A Lioness Faithful to Instinct (2)
“We will fight with the idea of dealing with at least a legendary-grade named monster. Hee-young-ssi will buff the close-ups. Deokgu-ssi and Hyejin-ssi need to focus on not breaking down the back row. Ye-ri and I will block the front as much as possible, so I think, Kiyoung-ssi and Jeong-yeon-ssi should cast magic to stop her.”
“Yes. Okay.”
“Understood.”
Sun Hee-young and Park Deokgu nodded in reply.
Normally, it would be the standard to add buffs to the rear, but I felt like he was trying to focus the buff on the front line to not let the melee forces collapse in vain. I knew I would have made the same choice.
What was a little exciting about this was that Kim Hyunsung looked quite familiar with this situation. In the future that would happen from now on, there seemed to be a few things that would cause Cha Hee-ra to stray.
‘Of course, it will not be this kind of case…’
At least I knew Kim Hyunsung had been through this situation at least once.
“Grrrrrr…”
Cha Hee-ra, staring at us quietly from a few meters from here, felt a bit scary. Her entire self was doused in red from the blood of the monsters that she had torn apart. I began to tremble.
‘Whoo…’
The good news was that she could clearly separate allies from enemies. If she didn’t kill a member of the Red Mercenary, she wouldn’t launch a dangerous attack on us, either.
Of course, even a stone that she would throw would be enough to behead me, but it as merit enough not to make a fatal attack anyway.
“She’s coming.”
“Grrrrrr!!”
In the meantime, debris from a large building started flying in our direction.
‘She doesn’t mean to kill, right?’
In an instant, the shadows cast upwards swallowed up our party members, but as Hwang Jeong-yeon recited the spell, the fragments paused in the air.
It seemed to be a magical shape that used telekinetic power. Cha Hee-ra disappeared among the thrown rubble.
However, she appeared at the side in no time, her arms stretched out.
It was surprisingly Park Deokgu that stopped Cha Heera.
“Don’t even touch Hyung-nim… Aaaak!”
As soon as he blocked her attack with his shield, he bounced off to the other side. Though I knew he wouldn’t die, his arm had probably gotten crushed.
‘Wow, he only lasted for one second?’
Taking advantage of this, I could see Cho Hyejin, Kim Hyunsung, and Kim Ye-ri rushing to her.
Cha Hee-ra struck Kim Hyunsung, who wielded his sword, with her arm as if she found him annoying, but our lovely returner avoided the attack by twisting his body.
Cho Hyejin’s spear then extended through that gap. A piercing sound rang through the air.
‘I see.’
The strange thing was that I could see their attacks in detail. Perhaps this, too, was the effect of Mind’s Eye evolution to a legendary level.
However, when Cha Hee-ra punched through the spear that pierced her, Cho Hyejin’s balance was thrown off. As the crazed lioness prepared to land a blow, Kim Ye-ri, holding a dagger, appeared behind her. The kid’s advanced ability left me open-mouthed.
Assuming that they worked this well together during the first round, I knew Kim Hyunsung’s efforts in finding them had not gone to waste.
“Hmmmm-ahhh!”
Kim Ye-ri hurriedly threw her dagger, but as soon as Cha Hee-ra moved, the three members were swept away by the shock of her magical power. Seeing this as an opportunity, Jung Hayan cast her magic.
“Iiiik! Disappear!!”
‘We’re not supposed to kill her!’
It seemed that her true intentions had come out without her knowing, but it was hard to imagine that Cha Hee-ra would take damage from Jung Hayan’s magic.
Jung Hayan hurled a magic elemental bomb at high speed towards Cha Hee-ra.
powers completely turned the ground into a powder that tried to swallow Cha Hee-ra.
“Hiss!”
However, the lioness simply struck the magic with her hand as if she found it annoying. The elemental bomb, created by Jung Hayan, struck the opposite building with a loud roar.
Baaaaaaanng!
Kaduuuuuk!
‘Motherf…’
Seeing the buildings falling like dominoes reminded me of myself saying that Castle Rock would be safe, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
First, we had to sort out this situation.
Kim Hyunsung, as if thinking the same as me, immediately rushed to Cha Hee-ra with his sword, with Cho Hyejin and Kim Ye-ri right behind him.
Once again, swords, spears, and daggers were shot at her, but everything proved to be useless. Meanwhile, Cha Hee-ra had focused on Kim Ye-ri.
‘Isn’t it dangerous?’
Kim Ye-ri’s endurance was not high. When I tried to chant a spell in a hurry, Park Deokgu, who had popped up from nowhere, again blocked her attack.
“Nice, Park Deokgu!”
“Uuuuuuuhhhhhk!”
I could see him being thrown back naturally into the opposite building. He rushed out as soon as he returned, but he at least prevented Kim Ye-ri from getting killed. His guts and strength were not bad. However, I felt like there would be no end to this.
‘The problem is…’
I did not know for how long Cha Hee-ra would go easy on us. Even now, it seemed that she felt quite annoyed. Though the remaining reason within her told her not to kill us, she might be unable to hold herself back if this went on.
If one were to face a mythic-grade stat, being bounced off to the opposite building will not be the end. Chances were, one would explode into a bloody mess.
‘This is not good…’
I, Hwang Jeong-yeon, and Jung Hayan continued to pour out magic, but we achieved nothing with our efforts. Kim Hyunsung himself looked anxious.
Cha Hee-ra and I still had plenty of strength. It was annoying to realize that I had to use my reserve of stamina and magic power I could’ve used to gain experience with, but if this could be considered as an experience value, then it would not be so bad.
‘Still…’
‘We can’t keep going like this.’
Actually, the experience was not a problem.
If the monster’s mother appeared while Kim Hyunsung and Cha Hee-ra were away, we could be annihilated along with Castle Rock’s imperialists within the city.
As I thought of a way to escape, a huge cry came from outside the wall, as if it had been waiting this entire time.
“Gruuuuuuuhhhhh…”
A low cry resounded. However, it was enough to shake my entire body.
‘We’re doomed.’
I couldn’t see it from inside the city, but I thought I could predict what was going on. Seeing that I saw no figure hovering in the sky, I could tell that it wasn’t a flying type, but upon hearing the chaos that had suddenly erupted, I had to admit that the situation had worsened.
Of course, I was not the only one who had heard the cry.
Kim Hyunsung’s expression had distorted, and Hwang Jeong-yeon also looked surprised.
The impact in the voice was different from that of a heroic-grade monster’s. I didn’t know what kind of monster it was, but one thing was for sure—our wall needed support.
Cha Hee-ra was indeed a problem, but the city wall was of greater importance for now.
‘I have to stop it.’
“First, to the wall! Hyunsung-ssi! I think it’s right to head towards the city wall first.”
“B-But…”
“No, go west!”
“What?”
“I don’t have time to explain. After taking me west, you can go straight to clean up the monsters on the wall.”
“T-That’s too dangerous, Oppa…”
“The party members are heading to the wall right now. Hyejin is in charge of the command and should focus on blocking the monsters approaching the wall. After you take me to the western area, I will head straight to the wall.”
“But.”
“No. This is our top priority. I’m going to be okay, Hayan.”
Jung Hayan looked surprised, but Kim Hyunsung quietly nodded, at once knowing what I had in mind. The order had already been given, after all.
Kim Hyunsung came to me in an instant, grabbing my hand and running straight to the west. Thanks to his high agility stats, we arrived there in no time.
The feeling of being in his arms was strange, but his speed was vastly different from Cho Hyejin’s. I could see Cha Hee-ra running this way, screaming as if he had just stolen her lover, but it proved to be hard trying to catch up to us as we ran through different alleys.
“What do you have in mind?” Kim Hyunsung then asked, panting heavily.
I knew he would be curious. It definitely seemed strange for me to suddenly want to head west.
In some ways, what I was doing could be considered a gamble.
I couldn’t guarantee it, but if my predictions were correct, there was one more person in Castle Rock capable of fighting right now.
“I’m not sure, but maybe… I might be able to get support there.”
“What?”
“There’s this person I met a few days ago by chance…”
“What?”
Kim Hyunsung’s expression told me that he found me crazy. I wasn’t all that sure, either. However, it was not impossible.
If that person left the city immediately after exiting the underground auction house, it was possible that I would be wrong. Still, martial law was dropped on Castle Rock immediately after our trip to the black market.
Of course, security was tight, and the Red Mercenaries had encroached upon Castle Rock so that a single ant couldn’t escape.
If there were a separate underground entrance that I didn’t know, it would be unknown, but as a result of an investigation centering on the underground auction house, no exit to the outside could be found.
That was not all.
If there were any lingering attachment for me, it would be impossible to get out of the city that easily. I knew that there was a possibility that this person would have been snooping at the underground auction house in the hopes of meeting me again.
As I rummaged through my pockets, I saw the notes I had received before. I thought we would never meet again, but I couldn’t even imagine that I would actually look for her.
“How far do I have to go?”
After we continued to run on, I called out the name I had never thought of calling out before.
“Shao… lin!!”
“What…”
“Shaolin! Come out!!”
The returner’s face looked disconcerted.
His strangely twisted eyes seemed to be asking why I knew the name, but I could see that he was biting his lips and not asking anything else.
‘Fuck… You know who it is.’
It felt like he had been entangled in a bad situation with her. It wasn’t the same reaction as Jung Jinho, but their relationship didn’t look all that good, either. Considering Shaolin’s characteristics, it seemed that she was not on the side of justice very much.
‘She may be from the Republic, so this would only be natural.’
“Shaolin! Come out!!”
“Is she really there?”
“I’m not sure, but perhaps… No, she will be.”
If she was really here, I was willing to bow down to her and ask her to come out. There were still 34 more minutes until Cha Hee-ra could regain her sanity.
Seeing her still frantically chasing us, I knew this was our last hope.
I could not depend on Hyunsung to keep running forever. Until now, we had managed to avoid her somehow, but to be honest, we would not last that much longer.
Suddenly, an explosive sound rang through the air.
“Ah.”
“I never thought I would meet you so quickly… And in this situation… Ah, what should I make of this… masked man? Can I call you that?”
The woman I was looking for appeared right on top of one of the nearby buildings.
It is impressive to see her wearing a Chinese dress, just like the day we met before. She indeed looked beautiful without her mask. A smile appeared on my face.
‘This is it!’
It would be most effective to make a crazy deal with a crazy bitch during this time.
‘The balance of power must be maintained!’
“It’s an honor to meet you again, beautiful Shaolin-nim.”
Her face took on an expression of shock at my greeting.