Chapter 27
Seo Won leaped over the gravel-filled railway tracks and arrived in front of the platform on the opposite side. He lifted Poong up first and was about to climb up after him when he felt a sharp presence from behind.
“……!”
He hurriedly pushed Poong into the inner part of the platform and ducked down.
Bang!
With a tremendous sound of the platform railing breaking, cement powder poured down over his head. When he quickly threw his body to the right, the spot where he had been originally standing completely collapsed. At the same time, an enormous attack poured down.
Sharp claws and nails scratched as if tearing apart, tentacles flew like whips, and a tremendous amount of projectiles poured down. A roar like dozens of bombs exploding in succession echoed through the air.
The attack was so persistent and endless that chunks of stone flew up everywhere. Powder that had crumbled like dust made the air hazy. He didn’t receive a direct hit, but it was certainly threatening.
‘Damn.’
Seo Won raised his arms to block the flying debris and looked around. It was too much to just endure like this.
The attack range was gradually widening, and it seemed the guys also knew he was still alive. Well, they couldn’t help but know. The sensation they felt would be clearly different.
In the end, he had no choice but to make a decision about the approaching attacks. Seo Won dodged the debris from the continuous attacks and rushed outside. Hoping that the hazy rising dust would interfere with their vision even a little.
But that’s when it happened.
Something caught his running foot. Before he could even recognize what it was, his body pitched forward. He hurriedly stretched out his arms, but having already lost his balance, falling was unavoidable.
Crash!
“Ugh!”
What had caught his foot was a railway track that was sticking out to the side. The blocked vision had worked as a disadvantage not only for the creatures but also for himself. However, there was no leisure to lament this, nor time to feel the pain.
Seo Won lifted his body that had been buried in the gravel. Surely the guys had discovered his location. He had no choice but to quickly escape from here.
At that moment when he was raising his head like that.
“Huh.”
His gaze met with bright red eyes right in front of his nose.
Seo Won held his breath. That moment when he first met a creature and ran away was repeating once again.
A long torn mouth and dripping black saliva, a pitch-black tongue that moved flickeringly. Sharp claws and long tentacles reaching toward him.
The persistent and mad gestures of the guys rushing to devour him had multiplied several times and were approaching before his eyes.
This can’t be avoided. Absolutely not. His instincts were screaming. Don’t hope for luck anymore.
Seo Won stared blankly at the attacks pouring from all directions with wide-open eyes. It seemed he would end his life without any reward for all the running he had done so far. If he had properly awakened as a hunter, he wouldn’t have been cornered like this. Someone who only came to mind at the last moment was just resentful.
Moreover, it was unfair that his last memory would be of that guy who wasn’t even a life flashing before his eyes, someone he couldn’t hate to his heart’s content. What was so regrettable when he had been rejected every time?
……I should have cursed him out to my heart’s content.
As the handsome face became increasingly vivid, Seo Won closed his eyes.
“What are you doing here!”
But was it because he was thinking of that guy? A familiar voice pierced through his muffled ears at the same time his body was suddenly pulled somewhere.
“……Huh?”
“Yoon Seo Won, aren’t you going to come to your senses?”
It was Baek Rak.
Baek Rak? Baek Rak? Baek Rak should be fighting creatures on the opposite side of the shelter right now.
Seo Won stared blankly at Baek Rak as if his brain was overloaded. He couldn’t believe it at all. Why, how, why…… was he here?
“Baek Rak? ……How are you here?”
“That’s what I should be asking. Why are you here?”
“……Well, ah!”
It was before he could continue speaking. Creature attacks poured down indiscriminately, and Baek Rak hurriedly pulled him. But unfortunately, his face ended up buried directly in the guy’s chest.
“Oof!”
He thought he had hit a rock. His nose throbbed, making him naturally furrow his brow.
Even while Seo Won was feeling pain, Baek Rak swung his sword. Creature flesh and black blood droplets scattered through the air. The red eyes that glared at Seo Won even while dying were still fierce.
‘By the way, when did I get up this high again?’
Seo Won felt his numb nose and let out a short breath at the situation that seemed familiar yet unfamiliar.
“Haa.”
“Yoon Seo Won.”
Baek Rak’s interrogating voice contained slight irritation. To him, this situation would be no different from an unexpected disaster. He could understand well enough, but that wasn’t what was important. Seo Won hurriedly pulled Baek Rak’s arm and said:
“Baek Rak! We need to go down!”
“What?”
“Poong is on the platform side.”
“Poong?”
“……And.”
“Don’t tell me Yu Sol is here too?”
Seo Won nodded slightly.
Where Yu Sol was, there was Poong, and where Poong was, there was Yu Sol. To Baek Rak, this was an all-too-obvious fact. The situation was serious.
Baek Rak cut down and dodged the rushing creatures as he went down. He hurriedly looked around the platform to find Yu Sol and Poong. Then he discovered a white bundle in that corner. It was Poong. He didn’t look to be in good condition, but fortunately, there seemed to be no threat to his life. However, the person who should be nearby was nowhere to be found.
“Where is Yu Sol?”
Baek Rak, who had lightly landed in the corner of the platform, immediately raised his sword before even hearing an answer. The creatures’ persistent attacks had explosively rushed in the moment they came down to the ground.
Clang!
Baek Rak set Seo Won down and moved slightly forward. He kicked away the creature’s arm that was extending as if to cut his waist in half and swung his sword toward the tentacles rushing from all directions.
The severed tentacles fell to the ground writhing while spitting blood. However, despite the effort to cut them, the main body regenerated without concern. Another tentacle that protruded from the cut section rushed forward sharply.
Cutting that down again, Baek Rak shouted:
“Yoon Seo Won!”
Even looking around while fighting, Yu Sol was nowhere to be seen. Sensing Baek Rak’s anxiety, Seo Won quickly answered:
“She’s in the storage room under the stairs on the opposite side! Rang and the puppies are all together!”
Baek Rak looked toward the direction where Yu Sol would be and narrowed his eyes. There were tattered iron doors and collapsed boxes.
“……”
At the situation drawn in real time, Baek Rak glanced at Seo Won. Then he sent an unreadable look for a moment before gripping his sword firmly. To take Yoon Seo Won and Poong to that place, he first had to deal with the creatures in front of him.
The moment he made his decision, blue energy began to ripple from Baek Rak’s body. It soon moved along his arm and began to color the sword blade blue.
‘What’s that?’
Seo Won couldn’t take his eyes off Baek Rak. He had seen that blue energy a few times, but this was the first time he had seen it utilized in combat.
Baek Rak began to mercilessly swing the sword that had become even sharper. Then blue light swirled around Baek Rak like lightning.
‘Wow……’
Seo Won secretly admired inwardly.
The sight of light trails extending and disappearing along the sword blade in the darkness was like a painting. In reality, black blood and flesh were scattering around, but perhaps because of that, the light looked even more brilliant.
But the creatures’ attacks were also formidable. Even cutting and cutting again, they regenerated quickly, so a conclusion wasn’t easily reached. It seemed like they definitely hadn’t regenerated during the day…… Their strength was also less than now. Their size too, and the energy they emitted.
Certainly, night was making the creatures stronger. So Baek Rak also had no choice but to exert more power than during the day.
This wasn’t something to just consider beautiful. Seo Won shook off his thoughts and looked at Poong. He showed signs of exhaustion, but the guy was enduring well. He was so admirable that Seo Won couldn’t help but pet his head. Thanks to him, he had been able to endure until now even while being chased by creatures.
“Thank you, Poong. You worked hard.”
He patted the guy who answered with a groaning sound, feeling sorry for him. Seo Won, who embraced the weakened body and raised his head, looked at Baek Rak who was still fighting. Then he checked the storage room where Yu Sol was once, and the group of creatures continuing their battle at the barrier once more.
‘……Would it be okay to move?’
Having escaped the dangerous situation, he belatedly became worried about Yu Sol’s condition.
Was her waist okay? She bled a lot. She didn’t lose consciousness from excessive blood loss, did she? Since it was a situation that required quick treatment, his body naturally fidgeted.
At that moment, something white was visible between the half-collapsed iron door. Looking closely, Rang was sticking her face out while being wary of the surroundings. What happened to Yu Sol? Why is Rang all the way there…….
While he was deep in thought, Baek Rak finally cut the neck of the last creature. He quickly moved his ribcage up and down to catch his breath while shaking off the blood and flesh on his sword. Only then did Seo Won quickly approach Baek Rak.
“Baek Rak, let’s go quickly. Sol is hurt.”
“……Hurt?”
Baek Rak hurriedly moved to the storage room upon hearing news of Yu Sol’s injury.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
