Episode 33
#33
Choe Sihun was still looking at things with optimistic eyes.
Because he did not know the details about this personnel-limited Gate.
Even though I knew that fact, I could not easily tell him.
No, to be exact, I could not bring myself to say it out loud.
I rationally knew it was not my responsibility, yet I felt an inexplicable pang of conscience.
“Over there! I think it’s over there.”
In the middle of the open sea, our party was moving in the direction Choe Sihun was pointing.
Then Choe Sihun, having discovered something, urgently spoke to me.
“W-wait. Please wait a moment.”
Having found a shipwreck, Choe Sihun asked with a stiff face to slowly descend there.
I nodded and landed briefly on the ship.
“This ship is…….”
“It’s the ship of the party that went in first. I’m sure they’re still…….”
But Choe Sihun’s words could not continue to the end.
—Kriek!
A demonic beast was visible on the ship.
It was a demonic beast with a fish head and limbs, and it held a weapon that looked like a spear. As soon as it spotted Choe Sihun, it charged right at him, but Choe Sihun, his face twisted in rage, drew his sword and severed its neck in a single breath.
—Kiek!
“You monster bastard!!”
There was a separate reason he was so angry.
The spear that the demonic beast had just been holding was a familiar weapon to him.
It was the weapon of the party that had gone in first.
Choe Sihun’s face began to grow urgent.
He immediately opened the door to the captain’s quarters and checked inside.
At that moment.
“…….”
His face hardened in an instant.
At the despairing sight, he slumped to the floor with a thud.
“Ji Cheol…….”
Inside the captain’s quarters were four corpses.
They had become cold corpses, appearing to have been stabbed by something sharp.
Soon, a stream of tears flowed down his cheek.
He slowly stood up, embraced one corpse, and burst into tears.
“Ji Cheol!! Ji Cheol!!”
Watching that scene from behind, I slowly closed my eyes.
It was an ending I had known.
It was an ending decided from the moment the four of us were able to enter this Gate.
It was hard to keep watching that sight, so I simply averted my gaze.
That was when.
“Mr. Hancheol!”
I Sina shouted urgently at me.
At those words, I briefly looked around.
At some point, a horde of demonic beasts identical to the one that had just been killed had surrounded the shipwreck.
I knew this situation.
Because it was a scene I had seen at the Myeolsokhoe.
I recalled what the protagonist had said while grabbing his shoulder at the Myeolsokhoe.
—There is no time, Choe Sihun.
At those words, Choe Sihun had no choice but to leave without even having time to comfort his friend’s body, his face submerged in grief.
It had been an urgent situation, so there would have been no leeway to comfort him; it was an understandable situation.
But I…….
Am not the protagonist.
“Mr. Choe Sihun.”
I approached him.
Without rushing him, I simply left him with these words.
“I’ll wait outside.”
At those words, he turned to look at me, simply looking up at me with a tear-stained face submerged in sorrow.
I left those words behind and exited the captain’s quarters.
Soon, my expression cooled and settled coldly.
Hooooo!
The next moment, mana flowed out from my body like an aura.
The demonic beasts sensing my mana let out bizarre cries and began to distance themselves from the shipwreck.
But I had no intention of ending it here.
‘There’s no need to walk the same path as the protagonist.’
I am not the protagonist.
I possessed power even greater than his, and unlike the situation in the game, I was at ease.
It meant I could sufficiently give Choe Sihun time to compose himself.
I took out the robots I had put away in my inventory.
Eria and Meradon.
A total of 200 robots emerged from the inventory and filled the sky.
I commanded the robots.
“Sweep them all away.”
[[[Yes!]]]
At the same time as my words, the robots spread out in all directions and moved.
* * *
Choe Sihun had expected it to some extent.
The fact that his long-time friend would be dead.
But even though he knew, he could not judge the situation and was confused, and tears obscured his vision.
His heart was complicated, and he felt as if helplessness was crushing his entire body.
At that moment, the scene unfolding outside the captain’s quarters window caught his eye.
“Mr. Hancheol…….”
Gim Hancheol—his robots were spreading out in all directions and slaughtering the demonic beasts swarming toward the shipwreck.
Having immediately grasped the situation, Choe Sihun hurriedly sprang up and burst out of the captain’s quarters.
As he burst out, Hancheol came into view.
Hancheol stood leisurely with his back turned, simply watching the spectacle of the robots slaughtering the demonic beasts.
Soon, Hancheol slowly turned his head to look at Choe Sihun and spoke.
“Have you calmed down a bit?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was this kind of situation—.”
“It’s fine.”
I cut off his words and shook my head as I spoke.
“You may stay a bit longer.”
“But…….”
“I do not wish to force Mr. Choe Sihun in his current state to come along.”
At those words, Choe Sihun simply hung his head deeply.
Drip—drip—tears fell to the floor as he opened his mouth.
“Thank you, Mr. Hancheol.”
With those words, he went back inside the captain’s quarters.
His sorrowful sobs spread out from the captain’s quarters and reached outside.
* * *
After some time had passed, Choe Sihun came out of the captain’s quarters.
I looked at Choe Sihun as he exited and opened my mouth.
“Are you a bit better?”
“Yes, thank you for giving me time.”
At those words, I shook my head.
It had been less than ten minutes at most.
I spoke to Choe Sihun.
“He must have been someone precious to Mr. Choe Sihun, so of course I should give you time.”
At those words, Choe Sihun opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
“Yes, he was a precious friend. A friend of ten years.”
“I see…….”
As I uttered those words, I looked at Choe Sihun’s expression for a moment.
He didn’t look like he had sorted everything out yet, but his face seemed a bit better than before.
I spoke to him.
“Then let’s go get revenge.”
“Revenge…… you say?”
“We have to catch the Gate’s owner.”
At those words, his eyes changed.
It was a gaze in which some kind of resolve could be felt.
He nodded and spoke.
“Yes, I will guide you again.”
* * *
He began guiding again, and we flew smoothly through the sky toward the place he pointed to.
Soon, Choe Sihun pointed at a certain place and opened his mouth to me.
“It’s here. It seems a being that appears to be a boss monster is hiding beneath this water.”
At those words, I nodded and spoke to Choe Sihun.
“Please call it out.”
“Yes.”
Those words were the beginning.
Veins momentarily bulged on Choe Sihun’s arms.
“Krrgh!”
He clenched his teeth and manifested a skill.
At that moment, the calm waters around us began to fluctuate greatly.
Though it couldn’t be seen above the sea, it was clear he was attacking the thing hiding deep beneath the ocean.
The next moment.
Suaaaah!
The water began to surge roughly.
A massive shadow was seen slowly rising from beneath the water.
Bzzt! Crack!
That was when.
A faint blue spark occurred before my eyes.
The next moment, a message floated before my eyes.
[The ‘Three-Headed Dragon’ is ■■■■■■■■■■.]
Though letters were missing here and there, it was a message that only a Constellation could send, and it revealed itself.
Having checked the message, I warned the party.
“It’s coming. Prepare yourselves.”
At the same time as those words.
Fwaaaah!!
It revealed itself, creating a massive column of water.
A monster with three dragon heads.
Its size was a spectacle as if looking at a mountain.
[Keuh…… insignificant insects…….]
“Kuk!”
“Urk!”
“Eugh!”
The creature’s voice, having raised its head toward the sky, echoed across the heavens.
Though it was a voice that seemed to resonate lowly, within that voice was contained a minuscule amount of the dignified power that Constellations possessed.
It was that level of a demonic beast.
A monstrosity at grade 4, a rank that current humanity could not conquer.
The grade 4 demonic beast, Kimaidra.
A monster that only the protagonist had succeeded in conquering now revealed itself before me.
* * *
The party exposed to the creature’s faintly contained dignified voice were all making faces filled with pain.
The next moment, I spread my mana to protect the party.
Though it contained dignity, that dignity was at a level so minuscule it could not be compared to a Constellation.
It wouldn’t be able to pierce through my mana that reached 500.
Soon, Kimaidra, sensing my mana, opened its mouth.
[There is an interesting fellow…….]
It began to look at me while muttering ferociously.
I simply looked down at it calmly and opened my mouth to the party.
“Are you alright?”
“Krk! Th-that just now was…….”
“How can a demonic beast speak…….”
“You must not view it as an ordinary demonic beast. The higher the grade, the more there are demonic beasts with high intelligence.”
From grade 4 onward, such beings exist.
No, to be exact, it was probably positioned between grade 4 and grade 3.
A demonic beast that had failed to become a Constellation.
Or a monster trying to grow its power to become a Constellation.
From the boundary line of grade 4, one could see that existences trying to become Constellations, or those who had failed to do so, were strewn about.
They were, quite literally, disasters in and of themselves.
[Descend, you who have trespassed into my domain.]
At the creature’s words, I slowly descended downward.
“Mr. Hancheol!”
“Mister!”
From behind, the worried voices of the party could be heard, but I simply descended leisurely and met the creature’s eyes.
Soon, perhaps stunned by my audacious actions, its hollow laughter was heard.
[Are you without fear?]
Three faces were thrust before my eyes.
From its ferociously muttered voice, a faint dignity was still radiating out.
But it shouldn’t have thrust its face at me.
I took out a sword from my inventory.
The moment I did, a flustered voice mixed with alarm was heard from it, as if it had recognized what my sword was.
[That is!?]
Even if it had realized, it was already too late.
I raised the +10 sword gripped in my hand and swung it horizontally at the creature.
A white streak of light burst from the tip of the +10 sword like a thread.
Fwooong!
—Kieeeek!!
A roar filled with rage or pain filled the surroundings.
A sword strike that had exposed it defenselessly for an instant had cut all of its eyes.
I had swung with the intention of cutting off all its heads, but perhaps because it was a creature close to grade 3, I couldn’t easily cut through its flesh.
While the creature was flailing its heads around in pain, I spoke to I Sina.
“Miss Sina, if you please.”
“Ah! Yes! I understand!”
The next moment, I Sina reached her hand toward the monster.
Fwooong!
A chilling frost cold enough to form frost burst from her fingertips.
A cold as if the surrounding air was freezing settled in.
S-rank skill, Only Winter.
The most wide-ranging and destructive skill froze all the sea within a 500-meter radius.
But even with I Sina’s skill, its movements couldn’t be stopped.
Because it was moving its necks in all directions and shaking off its frozen body.
Of course, that was expected, and that wasn’t the purpose, so it was fine.
Thanks to I Sina’s skill, a foothold had been created.
“You two, please continue covering from behind. And Ha Yun, let’s go.”
“Yes!”
I descended with Ha Yun onto the foothold I Sina had created.
At the same time, Ha Yun’s skill activated.
Fwooong!!
A red aura began to ripple from her body.
S-rank skill, King of Foxes (狐).
Ha Yun’s hair turned white, and her pupils transformed into those of a beast, red as blood.
Even I, right beside her, couldn’t ignore her presence.
Thanks to her skill, King of Foxes (狐), her stats would currently be tripled.
“I’m ready, mister.”
At those words, I nodded and prepared for battle as well.
I took out the robots I had stored in my inventory.
Alt, Eria, Meradon.
A total of 5,000 robots combined surrounded Kimaidra.
[[[Master, your command.]]]
They were all waiting for my command.
I pointed at Kimaidra, which was still writhing in pain, and opened my mouth.
“All units, charge.”
Those words were the beginning.
[[[Yes!]]]
The all-out assault of the 5,000 robots began.