The Desperate Struggle of the Cornered Beast
Boom—! Rumble—!
Shells rained down like a monsoon. The interior of the cave felt more like a battlefield than a hideout. ‘How is this even possible?’ Dawson, the leader of the Garden Vigilantes, crouched low, shielding his body with his plate as he scrambled to think. ‘Did the dwarves betray us?’ It was the most plausible scenario. Few people knew how to operate those cannons, and for every single one of them to be involved meant this was a meticulously planned betrayal. ‘But I had the dwarves locked up in the cells. That means a cunning rat must have snuck into the ranks of the Vigilantes…’
Dawson stopped thinking. He shook his head violently. In this hellscape, such speculation was meaningless. This wasn't a game of detective; it was time to move if he wanted to survive.
“Captain! Give us orders!” an officer screamed at the top of his lungs. His face was beet-red, but his voice never reached Dawson. The deafening roar, as if the world itself were collapsing, swallowed every other sound. Dawson stared blankly at the officer’s flapping mouth. ‘Forget it. My ears are ringing so hard I can’t hear a thing.’
He scanned his surroundings. Severed human arms and legs were flying through the air like bundles of straw. Before the power of shells that could shatter solid rock, the Vigilantes’ armor offered no protection. ‘I have to escape, even if it’s just me.’ Dawson desperately tried to stay calm amidst the chaos, searching for an exit. The surviving Vigilantes, having barely cheated death, were sprinting toward the main path. It was the most obvious route—and therefore, the most predictable.
“Argh—!”
“You bastards!”
Screams erupted from the front. The City Guard had already infiltrated and blocked the path. The Vigilantes, trying to squeeze through the narrow passage, were skewered one by one by a dense wall of spears. Dawson’s stomach turned. This was the exact formation he had hoped to use against them, yet the Guard had seized the high ground.
‘That way is a death trap.’
There wasn’t only one way out. If that path was blocked, he would take the other. It was narrow, but it led to the surface. He had no intention of taking the rest of the Vigilantes with him. He had to save his own skin first. But then, Dawson’s eyes widened. ‘What is that?’
He saw his men stumbling backward. A barrage of magic missiles, fierce and relentless, was driving them back. ‘The enemy is already here?’ A mage was blocking the path, with a few dwarves standing firm in front. And there, he saw an elf.
‘That bitch…!’
Dawson recognized her. Mitchell. That wretched woman who had been a thorn in his side for so long was running wild like a fish in water. With a single kick, she sent a Vigilante flying helplessly. Dawson bit his lip until it bled. His hands itched to beat her to death right then and there, but the situation was dire. ‘So this was your doing. Just you wait. I’ll pay you back for this grudge a hundred, a thousand times over.’
Boom—!
Dawson hunched his shoulders. A shell exploded right next to him. The officer who had been standing there was reduced to chunks of meat. ‘But how did that woman even get in here?’ Suddenly, an old memory surfaced in Dawson’s mind. It was something Max used to ramble about: ‘The underground waterway connects to the tunnels, blah blah blah…’ He should have listened to Max. Dawson was paying a bitter price for his past negligence.
‘Regret is useless now.’
Was this the end? Would Dawson, the great leader, die in a stinking underground cave like this? A fire of rage burned in his chest. ‘No, it’s not too late.’ Dawson’s eyes flashed. There was a saying: even if you enter a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you. While everyone else was dying, Dawson recalled a thin, thread-like path to salvation.
‘I can just go out through the underground waterway.’
The path didn’t belong to anyone. If Mitchell could use the secret passage, there was no reason Dawson couldn’t.
“Uraaaaaaagh!” Dawson roared like a wounded wolf. He hunched his back and charged into the flames. Boom! Shells continued to detonate as if chasing him. Dawson didn’t look back. ‘I will survive. I will make sure I survive.’ Dawson’s eyes gleamed like a beast’s.
I watched the darkness with a calm gaze. Every so often, the sound of explosions drifted from afar.
“The Vigilantes are finished with this,” Wagner muttered quietly. “Both entrances to the underground cave are sealed tight. There’s no way out.”
“Are you sure? It’s too early to relax,” I said, staring into the darkness. “Don’t underestimate the vitality of a beast. In my experience, at least one of them will struggle tooth and nail until the very end.”
“You mean Dawson?”
“Yeah. If it’s him, he’ll definitely break through that hell and come out.”
Footsteps echoed from the darkness of the underground cave. Soon, the sound of ragged breathing drew closer.
“See? He’s here.”
Wagner raised his shield and mace in response. Thud, thud. Dawson appeared, his hair and clothes completely charred. “Haa, haa.” His chest heaved violently, like a bellows. The composure he usually wore had long since vanished.
“You…”
“Long time no see, Dawson.”
“Haa, so that’s it. It was you bastards. Ha, hahaha. Son of a bitch.” Dawson pulled a flat flask from his back pocket and took a rough swig. “I knew if anyone came, it would be here. Thanks for moving exactly as I predicted.”
“Predicted?” Dawson’s face flushed a deep, angry red. He let out a laugh like a madman. “Yeah, and did you predict that you bastards would die here, too? You underestimated me, Dawson. You think just two of you can stop me?!”
Dawson let out a savage roar that shook the cave. “You think I’m going to die in a place like this?!”
He was coming. With a single leap, he closed the distance in an instant. ‘Speed rivaling Mitchell’s.’ He was human trash, but he was the leader of that trash. As someone who had risen to the top of a gang through sheer, innate violence, Dawson’s martial prowess was no joke.
Clang!
Dawson’s mace collided with Wagner’s. Were they evenly matched? No, Wagner was pushed back, if only slightly. Dawson curled his lips.
“Hey, big guy. You’ve got some strength, huh? Let’s see you block this!”
Dawson’s mace was dyed in a black light. It was the ability of the artifact he wielded, Garden’s Meteor: Steel Barrage. Dawson swung his mace. In an instant, it looked as if the weapon had multiplied, leaving afterimages in its wake.
Boom—!
“Ugh…!” Wagner swallowed a groan. His shield, having taken the brunt of the barrage, shattered into pieces. If he hadn’t blocked it with the shield, he would have been turned into minced meat. ‘Terrifying power.’
I called upon the power stored in my phylactery, harmonizing my body and magic. I didn’t have the luxury of holding back anymore. As Dawson pressed Wagner, an opening appeared for me to flank him.
Zzzzt. I pulled a blade of frost from my ritual dagger. Thanks to my improved abilities, the blade was so blue it was almost white. It was well over a meter long. ‘Stay right there. I’m going to slice you open.’
I approached Dawson’s blind spot and extended the frost sword.
“You little rat!”
Dawson suddenly whipped his head around, his eyes blazing. I had perfectly slipped into his blind spot; how did he notice? ‘Did he sense my killing intent?’ It seemed the position of Vigilante leader wasn’t won through gambling. Dawson raised his mace.
“Sneaking around like a coward!”
I thrust the artifact bracelet on my wrist, Pure White Radiance, right into his face. Dawson’s brow furrowed.
“That’s my bracelet! You damn bitch!”
“Not anymore.”
Sorry, but even if you had kept it, you couldn’t have drawn out its true power. It’s an artifact that only those blessed by the Golden Unicorn can fully utilize.
Whoosh—!
A white flash erupted from Pure White Radiance. A light as bright as midday flooded the dark cave.
“Fuck, my eyes…!” Dawson screamed, clutching his face. Having faced such intense light at close range without any preparation, his vision would be temporarily compromised.
“That’s how you use Pure White Radiance, you idiot.”
I mocked him and swung the frost sword.
Slash—!
Flesh tore and blood sprayed. Dawson’s side, sliced by the sharp ice blade, revealed raw red meat. ‘He dodged that?’ As expected, he was no ordinary opponent. To throw his body backward even while blinded… I had intended to cleave his upper and lower body in two and finish him off. ‘But it’s a serious wound.’
Dawson groaned and clutched his side. The cut was deep enough that his entrails might have spilled out.
“Wagner!”
“I’m on it!”
Wagner, having discarded his useless shield, gripped his mace with both hands and charged. I couldn’t give him a moment to breathe. I immediately bound Dawson’s body with Telekinesis.
‘Ugh—this isn’t easy.’ Unlike the regular Vigilantes, binding Dawson was much harder. Even with that massive wound, he was still fighting. It felt like trying to ride a bucking wild horse.
“Wagner, now!”
“Understood!”
Crunch. Wagner brought his mace down. I thought it had landed on his disgusting face, but the mace trembled and was pushed back.
“You… bastards… you…”
Dawson was holding the mace. His fingers were mangled beyond recognition in the process, but he hadn’t allowed the blow to hit his vitals. It was the desperate struggle of a cornered beast.
“I’m not the kind of man to end up in a place like this…”
Dawson’s eyes were unfocused. Despite his left hand being shattered and a massive gash in his side, he was still alive. He hadn’t given up on surviving for even a single second.
“Graaaaaagh—!”
Once again, Garden’s Meteor radiated a metallic luster.
“His body is growing!” Wagner shouted, stepping back.
Steel Form. The second ability of the artifact mace. It was the power of Garden’s Meteor to turn its master into a colossus of steel for a short time. Dawson’s height shot up until he touched the cave ceiling. A black, steely sheen flowed from head to toe, and the blood flowing from his side stopped.
‘Damn it, I can’t hold him with Telekinesis.’
The monstrous strength of the steel-formed Dawson surpassed my telekinetic power. The restraint broke, and Dawson howled like a beast.
“Uoooooo—!”
Dawson swung his fist. Whoosh—! Boom! A blow like a battering ram swept through the area. Wagner and I threw ourselves aside simultaneously. Blocking it was impossible. If we had tried, we would have been flattened against the wall like pancakes.
“Estelle, maybe we should retreat for now…!” Wagner, a veteran of countless battles, suggested fleeing. Anyone could see that was the wise choice. The steel body deflected every attack. Not only Wagner’s mace, but my magic arrows and frost sword couldn’t land a proper hit.
“Wagner, leave this to me.”
“Estelle!”
“It’s okay. Trust me.”
But I knew. I knew how to bring down that steel giant who looked invincible. ‘Finally, it’s time to use it.’ I gripped the necklace hanging around my neck. Necklace of Reflection. Let’s test it out. If my attacks don’t work, how about your own, Dawson?
