Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: The Girl Ultimately Despairs, Great Library Investigation Operation (5)
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9.
「PAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
The familiar roar echoed out.
I was waiting at the altar site.
“……?!”
In that instant, the blood in my entire body froze.
This sound…… No…… Could it really be……?
I turned to look at the subjugation team members…… and saw that those who had fought in the Gyeongnam-dong raid with me wore the exact same expression.
“……Arishel’rab?”
“Fuck, what the hell is going on?”
“Ye-jin.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong muttered blankly, while Do Su-jin started sprinting toward the Great Library, her face drained of color.
The breakthrough team hadn’t entered the library.
They needed to conserve their strength for escort duties during the retreat after the investigation op.
“Was the operation a success or a failure……?”
Im Yong-gon muttered, and I replied:
“Either way, we need to provide support.”
Right now.
No matter what, the fact that 《Subordination》 had occurred meant this was the maximum danger level.
“Im Yong-gon, gather all the combat personnel on standby and bring them here.”
“And you?”
“I’ll go ahead first. Ha-kyeong, let’s go.”
“Okay.”
My heart pounded like a mad drum the entire run. Kim Gye-sang’s final moments kept flashing before my eyes.
Byeong-gyu, Tae-yeop, Geon-woo, Seung-hyeon, please…… If Do Ye-jin had gone berserk and killed someone…… I……
Reaching the Great Library was a struggle from the start. The heavens and earth were shaking wildly.
We finally climbed the stairs.
One by one, two by two.
Association members started appearing here and there.
They were the cover team handling the investigation.
But…… every one of them was supporting one or two injured, or running around in a half-panic state.
It was obvious something was seriously wrong.
That’s when someone screamed out in despair.
“It’s a Subordinate……!”
Arishel’rab for real……?
Had it reappeared? My breathing grew ragged.
But this was strange.
We’d prepared three countermeasures…… So why were we getting steamrolled like this?
“What the hell happened?”
I grabbed one of them and demanded urgently.
“Guh…… It’s a Subordinate. A Subordinate…… There’s a Subordinate in the Great Library…….”
“Did Arishel’rab emerge?”
“No…….”
Another roar rang out then.
At the same time, a collapse like the world crumbling exploded from the Great Library.
“It’s a different one……!”
“……What did you just say?”
“A different one appeared…… The librarians suddenly went berserk…….”
My mind went blank in that instant.
No way. There were no Subordinates in Sajik-dong. They might be elsewhere, but definitely not in the Great Library.
“What about First Hunting Squad?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong shook the man’s shoulder.
“First Hunting Squad? Where are those idiots? Arishel’rab showed up—where the fuck are they?”
The one who answered was Scout Squad Leader Eom Jae-beom.
“We found Shin Tae-yeop on the retreat path. He was in critical condition, so we injected him with Star Cloud Liquid, but he still hasn’t regained consciousness.”
“Where is he now?”
Shin Tae-yeop’s condition was horrific.
Every bone below his collarbone was pulverized. Surviving was a miracle.
“If Shin Tae-yeop is like this…….”
The other squad members……
A gruesome imagination flashed through my mind.
I shot to my feet. Choi Uk appeared and tried to stop me.
“Wait until the breakthrough team joins us. Going in now will just lead to pointless sacrifices.”
As if to prove Choi Uk’s words, the left side of the Great Library crumbled down with a roar.
“In a situation like this, shouldn’t our priority be preventing pointless sacrifices?”
It sounded reasonable, but what moved me then was personal emotion.
I didn’t listen to Choi Uk’s rebuttal.
Instead, I charged straight for the Great Library’s main entrance. Jeong Ha-kyeong and Do Su-jin followed right behind.
“What the fuck is this…….”
Dust flew everywhere.
Through the dust, I could see the lobby floor had turned into a cliff.
“Down below, it’s down below.”
Do Su-jin cried out urgently.
It was true. Dull impacts and roars kept coming from below.
“Move.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong shone her flashlight attached to her gun barrel downward, but no light reached wherever it had gone underground.
“I’ll do it.”
[Unique skill, 《First Liberation: Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》 activated!]
In that instant, dawn light exploded brilliantly, driving out the Great Library’s darkness.
And then, an incomprehensible sight appeared.
Something unfamiliar was biting into Arishel’rab’s scruff.
[Weaver of Nightmares, Yujurem]
[■■■■■, □□□□□, □□□□□]
[Weaver of Nightmares, Yujurem]
[■■■■□, □□□□□, □□□□□]
=====
The best way to maximize the Sacred Dawn Sword’s power was thrusting, after all? I couldn’t put full force into it because my ankle twisted up to the joint.
「UHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
A roar that tore at my eardrums.
Yujurem detached from Arishel’rab and thrashed its body wildly.
First…… put some distance between us.
That’s when my heart sank.
Something had grabbed my ankle. I immediately looked down.
“Please kill me…… Please, just kill me now…….”
The moment I identified what it was, my knees nearly buckled.
My god.
This was beyond god.
A person……?
No eyeballs, no eyes.
Waving its arms like maggots and screaming…… it was definitely human.
“Save me, save me. Save me.”
“Our baby…… Do you know where our Ha-joon is? We…….”
Not just one……
No, right?
Vomit surged up.
This thing…… its entire body…… made of people?
Did I just kill people?
But at that moment, no such guilt…… surfaced.
They were already not alive even while breathing. Granting them death might be the true mercy.
“Kim Baek-jun! Dodge!”
What snapped me from that momentary distraction was Jeong Ha-kyeong.
That split second saved me.
Yujurem slammed down on my crown with its massive leg.
Right before.
I landed on the ground with footwork. But the situation remained bizarre.
No, what the hell.
The entire floor…… was dirt?
The instant I thought I’d landed.
The dirt floor began sucking my body in like quicksand.
My head spun.
Where to, where should I go?
Only two choices, both horrific. Onto Arishel’rab or Yujurem’s bodies.
Worst case versus second worst……!
That’s how I judged it, shifting my form onto Arishel’rab’s head.
Arishel’rab’s state was pitiful.
Its body around the scruff melting like mud.
You…… really held out well.
That’s when I froze.
Its occiput was melting too?
I quickly moved there…… and immediately saw Do Ye-jin.
A membrane like brain matter.
Inside it, a girl curled up like a fetus. Her sclera swollen red with tears.
“Ye-jin, can you hear me?”
Her eyes were closed, no response.
“I need a foothold.”
“…….”
“Or a chance for one strike.”
“…….”
“You’re in danger too…… but right now, the only way we all survive is you and me working together.”
Do Ye-jin murmured through sobs then.
“There’s…… no…… way…… to survive…….”
“……?”
“Everyone’s…… already…… dead…….”
……What?
Her last words were nearly a whisper, so I didn’t catch them.
“Right now──”
Gunfire and explosions erupted in unison then. At the same time, Yujurem, lunging at us, recoiled with a shriek.
Jeong Ha-kyeong’s covering fire.
Jeong Ha-kyeong favored firing dozens of bullets and grenades in 《Super Acceleration》 state. Releasing it afterward made them hit like a barrage.
For reference, our maknae Cha Seung-hyeon called it burst DPS.
“Baek-jun!”
A call from the side startled me. I looked up…… to see Do Su-jin standing there with a resolute expression.
“Su-jin…… how?”
“Sacrificed an arm. It’s fine.”
Do Su-jin said that as she injected Star Cloud Liquid into her left arm.
Her left arm, shattered and mangled.
This woman…… sacrificed an arm to land? As tough as Jeong Ha-kyeong.
“What’s the problem?”
“The entire floor turned into a sandbar. No footing means we can’t even fight.”
I sighed, turning to Do Ye-jin.
“If Ye-jin can open an opportunity, we have a shot…….”
Do Su-jin’s eyes gleamed as if struck by inspiration.
“Then get ready.”
“……What?”
“Prepare to finish it. I’ll handle moving Ye-jin.”
A flash of certainty and plea in Do Su-jin’s eyes. Trust in her little sister?
“I’ll make Ye-jin open that chance…… and this will be her chance too.”
“……!”
“Believe in me, in us.”
Do Su-jin……
Someone once said.
The greatest gift God gave humanity was family.
“Got it.”
I nodded gravely.
“Ha-kyeong can only buy so much time. Maybe 15 seconds max. Ammo’s limited.”
“That’s enough.”
Do Su-jin said.
“15 seconds is plenty.”
[Rampaging Despair, Arishel’rab]
[■□□□□, □□□□□, □□□□□]
“Arishel’rab……!”
Jeong Ha-kyeong uttered the nightmare’s name in an agitated voice.
My head throbbed like it would split.
A Subordinate…… really in Sajik-dong? And Subordinates fighting each other?
Then I saw something odd.
Yujurem’s health bar filling up, while Arishel’rab’s dropped.
Draining life……?
“We have to go!”
Do Su-jin cried out desperately, but Jeong Ha-kyeong shook her head.
“Fuck, are you insane? How do you plan to get down there?”
Do Su-jin glared at Jeong Ha-kyeong once, then moved to jump.
“You can’t go!”
I grabbed her shoulder quick.
“I can! Why stop me if I’m going!”
“Think about it! We don’t even know if Arishel’rab has any reason left!”
In that instant, Do Su-jin’s face filled with despair.
But there was no choice.
This was the worst-case scenario. Best to wait for one Subordinate to fall, then intervene.
“First, search for survivors──”
That’s when it happened.
Arishel’rab began to cry.
Not its signature roar. Actual sobs. Desperate, heartrending sobs.
………………?
I had no idea what was going on.
In that one moment.
The image of girl Do Ye-jin overlapped with nightmare Arishel’rab. Do Ye-jin collapsed on the floor, sobbing her heart out.
- I want to live.
I moved the next instant.
- I want to live…… Me…… with my sister……
The 《Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》’s light explosion had dimmed to twilight.
Still visible.
I closed my eyes, then opened them.
Humanity ignited my heart coldly, vision tinting ashen.
Ye-jin.
Uncle’s coming to save you now.
Distance to underground: about 100 meters?
My footwork range was always 20 meters. But no hesitation like “Can I do it?”
Dawn Sword’s first authority: space-time control.
I pulled Yujurem’s crown right before my eyes…… and stepped onto it.
Flash!
Body turned to beam of light.
In one instant, I landed atop Yujurem’s head.
But…… mistake.
Unstable visual lock? Landing point set wrong……!
Ankle twisted instantly.
「………………………?」
Chill.
Sensation of a cold blade piercing my skull.
Transcendent killing intent.
In slowed time, Yujurem noticed me.
Can’t put full power…… but no room for hesitation.
「UHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
Target: one point.
Unmissable perfect chance.
Sweep Dawn’s blade upward with left hand. Grip reversed. Yujurem began moving.
But by then, I had already chained into the Dawn Sword’s second authority.
[Unique skill, 《Second Liberation: Sacred Dawn Sword》 activated!]
Will it work?
Combat calc says I’m faster. By 0.5 seconds.
It will.
Brilliant crimson flash.
Dawn’s heat incinerating darkness.
The broken sword reborn as sacred blade, shining nobly amid the world’s shadows.
“Haaaaaaaah!”
With a fierce kiai, I drove that blade into its crown.
──Cha-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-rang!
Crimson flash illuminating the world.
But right then, I knew.
Weak…… and shallow……