Darkness Keeper (3)

"What are you doing throwing a grenade in a path this narrow, Jinwoo?!"

"Isn't it thrilling? I think it's great."

"Jinwoo, have you actually lost your mind?!"

"Jinwoo…"

"Y-you've gone c-crazy?! Hey, Dokja. This guy's insane, right?! Are you sure it's okay to travel with someone like this?!"

At my answer, Kim Dokja — no, the entire party — started scolding me as if they were staring at a genuine lunatic.

"Ahem! It was a joke. Just a joke! And for the record, I didn't throw that grenade without thinking."

"You expect me to believe that…? I really can't."

Kim Dokja narrowed her eyes and glared at me with a look full of pure distrust. I carefully avoided her gaze and pressed on.

"It's true! I threw it for all of you, if anything."

"For us?"

"Yes, for all of you. Dokja, do you honestly think this party could take on more than twenty of those monsters in pure close combat without a single person getting hurt — without a single person dying — and still all walk away alive?"

"…………."

Kim Dokja fell silent at my words. I glanced at her for a moment, then turned my head toward the mole rats still warily watching us, tense now that the eight of their kind at the rear had been wiped out.

"I do have a handgun, but I have no idea how effective it would be against those things. I've never fought monsters like that before. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠So for the party's safety, I chose the grenade as the most efficient, fastest way to cut their numbers down."

"Haa… If you say you threw it for us, I don't have much room to argue. But next time you throw something like that, at least give us a heads-up. You really startled me."

"She's right, Jinwoo. That sudden explosion made me think the tunnel was collapsing. I nearly had a heart attack."

"Haha… Understood. I'll be more careful next time."

I answered Kim Dokja and Jung Heewon with an awkward smile.

"All right then. Thirteen of them should be manageable, right, everyone? Leave the covering fire to me."

"I can't say I'm confident, but I'll do my best."

Lee Hyunsung answered in a tone heavy with resolve, and the rest of the party nodded in agreement, tightening their grips on their weapons as they fixed their eyes on the mole rats.

"Let's go, then."

Kim Dokja looked over everyone's faces, seemed satisfied, and took a step forward before charging straight at the mole rats.

"Honestly… running out first is dangerous, Dokja!"

"We should hurry too!"

Startled by Kim Dokja charging ahead, Jung Heewon and Yoo Sangah raced after her toward the mole rats, and the rest of the party followed close behind.

Graaaaaah!!

The mole rats, which had only been posturing and watching for openings, roared at the party rushing them and began to move.

"Hup!!"

Kieeeek!!

The first to clash with a mole rat was Lee Hyunsung.

Using the spear Kim Dokja had crafted from a mole rat's spine, he drove the point hard into the belly of the lead creature and, still holding it, heaved the whole thing up. The mole rat shrieked in agony and thrashed wildly with the spear still buried in its gut.

Lee Hyunsung frowned slightly at its final struggles, then drove the spear in even deeper. It worked — the mole rat's body went limp with the weapon sunk deep in its abdomen, and it died.

Lee Hyunsung watched its end for a brief moment, then moved to face the next one.

Kwaaaaah!

Jung Heewon calmly watched the two mole rats charging her. The creatures seemed to dislike being regarded like prey with such composed eyes; they let out loud cries and lunged.

"Hoo…"

One mole rat came at her with its foreleg outstretched. At the sight of that thick, sharp paw — so much like a mole's — Jung Heewon looked briefly startled, then composed herself, ducked low, and slipped under the attack.

She did not miss the opening left by the creature that had thrown its whole body into the strike. Gripping the spine-bone blade hard, she severed the mole rat's neck in a single stroke.

Having sharpened the blade against nearby stones as if they were whetstones, she cut clean through. Blood from the monster sprayed across her hands, face, and clothes.

For a moment she stood dazed by the blood spattered on her, then hastily lifted her head. She had remembered there was still one more.

Ah—!

Taking a life of her own free will for the first time left Jung Heewon with no small amount of mental shock. She stared blankly at her bloodied hands.

And that was her mistake.

Graaaaah!

"Ugh…!"

The remaining mole rat roared at the woman who had killed its kin, then opened a mouth packed with sharp teeth wide and charged.

Still dazed from killing a monster for the first time, Jung Heewon panicked at the creature rushing her and tried to dodge in a hurry — but the mole rat was a fraction faster.

Too late…!

"Enchant."

Bang! Bang!

Graaaaagh!!

As the mole rat closed in right in front of her, Jung Heewon squeezed her eyes shut. She braced for the pain about to hit — then she heard someone say "Enchant" by her ear, followed by gunshots, and finally the monster's scream right after. Carefully, she opened her eyes.

When she did, she saw two small holes punched through the eyes of the mole rat that had been lunging at her. A metallic smell of blood drifted from those holes, along with the sizzle of meat cooking between them.

Still reeling from everything that had happened in an instant, Jung Heewon carefully looked behind her.

"You all right, Heewon? Man! Perfect timing, right?"

There stood Park Jinwoo, smiling as he looked at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her and cracked a joke.

"Yeah. Nice timing, Jinwoo."

Even in the middle of a fight with monsters, Park Jinwoo could still make a wisecrack. Jung Heewon snorted a laugh and gave him a thumbs-up.

"All right, all right — finish that one off and let's hunt the rest. At this rate the others are going to bag every last monster without us."

"Got it. Can't fall behind everyone else, so I'd better put in the work."

Jung Heewon smiled at Park Jinwoo's words, brought her blade down on the neck of the mole rat still writhing and moaning ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the ground, then ran toward the remaining live ones.

"Man, what a mess this is. Or wait — is 'dogfight' the right word here?"

"Yes, yes. As our Archangel commands."

"Incarnation 'Park Jinwoo' replies to Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' that he refuses."

Even while killing time with the Constellations, I carefully watched how the party was handling the mole rats.

For their first time facing these creatures, they were fighting surprisingly well.

Lee Hyunsung held the front and steadily cut the mole rats down one by one. Kim Dokja's movements were a little clumsy, but her stats must have been high — she methodically struck vital points and took lives. Jung Heewon used her agile footwork to split the mole rats' attention and support Kim Dokja and Lee Hyunsung.

"They're all fighting these monsters for the first time, and they're doing pretty well. Wouldn't you agree, Constellations?"

With those three naturally holding the front, I turned my attention to Han Myungoh, Yoo Sangah, and Lee Gilyoung, who had ended up covering the rear.

"Eeeek! St-stay away!!"

"………."

Watching Han Myungoh flail his spear with clumsy, wild swings while fleeing a mole rat that had gotten close, I let out a long internal sigh. I hadn't expected anything from that guy anyway.

I pulled my gaze away from Han Myungoh screaming and running from a mole rat, and looked toward Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung.

"Hap…!"

Lee Gilyoung put all his strength into the hammer gripped in his small hands and smashed it into a mole rat's head.

Grrrk…!

Unfortunately, his overall stats must have been too low — the blow didn't seem to deal much damage. The mole rat that had taken a hammer to the skull let out a low sound and glared at Lee Gilyoung.

It opened its massive jaws, ready to attack him. But there was no real need to worry about Lee Gilyoung. He wasn't alone.

Thuk!

Yoo Sangah, who had been holding her breath quietly behind the mole rat, drove her sharpened spear through the creature's spine while it was still reeling from Lee Gilyoung's hammer. It must have died instantly — the mole rat's body went limp and collapsed to the floor.

"Oh."

I couldn't help but murmur in admiration at Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung's coordinated strike. Satisfied that the whole party was taking down mole rats without a single casualty, I watched them with a contented smile — until:

"Ah! Damn it, one got through! Watch out!"

At Jung Heewon's shout that one had slipped past, I turned my head and saw a mole rat charging toward Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung. Spotting it, the two of them set their stances to kill the creature rushing them.

"You two take a breather. That's the last one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left. I'll handle it."

Seeing Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung breathing hard and looking exhausted, I stepped forward and stood in front of them.

Graaaaaah!!

"Enchant."

"Frost Enchant on the Glock 19."

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

I calmly watched the mole rat charging this way and put a bullet into each of its knees.

Kueeeergh!!

As the areas around its knees froze solid where the bullets hit, the mole rat screamed in pain and rolled across the ground.

"You can charge over here all you want — what are you going to do once I shoot your legs out?"

Grrk! Grrrk!!

Sprawled on the ground, the mole rat opened and closed its mouth at me over and over. It looked like it was calling me a bastard.

"In your next life, try being born as a monster with special abilities."

Bang!

With that, I leveled the muzzle at the mole rat's head and quietly pulled the trigger.