On the sixth night of the hellish frontline in Paju City.
For a brief moment of respite, Seongjin and his comrades were huddled inside the trench, catching some winks in shifts. Despite their enhanced stamina due to the magical beasts’ energy, six days and nights of continuous battle were enough to dull even the heightened senses of the hunters.
And then it appeared.
Amid the patter of falling rain, the sound of bristling spikes scraping against each other resonated.
Out of the darkness, four different sets of glowing red eyes manifested in mid-air, followed by the sudden lash of a massive, spike-covered leg sweeping across the trench.
An entire line of hunters was squashed in an instant.
Leaping over the makeshift wooden fences and earthworks, it effortlessly and cruelly snuffed out the lives of many hunters who were on the frontlines that day. If it weren’t for the near-suicidal attacks of a few hunters, humanity’s counteroffensive would have ended right then and there.
The Pavo Nephila.
The accursed spider magical beast that Seongjin had put so much effort into eliminating before.
* * *
Staggering, Seongjin managed to lift himself up from the rubble of a collapsed building.
Something hot streamed down from a tear somewhere on his forehead, obstructing part of his vision.
Thanks to his instincts to shield himself with aura when struck by the spider’s leg, it seemed that fortunately, nothing was severely broken. However, the sheer magnitude of the impact was such that even the slightest movement caused agonizing pain.
“……”
The old man who had flown with him was already lifeless. His left flank was severely torn open, and his torso appeared almost severed, a sight most gruesome.
Seongjin turned his head to look ahead.
Beyond his blurry vision, he saw the spider beast spitting venom and rampaging in the distance. Now and then, he saw glimpses of the golden Aura Blade, indicating that Marsha was fighting alone. What were the Paladins who came with the old man doing?
With creaking bones and aching flesh, he moved.
With every step forward, the pain that felt like it could shatter his body became increasingly bearable.
As he limped toward the spider, he soon saw the Paladins of Marcias entangled in sticky webs here and there. Some were partially corroded by the venom, and others appeared flattened as if something heavy had crushed them, their lives already snuffed out.
“Your world is a figment of someone’s imagination, based on the concept of the real world. In other words, it’s nothing more than someone’s dream,” the Demon King had said.
But look. Whether it’s in Sigurd-34th district or Delcross, death caused by that damned spider is equally empty and meaningless.
“You’ve come flying into the real world and you’re perfectly fine and breathing. What better proof is there that you really exist?”
No, that’s not it.
Simply breathing doesn’t prove anything. What’s important is that there’s a spider over there that I must kill.
To Seongjin, that spider is like that. As long as he’s breathing, even a little, he must chase after it and, in the end, cut off its life.
It was only when he aimed his sword at the spider that Seongjin could finally feel it.
He was definitely alive here.
A paladin who was struggling, bound in spiderweb, looked up as the Prince passed by him, trembling for a moment. Despite his body being in tatters and red blood flowing down his cheeks, the Prince was smiling, showing his teeth.
He gripped his sword more firmly.
Thud-thud. His steps gradually sped up.
Tap-tap-tap. At some point, he was running towards the spider.
Both Masain and the spider, who had been fiercely confronting each other, noticed Seongjin’s presence at the same time.
“Your Highness!”
By the time Masain shouted, Seongjin was already near the spider.
Whoosh.
The spider’s leg descended over Seongjin’s head. Without slowing down, Seongjin charged under the creature’s claw. Unknowingly, he had focused his aura into his legs.
Crash.
For a moment, his body shot up, narrowly avoiding the heavy leg. Feeling the wind pressure of the giant claw brushing his hair, Seongjin slid right under the spider’s belly.
The initial cut was already mostly regenerated, except for the sword marks on its carapace. It was the characteristic of a magical beast that regenerates quickly if its core is not destroyed immediately.
Ka-ching.
Following that mark, he slashed deeply with his sword. The aura-wrapped blade cut cleanly through the thick carapace.
Rustle-rustle.
The spines all over the spider’s body seemed to tremble, as if expressing its discomfort.
Seongjin pulled his sword out, twisted his sliding body, and planted his feet hard on the ground once more with a forceful aura. Crash.
Whether it was due to the forceful rotation of the aura, he felt something snap in his legs for a moment.
Cutting once more along the initial sword mark, this time the sword nearly buried itself up to the hilt. There was a momentary resistance against the carapace, but the sword, infused with enough aura, tore easily through the carapace and came out the other side.
From the deeply carved wound, a late surge of dark purple fluid gushed out.
Poo-ha-ak!
A large amount of spiderwebs burst out from the protrusions at the same time. Threads were aimed and widely sprayed at the vital point just below the torso.
There’s no avoiding it. The moment he felt that, he gripped the sword with both hands and took a hard swing targeting one of the creature’s legs.
Pa-gak!
At the same moment a crack appeared at the tip of the creature’s toe joint, Seongjin’s body was shot out like a bullet through the gaps between the spider’s legs. Some spiderwebs did make contact with his body, but he managed to avoid getting entangled thanks to the speed at which he was propelled.
He crashed hard against the building wall before he could properly regain his posture.
Kwa-ang!
Even though he had shielded himself with aura, his breathing stops for a moment due to the severe impact.
“Cough! Cough!”
After tapping his short sword on the ground like a cane, Seongjin barely managed to stand up.
“Your Highness! Are you alright?”
From afar, the sound of Masain desperately shouting could be heard.
The spider creature was now recklessly spitting venom, turning its back on Seongjin. This was because Masain was worried about getting close to Seongjin who had fallen and was showering the spider with fierce attacks.
Peo-eong!
A blinding golden light accompanied by a powerful storm burst forth.
It was Masain’s aura bombardment that split the spider creature’s head and caused an explosion.
Kiee-eek!
The spider creature, having suffered a significant blow, twitched its joints at weird angles.
However, despite receiving an attack that split most of its head and chest, it didn’t fall. Its core was still intact.
Taking advantage of the creature’s momentary faltering, Masain quickly retreated to create distance. The way he was gasping for air indicated that he too was almost out of stamina.
Seongjin was about to rush in with his sword again when he suddenly felt intense pain in his right leg. His calf muscle seemed to have been strained due to consecutively releasing aura twice.
Dragging his leg that was not moving well, Seongjin once again moved towards the spider.
‘…This isn’t working.’
The length of his short sword wasn’t sufficient to reach the creature’s core.
If he couldn’t smash the creature’s body with a single punch like before, he had no choice but to gradually deepen the wounds.
It was only after his sword could reach deep enough to touch the creature’s core that…
Suddenly, Seongjin stopped in his tracks as if he’d been hit in the back of his head.
‘Why am I only considering releasing aura as far as the length of the sword?’
Seongjin looked down at the short sword in his hand.
Until now, he had been practicing how to channel his aura into his body and sword, just as he learned from Masain.
But the sword was also an object outside of his body. So shouldn’t the same apply to the living creature?
He had used the creature’s pincers as weapons by channeling aura into them, so why couldn’t he do the same with a living creature?
Walking limply toward the spider, Seongjin continued his thoughts.
Masain had once told him that channeling unfamiliar aura into someone else’s body was like stabbing them with a finely sharpened blade.
As he said, the aura flowing recklessly from the wooden sword caused it to explode, easily damaging Seongjin’s legs. Then, wouldn’t the aura that is also flowing recklessly beyond the sword be enough to break something?
Unbeknownst to Seongjin, a faint wind was blowing around the blade of the Nutcracker he held in his hand.
“Your Highness, please…!”
With his battered body, Seongjin, who was rushing back towards the spider, was muttered at by Masain, whose face had turned pale.
But there was no time to waste.
Seongjin, who had momentarily hesitated as the spider was regenerating its head, charged underneath it, plunging his sword with all his might into the center of its abdomen while channeling aura into his arms.
Unlike before, a sharp pain surged from his arms due to the violently extending aura.
*Whoosh*
The Nutcracker had pierced through the spider’s guard once more, but it felt a bit different this time.
*Sizzle*
Inside the spider’s abdomen, it felt as though something was being churned.
*Kyeeeeek!*
Suddenly, the spider started thrashing around like mad. While still skewered by Seongjin, it frantically collided its body against the building walls.
Thud!
Thump!
“…!”
Seongjin tightly gripped the hilt of the Nutcracker, channeling aura into his arms and sending another wave of violent aura through the blade into the spider’s innards.
*Kyeeeeek!*
*Thump!*
*Rumble!*
With convulsions that seemed like it was going to flip over, the spider finally knocked down part of the building’s outer wall.
*Thud Thud!*
The spikes all over its body trembled as if in convulsion.
*Snap!*
Spiderwebs shot out aimlessly, oddly enough entangling its own legs, causing it to start spinning and staggering around in a clockwise direction.
‘…This can work!’
Seongjin clenched his teeth.
One more time!
Although it wasn’t powerful, it was an attack aimed precisely at the center of the spider’s abdomen.
One more time!
Seongjin could feel the aura he had stored up almost depleting.
Still, one more time!
*Sizzle*
The aura churned violently one last time.
Gradually losing consciousness, Seongjin faintly heard the sound of something breaking.
*Creak…*
*Kyeeeeeee*
The spider’s body, which had been shaking and convulsing, stiffened.
The trembling spikes all froze and it stopped moving.
The spider’s gigantic body slowly tilted and then.
*Thump!*
It collapsed on the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
‘…Your Highness!'”
In a pallid rush, Masain charged forward, only to see Seongjin’s body flung away lifelessly through the thick cloud of dust.
If it weren’t for the spider that had fallen to its side with its leg tangled, Seongjin would have been completely crushed.
“Your Highness! Are you alright? Your Highness!”
Masain, who had been checking Seongjin’s body, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although the prince was completely unconscious, he was still breathing.
However, he was in a truly battered state.
His skin was torn in places, making him a bloody mess. His right leg and both arms were bent at unnatural angles, a consequence of forcefully kicking the ground and gripping his sword to attack the spider.
Above all, his muscles were unnaturally stiff. Repeated excessive shocks had caused the large blood vessels in his muscles to burst.
It was perhaps fortunate that he was unconscious and couldn’t feel the pain. At this rate, his muscles would necrotize within a few hours.
As Masain stood there with a woeful expression, unsure of what to do next, the king arrived leading his knights toward them. They had just closed the gate and driven off the Paladin Order of Saint Marcias from the underground.
“……”
The Holy Emperor, upon discovering Seongjin’s terrible condition, stopped in his tracks and remained silent for a moment.
[…I built fences around him, worrying he might fly away. In the end, he mustered the strength on his own. I should have let him spread his wings earlier…] (Chapter 86)
Someone had said that to him, but.
“…How can I let such a reckless guy out of the fence when I can’t even take my eyes off him for a moment.”
The Holy Emperor sighed deeply, closing his eyes.
