Chapter 245
Chapter 245
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: Squeak-Squeak
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It's not the smell of rain, nor the fishy stench, nor the rot of decaying corpses. It's the eerie, venomous body odor unique to amphibians.
I can feel the damp malice, soaked in sticky moisture, licking across my skin.
I look up at the dark jungle of gray concrete.
The skeletal remains of concrete, built to neatly house hundreds or thousands of people, then abandoned for reasons unknown—money, perhaps, or monsters.
From the pitch-black holes punched into those dreary structures and the shadows cast by the buildings themselves, monsters in human form emerge. Very slowly, so very slowly.
Staggering, stumbling, swaying—lurch, then lurch again.
Humans stripped of their egos, with blank faces, dazed expressions, and unfocused eyes rolling around loosely.
Slurp—drip—sluuuurp—
From their gaping mouths spill nauseating pink, moist, squishy, wrinkled creatures.
Disgusting worm-like things drip and slither out—plop, sluuurp.
The skin on their faces swells, and beneath it, wriggling, squirming.
The shapes of worms twisting under the skin become visible. There are so many tangled beneath that they can't all fit. The worms rub and grind against each other until they finally push out the eyeballs, squeezing through the gaps in the sockets... Gush! Sluuuuurp—sloooosh—sliiiiide—now pouring not just from their mouths but from the holes where their eyes once were.
The worms, upon touching the air, seem to feel some displeasure on their sensitive skin and erupt into horrific shrieks—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—
Squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—
"Aaagh! Aaaah! Aaaah!"
Screams erupt from here and there.
Screams from the Bongilcheon Gang thugs, startled out of their wits.
"Waaaugh! Uuugh! Waaauuugh—waaauuugh!"
Starting with someone's dry heaves—
Run away! No, I can't! I can't do this! That's wrong! It's too horrific, disgusting! Save me! What's happening?! I'm gonna puke, stop! No! No! I'm running! I don't need the money anymore! I don't want to die!
A massive uproar explodes from the back lines.
One, then two. People start slowly backing away.
"You bastards! Get a grip! Get a grip, you idiots!"
Yeom Geumja's shouts rallying her men. No matter what, she's the NPC set as the leader of this organization.
As such, she has charm stats befitting her role, along with traits specialized in commanding groups: [Demagogue], [Ruthless Commander], [Coercive Orders], [Intimidating Roar].
"Look! See! Look at that! Don't look at those fucking monsters crawling toward us! Look at that bastard blocking the way between you and the monsters! That Destroyer Demon! Look at the Destroyer Demon!"
Ah, me? I'm a bit busy right now... No, it'd be better to push myself and put on a flashy show to make Yeom Geumja's agitation work.
I raise both hands—moving the mana stone guns loaded with iron harpoons.
Whoosh! Click!
There are nineteen in total.
I just need to move them the same way as before, but this time, simultaneously.
Even simple spells become exponentially harder and require far more calculations when cast in multiples.
I'm already using [Invisible Hand] nineteen times over just to move the guns. That's not too tough... but...
[Mana-fication: Penetration]
[Spell Enhancement: Multi-cast]
Now thirty-eight.
Still manageable.
"Alright, let's do this."
Starting with [Mana Overload], I multi-cast the same eight enchantments from before, nineteen times each.
Kiiiiiing!!
Kreeeeee!!
"And make it a bit flashier and spicier—"
[Something Stolen from the Sky]
[Spell Enhancement: Multi-cast]
Kwaruuung! Kwaruuuurrr—crackle, zzzap—zzzzappp!!
Lightning blasts from all nineteen harpoon guns in unison.
Vivid blue sparks. Azure bolts bright enough to banish shadows everywhere.
"This... is... pretty intense..."
Grind—
That's the sound of my teeth grinding.
Immense pressure builds in my head. How many spells am I casting at once? [Invisible Hand] plus [Mana-fication] makes eleven types, so 209?
I'm really out of my mind.
But this isn't the end. I keep going, layering on new magic.
[Protection Circle]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximization]
[Spell Enhancement: Multi-cast]
[Shock Nullification]
The pain feels like my brain's about to spew out my mouth from the computational strain.
[Heavenly Sight]
Swoooosh—
My vision expands dramatically. Piercing through layers of walls and buildings, I pinpoint what needs destroying.
Targets acquired.
The squeak-squeaking horde surging forward—I'm calling them worms for simplicity now, but they're Hulijing, that famous yokai. Not well-known in Korea, but anyway, from Tibet, named in China or whatever. Know the tale of the blind man who ate worm meat and gained sight? Those who eat Hulijing open their eyes to the abyss. Those staggering humans are, in a way, forcibly empowered by abyssal forces... Wait, what am I even thinking? Brain overload messing with my control. Focus—focus—snap out of it!
Aim.
They still haven't noticed what's happening.
Nineteen harpoons infused with lightning power.
All projectiles at once—
Fire.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!
The iron harpoons shoot out not in straight lines but bizarre arcs, spewing massive lightning.
Kzzzzap—zzzzapp—pop! Zzzzzappp!
The shockwaves paralyze the humans staggering forward, enslaved by the worms—Hulijing.
But that's just a side effect added late.
The harpoon shots, like arrows wrapped in lethal penetration and massive destruction, pierce dozens of walls and ceilings before smashing my intended targets.
Thud! Boom! Crack! Kwang! Crunch!
Over twenty large mana signatures vanish in an instant.
Commanders, lieutenants, a few strategists, sorcerers, and comms officers scattered throughout the apartment complex—gone.
The cult leader was already eliminated.
With them wiped out, the Hulijing, operating on collective consciousness, lose focus and direction, devolving into dumb beasts driven by base instinct and reaction.
Thud-thud-thud—crash-crash—
Thump—thump—boom—
Even deprived of their ability to control humans, the staggering puppets halt and collapse.
"What... what?"
"What just happened?"
The dim-witted Bongilcheon thugs wouldn't grasp exactly what I did.
But they surely got the message: flashy lights from me, and enemies dropping.
What? Did that wizard, that Destroyer Demon, pull something off? Really? Are we winning? The thugs hesitate, fear and doubt not fully dispelled.
For them, born demagogue Yeom Geumja bellows firmly and fiercely.
"You see that, you morons?! See what the Destroyer Demon did?! Look at what he accomplished with the same shitty weapons you have! Got it?! Destroyer Demon! We've got a Destroyer Demon! Even if the entire Three Heads Society swarms us, they can't touch one Destroyer Demon! Got it?! Got it?! We've got a Destroyer Demon!"
Just cheer "Destroyer Demon!" That's what she means, and even these thugs can manage that.
"Waaaah!! Destroyer Demon! Destroyer Demon!"
"Destroyer Demon! Destroyer Demon!"
"The Destroyer Demon protects us!"
"The Destroyer Demon shields us!"
[System: Those around you are inspired by your heroic deed. Nearby individuals are temporarily exempt from sanity checks.]
Yeom Geumja grins wickedly as her agitation takes hold. Those guys... might evolve from thugs into something more fanatical if handled right.
"Destroyer Demon! Destroyer Demon! What's next? Attack? Just say the word—one word—and these guys'll fight anyone!"
Revenge! We'll crush them! That's the look on Yeom Geumja's face.
She's itching to feed her men blood, but... "Hmm—Lady, that's moving too fast."
"Lady, those worms are just worms now. Have your people collect the fallen."
"What? Collect them? Not fight? It's over already?"
"No. Not over. There's one more to show up, right?"
Before I finish—
Groooaaarrr!!
A massive earthquake.
Vibrations and explosions threatening to collapse the whole complex. From the giant holes torn in the ground—
"Chrrrrruuuk!!"
"Knew it'd differ from the game..."
Just as I'd heard, a worm the size of a train begins emerging.
It's even got a fancy name: [Giant Leech]. But like most games, it's wriggling just like the [Blood Leech] from before.
Same skeleton, different skin.
Disappointing. I mutter that as I hop on my skateboard.
"Lady, can you handle that?"
Note: there's more than one. Another emerges from behind a building. Then one more from a ground hole. And another, and another.
"No! No way! No! I can't!"
Yeom Geumja screams and retreats.
"Good. Then I'll handle it as planned."
[Acceleration]
I race toward the approaching complex, sending my will to Jang Hyun-deok while thinking what I want, can, and must do.
"Hey, Super Hyper Magical Jang Hyun-deok, remember? Don't mix up left and right."
- Ugh, got it.
"Yeah, I've set up the opener, so no need to touch anything till I say. Just adjust the dials when I tell you."
As I said last time, this is my desperate ploy against my real enemies—the abyssal entities.
Prep's over halfway done. Now it just depends on Super Hyper Magical Jang Hyun-deok.
* * *
"Whoa! He's running on the walls!"
"Hmph, well. Truly, utterly—ridiculous. I've seen mages before, but none zipping around like that—"
Kwaaaaaang!
Lightning summoned by Kim Shin-hwa crashes from sky to earth.
"hand-waving spells like it's nothing. First time, really."
While Ryu Jae-geun marvels at Kim Shin-hwa, he's already atop an apartment roof again. He raises a hand skyward—fwoooosh!!
A torrent of flames erupts from ground to sky.
"My God... is that really human?"
"How is 'that' the same as us?"
Bongilcheon thugs gape in horror at Kim Shin-hwa dominating every direction in the distance.
"Huh?"
Jang Hyun-deok looks puzzled at their reactions.
Something feels off, awkward. Why are they acting like this? Not working?
- Hyun-deok, adjust. Adjust. It's coming now.
"Ah, right. Which dial first?"
- First one: three turns right. Second: one notch left.
"Got it, three right. This one one left."
Jang Hyun-deok frantically twists the dials.
And in that distracted moment for everyone.
"Squeak... squeak... I heard it, squeak-squeak..."
From behind Yeom Geumja, behind the Bongilcheon Gang, and behind Jang Hyun-deok at the [Mobile Barrier Generator]—something creeps out.
"Guhk—kghk—worms, worms. Some bastard's head exploded in front of me, worms splattered. Worms crawled into the guy ahead of me, wriggling. But guhk—hehe—kghk—hihi. Hehehe..."
He stares at the hole in his wrist. Where the worm burrowed.
Under his skin, something writhes like tangled veins—squirm, wriggle.
"Ah—yes, ah—I see it— the abyss—I see—ah—far—dark—lonely—move—rise—that—thaaaaat—living altar—advance toward it—"
The madman staggers to his feet.
He pries his mouth open—crack. From his throat, pink, wriggling, slimy masses swarm.
Now only faint squeak-squeaks escape his mouth.
Squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—squeak-squeak—Too vile and horrific to call human sound.