Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: A Line Crossed
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Snatching the heavy bags from Ryuhi and Ephnis, who couldn't run properly, Hwan-in raced forward as he heard the apemen's roars.
Kuwoooooh...!!
Woooowoooowooo...!!
The roars echoed from the forest. Sensing they were closing in faster than expected, Hwan-in shouted.
"If things get dangerous, don't worry about me and jump into the lake! The land seals will protect you!"
=B-But what about you, benefactor...?=
He ignored the predictable question, scanning the forest to his left and behind as he ran.
Looking up, he saw Emergency Ration's head swiveling busily this way and that. Bursting out at the bird's uncertain expression, he yelled.
"Emergency Ration! Enemies! How many?!"
Quaaak! Quaaak! Quaaak quaaak quaaak!!
One cry meant one enemy. Two cries meant two to four. Three or more continuous cries signaled a large group.
Tsking his tongue at the nonstop cries...
Kuwoooooh!!
He spotted an apeman leaping from the treetops with astonishing agility.
Fast. And its landing spot was aimed right at him. Incredibly precise.
Hwan-in instantly flung Ryuhi and Ephnis toward the lake from behind him while hurling a Soul Explosion at the apeman.
=Kyaaa...!=
=...Aaaah...!=
Boom!
As the women's screams mixed with the explosion, the rapidly closing apeman was blasted back into the ground by the pressure.
=Mommy!=
=Eek.=
Hearing Huini and Ennel splash into the water behind him, Hwan-in drew him spear and charged at the apeman shaking its head violently.
And as he aimed for its heart...
"...!"
Screeeeech—
His keen senses caught something sharp flying in fast.
'Throwing spear.'
Identifying the incoming object, Hwan-in slashed diagonally at the downed apeman's shaking, tapping neck while batting away the wooden spear.
A single acrobatic strike succeeded flawlessly, but Hwan-in felt no thrill as he reset his stance.
Crashcrashcrash—
Kuwaaaak—!!
Kwoooer—!
The branches shook again, and this time four apemen leaped out simultaneously.
Their target: Hwan-in.
They bristled their fur, baring fangs as they flew in to crush him with jump attacks. The women screamed from behind, but Hwan-in calmly fired Soul Orbs into each maw.
Then, explosion.
Boombombboom. The invisible blasts centered on their heads sent the apemen spinning to crash into the ground with thuds.
Guhk... kueee... Groans escaped as blood poured from their eyes, noses, mouths, and ears while they twitched.
Like concussions from the impact, the four staggered. Spotting more wooden spears flying from behind, Hwan-in retreated hastily, swinging his spear rapidly.
Tatattak!
Seven or eight spears from the forest rained down, deflected by his spear strikes.
Wok! Wok! Wok! Wok! Wok!
Meanwhile, apemen poured from the forest with war cries.
Roughly twenty in number.
Seeing the apemen charge like humans, Hwan-in summoned the soul of the first dead apeman and activated Spirit Possession with an elderly apeman's Soul Orb.
A lowest-grade soul surged in, making his heart pound harder and faster.
Feeling his temperature rise unchecked, confirming boosts to strength and agility, Hwan-in unleashed souls of three moose, one bear, and one wolf (all mid-to-low grade) on the charging apemen.
Kwaaang, kwaboom!!
Nine were flung back by direct Soul Explosions, three more staggered by the shockwave.
In the gap, Hwan-in grabbed fallen wooden spears and hurled them indiscriminately at the oncoming foes.
Whiiiish— whiiiish!!
Five spears—snapped or broken—struck green-furred apemen, who screamed guwek, kuhk while clutching the protrusions and rolling on the ground.
More spears flew from the forest, this time relentlessly without pause.
Ceasing his throws, Hwan-in deflected them one by one while retreating.
'Smart. Delaying the enemy with throws to buy time for the charge. This qualifies as established tactics for one-versus-many.'
The four with concussions from lowest-grade Soul Explosions had recovered. Those tumbled by blasts charged again, and the skewered ones snapped spears and lunged in fury.
About twenty-four apemen, now just over ten meters away.
As the lake-soaked women opened mouths to scream in the tense standoff...
'Here they come.'
Pewpewpewpewpewpew—
Short whooshes accompanied a torrent of water arrows pouring toward the apemen.
Kwok!?
Woooerk!!
Kuwoooo—!
Like rain, the arrows downed twenty apemen, spraying blood.
Glancing at the lake, he saw over ten land seals shooting water arrows at the group.
'Delayed calling friends, huh.'
Having waited for this, Hwan-in sprang forward, zigzagging to dodge incoming spears and closing on the nearest four, swinging his spear.
Still concussed, they couldn't block his instinct-fueled strength, reflexes, and spearwork—necks and bellies gashed deeply as they fell.
One raised arms to guard.
Slaaash!
Kuuweeeek—!!
Mid-to-high-grade Spirit Possession boosted his strength over 30%; the forearm severed bone-deep.
Six flashes erupted, birthing four corpses.
Kuoooo—!!
"Oh."
Hwan-in softly admired two apemen under the water arrow barrage. Bleeding from wounds, they used kin corpses as shields to charge him.
Resolute determination to kill him.
Swiish...
Spears from the forest grew less threatening.
Pre-sharpened ones depleted; now branch-covered sticks flew.
Dragging badly, they fell halfway or veered wildly.
Still wary of the forest, he kicked a foot-apeman corpse at one charging pair.
His thighs and calves tensed; the several-dozen-kilogram lump of meat flew like a soccer ball.
Bam—!
Kuhek!?
The struck apeman tumbled like a bowling pin.
Kuwaak—!
Learning from it? The last hurled its held kin corpse at Hwan-in with gorilla-like power.
Then sprinted behind with cheetah speed.
Angle hid it from view.
=Dangerous...!=
=Be careful...!!=
As the corpse neared, Hwan-in twisted sideways, swinging full-force.
"Haaap!!"
Bwoooong—!
Shaft bent fiercely; 1.1m blade traced a clean crescent glow.
Kuh...
Waist severed with the corpse, the apeman spewed guts from its half-gone side, rolling with the body on the sand.
'Nice.'
Such iron cold weapons dominated unless blocked by metal armor.
In this monster world, hides tougher than iron or hard to cut existed, sure.
But skins pierced by water arrows couldn't resist iron sharpness.
Woooerk—!
While spearing the spine-slashed flailing apeman's neck, the other rose kicking its kin corpse, roaring arms wide to engulf Hwan-in.
As shadows overlapped, a right-angle silver flash soared.
Groin to crown bisected bone-deep, it died instantly without death rattle.
"Gotta learn this knot from Ryuhi."
Despite severing spines and splitting skulls multiple times, the shaft-blade joint stayed firm.
Black Spear 1.0—dagger blade crudely tied with vine—lacked durability, so he stuck to thrusts.
Even then, it loosened often, needing retightening until the vine snapped, losing the blade.
But Ryuhi's Black Spear 2.0 held firm even after skull-cleaving.
Quick check during the lull; grabbing a rolling wooden spear, Hwan-in hurled it hard at the last survivor barely blocking water arrows with a kin corpse.
Strength and stone axe throws made spear-throwing easy.
Whiiiish—!
Guhk!
Thuk—!
Kueee...!
Water-arrow-riddled bodies couldn't dodge head-aimed spears; breaths cut one by one.
Side hits weren't fatal, but the barrage finished them.
Thus, twenty-six apeman corpses littered the sandbar; no more sticks flew from the forest.
'Wonder how the spear-throwers feel watching males die by their own weapons.'
Hwan-in guessed forest throwers were females; all dead had groin males organs.
Apemen slain, women rushed from water to him.
=Benefactor~!=
=B-Benefactor! A-Are you okay?!=
"No injuries. You're the problem."
Lips blue, skin and faces pale.
Huddled, shivering—cold locale plus lake soak stole their body heat.
Normally, fire to rewarm. But just in case, gathering faint blue spirits, he Spirit Possessed them; color returned swiftly.
=Haaa...=
=Ah... feels alive...=
'Hard to use in desert heat.'
Quok! Quok quok!
Seeing land seals quok happily nearby, Hwan-in inwardly sighed.
Without their meddling, they'd have crossed uneventfully.
Giving all apeman corpses to land seals, he urged the women.
"We must leave quickly. Move."
Males charged, females threw from forest.
Thought old apeman led; but coordinated post-death, so definite boss elsewhere.
Uncertain hypothesis—if true, more danger.
Watching eight of thirteen land seals drag corpses lakeward, Hwan-in shouldered Ryuhi and Ephnis's bags; women startled, clinging.
=Ah! W-We can carry!=
"For speed, I'll take them. Let's go."
Recovering twelve of twenty-six apeman souls into orbs, he absorbed five more, Spirit Possessing all.
Boosting strength/agility notably quickened paces.
Short-distance sprinters, they flew; five land seals followed.
'Good.'
At least lakeside guards.
Unclear how far, but helpful exiting.
Racing with women, Hwan-in noted lake-edge swimming land seals' colors.
'...Apemen colors totally differ from land seals, yet food?'
Land seals: yellow. Apemen: wall-color (beige?).
Vs. red/yellow/purple toxins/illusions/diseases, cyan-greens neutral.
'Cyan-greens prime prey for others.'
Wild animal lifespans short bar reptiles—harsh environs, poor nutrition.
Stray cats live 4-5x less than house cats.
Wild must eat available, poison or not.
Or ingest poison to brew own—like land seal claws dripping venom. Hypothesis fit.
"... "
Sudden thought; eyeing happily swimming land seals.
Used him for mass food/venom stock?
'Nah.'
Cunning ones wouldn't gift pearl stones.
Basing on facts, dismissed baseless hypothesis.
River position roughly known via Emergency Ration recon; prioritized speed.
Pushing women ahead, Spirit Possessed them nonstop with passing spirits.
Not fully trusting Emergency Ration, periodically checked rear for pursuit.
About two hours hugging lake nonstop.
Mountain edge crossed, visibility cleared; between black peaks white-capped, twin rivers forked Y to Jade Lake.
=Hah, hah. River splits...=
=Hoo. Sis, nothing else?=
=Yeah. Sorry.=
=No. We remember zilch anyway.=
"Quiet. Huini, odd sounds?"
Others hushed; knee-propped panting Huini cupped wolf ears behind, eyes closed.
=...=
Ears perked radar-like, slowly turning forestward, frowning.
=Something rustling in that forest. But unsure if raiders.=
"... "
Choice time.
Left river: flat, flanking forests, slight uphill to Jade Lake inflow.
Right: higher terrain, sharp right bend, upstream flow.
Both to Jade Lake, differing heights.
Gaze to confluence: black peak with unmelted snow.
Highish ridge north of lake.
Not tall—eyeball 200m.
Mist clouds mid-slope up, but black soil/gray rock; summit overlooks area.
Lucky, spot yellow-head mountain village landmark.
'But no time likely.'
Neck prickled—like targeted. Better flee fast.
=Um, benefactor.=
"Speak."
=With Cicooter's help, fight forest raiders here? Already killed twenty-six, entering forest invites easy track...=
Hwan-in shook head at cautious Ephnis.
"Groups ruled by standouts. Larger, stronger variants emerge—like Hob village greatsword monster."
=Ah...=
"Apemen have them too. Base specs high, variants dwarf greatsword one."
Lakeward: land seals back to thirteen, corpses gone.
"Coordinated attack confirms boss. Even if land seals help, don't expect life-risking fight."
Logical (from experience), women understood, eyes clearing.
"Best flee apemen turf fast. Left."
Without question, they moved as directed.