Chapter 31

The number one guild in Korea was Requiem and the second was Roheon, but the gap between the two guilds was quite large.

Whether Ha Tae-heon was aware of that fact, instead of refuting my words, he narrowed his eyes.

"Do you think I'm going to believe that?"

"I just..."

As I continued speaking, I lost my balance and stumbled upon the sudden shaking of the ground. I didn't fall because Ha Tae-heon was holding my wrist, but my whole body tensed because of an ominous feeling.

Kugugugung!

"What's going on?"

Once again, the surroundings shook violently. Ha Tae-heon supported my upper body, which was shaking backwards, and lifted his head.

Kkaak, kkaak!

Countless crows, hiding in the dark, flew up and passed by. A chirping sound could be heard in the midst of the frantic crow cries.

"No way..."

GWAAAAH, a heavy roar echoed in my ear. I hurriedly handed the coat to Ha Tae-heon and raised my ability.

"Let's get out of here for now."

Ha Tae-heon put on his coat and nodded his head.

"Ggh!"

The ground leaned heavily to one side. I hugged the sliding Ha Tae-heon and hurriedly flew into the air.

"I think we need to rip through the leather to leave."

Ha Tae-heon grabbed my waist and nodded his head. I continued to climb up past the heart that glowed much redder than before.

"Now!"

Ha Tae-heon raised his sword and swung it over him. As if cutting down through the darkness, the black leather was split in half, revealing the sky between them.

As we escaped through the cracked leather, the origin of the quaking revealed itself.

"Is it alive?"

"No, it's dead."

A gigantic, unidentified creature thought to be dead twisted its body as it roared, mouth wide open. A flock of crows were pouring out of the pierced skin, and horrifying screeching echoed all over the place.

"It's a machine."

"Machine?"

"It looks like the body was modified."

The strange object inside the corpse. It was part of a large mechanical piece.

"Most of the body, including the heart, was machine-like. You can't say it's alive."

Giiing, gigiiing!

The creature's mouth, with its eyes tightly closed, gaped open in our direction. An ominous light flashed in the centre of its throat.

"Hgh!"

I quickly turned around. As soon as a chill ran down my spine, a hot laser flew past us and slammed into the ground.

Kwagwagwang!

The dry soil floor cracked and collapsed with a roar. I dryly swallowed my saliva.

"It seems that the corpse is an S-grade monster."

"The reason it woke up..."

My and Ha Tae-heon's eyes turned to the coat at the same time. The SS-class coat. Of course, I didn't think it would be easy to get, but...

GWOOORGH!

The monster swung its heavy, long tail and shifted its feet.

"You knew where the item was hidden but didn't know about the monster?"

"...yes."

Ha Tae-heon's comment was correct. Since such a monster did not appear in the novel, I was very embarrassed by this situation itself. A monster above S-grade suddenly appeared.

'Why? Because I twisted the flow of the original plot?'

According to the original story, Ha Tae-heon would get the SS-class coat after three months. He pulled out his coat three months earlier, so did the monster wake up as a side effect?

While I was thinking about it, the monster fired a laser once again. Ha Tae-heon, who barely avoided the laser by pulling my waist, said in a calm voice, "Focus."

"I'm sorry."

That's right. Now was not the time to analyze why this happened. Increasing the strength of the wind, I asked, "Ha Tae-heon-ssi. Is that monster worth fighting against?"

"...for now (no)*. It's different from normal monsters, so I can't really measure the stats."

"Even if it's been modified, there has to be limits. Definitely."

I focused on the monster's movement. The gesture of crushing the ground with its legs and swinging its tail indiscriminately was very unnatural.

"It looks like the machinery running inside is rusty. There are probably a few things that are broken."

A machine that supported such a large body couldn't survive without proper management, if you look at all those parts.

"No matter how strong it is, it's only about S+. It's not SS-grade."

"If it's S+, it's the grade newly announced by Requiem at the earlier meeting."

Sararak.

Black dust gathered from all directions. A long, sharp spear began to form behind Ha Tae-heon's back.

Kudeudeudeuk!

The monster swung its tail. A piece of rock popped up as the ground dug in and flew toward us. I looked back, smashing the stone with the wind.

The number of black spears that appeared one by one suddenly reached hundreds. The black spears, so dense that the sky could not be seen, shot at the monster with Ha Tae-heon's single gesture.

Kkiiiiik! Kkiiik!

The black spears, stuck in the skin, exploded. Numerous explosions occurred on the monster's large body, leaking reddish-brown liquid. Ha Tae-heon, who fixed his sword, moved his body toward the monster.

I've already experienced battles with Cheon Sa-yeon and focused the wind on Ha Tae-heon. The black blade mercilessly cut through the large front feet of the monster passing overhead.

A reddish-brown liquid splashed on my face. The thick liquid had a strong oily smell that gave me a headache.

"Hold on tight."

I wrapped my arms around Ha Tae-heon's neck. At the same time, the monster slammed down on the floor with its tail, and dust came up in a haze and obscured our view.

"Uurgh...!"

The knee of the monster's hind legs split and a machine gun appeared. A machine gun aimed precisely at me and Ha Tae-heon started raining bullets with a roar.

Ha Tae-heon, who noticed the machine gun just like me, raised his sword while keeping his body stable with his thighs. The black sword scattered into dust, then transformed into a large shield.

Tudududu!

The gunfire rang out to the point it was deafening, but they were all blocked by the shield Ha Tae-heon made. When the gunfire was over, the shield changed its shape to a sword, held in his hand. I let the wind flow by Ha Tae-heon's feet to the tip of his sword.

Ha Tae-heon's sword, which was accelerated by the flow of wind, cut off the monster's hind legs. Instead of bones, machinery could be seen through the leather and oil gushed out.

Kkiiiiik!

Gukung, gukung!

The monster lost its balance and staggered when its legs were cut off. A cloud of dust came up and enveloped Ha Tae-heon.

"The one who cut off all the legs...**"

Ha Tae-heon's words did not continue to the end. Through the thick dust, something was rushing towards us. I opened my mouth with a heavy breath.

"Is that—a crow?"

Kkaaak! Kkaak!

It was too big to be a crow. The monster opened its mouth wide, flashing gold eyes embedded in its forehead. Ha Tae-heon cut down the enemy that came within range.

"Ugh—are they the ones that originally appeared?"

"No, it's the first time I've seen it."

We flew into the air to avoid the crow. The crows clacked and followed in an instant. Dozens of crow monsters the size of an eagle opened their mouths towards us.

Ha Tae-heon continued to cut down the crows that rushed at us like they were going to pluck our eyes out. I helped Ha Tae-heon by changing directions in the air.

"Uurgh...!"

An intense pain throbbed in my head. Feeling limited in my abilities, I hurriedly asked, "Is the exit gate very far from here?"

"About 20 minutes north."

Ha Tae-heon swung his sword and glared at the flocking crows. At that moment, I was hugged by Ha Tae-heon and I felt so cold that I flinched.

Among the crows, several black spheres appeared at the same time and exploded like bombs.

Whooosh!

Kyeeek! Kyek!

The spheres exploded and tore apart the crows nearby. Ha Tae-heon looked annoyed at the number of crows that rushed in to prevent him from dealing with the modified monster.

"I think..." I forcefully held my shaking eyes and said, "I think we'd better get out. Anyway, we got the item... and as it is..."

Ha Tae-heon, who had been contemplating for a moment, nodded his head and turned to the north. I used my powers in a cold sweat to keep my body from falling. In order to escape from the crows that rushed at us, I couldn't slow my speed.

"Hgh, hah..."

I couldn't overcome the headache and buried my face in Ha Tae-heon's shoulder. Hundreds of crows were chasing behind us. It was driving me crazy.

Kyaaak!

Ha Tae-heon, who accurately cut the crow's neck that was grabbing at the flapping coat, held my waist tighter. My hazy mind became a little clearer.

"We're almost there."

The energy rushing from my heart began to stutter as if to express that it was no longer possible. My body lost strength and my eyes were forcibly closed. I chewed my tongue, trying to come to my senses.

"Huuh..."

"Han Yi-gyeol?"

For a brief moment, my vision went black and returned. Perhaps my ability was cut off, Ha Tae-heon was running on the ground instead of in the air. Ha Tae-heon, who was running while holding my limp body, exclaimed, "Han Yi-gyeol, breathe!"

Fortunately, the exit gate was just around the corner. Recognizing that he was running away, the crows groaned in a bizarre way, folded their wings and slammed into Ha Tae-heon. There was a limit to cutting down all the crows, biting like a pack of dogs, with one sword.

The remaining distance to the exit gate was 20m. I raised my ability to swing unsteadily once again.

"Ggh!"

With intense pain like someone was driving an axe into the back of my skull, Ha Tae-heon's legs rose into the air. Ha Tae-heon, who ran forward in line with the wind pushing his feet, threw his body towards the gate exit.

Kkaaak! Kkaak!

Finally, Ha Tae-heon and I got out of the gate with the crows struggling to stop us. I couldn't stand it any longer and lowered my head.

"Han Yi-gyeol. Wake up, Han Yi-gyeol!"

As I forcibly lifted my heavy eyelids, I saw Ha Tae-heon's face under the starry night sky. I looked up blankly at Ha Tae-heon, who grabbed my cheek, and murmured softly, "...you still... have..."

"What?"

"—have the... coat with y...?"

Ha Tae-heon's handsome brow was severely wrinkled.

"Is that what you're concerned with right now? You used your ability beyond your limits. You need to get some energy from a healer right now—"

"Rather... than a healer," I stuttered and touched the backpack on my back. Fortunately, it was safe from the chaos.

"...yeon-ssi."

"Han Yi-gyeol."

"Cha Soo-yeon-ssi... call... to meet..."

"You want to meet Cha Soo-yeon-ssi in this situation? What..."

"..."

"Wait. Han Yi-gyeol? Han Yi-gyeol!"

Ha Tae-heon called me urgently, but I couldn't answer. My mind was barely holding on and my eyes closed.

I'd completely and undeniably fainted.