Siwon dashed toward the Hyeoljong, training her gun on Sereuhi.
Bang! Bang!
The shockwave from the bullets sent Sereuhi flying back.
Whoooosh!
Sereuhi, pushed backward, activated a skill.
Mannequin arms latched onto Siwon’s body. Hands wreathed in magical power grasped at Sereuhi.
But Siwon’s high resistance blocked Sereuhi’s skill, and Sereuhi clicked her tongue.
In the meantime, Siwon turned her gaze to Baret, who was devouring the mannequin.
“Baret!”
Before anyone knew it, a white snake appeared at his side and opened its mouth. As the mannequin entered the snake’s maw, Sereuhi coughed up blood.
Siwon moved toward the Hyeoljong once more.
‘I have to protect at least the dungeon core.’
If the Hyeoljong was purified first, the contamination tormenting the guild members in that hellish chaos would stop as well.
But.
‘……?’
The acorn touched the Hyeoljong, yet nothing happened.
“Hmm?”
The acorn touched the Hyeoljong’s outer skin, then rolled away with a clatter and plopped into the swamp.
Irina, who had been watching the scene from right beside the Hyeoljong, tilted her head in confusion.
“Mmm…….”
She walked over lightly and picked up the acorn.
Now she understood what had happened.
“This is a fake acorn, isn’t it?”
*
Geuru sniffed, inhaling sharply through her nose.
Just moments ago, she had felt like a superhero flying squirrel.
Now she was simply hanging limply in Ham Honggi’s hand, looking pathetic.
Ham Honggi had appeared the moment she entered the contaminated zone and lifted her by the scruff of her neck.
“You were the flying squirrel?”
“……Huh?!”
She had let her guard down. To think she would meet him here. She should have ambushed him from behind.
Pouting, Geuru rummaged through her bag and pulled out a sticker.
“Did you come all the way here because of me? Because I scammed you?”
Geuru, fiddling with her tail, glared at him with narrowed eyes. The painful memory of that time came flooding back.
“Tsssk…….”
“Hey, four-year-old. You’re really persistent. I thought you were a damn annoying brat when you were whining for an apology.”
“A person who’s never earned money with their own hands wouldn’t understand!”
“Do you think I’ll ever have to earn money with my own hands in my entire life?! Do you know how much my family is worth?!”
Huh……. Geuru furrowed her brows and looked up at him. She had never seen an adult speak so proudly about never being independent in their life.
“Hanghanggi. Incompetent.”
“It’s not Hanghanggi, it’s Ham Honggi! This brat really pisses me off.”
“More incompetent than a four-year-old…….”
“Shut up already!”
Ham Honggi shouted, his face heavily contorted.
Hmph! Geuru slapped the back of his hand with her tail, which had a handmade sticker attached.
[‘Gentle Zap-Zap!’ activates.]
A crackling current stimulated the back of his hand.
“Damn it!”
Since it had been extracted from a children’s lie detector, the current wasn’t strong, but it was enough to startle him.
As expected, while he was startled, Geuru slipped free from his loosened grip.
“Yah!”
Geuru landed lightly and checked the pocket on her chest. Bulging inside the pocket was an acorn.
The supreme acorn was still safely in her possession.
‘I have to take this to Uncle Master.’
Before asking Sereuhi about Gnosis, Geuru had hidden the acorn just in case.
She was the only one who could tell the real acorn apart.
Just as Siwon had said, if Gnosis’s goal was to obstruct the dungeon raid, the acorn could not be allowed to fall into Gnosis’s hands.
So there was no time to waste on a scammer like him!
“Get lost! Geuru is busy, so Hanghanggi, don’t follow me!”
“What? Where do you think you’re going? This is a contaminated zone! You little four-year-old!”
“Geuru knows too! That’s why Geuru has to go!”
“Where does a tiny thing like you think you’re going…… kuh!”
“……?”
Ham Honggi, who had suddenly made a strange noise, jerked with a creak. His head tilted half a turn to the side.
It was a stiff, unnatural movement, like a machine.
‘Screech?!’
At that bizarre motion, Geuru’s ears and tail shot straight up.
Ham Honggi soon murmured as if experiencing an error.
“Ah, flying squirrel…… have to catch it…….”
Siwon’s words suddenly came to mind.
She had said there was a high probability that Ham Honggi was being controlled by Gnosis.
These strange reactions now were likely because of that.
Geuru, observing him, carefully opened her mouth.
“Hanghanggi……?”
“Flying squirrel. Must catch.”
Ham Honggi touched his temple and used a skill.
Then, rustling sounds came from the bushes, and in an instant, Seolpyos began swarming in.
“Catch the flying squirrel…….”
Ham Honggi’s index finger pointed at Geuru.
“Bring it. A corpse is fine too.”
‘A corpse?!’
The Seolpyos moved at his command. The tips of their spears pointed toward Geuru.
‘I-I have to run!’
Just as Geuru turned to run.
Somehow, Seolpyos had appeared right behind her.
‘It’s all blocked off.’
The Seolpyo beastmen, having received their general’s order, surrounded Geuru and closed in a circle.
Ham Honggi creaked his head bizarrely once more. His arm rose like a marionette and pointed at Geuru.
“Catch that!”
“Hick!”
No!
The Seolpyos began to step forward at the same time. The circular space around Geuru instantly narrowed.
‘……!’
The moment Geuru squeezed her eyes shut.
[Update complete.]
Mepisto opened his eyes.
[Caregiver ‘Mepisto’ detects danger to the Charge.]
[Will you accept the transfer of Caregiver ‘Mepisto’s title?]
There was no hesitation.
To escape the crisis, instinct cried out ‘Yes.’ in her place.
The moment the Seolpyos’ hands and spears reached out.
[Title transfer complete.]
At his presence.
Even the wind stirred and trembled.
[You are the ‘Monarch’ of this world.]
*
“They never end!”
Cheon Gyuri struck down the hippo before her, then threw her spear to the right to fell the next contaminated creature.
“So that acorn—or whatever—really doesn’t work?”
“It doesn’t work no matter how many we use!”
‘Ham Honggi, you bastard……. Did he set us up like this?’
Cheon Gyuri ground her teeth.
Her young master had been rotten from the start and useless in everything he did, but this incident was by far the worst.
‘It’s a problem when someone interferes with my main line of work.’
The reason Cheon Gyuri had tied herself to that household was all for the sake of the Guild.
A mere soldier like her had needed help to run a massive Guild.
“Everyone, fall back. I’ll have to use a skill.”
“Huh? In such a narrow place?”
“We have no choice!”
Cheon Gyuri shouted irritably.
“I’m going to bury this entire waterway.”
“Are you crazy? That’s way too extreme!”
“Am I the crazy one here? It’s Ham Honggi! I’ll find out why that bastard is pulling this shit when we get back. I won’t summon it at full power, but I have no confidence in fine directional control, so block it yourselves.”
“Objection! I object!”
“I object too!”
But Cheon Gyuri, having reached the limit of her frustration, ignored the guild members. Whoosh—a massive amount of mana surged.
She drew a greatsword from her inventory and thrust it into the ground.
The moment the greatsword embedded itself in the dirt with a heavy thud—
[Activating skill ‘Thunderous Heavenly Sword’.]
—Summons a sword imbued with lightning from the heavens.
Clouds heavy with lightning gathered densely, and glowing spherical lightning began to converge in an oval shape.
From within the clouds, the sharp tip of a colossal sword revealed itself. It plunged from the sky toward the earth.
“Aaaack!”
The Brom Guild members fled in utter panic.
Cheon Gyuri bared her teeth, her eyes blazing.
‘If I just destroy this damn contaminated waterway, that’ll be the end of it!’
That was when.
The descending sword’s movement suddenly stopped.
“……?!”
How?
Cheon Gyuri pushed with all her might, but the greatsword didn’t budge, as if caught on a reef.
‘……No way?’
Someone was clearly blocking it artificially.
And the only person who could block her skill so easily was…….
Cheon Gyuri turned her head.
Just as her intuition had told her, the man was revealing himself from between the bushes.
The man who had so easily blocked the Thunderous Heavenly Sword slowly opened his mouth.
“Gidan.”
At his call, the boy drew his sword and spoke.
“Pulling that out in a place like this is bad manners, Guild Leader Cheon.”
Click. As he moved, the ‘Biatt’s Void’ in his hand elongated.
“Good heavens…….”
Cheon Gyuri put her hand on her waist in despair and looked up at the sky.
‘No, what the hell is Hyeonak doing here……!’