Chapter 19
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Companion II
Shin No-a
4
-G҉r҉u҈g҉u҉w҉i҈r҉u҈g҉u҉o҉!
The Ten-Legs rushed fiercely toward us. Every time its feet, composed of countless tentacles, stepped on the ground, the surroundings shook with a thunderous boom. Old Man Sho and my shoulders bounced endlessly up and down.
Strictly speaking, the Ten-Legs wasn't stepping with feet. If one looked closely with enhanced vision, the thing walked using countless hands.
Something resembling human hands and arms.
Every time thousands, tens of thousands of arms stepped on the ground, red flesh and blood spurted with a wet smack. The joints crunched and bones were scraped away.
But it didn't matter to the creature. New arms were endlessly regenerating from the severed forearms.
A long blood trail was laid out like a red carpet along the path the Ten-Legs took to approach us. Blood flowed across thousands of palm prints.
That giant red carpet was the symbol of the Ten-Legs. That's why overseas, they sometimes called the Ten-Legs the Red Carpet.
I muttered.
"Well, looks like a popular star has graced us with their presence."
"Ready?"
Old Man Sho asked in his clumsy Korean pronunciation. Already, everyone in the vanguard including myself had drawn their respective weapons.
I glanced back at my vice commander Yoo Ji-won. With a map spread on the table, the vice commander nodded. A signal that all preparations were complete.
I nodded as well.
"Yes. Let's finish this quickly and go eat."
I was the first to step forward.
Six hundred members of the Decisive Battle Unit followed behind me.
Though not as much as the Ten-Legs, the footsteps of six hundred people carrying the weight of life and death created vibrations worth fighting for.
At that same moment.
"―Ah―."
Song rang out from behind our backs.
Dang Seo-rin, guild master of Samcheon Guild, leader of the Korean Guild Alliance, someone also called the Witch of Train Stations because of her peculiar taste for always visiting train stations.
However, not as someone's leader but simply as one Awakened standing on the battlefield, Dang Seo-rin had her true face.
"―Ah―ah―."
A witch who manifested great magic through singing songs and poetry.
The originator and sole user of the technique called Spell Song Chanting, which activated 'spells' through 'song.'
A figure who had become a myth to those who awakened magic-type abilities. That was Dang Seo-rin on the battlefield.
She herself humbly claimed she wasn't an originator but merely an imitator.
But the power itself was never humble.
"Ah―――ah―――ah."
At first, Dang Seo-rin's voice started as a single thread, then at some point divided into two, three, four melodies, embroidering the skies above the devastated Seoul.
An a cappella composed solely of her voice.
The principle of the Spell Song Chanting magic Dang Seo-rin developed was simple.
First, she initially manifested 'Repetition Magic' through song. Repetition Magic was a kind of recorder. It was a magic that simply repeated and played back the sounds pronounced by the magician, so by itself there was nothing special about it.
Dang Seo-rin discovered possibility in this insignificant magic.
First, she left the Repetition Magic to continue ringing through empty space. Then from its center, she chanted a completely new magic layered on top. The Repetition Magic would then play back even the newly added parts.
First melody, repetition.
Second melody, amplification.
Third melody, reflex enhancement.
Six minutes after the battle began, the third melody finally began enveloping hundreds of combat members.
The Decisive Battle Unit, who would have had their torsos severed and necks flown off from the monster's tentacle lashes at any moment, blocked the Ten-Legs' attacks once, twice.
"―Ah――ah――."
"Ah―――ah―――ah."
"――Ah――."
Dang Seo-rin's melody didn't stop there.
Just as the fourth melody was about to be layered and activated, the Ten-Legs, having detected the change in atmosphere, turned its body.
Having realized we deliberately lured it here, it was trying to flee without hesitation. As its body larger than a building twisted in an instant, Awakened ones nearby were scattered in all directions.
"Emil!"
"Oh-nya!"
Old Man Sho, who had learned the word 'oh-nya' before any other Korean, drew his sword and charged. At that truly reliable back, I unconsciously felt relief―or not.
The flight was a fake. That damned clever monster had planted six of its tentacles underground in advance.
As soon as Old Man Sho rushed in, thorns burst from the ground and punched neat holes through his body. Blood gushed from the gray storm clouds. Instant death.
"Shit!"
Dang Seo-rin's magic chant ended before it could even reach the fifth melody. The Decisive Battle Unit was breached, the defensive line collapsed, and Dang Seo-rin, the core of our operation, knelt with countless holes throughout her body.
The last thing I saw was the Ten-Legs opening a skewered omakase restaurant on the plains. The Red Carpet was merely an ornament for admission to its shop.
6th iteration ended.
7th iteration start. Again.
"Emil!"
"Oh-nya!"
'Oh-nya' was truly a mysterious Korean word. It meant 'yes,' it also meant 'I know too, you bastard,' and it also meant 'stop your nagging.' The Swordmaster overlaid all those meanings and swept the ground with sword qi.
-K҉r҈u҉r҉a҉p҉a҉h҈k҉a҉o҉!
The thorns潜伏ing underground were all severed at once.
The false flight was seen through. Filled with rage, the Ten-Legs harvested human lives using its tentacles, those things resembling human arms and hands.
But it couldn't harvest the song in the air.
"Ah――ah――ah―――ah."
The melody continued. It was added. It resonated.
Every time her a cappella tried to embrace one more tone color, we had to give up one life.
7th iteration, end. 8th iteration, start. 8th iteration, end. 9th iteration, start.
Inside the eternally repeating da capo, Old Man Sho and I ran out. We charged. The Ten-Legs fought against our sword strikes.
The Ten-Legs' massive body suddenly inflated like a balloon. As if the tentacles it had revealed so far were merely a taste, thousands of thorns stretched out simultaneously from inside the monster's body.
9th iteration, end.
"――Ah――."
10th iteration, start.
Inside the eternally repeating da capo, Old Man Sho and I ran out. We charged. The Ten-Legs fought against our sword strikes. And before the creature could inflate its body, we dove into the Ten-Legs' embrace.
-G҉r҉u҉o҈k҉u҉p҉a҈h҈k҉!
Old Man Sho from the left. Me from the right.
In the repeating spiral waltz, I learned sword from Old Man Sho. I lived not as the vice guild master of Samcheon Guild but as Old Man Sho's direct disciple.
To that monster it might have been the same repetition, but to me it wasn't. Every time our time flowed by a span, Dang Seo-rin's song continued that much longer.
First melody, repetition.
Second melody, amplification.
Third melody, reflex enhancement.
Fourth melody, weapon durability enhancement.
Fifth melody, stamina recovery.
Sixth melody, mental awakening.
A soul-stirring aria was chanted under the gray sky.
Squad 1 of the Decisive Battle Unit swapped places with Squad 2, and the wounded endlessly fell back. Despite this, Old Man Sho and I didn't retreat a single step from the front lines.
Dang Seo-rin as well.
We were all devoting our lives.
When the sixth melody finally began to repeat, her song changed. The melody that had been embracing us suddenly bared its claws and rushed at the Ten-Legs.
Like a red thorn.
Seventh melody, weakness curse.
Eighth melody, blindness curse.
Ninth melody, sensory impairment curse.
The Ten-Legs' massive body grew dull. As the monster swung its arms, abandoned buildings collapsed with a crash. Perhaps that was the creature's flinch.
"Old man!"
"I know! You wretch!"
We tenaciously clung on.
The title I used to call Old Man Sho changed, and the way Old Man Sho responded to me in Korean changed. Now without exchanging plans, Old Man Sho and I cut down the Ten-Legs' tentacles with perfect timing.
The Ten-Legs fought against our sword strikes. But it was useless. More and more, our blades cut the Ten-Legs' arms faster than new tentacles could emerge.
Though the creature took steps with thousands of arms, it was merely one step, and we walked with the legs given to each of us yet always ran two steps.
And so.
"Ah―――ah―――ah."
"Ah――ah――ah―――ah."
"―Ah――ah――."
"――Ah――."
Tenth melody, petrification curse.
To the Ten-Legs with endlessly regenerating tentacles, it was an almost meaningless curse. But to the creature now with few thorns remaining, it was a fatal blow.
The dozens of thorns rushing at Old Man Sho and me all turned to stone at once. Of course, it was merely a momentary hesitation. If 5 seconds passed like this, no, even 3 seconds, tentacles would sprout again and try to pierce us.
Dang Seo-rin had been singing to give us those 3 seconds.
We swung our swords.
Where all the tentacles had disappeared, the Ten-Legs' two eyeballs were hidden. They were both eyeballs and hearts. A mana organ that granted virtual immortality to the Ten-Legs, as even if one heart was destroyed, the remaining hearts would immediately regenerate.
"Aaaaaah!"
Old Man Sho and I shouted as we charged.
The sound we made wasn't bizarre like the Ten-Legs' roar. It wasn't beautiful like Dang Seo-rin's chant. The duet of two regressors was a mess. If it were a song, it was the height of tone-deafness.
But somehow, perhaps it was just my imagination, but for a moment I felt our crude shouts harmonized with Dang Seo-rin's aria.
A chance crossing of harmonies.
-K҉p҉u҉r҉a҉k҉k҉a҉h҉t҉a҉!
And the sole remaining discordance in this world.
Toward that noise, the monster's heartbeat, the epicenter of vibration, we both simultaneously thrust our swords without distinction.
Blood spurted.
Old Man Sho's sword tip pierced the left eyeball-left heart, and my blade split the right eyeball-right heart.
-――――――!!
A scream erupted.
Even while spewing blood, countless tentacles were just stretching out from the Ten-Legs' body. The ends of the tentacles assaulted right before my eyes. But I didn't fear being pierced, and just pushed the sword tip driven into the eyeball-heart even stronger.
It stopped―
The tentacle that had approached right before my eyes halted. The tentacle resembling a human arm had five fingers. As if having a convulsive seizure, the five fingers spread to their limit.
1 second passed, 2 seconds passed.
As music fades and the final swimming time is endlessly extended, we too, with swords buried in the Ten-Legs' heart, silently watched the monster.
And suddenly, I felt a desire I couldn't endure without uttering these words.
"Is it over?"
Old Man Sho was startled.
"Hey, you fool! If you say that line―!"
The Ten-Legs' five fingers burst. Flesh tore apart. As they burst, they spewed red blood.
The fingers, arms, countless tentacles burst and flowed down one after another.
There was no twist.
The massive monster that had roamed this world laying down red roads drowned itself in a red puddle.
"……."
Old Man Sho, suddenly drenched in blood, blankly looked down. Then looked at me.
Finally, he turned around.
The moment we turned our backs, a cheer greater than the earthquake the Ten-Legs had created shook the heavens.
Hundreds died but still thousands survived, clenching their fists toward us, embracing each other, jumping like mad. They ran over, grabbed my head, and tore my shirt. Laughter and tears mingled.
"We did it! We actually did it!"
Even Old Man Sho embraced me and wailed.
"Oh my! Doctor! Thank you! It's all thanks to you! If I were alone, I couldn't have made it this far!"
It was the kind of words Old Man Sho would never normally say.
I also choked up and rambled similar words, but I won't bother describing exactly what I said.
I had no hobby of documenting my own dark history.
[The 'Saintess of National Salvation' blesses your victory.]
[The 'Lord of the Red Horse' shows interest in your martial prowess.]
[The 'Conqueror of the Alps' marvels at your achievement.]
The Constellations also sent messages as if they had been waiting. This was still an iteration where I hadn't yet discovered the Saintess's true identity. Like other Awakened ones, I could purely accept the Constellations' congratulations.
One wave of enthusiasm passed.
Only then did Dang Seo-rin, the overall commander of this operation, slowly approached me.
"To think you'd draw out the tenth melody."
Perhaps from singing so passionately, Dang Seo-rin's voice was hoarse.
She looked happy but also smiled as if somewhat troubled.
"That's amazing. I really didn't think we'd actually win."
"How many minutes did we hold out?"
"41 minutes."
Dang Seo-rin's forehead was wet with sweat. Her hair was disheveled with strands sticking to her face. Still, compared to my wretched state, she belonged to the quite tidy side.
Even more so compared to the ends she met from the 4th to 9th iterations.
"In the end, we took back Seoul."
"Strictly speaking, south of the Han River."
"That area always had the highest property prices anyway, right? Good for us. We're land barons now."
Despite achieving an enormous feat, Dang Seo-rin spoke casually as if she'd come for a stroll. At that brazenness, I snorted.
"Now it's worthless land nowhere else in Korea."
"Hmm. Hungry? Any injuries? Let's go eat."
Then Old Man Sho spoke up.
"What's the menu? Parboiled octopus? I can't eat that."
The old man who had spouted embarrassing lines earlier had vanished somewhere, and now a German curmudgeon grumbling about everything as usual stood there.
"Tsk. I just don't get why you people boil and eat that disgustingly looking Cthulhu kraken."
"It's okay. To tell you now, I don't like parboiled octopus that much either."
I was surprised.
"Huh? Really?"
"Yeah."
Dang Seo-rin smiled brightly.
"Actually, I prefer takowasabi and highballs."
Alias, Red Carpet. The Red Gourmet.
An active-type monster that established territory south of the Han River. Solo-acting type. Amorphous.
Estimated victims approximately 436,000 regardless of civilian or military. Estimated Awakened deaths approximately 950. Injured and missing persons impossible to estimate.
Official designation Ten-Legs.
Subjugation complete.
5
For reference, the team dinner menu that day was pork belly and soju.
There was no Japanese restaurant nearby.
I'm an infinite regressor, telling a story.