Sabotage #5
The whisper brushed against my ear. “Hey, Song Jihyeok.”
I was fast asleep and only stirred, letting out a low groan. “Mmm…”
Then came a sharp thwack against the back of my head, followed by a dull wave of pain. Caught completely off guard, my eyes flew open.
“Wh-what the hell? Why’d you hit me?”
“Stop sleeping and get up. I’ve got something to show you.”
“Something to show me…? What is it?”
“Just get up. Hurry.”
I rubbed my eyes with my forearm, quickly checked the condition of my right arm, and, deciding it was fine, pushed myself to my feet. Silvia led me toward the mouth of the cave.
“Can you see the monsters?” she asked.
“It’s pouring rain and pitch black out there. I can’t see a thing.”
“Even so… the moonlight should be enough to make out their movements, right?”
“There’s no movement at all…”
“Exactly. No matter how dark it is, there should be some writhing or shifting, but there’s nothing. I’ve been watching for a while now. It looks like those monsters are asleep.”
“They’re animals too, so of course they’d sleep.”
Silvia stared at me with an incredulous look, as if she couldn’t believe how casually I was taking this. She gave my backside a light kick with her foot.
“I threw some rocks earlier. As long as they don’t hit them directly, the monsters stay completely quiet. The rain is heavy enough to mask our footsteps, and there aren’t any moths around. They must have moved to another area.”
“You even threw rocks? That’s dangerous…”
“This is our chance to escape.”
“Escape…? Weren’t we supposed to wait?”
“You’ve been sprawled out snoring for over three hours. Until now, the only sound here was the rain. No visitors. Just like you said, it seems headquarters has no idea what’s happening in this place.”
“How are we supposed to escape? Just charge straight through?”
Silvia nodded firmly. “Yes.”
“That sounds terrifying… You might be fine, but I’m just an ordinary civilian. What if the monsters wake up in the middle of it?”
“We can’t just sit here twiddling our thumbs. If things go wrong, I’ll use my Aether to protect you. That should work, right?”
Reliable as always.
I let out a long sigh. “Haa… Fine. Let’s do it. Just give me a second… I need to wake up properly…”
I started hopping in place, slapping my own cheeks, and taking exaggerated deep breaths. Silvia watched me with an expression that screamed she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“What a fuss…”
“This isn’t a fuss, it’s a desperate struggle for survival. I don’t want to die, you know.”
“Neither do I. Should I wear this?”
She was referring to the pilot suit. I shrugged.
“Yeah.”
“Why? You could wear it… I’m not cold anymore.”
“It’s not about the cold. That suit is heavy. I’m trying to keep us as light as possible so we can dodge the monsters’ attacks.”
“Already worrying about getting attacked… What a coward. Such a waste of all those big muscles.”
“Why do you always have to be like this…? We really don’t get along.”
“Shut up. Are you ready?”
“Let’s go.”
The rain hammered down in relentless sheets, drastically reducing visibility. But the moonlight piercing through the thick clouds allowed us to somehow weave our way past the monsters. We covered a considerable distance. When we had traveled roughly three kilometers, we stopped. Something red and glittering was scattered across the ground ahead of us.
“What the hell is this?”
The tiny particles, no larger than a fingernail, completely covered the path forward. Some were even floating in the air. I studied the glittering specks for a moment before answering Silvia’s question.
“Looks like feces.”
“Feces…? You mean droppings?”
“No… It’s the powder from the moths’ wings.”
“Ah…”
Silvia gave an awkward smile and moved closer to my side.
“If it came from a monster’s wings, it must be extremely dangerous, right?”
“We’ll have to check.”
I casually draped one arm over Silvia’s shoulder, balanced on one foot like a stork, and pulled off my sock. Then I hurled it forward.
Immediately, a sharp hiss—sssss!—filled the air. The sock that had touched the powder dissolved in seconds.
I slipped my shoe back on and rubbed my forehead. “We’re screwed.”
“This is insane…”
“The silver lining is that the powder isn’t spreading toward us. It’s like there’s an invisible boundary line drawn…”
“Why is that?”
“How should I know?”
“Let’s try going around. Should we head left first?”
“Sure… Anywhere is fine as long as we move.”
The moment I took a step after giving that half-hearted reply, a piercing kyeeeeeek—! echoed from ahead. The bizarre shriek woke every single tentacle scattered across the area.
Skreeee—! Skritch!
The sight of those grotesque tentacles writhing out of the dark earth nearly made me vomit. They had looked so pretty from a distance, but up close they were utterly disgusting.
“We need to run. Hold on tight.”
While I pretended to panic, Silvia pulled out her Aether and spoke those words. If Marcela had any sense, she wouldn’t let Silvia escape so easily… I wonder how this will play out.
As I held my breath and nodded, a thread-like strand shot straight out from the powder-covered ground, aiming for Silvia’s leg just as she tried to draw on her Aether’s power. It flew with terrifying speed—whoosh!—pierced straight through the pilot suit she wore, grazed her ankle, and embedded itself deep into the ground.
“Ugh!”
Silvia let out a short groan, then immediately used her Aether to grab my body. She kicked off the ground and began sprinting back the way we had come. In the end, we returned to the original cave.
I checked to see if any monsters were following us. When Silvia staggered after releasing her power, I quickly supported her and laid her down beside the weakly flickering campfire.
“Are you okay? Let me see the wound.”
“It… it just grazed me… I’m fine.”
“That’s the voice of someone holding back serious pain, and you say it just grazed you…? Don’t lie to me.”
“I said I’m fine…”
“Stop being stubborn and hand over the knife.”
I held my hand out in front of her and shook it. With obvious reluctance, Silvia pulled a dagger from her pocket and placed it in my palm. I tore open the bottom of her pilot suit and frowned deeply. The area around her left ankle’s malleolus was turning pitch black. Dark blood was even seeping out.
It was the result of the moth monster’s poison.
After carefully examining the affected area, I said, “It looks like you’ve been poisoned. We need to administer emergency treatment. I’m going to cut your ankle, so bear with the pain.”
“Wh-what…?”
Silvia’s pupils trembled. She was scared. I’d thought she was composed, but seeing her like this… she really is delicate after all.
I sterilized the blade of the dagger over the campfire.
“I’ll only make a small incision to draw out the poison. Don’t worry about scarring. We can have it treated with medical equipment later.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about… What if I end up crippled?”
Ah… She was afraid I might mess up. Never mind about her being delicate. This rude bitch.
“As unimpressive as I may look, I have plenty of experience giving emergency treatment to Sehwa and Yuria. If you don’t trust me, say so. I’m cutting anyway.”
I stood up abruptly, tore off the bottom portion of the shirt Silvia had hanging in the cave, and used it to clean her ankle. Then I used the remaining fabric to tie tightly around her calf, stroking her leg downward with both hands to force the blood to pool lower. Finally, I placed a small twig against her lips.
“You can’t make loud noises, so bite down on this.”
“If you… mess up, you’re dead…”
“Understood.”
“The blade is extremely sharp, so you really have to be gentle. Got it?”
“Yes.”
Still looking thoroughly unconvinced, Silvia glared at me as she bit down on the twig. Without hesitation, I positioned the blade and carefully pierced the poisoned flesh.
“Mmmph…!”
Silvia squeezed her eyes shut. I continued the procedure while listening to her muffled groans leaking out from between the twig, and eventually finished the treatment.
However, Silvia’s condition grew steadily worse as time passed. That was to be expected. Simple first aid like this couldn’t possibly remove all of a monster’s poison. Still, it was okay. The moth monster’s venom wasn’t a lethal toxin. If the initial treatment had been done properly, the poison would slowly leave her body. The process of it leaving would simply be agonizing.
“Add more wood to the fire… I’m cold…”
Even though her waterproof pilot suit barely held any moisture, Silvia’s body shivered violently. I had already thrown every twig she had gathered into the campfire long ago.
“I’ve already piled it as high as it will go. Are you really that cold?”
“It feels like… I’m standing naked in the middle of winter… Is it because of the poison…? Shouldn’t I normally be running a fever…?”
“It’s a monster’s poison. You can’t think of it in normal terms. Stay here by yourself for a bit.”
“Why…?”
“I’m going to gather some more firewood and medicinal herbs.”
“It’s… too dangerous… Don’t go outside…”
Even though she must be in terrible pain, the fact that she’s worrying about me first is rather touching.
“I’ll only look around nearby. Since the blood from other areas is still clean, it’s clearly not a lethal poison. So stop worrying and hold on. I’ll be back soon.”
“Hey… I told you not to go…”
Ignoring her pleas, I grabbed a dagger and stepped out of the cave without hesitation.
After two hours of searching, I returned with willow bark and leaves, plenty of firewood, and large leaves big enough to make a simple bed. I shook the water from my wet hair. My hands were covered in blood. My entire body was covered in large and small wounds. All of them had been deliberately inflicted for dramatic effect. This way, Silvia would feel even more grateful. Besides, I had prepared a little surprise gift at the cave entrance. When she woke up, she would be deeply moved.
I set the firewood down near the campfire to dry and checked on Silvia. She had lost consciousness at some point and now lay with her eyes closed. The way her brows kept furrowing told me she was still in pain even while unconscious. When I placed a hand under her nose, her breathing was quite steady. That was proof the neutralization had worked sufficiently. However, the monster’s poison was robbing her of body heat, leaving her temperature dangerously low.
I crushed the willow bark, extracted the juice, and slowly poured it into Silvia’s mouth so she could swallow. The analgesic effect should kick in soon. It wouldn’t be particularly strong, but it should be enough to help her endure the pain.
Next, I carefully removed the pilot suit she was wearing. The sight of her firm breasts wrapped in a black bra and her well-toned body made desire surge within me. I laid out the large leaves on the ground, moved Silvia onto them, then stripped off my own torn pants and sat in front of the campfire wearing only my underwear. I spent the time thoroughly drying our bodies, then placed the mostly dry firewood at the edge of the fire.
After that, I pressed myself tightly against Silvia’s side, pulled her into my arms, and spread the pilot suit over us like a blanket. Finally, I checked the Aether storage case for a moment before placing it beside her head.
Once I take care of Adele, Silvia’s Aether will be next. I’ll turn that sickly rainbow color into a beautiful pitch black.
I wrapped my arm around Silvia’s waist and pulled her close, draping my leg over hers so our bodies were completely pressed together. I could feel the firm lines of her eleven-pack abs against my arm. Her buttocks brushing against my groin were incredibly firm and springy. I wanted to rip her panties off and thrust into her right then and there, but I held back. Now wasn’t the time.
As I shared my body heat with her, I mentally praised Marcela. Everything had gone exactly according to the scenario I wanted. I was now quite willing to treat her nicely. If anything had gone wrong, I had planned to go back and subject her to whip torture before tying her up in the middle of the freezing Antarctic for two days, but she had done well.
Time for me to rest too.
Perhaps because this human body had gone through so much hardship, exhaustion came crashing down on me. I curled up slightly, wrapping myself around Silvia’s smaller frame, buried my face in the back of her head, and closed my eyes.