The End of the Runaways
The assassins heading toward the Eastern Camp to ignite the Unquenchable Fire suddenly froze, their faces pale as they saw the insects emerging from beneath their feet. The situation had spiraled into a nightmare.
"...!!"
"We've been spotted!"
There was no way such bizarre creatures could occur naturally. They were undoubtedly the enemy's scouts. The assassins immediately attempted to retreat, abandoning the insects. The Unquenchable Fire operation was a strategy that only held value if executed as a surprise attack. Once discovered, they had no chance of victory.
There were nearly eight hundred Awakened currently stationed at the Eastern Camp. There was no possibility that thirty people could win a head-on confrontation against them.
"Ambush failed! Lady Meiling!!! We must retreat!!!" the leader of the assassins shouted.
Soon, thousands of Pitch-Black Beetle larvae began to swarm, covering the forest floor.
"Aaaargh!!!!"
"Damn it!!! Run! Get out of here!!! Aaaah!"
A few assassins hurled their Unquenchable Fire at the swarm. They carried out a suicide attack to save the others, never once considering that they themselves would be engulfed in the flames.
"Kishaaaa!!!"
"Kieeee!"
The insects began to burn to death in the flames. Those who had thrown the fire were also caught in the blaze, and several assassins who were running for their lives were swept up as well. As the fire bombs hanging from the belts of the fallen assassins detonated, even larger pillars of flame erupted.
"There they are!!!! Chase them down!!!!" the Awakened at the Eastern Camp roared at the sight of the rising flames. A pursuit team began to sprint into the forest.
"Damn it... why..." Meiling bit her lip, looking down at the forest landscape that had descended into chaos in an instant. She had at least expected to be able to set the camp on fire... but even that had proven impossible.
"As expected... the man who made me like this... he's incredible..."
"My lady, now is not the time for admiration... we must flee to the airport immediately."
"Maybe... it wouldn't be so bad to get caught right now...?"
"If you are captured in this situation... you will likely be executed publicly. That wouldn't do, would it? Love is best enjoyed when you are on equal footing or in a position of superiority. Besides, Jang Jojun has many women by his side. You should tear them all to shreds and keep him all to yourself, Lady Meiling. Don't you agree?"
"Yes. You're right. That's it. It's... extremely annoying that other bitches are by his side. Bitches who don't even know their place... Yan Hongya is right. That's it... I'll burn them all to death... and only I will remain. Just him and me. The two of us are enough..."
"Exactly. Then, let's depart. Mustang, carry her."
"Okay."
Mustang scooped Meiling up in a princess carry and began to tear through the forest at a breakneck pace. Behind them followed the marionette Yan Hongya and the few surviving assassins.
"Th-that crazy...!!"
"Let's get out of here too! Get a grip and run! If we lose sight of them... we're finished."
At Tony's shout, McClain and Becky began to chase after Mustang's broad back. As he ran, Tony thought frantically. The enemy who had occupied the Eastern Camp and killed Nick and Michael was far more thorough and terrifying than they had imagined.
"Aaaack!!!"
"Oh no!! McClain!!!"
"Becky!!! Just go!!! Go with Tony first!!!"
McClain had tripped over a tree root. Encountering the swarm of insects again had triggered a kind of PTSD, narrowing his vision so severely that he tripped over a root he would have easily avoided otherwise.
"You idiot... how can I leave you and go alone..."
"Ugh. Becky..."
"Stop whining and get up. I'll support you... just run as fast as you can...!!"
McClain, having sprained his ankle, could no longer run. Becky couldn't bring herself to abandon him. Finally, she decided to ask for help.
"Tony!! Help us!!!"
Becky called out to Tony, who was fleeing. However...
"Those idiots..."
Tony didn't even look back. His connection with the couple ended there. No matter how strong the bond formed while fleeing together, it was difficult to value others over one's own life. Tony abandoned them. He still had things to do.
'I'm sorry.' Tony apologized to them inwardly. Turning back to help them now was, by any measure, an act of madness.
"Kuaaaa!!!!"
"Huh?!"
Of course, abandoning his friends didn't mean he would escape the forest safely.
Tony flew through the air. He couldn't process the situation. Something had rushed at him, collided with him, and sent him flying into a tree on the other side of the forest.
"Puh-waaack!!!"
"Keu... uh... ah... haa..."
He wanted to scream in pain, but Tony couldn't say a word. No voice came out. No, air wasn't even passing through his throat. What had happened? Tony looked at his own body, which was embedded in the tree and spraying blood.
'Why... is there no head on that body?'
Only then did Tony realize why he couldn't make a sound. He couldn't speak when his neck had already been severed. Air from the lungs had to pass through the vocal cords to produce sound, but he couldn't even breathe. Naturally, he couldn't have spoken.
"....."
Soon, Tony's vision went dark. As his optic nerves died, all his senses were gradually cut off. Tony thought his life had been a futile one.
"Neck!!! Cutting the neck!!! Taking the head!!!!"
With the only sense remaining to him as he died—his hearing—someone's voice drifted in. Tony died listening to the shouting of a foreigner, rambling in an excited tone.
"Hiiing!!!"
"Kwahahaha!!!!"
The one who had charged in beside the fleeing Tony and decapitated him in a single stroke was a Dullahan. A Dullahan who had been residing in the Abyss, outside the influence of the God's idols. He had appeared at the Eastern Camp, heavily armed. His body was covered in equipment made of all sorts of rare metals. He had replaced all his worn-out, original Dullahan gear with high-performance rare metal equipment. Even the skeletal horse he summoned was clad in black rare metal armor.
"Neck!! Let's go rip off some necks!!!! Run!! Horse head!!"
"Hiiiiiing!!!!"
The insane master and his even crazier skeletal horse chased after the fleeing group at tremendous speed. Since both were already dead, they had no limits to their stamina.
"Daaamn iiiit!!!! It's a headless knight!!!!"
One of the assassins who looked back screamed until his throat tore. Yan Hongya frowned as he watched the monster chasing them. The speed was nonsensical. Its breakthrough power was even greater. If they were hit head-on by something like that, even Mustang would be left in critical condition. Meiling, held in his arms, would die instantly.
"Mustang... keep running. Take care of the lady. You must reach France no matter what. Serve her even if you die."
"Roger..."
Yan Hongya dropped back. He was the only one who could stop such a monster.
'It's a life she saved anyway...'
Yan Hongya had been on the verge of death when he met Meiling and obtained the Marionette class. Meiling, who had achieved the same feat as Jojun—"The Puppeteer's Secret"—had handed Yan Hongya the "Original's Experimental Records," allowing him to awaken as a marionette. Because of this, Yan Hongya felt a great debt of gratitude toward Meiling. To him, she was a savior and the woman who had saved his family.
Yan Hongya pictured the faces of his wife and daughter, who had already left for France.
"Haaaat!!!"
Magic threads erupted from Yan Hongya's hands. The threads infiltrated the assassins who were fleeing behind Mustang, and regardless of their own will, they became Yan Hongya's puppets.
"Puppet Enhancement... Puppet Overdrive... I'm sorry, comrades. Let's go together."
Soon, the assassins transformed into berserkers due to the skill unleashed from the magic threads.
"Kuaaa!!! Give me your head!!!"
The Dullahan charged toward them, swinging its greatsword.
"Block it!!!!"
"Uwaaaaa!!!"
"No!!!!"
A mass slaughter of assassins.
"Kuaaaaa!!! Arm!!! My arm!!!"
Arms, legs, and severed heads scattered. Just by colliding with the skeletal horse charging at full power, five assassins were blown apart. Thanks to this, they managed to halt the Dullahan's charge. As they died, the threads attached to their bodies became entangled with the Dullahan.
"Got you..."
Their sacrifice was within Hongya's calculations. Yan Hongya smiled. The Dullahan and the skeletal horse were already bound by his threads.
"Kuaaa!!! Head!!! Give me your head!!!!"
"Shut up, you monster... haa..."
Yan Hongya glanced at the mushroom monsters rushing in behind the Dullahan. Killing them all was impossible, no matter how he looked at it. Therefore, he resolved to kill at least this headless knight. Soon, the magic threads tightened, constricting the struggling Dullahan's body.
"Kuaaaaa!!!! It hurts!!!! My neck is itchy!!!!"
Thanks to the rare metal armor, it was enduring Hongya's skill, but before long, the Dullahan would be minced meat by the magic threads digging into the gaps of the armor. Yan Hongya harbored a hopeful view that perhaps he could kill this guy and escape. Of course, that was an impossible assumption.
"Uh... that shouldn't happen... our Dull-ssi doesn't recover well, so it must hurt quite a bit..."
In an instant, a black energy rippled, and something walked out from within it.
'What on earth is that...'
Suddenly, the entire forest went dark, as if swallowed by shadows. Red roots spread out from beneath the feet of the monster that walked out of the darkness, beginning to entwine the area. As if parasitizing it.
"Hmm... what is 'thread' in English...? Hmm... String? String, get out. Please. Whew... if you don't let go of our Dull-ssi..."
Soon, the forest stirred, and skeletons began to crawl up from the ground one by one. Every single one of those skeletons was entwined with dark red roots.
"I'll kill you too."
The monster that appeared before Yan Hongya. It was Son Haeun, who was sad because she was nothing but bone and couldn't drink the communication potion. Soon, the beast hunter Killian and the giant slayer Dante stood on either side of her. Yan Hongya released the magic threads that had been entwining the Dullahan's body and quietly raised both hands. There was no chance of victory. He wouldn't be able to escape. Hongya realized that his role ended here.
******
Mushroom humans who had donned heavy armor and could now shatter trees with a single punch. They were currently having a heated discussion over two prisoners.
"Pusssss..."
"Pus... pussss..."
"Puuuuuu... pussss.."
The topic of the discussion was simple. "Isn't accidental murder unavoidable?" was their subject. The mushroom humans wanted to crush the two humans they had captured right then and there. Their spore sacs were itching because they wanted to ignore their master's orders and turn the humans into minced meat on a whim.
"Cough... cough... damn it..."
"Becky... I'm sorry... sob... Becky... because of me...."
"It's okay... it's fine... they don't seem like they're going to kill us right away..."
"Sob... T-Tony...?"
"Tony... that person... is dead. He was killed in one blow by the headless knight..."
"Damn it... damn it..."
Because of the spores the mushrooms were emitting while talking, Becky and McClain were coughing incessantly, unable to even open their eyes properly.
"Oh God..."
McClain prayed earnestly to God to let him survive these monsters. Perhaps his prayer had reached God. Specifically, the Evil Gods of the Manma-jeon.
"Cough, cough! Hey! What are you guys doing standing there!!"
"Pusssss...."
"What? You were thinking? Bullshit. You idiots who just scratch your spore sacs in the Abyss all day, what kind of thinking are you doing."
"Pusssss!!! Puuuut!!!"
"Ugh, damn it! Hey! You bastard!!! I told you not to emit spores rebelliously!! No, how can these guys ignore my orders so openly? I'm your master!!"
There was only one person who could point fingers at the intimidating, heavily armored mushroom humans and hurl curses at them. The savior sent by the Evil Gods in response to McClain's prayer was, naturally, Jang Jojun.
"What is this, they're humans. You haven't killed them yet?"
"Pusss."
"Yeah, good job. Cough... cough..! Oh. Damn... the air is getting bad, so everyone get lost again!"
"Puuuut..!"
"Puuk. Puuuuuk.."
"Oh... those annoying bastards..."
The mushroom humans moved away, pointlessly spraying more spores at Jojun. Since they were originally the kin of Spenta Mainyu, the Queen of Spores and Goddess of all abandoned life, they tended to filter out the orders of Jojun, an apostle of an Evil God. Of course, they didn't rebel openly.
Jojun fanned away the unpleasant spores floating in the air with his hand and approached the two Americans who had been sitting on the ground. Behind him followed Han Areum, Nanase Sora, and Kekere.
"Hey. Who are you guys."
Jojun took out the communication potion he had in his pocket and drank it. At his question, Becky answered in a fluster.
"Th-that... we are..."
At that moment, McClain grabbed the arm of Becky, who couldn't speak well, and stepped forward.
"We came here to seek refuge in Chester. My name is McClain... I am a Spirit Master. This is my fiancée, Becky... she is a Sword Dancer. Please, save us. We will live up to your expectations."
At McClain's words, Jojun nodded.
"Good. That's a very good class. I like both of you."
At Jojun's words, McClain sighed in relief that he had survived. At the same time, Jojun drew the sword hanging at his waist.
"Well then, who should we start with. The boyfriend first? Or the girl?"
"Excuse... me?"
"You want to go first."
"Uh... uhhh... Aaaaaargh!!!!"
Soon, the Ghost-Crying Sword was plunged into McClain's side. The journey of the Eastern Camp escapees thus came to a complete end.