Ch.118Weekend is Far and Treacherous – 4

“It seems I can’t do it like I used to.”

Hakjun Ma clicked his tongue and withdrew his sword that had advanced once.

At that, the ghouls with their massive bodies all fell backward at once.

After flailing about with their heads missing, they soon stopped moving.

“Headmaster! This side is almost finished too!”

“Head to the research lab. They say gates have appeared there as well.”

“Yes!”

After joining up with professors who had rushed out from the main building, he was going around various parts of the Academy.

He was in the process of dealing with monsters that kept pouring through the gates.

When he first heard the news, even Hakjun Ma couldn’t hide his shock.

The Academy always receives support from the highest level suppressors among all suppressors.

Yet, easily ignoring such suppressors, more than 10 gates had appeared.

Moreover, the bigger problem was that this wasn’t happening only at the Academy.

When they requested external support, chaos had already broken out outside.

Despite being urban areas with suppressors installed, multiple gates had appeared in each of those places.

‘According to the last communication, the more suppressors an area had, the more gates appeared.’

And currently, the place with the most suppressors installed in South Korea was, of course, the capital city of Seoul.

Gates continuing to appear right in the center of Seoul was the current situation.

The Academy is an extremely important facility. It’s a top priority protection target.

But those inside are not civilians. They can fight monsters sufficiently.

In contrast, there are countless civilians in downtown Seoul.

The situation is the same in major cities of each region.

Therefore, where immediate support will be directed is all too obvious.

‘It’s okay. I know well that our students have made a lot of effort until now.’

He had also received news that Arbiter Seojin Baek had already reached the main building.

If so, that’s reassuring. For now, he could set aside the main building and clean up other areas first.

If he quickly finishes up and joins the main building, the situation will end.

‘Disaster…’

As he cut down the monsters blocking his path again with a single strike, Hakjun Ma bit his lip.

Unlike the recent incident that was confined to a specific dungeon in a specific area.

This situation occurring across all regions could only be described as a ‘disaster.’

*

“This really is a disaster!”

I found myself nodding at Hyunwoo Lee’s grumbling without realizing it.

Yes, this is a disaster. Whether it’s waves of corpses rushing toward us.

Or clearly continuing to deal damage but the damage not registering, it’s all a disaster.

“Arbiter! What should we do!”

As if asking me would produce some clever solution.

Instead of answering Hyunwoo’s question, I gestured for him to dodge.

Because this time, the target wasn’t me but Hyunwoo himself.

“Ugh!”

Kwang!―

Hyunwoo narrowly avoided the wave of corpses. He seems to have consumed quite a bit of stamina.

That’s understandable. It’s been over 30 minutes since the battle started, and he hasn’t rested once.

Even the protagonist can’t help but exhale rough breaths.

Most of the students who had been casting magic from behind had already evacuated.

Their mana was depleted, and if this boss’s attention turned to the students for even a moment.

There was a very high probability of an unprecedented catastrophe occurring.

“Ice Wall!”

Still, Hana Kang remained and continued to provide backup.

“What should we do, Arbiter? They say if we hold out a little longer, the Headmaster and professors will arrive.”

“Hey! Senior! You shouldn’t fight with the mindset of just holding out! You should fight with the mindset of winning!”

“What can we do when everyone’s already exhausted! Just take care of yourself, junior!”

Clicking her tongue, Hana Kang looks at me again and lets out an “Oh?” of surprise.

Just as I was wondering why she suddenly did that, Hana Kang shouts, “Dasom!”

“Hana Kang? Why is Dasom Yoo…”

“Why do you think!”

Chik!―

Suddenly, a burning sensation was transmitted from the back of my hand.

When I turned my head in surprise, good heavens. When did this kid arrive?

“You should be careful! Even small wounds like this can cause secondary infections when fighting undead monsters!”

With a deep frown, Dasom Yoo launched a second barrage of nagging.

“I know your skills are impressive, Arbiter. But always be careful. If your insides get damaged, it’s a big problem. It’s fortunate that immediate action was taken now, but if delayed, high fever symptoms along with…”

“Please stop there for now. The boss is approaching this way again.”

Despite that warning, Dasom Yoo didn’t reduce her barrage at all.

Seeing her scold me with “Look at this. If we were a little late, the wound would have festered!” confirms she’s a natural healer.

More importantly, glancing at it, the color of the wound area really doesn’t look good.

I thought it was just a small wound, but I didn’t expect it to get infected to this degree…

Wait a minute.

“Dasom Yoo? What did you just say?”

“I said be careful!”

“No! After that!”

“Huh? Um… that if your insides get damaged, it’s a big problem?”

That’s it. Why have I been trying to find a weakness only from the outside all this time?

With such a large mass, there must be a center holding it together.

“Hyunwoo Lee! Stop wasting energy unnecessarily! Soohyun!”

At my shout, a streak of crimson light flies right in front of me.

I never thought the day would come when I’d trust The Crimson Witch more than the protagonist.

“Can you and Hyunwoo distract that thing’s attention as much as possible? Can you do it?”

Soohyun nods without a moment’s hesitation.

Immediately after, Soohyun, who had turned into a crimson flash again, flew toward Hyunwoo.

“…Hmm! Looks like you’ve come up with something! I’ll give it a try!!”

Stop talking and watch your back, you idiot!

I’m worried he might get hit properly by a blind wave of corpses and get knocked out.

“Arbiter. What should I do?”

“As you always do, support with magic. But, you must not use up all your mana. When I signal, you need to be able to cast the most powerful spell immediately.”

“…It’ll be difficult, but I’ll try my best.”

“Dasom Yoo, please keep an eye on Hyunwoo Lee and Soohyun.”

At that, Dasom Yoo says to leave it to her and immediately follows the two students.

‘Now what I need to do is… find it. I need to dig until I find it.’

There’s a non-zero probability that I might collapse before finding it.

But having withstood even a battle with The Elder, surely I can endure this.

…Ah, whatever. It’s do or die.

*

Kwang!-

With a thunderous sound, another pile of corpses pours down.

Hyunwoo, who was in its path, barely escaped from that mass.

“Urgh…”

“Fall back. I’ll handle this.”

“No! Not yet! Not yet!”

“Oh, come on!”

Even though Kim Soohyun tells him to back off now, he’s stubborn.

Readjusting his grip on his sword, Hyunwoo rushed at the wave of corpses again.

Why is he doing this when he can’t even land an effective hit!

‘…No. This might actually be the right approach.’

If only Hyunwoo was acting like this, I would have loudly told him off.

But isn’t there another person rampaging just as much over there?

“Damn it! This place is a bust too! Hana Kang!”

“Frozen Fog!”

More than Hyunwoo Lee or Kim Soohyun, running around more and faster.

The man tearing through every part of the corpse wave is none other than Seojin Baek.

Continuing to make attacks that don’t work, over and over, for some unknown purpose.

“Ice Wall!”

Kwang!―

Hana Kang blocks a stream of corpse wave targeting Seojin Baek with her magic.

Without even time to thank her, Seojin Baek immediately slashed at the area right next to him again.

Kwadeuk!―

Once again, chunks of flesh fall off.

But even that will recover soon.

‘Damn it. Where is it?’

Biting his lip, Seojin Baek kept digging through the disgusting mass of filth.

There must be a center to this massive wave. A nucleus that consolidates it.

He needs to find that part and destroy it with one strike, but he can’t figure out where it is.

That’s exactly why he’s rummaging through everywhere like this.

Chunks of flesh falling off with each attack.

Though it might be empty for a moment, it soon fills with new flesh as time passes.

However, if the nucleus is nearby, it will try to recover faster than other areas.

Trying to find where that change is confirmed is no easy task.

‘External support should have arrived by now, but there’s no sign of it. That means there’s a very high probability that something similar is happening outside. Disasters tend to strike all at once and massively.’

Therefore, Seojin Baek increased his speed even more. There’s no room for leisure in this situation.

Paseuseu―

“Oh.”

It was just for a moment, but it was clearly a different movement than before.

Even when cutting off a handful, the flesh usually took several minutes to recover.

But the place he just cut recovered in just a few seconds, strangely.

‘Found it.’

Just as Seojin Baek thought that.

The corpse waves that had been chasing Kim Soohyun and Hyunwoo Lee suddenly changed direction.

They were all targeting Seojin Baek, who had penetrated right below their weakness.

“Arbiter! They’re coming your way!”

Hana Kang, who had been watching the situation from behind, prepares protective magic with a scream.

But Seojin Baek stepped forward to stop her.

“No, Hana Kang! Not that!”

“What?!”

“Please use your most powerful magic! The strongest one! The one with the highest single-target destructive power!”

Just as she was about to ask how to back up the Arbiter then.

The two students swung their swords from both directions almost simultaneously, cutting through the wave.

“Heeyah! Arbiter! My comrade and I will handle this side!”

“Don’t touch it! Don’t touch it!!”

Thanks to Hyunwoo Lee and Kim Soohyun’s frenzied attacks, a gap was created.

Taking advantage of that gap, Seojin Baek dug into the spot he had found once more.

Seeing that, Hana Kang scraped together her mana and unleashed her trump card.

“Frozen Spear!”

A massive ice spear tore through the air as it flew.

Leaving the waves trying to block it to Kim Soohyun and Hyunwoo Lee.

Brushing past Seojin Baek, who was cutting and cutting again to prevent regeneration.

Kwajik!―

‘It went in.’

If it had been a little late, it would have been blocked by the regenerating flesh.

Seojin Baek looked at the nucleus nestled inside, now tearing away the flesh with his bare hands.

He could see it. Hana Kang’s ice spear had properly pierced it.

Yes, it definitely had, but…

Kugugugu!―

‘Shit! Why does it keep moving! Fall already, damn it!’

Cursing inwardly, Seojin Baek looked at the blue ice spear beside him.

Then, with a sigh, he threw down the sword he was holding onto the ground and grabbed that spear.

Cold doesn’t even begin to describe it.

As soon as it touches the skin, it feels like the entire body is freezing solid.

So this is why they say Hana Kang is the best with ice magic, he thought.

He even had such a leisurely thought for a brief moment without realizing it.

‘It’s a bit annoying to imitate that crazy bastard, but…’

In this situation, he couldn’t think of anything else but that man’s spear.

A strike that, though it didn’t kill him, had enough killing intent.

Such a persistent and condensed thrust should be enough.

“Hup!”

Struggling to catch his rough breath, Seojin Baek recalled.

The previous battle with The Elder. The misguided ambition of the arrogant one who aimed for his heart.

He thrust that powerfully into the inside of this disgusting thing.