Chapter 37
Dongwoo charged, attacking the monster’s other arm.
Hye Ryeon, blood pouring from her mouth, concentrated her sharpened flower petals on the monster’s other arm, tearing at its tough hide.
The two of them were holding onto the giant monster’s arms with the resolve to die.
Change slots!
As soon as she shouted inwardly, Sehyun felt a wave of dizziness. She bit the inside of her cheek, fighting the dizziness that made the world spin.
I can’t lose consciousness now, we’ll all die.
Elasticity
Strength
Acceleration
Sehyun’s body became more flexible, and she bounced lightly on the monster’s shoulder like a rubber ball.
Strength!
Power surged through Sehyun’s body. Maximizing her mobility, she lunged towards the monster’s eye with all her might.
Acceleration!
Thud!
Her foot landed on the hilt of the sword embedded in the monster’s eye.
…Strength!
Power surged into Sehyun’s foot. At the same time, blood gushed from her mouth.
The sword pierced the monster’s eye completely.
“Groaaaaar!”
The monster roared, its cry echoing through the area.
“Cough!”
Blood welled up in her throat with a single cough.
She had used all her strength, and all she managed to do was pierce one eye…
A shadow fell over Sehyun as she fell limply through the air.
Bang!
Sehyun’s body, struck by the giant monster’s hand, crashed to the ground like a meteor. Sehyun, buried in the debris, tried to force her blurry eyes open.
But her eyelids wouldn’t open completely. She spat out the blood trickling from her lips and looked at the roaring monster.
“Groaaaaar!”
Bang!
The giant monster thrashed around madly, and the smaller monsters quickly fled the building.
The walls of the building crumbled, revealing the scene inside. Everyone was gathered in the middle of the sparring ring, fighting desperately, their bodies battered and bruised. They had wisely positioned Jieun in the center.
But Jieun’s face was pale, and she looked utterly exhausted.
…Change slots!
Sehyun shouted inwardly. But the slot window didn’t appear.
I guess it’s too much for me.
Nausea welled up, and blood gushed from her parted lips.
Sehyun’s eyes slowly closed.
I can’t do this…
But her eyelids drooped shut.
And the world turned completely black.
Someone was running at an incredible speed through a dark space where the ground and the sky were indistinguishable.
“Who told you to follow me?”
Jungwook shouted, looking ahead.
“I apologize.”
A voice replied from the darkness.
“You’ll be punished later!”
Jungwook increased his speed after saying that.
Clang! Crack! Aah!
The sounds of screams and carnage grew closer. Jungwook finally found a place with light. The roof of the building, made of elastic and durable materials by mixing in small amounts of substances from monsters, was gone.
The light spilling from beyond the opening illuminated the surroundings like a distress signal.
He saw a giant monster roaring and thrashing around.
Jungwook’s expression turned grim as he recognized the monster.
‘C-grade Hermon.’
A C-grade wasn’t a difficult opponent for Jungwook. He even felt that it was too weak to be the boss of this Variant Hole.
But it was an overwhelmingly powerful opponent for the F-grade and C-grade Guard trainees, who lacked real combat experience.
Usually, it took at least three B-grade Guards to take down a C-grade boss monster.
The morale-draining aura unique to monsters was especially difficult to overcome at first. That’s why they used programs to help the trainees adapt to monsters during training.
The strong smell of blood that grew stronger as Jungwook approached was a testament to the hardships and struggles that had taken place here.
The smell couldn’t be coming from the monsters, so it had to be human blood.
“You assist inside the building. I’ll take care of the outside.”
Jungwook gave Haejoon an order and headed towards the Hermon without waiting for a reply.
Whoosh!
Jungwook, moving at an incredible speed, spotted the Hermon and his eyes widened.
The Hermon was thrashing around. Literally just thrashing around. As if writhing in pain.
The Hermon’s head turned as if it had sensed something.
“…!”
Jungwook’s eyes widened as he saw the Hermon’s eye. A weapon was embedded in one of its eyes.
Who did that?
The Hermon, barely opening its one good eye, swung its giant hand. It was a powerful blow that could knock someone unconscious, but it looked slow to Jungwook.
Bang!
Jungwook’s sword clashed with the Hermon’s fist. A shockwave, like an energy blast, spread outwards. It seemed like an even match.
Crack!
But then, Jungwook’s sharp blade pierced the Hermon’s tough fist.
Rip!
Boom!
The Hermon’s fist turned into shreds in an instant.
“Sigh.”
Jungwook let out a long sigh. It had taken longer than expected. Although it was a C-grade, it was still a Hole’s Gatekeeper. It wasn’t as easy as other C-grade monsters.
Jungwook, catching his breath, entered the building. The tide of the battle had clearly turned.
When the boss monster was defeated, the morale of the smaller monsters plummeted.
They were just a disorganized mob without a leader.
With Jungwook’s help, the situation was quickly resolved.
‘It’s partly because of my help, but…’
Jungwook glanced at Haejoon.
Haejoon’s skills were beyond his expectations. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the situation was resolved so quickly thanks to him.
‘I’ll save the compliments for later.’
Jungwook looked around with a serious expression. There were eight survivors inside the building. Five of them were unconscious, and the other three were in such bad shape that they could collapse at any moment.
“Those who are injured, gather your strength and each take charge of one unconscious person. We’re escaping now. I’ll take the deceased.”
Although there wasn’t much left of them to take.
“I’ll call the rescue team.”
Jungwook nodded lightly at Haejoon’s respectful words, his mind returning to the present.
As the survivors regained their composure and started to get up, Jungwook stepped out of the building and saw Dongwoo, Hye Ryeon, and Sehyun.
Three F-grades had inflicted a critical injury on a C-grade boss monster…
It was a result that transcended their grades.
Moreover, the injury was to the eye.
Piercing an eye located so high up with a sword…
A sword?
Jungwook approached the monster, remembering something. Since the Hole disappeared when the boss monster died, the monster, which hadn’t been completely killed, was still breathing faintly.
Jungwook pulled out the sword embedded in the monster’s eye. The Hermon shuddered, but Jungwook ignored it. He wanted to kill it more painfully, but he held back.
Jungwook’s expression turned strange as he wiped the foreign substance off the sword. It was shaped like a sword, but it wasn’t originally made as a sword. Jungwook, who used a sword as his weapon, knew that better than anyone.
Who transformed the sword?
Jungwook’s gaze shifted to the three F-grades lying on the ground.
Who could transform a non-sword weapon into a sword and pierce a monster’s eye with it…?
Jungwook’s gaze, sweeping over the surroundings, landed on Sehyun. It could have been Hye Ryeon or Dongwoo, but his intuition as a Guard told him it was Sehyun.
Dongwoo was too heavy and slow to climb onto the giant monster. Hye Ryeon didn’t have the strength to climb onto the monster’s body.
Sehyun was the most likely candidate, considering her physique, but…
The problem was that the skill belonged to someone else.
“What in the world…”
Jungwook looked back and forth between Sehyun and the sword with a complex expression.
The sky was clear and boundless, without a single cloud. A vast wilderness stretched beneath the immense sky.
An empty land with no end in sight. And a sky filled with a cozy and abundant feeling.
The contradicting sensations were paradoxically wondrous.
Perhaps this was the source of that wonder.
Sehyun tilted her head back and looked up. A giant human figure, filled with light, bright enough to blind her.
They stood there, looking up at the sky, oblivious to Sehyun’s presence.
As if longing to reach someone.
The human figure finally moved.
“Guide me.”
“Creator, oh Creator.”
“How beautiful.”
“Everything will be fulfilled and prosper.”
Seven voices spoke, sang, and praised.
All those sounds blended together, painting the world in beautiful colors like a hymn.
Sehyun felt overwhelmed even though she knew she didn’t have a physical body. At the same time, a contradictory feeling of wanting to hear the voices even more washed over her.
The voices gradually faded. Amidst the silence, a voice echoed through the void once more. A resounding yet clear, grand yet delicate voice that resonated deep within her heart.
“The one who hears our voices without missing a single one will deliver them clearly with a single voice.”
“We shall call upon Him without rest.”
“He shall find it pleasing.”
“It is our will, and also His will.”
“So it shall be.”
“So it shall be.”
“So it shall be.”
A single phrase was repeated six times like a refrain, and then a single light dispersed. Sehyun tried to close her eyes tightly even though she knew she didn’t have eyes.
She tried to avoid it, but there was nowhere to hide. The light scattered and spread before her eyes.
Sehyun felt a pain as if her whole body was melting away, and at the same time, a sense of fulfillment. Amidst the mix of awe and pain, the world changed.
“We were one, but now we are seven, and seven, but we are one.”
A voice came from one of the seven figures.