14
14 - Just One More
There were 3 Werewolves nearby. All 3 of them turned to look at Jin-woo simultaneously and growled.
He swallowed his saliva and stood in front to protect the child like a shield. At that moment, there was a hand that grabbed Jin-woo's trouser leg.
"&@#!"
The child barely smiled and tightly grabbed Jin-woo's pants. As if it would never let go again, desperation and earnestness dwelled in those hands.
Jin-woo didn't lower his guard against the Werewolves and slightly bent down to hold the child's hand.
"?!"
The child was startled. No matter how much an Elf trains and swings a sword, their hands always remain soft and never become rough. But Jin-woo's hands were like rocks, hardened with calluses from long construction sites.
The child's expression was instantly covered with fear as it realized this wasn't the person it had been searching for.
Gently removing the child's hand, Jin-woo confronted the Werewolves.
Auuuuuuu!
All three charged at once. Moreover, one of them raised its head and let out a howling, and at that moment, the blue flames scattered throughout the mansion all trembled simultaneously.
Countless flames began moving toward Jin-woo's location all at once.
'Crazy.'
It wasn't a number he could possibly face. In his urgency, Jin-woo slashed the waist of the first one that approached, cutting it in half.
At the same time, he grabbed the child's nape with one hand and hoisted it up. Then he struck the head of the second charging Werewolf with his rock sword.
Thwack!
The head shattered in one blow, leaving only the body. He kicked that massive body toward the third charging one and immediately ran toward the opposite forest.
"@$!$%@#! @#^!#&%!"
The child he was carrying struggled and beat his back, but he never put it down. Soon enough, the child seemed to realize they were fleeing from Werewolves and gradually became quiet.
Kheung!
There was a sudden ambush from the side. A Werewolf that had been hiding in the forest darkness pounced.
But it didn't work on Jin-woo, who had already grasped everything with the blue flames. The Werewolf that attempted the ambush was instead ambushed by Jin-woo and died pathetically, pierced by flames.
Auuuuuu!
Uuuuuuuuu!
Howling echoed from various parts of the forest. In a forest where only faint moonlight descended, the wolves' howling was like a horror movie in itself.
While Jin-woo was tracking their positions with blue flames, the Werewolves were howling to communicate Jin-woo's location to their kin.
"Kuk!"
He concentrated all his nerves.
Though he could read positions and movements with the blue flames, responding was entirely Jin-woo's responsibility. Dealing with Werewolves attacking from all directions in the dark forest wasn't easy.
Stab!
Swoosh!
How many had he cut down? He was running frantically and couldn't count properly, just swinging his sword.
Still, it seemed worthwhile as the pursuit became somewhat like they’re losing. The forest was too dense and complex, restricting the movements of the massive Werewolves.
'They're not strong enough to smash through trees and rocks like black bears.'
It was fortunate they weren't that strong and threatening. However, there were too many to feel at ease.
Before long, he arrived at a small stream. A very shallow and narrow stream that would barely cover half a foot.
'Huuuu... Just 1 minute, no, let's rest for 2 minutes.'
Jin-woo bent his head and drank water. Due to the continuous battles and running, his thirst was severe, so the water went down endlessly.
He let the child drink water, too, and roughly wiped the blood flowing down its cheeks. But the blood kept flowing, so it seemed the wounds needed treatment.
'The eyes... Are almost crushed. At this rate, they'll never see again.'
But unfortunately, there was no way to treat it.
Though there were medical supplies in his inventory, strangely, the inventory wasn't working.
Even if he could take them out, the items Jin-woo had could only provide first aid at best; they couldn't treat such serious wounds.
Then the child rummaged through its sleeves and pulled out a small bottle.
It struggled to open the cap but couldn't manage it as he had no strength. The child hesitated, then grabbed Jin-woo's clothing and held out the bottle.
"You want me to open it?"
"$^@%."
Just as Jin-woo didn't understand the child's words, the child didn't understand Jin-woo's words either. But the conversation they could have in this situation was limited anyway.
Jin-woo took the bottle and pop, opened the cap. As soon as it opened, a clear and refreshing fragrance flowed from the bottle.
'Could this be nectar?'
According to what he heard from Shartia, among Elves, the upper class carried around a mysterious potion called nectar.
It was a much higher-grade item than common potions made on Earth, with effects that not only healed wounds but also purified various poisons and contamination.
'Come to think of it, was what that Elf used to treat me also this kind of nectar?'
Thinking about it, when he collapsed after being attacked by the black bear, most of his wounds that should have been fatal were healed, and the contamination was completely washed away.
If what treated him then was nectar, that Elf was also from a good family like this child.
"Come here."
Having opened the bottle, Jin-woo tilted the child's head back and poured nectar onto the wounds on both eyes. The eye wounds were very deep, with the eyeballs almost completely crushed.
He didn't know if this small bottle could regenerate those eyes, but he could only pray to heaven for that.
Still, fortunately, the bleeding stopped. Jin-woo rip tore his clothes and wrapped the child's eyes like bandages.
He filled the remaining bottle with water and gave it to the child to drink. So that the child could consume any medicinal effects that might remain in the bottle.
After filling the bottle with water again and putting it in his chest, Jin-woo lifted the child up.
"$%@#."
"What? Uncomfortable?"
The child seemed a bit uncomfortable, so it tried changing positions. He tried holding the child and carrying them on his back, but carrying them on his shoulder was still most comfortable for himself.
Eventually returning to the original position on his shoulder, Jin-woo began running again.
Auuuuuuuu!
The howling continued. He doubted whether the day would come to an end when that sound stopped. That's how overwhelming the number of blue flames spread throughout this forest and mountain was.
Cut, cut, and cut again.
The Werewolves' pursuit was persistent and tenacious, not something that could be easily shaken off.
No, to be precise, it was impossible.
'Aside from sounds and traces, there's no way to eliminate the scent.'
The Werewolves' sense of smell was superior to that of beasts, making escape impossible.
Rain would need to come, or a large river would need to appear to wash away the scent, but there was nothing like that. There might be some somewhere in the mountains, but he couldn't search for them in the current situation.
'The child... Has a fever. They're not conscious.'
The child he was carrying was breathing heavily and couldn't stay conscious. It seemed they had developed a fever during the eye regeneration process.
The child's condition wasn't good, and he had concluded that escape was impossible this way.
Eventually, as a second-best choice, Jin-woo settled in a cave he happened to discover. It was a narrow and thin cave, and he somehow laid the child inside.
After that, he tore his clothes into long strips and tied them firmly to his own hands holding the sword.
When he came out to the entrance, dozens of pairs of eyes were already glowing brightly, waiting for him.
"... Let's do this then. As long as I don't die instantly."
He felt sorry for the child, but if it became more dangerous, he would run away. He had already done enough. Though he had reflexively brought him along while fleeing, he had no obligation to protect him further.
Thinking this, Jin-woo raised the hand holding his sword.
***
Once. Twice.
How much time had passed? Day broke and set again, then day broke once more.
The child was still hovering between life and death, and Jin-woo was still guarding in front of it.
The Werewolf corpses piled around them. As much as their number, the blue flames on the mountain had also decreased, but there were still many.
Even at this moment, they fearlessly pounced toward Jin-woo.
Stab-
Reflexively, as he had been doing until now, Jin-woo swung his sword and cut down the creature.
Sweat flowed all over his body, and his entire body was dry like an old tree. The water he had brought in the small bottle had long been finished.
His cracked mouth reeked of sweetness, and his limbs were as heavy as if a thousand-pound weights were attached.
What was strange was that even so, the sword itself didn't feel heavy at all. Rather, his arms might be heavy, but he didn't feel the sword's weight.
It was partly thanks to this that Jin-woo could swing his sword for two straight days.
At the same time, there was another reason: the blue flames absorbed from Werewolves restored his physical vitality bit by bit.
He never knew this effect existed. The amount was too minute to notice before, but as his body reached its limits and suffered from extreme deficiency, he could greatly feel that minute vitality.
In the midst of this, there was one fact he realized.
Originally, he thought the human body had physical limits, and mental strength could transcend everything. But surprisingly, what gave out first wasn't physical strength but mental strength.
The body somehow managed. A body pushed to its limits somehow found a way to cut down Werewolves as efficiently as possible.
Originally, with one sword strike, just cutting the blue flame would kill them, but that one strike was honed and refined to the extreme.
To be faster, to cut down enemies with less force. All unnecessary sword movements were removed to achieve the most optimized sword path.
Also, he split and divided the minute vitality gained from absorbing blue flames to utilize it maximally. Even without Jin-woo's conscious effort, his body did this to survive.
But mental strength couldn't just somehow work out. That alone had to be sustained entirely by Jin-woo's own heart.
A body pushed to its limits displays superhuman strength and adaptability to survive, but a mind pushed to its limits tries to break itself and give up.
Then what Jin-woo had to care for wasn't his body but his mind.
Not to give up. Not to turn away from this ordeal and flee. Not to let his heart die seeing Werewolves that had no end, no matter how many he killed.
"Just one more... Just one more..."
At some point, he had reduced the detection range of blue flames to the extreme. To only detect those around this cave.
Having done so, he only looked at those right in front of him. Let's kill just up to those, let's kill just one more.
Counting one by one like that, he continued swinging his sword.
Even when the Werewolves' offensive became more severe, even when suddenly more numbers pounced, Jin-woo's stance didn't change. Let's take down at least one more in front of me.
Another day passed. Or was it two days?
His sense of dates disappeared, and before he knew it, only one flame remained in Jin-woo's perception.
'...Huh?'
He expanded his perception. He spread his senses to the maximum to search for blue flames, but still only one was detected.
Only one left?
But that one was the largest and most fiercely burning flame among all he'd seen so far. Just in size alone, it seemed twice as big.
Still, it was the last one.
With tired, haggard, and worn-out eyes, Jin-woo raised his sword. Though his hands were trembling like a newborn fawn, he didn't mind.
"Just one more..."
At that muttering, the Werewolf leader turned pale as snow.
To him, Jin-woo's words sounded like a witch's spell that killed his kin.
***
[ Worst outcome. ]
[ You have gone against heaven's fate. This karma will someday cover your destiny. ]
'What the hell are you saying?'
He didn't have the strength to read and understand anything. Squeezing out his last bit of strength, Jin-woo escaped from the trial.
[ Fled from the trial. ]
Then he pressed the emergency button he had installed at home. It was a button to call 119.
***
"Uh, uuhng..."
The child opened its eyes. They regained consciousness but couldn't see ahead.
Though startled, the child soon recalled that its eyes were wrapped with bandages.
It untied the knot that bound the bandages. It was tied so tightly that it struggled with its small hands and somehow managed to untie it.
What appeared in the child's eyes as it opened them for the first time in days was the interior of the narrow cave.
"I, I'm alive...?"
They couldn't believe it. How it escaped from that living hell and how it survived.
They remembered the mansion burning. The family knights and servants all died, and its mother collapsed too.
Though only a 50-year-old young Elf, it knew well. The family had fallen, and it had become an orphan.
His legs trembled, and he wanted to collapse right there. It felt like the sky was falling down.
It wasn't a metaphorical expression, but had really collapsed. To the child, family and the mansion were his entire world.
But he somehow endured. He was the only remaining heir. That meant he was the only one who could rebuild the fallen Garcia.
Someone with such a great mission couldn't be crushed by despair.
'Who was that person?'
He knew someone had carried him and brought him here. Who was that person? Since his eyes were crushed and he couldn't stay conscious due to fear, he had no idea.
What he remembered was only the rock-like large and firm palm that held and supported him.
Remembering that, the child came out of the cave and was immediately dismayed.
Outside the cave, there was no benefactor who had saved the child, but instead, hundreds of Werewolf corpses filled the area.