Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: That (2)
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“Got it.”
Thankfully, Shirley went along with what I said.
I hurriedly pulled the hammer and trigger at the same time to unload the gun.
“Ha… Ahh!”
Instead of her left arm, Shirley swung the spear she’d reclaimed from the beast high into the air, letting out a small grunt as she slammed it into the floor.
It wasn’t as if no damage had been dealt at all—the beast, writhing in agony, rolled on the ground before regaining its senses and rising.
-Kuduk!
-Kieee…
A faint vibration could be felt.
Soon after, Shirley put her full weight and strength into stomping down on the floor.
-Creeeak!
The massive beast had leaped several times on this floor where Shirley had thrust her spear.
Cracking sounds followed one after another.
‘Collapse!’
-Kwaang!
Finally, the weak points in the brick-decorated floor shifted out of alignment, cracks beginning to spread.
“Se-”
Shirley, with her injured leg, tried her best to close the distance toward me, but her wounded leg made it far from easy.
I grabbed the approaching Shirley and pulled her straight toward me.
We tangled together, waiting for the fall.
“Grk, grk!”
The chimera wolf, its chest pierced yet still dashing about madly, let out a boiling-blood sound as it leaped belatedly.
-Kugung! Kudangtang!
But it was already too late.
The sturdy stone floor shattered to pieces around the spot where Shirley’s spear was embedded, and we plummeted into the empty underground space below.
“Evacuate-!”
From what would have been our position on the ground level came the screams of cadets—Kyaaak! Kyaaak!
-Ziiing…
A hole had opened in the center of the floor where Shirley had thrust her spear, causing it to crumble away, but the side connected to the Wooden Cross Class main building’s supports held firm.
Shirley and I, sprawled across the slowly tilting slab at a diagonal, slid down the debris like a playground slide until we reached the basement.
-Warrur! Kwajik!
The floor that had barely held (now our ceiling) collapsed in secondary and tertiary waves, pouring down onto the fallen chimera wolf’s body.
The sounds of cadets who had been hiding in silence scrambling to flee the collapse could be heard.
-Kudangtang!
-Puk!
The collapse’s reach was larger than expected, dragging in even those cadets who had hidden quite far away.
‘There really was a basement.’
At first glance, the center of the main building looked like a small plaza with a tree, but that wasn’t the case.
If I hadn’t heard the beast’s footfalls as it leaped powerfully off the floor, I might never have recalled this space’s existence until the end.
-Tuduk, tuk…
In the aftermath of the building’s collapse, debris from above continued to rain down into the basement through the hole in the ceiling.
Looking around, this place seemed like an underground storage room for tools.
Cleaning supplies, ladders, repair tools, and the like were scattered amid the collapse debris.
‘So this is how they’ve maintained such grandeur.’
Hiding all the crude, everyday items like warehouse supplies underground gave off a distinctly “noble” design vibe.
“Ugh…”
“Sniff, sniff.”
Groans swallowed back and muffled sobs echoed through the basement.
“Shh.”
Sadly, I seemed to be the only one keeping a cool head.
The moment I silently signaled for quiet, the sniffling and groans stopped.
We couldn’t afford to lose composure when we didn’t know exactly what had happened to the chimera wolf.
The original plan had been to collapse the floor and bury it, but there was no small chance things hadn’t gone as planned.
‘Of all timings, to show up now…’
Coincidence?
Or had it targeted the Wooden Cross Class, deeming us the easiest prey?
We weren’t magic majors, and the mana we had could only enhance our weapons’ cutting power at best.
There were only a handful of cadets who could stand against a beast, and today, none of those with the force to fight it were in sight.
‘If Judith had been here…’
Of course, Shirley was plenty strong herself—a top contender in the academy—but she’d gotten injured saving me, of all things.
A fully fit Shirley could have taken on the chimera wolf.
No need to say it—it was my responsibility.
“Shirley.”
I supported Shirley, who clutched her injured leg and breathed raggedly.
Shirley seemed like she might stand for a moment, pushing with all her strength, only to collapse toward me.
From her condition, she was in no state to stand without someone’s help.
“Damn it!”
“It’s okay. Calm down.”
Fortunately, I had enough strength left to support Shirley.
I glanced at the unmoving chimera wolf pinned under the collapsed floor debris, then took a cautious step forward.
“Grrrrrr…”
“……”
“Shit…”
Despite the deep wounds Shirley had inflicted and taking the full brunt of the fall damage across its body, the chimera wolf was still alive and well.
Even after I’d played my strongest card.
‘Sorry, Shirley.’
At the very least, I wanted to get her injured self to safety as far away as possible.
Why were bad premonitions always spot on? The chimera wolf’s growling grew more intense.
I could see the excited wolf starting to shove aside the stones piled on its body.
“Khk.”
Seeing that, Shirley gripped her spear again with resolve.
But soon, she gritted her teeth, staggered, and braced herself with a hand on the floor.
“Run away.”
As if she’d made up her mind about something, Shirley said it without even lifting her head.
“What are you talking about?”
The moment I leaned down to help her up, Shirley shoved me back hard.
“Get Judith senior-”
-Tuduk, tuk.
“-to come….”
How was I supposed to crawl up from this collapsed basement and fetch Judith?
In truth, it was no different from telling me to run and hide alone.
As I stood my ground and reloaded my gun, Shirley’s eyes wavered.
“Don’t do something stupid.”
I shook my head silently in response to her words.
If anything was stupid, it was abandoning her here and fleeing.
I slowly positioned myself in front of Shirley.
-Thump, thump.
My heartbeat quickened.
I’d trained to stay calm even in such situations, but facing death, there was no helping it.
At least my heart wasn’t pounding so hard I was gasping for breath—that was a silver lining.
-Click.
One bullet left in the chamber.
Even a direct hit would only give the chimera wolf a moment’s pain—it wouldn’t end the beast.
But I couldn’t just stand by and watch.
‘Think. Think.’
I aimed at the beast, knowing full well how futile this was.
Conflicting emotions surged.
A desire to mock this foolish action, crossed with an irrational hope clinging desperately anyway, tormented me.
Then, suddenly, one realization hit me.
‘Only Shirley’s hurt. By some luck, I’m completely unscathed.’
There had been the impact from the fall from above, but even that had been mostly absorbed by Shirley.
That thought led to another truth dawning abruptly.
“Hoo, huu, huu…”
The moment I grasped it, my steady breathing turned ragged.
Of course it did.
What I was about to do could make things even worse.
“Grk! Grrrrk!”
The now fully recovered chimera wolf rose to its feet.
I blocked in front of Shirley again as she struggled to stand.
Shirley was planting her spear in the floor, trying to rise using only her upper body strength.
Sorry, but I kicked her spear shaft away, sending it rolling far off.
“Senior!”
“It’s fine.”
The area was sealed off anyway.
Those who had tumbled down here were either terrified and vomiting or pale-faced in full panic—non-combatants, every one.
Our fates were sealed; it was just a matter of who died first.
“All of you, fall back.”
At last, the chimera wolf shook off its body completely and stood, bristling its fur all over while drooling blood-mixed saliva from its jaws.
A terrifying sight.
Especially the black mist cloaking its body, which filled one with dread just looking at it.
“Kyaaaak!”
The chimera wolf leaped toward me.
An unnaturally high jump.
Shirley, collapsed on the floor, prepared to counter.
But she, who had to move so much more, couldn’t be faster than my twitching finger.
-Bang!
Without a moment to think, I raised the gun with its last bullet and fired straight at the chimera wolf’s face.
-Ting!
I already knew bullets bounced off the chimera wolf.
The ricochet pierced my abdomen.
A jumble of screams whose owners I couldn’t distinguish rang in my ears.
I must have instinctively twisted the barrel—leaving an oval wound on my stomach.
I’d aimed at the chimera, but it ended up like shooting myself; I’d been a bit tense.
“…Keep… your… promise.”
-Pukeok!
No sooner had I spoken than the black mist flying toward me was smacked away by something.
“Senior! Arma Cruise! What the hell did you just do?!”
That was the limit of my consciousness.
I tried my utmost to keep my eyes open, but the last thing I saw was Shirley clutching her profusely bleeding stomach and sobbing uncontrollably, just like at the thanksgiving festival a few weeks ago, before I blacked out again.
.
.
.
How much time had passed?
My drifting consciousness began to awaken.
Strange as it sounds, waves of excruciating pain and languid drowsiness alternated.
Yet I could sense someone arguing heatedly while I lay collapsed.
-This is gonna happen again?!
-Calm down, Shirley.
-How can I calm down? Did Judith senior know about this?
-You serious?
‘Stop… just stop…….’
I wanted to bolt up and tell the two arguing to cut it out.
But I couldn’t.
My fingers felt like lead weights digging into the floor, and my eyelids were glued shut like they’d been sealed with paste.
-Suddenly starting smoking for no reason…
‘Smoking…? No way.’
-Haa….
-What the hell is this?!
Shirley slammed something down with a bang!
My hazy mind snapped awake at that.
“Ugh….”
My stomach felt torn open.
An itchy sensation brushed my abdomen and side, but only briefly.
The next instant, a vividly sharp pain dominated me.
“Ah… Ahhuk.”
“She’s awake! Is Chairman Makina still far?! At least get the medical team-!!”
‘Enoch Clark’s voice….’
My vision swam; I could barely make out vague shapes.
The absinthe-colored eyes flickering past were unmistakably Enoch Clark’s.
I writhed in agony but was held down by someone, forced to lie flat again.
“Sorry. I can only mimic healing…, Cadet Arma Cruise. Stay with us. You can’t pass out again.”
“What… happened? To that chimera.”
“What does that matter right now… Never mind. Medical team! Over here! Here!”
Probably part of the treatment.
Enoch Clark was squeezing my stomach.
I swallowed groans through clenched teeth, writhing.
“When I found her, she’d lost so much blood. Will she be okay?”
“With blood loss like this, surviving is the miracle…”
“No, the blood splattered over there isn’t Cadet Cruise’s.”
It’s the blood the demon-possessed beast sprayed when it died.
Enoch Clark added.
‘Good.’
The guardian angel had kept its “promise.”
To sum up, the chimera wolf summoned by the literature club wasn’t the guardian angel.
During the assault, I’d been so fixated on one thought—survive—that I hadn’t noticed something bizarre was happening.
It didn’t make sense: the thing that had been wreaking havoc everywhere, vowing to protect me unasked, suddenly turning on me. A contradiction.
“Cadet Arma Cruise! Can you hear me?”
In a daze, I felt myself being carried on a stretcher.
A faint warmth spread, and my eyelids lightened.
In that short time ascending from basement to ground, emotions swirled.
Replacing Shirley’s fading sobs came cheers first and foremost.
“Senior Arma Cruise won! She slayed the demon!”
“She’s here!”
……But what was this about?