Master, Do Not Die So Recklessly
“Don’t you two interfere. I’ll handle Tie.”
After driving the ship at full speed and arriving at Fox Island, Kang-rim gave that order to Iris and Sua.
“Go to the laboratory and save the people.”
Due to Tie’s atrocities, every ship capable of leaving the island had been sunk. With no means of escape, the survivors would be hiding in the laboratory, which had an underground shelter. Kang-rim instructed them to lead everyone hiding in the lab to the flagship while he led his troops to face Tie.
“Get everyone on board and leave Fox Island immediately, understood?”
Naturally, Iris and Sua resisted this order.
They argued that this wasn’t an opponent he could face alone. No matter how strong their master was, it was impossible to take on a Monster by himself. They shouted for him to at least take them with him.
But Kang-rim had no intention of taking Iris or Sua.
“Tie must have attacked this island specifically targeting me.”
Why would Tie target Fox Island instead of Turtle Island? It was likely to kill the enemy known as Grid. She must have attacked, believing that Grid had returned.
That was Kang-rim’s judgment.
Therefore, if the enemy’s goal was him, it was better to go alone. It would be easier with Iris or Sua, but Kang-rim made the tactical blunder of going solo.
First, his reasons for not taking Iris were as follows:
“Iris, if I die, you have to assist Artria in my place. If I lose you too, what will happen to the Queens?”
If he died, Artria would automatically become the successor. Iris and Talia needed to support her. Even if Artria was an all-capable secretary, it was impossible for her to handle everything alone. Therefore, for the sake of the future, Iris had to be kept alive.
The reason for not taking Sua was simple.
“What kind of madman takes a pregnant woman to the battlefield?”
Because she was pregnant. He didn’t want to drag a pregnant woman into a battlefield, telling her to die with him.
So, Kang-rim made up his mind not to take them.
In truth, if he wanted to live, taking both of them would be the logical choice. One wrong move could lead to a miserable end here. He might suffer a fate worse than being torn limb from limb and impaled on a stake.
If that happened, the happy ending Kang-rim desired would never be seen.
Therefore, it would be wise to take the two women who had cheat-level stats in the game. Since it wasn’t just a simple beast, but a monster enhanced by the drug Black Light, there was no guarantee of victory even with troops.
If he wanted to increase his odds of winning, he shouldn’t be picky about his methods.
He should have done that, yet Kang-rim gave up.
He gave up and chose to sacrifice himself instead. Kang-rim didn’t even know why he felt that way.
He just didn’t want to see the women he had claimed die.
That was all.
Perhaps that was why it was only natural that a rough sound escaped Kang-rim’s lips right now.
“Are you two insane? Why are you here? Are you dying to die?”
He had tried to sacrifice himself to let them live, yet they had come on their own. These frustrating fools! Kang-rim’s voice rose involuntarily.
“‘Dying to die’? We came to help. But isn’t it a bit much to say that to us after we came all this way?”
Sua, who had stood up on her own two feet after breaking free from Iris, wore an expression of disbelief.
“We came to survive. If we run away, Tie won’t leave us alone anyway. From the start, Tie views you and us as the same. Do you think she’ll just leave us be if she only kills you?”
As she said that, Sua waved her fingers in the air. The character Hwan (喚 - Summon) appeared in the void. Sua flicked the character with her finger.
With that flick, a fox the size of Tie, with flames raging across its entire body, descended. It was a familiar created by Sua. The familiar followed Sua’s instructions and clashed with Tie.
“If you die, we’re the ones who get into trouble.”
Normally, summoning a familiar would be impossible. Sua had a choker around her neck. As long as that choker, which sealed her from using spiritual power, was there, she couldn’t display her full potential no matter how much power overflowed within her.
However, Sua could use it now.
“You’re the one who made it so we can’t live without you, so why are you making such a fuss about dying?”
Because Kang-rim had modified it. Using the ancient artifact offered by Akelon of the Turtle tribe, Kang-rim had altered the choker around Sua’s neck.
He had adjusted it so that if the conditions Kang-rim set were met, she could use her sealed power to her heart’s content.
And that condition was:
“I’ve fallen head over heels for you, so if you die, how am I supposed to live? Are you just telling me to die?”
Falling truly and deeply in love with Kang-rim. Being in a state where she could offer her body and soul for his sake. Sua had met that condition, allowing her to break the shackles and use her power.
Therefore, Sua could not bear to watch Kang-rim die.
“If you’re going to die, let’s die together, Master. Don’t go making countless women into widows.”
“I am of the same opinion as Sua, Master.”
Iris also agreed with Sua. Her voice trembled at the fact that she had disobeyed her master’s orders, but she still stated her opinion clearly.
“If you die, Master, I will follow you.”
“....”
“I am among them, too. I’ve already been branded an accomplice for helping a devil; do you think my family and I will be safe? If you want to gamble with your life, please consider what will happen to others as well.”
Iris spoke as if telling him to stop having such futile thoughts.
“You dragged us into hell, so please take responsibility until the end, Master. If you want to die, do it only after you’ve broken all the blades pointed at us. I am terrified of how we are to live in a world without you.”
“...Haa, damn it.”
Kang-rim let out a sigh.
“You say things like that, and I have nothing left to say.”
He couldn’t refute it. To think they valued him this much.
Of course, the reason they followed him wasn’t purely out of innocence. It was simply the fear Grid had instilled in them that made them follow. They followed because they had succumbed to that fear, and they were terrified of living in a world where the devil who gave them that fear had vanished.
Since they were branded as Grid’s accomplices, the fact that they would be finished if Grid died was also one of the reasons they followed. In the original game, there were many instances where those who followed Grid met miserable ends for being accomplices after his death, so their worries couldn’t be dismissed as mere groundless fear.
If so, there was only one thing to do. Kang-rim gripped his hammer tighter with his still-intact left hand.
‘Let’s win.’
Let’s win and reach a happy ending. Let’s reach a happy ending befitting a villain who has obtained everything. To do that, he absolutely had to win this fight. Only then could he reach the conclusion he desired.
He must win, and he must survive. With his resolve hardened, Kang-rim stared ahead.
-ROOOAAAR!
The fight between the familiar and the monster ended.
-Grrr....
The familiar’s neck was torn off. The familiar was fire itself, so the moment Tie bit it, her mouth should have been charred black, but Tie endured the pain and extinguished the familiar.
Tie’s hate-filled eyes, having eliminated the nuisance, turned toward the three of them.
And then, something astonishing happened.
[Gr...id....]
With a voice that seemed to barely maintain its sanity, Tie called out to Grid.
[Su...a....]
She called out to Sua as well. Both Kang-rim and Sua were startled that she had spoken their names.
‘Didn’t she lose all her reason?’
Those who consume Black Light become monsters who have lost their reason. Even if their closest friend is right in front of them, they treat them as nothing more than a chunk of meat suitable for eating. They can’t utter a single word other than beastly cries.
That should be the case, so why was she calling their names?
Could it be that she regained her reason...
-ROOOAAAR!
...As if that were possible! As Tie charged with terrifying momentum, Kang-rim, Iris, and Sua scattered immediately.
[I will... kill you.]
Tie declared with a voice full of resentment.
[I will kill every last one of you!]
-ROOOAAAR!
Tie used a howl. At the monster’s scream that froze their entire bodies, the three of them stiffened.
Of course, it was only for a fleeting moment. They all quickly broke free from the paralysis.
Of the three who broke free, the first to rush in was Kang-rim.
He dodged all the attacks rushing toward him, and as he got close to the beast, he leaped. He landed on top of the monster’s head. As he landed, Kang-rim swung his hammer with all his might.
His target was the eye. The previous attack had been blocked by the fur, but the eye would be different. If she lost one eye, her combat power would plummet.
The moment Kang-rim’s hammer touched the monster’s right eye with that thought,
“Ugh?”
Kang-rim was sent flying far away by a heavy impact.
Tie, having sensed the danger, had responded by headbutting him. Kang-rim tumbled on the ground after doing a few somersaults in the air.
‘Let’s eat one of them first.’
Toward Kang-rim, who couldn’t get up, Tie revealed her sharp fangs.
Just as she was about to charge with her maw wide open, Tie couldn’t move.
[...?]
Something was grabbing her hind legs. At the same time, it was incredibly hot. Tie turned her head and realized that two large wild dogs, their entire bodies ablaze, were holding onto her legs.
Following that, large chunks of flame struck Tie’s back.
-ROOOAAAR!
She writhed in pain. Even while writhing, she mercilessly bit the wild dogs that had interfered with her. Even though the inside of her mouth was charred black into charcoal, Tie eventually finished off all the wild dogs.
Behind Tie, who had finished them off, a small shadow appeared.
“Haaaaap!”
It was Iris, the knight in silver armor. Her longsword was burning red. It was because Sua had cast a spell on it.
With her flaming sword aimed at the monster’s neck, Iris thrust it down.
-ROOOAAAR!
Piercing through the iron-clad fur, the sword dug into the monster’s cervical vertebrae. Iris thrust deeper, and the deeper she went, the more the monster suffered. To cut deeply like this, Iris put strength into both hands gripping the hilt.
“Ugh?”
However, because Tie thrashed so violently, she eventually lost her balance.
The sword stuck in the neck vertebrae snapped in two.
Because she barely managed to land safely, Iris didn’t tumble on the ground like Kang-rim.
-ROOOAAAR!
Tie, realizing Iris was in a defenseless state, raised her forepaw to kill her, but
She was blocked by a large wall of fire that appeared immediately after.
[...?]
It didn’t just appear in front of Iris. Large walls of fire formed as if surrounding Tie. The monster, trapped in a prison in an instant, didn’t care that her claws were melting as she frantically scratched the walls, struck them with her tail, and attempted to body-slam them to break through.
Sua couldn’t help but be nervous as she watched the walls she had painstakingly created slowly start to crack.
“This is ridiculous. She’s not going down even after this?”
It was a situation where she should have collapsed long ago. No matter how much Tie had become a monster, there were limits. Sua was horrified by the sight of her exceeding those limits.
“Release the wall, Sua.”
Iris, who had drawn a new sword, demanded it. Iris had brought an extra sword just in case.
“This time, I will definitely cut off her head.”
“....”
“Don’t tell me, are you sympathizing with her?”
Iris rebuked Sua at the sight of her hesitation.
“Get a grip. Didn’t you hear from Master that you can’t save your friend?”
“I know. I know, but....”
“Then release it quickly. If we don’t end it here....”
It was then that the wall of fire shattered.
-ROOOAAAR!
With the shattering, a large shadow covered them.
“What?”
“Oh no!”
It was Tie. She lunged at them with her maw wide open. It was too late to dodge.
They thought they were about to be eaten, but nothing happened.
“You idiots. What are you doing just standing there?”
Just before they were eaten by Tie, Kang-rim saved them. Holding both of them with his intact left arm, he escaped to a safe distance.
Kang-rim, having saved the two, collapsed right there.
“Ugh!”
“Master, are you alright?”
“I’m... fine.”
Kang-rim said so at Iris’s worry, but his face was anything but fine. His side was stained even more with blood, and his face had turned even paler.
Unless one was a fool, it was clear he wasn’t fine at all.
“More importantly, we have to take her down quickly....”
Kang-rim knew his physical condition was poor, but he couldn’t rest.
He knew well that if he ran away here, everything would be for nothing.
No matter what, he had to settle the score here.
If so, how was he going to take her down?
Unless he became a monster like her, the odds of winning were....
‘...Wait, a monster?’
There is a saying: an eye for an eye. If so, to take down that monster....
Wouldn’t he have to become a monster himself?
“Hey, Sua.”
“What is it?”
“Can you teach me?”
Kang-rim asked Sua.
“The incantation Tie used when she turned into a monster. If you know it, teach it to me, right now!”