I Shouldn't Have Come Here
I shouldn't have come here…
Lee Sena had pushed into the forest with roughly forty percent of the main force. Forming a proper battle line in terrain like this was nearly impossible—yet she felt no real concern.
What she was doing now was not defense. It was offense.
All they had to do was track down the enemies who had already turned tail on her allies and trample them underfoot. In a situation like that, she reasoned, even a chaotic free-for-all wouldn't be such a bad approach.
Watching her, Seo Jiyun spoke up in a careful voice.
"Hey… are you sure this is really okay? Honestly, I've got a bad feeling about this one myself…"
"What are you talking about? Let me say it one more time—we're dealing with Abysses. Mindless monsters that throw tactics out the window and just charge. You think those things can dig traps?"
"Still… they just showed strategic movement a moment ago. Even while they were in a berserk state, they chose to retreat. That wasn't simple fear. They recognized they were at a disadvantage and took a tactical stance."
"Oh, please… At the end of the day, that just means they ran because they were scared of us. Right now we're basically hunting down a routed enemy. There's nothing to be afraid of."
"Hmm…"
Faced with Sena's firm dismissal, Jiyun had no choice but to fall silent.
The situation was far too strange for her to be certain of anything, and she couldn't bring herself to make a reckless call. Still, one thing she did know: the smartest choice right now would have been to hold position somewhere safe and watch how things developed a little longer.
But her comrade and superior had chosen battle, and Jiyun had no option but to follow. The adjutant, for his part, had already answered with a simple, Do as the Guild Master wishes. Even the other adjutants back in the situation room couldn't agree among themselves—just as they had split earlier over who would claim the glory.
All of which made the present moment both unusual and dangerously hard to judge.
Abysses that, unlike anything before, seemed to be moving with strategy. A vanguard that had monopolized the credit, and main-force troops simmering with resentment over it. If the enemy hadn't been Abysses, the feeling would have been overwhelming—that someone had deliberately engineered this entire situation.
Even so… I still can't be sure. And it's all far too suspicious. What the hell is actually going on here…?
Still thick with doubt, Seo Jiyun turned and issued fresh orders to the hunters trailing behind.
"Stay sharp and keep up. The moment you spot the enemy, fire a flare and light up the field."
"Yes, ma'am. Understood."
With that warning given, Jiyun and the hunters pressed forward as fast as they dared.
Then—
"Enemy!"
The shout from up ahead snapped them into instant reaction. A B-class hunter at the rear fired a flare at once, and the surrounding darkness flared into sudden, brilliant light.
What met their eyes a heartbeat later were roughly a dozen Middle-class Abysses.
The hunters didn't hesitate. They poured attacks into the creatures without delay.
"Kyaaaaargh!!!"
The Abysses collapsed amid wretched, tearing screams. Even after the enemies had fallen, though, Lee Sena's voice only grew more urgent.
"Are there any more of them? Is that really all?"
"Yes, ma'am—it seems so. No further Abysses in sight."
"Damn it… Did they already run? No—that can't be. It can't end like this."
Muttering in agitation, Sena contacted the adjutant watching from the situation room.
"Hey. Are there any other Abysses in the area?"
"Hmm… there are. You're at the mouth of a valley right now. A little deeper inside, a small group of Abysses is visible. Beyond that, the rocks and undergrowth block the view, so it's hard to say for certain."
"Is that so…"
The moment she heard the report, a faint smile tugged at the corner of Sena's mouth.
A valley… Then there's a high chance an Abyss nest is deeper in. The ones we just fought probably fled there. The ones we just killed must have been stragglers that got separated from the pack…
Having made her judgment, she set her course and started moving that way.
Jiyun, who had heard the same report, spoke up with open concern.
"Hey—are you really going to keep going like this? Think about it one more time. Something about this feels wrong no matter how I look at it. A valley is the kind of place where we could end up surrounded. And they're saying a small number of Abysses are visible right there… No matter how I spin it, this looks like a lure."
"Oh, for— That kind of thing is impossible! How many times do I have to say it? The enemy is Abysses! You're telling me those worthless beasts are trying to run a scheme? Stop spouting nonsense and just follow quietly! If you're that scared, go back by yourself!"
"…"
After snapping at her in pure irritation, Lee Sena strode into the valley without looking back.
Watching that high-strung display, Jiyun suddenly recognized something she had never quite put into words.
She's on edge… Lee Sena. Come to think of it, she's been like this in every fight for a while now. And that started… after Lee Jinhyun left. Even if she never shows it on the surface, she's still hung up on what happened, isn't she?
Only now seeing what she had missed before, Jiyun's brow furrowed slightly.
On the face of it, Sena's constant contempt for Lee Jinhyun made the idea seem contradictory. But once she thought it through, it was only natural.
Lee Sena looked down on Jinhyun and treated him as nothing. And yet, from the moment he left, the 28th Guild had done nothing but fall. They had nearly been wiped out on B-class missions. They had taken heavy casualties on A-class ones. Adjutants had deserted one after another, and the guild's reputation had taken a serious hit.
Every last one of those failures traced back to Sena driving Jinhyun out.
But a woman as proud as Lee Sena—someone who believed she was always, unconditionally right—could never accept that. The moment she did, she would have been forced to admit two things: that the legend of the 28th Guild she had claimed as her own achievement had actually been Lee Jinhyun's… and that Lee Sena herself was a lesser being than the man she had always scorned.
And so, in this moment, she was clinging not to cold judgment but to the glory right in front of her—determined to shine in this operation, to erase her inferiority complex toward Jinhyun, to stand tall and declare that she had been the one who built the 28th Guild's legend all along.
But once Jiyun understood that private desperation, not a single positive impulse—not even a speck of desire to cheer her on—rose in her heart.
The feeling that filled her mind instead was this:
This is bad… Lee Sena is bad, and this whole situation is bad. Damn it. I should have seen it coming the moment Na Jiseon pulled out of this mission claiming she wasn't feeling well.
A commander who had lost her composure and was being dragged around by her emotions. Soldiers charging forward in a frenzy, swept up by that commander's plausible agitation. The outcome of that combination was painfully obvious—and under a heavy weight of dread, Jiyun felt an almost automatic urge to get out of this place.
But then, on pure instinct, she understood.
It was already far too late for that.
"Grrrrrr…"
The moment they stepped deeper into the valley, low Abyss growls rose from every direction. With the flares burned out, those sounds rolling out of the dark settled a dense, crushing fear into the center of Jiyun's chest.