Black Badger

Chapter 26

Where's the pig?

I quickly pulled out the codex. The light from its screen swept around the area. Hesi and Tom, both tense, turned on the watch light function and shone it around too.

The codex had rung, which meant it was here.

"Urk."

Hesi spotted it first.

Our heads snapped around.

We immediately saw the creature that Hesi's watch illuminated.

In one corner of the underground parking lot, it stood there, exuding an enormous presence.

"What the hell is that thing so big?"

That was Tom's reflexive outburst. I wanted to say the same thing. But I was too shocked to speak.

A pig. But it wasn't the size of any pig I'd imagined. It was almost as big as a mid-to-large SUV.

Dozens of eyeballs embedded in the pig's head rolled around, staring at us.

"Contact the mentor..."

Kuuung!

A shockwave that felt like it would burst my eardrums slammed into my ears. There hadn't been any sound of footsteps, but it was already right next to us. We barely avoided the collision. Like Tom and Hesi, I threw myself to the side and rolled across the parking lot floor.

"What the hell is it so fast?!"

Hesi yelped in panic as he loaded his gun.

Taang!

The bullet seemed to hit its mark perfectly, but it had no effect.

The pig, which had crashed spectacularly into the parking lot wall, twisted its body. Its eyeballs rolled around and locked onto Tom, who was right in front of it.

He still hadn't gotten up from the floor.

"Tom!"

"Hey! What are you doing with a gun?!"

Taaang!

Instead of dodging the pig, Tom chose to fire. The bullet he shot struck one of the pig's eyes. Puk! One eyeball burst, spewing saliva.

With dozens of eyes, hitting one precisely in this darkness was impressive.

But the pig didn't stop or scream. Instead, it raised its front hoof as if to crush Tom.

Kung!

If I hadn't thrown myself at Tom and slid across the floor with him, he would've been turned into paste.

From across the way, Hesi shouted.

"Good job!"

"Hey, run!"

I pulled Tom to his feet and shoved him backward.

"Bullets aren't working!"

"What about you?"

Tom didn't budge and asked back.

"Why aren't you..."

Kuuung!

The spot where Tom and I had been was now filled with pig.

We dodged by a hair's breadth, but now the pig was right beside us. Reflexively, I drew my sword from its scabbard. With the target so close, there was no time to hesitate.

I gripped it firmly and swung.

"Ah."

The horizontal swing buried the sword into the pig's skin.

I could feel the toughness of its outer hide through my hands. I'd swung too hastily, without enough power.

And the angle was wrong. To pierce this skin, I needed to swing vertically, not horizontally. If I pulled it out and stabbed straight down, it would go in much easier...

My body flew through the air.

"Hilde!"

Kung!

A heavy impact crashed over my entire body.

I rolled across the floor with a drum barrel. The pig had swung its body and hit me in the stomach. A burning heat spread through my abdomen. I'd taken a solid hit. My legs gave out, and I couldn't stand right away.

If my recovery ability was as strong as the other badgers', I would've been up in no time.

Kwaaang!

The only reason I wasn't crushed under the pig's front hoof was that Tom had run over and rolled with me.

"Can you run?"

"...Not yet."

Fortunately, the sword I'd stabbed in was still gripped in my hand.

"Lend me your sword!"

Hesi shouted, shining his watch light on us.

"Keep running! I'll try stabbing the pig with it."

Right. Me holding onto the sword right now was useless anyway.

I held out my hand to him. As Hesi took the sword, the pig came charging with a kuung! We rolled to the right—me and Tom—while Hesi rolled to the left.

The pig turned toward Hesi because he'd let out a short yell.

"Uraaaah!"

Why yell like that?

I felt embarrassed instead. Seeing Tom glance away from the corner of my eye, he seemed embarrassed too. I appreciated the attempt to draw the creature's attention, though.

Hesi charged honestly at the pig.

Puk!

He was holding the sword weirdly.

Kuung! The brown-haired cohort flew through the air. Just like me, he'd been hit by the pig's body and sent flying into the wall.

There was an enormous thud.

But Tom, who was supporting me, didn't seem too worried about Hesi.

"He'll be fine."

Sure enough, Hesi popped right back up.

His watch, which had been pointing at the ceiling while he was flipped over, quickly straightened. For a moment, the pig had blended into the darkness, but now it was visible again. The pig stood still, letting out a grotesque noise. It had taken some damage.

The problem was that the sword was still stuck in the pig.

Hesi bit his lip and raised his gun barrel.

"If I shoot out all the eyes, it won't be able to see!"

"Watch, I'll pull out the sword."

I felt the burning heat in my gut slowly cooling as I put strength into my legs.

Tom turned his head and met my eyes.

"Keep the pig lit up while I do."

"No. Your recovery isn't as good. If you collide with that thing again, who knows how bad it'll hurt."

"If it's always like this, then there's no point in me being a badger."

Tom shut his mouth in a straight line at my calm retort.

I straightened up from leaning on Tom. My recovery wasn't as superior as my cohorts', but it was still decent enough. My broken body was mending bit by bit. I could run again now. And I could pull out my sword from near its ear.

'The sword's too thin and short.'

Somewhere in my head, that thought surfaced. The sword was good quality, but my instinct told me it was too thin and short compared to what I preferred.

Next time, I should use a thicker, longer one.

But what sword had I used before?

Tang! Tang! Tang!

My mind snapped back.

Hesi was firing at the charging pig. Several eyeballs burst, splattering liquid. In the limited visibility, eyes adapted to darkness captured the rushing creature.

The pig didn't stop.

Kuung! Hesi barely dodged the collision again.

"Now."

Tom whispered from beside me.

A strong light cut a path through the basement. At the end of the light, I saw the creature turning its massive body.

I ran toward it.

More precisely, toward the sword stuck in its ear.

The blade gleamed, reflecting the watch light in the dark underground parking lot. I grabbed the sword.

"Hey! Be careful..."

Pushushushuk!

Blood sprayed.

I yanked out the sword and slashed vertically. A straight line welled up with red blood.

Yes. This time, it went in well.

The creature let out a roar and turned toward me. I gripped the blood-soaked sword tightly.

It was thinner and shorter than I wanted. And I couldn't swing it to push back the target like my body remembered.

But it was still a sword.

"It's coming again!"

"Dodge!"

Kung

Kugugugu, kung! I met the charging pig with the flat of the sword, absorbing the heavy impact.

Ah, it's strong. My stance was solid, but the force was stronger than expected. My body was pushed straight back, slamming into the parking lot wall.

But it wasn't the same shock as before.

"This time,"

I put strength into my arms and bounced the creature off the flat of the blade.

"It's the last."

I drew the sword back in a semicircle through the air toward my body.

The creature staggered backward. In the darkness, my two cohorts illuminated it precisely at the same time.

The pig was reeling from the impact. And in that moment, the opening it created was clear as day.

That instant when it tries to regain its composure is always the perfect chance.

Sreuk!

I lunged forward, raised the sword, and slashed downward.

Kieeeek....

The pig's death squeal.

The high, shrill death cry echoed through the underground parking lot. The cut was long. Like chopping firewood, I brought the sword down from above. Flesh parted, blood soaking its body. Blood burst out right in front of me. From head to toe, I was drenched in red blood without mercy.

The creature coughed up blood, kuluk kuluk, and tilted over.

Kung.

It crashed to the floor of the underground parking lot, bouncing off a drum barrel.

The sharp, metallic scent of blood pierced my nose as silence fell. All movement in the parking lot stopped. My cohorts kept the creature lit with their watches but didn't move from their spots. They stood frozen, breathing heavily.

Their gazes buried in the corpse of the creature that had exuded such an overwhelming presence.

Immersed in the afterglow of an unexpected battle.

The sound of a keypad being pressed broke the stillness.

"What the..."

Pak! The lights came on.

"What are you guys doi.... Wait, what the fuck is this? Why is there a pig here?"

"Why is this pig so huge?"

Jason Tvain looked down at the pig, cursing. Behind him, Iho slipped in and froze.

The two mentors stopped in front of the dead pig.

And just like that, we safely found the cause of our missing rations.

*

The population density in the underground parking lot had increased.

While we were running around fighting the pig, it seemed the mentors had arrived.

Familiar faces entered behind Iho. The two mentors who'd gone to catch the witch. Kal and Angela returned to find the new recruits, their faces as clean as when they'd left.

They soon entered the underground parking lot and started chattering.

The place, filled with darkness and blood, was now filled with light and voices.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Hesi. How did you get down here?"

"Well..."

The cohorts each conversed with their mentors.

An everyday atmosphere returned. I let out a sigh of relief in the air where the tension had dissipated. Standing dazed, I relaxed my stiffened muscles and turned toward the mentors.

My eyes squinted in the unfamiliar bright lighting.

I saw Iho and Tvain, their faces twisted in disgust as they muttered near the pig corpse, "I've never seen a pig this big before."

I want to go home.

I slumped my shoulders and thought listlessly.

Until Yoon's voice came from the corner.

"You're good."

I jumped in surprise.

"Ah, seriously!"

"My guess was right after all."

I turned my head and saw Yoon with a faint smile.

The moment I looked at him with tired eyes, goosebumps rose all over my body. In his right hand, he held a sword about the same size as the one I had.

Why is he coming toward me with a sword?

And wait. How does he know I did well? When we were causing a ruckus with that creature, there were only the three of us in the underground parking lot, right?

No, why is he approaching with a sword!

While the other mentors were warmly comforting their mentees!

Chaeng!

I quickly blocked Yoon's swinging sword with the one in my hand.

People's gazes snapped toward us. I could feel their stares landing like arrows on my skin. But I had no spare attention for their reactions, and Yoon didn't care about them either.

The nasty smile on the man's neat face didn't fade.

The mentor, without loosening his grip on the sword, asked in a low voice.

"Got anything to say right now?"

"Yes?"

"If not, then let's have a light spar like this."

Yoon's cold smile stretched longer.

"Before you forget, you need to ingrain it into your body completely."

Crazy!

Crazy, no, wait!

"Bigger!"

Yoon stared at me blankly.

I could feel people looking at me with baffled eyes. The air was full of "What the hell is this guy saying all of a sudden?"

But I still had no attention to spare for their reactions.

I desperately blocked Yoon's sword as I said.

"Bi... bigger sword, please..."

Yoon blinked.

Silence fell. But Hesi's cry of "Right, Hilde! You're hurt!" quickly shattered the standoff.

Yoon soon withdrew his sword, and I was able to return safely to Hesi and Tom.