Chapter 433
Due to the shocking incident at the Heroes Association Beijing branch, the Chinese government mobilized every resource they had on hand to prepare for the Three Dogs’ next assault.
They summoned high-ranking heroes from across the country, deployed covertly trained agents, fortified key facilities into impenetrable strongholds, and with heroes dispatched by the Heroes Association added to the mix, the Chinese government had transformed the entire zone into a veritable fortress.
“Will those bastards even be able to leave a dent here?”
“If their leader really is a Perfect One, maybe. But if not, no chance.”
If the Beijing branch was akin to a prison guarded by elite heroes, the industrial complex was a trap to capture three dogs. However, those there were not there to contain the beasts—they were there to hunt, a distinction that made all the difference.
Being the hunters, the high-ranking heroes guarding the site felt confident in their preparation.
BOOM!!!
Alas, their confidence was instantly torn apart by the Three Dogs smashing through the trap. They had not realized that something had gone terribly wrong until that very moment.
Frost Alchemy: Eternal Permafrost
Crack-crack!
Frost consumed the area around the building, centered around the Frost Dog. It froze all of the magic arrays that were supposed to activate the moment of intrusion, rendering them all unresponsive—but not totally nullified. Realizing that, the heroes in charge of controlling the spells rushed to reactivate them... only to realize they were too slow.
“Distortion.”
The Blast Dog’s incantation struck first, worming its way into the arrays.
Crack!
In the blink of an eye, the magic arrays had been hijacked and transformed into a completely different form, rapidly infecting the rest of the traps throughout the building.
“What... is this?!”
The meticulously designed array system, crafted over days of planning, had been dismantled and hijacked in just two attacks. It was completely surreal, leaving the heroes in charge of it stunned still—before they came to their senses and scrambled to respond.
“Cut the power to the compromised sectors!”
“Seal those areas and reinforce control!”
As the staff inside the facilities scrambled to repair the formation, the heroes on-site quickly realized their role.
We need to pin them down so they can’t fully unleash their skills.
If we can eliminate even one of them, it has the potential to alter the situation significantly.
Strengthening their grip on their weapons, the armed heroes sprinted down the now-frozen corridors. They soon caught sight of a calm figure up ahead holding a crimson spear: the Mad Dog. Increasing their speed, the heroes watched as a flame bloomed from the tip of his spear and drew a blazing circle—
Inferno Ring: Red Sun
The frost melted, and everything in its path was consumed.
KABOOM!
The red sun lit the city-like complex up as if it were midday, blinding everyone. Then, once the aftermath settled, the infiltrated building came back into view.
“Ugh...”
“Cough!”
The wall, unable to withstand the Mad Dog’s strike, had melted grotesquely. And through the now gaping breach, a freezing wind sliced through and drew groans from the battered heroes lying nearby.
Aside from minor burns, they looked mostly intact. However, their internals were a different story. The defensive formation protecting them had shattered, and their mana circuits were completely wrecked.
The situation... makes no sense...ugh.
How could he do this alone...?
The fallen heroes couldn’t comprehend the result. Judging by the sheer amount of mana alone, they should’ve had ten times the advantage. Why were they the ones utterly crushed? They wanted to suspect some hidden trick, but as high-ranking heroes themselves, they knew the truth.
A fundamental gap in technique... this wide...?
Where they might draw out ten units of power from one unit of mana, the Three Dogs casually drew and unleashed a hundred—or more. A Perfect One? No, they were on an entirely different level.
But it was only after it was too late that the heroes understood what kind of monsters they were hunting.
Whoosh!
The three figures stood under the night sky, unshaken by the recent clash. Just the sight of them made everyone watching tremble.
“You lunatics. Can’t you control your damn power?!”
“You’re no better, idiot.”
“Can you two both shut up?! I can’t concentrate like this!”
Little did they know, even the Three Dogs were marveling at their own strength.
To think Frost Alchemy could do this...
A frigid chill so intense it didn’t just cover the area... but seemed to freeze the world itself.
The power flowing from his body left Amir shocked, making him tense up. He had meant to freeze only the corridor to create some pressure, not an entire section of the building solid.
I have to be more precise with the target.
Realizing his power could freeze not just enemies but allies—and himself—if misused, Amir stayed on edge.
And Luize was in a similar state.
If I target the incantation wrong... the whole area’s going to blow.
She’d only intended to disable the enemy’s spellwork, but her incantation had somehow turned the building into a giant bomb.
I need to clear my mind completely.
Even the tiniest stray thought got woven into her incantations. Realizing the problem, Luize sharpened her focus.
Meanwhile, Sung-Ha’s eyes were locked onto the flames burning along his spearhead.
Is this the true Inferno Ring...?
Upon creating the Shadow Ring, he’d cut back on training the original Inferno Ring. He had wanted to master the new technique he created, but also, he just hadn’t been able to make progress beyond nine rings.[1]
Until now, he hadn’t been able to understand why. However, with that last strike just now, he finally figured out what his shortcoming was.
I have to strike like I’ll engulf everything.
The ultimate form of the Inferno Ring was to trap a sun-like flame inside a ring and wield it freely. That was the very reason the final mastery wasn’t called the Tenth Ring but the Sun Ring.
Engraving that realization into him, Sung-Ha reignited the spear’s flame.
Rumble!
While the three had been grasping their new potential, the remaining heroes protecting the place had been moving. The building shook, showing its resistance.
However, despite the tension in the air, the Three Dogs casually checked how long they’d been engaged instead of rushing into battle.
“One minute down.”
Out of the eight minutes allotted, only one had passed. Yet in that short time, they had destroyed thirty percent of the building and taken out dozens of heroes.
As the understanding of just how much stronger they’d become—and how much weaker their opponents were in comparison—dawned on them, the Three Dogs exchanged glances.
“It seems like controlling our powers is the hardest part of this mission.”
“Yeah, no kidding...”
With bitter smiles, they dashed deeper into the building.
***
Ten minutes later, when the Three Dogs had casually taken their exit, the Chinese government and Heroes Association reinforcements finally arrived.
And the devastation that they found left them all agape.
Rumble-
The building, which had only recently been heavily refurbished with vast resources, lay half-destroyed. An elite defense unit that included six S-rank heroes had been completely subdued. And just like the first attack, there were casualties—which included two S-ranks—sending even greater shockwaves.
“The Three Dogs have already killed three S-rank heroes! We need to come up with a countermeasure before they kill all our heroes!”
“And just how do you plan to make one?! We also need intel before we can even begin!”
“What makes you think you can raise your voice? It’s you, isn’t it? You’re the one colluding with the Three Dogs...!”
Desperate to stop the Three Dogs’ assault, they had thrown everything into the operation—only to suffer an even more devastating defeat. News of the disaster fueled public panic, and the Heroes Association launched a renewed investigation into everything related to the Three Dogs.
“They could’ve killed everyone if they wanted... there has to be some connection among the victims.”
“Run thorough autopsies and dig into any intel linked to the Earth-Weaving Loom.”
Once was a coincidence, twice meant intent. Both the public and the Association began suspecting there was a hidden purpose behind the Three Dogs’ bizarre terrorism.
Naturally, suspicion inevitably turned toward the Chinese government and Caden.
What really happened in the past?
Are they all survivors of human experimentation or something?
As speculation swirled, and the Chinese government scrambled to deny it all...
“Are you really saying you have no connection to the Three Dogs?”
Se-Hoon, the man at the center of this storm, was looking Caden dead in the eyes.
“If you don’t give us the full story, we can’t respond properly either.”
Under interrogation, Caden closed his eyes tightly before responding with a weary voice, “As I’ve said before, we absolutely do not have any ties to the Three Dogs.”
“Then why are they acting like this?”
Of course, Se-Hoon knew why—considering they were following his orders—but he feigned ignorance with award-winning conviction.
“Isn’t it obvious from the situation? It’s a ploy to spark internal conflict,” Caden replied in frustration, massaging his forehead in annoyance.
“To isolate the Chinese government?”
“Yes.”
“Then what are the benefits they can reap from this situation?”
If their goal was to weaken humanity’s forces, wouldn’t it make more sense to just kill all the S-ranks?
“We’ll review it internally and report it back to you.”
Cornered, Caden deferred his answer.
Yet, Se-Hoon chose not to push further for now. “Next time, I’d like a more satisfactory answer,” he remarked, then left the office.
Looks like they’re panicking quite a bit. He smirked to himself.
Just as Caden had said, Se-Hoon’s goal was to provoke internal division and drive Offering even deeper into a corner. However, even though Offering suspected that much, they couldn’t be certain. They’d committed so many crimes that they couldn’t rule out the possibility of an actual link to the Three Dogs.
This is going smoother than I expected.
He’d thought Offering would react somehow once the Three Dogs appeared, but surprisingly, they hadn’t. The only notable change was a brief increase in surveillance around dawn—which Se-Hoon knew exactly how to interpret.
They’re probably starting to suspect I’m the leader of the Three Dogs.
After all, it was far more plausible for a powerful Perfect One-like individual to have been hiding in plain sight than to have appeared from nowhere. But while Offering’s hunch was correct, Se-Hoon had used Warhound to give his orders, which injected doubt into Offering and made them even more uncertain.
Looks like they’re planning to watch a bit longer... Should I push them again?
Briefly considering it, Se-Hoon checked in on the condition of the three resting in Babel through the Warhound first.
“Prepare another strike? Hmm... I think we need to rest today.”
“We can, but our transformation duration will be shorter.”
“Their defenses will also be tighter, so it's best to attack at full strength.”
The trio were clearly worn out, likely from the aftereffects of their transformation into the Three Dogs. If they weren’t careful, their transformed forms could unravel mid-battle, so Se-Hoon told them to rest and looked down at his own body.
I’m... completely fine.
Seeing how he was perfectly healthy, physically and mentally, he couldn’t help but make a strange expression. The purple orbs he gave them, Dreamblood Beads, were developed based on his own experience summoning the Three Dogs in Beijing. Made using Soul Honing, Metamorphosing Dream, and Silver River in conjunction, the beads let the three of them turn into the Three Dogs when the conditions were right.
Creating them had made him dizzy and drained. But now, none of that remained.
The next batch should be easier to make.
It was natural, as with experience, that everything tended to get smoother. Still, there was something about that thought that gave Se-Hoon an odd sense of déjà vu. Creating a new technique and adapting to it... felt too natural.
Am I just being too sensitive? Or maybe...
Frowning at the sensation he had never experienced, even before regressing, Se-Hoon shook his head to clear the thought.
Forget it. It’s not the time for this.
With the next strike postponed, it was time to scout the area. He headed straight for the integrated power plant: the facility where the Earth-Weaving Loom was hidden.
“You’ll need to head down this way.”
With the guards’ help, having been tipped off in advance by Caden, they directed him right toward the Earth-Weaving Loom instead of stopping him. Thanks to that, he arrived at a small underground garden beneath the power plant in no time.
At a glance, it was just a forest that had been transplanted indoors, aside from the ceiling and walls.
However, Se-Hoon’s eyes narrowed.
Are those... threads?
On closer inspection, the plants were actually woven from impossibly fine threads. But what was even more bizarre was that they still behaved like living organisms.
Was this entire place really made with the Earth-Weaving Loom...?
What kind of object could make such things possible? Driven by curiosity, he walked through the artificial forest until he spotted an old loom beneath a towering tree.
Clack, clack.
A single loom operated with no one seated, moving on its own. Watching with fascination, Se-Hoon observed the loom that seemed as if a ghost were sitting there operating it.
That must be it.
It continued weaving nonstop, creating something... but what? He cautiously approached, prepared for any trap.
Fwoosh-
As he got closer, the loom began changing.
Unlike before, a translucent shadow had appeared in the once-empty seat. Its limbs were moving in sync with the loom.
An illusion?
He didn’t sense any resentment from it, so it probably wasn’t a ghost. Yet it was also too vivid to be just an illusion.
Puzzled, Se-Hoon stepped closer—
The figure turned its head. Meeting eyes with it, Se-Hoon saw a strangely familiar yet eerily unfamiliar figure: an old man he knew but suddenly made young again.
“What the...”
Dumbfounded by the figure, Se-Hoon stared blankly.
“Who the hell are you?”
Because seated in front of the loom was a beautiful, androgynous young man with a sharp glare—the very image of Li Kenxie.
1. If you don’t remember Shadow Ring, it’s because we accidentally termed both 암륜잔화창 and 염륜잔화창 as “Inferno Ring.” It has since been fixed. Sorry for the confusion. ☜