The Predator died trying to absorb the giant eyeball.
Up to that point, there was no problem. It had been my original target anyway. If the target kills itself for you, who would complain?
The problem was what would happen after this.
I had seen too much to simply rejoice that the bastard had collapsed.
‘Touching the giant eyeball doesn’t end with death. At this rate…….’
Rumble—!
The tremors running through the bridge grew stronger and stronger.
…A precursor to the appearance of the entity beneath the Han River.
‘…All right, stay calm.’
The situation was damnably troublesome, but I couldn’t lose my reason.
There was a brief interval before the entity beneath the Han River appeared.
Of course, “brief” meant only a few seconds at most, so the time given to me was no more than an instant.
In that instant, I had to lead my team safely to the gate.
I shouted at once.
“We need to escape! Run to the gate!”
Fortunately, my teammates followed my order immediately without complaint.
It was partly thanks to the trust that had formed between us, but also because they were all at least capable of judging that something serious was happening.
“What about that thing!”
“Ignore the Predator! Prioritize escaping through the gate!”
The Predator lay sprawled right in the middle of the path toward the gate.
If there was one trait monsters like this shared, it was their endless vitality, but this time was different.
The Predator was dead. As evidence, even the dust clouds presumed to be the Predator’s special ability had settled.
‘About… 20 meters left.’
Beyond the open space created by the giant eyeball, the gate was visible.
The battle with the Predator had widened the distance somewhat, but in absolute terms, it was still short.
Even in full combat gear, if we sprinted with all our might, we could reach it within ten seconds.
If we just kept running like this, like this…….
‘…Is it possible?’
I recalled the future I had seen through the Precognitive Eye.
The entity beneath the Han River had burst out barely five seconds after I attempted purification.
Rumblerumblerumble—!
The tremors grew even more severe.
Cracks were splitting through the bridge with sharp snaps; it seemed to have reached its limit.
Though it was close enough that I could fall forward and touch it, in that moment, I looked at those twenty steps as though they were infinitely far away.
‘……Damn it.’
This wouldn’t work.
The bastard would appear faster than my teammates could escape.
At this rate, getting out before the entity beneath the Han River appeared was impossible.
In other words, I would have to endure it to some extent.
Then…….
“Don’t stop, keep running!”
While shouting that to my teammates, I stopped moving.
From here on, I needed to focus, even if it meant stopping in place.
A mental attack on the level of the entity beneath the Han River was something I could withstand with my own rank.
But what about the other team members? No matter how much they had the sacred art of mental protection, if that thing appeared in person, there was a high chance they wouldn’t be able to endure with the current level of strength.
They needed stronger, more certain protection.
Two methods came to mind. One was to use a protection-type secret art, Makeshift Sanctuary.
It was a secret art I had yet to test, but its effect was supposedly certain.
‘But that won’t do.’
As it was a secret art, it clearly boasted a powerful effect, but the time required to cast it was far too long.
In this situation, I’d be swept away before I could use it.
Then the remaining method was…….
‘Strengthen the protective sacred art already placed on my teammates.’
It was the fastest and most reliable option.
It wasn’t impossible. Sacred arts didn’t always produce a fixed absolute value, and I had reserve power amounting to a full two pairs of wings.
I saw the six lines connected to my divine power.
The thickest one was mine, and the other thin, faint threads were connected to my teammates.
The sacred art of mental protection was formed based on these lines.
The thicker the line, the stronger its power.
But I couldn’t strengthen everyone’s protection to the same degree as mine.
This wasn’t something that increased simply because I wanted it to; it was closer to dividing up a fixed total amount.
‘So I’ll drastically reduce the mental protection on myself.’
The rank of my soul had already grown greatly. I probably wouldn’t be unscathed, but I should be able to resist its mental attacks to some extent.
Whoosh—!
The mental protection on me thinned until it was almost meaningless, and the lines connected to my teammates grew darker.
Only then did my teammates seem to notice that I had stopped and looked back.
It was an urgent situation, sure, but they were slow to grasp things. Still…….
“Keep running!”
There was no time to hesitate.
I too began to move again as I shouted—
—Thud!
A heavy sound rang out like a judge’s gavel.
I felt it instinctively. The bastard had arrived.
Reflexively, I turned my gaze toward the source of the sound.
Crackle.
And discovered the half-torn Human Barrier.
Of course, the Human Barrier seemed to possess regenerative power, as it instantly restored its form, but…….
‘It smashed through that?’
That fact alone was beyond shocking.
It was an ultimate barrier that even the judgment-type secret art, Divine Pointer, couldn’t so much as scratch.
I did not have long to wonder.
And finally.
[----!]
The entity beneath the Han River revealed itself.
“…Urgh!”
“Wh-what is that…….”
The moment that thing appeared, I immediately shut my eyes.
It wasn’t because it was unpleasant to look at like other monsters. It was just that even a brief glimpse made my head ring, so I judged that merely looking at it would likely place a considerable burden on the mind.
“Close your eyes and run! Don’t pay attention to anything!”
“What about you, Angel!”
“I said don’t pay attention to anything! The faster you get across, the less of a burden it’ll be on me!”
My teammates seemed hesitant, worried about me falling behind, but after hearing what I said next, they ran.
For me, it was actually less of a burden if they escaped to the next area.
That meant I could allocate mental protection back to myself.
Tap tap tap—!
The sound of my teammates running reached my ears.
Fortunately, the protective authority I had strengthened seemed to be effective; no one appeared to have fallen behind.
Then at some point, the sound of running stopped.
“…We’ll be waiting! You have to come safely!”
“Got it!”
The sound gradually faded.
At the same time, I felt the mental protection allocated to me gradually increase.
At the moment when all five other connections were finally severed.
Flash—!
Only then did I open my eyes.
There were about five steps left.
Now, there truly wasn’t much distance remaining.
…But wasn’t it about time for it to attack?
The moment I looked back in sudden unease.
[----!]
Perhaps filtered by the sacred art, I could not see the true form of the entity beneath the Han River.
It clearly had a shape, yet it felt as though my brain refused to accept it.
But one thing was certain.
The bastard was opening its maw.
That much, I could tell.
Wait, fuck, if this happens……!
“Wait, just wait!”
In desperation, I flailed and shouted.
Judging by how even the Human Barrier had been torn apart, I had no means of stopping that.
The gate was right in front of me. I couldn’t die here……!
[----]
…I couldn’t.
‘……Huh?’
Something was strange. The maw it had opened was now closed.
…I had no idea what was going on, but for now, it was an opportunity.
If I immediately went out through the gate and escaped…….
[----!]
The entity beneath the Han River let out a monstrous cry.
A powerful intuition told me that if I carelessly moved my feet now, I would die.
Even if I succeeded in crossing into the next area, that entity would tear through even the Human Barrier and chase after me.
I must not act against that thing recklessly.
While my body froze from that momentary intuition, the bastard began to act again.
[-----.]
All I heard was its incomprehensible whisper, something that could not even be called language.
At first glance, it was disorderly, like a collection of miscellaneous noises, but having experienced this phenomenon once through the Precognitive Eye, I understood.
That thing was speaking to me right now.
‘As I saw through the Precognitive Eye… it had the will to communicate with me!’
When I died and could not give any answer, the entity beneath the Han River had only then seemed to give up and attacked me.
If I could communicate with it here, maybe I could escape.
[----!]
…If I could communicate with it.
‘How am I supposed to interpret that!’
I wasn’t even sure if it could be called a language.
There didn’t seem to be any rules in those sounds.
So…….
‘I have to pretend I’m communicating.’
Seeing how it actually stopped when I told it to, it seemed to understand my words to some extent.
I had to somehow give it the impression that we were having a conversation.
“Ahem, I see.”
I placed a hand on my chin and nodded, pretending to be serious.
[----.]
“I think so too. I completely agree.”
[----!]
…Was that not it?
The bastard grew angry and opened its maw wide again.
No, no! If even body language, the universal language, doesn’t work, how is a conversation supposed to happen?
I’d at least tried to get through this with the all-agreement method, but it seemed I’d only provoked its anger instead.
The situation was one touch away from exploding.
I had to rack my brains quickly.
Why had this bastard gone out of its way to speak to me? What did it want to gain by conversing with me……?
At that moment, a single phrase flashed through my mind.
[Is the world still worth living in?]
This was it.
I instinctively realized that this was the true nature of that question.
Even if my intuition was wrong, it had to be this. If not, I had no next move left…!
“The world, you see. It really is a damn mess.”
When I opened my mouth, the bastard closed its maw again.
…It seemed to have worked to some degree. Now everything depended on my mouth.
“Envying others is common, and it’s a world where you can’t do your job well and still receive recognition for it.”
In truth, I had never thought deeply about such a topic.
I simply made something up after seeing the mimicry beasts and the soldiers.
The mimicry beasts that coveted the skin of others, and the national army that, limited by their abilities, had chosen to save only those they could save.
If, as I expected, that entity originated from suicides, then it would need a story it could relate to.
“Honestly, it isn’t exactly a world worth living in. Isn’t that right?”
From their perspective, it surely must have been. Otherwise, they would not have made such an extreme choice.
As my thoughts reached that point, one idea suddenly came to mind.
In traditional Christianity, suicide was an unforgivable sin.
If I were an ordinary angel, my gaze toward that entity would not have been kind.
But even after meeting demons and meeting God, I still remained irreligious.
So instead of condemning the monster, I recited something else.
“Even so, you make it worth living in, somehow.”
The entity beneath the Han River fell silent.
But that silence did not last long.
[----?]
To me, that whisper sounded like a question asking whether that was possible.
However, it gave me no time to answer.
Instead, with its mouth wide open, it began to descend toward Hannam Bridge.
‘…No, why?’
Hadn’t I played along enough?
For an instant, that question arose, but then I realized.
I could now move my body freely. That entity no longer intended to harm me.
Then why was it descending with its maw open? The answer was that its speed was markedly slow.
In other words, it had given me a grace period to cross the gate.
“…Then I won’t refuse.”
I immediately ran toward the gate.
Since I had originally been only five steps away, it did not take long.
Whoosh—!
The door leading to the next area swallowed me.