Falcon Gang (7)
Ho Dunsik decided to do everything he could while hoping Charlotte's plan would succeed.
"First off, Hyeonseok—you're an Awakened who uses wind, so you can fly at least a little, right?"
"Yes, that much is possible. So... you want me to keep watch and spot them coming?"
"Normally that would be it. But this time's different. I want you to take on Han Jin-o."
"That guy?"
Hyeonseok looked at Ho Dunsik with an expression that said he'd half-expected it, then spoke.
"I see. You want me to draw his attention so we don't lose the initiative in the fight?"
"That's right. You've got it. It's the most dangerous role among us, but can you handle it?"
Ho Dunsik wasn't thrilled about it, but he knew Hyeonseok had to step up if they were going to deal with Han Jin-o. Otherwise the man would seize control of the sky and tilt the entire battle in his favor—that was his specialty.
"Well, we'll need at least that much if we want the advantage. Besides, I've got the brooch Charlotte gave me, so even if it gets dangerous, I'll be fine."
"Sorry about this. But I'm counting on you. And Yeonseo—can you make something like a barrier?"
"A barrier... Hmm. I've mostly used summoning, so my skill with them is a bit rough, but yes, I can."
"Then when I give the signal, we'll split the gang in half and seal them inside a circular barrier. That should hold them."
The three of them waited for the gang while turning over their assigned roles in their minds. It wasn't long before the Falcon Gang appeared.
A considerable number of them showed up, and the settlement's Awakened swallowed hard as they prepared for the fight and watched the approaching force.
Ho Dunsik surveyed his people, drew a deep breath, and shouted.
"Everyone! Don't be too afraid! Those bastards are nothing but a ragtag mob!
We've got at least two Awakened stronger than their leader Han Jin-o, so there's no need to worry!"
Of course, those two were roughly the same age as their own younger siblings or children, so some felt uneasy and others still couldn't quite believe it. But not long ago they had heard from several people how the pair had saved them from a gang raid, and that was enough to ease the tension of the coming battle, if only a little, and let them breathe.
When the gang's throng came roaring close enough to the settlement, Dusik looked at Yeonseo.
"Now!"
The instant she heard him, Yeonseo raised a long vertical wall of ice down the middle of the gang, then immediately formed a circular barrier around them and locked them in.
But a few of the gang members had lived by reading the room their whole lives; they slipped past the barrier with sharp instincts and kept charging toward the settlement.
"Sorry. Looks like I let a few through."
Yeonseo said it while opening her grimoire and beginning to call out her summons. Dusik covered his body in steel with his own ability.
"It's fine. They're still well within the margin of error we planned for. If anything, taking down the ones charging us now will make things easier once Charlotte gets back."
They advanced on the gang, and just as Ho Dunsik had said, they began cutting down the approaching enemies one after another without taking serious losses.
Han Jin-o flew in at the strange turn of events and joined the fight, but Hyeonseok drew his attention and pulled him into an aerial duel, so the gang leader never seized the initiative.
"Tch, you damn bastard!"
Han Jin-o beat his wings hard and climbed higher; Hyeonseok chased after him, flinging blades of wind. Han Jin-o answered by shooting sharp feathers from his own wings to keep him at bay.
While the two of them dueled, a good number of the underlings fell. Han Jin-o plummeted from the sky toward the ground and began gathering what remained of his crew.
"We can't just take this lying down! Swallow what I handed out earlier and you'll gain new powers! Then you can wipe out those bastards getting in our way!"
At Han Jin-o's shout, the surviving gang members pulled the pills from their clothes with half-doubt and began to swallow them.
Watching from a distance, Ho Dunsik felt a deep unease.
"Everyone fall back! Now!"
Some retreated at his cry, but the battle was already raging and others never clearly heard him.
The result was immediate: a gang member who until moments ago had only been enhancing his body suddenly began spewing fire from his hands.
One of the settlement's Awakened, caught by the unexpected attack right in front of him, was engulfed in the flames and went down.
"Aaaargh!"
The scream made the other settlement Awakened break out in cold sweat as they looked at the gang members they had been fighting. Those enemies, too, began using powers completely different from anything they had shown before.
A single pill was all it took to flip a battlefield that had been going their way.
Just in case, I left one of the summons Yeonseo had given me at the church and raced toward the settlement.
Judging by the ones I'd already faced, Uncle Dusik, Yeonseo, and Hyeonseok should have been able to handle things without too much trouble. Of course they would have to deal with Han Jin-o, so I figured Hyeonseok would be the one to take him on.
He uses wind, so he can fly at least a little, right?
But that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was still sitting in my pocket—the pill that reeked of the evil god's remnant.
Everyone who had swallowed one of these had shown symptoms just like the "monsters" that appeared in the shantytown, and they had displayed power far beyond what those creatures possessed. Those people hadn't been Awakened, so they had simply gotten a bit stronger or turned into monsters outright. What would happen if an Awakened took one was anyone's guess.
Their physical abilities alone will jump, and that by itself will be a threat to the settlement. If there are other effects on top of that...!
The sudden variable made my heart race. I left the scenery blurring behind me even faster than when I had gone to save Ara. When I finally reached the settlement, the sight that greeted me was the worst possible outcome.
The shantytown that had already been wrecked by the monsters that appeared earlier was now so thoroughly ruined that its original shape was unrecognizable, and "monsters" using abilities were roaming freely through it.
The one small mercy was that a massive ice barrier blocked the path toward the settlement itself; the monsters couldn't easily approach and were busy trying to smash it down. High above, a man with beating wings watched the whole scene.
"Hmm... what to do about this..."
It seemed they still hadn't noticed my arrival, so I sent back the lion Yeonseo had summoned to let them know I was here.
"That should tell Yeonseo I've returned. At least she'll feel a little better."
But it wouldn't change the situation much. The people of the settlement, Uncle Dusik, Yeonseo, and Hyeonseok would all be fully occupied keeping those monsters from getting inside. On top of that, Hyeonseok would be busy pinning down the one flying overhead—almost certainly Han Jin-o, the gang's leader.
While I was sorting through the situation, the "aura" coming off the monsters felt strangely familiar, so I pulled the object giving off the same aura from my pocket.
"This feels just like them. So they ate these?"
The pill resting on my palm reeked of the evil god's remnant, and the monsters that had once been the Falcon Gang carried the exact same energy. The answer came at once.
"Well, well—it wasn't hard at all. If swallowing these is what turned them into monsters, then I'm their natural counter, aren't I?!
All right then. Time to go."
A considerable number of monsters were crouched in front of the ice barrier. But numbers no longer mattered to me.
I poured holy power into my rosary, donned my protective gear, and shaped a cloak instead of a robe so I could move freely. Gripping Durandal tightly in both hands, I created roughly a dozen flame swords of Holy Fire around me. This time they needed to hold their shape instead of exploding immediately, so I formed only as many as I could fully control.
Whether the remnant of the evil god inside them reacted to my holy power or not, every last one of them abandoned the ice barrier and charged straight at me.
The gang members who had become monsters and were now rushing me were different from the ones I had faced earlier. They came at me while using abilities.
Some launched fire from their hands, others turned their bodies to rock and rolled forward, still others tried to burrow underground—each of them employing powers as they attacked.
The one spitting fire had his flames wrapped in my holy power, claimed under my control, transformed into Holy Fire, and sent straight back until he was reduced to ash. The one who had become a boulder I sliced cleanly through with Durandal, carving the spherical body itself into neat pieces. The one tunneling underground I anticipated; I launched several flame swords into the predicted spot and incinerated him with Holy Fire while he was still beneath the earth.
After that came one who tore vines from his own body and swung them, another who used telekinesis to hurl metal spears scavenged from the ruined shantytown, and finally one who was devouring the remaining monsters to swell his own bulk.
"Doesn't matter—none of it will touch me!"
I watched the arc of the descending vines, sidestepped, and brought the blade I had angled downward on the right up in a clean cut that severed them. At the same time I spun the flame swords and shredded the mass of vines coming at me, then charged straight in and took the creature's head.
In that same instant metal spears came flying toward me. With my free hand I drew Curtana and expanded its domain.
Inside the domain of Holy Fire the metal melted away completely. Even if I stood still the attacks would keep coming as long as he had metal left to throw, so I reshaped the domain from a dome into a sphere that wrapped around me and charged him head-on.
The flying metal spears made my vision swim for a moment, but the domain held. The instant I reached him I expanded it again; the creature took the domain full in the body and turned to ash.
While I caught my breath, the giant that had finished devouring every last one of its former comrades came stomping toward me with heavy thuds.
"Grawrara!"
It bellowed and brought both hands, fingers laced, crashing down on me. The blow met the domain with a thunderous BOOM!
Cracks began to spider across the barrier, but I immediately poured every scrap of holy power I could into Durandal.
With a high zing the blade flushed crimson and stretched far beyond its usual length—long enough to reach the giant's head.
I expanded the domain once more, hard enough to fling the laced fists aside and make the massive body stagger. Then, with the blade of Durandal lengthened by Holy Fire drawn far back behind me, right leg bent and left leg extended, I carved a diagonal slash straight through the creature.
The giant's enormous frame split from left shoulder to opposite hip and crumbled into ash that vanished on the wind.
I swung the sword once to shake off the remaining holy power and returned it to its normal form.
Then I looked up at the sky.
"Now there's only that one left!"
Han Jin-o could not understand what he had just witnessed.
They had been pushed back, yes, but the former subordinates who had swallowed the pills and become monsters had driven the settlement into a corner. Then a single girl had appeared out of nowhere and turned everything to foam.
At least he had been in the sky. The underlings who hadn't taken the pills had all been killed or eaten by the monsters, so once the monsters were gone he would be the only one left. He beat his wings hard, intending to flee, rebuild his forces, and wait for another chance—
A sharp whoosh cut the air beneath him as something streaked upward.
It came too fast to dodge: a sword with a blunt tip.
Because the flying man was trying to escape, I had thrown Curtana straight at his body. He failed to avoid it, took the hit cleanly, and began to fall.
Even while falling he tried to pull the blade free, but he quickly let go and plummeted the rest of the way.
If anyone but me touches it, they get burned like that. Heh.
I walked over to where he had crashed. When he came to his senses I leveled Durandal at his throat.
"Now it's just you, isn't it?"