Chapter 69
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 69
The Yosal Corps' assigned duties differed according to their unit numbers.
Units 1 through 5 were capital defense.
Units 6 through 25 were responsible for protecting regional metropolitan cities and provinces, among other duties.
These had originally been temporary numbers assigned for the efficient classification of duties when the Yosal Corps was founded, but by now they had hardened into yet another rank system.
At the very least, the established view was that you had to be within Unit 25 to be called a proper member of the Yosal Corps, and the reality was not much different.
That was because the gap in combat strength before and after Unit 25 was extreme.
Therefore, the martial prowess of Son Ju-yeong, assigned to Unit 28 in charge of guarding the chapel, and his squad members was not particularly outstanding.
But apart from raw combat strength, they excelled in every other respect.
They took pride in the black overcoat that symbolized the Yosal Corps and understood their duties well.
Their focus on their charges and meticulous vigilance were excellent, so they repeatedly handled VIP protection missions successfully.
Thus, Son Ju-yeong thought this time would be no different.
Because he was doing his best, just as he always had.
But at some point, the corridor fell silent. Through the complete void, as if even the air had withdrawn,
Step. Step.
the moment he spotted a man walking forward with imposing dignity,
he realized that his past achievements had merely been an extension of luck—a stroke of fortune born from never having faced a proper adversary.
The man before his eyes radiated that much menace, and the intent carried in his footsteps was unmistakable.
Son Ju-yeong first pulled out his radio to request support.
Crackle, crackle.
But the device that had been working fine just moments before was suddenly dead.
It could not be a coincidence of overlapping misfortunes, so it was reasonable to regard it as that man's ability.
Son Ju-yeong, who had been chewing his lip, swiftly drew his sword.
"Form up."
His squad members, too, held their positions with faces drained pale but carrying their own resolve.
At that, the man with the rough air about him—
The Sword Demonkin, Han Soo-hyeok, came to a stop a short distance away.
Han Soo-hyeok tapped the scabbard hanging loosely at his waist and spoke.
"Good posture, but that won't change anything."
And then he vanished.
By the time Son Ju-yeong spotted him again, one squad member had already been sent flying into the distance, coughing up blood.
He vanished again, and when he revealed himself for another instant, another squad member was sent bouncing away, scattering blood.
They had been neutralized without even managing a scream, before they could tell how they had been struck.
"What the—"
Son Ju-yeong was horrified.
No matter how far removed they were from key posts, the Yosal Corps was still the Yosal Corps.
He could not believe that Tier 7 Awakeners could be so easily handled—no, trampled.
But his thoughts could go no further.
The moment he realized he was suddenly standing alone and hastily raised his sword,
a wind blew. A fierce wind pressing down on his entire body.
And through it, an antique scabbard flickered past like an afterimage.
Hup.
Only then did Son Ju-yeong understand why his squad members had not been able to scream.
The pressure of the monstrous sword wind had blocked even their breath.
Damn it.
Son Ju-yeong felt pain surging in his chest.
As his body floated upward and his vision darkened, he was flung away helplessly and lost consciousness.
* * *
The reason I had been able to remain somewhat rational despite experiencing countless anomalies since entering this world was.......
Most of them had been changes I could guess at, or they had ended within a range I could somehow handle.
But now.......
Crack, crumble.
The chapel door was torn off, and a blood-soaked Yosal Corps member tumbled across the floor.
And the man who followed in after him.
Long hair swept back carelessly, arrogant eyes gleaming between the strands—the appearance of that Demonkin alone was.......
an anomaly unlike anything I had ever experienced, a natural disaster in and of itself.
"......Han Soo-hyeok, the Sword Demonkin."
In-story age, late thirties.
The youngest Red Demonkin nearing Yellow, and a heavyweight with few rivals in his age group.
I recognized his identity at once.
His distinctive wolf-like air played a part, but more than that, it was the Armament at his waist—the eight characters engraved on that scabbard.
越王句踐自作用劍
It was possible because there was only one owner of the special-grade Armament called, for short, the Sword of Goujian of Yue.
But why had that guy appeared here?
I forced my frozen mind to work through the tension.
For one thing, today's meeting should have happened at least after graduation from Taehak, at the point when the Yosal Corps arc was supposed to appear in earnest.
Because he was the wall that the surging Baek Sa-young would face, the adversary he had to overcome.
"This is way too early...!"
The fact that no message had appeared so far meant this was a variable, not direct intervention by 4885.
It meant this was a side effect caused by the twisted development.......
Was Reina the target?
Had some variable I didn't know about arisen between the Vatican and Han Soo-hyeok?
The questions buzzing through my head died down the moment a gravelly voice shook the hall.
"This place reeks of babies."
He sounded like some jobless bum shuffling out in flip-flops for a quick drink.
Han Soo-hyeok was overflowing with composure despite the six-on-one situation—five-on-one if you excluded the fallen Reina.
This side, by contrast, was tense.
The group gathered around the fallen Reina, and Joo A-rin, who had been glancing at her phone, soon realized it was dead and shouted in a sharp voice.
"Who are you? You’re interfering with a Taehak and Vatican event......."
"Ah, shut it."
But there was no way that would work.
"People about to die don't need to exchange names."
Han Soo-hyeok reached for the Sword of Goujian of Yue with languid eyes.
He lifted it, scabbard and all, and slammed it down on the floor—thud—and from floor to ceiling,
the entire chapel, once quiet and sacred, was enveloped in a hazy energy.
The moment I saw it, I recognized it as a technique Han Soo-hyeok favored.
......Sword Barrier.
A technique that wrapped the entire space in sword energy and placed it under his control.
Forcing through it was nearly impossible, and no presence leaked from inside to outside, so we were now effectively trapped in a perfect prison.
Having finished his hunting preparations, Han Soo-hyeok emitted dense Demonic Energy and crooked his finger.
"What are you Taehak brats staring at? If you run into a Demonkin, you should charge first. Scared?"
At that, Cheon Seo-yoon and Lee Dae-ho ground their teeth and exchanged glances.
"Let's hit him when he's off guard."
"Agreed. Dragging this out puts us at a disadvantage."
I'd thought no way, but the moment their opinions aligned, they suddenly lunged forward.
"No!"
It was too sudden for me to even warn them.
They had failed to judge who their opponent was—
that he was far stronger than he appeared.
Lee Dae-ho condensed mana into his right fist and thrust it toward Han Soo-hyeok.
One, two, three.
As three punches in total split the empty air, shockwaves in the shape of enlarged fists shot toward Han Soo-hyeok.
"How dare a Demonkin bastard......."
Meanwhile, Cheon Seo-yoon, who had leaped into the air, also gave it everything she had.
When her trait [The Unbending] activated, a sword aura wreathed in clumsy Lightning Power manifested.
As she slashed downward as if shaking it off, a massive crescent-shaped sword strike fell toward Han Soo-hyeok's head.
It formed an exquisite combination with Lee Dae-ho's shockwave.
An attack that occupied nearly every direction.
Its ferocity and completeness would not have been out of place even for active-duty Awakeners. As expected of the leads of <Epic of Salvation>.
Clench—
My fist tightened with a sliver of hope.
"Tch, brats all style and no substance......."
But the hope vanished as futilely as it had been premature.
Han Soo-hyeok slowly drew the Sword of Goujian of Yue downward.
It was less an attack than a movement closer to solitary training.
The result was staggering.
There had been no visible form or imposing aura—only a fierce wind.
Yet Cheon Seo-yoon's sword strike and Lee Dae-ho's shockwave, which had been surging in as if to swallow everything, were swept away and vanished with that single stroke.
Swish—
And with that, Han Soo-hyeok vanished too.
When he reappeared, he had stopped right at Lee Dae-ho's immediate vicinity.
The Sword of Goujian of Yue in his hand was thrust straight out.
"Wh-what the—"
The startled Lee Dae-ho hastily raised his body-protection aura, wrapping mana around himself for defense.
But it was a futile effort.
As if the Sword of Goujian of Yue had a blade even in its scabbard, it pierced through easily and slammed into Lee Dae-ho's solar plexus.
"Guhuk."
The solid, bulky frame was sent flying with absurd ease.
"That's one."
"Die!"
At that moment, Cheon Seo-yoon seized the space behind Han Soo-hyeok.
Cheon Seo-yoon swung her sword faster than ever before. It was an attack so certain it felt as though it had already cut him.
Clang—
But instead of the expected sound of cutting, a dull friction rang out.
Han Soo-hyeok simply extended his sword behind his back and blocked it with ease.
Sword met sword.
Cheon Seo-yoon did not give up and poured an immense amount of mana into her sword.
"A sword isn't a club, you idiot."
Han Soo-hyeok clicked his tongue lightly and placed his hand on the scabbard.
Dark-red Demonic Energy rippled along the scabbard. Cheon Seo-yoon's sword was cleanly cut in two.
Cheon Seo-yoon staggered for an instant, and Han Soo-hyeok leisurely spun his body and struck her exposed side.
Boom!
Cheon Seo-yoon flew straight into the wall and was embedded there.
.......
"......Protect the Saintess."
"Let's go together. I'll support you."
The same went for Baek Sa-young and Joo A-rin, who stepped forward next.
As if firmly resolved, a destructive energy unlike anything I had seen before coiled around Baek Sa-young's sword, and Joo A-rin's freezing power scattered a sharper chill than ever as it backed him up—but.
"Still, you're not bad."
All they earned was Han Soo-hyeok's praise that wasn't quite praise.
"But it's a boring sword. Boring enough to make me yawn."
"You overthink everything. How many openings have you missed because you hesitated?"
After enduring barely ten exchanges, they were sent flying in an unsightly heap.
Lee Dae-ho and Cheon Seo-yoon, who had somehow gotten back up, charged in again, but this too was close to a meaningless gesture.
It was fortunate that Han Soo-hyeok wasn't using lethal force; otherwise, several of them would already have been killed.
"Damn it......."
A truly overwhelming gap in martial power.
The gap was so vast that I could not even see a way to intervene.
The opponents I had faced until now had been strong too, but there had always been some angle I could exploit.
But Han Soo-hyeok was different. He was on a wholly different level.
Even if I attacked with everything I had, could I stop him?
"......."
Only the word despair circled in my head.
No matter how hard I thought, a wall stood before me. I could see no way to bring down the iron wall named Han Soo-hyeok.
"You must not give up."
That was when a firm, beautiful voice reached me.
I turned my head and saw that Reina, who had awakened at some point, had come up beside me.
"I was rude earlier. I misunderstood and thought Satan had taken hold of you."
Reina bowed her head lightly.
It seemed she had withdrawn her suspicion about Greed from earlier, but.......
Did it matter? We were all about to die anyway.
Even Reina was no match for Han Soo-hyeok.
And there was a high possibility that she was the very cause that had summoned Han Soo-hyeok here.
So a sarcastic tone slipped out before I knew it.
"Well, that’s a relief."
"Have you given up?"
"No. 'Giving up' is a word you use when there's even a sliver of possibility. This should be called acceptance."
"God does not send trials beyond what one can bear."
"You can say that even after seeing that guy?"
Maybe because it was all or nothing anyway, strength naturally entered my voice.
"Hey, Saintess. It seems you haven't grasped the situation because you only just came to."
"I cannot fight properly due to the damage from earlier. But I can lend you my power."
"Even so......."
"Think again. Is there truly no way?"
I did not know whether it was intentional or a coincidence.
Reina suddenly raised her head and looked at the statue of the Virgin Mary in the center of the chapel, and I raised my head along with her and.......
"Ah......."
The only way to get through this crisis.
I could think of the last hope worth at least attempting.
"The barrier......."
Facing Han Soo-hyeok was still impossible, but if I changed the target to the barrier he had created—
If Reina’s buff let me open even a small hole, the presence of Demonic Energy would spread instantly. There was no way the Yosal Corps waiting nearby or Professor Lee Taek-jin would fail to notice.
"How long do you plan to just stand there watching?"
At that moment, a bleak voice rang out among the fallen group.
I swallowed hard, then stepped in front of Reina.
Either way, it was first and foremost to protect the Saintess.
"Hey, stop making a fool of yourself and take out your Armament already. Who do you think I came all the way here for?"
But Han Soo-hyeok's gaze was not directed at Reina.
He was staring straight at me, as if that were only natural.