Hahahahak!!!
Hans’s head exploded.
The young cleric covered himself in Hans’s bones and flesh.
“Ugh… ugh!”
The blood-soaked cleric panicked, unable to form coherent words as he flailed about.
On Hans’s entire body, deep red tumors erupted, covering every inch of him.
Without pause, the tumor masses gathered and formed into a giant egg.
The elephant-sized egg began pulsating like a heart almost immediately.
Thud.
Thud.
Prdrdrdrk.
The tumors tore open, and a long neck like a giraffe’s first rose up.
At the end of the neck, a slime-covered head emerged, along with a pair of snail-like horns.
Prrrrrrrkk!!!
Several sharp bundles of tentacles burst out from the side of the egg.
The torso was swollen with a mix of sickly yellow tumors and red flesh masses, and it had no legs.
The stench of rotting meat wafted through the air.
A chill silence fell over the hall.
But it was short-lived.
A massive wave of panic swept over the guards.
Some collapsed onto the floor.
Others knelt and retched.
A few wet themselves and fainted.
And still, others prayed to their gods.
Jeong Yusin stiffened, staring rigidly at the giant monstrosity before him.
Surely not.
Could this be… a demonic brand?
Jeong Yusin bit his tongue, filling his mouth with the metallic taste of blood.
It was to awaken his gradually stiffening body.
“So this is the infamous… Unholy Flash? Where is Hans-sama’s limit?”
The frog-like humanoid Cork muttered vacantly.
Thick drool slid down the corner of his mouth.
Kuaaaang!!!
Someone landed in front of the monster and stood firmly.
As the dust settled, it revealed one of the members of the Labyrinth City Committee—
Ingrid Redtail.
She stood proudly with her massive sword embedded into the ground.
“Snap out of it!!!”
Ingrid’s roar reverberated through the hall.
Only then did the guards regain their senses. Cursing and shouting at the top of their lungs, they rallied themselves.
“Summon the guard forces!!! Gather everyone here!!!”
“Raise your spears!!! Prepare for battle!!!”
The previously flailing guards grabbed their weapons and advanced forward.
It was then that a sudden revelation struck Jeong Yusin.
Why did the esteemed members of the Committee frequently appear by the Labyrinth’s entrance?
Why were the city guards perpetually unable to look away from anything but this spot?
The reason was clear.
To protect the city.
From whom?
From the high-level explorers themselves, those with unholy brands.
This explained why the beginner explorer course lacked detailed examples about unholy brands.
“Ampuma shifuhota.”
What was once Hans lowered its head and mumbled at Ingrid.
“Hans, you’ve completely fallen victim to the corruption of the Unholy Flash. Rest in peace.”
Ingrid gripped her greatsword tightly.
“Kreeeeeekkkk!!!!”
The creature let out a blood-curdling scream.
People covered their ears and stumbled back.
In a flash,
Ingrid’s greatsword disappeared from view.
Hooouuungg.
From top to bottom.
Hans’s massive body was split in half and shredded.
Phuuuuuuaaaaak!!!
Ppeererrrrreeeeeng!!!
A single swing cleaved Hans in two, blasting a massive crater into the ground.
The shockwave erupted as if from an explosion.
“Krrk!!!”
Jeong Yusin clenched his teeth and ducked, as rocks and chunks of flesh mixed with dust pelleted his helmet and whisked by.
One downward slash carved through the ground, unleashing an impact that bordered on the superhuman.
A force worthy of being called an abnormal ability.
Jeong Yusin cautiously raised his head to the source of the impact.
An unbelievable scene unfolded before him.
Hans’s split body twitched.
Had he survived that devastating blow?
What resilient vitality this monster possessed.
“End it.”
Ingrid raised her greatsword high again.
Suddenly, a burst of light erupted from Hans’s body.
What was split in two quickly regenerated, and a red membrane formed, covering Hans entirely.
“tsk! ‘That brand,’ huh? You’re quite versatile, Hans.”
Ingrid clicked her tongue and swung her greatsword.
Gagaagagak!!!!!
The greatsword scratched against the red membrane, leaving a shallow crack.
A sudden change occurred.
Hundreds of flesh masses erupted from Hans’s body.
They wriggled and took on human forms.
Needle-like fingernails.
Torn-open mouths.
Sharp teeth.
Worm-like tongues.
And pitch-black pupils.
Though they had human shapes, these creatures were closer to grotesque monsters.
Hundreds of them burst through the red membrane and swarmed around.
Ingrid shifted her grip to the hilt of her greatsword.
Whoosh!!!
A horizontal slash.
Phuahahahaha!!!
Dozens of creatures were struck clean off in a single blow, their bodies flying through the sky.
Whooshwooshwoosh!!!!
A rain of blood and flesh poured from the magic circle around them.
Ingrid contemplatively thought to herself.
Even before his mutation, Hans was unmatched within the Labyrinth City for his defense.
With multiple brands and a transformed body, his defensive capabilities must be formidable.
But that didn’t mean he was invincible.
It would just take some time to break through that barrier.
What an unlucky day for this to happen on her first shift change.
If she concentrated on breaking the barrier, it would take less time, but the swarm of creatures that Hans summoned would overwhelm the guards.
Most likely, sacrifices among the guard force were inevitable.
With a bitter aftertaste, Ingrid swung her greatsword.
Kuaaaaaaaang!!!
Kuaaaaaaaang!!!
Hans’s created red membrane shook and began showing cracks.
Hans wasn’t idle either.
Dozens of tentacles thick as reinforcing bars lashed out toward Ingrid.
Geekgeekgeek!!!
Geekgeekgeek!!!
Ingrid didn’t flinch, cutting through the bundles of tentacles that broke through the red membrane.
While Ingrid battled Hans,
Hundreds of ‘monsters’ created from Hans’s body emerged from the red membrane and charged toward the guards.
“Cork!! What are these ‘monsters’?!”
Jeong Yusin grabbed the frog humanoid by the collar and shook him.
“…F, Flash Crawlers. The summons of the Unholy Flash.”
It was a name Jeong Yusin had never heard before.
What mattered was not their origin but their weakness.
But this frog humanoid was still unable to think straight.
Jeong Yusin hesitated to slap the creature but restrained himself, realizing he’d gotten too worked up.
Jeong Yusin let go of the frog humanoid and gripped his longsword.
He could find it out himself.
Swishh.
Jeong Yusin drew his blade as the creatures charged toward him.
Iron Mask and Rock Fist stood beside him.
“Cork is a cleric. It’s his role to handle recovery in the rear, so it’s right to protect him.”
Rock Fist, the half-ogre, stretched as he spoke.
“So what are you suggesting we do?”
“As long as Lady Ingrid takes down that high-level explorer, we’ll win. There’s no need for us to interfere.”
Rock Fist answered Jeong Yusin’s question adeptly.
Iron Mask, leaning his greatsword on his shoulder, questioned,
“Half-ogre, care to enlighten us? What should we do?”
“…That depends.”
At that moment, a mole humanoid shouted toward Jeong Yusin’s party,
“Barbaroy!!! Bring your friends over here! Might as well line up with the guards!”
Rock Fist grabbed the panicked frog humanoid and hoisted him up.
Jeong Yusin, Iron Mask, and Rock Fist rejoined the guards in retreat.
Rock Fist, being the largest in size, positioned himself at the side of the defensive line.
Iron Mask had disappeared somewhere.
The frog humanoid squeezed among the rear clerics.
Jeong Yusin took his place at the center of the line.
“Don’t break the line! Raise your spears! We must hold them off!”
The guards nearby barked orders to Jeong Yusin.
“Shit! What rotten luck!”
“How many years has it been since this happened?”
“The committee handling this directly is almost a once-a-year occurrence. Stay sharp. Judging by how things are going, it won’t be easy.”
The guards gripped their spears tightly and prepared themselves.
Minutes ago, they had been casually jesting and relaxing in their chairs, but now they were on the brink of entering a battlefield drenched in blood and flesh.
Hundreds of monsters lunged at the guards en masse.
‘They’re coming.’
Jeong Yusin placed his longsword at his side and adopted a stance he had learned the hard way from Ashur.
“Kiieeeeekkkk!!!”
“Kreeeeeekkkk!!!”
Chop! Chop! Chop!
The waves of Flash Crawlers were pierced through by the guards’ spears.
Remarkably resilient, they writhed even after being impaled.
Jeong Yusin raised his sword high and plunged it forward.
Aim for the neck.
These creatures bear a form similar to humans, so their weaknesses should be similar too.
Phoooook!!!
“Khreeek!!!”
The creature, with its neck pierced, continued to flail about.
No, that’s not it.
Not the critical spot.
Jeong Yusin quickly withdrew his sword and assumed an uppercut position.
Slash downwards.
Juuuaaarrrkkk!!!
The creature’s head split open, and it collapsed.
This must be it.
“The head is the weak point!!!”
Jeong Yusin shouted loudly. The mole humanoid heard this and screamed even louder,
“The head is the weak point!!! Guards, aim for the heads!!!”
Jeong Yusin fought shoulder to shoulder with his guards, who pierced through the Crawlers with their spears to block their advance, while front-line guards swung their swords to decapitate their foes.
It was a chaotic scene of blood and screams.
Jeong Yusin gritted his teeth and swung his sword again and again.
It was the only thing he could do right now.
Swishhhhh!!!
From relentless training, he delivered a perfectly steady vertical cut, splitting the Crawler’s skull.
Swishhhhh!!!
Tsjuaaaaaaaaaaak!!!
The stench of rotting blood and brain matter sprayed onto Jeong’s body.
Kagaagaak!!!
Dozens of swings later, his blade had dulled and got lodged in another Crawler’s head.
“Damn it!!”
He violently shook the sword.
Taaaang!!!
The sword broke.
“Shit!! Boron!!”
“Here, take this!”
A guard behind him tossed him another sword, which Jeong caught and immediately swung again without even saying thanks.
Even as the guards fought fiercely, their defense line gradually gave way.
Initially, there were only 40 guards.
Among them, 20 were explorers.
The majority of those explorers fled in fear or left the battlefield entirely.
To withstand an onslaught of more than a hundred Crawlers from all sides for even a few minutes was commendable.
Some of them had their necks torn off by Crawlers.
“Kraaaaag!!!”
“Drull!! Damn it!!!”
Sorrowful cries echoed across the battlefield.
Jeong Yusin swung his sword tirelessly, the fruits of his daily early-morning training with blood and sweat shining through his blade.
Pain and suffering.
Despair and limits.
All acted as fertilizers to sustain Jeong Yusin resolutely.
Like an icebreaker navigating across the ocean, Jeong Yusin carved a path amidst the chaos.
Taaaang!!!
Another sword broke.
[Sacred Weapon]
A zweihänder identical to Gilsean’s appeared in his hand.
A horizontal slash.
Hooouuung!!!
Fuaaaaaaak!!!
It bisected the bodies of several Crawlers.
Someone tossed him another sword.
He caught it and swung again.
Eeekkkkk!!!
Puuwaaaaak!!!
Blinding sword strikes severed the heads of the Crawlers.
Chunks of flesh and blood flew across the dark sky.
Head… Head… Head… Head.
In a state of near-meditation, he shattered skulls and split heads.
Though the guards fought valiantly, they were gradually pushed back. Jeong Yusin found himself increasingly isolated.
‘Should I retreat?’
Just as he contemplated that thought,
Kung!!!
A figure landed beside him.
Half-Ogre Rock Fist.
“I’ll join forces.”
“Understood.”
The half-ogre slammed his massive fist into the ground.
Kwaaaaaaang!!!
The ground caved in, and the mutilated pieces of a Crawler’s flesh flew about.
“Barbaroy!”
Iron Mask joined them.
Jeong Yusin gave the man a single nod, which was all that was needed.
Iron Mask swung his greatsword.
From above to down.
Kuaaaak!!!
The Crawler split neatly from head to groin.
The three of them, backs to each other, stood firm against the tide of monsters.
Indeed,
Fighting together was much better than fighting alone.
They barely knew each other. He didn’t even know what brands these men carried or what lives they had lived.
What mattered was cooperating to survive.
“Wait, wait! Let me join, too! Gulp!”
The frog humanoid rushed toward them, staff in hand.
Jeong Yusin grabbed the frog’s collar and sent him flying backward.
“Gulp!”
Jeong Yusin, Iron Mask, and Rock Fist formed a triangular formation with the frog at its center.
“Cast any spell already!”
Jeong Yusin shouted.
“A…Alright!”
Frog humanoid Cork started incanting.
The three men, backs against each other, battled fiercely.
The half-ogre swung his fists and feet, obliterating and tearing apart the Crawlers.
Iron Mask methodically swung his greatsword, cutting the Crawlers into halves.
Tang!!!
Another sword broke.
“Oi!!!”
No matter how good the blade, after cleaving through the solid skulls of monsters dozens of times, it would fail to hold up.
In desperation, he struck a Crawler’s jaw with the pommel.
[Sacred Weapon]
A golden spear-sword reminiscent of the one he saw in the Eastern Sector tavern materialized in his hand.
Tsjuaaaaarrrrk!!!
The jagged blade slashed through the Crawlers’ bodies, tearing flesh and bones apart.
The golden weapon, caked in sinew and entrails, disintegrated into particles and dissipated into the air.
One of them jumped on Jeong Yusin, latching onto his shoulder with sharp teeth.
The teeth pierced through his leather armor, burying deep into his shoulder.
[Revenge]
Brand activated.
Jeong Yusin’s eyes blazed with eerie blue flames.
He swung his fist, striking the Crawler’s mouth.
Paaaaaaak!!!
The left hook shattered the Crawler’s jaw, crushing its teeth.
As the creature slumped unconscious, Jeong Yusin grabbed it and smashed its forehead with the pommel.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Once… Twice… Three times.
The forehead caved in and the eyes popped out.
“It’s been a while, Kael.”
The young leader he’d met in his beginner party.
A comrade who resembled the friend whose head was crushed by a hobgoblin’s club.
Jeong Yusin nodded respectfully, delivering a parting kick.
The forehead-smashed Crawler collided with others charging from the front, all tumbling to the ground.
He discarded the broken blade and activated his brand.
[Sacred Weapon]
A gold single-edged axe formed in his grasp.
He gripped it with both hands, twisting his waist to its limit.
‘Ainhofer.’
Horizontal slash.
Tsjuaaaaaaak!!!!!
In an instant, eight of them were cleaved in two.
The gold axe disintegrated into particles and dispersed into the air.
He found a brief respite and glanced at Ingrid.
Kabooom!! Kabooom!! Kabooom!! Kabooom!! Kabooom!!
Ingrid deflected dozens of spearing tentacles as she battered relentlessly against the crimson defense barrier.
Several cracks appeared on Hans’s bloody barrier.
Was it still too far?
What kind of defense was this, that even a near-superhuman like Ingrid couldn’t break through in a single strike?
Jeong Yusin’s party was holding on by a thread.
Could they survive any longer?
He didn’t know.
After the frog finished his spell, they would slowly retreat and regroup with the guards.
“Alright, alright!”
Frog humanoid Cork lifted his staff high.
[Aqua Fr]
Unfortunately, the frog’s magic didn’t manifest.
“Help… help!!!”
A blood-soaked bull humanoid screamed and ran desperately toward Jeong Yusin’s group.
“Eh? Hey!”
Iron Mask raised his voice, clearly flustered.
The bull humanoid charged through Iron Mask, breaking into their tightly-knit formation.
The frog stumbled under the bull humanoid, interrupting his incantation.
“Prote… Gulp!!”
Trampled under the bull, the frog shrieked.
The incantation failed.
The magic dissipated.
“What?!! You crazy bastard!!!”
Jeong Yusin shouted, completely enraged.
They had been holding up admirably, for an impromptu party without prior planning.
But the sudden intrusion of this out-of-control bull humanoid disrupted everything.
Iron Mask lost his balance.
Several Crawlers bypassed Iron Mask and lunged toward the bull and frog humanoids.
One reckless action by the troll-like humanoid nearly caused chaos.
A crisis befell their party.
