Chapter 86
“Yoon Seo Won!”
Baek Rak embraced the dazed Seo Won and immediately began running. Seo Won, who came to his senses belatedly, clung to Baek Rak and shouted.
“What, what? What’s going on?”
“This entire area is a creature field.”
“What?”
“From here to Yeongdeungpo Station, it’s packed with creatures!”
At the shocking news, Seo Won gasped. They hadn’t even gone halfway yet, but the entire path was covered with creatures. No matter how great Baek Rak was, there was no way he could break through all these creatures to reach Yeongdeungpo Station.
“Then what do we do?”
“……”
Baek Rak was also quiet, seemingly without an answer. While they couldn’t even enter the path they had been taking and had to escape to the outskirts, all the creatures revealed their forms. Then the surroundings, which had been pale white, turned completely black. It was as if they had fallen into a world where creatures lived.
The creatures rushed at them frighteningly as soon as they discovered them.
“Hold on tight.”
Though it was something he heard every time, he couldn’t help but be nervous at moments like this. Because he knew well how fierce the battle ahead would be.
Kiiiiaaaak!
The creatures that approached at tremendous speed opened their torn mouths and attacked. Baek Rak immediately raised his sword and cut down each creature that rushed at them. At least it was easier to handle since it was daytime.
But the creatures clung endlessly. They seemed to be pushing with quantity rather than quality. Tentacles rushed in from all directions, sharp claws slashed horizontally and vertically. Projectiles flew through gaps, and some bared their teeth trying to devour them.
Baek Rak avoided what he could avoid, blocked what he could block, and controlled himself to not waste strength as much as possible.
Perhaps finding this sight quite entertaining, the Alpha in the distance clapped lightly. Though his intention to just watch without approaching was obvious, they couldn’t catch him right now either.
Seo Won clung to Baek Rak, swaying back and forth, but absolutely refused to close his eyes. He had become accustomed to the creatures and didn’t want to be shaken in any situation.
Like that, Seo Won took in the faces and attacks of the creatures that flashed past before his eyes. He also carefully observed how Baek Rak avoided them and how he counterattacked.
While familiarizing himself with the situation for a while, Seo Won realized something was strange.
Baek Rak’s movements, which he couldn’t see at all before, and the creatures’ attacks were coming into view. Unable to understand what was happening, he looked more closely, and the more he concentrated, the clearer it became.
At that moment, he felt something rippling somewhere inside his body. Seo Won recalled his own energy that he had used exactly twice.
It had been faint then, but now it felt like it had increased considerably.
Just as he was quietly sensing that energy, a tremendous roar was heard and his body suddenly swayed.
“Ugh!”
When he came to his senses, he and Baek Rak were being flung somewhere. What had happened?
Fortunately, Baek Rak stepped on a building wall and landed safely on the ground. Only then did Seo Won discover that the place where they had been was deeply gouged. And a giant arrow was embedded there.
Seo Won urgently looked at the giant-type creature holding a bow. The creature was drawing its bowstring toward them. To launch such destructively powerful attacks from that distance. It was a frightening creature in a different sense from the Alpha.
‘Is this why they said it was different?’
Just as Seo Won was swallowing his saliva, Baek Rak urgently rubbed his back and nape while asking.
“Yoon Seo Won, are you hurt anywhere?”
“Huh? No no, I’m not. I’m fine.”
The ground had completely exploded from the impact of the explosion, so if their response had been a little slower, they would have been swept up in it. After confirming that Seo Won wasn’t hurt, Baek Rak let out a sigh of relief.
At Baek Rak’s reaction, Seo Won was busy calming his wildly beating heart. Because his worrying about his safety first came across with a different meaning.
So he had to calm himself, saying that what he was worried about was Yoon Seo Won the Guardian, not to misunderstand for no reason. The moment he noticed something strange from hearing his heartbeat, troublesome things would happen.
But such worries were groundless.
Bang! Boom!
With arrow attacks pouring down continuously, there was no way he could have such presence of mind. Baek Rak ran around dodging attacks while jumping between debris flying as the ground was gouged.
“Ugh, what kind of attacks are these…!”
It wasn’t just debris flying in the air. Creature flesh and blood droplets were also mixed in. It was a simple and brutish attack that gave no thought to friendly fire.
He knew there was no sense of camaraderie, but he hadn’t expected them to be this unconcerned. Because of that, they had one fewer card they could use.
Well, when creatures came out infinitely from the meteorite, was there any need for that? From the Alpha’s or higher entities’ perspective, they were probably just chess pieces that could be used commonly, nothing more.
But how long did they have to keep running away like this? They needed to either create a breakthrough or retreat.
No matter how amazing Baek Rak was, humans had limits, so he couldn’t keep dealing with them indefinitely. It seemed impossible to reach Yeongdeungpo Station in one go. Having to pass through that creature forest was daunting.
“Baek Rak! What should we do?”
When Seo Won shouted loudly and asked, Baek Rak’s eyes became fierce. For Baek Rak, who had safety anxiety rather than safety insensitivity like Yoon Seo Won, the current situation was the worst.
However, Baek Rak had no leisure to contemplate. The creature with a shield and sword that had been far away was now approaching close.
Baek Rak avoided the sword blade rushing down through the air and immediately kicked off from his position. Then this time, a giant shield fell from the sky. Startled briefly by the giant shield that covered the entire area, Baek Rak stepped on the body of a creature in front and jumped with all his might to escape outside the range.
At the same time, a tremendous sound flowed out as the ground and shield collided.
Thoom!
“Ugh!”
Dozens of creatures between the ground and shield were crushed by tremendous pressure, their entire bodies bursting. The ground became soaked with black blood and shook finely like an earthquake.
Seo Won gaped at the sight.
“What is that…”
But there was no time to be surprised. Because the giant creature, the owner of the shield, was charging while wielding a great sword. Despite its huge body, it was so swift that it seemed like Earth’s gravity was no hindrance at all.
Baek Rak looked at the sword flying toward them and jumped into the air. He landed by stepping on the sword surface and ran up the giant’s arm.
Blocking and avoiding attacks from creatures flying from all directions, Baek Rak reached the head in one breath, wrapped his sword in a long blue aura, and made a large cut on the nape not covered by the helmet and armor.
However, whether it reacted in that brief moment, the giant’s neck wasn’t completely severed. If it had been night, it probably would have avoided it sufficiently. It wasn’t a higher creature for nothing. Though they lacked intelligence, they were creatures that displayed tremendous power in terms of combat ability.
Despite receiving a fatal wound, Baek Rak avoided the giant’s attack as it swung its sword again and once more swung his sword toward the creature’s neck that was more than half cut and hanging raggedly. It couldn’t avoid that attack either, and finally the giant’s neck separated from its body.
Baek Rak stepped on the giant body falling to the ground and jumped into the air. Even at the death of a higher entity, other creatures continued to charge as if they didn’t care.
After frantically avoiding continuous attacks for a while.
Baek Rak, perhaps unable to continue, glared somewhere.
That target was the Alpha watching the battle while laughing.
“Hey… you’re not seriously thinking…”
Seo Won seemed to somewhat understand what Baek Rak was thinking. The creatures spread all the way to Yeongdeungpo Station wouldn’t leave this place unless there was an order from the Alpha.
Then it was better to kill the Alpha rather than deal with other creatures. Only then would the assembled creatures gradually disperse.
Moreover, if they left him alive, it was obvious they would continue to be hindered. Baek Rak intended to deal with the Alpha here today. While protecting himself too.
Seo Won thought about how to make it easier for Baek Rak to fight. The best method would be for Baek Rak to move alone, but there was no place to hide here. It meant he had to cling to Baek Rak no matter what.
“……”
The fact that was all he could do somehow felt unfair.
The powers he had received so far were physical enhancement, healing, and the fire ability obtained from Jody this time. But those abilities couldn’t be used. They were only utilized as materials for awakening.
Working so hard to awaken like this, shouldn’t he be able to use them to some degree even if not completely? No matter how he thought about it, it was unfair.
Always being protected and unable to help made him feel uncomfortable to the point of burning up inside.
“Yoon Seo Won.”
“…Yeah.”
When the response wasn’t satisfactory, Baek Rak lowered his gaze. Then he saw a face full of dissatisfaction. That dissatisfaction wasn’t directed at someone else but at his own incompetence. Seo Won was driving himself like that.
Were all people who became Guardians originally this altruistic? Was that why they could awaken?
Baek Rak squeezed his eyes shut while recalling the previous Guardian and Pursuer who had protected Yeongdeungpo Station. The faces of the two people that flashed by like a revolving lantern were very long ago, but since they fought so much, most of the expressions remaining in his memory weren’t very good ones. They repeatedly fought and made up, so how could it be otherwise? Somehow he felt like he could understand them now.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
