Chapter 515: Encounter (1)
I was bewildered, but I didn’t show it. I wondered if Dialugia had the same temperament as Kim Ye-ri, but my face only revealed feelings of embarrassment.
Things that I wasn’t even conscious of wanted to come out of my mouth.
I could only remain silent, similar to when I accidentally called my teacher ‘mom.’ I would have normally provoked her with each word, but I couldn’t afford to do that when I needed her help.
It was more important to support her without saying anything.
“…”
-So, this is…
“No, I won’t say anything, so get ready.”
-What?
“I mean- get ready right away because they will probably come soon.”
-That means…
“Organize your surroundings.”
-Ah, yes.
“With your actions, please, rather than your words.”
Dialugia, who knew about the situation to a certain degree, began to inspect her surroundings for any more signs of the plague. The tall, very tall buildings crumbled as if Lindel itself was being erased from existence.
Craaaasssssh!
Crasssssssssssssssssssh!
“Damn, that restaurant had really good food…”
Places filled with precious memories collapsed.
“I remember that café and bar being pretty good too. Damn, what a waste…”
Of course, we took down Lindel’s symbol too.
‘Well, I never liked that statue much anyway.’
Buildings that were quite old also crumbled into ruins.
‘That will… take a while to rebuild.’
Maybe I was exaggerating a bit, but 1/6 of Lindel fell into ruins in the blink of an eye.
I could understand the faces of those who looked like they had lost their country.
From the venue to the Guild Hall, the sight of everything becoming wiped out must have looked unrealistic to the people from Lindel. Who could keep their composure as their homes were turned into debris overnight?
It was self-evident as to why they would be filled with anger and grief. Some more sensible people could be seen biting their lips and watching the battle before them.
I felt a bit sorry for them, but I also needed to do that. After all, I wasn’t there to fix the huge wound on Lindel.
To be precise, it was dangerous to allow Kim Hyunsung to use his surrounding terrain.
If that squirrel-like guy had a place to hide, the fight wouldn’t be able to take place properly. Still, if I used my Mind’s Eyes, I would be able to catch where that guy would come out of.
‘Good. Very Good.’
If I used a catalyst for my alchemy magic, I could secure a place to escape to. Just at the right time, I gained a large number of catalysts from the demons.
I felt a bit nervous because I knew that humanity still hadn’t lost hope despite the hopeless situation. Not to mention the fact that I still felt anxious that Jihye might have conspired with them.
Nevertheless, external forces were occupied with the masses of invading demons.
There wasn’t a figure who could take control over the place where I was when even all the support groups were tied up by their own predicaments.
It was unreasonable to think that the Supply unit or surplus troops could fight off the Plague Dragon, Dialugia, and the fallen Doom Kiyoung.
If they had a surplus troop like that, they wouldn’t have allowed Dialugia’s signature Plague Breath to destroy their city in the first place.
The fact that they were letting enemies loiter around freely showed that the coalition also had something to believe in. That something was so obvious that it was laughable.
“Let’s go.”
-To where?
“The insides of the castle, the southeast to be precise. Just breathe in and don’t breathe out.”
-Are you telling me to blast the humans in there?
“That place is where we had gathered everyone, who wouldn’t matter if they died. Come on. When did you start liking humans so much? And did you not understand me? I didn’t tell you to really shoot them. I told you to just breathe in.”
-Yes, so… what do you mean by that…
‘Below six o’clock, shoot out radially!”
-Damn, if it was something like that, you should’ve said so sooner!
“Don’t reply from now on. Don’t think and don’t decide unless I tell you to do so. Only follow my words.”
Booooooooom!!!
As if she was abiding by my orders, the expression on Dialugia’s face became a bit anxious as she turned her head and breathed out. Although she probably couldn’t see it, she definitely knew why I said those words.
Even dragons had a blind spot, after all.
If a figure was approaching them at such a fast speed from a hidden spot, there was no way that they would notice it. Unless she had the Eye, she definitely wouldn’t have caught it.
As expected, a male figure burst through the explosions and fogs and appeared into view.
‘Good to see you. Sh*t. Hyunsung!’
He was biting his lips. Of course, his face was shrouded with determination.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any signs of fatigue. Hyunsung seemed like he was only moving with the resolution that he had to save me.
His face showed such a firm determination that I began to feel sorry for him. However, even that pity was cut short.
Even I began to feel a bit anxious, seeing him rush towards me while looking like he had not been injured in the slightest.
Like a habit, I tapped on my thighs with my fingers and imagined what the future and present would hold. As I was not a Penetrating type that could concentrate a great amount of power into a single point, it seemed that I couldn’t peel off Hyunsung’s magical armor, but the attack was enough to exhaust his stamina.
Still…
‘It won’t do much.’
-How…
‘Don’t ask questions. I can’t afford to answer them. I am going to send you my body soon. If you move to the biggest building at the square, I will mark some coordinates, and you can draw a line through them.’
-Yes.
‘It’s a fight that we can handle. We can absolutely handle it.”
If I could write a Regressor’s Instruction Manual, there was no reason that I couldn’t write an instruction manual for Dialugia.
Like a flying squirrel thrusting its body between trees, Dialugia maneuvered her body across the city. Of course, the way she moved didn’t look as cute as a flying squirrel’s movements.
Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiish.
With that sound, the clock tower became demolished; and of course, the wind pressure flung the debris in all directions.
And on top of that, to hinder Kim Hyunsung’s movements, she even breathed out the plague.
-Rooooooooar!!
It was obvious where Kim Hyunsung would move.
As my hand flicked away, I moved with Dialugia, the catalyst that I scattered around began to emerge. To be precise, it was a composite made from a dragon’s and a demon’s bones.
Its main purpose was to block Kim Hyunsung’s course, but it was also to keep him in one place.
Craaaaash!
‘The visual is good.’
It was completely different from the time he was able to use his power in a limited range.
I had to admit that the scene of bones filling the ruined areas was a spectacular sight.
Huge bones that were difficult to discern if they were a demon’s or a dragon’s, blocked Kim Hyunsung’s path, and I did my best to keep him there by all means.
Since I also placed some low-level skeletons in the area, it was almost as if I had created a dungeon in just a couple of seconds.
Craaaaaaaaash!
Boooooooooom!!
However…
The bone’s palms fell apart and swiveled in the air before hitting Lindel’s floor.
Likewise, the low-level skeletons, which had been flinging around their swords awkwardly, also fell apart easily.
“Fuck…Sh*t…’
It was quite a sight to see.
To be honest, it was astonishing to see a human escape while surrounded by bones that were as big as a building. That was even more so if one were to consider that there were hundreds of more bones like that surrounding him.
It was like he was surfing through overwhelming waves of skeletal systems.
It was a mouth-dropping scene.
He blocked things that he couldn’t normally be avoided, and destroyed the things he couldn’t block.
In the first place, I expected those objects to crumble in front of Kim Hyunsung’s power, but they were breaking far easier than I thought.
I was hoping to gain more time, but the sight of everything becoming destroyed so fast caused my expression to crumple. I then chanted, causing the fog to begin to envelop our surroundings.
The plague, shaped like a ghost, slowly emerged in our area as well.
The situation was slow, lackluster, and hard to notice.
‘It won’t work like this. This has no meaning anymore…”
According to my plans, it was only proper to have placed Hyunsung into that wave of bones.
It would’ve given him significant damage. However, because the first phase collapsed so fast, my plans had been ruined.
‘We might be in trouble…’
“I don’t care if you have to use Breath or anything else but make sure he doesn’t come all the way here. Let’s try to maintain a distance of at least 100m. You’re forbidden to swing your claws at him or hit him with your forehead. Always keep a long-distance, and in the worst-case scenario, let’s wag our tails.”
-I understand what you mean. But… is it even possible to fight something like that? I thought that you had also evolved, but that guy is…
“I am thinking right now. We bombed our first attempt. His legs are the problem no matter how much I think about it. Those legs… If I could just hinder those legs a little bit…”
‘If I could do that, I could come up with a much more beautiful and climactic picture.’
How could the audience be moved by a battle that they couldn’t even see or that no camera could capture?
The way that things were progressing, the audience might see an ending where Kim Hyunsung would come out of nowhere and slam my head down.
If that happened, rather than being moved, the audience would feel empty. It was at that moment did he become filled with worry.
“Kiyoung-ssi!”
He screamed in a hurry.
‘Ah… This…’
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
At the sight of him holding onto his head in pain, Dialugia suspected that he had another mental illness, but Kim Hyunsung’s response was different.
“I…I am Hyunsung. My voice! Can you hear my voice?!”
‘Ah, his voice is so desperate, his voice…ah.’
“Kiyoung-ssi! Kiyoung-ssi! Are you still there?! Kiyoung-ssi! Please! Please!”
‘Urgh.’
It was the most desperate voice I had heard in a while.
He added magic to his voice, which was already filled with desperation, to make it more audible.
“I will…I will save you right now!”
He was looking directly at me.
‘This guy…he doesn’t realize it. This is why you keep getting robbed, man.’
“Please wait there for a bit. Just a little… I will be there soon.”
However, Hyunsung didn’t look like he was off-guard. Tensions increased, and as he began to think that it couldn’t go on like that, he howled.
Even in his tired state… His eyes remained focused.
I had expected that an accident would happen.
With his innate abilities, he escaped out of the waves of bones, but he seemed to have forgotten the ghost that he had let go of just a moment ago.
After a while…
The ghost was able to penetrate through his armor successfully.
‘I think I’ve become really strong… How did I become so strong?’
I went from being a kid who couldn’t even handle a monster in the tutorial to being able to inflict a wound onto an awakened person’s leg.
Rather than remorse, I felt an immense sense of pride.