The Kkachi Rescue Squad
The Kkachi Rescue Squad. At that exact moment, Raven was unleashing a barrage of terror from the explosion, half-mad as waves of fear crashed in from every direction. The thoroughly fed-up Wendygo had begun pretending to be dead in earnest.
“Kkyu kkyu!”
⊳ Kkachi has located the adventurers!
“Let’s hurry and go save them, nyang! Kkachi! If you don’t want to see a crow getting dragged off to the underground prison, fly faster, nyang!!”
“Kkyuu…!”
(Guide! Please don’t say such terrifying things…!)
“Ugh… I think I’m going to throw up….”
—Hans, you have to endure…! Don’t lose to something as trivial as a bodily function! No, if it’s really that bad, at least turn your head away!
“I can’t… anymore… ugh….”
—Aaaaaah…! Aaaah…..! Goddess, please…….
His party, under the command of the Dungeon Sherpa Sion, was flying all over the Green Zone, pouring every ounce of their strength into rescuing adventurers in danger.
“Hmm? What’s this on my head? It’s warm.”
“Did you get hit by bird poop or something?”
“No, more importantly, what the hell is that in the sky!?”
“Whoa? It’s coming down this way!”
“Kkachi! Grab those things the moment their feet touch the ground, nyang!”
“Kkyu!”
“Kyaaaaah!”
“What the hell! It’s an ambush!”
“M-monster! It’s a winged little kid with tentacle monster!”
“….Kkachi-nim, please cover that person’s mouth too.”
“Kkyu…!”
“I hate tentacles—mmph mmph!!!”
“Shut up and get grabbed nicely if you want to live, nyang!”
“Huh? Sherpa Sion?”
“The Sherpa’s been brainwashed by the monster….”
“It’s not like that. If you don’t want to fall, put that crossbow away right now, nyang.”
“…!”
Kkachi tracked the scent of human fear to locate the adventurers, wrapped them securely in tentacles, and safely kidnapped (?) them. Once Sion’s party finished explaining the situation, they dropped the rescued people off at the canyon leading to the White Zone.
In the process, several adventurers who mistook Yuri for a monster refused to be captured peacefully. Some swung their swords at Kkachi’s tentacles or drew their bowstrings in resistance. But a swift swing of Kkachi’s tentacle—accompanied by Sion’s fist riding on it—slammed into the back of their heads, and they quickly became docile.
It was a perfect combination, practically one mind and body, an ideal division of labor. In truth, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Kkachi handled almost everything from detection to rescue by itself.
But what could be done? Father had gone on a rampage, so the child had no choice but to suffer a little.
“Kkyu kkyu…!”
(Even so, saving lives is incredibly rewarding! Perhaps I really do have the talent of a guardian…!)
“Kkachi-nim, you seem to be in a strangely good mood?”
“Isn’t it because the area is overflowing with fear, nyang?”
Sion was right. Thanks to Raven’s ‘deliberate’ rampage, the tenth floor of the Green Zone—the torso—wasn’t just filled with fear; it was practically flooding with it. As a result, the mana Kkachi recovered was more than double what it consumed.
Its mana was steadily accumulating with every passing second!
Thanks to that, even while freely soaring through the sky and swinging its tentacles everywhere, Kkachi’s condition showed no signs of declining.
‘As expected, Father had a plan…?’
Though he sometimes lost control and did crazy things, at his core, his nature was extremely calculating and self-interested. He was not a man who would act rashly unless it benefited him.
‘He’s probably using this opportunity to stockpile a massive amount of mana.’
Seeing him create unnecessarily huge explosions or deliberately keep alive monsters he could have killed instantly, Kkachi’s guess was likely correct.
‘You’ve become quite familiar with handling fear, Father. I’ve felt it for a while, but your adaptability is truly absurd….’
It couldn’t have been more than a week since he received the Seed of Origin from the Administrator. To be growing at this rate already—
—Administrator. Just what exactly do you want from Father?
—…Administrator? Well, Administrator or Operator, there isn’t much difference, so I suppose it’s not entirely wrong?
—Your answer to my question is late.
—Wow, you really take after Raven. So impatient. What I want from Raven… do you really want to know?
—Let’s pretend this cooperation never happened.
—Aww, I was just kidding~ Hmm. Survivor, I’ll only tell you this. The truth is, there’s only one thing I want from Raven. I…… want Raven to become the ‘Demon of Terror.’
—…The Demon of Terror, you say?
—Yes. The Demon King who rules over fear, dread, and revulsion—so terrifying that even other demons can’t easily meet his eyes. I want him to become the ‘Demon of Terror’ and carve the fear of defeat and failure deep into the heart of that Morningstar who arrogantly believes he can become the sun….
—…Will that be difficult?
—There is nothing impossible for me and Father. It will simply take a little time to reach the goal.
—So reliable…!? Survivor, do you want to be my sub-administrator?
—The only one I assist is Father. Please do not cross that line, Operator.
—Hiiing, you’re so mean. So cold.
The Goddess, Sith, desired it more desperately than anyone else.
By the time the number of adventurers Kkachi had rescued (kidnapped) exceeded double digits and a victims’ meeting was being held on the tenth floor of the White Zone—the neck—for those who had been beaten by Sion and Kkachi,
“…Kkyu?”
(This… is a rather familiar fear?)
The next target Kkachi tracked by following the scent of fear was one it had sensed once before. It quickly flew toward the source.
What it found was—
“Whoa…!?”
“Why are those things just standing there, nyang!?”
Jackson’s party, eyes closed as if they wanted to die, stood motionless even as skinless bipedal deer monsters charged at them.
“Kkachi! Hurry! Grab them as fast as you can, nyang!”
“Kkachi-nim.”
Sion’s urgent shout overlapped with Yuri’s calm request.
“Kkyu.”
Kkachi folded its fully spread wings in an instant, spun rapidly, and began plummeting toward the fugitives.
“Ugh… hmm?”
Hans, who had been half-unconscious from the sudden high-speed maneuver, regained focus in his eyes. Soon his eyes widened in disbelief at the reality before him.
“Huk!!!”
—Did you sleep well?
Even at Sword’s heavily sarcastic greeting, Hans showed no reaction. To be precise, he was in no position to react!
‘We’re falling!?’
Bound by tentacles and hurtling toward the ground at breakneck speed, the only thing the wide-eyed Hans could do was scream for help from the adventurers below.
“Uwaaaah! Someone catch me please!!!”
—Hans! Use the falling momentum to slash!
“How do I do that!”
“You idiots! If you don’t want to die to the monsters, open your eyes, nyang!”
‘This voice is…?’
The sudden scream from above and the familiar cat-like speech made Jackson instinctively look up.
“Sherpa Sion?”
Wait, why are you all falling from the sky?
He saw Sion’s party spinning as they fell, bound by black tentacles, and briefly wondered if he was hallucinating. But then—
“…What the hell are those?”
The sight of Wendygo’s clones approaching with bizarre steps from five directions snapped him back to reality.
“Hey, hey! Wake up! It’s an ambush! Ambush!”
“What?”
“Lena, don’t fall for it! That voice isn’t the leader’s! This is clearly a Not Deer trick to make us open our eyes!”
“Hoo… Sharp insight, little brother. I almost let my guard down.”
“Stop talking nonsense and open your damn eyes!”
“Gyaaah! Let go of this hand, you damn deer!”
“Where are the hands on a deer, you idiot!”
“…He has a point?”
At Jackson’s words, the vanguard warrior brothers finally opened their eyes and surrounded the rearguard Lena in a defensive formation. But they were too late to respond properly.
Creak… creeeak…!
The deer monsters were already close enough to reach out and touch.
“Come at me!”
“Raise your shield! Drek!”
“Kyaaaaah! Mr. Drok! Watch your head!”
“Damn it! I can’t die before I’ve even dated anyone!”
The moment pale, icy fingernails were about to tear into the fugitives’ flesh—
Severing
The transparent threads Sion swung quickly sliced two of the monsters into five pieces each.
“Kkachi-nim.”
“Kkyu.”
Yuri’s pitch-black hammer, woven from shadow, caved in one monster’s skull, while Kkachi’s tentacle shot out like lightning and pierced straight through another’s face.
And finally…
“Aight! It’s either die or faint!”
—That’s the spirit, Hans!
Slash!!!
“Huk…!”
Hans, still dangling from Kkachi’s tentacle as he plummeted, delivered a clean downward slash. The monster reaching for Jackson’s face was split in half and died instantly.
“Who are you!”
“What the hell just happened?”
Jackson’s party couldn’t hide their shock at the sudden appearance of the unidentified adventurers who had fallen from the sky and slaughtered the monsters in an instant.
“Huh…? Sion!”
“That’s right, it’s me, nyang! Lena!”
“Sherpa Sion. Don’t tell me… you came to save us again? For my sake?”
“Ahhh, this must be fate… Please marry me!”
“You men over there, that’s enough with the crazy talk, nyang.”
But once they realized it really was Sion’s party, Jackson’s group lit up with joy.
“We’re saved….”
Jackson, who had recognized them from the start, finally relaxed and collapsed to the ground.
“Wait, now that I look, isn’t that Yuri next to you? Why are your eyes like that? Didn’t you sleep last night?”
“No…?”
“By the way, who’s that girl? A friend of Yuri’s?”
“I’m not a girl!”
“Friend….”
One side was wildly excited at their miraculous survival, while the other had finally set foot on solid ground after so long and let their tension melt away. They chattered on with nonsensical conversation, simply savoring the fact that they were all still alive.
Until—
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
“…What was that sound just now?”
That is, until a grotesque scream filled with rage and agony rang out.
“Hey.”
It’s time to wake up.
Deer.
Charge: Agliophobia
Fear of pain or suffering.
Click.