Chapter 290
Chapter 290
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Mother of the Butterfly
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"...Jaeheon?"
Yoo Daon muttered in a voice full of wariness as she positioned herself protectively in front of me.
Why me?
It had clearly targeted Yoo Daon at first. And the ones we actually faced were perfect 'adults' as well.
What on earth had it seen and experienced to make it target me?
Simply because I drove them back?
I had no idea.
But regardless of what I didn't know.
-Snap...
In the silence, the torn scrap of cloth the monster was holding fell to the ground.
At that moment, countless monsters charged at us.
*
A fight only qualifies as a fight if there's some semblance of parity.
Our forces, intellect, and everything else included must balance out to some degree for it to be a fight.
And we had no capacity left for one.
-Thud!
Jang Chaeyeon hurriedly pulled back and swung her hand downward, crushing the horde of monsters lunging at us flat under the pressure.
Ignoring the gruesome crunching sounds, I turned around.
"Huff... huff...!"
Song Arin was drenched in sweat, extending threads to manipulate a few monsters into fighting for her.
The problem was that the monsters fought better than her puppets did, forcing her to constantly shift her threads and burn through her stamina.
Eileen was dodging attacks with agile movements while firing her gun nonstop.
Her narrow escapes—by a hair's breadth—and stubbornly lodging bullets into their heads were the moves of someone worthy of being called a team leader.
Yoo Daon had no issues.
If her arm got severed, she'd simply stab an awl into a monster's neck with its replacement before anyone noticed.
I was holding my own as best I could, too.
-Bang!
The bullet lodged into the monster's forehead.
But it charged at me again regardless.
"Damn it...!"
Cursing, I pulled out my manual to block its descending arm, then fired again.
I thought I heard a child's scream from somewhere, and a signature flashed, but it must have been my imagination.
-Bang!
Only then did the monster collapse to the ground.
I scanned our surroundings.
This wasn't a fight.
It was a foregone defensive loss.
We couldn't escape, nor could we beat this many through sheer numbers.
There was only one answer.
Take out the leader.
But no one could win against the leader.
No one.
Frail beings made of flesh and bone could never beat these monsters head-on.
Under normal circumstances, that is.
But here was one person who, even if she couldn't win a physical fight, could ensure she'd never lose.
My gaze turned to Yoo Daon.
She was gritting her teeth, jamming an awl into a monster's skull.
Her job was simple. Instill a sense of crisis.
"Let's go to that monster!"
"Are you insane?!"
At my shout, Song Arin widened her eyes, and Jang Chaeyeon looked at me with clear distress.
"It's too hard to break through like this!"
"No, we have to! Daon!"
"Yes!"
At my words, Yoo Daon yanked the awl from the monster's skull and rushed to my side.
"Daon, you have to go!"
"Yes!"
"What's with the 'yes!'? How's she supposed to punch through that army barehanded! Would you jump into a furnace if she told you to!"
"Yes!"
"Ugh!"
Song Arin frustratingly pounded her chest with her fists, while Yoo Daon stared at me with unwavering eyes.
"Push me?"
"It's not a push."
Jang Chaeyeon eyed Yoo Daon intently, using the thud of her telekinesis as background noise.
"Daon. You see that? That androgynous-looking monster over there."
I pointed at the humanoid monster watching us.
Its androgynous face stared at me with an inscrutable expression.
"Androgynous...? ...Yes."
Yoo Daon nodded.
"You need to threaten that one, Daon."
"Threaten..."
Yoo Daon paused to think.
"Can I do it?"
I knew what she meant.
I couldn't answer her question either, but
"Here!"
Eileen tossed us a bundle and fired her gun again.
I hastily unfolded it to reveal bombs inside.
"Use 'em however."
"...This is a bit..."
"They're perfect."
Before I could voice my reluctance, Yoo Daon snatched the bundle and looked at me.
"These should work!"
If she said that much, I had nothing left to say.
"...Chaeyeon will get you there somehow."
"...You won't come out unscathed."
Jang Chaeyeon briefly widened her eyes at me, then nodded as if to say she could manage.
"If I die, I just black out for a bit, so don't let me actually die."
"I'll drop you legs-first. Just cover your head, to be safe."
"Yes."
After that decidedly abnormal exchange, Yoo Daon and Jang Chaeyeon nodded to each other, and Jang Chaeyeon took a shallow breath.
"Watch ahead."
"Yes."
Yoo Daon nodded, and Jang Chaeyeon raised her hand slightly.
Yoo Daon's body floated up.
She smoothly adjusted her posture.
Without a word, Jang Chaeyeon swung her hand, launching Yoo Daon like a bullet.
Her legs-first trajectory speared perfectly into the androgynous monster's torso.
Something snapped audibly, but Yoo Daon called out brightly.
"I'm not dead!"
With that, she stood up.
*
To be honest, Yoo Daon had no idea why she had to do this.
Jump in and fight that monster? Whatever the opponent, she'd simply do her job.
She looked up at the monster before her.
In that instant, another version of herself flashed in her mind.
A monster that had lost its intellect and purpose, merely wandering the Management Bureau's interior.
She and the man had put it down, but she still felt puzzled.
Like she'd missed something important.
A nagging unease, if she had to name it.
Why had Jang Chaeyeon and Song Arin seemed different?
Why her—
No, this wasn't the time for such thoughts.
Shaking her head, Yoo Daon faced the monster head-on.
There was no mouth where one should be, and the nose area was smooth exoskeleton.
Just its eyes glowing faintly.
Where was the 'androgynous' in that?
She cocked her head slightly but gripped her awl tightly.
She'd strike first, naturally—
-Boom!
The monster swung its arm.
She couldn't dodge. She wouldn't die, but she wasn't superhuman physically.
She didn't even have time to feel pain.
Her vision went black, then returned.
Her head had burst.
Yoo Daon calmly rewound time.
Three seconds from death to revival.
Doable.
Yoo Daon charged at it.
She wasn't trying to win.
Just threaten it, right?
She clutched a bomb from her pocket.
*
Think.
I watched the flying Yoo Daon before shifting my gaze to the monster awaiting her.
[Name: Mother of the Butterfly]
[Age: Created 20 years ago]
[Specialty: Parasitism]
[Talent: Parasitism]
[Background: For so long, it has waited. For new prey to appear.]
[Weakness: Waiting is pointless. The materials are infinite.]
Another translucent window appeared.
Mother of the Butterfly.
One step beyond even the adults.
But what bothered me was...
I eyed the specialty and talent below.
Specialty: Parasitism. Talent: Parasitism.
But wasn't it already in a far too perfect state?
Even if it parasitized Yoo Daon right now, she couldn't become an adult instantly.
I'd seen it myself.
It needed time to grow.
In this info-starved situation, I had a few certainties for once.
Above all, what it was targeting was—
"Watch out."
Jang Chaeyeon extended her hand, bursting a larva charging at me.
"Thanks."
"Stick by me."
I nodded and stayed close to Jang Chaeyeon.
Me.
Because of my eyes? Or the mental barrier? Or both?
I'd realized during the Butterfly's Dream incident that I had a mental barrier, and my eyes had awakened even further.
So why would it want that?
If it needed regeneration instead of mental barrier and eyes.
For easier control, maybe.
But to take down the Management Bureau's strike team, raw overwhelming power was best.
Nothing stood against brute force.
Like how I couldn't beat the branch chief or An Sanghyeon even with qi.
I recalled Butterfly's Dream's behavioral pattern.
To bolster its forces.
No deeper reason. If I had to add one, it was to create adults.
Yoo Daon had all the qualities to become one.
She actually had, once.
But the target changed.
To me.
So why?
Did it really need eyes and mental barrier over an immortal body?
Unless the world's future flow required it—
At that moment, a translucent window popped up.
[Your understanding of ?̵͈͇̘̯̜̙̫͙͇̳̞̠͈͋?̸̱͖͆̆̀?̴̨̛͙͙̅͒́͊͂͌̃͑ rises.]
[Critical: 0->1]
"..."
The sudden translucent window sealed my lips.
The world's future flow required my eyes and mental barrier?
-Boom!
A massive explosion roared, drawing all our eyes there.
Someone rose amid the smoke.
It wasn't Yoo Daon.