Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Unforeseen Intelligence
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Rescuing Antonio's friends was not difficult.
After all, given that Antonio had been able to save them on his own in the history I'd viewed, we managed to get them out of their homes without any major crisis.
But after that, the story changed.
The frequency of the white monsters' attacks began to increase, as if reinforcements were arriving from somewhere.
Thanks to this, Antonio and his friends were at their wits' end.
The stress of being constantly on guard for the white monsters' tongues, which could lash out from anywhere at any time, was enough to make their hair fall out.
Well, everyone except for Lee Si-woo and Ruktator, who were as carefree as if they were out for a stroll.
Crack!
Antonio swallowed dryly as he watched the white monster's head shatter before his eyes with a sound like a watermelon splitting open.
Si-woo, who wielded the nearly 50-kilogram hammer as freely as if it were a child's toy, was astonishing, but even more bewildering was the girl who looked to be about ten years old.
“Will it suffice if I handle their eyes?”
“Yes. That'll be more than enough.”
Ruktator swung her arm lightly like a pitcher, and two iron nails shot from her fingertips, embedding themselves flawlessly into the white monster's eyes.
-Kyaaaak!
The white monster shrieked shrilly and thrashed about, but Si-woo's hammer, which had approached without a sound, silenced it.
WHAM!
Si-woo's hammer crashed down on the iron nails lodged in the white monster's eyes.
As if hammering nails into a wall, he drove them through its brain in a single blow. He swung again, and the creature's head shattered completely.
Pleased with the feel of it, Si-woo spun the hammer lightly in his hands like a spearman who had just slain an enemy general and commented.
“Having a weapon certainly makes things easier.”
“It's not the weapon that makes it easy; it is I who am magnificent. Behold. How much easier is it for you when I block their vision or throw nails into their limbs to restrict their movements?”
“Well, I admit your contribution is significant, Elder, but when you didn't have any nails, you weren't exactly...”
Si-woo let his sentence trail off playfully, and Ruktator cleared her throat with a *hem* and said.
“That's only because I'm in this body, isn't it? If I were in my true form, things like that would be nothing more than a single punch. A single punch.”
“The problem is that you're the one who's bite-sized right now, Elder, but still... I appreciate you working so hard.”
“Ugh... How did I end up being treated like this by this fellow? Ahem, enough. You lot. It's dangerous over there, so hurry up and stick close to us. What will you do if you get separated and caught by those monsters?”
Startled by Ruktator's nagging, Antonio and his two friends, who were laborers, scurried over to them.
Completely intimidated by the prowess of these two who killed the white monsters as easily as if they were chasing away deer, Antonio spoke cautiously.
“Um... the welfare center is this way.”
Noticing Antonio’s newfound formality, Si-woo spoke.
“Antonio. There's no need to be so formal. Thanks to you providing the weapons, we're able to exterminate these monsters with ease. More importantly, do you know about the explosives in the welfare center's basement?”
Despite Si-woo's attempt to put him at ease, Antonio continued to speak respectfully.
“Explosives... you mean the dynamite? Yes. I know about it. It's a stockpile for civil engineering use.”
“Hmm, it's a shame it's for civil engineering... but it should still be enough to blow up a church, right?”
“The church? You're going to blow up the church? No, that would be a disaster! The Faceless will be enraged!”
It seemed the weight of the Faceless was particularly heavy for the people of this world, as Antonio became pale with fright, chattering about not speaking such blasphemy.
Si-woo asked bluntly.
“Even if the nest that produces those white monsters is in the church?”
“...A nest? In the church?”
“Yes. The nest is in the church, and we have to destroy it for us to live, and for this town to survive.”
“That's impossible. A nest in the church? How could such a vile thing exist in a place under the protection of the Faceless...?”
“If the Faceless's protection were perfect, how could these monsters have appeared in the town? Antonio. I understand that you're a devout follower of the Faceless, but please, do not interfere. The only reason I'm telling you now that I'm going to destroy the church is because you'll find out later anyway. I'm telling you in advance to prevent any commotion then.”
“But... to destroy the church... that's too...”
“If you're that uncomfortable, you don't have to help. Just stay here. The Elder and I will act alone.”
At Si-woo's firm words, Antonio shut his mouth like a clam.
Si-woo clicked his tongue at Antonio's demeanor, who was now cautiously watching him, worried about being left behind.
“Tsk, does the thought of being left behind with your friends finally make you grasp the situation? Antonio. Don't forget. We saved you out of goodwill, and we intend to take responsibility for you. So don't have any strange ideas or doubts, just follow. What would I gain by lying to you, anyway? If you were a nuisance, I could just leave you here and be done with it, right?”
Every word was true, so Antonio hung his head low.
His friends, perhaps feeling sorry for the dejected Antonio, came over and patted his shoulder.
After a moment's deliberation, Antonio spoke with a deep sigh, as if he had no other choice.
“You'll need a password to get through the welfare center's security procedures. And the only people in this town who know it are the center director, the orphanage director, and a few civil engineering supervisors. And...”
Antonio glanced at one of his laborer friends and continued.
“One of my friends knows the password. He was quite close with the construction supervisor. We'll give you the password and help you as much as we can, so please take us with you. If you leave us here on our own, we have no way to survive.”
As Antonio faced reality and became cooperative, Si-woo nodded in satisfaction, while Ruktator clicked her tongue.
“Tsk, tsk, what a nasty fellow. He could have just helped... but no, he has to make a big show of it and even resort to threats.”
At Ruktator's rebuke, Si-woo simply feigned ignorance and pretended not to hear.
***
On the way to the welfare center, Si-woo had been worried about the security system.
For a moment, he had even considered whether he'd have to go find the orphanage director, whose whereabouts were unknown.
But by a stroke of luck, one of Antonio's friends knew the password, and thanks to him, they were able to retrieve the dynamite from the welfare center with ease.
‘But... was it really a coincidence?’
Was it because things were going too smoothly?
Si-woo felt a sense of unease.
The timely appearance of the deceased's history, the faint laughter he'd heard when the choice appeared.
He had a feeling that some unknown entity was influencing him.
‘Whatever. Worrying about it now is pointless. I just need to stay vigilant. I'll tackle the problems in front of me one by one. Right... for now, the church comes first.’
After confirming that Antonio and his friends had finished loading the boxes of dynamite onto a handcart, Si-woo perked up his ears and scanned his surroundings.
Sensing an ominous presence, Si-woo called out to Ruktator.
“Elder.”
“Mm, I sense it too. There are quite a number of them.”
Did the creatures also know the welfare center was a key location?
White monsters began pouring out from between the buildings.
At least thirty? No, seeing nearly fifty of them, Si-woo shouted.
“Antonio! Get the dynamite from the box! Hurry!”
The moment Si-woo finished speaking, the creatures charged.
Seeing them swarm in like a white wave, Si-woo gripped his hammer and ran forward.
The white monsters saw Si-woo and opened their maws wide as if in contempt.
The sight of dozens of black throats opening before him was enough to make even Si-woo's heart drop.
‘I have to trust her. No, I must trust her.’
Suddenly, the advice of the head of the Graves family flashed through his mind.
-Remember this. Just one. Choose the strongest attendant. This is the wisest advice I can give you.
Si-woo had no doubt.
Ruktator was, without question, the strongest attendant he knew.
And Ruktator lived up to his expectations.
“Haaaa—!”
With a thunderous cry, Ruktator's hands moved in a ceaseless blur, leaving afterimages.
Like the hands of the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara, dozens of hand-shadows split apart, endlessly firing iron nails from their fingertips.
Clang!
With a sound of metal striking metal, dozens of tongues were deflected by the iron nails before they could even get close to Si-woo.
Of course, no matter how skilled Ruktator was, it was impossible to cover for that many tongues.
It was inevitable that five or six tongues would strike Si-woo's suit.
Thwack!
Si-woo nearly fell from the powerful impacts on his shoulder and thigh, but he held his ground, supported by his suit's defense, his Fortitude Talent, and his innate sense of balance, and swung his hammer.
Smack!
After landing a blow on the face of the creature in front of him, he spun, using the centrifugal force to smash the chest of a white monster to his left.
The white monster, its sternum broken by the hammer, shrieked and tumbled to the ground.
-Kyaaaaaa!
With a screech, three or four white monsters pounced on Si-woo.
Under the weight of the white monsters trying to crush him with their bodies, Si-woo roared.
As Si-woo bellowed like an enraged beast, the white monsters that had piled on him were thrown off one by one.
He sent one flying with a backhand to the face, and another with an elbow to the chin.
Not stopping there, he retreated and slammed his hammer into a creature's neck, causing it to collapse with its neck bent at a grotesque angle.
“Dynamite—!”
Hearing Si-woo's shout, Antonio lit the fuse of the dynamite.
As he hesitated, unsure what to do, Ruktator yelled.
“Just throw it! Worry about the rest later! Now!”
Urged on by Ruktator, Antonio threw the dynamite with a "to hell with it" attitude.
A bundle of five red sticks of dynamite went flying through the air.
Just before the dynamite hit the ground, Ruktator shouted to Si-woo.
“Get in the middle of them—!”
Si-woo instinctively charged forward. As the human who should have been fleeing instead charged into their ranks, the white monsters shrieked with glee and pounced on him.
In an instant, more than half a dozen white monsters began to surround Si-woo, and at the same time, the dynamite exploded.
KABOOOOM!
The powerful explosion tore the white monsters apart, sending their limbs scattering in all directions.
But, it wasn't enough.
The explosion's power was weak, as it was only meant for civil engineering, and fewer white monsters had been clustered together than expected.
Ruktator pulled dozens of nails from the bag at her feet with both hands and shouted.
“Next! The next stick of dynamite! Keep lighting and throwing them! Until every last one of them is dead!”
At Ruktator's words, Antonio lit another stick of dynamite.
But unfortunately for Antonio, the white monsters were not without intelligence.
Sensing the danger, the white monsters scattered.
And they designated Antonio, not the nearby Si-woo, as the primary threat.
-Kkieeeek!
With a bloodcurdling screech, their tongues surged toward Antonio.
A baptism of black, needle-like nails blocked the path of the dozens of tongues that stretched out like clotheslines.
Ting-ting-ting!
The tongues, deflected by the nails, lost their direction and fell limply nearby.
Ruktator drove a nail into a tongue that had fallen at her feet, then stomped on it with her heel as if striking a gong with a hammer.
-Gweeeek!
The owner of the tongue writhed in agony, but two more nails flew through the air and took its eyes.
Ruktator, dripping with cold sweat, relentlessly fired nails.
Her main targets were the white monsters' eyes.
It was partly because nails were unlikely to be fatal against their hearts or brains, but her intent was to blind them so they couldn't target Antonio.
Thwack!
The blinded white monsters went berserk, flailing their tongues and limbs in every direction.
Just then, Si-woo, who had survived the blast by using the white monsters' bodies as a shield, burst out from the gray smoke.
Smack!
Si-woo targeted the creatures that were thrashing about blindly first, and with every dance of his hammer, he mercilessly claimed the life of another white monster.
Just as he thought they could whittle down their numbers one by one, another stick of dynamite flew through the air.
Antonio shouted.
“Dynamite—!”
The dynamite flew through the air and landed with a thud near Si-woo.
Sensing the dynamite, Si-woo used the shoulder of a white monster in front of him as a springboard and launched himself high into the air.
With an artistic somersault, Si-woo clung to a nearby utility pole, and a brilliant explosion erupted beneath him.
KABOOM!
About eight white monsters were caught in the blast and silenced.
The corpses of nearly a third of their number now littered the concrete ground.
Did they realize this couldn't continue?
Their movements changed.
All their remaining forces began to target Antonio, not Si-woo or Ruktator.
It seemed they had designated Antonio, the one with the most powerful firepower, as the top-priority target for elimination.
Soon, they began to charge toward Antonio like starving hounds that had spotted a piece of meat.
-Kiyaaaa!
Ruktator, realizing her mistake, threw more nails, but the white monsters, having already learned, simply covered their faces with their arms and charged blindly forward.
It seemed they thought as long as their eyes were unharmed, they would be fine.
Si-woo chased after them with his hammer, but it was no use.
There were just too many of them.
‘Damn it... at this rate...’
Panicked by the swarm of white monsters surging toward him, Antonio was lighting another stick of dynamite.
A sense of foreboding washed over Si-woo, and he shouted.
“Antonio! No! If you light it now—!”
The white monsters descended upon Antonio, and in their grasp, his body was torn apart as easily as a paper doll in the hands of a mischievous child.
And so, Antonio's right arm, still holding the dynamite, flew through the air.
Just as the lit dynamite was about to fall into the handcart, a nail thrown by Ruktator traced a black arc and severed the burning fuse.
Antonio's death was tragic, but Si-woo let out a sigh of relief, thinking they had at least saved the dynamite.
However, Si-woo had greatly underestimated the white monsters' intelligence.
-Kiruruk?
One white monster, having seen how Antonio used the dynamite, picked up his Zippo lighter from the ground.
If only it had been a cheap lighter. Why did it have to be an easy-to-use Zippo?
The white monster threw the Zippo lighter, which flared to life the moment the lid was opened, into the handcart.
Ruktator, realizing what was happening, threw another nail, but she was a step too late, caught off guard by the creature's momentary action.
Seeing this, Si-woo screamed.
“No—!”
An enormous explosion engulfed the welfare center and Antonio's friends who were nearby.
In that moment, the only explosives in the town were gone.