Chapter 171: The Black Beast’s Rescue

#171

Nevertheless, what Dokyeom could do now was…

“Hunter, don’t scream so much. You’ll only make more wounds. Already… it’s a waste.”

It was just a scolding.

Yeah, you bastard.

Dokyeom bit his tongue and grabbed Kang Taesan’s hand tightly. He pressed down until his nails dug into the flesh, and clawed at the wound on top of his fist until his nails broke. Just as the blood touched his fingertips.

Dokyeom glanced at him and smirked.

“Taesan, you need a good scolding.”

A hard one.

‘[Confusion]’

Thud-

A sound came from somewhere unknown. Right after that, the surroundings became extremely quiet and cold. It was that brief silence before some huge change occurred.

It was when Kang Taesan’s fingertips twitched that the silence was broken. At the same time, a subtle change appeared on Kang Taesan’s face.

His face, which had been faintly crumpling, eventually twisted completely.

“Haa, huff…”

Kang Taesan’s feverish eyes widened greatly, then turned to his own fist where Dokyeom’s nails were embedded. It was where the skin had been torn. That place, which had been numb, now itched and burned maddeningly. An unbearable unpleasantness also raised its head terrifyingly.

Soon, Kang Taesan began to scratch his fist vigorously.

“Ha, haa… why…”

The more he scratched angrily, the more something exploded inside his body. It was the same even when he scratched until blood came out. It felt like worms crawling along the blood vessels throughout his body.

The discomfort and restlessness clinging to his body pulled at his reason until it snapped. The desire to tear off his own skin boiled fiercely.

While Kang Taesan scratched his own skin mindlessly and had a seizure, Dokyeom got up hastily, scraping the ground like a dog.

Quickly, he had to get out of here. There was no benefit in staying near Kang Taesan while he was seizing.

Step-

The moment Dokyeom stretched his trembling leg and took a step. Kang Taesan, who had been frantically scratching his body, reached out his rough hand toward Dokyeom.

His first grab missed. Yet his gaze was so vivid with rage that it seemed he would tear the other to death, suffocating Dokyeom.

“You did this… didn’t you, Hunter…? Hunter… huff… Stop this nonsense… and put it back… huff, huff…”

“What do I do? I don’t have that ability.”

Kang Taesan, with ugly veins bulging at his temples, staggered and then reached out his hand toward Dokyeom again. Dokyeom also dodged that hand, lowered his body, and navigated the slippery snowy path.

“Huff… Hunter… you know what happens if you get caught… don’t you…”

Of course I know.

Dokyeom trembled his aching arm and quickly scanned his surroundings. Among the densely packed trees, all he could see was a snowfield.

A steep slope veering off to the side was visible, but the incline was so steep that if he made a misstep, he might roll down.

Still, it seemed the only place to escape Kang Taesan.

Whoosh-

Dokyeom turned his steps toward the steep slope. Kang Taesan also gritted his teeth and immediately followed Dokyeom.

“Ha… haa, trying to run away…? Huff, that… won’t work.”

It’s so unpleasant. My blood boils like I want to catch and kill something.

That… won’t do.

Kang Taesan followed Han Dokyeom with heavy breathing. Several times he grabbed at the air, narrowing the distance. Sometimes he grabbed and broke trees, or fell and pulled out roots by the roots.

Dozens of steps like that.

The distance between the two people just before the slope closed in an instant. Kang Taesan’s hand stretched into the air grazed Dokyeom’s hair by a hair.

One more step.

Kang Taesan clenched his teeth and reached out his hand again. That hand, like a skewer, was about to reach Dokyeom’s nape.

Just as Dokyeom couldn’t avoid it and was about to throw himself down the slope.

Thwack-!

“What’s this dog doing here?”

Someone who appeared without a trace kicked Kang Taesan’s side hard.

It happened so fast he couldn’t react. Dokyeom could only watch with a surprised expression as Kang Taesan flew through the slowly flowing scene.

Kang Taesan rolled fiercely across the snowfield and finally stopped when his back slammed into a giant rock embedded in the ground.

“Cough, hack…!”

Kang Taesan coughed so hard his whole body jolted, his nose furrowing fiercely. As if the kicked area was painful, he held his side and couldn’t move for a while.

But soon Kang Taesan stared ahead with fierce eyes like a wild beast.

At the one who had kicked him away: ‘Geon Ita’.

“What… is this behavior?”

“Why, you’re annoyed? If you’re annoyed, come at me.”

It was Geon Ita. He was the same one she had seen before entering the gate, wearing only a shirt with well-rolled sleeves.

“Where are your bastards? You’re alone.”

There was even the usual mocking smile. Geon Ita, not even meeting his gaze, briefly asked Dokyeom while looking at Kang Taesan, who was preparing to attack. Then she rotated his wrist as if limbering up.

Seeing this, Dokyeom had an epiphany.

Yeah, you two fight!

“Geon Ita, I’ll treat you to a meal later!”

Dokyeom immediately threw himself down the slope. And with his hands cupped, he shouted.

“I’ll leave the back to you! Anyway, he’s your dog!”

For a moment, he felt a gaze that seemed incredulous, but who cares. He was in a painful life-or-death situation right now, not a time to worry about others.

He was sliding down the snow-covered slope, trying to keep his balance as much as possible. Midway, Dokyeom noticed a protruding tree root and screamed in shock.

“W-Wait! Wait!”

Where did it come from!

He flailed his arms to grab a nearby tree, but nothing was within reach. He tried to stop by pressing his toes down like a brake, but it was too late.

Thud, whoosh-!

His body, descending at a terrifying speed on the snow, bounced up as soon as a root caught under his foot.

Just land safely, just land safely.

As he flailed and looked at the landing spot, a huge rock was planted exactly where his face would hit. Dokyeom spat out a curse.

“Wait! No, this is a bit…!”

Still, trying to survive, Dokyeom wrapped his arms around his head as best he could, curled his body with determination, and closed his eyes. Then for a moment.

No matter how long he waited, no pain came. Feeling a strange dissonance, Dokyeom opened his eyes wide.

“…!”

There was a rock about a handspan from his nose, but none of his limbs touched the ground. His body was floating. Dokyeom instinctively turned his head to look behind.

And there, Dokyeom saw something unexpected.

A pitch-black beast with distant blazing black flames wrapped around its body.

Dokyeom’s surprised face reflected in the black eyes of a four-legged beast. It was so huge that it left him speechless.

If he hadn’t known better, he might have thought it was one of Taeseongyeon’s hell generals, but the malice felt different. The smell was different, the energy was different.

That pitch-black shape he had seen between the building walls when heading to the guild was exactly this creature. In appearance, it could be thought of as a wolf, but its size already surpassed an elephant.

So why is this thing here…

It seemed to look at Dokyeom blankly for a moment. But when the beast lifted what it had in its mouth, Dokyeom realized it was holding his clothes.

“You…!”

Before he could finish his surprised stammering. The moment the black beast took a step, Dokyeom felt the world change. Nothing around him came into view. The wind slapping his cheeks raged fiercely, and the beast moved its feet so fast that everything passed in an instant.

It ran through the steep mountain, crossed the valley, sprinted through the snow-covered forest, heading somewhere.

Whoosh-

When that distant time had passed.

“Haa, ha…”

Dokyeom arrived in front of a modest thatched house built deep in the forest. White smoke rose from the chimney, and beyond the paper window, light flickered like shimmering.

The beast set Dokyeom down in the yard of the house. Then, nudged Dokyeom’s back with its nose.

“…”

And then disappeared.

Facing the cold wind, Dokyeom stared for a long time at the spot where the beast had vanished.

Why did it help? How did it enter here?

After standing and thinking for a long time, Dokyeom finally rubbed his frozen cheeks and turned around with a sigh.

And just then-

Squeak-

“Hyung…?”

The door with the flickering light opened, and someone stuck their upper body out. The familiar head brought out another sigh. As he grabbed his trembling arm and took a step closer, the man, who had been squinting, opened his eyes wide and ran out barefoot.

“Holy, hyung?! Is it really hyung?!”

A man who ran out from the warm room. He was none other than Baek Jiwoon.

Was this coincidence? Over the shoulder of the barefoot Baek Jiwoon, a mother and son with ambiguous expressions could be seen looking this way. A middle-aged woman with neatly pinned hair and a giant man in typical peasant cotton clothes, who seemed to be tall.

They were precisely the main characters of the story happening in this gate, the very key to getting out of here.

Coincidence? That remains to be seen later. For now, he just wanted to escape this harsh cold.

Dokyeom took a step toward Baek Jiwoon, who was running toward him.

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