Chapter 29
Chapter 29
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: The Witch's Whisper and an Urgent Recall
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘Why did I do that?’
As the hunt ended and the rewards came in, Do-jae snapped back to his senses.
He then looked at the dead Hwein, a short distance away.
Only one tattered leg remained; its arms and chest were crushed, and his blue sword was embedded between its wide-open eyes.
‘How gruesome.’
Looking at the result of his own work, Do-jae covered his mouth with one hand.
Until now, he had always prioritized efficiency in monster hunting.
His hunting style was usually to sever the head with a single strike to the neck or to kill with one blow to a vital point.
It was a habit born from his days of being exceedingly weak.
But this time was completely different.
This one was the same, as were the others he'd hunted before—all killed without a single part left intact.
He hadn't even collected a single piece of the loot he loved so much.
‘What's wrong with my head?’
Do-jae shook his head violently.
His heart was still racing.
And only then did Do-jae pay attention to the voice echoing in his mind.
- More. Kill more.
It was her voice.
The voice of the goddess who had offered to become his god.
"What have you done to me?"
Do-jae asked into the empty air.
In response, the voice answered his question.
- I planted a small ember in your heart. A tiny spark that can synchronize with my emotions.
She sounded somewhat agitated.
It was completely different from her solemn demeanor in the temple.
"Why?"
- Why, you ask? They are filthy followers. For followers, there is only a painful death.
"Filthy followers? Wait... who are you?"
- I am Elatra. The Witch of the Insightful Eye, who will become your god and deliver despair to the filthy followers!
Suddenly, her emotions flooded into him.
Blood, gushing like a waterfall from his furiously beating heart, coursed through his entire body.
His skin flushed red, and his eyes turned bloodshot as capillaries burst.
A splitting headache assaulted him.
*Shhhk-.*
As his mind wavered, the Golem Armor deactivated.
Fortunately, his blood pressure and pulse returned to normal as if it had all been a lie.
"Hoo, hoo."
Do-jae gasped for breath, slumping to the ground to compose himself.
He wondered if this was what it felt like to be hit by a Red Orc Shaman's berserker magic.
A state of being consumed by impulse, driven solely by the desire to slaughter the enemy.
Having experienced it firsthand, it was not a pleasant feeling.
‘Isn't she a total psycho?'
The being he thought was a god called herself a witch.
For someone like that to speak of being a god.
A chill ran down his spine.
‘I should seal away the Golem Armor for now.’
The 'Eye of the Golem' given by the witch.
The Eye of the Golem was an incredibly useful skill, but hearing her voice made him uneasy.
Fortunately, he only heard her voice while the Golem Armor was active, so he decided to seal it away for the time being until he could find a solution.
‘More importantly, Kim Jun-soo's group.’
There had been no response from the golem for a while now.
The connection had already been severed while he was fighting Hwein.
At the time, he was too consumed with killing Hwein to notice anything else, but now that his mind was clear, he was worried about Kim Jun-soo's group.
And as soon as his breathing returned to normal, Do-jae started running toward the last place he had sensed the golem's energy.
***
Kim Jun-soo's sword grazed the troll's leg.
His well-honed, standard-issue sword left a deep gash on the troll's thigh.
"Kuaaargh!"
Unfortunately, by the time Kim Jun-soo looked back at the troll, the wound was already healing.
Trolls truly were supreme when it came to regeneration.
For those who lacked the ability to take a troll's head in a single blow, there was no tougher opponent.
"Damn it, where did Jang Pil-ho and Lee Ji-woong go? Jang Pil-ho! Lee Ji-woong!"
Kim Jun-soo shouted again as he dodged the troll's attack.
They might not care what he did during a break, but they shouldn't just abandon the battlefield.
"I'm sorry!"
"Lee Ji-woong! Where have you been!"
Lee Ji-woong ran over, his face full of apology.
But the addition of one more person didn't dramatically change the tide of battle.
*Thud-!*
The troll ignored Lee Ji-woong's attack as if it were nothing and swung its blunt club down.
"Keuk."
The club and sword clashed, but far from being cut, the sword was driven into the ground by the overwhelming force.
If he had maintained his sword as well as Kim Jun-soo, he might have at least damaged the club, but it was hard to expect such diligence from Lee Ji-woong, who usually preferred to slack off.
No, in a way, it was for the best.
If his sword had gotten stuck in the club, he might have faced an even more difficult situation.
Lee Ji-woong's laziness had saved him.
*Shk-!*
*Swish-!*
Their two swords slashed at the troll's waist and legs.
Kim Jun-soo's sword once again inflicted a decent wound, but Lee Ji-woong's blade failed to pierce the troll's tough hide and glanced off.
This was partly due to the sword, but it also meant Lee Ji-woong's skills were just as lacking.
"Draw its attention!"
"Huh? How?"
Lee Ji-woong, the youngest in Squad 3.
Having spent less time with the other members, their teamwork was clumsy and out of sync.
And this ultimately led to a life-or-death situation.
"Kuaack."
The club swung by the troll grazed Lee Ji-woong's leg.
It was only a graze, but the blow was powerful enough to leave a deep bruise.
"My leg..."
"Idiot, dodge!"
Lee Ji-woong tried to get up, one leg trembling.
The troll swung its club at him again.
*Thwack-!*
"Ugh!"
Kim Jun-soo threw himself in front of the attack, taking the hit.
The impact sent him flying with a heavy thud, like a soccer ball hit by a baseball bat, before he crashed to the ground.
"Huuuh. This is all the squad leader's fault..."
The troll approached.
Lee Ji-woong muttered, standing in front of the fallen Kim Jun-soo.
Fighting a troll one-on-one while protecting an unconscious Kim Jun-soo, when they weren't enough even when attacking together?
Lee Ji-woong began to feel resentful.
"We're going to end up like Squad 2... If only the squad leader hadn't abandoned us..."
The troll, now right in front of him, raised its arm again.
The scene played out in slow motion for Lee Ji-woong as conflict raged within him.
‘Dodge? Or block?’
He could dodge if he wanted to.
Compared to its defense and vitality, the troll was slow.
Lee Ji-woong, an Awakened between D-rank and E-rank.
Landing an effective blow was difficult, but dodging was entirely possible.
But if he dodged here, the club would smash into Kim Jun-soo.
At a minimum, a fracture; at worst, he could die from ruptured organs.
Sacrifice himself for his comrade, or sacrifice his comrade to save himself.
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, his body was already moving, escaping the troll's attack range.
*Crash-!*
A thick cloud of dust rose, obscuring the view.
A few seconds passed.
As the dust settled, the troll's club could be seen, blocked by something.
"A... golem?"
A golem stood in front of Kim Jun-soo, blocking the troll.
The golem gripped the club with both hands, immobilizing the troll.
*Fwoosh-!*
In that moment, Lee Ji-woong quickly grabbed Kim Jun-soo and limped away, while the troll shrieked and struck the golem with its other arm.
*Crumble-.*
Its head flew off, fully exposing the mana stone embedded in its chest.
The light from the mana stone was faint, like an ember about to die out.
*Boom-!*
And then, the end.
The troll's fist smashed down on the golem.
The golem's body, along with its mana stone, shattered into pieces, losing its form and becoming a pile of dirt.
"Kuaaargh!"
Having been thwarted from catching its prey twice, the troll was starting to get angry.
A short distance away, after laying Kim Jun-soo down, Lee Ji-woong gripped his sword tighter to stop his hands from shaking.
"Haa... shit..."
Lee Ji-woong took one last look around.
The other three were also busy fighting trolls and had no time to spare.
‘Shit, I have to save myself at least.’
*Tap, tap, tap-.*
Lee Ji-woong started to run, dragging his leg.
However, his choice was not a particularly wise one.
If he had run toward Son Jeong-gyu, Yook Hyun-jae, or Jang Pil-ho, they might have been able to help.
But as he started running in the opposite direction, the troll chased after him.
And to make matters worse, he didn't get far before he tripped on a stone and fell.
‘Shit, shit, shit, shit!’
The troll approached with a grotesque smile.
Lee Ji-woong couldn't even think of getting up; he just crawled on the ground.
The fear of death, which he was experiencing for the first time since joining the Suppression Corps.
"Krrk, krrk."
Lee Ji-woong turned his head to look back.
The troll was right behind him, raising its club.
It looked ready to strike at any moment.
‘This is it for real.’
The moment Lee Ji-woong completely resigned himself to his fate.
*Swish-.*
A very thin line appeared on the troll's neck.
Droplets of blood beaded along it.
*Thud-.*
The troll's head, unable to defy gravity, fell off.
Then, the troll's body crumpled pathetically.
"Sorry. I'm late."
A familiar face appeared behind the fallen troll.
Do-jae was standing there.
***
*Trickle-.*
"Don't spill a single drop."
Son Jeong-gyu warned Jang Pil-ho and Lee Ji-woong.
"Hey, I said be careful filling it."
"You should worry about yourself..."
The two were collecting the troll's blood in glass vials given to them by Do-jae.
"Squad Leader, I'm sorry."
Kim Jun-soo, the team leader, bowed his head to Do-jae.
Do-jae said it was fine and turned to Jang Pil-ho and Lee Ji-woong.
"You two drain all the blood, strip the flesh, and set the bones aside. That's your punishment."
"Yes..."
"Okay..."
The two answered listlessly.
Once Do-jae joined, the battle with the trolls ended quickly.
The other teams arrived late, but by then the trolls were already dead at Do-jae's hands, leaving them with nothing to do.
Except for Lee Ji-woong, who had a splint on his broken leg, Kim Jun-soo had only fainted from a simple contusion, so they hadn't suffered any major injuries.
"Squad Leader, your golem..."
Kim Jun-soo's voice trailed off.
But Do-jae showed no particular reaction.
Jang Pil-ho and Lee Ji-woong had confessed everything honestly, and besides, the responsibility was ultimately his to bear.
"It's already over, so don't worry about it."
Honestly, he couldn't help but feel a little bitter, but he had to be thankful that his squad members weren't seriously injured.
Resolving to be more responsible from now on, Do-jae checked his subspace.
Of his three golems, only one remained.
‘Subspace. Sort by mana stones.’
- Mana Stone (E) x9
- Mana Stone (D) x2
- Mana Stone (C) x5
- Mana Stone (B) x3
- Mana Stone (A) x1
Subspace categorization had become possible after he enhanced the Eye of the Golem.
He could now view the mana stones sorted separately like this.
‘Should I make another?’
Do-jae pondered.
To make a useful golem, he would need to grind its level again.
Of course, he could create a stronger golem using a high-grade mana stone, but its immediate utility would be low.
*Vmm- Vmm-.*
Just as all the squad members had gathered and they were about to head back for the day, a notification came through on his smartphone.
[Squad 3, return immediately. Squad Leader to report to the Captain's office upon return.]