I put a leash on Catastrophe

* * *

Outside the Gate was just a room in the building covered with moss, but as soon as they took one step inside, they found themselves outside.

Inside the Gate was a forest with a gloomy sky barely visible through the densely growing upward trees.

It was a wild land where it seemed people hadn’t walked at all – grass and moss grew rampantly, and there were no normal roads.

“It’s hot.”

Unlike the cool wind outside, inside the Gate it was humid and hot. Although not as stuffy as in the height of summer, but enough for sweat to appear even at rest.

Taking off the outer clothing could cool one down a bit, but Zhi-wu didn’t do this. He decided it was better to endure the heat than risk touching poisonous plants or being stung by poisonous insects by accidentally exposing skin.

Wiping with the back of his hand the sweat that was beginning to gather and run down, Zhi-wu walked in the direction indicated by the monkey’s hand.

Martin, walking ahead, cleared the path with his sword, cutting down the densely overgrown grass, so walking wasn’t too difficult.

Kiii! Grrrr!

Shush-shush-shush!

As they continued walking, incomprehensible cries and rustling of grass were heard around. The sounds were approaching them, but due to the dense grass, it was difficult to see anything.

Martin stopped, pointing his sword forward, and suddenly a giant rat jumped out of the grass.

Martin easily swung his sword when the rat, with a squeal like a scream, lunged at them.

There was a sound like “swish”, as if an auditory hallucination, when Martin’s sword smoothly cut the rat’s body in half, but the rats’ attack didn’t end there.

Shush-shush-shush! Rustle-rustle-rustle!

The sounds of movement continued to overlap each other, and suddenly, as if blocks in a rhythm game, many rats jumped out of the thickets.

Kyaaa!

Martin’s sword quickly sliced through the rats attacking in a group. However, it was difficult to catch them all as they attacked continuously, like a wave.

“My lord!”

When one rat slipped towards Zhi-wu, Martin paled and made a guilty face. However, Zhi-wu wasn’t just standing and watching either.

He gripped the chair leg, preparing to strike, but the rat suddenly changed direction, dodged, and rushed past Zhi-wu, running away.

“Huh?”

Maybe it was trying to attack from behind? Zhi-wu was confused and warily watched the passing rat, changing his stance, but the rat continued running, not even looking back.

The other rats behaved the same way.

“This…”

Didn’t this look like they were running away from a predator? While Zhi-wu was pondering this, he roughly understood what they were trying to run away from.

“The pharaoh must be there.”

There was only one opponent they could ignore and run away from, even with people in front of them. If they went along the path they came, there would be the Gate, so the rats would probably run outside, but it was already difficult to pursue those who had run away.

‘While they’re still weak and can be caught even with a gun, so the military or police will handle it themselves.’

Zhi-wu continued walking through the forest, which had become quiet after the beasts ran away. About 30 minutes passed, but the pharaoh was still not in sight.

“…It seems this is quite an extensive place.”

With the monkey’s hand, only the direction could be determined, but not the distance. Moreover, for Zhi-wu, these were the first Gates, so he didn’t know they could be this big.

Seeing Zhi-wu’s confusion, Martin opened his arms.

“Would you like to move while sitting in my arms?”

“…Please.”

Although it was a bit embarrassing to move in another man’s arms, Zhi-wu decided not to refuse, understanding that it would be much faster than if he walked himself, considering Martin’s speed of movement he had already seen.

When Zhi-wu approached Martin, he, as before, lifted him into his arms and quickly ran.

Due to the speed, which was even higher than before, Zhi-wu involuntarily pressed against Martin and hugged him around the neck. Despite Zhi-wu weighing no less than 60 kg, the running Martin’s breathing didn’t even falter.

To Zhi-wu’s eyes, sitting in the arms of the quickly running Martin, a picture opened up as if a whirlwind of saturated green color. Among the passing greenery, inhabitants of the Gate were periodically visible. These were not people, but animals.

Unlike the giant rats running away from Martin, red-eyed monkeys in the trees hid in the crowns and only warily watched.

Firmly holding the monkey’s hand, which still pointed in one direction, and looking around, Zhi-wu saw a shimmering flame in the distance. By coincidence, it was in the same direction where the fingertip was pointing.

“There…!”

It seemed Martin saw it too, because simultaneously with Zhi-wu’s exclamation, he accelerated even more. Looking at the landscape, which now really turned into a green plane disappearing behind, Zhi-wu was both curious and afraid to find out what was happening here.

As they approached the destination, Zhi-wu’s face became hotter. What from afar seemed like a shimmer turned out to be fire devouring trees much taller than Zhi-wu and dancing among them.

“Ugh…”

He tried to cover his face, wincing, but it was useless. Now even the path was blocked by fire.

“This… Ah!”

When Zhi-wu couldn’t hide his confusion, Martin suddenly swung his sword in the air. At first, Zhi-wu didn’t understand what was happening, but when Martin’s sword cut through the flame blocking the path, he opened his mouth wide.

‘This man… how strong is he?’

Although after the end of the world Zhi-wu had seen many people with superpowers, he had never met anyone as strong as Martin. Well, maybe in other countries there were such people, but at least in Korea – no.

‘And the pharaoh, who plays with Martin like a toy…’

Zhi-wu felt a heaviness in his heart. If he can’t control him, then he must kill him, but he had no idea how to do it. It was harder than for an ant to kill an elephant destroying its anthill.

Because of the fire, they couldn’t run as fast as before, but Martin slowly moved forward, cutting through the flame blocking the path with his sword. Zhi-wu wiped the streaming sweat with his palm and stared ahead, where the pharaoh should be.

They walked like this for some time until they reached the center of the fire. In the place that had turned into a clearing due to fallen burnt trees that had apparently been burning for a long time, stood the pharaoh.

But he wasn’t alone.

“What is that?”

It was a huge bear. More precisely, an animal resembling a bear. It was so big that in size it was not inferior to an army tank. Zhi-wu thought that this was probably the master of these Gates.

However, unlike the pharaoh, who stood in the middle of the forest burning like hell without a single spot, the bear was covered in soot in places and seemed badly wounded – it lay on the ground, all bloody.

This pose looked as if it was resting, but at the same time it seemed to be submitting to the pharaoh, bowing its head.

‘Why is it in such a state?’

Zhi-wu didn’t understand. If all this was the pharaoh’s doing, there was no reason for the bear to be in such a state. Didn’t this look as if they had been fighting?

While Zhi-wu was puzzled, he witnessed an even more shocking sight. When the pharaoh made a slight movement with his hand, the bear’s body exploded.

The pharaoh stood in the middle of hell where a bloody rain was falling. It looked as if he was demonstrating what he was going to do to the world in the future, and Zhi-wu was frightened.

With a trembling body, he hugged Martin around the neck, and Martin, as if comforting, gently stroked his back.

When the pharaoh, standing beautifully and without a single spot in the middle of hell, slightly moved his finger, a beautiful ball the size of a fist rose from the bear’s remains. It was the ether stone that the bear had carried inside itself.

Picking it up, the pharaoh turned his head towards Zhi-wu. He seemed to know that Zhi-wu was here because he didn’t look surprised at all.

When their gazes met, Zhi-wu’s trembling intensified. The pharaoh’s beautiful face, enveloped in flickering flames, looked truly ominous.

However, he soon realized that he couldn’t just be afraid. He asked Martin, who was holding him, to put him down on the ground, and Martin hesitated.

Although the fire was no longer as strong, as everything around had already burned, flames were still burning on the ground, so it could be dangerous.

“Martin, put me down.”

When he repeated his request, Martin reluctantly lowered Zhi-wu. Despite being in shoes, when his feet touched the ground, he felt heat as if walking barefoot on a boiling floor. It seemed the ground still retained the heat of the fire.

Although he was worried if everything would be alright, Zhi-wu hid the emotions on his face. He didn’t want to show the pharaoh that he was afraid at all costs.

Seeing Zhi-wu, who stood pretending to be confident, the pharaoh smirked and walked towards him through the flames.

Maybe because of fear? Zhi-wu felt it becoming cooler as he approached.

‘No, not that.’

As the pharaoh approached, the heat receded. The flames seemed to retreat as if running away from him.

The hot ground had now cooled to such an extent that Zhi-wu could stand without problems.

Something was wrong. Fire and heat seemed unable to cause him any harm.

‘As if he helped me?’

Zhi-wu twisted his face at the absurdity of his own thought. As much as the pharaoh hated him, he hated the pharaoh, so why would he help?

The pharaoh had already approached Zhi-wu. Zhi-wu didn’t know what to say first, he had so many questions for the one who was silently looking at him.

Finally, he squeezed out:

“Why did you kill him?”

“Hm?”

“I mean him.”

That bear-like creature, whatever it was called, Zhi-wu was most interested in why the pharaoh had killed it.

“Isn’t he on your side?”

The Gate master was a master only in name, in reality, it was the strongest monster inside the Gate. That’s why it could go beyond the Gates, like the giant rats.

It would be more beneficial to release a strong monster into the world he was going to destroy than to kill an ally. There was no benefit to the pharaoh from this.

Moreover, if it was a subordinate who could take on tedious work instead of him.