frail little girl as he set off on his journey.
Though it was still early dawn, for someone who lived day by day, moving when there was any light at all was a given.
Bright enough to discern his surroundings with the naked eye, such times were not long-lasting.
‘Food is scarce; I can’t afford to waste fuel like this.’
With a large backpack slung over his shoulders, the young man, Riang, gazed up at the sky.
A gray sky marred by numerous cracks and patches, pieces of it falling away all over.
He quickly averted his eyes from the abyss that shimmered beyond those gaps.
“Hoo, I need to be careful. If anything happens to me, there’s no one to take care of Ramu.”
According to tales from older adults, the sky used to be clear, a bright blue, but to him—who had only known the current gloom—it sounded like a fairy tale.
‘There really was such a picture in a fairy book I read long ago.’
He nodded to himself, recalling a picture book he had been fortunate to find ages ago.
It was a treasured item his younger sister adored, never letting it out of her sight for even a day.
Ultimately, it had been traded for food, and now he didn’t possess it anymore.
‘At that time, we had run out of food; I had no choice. I couldn’t give up our parents’ necklace… Still, I hope to find another fairy tale book this time.’
Recently, Ramu’s energy had greatly diminished.
With no way to take her to a healer, if things worsened here, it would truly be dangerous.
In times like this, bringing her a gift that could make her happy would surely help her mood…
With such thoughts, he had ventured farther than usual to gather supplies.
“Found it!”
While rummaging through the ruins of the ravaged city, he soon stumbled upon what seemed like a fairy tale book.
Not just one or two, but a colorful set of fairy tale books that looked too good to believe after so long submerged in the wreckage.
That wasn’t all.
Maybe today was lucky, or perhaps it was a good spot; items he’d never seen before erupted from around him.
‘This must be a prime spot! I can just search this area for days.’
He worked diligently to scavenge, successfully filling his bag in just a few hours.
If this luck persisted just a few more times, he could go for months without worrying about meals.
Perhaps he might even be able to take his sister to the healer…
‘Today is a lucky day! And since it’s a special occasion, it’s a rat meat feast! Eating meat will surely help Ramu regain her strength!’
Having covered up the traces of his scavenging, leaving marks only he could recognize, Riang rose from his spot with renewed vigor.
It was still far from sunset, but with his bag full, he planned to return earlier today.
‘It needs to be bright to read the fairy tales. I hope she’s happy.’
Riang took a big step forward, savoring his little streak of luck.
Crack—
But at that moment, an ominous sound froze him in place.
The noise was not large, yet somehow, it rang clearly in the air.
It wasn’t coming from nearby.
Instinctively feeling where the sound originated, he glanced up toward the sky.
“Huh?”
His arms went limp.
Thud—
The backpack strapped to his back fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
Today’s little fortune, contained within that bag.
Yet, he paid it no mind and dashed forward with all his might.
“Ramu—!!”
He headed toward home, where his sister awaited.
Crack— Crack! Rumble—!
Even though it wasn’t nighttime yet, the world gradually succumbed to darkness.
Not just in this area, but resonating throughout the realm, a prelude to destruction.
And thus, the sky came crashing down.
*
Years ago, the world of Koshiyas had already been deemed a ‘Closed Dimension’—
To protect the world from the calamity that befell it decades ago, heroes from all regions had gathered, only to be obliterated in the end, sealing its fate for destruction.
“It’s finally over.”
With the ‘Last Messiah’ who had desperately fought to maintain the world down, no one could stand against him any longer.
Thus, the Head of the Buncheon Society, disregarding the dimension’s resistance, glanced at his palm and nodded with satisfaction.
A sense of omnipotence surged within him endlessly.
And now, he was finally reaping the seeds he had painstakingly sown; how could he not be pleased?
[···Dimensional Devourer. So you’ve finally arrived···.]
At a call beckoning him, he raised his gaze to face the figure standing before him.
An entity with shining blond hair and golden eyes.
Though darkness surrounded them, the one before him stood out vibrantly, defying all rules.
“Well, this is unfortunate. You put up quite a fight, but this is as far as it goes. I suppose you’ve done all you could, no regrets left?”
[You bastard…!]
At the Head of the Buncheon Society’s mocking words, a storm of fury erupted from the figure.
It wasn’t just some energy.
Beyond mere physicality, it included all abstract concepts that made up this world, displaying hostility and defending against the invader.
“Useless.”
[Keugh!]
But such ferocious backlash didn’t last long.
With a casual gesture by the Head of the Buncheon Society, the world twisted and folded, drawing together into a solid mass.
Having already secured a majority of influence over the dimension and its causality, there was no way left for the rival to react.
Unlike when under constraints, he was now able to unleash his full power—an existence almost akin to a god.
Even if this opponent were the avatar of a revered deity in this world, it mattered not.
In fact, if the opponent also possessed divine attributes…
“Let’s wrap this up. As it stands, I’m quite busy. I need to diligently make up for the losses I incurred earlier.”
[This cannot be tolerated! It cannot end like this···!]
It was merely a hearty meal.
Hack!
“You’ve grown more human-like, probably due to degradation. You look much better than before.”
Casually, the Head of the Buncheon Society sank his hand into the god’s chest, gradually pulling something out.
A brilliant golden essence, shining like the sun.
The essence of a being deemed a sole deity, worshiped for ages in the Koshiyas world.
“Truly, this should be enough…”
In a world crumbling away, he inhaled deeply, absorbing the karma scattered across dimensions through the divinity he held.
Then he scoffed at the gaze of the manager observing him, a smirk spreading across his lips.
In some worlds, the manager might also be called the Holy God—an entity akin to a dimension-maintaining system.
With causality secured through legitimate means, there was no way left for him to be restrained, whether he killed a god or caused the annihilation of the world.
In essence, the game had more or less concluded once the ultimate means, the ‘Last Messiah,’ fell.
‘Now I’ve completed all there is to do here.’
The Koshiyas dimension ended here.
Soon, this place would vanish entirely, and everything would return to nothingness.
With the capability to oversee the entire world from a divine perspective, he collected what few of his followers remained.
And with a mere step, the moment he crossed beyond dimension—
“Huh.”
His vision shook as the omnipotence that had filled him vanished in an instant.
The freely interwoven causality bound him tightly, every conceivable constraint clinging on, scattering his godlike understanding.
He felt as if he were gazing at the world through cloudy eyes while wearing a straightjacket.
Even though this sensation was no longer novel, the Head of the Buncheon Society accepted it with familiarity and immediately got to work.
Having returned to Earth, he intended to check on matters that had transpired during his absence and issue new directives…
“Huh?”
Perhaps due to a plentiful harvest shortly before, he felt satisfied, but the corners of his eyes twitched.
Wondering if he had seen incorrectly, he called forth an Oracle for confirmation, only to find it even more ludicrous.
“The Southeast Asia branch has been decimated and… even the Executioner?”
–“I apologize, Head.”
With a hint of disgrace, the Oracle began with an apology.
Upon hearing that response, he narrowed his eyes, slowly surveying his surroundings.
‘…The upward trend in shares has been halted.’
Regardless of the circumstances, this particular Earth had always been the most crucial asset to him.
Stealing divinity from other dimensions and drawing energy was merely a means to an end.
Despite some setbacks due to disruptive foes, he had trusted and relied on them for a while, but it had turned into such a situation.
‘Masquerade…‘
A formidable rival challenging the long-fortified foothold of the Buncheon Society.
As they began organizing themselves, it seemed that reestablishing control would once again be necessary.
Thus, following a creature that had devoured another world, the leaders of the Buncheon Society scattered across Earth were summoned simultaneously.
*
After Harley’s sudden raid on the Noxious Blade faction’s base,
The Guardian investigation unit, which had been tightening its grip through relentless pursuit, was soon destined to arrive.
Though they tended to act a bit inefficiently due to various constraints, even taking that into account, the Guardians were an organization hard to substitute for their skills.
No matter how trivial their abilities, when added up from a variety of worlds, they formed an undeniable force.
Moreover, since they were associated with the ‘Returnee Association,’ which represented the rights of nearly all returnees, their direct talent pool and the external manpower they could call for assistance were beyond imagination.
‘Thanks to their proactive involvement, our new recruits have been able to more easily catch their tails.’
Otherwise, it would have been tough to identify the backdrop so quickly.
Moreover, capturing the one behind it would have been even more distant.
Considering all these factors, it was a performance that wasn’t a waste of taxes.
‘Perhaps I should give additional funding to them as a contribution.’
While the Guardians, along with officers from the Crime Investigation Division who had helped out in various ways, were raiding the Noxious Blade and apprehending the Black Night Talon, Kwon Cheol-yong…
Harley had already made a graceful escape from the scene.
With the genuine embodiment of a shadow monster secured.
[Keugh, how did you catch up that quickly? And who the hell are you? Could it really be true that there are transcendent beings beyond the Phantom in our bloodline?]
“Kahahat! What’s this? Is it introduction time? Well, I don’t mind, but there’s a more comfortable way, you know? Just hang on a bit longer.”
The monster, Black Young, who was being tossed around like baggage, voiced questions, but Harley only laughed heartily, continuing to dash to a more isolated area.
Then, after a brief moment of trying to escape stubbornly, he finally reached the target destination and tossed the monster down.
[Keugh!]
Of course, it immediately transformed into shadow and tried to escape again, but…
“Stop right there.”
In front of him, waiting there, all efforts were in vain.
[Ugh! Damn it… Phantom, Heinz…!]
“Indeed, you’re still not giving up, are you? Just like one at the end of a performance.”
There was no way to escape when they were right beside him.
Yet those shining eyes searching the surroundings provoked a quiet admiration from Heinz II.
He was glad he had chosen this method.
[What are you doing…?!]
“Be still. It will be over soon.”
With that, he grasped the monster’s neck with one hand, focusing his nail tips on his Refined Blood Essence.
[You, you can’t be serious!]
The awkward feeling of invasion digging into his neck left Black Young wide-eyed.
Realizing what the opponent was attempting, he clenched his teeth and glared at Heinz.
[Useless! I have immunity to all toxins. Unless you kill me, not even a transcendent level 9 vampire can contaminate me!]
Truly, it wouldn’t be easy to turn him into a vampire.
He was not only equipped with resistance that had risen as he climbed levels, but he also possessed the immunity gained through his training as an assassin.
‘Of course, that applies only if I were an ordinary pureblood vampire.’
Resistance? Immunity?
What do I care?
Unless he had transcended the limits of existence, any resistance from someone who hadn’t even crossed the wall was meaningless before his pureblood.
[Keugh! How… is this possible—?!]
Only then, realizing that something was going awry, a panic swept through his wide-open eyes.
[······!]
The vampire essence surged throughout his body, starting to uproot his cellular foundation.
The energy lurking within him morphed into blood magic, and within his fortified mind, the seal originating from within the bloodline took firm root.
‘The amount of energy required to birth a vampire on Earth is about ten times that of another world. Considering the energy consumed to nullify resistance, it all makes sense…’
That was the reason he had refrained from haphazardly increasing his bloodline until now.
It would have been one thing if only changing the affiliation of an already existing vampire. Changing the entire race consumed far too much essence.
‘Well, still, as long as it’s on occasion, it shouldn’t matter too much.’
And since the capability he possessed seemed incredibly useful.
Besides, he needed to hear those words from him.
After a brief moment passed—
One new vampire had been added to the bloodline in the heterosis of Earth.
“The Black Dragon Society, you say? If handled well…”
New information flooded into his ear, piquing his interest.
