My Self-Indulgent Skill Book - Chapter 051
Chapter 51
'Damn it.'
When the black smoke cleared and revealed the clones of Yusonghwa, I cursed inwardly.
Aside from her armor being slightly charred, Yusonghwa was perfectly fine.
'Sinchusim!'
Looking down, I saw the tanker Sinchusim and the healer Andonghyeon sticking close together. Even though he was standing still, Sinchusim's face was contorted in pain, and Andonghyeon had pressed his staff against him.
'Just like last time, Sinchusim must be absorbing the damage.'
The situation was extremely unfavorable.
Judging by Yusonghwa's clone ability, they were utilizing bound items they hadn't used before.
Unlike last time when it was seven against seven, we were now outnumbered, and O Seyeon couldn't demonstrate her full strength because she didn't have her usual sword.
I had neither a skill to escape this crisis, nor the time to create one.
'A way out of this... Ah.'
One thing.
A way to change this situation came to mind.
"O Seyeon!"
I shouted as I fell toward the ground alongside the Yusonghwas.
"That thing from before! Pick it up again!"
The Hunters of the Overlord Guild, including O Seyeon who had been fighting the melee dealers Gim Ujin and Gang Ibong, all turned to look at me.
"I'll definitely bring you back to normal, so hurry!"
O Seyeon seemed to frown, then turned her back on the Hunters she had been fighting and ran.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Gim Ujin and Gang Ibong immediately chased after O Seyeon.
Gang Ibong caught up to O Seyeon in an instant, thanks to his bound item increasing his speed to double his usual pace.
O Seyeon stored her two daggers in her inventory and pulled out a knife with a red blade, aiming it at Gang Ibong.
Fwoosh!
"Ugh!?"
Gang Ibong's body flinched before he rolled to the side. The flames that had grazed past his face flew up into the sky and died out.
"What the...! Huh?"
The enraged Gang Ibong tried to rush at O Seyeon, only to freeze.
O Seyeon was holding yet another weapon, different from the one just moments ago.
O Seyeon's eyes turned increasingly red as she gripped the jet-black longsword.
[Hoh. How commendable. Have you come to offer your soul to me once more?]
The Demonic Sword of Sariosha spoke to O Seyeon.
'Shut up, chunibyou sword.'
[Ch-chunibyou?]
'Before, I tried to escape the sword's domination to stop it from rampaging, but...'
O Seyeon found it increasingly difficult to think. Her head was filled with images of cutting something to pieces.
"Hey, why are you just standing the... huh?"
Gim Ujin, arriving late, called out to the frozen Gang Ibong, only to stiffen himself.
Horns were sprouting from O Seyeon's head.
"Don't blame me if you die, I Hwajin."
The moment her figure vanished from Gang Ibong and Gim Ujin's sight, blood burst from both of their necks simultaneously.
"Waaagh!"
The healer Andonghyeon's scream echoed. Sinchusim, who had been standing beside him, collapsed while spraying blood from his entire body.
It seemed he had taken damage exceeding what he could endure in a single blow.
Yusonghwa, Jeong Cheonyeol, and Im Jiyeon, who had been fighting me, were so startled by the sudden development that they turned their gazes that way.
'O Seyeon did it.'
I sensed the whips loosening and moved immediately.
"Chukji!"
Biting down and enduring the pain as though blades were slicing through the tendons throughout my entire body, I leaped upward. Below me, the four Yusonghwas were pulled up with flustered expressions.
"Hup!"
I swung my spear exactly as I had before.
Kwa-bang!
This time, flames and lightning struck all four Yusonghwas directly.
After landing, I cut the whips binding my body with my spear. The whips, having lost their magic power simultaneously with their master's loss of consciousness, were severed easily like thread touching scissor blades.
"Damn it!"
I saw Im Jiyeon below aiming her staff at me.
Srrk!
A horrifying sound rang out at that moment.
When I looked toward the source, goosebumps rose on my skin.
Andonghyeon had been severed in half. The two pieces of his corpse fell with a thud at the feet of the horned O Seyeon.
"Wh-what is that?!"
Jeong Cheonyeol said in a voice like a scream.
"Ugh..."
Sweat was visible on Im Jiyeon's face, seemingly flustered as well.
O Seyeon glared at Jeong Cheonyeol and began walking toward him, dragging her sword.
"D-don't come near!"
Jeong Cheonyeol raised his cane and fired magic bullets. However, O Seyeon swung her sword and cut down the magic bullets flying toward her.
"Kyaaaak!"
O Seyeon let out a monstrous cry and lunged forward.
Just as I thought he was undoubtedly going to die, I saw a shadow cutting in beside Jeong Cheonyeol.
Clang!
The sword swung by O Seyeon was blocked by a semi-transparent barrier.
Im Jiyeon had quickly created a defensive barrier in front of Jeong Cheonyeol and herself.
"Jeong Cheonyeol. I'll take care of things here. You grab Yusonghwa and Sinchusim and get down the mountain."
"Y-yes!"
When Jeong Cheonyeol swung his cane, Yusonghwa and Sinchusim, who had been collapsed on the ground, were enveloped in spheres of magic power and floated upward.
'He could do that too, huh.'
I fired a fireball at Jeong Cheonyeol's back as he tried to escape with the two of them.
"Kuk!"
Jeong Cheonyeol collapsed forward, and Yusonghwa and Sinchusim fell to the ground.
"Did you think I'd just let you go?"
Im Jiyeon looked back and forth between me and O Seyeon with a look of utter defeat.
"Kuaaak!"
O Seyeon charged again, raising her sword. She was targeting Im Jiyeon.
Thinking everything was practically over, I was merely contemplating how to calm that demon down and return her to human form after she felled Im Jiyeon.
"Arkam!"
Therefore, I was considerably taken aback by what happened the next moment.
When Im Jiyeon shouted that, O Seyeon, who had been swinging her sword, was flung far away as though struck by a truck.
She flew with such force that the tree she collided with cracked.
'This won't be easy.'
Biting my lip, I looked at O Seyeon, who had collapsed and wasn't getting up, whether unconscious or not.
Im Jiyeon.
The Hunter whom I had been unable to bookmark during the previous confrontation with the Overlord Guild.
I didn't know what her stats were, what skills she possessed. I couldn't even tell whether what she had just used was a skill or a bound item.
'The problem is that Im Jiyeon took down that demon-possessed O Seyeon in a single blow.'
Without further hesitation, I used [Chukji] to approach the fallen O Seyeon. Then, lifting the unconscious O Seyeon, I used [Chukji] once more.
'I need to get out of here.'
If I rushed in without a plan and ended up like O Seyeon, it would be over.
"Kuaah..."
Because I had used [Chukji] several times while carrying another person, my strength kept draining away along with the pain.
Resolving to create a skill that could move two or more people together once I reached a safe place, I used [Chukji] until I couldn't endure it any longer.
"The worst."
Im Jiyeon muttered.
"Only three of us survived."
Besides Andonghyeon, who had died after being split in half, Sinchusim, who had collapsed vomiting blood, had also drawn his last breath.
'To think this happened despite using bound items that enhance healing and defense capabilities.'
The other two were in better shape, at least.
Gim Ujin and Gang Ibong, who had chased after O Seyeon, were in such a horrific state that recovering their corpses would be impossible.
"For now, we descend from here. We'll decide what to do after that."
After speaking to Jeong Cheonyeol, Im Jiyeon began descending the mountain.
Jeong Cheonyeol, his face gloomy, followed behind Im Jiyeon with Yusonghwa—still in a coma—inside a sphere of magic power.
'Since the operation that had to be carried out in secret has failed, there's no future whether we return or not. In that case...'
A murderous intent seeped into Im Jiyeon's eyes as she caressed the ring on her finger.
***
"Kuaaaaaah! Huff!"
The cursed sword fell from the hand of the awakened O Seyeon.
I closed the lid of the bottle containing Crook's Potion.
"Are you conscious?"
"Yeah."
"You were completely like a monster. Four Hunters fell at your hands."
O Seyeon covered her mouth with her hand and retched.
"Don't say that. I don't really want to remember it."
"What kind of Hunter fusses over something like that?"
"I don't like it, period."
As if unwilling to even look at the sword, O Seyeon kicked it and pushed it far away with her foot. The sword collided with the wall of the ruined apartment complex's underground parking lot.
I approached Sariosha's Demonic Sword and grasped it in my hand.
"Hey! What are you doing!"
O Seyeon yelled.
"Don't worry."
I nonchalantly put the demonic sword into my inventory.
"...How did you do that?"
"Secret."
At my words, O Seyeon got annoyed.
Just now, I had used a skill to grab the demonic sword.
[Transport].
It was a skill I had created while O Seyeon was unconscious, capable of moving a selected target without any penalties.
Originally, I had made it to carry other people while using [Chukji], but upon further thought, it turned out I could also touch cursed items like this with it.
"By the way, why on earth were those Overlord Guild bastards targeting us? You didn't happen to steal their bound items or something, did you?"
O Seyeon shook her head.
"It's not because of bound items."
"Then what?"
"What do you think is the common point between you and me?"
I wondered if she was suddenly playing a riddle game, but the answer came out quickly.
"That we're Listeners?"
"Yeah. They're looking for Listeners."
"Why?"
Suddenly, O Seyeon clamped her mouth shut.
"Don't tell me you don't know?"
"...Yeah. I don't know."
Damn it. Stuck at the crucial part.
'Anyway, it's certain that the Overlord Guild is targeting us because we're Listeners, right?'
I stared intently at O Seyeon.
"What?"
"Hey, join our guild."
"What?"
O Seyeon made an expression as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"You don't have a proper sword right now. It'll be hard if you wander alone and get ambushed, won't it?"
"That's true, but..."
"And if you officially join our guild, the Overlord Guild won't be able to touch you openly."
"What do you mean?"
"Have you ever heard of the Atlas Guild?"
"Nope. I'm not interested in guilds."
'Yeah, you look the type.'
This girl named O Seyeon probably definitely had no friends either.
"Then I'll explain the details later. Let's move for now."
As I approached and touched her body, O Seyeon hastily stepped back.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't misunderstand. I'm just trying to 'Transport' you. To get to a populated area as quickly as possible."
I hoisted O Seyeon onto my back—she made an expression that showed she was extremely reluctant—and used [Chukji] to escape the ruined apartment complex.
Having arrived at the area with the train station, I bought tickets heading to Seoul.
'Surely those Overlord Guild bastards wouldn't charge in where there are witnesses.'
I looked around just in case, but I couldn't see any sign of them.
***
"Ms. Jiyeon, are you really going to do it?"
Jeong Cheonyeol asked, breaking into a cold sweat.
"You know well that we can't return like this, don't you?"
Unlike the nervous Jeong Cheonyeol, Im Jiyeon answered in a calm tone. However, her finger continued to caress her ring.
"Jiyeon unni is right. If we go back empty-handed, we're finished."
Yusonghwa said so and bit her lip.
"I think we only have one chance. Let's move."
At Im Jiyeon's words, the two nodded and began to act.