"Are you insane?" Seol-ah screamed, but her foot didn't leave the gas.
"Trust the mana!" Kang-woo roared.
He slammed his palms onto the dashboard. The 'Auditor's Ink' he had just stolen from the Reaper vibrated in his inventory, reacting to his intent. Dark, viscous energy surged from his hands, wrapping around the silver sedan like a second skin of obsidian.
[Skill: 'Necrotic Reinforcement' (Temporary) activated.][The vehicle is now a 'Grave-Chariot'.]
The car's engine didn't roar; it howled like a banshee. The headlights turned a sickly violet, piercing through the rain.
On the blockade, Han-sik, the 'Red Butcher,' narrowed his eyes. "He's coming straight for us? Fool."
Han-sik raised his hand. "Fire!"
Mana-charged bullets and rockets rained down on the car. But as the projectiles hit the obsidian shell, they didn't explode. They were absorbed. The 'Grave-Chariot' grew larger, its surface sprouting jagged bone spikes fueled by the impact energy.
"What the—?" Han-sik's smirk vanished.
"Brace yourself!" Kang-woo yelled.
The sedan slammed into the lead tank at a hundred miles per hour.
BOOM.
The impact didn't crush the car. The reinforced necrotic shell acted like a kinetic wedge, flipping the multi-ton armored vehicle into the air as if it were a toy. The Iron Fang hunters scrambled to get out of the way as the silver-black streak tore through their formation, leaving a trail of shattered steel and rotted asphalt.
"Damn it! After them!" Han-sik screamed, leaping into his own red custom jeep.
The sedan cleared the bridge, its tires smoking, and plunged into the purple fog of the Black Zone.
[Warning: Entering 'Black Zone - District 4'.][Law Enforcement Signal lost.][Survival is your own responsibility.]
As soon as they crossed the threshold, the world went quiet. The neon lights of the city were replaced by the dim, eerie glow of overgrown mana-weeds and ruined skyscrapers. The purple fog clung to the windshield, thick as soup.
Seol-ah finally let off the gas, her hands trembling so hard they rattled against the steering wheel. The obsidian shell around the car dissolved into gray ash, leaving the sedan dented and scarred.
"We... we actually did it," she whispered, her voice cracking.
"Don't stop yet," Kang-woo said, his face pale. He was coughing into his hand—dark, clotted blood.
[Health: 18%][Mana: 4%][Internal Injury: Necrotic Overload.]
Using the 'Auditor's Ink' to reinforce a vehicle had been a desperate gamble. His veins felt like they were filled with crushed glass.
"Kang-woo! You're bleeding!" Seol-ah jumped out of the car and ran to the passenger side.
She pulled him out, leaning his weight against her shoulder. Her silver-gold mana flared, trying to heal him, but the moment her light touched his skin, it hissed.
"Don't," Kang-woo gasped. "Our mana... is still too unstable. You'll just hurt me more."
"Then what? You're dying!"
"The Centurion..." Kang-woo looked at his shadow.
The Black Guard Centurion emerged, but it was a pathetic sight. It was missing two arms, its iron crown was cracked, and the violet fire in its skull was a mere ember.
"It needs to feed," Kang-woo said, pointing toward a collapsed grocery store nearby.
Inside the store, dozens of red eyes were flickering. [Rank-D: Feral Ghouls]. These were humans who had been trapped in the Black Zone during the first collapse and turned into mindless scavengers.
"You want to hunt? In this state?" Seol-ah asked, horrified.
"I don't have a choice. If the Centurion dies, my soul-link snaps. I go with it."
Kang-woo leaned against a rusted streetlamp and drew his dagger. "Seol-ah, keep watch. If you see red headlights, it's Han-sik. If you see white mist, it's the King."
He looked at the Centurion. "Eat everything. Leave nothing for the crows."
The two-armed skeleton dragged its broken greatsword into the dark store. Seconds later, the silence was shattered by the sound of tearing flesh and bone-chilling shrieks.
[Your Summon is consuming 'Corrupt Essence'.][Repairing structure: 65%... 72%...]
As the Centurion fed, Kang-woo felt a trickle of strength returning to his limbs. But his 'Viper's Sense' didn't quiet down. Instead, it shifted.
Something was watching them from the top of the ruined skyscraper above. It wasn't a Hunter, and it wasn't a Ghoul.
A tall, thin figure perched on the edge of a balcony, its skin the color of moonlight. It held a sniper rifle made of white bone, the scope aimed directly at Seol-ah's heart.
"Welcome to the playground," a feminine, melodic voice whispered from the darkness behind them.
Kang-woo spun around, his dagger ready, but there was no one there. Only a small, black butterfly made of paper sitting on the car's hood.
The butterfly spoke with the same voice: "The Iron Fang is coming, little Butcher. Want to make a deal with a real monster?"