CH 321

It was as Dulia expected. There was no way an expedition team of five would be able to function normally after losing two members and then even their head. It took only two days for Yunael to realize that they shouldn’t have kicked out the head of the team. No, perhaps it wasn’t even two days; Yunael had lost track of time ever since they came underground and had to wander around in seemingly endless darkness with only one companion.

Soon, the torch they had prepared beforehand lost its functionality. Unable to see without the light, Yunael thought they were going crazy, and they couldn’t figure out which way they were going at all. They tried to find their way to the center of this space or even back to the outer areas again, but it felt as if they were going in circles, and it was driving them mad. Yunael had insulted the head for being so slow in advancing, but after experiencing the role of a guide firsthand, they understood the reason behind Dulia’s choices. And like that, Yunael and their sole teammate had to spend the next couple of days wandering listlessly and battling on repeat.

What about sleep? Of course, they couldn’t take a proper rest. When they spotted a suitable place to wind down and tried to take turns sleeping, enemies always ambushed them. It was the same for meals. They just shoved whatever they found in their belongings into their mouths and resumed battle while munching on food. Unable to meet their basic needs, it didn’t take long for them to grow weary and exhausted. It seemed they were reaching their end. Their water and food supplies came to an end this afternoon, and there wasn’t any more medicine. Their bodies were also breaking down. It didn’t help that the nonstop battles exhausted their strength.

It seemed evident that they would end up wandering around pointlessly until they collapsed. Still, Yunael didn’t give up. Their eyes still shone brightly even though the rest of their body was in absolute shambles.

Slice! A prune-colored trajectory sliced through the air. The semi-transparent creature flying toward them split into two. After nullifying their opponent, Yunael didn’t stop moving their blade and instead pierced through their surroundings. Each of their strikes was fierce enough to make a loud swoosh, and every attack was accompanied by the sound of things being split into pieces. Even though they should’ve been exhausted, Yunael showed no indication of falling. Instead, they seemed to press on with more rigor than before.

A scream rang from behind them. Yunael quickly turned around and grimaced. The only companion they had left—a male hero—collapsed while spluttering blood.

“You bastard!” Yunael fiercely swung their spear around and defeated their enemies. Then they hurriedly ran backward. Making quick work of the enemies intently eyeing their companion’s prone body with their spear, Yunael kicked their last companion roughly.

“Get up! Get up, you idiot!” Yunael yelled. Though their companion was still conscious, it appeared that he had difficulty moving. Then Yunael looked around to see semi-transparent, mud-like creatures cluster around them. Yunael gasped and gritted their teeth.

“Ha, shit.” In the end, Yunael narrowed their eyes and clutched their spear with both hands tightly. “Hey, come at me, you bastards! Come here! If you don’t, I will go to you all!” Yunael spat out and shouted. Their eyes didn’t look sane.

Soon afterward, enemies with hooks for hands reached out toward them. It looked like they were trying to snatch up the lives of anyone breathing.

“That idiot…!” It was at that moment Dulia arrived near the area after hearing a scream and quickly notched an arrow to her bow. She was about to pull on the bowstring when a hand blocked her view.

“Why…?” Dulia turned around with obvious confusion.

“Let’s wait a bit…” Chi-Woo lowered his gaze.

Whoosh! Yunael’s spear made one circle in the air. Like they were roughly swinging a key ring around a finger, the spear spun like fast-going fan blades. It moved so fast that it looked like there was one circle. Then this circle moved according to Yunael’s movement and ground their enemies, keeping them at bay. Yunael didn’t take one step back even while fighting a swarm of formidable enemies, and they did all this while not only protecting themselves, but also their companion.

—Oh wow.

Philip laughed in admiration seeing Yunael swing their spear around like a windmill.

—It’s so fierce, but it isn’t just rough. At a glance, it looks as if they’re just doing whatever the hell they want, but there is preciseness and sharpness to their movements.

He couldn’t hide his astonishment.

—They move softly yet strongly. Who is this kid really? It looks like they’ve been swinging their spears ten thousand times a day since they were four or five.

Chi-Woo nodded. His past self would’ve asked Philip what he was talking about; but after training with Byeok, the way Chi-Woo viewed things changed. He saw it clearly now. At a glance, Yunael’s movements looked rough and unrefined, but there was intention behind each of their movements—the intent to crush their enemies in one go. Yet their flow was never cut off, and everything moved naturally like water. The way Yunael fought was completely opposite to Ru Amuh, who focused on balance and led his opponents to act the way he wanted.

—Each move they make is lethal. But how could they achieve such heights at that age… I don’t know who trained them, but the trainer must have been harsher than even Ms. Byeok.

It was as Philip said. Those fighting Yunael must have been losing their minds. It was like they were fighting a fluctuating candlelight that refused to go out no matter how hard the winds blew from all directions; instead, this candlelight was growing in size and burned with enough intensity to consume everything around them. In the end, the enemies stopped moving and gathered into one body, growing in size in the hope of defeating Yunael in one blow. Yet Yunael couldn’t have been happier with this development.

They continued forward and extended their spear straight. All those witnessing the scene looked surprised. Though Yunael had one spear, as soon as they extended it, it multiplied into dozens in an instant. And they weren’t just mirror images. Each of them was a real spear that shot forward at great speed. Eventually, the sound of balloons popping rang in the air.

“Haaa—!” Yunael didn’t turn around or evade. They simply ran forward like a predator rushing at its prey.

“Ahhhh!” With a loud battle cry, their enemy burst into pieces and crumbled. The prune-colored blade of Yunael’s spear pierced through the surviving enemy with precision. That was the end. Their enemy stopped moving and melted. Tap! Their spear struck the floor.

“Urgh! Ugggh!” Drops of sweat and saliva mixed and blotted the ground. If they could, Yunael wanted to collapse and lay down. But they knew they couldn’t and forcefully raised their head back up. They survived again, but they had no time to celebrate.

“Get up.” They turned back to their companion, who was still lying on the ground.

“Get up! Quickly! How long are you going to stay on the ground?” They asked aggressively and pulled their companion’s arm around their neck to help him up. They would die the moment they stopped moving. They had to keep going. And while thinking this, Yunael looked forward and frowned when they saw that their paths had changed again. Must have been while they were too focused on the battle.

“…Tch.” They didn’t hesitate for long, but when they started to move forward, they felt a slight resistance. Even though they were supporting their companion, their companion wouldn’t take a step.

“What? What is it?”

“Stop…” A weak voice came from his tired face.

“What did you say?”

“I want to stop…now…”

Yunael frowned. “Are you serious—” They were about to bark when the male hero yelled first.

“I know! Those two were my companions! I want to save them too! But…!” The male hero couldn’t finish his sentence, and tears trickled down his face. Yunael’s outburst was cut short by his response. It seemed as if he had been enduring until he reached his utmost limits now… Yes, it was about time for them to think about getting out of here. Yunael had felt that during the days they were stuck wandering aimlessly. That was exactly why they needed to find their way back to the heart of this place and solve the problem. Only then would they see a path to escape from this dreadful place.

“Shut up. If you have the strength to talk, save it,” Yunael said in a hoarse voice and was about to forcefully drag the male hero forward when they suddenly heard footsteps. Stomp. Yunael quickly turned around and raised their spear. Then they blinked hard. They saw a face they didn’t expect at all. Though they hadn’t known each other for long, Yunael hadn’t been able to forget him.

“Why are you here…?” Yunael asked, and their mouth widened seeing Dulia also coming toward them. They couldn’t hide their shock when they saw the rest of the rescue team.

“Ha.” Yunael couldn’t believe it. They sensed what was going on by then.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“Aren’t you grateful? Tell us how seriously grateful you are to see us,” Dulia smirked mockingly and asked, “But what’s with your response? We came all this way to save you.”

“Bullshit.” Yunael didn’t back down. “How dare you come back again after running away?”

“No matter how nasty you are, you shouldn’t lie about such things. I didn’t run away. I just followed your orders to fuck off.”

“Yes, you did. Then you should’ve stayed like that. What did you come crawling back here for?”

“What? Crawl back here?” Dulia’s voice grew sharp. She was about to retort with blazing eyes when Chi-Woo stepped forward.

“Hello, I’m Chi-Woo from Seven Stars.”

Yunael’s eyes trembled. They thought, ‘Why him of all people?’ It was the man who took Aida away and completely ignored them. No way that they would feel good about this.

“…Ah, I see~” Thus Yunael’s voice gained quite the aggressive edge. “How surprising. I didn’t expect the oh-so-great leader of the Seven Stars to come here with his lackeys like a pack of hyenas.” Yunael said mockingly as if Chi-Woo had come here to steal away the reaps of this expedition. There was the sound of a sword being unsheathed. Emmanuel had taken out his fleuret. If Jin-Cheon hadn’t stopped him with all his might telling him to endure, there would’ve been lightning sparks flying Yunael’s way.

“It seems like there’s been a misunderstanding,” Chi-Woo said calmly. “We are a rescue team here to save you.”

“What?” Yunael’s voice turned prickly. “A rescue team? To save me?” They snorted. Then they continued with their eyes widened, “Who asked for that?”

“Ho Lactea.”

Yunael flinched.

“How…!”

Chi-Woo took that chance to show Yunael the message he got from Alice. Yunael quickly skimmed over the message, and their face hardened. They glanced sideways to see Dulia smirking. They had an inkling of what had happened.

“…That bitch,” Yunael murmured and dropped the companion they were holding up. Then they continued nonchalantly, “But you came at the right time. It seems like this guy wants to return, so you can take him.”

It sounded like Yunael was going to do what they wished after they handed the hero over. But of course, Chi-Woo didn’t back down.

“We can’t leave you behind,” Chi-Woo said.

A sly smile formed on Yunael’s lips. “What if I don’t want to go?”

“Then it can’t be helped.” Chi-Woo shrugged. “I will have to take you by force.”

There was no other option. Chi-Woo stepped forward and relaxed his shoulders. Yunael’s eyes blazed.

“Ah~! Is that how you are going to do it? As expected of the leader of an organization, you go all out. Okay, but that’s preferable for me.” Yunael thought this was a good chance after everything they had been holding in.

“Did everyone hear that? He’s the one who started it,” Yunael said and gripped their spear tighter. What perfect timing. They could get into another fight before their body cooled. They kicked off the ground before they even finished the thought. It was then Yunael clearly witnessed Chi-Woo slide over to them more quickly than them even though they had started moving at the same time. In an instant, Chi-Woo was in their space. Yunael followed their instincts and spun their spear around.

Bang!

Their vision turned white for a second, and a gasp burst out of their mouth. “Umph!”

Gr, Grrr— Chi-Woo’s fist and Yunael’s spear collided. Then Chi-Woo gripped Yunael’s spear and twisted it. Yunael narrowed their eyes and glared. They were trying to push Chi-Woo away with all their might, but Chi-Woo’s fist edged closer and closer to their face. There was an astonishing shockwave; so strong that the mysterious monster’s attack from before seemed like child’s play in comparison.

“Kuh…!” In the end, Yunael twisted their arm and moved their spear in several different trajectories. They swung it left and right, sliced through the air, and pierced. They tried five different attacks in the limited space between them, but none landed on Chi-Woo. As if they were magnets of opposite poles, Yunael’s attacks went awry and bounced off. They had a spear, and their opponent was unarmed, but they still couldn’t go through his defense.

“Umph!” Seeing Chi-Woo’s left hand quickly coming at them, Yunael hurried backward. “Ahhhh!” And as soon as they increased the distance between them and Chi-Woo, they thrust their arms forward hard. The spear they had swung with all their energy multiplied to dozens in an instant.

‘It’s coming.’ Chi-Woo got into a proper fighting stance for the first time.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Sparks bounced off Chi-Woo’s surroundings.

“!” Yunael’s eyes widened. They couldn’t believe that Chi-Woo was parrying all their attacks with their bare hands. They had combined various types of attacks, and Chi-Woo responded accordingly to each of them. Strength cut off softness while softness repressed strength. That wasn’t all. Brutal force overwhelmed weaker forces while soft movements shut down less soft movements. Yunael didn’t know which attacks Chi-Woo was returning or making at this point, and they felt their own movements grew frantic. In contrast, Chi-Woo appeared utterly calm.

He didn’t take a single step backward while responding to all of Yunael’s spear attacks. Yunael gritted their teeth after witnessing such an unbelievable scene. They wondered how long Chi-Woo would be able to keep his calmness and was about to increase the strength of their attacks.

“…Ah?” It was then their world tilted. They lost their balance. Their spear had struck the wrong spot while aiming maddeningly at Chi-Woo, and Yunael realized that their waist was twisted, their torso subject to heavy strikes from both sides.

‘He’s able to attack at the same time…!’ Yunael screamed inside their mind. Chi-Woo grabbed their tilting spear and yanked. Then Yunael felt a heavy punch in the center of their stomach from Chi-Woo’s left fist.

“Kugh!” The impact was so strong that Yunael felt the insides of their head flip over and shake from the pain. Their vision blurred for a bit, and Yunael didn’t know what had hit them. They blinked and realized that they were somersaulting involuntarily in the air. Boom! Then after spinning some more, they slammed onto the ground like a spear buried into the ground.