The End of Overtime
The iron arrow plunged through the Great Snow Bear's gaping maw, tearing into the shockingly tender mucous membrane beneath its tough hide and churning deep into its throat.
Yet the life force of this apex beast—the undisputed king among the Black Forest's monsters—far surpassed any human understanding.
Just before the arrowhead could pierce its brainstem, the creature's iron-hard teeth and freakishly developed neck muscles barely held back that strike infused with the Parma's energy.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu~ Kwaaaang!
A muffled explosion erupted from within its esophagus.
It was the clash of the demonic energy circulating through its body and the flames racing along its hide, triggered by the arrow's impact.
From the Great Snow Bear's jaws poured a torrent of dark crimson blood mixed with superheated steam and fire, cascading like a waterfall.
The beast didn't die in one shot.
Instead, it ignited the dormant instinct for destruction, burning away what little reason it had left in that excruciating agony.
[Current Survival Rate: 11.02% - Decreasing]
Only vertical red numbers flashing downward blinked across Jinhyuk's retina.
The System offered no detailed explanation of the beast's status, but Jinhyuk knew instinctively.
It had gone berserk.
The scarlet flames of demonic energy that had once cloaked the Great Snow Bear now surged wildly, scorching even its own hide and instantly vaporizing the surrounding perennial snow.
...Ah, is the balance really this rigged? Phase 2 starts now, huh?
Jinhyuk spat blood-mixed saliva and clicked his tongue.
The Great Snow Bear's eyes burned with nothing but murderous intent to rip apart the human who had humiliated it with that blow.
With every step of its forepaw, the ground cratered, shaking like an earthquake, and the nearby snow cats and snow tigers that hadn't fled in time burst apart from the sheer pressure.
"Everyone, focus on repairs only! Keep your heads down and stay under cover! From now on, I'll hold aggro!"
Jinhyuk leaped down from atop the stockade.
To the Central Plains warriors who relied solely on swords, spears, and bows, this was suicide.
But for Jinhyuk, at this range, he had his one and only weapon against it: the Heavenly Wolf Bow.
"Captain! It's dangerous!"
"Captain! Get back here!"
Beom Dal and the Heavenly Wolf Company men's desperate cries lashed at his back, but Jinhyuk was already sliding across the snowdrifts, hurling himself into the heart of the forest.
Kwaaaang~!
Grrrrrrr.
In an instant, the Great Snow Bear's massive forepaw smashed the spot on the stockade where Jinhyuk had stood moments before.
Decades-old sturdy logs shattered like toothpicks, scattering everywhere or bursting into flames.
The Heavenly Wolf Company, armed only with spears and shields and lacking proper ranged weapons, held their breath before this overwhelming destructive power.
That was when it happened.
From behind the stockade, in the lines of the Ten Thousand Demon Lights, led by Dokmun, eerie and chilling incantations seeped into the murky air of Ghost Cry Gorge.
Demonic Cultists burned talismans scrawled in blood, while Blood Cultists slashed their wrists and spat out blood essence in ritualistic cravings.
"Heavenly Demon Descent, forging flesh from Shura's blood...!"
"With the Blood Sea's thirst, we bind the thread of life. Asura, forcibly grasp this forbidden existence!"
Blue veins bulged in Jinhyuk's eyes.
No System alert appeared, but he felt an alien sensation as if every vein in his body was swelling to burst.
The Ten Thousand Demon Lights' ritual buffs forcibly suppressed his muscle fatigue and injected artificial vitality.
At the same time, a black mist-like debuff settled over the rampaging beasts across the battlefield.
The Great Snow Bear's steps grew heavy, like trudging through mud, and the Great Snow Tiger staggered as if losing its sense of direction.
Kieeeek—!
The fallen Black Wind Vulture let out a wretched screech, lifting its head.
Even with one wing in tatters, it squeezed out its former majesty as ruler of the Black Forest skies, skimming low over the ground in flight.
Whiiiing!
Papapapak!
Every time the Black Wind Vulture scraped the earth as it rose, vacuum blade winds and feather arrows scattered in all directions.
Jinhyuk's leather armor was already in tatters.
Chiiik, papapak—!
Blade winds grazed his chest, feathers sliced his shoulder, and leather tore raggedly in places, but with his senses numbed by the ritual, Jinhyuk didn't stop.
He charged madly between the ancient trees of the forest.
"...Wind isn't calculated—it's overcome. Come on, let's bend that trajectory!"
Mid-sprint, Jinhyuk twisted his body and drew the bowstring.
It was curved shooting, twisting his wrist at an unnatural angle to release.
The arrow seemed to miss the Great Snow Bear's right chest at first, then arced sharply in midair, hooking left to gouge precisely under its right eye.
Peok!
Kuoooooo!
The beast shrieked in bewilderment at the left hook shot that curved around obstacles.
Jinhyuk didn't stop, nocking another arrow. This time, a right hook curving left.
Exploiting the headwind from the Black Wind Vulture's wingbeats to forcibly twist the arrow's path—it was truly archery that dominated the wind.
"Nice hook! Next up, slice!"
With Jinhyuk's mutter, the launched arrows ravaged the Great Snow Bear's body.
The Heavenly Wolf Company and Ten Thousand Demon Lights watching from behind the stockade were stunned.
Freely wielding rapid fire, consecutive shots, and backshots, Jinhyuk in his tattered leather armor fluttering like a flag was the epitome of a legendary archer.
But the Great Snow Bear's charge didn't halt.
In that desperate moment as it crushed ancient trees whole and bore down on Jinhyuk, a blue afterimage sliced through the air.
Kurung, kwagwang!
It was the Great Snow Tiger, who had been lurking with its flank torn open, waiting for an opening.
Lightning crackling around it, it leaped like a bolt to smash into the Great Snow Bear's face.
Seizing the gap as the lightning demonic energy blinded the Great Snow Bear, Jinhyuk rolled desperately out of the way.
Did that fat cat just... help me?
No time to be surprised. Now the Black Wind Vulture targeted the Great Snow Tiger's back with blade winds.
The Great Snow Tiger was exposed, but Jinhyuk's Heavenly Wolf Bow rang out first.
Shuuuuk— peok!
The arrow narrowly skimmed over the Great Snow Tiger's head to strike the Black Wind Vulture's wing joint dead-on.
As the Black Wind Vulture staggered with its trajectory disrupted, the Great Snow Tiger didn't miss the chance, kicking off the ground to slam down on its chest.
"Just trust me, you chunky bastard! Repayment later—I'll buy you a few cans of churu!"
Jinhyuk's ranged support and the Great Snow Tiger's close-quarters strikes meshed like gears in this bizarre alliance.
Thanks to the painful vitality from the Ten Thousand Demon Lights' rituals and the Great Snow Tiger's instinctive teamwork, Jinhyuk walked the tightrope on death's doorstep.
Time crawled unbearably slow.
As dawn edged toward morning sunup, the battlefield turned into a quiet, brutal war of attrition.
The Great Snow Bear's ragged bloody breaths dimmed its flames, while the Great Snow Tiger's flank was deeply gashed by claws, its back bristling with feathers.
The Black Wind Vulture, drenched in blood, crawled on the ground spewing frantic blade winds.
Jinhyuk's stamina had hit rock bottom.
The fingers gripping the Heavenly Wolf Bow oozed blood, numb and senseless, and every breath rattled his lungs like metal.
But he didn't stop.
The Ten Thousand Demon Lights' ritual support weakened, hoarding their remaining spells to make the beasts tear at each other, while he relentlessly targeted only the Great Snow Bear's weakest spot—its mouth.
Far off, faint blue light began to glow beyond the snowy ridge.
The long night in Ghost Cry Gorge was finally ending.
The Great Snow Tiger summoned its last strength, clamping onto the Great Snow Bear's leg and yanking its head toward the ground.
Jinhyuk spat the blood pooling in his mouth and nocked his final arrow. Blood seeped from the tears in his leather armor, but his eyes flashed brighter than the rising sun.
"Hey, sun's up. Time to clock out. This hellish overtime's finally over!"
[Current Survival Rate: 1.02%]
The moment the sun's first radiant beam illuminated the Great Snow Bear's gaping maw, dragged down to the ground, Jinhyuk's bowstring sang one last time.
Shuuuuk— kwaduk!
Instead of a spear, a single arrow flew, carrying the malice of a human who had endured the night, burrowing deep into its throat.
Keheok...!
Light finally faded from the Great Snow Bear's eyes.
Its mountain-like body slowly collapsed, and the Black Wind Vulture, thrashing on the ground, was crushed beneath the falling giant without even a final scream.
Whoosh~.
In the battlefield cleared of morning mist, only Jinhyuk—clad in ragged leather, gasping raggedly—and the battered Great Snow Tiger remained.
A strange silence flowed between them.
A peculiar camaraderie shared only by predators who had crossed life and death together.
Jinhyuk gathered his wrecked body, vomiting blood. No arrows left.
Without the Ten Thousand Demon Lights' buffs and debuffs, his heart would have burst long ago.
He jerked his chin lightly toward the Black Wind Vulture's corpse.
A silent signal: That's yours.
The Great Snow Tiger glared into Jinhyuk's eyes for a moment, then seized the vulture's nape in its jaws.
It limped into the forest shadows, leading the surviving snow tigers away.
Jinhyuk turned back, raising his bloodied hand toward the stockade.
"Demolish! Beom Dal! Get out here and process this bear bastard and all the other monsters! Everyone, clock out!"
The Heavenly Wolf Company men, who had waited breathlessly behind the stockade, charged out roaring.
Waaaaaah!
Dokmun and the Ten Thousand Demon Lights gazed at Jinhyuk—who had hunted apex beasts without martial arts or inner energy, even with their ritual aid—with eyes mixed awe and fear.
Behind Jinhyuk, soaked in blood and sweat, the crisp morning sun rose brilliantly, heralding the end of the long night.
Jinhyuk refused Beom Dal's approaching support, slumping to the ground.
His vision spun, heart pounding like it would explode.
Gazing at his shredded leather armor, a sigh escaped him.
Slices from Black Wind Vulture feathers and grazes from Great Snow Bear claws clung like medals from hell.
Repair bill's no joke... Nah, gotta get a new one.
With trembling hands, he caressed his empty quiver.
If even one of the countless arrows fired through the night had missed, he wouldn't be sitting here watching the sun.
Far off came the sounds of company men roping and hauling the Great Snow Bear's massive corpse.
"Captain, truly... incredible. Alone against that monster...!"
"Alone? That fat cat and the shamans helped."
Jinhyuk glanced at the huddled Ten Thousand Demon Lights.
They still reeked of unease, but he'd upgraded their value with their ritual power.
Without their bloody shamanism, he wouldn't have even reacted to the Great Snow Bear's first charge—burnt to ash on the spot.
"Hey, Beom Dal. Go fetch Old Man Hwang. Can't move a step."
Jinhyuk closed his eyes toward the rising sun.
In the newfound silence, bereft of the rigged System numbers and beast roars, he finally felt alive.
> [Battle Settlement in Progress]