novelraw Chapter 96 : Chapter 96
Chapter 96 : Chapter 96
Chapter 96: Freak (6)
Hero Castle, the symbol of Hero Land.
Black smoke was rising next to that majestic castle.
The scent of blood and flames hung thick in the air.
In the middle of that chaos, three uniformed cadets were holding out against a single monster.
The monster's form was half-human, half-monster.
With a human torso and mole arms, its face with a protruding snout was plastered with soil.
As the mole hands split the floor, a small vibration shook the ground.
"Damn it, into the ground again!"
One cadet cursed.
Ice shards poured down like daggers, but the monster had already buried itself in the soil.
"It hides as soon as it's at a disadvantage! My spells don't work either!"
"Lure it this way! I'll finish it!"
"Here it comes!"
CRUNCH-!
The ground burst open, and the monster sprang out.
A fist as hard as cast iron struck one cadet's abdomen.
Blood burst from his mouth.
"Gah!"
"F-fast!"
At the same time, the monster hid underground again.
The soil swelled, and vibrations were transmitted fiercely.
GRAB-!
A hand popping out unexpectedly grabbed another cadet's ankle.
As the ankle was squeezed, a snapping sound was heard.
"Aaargh! This bastard got my foot!"
It was at that moment.
SWISH-!
Something fell, slicing through the air.
A single line descending in a straight trajectory, followed by an explosion.
BOOM-!
Dust spread thickly.
A vibration that deafened the ears rang out.
A silhouette rising within the dust fog.
Soon, as the fog cleared, the figure was revealed.
"Instructor!"
The cadets shouted, letting out sighs of relief in unison.
Above the monster, crushed as if pressed by a compactor, Kang Mooseong stood firm, holding a cadet in one hand.
The monster's mole hand that had grabbed the ankle was still clinging to the cadet's ankle, squirming.
"H-Hiiik!"
As the cadet screamed and shook his leg, the hand fell off with a thud.
"Brats, what did I say is the most important thing on the battlefield?"
Kang Mooseong grinned as he treated the ankle and put the cadet down.
The cadets gasped for breath and couldn't say anything.
He shook off his blood-covered hand and continued.
"Composure."
It was a low but firm voice.
"If you panic over a single monster, you can't protect anyone. Understood?"
With those words, Kang Mooseong looked up and scanned the cadets. His eyes contained the calmness of the battlefield.
"Move to the exit. A temporary shelter has been made in the Giant Drop area. Instructors and active heroes are carrying out an emergency evacuation operation there."
"T-Thank you!"
The cadets quickly bowed their heads.
After briefly raising his hand toward them, Kang Mooseong moved his steps back toward the battlefield.
The surroundings were still filled with flames and the roars of monsters.
Thick smoke climbed the walls of Hero Castle.
Above that, collapsed signboards and blood-stained debris were scattered.
He walked slowly, avoiding the chaotic debris.
Groans of cadets and requests for rescue were heard mixed from everywhere.
"Ugh, please help!"
"This way, there are still civilians!"
Kang Mooseong let out a short breath and bent down.
While administering first aid to injured cadets, he helped evacuate civilians.
A growling sound came from behind.
It was a new monster.
This time, it looked like a deer with wings.
A tumor hard as rock hung under its chin, and a low vibration rang from there.
"They made all sorts of strange things."
Kang Mooseong turned his body and threw a punch.
The air tore apart.
CRACK-!
The monster's jaw shattered.
He swung his arm once, grabbed its nape, and slammed it straight into the ground.
CRUNCH-!
The concrete caved in, and the monster's body was crushed.
The monster's body soon left ashes and scattered.
He shook the blood off his hands and lifted his head.
One step, and another step.
Around him walking through the battlefield, blood shed by the injured and corpses of monsters began to mix, creating a shambles.
Then, Kang Mooseong suddenly stopped.
His gaze turned to the east.
‘This energy is…….’
The atmosphere trembled minutely.
Something different from the monsters he had encountered so far.
An overwhelming presence was felt from that direction.
"It's powerful."
A thrill ran down his spine.
BEEP-
"Hey, Hojin."
With a short breath, the radio connected.
Sounds of another battlefield were flowing from the other side of the radio.
-Something is happening.
Soon, Hojin's monotonous voice came over the radio.
"Yeah, it's the east."
Kang Mooseong narrowed his eyes and lifted his head.
Beyond the rising smoke, he saw the refraction of light rising from afar.
The lingering scent of magic power vibrated through the air.
-What's the situation?
"It's messy around here. The Alliance bastards released monsters with determination."
He wiped his forehead with one hand.
Blood on his fingertips scattered lightly.
-It's similar here. The side that finishes first will go to the east.
"Kuhat! Then I guess I'll be going?"
-Instructor Kang Mooseong, this isn't a game.
"Yeah, yeah, I know well."
Thick laughter flowed.
"Still, doesn't it remind you of old times?"
-……Hurry up.
CLICK-
The radio cut off quietly.
Kang Mooseong lifted his head.
At the end of his gaze were groups of monsters wandering amidst the smell of blood and smoke.
Beings clumsily imitating human forms, a collection mixed with cries and screams.
"I'm busy. Shall I go quickly?"
A short muttering burst out.
His shoulder muscles squirmed and expanded.
The lines of his forearms glistening with blood and sweat swelled as if about to burst.
CRACK-
The moment strength gathered in his lower body, the concrete beneath his feet cracked.
The air resonated, and the dust on the floor was pushed away all at once.
In an instant, his figure disappeared.
An explosion burst in the middle of the monster group.
BOOOOOOM-!
Light, blood, and debris mixed in an instant.
Kang Mooseong's silhouette reappeared in the thick smoke.
A monster's head was already held in one hand.
Blood dripped down.
"One, and two."
He muttered briefly, looking at another monster's head rolling at his feet.
And again, he moved his steps toward the next target.
***
The Viking ship's hull cast a huge shadow.
‘Living Dead Swing.’
A special Viking ride designed with a coffin motif was showing off its majestic appearance.
Although it was stopped with the lights off, it looked as if it would move again at any moment.
Seol Hayun looked up at the Viking ride while landing the Vulture.
"……It's bigger than I thought."
Maybe about 35 meters.
It was much larger than the Giant Troll chasing Ryu Jinwoo.
Literally an overwhelming grandeur.
Seol Hayun carefully examined the surroundings.
The floor was clean. A temporarily controlled area, cleaning seemed to have been done consistently even without people passing through.
WHOOO-
Every time the wind brushed past, the steel frame vibrated low.
‘What is the reason he asked to operate this?’
Seol Hayun caught her breath for a moment and organized her thoughts.
Ryu Jinwoo asked her to move this as a top priority, putting everything else aside.
The outer wall of the Viking body was constructed solidly by adding iron and alloy.
Also, it had some height off the ground.
If she even activated it, the Giant Troll wouldn't be able to approach carelessly.
‘Thinking simply, if he goes up, he can block all the throwing attacks that Troll throws. That might be the purpose. A kind of siege warfare, to buy time…….’
Thinking that way, it was reasonable.
If he endured time like this, he could expect rescue from the strong.
Though it was uncertain whether someone strong enough to catch that monster would arrive in time.
Even after being swept by the powerful flame spell 'Flame Eight-Armed Octopus', the monster appeared fine.
Perhaps a powerhouse like her grandmother, Ju Yeonhwa, might be needed.
An anxious thought crossed her mind.
The thought that the heroes who arrived for rescue might rather become prey for that monster.
‘For now, let's do what needs to be done.’
Shaking her head, Seol Hayun went up the stairs and headed to the control room.
Through the transparent glass door, a shiny console panel was visible.
The power was off, but one emergency light was flickering faintly.
"It's still alive."
It was fortunate.
If the power was completely cut off, there was nothing she could do either.
She opened the protective cover of the panel.
[Main Power, Control Arm, Emergency Control.]
Three buttons were embedded side by side.
Magic power rose from her fingertips.
She stretched the magic power thinly and sent it flowing along the electrodes.
ZZZT-!
Soon, the contact points melted and current began to flow.
After a while, a low vibration sound rang from the motor far away.
CLUNK- CLUNK-
A huge mechanical sound resonated in the air.
The floor vibrated together.
As the blocked circuit connected, the hull began to move slowly.
‘Is this enough?’
Seol Hayun looked up at the Viking ride that had lit up.
Ryu Jinwoo asked her to activate this.
Then he said he would come soon.
Pressing the operation switch in earnest, she thought.
‘……Can he avoid that monster and come safely?’
After a while, the machine slowly started a pendulum motion, increasing the range of movement.
Seol Hayun got on the Vulture again.
As the huge firebird flapped its wings and cut through the air, the hull of 'Living Dead Swing' swayed slowly down below.
The steel frame supporting the body in the air cut through the void, and the huge ship went back and forth, gradually widening its range.
She granted Ryu Jinwoo's request.
Now it was his turn to come.
The Vulture flapped its wings.
Following the Vulture's trajectory, the remaining flames brushed the air and curved up like a bow.
As she raised the flight altitude to the maximum, the entire Ghost Park area came into view at a glance.
A roar bursting not far away.
And a shadow running through the smoke.
‘Ryu Jinwoo.’
The Troll roared.
The monster's arm crushed the ground, and heavy rocks soared from above.
Debris that bounced up tearing the air flew toward Ryu Jinwoo.
Ryu Jinwoo's body kicked the ground and jumped up.
Movements leisurely escaping through the debris.
The Troll, having gotten close before anyone knew, swung its arm directly at him, but Ryu Jinwoo did not lose his breath, stepped on the wall, and threw his body to dodge the fist.
CRUNCH-!
The point where he was located just before exploded roughly.
What was surprising was what followed.
The angry Troll flipped the ground as if overturning a dining table.
Ryu Jinwoo's body floated defenselessly into the air from the recoil.
However, naturally turning a circle in the air, he rather used the rock fragments floating around as stepping stones and started running as is.
‘……That makes no sense.’
He moved like an acrobat.
He was dodging all those attacks as if predicting them without a single inch of error.
Then tentacles soared from the Troll's body.
Sharply forged tentacles embroidered the air in unison.
SWISH, SWISH-!
However, they did not reach Ryu Jinwoo.
He rode the wall, stepped on pipes, and jumped up.
Lowering his body in an instant, he rolled and escaped the enemy's range.
‘He has that much stamina left?’
Seol Hayun ruminated on the scene just before.
Ryu Jinwoo was clearly in a state close to exhaustion.
Even when she first came here and saved him, signs of fatigue were evident, and his left ankle was injured.
But now, he was moving as if he had forgotten such pain.
She inadvertently looked down at the bottle in her hand.
[Fatigue Recovery Potion]
It was what Ryu Jinwoo drank and threw just before jumping down.
She checked just in case, but as expected, it was a simple fatigue recovery potion.
Not a special potion or recovery potion, but an ordinary drink.
There was no way a fatigue recovery potion available at convenience stores would have dramatic efficacy.
That meant Ryu Jinwoo was enduring with pure willpower right now.
It meant he was continuing the perilous acrobatics while forcefully holding onto his crumbling body.
‘I'm always watching, but.’
Seol Hayun's gaze wavered subtly.
‘Every time I see it, I can't believe it.’
Ryu Jinwoo's moves were always unexpected.
He doesn't stop even knowing his limits.
He acts before fearing.
Watching that figure, somehow, she felt like she should do better too.
The thought that she should do her best that she can do at this moment.
‘No, this isn't the time to be admiring.’
Seol Hayun narrowed her brows.
‘I have to save him.’
Ryu Jinwoo was already running toward the Viking ride.
At the moment she pulled the Vulture's reins and headed towards him, a rough voice flew from him.
"……Go!"
"Go?"
Ryu Jinwoo was shouting something.
Unable to hear well, she strained her ears.
"……Go up! To the top of the Viking!"
"To the top of the Viking?"
A clearly audible shout.
‘Go to the top of the Viking?’
It was hard to grasp the meaning.
But there was certainty in his voice.
Then she can trust him.
Seol Hayun did not hesitate.
The Vulture flapped its wings, raising flames.
Wings forged with fire flapped, cutting through the air.
She headed above the Viking's body.
WHOOSH-!
While riding the Vulture and floating above the swaying hull doing pendulum motion, holograms lit up all at once.
Living Dead Swing.
True to a ghost ride, figures of ghosts appeared everywhere.
Grotesquely laughing faces, half-peeled masks, and pure white hands were shaking in the air.
‘…….’
Her heart sank with a thud.
Seol Hayun flinched her shoulders without realizing it.
Actually, she can't watch scary things well.
‘This isn't the time.’
When Seol Hayun lifted her head, Ryu Jinwoo was running from the edge of her vision.
On a straight line extending from the Viking's bow.
He was running exactly along that trajectory.
The Troll followed behind him, shaking the ground fiercely.
And at that moment, the hologram floating in front of Seol Hayun flashed and blocked her way.
The hologram started squirming at will, then soon transformed into a grotesque ghost face.
Into a woman's face with red blood flowing from her eyes.
"Huk!"
Seol Hayun instinctively closed her eyes.
Her heart dropped.
In the moment such dark vision was cast.
SWISH-
The sound of wind splitting rang out, followed by a voice.
"Thanks."
"……Huh?"
When she opened her eyes, right next to her.
Ryu Jinwoo was standing on the Vulture's back.
Ryu Jinwoo, lightly patting Seol Hayun's shoulder, immediately kicked off.