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Crunch, crunch.
The sound of hard shells being crushed and soft flesh bursting continued. Only grotesque noises filled the pitch-black darkness.
Kee, keeuk…
The giant centipede, left with only its head in an instant, writhed until its last breath. However, with its body already eaten, it couldn’t even attempt to escape.
In the end, the centipede was devoured completely, without a single piece of shell remaining. Besides that, numerous monsters writhed in pain before disappearing without a trace.
What swallowed them was darkness. To be precise, a massive being hidden in the darkness was devouring the monsters. It chewed and swallowed everything in sight without leaving anything behind.
Thanks to this, not a single monster remained. Their energy lingered, but there were no living, moving beings.
As suffocating silence settled, the one hidden in the darkness began to move little by little. He stared blankly at the sticky blood of monsters spread all around, then fumbled to touch the ground.
Then, a slight vibration occurred in the ground, and green sprouts began to emerge. The roots of the sprouts, using the monsters’ blood as nutrients, grew in the shape of the ingredients he had eaten.
* * *
Seojun’s broad shoulders slumped. Uncomfortable emotions floated on his face as he let out a silent sigh. Along with awkwardness.
“Leader, I can walk on my own now.”
He spoke tentatively as he walked, half-forcibly supported by Taebeom. Taebeom, holding Seojun’s arm as they walked, ignored his words.
“I can walk by myself.”
He exaggerated his mouth movements, thinking Taebeom might not have heard. Just in case, he even waved his hand.
“Shut up and walk.”
However, Taebeom must have heard everything as he crushed Seojun’s spirit with an indifferent tone. Seojun habitually shrank at his sharp gaze.
Still, he was relieved that the leader’s hearing seemed fine.
When Seojun had asked if he could hear, Taebeom had said he could. In fact, he understood everything without even looking at Seojun’s lips.
It must have been my imagination, Seojun thought, dismissing his worries. If it were someone else, he might have doubted, but he didn’t question the perfect-in-everything leader.
After that, he had been walking for a while, forcibly supported by Taebeom. He had no sense of where they were or how much time had passed.
At least being with the leader allowed him to calm his mind. If he had been separated alone, he would have lost his sanity long ago.
“The guide… he’ll be okay, right?”
Seojun spoke up again, feeling anxious. Even knowing that Taebeom didn’t welcome conversation with him, he couldn’t help it. He felt less anxious if he could at least talk.
“Worry about yourself.”
As expected, a cold response came back. Even though it was familiar, it wasn’t something he could get used to. The time spent with him was torture for Seojun. Seojun feared the leader most in the world.
“Hide your wavelength.”
Seojun’s energy leaked out, perhaps due to stress raising his wavelength. Seojun quickly erased the traces of his wavelength. After that, only silence passed between the two.
Seojun quietly worried about Siwoo in his mind, holding onto his sanity to prevent his wavelength from rising. He remained highly alert, not knowing what kind of attack they might face if he let his guard down.
The enemy’s target would be himself and Geonho hyung now.
Therefore, he must not lose consciousness until they eliminate the being that dragged them into the gate.
Seojun’s determined gaze fell on his black bracelet. Thinking that this would help him avoid the worst situation, the heavy bracelet felt lighter.
For Seojun right now, the worst situation was Siwoo getting caught up in his rampage. He just needed to avoid that. Even if he disappeared, the guide would be fine with his hyungs.
“Don’t breathe through your nose.”
Seojun, who had been wearing a gloomy expression, nodded and breathed through his mouth. He obediently followed the order without even asking why.
How much time passed like this?
“Leader, can I ask just one thing, just one?”
Seojun, who had been walking while keeping his words to a minimum, asked an unexpected question. He felt like if he didn’t ask now, he might never get the chance. Opportunities to have a one-on-one conversation with the leader were rare.
“Will you… form a bond with the guide?”
Although it was a sudden question, Seojun had always been curious. Given that the guide had manifested at an unbelievable grade, it was clear that foreign countries would covet him in the future.
The surest way to keep a guide was through bonding. If he had to form a bond with just one person within Baekya, wouldn’t it be with the leader? That’s what Seojun had thought.
Because only the guide could guide the leader. Given their extraordinary matching rate, he thought the guide would be most concerned about the leader as well.
Seojun was quite perceptive. He knew that Siwoo often thought of the absent leader when he was with them. Even when eating something delicious or being with Geonho hyung, he would sometimes be lost in thought.
With a face that was remembering and worrying about someone.
“What? Will you do it?”
Seojun asked again, uncharacteristically. However, even after waiting for a while, no answer came.
Just as he was beginning to doubt if the leader could really hear well, a cold voice continued.
“Bonding isn’t decided by an esper alone.”
It was a cold voice, as always. Hearing it up close made it sound even colder. It felt like talking to someone whose emotions had dried up.
“…I see.”
Seojun knew that the guide’s will was important too. What he was curious about was the leader’s feelings.
So, does that mean you want to bond, or you don’t? Seojun inwardly questioned him as he lowered his head again.
And then, at that moment, a black monster sprung out from beneath his feet.
“Leader.”
Seojun immediately pushed Taebeom away and drew his sword. The quickly moving monster stood before the two without making a sound.
“That’s…”
But upon closer look, it wasn’t a monster. The confused Seojun gripped his sword tighter and stared at the black hand looking up at them.
A black hand. What appeared before Taebeom and Seojun wasn’t a monster, but a human hand. The skin was pitch black, possibly belonging to a beastkin esper with a black body.
The hand, which had been floating left and right as if asking them to look at it, soon gestured towards the two. As if telling them to follow.
* * *
Jihan helped Siwoo tell the man about the swamp incident.
The man, who had been silently listening to the external situation, suddenly scratched his pointed ear. His ears fluttered as if sensing something.
“You’re not the only ones who got separated, right?”
Siwoo’s eyes widened as he quickly nodded. He had a feeling they would receive great help from this man who seemed to have a lot of information about the inside of the gate.
“There are two big guys walking closely together. Are they your companions?”
The man asked casually, as if he had checked a CCTV. Siwoo’s mouth fell open, and he couldn’t answer immediately, looking back and forth between Geonho and Jihan. Jihan and Geonho also just exchanged glances.
“Both the leader and Seojun are well-built, but…”
Jihan mumbled ambiguously while rubbing his chin. While it was true that both were big, they weren’t in a relationship where they would walk closely together, so he couldn’t be sure.
“Can you see anyone else?”
If it wasn’t the leader and Seojun, it might be the Seowol guys. They were people they needed to catch anyway, but in the current situation, they needed to keep their distance.
“I can’t see everything. I can’t check those who are far away.”
The man said he could only see those two. He explained that he wasn’t actually seeing images, but sensing energy and movement through sound and wavelengths, so he couldn’t describe their appearance.
“They’re walking closely together like lovers. They’re not separating at all.”
At the man’s words, who had closed his eyes to focus on the presences, Geonho shook his head firmly.
“It’s not my hyung. It can’t be him.”
Geonho insisted it must be those Seowol bastards and wanted to go catch them right away. Jihan agreed but stopped him.
“It’s more dangerous to cause a commotion without information about the enemy. We should meet the leader first.”
“We can just kill them all, can’t we?”
Jihan hesitated for a moment, then made a face that suggested it wasn’t a bad idea. The man, who had his mouth open at Geonho’s simple and violent attitude and Jihan’s agreement to it, looked exasperated.
“How have you survived until now?”
As he clicked his tongue again, saying it was a wonder they weren’t dead yet, he suddenly narrowed his eyes.
“We need to move first.”
The man suddenly waved his arms, drawing a large circle. He gathered all the objects in the cave, shrunk them, and put them in an old backpack.
“Decide quickly. Do you want me to help you meet them or not?”
Was someone chasing them? Geonho and Jihan also safely enveloped Siwoo at the man’s swift movements. They decided to listen to explanations later.
“What should we do, Guide?”
“Do what you want to do.”
Jihan and Geonho looked at Siwoo together. Siwoo, standing between them, hesitated before speaking.
“I want to meet them.”
Although he couldn’t imagine Kang Taebeom being close to anyone, it was possible. Knowing the leader’s true personality made him even more hopeful.
Hearing Siwoo’s answer, the man immediately created fake hands in the air. The hands, moving as quickly as mice, dug into the ground and disappeared.
“You and you, completely hide your wavelengths. Don’t breathe through your nose.”
The man pointed at Siwoo and Geonho as he spoke. There was no time to explain why.
They needed to move quickly before being discovered.
The man frowned as he gathered his strength. While he could easily use teleportation alone, it had been a very long time since he had moved with multiple people.
“Let’s go.”
Just as he was about to start the teleportation, thick tentacles with sharp ends poured out from between the cracked walls.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
