133. Counterattack (5)
133. Counterattack (5)
The sunset stretched long across the horizon.
The sky bled crimson, as if blood had been spilled into it.
'······You came too late.'
The boss that had entered Phase 2, Rebecca, was extending writhing tentacles, crushing and melting everything in every direction.
A hideous form that could be called the reenactment of a nightmare.
But I had already fought it hundreds of times in the game.
I could recite its attack patterns smoothly without even having to dig through my memories.
What's more, it had been designed as a perfect counter
to give impact to the release of the new character Sofia.
As long as I acted as Sofia's legs to dodge the patterns and she just fired arrows from a distance, it was an enemy we could take down easily, even if it took some time.
The boss had fallen that way. There had been no problem there.
Then what was the problem?
Why did Lee Yu-ri have to end up in such a state?
I turned my eyes and assessed the situation.
'······Kang Do-hee isn't here.'
I had arbitrarily predicted, and been certain, that Kang Do-hee would be here together.
But seeing as that weasel-like Demonized Human wasn't here either,
the bastard must have somehow succeeded in escaping Lee Yu-ri's taunt, and Kang Do-hee must have gone after her.
And there was one more miscalculation.
It was my own arrogance.
Even though I had set the goal, unachievable in the original story, of not letting a single cadet die,
I had unconsciously been clinging to the idea of Sofia's entrance scene being reproduced exactly as it was in the original.
Because of that, even while facing the boss with just the two of us,
I had ordered her to save more than half her Mana and hold back her wide-area heal skill that could be used once a day.
Even though if we had used it, we could have dealt with Rebecca much sooner and come here faster.
'Fuck.'
Saving the cadets who were on the verge of death by scattering healing arrows like rain.
Making the cadets revere Sofia as a Saintess?
'What the hell was that, what the hell was all of that for······!'
The utterly wretched sight of Lee Yu-ri entered my eyes.
A pale, bloodless face.
Her body was covered in wounds with no unmarred place, and in some holes, bone was visible.
The red blood still dripping down was forming a pool beneath her feet.
Every one of those scenes burned into me like a brand.
Thinking about what would have happened if I had been just a little later made my head spin.
Even if all the cadets here survived, it would be meaningless if Lee Yu-ri died.
Even if it meant letting all the cadets die, I would save Lee Yu-ri alone.
'It's my fault.'
My clenched fist trembled, and blood seeped out from between my fingers.
"Sofia, focused heal on Lee Yu-ri."
I spoke to Sofia, who was standing behind me, in a voice that had gone cold and subdued.
"B-but, you told me to save enough Mana to shoot it over the entire cadet body······."
"Forget it. It's no longer necessary. Just heal Lee Yu-ri."
"Ah, yes!"
At that, Sofia began to draw up the Mana she had been saving.
Whoosh—
Simultaneously, I kicked off the ground.
Thud.
The sole of my foot landed heavily, pressing down on the earth.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The pace wasn't slow or fast.
Though I was just walking, the surroundings grew quiet.
The heavy atmosphere made everyone hold their breath, unable to look away.
With my gaze fixed on Lee Yu-ri, I approached her.
"Gukbap."
"······You're late. Idiot."
Lee Yu-ri spoke in a hoarse, husky voice full of metallic grating.
"Sorry······. I'm sorry."
I bowed my head to Lee Yu-ri and apologized.
But she shook her head slightly, as if telling me not to worry about it.
"······Did I······ keep them safe?"
Her voice, trailing off as if it could be cut off at any moment.
"······Jin······ Yu-ha."
Calling my name, Lee Yu-ri met my eyes with an impassive gaze.
"Did I······ do good?"
Why was this kid such a fool?
What the hell was my request anyway?
If her own life was in danger, even if she had just turned away a little, I wouldn't have said a single word.
Words surged up inside me, choking me.
Crunch.
But I bit down firmly on my lip and forcibly swallowed those words back down.
I just repeated what I had once said to her.
"Perfectly."
Then, as if all her tension had instantly been released, Lee Yu-ri closed her eyes with a relieved smile still on her face.
Thump.
Her head leaned against my chest.
I stared down at the back of her head for a moment.
Then I lifted her up in my arms.
Right after, Sofia's skill reached Lee Yu-ri.
Like a hero who had received a god's selection,
a golden rain poured down from the sky.
Shhhhhhh—
As if time was being reversed. Her ruined body slowly recovered.
I raised my head.
The cadets flinched and shrank back, avoiding my eyes as if they'd been stung by something.
I opened my mouth without giving them a separate glance.
"Shin Se-hee."
"······Yes."
When I called, Shin Se-hee stepped forward from among the cadets.
I passed Lee Yu-ri, whom I was holding in my arms, over to her.
"Take her and let her rest."
"······Yes, I understand."
Shin Se-hee nodded briefly, then immediately turned her back and took Lee Yu-ri away.
And I, slowly, turned my back.
The destination of my gaze was the Demonized Humans,
who had done nothing but watch this entire scene from beginning to end.
Gulp.
'Wh-what kind of look is that······?'
The Demonized Human holding the severed whip swallowed dryly.
In fact, when that black-haired male cadet was approaching the shield girl,
they could have intervened and obstructed him at any time if they had wanted.
But not a single one of the Demonized Humans had dared to do such a thing.
Because they had a foreboding premonition that if they did, their heads would be cut off that very instant.
No, it was a certainty.
In reality, some Demonized Humans had flinched, intending to target Jin Yu-ha from behind,
then stopped after seeing a vision of their own heads flying off and let out a ragged breath.
They could do nothing but stand there blankly and stare at him.
'Am I······ feeling fear right now?'
A cold sweat ran down the whip Demonized Human's back.
'Against a mere, single male cadet······?'
Of course, the shield girl they had been fighting until now had shown undeniable skill.
Forcibly drawing the attention of others, restricting their attacks. And taking others' injuries onto her own body.
If she had been part of a team rather than alone, she would have been an outstanding Tank worthy of being called a nightmare.
But, she had been alone, with no Damage Dealer to fight alongside her,
and the bastards behind her had been nothing more than nuisances.
Because of that, they had thought of her as just a slightly sturdy sandbag and lightly toyed with her.
However.
The black-haired male cadet now before them was different.
He's dangerous.
Even though this wasn't the first time they had met him,
the heavy atmosphere was on a completely different dimension from the lightness he'd had when they encountered him in the forest.
Their survival instincts were incessantly sounding alarms, telling them to run away from this place at once.
But.
Like prey standing before a predator.
The cold killing intent emanating from one boy chilled their blood.
The Demonized Humans couldn't move a single step, as if they were rooted to the spot.
Just then.
One Demonized Human, perhaps to hide the fact that she was terrified, suddenly burst out screaming.
"H-has a p-prince come, to r-rescue a princess in, in danger······!?"
The remark was meant to disparage him, but the miserably trembling voice and the way it trailed off with each word made the sentence sound utterly pathetic.
But as if that voice had acted as a kind of fuse, the Demonized Humans all began shrieking and adding their own words.
"H-he's still just a, a male cadet! No, no different from those pathetic bastards over there!!!"
"Th-that's right! He's just a bastard who's been hiding until now, d-don't be scared!!!"
"He's just one guy anyway! We-we just all attack him together!!!"
With the leisurely strides of a beast, Jin Yu-ha stepped forward and grabbed the handle of the sword stuck in the ground.
Swish─
Then with a slow movement, he pulled out the sword and pointed it at the Demonized Humans.
"I am absolutely not going to let you bastards die easy."
At that.
"Hey, now!! Fucking get him now!!!!!"
The Demonized Human holding the severed whip clenched the handle hard enough to break it and screamed out convulsively.
And simultaneously, the Demonized Humans' sincere attacks poured toward Jin Yu-ha all at once.
WHOOOOSH—
A festival of attacks heavily laden with Demonic Energy.
The faces of the cadets watching from behind turned deathly pale.
"W-what do we do······!"
"Crazy, wh-what is that!"
"Hey, I-I don't think this is an exam······?"
"Then y-you mean everything up till now was a r-real situation······!?"
Lee Yu-ri's nonsensical self-sacrifice had been gradually planting seeds of suspicion,
and as the Demonized Humans' desperate attacks flew toward Jin Yu-ha, that suspicion turned into certainty.
That this was a level that could never appear in an academy exam.
SLICE──────
What silenced the confused cadets' chaos was a sudden, chilling sound of cutting.
Whoooosh—
A timely breeze swept the dust away.
What the cadets then saw was the sight of one Demonized Human's hand gushing out dark red blood.
"AAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!"
With thick veins bulging on her forehead, she clutched her severed wrist and let out a horrific scream.
And right before her,
Jin Yu-ha was looking down at her with an expressionless face.
"It was you, right? The bitch who swung that whip just now."