A Small War on Bukhan Mountain (7)
With the Toy Soldiers joining the fray, the battle began to turn.
Though one-armed, a rapier was a weapon built for light thrusts and quick withdrawals—more than enough to toy with beast-type monsters. The Toy Soldier twisted its body clear of the Warden's claws and bone spikes, simultaneously stabbing at whatever protrusions the creature exposed while attacking: fist, shoulder, chest, thigh. The damage was negligible, but it was steadily drawing the creature's attention.
"GROOOAAR!!"
When the enraged Grave Warden finally charged as if erasing the space between them, the Toy Soldier sprang up as though it had been waiting for exactly that. The charging Grave Warden's palm, by sheer coincidence, slammed directly into its comrade's head. With a boom like a shell detonating, the surrounding air rippled.
BOOM!!
The struck creature staggered with a groan. In that opening, the Chief Instructor slipped between the Wardens and swung his greatsword, glowing red-hot. With a quiet cutting sound, the reeling creature's head fell.
But the opportunity didn't end there. Two rapier strikes had sounded just before the greatsword swung. Glancing back, the Chief Instructor saw that the Grave Warden which had struck its comrade was bleeding from both eyes, thrashing and attacking everything around it indiscriminately.
"Excellent."
The Toy Soldier hadn't missed the opening left by the powerful charge's aftermath. Inwardly marvelling at the toy soldier's combat sense, the Chief Instructor swiftly drove his greatsword home.
Thrust!
The blade pierced through the Grave Warden's brow and exited the back of its skull. Boiling brain matter seemed to bubble from the wound, and then the head itself began to crumple like a plastic bag. The purple bulk, its movements frozen, toppled forward.
Just who is this "Queen" supposed to be?
The Chief Instructor's eyes narrowed as he pulled free his greatsword. At this point, he couldn't help but take notice. The way it focused entirely on harassment to set up its partner's finishing blow—it made sense in a way, but the problem was that no golem should possess this kind of intelligence.
While engaging the remaining Wardens, the Chief Instructor probed.
"Mind if I ask something?"
"Of course!"
"Why would a monster attack other monsters?"
The Toy Soldier, mid-somersault, raised an eyebrow.
"How did you know?"
"Well, if golems like you existed, every hunter would be out of a job."
Even experienced hunters couldn't fight like this. These were movements that only came from years of specialized training. But more than anything—the Chief Instructor had already realized that this colorful legion wasn't mere golems. At some point, the distinctive mana waves of monsters had begun emanating from them. He'd kept quiet lest the students panic.
"Is that your Queen approaching now?"
The Chief Instructor pointed with his chin. The Toy Soldier nodded.
"That is correct."
So another powerful monster was about to appear. The Chief Instructor wasn't sure whether to welcome this or not. Just what was their purpose? Would they have to fight again once this battle ended? And how did this "Queen" view humans? It was a situation where he couldn't see even an inch ahead.
"And those coming from over there?"
This time he glanced the other way. But now it was the Toy Soldier who tilted its head.
"Weren't those your allies?"
"Hah..."
Under normal circumstances, he would have thought so. That was human mana, after all. But the training ground instructors were already all dead or turned. Their identities were all too predictable, which was why he could only sigh.
The Chief Instructor began holding back from aggressively engaging the Grave Wardens. Instead, he watched the presence that had approached right nearby.
Then another loud noise erupted from the Specter King's direction.
KRAAANG—!
A freezing wind came howling with furious force. Narrowing his eyes, he saw a blue beam shooting from the Specter King's palm, swallowing a Toy Soldier's form in an instant as it stretched outward. A Toy Soldier reduced to just a head tumbled down between the shattered dead trees.
Damn...!
At the same time, light flashed from the Chief Instructor's flank—an attack that seemed to have waited for his attention to be diverted. But the Chief Instructor didn't even bother confirming what it was. He'd already deduced the attacker's identity by feel alone. Moreover, the Specter King was charging straight toward him.
He immediately wreathed his greatsword in flame and blocked the Specter King's hand-blade.
KKRRRRAAAAK—!!!
His two feet scraped back, carving an eleven-shaped trail. The blade tip that touched the Specter King's fingertips froze white and melted in rapid succession. The Chief Instructor's face twisted.
"Unpleasant."
The Specter King smiled.
"What is? Being betrayed by a subordinate? Or... regretting that you stuck your nose in?"
Crack—
A fissure began spreading from the right side of his white armor. An arrow had already been lodged there. The Chief Instructor's gaze went cold and still.
"You're not much of a hunt. All that thrashing about for nothing, and you don't even look appetizing."
"Then what are you waiting for? Dispose of him and find the next prey. You lot, go that way."
At the Specter King's command, the Grave Wardens began heading toward the rescue site. The Toy Soldiers started harassing them, but monsters under a boss's orders would no longer be swayed.
Seeing this, the Chief Instructor's entire body began to glow red.
"No one moves."
Crack— The earth split. Fissures starting from beneath the Chief Instructor's feet spread like a spiderweb, expanding to a radius of some thirty meters. Lava boiled up from the cracks, and then white flames charged with mana erupted skyward.
FWAAAAAAASH!!!!
Flames dozens of meters high sealed off everything within range. The Grave Wardens tried to charge through regardless, but when the first one emerged from the white-flame barrier as nothing but bare bones, they all flinched back as one. There hadn't even been a visible burning or melting of flesh.
On the other hand, the Chief Instructor was also rooted in place. The highest-tier spell, Devil's Playground—powerful, but with a fatal weakness: the caster couldn't move. He glared at the Specter King with the look of a man ready to take them both down if necessary.
"..."
But the Specter King merely smiled leisurely and focused on freezing the greatsword. After all, waiting would simply exhaust the mana.
The Chief Instructor muttered.
"You've really done it this time. Come on out already, Instructor Pyo Ara."
At that, men and women in white robes emerged from the underbrush. A woman who stopped before the white-flame barrier answered.
"'Instructor' Pyo Ara...? How strange, Hunter Yoo Tae-hwan. Is this really the time for you to speak down to me?"
The Chief Instructor glared at the woman.
"Playing the innocent while you thoroughly deceived us. How does it feel? Becoming a terrorist for the ages."
"Not bad. I lived as a frail but kind beauty of an instructor, and now I've become an exalted high priestess. Like enjoying a little vacation, you could say?"
The Chief Instructor sighed.
"...You really are something else. What happened to Instructor Nam Byeong-ho? Weren't you engaged?"
"Byeong-ho? Hmm..."
The woman asked the man to her right.
"What did I do again? Did I start with the eyes, or did I cut off his manhood first? I can't quite remember."
"You started with the tongue, my lady. Said he'd be too noisy."
"Ahh, that's right."
The woman, hands clasped behind her back, shrugged.
"So he says. I'm actually rather old, you see, so I've gotten a bit forgetful. Anyway, he's dead. Does that answer your question?"
Suddenly, thick veins bulged on the Chief Instructor's arms, and the blade began vibrating, leaving afterimages. Extremely compressed mana exploded outward, shoving the Specter King's form back.
BOOM...
But when the smoke from the explosion cleared, the Specter King was still standing in the exact same posture. If anything, it now gripped the blade properly and began pouring cold energy into it in earnest.
The woman giggled.
"Nothing ever goes right in life, does it? Don't be too disappointed. The Specter King was never going to die just from crashing into a barrier like that. Besides, our faithful still remain at the villa."
"You miserable vermin..."
"Ooh? Hold on. You're bleeding. That's why you should cool that temper of yours. Don't just rage around like a brute."
Indeed, sticky blood was streaming from the Chief Instructor's nose. He'd been putting on a brave face, but his mana was gradually hitting rock bottom. The Chief Instructor fell into deep deliberation.
If I engage properly even now, it might be possible...
If he dropped the barrier, the Grave Wardens would head for the students. If he failed to subdue the boss in one stroke, the students would be massacred in an instant—and ultimately, the sacrificial ritual they wanted would activate.
"Unbelievable. To think I'd be fretting over something like this."
Where had the old Yoo Tae-hwan gone—the mercenary of the underworld? In the past, hostages be damned, he would have turned Bukhan Mountain into an active volcano. Playing the adult at this stage—even he found it laughable.
"I think it's about time we shoot you dead. The flames are weakening."
The Chief Instructor calmly watched the arrow the woman aimed at him. He had no desire to desperately cling to life at the cost of even the young ones.
But then—a sudden chill ran down his spine, and he turned his gaze. Beyond the white-flame barrier, teddy bears were scattering in utter panic. The Toy Soldiers, too, had ceased fighting and were hastily dropping to their knees.
Following the Chief Instructor's gaze, the woman's party also turned their heads, and the Specter King, who had been freezing the greatsword, halted its spell and stared at the same place.
"..."
Out of nowhere, a girl's figure was spinning round and round atop the hill. A black star-patterned magician's hat sat atop her twintails, and a snug corset outfit clad her upper body. Her skirt was made of multiple layers of sheer fabric, and both top and bottom were garishly, brilliantly colorful. Her mouth was painted red in a crescent moon shape—a complete pierrot.
The dancing girl came to a sudden stop.
"Everyone!"
"..."
"..."
Looking closer, both her eyes were also painted black like cross-shaped stars. With the whites of her eyes completely invisible, it was both eerie and grotesque.
"Would any of you care to take a trip to a delightful amusement park? Admission is prepaid, you know."
Of course, no one answered.
Sensing danger by instinct, the Specter King and the Fifth High Priestess shouted simultaneously.
"Attack!"
"Move!"
Some twenty surviving evil spirits charged all at once. But Pecia merely tilted her head, hands folded before her. For some reason, she looked at the Fifth High Priestess and spoke.
"Did you enjoy using those devotees and the Mana Wood cabin? Thanks to you, I was able to protect my little teddy bears."
"...?"
"Cratan."
Click—
The sound of a lock disengaging came from somewhere. At the same time, a corner of the underbrush seemed to seethe with heat... and then a black sphere the size of a human head suddenly burst forth.
KAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!
The evil spirits charging at Pecia were blasted away in every direction.