Falcon Gang (5)
In the blink of an eye, the plaza of the shantytown had transformed beyond mere chaos into a hell of utter pandemonium.
"Kyaaaaak!" People screamed as they fled for their lives.
"Keheuk..." Those already too late were being devoured by the monsters.
"Heh... heheh heeet. Heehik." Others, their minds shattered by the horror before them, simply sat and giggled madly.
Such scenes unfolded right before my eyes. The situation had spiraled into the absolute worst so swiftly that it was hard to believe it had all happened in the time it took to blink.
People who had begun showing symptoms of infection from who-knows-where burst out as monsters from every alleyway, and those convulsing in the plaza soon turned into the same creatures.
This place, where madness, chaos, and terror all coexisted, was surely hell itself. Yet before those emotions could swallow me whole, I regained my composure through the blessing. That unsettling sensation of no longer being myself—something I had felt countless times—felt almost welcome this time.
"Uncle! Please gather the people in one place for now!"
"What? What are you planning?"
"I'm going to create a space to protect them!"
I drew Curtana from its sheath, planted it in the ground, and poured in as much holy power as I could. A vast dome of flames rose up, large enough for the uninfected to enter. Under Uncle Dusik's guidance and that of a few others, the surviving people made their way inside the domain.
"Uncle, I'll go out and clean those things up."
"Can you handle it alone?"
Uncle Dusik looked down at me with calm eyes, truly checking whether I was all right.
"I'm fine~ Even if I look like this, I used to work as an Inquisitor. Monsters like those? I can just walk past them and turn them all to dust~"
"Hoo... all right then. I'll stay here and look after the people. This 'domain' you mentioned—how long will it last?"
"At least half a day will be no problem. I poured quite a lot into it."
"Got it. Then take care of yourself and come back."
"Yes!"
Stepping out of Curtana's domain, I looked around. The people who had already been eaten were beginning to move slowly, making the same "Gworworwor" sounds as the other monsters.
"Hoo... shall we get started?"
Just as I had suspected, these monsters were extremely weak to holy power.
Well, of course—they turned to ash just by approaching the domain earlier.
So this hell of pandemonium was, for me, nothing more than a hunting ground. Contrary to what they believed, I was the hunter here.
I quickly floated several flame swords with Holy Fire, carefully adjusting them so they would not explode, and launched them at the creatures. Gripping Durandal tightly, I moved at high speed, severing their necks while wrapping holy power around the blade to reduce them to ash on the spot.
I started with the one right in front of me, slicing its neck from top to bottom, then dashed forward and cut the next from bottom to top in a wide arc. Using the upward momentum, I spun and carved through several more around me. At the same time, those approaching from behind or leaping from a distance were ground to pieces by the spinning flame swords.
By the time I had circled the domain once in a clockwise direction, no monsters remained near me. Only white ashes, burned by holy power, drifted on the wind here and there.
Just as I thought I had nearly finished them all, a heavy "thud, thud" echoed from afar. Something massive was approaching.
A twisted giant of flesh—looking as though the ones I had not fully purified had merged together—was coming toward me. The giant was truly composed of countless corpses. From the waist down, its legs split into hundreds of intertwined limbs, and from the gaps between them, faces densely packed together screamed with blood streaming from their eyes, noses, and mouths.
Really grotesque... ugh...
Without the blessing, that appearance alone might have sent me into a panic, leaving me trembling and unable to fight properly.
A roar like a beast's cry thundered from its entire body. The giant's arm, which had been drawn back, clenched into a fist and swung toward me. Eyeballs packed into every crevice of that fist stared straight at me.
But then I sensed two familiar presences, and I shouted with a laugh.
"Ha! You two are really late!!"
Hyunseok and Yeonseo had been so exhausted that they kept sleeping even after the morning sun rose. But a sudden massive wave of killing intent and the sound of screams jolted them awake. They rushed out of the lodging and began searching for Charlotte.
Along the way they saw people fleeing from the shantytown outside the settlement—the source of the noise—and headed straight there, cutting down monsters so the civilians could evacuate safely.
When they arrived, white ashes from the burning were scattered everywhere. Looking toward the source of the "thud, thud," they saw the giant drawing its arm back to smash Charlotte. Yeonseo used her ability to freeze it from the legs up, slowing its movements, while Hyunseok severed the monster's arm and ran to Charlotte's side.
"Are you okay? You're not hurt?"
Hyunseok asked with a worried expression.
"I'm fine! This much is nothing! I'm not even tired—and more importantly, that thing is starting to move again."
He glanced back and recoiled as if he had seen something he wished he could unsee.
"Ugh! Looking at it again, it's really disgusting..."
"What do we do now? Even freezing it, it seems to start moving again right away."
Yeonseo hugged me and gently touched my cheek as she spoke.
"L-let... go... and talk..."
"Oh my, sorry. I missed you because you weren't there when I woke up."
"Hoo... yeah, I suppose so.
Ahem. First of all, that monster is weak against me, so don't worry. Just keep it from escaping."
"Really? Okay."
Yeonseo immediately raised massive ice barriers around us, then opened her grimoire and summoned a giant dinosaur-shaped ice statue.
"Summon, Xenoros."
The summoned dinosaur charged straight at the giant. Hyunseok looked at me.
"Are you going to take that giant out in one go?"
"Hmm, I think we should if possible. I can just burn it with Holy Fire, but it's too big—that's the problem."
"Hmm... then if I create a vortex big enough to surround that giant, and you put your flames into it, wouldn't that work?"
"Huh? What?! Is that even possible?"
He smiled softly at my question.
"For you, I can do that much."
The unexpected words made my face heat up for a moment, but I pushed the warmth aside and thought it over. I already knew his ability was strong, but creating a vortex large enough to engulf that giant...
Hyunseok's pretty good, huh?
"All right. Let's do it right now!"
Yeonseo's dinosaur Xenoros and my flame swords bound the giant's body. Seizing that opening, Hyunseok created a massive vortex ready to swallow it whole.
Only one thing remained!
"Haha! Try blocking this too!"
With Yeonseo's help I stepped onto the ice floor, rose high into the air, and plunged downward, driving a colossal Holy Fire shaped like a sun straight into the giant vortex.
Inside the towering ice barriers, white and crimson whirlwinds engulfed the giant and burned the blood-soaked mass of flesh to nothing.
After defeating the giant I checked the surroundings once more, but no more monsters remained. I ran back to Uncle Dusik, brought the people out of the domain, and guided them into the settlement rather than the shantytown. Then I headed straight for the watchtower where Uncle Hancheol was waiting.
"Ha... really, we go looking for one person and something like this happens again..."
"Still, it's fortunate that the three of us handled it so quickly, isn't it?"
Uncle Hancheol and Uncle Chunsik thanked us and explained the current situation.
"Thank you for dealing with those monsters.
But according to an urgent report from the sentries, a gang is heading this way right now."
"As expected—agreeing to their demands was just bait. They planned to invade directly?"
"Yes. They clearly intended to sneak in and seize the settlement once our forces had left."
"And Uncle's daughter wasn't with them?"
"The sentries say only the gang members are approaching."
Hearing Uncle Hancheol's words, I thought carefully.
That means they expected our forces to head to Fly Park. But because of what just happened, we couldn't leave and ended up gathered here instead. And Hyunseok and Yeonseo are still in good condition... we might actually have a decent shot at this.
Reaching that conclusion, I looked from Uncle Hancheol to Uncle Dusik, then to Yeonseo and Hyunseok, and spoke.
"I have an idea."
Han Jin-o wore a deeply troubled expression, unable to understand where things had gone wrong.
"What? Why are these bastards still here?!"
By now they should have been fighting the former gang members who had turned into monsters at Fly Park—yet here they still were.
"Damn it! I thought my luck was finally turning...!"
But the water was already spilled. He had no choice but to order the subordinates following him to swallow the pills he pulled from the glass bottle in his pocket—everyone except the few who had followed him from the very beginning.
Anyway, except for those few, the rest are all lowest-grade ability users. I can replace them soon enough in a world like this!
At his command, the handful of loyal ones quickly slipped behind him. The discarded ones, who received the pills without knowing why and swallowed them, rejoiced at their sudden surge of power and began rampaging even harder.
Of course, it did not take long for pain and terror to overwhelm them as they transformed into monsters.
How much time had passed? Ara simply stared at the pill lying before her eyes and swallowed hard.
If she took it, she could shatter the chains sealing her ability and chase after Han Jin-o—the ones who had killed Ryeong.
But was the pill he had given her genuine, or was it a trap? Ara wrestled with the question.
Should she abandon everything for revenge and seize power? Yet trusting Han Jin-o after everything he had done felt like walking straight into a snare.
Those two thoughts circled endlessly as time slipped by. In the end she realized that whether she stayed as she was or became a monster, remaining still meant she could never stop Han Jin-o.
She brought her mouth toward the pill—
When suddenly, from outside, gang members screamed as if slashed by something razor-sharp and collapsed. A moment later a loud "bang" exploded the iron door in front of her.
"Kehek, cough, cough."
Coughing from the dust of the blast, her eyes stinging so she could barely open them, Ara saw a girl with orange hair that looked like living flame standing before her.
Charlotte.
"You were still alive? That's a relief."