Chapter 27: The Unwavering Premonition

Why do bad premonitions always come true?

Han Tae-hyun had a keen sense. Strangely, it was always for the worse.

The morning his mother’s *gukbap* restaurant caught fire, he had felt uneasy from the start of the day.

It was the same on the day his sibling fractured their leg in a bicycle accident, and again when that fool almost drowned in the valley stream.

Countless days had been like that. Yet, usually, they ended with minor mishaps.

Of course, there were days that didn’t. Days that left behind regrets he could never forget or erase.

–Are you a family member of Im Ho-yeon and Han Soo-hyun?

Was the caller a police officer, or a rescue worker?

His memories of this life were vivid and clear, yet those of his previous life were strangely hazy.

Of all days, he had felt uneasy since the previous day. He rarely dreamt, but he remembered that night’s dreams being particularly ominous.

Amidst this, his mother had fretfully woken him, asking if he wasn’t late for his part-time job.

It wasn’t something to get angry about, yet he remembered feeling incredibly annoyed.

He usually didn’t get that angry, but he had snapped at her to leave him alone.

Coincidentally, his irritation doubled when his sibling had brazenly worn the clothes he intended to wear that day.

Normally, he would have simply let it go, but that day, he had furiously yelled at his sibling over the phone.

After lashing out at his family like that, there was no way his mind could be at ease.

Perhaps that was why he was plagued by an unpleasant feeling all day.

He felt unpleasant, irritated, needlessly anxious, and inexplicably uneasy.

Realizing belatedly that accidents always seemed to happen when he felt this way, he frantically called his mother.

She didn’t answer.

It was the same when he called his sibling.

They didn’t answer.

A message arrived during his shift, and upon checking, he saw it was from his mother.

[Soo-hyun is very drunk, they said they’re nearby so I’m going to pick them up.]

[I made seaweed soup at home. If you get home before Mom, make sure to warm it up and eat it.]

[My son, you must be tired, aren’t you? Mom is sorry.]

[Just hang in there a little longer. Fighting!]

Immediately after checking the messages, a call came in from an unknown number.

–Are you a family member of Im Ho-yeon and Han Soo-hyun?

Why do bad premonitions,

…rarely prove wrong?

****

Battle preparations were complete.

The soldiers and mercenaries had all risen, each drawing their weapons and lining up in formation, awaiting the command.

The able-bodied young men and adults of the village, armed with swords and scythes, stood in the rear. Not only men, but women too, stepped forward.

Most women from the village at the base of Mount Senugel, who subsisted on hunting in the barren lands, knew how to wield a bow. This resulted in over thirty archers.

With quivers slung over their shoulders, they led the elderly and children to safety, their faces grim as they carried their bows.

All the kerosene the villagers had prepared for winter was gathered.

Making holy oil was not difficult; even a child could do it with ease.

One merely had to pour kerosene into an empty wine barrel and immerse a silver ornament symbolizing the Sun God Solashan.

“Do you truly believe this will work?”

Lord Mesht inquired. No one answered his question; they had no time to spare for him.

“Hey, Spirit User! I’m asking you!”

“If it doesn’t work, well, we all die together.”

Hay answered indifferently, picking his ear. Lord Mesht’s face flushed crimson then paled.

“Are you ignoring me?”

As Lord Mesht flared up, Hay inwardly swallowed an exasperated sigh.

While he was indeed ignoring him, there was no need to stir up trouble in this situation.

“Ignoring you? Never. Lord Mesht, you just need to handle your assigned task well. It’s something only you can do. Frankly, the lives of the soldiers and villagers rest in your hands. You understand what I mean, don’t you?”

Hay’s voice, roughly coaxing and placating, held not a shred of sincerity.

The moment Lord Mesht, sensing this, opened his mouth to protest, Chen urgently cried out.

“Troll Slayer! Too many undead have gathered! The palisade is starting to collapse!”

Hay, annoyed, tugged on Chen’s ponytail.

“Didn’t I tell you not to call me that?”

“Yes, St-Styles, sir…”

“Tsk.”

Just as Chen had warned, the towering three-meter palisade began to sway, signaling the imminent battle.

Hay recognized this scene.

It was a scene from an American zombie drama.

Though back then, it had been barbed wire, not a palisade.

“How many undead are outside?”

Chen, who had been assessing the situation outside using clairvoyance magic, opened his eyes, his face pale.

“Too many. Countless. There are even magical beasts that died in today’s battle. And dead orcs and trolls. All together, I estimate over two thousand.”

Even as he reported, Chen’s face grew whiter, as if overwhelmed by his own words.

“Two thousand is manageable.”

Hay said, unconcerned.

“Can we really do it?”

Kisen asked. The plan was already set.

“If we can’t, then as I said during the strategy meeting, we all die together here.”

Kisen chuckled at his nonchalant attitude. Yet, his gaze was as sharp as if ready to cut down anything.

“It’s do or die.”

“It’s a mess, alright. Fortune-teller, is the holy oil ready?”

Hay asked. Lexa, who had been helping to make the holy oil behind him, nodded.

“It’s done! What should we do now?”

“Pour it all around the palisade.”

“Understood!”

Lexa instructed the people to carry the kerosene.

As Hay commanded, the kerosene was evenly distributed all around the palisade.

“Oh, oh, it’s about to collapse!”

Thump, thump, thump—

Just as Chen cried out, the sounds of impact against the palisade were ominous. The palisade itself was shaking violently.

It seemed as if something like a wild boar was ramming into it with its body. The palisade was already leaning, overwhelmed by the sheer number of undead.

“Tell everyone to fall back. Mages, to the front.”

“Master.”

Startled by the sudden voice, Hay turned around.

Renki, who should have been at the elder’s house, had somehow appeared beside him.

“Why are you out here?”

“I won’t run away. I want to stay by your side, Master.”

Renki’s words reminded him of the mercenary and his s*ave who had died during the descent, leaving him speechless.

“All troops! Move to the rear!”

Kisen shouted at the top of his lungs. Soldiers and mercenaries echoed his command, moving back in unison.

“Get back! Hurry up and move!”

Lord Mesht, perhaps wishing to assert his authority, unnecessarily barked at the soldiers, urging them on.

Watching the area in front of the palisade empty, Hay stroked Renki’s head.

Renki flinched, looking up at Hay. In the torchlight illuminating the village, Hay’s hair was tinged with a faint reddish glow.

“You don’t have to run. I don’t have a bad feeling about today. So don’t worry unnecessarily, just wait there.”

Renki tried to say something, but Hay didn’t give him a chance.

“Thea.”

At Hay’s summons, a massive, yellowish wolf-dog emerged from the ground.

Grrrrowl—

“Protect Renki.”

Thea looked up at Hay with pitiful eyes, rubbing her face against his body as if asking if she couldn’t fight too.

“Wait. Your turn will come.”

Hay scratched Thea’s muzzle once before walking forward. He casually tossed his cumbersome cloak aside.

Creak, creak, creak—

Finally, the palisade tilted.

“Will it succeed?”

Chen asked, standing to Hay’s right, his voice tinged with unease.

He wore peculiar sunglasses that covered his entire eye sockets, acquired from who knew where.

“Don’t worry, my dear. It will succeed. Once this is over, we’ll go see Master, just like we talked about.”

“Oh, really?”

“Really!”

“You promised, Adel!”

Adel stood beside the delighted Chen, chuckling.

“Area-of-effect attacks are definitely best with magic!”

Lexa stated, crossing her arms and wearing a confident smile.

‘Alright, I just hope she doesn’t collapse from spitting blood.’

Hay lifted his Spiritwood Staff, resting it casually on his shoulder. Then, he opened his mouth.

“Prepare to attack.”

A faint blue and white light began to emanate from his body.

High above Hay and the mages’ heads, began to form.

Two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four—five hundred and twelve. And then double that again.

The arrows multiplied in an instant.

Just as light emanated from Hay’s body, the arrows too glowed. It was the same light as when he created .

Simultaneously, Lexa moved both hands, softly chanting a spell under her breath to concentrate.

Crackle, sizzle, crackle—

Just as it had in the mountains, Lexa’s magic imbued Hay’s arrows with lightning. Following her, Adel conjured a fireball, like a small sun, into the air.

The sky above the village at the base of Mount Senugel was bathed in bright light.

The palisade finally collapsed.

“Simply staggering.”

Hay clicked his tongue at the sight unfolding before him.

Over two thousand dead, trampling the fallen palisade, poured into the village.

Those without legs walked on their hands, those who had lost limbs crawled, and those headless stumbled aimlessly as they gradually approached.

Their slow steps began to quicken, and they even started to shriek.

Moreover, undead magical beasts leaped forth, trampling over the front-line undead, and undead trolls, whom Hay and Lexa had certainly killed, came thundering forward.

He could almost hear people holding their breath and gulping behind him.

It was an overwhelming spectacle, yet Hay remained utterly unconcerned.

“Worse than *The Walking Dead*.”

His left hand, not gripping the staff, rose.

Hay let out a short, hollow laugh and opened his mouth.

“Ka’es Dekyle.”

With his command, his left hand swept downwards.

In that instant, a thousand were unleashed.

CRASH! BOOM! ROAR!—

A tremendous explosion and blinding light shook the heavens and earth.

Azure lightning surged everywhere, striking like a thunderbolt.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—

Following the ground’s tremor, the backblast from the explosion of a thousand arrows rushed in.

The force untied his tightly bound hair, and his long silver locks whipped wildly in the aftershock.

Meanwhile, Renki staggered, unable to stand properly. Thea, standing beside him, braced him with her large body to prevent him from falling.

Renki hugged Thea’s large neck. Beyond Hay, who had his back to him, a halo of light flashed.

Even though his eyes stung, Renki didn’t blink once. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from Hay.

“Grooooooowl—!”

“Kieeeeeeek—!”

The undead shrieked.

Their rotten bodies burst apart from the lightning explosion. Limbs disintegrated, scattering in all directions.

Dead blood, bones, and flesh flew through the air, and putrid-smelling entrails splattered across the ground.

What remained, unrecognizable in form, still twitched. Then, flames erupted from them—purplish flames that consumed wicked magical energy.

As if doused in holy water.

“Holy water?”

Kisen muttered.

The flames were a chemical reaction that occurred when holy water touched magical energy, a fire of purification.

‘Leave the holy water to me.’

Kisen let out a hollow laugh, recalling Hay’s words.

“He created holy water with the power of spirits?”

He remembered the conversation he’d had with Hay during their interview.

‘I can turn ordinary water into healing water, or create healing water.’

‘That’s fascinating. I’ve never heard of a Spirit User having healing abilities.’

Furthermore, an old memory flashed through his mind, and he realized the true nature of those sacred arrows.

“Surely not…”

In that memory, there was a brilliant blonde elf, so radiant one might believe them to be an avatar of the Sun God.