Chapter 172
Chapter 172
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: Chapter 172 - #37_우정(5)
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: Friendship? (5)
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They say hell is guarded by monsters at its gates. Why, of course. Like that three-headed dog from Greek myth. But Siwoo could state with certainty. If they were going to station one monster to guard hell, it'd be far more effective to use this mad bastard currently chasing him and Sharon like a demon. Considering the speed gap between them, running straight along the road to the boundary of the Backside Realm would mean getting caught in no time. So Siwoo darted through alleys between buildings, twisting and turning every which way to shake the thing off. -BAM!THUD!KABOOM! But the homunculus didn't stop. It headbutted a parked bus, sending it flying through the air, smashed the sides of storefronts to bits, toppled utility poles and streetlights like they were mere twigs, and kept up the pursuit. Like some bastard rampaging through a meticulously built mini film set. Somehow, he could maintain distance by circling around obstacles, but shaking it off completely or escaping the boundary seemed impossible. The moment he ran in a straight line, that superior physique would catch up in an instant. -GROOOOARRRR!! "Damn, it's fast!"
"Mmfmmfmmf...!"
The first sound was the enraged beast's bellow. The second was Siwoo's frustration at the monster he just couldn't shake no matter how hard he ran. The last was the weird noise from Sharon, whose cheek kept bumping against his breastplate because of her awkward clinging position.
"Sharon! What the hell is that thing?!"
"I-I don't know...! Never seen anything like it!"
He asked between heaving breaths, but Sharon just shook her head vigorously, offering no clear answer. Why not just fight it? With a sliver of hope, Siwoo asked.
"Can't we take it down somehow? Let me try!"
"No! No way! Absolutely not! That homunculus with twenty pairs of eyes caused history's most horrific disaster! It's way beyond our level!"
Forty eyes made it the worst ever? Siwoo glanced over his shoulder at the frenzied homunculus.
"Fucking disgusting-looking thing."
Just seeing it soured his mood a bit. It looked like some elementary kid had crudely slapped together black clay. You could barely make out front paws, back paws, head—but it was a total mess, like it'd been stomped on once. The stench and thunderous roar it let out with every bellow made goosebumps erupt all over his body. But the real issue wasn't how grotesque it looked, like some beast crawled up from hell. It was those eyes packed densely over every inch of its body. The number had to be well into the four digits.
"Then who do we need to take that thing down?"
"I don't knooow!!! Why does only shit like this happen to me!!"
Sharon, glued tight to Siwoo's chest, started sobbing and lamenting her life.
"The Stigma inherits all weird! Explosions during experiments! Destroyed the research docs and now I'm in debt! And... and what the hell is that monster?!"
"F-First, calm down and hold on tight! We're jumping!" -GROOOOARRRR! The distance had closed again, so this time he decided to use a building. Using the momentum from closing dozens of meters in a single stride—like a triple jump—he converted it into a leap. -CRASH! Siwoo spread his shadows to shield Sharon from flying glass shards and leaped straight into the building's fourth floor. It seemed to have been an office space; computers and papers shattered everywhere as he burst inside. And almost simultaneously, the monster's maw dug into the building like a woodpecker's beak devouring bugs.
"This is insane!"
"Kyaaaah!" No time to catch their breath. Siwoo swiftly scooped up Sharon, who'd nearly had her ankle bitten, and bolted to the opposite side of the building. -SKREEEEEE! The beast's roar of frustration grazed his ears as it barely missed its prey. At the same time, an enormous gust blasted out, whipping everything in the hallway into a frenzy.
"We're good!"
But this was a good sign. The fact that it was still behind meant he'd put a whole building wall between them when he smashed through the opposite window. It bought some breathing room in the chase, and if he used the music box's concealment effect or fled farther in that gap, escaping the Backside Realm wasn't a pipe dream.
"Wow... what a pain in the ass."
But Siwoo's hopes shattered like soap bubbles the moment he turned at the sudden presences behind him. -GRRRRL! -Woof! Woof! Bark bark! Dozens of black dogs had appeared out of nowhere and were charging down the hallway toward Siwoo and Sharon like eager gifts for their mom. -Awoooo! -Hauuuu! And a few of them were howling to report Siwoo's escape position. At this rate, even his last hopes of shaking them or playing hide-and-seek were doomed. The situation just kept deteriorating by the second—it was almost admirable. Caught. Any moment now. The black dogs were smaller, so faster than the mother. The problem was, the instant they grappled here, it'd grab their ankles completely. Once the hard-maintained distance closed, only a head-on fight remained. A black dog chasing right behind Siwoo leaped ferociously. At that moment, Sharon—nestled against his chest—fumbled something from her sleeve, popped it in her mouth, and aimed her wand backward.
"Balance!"
Siwoo felt his ears heat up with Sharon's incantation. A small fireball appeared before the wand, then fanned out into a sheet of flame. Not like some movie flamethrower. The flames spread like a tidal wave, incinerating the entire floor corner to corner.
"That was my last one... Used up all the mana I gathered while running!"
"Good job, Sharon! We lived thanks to you!"
They'd barely shaken the dog pack and reached the opposite building. Couldn't jump down just like that. The mother dog had pinpointed their position right next to the landing spot and swatted the building's side with a massive forepaw. -BOOM! A vibration shook the entire structure. The black dog's forepaw, crammed with red eyes, tore into the building like toppling Lego blocks. The sight burned into his eyes, vivid as slow motion. Its body writhed with new bulges popping out like maggots infesting a corpse. With every movement, black dogs bit through hide and flesh, spilling out and swarming up the outer wall ferociously. What the hell is that?
"Sharon, cling to me!"
"I'm already clinging!"
"Tighter!"
Staying put would get them swept up. Judging so, Siwoo gripped Sharon firmly and shot his ribbon toward the building's roof without hesitation. Using the ribbon's instant extension for bounce, he launched into the air and landed on the rooftop. A quick glance down: the mother was already slamming its body against the wall, while the pups clung to the exterior like cockroaches, crawling up at breakneck speed.
"Let's split up. I'll draw their attention—you run first."
"Sharon, that's not what's important right now."
"It is! We'll both die like this! I dragged you into this hunt, so I'll take responsibility! Hurry! Run ahead!"
"Sharon!"
Siwoo firmly gripped the shoulders of Sharon, who was verging on panic. For the first time, they had a moment for real conversation. Maybe there was a way out of this hellish mess.
"Anyway, it'll take time for that bulk to reach here. Only the small fry will come up first."
Exactly as Siwoo said. No matter how fast the homunculus was for its size, its massive body was heavy. Running plains and scaling buildings were totally different skills.
"So listen to me. That thing's off."
"How?"
Siwoo quickly explained the clues he'd spotted while fleeing.
"Sharon, you really think that's a homunculus with thousands of eyes?"
"Whether I think so or not, you saw it. Body's covered in eyeballs."
"But does it seem dozens of times stronger than history's worst homunculus?"
"Well..."
"Look."
At first, pure terror. Couldn't help the instinctive fear from its overwhelming size—demolishing a whole department store, smashing everything in its path just by walking. But in the frantic escape, doubts crept in. The homunculus lacked the seasoned presence unique to the truly powerful. All the strong foes Siwoo had faced had auras matching their strength. Like Ea Sadal Melik, whose mere breathing felt suffocating. Or Della Redcliff, who could steal complete control with the slightest lapse. They were all grand witches of rank 20 or higher. Ea was a 21st-rank witch who could claim a title without issue. Demolishing a department store was impressive. Its explosive pursuit, smashing the night streets relentlessly, was too. But that was it. Siwoo pictured it in his mind. If that were Ea down there? Could he have escaped this far? No way. No matter how much stronger he'd gotten through events, full-power Ea would crush him in under a minute—he knew it from experience and logic. He'd been pitifully blown away by her 'slightly' serious attack before.
"Up to here, it's just a hunch. But you saw the black dogs all coming from it, right?"
"Yeah, I saw! Just as they climbed up."
Sharon seemed to sense something too; the near-death panic eased. Instead, she perked up her ears, listening intently to Siwoo.
"I read that homunculus's mana just now. Total mess. Not concentrated in one spot—scattered all over like it was sprinkled."
"Huh...?"
"What if all those eyes on its body aren't from one entity? What if the mother dog's just a 'swarm'?"
In dire straits, human thinking narrows and biases. So Sharon hadn't considered it while fleeing the mother dog decked out in eyeballs like jewelry. Homunculi grow stronger with more legacies—using diverse witch-level magic, making them tricky to hunt. But that mother? Nothing but spawning pups—no real magic. Pure physical ability in the chase. Even now, reduced to a chicken-chasing mutt, it just swatted walls or clumsily fell while climbing. Was that the disgrace befitting a homunculus with four-digit eyes?
"Now that you mention it..."
If it had just twenty eyes or so, she'd have told Siwoo to quit yapping and prep to run. But that number was too absurd. And Siwoo's argument rang brutally realistic. No time for deep thought. The pups that had scaled the walls were already surrounding Siwoo and Sharon on the rooftop. Even below, the mother—realizing it couldn't reach with a standing jump—backed up for a run-up and clung to the wall. Each time its hefty bulk stuck, chunks of building crumbled, and the whole thing swayed violently.
"So, what's the plan?"
Sharon clutched her wand tightly, knowing it was useless without mana. Siwoo, spear at the ready, glared at the pups and spat through gritted teeth.
"Thanks to them, we got our fill of merry-go-round. Time to hit 'em back." ```