Chapter 307: What Does It Mean to Turn the Tables?
Chapter 307: What Does It Mean to Turn the Tables?
“What? The Warp Gate isn’t working?”
“Yes. It seems the Vagabonds tampered with the magic circle.”
As the words were spoken with certainty, a dark shadow fell over the clan members’ faces. They had just begun to think they could finally escape, but now that hope had vanished like a bubble. It was only natural for them to be worried. Seeing them all looking at me, I sank into thought.
There was only one option left. We had to get out through the city gates.
The question is, which gate do we use…?
From here on, I had to choose carefully. The Warp Gate was located near the center, so the distance to any of the gates was roughly the same. That meant I had to select the safest route—a place where the Vagabonds were least likely to be.
I recalled the scene I had witnessed from the roof of the jeweler’s building. The Vagabonds had attacked from three directions: the East, West, and North Gates. Logically, choosing the South Gate as our escape route would be the correct decision. But for some reason, I felt a sense of unease about rushing there. It was a kind of gut instinct, born from my experience fighting street battles during the first playthrough.
After the Vagabond Extermination Plan, their hostility toward Users would be immense. The fact that they had crossed continents, meticulously preparing their revenge, was proof enough of their hatred. I thought I understood their intention in leaving the South Gate open, but it was hard to believe they would let fleeing Users go so easily. I was strongly convinced that the Vagabonds I knew would have set some kind of trap.
In the minute that passed, I considered and organized many thoughts. Just as I was about to open my mouth to speak to the clan members, my eyes fell on Ahn Sol. She was anxiously sucking on her fingers, her face fraught with worry. The moment I saw her, a good idea came to mind.
“Ahn Sol.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Come here for a moment.”
Ahn Sol blinked once or twice, then scurried over to me.
*
Flicker!
The dark street flashed bright for a moment before plunging back into darkness. The flames rising in the distance didn't seem to reach this remote part of the city, leaving the streets bathed in a dim, dusky light. Only the irregular flickering of a Light Stone intermittently illuminated the darkness.
A lone woman was crawling with great difficulty down that street. After crawling for some time, she seemed to decide she couldn't go on. She stopped in her crawling position and rolled onto her back with a gasp.
One look was enough to see that the woman was in no normal state; she was severely injured. Her pants were torn to shreds, completely exposing her below the pelvis. Two gaping holes had been punched through her pale white thighs, and blood was continuously streaming from the wounds.
After catching her breath for a moment, the woman, perhaps believing no one was around, grunted with effort and pushed her upper body up. She placed both hands on the ground and slowly began to push herself away from the dirt.
Scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape.
The woman leaned her body against the rubble of a collapsed building and cautiously looked around. Soon, she spotted several mutilated corpses not far away. It seemed the Vagabonds had already swept through the area, as torn and tattered bodies were strewn everywhere.
She stared at the sight for a while, and then, as if she could bear it no longer, she let out a sob. “Hic.” It was then that she heard it.
“My cute little kitten~. Where did you go~.”
A deliberately fabricated, sing-song tone that didn't match the gruff voice echoed softly through the street.
The woman’s head snapped up. Her chin and shoulders still trembled with suppressed sobs, but she was desperately trying to hold them back.
The footsteps grew closer. With every swallow the woman made, the sound of leather boots scraping against the street grew louder. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, bit her lip hard, and stood up.
Or rather, she was just about to.
“There you are~. Oppa’s been looking all over for you~.”
With the word “found,” a round, ball-like object flew through the dark air.
Thud! Tumble, tumble….
The ball hit the ground and rolled to a perfect stop right in front of her. The woman’s gaze dropped reflexively. The moment she saw the horribly torn flesh below the neck and the thick blood oozing from it, she let out a piercing scream.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaak!”
“Kahahahahahaha!”
CRUNCH! CRACK! CRACKLE!
A large-bodied man, who seemed to have dropped from somewhere above, laughed wildly as he ground the head into pieces with his foot. He rubbed his sticky sole on the ground a few times before extending a hand, dripping with blood, toward the woman.
“What a shame, my little kitten. Looks like your friends wanted to save you, but this is how it ended up…?”
“Ah… Aah…”
The giant’s hand gently caressed the woman’s cheek. She seemed incapable of even thinking to pull away, merely trembling uncontrollably as choked gasps escaped her lips.
“You got caught in the end! You got caught! Kehehehe!”
“No! Nooo!”
The giant hastily undid his belt. The way his hands fumbled, it was clear he was quite excited by the situation. Soon, his pants and underwear slid down, revealing a stiffly raised monstrosity. He grabbed the woman’s thighs, forced them apart, and lifted her up. She tried to resist, flailing her fists, but the man just chuckled and aimed his weapon.
Just as the giant’s monstrosity drew close to the woman’s private parts, he slammed her down with the hands holding her thighs.
Squelch!
“Aack!”
With a single scream, a small amount of blood splattered from the point of connection. In the blink of an eye, the giant’s and the woman’s bodies were joined. She twisted her waist, her body flinching violently before she began to tremble from head to toe.
“Kngh… Damn, you User bitches are the best… Were you a virgin?”
“Ghk…! Ack…!”
“Keukkeuk. Since it was going to end up like this anyway, why did you run so hard, huh?”
“Hic… Gnhk…”
The woman didn’t answer. It seemed she didn’t even have the presence of mind to open her mouth. As the man wrapped one arm around her back, the penetration deepened, and her trembling intensified. Her flailing hands eventually found the giant’s shoulders, and she reflexively squeezed.
The giant patted the woman’s plump bottom with his free hand. Looking down at her in his arms, he whispered softly.
“Oh, my kitten. Finally showing some affection. That’s right, that’s right.”
“Hic… Hic…”
Just then, a faint shout was heard from far away. The giant immediately turned his head, then a grin spread across his face as he began to walk in that direction.
“Hehe. It’ll be fun to go out just like this. I’ll have to show you off to the others. How about it? You like that, don’t you?”
“Ung… Uuung… Oppa… Oppa, save me… Uuuung…”
Was it because of the unbearable pain that shot up from her lower abdomen with every step, or the intense shame she felt at the giant’s words? A single, sorrowful tear finally escaped from the woman’s squeezed-shut eyes, scattering into the air. It was at that moment.
Whoosh!
A sharp gust of wind swept past the giant and the woman. He must have sensed something was wrong, because the broad smile vanished from his face and he came to an abrupt halt.
In that instant, the giant’s eyes widened as if they would pop out of their sockets. He was just about to quickly raise his hands to guard his face.
Slice!
But before he could even lift his hands, the last two things the giant ever felt were these:
The chilling sensation that swept across his neck like the wind.
“I’ve taken care of him. Let’s go.”
It was a voice cold enough to send chills down his spine.
*
After much deliberation, the escape route I decided on was the East Gate. To be precise, the plan was to detour through the eastern outskirts to get to the East Gate. Of course, I didn’t choose the East Gate for no reason. There was a calculation behind it. In a way, it was a gamble, but having my lucky charm confirm it raised the odds of success.
Thus, we succeeded in our detour and safely arrived at the Residents' main residential area in the eastern outskirts, where we began our escape. One thing that changed upon entering the outskirts was that Ko Yeonju began to actively support me.
As expected, the Vagabonds weren't as numerous as I had feared. We broke through the outskirts under the principle of moving as stealthily as possible and, when an encounter was unavoidable, dealing with it as quickly as possible.
The Vagabonds plundering the outskirts moved in various ways. Some were alone, while others moved in groups of four or five. Dealing with them wasn't a major problem. In fact, we handled them with ease and pushed through the first half of the area like an unstoppable tide.
But, as expected, the escape was not so easy.
Just as we passed the halfway point and were nearing the latter part of the outskirts, we ran into a group of seventeen Vagabonds. These were Vagabonds who had invaded from the outside, and they were a cut above the ones who had joined from within. Fortunately, Ko Yeonju’s large-scale shadow magic enveloped them from all directions, and we managed to cut down four or five of them while they were disoriented, so we didn't lose much time.
We resumed our escape, but the Vagabonds weren't all fools. While we were moving down from above, the Vagabonds were moving up from below. They must have had their own communication system, or perhaps they had found the bodies of their comrades while looting.
The frequency of our clashes with the Vagabonds was increasing. By now, having broken through most of the outskirts, I had slaughtered over sixty of them myself. With the situation as it was, they must have sensed something was wrong.
At some point, the screams of the Residents, which had been incessant, began to die down. The presences that had been scattered in all directions began to converge, some forming groups, others forming a search net.
Simply put, they had stopped their looting and were now hunting for the one who had killed their comrades.
And now, we were holding our breath, assessing the situation as we sensed dozens of presences in front of us.
“Soohyun. What should we do?”
At the sudden voice, I slowly turned my head. Ko Yeonju was comforting Ahn Sol, who was pressed flat against a wall, trembling. Next to them, I could see Kim Hanbyul with a pale complexion and the old man, who was breathing a little heavily.
“It seems there are Vagabonds up ahead. And they’re slowly closing in on our position.”
“I sense that as well.”
I nodded calmly. Seeing the massive city wall towering before us, I knew the gate was just beyond this point. I estimated about twenty enemies ahead. With Ko Yeonju’s support, I was confident I could deal with them in an instant. However, there was one thing that bothered me.
“Ko Yeonju. Besides the ones in front, do you sense any other Vagabonds nearby?”
“I do. There’s one group where we came from, and another to our right. Judging by the way they went up and are now coming back down, it seems they’re searching for our trail.”
“Then what’s the distance between us and them right now?”
“There’s some distance. But…”
Ko Yeonju glanced behind her once, then tilted her head and continued.
“Actually, the group behind us stopped moving a moment ago. And part of the group to our right has turned in that direction.”
“Don’t tell me…”
For a moment, the thought of being sandwiched flashed through my mind. As if reading my thoughts, Ko Yeonju shook her head.
“I think they’re mistaking other Users for us.”
“Other Users?”
“Yes. While you were focused on the battle in front, I was covering our rear, right? There weren’t many, but a few Users have actually been following you since the plaza and the Warp Gate. Seeing as their presences are almost overlapping now, they might have found them.”
“In that case…”
I immediately understood what Ko Yeonju was saying. Come to think of it, I did remember a few Users calling out to me and trying to grab me on our way here. (Of course, I shook them off immediately.) If what she said was true, this could be an opportunity.
There were two options. Either deal with the enemies in front of us while the other Users drew their attention, or change direction and cut across diagonally.
I immediately asked Ko Yeonju.
“Ko Yeonju. If we were to cut across diagonally, do you think we could get through?”
“I wonder. It seems they’ve formed a net, almost like they’re herding us…”
“……”
“The gate is right in front of us, isn’t it? When there’s an easy path, there’s no need to take the difficult one…”
My thoughts aligned with Ko Yeonju’s. It was uncertain how long the Users following me would last, and in the worst-case scenario, we could be surrounded by Vagabonds from all sides. Moreover, changing direction here would cause a delay, and Vagabonds from other areas might be drawn in. Therefore, it seemed better to take a slight risk and deal with the Vagabonds in front of us.
I’ll deal with them as quickly as possible, then we’ll get out without delay.
Having made my decision, I turned to the clan members and spoke.
“This will probably be the last battle.”
“……”
“I won’t say much. It’ll be the same as before. As soon as I take care of them, we escape.”
“O-Oppa.”
“Alright, Ko Yeonju. I’m counting on you, just like before.”
I heard Hanbyul call my name, but I immediately turned away. I took a great leap forward, launching myself with all my strength. At the same time, I could see several streams of shadow flowing across the ground.
*
In an instant, I leaped over a building. I could see the Vagabonds up ahead. They must have sensed a strange presence, as they had been walking slowly but now tilted their heads up. The moment our eyes met, the streams of shadow Ko Yeonju had sent forth surged over them.
“Aargh!”
“Kyaaak!”
As I landed where they were gathered, several Vagabonds were lifted into the air, screaming.
For a moment, the Blazing Sword came to mind. But I quickly shook my head. I had already used it once at the Warp Gate. I didn't know how much longer I could use it, but considering the road ahead, I needed to conserve as much stamina as possible.
So, the moment my feet touched the ground, I charged toward them and thrust my sword.
I had no time for flashy moves, nor any intention of using them. The only thing on my mind was fighting to escape. That meant I needed to reduce their numbers as much as possible while Ko Yeonju’s shadows had them disoriented. I decided to focus solely on the battle, without any other thoughts.
To start, I swung my sword at the three who were struggling, bound in the air.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
After instantly taking three lives, I leaped right into their midst. The Vagabonds, thrown into chaos by the sudden ambush, quickly recovered and shouted.
“Found him! Battle positions! Battle positions!”
“Dammit! He’s a shadow-wielder! Don’t underestimate him!”
Give me a break.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At the signal, I could feel the presences of the Vagabonds who had been forming the net closing in from the surroundings.
I quickly turned and ran at the fastest speed I could muster. I sensed a few of the Vagabonds charging at me flinch. They seemed quite flustered that I was closing the distance myself.
Thwack! Thwack!
I heard something embedding itself in the ground where I had just been, but I paid it no mind. I lightly dodged a magic spell flying at me from the front and swiftly charged into the group of Vagabonds.
“C-Crazy! How is he so fast!”
“Watch out!”
As I swung my sword at the one in the very front, he confidently raised his shield.
CRACK!
The Formless Sword sliced through the thick shield without pause, and the Vagabond’s confident expression was split in half along with his face. Something warm drenched me, and my vision turned red.
I could feel the surrounding Vagabonds flinch in shock again. Seizing the opportunity, I unleashed one of my specialties, a wave of magic power, in all directions.
“───! ───! ───! Sh-Shield!”
BOOM! KABOOM!
A few mages quickly threw up defensive barriers. But the bluish wave of magic power crumpled the translucent shields like paper before shattering them completely. The mages took a direct hit from the wave and vomited blood.
“Gak!”
“What, what the hell is this bastard?!”
“How are you letting one guy do this to you?! You idiots!”
KRAAANG!
Just then, an enraged roar erupted from my side, followed by a violent boom. I reflexively swung my sword toward the sound. A heavy impact traveled up my arm as I saw a yellow beam of light get sliced in half. The beam fluttered down and harmlessly dissipated.
“N-No way!”
The fierce roar quickly turned to one of astonishment. I glanced in the direction the beam had come from and saw an archer stumbling backward. I immediately leaped toward him and plunged my sword into him.
I thought I heard a faint scream, but I kicked him in the chest and immediately looked for my next opponent. The Vagabonds were looking at me with expressions that said they had no idea what to do.
The more they panicked, the better. The more confused they were, the better. I had to press the attack like a storm and finish this before they could regain their senses.
I charged without stopping. I didn't let my sword rest for a single second, pressing them without giving them the slightest opening. The moment I cut one down, I immediately ran to the next and ended their life.
Just as I had felled ten of them in the blink of an eye—
“Everyone, get back! I’ll hold him off! Form a concentrated fire formation!”
This time, a deep, commanding voice echoed, and at the same time, I felt a ferocious sword strike coming at me from the left.
I ducked reflexively. I had activated my magic to its maximum, pushing all my stats to their peak. A beast-like wildness, much like when I had gone on a blood-crazed rampage after my brother’s death, was dominating my entire body.
I planted my left foot on the ground and swung my sword upward from below with all my might.
Clang! Sckrunch!
“Uh…”
Hm?
Both the Vagabond attacking me and I were momentarily surprised. And we weren't the only ones. I could hear the others, who were forming the fire formation, sharply inhale. The Vagabond stared blankly at his own sword, which had been split in half, while I was surprised that it had held out for even a fraction of a second. But that was only for a moment.
“Leader! Get back for now—kuaargh!”
“H-Hyeon-cheol! What! There was no presence at all…!”
Crack! Crack!
At that moment, as if Ko Yeonju’s support had come at the perfect time again, the sound of bones twisting echoed from all directions. And I, at top speed, thrust my sword into the chest of the Vagabond whose blade I had just met.
Thrust! Thump!
The Formless Sword pierced through his heavy armor and sank deep into his chest. A thrilling sensation shot up from the hilt. Keeping it there, I unleashed my magic, and with a powerful explosion, the man’s body trembled violently.
“Ugh!”
“……”
“You, who the hell… are you… cough!”
Instead of an answer, I gave the sword a sharp twist and roughly pulled it out. A thin line of blood connected the tip of my sword to the wound in his chest.
Right. This is a hunt. A hunt.
I immediately turned my head to find my next prey. I saw five Vagabonds standing around me, staring blankly. Without exception, their eyes were filled with terror. The moment I targeted one of them, I heard a loud shout.
“R… Run!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”