novelraw Chapter 86
Chapter 86
Chapter 86
After parting with Yoo Chan-seok, Lee Hayoon stared at his receding back and spoke up.
“That bastard is a beast who doesn’t even know the grace of being saved, Captain. If not for us, he would’ve died on the spot.”
And in his heart, he wanted that.
“I don’t think so actually.”
The camo-hooded man said that, then fired an arrow into the ground. It was the spot where Yoo Chan-seok and the undead had just been fighting.
With a low boom, the shock spread along the earth.
“…?!”
And, the moment the arrow struck, the entire ground in the area collapsed.
“He definitely makes it out alive.”
Yoo Chan-seok didn’t yet have the strength to cause this in a single blow. But if he had held out for about thirty more minutes, the result would’ve been different.
In the midst of fighting, he had been stacking impacts into the ground. Not randomly, but with meticulous preparation so that a single strike at the most crucial point later would bring the whole area down.
It was a kind of sinkhole phenomenon. Not exactly the same, of course.
Anyway, the undead he was facing would’ve all plunged into the suddenly sagging ground, and he would’ve seized that opening to escape.
“We did help, but he didn’t desperately need us. What a tenacious brat.”
Murmuring, the camo hood turned slowly away. Even in that situation he had found a way to survive, and in the end he likely succeeded.
If his teammates who had pulled back to rest rejoined him, they could’ve bought him about thirty minutes… then he would only have to bolt like mad through the gap made by the collapse.
“Then we didn’t have any reason to interfere.”
At Seo Yeonju’s question, the man answered.
“He would’ve lived either way no matter what choice we made. Are you saying we abandon Harbin?”
Seo Yeonju fell silent at his retort. Indeed, if he was going to live either way, they couldn’t give up Harbin.
“So… where are we going?”
At Lee Hayoon’s question, the hooded man looked over his bow and spoke.
“I gathered all the Descendants of Dangun in Shenyang.”
Even if it was a low-ranking member, a unit of the Undying Legion had died.
“The corpses in Beijing might move.”
“You even plan to stop that?!”
Seo Yeonju looked appalled. Just saving the life of the bastard who put Kim Ji-hyun in that state made her so disgusted with herself she could barely endure it, and now they were to deal with a potential threat as well.
“We already settled it with the government. This is the last time, Lee Hayoon. Don’t mix personal feelings into work for the national interest any further.”
“Doesn’t this make you angry, Captain?”
To that, the camo hood answered.
“Kim Ji-hyun is a comrade who shared my purpose for a long time.”
His hand gripping the bow had gone white from the force. From time to time there was a faint cracking sound.
“…Sorry.”
“We do what must be done. Waiting only for an opportunity is foolish, but forcing things at the wrong time is even more foolish.”
With that, the camo-hooded man said nothing more and walked. Lee Hayoon, Seo Yeonju, and the rest also moved in silence.
* * *
Anyway, fortunately, Harbin fell into our hands. We had wanted to make this our base from the start, so our objective was achieved.
“So they helped. I didn’t expect that.”
At Han Sang-ah’s words, I smacked my lips and scratched my head.
“From their point of view, their goal came before personal grudges.”
Enough that they helped the guy who crippled then killed their comrade.
“Considering how organizations move when they have a single objective, it’s pretty common.”
There’s a reason sayings like ‘weeping as you behead Ma Su’ and ‘Wu and Yue sharing a boat’ exist. No matter how much you hate someone, if you have to help, you help.
“They’re still weird folks though.”
Listening to us talk about the Descendants of Dangun and their aims, Jung Oh-hoon looked surprised.
“What’s weird about it? First time seeing a flag-waving nationalist outfit?”
At my words, he made an uncertain face.
“No, I mean, our country is doing fine anyway. What are they disappointed about?”
Honestly, I thought the same.
“People who have, always want more. You can tell just by looking at my grandpa.”
At Han Sang-ah’s comment, Jung Oh-hoon and I both went “Ah,” and nodded.
“How strong are they?”
“Pretty decent. Especially the captain, he could probably wipe the floor with a truckload of me.”
At that, Jung Oh-hoon clicked his tongue in doubt.
“That’s hard to believe.”
“That doesn’t mean I die without resisting.”
Right now, I could probably tie him up for an hour.
He rubbed his chin, thought a moment, then spoke.
“So there’s an organization called the Descendants of Dangun, and the captain’s way stronger than you, right? And you crippled one of their members and later killed her.”
That was a fair way to sum it up. Maybe this guy had a knack for summaries.
“So that means they want to kill you, right?”
“Yeah. The moment they saw me they had eyes like hyenas looking at rotten meat.”
At that, Jung Oh-hoon scratched his head, then gave an awkward grin.
“Where do I submit my resignation?”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
He snickered, then let out a long sigh.
“All kinds of weird stuff are getting tangled up. My life was never this twisted.”
“What are you talking about? Isn’t your nickname Jung Oh-mess or something?”
“Hey!” he yelled, then smirked.
“It may have been a dirty life, but not a twisted one, bastard.”
Anyway, the remaining undead were being steadily cleared by hunters on patrol, and after hearing that we’d taken Harbin, Vladivostok began full-scale transport of supplies.
Harbin was only a bridgehead. Our real target was Jaun Valley.
And based on what Jung Oh-hoon learned, we had secured enough masks made using sulfur willows, and they were on the way.
“We can’t supply everyone.”
Those sulfur willows weren’t crops we could farm like rice or barley. They grew wild abroad. No matter how we tried to secure supplies, there were limits.
“Still, it looks like we can have about half wear them, so that’s something. How’s Miss Adakawa?”
Han Sang-ah answered.
“She’s resting right now.”
Given the amount of bombardment he fired, she needed it.
“Most of what appears in Jaun Valley’s fog is amorphous.”
Not corpses, but spirits. In a sense, truly forms that had cast off the shackles of flesh.
They were good at hiding themselves, and better at targeting the mind than the body.
“I’m fine.”
As for the body, I still had a ways to go. This body wasn’t finished.
But my mind wasn’t like that. The soul’s domain, and the soul and mind housed in this body were terrifyingly solid. Petty ghosts couldn’t do anything.
Neither Jaun Valley’s fog nor the ghosts that roamed in it posed any problem to me. It would probably be like taking a walk.
“I don’t know about the others though.”
“Why are you looking at me and Han Sang-ah when you say that?”
Mental attacks weren’t pleasant for the one on the receiving end. They dragged out unpleasant memories and nightmarish experiences to wear you down.
You could train your body, but not your mind in the same way. No matter how much you trained to kill, the shock of a first kill wasn’t something training could overcome.
“Well, just do your best.”
No one else could help anyway.
“Can’t you drive them off with that method of yours?”
“I mean, it’d be nice if we could.”
But these were beasts of a grade 1 Erosion Core. The Formation of Divine Protection could weaken them, but it probably couldn’t stop them approaching.
“Mr. Jung, be careful not to get possessed.”
“Hmm?” Jung Oh-hoon grunted at my words.
“What’s that?”
I explained briefly, and he gave me an even briefer answer.
“A ghost comes up as a beauty and says let’s hug in bed and share a candy! Why would I say no?”
“Jeez, just go die at this point.”
I’d heard this from Han Sang-ah earlier, that he tried to make a move on Adakawa Nanami and backed off when he couldn’t handle the magical-girl vibe.
Consistency wasn’t required in things like this.
“Anyway, rest just today, and tomorrow we prepare to head straight for Jaun Valley.”
We didn’t have much time.
“Isn’t that too fast?”
To Han Sang-ah’s question, I answered,
“The undead we fought were dependent undead. A lot of them were bound by a sort of transcendence ritual.”
Jung Oh-hoon’s face turned serious.
“You mean Gonsalok will have noticed?”
“Probably.”
Honestly, we still didn’t know whether that damned Undying Legion would really move. Maybe they wouldn’t.
But even as we took Harbin, something unexpected nearly happened.
“Still, Beijing and Changchun are a ways off.”
If we handled Jaun Valley quickly, we could clear the Erosion Zones in this region. And, except for extremely rare cases, we hadn’t seen monsters operate outside Erosion Zones.
Listening, Han Sang-ah agreed.
“Personally, I’d rather skip even a day of rest and move right away.”
“People are tired.”
She looked like she didn’t understand after hearing my reply.
“In truth, you’re about the only one who really suffered. The rest were just sweeping weak corpses. I don’t get why they’re tired.”
“They had a hard time getting here.”
At Jung Oh-hoon’s words, she still looked unconvinced.
“Did you, me, and Chan-seok fly here or something while others walked?”
“Of course not, but still.”
Leaning against a cracked wall, Han Sang-ah continued.
“Well, we already decided to rest today, so it can’t be helped.”
“Tune your condition.”
She nodded.
“Top priority is finding the Erosion Core somewhere in Changchun.”
Jaun Valley hadn’t been conquered, and we still didn’t even have the Erosion Core’s precise location.
The first task was to go inside and fix the core’s position.
“I hope it finishes fast.”
If it dragged on too long, like I said, we might run into Gonsalok’s Undying Legion. Then we might really have to abandon Harbin and pull back.
Thinking it over, I asked Jung Oh-hoon,
“How do you think your sight and bracelet will fare?”
He thought, then answered,
“It depends on how thick the fog is. If it’s thin, it’ll help… if not, I’ll just be looking down from the sky at a lump of fog.”
“Damn. Useless bastard.”
He answered by flipping me the finger. I looked at it and yawned.
“I’m beat. You guys eat well and rest up too.”
My whole body ached from what I’d done alone in Harbin.
“Are you okay, by the way? A few hours ago you were shitting blood from your mouth like you were about to die.”
“I’m fine. Also, watch your phrasing.”
Shitting blood out of my mouth, yikes.
“You’re the one talking with your usual way of speaking.”
With that, Jung Oh-hoon flicked something to me. Powder medicine in a small paper packet.
“What’s this?”
“Tonic. I take it a lot. Works pretty well. Dump it in your mouth and wash it down.”
It wasn’t a true tonic, more like an emergency medicine you took when injured. I tossed it into my mouth and gulped water.