Chapter 55 (1/2)

Seol Ji-Hu saw the blade of the axe. That was the end.

The moment they collided, a terrible mixture of disorienting noise rang around his ear ca.n.a.ls, and his vision rapidly blackened.

Only that the back of his nose felt stingy and hot for some reason. The other sensations he perceived simply disappeared, too.

The metallic screech could no longer be heard. He couldn't sense being cut, either. It was as if the time had been cut off.

But, that only lasted for a brief moment.

”…….”

The horrendous pain….

”…..Ah.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

….Came knocking belatedly.

‘Heuuwaaaakkkk!!'

If he could, he would've screamed out loudly enough to tear his vocal cords. However, the serious, crippling pain did not permit him to open his mouth.

Could this be described as the pain felt from his blood flowing in reverse? It sure felt like all his bones had shattered and his flesh had exploded into bits. The sensation of his shoulder muscles being shredded and torn into pieces was a pain on another dimension, a torture that could not be put into mere words.

What made him feel even more despair was the fact that he could not feel anything in both of his arms.

Not like he couldn't move his arms, no - no, it was more like, they didn't even exist in the first place. He even ended up thinking that his arms must've been ripped off from the force of the collision.

‘I shouldn't have stepped up….'

Regrets rushed in belatedly. If he was hired as a porter, he should've quietly stayed back. Why did he have to step up here?

‘Did I die?'

He only now noticed that the surroundings had become silent as well. Everything was so deafening, as if he was listening underwater.

Was he going deaf, or did he die? Seol Ji-Hu was thinking as such but then, he realised something was amiss.

If he was really dead, then he shouldn't be feeling the pain. However, since he was feeling it, then….?

His mind sobered up in an instant. His eyes shot open wide.

The first thing he saw was the huge axe; it was so close that it nearly touched his eyeb.a.l.l.s. As a matter of fact, he could even pick up on the subtle tremor of the blade.

His two arms, the ones he figured would've been broken at the bare minimum, were still attached to his shoulders. The shaft of the spear he held with both of his hands was pressed against the axe and stopped it from falling any further.

Seol Ji-Hu's expression became dazed. Even though he was the one doing this, his expression indicated his own disbelief.

….Even though his shoulders felt like they'd shatter any time soon, and his arms trembled as if he'd drop the spear even at the merest hint of a prod.

But, if there was something no one could take away from him today, then that would be him still standing up resolutely. And bitterly resisting.

This was a critical moment where a single mistake could lead to the annihilation of the expedition. However, Seol Ji-Hu succeeded in defending against a rather complacent attack that nevertheless came at him without a warning.

Growl?

It hadn't ended yet, though. The distance between him and the monster was close enough. It was taken by surprise from his sudden intrusion, but the female Lioner knew that the human in front was no match to it. Indeed, he was so weak that if it increased its strength by a bit more, he'd be trampled underfoot.

And so, the hands grabbing the axe issued a squeezing noise as the monster increased its strength. Just a little bit, a little bit more, trample on the human, and then….!

”Euh….!”

Seol Ji-Hu spat out a groan as the pressure increased by another level.

The joy of survival he felt lasted only for a split second. The sensation of cold blade pressing against his forehead could be felt now. Blood trickled down and pooled around his eyes. As his sights reddened,  thoughts of surrendering entered his mind.

The thoughts whispered that, it was a miracle that he had endured until now, that resisting any more was impossible, that he'd die for real this time.

The moment those thoughts entered his mind, the 'emotions' that had been quietly submerged below suddenly and violently lashed back. He felt like he was yanked out and placed back on the solid ground after he was descending ever deeper beneath the bottomless sea.

‘But, why?'

Did he jump to conclusions and give up already? It wasn't as if he had pulled out everything he could just yet.

”Keuk!!”

He grasped the spear shaft with even more strength. His palms must be torn because they hurt like crazy, but he didn't care about them. His glare landing at the enemy sharpened by a notch.

The acceptance of the end he felt changed to determination of not ending it here yet.

The thoughts of giving up, telling him any more of this was impossible, changed to an ardent wish telling him not to give up yet.

And finally, the despair telling him he couldn't do it had changed to the hope of him actually doing it.

Seol Ji-Hu's eyes, once trapped in blurriness and uncertainty, regained their s.h.i.+ne the moment he began ‘denying' all the negative thoughts in his head.

”Keuh…!”

He took in a deep, deep breath, and….

”Keuhkk!!”

He summoned every little bit of strength and circulated every drop of Magic Power throughout his body.

The hidden power he had never felt before gushed up from deep within himself. The overwhelming and boiling-hot energy rus.h.i.+ng out like the tidal waves concentrated on his arms. The spear began buzzing with strange humming.

His face reddened. All his muscles ballooned up, and his veins bulged taut almost to the point of bursting apart.

*SFX for gritting teeth*

Seol Ji-Hu gritted his teeth and slowly raised his arms higher.

It was at this moment that others around him could see ‘it' - the scene that completely defied all common sense.

If one were to get more specific, then….

”Kkkkkeeeuuuuaahhhh!!”

…The scene of Seol Ji-Hu's spear slowly forcing up the female Lioner's axe.

The axe that touched his face was pushed up above his head, then ever so slowly, it rose up higher and higher in the air. The female Lioner too was giving everything it had, the proof being its arms holding the axe trembling violently. However, even then, the weapon was rising up agonisingly slowly as if he was lifting heavy weights.

Facing against the never-before-seen power that continued to grow stronger, the female Lioner's eyes began showing signs of panic for the first time ever.

It was then, Seol Ji-Hu's body tilted out of balance for a moment.

The reason for that was simple. The female Lioner could not withstand anymore and took several steps back, that's why.

That was right - it had to retreat. And the result from that were the looks of disbelief etched on the faces of the members of the expedition, as well as on the leader Lioner as it fell with an arrow penetrating through it.

This was an event that shouldn't have happened, and the sight they witnessed completely broke their common sense. Although it was only for a short moment, a level 1 Warrior not only managed to pressure a monster that was reputedly stronger than a level 4 Warrior, but he even forced it away as well!

‘I need to stab it….'

As soon as he lost his goal, his target, all of his strength abandoned him. His legs gave up on him, and his knees fell to the floor. A sense of enervation had overtaken his entire body. All he could do was endure like this without collapsing to the ground.

The female Lioner instinctively raised the axe up high the moment it saw Seol Ji-Hu on the ground, his breath in disarray. It knew that it had to kill the Sorcerer, but the fear it felt just now rang alarm bells in its head, saying that this human male had to die first.

Buzzz!!

In that next moment, a single line of electricity closed in like a blade of light and sliced off the female Lioner's right hand. The axe fell helplessly to the ground, and the female Lioner cried out in a sorrowful, pained whimper.

Seol Ji-Hu watched on with a dazed face, but felt a huge hand slapping him on the back out of the blue.

”Keok?!”

”Good boy!! Good, very good!” (Dylan) (TL: This part was written in English in the raw.)

When did he come? The always-calm Dylan was grinning very happily and very toothily.

”Ahahaha!!” (Cho Hong)

After that, he felt someone lightly rub the top of his head. Cho Hong walked past him and looked at him for a moment or two before she laughed out jovially as well.

”Euhah, ahahaha!!” (Samuel)

Samuel roared in laughter like a madman and slapped Seol Ji-Hu's shoulder as he went past the youth.

‘These, these guys?!'

He was already half-dead from his aching body here!

”Why do you….!!” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Uwaahk?!” (Hugo)

Seol Ji-Hu was about to shout out ”Why do you keep hitting me?” but then, Hugo cried out first.