/
However, Yeon-Hee seemed to have no intention of breaking through Lee Soo-Ah and the elite Baclans. Of course, even she wouldn’t have been able to fight against all of them, but it was possible for her to avoid their attacks and pass through them. Nevertheless, the reason why she was detouring to avoid Lee Soo-Ah was because of the Life Vessel. She was playing it safe.
Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“As long as you don't do anything to me, Lee Soo-Ah, I’ll do the same to you,” Yeon-Hee muttered to herself as she looked at the other woman, who was getting farther away.
Lee Soo-Ah wouldn’t have actually heard her voice. The Baclan’s main force didn’t follow Yeon-Hee, and the formation along the boundary remained unchanged. Lee Soo-Ah let her go, so she passed smoothly through the outskirts.
When she put the Baclan Corps behind her back, a red light burst from the direction where Lee Soo-Ah was standing.
[Corps: Warning. Lee Soo-Ah, the general commander of the Baclans, has used a mysterious spell.]
Woooah! Woooooh!
The Baclans started roaring, and their all-out attack on the boundary began again. The warriors were rushing toward the boundary, and the flying soldiers descended rapidly like a meteor shower.
Yeon-Hee uttered toward the Awakened inside the boundary, “You all should go to hell.”
***
[Guild: Mary’s Corps has failed to defend the first floor boundary (Baclan Corps).]
[Mary’s Corps: 85,320]
[Remaining time (First Weakening) has been reset.]
This was a vacant spot where the monster corps didn’t exist. In other words, Yeon-Hee couldn’t see the Baclans anymore, and she was about to reach the Barba’s plague zone in a few hours. An hour later, Yeon-Hee received a quest. The Old One was a motherfucker with no conscience.
[The quest ‘Baclan’s Real Weapon’ has started.]
[Baclan’s Real Weapon (Quest)
Lee Soo-Ah, the general commander of the Baclan Corps, is a powerful sorcerer and healer. However, her real power must come from her mental abilities. That is probably why Lee Soo-Ah, who used to be an Awakened, has been recognized by the Baclan’s high-ranking sorcerers and became their leader.
Mission: Stop Lee Soo-Ah. Exterminate or Stop Her.
Class: A
Reward for Extermination: Challenger box * 3, Start item of the quest ‘Queen Baclan’s Armory,’ Start item of the quest ‘High-ranking Baclan Sorcerers’ Vision.’
Reward for Stopping: Challenger box * 1]
[Corps: Warning, You cannot stop Lee Soo-Ah, the general commander of the Baclan Corps.]
[Guild: Mary’s Corps has failed to defend the second floor’s boundary (Baclan Corps).]
[Mary’s Corps: 79,590]
[Remaining time (First Weakening) has been reset.]
[Until the first weakening: 23 hours 35 minutes 42 seconds]
[Guild: Baclan Corps is trying to break the boundary on the third floor that Mary’s Corps is protecting.]
Around that time, news about other corps popped up.
[Guild: Osiris’s Corps has succeeded in defending the boundary on the first floor (Barba Corps).]
[Guild: Osiris’s Corps has destroyed the altar (Barba Corps).]
[Guild: Barba Corps has entered the first round of weakening. Barba Corps’s offensive power will be significantly reduced.]
“Why…”
Her hair suddenly moved roughly from side to side while her arms stretched toward her head busily. She was messing up her hair out of a nervous habit.
Within my vision, her pet appeared with its face zoomed in. Blood was still dripping down from its face that was covered in fur. Although Yeon-Hee used her treatment skills whenever the cooldown time ended, it hadn’t fully recovered yet.
Now, Yeon-Hee was focused only on her pet, especially on the area where the Kciphos’ eyes were covered with fur. She brushed aside the fur. Then, the eyes of a predator that was extremely agitated became revealed.
She mumbled, “I’m so sorry to ask you this… If you have a chance, please take charge of Osiris’s attack squad. I’m terribly sorry, baby.”
***
Yeon-Hee tried her best, but she fell asleep without even realizing it. It was because she had been on edge for the past few days and had gone wild. When the darkness suddenly disappeared, I could see that Yeon-Hee was holding her pet and turning her head.
There was a guy approaching her quickly from the direction of the central area. Yeon-Hee had barely managed to wake herself up, so her vision was still quite limited. I saw a blurry view of golden armor. Then, I saw a thunder spear and a red cape fluttering at a breakneck speed.
When Yeon-Hee blinked her eyes, Seong-Il’s face appeared zoomed in. He didn’t seem to be in a good shape as tentacles were sticking out of my breastplate, which he was wearing. I couldn’t see much from here, but he definitely had massive wounds hiding inside the armor.
Yeon-Hee moved faster and more stealthily than Seong-Il, so he couldn’t react properly to how quickly she rushed towards him. Within moments, she made eye contact with him at a close distance. From then on, what happened to Seong-Il began to unfold.
Seong-Il had been wailing while holding my body, but he couldn’t stay in grief for too long. The monsters that had been severely damaged and fled deep into the ground while I was fighting Doom Dejire soon came out of the ground. They were Grand Duke Amon and its clique.
Thus, Seong-Il had a tough fight against them along with Orca. The situation began to turn upside down after Seong-Il retrieved my items. Everything else that had been in my storage box was destroyed, but fortunately Odin’s Golden Armor, Ra’s Sun Cape, and Zeus’s Thunder Spear still were intact.
At that point, the two of them split up. Orca chased the Grand Duke while Seong-Il immediately headed to Yeon-Hee by using the Location Seeker. Those were all the memories I could check.
Yeon-Hee looked away from Seong-Il, and he stumbled for a moment before finally regaining his balance.
He gasped out, “Noona.”
Seong-Il looked at Yeon-Hee with bloodshot eyes for a while. Although it looked like he had a lot to say, nothing came out of his mouth. Only his eyes trembled as if he didn’t know what to do.
“No, Odin will never die,” Yeon-Hee said. She looked downward, and her hand was placed on her chest where her heart was.
“I… I saw it. Noona… I… saw it, and I… couldn’t save him.” He sounded like he would burst into tears at any moment.
She asked, “Is that all he had left? What about the Skeletal Dragon? What happened to that?”
“Does that matter right now?” he wailed.
She asked again, “What about the returning stone?”
He shook his head. “Did you not hear me, noona? Odin… Odin died… But don’t worry. I’ll protect you. This quest wouldn’t have popped up just for me, right?”
“You saw Odin die, Seong-Il? With your own eyes, right?”
Seong-Il teared up instead of answering.
“Then, you shouldn’t be here,” Yeon-Hee said calmly.
Seong-Il looked flabbergasted. “Excuse me?”
“Do you think you can kill me if you stick to Joshua? It’s not just Joshua. Everyone is coming after me, so you’ll have to hurry up. You might be able to slice off my neck if you are lucky.”
He suddenly snarled, “What the hell are you talking about? Are you out of your mind? I’m Kwon Seong-Il.”
Yeon-Hee responded indifferently, “I’m saying all of this because I feel sorry for you.”
“More than that, why are you so indifferent about Odin’s death? Did I trust the wrong person?” Seong-Il asked angrily.
“Are you serious? You are going to stay with me? Next to the worst of the worst?” Yeon-Hee crowed sarcastically.
“You should know better, noona. Whatever!” Seong-Il shook his hand strongly.
Then, he continued, “This is not the time to chit-chat. Come to the central area with me. Orca will help us. It has no reason to be mean to you.”
“Did you just say ‘central area’?”
Seong-Il nodded. “That place must be a bit safer. Orca’s mud field would have expanded by now.”
Yeon-Hee replied, “Okay, fine. I can take care of myself, but you can’t. If you stay with me, you will die.”
“Are you saying that I’m a burden?” Seong-Il asked a bit mournfully.
Yeon-Hee shook her head. “No, not that. I’m saying I can’t protect you. But going there will help me.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I will protect you.”
Yeon-Hee sardonically asked, “You are protecting me? In that condition?”
“Are you really sure, noona? No matter who you are, crappy stuff can happen. No one knows what will happen. If that’s the case, I can at least buy you some time. Oh, and this.”
Seong-Il took off the golden armor. Then, he handed Ra’s Sun Cape and Zeus’s Thunder Spear to Yeon-Hee, and she accepted them.
He continued, “They are all fully charged.”
As expected, terrible cuts could be seen on Seong-Il’s chest after he took off the breastplate. When Yeon-Hee looked through his body, he took off the ring and handed it to her.
[* Inventory]
[The God of WInd’s Protective Ring has been added.]
“His name is Kang Ja-Seong. 051023-3482411. His dad is Kang Il-Koo, and his mom is Cho Soo-Yeon. If I die, please tell them how great he was. I owed him my life twice. If you take care of that, then I have nothing else to ask for.”
“Didn’t you say that you have a son named Ki-Cheol?” Yeon-Hee abruptly asked.
Seong-Il grimaced. “I can’t ask you to take care of him, too. But… I would appreciate it if you do, hehe. Argh!”
When Seong-Il uttered a groan, the tentacles all over his body wriggled.
Yeon-Hee said colony, “From the Maruka epidemic to the Barba plague… You have been infected by so many things.”
Seong-Il grunted, “I’ll pay you back what I owe Odin, so use me as much as you want.”
“...You have become more stupid. I don’t know how you managed to survive up to here as you are so soft. You are such a freak too.”
“Hehehe-Euk!”
Seong-Il’s smiling face crumpled, and pain spread all over his face.
She ordered, “Protect me by all means.”
He promised, “Yes, noona.”
[You have used Mary’s Hand.]
[Mary’s Hand (Skill)
Skill Class: A
Effect: Heals the causes of the target’s inability to fight. Recovers the target’s injuries to the maximum extent. Eliminates all negative effects such as diseases and curses at once.
Proficiency: LV. 7 (100%)
Cooldown Time: 5 days]
Seong-Il looked at Yeon-Hee in disbelief as the tentacles and scabs on his body disappeared all at once.
She said, “Did you forget about what I can do? I’m also a healer.”
Right then both of them stopped talking and turned their heads at the same time. When they climbed up to the highlands, they could vividly see a military force coming from the southwest direction. There were Joshua and his immediate attack squad at the forefront. Towards the rear side, there was a corps that reminded me of a monster army following them. It seemed like everyone in Joshua’s corps, including those who were supposed to be guarding the boundary, was pouring out after destroying one altar of the Barba Corps.
Seong-Il spat out what I wanted to say, “Those assholes. That’s why people say ‘some bite the hand that feeds them,’ noona. Let’s go to the central area for now.”
[Guild: The Baclan Corps is attempting to destroy the fourth floor boundary that Mary’s Corps is protecting.]
[Guild: Osiris’s Corps has failed to defend the boundary on the first floor (Barba Corps).]
[Guild: The Barba Corps is trying to destroy the second floor boundary that Osiris’s Corps is protecting.]
“Things are worse on Osiris’s side. It seems like they have left the boundary unattended.”
Seong-Il cursed, “...Fucking bastards. They have gone insane. Rewards shouldn’t be their priority because, at this pace, they will be all dead sooner or later. Monsters come first, not the rewards, ugh. Anyway, we should hurry, noona!”
Yeon-Hee pointed to the direction in which the central area was located. There were also troops rushing through the central area.
“I guess it’s going to be the same even in the central area. Let’s cut off Osiris first. This is the only opportunity we have. If we let him stay alive, then he will keep annoying us. Also, his troops in the back are quite far from his immediate troops in the front.”
Yeon-Hee took out the new equipment from the inventory and handed them to Seong-Il after arming herself with my main items.
Seong-Il asked, “But who will protect you if I’m dead? Others will rush in from the other side after the first weakening is over. If you are the only one left… Don’t trust Lee Tae-Han or the King of Hell. They must be like Joshua, the asshole. I have nothing much to tell you about the King of Hell since I don’t know him that well, but Lee Tae-Han is such a shrewd guy. He will be crazy about compensation.”
Yeon-Hee interrupted, “Stop worrying about me and think about Osiris for now. We should cut him off first.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take him with me even if I die first. I’ll split his head and blow it. That will do, right? That really works, correct?
“...”
“...”
“Take this, Seong-Il.” Yeon-Hee handed out Zeus’s Thunder Spear.
He shook his head. “I’m Human Caliber. I rely on my fist as they are my weapons.”
“Then… Shall we start?”
I could see Yeon-Hee’s face being reflected in Seong-Il’s eyes. It was my first time seeing her face ever since I had become protected inside her, my Life Vessel, and there was a subtle bit of tension on her face.