Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Resolve (1)
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I ate it.
Before Hecate could launch her attack, the sea dragon swallowed her whole. It was worth squeezing out every last bit of energy to issue the command.
I maintained control over the massive creature, my brow furrowed deeply.
Back to the sewers.
But before the sea dragon could lower its head into the sewer after rearing up toward the sky, a sharp light and sound pierced my senses.
KABOOM!
Damn it.
Sylvia.
The bomb she threw struck the sea dragon. It let out a shrill scream and twisted its body.
Fortunately, no hole was punched through.
Scales fell off and blood flowed, but its hide was tough. It wasn't called Leviathan for nothing.
The sea dragon didn't stop.
Instead of turning its head to attack Sylvia, it twisted its body to flee into the sewer.
I gritted my teeth and held onto control.
Get in there and disappear already!
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Leviathan's eyeball exploded.
Body fluids poured out, and its scream battered my ears.
I whipped my head toward the source of the gunfire.
"Yoon."
And there, atop the giant's corpse, stood my master. He was squeezing the trigger, perfectly aimed at Leviathan.
Around the giant's body lay piles of ore creature fragments and wolf creature corpses.
Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd seen my master fighting creatures.
I was awestruck by his skill in slamming bullets into the sea dragon's gaping maw like a ghost.
Kieeeek!
"Firepower's lacking."
Sylvia, who had somehow sidled up beside me, whispered to herself.
"You're gonna lose it."
Her assessment was spot on.
Leviathan faithfully followed my command. Even with one eye the size of a human head blown to bits, even with its tongue riddled with holes, it succeeded in shoving its head into the hole in the asphalt.
My vision filled once more with scales.
The sound of water, and then it vanished into the filth.
Splash!
Splashing water, it returned to where it came from.
After confirming that the creature which had devoured its kin had escaped into the sewers, I raised my head.
Sylvia raised her head too.
"You tore off a chunk of flesh to lure it in?"
She clicked her bazooka into place and looked up at me with her pale blue eyes.
"Maybe they find you so tasty they're dying to gobble you up."
"Haha. Who knows."
"Hildebert."
As I replied softly, Yoon called my name.
He really did move without a sound.
I turned my head toward my master, who was suddenly at my side.
"Yes."
My throat was seized.
Yoon dragged me roughly along. My breath caught in my throat, but I couldn't resist. With my neck half-throttled, he headed for an intact building, cleanly ignoring Leonard's "Take it easy!" cheer and Sylvia's grumbling "Only the boring ones left behind."
Thud! Yoon kicked the door open.
Kwang!
Pain followed.
A small groan escaped me.
Wincing from the pain, I looked at my master, who had slammed me against the wall.
A killing gaze stabbed at my skin.
"I said I'd hand you the chance to kill it. I never said to let a killable bastard live."
In the desolate ruin, my master's eerie voice echoed.
Even through his helmet, I could feel his chilling stare.
"Betrayal?"
"No, sir."
"Defiance of orders?"
"No, sir. I'm sorry."
"It didn't chew up the Titan—it swallowed it and fled, right?"
"Yes. I'm sor—"
My breath cut off.
As Yoon tightened his grip, I couldn't continue. Gasping for the oxygen I lacked, I stared at the man choking me.
I had no intention of betraying him.
But I knew full well this could be seen as betrayal.
Only when I thought, "I'm really gonna suffocate like this," did Yoon release his hand.
"Kuhok, kuhok!"
"Give me an excuse."
His murmuring voice was lethal.
I wheezed painfully and lifted my head.
"I will kill it, no matter what."
"When? Next time? After it causes even more damage?"
"I'm sorry."
"Don't let trivial sentiments sway you."
Jerry Jones urgently called for Yoon over the comms, but both of us ignored it.
Yoon tightened his fingers again.
"If you pull something like this again, I'll kill you myself."
"Yes, sir."
"You just don't want to see it die by human hands, huh."
"Yes. It was foolish greed on my part."
"I don't care about your circumstances."
Yoon stated the facts.
"Don't make Ye-hyeon regret picking you."
My breath cut off again.
I stood there obediently, without resisting.
My breathing grew ragged. My vision blurred.
This man had an uncanny sense of exactly when someone was about to pass out.
"Kuhok, guk!"
"Well, it's obvious you'll keep being stubborn even after I warn you like this."
He released his hand just before I blacked out.
"If you were some random nobody, I wouldn't care whether I let it go or not."
I had no breath to reply to his mutter.
Reflexively clutching my throat, I greedily sucked in the cool air like a man starved for three days.
My foggy vision cleared.
In that narrowed field of view, I caught sight of the man walking toward the door.
Coughing up blood-tinged phlegm, I watched Yoon head back to the battlefield.
The man strode calmly out of the building, as if he hadn't just raged and choked me.
"Follow me."
Even his next words carried no trace of anger.
"Gotta clean up the trash."
My senior vanished from sight.
Left alone, silence crept in. In that chilling quiet, I panted and gathered myself. I knew I should move, but I just couldn't. I'd lost a good amount of blood from the wound Hecate inflicted, exhausted my energy controlling the creature, and now Yoon had thrashed me on top of it.
If I relaxed now, I'd pass out on the spot.
Leaning against the wall, I caught my breath and barely mustered some energy.
I dragged my corpse-heavy feet along.
"Ah."
And ran into the trash seniors.
They were practically hiding behind the three psychopaths.
"Seniors."
"Hilde."
Isaac spoke.
Too drained to reply, I just blinked. Blinking several times cleared my blurry vision.
A battlefield of a different shape came into view.
The fight was still ongoing.
But with Hecate gone—whether due to that or the seniors' efforts—the firepower had died down considerably.
At this rate, we could clean up the area before reinforcements arrived. Especially with those three gleefully slaughtering what was left.
Didn't look like there was any cleanup needed.
Thinking that, I walked toward the trash lurking behind the skilled seniors.
The ones who had tossed their empty guns aside and were panting looked up.
I ignored their mouths opening for lectures, then closing at the sight of my wounds.
"You're bleeding a lot too, Hilde..."
Lucia, who looked the most intact, muttered weakly.
"I'm dizzy from all the blood loss..."
"Your wound hasn't even healed yet."
Isaac muttered, eyeing my abdominal injury.
"So this is what they mean by slow recovery. Come here. It's temporary, but I'll staunch it for you."
Why didn't Yoon like Isaac?
He seemed the most put-together of the bunch. Sure, he'd fled the giant quickly, and he was hiding behind those lunatics now, but those weren't entirely incomprehensible actions.
But I didn't have the energy to ponder it now.
I staggered over to Isaac, and he stapled my wound shut with something like a stapler.
My left hand was free again.
"Thank you."
"No problem. But you really look bad."
Isaac frowned as he inspected my wound.
"We need to send you back first. I'll help you later, so relax for now."
Ah...
It felt like he was doing this because he wanted to go back first himself.
When he insisted on coming over to support me despite my refusal, my suspicion turned to certainty. His repeated talk of evacuating me first sealed it.
But whatever his motive, he was helping me now, so I decided not to take offense.
I'll just rest until this is over.
I leaned my weight on the senior and thanked him.
And stayed stock-still until Yoon, Sylvia, and Leonard stopped shooting.
***
Not long after the three sociopaths wrapped things up, reinforcements arrived.
"You're late."
Naturally, Richard Green led the way.
"Good work."
Familiar faces followed in droves.
Choi Ami. Ricardo Sordi. Jonathan Kudo. William Walker and Aki. Jason Tvein too. I identified all the faces tumbling off motorcycles.
Only the top-tier talents had come.
Most Black Badgers in B-5 Zone had returned.
Only the skilled ones—and among them, the uninjured—had come to support Zone 7. B Zone was dangerous even with a full squad of Black Badgers, so after mission success, most had portaled back to HQ.
Perched on the ruins, I listened to the explanation while eyeing the familiar faces.
They only relaxed after scanning the surroundings once more, even after Yoon's briefing.
"Why's he acting like that..."
Ricardo's first words after removing his helmet.
I gave a wry smile to the senior staring at me in disbelief.
"I'm still sorely lacking."
"Did you get a transfusion?"
Ami no longer freaked out or screamed.
Instead, she hurried over, pulled out a blood pack, and jabbed it into my arm.
"With a wound that big, not sure you can make it through the portal..."
Did that matter?
Knowing nothing about portals (or rather, remembering nothing), I couldn't fully grasp Ami's words. But I lacked the strength to ask.
So instead of replying, I just met Ami's eyes and gave a faint smile.
I kept my mouth shut after that too.
Even as Jonathan Kudo sauntered slowly over to Ricardo, who seemed to be barely holding back a lecture.
I stared blankly at the brightening sun.
Until Richard Green gave Yoon a brief sitrep.
About what had happened in B-5 Zone.
"We were hit by an attack that split the ground."
I bolted upright.
Ignoring Ami's startled jump.
"It was like a white shockwave. We haven't identified what caused it."
Kyle.
Richard's short explanation was enough to identify the attacker.
The source of that attack was Kyle.