The End of the Path We’ve Walked (11)
“…What? That’s fast. How did they find me?”
It frowned as it sensed energy drawing closer to its hiding place. It had expected them to wander aimlessly through the vast dungeon, but somehow they were sensing its energy and coming this way. And this despite leaving false traces to confuse them.
Do I really smell like a monster?
It looked down at the Guides sprawled randomly on the floor like drying peppers and pondered its options. Should it flee and abandon these Guides, or deal with the Espers despite the hassle? But neither option was particularly appealing.
It had just wanted to sit quietly in its nest, idly passing time, but these humans who kept forcing it to move were irritating. It wanted to watch them searching desperately for it, not heading straight toward it.
As if it wasn’t difficult enough spending day after day mixed among those humans. Unlike itself and other monsters, their minds were complicated, making them bothersome to control. Recalling the times it had to laugh and chat while mingling with humans, its murderous intent surged again. It tightly clenched its fist, regulated its breathing to suppress the irritation, then roughly swept up its bangs.
Though annoying, it seemed best to deal with these destroyers of its home. Leaving them due to laziness could lead to trouble later.
It tapped the floor with the toe of its shoe as if timing the approaching presence. Not long after, voices were heard from the entrance of the hideout.
“Sa Hae-geon, how can you just rush ahead alone? Are you sure this is the right place? It’s in a completely different direction from the traces we found. I know you’re worried about Guide Do-min, but this isn’t the way to search. Deputy Minister is here too; you need to be considerate. I’m saying this because I’m concerned. What if you fall out of favor? Do you want to be permanently separated from Guide Do-min?”
“I felt hyung’s wavelength here. This is definitely the place.”
“Hey, Hae-geon. Are you sure you felt the wavelength? If you’re completely off, then… Ah, fine. Let’s look around for now.”
Hearing the name Sa Hae-geon, it recalled the face of the Esper who followed Chae Do-min around. How that one had glared whenever it was around, making it difficult to maintain a friendly face despite trying to act natural. While reflecting on the past, the human presence it sensed grew stronger.
It gazed at the entrance with cold eyes. Its hiding place resembled an ordinary cave. In a forest-type dungeon, having a cave wasn’t unusual, but it seemed they had indeed caught some scent from it. Was it impossible to completely hide the monster smell even after stealing a human body?
This was a shell it had grown fond of, but if things continued this way, it might have to discard it. Its pupils started to tinge with irritation. Given its foul mood, it planned to completely destroy the minds of anyone entering its hideout, even if it had to push itself.
Eventually, with bustling sounds, the raid team appeared. But entering the cave didn’t mean they would immediately face it. Just as they had created invisible accommodations using artifacts, it had a similar ability—the ability to hide its hideout from their eyes.
So even if they managed to enter the cave, what came after was the problem. It watched with amused eyes as the humans failed to see it despite standing just a few steps away, turning their heads in confusion. Perhaps because the humans were acting foolishly as expected, its unpleasant emotions had somehow washed away.
The smile on its lips suddenly froze.
“…What?”
It felt as though, just for an instant, its gaze met with Sa Hae-geon, who was scanning the surroundings. Its eyebrows twitched in irritation. What kind of human was he…? It sniffed its own body, bringing its nose close.
“There’s no smell at all…”
Its eyes widened as it muttered quietly. As if he had caught onto something, Sa Hae-geon was striding directly toward it. It unconsciously stepped back, feeling the ominous aura emanating from Sa Hae-geon. It felt an unpleasant and ominous energy from that human. Its skin seemed to tingle… This was a sensation it had never experienced before.
Was that human really so strong? When it had checked previously, he hadn’t seemed that impressive. Swallowing dryly, it hurriedly gathered the Guides sprawled on the floor.
Sa Hae-geon was a human with strange eyes. It gave the impression that something was off about him. From its vast experience, beings with such a gaze couldn’t be mentally controlled or broken.
So rather than maintaining pride and facing that human, it would be better to just flee. This too was a choice only a highly intelligent monster could make. Unlike itself, other stupid monsters often met miserable deaths by recklessly charging at opponents without assessing their strength.
Of course, it planned to take the Guides even while fleeing. But before it could even grasp the ropes binding them, a large, cold hand roughly seized the nape of its neck.
“Gak…!”
Its vision suddenly lifted. Though Yoon Seon-hoo’s body wasn’t particularly small, it had to be held ignominiously in Sa Hae-geon’s hand.
How? How did he discover me? Is he a human immune to my abilities? It burst into a hollow laugh before spitting out words filled with rage.
“You damn humans…!”
No matter how much it struggled, Sa Hae-geon’s arm holding its nape didn’t waver. Its vision reddened with fury. Perhaps due to excessive excitement, the hideout previously concealed by its ability was fully exposed. Sounds of shock came from the humans watching from behind.
Would things have been different if it had been in its original form rather than Yoon Seon-hoo’s body? Even for a monster that primarily attacked mentally, its original body wasn’t this light and weak. Though it resembled a human, it hadn’t lost its essence as a monster.
But this body, which only appeared normal on the outside, wasn’t much help in combat. It tried to escape from the physical body, albeit belatedly, but the assimilation had progressed considerably, and no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t budge from this body. It was as if Yoon Seon-hoo’s original soul was holding it in place.
Its actions became desperate.
“Let, let go!”
But the more it struggled, the stronger Sa Hae-geon’s grip became. After struggling for a while, it panted and sharply turned its head to meet Sa Hae-geon’s gaze. Sa Hae-geon’s deep blue eyes were turbulently rippling. Meeting those eyes made it feel like its breath was caught. I’m the monster, so why am I feeling fear towards a mere human? Is it because I’m in a human body?
It was extremely perplexed.
“You, what, what are you?”
The tingling sensation on its skin gradually intensified. It seemed there was some issue with the wavelength emitted by this human.
“You, you…!”
Regardless of what it was saying, Sa Hae-geon’s gaze had already shifted to Chae Do-min. Seeing Chae Do-min sprawled carelessly on the floor, the strand of reason he had been desperately holding onto completely snapped.
His head throbbed as if it would split, and cold sweat ran down his back. His entire body seemed to be burning up. He had experienced a similar sensation before.
“Hey, hey! Stop him!”
“Hae-geon, Hae-geon!”
“Esper Sa Hae-geon, calm down. If you go berserk now, everyone will be caught up in it! What’s the support team doing? Bring the suppressants immediately!”
Having experienced this several times before, he could roughly guess the commotion behind him. That he was about to go berserk again. How could he forget this terrible sensation?
But he couldn’t stop. Just then, Yoon Seon-ho shouted from behind.
“Wait, wait a moment! Just wait. Brother, brother… Brother, it’s me. Can you recognize me? Huh?”
Sa Hae-geon’s hand hesitated upon hearing that desperate voice. And the monster didn’t miss that fleeting moment. As soon as Sa Hae-geon’s grip loosened slightly, it quickly escaped from his grasp. The sounds of Yoon Seon-ho rushing forward from behind and the other Espers restraining him jumbled chaotically.
“Hey, stop him!”
“Catch that thing! Don’t let it escape!”
“Yoon Seon-ho, come to your senses! Do you want to become a hostage to that monster too? That’s no longer your brother! Does that even look like your brother to you?”
Captured by the Espers, Yoon Seon-ho struggled to break free, but there was no way a healing Esper could overpower attack-type Espers. He screamed as he watched Sa Hae-geon approach the monster that had taken his brother’s form again.
“No, no! That’s our brother! No…! Don’t do it. Please don’t, please…!”
Despite the near-wailing cry, Sa Hae-geon was relentless. This time, as he gripped the monster’s nape, his eyes shone coldly.
“It would be, kuh… quite troublesome if you kill me, wouldn’t it?”
Even as it was being choked, it continued to talk.
“How will you, wake them up? They won’t, wake up, until I wake them. You, stupid, humans.”
It laughed mockingly at the raid team while struggling for breath. It wasn’t actually lying. If its power reached the Guides, they would easily wake up, but if it died, they would have to wake up on their own. But would there be any human who would willingly break a sweet dream and return to the harsh reality?
It was useless to try to wake them if they themselves refused. It grinned as it looked at Sa Hae-geon and Yoon Seon-ho, who was crying behind him as if about to faint.
“Your brother, is already dead, you human who’s dumber than a monster. He became, kuh… one with this body and died as a monster. Without even, being able to scream once.”
Yoon Seon-ho’s face contorted at these proudly uttered words.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
