Endless Onslaught in the Abyss
A pungent stench of blood wafted from the hallway even before reaching the bathroom. There was also a faint, sour tang of harsh chemicals.
Near the entrance to the girls' restroom, a female student was crawling desperately across the floor, her body pressed flat against it, one trembling hand outstretched ahead of her.
"T-Teacher... my head... my head..."
"What the hell...! What happened?!"
So Do-jin rushed toward her with urgent steps. The girl's condition was dire at a glance. Her right ankle had been raggedly torn off, leaving a jagged stump, and there was a hole punched through her side. Bite marks from magic beasts dotted her body. She was drenched in blood from head to toe, but especially from her head. Fortunately—or as much as one could call it that—no other vital areas seemed to have been hit. If they got her to a hospital right now, she might survive.
So Do-jin sheathed his sword and bent to hoist her onto his back.
"T-Teacher, wait... my head... my head...! Please look at my head first..."
At that moment, the girl swept her hair aside with both hands, exposing the crown of her head for So Do-jin to see.
Intending to heal her, So Do-jin channeled divine power. He wasn't confident in healing, but he could manage a basic emergency blessing circle to staunch the bleeding.
"What's wrong with your head?! Stay calm and tell me exactly. I need to know to heal you... Hurry!"
"H-Here. Teacher, my head's all white... what do I do... My brain's completely..."
"Calm down. You can live. We'll get you to the hospital right away—you'll make it. So just..."
He couldn't figure out what was wrong with her head. If only Ha Ye-jin were here right now. She'd pinpoint the wound without even looking and heal it perfectly. Damn it, why did it have to be me instead of her at a time like this...
"Here... right here..."
"'Here' doesn't tell me anything. Calm down and let me carry you to the hospital first—"
"Here... ugh. T-Teacher, my brain's completely..."
Crackle...
Then, the girl's head split open. Literally split.
She pried her head apart with both hands, revealing the inside. The scalp tore away, exposing not bone, but cotton stuffing.
Her skull was packed full of cotton.
"Completely... all white, right? Wow!"
"...Huh?"
BOOM!
The taxidermy doll exploded. Bone shards and chunks of flesh rained down, embedding in his body. He tried to block with his sword, but it wasn't enough. Stinging pain radiated from his arms and legs where the fragments had struck.
But now wasn't the time to writhe in agony.
"Ah, fuck..."
He needed to get out of the Holy Training Ground and assess the situation. There had to be a reason they'd lured him here—to tie up his feet while something else went down elsewhere. From a Satanist perspective, a serving Holy Knight like him was a thorn in their side.
Biting his lip, So Do-jin ignored the spreading pain and hurried toward the exit of the Holy Training Ground. He planned to head to the broadcast room and issue an evacuation order for the whole school.
"..."
But when he stepped out, it was still the Holy Training Ground.
He tried the back door—still the Holy Training Ground. Through the windows, smashing down walls—it was all the same. No matter what he did, So Do-jin couldn't escape the Holy Training Ground.
His expression darkened.
Abyss. The name of a black magic technique frequently used by the Satanists' "Pride," who had been active in America just a few years ago. It blurred the boundaries of a space, trapping you inside inescapably.
Thud, splat, squish...
And the black magic didn't stop there. Magic beasts and taxidermy dolls poured from the sky like rain.
So Do-jin looked up at the ceiling. Five massive black magic circles were etched into the high vault of the Holy Training Ground. The beasts and dolls plummeting from them hit the ground with sticky, viscous thuds.
Grrr...
Squelch, squelch, squelch...
Magic beasts baring massive fangs with menacing growls, grotesque taxidermy dolls stitched together from random corpses and hides. They advanced on So Do-jin with eerie sounds, closing in step by step.
"...This is So Do-jin. Anyone, respond."
So Do-jin pulled a trembling tree branch from his pocket and infused it with divine power. He brought his mouth close to the now-flaming branch and began contacting the other teachers.
"Black magic suspected to be 'Abyss' and 'Summoning' active in the Holy Training Ground. Requesting evacuation broadcast and exorcist priest support. Repeating. Black magic in the Holy Training Ground..."
Slash!
So Do-jin swung his sword, cleaving a charging magic beast in half. The bisected corpse writhed like a worm before going limp. As if that were the signal, three more beasts rushed him in a pack.
So Do-jin spread blessing light over his body and assumed position—sword in his right hand, burning trembling tree branch gripped tightly in his left.
Stab.
He pierced a beast's forehead. Pulling the sword free, the body slumped, brain matter and blood spilling from the hole.
Two left. So Do-jin gathered blessing light in his legs and heel-kicked the head of the one charging from the right.
Crunch!
A dull crack as the skull shattered; the beast's eyeballs popped out and rolled across the floor.
Without pause, So Do-jin shifted blessing light to his left hand. He tossed the trembling tree branch upward, swapped the sword to his left, and swung.
Slash.
A horizontal gash across the last beast's head. Its body split in two along the line.
As the branch arced back down, So Do-jin snatched it midair and brought it to his lips, repeating his message.
"...Requesting evacuation broadcast and exorcist priest support. Repeating, black magic active in the Holy Training Ground..."
Slash, stab, splatter...
"Repeating, any teacher who hears this, respond..."
Slicing, stabbing, blood spraying. And So Do-jin's pleas for help into the trembling tree branch echoed repeatedly.
Yet the beasts and dolls kept falling from the ceiling without end, and no response came from the branch.
Even in this hopeless situation, So Do-jin silently stabbed beasts' foreheads, slashed taxidermy hides, and called for aid.
How much time passed? Piles of beast corpses formed mountains, and the chemical reek from taxidermy flesh permeated his body.
- Ah, ah.
A voice emerged from the trembling tree branch, which hadn't even picked up static until now.
Squelch!
So Do-jin wrenched his sword upward through a taxidermy doll's torso, ripping its hide. Cotton and sawdust erupted skyward, then rained down like confetti. Covered in chemically soaked sawdust that burned his nostrils, So Do-jin pressed his mouth to the branch.
"This is So Do-jin...! Black magic active in Holy Training Ground. Issue evacuation broadcast for students, request exorcist priest support. If you hear me, respond!"
- Got it. I'll tell the students to stay in class and resume normal lessons. I'll ask the exorcists how they're doing. Over.
"...You bastard, who the hell are you? You think I'm fucking around right—"
- Yeah, keep spinning your wheels. Good luck.
Click.
The flame on the trembling tree went out. He poured in more divine power, but once extinguished, it wouldn't relight. That meant every other connected branch was destroyed or malfunctioning.
So Do-jin's face twisted in rage.
"You fucking shit—!"
Crunch!
Then, a magic beast from behind sank its teeth into his right hand. He'd been so focused on the voice that he'd overlooked it.
He yanked his hand free. Fingers—index and middle—fell to the floor amid splattering blood.
His palm held only ring, pinky, and thumb. Clang. The sword slipped from his grip, hitting the ground with a dry ring. Too heavy for three fingers.
Stab!
So Do-jin jabbed the now-useless trembling tree branch into the beast's eye. He scooped up his severed fingers and pocketed them. Blinded by pain and terror, the beast staggered back.
Rip.
He tore his sleeve with his teeth. Gripping the sword awkwardly with his remaining fingers, he wrapped and tied cloth around hand and hilt.
Slash.
He beheaded the beast that took his fingers. Not as good as before, but it would have to do for combat.
"Hoo."
So Do-jin steadied his breath, eyes fixed on the oncoming taxidermy dolls and beasts.
They seemed endless, but there had to be a limit. He couldn't dismantle the black magic circles on the ceiling. But he could swing his sword precisely and sharply.
So he'd cut them all down until no more came. Then the magic would stop. A gun without bullets was just a hunk of metal.
Thud!
Something massive dropped from above. Not a magic beast. Not a grotesque taxidermy doll.
It was a person. Or rather, a taxidermy doll perfectly mimicking one.
So Do-jin didn't know how to tell a real person from a mimic. Yet he knew this was a doll.
"Kim Bok-dong."
The figure—Kim Bok-dong—strode toward him. Massive build, brutal muscles bulging everywhere. An innocent face contrasting it all. How could he mistake it?
It was unmistakably his old friend Kim Bok-dong.
"Haha..."
So Do-jin let out a hollow laugh. Strength drained from his sword arm. The blade scraped the floor.
Yeah, they had to pull out something like this. No way a few beasts and dolls could hold me down. Clever bastards, you shitty pricks...
The words he wanted to spit stayed as thoughts; he had no breath left to speak.
Squelch, squelch...
He glared at the approaching dolls, mulling over the voice from the branch. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it.
But he'd remember. He'd track them down. And kill them.
Absolutely.
So Do-jin raised his sword.
(To be continued)