Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Salvation
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Left alone, Han Yu-ra gripped her bow tightly. The bow in her hand began to glow faintly, as if reacting to its owner seething with rage.
She was no longer the leader responsible for hundreds of lives. She was simply a vengeful ghost, determined to avenge her comrades.
Han Yu-ra closed the eyes of her pain-twisted comrades one by one, then roughly shoved intact arrows from their quivers into her own.
Slinging a couple more quivers packed full of arrows over her shoulders, Han Yu-ra stepped into the orcs' territory without hesitation.
The orcs' domain reacted swiftly to the presence of a living human.
"Kruaaagh!"
The orcs' roars echoed through the forest.
Soon after, Han Yu-ra calmly watched as orcs came charging from all directions, drawn by the scent of human.
"Feel the same pain I endured."
After taking a deep breath, Han Yu-ra drew three arrows from her quiver and nocked them on the bowstring all at once.
Shick! Shick! Shick!
The three arrows released from her hand sliced through the air and struck precisely in the eyes and throats of the three leading orcs.
Watching the orcs charge toward her without a care for their fallen comrades, Han Yu-ra spat a curse.
"Filthy scum..."
Han Yu-ra turned the forest into her battlefield, constantly moving behind trees and rocks for cover, mechanically nocking arrows and firing them at her foes over and over.
Her movements were like a beautiful dance. With her Agility stat over 50, the orcs couldn't even track her afterimages. She was truly elusive, appearing and vanishing like a ghost.
'Is that all you've got? Come on, try harder. Kill me if you can!'
Han Yu-ra leaped onto a tree branch to fire an arrow, then rolled back to the ground and drew the string again. Her arrows never missed.
This was the moment when years of grueling practice on Earth—which had made her an Olympic gold medalist—shone brightest. Stats and skills merely supported her.
Each time she released the fully drawn bowstring to its limit, an arrow pierced an orc's skull and dealt massive damage to the one behind it.
The orcs fell screaming like fallen leaves, unable to mount any real resistance. Han Yu-ra was crushing them literally as described.
But the endless waves of orcs showed no sign of thinning. Meanwhile, the arrows in the quivers on her back were steadily running out.
'Damn it, I'm running low on arrows...!'
Yet Han Yu-ra didn't panic. She dashed to the corpse of an orc she'd just shot, yanked the arrow from its head, and fired it again.
It would have been impossible without the tower's blessing enhancing her strength.
She pulled arrows coated in blood and brains, nocked them, fired, ran to another corpse, pulled more, and fired again. Repeating the cycle.
The engine of infinite motion had begun.
After killing over a hundred orcs, Han Yu-ra's appearance had changed dramatically from the start.
Her signature orange bob haircut was dyed red, and her body was drenched in the orcs' spilled blood.
During the battle, she leveled up three times. Seizing brief moments to catch her breath, she unhesitatingly invested every point into Strength—to kill even more orcs.
By then, even the fearless orcs hesitated at the sight of her.
"Is this all? Come at me like you did my comrades!"
Despite her spirited words, Han Yu-ra's body was visibly exhausted from the accumulated fatigue of overuse, unlike at the beginning.
The orcs knew it too, so they kept their distance, watching from afar instead of rushing in recklessly.
It was then, as Han Yu-ra pondered whether to chase down the remaining orcs...
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Kuuuung-!
With a tremor shaking the ground, a massive presence appeared—one incomparable to the other orcs.
Above the orc's head floated an information window like this.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ [Named Orc Krul] [Lv. 21]
The giant orc, easily over three meters tall, was clad in crude but sturdy iron helmet and armor. In his hand was a massive battle axe as thick as a person's thigh.
"That axe..."
It matched exactly the massive wounds on Jae-ho and Min-su's bodies.
Han Yu-ra bit her lip. That was the bastard who had massacred her hunting party.
[You're the human bitch who slaughtered my tribesmen, aren't you?]
Krul's voice boomed across the entire forest.
In response, Han Yu-ra fired an arrow at his face. But with a metallic clang!, it bounced harmlessly off his iron helmet.
'Damn! His gear's blocking the attacks!'
Without panicking, Han Yu-ra aimed for gaps in his armor and fired again. But Krul dodged her arrows with agility unfit for his bulk or swatted them away with his axe.
[Kukuku, was that supposed to be an attack?]
Krul sneered at Han Yu-ra as he strode toward her.
'He's strong...!'
Han Yu-ra's instincts told her this foe was on another level from the trash mobs she'd faced.
She activated her special ability, Eagle's Eye. Her vision expanded sharply, and Krul's movements slowed in her sight. She desperately sought weaknesses in his motions.
But Krul showed no openings. Instead, he baited her attacks, luring her deeper into his territory.
'Tch, this won't work. No spot for a finishing shot.'
In the end, Han Yu-ra chose quantity over quality.
She unleashed dozens, hundreds of arrows. Over a hundred sank into Named Orc Krul's gear, and she even recovered usable arrows from nearby corpses for more shots. Yet his armor prevented any fatal wounds.
Only her arrows were depleting rapidly.
Finally.
The moment she ran out of arrows to fire, her defeat was all but sealed.
Shiiik-!
Now, Han Yu-ra could only desperately dodge each swing of Krul's massive axe.
She darted around evading his attacks, but each near-miss sent vibrations through the air, making her body scream in protest.
She'd expended too much stamina on the trash mob orcs.
'Logically, I should aim for the next chance. But retreating now... I'd feel too sorry for my dead comrades!'
The smiling faces of Jae-ho and Min-su flickered before Han Yu-ra's eyes.
"I absolutely... won't back down here!"
Han Yu-ra mustered her last reserves of strength. She waited for Krul to swing his axe wide—aiming under his armpit, the only gap in his armor.
Toward that spot, she loosed her final arrow, pouring everything she had into it.
But Krul had been waiting for that moment. He feinted a swing, then abruptly changed direction and smashed his axe down on her bow.
Kwajik!
In her recklessness, she'd lost her weapon—her bow, like an extension of herself, shattered to pieces under Krul's axe.
"Ah...!"
Han Yu-ra stared blankly at the fragments of her broken bow. She'd lost everything. Her comrades, her means of revenge. Nothing remained for her.
Krul approached her slowly. A cruel smile of victory twisted his face. A shadow of despair loomed over Han Yu-ra's head.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ [Bitch! You've prepared to bear twice as many offspring as the tribesmen you killed, right?!]
At Krul's horrific declaration, Han Yu-ra's body froze in terror amid her peril.
Too late, she turned to flee, but it was already over. Without her bow, the 'Archer' class penalty activated— all stats reduced by 20%.
Movements that would normally be effortless now felt sluggish, like trudging through mud.
[Where do you think you're running, bitch?]
Krul's massive hand seized her leg in an instant.
"Aaaack! Let go!"
She was slammed to the ground. Krul mounted her, ripping her leather armor apart with brute force.
Crack!
The tough leather gear tore open, and even the shirt beneath shredded away, exposing her large breasts bare to the air without a bra.
Han Yu-ra's reaction was desperate. She frantically crossed her arms to cover her chest, but Krul pinned even those down.
[Hiss! Behave and prepare to receive my seed. Resist more, and I'll rip those legs off.]
At Krul's threat, Han Yu-ra—her body stiffening at the words—could no longer resist. Hot tears streamed from her eyes.
[Kukuku, good girl. Stay still, and I won't kill you.]
'No... Not like this... I can't be defiled like this...!'
Krul approached, laughing in excitement. Moments later, his enormous shadow completely engulfed her body.
This was truly the end. In this hellish place, she'd be violated by this filthy monster and live as a machine to bear his spawn.
'Might as well...'
She tried to bite her tongue, but lacked the courage. The fear of death outweighed the shame of violation.
In the end, she could do nothing but squeeze her eyes shut.
...
But the expected pain never came.
Krul's every action halted. His ragged breathing, the ground-shaking footsteps—everything stopped as if by magic.
Han Yu-ra, eyes clenched shut, grew puzzled when nothing happened.
"...!!!"
She couldn't believe the scene before her.
A thin red line ran down the center of Krul's body—from his iron helmet, through his armor and tough skin, straight to his crotch. A perfect vertical line, as if sliced by a ruler.
Srrrring—
Krul's armor split precisely in two vertically. As if it had always been two pieces, his helmet and plate slid apart to either side.
First, his armor disassembled. Then his bare body inside was revealed.
Next, Krul's body cleaved perfectly in half. Bones, muscles, organs—all split without resistance, like a ripe watermelon, collapsing to the sides. Hot blood and entrails spilled onto the ground, releasing a foul stench.
All of it happened in a single second.
Not a drop of blood splattered outward, even as his body was severed. Such was the cleanness of the sword strike.
Han Yu-ra stared dumbly at the sight. Then, against the sunset, a man appeared.
"Phew. You looked in danger, so I helped out. I didn't arrive too late, did I?"
Han Yu-ra, still unable to distinguish dream from reality, simply stared at her savior. He approached and extended a hand.
"Are you alright? Let's get you up."
At his low, gentle voice, Han Yu-ra instinctively grasped the offered hand and stood.
His hand was remarkably large and warm. Unknowingly, she felt a sense of relief in that warmth. Rising to her feet, she bowed deeply to him.
"Thank you... Thank you so much for saving me..."
Her voice trembled with gratitude and relief as she bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
She had no idea that this man who pulled her from the pit of despair was the very one who had pushed her into it.