Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Apocalypse #11
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However, as I got closer, I realized something was wrong.
The nun wasn't leaning against the rubble to rest.
Only her upper body remained intact.
Her lower body... was nowhere to be seen.
"..."
...
I see.
Just like Sal-hyung.
Did this Sister meet the same fate too?
I thought she was an invincible holy priest right up until she pulled the holy sword from the cross and summoned the cathedral and crusaders, but in the end, it was unavoidable.
-Thud.
I knelt down in front of the nun.
"How the hell am I supposed to beat this...!"
Even the strong Sal-hyung fell, and now Sister too!
If even powerful superhumans are like this, what am I supposed to do!
"Cough, hack!"
"Huh?"
At that moment, the nun spat up blood and opened her eyes.
"Huh?! Sister, you're alive?!"
No, how is she still alive!
"Ugh... haah, haah... It's you. Ah, yes. You're alive. Looks like the heretic is dead."
"He martyred himself fighting a great evil. I came here to see it through, even if just me surviving."
"I see... Well, I'm in a similar state. Something enormous came out."
"Don't tell me it's the one with bones sticking out jaggedly?"
"Ah, did that heretic fall to it too?"
I nodded and asked.
"More importantly, Sister. How are you still alive?"
"Ah."
The nun opened her mouth.
Long fangs were visible inside.
Wait.
Fangs?
"Fangs?! You're a monster?!"
"Ha, how rude. Calling me a monster. Well... you're not wrong."
Not wrong?
"Actually, I'm a half-vampire."
"What?! Half-vampire?!"
I could only gape.
"Yeah. I was originally in Korea chasing the Pureblood... sigh. Ended up like this."
Pureblood – isn't that like the vampire progenitor? It was in Korea?
Don't tell me the one I saw in the subway...
"By the way, you said you were a newbie vampire hunter?"
"Ah, yes. I encountered it and barely survived..."
"Definitely, the Pureblood was active. The Management Bureau was focusing on that too. Bad timing."
Timing.
Was the Management Bureau powerless in this incident because of that Pureblood?
"But Sister, you said you're half-vampire. Can a vampire be a nun?"
"Listen."
The nun frowned unpleasantly.
"His love is infinite. Even if I'm a monster, it doesn't matter. Got it? It's different from Islam. Apologize."
"Ah, sorry. Anyway, Sister. Can you survive? What about Jaaldi?"
At my words, the nun tilted her head back.
"Survive... probably not. It was too strong."
"No!"
Damn!
Even as a half-vampire, she can't be saved?!
"All I could do was clear a path for that agent."
-Drip.
The nun spat up blood again.
"No, but you're half-vampire! Maybe if you drink blood!"
At those words, the nun's pupils contracted vertically like a carnivore's.
"I absolutely won't. Even if it kills me."
"Ah... sorry."
"Worried I'd drink? That's not an option for me."
Her attitude made it clear.
She despises blood drinking.
"I didn't know."
"It's fine. It happens... ugh, haah..."
Her breathing grew ragged.
"Ugh... I, I don't know if it'll help... but this. It's a holy relic imbued with the Lord's power."
The nun removed the rosary from her neck and handed it to me. I knew this was her last will.
"I've cleared the path... You can reach the flower... Run if you want..."
"I'm not running!"
"That's better."
A smile appeared on her dying face.
"By now, the agent's fighting alone. Help her, brave warrior. That's our last hope."
-Thud.
The nun's hand fell.
-Rustle.
Her body began to turn to ash and fade away.
"..."
...
My connection with this nun wasn't long.
But I accepted her dying wish.
"Let's go."
I said to myself and stood up.
I put the rosary around my neck.
I wore both Islamic and Christian relics, but unlike in life, they didn't clash.
I looked up at the flower.
-Boom!
Something exploded inside the flower. A pillar of fire shot outward. Jaaldi must be putting up a fierce fight.
I don't know if I can help, but the relics I have and Sal-hyung's armament will surely be useful.
I advanced toward the flower.
There were no obstacles.
The path was cleared, littered with monster corpses.
Like following Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumb trail.
-Raaaaah!
Finally, I arrived in front of the massive flower.
"..."
...
Its appearance was terrifying enough to make my legs shake.
The giant flesh mass that devoured the earth had become a flower, broadcasting signals toward space. Those signals summon extraterrestrial giant gods. Overwhelming just hearing about it.
-Kaboom!
Another explosion from inside.
A hole was right in front. I can enter the flower's body through there, like a bacterium invading a human body.
"Hoo, hoo!"
The tension and pressure were driving me mad. But so much rested on my shoulders. I have to go up somehow.
I have to go up and find clues.
"Hup!"
Gritting my teeth, I entered the hole.
"This is...!"
So sticky.
It felt exactly like entering a creature's innards. But surprisingly, the inside resembled a building with floors and stairs.
Of course, made of nightmare-like flesh.
-Squish.
I advanced, stepping on the floor sticky with blood and pus.
"..."
...
Monster remains were scattered everywhere. A fierce battle had clearly taken place here.
How strong is Management Bureau's Jaaldi? Sal-hyung scattered the enemies, the nun cleared the path, but from here, it's clearly all Jaaldi alone.
"Huff, huff."
I kept climbing the flesh stairs.
Sweat poured like rain.
I'm so exhausted, not sure if I can fight.
-Shuruk.
As I climbed, flesh tentacles extended from the walls toward me. Startled, but they didn't seem powerful.
I immediately swung my scimitar and sliced them.
"Sal-hyung, this sword handles great."
I continued upward.
How much time passed?
I saw Jaaldi collapsed.
"...Agent."
Missing right arm, left leg, and one eye. Blood-soaked suit. Puddles of blood, breathing faint.
"You fell too?"
"Ah... it's you."
Dying voice.
"Looks like everyone fell."
"As you can see."
"Really... what a shame. To fail here."
No hope in her voice.
"It's not failure...!"
But I hadn't accepted defeat yet.
This is a kind of game.
A game of whether I admit defeat or not.
As long as the regressor doesn't submit, the game never ends.
"Jaaldi! I'm here! If there's any way, tell me!"
"..."
...
"I got relics from Saladin and the nun! Look! The holy warrior's armament and the nun's rosary! Can't we do something with these?!"
"...Sorry. Really."
"Don't just say that!"
Tell me if there's a way!
"Really... no way. Even my power can't do it. Those armaments need a compatible user to perform."
"Ugh...!"
Really no way?!
"Then at least answer this! If it was before this incident, what should I have done to stop it?!"
"..."
...
Jaaldi mulled it over.
She probably wants to say it's pointless.
"We at the Management Bureau haven't grasped where or how this incident started. So no helping it."
"If you knew! Hypothetically!"
I reported it, but maybe it didn't fully reach.
"If we knew... it might have been solvable."
"How...!"
"We have countermeasures in the Bureau. Things that disintegrate their bodies... Implant one into this giant's core, and any outcome would be possible."
Disintegrate the body?!
"Yeah, like the medicine collected from Cheongak Mary Hospital. That could have worked too... Shame we don't have it."
"Medicine!"
The medicine from there could work?
Jaaldi thinks it has a chance?
Damn it!
If I hadn't lost it, I could have tried!
But this is still a gain.
I can try it next time.
Implant medicine into the core?
If I can, I'll do it.
"But after the incident... we couldn't use any means. Their ultrasonic waves paralyzed the Bureau's functions."
Bureau's functions halted.
That's why.
"Urk... ah, it's over. Last questions answered? Honestly, it's all over. Nothing more to say... regretful. Can't recruit you as a newbie."
Death's shadow fell on Jaaldi's face. She sensed her end. She could die any second.
So I revealed the secret I'd hidden.
"Jaaldi, there's a chance."
"What...?"
"I'm actually a regressor."
Silence.
Her eyes widened.
"What did you just say?"
"I've already repeated this crazy life nearly ten times! If I learn how to kill them, I can go back and solve it! So at the point where I'm a civilian, I can call the Bureau's full force-"
"You, you!"
What?
"You...!"
Suddenly, Jaaldi's pupils trembled violently. Then, blood from her mouth, she reached out to grab my neck.
"W-Wait! Jaaldi!"
"You!"
As Jaaldi's hand touched my neck.
"Guh, guk...!"
Blood burst from her mouth.
-Splat.
Her body went limp.
"Hey!"
She died.
"Jaaldi!"
I shook her, but she didn't wake.
"What the...?"
What was that?
What did that last reaction mean?
Was revealing I'm a regressor a problem?
-Chill.
I felt an inexplicable chill, as if some unknown terrifying entity had seized my mind. Instinctively, I knew I'd made a grave mistake, and intense fear surged.
"This, this isn't the time."
I'd gathered info coming here.
"Got to go."
The info is valid. I learned of various organizations and superhumans, and that my items are useful.
Finally.
If I just deal with what's up there.
Maybe I can resolve it somehow.
-Swish.
I closed Jaaldi's eyes and climbed the stairs again.
I decided not to think about her last reaction.