Chapter 220
Cheonchilbaek got goosebumps all over.
The eyeballs on the chunks of flesh, stuck on like suckers on an octopus’s tentacles, picked out their appetizing prey.
If there were 100 eyes, about 10 of them looked at Paradox. About 30 looked at Ace, who was wearing the collar… and the remaining 60 were directed at him, Cheonchilbaek.
The lip-like indentations between the flesh and iron twitched into a smile. They had chosen their target.
'Why on earth?'
Cheonchilbaek screamed internally.
There were plenty of supernatural ability users far stronger than him, so why him of all people? Was it because he looked like the weakest prey?
The Inquisitor, naturally, did not care about Cheonchilbaek’s confused state of mind. It licked the Inmate’s skull, which was grotesquely fused with its own body, and muttered.
=The ability user that Father deemed worthy of caution… what a precious delicacy! Come here, little lamb. This body shall personally bestow upon you the holy blessing of becoming one. This is purification through baptism!=
“Blessing my ass!”
He was screwed. At the very least, it seemed unlikely he would survive here. Cheonchilbaek muttered in despair at the thought.
Unfortunately, the Inquisitor seemed to have good hearing, as it appeared offended upon hearing those words.
=Blasphemy! Do you dare reject the Holy Spirit!=
The crazy fused monster discussing blasphemy in 22nd century Dusk City swung its titanium legs, which were practically lethal weapons in themselves.
CRACK―――!
Cheonchilbaek threw his body, rolling on the floor, and twisted his lower back following a tingling sixth sense.
The iron skewers narrowly missed him, continuously striking and shattering the floor.
A wave of relief washed over him, and he thought, 'I lived!' Cheonchilbaek tried to stand up and run away, but froze.
Sssst.
The empty air split open, and a black rift appeared. He barely managed to do a split to avoid the chunks of flesh that popped out of nowhere to pounce on him.
If not for Crisis Detection, he would have been caught and killed right then and there.
'Please, do something!'
With the threshold of death right in front of him, Cheonchilbaek panted, clinging to his weakly activating Crisis Detection like a lifeline.
He couldn’t just keep dodging forever. He resented the others.
If he was desperately buying time like this, shouldn’t they be doing something in the meantime!
BOOM!
As if in response, the Inquisitor’s body, which had been about to easily devour the exhausted Cheonchilbaek, shook.
The metal frame didn’t budge, but the pink chunks of flesh clinging to it like rags were crushed and burst from the impact, splattering green blood everywhere.
=Oh, oh, ooooooooooh!!!!=
How many times could the Inquisitor, a nightmare-like existence in Glitch Hall, have felt such immense pain since gaining self-awareness!
The monster howled in ecstasy and agony, as if recalling a sensation it had forgotten for a while.
Taking advantage of that opening, Samsao, who had Charged and slammed his entire body into the Inquisitor to deliver the blow, helped the fallen Cheonchilbaek up.
'Is this a Baton Touch?'
Right. Samsao was definitely suited for the Tank role. Just as Cheonchilbaek felt relieved and tried to step back following his survival instincts, Samsao grabbed him.
“…!”
Perhaps lacking the time to explain with words, he briefly pointed at Paradox with his finger, then pointed at himself and Cheonchilbaek, and jabbed toward the Inquisitor.
It was an intuitive hand movement. Cheonchilbaek realized the meaning and looked ready to cry.
It was Paradox’s order. An order for him and Samsao to fend off the Inquisitor together.
It was terrifying just to imagine, but he had never suffered a loss from listening to Paradox so far.
He was the most competent leader he knew, and if it was his word and judgment, he had to follow it for now, even if it was hard to understand.
Gurgle.
The wounds created by the bursting flesh gradually regenerated and healed.
The Inquisitor recovered its body and glared at Samsao, who had injured it, with its densely packed eyeballs.
It looked full of rage, as if it wanted to tear him to death at any moment.
However, having experienced Samsao’s monstrous strength firsthand, it seemed burdened by the idea of engaging in hand-to-hand combat, so it manipulated the black mist to surround itself and hid its figure.
Despite its boiling anger, it showed patience, intending to slowly hunt its prey.
Even though it wasn’t visible on the outside, Cheonchilbaek broke out in a cold sweat as an even more eerie premonition than before washed over him.
CRACK.
Countless rifts were carved into the empty air.
With his excellent reflexes, Samsao dodged the blade-like legs and pitch-black tentacles of darkness popping out from everywhere.
The problem was that the Inquisitor was smart.
It would have been nice if the Inquisitor’s attack always honestly came from the cracks.
The cunning monster not only drained his physical strength by merely pretending an attack, but it also aimed for Samsao’s life all at once by launching a sudden surprise attack with a time delay through a gap he had deemed safe due to the lack of any particular attack.
A pressure that slowly tightened around them, like clothes getting wet in a drizzle. No matter how well Samsao fought, it was a battle he was bound to lose eventually.
“…!”
Even in a suppressed state, Crisis Detection did its job perfectly.
Feeling an ominous premonition for some reason, he pulled Samsao, and the Inquisitor’s sharp grasp snatched right past their feet from a completely unexpected angle.
=You rat-like things! As expected of the wicked, you only know how to run away!=
Perhaps in response to their continuous dodging, a highly dangerous energy wave resonated from within the black mist.
The broken restraint chamber flickered precariously with a red light.
The Inquisitor was attempting something different from before. It felt as if death had come right up to his chin.
Even though Crisis Detection was operating fiercely, Cheonchilbaek didn’t know what to do. It felt like he wouldn’t be able to survive no matter what he did.
Swoosh!
Dozens of pitch-black ice picks shot out like bullets. Pouring down like a shotgun blast, they were impossible to dodge.
Just as he intuited his death, Samsao rushed in and blocked his front.
“Ugh!”
Coming to his senses and opening his tightly shut eyes, he saw Samsao staggering with two chunks of ice pick embedded in his shoulder.
black energy flowed slowly down from the icicles, which were lodged so deeply they would be hard to pull out. Even at a glance, it was an injury hard to ignore.
'No, why?'
Cheonchilbaek was bewildered.
He didn’t know why Samsao had saved him by throwing his body on the line like that.
Osai had done the same thing, but even if that was because it was a clone, why did Samsao?
It might have been much more helpful to maintain the powerful Samsao’s combat power instead of his dying here.
However, the moment he saw Samsao’s eyes, he realized. He hadn’t done it because he wanted to either.
Samsao was the same, just as Cheonchilbaek wanted to step back but had no choice but to fight the Inquisitor on the front lines.
It was because of Paradox’s order.
For a commander, a moment where sacrifices must be endured is bound to come eventually.
What is needed at such times is the accurate judgment to determine the value of the pieces to be sacrificed.
There must be a reason why a competent chess player chooses a pawn instead of a knight.
Why did Paradox choose him?
=D-i-e ! ! !=
This time, the Inquisitor spewed out blazing Heat Rays. ice picks and heat rays, they were mysteriously diverse and powerful abilities.
However, Samsao, defying death, was more steadfast than imagined. Ignoring the heat rays grazing his body, he broke through the black mist and pounded the massive fuselage with his fists.
THUD!!!
The regenerating chunks of flesh burst, and blood exploded once again.
=――――――――――!=
A terrible metallic scream rang out.
Samsao swung his fists consecutively, disregarding the black energy digging into his wounds, grabbed and tore off the chunks of flesh, and snatched and threw the frame beneath the skin.
Thud.
Then, he climbed on top of the monster’s body that he had dragged out of the mist, took a mounting stance, and completely pinned it down!
Seeing the monster that had driven everyone into terror cornered, Cheonchilbaek felt hope.
There was a reason the Inquisitor had tried to avoid hand-to-hand combat. How often would a monster with such powerful supernatural abilities have had to fight with its own body!
It was only a brute; in terms of fighting technique, Samsao was several steps above.
As long as its powerful supernatural abilities were suppressed, the Inquisitor was not invincible.
Since they had taken the advantageous high ground in close-quarters combat, killing the Inquisitor here was truly not just a dream.
Such a happiness circuit was shattered to pieces not long after he had harbored hope.
Squelch.
An awl-like long mechanical leg tore through Samsao’s side and came out. The location was bad. It was a spot that would have pierced right through his kidney.
CRUNCH!
=Heu, ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.=
Pushing the sharp spider leg in even deeper, the Inquisitor laughed maniacally and tried to tear Samsao’s body apart just like that.
However, even while bleeding profusely in real-time, Samsao tightly gripped the Inquisitor’s leg embedded in his body with both hands.
Because he held on so fiercely, as if burning his final spark, the Inquisitor couldn’t move from its spot.
This was a situation where the tank sacrificed his life to tie down the final boss. However, there was no damage dealer to launch an offensive sufficient to kill the boss within the limited time. What meaning did this have!
At that crucial moment, Paradox’s voice was heard.
[The controller! Take it from the Inmate!]
With weakened ability and faint telepathy, it wasn’t easy to understand.
Cheonchilbaek’s wavering gaze turned toward the Inmate, who was fused with the Inquisitor in a hideous state.
Even half-dead, the Inmate’s tightly clenched hand held the restraint controller.
“…!”
A realization flashed through his mind.
Only now did it seem he could see a little of the picture Paradox had drawn.
There was one. It was a damage dealer.