Apocalypse (11)

However, as I drew closer, I could tell something was wrong.

The nun wasn't sitting against the rubble to rest.

Only her upper body remained.

Her lower body... was nowhere to be seen.

"..."

I see.

Just like Salhyeong had been.

Had this nun been taken down too?

Until she drew the holy sword from the cross and summoned the cathedral and the crusaders, I had thought she was an invincible cleric, but in the end, there was nothing she could do.

ㅡthud.

I knelt in front of the nun.

"How am I supposed to beat this...!"

Even the mighty Salhyeong had been taken down, and so had the nun!

What was I even supposed to do when even powerful espers ended up like this!

"Ku, cough!"

"Huh?"

That was when the nun coughed up blood and opened her eyes.

"Eh?! Nun, you're alive?!"

No, how could she possibly still be alive!

"Ugh... haah, haah... You are. Ah, yes. You're alive. Looks like the heathen's dead."

"He was martyred while fighting against great evil. I came here to survive and see this through, at least."

"I see... Well, I suppose I'm in a similar state. Something enormous showed up."

"Don't tell me, the one with bones jutting out everywhere?"

"Ah, did that heathen get hit by that too?"

I nodded and asked,

"More importantly, Nun. How are you still alive?"

"Ah."

The nun opened her mouth.

Then I saw long fangs inside.

Wait.

Fangs?

"Fangs?! Don't tell me, you're a monster?!"

"Honestly, that's rude. A monster, really? Well... I am, though."

So she really is.

"The truth is, I'm a half-blood vampire."

"What?! A half-blood vampire?!"

I could only gape.

"Yes. I originally came to Korea to pursue the progenitor... well. This is how things turned out."

Wasn't a progenitor supposed to be something like the ancestor of vampires? And that was in Korea?

Could what I saw in the subway have been...

"Come to think of it, were you the rookie vampire hunter?"

"Ah, yes. I was. I ran into it and barely made it out alive..."

"So the progenitor really was active. The Bureau was apparently devoting its full effort to it too. Terrible timing."

Timing.

Was the Administration Bureau powerless in this situation because of that progenitor?

"But, Nun. You said you were a half-vampire, but is it okay for a vampire to become a nun?"

"Excuse me?"

The nun's brows furrowed in obvious displeasure.

"The Lord's love is infinite. Even if I'm a monster, it doesn't matter. Understand? It's not like Islam, you know. Apologize."

"Ah, sorry. Anyway, Nun. Can you make it? What happened to Jaaldi?"

At my words, the nun tilted her head back.

"I... don't think I can make it. He was far too strong."

"No!"

Damn it!

So even being a half-vampire couldn't save her?

"All I could do was open a path for that agent."

ㅡdrip.

The nun vomited blood once more.

"No, but you're a half-vampire! What if you drank blood or something!"

The moment I said that, the nun's pupils narrowed vertically like a carnivorous animal's.

"I would never drink it. Not even if I died."

"Ah... sorry."

"Do you think I'd drink it? That's not an option for me."

I could tell from her attitude.

The nun hated blood-drinking.

"I said it without knowing."

"It's fine. It happens... ugh, haah..."

Her breathing grew ragged.

"Ugh... I-I don't know if this will help, but... take this. It's a sacred relic imbued with the Lord's power."

The nun unclasped the rosary from her neck and held it out to me. I knew this was her final testament.

"The path is open... so you should be able to make it to the flower... You can flee if you want..."

"I'm not fleeing!"

"That's better."

A smile appeared on her dying face.

"By now, the agent is probably fighting alone. Please help her. Brave warrior. That is our last hope."

ㅡthud.

The nun's hand fell limp.

ㅡrustle.

Her body began to turn to ash and disappear.

"..."

My connection with this nun hadn't been long, but

I took up her resolve.

"Let's go."

I told myself that and stood up.

I slipped the rosary around my neck.

I was wearing both an Islamic relic and a Christian relic, but unlike when they were alive, the two relics did not clash.

I lifted my head and looked at the flower.

ㅡBOOM!

Something exploded inside the flower. A pillar of fire shot upward. It seemed Jaaldi was fighting fiercely.

I didn't know if I'd be any help, but the relics I had on me now and Salhyeong's weapon would definitely help.

I advanced toward the flower.

There was no resistance.

The entire path had been cleared, and the corpses of monsters lay everywhere.

Following the path like Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumb trail,

ㅡraaaahhhhh!

I finally arrived before the gigantic flower.

"..."

It was a terrifying sight enough to make my legs shake.

A giant mass of flesh that had swallowed the surface world had become a flower and was sending radio waves into space. They said those waves would summon giant beings from beyond the stars. Just hearing that was overwhelming.

ㅡKWAANG!

Another explosion went off inside.

There was a hole right in front of me. I just had to go through that hole and enter the flower's body. Like germs invading a human body.

"Huff, huff!"

The tension and pressure made me feel like I was going insane. But so many things were resting on my shoulders. I had to get up there somehow.

I had to climb up and find a clue.

"Hup!"

I gritted my teeth and climbed into the hole.

"This is...!"

It's sticky.

It felt as if I'd literally entered the innards of a living creature. But inside, it was surprisingly structured like a building. In other words, there were floors and stairs.

Of course, the scenery was made entirely of flesh straight out of a nightmare.

ㅡsquish.

I advanced, stepping on a floor slick with blood and pus.

"..."

Monster remains were scattered everywhere. It was clear a fierce battle had taken place here.

Just how strong was Jaaldi from the Administration Bureau, anyway? Salhyeong had scattered the enemy forces, and the nun had opened the way, but from here on, it was surely all Jaaldi alone.

"Haa, haa."

I kept climbing the flesh stairs.

Sweat poured down like rain.

At this rate, I didn't know if I'd even be able to fight.

ㅡswish.

As I climbed, tendrils made of flesh reached out toward me from the walls. I nearly jumped, but they didn't seem to be particularly strong tentacles.

I immediately swung my scimitar and cut them down.

"Salhyeong. This blade cuts very well."

I kept climbing.

How much time had passed?

Jaaldi came into view, collapsed.

"Agent."

Her right arm and left leg were gone, along with one eye. Her suit was soaked in blood. Blood pooled beneath her, and her breathing was very shallow.

"They got you?"

"Ah... is that you."

A dying voice.

"Looks like everyone else got taken down too."

"As you can see."

"Really... what a pity. To fail here, of all places."

There was no hope in that voice.

"It's not a failure...!"

But I still wasn't willing to accept defeat.

This was a sort of game.

A game of whether I accepted defeat or not.

As long as the regressor did not give up, the game would never end.

"Jaaldi! I came here! If there's any way, tell me!"

"..."

"I received heirlooms from Saladin and the nun! Look! A crusader's armament and the nun's rosary! Can't you do something with these!"

"...I'm sorry. Truly."

"Don't just say that!"

Tell me if there's a way!

"Truly... there is nothing to be done. Even I can't do anything with my own power. Such relics can only show their full power when used by the right person."

"Guh...!"

So there really was no way!

"Then at least answer this! If this were the past, before this incident happened, what should have been done to stop it!"

"..."

Jaaldi hesitated, her mouth moving for a moment.

She probably wanted to say it was pointless.

"Where and how this incident occurred... the Bureau hasn't properly figured that out. So there's nothing to be done."

"If you knew! Assuming that!"

So my report hadn't fully reached them after all.

"If we only knew... perhaps it might have been possible to handle it."

"How...!"

"The Administration Bureau has items that can counter them, like things that can break their bodies down... If you'd planted one of those in the giant's core, any ending could have been possible."

Break down the body?!

"Ah, right. The medicines we recovered from Cheongakmeri Hospital. We might have been able to use those too... It's truly a pity we don't have them."

"The medicine!"

We could've tried using the medicine we got there?

In Jaaldi's view, did it have a chance of working?

Damn it!

If I hadn't lost it, I could have tried it!

But this was still a gain in its own way.

It meant I had one more thing I could try.

Force the medicine into the core?

If there's any way, then try it.

"But once the incident broke out... it became impossible to use any of those means, so that's a meaningless what-if. The monstrous sonic waves they emitted shut down the Administration Bureau's functions."

The Administration Bureau's functions halted.

So that's how it happened.

"K, kuh... Ah, this is the end. Has your last question been answered? Honestly, it's all over now. I don't have anything more to say to you... what a shame. I won't be able to recruit you as a rookie."

Death's shadow fell over Jaaldi's face. She sensed her own death. It wouldn't be strange if she died in the next few seconds.

So I told her the fact I'd been hiding until now.

"Jaaldi. There's still a chance."

"What...?"

"I'm actually a regressor."

Silence.

Her eyes widened.

"What did you just say?"

"I've already repeated this insane life nearly ten times! If I can just figure out a way to kill those things, I can go back and fix it somehow! So if, back when I was still an ordinary person, I could summon the Bureau's full force right away—"

"You, you!"

What?

"You...!"

In an instant, Jaaldi's pupils trembled violently. Then, with blood spilling from her mouth, she reached out and tried to seize my throat.

"W-wait! Jaaldi!"

"You!"

The moment Jaaldi's hand touched my neck.

"Kuh, khheuk...!"

Blood burst from her mouth,

ㅡslump.

Her body went limp.

"Hey!"

She was dead.

"Jaaldi!"

I shook her, but she never woke up.

"What..."

What the hell?

What was that reaction at the end supposed to mean?

Was there something wrong with me revealing that I was a regressor?

ㅡshiver.

I felt an inexplicable chill run through me. It felt as if some unknown, terrifying being had seized my mind. Instinctively, I felt that I had made a grave mistake, and at the same time, a surge of intense fear welled up in me.

"T-this isn't the time."

On the way here, I'd learned a number of things.

"I have to go."

The information itself was valid. I learned that there were various organizations and superhumans in this world, and that the items I had were indeed useful.

Finally,

just by looking at what's up there,

there might still be a way to solve this.

ㅡswish.

I closed Jaaldi's eyes and climbed the stairs again.

I decided not to think about the reaction she showed at the end.