Ch.68EP 2 Gorgon

“Enemy spotted!”

“Open fire! Turn the guns!”

“Don’t let them approach!”

Humans scream in panic as vampires appear, their expressions filled with terror.

Their gun barrels turn toward the vampires as brilliant flashes of light begin to sparkle.

Rattle-rattle-!

Ping-!

Blue flashes of light fly from all directions.

They seemed to be targeting Hwang-gu as she ran, but she changed direction and avoided all the attacks.

The flashes that grazed past Hwang-gu hit the road, tearing it apart.

Boom!

Asphalt debris, unable to withstand the impact, scatters high into the sky.

Tap-tap-tap-!

Hwang-gu glides forward through the dim darkness.

I pulled on Hwang-gu’s leash to adjust our direction.

Our target wasn’t the humans firing at us.

The first one we needed to go after was the human on the motorcycle.

If we could take care of the one drawing the Gorgon’s aggro, the Gorgon would handle the rest of the humans.

“Run!”

“Woof!”

The pressure I felt grew stronger as we got closer to the Gorgon.

Hwang-gu dodged the gunfire coming from all directions and ran under the Gorgon’s legs.

Though its massive feet pounded the road with thunderous crashes, Hwang-gu maintained a steady pace matching the Gorgon’s speed.

In front of the Gorgon, I could see the motorcycle it was chasing.

As soon as Hwang-gu spotted the motorcycle, she increased her speed.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-!

Hwang-gu sprinted even faster than before.

I swung my sword in time with her speed.

Swoosh-!

“Urgh!”

My strike, swung through the air, sliced through the motorcycle.

The human riding it must have had good instincts, as he jumped off the moment the motorcycle was cut.

But that was a poor choice.

Thud-!

Crunch!

A horrifying sound came from behind.

The human who had leapt from the motorcycle died without even having time to scream, crushed under the Gorgon’s foot.

[KUOOOWA!]

At that moment, the Gorgon stopped in its tracks and began to roar.

It instantly changed direction and charged toward the humans.

The humans were gathered in a high-rise building.

Since hundreds of humans were gathered in one place, it had been difficult to approach, and vampires had been circling around the area.

Moreover, numerous traps had been set up below, anticipating enemy approach.

Now the Gorgon began charging toward that high-rise building.

Boom-boom-boom-!

With each step, its massive weight caused the asphalt to crack, creating earthquakes as its legs struck the road.

“Stop it!”

“A-aaaaargh!”

Human screams were drowned out by countless gunshots.

With pale, terrified faces, they poured bullets at the approaching Gorgon.

Not many humans were willing to hold their position while watching the giant bull charge toward them.

As if anticipating what would happen next, they began jumping out of the building.

“Don’t run away! Stand and fight!”

One human shouted with a blood-drained expression as he watched the scene.

At that moment.

CRASH-!

A massive explosion occurred as the Gorgon’s enormous head rammed into the high-rise building.

Huge flames began to rise with the explosion.

Even amidst the flames, the Gorgon continued its attack.

Now was the time. This moment when the humans’ defensive wall had collapsed was the perfect timing for vampires to make their move.

As if sharing my thoughts, other vampires began to emerge from the darkness.

Swish-

Vampires began approaching quickly, each using their own methods.

They started attacking humans who were escaping from the collapsed building.

And I too charged toward the scene, leading Hwang-gu.

“Grrrr!”

Hwang-gu, who had been sprinting rapidly, leaped high and landed in the center of the humans.

Immediately after, shadow movements spread widely.

I swung my sword and summoned my subordinates.

Swish-!

The humans couldn’t have anticipated the attack of girls rising from beneath their feet.

Now numbering 180, the girls attacked human users in groups of dozens.

Hwang-gu didn’t stop. She didn’t even slow down.

While using shadows to protect Hwang-gu and myself, I recalled the girls back into the shadows when the distance from my subordinates grew too far.

A repetition of summoning and recalling.

When humans stepped onto the widely spread shadows, pale white girls emerged and devoured them.

The black shadows surged like waves, and the white girls moved along those shadows.

While slaughtering dozens of humans, I noticed a distinctive group among them.

Red bloodshot eyes and a red aura creeping up their bodies.

It was clearly the special effect that appeared when using a Berserk Potion.

Their attacks were more powerful than those of other humans.

Vampires hit by their bullets became chunks of meat, unable to regenerate, and vampires who tried to match swords with them were overpowered.

Looking closely, every single one of them was wearing fairly impressive equipment.

While observing them.

My Mystic Eye sent a warning.

The target was the center of my chest.

True to their devious nature, their sniping position was incredibly cunning.

I hurriedly spread a curtain of shadows.

Immediately after, a blue flash was fired.

Unlike previous shots, this one crackled with yellow lightning.

I tensed up. Despite protecting myself with the shadow curtain, the Mystic Eye’s warning didn’t disappear.

Bang-!

The gunshot sound came belatedly after the flash.

As soon as the sound reached me, the black curtain burst open as if torn apart.

There was no time to dodge. I desperately raised my sword to protect my chest.

Thud-!

At that moment, a massive impact spread from my chest.

The enormous power contained in the flash was beyond what I could withstand.

As my face grimaced from the tremendous pain, I felt weightless and my vision began to spin.

There was no time to lose consciousness. If I stayed like this, additional shots would come.

As my body, which had been lifted into the air, fell to the ground, Hwang-gu rushed to my side.

Without time to tend to my wound, I grabbed Hwang-gu’s fur as she approached.

“Woof!”

After confirming I had a firm grip, Hwang-gu ran into the darkness.

At that moment, blood welled up and burst from my mouth.

The wound was deep. It seemed like the attack used silver bullets, as my regeneration wasn’t working normally.

I could tell without looking. There would be a large hole right through the center of my chest.

I wiped my mouth and climbed onto Hwang-gu’s back.

Minor gunfire continued afterward, but there were no more powerful sniper shots like before.

Such powerful attacks seemed to require considerable preparation time.

Hwang-gu, hidden in the darkness, entered between collapsed buildings and stopped.

She whimpered and turned her head, seemingly worried about my condition.

Hwang-gu’s back was soaked with the blood I had shed.

“Mmm…”

I dismounted from Hwang-gu’s back and checked the condition of my chest.

As expected, there was a clean hole in my chest.

“I’ve got a hole…”

“Whine…”

“Don’t worry.”

“Whiiine…”

“Want to put your paw in it?”

I made a joke to lighten the mood since Hwang-gu was just worrying, but her reaction was strange.

Hwang-gu looked at my chest with an odd expression.

“I’m kidding…”

Only then did Hwang-gu turn her head and sigh.

If I hadn’t said it was a joke, Hwang-gu might have actually extended her front paw to put it in the hole in my chest.

Her expression had looked that sincere.

It’s fortunate that Aurel wasn’t riding with us. If she had been pressed against my back, Aurel would have had a hole in her chest too.

I poured a potion into the chest wound and wrapped it with bandages.

Despite the lingering effects of the silver bullet, the healing item quickly regenerated the wound.

I checked my healing chest wound and mounted Hwang-gu’s back again.

“Let’s go!”

As I rode Hwang-gu forward, the devastating scene around us came into view.

The Gorgon, having lost its aggro target, was rampaging and attacking indiscriminately, both vampires and humans alike.

The overall situation seemed favorable for the vampires.

However, if the group of humans using Berserk Potions began to move in earnest, there was a high possibility the tide would turn.

I drove Hwang-gu toward that location from earlier.

The humans who had drunk Berserk Potions were hunting vampires while maintaining their formation.

Vampires didn’t dare approach them.

Vampires capable of ranged attacks occasionally threw fire and ice, but even they often fell to the humans’ return fire.

At that moment, I made eye contact with one of the humans in Berserk state.

Familiar eyes, slightly upturned corners of the mouth.

My activated Mystic Eye revealed his name.

[Thief]

It was him. The one I had missed before was right in the center.

At that moment, Thief aimed a long sniper rifle at me.

The moment I saw the gleaming barrel, another red mark appeared in the center of my chest.

Flash-!

An instantaneous shot.

The moment the blue flash wrapped in yellow lightning was fired, Hwang-gu was already running.

Swish-!

It felt as if space itself was being cut.

Thanks to Hwang-gu’s quick reaction, I narrowly avoided getting another hole in my chest.

Thief didn’t panic even though his attack missed.

Instead, he was calmly loading a new bullet.

He seemed to be confident in the Berserk-state humans around him.

“Hwang-gu.”

“Grrrr…”

“Let’s go.”

We needed to break through.

To deal with them properly, I needed to break through and scatter their formation.

For that, Hwang-gu’s help was essential.

If I charged in alone, I would melt under the humans’ bullet shower.

We needed overwhelming speed, faster than bullets.

I pulled up shadows to wrap around Hwang-gu and myself.

“Grrrr…”

Hwang-gu’s aura changed instantly.

Her reddish fur stood on end as a strange aura rose up.

With black burning shadows wrapped around her, Hwang-gu suddenly changed direction and glared at the Berserk-state humans.

Then came a massive boom.

BOOM-!

The moment Hwang-gu’s hind legs struck the ground, the asphalt road exploded and she shot forward.

A full-power charge.

The surroundings seemed to melt away, creating an illusion of entering a strange world.

In the blink of an eye, Hwang-gu had arrived among the humans.

At that moment, I made eye contact with Thief.

As his expression distorted while stuffing a bullet into his massive sniper rifle,

Hwang-gu’s head rammed into his chest.

Crack-

The sound of breaking bones rang out clearly.

No one knew whether it was Hwang-gu’s head that had cracked or Thief’s ribs that had shattered.

I spread my shadow from atop Hwang-gu as she slowed down.