episode_0052

The names of monsters are usually given by the first discoverer or the organization that found them, but they often carry intuitive meanings.

– Beep!

A noise that pierced the ears made my expression involuntarily grimace.

Do moths usually make that kind of sound? At least, not that I know of.

Since the monsters in this world are biologically and magically different, it could be possible.

Parasitic Moth.

A monster I’ve encountered in the original work.

The keywords in the name are ‘parasitic’ and ‘moth.’

I sensed the appearance of the parasitic moth flying in the sky with its three pairs of fluttering wings and a large mouth spewing out a loud noise.

The overwhelming magical force.

“…Ugh.”

My stomach churned. The magical force was absurdly stronger than I had anticipated. My legs trembled. If I had to fight against that thing in reality, I would probably retreat immediately.

The only reason I was slightly less afraid was that this place was not reality but inside the Tower.

– Whoosh!

“Ah! Son of a b*tch!”

A more intense flame than the parasitic moth’s was rushing underneath, and that was because, for now, it was on our side(?).

This area was completely dead. It was similar to the previous scene of carnage.

The difference was that the previous location was all burnt traces, but this place was completely dead as if all life had been sucked out.

Parasitic Moth.

It was named that way because of its ability to absorb magic. Absorbing a large amount of life force and magic in the area and using it is its racial ability.

Moreover, it’s an alpha individual, so it must be even more powerful.

– Squeak!

The parasitic moth made a different noise than before. The surrounding magic wriggled and flowed into the parasitic moth.

That magic gathered in the parasitic moth’s body and converged into its mouth. In an obvious prelude, Hongyeonhwa struck the ground.

– Kwaah!

An explosion. A pillar of simple and brutal magic fell from the sky.

Gathering magic and striking with brute force is the specialty of monsters with a huge amount of magic by nature.

The parasitic moth swung its mouth back and forth. A line of magic left a large mark on the ground, chasing after Hongyeonhwa.

– Whoosh!

Hongyeonhwa struck the ground. Her form flickered like flames.

Even in the black world, Hongyeonhwa burned red.

It was both due to her flame attribute magic and the influence of her strong will, as well as her fighting spirit.

Every time she stepped, the ground shattered. The debris that flew up was erased by the pillar of magic and engulfed by the fighting spirit.

The parasitic moth continued to suck in magic and maintain its attack, but the pillar of magic couldn’t even touch the tip of Hongyeonhwa’s hair.

– Kyaah!

Dodging the attack, Hongyeonhwa revealed her determination. With a loud roar, her form accelerated.

Moving far away from the attack trajectory in an instant, she pulled one arm behind her back.

A stance similar to throwing a spear.

The magic that surged forth intertwined with her hand. The magic soon turned into a long spear of flames.

“Die!”

Immediately throwing it. Unlike the magic line that fell from the sky, the red line shot up from the ground to the sky.

– Beep!

The parasitic moth abruptly stopped its attack and swiftly twisted its body. Despite its large body, its movements were quick.

The spear of flames pierced through the empty space where the parasitic moth’s wings were. A loud explosion echoed in the distant sky.

“Ah! You damn flying bug!”

Hongyeonhwa grimaced. An expression of annoyance surfaced. She quickly adjusted her breathing and turned her head.

“I’ll roast that b*stard alive with my flames… Ugh…”

The heightened sensation could even discern the gaze that pierced through the skin. Hong Yeonhwa’s gaze lingered on my eyes.

Her gaze trembled slightly. A perplexed yet tinged with amusement gaze scanned my face and body thoroughly before finally dropping away.

As her head turned, I speculated that her gaze would reach Elia and Baek Arin beside me.

Elia showed no particular reaction.

At most, a gaze tinged with a hint of joy. Elia’s friendliness seemed to have reached Hong Yeonhwa as well.

And then her head turned towards Baek Arin.

“…Hello?”

Baek Arin awkwardly waved her hand with a forced smile.

Whoosh! The momentum of Geophwa intensified. Anger was blatantly rising.

Using emotions as fuel, Geophwa blazed up. A flaming sword of anger, as if ready to be unleashed at any moment, swirled behind Hong Yeonhwa.

“Aaah! Hayul, help me!”

Baek Arin exclaimed in fear as she jumped back. The direction she was facing was behind me.

– I’m sorry. Instead, die for me.

‘Gyaaah!’

Sacrificing Baek Arin. It was a daunting task. I, too, jumped back towards Baek Arin.

Baek Arin and I circled each other around Elia as if playing tag, never-ending teasing.

Hong Yeonhwa sharpened it. The flaming sword behind her swayed and soon dissipated into thin air.

“Y-you…! …What the heck, friend.”

“A friend to chew on from the filtered results…? If I hadn’t filtered it, what kind of curse words would have flown out…”

Baek Arin, who had stopped spinning, muttered vaguely. I also managed to stop spinning.

“Curse words? Hey! You’re the one who’s spouting nonsense, you…!”

“Yeonhwa, maybe the problem is that you didn’t listen to the end of what I was saying…”

Naturally, the two bickered back and forth. It was a common sight. I calmed my pounding heart and reassured my senses.

– Beep beep

The parasitic moth was flying in the sky, with its vigilance particularly focused on Hong Yeonhwa.

‘Geophwa?’

Upon closer inspection, the left wing of the parasitic moth seemed odd. It appeared tattered as if the internal magic had been scorched by Geophwa.

It seems Geophwa didn’t hit the mark directly. If it had, the moth wouldn’t have been able to fly properly.

“Heyul!”

After Baek Arin’s short scream, Hong Yeonhwa’s voice, filled with relief, suddenly approached.

I, too, felt a sense of relief. It had only been a few days, but not seeing Hong Yeonhwa made me feel that way.

However, the situation was not favorable. I suppressed my relief, waved my hand, and pointed to the sky.

Understanding my intention, Hong Yeonhwa nodded and explained the situation.

Driven by Baek Arin’s deception, Hong Yeonhwa plunged into the crowd of survivors and, in the chaos, some were eliminated while others fled for their lives(?).

I briefly felt gloomy, thinking that I might have already been eliminated since I couldn’t be seen.

While resting in a nearby spot, or more precisely, since a moment ago, I sensed the presence of the boss.

And chaos ensued.

“I stuck Geophwa on the left wing, but it missed a bit and didn’t cause fatal damage. Just a slight decrease in flying ability.”

“What about the other survivors? With this much commotion, they should have gathered, right?”

“It hasn’t been long since the fight started, so they haven’t gathered yet. Some nearby ones ran away because I caused a ruckus. But if the commotion continues, more will come.”

Hong Yeonhwa licked her lips and brandished her sword once again.

“Right now, it’s flying around so it’s not easy to subdue. There’s no point in approaching and attacking, and even pouring out magic wildly from the ground makes it difficult to hit.”

Monsters that can fly are particularly difficult to subdue. That’s why flying monsters are highly regarded in the hierarchy of monsters.

A 5th rank Alpha creature capable of flight? If that were to be released into the world, it would be difficult to catch even with several high-ranking superhumans on its tail.

The explanation was roughly over. Turning away from Hong Yeonhwa, who was constantly on guard against parasitic butterflies even while talking, I looked in the direction of Baek Arin.

She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.

As far as I know, Baek Arin is the most skilled in strategic tactics here. With expectations that she might have some kind of plan, I looked in her direction.

“…How about this?”

As if answering my expectations, Baek Arin spoke up.

And then, I picked up the bow.

‘……’

It was a bow of an unknown name that had already oxidized. It was a standard model, but due to its production in Siyolam, it had excellent performance.

I absentmindedly fiddled with the bow before snapping back to my senses.

In a slightly distant location, Baek Arin was seen firing ice spears into the sky, moving around here and there.

Then, she soared into the air, using ice blocks as footholds and directly targeting the parasitic butterflies flying around.

The parasitic butterflies fluttered their wings frantically to avoid her, in the midst of which the wind currents wrapping around their wings seemed unusual, indicating an ability of wind attribute lineage.

Although there were occasional attacks that hit her, there was hardly any damage from suppressive attacks as if measuring the value of the hierarchy. Baek Arin kept her distance from the parasitic butterflies, launching attacks intermittently.

I recalled the plan I had just heard.

– The plan is simple! If Elia buffs me and Lee Hayul to suppress the butterflies, Yeonhwa will finish them off with maximum output!

It was a simple plan. At that moment, I was just standing there dumbfounded, but Baek Arin added some more explanation while looking at me.

– It can’t be helped. Even though the surrounding monsters were wiped out by Yeonhwa, we never know when more monsters will come.

– Wiped out? She’s not a damn… woman.

– Hey!

‘…It’s a bow.’

I have never used a bow before. I have been sparring with Professor Atra, but I learned spear fighting, fist fighting, and kicking, and have not yet directly used a gun or a bow.

In fact, the whole idea of using a bow seemed a bit off to me. As someone from the original world, I couldn’t understand why they would leave guns behind and use bows.

Of course, once you start thinking about it, you get caught in the dilemma of whether to use a gun instead of a spear or sword.

Frankly, Hong Yeonhwa could probably deflect flying bullets with her fingers, so whether it’s a gun or a bow, the user is more important.

‘Phew…’

Taking a deep breath, I calmly aimed the bow. The target was the parasitic butterfly flying frantically in the sky.

There’s no need to be nervous.

The goal is to catch the attention of the parasitic butterfly.

There’s no need to aim for a fatal blow. Just create a brief opening for Hong Yeonhwa to hit her target.

I held the bow and took a cautious stance. Even though it was my first time hearing about it, my stance looked quite convincing.

‘A jack of all trades.’

A unique ability that has at least some aptitude and skill correction effects in various fields.

I grabbed the bowstring with my right hand.

I pulled the magic-infused bowstring. Kigigik… A somewhat convincing sound rang in my ears in the subject of magic.

As the inherent principles within the bow manifested, a magic arrow was imbued into the bowstring.

“Magic Arrow Implementation”

It is a basic function embedded in a bow used as a weapon.

Usually, magic is infused into existing arrows and then shot, but when there is no room for that, pure magic is sometimes used to shoot.

Drawing in mana. Tapping the core to extract mana and guide it into the bowstring. At the command of the owner, mana swiftly flowed without hesitation.

The gathered mana on the pulled bowstring transforms into an arrow.

“…’Flame Enchantment’.”

Whoosh! The mana arrow was engulfed in flames.

A lower-level attribute enchantment magic. The attribute being bestowed is that of fire.

Fire is inherently a dangerous element to living beings. Unless they belong to strange or special categories like golems.

Parasitic moths. They may look strange, but they’re still pests. Their bodies are not composed of elements like stone, wind, or water.

With a generous amount of mana infused with flames, it should be quite eye-catching.

Gritting my teeth… I pull the bowstring as far as possible. Adjusting my stance with the help of a perfect posture, I harmonize the enchanted attribute magic with mana affinity.

To attract attention, one must convey the perception of ‘danger if hit’. I spread the mana even further. The flames clinging to the arrow intensified.

– Wuuung!

Using high-purity mana as firewood, flames surged. The bow held in both hands felt heavy, indicating the amount of mana absorbed by the arrow.

‘At this rate…’

It should work.

Thinking so, just as I was about to signal to Hongyeonhwa, Baek Arin, and Elia, they shot me astonished looks.

– Whoosh!

Suddenly, flames erupted from my right hand wrapped in a palto sleeve. The flames attached to the arrow were so intense that they glowed a bluish hue.

I stood there dumbfounded.

‘No.’

Why is this happening again.