Ch.88For Ayol

# 88. For Ayor+

“Fuck, this tastes like shit.”

The operation must be going smoothly. I haven’t encountered any danger, and since there are no flares from the main unit where my brother is, I guess they’re not in serious trouble either.

But I’m getting greedy. Instead of these pathetic ones, I want to catch a proper big one to show off to my brother. After making love with him… I want more of his attention, more of his love.

My brother is fair, but he’s also good at praising when someone does well.

In the past, praise was just praise, but now… hehehe.

– Absolutely no overexertion.

– Follow brother’s plan as much as possible.

“Ugh.”

The more I thought about it, the more my head throbbed.

As if anticipating these thoughts, my brother kept reminding me throughout the mission briefing.

If it had been anyone but him, I would have snapped long ago, telling them to stop nagging and repeating themselves.

“Don’t overexert, follow brother’s plan, don’t overexert, follow brother’s plan…”

If something goes wrong, my brother will be disappointed, so I should stick to the plan.

Still.

Putting in a little extra effort should be fine, right?

**

‘I hope Yuri doesn’t rush things.’

While Yuri was roaming alone, harassing enemies like a guerrilla fighter as they tried to strike at what appeared to be enemy vulnerabilities or our weak points, our main unit was counterattacking their weak spots.

That’s why Yuri’s role was so crucial. I wanted to assign one more person with her, but there wasn’t anyone suitable.

Seyeon could have kept up with Yuri’s pace, but she needed to protect us. The rest of us were a Battle Commander, Elemental Sorcerer, and Arc Bishop.

Still, I drilled the instructions into Yuri’s ears, so it should be fine. She’s the youngest among us, but she’s not a child.

“Subin. How’s your mana?”

“Still good. I have mana potions if needed.”

“Good.”

Though we had great success with our initial surprise attack, the Alb bastards were no pushovers. True to their reputation for hating fire elements, their defenses were high, and as a race with high elemental resistance and agility, it was hard to achieve dramatic effects.

But we had more than just Subin.

“Seyeon!”

“Completed!”

“Pull out in 10 minutes from now! Report immediately if anything happens before then!”

“Yes!”

Our ultimate goal wasn’t to exterminate the Albs. We couldn’t do that anyway. The real objective was to instill enough fear and helplessness to make them retreat.

To do that, we were gradually wearing them down and “herding” them. With far fewer people than they had.

“Meow! Meow meow!”

[Yes! Here, even those nasty guys won’t find us right away!]

Danya’s help was significant. As if determined to contribute despite not being able to fight directly, she used all her memory and magical skills to help conceal us.

“Noona.”

“Huff, huff.”

“Soyu noona.”

“Yeah, yeah. What else should I do?”

Soyu noona was clutching her chest, breathing heavily. It must be from witnessing the horrific scene—blood flowing freely, limbs being severed, and intestines spilling out.

I pushed her relentlessly. To prevent other thoughts from intruding, I kept her working until her mana was depleted.

When Soyu noona reflexively put her hands together to cast a healing skill in response to my call, I placed my hand on her shoulder to stop her, startling her into canceling the skill.

“Here, a potion.”

“Th-thanks.”

“Don’t gulp it down, drink it slowly. That’s right.”

I handed her an opened mana potion bottle, which she drank like it was the elixir of life. Even as she drank, she squeezed her eyes shut and pinched her nose. It seemed unbearable for her.

‘It’s amazing she’s not throwing up.’

It’s Subin who’s surprisingly normal, just looking a bit tired. As for Seyeon and Yuri… well, they’ve been through things.

“Noona. It’s tough, isn’t it?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Surprisingly, it’s going to get even harder. We’ll have to face them directly at some point.”

“Directly…?”

Soyu noona, who had been deliberately avoiding looking at the battlefield, widened her eyes. Seeing how her pupils trembled as she looked at me, she must have been imagining us on the battlefield.

I firmly gripped her shoulder.

“We won’t die.”

“That’s… something we can’t know… Sunghyun. Can’t we just keep hitting from a distance and retreating? That seems like it would work too, right?”

“You know how the results of Quest 2 affect Quest 3. If we don’t reduce their numbers more now, if we don’t completely crush their morale, it’ll be harder next time. That’s the logic I used to convince us to get involved here, right?”

“It seems like we’ve done enough…”

“Noona.”

Seyeon was far away, and Subin was resting and meditating.

At this moment, I was the only one by Soyu noona’s side. And the countdown I mentioned to Seyeon was almost up.

So I removed my hand from her shoulder and grabbed her face with both hands, pulling her closer. Her eyes flickered with a different kind of anxiety.

“Noona.”

“S-Sunghyun? What are you—”

“Ms. In Soyu. Get a grip.”

Of course, I wasn’t trying to do anything inappropriate out of nowhere.

“Noona. I’ve told you many times. We won’t die. Just listen to me. Somehow, we’ll make it through. Don’t think about anything else. Don’t have useless thoughts.”

“S-Sunghyun.”

“It’s scary. I know it’s scary. I’m sorry. This is what it’s like where I brought you. But noona, you have it the easiest. You’re the most protected, you move the least, and you haven’t attacked anyone.”

Yuri must be running around until she’s soaked with sweat, and Seyeon was just protecting us until a moment ago. Not to mention Subin.

“I’ve given you all the consideration I can. There’s nothing more I can do for you here. Right?”

“…Yeah.”

“If it’s really too hard, you don’t have to attack in the final phase later. We can modify the plan.”

I didn’t want to use shock therapy because it inevitably leaves aftereffects. But Soyu noona seemed like she could fall into a panic state at any moment, so I couldn’t just leave her be.

I’m reminded of when I first met her, which makes me feel even more sorry.

So after the operation is over… I plan to apologize.

“Subin. Sorry to interrupt your meditation, but I think we need to modify the plan—”

“No!”

Soyu noona grabbed my sleeve. Her face, wet with tears, was contorted.

“I can do it. I can do it!”

“You’re scared. You can’t do it.”

“No. If everyone else is doing it, I can’t be the only one who can’t. Even if I hate it, even if I’m scared, I agreed to this. I understood the plan and we’re executing it. I can’t back out when I’m not even… retired.”

“So?”

“I’ll do it! Sunghyun, whatever you tell me to do!”

Seeing her bite her lip, it seemed the shock therapy had worked. Though I was worried about the consequences… since it had come to this, I pushed a bit more.

“Are you really going to do it? If you hesitate when the time comes, it becomes several times more dangerous.”

“I said I can do it! If I don’t do it properly…”

“If you don’t?”

“I have… something for you!”

Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand and glaring at me fiercely, Soyu noona strode over to Subin.

“Unni?”

“He’s annoying. I want to stay next to you.”

When Subin looked at me, I shrugged. She sighed softly and turned her head away.

‘It’s almost time.’

The 10 minutes I mentioned to Seyeon had almost passed. Soon, when we received Yuri’s signal, we would properly torment the Alb bastards we had herded, along with the Ayors we had met up with earlier.

‘The signal should be coming any time now?’

Even without a watch, Yuri had a good sense of timing. Her time perception was the best among us, which is why I had planned the operation without much concern, but for some reason I felt uneasy.

Subin, Soyu noona, and Seyeon in the distance.

They were all looking at me as I stared into space.

“…599, 600.”

There was no signal.

‘It’s okay. It would be more strange if she timed it exactly, so let’s consider up to 60 seconds as an acceptable margin of error.’

But even after another 60 seconds, there was still no signal from Yuri.

Because I believed Yuri wouldn’t lose her sense of timing to this extent, the conclusion that something had happened to her made me anxious.

Yuri was now, according to the plan, in a place quite far from the main unit, facing a problem serious enough that she couldn’t fire a signal flare.

“Sunghyun. The time.”

“Just 30 seconds, no, 10 more seconds.”

My mind raced frantically.

Operation. Yuri. Proceed. Worry. Split. Personnel. Ayor. Danya. Geography. Soyu noona. Firepower. Healing. Signal…

Numerous keywords flashed through my mind as I quickly modified the plan.

“Subin. You take over the orders from now on.”

“What? You’re not…”

Subin seemed to catch on immediately, but for the sake of the other two, I spoke quickly.

“Danya and I will go look for Yuri. Subin, you’ll command the existing offensive. My buffs will be gone, but the plan is already set, and you’ll be fine.”

“Captain! That’s too dangerous!”

“That’s right. There must be another way—”

“I’ll contribute the least to the offensive anyway, and Danya, who knows the geography well, can only communicate with me. Except for Seyeon, among the three of us, I’m the one who can handle one-on-one combat and has the highest level, so it makes sense for me to go.”

Despite my explanation, Seyeon and Soyu noona strongly objected.

“Enough. Even I think this is the best and most appropriate order from the raid leader.”

“But unni!”

“Shh. Either suggest a better alternative or keep quiet. Negation for the sake of negation is not tolerated in emergency situations.”

Instead, Subin strongly restrained the two. I nodded to her in gratitude for understanding my intention.

“I’ll be back. And I’m counting on you.”

“In return, make sure you come back. All three of you.”

*Or else, you’re dead.*

With their worried gazes behind me, I sprinted at full speed with Danya toward where Yuri might be.