novelraw Chapter 85
Chapter 85
Chapter 85
The only fortunate point, if it could be called that at all, was that the undeads’ leader, the one named Seonghong, had the Paradoxical Flame clinging to his body and burning bright.
Of course, we had to strip away his magic resistance first, so it would take some time before it started working in full. That was the problem.
And I wasn’t sure we could hold out that long. That was the next problem.
“Khaha.”
They were moving with brutal coordination. This wasn’t a fight against fifty ordinary undead.
Four mages and archers stayed in the rear, the rest shielded them and pressed forward.
“Two steps up!”
And Seonghong, coolly commanding those fifty while brandishing his spear. It felt like facing a properly trained elite knight order.
We only needed to take down ten. It didn’t matter which ones. If we could eliminate any ten out of these fifty, gaps would start to open.
— Damn it, they’re shooting arrows all the way over here. I’ve got a gun. Why are arrows more threatening than bullets!
Sounded like Jung Oh-hoon was in just as much trouble.
“This is tough.”
I flicked aside three or four blades coming for me, then let out a small sigh. Every one of the undeads’ strikes felt heavy enough to crumble a mountain.
“Hey, back up a little. You’ll get yourself killed.”
I was slowly losing my composure too. I wasn’t panicking. My words were just getting shorter and drier. Couldn’t be helped.
“You’ve stopped cracking jokes.”
It wasn’t the time for jokes after all. I shed Seonghong’s spear, countered, then punted the skull of the bastard aiming for the back of my head.
“Fight while falling back.”
If they surrounded us, we’d die. Things weren’t great as it was, and their movements clearly aimed to encircle us.
At my words, Han Sang-ah eased back while trading blows.
In a situation like this, we had to use everything we could use. Far off, pink barrages that Adakawa Nanami launched came raining down now and then.
And the four mages under Seonghong intercepted those incoming blasts. If Adakawa Nanami weren’t firing, those mages would’ve already gone on the offensive against us.
“Damn it, I can’t ever like mages.”
Properly trained mages were nasty in a fight like this. I ducked into an alley and spotted an abandoned street vendor’s LPG tank, then reached toward it.
The LPG tank hurtled toward the enemies as if dragged by an anchor. A kind of telekinesis. Usually a cheap trick at best.
Right now, even cheap tricks would have to do. The flying tank stopped right among them, crumpled, and vented gas.
“Detonate it.”
At my word, Han Sang-ah swung her sword. Sparks ran along the blade, kissed the venting gas, and then an explosion.
Naturally, the damage wasn’t huge. But for the same amount of mana, it hit harder than a simple attack. We had to keep the fight rolling.
“You’re getting annoying.”
With a harsh crack, I finally smashed the skull of one of the undead who’d been pressing us. That made one down. It felt like we’d been fighting for more than thirty minutes.
My head went cool. I was fine. The problem was Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon, and Adakawa Nanami probably weren’t fine.
Han Sang-ah had burned through about a quarter of her mana. Jung Oh-hoon had fired more than two hundred rounds from range. Given his mana, he’d spent around a third.
Lastly, Nanami. She probably had about half left. In other words, in thirty minutes Nanami’s bombardment would stop, and some time after that, Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon would be hard to count on.
That would leave me to handle the rest alone. That would be rough.
“Well, it’s not like I ever fought in perfect condition anyway.”
I had no intention of dying because I couldn’t find a solution. Since it had come to this anyway...
“Hey, fall all the way back. Go to Jung Oh-hoon, refill your mana, and come back. Jung Oh-hoon, you stop too and refill. Ms. Adakawa, same for you.”
Sooner or later, there’d be a moment I’d have to hold the line alone.
Better to do it now and buy the others time to recover their mana.
“Will you be okay?”
“If you’ve got time to ask that crap, do what I told you and get back.”
At my cold order, Han Sang-ah retreated without argument.
“You’re already losing ground and still think you’ll manage alone. Admirable effort, but stupid.”
“Shut your rotten mouth, corpse. You stink.”
I moved my hand again, and the power lines hanging eerily in the air writhed like snakes and coiled around the corpses. Harbin’s power had been cut long ago, so they did nothing but restrain.
“Pointless tricks…”
Little things like this pile up and create openings. I ripped a manhole cover up with my spear and sent it spinning, tangled the snapped power lines together.
I yanked a fire extinguisher from inside a shop and hurled it, filling the air with powder to block their sight.
“You lunatic.”
Our spears collided, and the spreading shockwave shattered every precariously intact pane in the area. Falling back, I swung my spear. The shards that burst free flowed through the air like a river, guided by my blade, and swept over them.
With a grating skreee, glass shards scraped their armor, and a few knifed in through the gaps.
“Absurd. Where did you crawl out from?”
I had neither reason nor time to answer. I checked the field, and the instant the mages in the rear started casting, I slipped in among the weapon bearers up front. When they canceled their spells, I slipped out again.
City streets were always a bit of a maze. Narrow alleys, wide roads, high-rises.
Dodging as many arrows as I could, I cut into a back lane, scrambled up a wall like a spider, and climbed to the high floors. I struck the ones chasing me up, then dropped back down, grabbed an outdoor unit, and pitched it at the pursuers.
I was literally tearing across the whole city.
“Five are dead.”
Tough bastards. Arrows stuck all over me, cuts from blades, punctures from spears. Blood dripped down.
“I’ll be honest. I didn’t think we’d lose five here. I’ll offer praise.”
Praise when your comrades just died, my ass. It was time to bring the team back in. I couldn’t hold out any longer. I wanted to live and eat well and sleep well.
I didn’t want some memorial and a fallen hero title after I died. I was about to call for a regroup over the in-ear when something flew in from far off.
“An arrow?!”
Seonghong hurriedly batted aside the arrow that flashed in like lightning. It shattered, and the impact shoved his body straight back.
That was a bolt. I looked toward where it had been fired and, recognizing the source, felt speechless.
“Why are you of all people here?”
Fatigues and a hood. The Descendants of Dangun. What the hell were they doing here? And that last shot hadn’t been aimed at me.
He even had three of his own underlings from the Descendants of Dangun with him.
“Looks like you’re busy.”
I had considered a range of possibilities. These guys weren’t on the list.
“Uh… thanks, I guess?”
I had no idea what to say, so that’s what came out.
“I didn’t come to hear your thanks, you bastard.”
Seo Yeonju, in a modernized hanbok with a huge gayageum on her back, answered coldly. I knew she hadn’t come because she liked me. They had no reason to like me. I’d crippled one of their members and finished the job.
“I’m only following since it’s the captain’s order, but I’m still against this.”
The one who did shaman nonsense and had sealed Lee Se-eun before murmured with a divine knife in hand.
“Lee Hayoon.”
The hooded leader in fatigues spoke in a calm tone.
“It must be done. We don’t act for petty reasons. Harbin means a lot to us.”
He said that, took his bow, aimed at the undead, and continued.
“Buyeo, Goguryeo, Balhae… General Ahn Jung-geun of the Korean Volunteer Army who achieved a great deed, and Unit 731 of Japan and the horrific human experiments they inflicted on our ancestors.”
For a moment, his bow aimed at me. If he unleashed it now, I’d probably die. Maybe I’d live by sheer luck. Realistically, I’d survive in a condition worse than death.
“Putting an arrow through this one’s skull would be easy. But sweeping the Erosion Zones of Harbin and Changchun matches our aims.”
So they’d spare me for now.
“In the days of Hwanguk, this was our land. The spirit and soul of Baedal culture breathe here. At last, the land has found its proper owner.”
The one in a bamboo hat muttered that, then drew a sword out of his staff. I remembered that freak. The one who’d babbled about Garimto script when we met.
“And the Doctor’s still researching.”
The hooded leader finished, shifted his aim from me to the undead, and spoke.
“Lucky you. But I haven’t forgotten Ji-hyun’s death. Someday, you’ll die by my hand. That day isn’t now.”
Then the hooded leader gave the order.
“First, we take out those corpses. You cooperate.”
“Oh, sure. Your wish is my command.”
These folks had a very particular ideology, and I didn’t share it. They were the type who let the coming end roll on to preserve the prosperity Korea enjoyed alone.
We’d clash in the end, and we’d been clashing all along.
Still, I needed to live. They hadn’t stolen my lover or murdered my parents. I wasn’t going to lose my mind here and turn them into enemies too.
Granted, I hadn’t imagined we’d cooperate. Maybe I’d underestimated how far they’d go for their national myth.
“So, you are planning to join us for the Jaun Valley sweep too?”
The hooded leader answered my question coolly.
“That won’t happen. We have things to do afterward.”
I leveled my spear and rushed Seonghong, and the hooded leader immediately unleashed another bolt with that vicious force he’d shown. A massive sonic boom spread along the arrow’s path. It felt even stronger than before.
He scattered those terrifying arrows almost like a machine gun.
He outranked Lee Se-eun. She’d fought him alone once before, and it was a miracle she’d lived.
Or maybe he had spared her. Seeing him cooperate for now, there was a good chance Lee Se-eun had wanted him left alive as well.
“But.”
The fight was wrapping up. Whatever the others were, the hooded leader firing those arrows was a monster. Even so, could he really take down one of the Great Eight?
I wasn’t convinced. Given the Descendants of Dangun’s goals, they didn’t even have much reason to attack the Great Eight.
“… Lord.”
In the end, Seonghong, who had been raging with his spear, turned from a moving corpse into a still one under our pincer.
“We’re leaving.”
With the field settled, the hooded leader didn’t even look back at me. Seo Yeonju and Lee Hayoon slid me a glance and ground their teeth.
“Later. We’ll see… Next time we meet, we’ll kill you. No, we’ll make you beg us to kill you.”
“Yeah, yeah, take care of yourselves.”
I waved them off, then watched their backs recede with a chill gaze. I couldn’t speak for the others, but after watching up close, that hooded leader was extremely dangerous.
With that level of skill and that level of following under him, of course he was.