“Huh, already?”

Heo Sungshik widened his eyes as he looked around.

He had thought he’d stayed in “Puyan’s Sanctuary” for quite a while. So, he figured it might be about the time for the “Gate Break” to begin.

―Hasn’t that “Gate Break” you talked about already happened?

It was just as Heaven-Splitter had said. The world had changed. Through his Superhuman senses, Sungshik could feel monsters spread throughout the area.

‘And the mana density in the atmosphere has grown even thicker.’

It wasn’t just the monsters. The mana density in the air had also increased significantly. It was roughly the same as the world after the Gate Break that Sungshik remembered.

‘How much time has passed?’

Sungshik furrowed his brow as the situation diverged sharply from what he had expected. He thought he had returned just in time before the Gate Break would occur. He had planned to return and protect the land of the Korean Peninsula from the Gate Break.

But what was this? The world was already in a post-Gate Break state. He had hoped to protect his homeland from the disaster, but that plan had gone awry.

‘First, I need to assess the situation.’

How long had it been since the Gate Break occurred? How much damage had it caused? That was what he needed to find out first.

‘Subin and Jihwan… they’re safe, right?’

His greatest concern was the safety of his cherished companions. After all, the very reason he intended to stop the Gate Break was for their well-being.

Lost in thought, Sungshik suddenly sensed a sharp increase in presences nearby. Monsters had begun to converge on his location. Unbeknownst to him, this was the territory of the 6-star+ monster “Mantrap Plant.”

“So it’s Mantrap Plants.”

Sungshik chuckled as he looked at the monsters gathering around him. These were monsters he knew quite well.

“Bit weak for a welcome party.”

Who else could say such a thing while being surrounded by Mantrap Plants on all sides? For others, it would’ve been a hopeless situation, but for Sungshik, it wasn’t even a decent post-meal workout.

“For plant-type monsters, fire really is the best.”

“Primordial Flame.” Another [EX Rank] trait he had gained. That power began to manifest.

Whoosh—! Fwoosh!

As Sungshik willed it, a massive pillar of fire shot up in response.

The massive pillar of fire Sungshik unleashed rose skyward, incinerating everything within a 500-meter radius around where he stood. The gigantic blaze, resembling a dragon's ascent, was visible even from far beyond the region where Sungshik stood.

“A massive magical surge has occurred on the outskirts of Tsufeng City.”

A man had detected the sudden abnormality.

“Where exactly?”

“It appears to be in the Mantrap Plant region.”

“What?!”

The man, sitting in a luxurious chair, groaned inwardly.

The Mantrap Plant region was one of the areas they had completely abandoned. It was inhabited by thousands of 6-star+ Mantrap Plants, some of which had evolved into 7-star level monsters.

That’s why they had given up on subjugating the place entirely.

‘To conquer that place alone… only someone like the Sword Emperor or Lord Pthos could manage that.’

It would require someone on the level of the Sword Emperor or Lord Pthos—believed to have reached the realm of 8-stars—to take it on solo.

So the question arose: Who had created that massive fire pillar accompanied by overwhelming magical energy?

‘Who could it be?’

It wasn’t likely to be one of the local Superhumans.

Kurhin, the ruler of Tsufeng City, was more informed than anyone about the Superhumans nearby. In an era where strength was law, reigning over a region required not only personal might but also detailed knowledge of any other powerful individuals who could be potential threats.

As far as Kurhin knew, there was no one nearby capable of wielding such immense firepower—nor any lunatic of a Superhuman who would attempt to challenge the Mantrap Plants.

Mantrap Plants—monsters shaped like massive carnivorous plants.

They used enormous net-like vines and whip-like tendrils on their bodies to ensnare targets and then digested them with sticky mucus. Once caught in their net, it was extremely difficult to escape, making them a highly dangerous opponent.

‘One alone wouldn’t be much trouble.’

Their real threat lay in their pack behavior. Dealing with a single one wasn’t too hard—dodging its net or tendrils wasn’t impossible.

But they lived in groups. Once surrounded, there was no way to avoid the nets and tendrils that would attack from all sides. That’s why, with their numbers now exceeding thousands, the region had become a forbidden zone no one dared enter.

‘Don’t tell me… that pack of mad dogs came down here too?’

An even scarier monster pack than the Mantrap Plants. That would be the Hellhound pack led by the 8-star monster, Cerberus.

The Hellhounds were monsters reaching the 6 to 7-star level, and the one leading them was the three-headed hellhound, Cerberus. Emerging from the jet-black SS-rank Gate, Cerberus was the undisputed ruler of this zone—yet undefeated to this day.

‘Why is that thing moving all of a sudden?’

It had been a presence they hadn’t paid much attention to for the past few months, simply because it remained in place, occupying the region where the first gate had appeared.

“Don’t tell me Cerberus started moving?”

“That hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it doesn’t seem to be Cerberus.”

If the Cerberus pack had moved, their movements would have been detected first. But no signs of Cerberus leaving its territory had been picked up yet.

“Then what the hell is it?”

“We’re already looking into the situation. As soon as the reports come in, we’ll compile them and get back to you immediately.”

At his subordinate’s words, Kurhin’s brow furrowed. He had a bad feeling. It had been nearly half a year since he had ruled this place like a king, but never before had he felt such an ominous premonition.

‘This is bad.’

He swallowed his unease as his instincts blared an intense danger signal.

Before the Gate Break, Kurhin had only been a 5-star Superhuman. “Only” might sound dismissive, but that was from the perspective of top-tier Superhumans like Sungshik. In the world of average Superhumans, it was quite a high rank.

He had originally been a member of the Triad—one of the executives of the Triad’s Tsufeng City branch, which ruled over the city’s underworld.

He had been living a life of contentment and satisfaction, until a turning point arrived.

The Gate Break. When the Gate Break occurred, he underwent a reawakening, and his rank skyrocketed.

7-star. After a complete metamorphosis, he ascended to a realm incomparable to his past self. This power allowed him to dominate the Tsufeng City area and rule like a king.

“Kuhahaha, to think I’d gain this kind of power.”

Though he had belonged to the Triad, this reawakening allowed him to join the Revolutionary Knights. With their support, he was able to seize control of Tsufeng City.

The 6-star and 5-star Superhumans who had worked with him also joined the Revolutionary Knights. Drunk on the sweet nectar of being in the “ruling class,” they exploited the “ruled class.”

This situation was different from the future Sungshik knew. Something had gone awry.

In the Gate Break Sungshik had experienced, monsters did not evolve of their own accord to raise their class, nor did individuals suddenly gain immense power and reawaken like Kurhin. The only real change had been a rise in the number of non-Superhumans awakening as Superhumans.

But something had shifted, and the altered world structure diverged from the future Sungshik was familiar with.

The cause was the Revolutionary Knights. Thanks to the knowledge left behind by Xiaoguang, Tidian had discovered a faster method to erode this world.

In other words, he had learned how to accelerate dimensional corrosion. That knowledge was instrumental in regaining his true body’s power and breaking the seal.

Thus began the project of dimensional corrosion. It was also the reason the Revolutionary Knights continued scattering the “Black Moon Fragments” across the world.

Though the leader of the Revolutionary Knights, Tidian, had returned to slumber, Pthos was carrying out his orders and advancing the dimensional erosion. It was being executed silently and covertly.

Then, the attack led by the Sword Emperor and Martial Emperor—alongside S30—began. Having gained some understanding of the Revolutionary Knights, the Sword and Martial Emperors spearheaded S30’s efforts to hunt them down and eradicate them.

The Revolutionary Knights were thrown into disarray by the unexpected assault. Their forces couldn’t compare to those of S30. In truth, the Revolutionary Knights were powerful only at the very top—Tidian and the top brass. The general members were not particularly high-level.

“How the hell did they figure out the locations of all our bases around the world?”

Pthos, who was operating the Revolutionary Knights in Tidian’s place, was flustered. He never imagined that S30 had identified their bases to such a degree.

But in a way, it was only natural. S30 was a global Superhuman coalition. To think they had completely evaded the eyes of S30—which even cooperated with ‘Noah’s Ark’—was an unreasonable assumption.

“Damn it, it’s all or nothing now. Force all the Black Moon Fragments into overdrive.”

“B-but if we do that, we won’t be able to predict the outcome...”

“At this rate, we won’t even get the chance to use them properly. Do it.”

That was the reason. The reason the Revolutionary Knights hastily pushed forward with dimensional corrosion—specifically demonic realm erosion among the multiple dimensions.

And it brought about an outcome no one had anticipated.

The acceleration of the Gate Break. A sudden surge of Irregulars—beings who defied classification as either monsters or Superhumans.

As a result, the sword of S30 that had been aimed solely at the Revolutionary Knights was now split by the Gate Break. Though unintentional, the Revolutionary Knights, once backed into a corner and on the brink of annihilation, were able to breathe again.

“It actually worked out better this way.”

Whether through the front door or the back, what mattered was achieving the goal.

In the end, what the Revolutionary Knights aimed for was the acceleration of demonic realm erosion. From that standpoint, the situation couldn’t have been better. The demonic realm erosion was clearly progressing faster.

And that was why. The reason the Gate Break happened even faster than Sungshik had expected.

‘The signs of the Gate Break have already appeared earlier than before the regression, and the Revolutionary Knights have now fueled it.’

Most people were unaware of this fact. Only the high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Knights and the upper echelons of S30 knew that the Revolutionary Knights had interfered with the Gate Break that was currently happening.

However, the fact that Gate Breaks were occurring worldwide was common knowledge. The man standing in front of Sungshik was no exception.

“So after the Gate Break occurred, multiple gates, estimated to be SS-rank, were discovered all over the world?”

“Y-yes.”

“Hmm... didn’t you say that even the community is having trouble connecting? How did you get this information?”

The man who had once been a member of the Triad and was now under Kurhin’s command answered Sungshik’s question with sincerity.

In the early stages of the Gate Break, the community’s functions were operating normally, but gradually the connection became unreliable. However, there were still occasional instances where the system would connect, and when that happened, the information could be checked.

Even though functions like stores and writing posts were down, checking the posts on the board was still possible.

He also mentioned that by doing so, Sungshik could more easily grasp the situation up to now. Besides that, he was able to roughly piece together what year it was and when the Gate Break occurred, which helped him understand the lost time of the last two years.

‘Damn, isn’t this guy the Heavenly Sovereign?’

As the man responded, Sungshik’s eyes occasionally flicked over to the face of the man in front of him.

The Heavenly Sovereign, whom everyone had concluded was dead. This man’s face looked identical to his. If you didn’t look carefully, others might not have noticed.

But the man, despite his lack of significant power, had climbed up to this point solely through sharp observation. He could confidently say that his attention to detail was something he never fell short on.

‘Damn, this really seems like the Heavenly Sovereign.’

The skin seemed smoother, and the face was more handsome, but no matter how he looked at it, this was definitely the Heavenly Sovereign. Moreover, the fact that he had no memories from the last Gate Break only strengthened this belief.

‘Wasn’t he supposed to be dead? Why is he here?’

A mysterious pillar of flame had erupted from the forbidden region known as the “Mantrap Plant” habitat. Sungshik was on his way to investigate the situation, but he had gotten sidetracked and was now wandering far away from the location of the flame pillar, only to be caught by Sungshik.

“Why are you staring like that?”

“It’s just… your face looks strangely familiar...”

The man, Wang Wei, stammered as he tried to explain, but the pressure emanating from Sungshik was so overwhelming that it had him struggling to speak.

“H-hold on, are you... the Heavenly Sovereign?”

“Oh, you recognize me? I used to be called that.”

“G-gah!”

Wang Wei’s eyes widened in shock at Sungshik’s answer, and he grabbed his chest. The immense pressure from Sungshik had already been suffocating him, but the sudden surprise caused him to briefly experience cardiac arrest.

“What’s wrong? Why are you— Ah.”

Sungshik realized that the man in front of him was suffering from the pressure he had unconsciously let slip. Since he hadn’t had to control his aura for a while, he had been letting it flow freely, but that had become an immense burden for the man standing before him.

For someone like Wang Wei, a low-tier Superhuman, facing Sungshik’s pressure was like being a rabbit in front of a tiger.

‘This is why habits are dangerous.’

The moment Sungshik willed himself to stop the pressure, the aura that had been flowing from him vanished cleanly.

“Huff, huff.”

Wang Wei, finally able to breathe, rolled his eyes in disbelief as he looked at Sungshik.

‘Damn, this really is the Heavenly Sovereign.’

The realization sent a wave of tension through him, and his back was soaked with sweat. He had joined the Revolutionary Knights late, following Kurhin, but he had often heard about Sungshik’s hostile relationship with the Revolutionary Knights.

‘If I can just get through this...’

It seemed the Heavenly Sovereign didn’t know that he was now part of the Revolutionary Knights.

“Are you okay?”

This was all the evidence Wang Wei needed. Sungshik asked if he was alright after seeing him gasping for breath.

“Y-yes... I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”

“H-haha. It’s fine. It can happen. But I have a schedule, so I need to leave. Is it alright if I go?”

“Of course. Thank you.”

Done. The idiot didn’t even realize he was still part of the Revolutionary Knights. If he just left like this and headed to the Qingde branch...

But his thoughts were interrupted before they could finish. Sungshik called out to him.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Do you smell something?”

“What... smell?”

“The rotten stench of a cesspit.”

As he said that, Sungshik’s face twisted into a smile as he looked at Wang Wei, causing his expression to crumple uncontrollably.

That’s right. The Heavenly Sovereign had known all along that he was part of the Revolutionary Knights. Seeing the expression on his face, Wang Wei muttered to himself inwardly.

‘Shit, this is bad.’