CHAPTER 447: CHAPTER 445: THEY’RE HERE

Kyla gripped what was left of her broken stick, Dayanara standing in front with both fists raised and ready, but before a fight could break out—

A crackling rattle echoed through the shadows.

From behind the enemies, bones began crawling up from the darkness—skeletal hands pierced through the wooden planks as undead soldiers emerged, eerie green light glowing in their empty eye sockets, swords raised, and jaws clacking.

The attackers screamed, stumbling back as a dark gust of wind whooshed over the ship.

Above them, a giant skeletal bird landed silently. Its wings spread wide, hollow bones glowing with rune-like markings.

"It’s Lee Min Joon!!" Kyla gasped, her tired eyes sparkling. "The Necromancer of Korea!"

Dayanara looked up cautiously, her hands still tight around her weapons. She simply muttered, "Let’s move."

As their group broke into a run, weaving through the chaos to escape the area, Dayanara turned her head for a moment and looked up again.

Lee Min Joon, standing atop the skeletal bird with his long coat flapping behind him and his pale staff in hand, watched them without saying a word.

Dayanara bowed her head quickly, and though the noise of battle was loud, she mouthed a quiet, "Thank you."

Lee Min Joon nodded back once, his face as calm as ever. Then, as their figures disappeared among the ships, another voice echoed above the clouds.

"How kind of you, Min Joon."

Floating high with massive dragon wings, Gideon, a black dragonoid with curved horns and red scales along his arms, hovered above the battlefield with narrowed eyes.

"I wanna see them in Stage two" Lee Min Joon just muttered, rising beside him on his skeletal mount.

Gideon nodded slowly, eyes scanning the sky. "Curious, aren’t you? Hmm... It looks like he isn’t participating..."

Lee Min Joon followed his gaze. "You mean the white-haired boy?"

Before an answer could come, the sky on the far side of the sea exploded with a deafening boom, shockwaves rolling through the air, scattering birds and ships alike.

Both Gideon and Lee Min Joon immediately darted toward the light, their auras flaring as they flew.

When they arrived, what they saw stole their breath.

Floating in the sky, calmly standing in the air with wind circling his feet like invisible steps, was a white-haired young man, his blue eyes glowing faintly.

Below him, rising from the sea, was a massive creature with nine serpent-like heads—a silver-scaled hydra, roaring loud enough to shake the clouds.

And on its back, five cloaked figures stood still, their faces unreadable, their presence overwhelming.

From every broadcast screen across the world, news anchors screamed with shock.

"WAIT—WAIT! STOP THE FEED! This is breaking news!" shouted the anchor, leaning forward in disbelief. "That’s... that’s him! The white-haired S-Ranked! That’s Seojun! The latest S-rank of Korea!"

Gasps erupted in the studio, and across the world, viewers sat frozen. Before the shock could settle, The global system screen appeared.

[GLOBAL SYSTEM NOTICE]

The required 24 guilds have been selected. All remaining guilds beyond this number have been disqualified.

Total Guilds Advancing to Stage Two: 24

Stage Two: Confirmed.

On every ship, on every screen, the words burned into the minds of all. ’He defeated them all.’

The anchor, still breathless from the sudden turn of events leaned forward, one hand raised to her earpiece as she gave a sharp command to the production crew, "Camera Two, zoom in! Give us a close-up on those figures standing on the creature’s back—now!"

The feed adjusted instantly, the blurry aerial view clearing up as the floating camera drone locked on and the entire world watching gasped all at once.

There, above the stormy waters and towering over the remaining ships, a colossal creature shimmered beneath the sunlight—its nine serpent-like heads hissing into the sky as glimmering silver scales rippled like liquid metal across its back.

The anchor nearly stumbled back in her chair as her voice cracked from shock, "This... This can’t be! A—a nine-headed Hydra?! A legendary beast spoken only in myths and high-tier bestiaries! And it’s alive! It’s moving! Wait, wait, it’s carrying people on its back?!"

Civilians all over the world, whether sitting in homes, watching from phones, or huddled in streetside cafés, leaned closer, their eyes wide and voices rising.

"Look at that green one! That’s a lizardman! that we only see in VR games!" She shouted as the camera panned to a tall, muscular reptilian creature standing firmly atop the Hydra’s slick surface. He was emerald green, with thick tail and long arms holding a gleaming spear, his vertical eyes sharp and unblinking.

"And that—What is that?—!" the shot shifted to the right, where a massive boar-like humanoid with tusks as thick as a man’s arm held a huge hammer over his shoulder. His body was covered in red-black fur.

Murmurs spread in the Korean broadcast studio as staff and guests all crowded the back of the set, unable to hide their awe.

"Are these... monsters?" someone whispered, their voice trembling.

"No, no," another said quickly, "they’re humanoids—like Mr. Gideon! But... they’ve been hiding all this time?! This is insane!"

"Gideon was the only humanoid beast known to us... but these... they’ve been under wraps all along!"

Suddenly, a childlike voice cut through the tension.

"Wait... look!" a little girl pointed at the massive digital screen inside a mall viewing center in Seoul. "Is that... a kid?!"

The camera slowly zoomed in one last time—now focused on a small figure hovering just above the boar demon’s shoulder. It was a young boy, maybe ten or eleven in appearance, with very long black hair tied into a low tail that swayed gently with the wind. His clothes were simple, but the aura around him was anything but ordinary.

And then—he looked straight at the camera. For a moment, time itself seemed to freeze. The boy’s lips curved into a playful smirk, his head tilted slightly as if teasing the world.

Then he opened his mouth and clearly mouthed a single word.

"Boo."

Instantly—BOOM.

The broadcast cut to loud static.

The screen flickered white.

Glitching noises replaced all sound.

And across the globe— People stared at their devices in stunned silence, as the signal had been wiped out.