Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Unexpected Reinforcements
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The one silver lining was that Paradox Flame was blazing fiercely on the body of Seonghong, the leader of these undead.
Of course, it had to burn away his magic resistance first, so it would take some time before the real effects kicked in. That was the problem.
And whether they could hold out that long was another uncertainty hanging over them.
"Krha."
They were moving with terrifying organization. This wasn't just fighting fifty undead.
There were four mages and archers hanging back, protected by the rest of the forces pressing in on them.
"Two steps forward!"
And then Seonghong himself, neatly commanding those fifty while swinging his spear. It felt like facing a properly trained elite knight order.
Just take out ten of them. Doesn't matter which ones. If they could eliminate ten from this group of fifty, gaps would start opening up after that.
—Damn it, those bastards are shooting arrows all the way here! I've got a gun, and arrows are the bigger threat?!
Jeong Oh-hoon seemed to be in a pretty dire spot himself.
"This is tricky."
I deflected three or four blades swinging my way and let out a small sigh. Every strike from the undead felt heavy enough to crumble a mountain.
"Hey, fall back a bit. You'll get yourself killed."
I was gradually losing my leeway too. Not getting anxious, but my words were getting shorter and drier. Couldn't be helped.
"No more joking around, huh."
There was no room for that. I deflected Seonghong's spear, counterattacked, and kicked the skull of the one aiming for my nape flying off.
"Fight while falling back."
Getting surrounded meant death. The situation wasn't great to begin with, and their movements clearly aimed to encircle us.
At my words, Han Sang-ah slowly retreated while keeping up the offense and defense.
In a situation like this, they had to use everything at their disposal. In the distance, pink barrages from Adakawa and Nanami rained down intermittently.
And the four mages under Seonghong's command intercepted the incoming fire. Without those barrages, the mages would've gone on the offensive against us ages ago.
"Damn, I hate dealing with trained mages."
Properly trained mages were a nightmare in situations like this. Ducking into an alley, I spotted an abandoned street vendor's LPG canister and reached out toward it.
The LPG canister flew toward the enemies like it was reeled in by an anchor. A sort of telekinesis. Normally just a petty trick, but...
Right now, they had to make do with anything. The canister stopped dead in the middle of the enemies, crumpled, and spewed gas.
"Blow it up."
At my words, Han Sang-ah swung her sword, and the sparks trailing from the blade ignited the gas. Boom.
No major damage, of course. But it was more effective than dumping the same amount of mana into a direct attack. They had to keep the fight going.
"You're putting up quite the struggle."
With a sickening crunch, I finally smashed the skull of one of the undead pressing the assault. One down. Felt like they'd been fighting for over thirty minutes.
My mind cooled. I was fine. The problem was Han Sang-ah, Jeong Oh-hoon, and Adakawa Nanami—they weren't.
Han Sang-ah's mana was down to about a quarter. Jeong Oh-hoon had fired over two hundred rounds from range, so probably a third of his mana gone, considering his reserves.
And Nanami—she'd have about half left. In thirty minutes, her barrages would stop. After more time, they couldn't count on Han Sang-ah or Jeong Oh-hoon either.
Then it'd be me against the rest. That would be seriously tough.
"Well, it's not like I've ever fought in perfect condition anyway."
No way was he planning to die thinking, Can't be helped with the situation like this. No choice now...
"Hey, fall all the way back. Go to Jeong Oh-hoon, recharge your mana, and come back. Jeong Oh-hoon, you stop too and recover mana. Same for you, Adakawa."
Eventually, there'd come a moment when he'd have to handle it alone anyway.
Better to buy the others time to recover while he held on solo now.
"You sure you'll be okay?"
"If you've got time to ask, just fall back like I said."
At my cold command, Han Sang-ah obediently withdrew.
"Planning to fight solo when you're already getting pushed back? Admirable effort, but idiotic."
"Shut your rotting mouth, corpse scum. You reek."
I moved my hand again, and the eerie electrical wires dangling in the air writhed like snakes, wrapping around the corpses. Harbin's power had been out forever, so no shock—just binding.
"Pointless flailing..."
These little things added up to create openings. I speared up a manhole cover from the ground and hurled it, tangled severed wires together...
Ripped a fire extinguisher from a shop interior and tossed it, blinding them with powder.
"You mad bastard."
Our spears clashed, the shockwave shattering the precariously remaining glass windows around us. I retreated while swinging, sending the exploding shards flowing like a river through the air to sweep over them.
With a grating screech, some glass fragments scratched their armor and slipped into the gaps.
"Unbelievable. Where did a worm like you crawl out from?"
No reason or time to answer. I scanned the surroundings, slipped into the front line of armed foes just as the rear mages started casting, forcing them to cancel. Then slipped out again.
City streets were complex by nature—narrow alleys, wide roads, high-rises.
Dodging arrows as best I could, I scaled a back alley wall like a spider and climbed to a high-rise rooftop. Attacked a few climbing after me, then dropped back down, grabbing an AC unit and hurling it at my pursuers.
Literally threading the whole city.
"Five down."
They really didn't want to die. Arrows stuck all over, slashes and spear wounds everywhere. Blood dripping steadily.
"Honestly, didn't expect five sacrifices here. My compliments."
Compliments for dead comrades? Bullshit. Time to call in reinforcements. Couldn't hold out longer. He wanted to survive, eat well, live well.
Not die and get some monument, treated like a martyr. As he was about to request backup via in-ear, something flew in from afar.
"An arrow?!"
Seonghong urgently deflected the flash-like arrow. It shattered on impact, shoving his body back.
A penetrator shot. I looked toward where it came from and was dumbfounded upon identifying the shooter.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Military uniform with hood. Descendants of Dangun. What was that guy doing here? And that shot wasn't aimed at him.
He even had three of his Dangun Descendants grunts with him.
"You look busy."
I'd considered various possibilities. But these guys were completely out of left field.
"Uh... thanks?"
I blurted it out, unsure what else to say.
"Not here for your thanks, you bastard."
Seo Yeon-ju, in modified hanbok with a massive gayageum on her back, replied coldly. Knew she wasn't here because she liked him. No reason for them to.
He'd crippled one of theirs badly, then finished them off.
"Following orders, but I still oppose this."
The shaman-like one who'd sealed Lee Se-eun before muttered while gripping a ritual sword.
"I Ha-yoon."
The hooded military uniform leader spoke calmly.
"We have to do this. We're not acting for personal grudges. Harbin means a lot to us."
He continued, nocking an arrow and aiming at the undead.
"Buyeo, Goguryeo, Balhae... the feats of General Ahn Jung-geun of the Joseon Volunteer Army's staff and the horrors of Unit 731's human experiments on our ancestors."
For a moment, the hooded archer's bow turned to me. If he shot now, I'd probably die. Might survive if lucky, but it'd be a fate worse than death.
"Putting an arrow through this guy's skull would be easy. But subjugating the Jaun Valley in Harbin and Changchun aligns with our goals too."
So, sparing me for now.
"Lands that were ours in the days of Huan-guk. The soul and spirit of Baedal culture breathes here. At last, they've found their true owners."
The one in the satgat muttered as he drew a sword from his staff. Remembered that nutjob from before, ranting about Garimto script when they met.
"And the doctor's still researching."
The hooded leader finished, redirecting his aim from me back to the undead.
"You're lucky too. But I haven't forgotten Ji-hyun's death. Someday, you'll die by my hand. Just not today."
With that, the hooded leader spoke.
"First, deal with these corpses. Cooperate, you."
"Ah, sure thing. At your service."
These guys had some unique ideology he didn't agree with. Letting the apocalypse slide to hoard Korea's prosperity alone.
They'd clash eventually—had been clashing.
But had to survive first. They hadn't stolen his girl or killed his parents. No point flipping out and making enemies of them like an idiot.
Of course, this cooperation was unimaginable. Maybe he'd underestimated their nationalist zeal.
"So, you planning to stick around for the Jaun Valley subjugation?"
The hooded leader replied coldly.
"No. We have other business after."
As I charged Seonghong spear-first, the hooded leader unleashed another of those devastating penetrators. A massive sonic boom rippled along the arrow's path. Seemed even stronger than before.
He was firing those monstrous arrows like a machine gun.
Above Lee Se-eun's level. She'd faced him solo once and lived—miraculous.
Wait, did he let her go? Judging by cooperating now, probably wanted to spare her too.
"But."
The fight was winding down. The others maybe not, but this hooded archer was seriously skilled. Still, could he take down one of the Great Eight?
I wasn't confident. Their goals didn't even involve assaulting the Great Eight anyway.
"...My lord."
Finally, Seonghong—thrashing with his spear—went from moving corpse to still one under our pincer attack.
"We're leaving."
The hooded leader, having wrapped things up, didn't even glance back. Seo Yeon-ju and I Ha-yoon shot me glares, grinding their teeth.
"Later. Definitely... we'll settle this. Next time we meet, I'll kill you. No, make you beg for death."
"Yeah, yeah, take care of yourselves."
I waved them off. Then watched their retreating figures coldly. The others, who knew—but up close, that hooded leader was extremely dangerous.
With that level of skill, leading that kind of force.