The Gathering of the Danju
When Haru and Junior reached the collapsed wall with the assistance of their machines and Ineung without exerting much strength, what awaited them was none other than Cheongseol and Mangho.
“Hello? Nice to see you again…”
“Danju, what business do you have here?”
Junior returned the greeting politely as well.
“Originally, the test from the second checkpoint is conducted solely around the participants, but the Danju don’t just sit around either. We’ve been supervising this checkpoint from various points in the arena to prepare for any contingencies…”
“I see.”
“So, I’m asking this because… is there no one among them who has passed away?”
“Yes, I’m afraid that’s the case…”
“…”
Junior trailed off and turned his head toward Blanser behind him.
“Ah, probably not me either?”
Blanser wiped his nose, and when all eyes turned to him, he gave a casual reply that nothing was wrong.
At his answer, the petite Cheongseol—whose height barely reached Junior’s waist—beamed with a bright smile.
“Whew, that’s good. Even if it wasn’t intentional, anyone who harms a life is immediately disqualified no matter the reason… Then, do your best with the rest of the test. We have to pull out the people who are unconscious below, and we also have cleanup work to handle here…”
“Yes, thank you.”
The two left the Danju behind and hurried toward the area where Haru was.
“Hmm, this place is truly a mess. When on earth are they going to clean all this up?”
Cheongseol exhaled a breath of relief and carefully scanned the area around Junior and Blanser, who had made such a ruckus.
Explosives exploding or not, the scattered charred wood fragments and boulders rolling around were nothing unusual.
How they had managed it, however, was unclear, but the ground where Blanser and Junior had just exited had completely collapsed, creating a massive hole.
“Mangho, 6th Danju.”
“…”
“Now, let’s clean up together… Mangho, 6th Danju?”
Swoosh. Swoosh.
Cheongseol turned toward the direction of Mangho’s voice when no answer came, her expression frowning as she glared piercingly at him.
“Hey, you said you were full earlier, but you ate more? Stop eating and start cleaning already. There’s a mountain of other work to do.”
“Just finish this one…”
“If you’re late, you won’t get breakfast. Don’t complain later if you can’t eat.”
“Ah, I get it. It’s worth doing.”
Muttering, Mangho stuffed the snack he was eating into his pocket and reluctantly followed behind Cheongseol.
Meanwhile, on the way toward Haru’s location.
“Come to think of it, the Danju who was in charge of you at the first checkpoint… wasn’t that man standing next to Cheongseol, 6th Danju?”
Junior asked Blanser.
“That’s right.”
“What was your test?”
“Don’t know.”
Blanser wiped the opposite nostril from the one he had just picked, answering briefly and bluntly.
“Don’t know? How is that possible?”
“I was so hungry from eating nonstop alone that I followed, and suddenly I passed, so I just left.”
“…”
“That’s too believable a lie. I asked for nothing.”
Junior squinted his eyes and turned his gaze away from Blanser entirely.
“It’s true.”
“If you don’t want to tell me, just say you don’t want to.”
After that, Blanser didn’t glance at Junior even once, as if he were offended.
“No, it’s really true!”
“You think I’m an idiot.”
“It’s true, you crazy bastard!!”
Thanks to Junior not believing his words, Blanser was so frustrated and agitated that he wanted to jump around.
The two would only reconcile much later.
* * *
Teeup.
“Ouch!”
Teraden grabbed Haru’s shoulder, lifted his body, and flipped him backward, swinging his leg.
Haru, too, kicked the person chasing Teraden behind him.
Kwaak! Bwoeok!
“Ghk…”
“Aaaah!!”
“Huuu… You were pretty well prepared.”
Teraden and Haru stood back to back, breathing heavily.
According to his words, the people surrounding them from all directions seemed to have deliberately prepared to face both Haru and Teraden—or both of them.
They maintained a constant distance no matter where they moved, controlling Haru and Teraden’s movements.
When injured people emerged, they immediately stepped in to fill the gap, or when they saw an opening, they never missed the chance.
Haru and Teraden’s teamwork was excellent, and they were still holding their own against them.
But if time continued to pass, something unexpected might happen.
“Hey, I’ve got a good idea.”
Teraden whispered in a very small voice, only Haru could hear.
“Kneel down for a moment.”
Following Teraden’s instruction, Haru quickly knelt, and at the same moment, several streaks of Hwigwang shot from above his head.
The Hwigwang spewed from Teraden’s ten fingers spread out in a chaotic pattern.
Puk! Puuuk-! Chatchang! Jjeong!
Those who were relatively close or weaker were hit directly and replaced by the waiting personnel, retreating to the back.
Those far away or stronger blocked the Hwigwang and showed strange reactions.
“Hmm? This… doesn’t seem like Hwigwang is all that special?”
“Yeah. We were so tense, but it was actually doable?”
“Tha… I don’t think it’s that great to be happy about blocking just one finger shot.”
Teraden shrugged casually, but they took his attitude as empty boasting.
“The guy’s out of power. No need to hold back now.”
“Hey, I feel bad saying this, but you’re completely off the mark…”
“Stop boasting! You lasted a while, but the end is in sight! Now we’ll push with full power!”
Fueled by their momentum, they finally broke the encirclement and charged toward Haru and Teraden.
“They really just cheer and drum by themselves. We’re grateful you loosened the encirclement for us.”
“Huaaap-!!”
Shua! Shuakak! Kwakwakkwaak!
Along with the thrown weapons, elemental Ineung poured out indiscriminately.
Teraden’s back to Haru, a massive wall of Hwigwang appeared and blocked everything.
Of course, even without Ineung, they could have dodged, but it was impossible to fall for their obvious plan to consume a little stamina and take the high ground.
“Tch, charge!”
Soon, people pulling out weapons or gathering Ineung raced forward.
“You said it was doable earlier? Then try blocking this too.”
A huge mass of Hwigwang, shining with bright light, formed above Teraden’s hand.
It spun at a furious speed, writhing as if trapped by something invisible.
“This is also blockable? Then I’ll admit it.”
“No, that’s a bit…”
“Eat!”
A few in the lead who saw the monstrous size of Hwigwang hesitated.
But Teraden paid no mind and threw what he was holding.
Kwaaaaah-!
““Aaaaah!!””
Eventually, three people hit directly by the Hwigwang flew away with the concrete.
“…”
That should be… no way they’re dead?
Even if alive, they would at least have serious injuries.
Swallowing hard, the people who had been staring blankly at the scene soon changed their top priority from Teraden to Haru.
“K! The guy using Hwigwang, hit him all at once later! First, take out the guy without Ineung!”
“That one? It won’t be easy. And do you think I’ll just watch you?”
Teraden laughed wickedly, then kicked off the ground in an aggressive stance and started advancing, Haru right behind him.
Kwaak! Kwaak!
“Uug!”
“Aaaah!”
Unlike when they had formed an encirclement and constantly pressed them, these people collapsed pitifully.
Teraden’s recent big move had not only stiffened their muscles and made them shrink but also broken their morale.
“Pull yourselves together! The opponents are just two, and we’re twenty of us!”
A man who seemed to be the leader looked around and shouted, then led a few to charge at Haru.
Kwadk, Kwaddeudeuk!
The dirt mound that rose from the ground grabbed Haru’s ankle, fixing his body to the ground.
“Got him! Now!”
Eventually, a person who approached quickly from the side brought his sword down diagonally.
Twisting his upper body to follow the downward direction, the sharp blade sliced past Haru’s face with a bone-chilling wind sound, and the one who swung lost balance and tumbled forward.
Before Haru could even dodge the sword, spear-like or arrow-like thrown weapons flew in without a moment to catch his breath.
Uudk, Uudeudeuk!
He braced his legs to loosen them and jumped into the air.
“Done! Die!!”
As if someone had foreseen it, someone fell from directly above at high speed.
Twisting slightly in the air to dodge, he immediately brought his elbow down on the opponent.
“Kkuh! You dodged that? This crazy bastard! You’re so agile that I can’t trust even your movements.”
“Unbreaking the encirclement was your mistake. If you had encircled us tightly like a fortress, it would have been much more threatening.”
Teraden walked over leisurely alone.
Probably, while many had focused on Haru, he had taken out the rest one by one.
“Now it’s not just two, but a whopping two?”
“Uuu…”
“You’re just one?”
“Kuuu…! Kraaah-!!”
Puwak-!
The opponent who suddenly screamed threw something in his final struggle at Haru’s face.
It was right in front of him, so he had no time to dodge.
“Uum…”
Something was thrown into his eyes, stinging and burning. It was probably sand.
It was hard to open his eyes properly.
Kwaaak!
The opponent who had grabbed Haru’s hair turned his waist to the right.
Through the narrowed vision, Haru saw the opponent reaching out a fist toward him while looking at him with a eerie face.
“Wait. Stop.”
“What? Did I hear wrong?”
“Don’t.”
“Puhahaha! What are you saying now? Shut up…”
The opponent laughed loudly, thinking Haru was talking to him, but unfortunately, the one Haru was speaking to was not him.
“Teraden! Don’t!”
“Wha…?”
Puuuk!
Immediately, Teraden’s fist, which had approached with a stride, slammed into the side of the one holding Haru’s hair.
The person jolted from the punch in his side and slowly unclenched his fist.
The hand holding his hair felt the strength leaving it.
“U, uueup…”
“You bastard. What the hell are you doing?”
Kwaaak!
Teraden grabbed the hair of the person bleeding from his mouth and side, twisted in pain, and pulled it back.
“How dare…”
“Aig! Wait…! Kkulk!”
“Shut up. Just die.”
Puwak! Teep.
Just as Teraden was about to throw the fist again without a moment’s hesitation, someone grabbed his arm with a whoosh of wind beside him.
“There. Stop.”