Chapter 4: Super human disease ha jin -woo (3)

Enemies were approaching.

The adventurers, overwhelmed by the fact that their comrade had died so easily, were unable to move, but the Light Church faction was different.

They were closing the distance, longswords drawn.

They took firm stances, moving swiftly.

It seemed they were accustomed to such situations.

In contrast, the weapon in my hand, the mace, felt unfamiliar.

It would have been good to have a shotgun, but it wasn’t currently in my possession.

Simply feeling a strange heat in my hand, I spread out my microcurrents.

Imprinting their limbs, muscle movements, and heart rates into my mind, I also took my stance.

Mimicking their stance, I spread my legs.

I bent my knees, adjusted my foot position, and re-calibrated the angle of my ankles.

In the meantime, the distance shortened.

Standing firm, I was the first to kick off the ground and rush towards the approaching enemy.

Without even a hint of surprise, the enemy’s attack towards me, now close, was a thrust.

It was a thrust delivered with a great twist of the waist.

A thrust aimed precisely at my head.

It was fast and accurate. But I was faster.

I moved before the thrust even reached my eyes.

I twisted my body sharply, just as I had swung it down to strike the head.

With taut muscles, I pulled the iron mass.

At its end, I launched the iron mass like a meteor.

My target was not the enemy, but the weapon they held.

The mace, accelerated to a mere blur, struck the sword blade.

Kaaang!

With a ringing clang, I struck the longsword from top to bottom, pushing it away.

The warrior, helmeted, froze. A momentary opening.

It was a chance.

I retracted the mace to the side and thrust out my leg.

Jjeok!

A familiar sensation. The warrior was sent sprawling backward.

A front kick powerful enough to break a spine if the opponent were an ordinary human.

However, the warrior was unharmed.

He had released his weapon without hesitation the moment the mace struck his longsword.

Even as he rolled on the ground, he swept his hand to his waist and drew a dagger.

He was experienced. He even threw his body backward to reduce the impact of my kick.

Naturally, there was no chance to kill him.

Because another warrior immediately rushed in to fill the gap.

Excellent coordination. I rolled my eyes and leaned my body.

The longsword in his hand, occupying my flank and swinging.

Towards that trajectory, I swung the mace, which I had retracted to the side, horizontally.

Jjaejjaeng, the ringing clang filled the space.

Hearing that sound, I felt the frozen adventurers begin to move.

An encirclement that ordinary humans would inevitably fall victim to.

They occupied all directions simultaneously.

It seemed they had killed many this way before.

The more I became aware of it, the more anger surged. My body heated up with the consciously evoked rage.

Within the microcurrents, which were like an extension of my senses, I could even read the minute movements of their muscles.

The longsword, struck and pushed away by the mace. That much of an opening.

With the power generated from my waist by the swing, I immediately threw a punch.

Kwaaang!

The helmet crumpled. Blood appeared.

It seemed he hadn’t expected me to crush a helmet with a bare fist, and he froze in shock.

As the warrior retreated, he tore off the helmet on his head and flung it away.

He tried to regain his stance, but.

Kwaaaang!

“Keok…!”

He was slow. His judgment, his actions, even the process of removing the helmet I had crushed to obstruct his vision.

Thus, the immediately launched front kick connected.

Unable to dodge or dissipate the force, his body bent sharply.

A direct hit, precisely to the abdomen.

I saw consciousness draining from his eyes.

And I didn’t rest long enough to miss such an opening.

The gripped iron mass fell onto his spine.

Kwajijijik!

The sensation of bone crushing through my fingertips. A comminuted fracture of the spine.

As the warrior collapsed from the impact that crumpled his armor, another warrior, who had drawn a dagger, rushed in.

A surprise attack that would have inflicted a fatal wound directly from behind if I hadn’t read the signs. Approaching with silenced footsteps, it was an excellent ambush.

A madness reminiscent of China’s drug-addicted soldiers, yet with different skills.

He didn’t even flinch at the death of his comrade.

But I already knew.

I had already read the dagger aimed precisely at my vital spot, twisting my body and grabbing his wrist to immobilize it.

Blood welled from my scratched side, but it was nothing.

Releasing the mace, I twisted my body sharply, grabbed his wrist, and seized his collar with my right hand.

Then, as if uprooting him from the ground, I lifted him high.

Swoosh, the moment I exhaled the breath I had drawn, the human held in my hand was slammed into the ground.

Kwaaaaaang!

The body slammed onto the concrete made a sound like a bursting drum.

His eyes glazed over, and a gasping breath escaped his mouth. Another opening.

I seized the mace I had dropped and held it high.

“Hup!”

Kwajijijik!

And so, another head was crushed.

Glancing at the completely shattered head, leaving no trace, I retracted the mace, now drenched in blood.

Two arrows were shot towards me.

The trajectory was vividly felt through the microcurrents extended like my sense of touch.

Swaeek, Kkaang!

I twisted my head to dodge one, and as I extended the mace I was already retracting to deflect the other arrow, an immediate reaction came back.

“Huh, he dodged…?!

“Shoot! Stop messing around!”

The adventurers, shocked, yet again aimed their bows at me and drew their strings.

‘Alright, you’re next.’

It was just as I was preparing to run.

Something like a pure white light flashed across my vision.

The change occurred the moment the orange-haired woman standing behind the adventurers extended her hand.

Without even thinking of blocking, it reached me with a faint sensation of heat brushing against my microcurrents.

My body instantly stiffened.

“It worked! Now!”

But it wasn’t a bind; it felt like paralysis.

A stiffness, as if the muscles themselves were greatly tensed and unable to move.

Even when I strained my muscles as if they would burst, I could barely move.

‘What is this?’

But there was no time to analyze. I saw the aimed bows.

I felt the adventurers closing the distance.

‘If I stay still, I’ll die.’

Gritting my teeth, I swelled my muscles and struggled to move my body.

Deudeudeudeudeudeuk!

I heard something twisting.

I saw the woman, still with her hand outstretched, her expression hardening.

‘Good, it’s working.’

I gritted my teeth and swelled my muscles even more, and by the time the arrows were shot, my arm could move.

Enough to block the arrows by a hair’s breadth.

Peok, Peoook!

I blocked the arrow aimed at my head with my raised arm.

The hits were on my forearm and wrist. My left hand lost strength. Blood welled up.

But I didn’t die.

‘I still have my right arm.’

Gritting my teeth, I lowered my stance as much as possible and kicked off the ground.

As the concrete shattered and scattered beneath my feet, I saw the adventurers’ eyes widen.

It was truly explosive acceleration.

A speed that ordinary humans would struggle to follow with their eyes.

As the distance instantly closed, I saw the aimed bows tremble.

“Ugh, hik!”

Toong!

I didn’t flinch at the sound of the bowstrings.

I had already read their trajectories. There was no need to dodge.

Within spitting distance of the two adventurers, I twisted my body sharply.

The adventurer who didn’t freeze upon seeing me approach so close hastily drew an axe and swung it, but it was already too late.

Reversing the sharp twist of my body, I swung my left hand to strike the side of the axe, then swung the mace, imbued with centrifugal force, towards the neck of the adventurer who had shot arrows at me.

Kwajijik!

The adventurer collapsed, their neck sharply twisted.

There was no need to retract the mace I had swung.

When the adventurer, whose stance had broken under my strength, fell, I only needed to stomp my foot down on their head.

Eujik!

As skull fragments mixed with concrete debris scattered across the ground, six remained.

Four adventurers, the woman who had used strange tricks on me, and the warrior standing behind her.

It was before I could close the distance again.

Amidst a hail of arrows, something was shot towards me at an incomprehensible speed.

I only understood that it was flying towards me reflexively.

That I managed to block it was purely luck.

An even faster speed than before. A speed that truly seemed like light itself.

The moment it touched the mace I had somehow raised, my body was pushed back.

A powerful force that pushed my body back significantly, even though I had clearly blocked it.

My breath hitched. My eyes widened at the impact, as if I had been hit by a car.

Kwaaaaaang!

With a roar fitting the force, my body was sent flying. The mace slipped from my hand.

And as I flipped my body in mid-air and landed, something pressed down on me.

Kwadedeudededeudeuk!

The concrete shattered and was crushed.

An intangible force pressing down as if to crush my body.

It was invisible. No, to be precise, there was only light.

Pure white light was etched into the ground in symbols I couldn’t understand, pressing me down.

It felt as if a giant finger was trying to crush me like an insect.

An impact and force I had never felt in my life, a trick whose principle I couldn’t even comprehend.

While feeling a sense of crisis, I also felt curiosity.

A power that felt like magic.

Something quite different from the abilities wielded by super-soldiers.

An ability that seemed scientifically inexplicable.

As I pushed my body against it, trying to resist, I chewed over the information I had been given.

They called it a labyrinth. They called them adventurers. They called them the Light Church.

As if something real existed, as if wielding such power was common in this world.

It was already an impossible phenomenon right before my eyes.

Absurdly, that fact made my heart pound.

Deudeudeudeudeudeuk!

Though that would be a story for after I escaped this place and killed everyone.

I saw the adventurers recoil in fright, perhaps surprised that I wasn’t crushed.

“Is this truly the Incarnation of Darkness…?”

“As expected, requesting the Holy Knights’ deployment is—”

The adventurers, looking exasperated and terrified, still aimed their bows.

The remaining warrior guarded with his sword, wary, but didn’t approach.

Meanwhile, the orange-haired woman, with her hand still outstretched towards me, frowned deeply in astonishment.

As I tried to steady myself and stand, I struggled to grasp its principle.

The weight pressing down on my body didn’t physically exist.

Yet it clearly existed and was pressing me down.

A weight that would have crushed an ordinary human long ago.

Even as I pushed my body with enough strength to swell my forearms, I was still being pressed down.

‘It’s probably for offense.’

So they were astonished and amazed that I hadn’t died.

They clearly believed this could kill me.

‘I’ll use that overconfidence against them.’

I thought of a way to exploit the crushing pressure currently on my body.

‘Is there a way to interfere? Like disrupting their concentration.’

‘Through verbal means?’

‘Perhaps if I provoked them and broke their composure, the output might decrease.’

‘I should try something.’

‘Escape like that, then kill that woman first.’

I slowly changed my posture.

I spread my entire body weight and the crushing weight as widely as possible to alleviate the burden.

And I raised my knees, so that the moment the output decreased, I could kick off the ground and close the distance.

It was just as I opened my mouth to say something.

The weight pressing down on my body suddenly vanished.

What I saw was the woman retracting her hand and waving it.

Before I knew it, light formed a sphere, enveloping her and the warrior standing close by her.

When I stood up faster than I could even think, a sound reached my ears.

A sound like wind blowing.

A whistling sound, unique to deeply condensed air interlocking.

A chilling sensation made my feet stop on their own.

Heat haze instantly ran across the ground.

It happened so extremely fast that even I could barely see it.

The way space seemed to distort, as if rippling.

It was familiar to me, yet something I hadn’t seen in too long.

A phenomenon caused by a momentary vacuum and intense heat.

Space itself seemed to inhale.

Guwoooong

A heavy, booming sound, and then.

Flames surged from the ground.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

Sweeping through where the adventurers had been, engulfing the sphere of light, it fiercely blazed up as if to reach the sky.

Overwhelmed by the blinding light, I flinched, and all sorts of sounds came simultaneously.

A sizzling sound as flesh burned and blood boiled.

A thunderous sound created by expanding steam.

After the popping sounds mixed with hissing, I found myself unconsciously looking up at the flames.

Within the bright light, human silhouettes, unable to bear their own weight, sank and submerged inwards.

The sight of shadows within the light collapsing inwards and vanishing.

As I watched, mesmerized, conflicting emotions enveloped me.

‘It’s beautiful.’ That couldn’t be denied. Fire had a captivating magic.

But more than that… it was sudden.

The light that had just been pressing me down, the means that had held my ankle, what had pushed me back—those were strange, but.

This was on a different level.

It wasn’t merely flames that barely outlined the body, like those the Captain used.

The very ground seemed to crack open, inviting one to hell.

It was such intense flame that it gave rise to such an illusion.

As if checking if the power matched its appearance, the woman frowning inside the sphere turned her head.

Apart from her and the warrior standing behind her, nothing remained, not even a trace of their forms.

Instead, a small figure emerged, parting the flames that now occupied the space.

What the flames had left behind was, strangely, in the form of a girl.

A cloak the color of burnt ash was visible.

The hood resting on her head swayed in the thermal wind, and beneath it, her ashen-grey hair fluttered without a single bead of sweat, despite the heat.

Further down, she had doll-like features.

Clean and beautiful, yet unsettling.

Moreover, almost no emotion could be felt in her pair of black eyes.

A look that wouldn’t shed a single tear for any tragedy she had caused.

Her attire, moreover, was impeccably clean and neat, unfitting for the situation.

Such a girl approached, cutting through the flames.

Jabak, she stepped on the half-melted, tar-like asphalt as if it were a sandy beach, coming closer.

As her long skirt swayed, her tiny, bare feet propelled her body forward.

Anyone could tell she was the master of these flames.

Even the flames rising from the ground seemed to bow their heads in reverence to her, making way.

“…Vertea of the Infernal Flame.”

The woman inside the sphere said, showing her displeasure at the sight.

But she merely said that, doing nothing else.

She simply frowned quietly, then with gracefully clasped hands, smoothed her clothes and brushed off the ash.

As if it were nothing, even though it was the ash of comrades who had once been with her.

When she finished tidying herself, her green eyes left the doll-like girl and rested on me.

Until she suddenly smiled sweetly.

“See you again, Incarnation of Darkness. Next time, I’ll come more thoroughly prepared.”

She smiled sweetly, bowed her head, and retreated.

Filling the inside of the sphere with light, she vanished like a mirage, leaving only an afterimage.

The threat was gone. The enemy had burned away and vanished.

Even in a situation where nothing made sense, I couldn’t move rashly.

Nor could I say it was safe.

There was just the girl approaching me.

The being called Vertea of the Infernal Flame.

The small destroyer who had displayed something more intense than any miracle I had witnessed since waking up.

‘Can I win?’

I wanted to believe that such a grand technique would require an opening or a recharge.

But I hadn’t been an optimist since childhood.

‘It would be more beneficial to assume there are no such openings.’

‘Then, can I resist?’

Flames can be bent with electricity.

But heavy flames, which my microcurrents probably couldn’t even bend, were still burning the ground.

‘Is it even feasible? The difference in weight class, perhaps.’

Still, the outcome is unknown. Their firepower is superior, but my physical build is stronger.

That small physique seemed to tell me it could be ended with a single attack.

‘In that case, I’ll just bet on it.’

As always, I gripped my weapon to survive.

I re-gripped the mace, extending it forward as if to ward off flames that this iron mass couldn’t block, making it the only barrier between the girl and me.

‘Just one exchange. Or perhaps the outcome will be decided even before that.’

It was just as I was pushing strength into my muscles and lowering my stance.

Suddenly, the girl, with her back to the flames, bowed at the waist.

Very politely, without any hostility.

When I abruptly braked, the ground I was about to kick off of cracked with a *kwadeuk* sound.

The girl wasn’t flustered by such a sound.

As if she wouldn’t care even if I approached and smashed her head.

Instead, as if doing what needed to be done, she gently lifted both sides of her skirt with her small hands and bowed her head.

A polite greeting naturally followed the bow.

“It is an honor to meet you, Incarnation.”

It was a pleasant voice. An elegant voice.

The girl greeted me with that voice, meeting my gaze.

With eyes completely black, yet somehow, unlike moments ago, even conveying goodwill.

“This entity, Vertea, is a humble servant of darkness, forged solely to dedicate herself to your adventures and glory, and to assist your journey, Incarnation.”

Simply placing her hand over her chest, shyly.

Behind her, my hometown stretched out.

A city that had burned, crumbled, and yet remained intact despite countless years.

The ruins of Seoul, which now had to be called a labyrinth.