Chapter 29: Farewell, Again

The world inside a gate is entirely different from the world outside.

Si-woo had heard that countless times before.

But he had never truly understood what it meant.

And perhaps—no one could, unless they had stepped into a gate themselves.

“Wow…”

An endless expanse of white stretched beyond the horizon.

A land of eternal permafrost, where even footprints did not exist.

A world devoid of human presence—silent, untouched, and empty.

As Si-woo took in the sight with his own eyes, he finally understood what so many customers had told him.

The world beyond a gate is unlike anything you’ve ever seen.

It can be breathtakingly beautiful… or horrifying beyond words.

But there is one undeniable truth.

“How does it feel? Stepping into a gate for the first time?”

“For the first time in my life, I think I actually understand what ‘mystical’ means.”

Because once you’ve seen it.

You will never forget it.

Surrounded by this snow-covered world, Si-woo quickly snapped back to reality.

No matter how mesmerizing the scenery was, this was still a gate.

A single mistake could lead to death.

Reminding himself of that fact, he gripped the sword at his waist and drew it.

“You both remember the strategy, right?”

At Saria’s question, both Si-woo and Im So-yeon nodded.

The most important part of clearing a gate was the destruction of the keystone.

That meant eliminating the boss monster.

No matter how many regular monsters they killed, the gate would not disappear.

Once slain, monsters would simply respawn, endlessly replenishing their numbers.

But a keystone boss.

Never revived.

The reason behind this was still unknown.

But that didn’t matter to Hunters.

All that mattered was one simple rule.

“Ignore the Yuki-onna as much as possible. Our target is the boss—‘The Demon Worshiper.’”

Once the boss died, the gate would close.

That immutable law was all they needed to know.

With that, Si-woo and Im So-yeon pushed off the ground.

They sprinted across the snow-white landscape, their footprints marking the pristine surface as they moved forward.

Ignoring the regular monsters.

The Yuki-onna.

They focused solely on locating the boss.

But then.

“Aaah… Ahhh…”

Unlike other monsters, Yuki-onna had no direct means of attack.

Even though their Allure ability made them difficult to deal with, their danger level was still rated only D-rank.

“Mm. As expected, they can’t keep up.”

Si-woo cast a quick glance at the Yuki-onna trailing behind him and Im So-yeon.

At this rate, even if they caught up, Saria—who had already fallen under Si-woo’s Allure—could handle them alone without much difficulty.

“Then we just need to focus on finding the boss.”

“Yeah. Besides, the boss of The Snow Woman’s Manor—The Demon Worshiper—isn’t particularly difficult to deal with.”

The Demon Worshiper.

The nameless monster that ruled over this frozen manor had earned that title for a simple reason.

“Still, it’s a shame. If we had an item imbued with holy energy, we could clear this way more easily.”

A creature branded with a pentagram, its body was highly vulnerable to holy power.

But not the divine energy from myths or deities—only the holy energy manifested through engravings could affect it.

Because of this unique weakness, the title Demon Worshiper had become its official classification.

‘And apparently, its appearance matches the name perfectly.’

“But it can’t be helped. Unless a Healer with a holy-type engraving personally crafted it, a sacred item wouldn’t even work on the Demon Worshiper.”

“That’s true… Wait.”

As they casually discussed strategy, Im So-yeon’s expression hardened.

Not long after.

Si-woo sensed it too.

Reacting immediately, Im So-yeon drew her twin daggers from her waist and calmly announced:

“It’s here.”

“I noticed too!!”

Something was approaching.

The boss monster.

Even though Si-woo had never participated in a gate raid before, the sheer malice in the air made it impossible to miss.

Im So-yeon’s face twisted in disgust.

Boss monsters aren’t supposed to roam the field.

Unless it was an exceptional case, bosses were confined to their boss rooms.

That was common sense among Hunters—a fundamental rule of how gates worked.

But.

BOOM! BOOM!!

Once again, this gate defied common sense.

Something was moving.

The ground quaked violently with each step.

The peaceful, snow-covered plains were now the center of a raging storm.

“It’s coming.”

This was the signal.

The emergence of the keystone monster of this gate.

Even the gate itself reacted, as if welcoming its master.

“-!!!!”

A scream.

A twisted, unnatural wail that barely resembled a human voice.

And as the monster finally stepped into view.

Si-woo let out a small, breathless chuckle.

“…Hah. Seeing it in a picture didn’t do it justice.”

The name Demon Worshiper was truly fitting.

The creature advanced.

A massive four-meter-tall body with six arms.

And four legs that carried it forward with an unsettling grace.

It had no eyes.

Instead, its face was nothing but a twisted mass of jagged, shark-like teeth.

“Bleeeh…”

From its many maws, long tongues spilled out, writhing unnaturally.

A pentagram glowed ominously on the tongue of its largest mouth, pulsing with a faint, bloody light.

“The hell are you even doing?”

A cold, emotionless voice.

And with it—a shadow descended.

The Demon Worshiper reacted on instinct.

Rather than being shocked by the sudden attack, it immediately swung its massive arm toward the incoming presence.

A powerful, vein-covered limb tore through the air.

The three mouths on its face twisted into a grin.

Convinced of its kill.

But instead.

“Tch.”

Im So-yeon scoffed.

There was no impact.

The monstrous arm that had almost crushed her passed harmlessly through empty space.

Had that attack landed, she would have been shredded into nothing but chunks of flesh.

But the Demon Worshiper had failed.

Shhk—!!

“Keh?!!”

A pair of daggers sliced clean through its ankles.

A strike from an unexpected angle.

The creature’s balance faltered.

Shhk—!!!

Before it could react, another blade carved through its flesh.

Two of its four legs were severed.

The giant body collapsed, unable to withstand the sudden shift in weight.

It was falling.

Realizing this, the Demon Worshiper frantically reached out with its three remaining pairs of hands.

“Perfect.”

But its hands never touched the ground.

Because at that moment.

A new presence entered the battlefield.

The Demon Worshiper’s grotesque face twisted.

The voice.

It had never heard it before.

And more than that.

The presence itself was something it did not recognize.

“Ah…! Aaaah!!!!!!”

Its instincts screamed.

Yes—that.

That was why it had come all this way.

The Demon Worshiper was nothing more than a mindless monster.

It had no thoughts.

No memories.

Its entire being was driven solely by the hunger engraved into its flesh.

Its three pairs of hands reached for Si-woo.

It even abandoned the act of supporting its own body.

All for the sake of grabbing him.

HEH…?

“Blegh?”

Its arms never extended.

The sensation of its limbs—gone.

The Demon Worshiper’s head twisted 90 degrees.

It tried to see what had happened—

Tried to process what had just occurred.

Fshk—!

“Bhuek!!”

But before it could react, its body collapsed into the snow.

Its own blood seeped into the white ground, spreading like an ink stain.

And at that moment.

Its senses detected six new objects nearby.

Six freshly severed limbs.

Its own arms.

“Hmm… Compared to Master’s strikes, mine are still too slow.”

“You just cut down a D-rank boss before it even registered what happened.”

“Yeah, but you could at least see my attack.”

While the Demon Worshiper lay in the snow, writhing.

Si-woo and Im So-yeon were casually discussing their technique.

Ignoring it completely.

The Demon Worshiper began to crawl.

Two of its four legs remained intact.

It could still move.

It dragged itself forward through the snow and dirt.

Toward them.

It had no clear purpose.

But then.

‘Kill the humans.’

Yes.

It had a purpose.

A new instinct surged within it.

The pentagram on its tongue pulsed violently—

Filling its entire body with dark energy.

Kill the humans.

Eliminate the intruders.

Leave no survivors.

Driven by this command, the Demon Worshiper forced itself forward.

But before it could go any further.

Im So-yeon moved.

She flicked her daggers, shaking off the blood.

Then, smoothly, she sheathed them.

She paced forward, step by step.

‘This should be about right.’

For the most certain, most effective execution.

Srrrk.

Im So-yeon’s hand sank deep into the Demon Worshiper’s body.

Her presence faded, slipping into an intangible state where physical barriers meant nothing.

She bypassed skin, muscle, and bone—searching for the one thing that kept this creature alive.

Its core.

The Demon Worshiper never even realized.

Even as it struggled to kill the humans.

Even as its own flesh was invaded.

It never once noticed what was happening inside its own body.

CRACK—!!

“Found it.”

A jewel-like core of pure mana.

The very thing that sustained the Demon Worshiper—

Was now clenched in Im So-yeon’s grip.

The monster couldn’t even scream.

As its heart was ripped from within, the sheer, indescribable pain was too much for its mind to handle.

At Im So-yeon’s will, the core was forcefully extracted.

It reversed its path, pushing out through the monster’s muscles, fat, and skin.

And finally.

“Oops.”

The core emerged, now exposed to open air.

The Demon Worshiper made no sound.

No final words.

No last struggle.

The true monster had been slain—by two people who were just as monstrous.

“…Phew. That actually startled me.”

“Yeah, me too.”

As Im So-yeon casually shook the Demon Worshiper’s core in her hand, Si-woo finally relaxed.

Their first gate expedition had turned into a mess, so he had been tense the entire time.

Even in this freezing cold, sweat had formed on his skin.

Wiping it away, he waved at Im So-yeon.

“Should we go get Saria?”

“She’s probably already running toward us. At this distance, she should’ve sensed the fight by now.”

And as if on cue.

A familiar streak of blue hair appeared in the distance.

“Ah, Sari—”

“EVERYONE, RUN! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!!!”

“Huh?”

At Saria’s desperate cry, the two of them finally noticed it.

A presence—so faint, so insignificant—that they had sensed it but never once considered it a threat.

Just another ordinary Yuki-onna.

But then.

A whirlwind stirred the air as it appeared before Si-woo.

A purple dress swayed gently in the snowstorm.

And then.

“Hello.”

“Si-woo!!!”

With an elegant motion, it lifted the hem of its skirt and greeted him with a bright, twisted smile.

“My brave hero.”