Chapter 376
"How...?"
Moon Issak's transformation was utterly shocking.
And then, as if it had been waiting for this moment, system messages appeared in a cluttered explosion, covering my view.
[You've witnessed Moon Issak's hidden scenario, 'In front of the Moon deity.']
[You've been awarded +100 exploration points after witnessing this rare phenomenon, 'Awakened Werewolf.']
['A portion of the 'In front of the Moon Deity' scenario has been saved to 'My Scenario Diary.']
['Unable to endure a thousand days of this cold weather, the hungry wolves howled before the cold moon. No mortal heard their cries, but the moon deity, reflected onto the lake, took pity on the wolves and divided some of his strength amongst them. That was the origin of the wolves that served the moon. However, the moon deity was eaten by a black darkness. The wolves vowed to rebuild the diety's collapsed temple and revive the power of their missing god...']
[You have leveled up because your understanding of the world's scenario has increased by 1%]
[Mutants born from divine power have an absolute advantage over the undead and those with evil attributes, so we don't recommend making them your enemies.]
[User 'Moon Issak' has imprinted on you.]
The more I read, the more I found the content unsettling. I didn't understand some parts and, more than anything, I found the last message strangely chilling.
'Imprint, huh...?'
However, Moon Issak, who had turned into a huge wolf before our eyes, was glaring and growling at Dawon-ie, not me. Of course, Dawon confronted Moon issak with a relaxed attitude, holding his staff in his hands.
Gritting his teeth, Moon Issak shouted-
[You'll regret placing so much trust in one skill.]
Dawon-ie snorted before whispering, "Do I hear a dog barking?"
[Die!]
Of course, I had faith in Seo Dawon. But Moon Issak, after becoming a werewolf, moved too fast.
Moreover, his fur was bristled, as if static electricity was running through the strands; whenever he attacked, it was as if white lightning struck.
[Graaaagh-!]
Bzzzt-!
In the end, the golden shield surrounding the Mage finally shattered. As Moon Issak broke the shield with his front paws, he also bit Dawon's left arm.
"Dawon-ah!"
"It's fine. [Wind Cutter]." Without lifting a single brow, Seo Dawon cut off Moon Issak's ear with a skill that originated from that bitten left arm. Simultaneously, Moon Issak shook his head wildly, and the arm was ripped off. As a result, the Mage was down one arm.
However, when Moon Issak casually spat out Dawon's torn arm as if it were something dirty, his ear had already healed. On the other hand, Dawon's torn arm had sunken tooth marks and looked rotten. It had failed to regenerate.
[Do you want to survive, even if you're left in pieces?]
Moon Issak smirked as he provoked the Mage. However, Dawon didn't say anything. He merely held his staff high before slamming it down into the ground at his feet. "[Sands]."
Then, the floor wibbled and wobbled as it transformed into a desert. Something resembling runes appeared in the sandy ground as the sand granules flowed in certain directions.
When Moon Issak's front paw slipped into the sand, he stepped back. A ring of runes was created around the Mage, keeping the two a certain distance apart.
[Ha, maybe because you've been inside a coffin for three years.... Seo Dawon, your intuition and senses are all dead.]
Moon Issak still seemed relaxed even though he couldn't approach. His tongue stuck out and licked around his lips as he watched Seo Dawon in the center of the swirling sands.
[Wolves don't travel alone, you know...]
With that said, Moon Issak raised his head high.
[Awwoooo-!]
The howl echoed through my head. In the near distance, I could hear the responding cry of more wolves.
[Wooooo-!]
Unsettled, I asked Koo Hui-seo to block the door, "Hui-seo-ssi, the door! With your tentacles, quick-!"
[It's already too late, Choi Lee-kyung].
Still looking up at the sky, Moon Issak interrupted us.
I bit my lips as I looked at the ceiling slowly open. The full moon floated in the black sky; as soon as the ceiling opened, the wolves lunged in. Just like with Sung Yi-hwan, Moon Issak must have made all the [Sun] guild members into werewolves.
At first glance, around 20 wolves had surrounded us. Most of them were baring their teeth at Seo Dawon, but there were about three or four wolves circling me as well, trying to gauge a good opportunity to lunge at me from behind the protection of Lackey and Koo Hui-seo's tentacles.
However, the eye before the storm didn't last long. Just as Moon Issak nodded arrogantly, the werewolves rushed in with tremendous speed and force and bit at the Mage.
[Bark!]
The same was true of the wolves near me. A brown wolf ran towards me; Lackey bravely stabbed the wolf in the eye.
However, Lackey had slightly missed; the wolf swiftly recoiled and licked its bleeding snout. The puncture wound only lasted for a moment before recovering.
[Your opponent is currently receiving an effect from the 'Alpha Wolf'.]
[Werewolves are stronger when they have a leader.]
[You should get rid of 'Moon Issak' first.]
Clutching my fists, I glared at the brown wolf as the system message kindly provided me with a strategy. Now that Seo Dawon is also on the defensive, how on earth is he supposed to deal with Moon Issak?
However, in the midst of all this, another black wolf lunged at me. This time, Koo Hui-seo whipped his tentacle, driving away the black wolf with a satisfying thwack, but the attack wasn't effective.
As time passed, the situation became increasingly unfavorable for us. I looked at Moon Issak. Though he was staring at Seo Dawon fighting against his werewolf subordinates, he looked at me as soon as he sensed my gaze...as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
[Choi Lee-kyung.]
His voice seemed to tremble a bit at the end.
I stared back without hiding my disgusted expression. Moon Issak slowed down when he saw my expression, but soon he concealed his reaction and tried to cajole me calmly-
[I have no intention of harming you.]
"......"
[Release Seo Dawon and surrender. Besides, you can't resummon him for 24 hours after he's defeated, right?]
His face, subtly soaked in a sense of superiority as if he knew everything, was so repulsive. He looked at me, as if urging me to quickly make my choice, but I didn't even want to grant him the pleasure of hearing my voice.
Eventually, he opened his mouth again.
[From now on, I'll... I'll never torture you again. I promise. I didn't come and find you in order to hurt you.]
"......"
[After you left, I reflected a lot on my actions. I shouldn't have done that...]
"......"
[I've learned a lot, and, from now on, I won't treat you carelessly.]
"......"
I didn't pay the slightest attention to his shameless self-reflection. Though he was verbose in his apologies, the gleam in his eyes was still disdainful. He was still a repugnant person who showed no signs of genuine remorse. He was merely concealing his even more sinister and brutal nature.
As expected, when I stared at him silently, Moon Issak's soft expression contorted-
[...Answer me, Choi Lee-kyung. I apologized to you.]
My frozen lips moved at his shameless demand, "I'm sorry but... I try not to get into the habit of hanging out with bastards like you."
[...What?]
"Saying all this now... Don't even bother trying to be nice to me. It seems like you've misunderstood something-the kiss you gave me was creepier than the torture."
After glaring at the speechless Moon Issak, I glimpsed Dawon's face through the gaps in between the wolves' bodies. My eyes met his-curved into half-moon smiles-and I shouted, "Seo Dawon!"
Though his arms and legs were littered with bites, Seo Dawon raised his head towards me.
I held out my hand, maintaining eye contact, "Get out of there quickly!"
Even if he was undead-even if he had some unknown plan, I couldn't help but plead for him to escape from that situation. I couldn't bear to see his body in that state.
At my shout, Dawon smiled, as if he had read my mind. And... Pop-! Starting with the wolf biting his leg, he began to explode the wolves' heads one by one.
The limp wolf carcasses began to be sucked into the slow-moving quicksand. At first glance, the sinking rate seemed slow, but, every time I blinked, another half of a carcass had been dragged into its sandy embrace.
That was when Moon Issak made his move.
Become a member!
TL: My brain to Lee-kyung this entire chapter: Yaaaas! Slay! Queen!