episode_0166

52. Descent. (4)

My mind became complicated with the sudden appearance of Thanatos and the contact from Pedro.

‘Oh Hyuk-jin… didn’t seem to know that we were secretly running away with Yeong-i… so… ‘

Thanatos must have known that and used his power in that way to do something. Or… maybe there was something I don’t know about.

In the span of about a minute, many hypotheses formed in my head. However, the two most likely ones were:

First, Thanatos used his hand to send a demon to where Ara and her group were.

Second, Oh Hyuk-jin took out insurance in advance because he thought we would come.

Either way… it’ll be a tough situation for Ara and her group. No matter how much Ara, Pedro, and Park Se-chan use their abilities… unless they’ve received my power like him, they’ll be pushed back.

I thought to myself, “I should have come with him,” but I quickly shook my head and, thinking to myself that what’s done in the past can’t be helped, I picked up the pace.

” Please… until I get there… everyone will be safe…! ”

*****

” Okay… If you’ve come this far, you’ll be fine. How are you, Yeong-ah? ”

Ara asked the spirit, who was walking with his head bowed and leaning on her shoulder, but there was no answer.

” Hey, Ling! Come on! ”

” Ah… uh, unnie? Oh, sorry… ”

” Are you okay? I was surprised because you didn’t respond since earlier… ”

” Hehe… Okay, it’s okay… I’m just a little dizzy because I have a fever. Yeah… It’s okay… ”

As she finished saying those words, Ara was surprised by the warmth she felt when she placed her hand on her forehead as she saw the spirit collapse in exhaustion.

” Like this… When you have a fever, you have to say something…! Pedro, do you have any first aid kit left? ”

” Here it is. But it won’t be of much help… ”

” But it’s better than nothing… Oh, Pedro, do you have that? A brooch. A brooch that Charlotte gave me. ”

Ara gave medicine to the unconscious Ling, whose body was burning up, and suddenly remembered the brooch Charlotte had given her.

‘Surely… it was the brooch that was said to have healing powers…?’

” That? Yeah. I always carry it with me. Just in case, I have it as a talisman. But why is that…? Sister, really? ”

” Right now, Yeong-i might need it more than us. If that’s okay… ”

Before Ara could finish speaking, Pedro took the brooch off his neck and handed it to her.

” Take it. He’s your precious little brother. It’s okay. You’re planning on giving it to me anyway, right? ”

” Pedro… Thank you! ”

He took out the brooch that he had kept in his pocket and gave Ara’s and Pedro’s brooches to Ling. Soon after, a faint light came out of the brooch and enveloped Ling’s body.

” Please…! ”

After some time, the spirit who had lost consciousness slowly opened his eyes and was surprised by the warmth he felt in his own body.

” Oh, Sister…? This is… ”

” That’s fortunate. ”

Ara’s appearance as she hugged the spirit and cried

” Sister… What is this warmth… ”

” It’s the power of the brooch that my older sister gave me. She said it had healing powers… so I gave it to you… How are you? Are you okay? ”

” Yeah. It’s a lot more comfortable. More than that, is it really… okay? It’s like a precious… object… ”

” It’s okay. It’s better than you disappearing in front of me. Don’t worry. Okay, can you move? ”

” Yeah! ”

As he was about to stand up again and move, Yeong heard a familiar sound and turned around.

The sound of armor moving, ‘clack, clack’, and the heavy footsteps that go ‘thump, thump’.

Yes, the ‘knight in pitch-black armor’ who was watching over you.

The black knight came looking for him.

” Hey, sis… Ppa, run away quickly…! Hurry up!!! ”

” What…? ”

At that moment, something flew past Ara, and then the wind blew, causing Ara and Yeong-i’s hair to flutter.

With blood spraying from behind.

As she looked at the blood on her arm, Ara slowly turned around and saw Pedro sitting down, holding his right shoulder.

With blood gushing out with a ‘push slap’.

” Pedro…?! ”

” Me, I’m sobbing… It’s okay. Sister. Look ahead quickly! ”

Ara, who suddenly saw Pedro lying down bleeding, couldn’t keep up with the situation. She was confused by the thought that her favorite child had been hurt.

” Ah, ah… Pe, Pedro…. Ah… ”

” Sister! ”

The voice of Yeong-i shouting at herself as she looked forward, caressing her cold cheek with a ‘thud! ‘ sound.

” Wake up! Hurry up… Run away quickly…! ”

” Oh, uh… Yeah… ”

Ara slowly got up from her seat and started walking, led by Yeong-i’s hand.

Pedro tied his severed right arm with a thread and put it on his back, wrapped the bleeding area with a thread made like a bandage, and left the place, leaning on Park Se-chan who lent him his arm.

But even so, the armor moving with a ‘clack’ sound and the footsteps that made a heavy ‘thud, thud’ sound could still be heard from behind.

As if… they would unconditionally follow them wherever they go.

Pedro activated the device with his mouth and sent a quick message to Charlotte, hoping that the Black Knight following them from behind would not catch up.

*****

Upon arriving at the Children’s Museum, a black knight in pitch-black armor was standing in front of them, repeatedly striking the wall with a giant pitch-black axe.

The black knight continues to strike down while making sounds like ‘Kang!’, ‘Thud!’, and ‘Kwoong!’.

The wall he was slamming down was probably a wall of earth made by Ara, wrapped with thread that Pedro had strengthened, but even that was almost destroyed, enough to show the entrance to the museum.

Fortunately, even though the wall was shattered by the Black Knight’s giant axe and disappeared, a new wall rose up from below to block his path… it seemed that Ara was holding on.

I snap my fingers to create [Spear of Flame. Ardvar.] and shoot it at the guy. With a ‘Kwaang!’ sound, it explodes on the guy’s back, sending up black smoke.

” As expected, this… seems to be insufficient. ”

As I said, the black knight turned around and looked at me with his slightly scorched armor as if nothing was wrong, and then started to charge at me.

A giant axe swings over my head with a ‘whoosh! ‘ sound.

I quickly summoned [Twin Swords. Hauteclair] and blocked the axe by making an X, but as expected, it was a huge axe swung by a huge man, so I slightly fell to my knees due to the strength and weight, but it didn’t matter since I was able to stop the attack on the museum with that.

” Ugh… What, strength…! ”

Although he had strengthened his body with divine power, even that was weak against the power of this black knight.

‘Looking at the speed at which it moved… it was pretty… fast…! ‘

Oh Hyuk-jin was difficult to catch because he used various abilities, but he was different.

Because it was enough to make me… kneel for a moment, with pure brute force.

” That doesn’t mean… you can’t win! ”

I slowly got up from my knees and kicked away the guy’s axe, then quickly ran behind him and swung my sword at the speed of a red flash.

With a ‘Kang!’ and ‘Squeak!’ sound, the sword struck the pitch-black armor, sending sparks flying and creating a dent, but black smoke poured out and filled the gap again.

And then immediately he turns his body around and pushes my body with his shoulder, saying ‘thump!’

” Ugh…! ”

I was pushed back and rolled on the floor.

And then again, I quickly rolled over to avoid the heavy, huge axe being swung with a ‘whoosh’ sound, and black thorns shot out from the axe stuck in the ground.

As I quickly got into position and looked at the guy, saying ‘Chwiik’, something… felt familiar.

The… pure white… metal part at the center of the guy’s pitch-black armor.

” Hey, wait… That’s… What the heck…! Oh Hyuk Jin… Who the hell is that guy…! ”

Yes, that pure white metal… was definitely a ‘brooch’ that I gave to people I cherished.

” Yeah, I should have expected that from the moment I started using the axe… Haa… This is driving me crazy. ”

A black knight in pitch-black armor stands before me.

He is… someone I know. The ‘person’ I met when I first returned to this world.

That kind person who treated me like his own daughter.

The man who fought for the people while swinging an axe as big as his body.

The black knight in pitch-black armor in front of me was… ‘Uncle Doosik.’

Because I was only thinking about Ling being eaten by Thanatos’ vessel… I was forgetting something important.

The fact that Choi Si-woo wiped out the reconnaissance team, but… took Uncle Du-sik with him.

Clearly, it was clear that Oh Hyuk-jin… had taken him away… but I couldn’t guess where he was… That’s because I was so focused on Yeong-i that I couldn’t think properly.

There is a possibility that where there is a spirit, there is also an old man…

” If I thought about it a little more… I could understand the story… Sigh… ”

I just looked at the black knight who was standing silently in front of me and slowly approaching me. No, I looked at him.

” Sir… I didn’t want to meet you like this. ”

But he didn’t even listen to me and just came towards me to swing his axe at me.

What should I do? How can I… save… the old man?

I thought about it a lot in my head, but… no answer came to me.

But… there was hope. Judging from the fact that the brooch I gave him was still there… it didn’t seem like he had completely… fallen under Thanatos’ power.

If so, there is only one answer.

Just shatter that damn armor. Yeah, that’s it.