Chapter 33
Roynel backed away.
Even a mid-rank explorer felt fear at the sight beyond comprehension.
“Let’s slowly back away.”
Karin said in a trembling voice.
The party cautiously backed away.
When they had retreated a fair distance from the central plaza.
Someone staggered out of an alley beside the main street.
It was a female human explorer.
The female explorer was wearing leather armor damaged in several places.
She staggered slowly toward them.
Gilsion stepped forward with the torch and stood in front of the female explorer.
“Hey. Are you all right?”
The woman’s neck bent sideways.
“Are you hurt? Can’t you speak...?”
Creak.
The sound of bones came from her.
The woman’s neck did not stop there. It bent even farther at an unnatural angle.
This was not normal.
Roynel sucked in a breath.
Gilsion spasmodically gripped the greatsword slung over Gilsion’s shoulder with both hands.
The corners of the woman’s mouth stretched wide, as though she were smiling.
Swaaang!!
Gilsion swung the greatsword. But the woman leaped backward and dodged it.
She moved faster than any human could.
Gilsion’s body froze for a moment.
In that instant, the woman’s body convulsed.
With a series of cracks, her neck began to pull free.
The party’s bodies froze at the shocking sight none of them had ever seen before.
From the cross-section of the neck, the spine was pulled out in a long length, beginning with the cervical vertebrae and extending all the way to its tip.
It looked just like a parasite gnawing through all of its host’s flesh and bodily fluids before bursting out.
Splorch. Slither. Flap.
The organs attached to the vertebrae spilled onto the ground in pale strands.
The folded ribs spread out elegantly in the torchlight.
A sharp stinger like a scorpion’s tail was attached to the end of the spine.
A centipede using a human spine as its body.
Its face was still human.
The headless woman’s body collapsed with a thud.
It was like the shell of a host that had finished all its work.
“Gilsion! Snap out of it!”
Karin gripped her daggers and leaped forward.
The human-faced centipede landed on the ground and screamed.
“Kreeeeek!!”
Its bizarre cry echoed through the streets and all the way to the plaza.
Gilsion came to their senses and swung the greatsword.
The human-faced centipede dodged.
Clang!!
The greatsword struck the ground.
Hissss!!
The centipede’s tail shot toward Gilsion’s neck.
Ping!!
But it struck Gilsion’s plate armor and bounced away.
Karin took advantage of the opening and slashed with her dagger.
Slaaash.
The human-faced centipede’s face split in half, and it fell to the ground.
Green blood oozed thickly from the split face.
It trembled faintly, but it did not move again.
"···These are the ones we saw on the fourth floor. I... I couldn’t recognize them because they were wearing face skins, but now that I see them, I know."
Gilsion said in a trembling voice.
Why was the monster that had appeared on the fourth floor here?
Could it be that a monster capable of moving between floors had appeared?
Jeong Yushin’s question was cut short.
“They’re coming!!”
Roynel, who had been behind them, shouted in horror.
When they turned around, hundreds of goblins and explorers in the plaza were running toward them, shrieking.
“Run!!”
No one waited for anyone else.
Karin’s party gritted their teeth and ran.
Jeong Yushin fell furthest behind.
They ran at full speed for about twenty minutes.
His breath rose to his throat.
He was gradually falling farther and farther behind Karin’s party.
Jeong Yushin glanced back.
Before he knew it, hundreds of human-headed centipedes were crawling vigorously across the ground in a teeming mass.
“Into the alley!!”
Karin shouted.
The party entered the alley.
They sprinted through the web of branching alleys.
Jeong Yushin only barely managed to catch up to the rear of the party.
“Damn it!!”
Karin shouted.
Dozens of human-faced centipedes were crawling toward them from ahead in the alley.
An enormous number of human-faced centipedes were coming from behind as well.
Some of them were crawling up the walls.
They were completely trapped.
“Prepare for battle!! Ahiman, block the rear!”
The party formed up in an instant.
Gilsion blocked the front.
Roynel, Ahiman, and Jeong Yushin stood in the center.
Karin took the rear.
Ahiman closed their eyes and began chanting.
The arrow Roynel fired marked the beginning of the battle.
Bwaaang!!
The arrow flew with a thunderous roar.
Boom!!
The face of a centipede crawling along the wall burst like fireworks.
Roynel fired arrows rapidly without pause.
Bwaaang!!
Bwaaang!!
Headless centipedes tumbled down onto the alley floor.
“Hraaah!”
At the front, Gilsion shouted and swung the greatsword.
The holy letters engraved on the greatsword shone brightly.
Gilsion whirled the greatsword like a storm, firmly blocking the front.
Karin moved swiftly, swinging her daggers while targeting only the human-faced centipedes’ faces.
Sweeek!
Her two daggers tore through the air and split a human-faced centipede’s face.
Dozens of corpses piled up in the alley in an instant.
The might of a mid-rank explorer revealed even against an unknown monster.
Jeong Yushin’s mouth fell slightly open.
Then something changed.
“Tsk!”
A startled cry burst from Karin’s lips.
The daggers’ edges had dulled.
The human-faced centipedes’ sticky blood clung tightly to the daggers and would not come off.
Jeong Yushin could see it too.
Karin was struggling desperately, but her posture had already fallen apart and her sharpness had been blunted.
It was because her mind had been shaken.
The price came immediately.
At that moment, the stinger on a human-faced centipede’s tail grazed Karin’s shoulder.
Her armor split, and blood sprayed.
Karin clenched her teeth.
“Ahiman!!”
Karin shouted.
As though answering her, Ahiman cast a spell.
[Abyss Strike]
Several portals radiating ominous energy opened in midair. Huge tentacles burst from them and began lashing the human-faced centipedes.
Crash!! Kraaang!!
The huge tentacles struck not only the human-faced centipedes but also the stone walls of the alley.
Stone dust and fragments flew in every direction.
Dozens of human-faced centipedes were crushed and burst apart at once.
Rumble.
The alley began to collapse.
The swarm of human-faced centipedes retreated.
Karin also fell back.
Kuaaaang!!
The alley collapsed completely.
Jeong Yushin lowered his head.
Dust and stone powder brushed past his helmet.
The way behind them was completely blocked.
“Karin!!”
Gilsion shouted.
The glowing letters on Gilsion’s greatsword had grown faint.
Gilsion looked as though they were reaching their limit.
Karin ran forward, then collapsed.
“Urgh!”
Her body would not obey her.
Karin flailed in panic, but her stiffening body only convulsed without moving.
Ahiman spoke.
“Ska! Help Gilsion! I’ll examine Karin.”
“Yes!”
There was no time to argue about whether he wanted to do it or not.
Although the route behind them was blocked, the human-faced centipedes continued climbing along the walls.
Roynel was holding them back, but they did not know how long that would last.
The number of arrows had visibly dwindled.
Jeong Yushin set down his luggage and took out a glass bottle.
Black liquid sloshed inside the bottle.
Blood oil.
A potion that prevented grease from sticking to a sword.
He had not expected to use it at a time like this.
He saw the green grease clinging thickly to Karin’s daggers.
He did not know how effective the potion would be, but he pulled out the stopper.
The black liquid flowed down the blade.
He carefully rubbed it over the entire blade with his hand, coating it.
“What are you doing? Hurry!”
“Coming.”
At Ahiman’s urging, Jeong Yushin ran forward.
Gilsion was barely holding out by taking advantage of the properties of the plate armor.
Gilsion blocked most of the attacks with the armor and killed the human-faced centipedes with counterattacks.
“What about Karin?!”
Gilsion asked without even looking back.
“She collapsed! Ahiman is examining her now.”
“Tsk! Buy us some time.”
“Yes!”
He did not ask what Gilsion intended to do.
He moved past Gilsion as Gilsion retreated and took position at the front.
Jeong Yushin raised his sword high.
High guard.
‘That rude bastard.’
The words of the head of the Swordsmanship Guild suddenly came to mind.
He gave a short laugh and clenched his teeth.
The human-faced centipedes charged.
A downward slash.
Slaaash!!
The centipede split in half and fell past Jeong Yushin.
“Hup!!”
A diagonal slash.
He severed the human-faced centipede’s neck.
‘Weak point found.’
The cervical vertebrae between the skull and the thoracic spine.
His experience working his ass off at the monster disassembly plant had sharpened his eye.
He stood firm.
His lower body, hardened through endless training, held firm against the ground.
Jeong Yushin’s sword moved like a ray of light.
He cut through the cervical vertebrae of three human-faced centipedes in an instant.
‘Relax your shoulders.’
The Swordsmanship Guild chief’s advice echoed in his head.
“Yes.”
Although the one giving him advice was not beside him, he answered aloud and corrected his stance.
His previously stiff sword moved a little faster.
Swaaash!!
Five heads flew through the air in an instant.
One human-faced centipede charged at Gilsion from outside the range of Jeong Yushin’s sword.
[Sacred Weapon]
Sweeek!!
A dagger of light flew through the human-faced centipede’s skull.
The dead centipede rolled away and bumped against Gilsion’s feet.
But Gilsion did not budge. Gilsion had driven the greatsword into the ground and was muttering.
Kraaang!!
An explosion erupted behind them.
It seemed Ahiman had cast a spell.
“Ska!! It’s poisonous! Be careful not to get hit by the tail stingers!”
Ahiman shouted from behind.
“Yes!”
Jeong Yushin answered loudly and readied his stance again.
Three human-faced centipedes flew into the air at once.
[Sacred Weapon]
He threw a dagger of light and shot one down.
Drawing a large circle, he cut through the necks of the other two simultaneously.
A human-faced centipede that had crept along below swung its tail.
The sharp stinger shot toward his foot.
Jeong Yushin took a small step back, then lifted his foot and stomped on the tail.
Thud!
The iron sole of his walker crushed the tail to pieces.
“Kyaaaak!!”
The human-faced centipede screamed.
He gripped his longsword in reverse and thrust it into the creature’s mouth, then twisted. The centipede trembled before stopping its movements.
“That’s enough!! Ska! You held out well.”
Gilsion stepped forward.
Holy radiance billowed around Gilsion’s entire body.
“Get ready to charge forward together!!”
Gilsion held out the sword and lowered the stance.
“Understood!!”
When he looked back, Ahiman was carrying Karin on Ahiman’s back.
Roynel was carrying the luggage Jeong Yushin had set down.
Their eyes met.
Roynel nodded without a word.
[Holy Lance]
Gilsion’s greatsword was engulfed in holy radiance.
When an aura shining like the sun imbued the greatsword, it looked twice as large.
Kraa-aa-ang!!
In that instant, Gilsion’s figure vanished.
Only fragments of light whirled in the spot where Gilsion had stood.
Jeong Yushin’s eyes widened.
The way ahead had been blown open.
Dozens of human-faced centipedes had been torn to pieces and plastered against the alley walls.
Gilsion stood at the far end of the alley in the exact stance Gilsion had started in.
“···Crazy.”
Overwhelming speed and penetrating power.
“Run!!”
Roynel shouted.
Jeong Yushin came to his senses and ran.
They sprinted madly out of the alley.
They emerged onto the main street again.
“We’re almost there! We only need to go a little farther north!”
Roynel shouted.
At that moment, an enormous number of human-faced centipedes poured out of dozens of alleys and from behind them on the main street.
There were at least a thousand of them.
Roynel’s face went pale.
“Run!”
Just then, Gilsion collapsed.
Gilsion’s body was trembling violently.
Gilsion was displaying symptoms similar to Karin’s.
It seemed that fragments of the tail stingers had entered through gaps in Gilsion’s armor or helmet during the breakthrough and pierced Gilsion.
“Fuck.”
Roynel clutched at his hair. His lips trembled around the curse.
Jeong Yushin stepped forward and hoisted Gilsion onto his back.
‘Holy shit.’
His legs trembled under the tremendous weight.
Jeong Yushin’s face flushed red.
He clenched his teeth.
It was a weight he could never have managed without leveling up.
“Ska! Thank you.”
Roynel said.
“···Don’t mention it.”
They ran north.
How long had they been running?
It felt as though they had been running for a very long time.
Running at full speed while carrying the beastkin and greatsword in addition to the plate armor made him feel like he was going insane.
Demon Jeong Yushin and angel Jeong Yushin both screamed at the top of their lungs for him to drop Gilsion.
‘Shut up. Shut up, you lunatics!!’
They could abandon the ranged damage dealer, but they could not abandon the party’s only tank.
The number of creatures chasing them from behind kept increasing.
Then a large circular tower came into view.
And hundreds of human-faced centipedes appeared ahead of them as well.
If they continued like this, they would pass the circular tower and run straight into them.
Roynel gritted his teeth.
“Let’s go inside the tower.”
“Huff. Huff. We’d be trapped like a rat in a jar. This is the worst possible option.”
Gilsion managed to mutter between gasps.
“We don’t have a choice!”
“...”
In the end, the party ran toward the tower.
Bang!!
The tower’s wooden door flew open.
Karin’s party members rushed inside.
The first floor of the tower was surprisingly spacious.
Fortunately or unfortunately, no one was there.
“Ahiman! Block the entrance!”
“Understood.”
Ahiman set Karin down, moved well away, and began chanting a spell.
Roynel took all the arrows out of the luggage.
Jeong Yushin also set Gilsion down and knelt.
“Huff. Huff.”
His heart felt as though it were about to burst.
“···Thank you.”
“Huff. Huff. Be quiet.”
Anger made him slip into informal speech.
‘Plate armor was honestly taking things too far.’
Gilsion fell silent.
Jeong Yushin panted as he stood and retrieved his longsword.
“Here.”
Roynel approached and handed him a potion filled with yellow liquid.
Jeong Yushin lowered his visor, uncorked the potion, and drank it immediately.
“Whew. What is this?”
“An energy tonic.”
“Why do you carry this around?”
“Because it’s better than a stamina potion. I’m counting on you. Buy us some time.”
His depleted strength gradually returned. Strength began to surge through his body again.
With a little breathing room, he remembered something he had forgotten.
“There’s an anti-poison scroll in my luggage.”
“It won’t have much effect. The poison is mixed with power from the other world.”
Ahiman said, stopping the chant.
‘Damn it.’
It was too late to flee alone. And he did not want to flee anyway.
Hundreds of human-faced centipedes were shrieking outside the tower.
Jeong Yushin.
Standing at the dimly lit entrance to the tower, with a wavering torch beside him.
He gripped the hilt of his longsword as though he could crush it.
“Come in, you bastards.”