50
Although Lee Da-young was relentlessly pressing the offensive, the entity that appeared to be the culprit of this incident had not allowed a single attack to land thus far.
At first glance, one might think the culprit, who was blocking every attack from a standstill, was overwhelmingly superior in strength, but Baek Woo-jin did not think so.
'Fortunately, it seems that gloomy bastard is also at his limit just blocking.'
Lee Da-young leapt about in all directions, scattering strikes with her whip, while the mysterious entity defended against every attack with dark energy currents from its spot.
However, looking closely, one could see that despite considerable time having passed, the mysterious entity remained in the exact same posture it had been murmuring in, having halted all movement.
If its strength were truly overwhelmingly superior, there would be absolutely no reason to leave an annoying pest buzzing around. Especially if it was in the middle of some important ritual.
'I need to figure out a way while Lee Da-young is holding out.'
"Hey!! Ahead!! Ahead!!"
Running while keeping his eyes on Lee Da-young, Baek Woo-jin turned his gaze forward at Hong Yeon-ha's urgent voice.
A familiar-faced man was running toward them, holding a drawn sword.
He was the leader of this raid party.
'Subdue him?'
Don't make me laugh.
That kind of thing is only possible when there's an overwhelming difference in strength.
No matter how much his body had been consumed by an evil spirit, the opponent was a veteran C-rank Hunter.
In a normal confrontation, a Hunter who had just reached D-rank couldn't do a thing even if he twisted his entire body—there existed a massive wall between them.
"Five seconds. Hold on by yourself."
"What?!"
There was no time for a lengthy explanation, so Baek Woo-jin immediately threw Hong Yeon-ha, whom he had been carrying under his arm, to the side. He heard Hong Yeon-ha's short scream as she rolled far away, but that didn't matter.
'The chance is one.'
Baek Woo-jin threw the halberd he was gripping with all his weight toward the leader who had been consumed by the evil spirit.
Clang!
Perhaps because he hadn't expected a weapon to be thrown, the leader barely deflected the halberd, but his speed noticeably decreased as a result.
"Kill, you……"
Whether it was killing intent flowing from the evil spirit that had consumed him or his true nature hidden deep within his chest, there was no way to know. However, the leader who revealed his murderous intent was considerably flustered when Baek Woo-jin, who had been charging at him, disappeared in that fleeting opening.
Thwack!
Along with the sound of a watermelon shattering, the leader whose back of the head was smashed collapsed face-down.
"Haa, haaa…."
Baek Woo-jin, shaking off the blood on the newly acquired halberd, put it back into the item box and quickly picked up his original halberd that had fallen to the ground.
'I understand now why Hunters are so desperate for rune stones.'
The situation just now was simple.
He created a fleeting opening with the thrown halberd, used that opening to kill the monkey bastard and obtained a rune stone, then used the night-walking skill acquired through it to hide his presence and strike from behind.
Then he took out the new halberd he had stored in the item box and simply struck the back of the head!
Just in case, Baek Woo-jin swung the halberd to cleanly sever the leader's neck before running to retrieve Hong Yeon-ha, whom he had thrown.
"Are you okay?"
"Does this look okay to you?"
"Seeing as you're cursing, seems like your head has cooled down a bit."
"Crazy bastard."
Perhaps because she had rolled through the snow, Hong Yeon-ha had actually regained her composure. Tucking her under his arm again, he dashed toward the woman who was still in prayer.
"I'm sorry."
As he ran toward the woman, two men and women in red uniforms lunged at him, but Hong Yeon-ha, who had finished casting in advance, spread her hand and a massive fireball burst forth, burning the two young Hunters belonging to the Red Lotus.
Fortunately, there was no further interference after that.
Because there were no more victims whose bodies had been consumed alive.
"Damn, they really did everything."
Baek Woo-jin stabbed his halberd into one of the piles of corpses forming a circle around the semi-transparent barrier, creating a space.
Thud! Thud!
Arriving in front of the semi-transparent barrier, Baek Woo-jin set Hong Yeon-ha down beside him and tapped the barrier with moderate force using the shaft of the halberd he held.
"Hey!! Over there—!!"
There was no guarantee that his voice would reach inside, but right now he had to do something to wake the woman praying in there.
"……."
"She's up!"
Fortunately, before he had even shouted a few times, the woman opened her eyes. The woman, who had been kneeling in the direction where the mysterious entity stood, slowly turned her head to look this way.
"What exactly is this situation, and who is that human pressing down that robe!!"
Since this wasn't the time to worry about who might be eavesdropping, Baek Woo-jin shouted with enough force to make his sanity seem to have left him.
"……."
The woman briefly glanced at both Lee Da-young, who was engaged in a fierce battle, and the location of the mysterious entity.
"……!!"
"Urk?!"
The surface of the barrier he had been tapping suddenly disappeared, and Baek Woo-jin and Hong Yeon-ha simultaneously tumbled inside.
"Please come further inside."
Quickly recovering his posture, Baek Woo-jin grabbed the back of Hong Yeon-ha's uniform and rolled forward together. Once the two had moved deeper inside, the surface that had momentarily vanished sealed shut again.
"The situation is not favorable, so I shall explain briefly."
With a voice so calmly composed that it made even the momentary urgency fade away, Baek Woo-jin and Hong Yeon-ha let out small breaths and straightened their postures.
"The entity out there is one named Benedict, a bishop candidate of the Evil God Church, and I am Olivia, a saintess candidate. I was tasked with escorting a holy relic to the order and was attacked."
"Wait, hold, hold……!!"
When Olivia, who had introduced herself as a saintess candidate, suddenly lifted the hem of her skirt covering her thighs, Hong Yeon-ha urgently reached out and covered Baek Woo-jin's eyes.
"This is the Holy Grail, one of the order's sacred relics."
"Ah……."
As Olivia carefully lifted the platinum cup with both hands, Hong Yeon-ha hesitated briefly before removing the hand covering Baek Woo-jin's eyes as if nothing had happened.
"That wicked one shall maintain the current situation unless the possibility of taking this Holy Grail completely disappears."
"What do we need to do?"
At Baek Woo-jin's question, Olivia pushed the Holy Grail back under her skirt and held up three fingers.
"One. Hold out until the reinforcements arriving in two days come. However, there is a problem with this. Due to that wicked one's sorcery, this sanctuary cannot be maintained for long."
It seemed that all the corpses forming a wall around the semi-transparent barrier—the sanctuary—were offerings needed to weaken it.
"Two. A method to force Benedict, the root cause of all this, to retreat through force."
For some reason, Olivia briefly looked at Baek Woo-jin before continuing.
"Three. Scatter blood freshly drawn from the heart of one with a noble soul upon the sanctuary. By doing so, the sanctuary can be protected from that wicked one's attacks until reinforcements arrive."
Olivia's gaze turned this time to Lee Da-young, who was fighting outside the sanctuary.
Only then could I understand what had happened on this day before my regression.
Baek Woo-jin's deliberation was not long.
"How long can you maintain the sanctuary?"
"Thanks to the one struggling outside, we can hold out for a day."
"That's more than enough."
The first option was out of the question from the start.
What remained were the second and third.
And the time needed to choose between the two was an hour at most.
'Even if Lee Da-young is a high-rank Hunter, it would be impossible to maintain that state for half a day without rest.'
Therefore, the window to attempt the second option was only while Lee Da-young could perfectly keep that Benedict fellow pinned down.
"Item Box."
Baek Woo-jin took out all the various potions he had received from Geum Na-hee before coming.
"Wait! What are you doing right now?!"
"A desperate struggle to survive."
Shaking off Hong Yeon-ha's dissuasion, Baek Woo-jin opened the caps of all the stat-enhancement potions he had stored in the item box, regardless of type, and poured them all down his throat.
Crack!
"Gah……!!"
Every muscle in his body expanded, and the blood vessels running from his head to his toes burned painfully as if on fire.
It felt as if every muscle in his body had expanded to its limit—to the point where he wondered if his body might burst if poked by something.
Yes, to its very limit.
"You, you……."
Baek Woo-jin roughly wiped away the blood flowing below his nose and stood up. Then he drew out the newly completed halberd from Hong Ik-hyun's introduction.
'It's light.'
When he first held this, he could barely manage the center of gravity even with both hands. But now it felt so light that he couldn't feel much difference from the halberd he had been using before.
"I'm going outside."
"I understand. But before that."
Olivia assumed a prayerful posture, reverently clasping both hands toward Baek Woo-jin.
"Your weapon forward."
"……."
He was barely holding on, feeling like he could collapse at any moment. In a situation where every second was precious, Baek Woo-jin, as if drawn by something, held out the halberd in his hand to Olivia.
"By the Guide's guidance, all things shall return to where they belong."
Vwooom——!!
A faint golden light gathered on the halberd, and as if resonating with something, it began to hum on its own.
"Proceed with what you seek to do."
No further conversation was necessary.
Baek Woo-jin turned around, and the sanctuary in the direction he walked was very briefly deactivated.
Kiiihihiik……!!
The evil spirits prowling around the sanctuary let out screams filled with terror and scattered in all directions as Baek Woo-jin stepped outside.
Vwooom——!!
As ashen magical energy mixed over the golden aura, the halberd in Baek Woo-jin's hand began to cry out as if screaming.
'To where they belong……'
Olivia's prayer echoing in his mind.
And every time that prayer repeated in his head, the ashen magical energy enveloping the halberd swelled in size, and even the faint golden light was diluted by the ash, losing its brilliance.
Kwaaaaack——!!
Gripping the shaft of the screaming halberd with all his might, he stepped forward with his left foot. And his right arm drew back.
"Return to where you belong."
A single flash of light flew toward Benedict.