Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: The Chain Rampage Incident (6)
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"Finally found it."
A tree root protruding between the buttons of his dress shirt. Pupils trembling red.
His pants were torn, and streams of blood from split skin soaked the ground.
The bark of a tree slowly crept up over the man's jaw as he heaved ragged breaths. Soon, the human form vanished entirely, leaving only the shape of a monster behind.
Ent.
-Die mended, dyed red, what do you seek?
A verse said to have been written by the first human to lay eyes on an Ent.
I had no idea what had turned him into that monster, but it didn't look like a good thing to me.
"Grrr... grr."
-Kyaaack!
-S-Save me!
The man could no longer even speak human language.
The street embracing the Ent had become a cauldron of madness.
A squalid scene unfolded of people shoving others aside to save themselves.
"Kerrk."
The man, now swollen to enormous size, lowered his head and placed his heavy arms on the asphalt.
He resembled an orc or troll clad in armor.
There was no way such a monster retained any consciousness.
It merely kept howling something nonstop.
"......Medicine."
The air flow shifted. The atmosphere grew heavy, and immense pressure bore down on my body.
"Dad... sob, Dad?"
The child murmuring blankly was blocked from view by San Su-yu's hand.
San Su-yu gave me a look, and I nodded.
First things first, we had to get out of here.
"Raaargh!!!!!"
The beast let out a savage roar and charged straight at me.
I bent my knees and lowered my stance.
As I gathered mana throughout my body, the surrounding air began to ripple in a circle.
The intangible force rode the wind, surging up into the sky.
Dust and sand on the ground lifted into the air on those currents.
-Suppressing an Ent boils down to three key things. First, prevent any human casualties. Second, deal with the Ent. Third, avoid damaging facilities.
I scanned my surroundings, tensed my legs,
and shot forward.
-Pang!
"Kerk!?"
A ripple of air exploded outward.
The startled Ent swung a fist the size of my entire body, but just before it connected, I took a single step back.
-Whoosh!
The tree bark grazed my nose.
A drop of blood beaded at the tip and splattered onto the sidewalk block.
Whether from battle excitement or not, it didn't really hurt.
Riding the shifted momentum, I whipped a roundhouse kick into its chest.
"Keeek!"
The Ent screeched pathetically. But due to its massive bulk, my kick didn't push it back much.
I'd meant to send it flying, but the weight class difference made my attacks ineffective.
"Raaargh!"
Its fist whistled past my hair.
'If I had a sword... no, even with one, it'd be the same?'
The wounds on its bleeding body had long since regenerated.
The monster clenched its fist tight.
So did I.
Our fists, brimming with mana, crashed into each other.
-Boom!
Fierce vibrations and pain swept through my entire arm.
Crack, crack. The fissures in its bark climbed up my arm to my shoulder.
"Ngh."
I let out a short groan, kicked off the ground, and drove my heel up into its chin.
For that brief instant it hung in the air, I slammed my left palm into it with all my strength, sending it flying backward.
"Krahk!"
The Ent soared through the air.
My right hand throbbed, and my finger joints felt misaligned, refusing to grip properly.
I walked toward it, intermittently using my healing power.
San Su-yu and the child were already out of sight.
The fallen beast's eyes lacked any spark of life, as if it had burned through every last bit.
Just as I moved to finish it off,
"Kyaaack!"
Chaos erupted right beside me.
"Grrrk, grrr."
"Grrooo."
Two Ents.
They rampaged through the shopping street, radiating murderous intent.
A chill ran through my entire body.
"Not... just one?"
I even muttered something dumb.
When I spotted a young man targeted by one of them, my body launched forward faster than I thought possible.
"S-Save me!"
The youth squeezed his eyes shut and flailed his arms helplessly.
I kicked the Ent's face with everything I had.
Its massive body tilted and toppled.
-Throb.
"...Fuck."
I'd moved too hastily without properly coating myself in mana. The pain of torn muscles hit my instep.
I grabbed the young man by the scruff and hurled him to safety, then took the recovering Ent's attack head-on.
-Crash!
Its fist smashed into my face.
I didn't budge.
Flesh shredded by the bark fell to the ground, blood pouring steadily.
Thanks to the mask, my face didn't get pulped, but fuck, it hurt like hell.
'Hurry up already.'
As I grumbled inwardly, footsteps sounded right behind me.
-Tap!
Familiar footwork. The rhythm I'd heard countless times.
San Su-yu.
Pale yellow petals tickled my nose.
-Slash!
"Raaaaagh!"
The arm that had struck my face severed clean off.
"...Serves you right, you bastard."
"Siheon."
"Yeah, I'm good."
I clutched my nose and fell back. Thanks to healing power and natural regeneration, the bleeding had already stopped.
While San Su-yu bought me time, I caught my breath and scanned the area.
A snapped streetlamp, a crumpled building sign. Shattered glass littered the sidewalk.
I spat blood and refilled my fists with mana.
-Humm.
Murderous aura rose over my shoulders.
The black mana held about the same intensity as when I'd faced off against Lee Seong-han.
One left, excluding the one San Su-yu was handling. The one smashing buildings, now wearing a twisted grin.
It turned, taking in my form.
It sneered. The Ent's smile warped grotesquely.
"Raaaaagh!"
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
The ground shook like an earthquake.
The tension pounding in my chest no longer fazed me.
My body simply followed instinct.
-Whoosh.
2 meters.
As it swung its fist,
I kicked off the ground and leaped.
The punch missed me entirely.
The strike, laden with black energy, pierced its forehead.
"Kerk-."
The colossal body crumbled. By the time I confirmed the death of the Ent San Su-yu had been fighting,
the battle was finally over.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After the fight, we rendezvoused with the organization's members.
Things wrapped up swiftly. The dead Ents were teleported away via Hwangdo's magic, and the broken streetscape began repairing itself piece by piece through spells.
I leaned dazedly against a toppled streetlamp.
Rosie approached with a bright smile.
"Good work, junior."
I accepted the water bottle she offered and twisted off the cap.
"Three Ents, huh. Makes sense you're the master's disciple. Impressive at your age."
"My age? What about yours, Rosie-"
"Shut that mouth if you wanna live."
"-Haha. I wanna live a long time."
I laughed cheerfully.
I gulped down the water. It had a faintly sweet tang.
"Why's it taste like this?"
"Don't ask. It's properly processed. No issues."
I took a sip, my eyes flicking downward for a split second.
Come to think of it, Simpi had mentioned a few times that Rosie peddled her love juices.
'......No way this too?'
-Gulp.
"It's a reward, huh."
"...What're you on about? You're not right in the head either. But you know?"
"Know what?"
"A bunch of off-the-shelf potions include fluids from male maple Wood People."
"What the fuck?"
A shiver ran through me. Was what I just drank...? Suddenly nauseous, I bent over and heaved with all my might.
"Urk! Cough, cough. Blegh!"
"Ah, no.... Why react like that! It's normal!"
Normal my ass—why the hell would I drink some guy's fluids?
Vomiting repeatedly brought up flecks of blood.
"Junior, that.... Why on earth."
"......I'd die before drinking male sap."
"You hate blood that much?"
"Blood? That's not-"
Rosie tilted her head.
"You went on about love juice sales, so I figured it was semen for sure-"
"Fuck, junior! Shut up. Nothing's off-limits at a disaster site. What lunatic male maple would sell that kind of filthy stuff! Most potions below high-grade are made from maple tree blood!"
Rosie clamped my mouth shut and scolded me. Feeling awkwardly embarrassed, I scratched the back of my neck.
"But below high-grade? What about high-grade and up...."
"No comment on that. They're effective, that's true."
I vowed inwardly.
Never touch high-grade potions or higher.
But that sparked more questions.
"Your stuff ends up on the market too?"
Rosie blushed faintly.
"......Look around. Might be out there. But our unit doesn't touch the commercial stuff."
"Huh?"
"What do you think this one's made from? From a Wood Person with the absolute best blood among maples."
I stared at the bottle in my hand. It didn't look like any mass-produced item.
For her to say that now...... it really was, wasn't it.
"Who knows."
I brushed it off, and Rosie giggled.
"Well, it all worked out without a hitch. You pulled off some big saves, from what I saw?"
"Nah, nothing major."
I brushed off Rosie's praise coolly.
Just moments ago, the people whose lives I'd saved had come up to thank me profusely.
It was only natural after I'd protected them at the cost of my own injuries, but honestly, I never imagined I'd come to this world and actually help people—and receive genuine gratitude for it.
'Until recently, they were just insulting my looks.'
Did those bastards know I'd ended up like this?
Thinking back to being dragged to the station over my face still made my blood boil.
Oh, right—that guard lady. Wonder how she's doing.
If I end up near my old place someday, I should buy her a drink.
Hwangdo, having finished up her work, waved and ran over.
"Brother!!"
Hwangdo threw herself into my arms as I slumped against the lamppost.
P, watching from afar, whistled.
"Our brother's such a good boy~ You did amazing. Hehe."
Hwangdo ruffled my hair, giggling at me for a good while.
"Should sis give you a reward?"
"Looking forward to it."
Hwangdo licked her upper lip seductively.
I gave a casual reply and shoved her off gently as I stood.
"Then, can I claim that reward now?"
"What is it?"
Hwangdo nodded in assent. Only then could I finally take in the one child I'd been deliberately avoiding looking at.
In today's disaster—the silver lining being zero other casualties.
There was one child who had lost her father.
I made a single request of her.
Hwangdo smiled and agreed.