Run, You Cowards
The skeletal horse had been pulverized by Dante’s punch, and Palus had barely managed to execute a proper landing just before her neck could snap from the fall. She shook her dizzy head, struggling to regain her senses, and scanned her surroundings.
“One, two, three... nine?!”
She counted the enemies she had to kill and felt cold sweat prickling her skin. ‘Why are there so many... it’s overwhelming...’
She was deeply flustered. And she had every right to be. Palus had been sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for her lunch. The moment she received her tray, she was suddenly told it was an emergency, dragged into the Abyss, shoved onto the back of a Dullahan, and launched right into the heart of the enemy lines. Anyone who wasn’t flustered in this situation would be the abnormal one. She’d been snatched away mid-meal; of course, it was absurd. Furthermore, she hadn’t been told there would be this many enemies. If there had been only three or four, she would have simply sliced them up, gone home, and rested. But there were a staggering nine of them.
Even worse, four of those nine were radiating an extraordinary aura. The aura of the strong. The ones Palus identified as powerful were the NPC companions, excluding the five players: Killian the Beast Hunter, Aran the Dragon-Blooded Knight, Caesar the Heretic Hunter, and Dante the Giant Slayer.
‘They all... seem strong...’
Contrary to the claim that it would be nothing, upon arriving at the scene, she saw someone who looked as strong as herself (the Dragon-Blooded Knight), and others who, while weaker, were clearly not to be trifled with. Palus felt a sense of crisis.
‘I won’t be able to kill them all in three strikes...’
She could only swing her sword with full power three times a day. If she unleashed a serious strike beyond that, her physical condition would rapidly deteriorate, and if she swung about five times, she could end up vomiting blood and dying. Yet, there were nine of them here.
Ultimately, realizing she had to stall for time, she put on the most intimidating front she could muster and drew her sword.
‘Did it work?’
Everyone looked visibly tense under the killing intent radiating from her blade. Palus thought she had successfully scared them. However, there was one person who acted on his own whim, regardless of any killing intent.
“Die, you heretic!!”
It was Caesar, who had lost his mind, convinced he had been deceived by some illusion.
‘That bastard...’
Palus swung her sword toward Caesar, who was about to swing his flail at Lee Juha. She wanted to lop his head off right then and there, but if she did, the enemies would likely swarm her without a second thought. So, she severed Caesar’s arm instead. By not killing him immediately, she provided a glimmer of hope that they could survive, while simultaneously threatening the enemies and buying time for Cheshire to reload her laser gatling gun and for the swarm of roaches, mushroom men, and parasitic trees to gather.
Every action Palus had taken since her appearance was calculated. Burdened by the constraint of only being able to exert her true power three times a day, she knew how to utilize her limitations better than anyone. She might have looked like a simple, honest, and reckless warrior at a glance, but Palus was more cunning than anyone else.
“Don’t move. Anyone who moves dies...!”
At her shout, laced with killing intent, a sudden silence fell, and everyone froze. Palus smiled triumphantly to herself. She figured she could stall them for at least two minutes.
[Analyzing...]
Meanwhile, Michael had been analyzing Palus urgently, without even blinking, from before Caesar’s arm was severed.
‘If we delay any longer here, the Cultist will show up with his main force... and we might be completely isolated and annihilated by the roach swarm and the reinforcements... It’s dangerous.’
He assumed Palus was the vanguard and that the Cultist was bringing the main force from their base. And once he confirmed Palus’s status, Michael became even more convinced of his theory.
[Sword Saint Palus: An individual who is congenitally in poor health but has reached the rank of Sword Saint through extreme training. Due to low stamina, she is disadvantageous in long battles and cannot swing her sword many times. She can swing it approximately three times a day.]
[Status Abnormalities: Nine-Yin Pulse, Hormonal Imbalance, Extreme Low Stamina, Born Weakling, Glass Skeleton, Slow Growth, One-Armed, One-Eyed, Gender Transformation]
‘What is this... she’s a complete patient. But the fact that they sent someone with such low stamina out first means... in the end, she’s just a time-wasting pawn... Just how strong must the ones they’re bringing be if they can use such a monster as a disposable time-wasting pawn... I’m terrified... Cultist...’
Michael, whose deduction was completely off-base, shouted to his party members, who had momentarily stopped moving, suppressed by the aura as soon as he read Palus’s information.
“Bluffing!! It’s a bluff!!! That girl is a weakling!!! If we block her two more times, she’ll collapse!! We have to crush her quickly and get out of here!!”
Palus’s face, which had been wearing a triumphant smile, twisted. Michael had interfered not even a minute after she told them not to move.
“That bastard!!”
Palus immediately unleashed a slash toward Michael. She didn’t understand his words, but she instinctively felt that he had read her. Therefore, she thought he must have seen through her weakness.
‘Jang-nom said that anyone who can see through an opponent’s information must be killed no matter what...’
The sword energy Palus fired flew toward Michael with the intent to slice his neck off.
“Uryaaaa!!!!”
If Michael died, there would truly be no answer. Therefore, Aran the Dragon-Blooded Knight blocked Michael’s path and raised his greatsword to receive the slash.
-Splat!!!
However, the secret technique of Palus, a human who had reached the realm of the divine through extreme self-training, could not be easily blocked even with the power of a half-human, half-dragon.
“What the crazy!! Argh!!!!”
Aran the Dragon-Blooded Knight screamed as he sprayed blood. The greatsword he was holding was cut in half, and his neck was half-severed, spraying bright red blood. Since dragon blood flowed through him, the wound would heal soon, but regardless of that, the fact that she had sliced through a greatsword made of dragon bone and nearly severed his neck was shocking.
‘Unbelievable sharpness...’
Even as his neck was split in half and he poured out blood, Aran was so excited that his crotch was swelling. A strong person had appeared who could actually kill him. And she was a pretty female swordswoman with the handicap of being one-eyed and one-armed, no less.
‘Ah... it’s destiny.’
His heart fluttered at the appearance of the woman he had dreamed of. He wanted to fight more. He wanted to break each other’s bodies, poke at each other’s wounds, and swing his sword with all his might until one of them died. He even wanted to receive Palus’s last remaining strike.
“Kahaha!!!!”
His dragon blood boiled. His skin split, scales covered his body, and horns began to grow on his forehead. Furthermore, the pupils of his eyes split vertically, the lenses of his eyes turned red, and smoke began to flow from his mouth.
‘He’s going berserk right now...?! That crazy bastard..!’
Michael felt like he was going to lose his mind completely. Seeing the Dragon-Blooded Knight, who couldn’t control his excitement and had started to go berserk in such an urgent situation, made him feel like his head was going to explode.
‘There’s no way.’
He couldn’t see any way to calm that crazy lizard bastard and escape. ‘Let’s abandon him...’
Michael’s decision was swift. It was the only way he could see to escape safely. From the beginning, it was Aran the Dragon-Blooded Knight who had insisted on picking a fight and complicating the situation when they were trying to avoid it quietly.
‘There is nothing as dangerous as an ally who cannot be properly controlled.’
Michael, who was fed up with his trolling, steeled his heart. Aran had to take responsibility for his own actions. Michael rationalized it that way and shouted to the other party members.
“Nick, you fucking bastard!! Don’t space out, get a grip!! And Anna!! Cast a barrier behind Aran!! We’re leaving Aran here!!! Alex and Roy, take Caesar!! Everyone else, let’s get out of here!!”
“Wait!! The lady over there is...”
“Shut up, Roy!! Can’t you see that state!!! Can’t you see those fucking bugs in your eyes, you idiot!!”
“Damn it!!”
The Saintess immediately cast a barrier to block the incoming roach swarm, Gladiator Alex hoisted Caesar onto his back, and Roy retrieved his severed arm. Meanwhile, Killian the Beast Hunter fired a magic bullet toward Cheshire, who was reloading. Even if they were running away, he wanted to destroy the laser gatling gun before leaving. The single-target firepower of the laser gatling was almost on the level of a dragon’s breath.
-Whoosh!!!
“That damn doll...”
However, the magic bullet was blocked by Eila’s defensive wall and vanished. Eila took out a new gemstone and created a mana barrier to block Cheshire again. In the meantime, Cheshire began to channel the power of the gatling gun. The reload would be finished soon. Seeing that, Killian gave up on destroying the laser gatling. Right now, the answer was to get out of here, just as Michael said. They were too outnumbered. Furthermore, the momentum of the mushroom men, parasitic trees, and especially the jet-black roach swarm was ominous. If they delayed any longer, they would surely be caught in the swarming bugs and meet a terrible fate.
“Reload complete!! Palus!! Take Juha and move to the side!!”
Cheshire, who had finally finished reloading, began firing the gatling gun again. Palus quickly hoisted Lee Juha and moved to the side.
-Rat-tat-tat-tat!!!!!!
“Argh!!!”
The laser bullets slammed directly into Aran, who was in the middle of transforming, and Aran, who hadn’t finished his transformation, screamed in pain, clutching his head and hunching over.
-Crackle!!!
Anna’s barrier shattered. Of course, Michael and his party had already escaped by then.
“Kua!!! Get out of the way, you bug bastards!!! Bring the one-armed warrior back to me!!! I want to fight her!!! Don’t run away!!! Kuaaaa!!!”
Eventually, Aran, left alone, couldn’t regain his senses and began to be beaten by the incoming mobs. Eila hurriedly threw a handful of diamonds around Aran. It would cost tens of billions to keep him held for a while, but it didn’t matter. It was an era where jewelry and currency had already lost their value, and she had to invest that much to suppress someone who had started turning into a dragon. Soon, a seal formation with the worst cost-effectiveness, where the materials alone cost tens of billions, was completed.
“I’ll handle this place... Cheshire, you chase after them.”
“Got it... be careful.”
Cheshire picked up the head of the unconscious Dullahan and slapped its cheek.
“Ugh... head... cutting...”
“Stop the bullshit and summon the skeletal horse.”
“Woo...”
Cheshire ordered it to summon the skeletal horse quickly, saying they were in a hurry. Soon, the shattered skeletal horse regenerated, and Cheshire mounted it. By then, those who had heard the news had just arrived at the battleground. It was Lee Hoon, Lee Sun-jae, and other Awakened. Cheshire shouted to those who had gathered.
“Eight Americans have fled!! Jojun will give a huge reward to whoever catches them!! So everyone run!!! Catch the enemies!! If you can’t, just kill them!!”
““Uoooo!!!!””
Hundreds of people, including mushroom men and parasitic trees, began to chase after the eight fleeing Americans. If caught, it was at least slavery. If things didn’t go well, they would be tortured to death. A truly inhumane game of tag had begun.