Chapter 37 – Seoul battle (2)

Rea​d &o;n K̀​a​tRé&a;​d​ıｎg​Ca‌fe

Before I could even be shocked by the unexpected appearance of the monster, multiple cars from below flew straight toward me.

Since they were slower than that tiger-like creature, I dodged them with ease. However, I clicked my tongue as I noticed people inside the cars. I caught them all and tossed them, one by one, toward the magical girls.

At first, they tried to evade, but after realizing there were people inside, they panicked and barely managed to catch them.

After handing over the last one, the tiger that had leaped upward came crashing down.

I tried to slash him with my tail.

“That won’t work on me!”

But instead of dodging or blocking, the tiger swung its fist at my tail.

Half out of frustration from being interrupted and half out of disbelief at what this bastard was doing, I swung my tail with full force…

Only to have it bent completely backward.

I was so sure I would win that I couldn’t even scream from the pain.

Since the magical girls were watching, I clenched my teeth to suppress the humiliating urge to scream, but that was the best I could do. It hurt that much.

What the hell? Why am I the one losing here? Shouldn’t that monster be crushed like an insect? How does it make any sense that I—

“…S-Senior. That’s an S-Class monster… ‘Tiger,’ isn’t it?”

“I am Regulus, not some mere tiger!!”

Hearing one of the magical girls say that, and the monster’s loud response as it crashed to the ground, I immediately understood the situation.

An S-Class monster and a member of the Zodiac, Regulus, had appeared.

…I should’ve realized it the moment I saw it looked like a tiger. But with all the chaos, I hadn’t even recognized that it was him.

This was the same bastard who got taken out by Suhyeok alone. If anything, recognizing him now was the strange part.

But wait—does that mean I just got my tail broken by that loser?

That pisses me off.

“Shut up, you damn cat!”

Furious, I conjured an even larger blood spear than usual and hurled it at the tiger who was running his mouth below.

With a sound like the air itself being torn apart, the spear shot down, hitting the asphalt so hard that the ground exploded.

But the tiger was gone.

Did he dodge with acceleration? Makes sense—he can even dodge bullets. A supersonic spear shouldn’t be a big deal for him.

He’s the kind of guy who reached S-Class purely through raw physical ability.

The moment I understood that, I accelerated as well, matching his speed.

But—I was already too late. The glass windows of nearby buildings had already shattered.

Since he doesn’t have wings, aerial combat puts him at a disadvantage, which means…

‘He’s going to push off walls and attack from an unpredictable trajectory.’

‘He’s definitely aiming for a double-fisted assault from behind.’

…Have I ever been able to think this fast before?

Even in an accelerated state, it felt like time itself was moving slowly. Not that it helped, since my body was also slowed down along with it.

Judging by the shattered windows, that bastard was already throwing a punch at my back.

When I turned my head, sure enough, there he was—closing in fast.

Too late to dodge, but just in time to block.

I twisted my body and reinforced my wing membrane with thick layers of blood armor, using my wings as a shield to take Regulus’s punch head-on.

The blood armor shattered into pieces, but I managed to block it.

Still, action and reaction are absolute laws—I was sent crashing into the asphalt.

Since my already-injured tail hit the ground first, it got bent all over again. But before I could even put it back into place, something massive rammed into me and started pushing me away.

“Here we go!”

Whatever it was, it was so huge and pressed so tightly against me that I couldn’t see anything. But given its sheer size, I assumed it had to be another S-Class monster.

No matter what it was, as long as it wasn’t as strong as the tiger, I could handle it. Confidently, I tried to push back—

But I was utterly overpowered.

No matter how much strength I used, even when I fired off starlight from my back for extra propulsion, I couldn’t break free.

“Senior! We’ve confirmed the ‘Ox’ and the ‘Pig’ too! What do we do?! There are suddenly four S-Class monsters here!!!”

“What do you mean, what do we do? Evacuate the civilians first! Let the monsters fight among themselves for now—we need to focus on protecting the city and the people! As for those things… let’s see how this plays out.”

Even as I was being helplessly pushed back, something about the voices just now felt familiar.

…Ah, right. Sky’s voice sounded like that.

Seeing the magical girls split up to focus on evacuations and rescue efforts, I realized I didn’t have to worry about the civilians.

That aside, the thing pushing me must be the Ox.

His ability was simple: Nothing can stop his charge.

No matter what means were used.

There was a way to stop him, but only Suhyeok could pull it off. For me, stopping this guy was close to impossible.

In that case, I just had to get out of the way.

By now, I had a rough idea of where he was trying to push me.

He was shoving me straight toward the Pig’s mouth, so it could swallow me whole.

The magical girls seemed to know it too—or maybe they were just too afraid to interfere—but they only watched from a distance.

I came here to beat up Radiant White, and now I’m the one getting wrecked?

Not happening.

I accelerated again, trying to break free from the Ox’s push—

…But it was no use.

The Tiger had keenly noticed my attempt and knocked me right back in front of the Ox every time I tried to escape.

No matter how much I twisted and struggled, I kept getting thrown right back into the Ox’s path.

Radiant White was just watching with a complicated expression.

…Wait. Something about this is really off.

At this rate, I really am going to be swallowed by the Pig.

And if that happens, I’ll die.

The Pig’s stomach can digest anything. Absolutely anything, no matter what. Even if it were just a hole in empty space.

Even Suhyeok, who specialized in escape, barely made it out alive after nearly being digested alive.

And here I was—helplessly about to be thrown into that thing’s mouth.

With no means of escape.

…Am I really going to die like this?

For real?

I couldn’t believe it.

Is this really how I go? Just like this? I still have so many things I want to do!

Even as my mind raced, the Ox steadily pushed me closer to the Pig’s gaping maw.

I lashed out with every blood weapon I could conjure, clawing desperately at the Ox.

Its flesh was torn, its bones were shattered, its marrow was exposed—

But every time I blinked, its body was whole again, like nothing had happened.

Nothing could stop its charge. Nothing at all.

No way.

This isn’t right.

Not an epic showdown against the protagonist’s group, not a desperate war of attrition against the Vessel. Am I really about to die to a bunch of pathetic nobodies working together?

Fuck that. A death like this wouldn’t even be worth a joke.

“This…!”

I can’t die like this.

I don’t want to die like this.

I don’t want to die.

I don’t want to die.

My heart pounded wildly. Even breathing was difficult.

I have this kind of power, and yet I’m going to die this easily?

‘I can’t die yet.’

My thoughts accelerated.

But still, no solution came to mind.

There has to be a way…

‘With that body and power, is this really the best you can do? Pathetic.’

You should be more understanding. Even as a warden, the child is still young.

‘Hah, I suppose it’s too much to expect you to know how to fight properly when you’ve never truly tasted blood.’

No matter how gifted someone is, they can’t be strong from birth.

‘Hand it over.’

So you wish to take control.

‘Now.’

If that is what you desire, so be it.

‘You want to live too, don’t you?’

…There is a way.

I may not be able to do it now, but once, she was called the undefeated magical girl. I have the option to entrust everything to her.

“…Alright.”

Without even realizing how, I naturally relinquished control of my body to her.

And at that very moment, my body was shoved into the mouth of the ‘Pig.’

Ah.

‘Was I too late…?’

Just as I was experiencing for the first time what it felt like to speak from the depths of my own consciousness—

“You’re far too late.”

The voice of Shining White, now controlling my body, declared.

“You’re only handing it over to me now?”

 

As she spoke, I realized my body had somehow turned into something soft and gelatinous, like pudding.

I barely had a moment to recognize how suffocating it felt to perceive the world through Shining White’s eyes and ears.

And then, through my memories, I understood why my body had taken this strange form.

This happened once before—when the elder vampire absorbed an entire human.

A state that was neither liquid nor solid, something in between.

I didn’t want to remember it, but in that form, I could decompose and absorb anything I touched.

“KRRRYYAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

In other words, the moment the Pig tried to chew me up and lick me with its tongue, its teeth, gums, and tongue were all absorbed into my body.

The Pig let out a scream, thrashing violently, as if trying to spit me out.

But the more it struggled, the more of its mouth I absorbed.

After thrashing for a while, the Pig finally ceased all movement—only after Shining White reached up and crushed its brain.

It wasn’t dead, though. The Pig was a tough bastard. This much wouldn’t kill it.

Shining White extended a hand out of the Pig’s skull, then solidified my body again and ripped through its head to step outside.

…Huh.

She fights way more brutally than I expected.

I didn’t even know I was capable of something like this.

“…Did… did the Special-Class monster Pig just… get killed…?”

Sky muttered in disbelief, staring at ‘me.’

…But ‘I’ was looking at Sky with a rather… unsettling gaze.

As if I was about to attack.