The Wild Lioness on Her Instincts (2)
“I’ll approach this fight as if I’m facing a Legendary-grade named monster at the very least. Heeyoung, buff the melee units. Deokgu and Hyejin, focus on keeping the rear line from collapsing. Yeri and I will hold the front as best we can, so Hayan, Kiyoung, and Jeongyeon, I’d like you to cast whatever magic you can to stop her.”
“Yes. Understood.”
“R-right. Got it.”
Sun Heeyoung and Park Deokgu both nodded and spoke up.
Normally, it would be standard procedure to buff the back line as well, but the way things stood, it felt like they were concentrating their support on the vanguard so the melee fighters wouldn’t get blown apart for nothing. If I were in their shoes, I would have made the same choice.
What I found a little interesting was that Kim Hyunsung looked oddly accustomed to this situation. It seemed like, even in the future that lay ahead, Cha Heera would go berserk more than once.
Of course, probably not in a situation exactly like this one….
Still, it meant Hyunsung had experienced something like this at least once before.
“Grrrrr….”
Cha Heera, standing a few meters away and quietly staring at us, looked a little terrifying.
That was because, after being splattered with monster blood a moment ago, her red hair wasn’t the only thing stained crimson. Her entire body was soaked in it.
Seeing her there, with her hair in disarray, staring this way, made me shiver.
Ugh….
At least, one thing we could be thankful for was that she seemed to distinguish friend from foe clearly.
Judging by the fact that she hadn’t killed any of the Red Mercenary members, she probably wouldn’t unleash anything truly dangerous on us either.
Of course, if Cha Heera happened to toss a pebble with a bit more force, my head might still come off, but still—just not launching a fatal attack was already a huge advantage.
“She’s coming.”
“Krrk!!”
In the blink of an eye, huge chunks of building debris started flying toward us.
She’s really not trying to kill us, right?
A shadow swallowed the party in an instant, but as Hwang Jeongyeon began casting, the debris froze in midair.
It looked like some kind of telekinetic spell, but no one could afford to cheer. Because the building had briefly blocked her from view, we’d lost track of Cha Heera’s position.
Then she appeared to the side in a flash and casually thrust out an arm.
The one who blocked Cha Heera was, unexpectedly, Park Deokgu.
“Not one finger toward my brothe— GHK!”
The instant his shield intercepted the strike, Park Deokgu was blasted backward in the opposite direction, the sight of it almost unreal.
The bastard flew in a straight line and slammed into a building with a thunderous crash. He didn’t seem dead, but I was fairly sure at least one of his arms had been shattered.
One-second kill?
He’d thrust out his shield with admirable spirit, but that was the limit of what he could endure. Still, in that opening, I could see Cho Hyejin, Kim Hyunsung, and Kim Yeri rushing straight toward her.
She lazily swatted away Hyunsung’s sword with an arm, but our lovely regressor twisted his body and dodged the strike.
Through that opening came Cho Hyejin’s spear. The air itself seemed to split as the piercing whistle of its passage reached us first.
I can see it.
What was strange was that their attacks, which I never should have been able to follow, were visible to me. I suspected that was yet another side effect of Mind’s Eye evolving into a Legendary-grade attribute.
Then Cha Heera knocked aside the spear thrust at her with her hand, and Cho Hyejin lost her balance.
From behind Cha Heera, just as she was winding up to throw a punch, Kim Yeri appeared with a dagger in hand.
It was a flawless combination that made my mouth hang open in dumb admiration.
If I assumed the three of them had already coordinated their rhythm quite a bit in the first timeline, then it made sense that Hyunsung was matching them well enough.
“Tch!”
Kim Yeri, her lips pressed tightly together, drove her dagger forward, but when Cha Heera stomped her foot, the three nearest fighters were swept away by the shockwave of mana and hurled outward.
That brief opening was filled by Jung Hayan’s magic.
“Disappear!”
Not kill her!
It seemed her true feelings had slipped out without her realizing it, but it was hard to imagine Cha Heera taking any real damage from Jung Hayan’s magic.
What shot toward Cha Heera at high speed was the elemental bomb Jung Hayan had once demonstrated during the exhibition.
A mess of mixed mana, impossible to describe cleanly, was grinding the ground into powder as it surged forward to swallow Cha Heera whole.
“Kraang!”
But the way Cha Heera casually swatted the spell aside with one hand was ridiculous. The elemental bomb forged by Jung Hayan’s mana was sent crashing into the opposite building, producing a deafening explosion.
Kwaaaang!
Crash, rattle, rattle…!
What the hell….
Watching the buildings topple like dominoes made me remember myself shouting that Castle Rock would be safe, but now wasn’t the time to distinguish between hot and cold rice.
For now, the priority was sorting out this situation.
Kim Hyunsung seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he immediately drew his sword and launched himself at Cha Heera, while Cho Hyejin and Kim Yeri rushed in to support him.
Once again, sword, spear, and dagger shot toward her—but all of it was useless.
I even saw her try to kick Kim Yeri, who was extending her dagger.
Isn’t that dangerous?
Kim Yeri’s durability wasn’t especially high. Just as I hurriedly began to cast a spell, Park Deokgu burst out from somewhere and blocked Cha Heera’s attack again.
“Nice, Park Deokgu!”
“Aaaaargh!”
He was flung backward into another building once again. He’d rushed back in only to be promptly sent back out, but at least he’d kept Kim Yeri from being forced to retire. He had grit, and his toughness wasn’t bad either. Still, at this rate, it felt like this would never end. No, if he could just keep holding on like this, that was already a profit for us.
The problem is….
There was no telling how long Cha Heera would keep indulging us. Even now, it was obvious her irritation was rising fast. The last scraps of reason she had left seemed to be telling her not to kill us, but if this dragged on for an hour, there was always the possibility she’d stop controlling her strength.
If a Mythic-level stat hit us head-on, it wouldn’t end with being knocked into a building. We’d be reduced to a bloody pulp and burst apart in every direction.
This is bad….
Even though I, Hwang Jeongyeon, and Jung Hayan were continuously pouring out magic, nothing seemed to be working.
Kim Hyunsung was frowning constantly too, so he must have been getting anxious.
Even now, our side still had plenty of stamina, and so did Cha Heera. It was infuriating to have to spend precious stamina and mana that should have been used to hunt monsters and gain experience in a place like this, but if this counted as experience at all, then I supposed it was still experience.
Still….
This can’t go on like this.
Really, the experience wasn’t the issue.
If Cha Heera and Kim Hyunsung both left their positions, and then her mother—or whatever monster waited behind her—appeared, then inside the city we could all be wiped out together with Castle Rock’s imperial citizens.
We needed to find some way out of this.
Just as I was thinking that, as if on cue, a massive roar echoed in from beyond the wall.
“Grrrrrrroooooooar….”
It was a low bellow, but one that made my whole body tingle.
We’re screwed.
It wasn’t visible from inside the city, but even from the roar alone I could guess what was happening out there.
It didn’t sound like a flying type, so it hadn’t crossed over here in an instant, but seeing the wall break into chaos all at once, I had to admit something had gone wrong—and gone wrong properly.
Of course, that voice wasn’t only audible to us.
Kim Hyunsung’s face hardened, and Hwang Jeongyeon looked startled too.
The presence behind that voice was on an entirely different level from an Heroic-grade monster. I didn’t know what kind of bastard it was, but one thing was clear: the wall needed reinforcements.
Cha Heera was bad, but the wall came first.
We have to hold.
“For now, head toward the wall! Hyunsung, I think the priority is to move toward the wall first.”
“B-but….”
“No, to the western district!”
“What?”
“There’s no time to explain. After you take me to the western district, you can head straight to the wall and deal with the monsters there.”
“I-it’s dangerous, oppa.”
“The party will head to the wall immediately. Hyejin, take command and focus on stopping the monsters approaching the wall. After you take Kiyoung to the western district, I’ll head to the wall right away.”
“But—”
“I won’t hear any objections. This is the top priority.”
“It’ll be okay, Hayan.”
Jung Hayan looked startled, but Kim Hyunsung seemed to understand I had something in mind. He quietly nodded and opened his mouth.
The order had already been given.
Kim Hyunsung rushed over to me in an instant, grabbed my hand, and began sprinting west. With his incredible agility, the scenery changed in a blur, flashing past us in rapid succession.
It felt a little strange to be carried while nestled in the comforting, warm arms of a regressor, but compared to when Cho Hyejin had been running with me just a moment ago, the speed was on a completely different level.
Cha Heera was chasing us, shrieking like a lover had been snatched away by some thug, but Hyunsung, darting through alley after alley, didn’t look easy to catch.
“What exactly are you thinking?”
He was panting now too, breath coming hard as he spoke to me.
He must have been curious. Out of nowhere, I’d ordered him to head to the western district, so of course it sounded strange.
Depending on how you looked at it, this was a gamble.
I couldn’t be certain, but if my guess was right, there was one more force in Castle Rock that could still fight.
“I’m not sure, but I think… we might be able to get support.”
“What?”
“Someone I happened to meet a few days ago….”
“What?”
He looked at me as if I were saying something completely nonsensical.
And honestly, it probably did sound crazy. I wasn’t even sure myself.
Still, the possibility wasn’t zero.
If I’d left the city immediately after visiting the Underground Auction House, then I might have been wrong. But after that visit, martial law had been declared in Castle Rock almost immediately.
They’re still there.
The security had been tightened, and the Red Mercenary had sealed Castle Rock so completely that not even a single ant could slip out.
I couldn’t say for certain if there was some hidden underground exit I didn’t know about, but after investigating around the Underground Auction House, I hadn’t found any route leading outside.
And that wasn’t all.
If they’d had even a little attachment left, there was no way they would have been able to leave the city so easily. Maybe they’d even been poking around the Underground Auction House, hoping to run into me again.
They’re there.
They were probably waiting for a chance to escape, timing their departure carefully. When I rummaged through my pocket, the note I’d received before began to show itself. I’d thought there was no reason for us to ever meet again, and I never could have imagined I’d be the one seeking them out first.
“How far do we need to go?”
Probably around here. After taking one deep breath, I had no choice but to call out the name I’d rather not use again.
“Xiao… Lin!!”
“Wha—”
“Xiao Lin! Come out!!”
Kim Hyunsung’s face was full of confusion.
The strangely twisted look in his eyes seemed to ask why I knew that name, but all he did was bite his lip and say nothing more.
Damn… so you two knew each other.
And it felt like they knew each other through bad blood, too. It wasn’t the same sort of reaction as Jung Jinho’s, but it certainly didn’t look friendly. Given Xiao Lin’s personality, she didn’t seem like the type to side with justice either, but….
She’s from the Republic, so maybe that makes sense.
That had to be the right way to think about it. If I came up with a half-decent excuse later and explained it casually, maybe he’d accept it.
“Xiao Lin!! Come out!!”
“Is she really here?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but she probably is… no, she definitely is.”
Already today, some helper had appeared in dramatic fashion more than once.
If she could hear me, I was at the point of wanting to kneel and beg her to please come out.
There were about thirty-four minutes left until Cha Heera regained her senses.
Judging by how madly she was still chasing us, there was no other way.
I couldn’t possibly keep running for thirty-four minutes while being carried by Kim Hyunsung. Up until now, we’d somehow kept dodging her, but to be honest, it was getting hair-raisingly close. The lunatic pursuing us from behind inspired a kind of fear that was hard to put into words.
That was when a booming explosion rang out from somewhere nearby.
“Ah.”
“I didn’t expect to meet again this soon… and in a situation like this, too. So, what should I call you? Masked Man? Is that okay?”
The figure that appeared in my sight was the same woman from before, standing atop a building.
She wore the same cheongsam as when I’d last seen her, and it was striking enough to make the memory instantly click. They’d said she was a beauty, and it seemed that had been no exaggeration. Her face was uncovered, and the curve of her lips lifted naturally.
There it is!
A crazed beast is best handled by an equally crazy woman.
Some saying I’d heard somewhere kept drifting into my ears.
The balance of power must be maintained!
“It’s an honor to meet you again, beautiful Xiao Lin.”
My absurdly friendly greeting left her looking slightly taken aback.