Chapter 182
Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Retribution
My vision, smothered by piles of ash, begins to slowly return.
The spider girl and snake girl retreating to the mermaid's side while injured, Jenny and Amy clashing at invisible speeds, and...
"I can't promise I'll hold back...? Survive on your own..."
Joo-ho.
The sight of Joo-ho staggering forward evokes the image of a demon straight out of a fairy tale. A wicked monster bursting through the flames of a burning forest...
He runs solely on willpower, enduring the searing agony of the fire. With every step, the flames trail long behind him.
Nicole's rifle finishes reloading swiftly and unleashes a barrage of bullets toward Joo-ho once more, but he takes them all without slowing down, pressing forward relentlessly.
Joo-ho is no longer human.
But I think calling that child a monster would be far too harsh and cruel.
Having transcended humanity,
Joo-ho becomes something even greater.
Perhaps he's evolving into something so advanced that humans can't even comprehend it.
Click!
Even Nicole's cold composure cracks under the dire circumstances. She's emptied an entire magazine, yet Joo-ho doesn't stop—he's already right in front of her.
"You monster—"
The glowing red-hot barrel spews painful smoke, and Nicole swings the rifle butt at Joo-ho in desperation, but...
Joo-ho ducks his head swiftly, dodging the rifle butt's arc. Nicole's strike slices futilely through the fiery afterimage left by his burning hair.
Now, all that's left is Joo-ho's clenched fist, body still crouched low.
Flames lick at the flesh and skin of his gripped fist. In truth, it's more like an uncontrollable, violent element trapped in Joo-ho's grasp, screaming in fury.
Now it becomes a weapon in Joo-ho's hand, striking straight into the abdomen of Nicole, who was once his comrade—
Bang!
It lands with pinpoint accuracy.
The whirlwind punch and flames engulf Nicole simultaneously. The fire spreads to her, but she can't withstand Joo-ho's blow to her gut and topples forward.
"Kuh-hek—ngh...!"
Nicole lets out an agonized scream, her body trembling violently. Not everyone can endure the burning pain like Joo-ho.
Besides, that punch to her stomach rivals the rifle bullets no matter how you look at it. It's no attack for Nicole's aged body to withstand.
"Ugh—kuh-heuk!"
Nicole vomits up her insides, then
with shaking hands, barely manages to strip off her clothes.
The fire has spread too fiercely, melting fibers that cling to her skin. Yet Nicole thrashes in pain, tearing off her clothes in a desperate bid to survive.
"Urk...!"
It's the thrashing of someone refusing to die.
A desperate struggle. Nicole's will to live is no less than Joo-ho's.
Her exposed body is covered not just in fresh burn marks, but bruises, bite scars, and old wounds. The Nicole I remember didn't have a single blemish.
"..."
Joo-ho smothers the flames on his body with sand and engraves Nicole's wretched form in his eyes. His gaze holds both anger and pity.
Contradictory emotions.
But
Joo-ho knows all too well what's more important than feelings.
He approaches Nicole.
Seeing the suture marks and green glow at her nape, Joo-ho...
"Eek!"
grabs it with his hand.
Oh god, I think I know what he's about to do.
"J-J-Joo-ho...!"
I can't help but crawl toward him to stop him, but Joo-ho shows no sign of backing down from his decision.
"Kaaaaagh! Aaaah...!"
Joo-ho squeezes with all his might, ripping out the mysterious implant inside her. The sound of tearing flesh and shattering machinery echoes together.
"Aaaaaaagh!"
Nicole's piercing scream reverberates through the burning forest. Unable to stop him or save her, I collapse to the ground, spitting up old blood.
In agony from her flesh being torn, Nicole's legs flail wildly, kicking up dirt and ash. But no matter her struggles, Joo-ho never lets go of her hair or nape.
"Aaagyaagh!"
It's a wail too painful to hear.
Nicole screams as if the world is ending, convulsing until finally, the Amy control device embedded in her is torn away.
Blood flows,
and foam bubbles from her mouth.
"Haa... heup..."
Joo-ho looks down at Nicole, holding humanity's trump card in his hand. She gurgles helplessly, unable to resist or even move.
"Nicole...!"
Is it my foolishness that makes me crawl to her to check her condition? Even knowing Joo-ho's betrayal and rage, I can't bring myself to abandon Nicole.
"You stupid old hag... why on earth did you...?"
We're old now,
broken and battered,
and no trace of our former selves remains.
Yet holding her in my arms, I see the gentle, beautiful Nicole from our youth overlapping with her. I must be mad.
"J-Joo-ho... don't kill her. I beg you. Please?"
Before the still-burning Joo-ho,
I plead while cradling Nicole.
"At least for my sake... c-can't you find some way? Joo-ho, it's all over now..."
Amy and Jenny's miraculous clash,
the battle between Nicole and Joo-ho—
it's all ended.
Now only ashes remain in this place, scorched clean.
The flames rage farther in,
deeper into the interior,
but we prepare to wrap things up here on this beach, buried in drifting ash.
"Dad, what are you doing? Kill her already."
Jenny and Amy, weary after their fierce battle, approach and stand by Joo-ho. They look at me and Nicole like bugs.
"Want me to do it instead?"
"Dr., this isn't the time for mercy."
Jenny's eyes full of contempt,
Amy's eyes cold with fury.
They try to convince Joo-ho to eliminate us. Even Joo-ho's blazing flames are dying down, smothered by sea breeze and honey.
"..."
Joo-ho says nothing.
Not to Jenny and Amy flanking his shoulders,
nor to Alraune desperately spraying honey and water to douse the flames.
Joo-ho stares only at me and Nicole.
Eyes as black as his charred body.
Reading Joo-ho's thoughts is even harder now. Amy's stoic, and this planet's women show it on their faces, but Joo-ho...
His expression is complex and subtle, like every color of paint mixed together. Black, yet containing everything that's been blended into it so far.
The child soon turns his gaze from me to the departing sun. Day has ended. It's time for the moon to rise.
"I won't kill her. It'd be shameless if I did."
Joo-ho turns his back, now gazing beyond the horizon where the moon rises. His thoroughly burned black clothes flutter in the wind, drifting toward the distant waves.
"Bring everyone back, and we'll talk then. I'll let you live until that happens."
The girls protest to Joo-ho.
Kill her now,
quickly finish off that old male too,
hunt down every last human...
All sorts of demands fly, but
they start falling silent, realizing Joo-ho won't change his mind.
"Amy."
"Yes."
"Take those two to the survivor camp, as far from the coastline as possible. Keep them safe. Please."
"..."
Instead, everyone follows Joo-ho's gaze to the shoreline. Even as he stares into the distance, it oddly seems like he's seeing something else entirely.
"Yes."
Amy glances between Joo-ho and the empty air before following his order without complaint. Even though she'd want to kill Nicole most.
They see what others can't.
Only Jenny sniffs the air and licks her lips.
"If you don't want to die, stay still."
Amy grabs me and Nicole, one in each hand, and starts moving immediately. She says nothing else. Her anger toward us hasn't subsided yet.
"Jenny, get ready to head out again with me and Aria."
"What?"
Hearing Joo-ho's voice fade into the distance,
I engrave the sight of Nicole groaning beside me.
"A big wave's coming. The ocean side will be chaos too. If we're going, it's today. Tell Dad everything you saw right now."
Moonlight descends.
But tonight's moon feels even more ominous. I can't look at it directly, but the falling moonlight wraps me in a strange dread.
The sea recedes at rapid speed.
Strangely, the moonlight grows stronger,
and the always-dry sandy beach is left with only wet mud and sand sloshing.
The moonlight is so thick we can't even see shadows. The moon is close.
It's as if,
concerned for the burning forest,
it draws nearer to gaze,
doing its utmost to extinguish the flames.
Chapter 16 - Flames and Waves
End.