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chapter 131
Operation “Crevasse” (1)
Crevasse.
A deep crack formed on the surface of a glacier.
Its depth can be at least ten meters, or at times reach hundreds of meters.
When crevasses pile up layer after layer, even massive icebergs can collapse.
Lee Hyun named this operation with that very word.
The glacier symbolized Xu Changyou.
By carving a great crack into it, he meant to shatter it completely.
And from the very moment he set foot in the central base,
Lee Hyun swung Dochul’s Fangs without mercy.
Shraaak—
Each time the black-golden Yeo-ui Swae spun, Dochul’s Fangs opened their vicious jaws.
Thud! Crack!
Shhhhk—!
Each time, the Phinxin agents surrounding Lee Hyun collapsed like bundles of straw.
Splatter—!
Fwoooosh!
Blood spouted in fountains, and through it flashed streaks of blue-white lightning.
Bzzzzzzt!!
Hot winds instantly filled the narrow corridors, evaporating all blood.
The enemies’ bodies burned to ash without even leaving corpses behind.
“妈的 (Damn it)!”
“操 (F***!)!!”
“雷又来了 (Lightning again)!!”
He didn’t know what exactly they were shouting.
Nor did he care to know.
[The wrath of Duhokshini boils to its maximum!]
[The wraith of Duhokshini rampages recklessly!]
Flaaash—
Lee Hyun dashed forward, breaking through.
To stop him, the agents tried everything they could—
throwing every skill they had, even mobilizing the ice magic formations they had trained together.
But—
Clatter!!
[All assaults bounce off Duhokshini’s Robe.]
[Battle Sense (S+) pinpoints enemy positions. Frenzied Strike (S+) unleashes a flurry of blows.]
[Lightning bolts rain down!]
Snowstorms couldn’t pierce through the armor of thunder cloaking his body.
Wherever Lee Hyun passed, only corpses remained.
When formations activated, he disrupted them by dragging a few away, then stormed straight into the middle to tear them apart.
If a high-ranked expert showed up, he locked their position with his monstrous aura and cleaved their heads off.
Meanwhile, the lightning bolts triggered by stacked kills struck again and again, causing chain damage.
The Yeo-ui Swae lashed out from beneath their feet unpredictably, binding ankles.
Those who tried to distance themselves got an axe buried in their skulls.
None could escape Lee Hyun’s grasp in this place.
Slash!
Moments ago, Phinxin’s proud ranker Mi Huang had his head severed.
He inherited the monster “Cunning (狡猾)” as his legacy and boasted great power.
Just yesterday, he had bragged before his subordinates that if Jet appeared, he would personally smash his head.
But now—
Thud!
His headless body collapsed lifelessly to the floor.
Just one exchange.
The man, said to be well-versed in martial arts, couldn’t withstand even a single axe strike from Lee Hyun.
Not only did Lee Hyun’s spirit outclass him, his martial skill was far superior.
“……!”
“……!”
“……那是, 怪物 (That’s… a monster)!!”
At first, Phinxin had bravely stepped up to face him.
Now, only fear filled their eyes.
Dozens of hunters had already fallen—
all elite soldiers of the Central Hero Committee.
By now, one might expect him to tire, but—
Huuuuh—
Lee Hyun exhaled hot, steaming breath, venting fatigue, and pressed on.
Swishhh—
“拦, 拦住他 (Block, block him)!!”
Covered in blood yet charging relentlessly, his figure seemed utterly inhuman.
Especially when golden eyes flashed with blue-white light—
it made their knees tremble uncontrollably.
[Legacy ‘Day-Dokkaebi Dance’ rampages wildly!]
No one could stop the runaway locomotive charging forward without a glance back.
Rumbleeee!!
Flash! Flash!!
And the more terrified they became, the easier the path opened for Lee Hyun.
Among the nine-colored spectrum in his Flame-Gold Eyes, he pierced only the weakest spots with sharp precision.
[Trait: Gambler applies, yoma senses are extremely heightened!]
[You are the master of this battlefield.]
But his situation wasn’t without risk.
‘There are way too many. I’ve cut down countless, but they keep pouring in… Just what kind of place is this?’
China’s scariest strength lay in their endless human wave tactics.
Experiencing it firsthand, he had to admit it was formidable.
Even intelligence agencies like NIS and CIA had worried beforehand—
Phinxin’s total numbers were unknown.
China had the most hunters and rankers in the world,
so Phinxin could always replenish endlessly.
That was why Lee Hyun planned not only diversions but also a decapitation strike.
Destroying the leadership would collapse their command structure.
But—
‘Xu Changyou keeps descending lower. Meanwhile, Phinxin keeps pushing toward me.’
He had already deployed spirits throughout the central base to track Xu Changyou.
He knew the exact location.
But the wall of bodies only grew thicker and harder to break.
‘Right now, surprise is helping—I smashed the comms station, disrupted them—but if reinforcements from the Committee arrive, we’re in danger.’
From Beijing, the Central Hero Committee’s HQ, to Tianjin was but a short distance.
Time was not on their side.
‘No choice, then.’
Crackle! Crackle-crackle!!
‘I’ll have to pull even more output.’
Lee Hyun forced his mana circuits to the limit.
Though his core drained quickly, it was refilled just as fast—
thanks to the sealed colossal mana within the Frost Veil.
[<Queen of Snow>’s Narrative is thawing dormant mana.]
[Thawing progress: 18%, 19%…]
The pace was still painfully slow,
but recently Lee Hyun had begun interfering with the Veil, quickening it.
Now he could glimpse inside somewhat.
It was a graveyard.
A graveyard filled with remnants of countless boss monsters.
Melting and purifying them one by one was no easy task—
yet in a way, it worked to his advantage.
[<Queen of Snow>’s Narrative chuckles, surprised that yoma senses can harmonize with boss remnants.]
[<Queen of Snow> insists humans and monsters should never share senses.]
[<Queen of Snow> shakes her head, unable to understand your legacy.]
It echoed what Sahu once told him at the Five Elements Tower.
The answer was clear:
Duhokshin.
A god embodying all strangeness and chaos—
that was his legacy.
And so he could harness even unpurified mana.
‘Why would I refuse?’
[<Queen of Snow> warns not to overdraw or hasten the thawing.]
[<Queen of Snow> notes remnants too dangerous to handle exist, like the Serpent of Bloodfire.]
Lee Hyun nodded subtly, signaling only she could see, and pressed onward.
Bzzzzzt!!
[Duhokshini’s Trust activates!]
Rumble-rumble!!
Lee Hyun charged with blazing heat at his back.
[Ice Guard ‘Samiin’ continues trailing the target.]
The spirit he had attached to Xu Changyou kept descending deeper.
‘Where is he going? With his nature, I thought he’d come for me first… Is he just throwing pawns to wear me down?’
But he was moving farther and farther away.
From what Lee Hyun knew, Xu Changyou never shunned a direct fight.
‘What is this?’
His mind raced.
[Ice Guard ‘Samiin’ senses something!]
[A vast demonic aura detected.]
‘Wait… Don’t tell me—!’
His eyes widened.
「Kak-kak-kak! Seems our old friend is trying to clear a path for our master!」
「Sixth. It’s unmistakably the aura of one of the Old Gods.」
「Kak-kak. I wondered why I couldn’t sense him before… Looks like after the lady’s incident, they erected an Iron Curtain around him.」
Sha Wujing appeared above Lee Hyun’s head, laughing ominously.
But his laugh carried wrath.
Peng Demon King nodded grimly.
Beneath this central base—
Wu Yongwang was imprisoned.
The sinister aura was palpable even to Lee Hyun.
But—
‘Great Sage, is that…?’
「Yes. It’s Brother Mai. But… he’s been through much, I see.」
Unlike Peng Demon King, whose flame flickered like a candle, Wu Yongwang’s aura was murky—
tainted and twisted, far from the pure dawn his name implied.
The Central Hero Committee had clearly done unspeakable things to him.
And beyond Wu Yongwang, something else lurked—
far more ominous.
Sha Wujing and Peng Demon King’s faces hardened.
「Looks like we must part ways here.」
Sun Wukong leapt lightly from Lee Hyun’s shoulder.
Then looked up at him.
「You’ll be fine without us, won’t you?」
‘I’m the disciple of the Great Sage.’
「Heh. If you died here, it’d smear this elder’s name. Keep fighting well.」
‘Yes, understood. But Great Sage—’
「Don’t worry. I won’t touch your prey.」
‘Thank you.’
Flick.
Sun Wukong smirked lightly, then his eyes flashed cold as he addressed the two demon kings.
「Let’s go.」
Flash!
The three demons vanished completely.
Tap.
Lee Hyun abruptly stopped mid-run.
His Flame-Gold Eyes glowed.
“Come out.”
At the corridor’s end—
Behind a wall of Phinxin agents,
four figures radiating overwhelming ki stepped forward.
“Well, this is brutal.”
“I thought we’d greet our junior from back home warmly… but it seems no welcome party is possible like this.”
Suddenly, Korean voices.
Friendly on the surface, yet dripping with killing intent.
Voices Lee Hyun knew well—
his former seniors in Cheongroe, before he became leader.
And among them—
“It’s been a while, junior. Or should I call you Captain Jang now?”
—stood the former leader of Cheongroe.
