Chapter 74 (2/2)

In the meantime, Maria was spitting out cusses one after another.

”D-don't give a f*ck if it's a Nest or whatever, just do something…!!” (Maria)

Her entire body shuddered pitifully and sweat poured out in buckets. Mikhail finally recovered his wits and hurriedly pushed himself off the floor. He tried to cut a tentacle in front with his sword, but he could barely nick it with his attacks. It recovered almost instantly the moment he swung his sword to damage it. The rate of recovery was incomparably quicker than any variants they fought so far.

”You f*cking useless fools…!! Stop wasting time cutting at tentacles, and….! Hit the main body….!!” (Maria)

Veronika quickly nocked arrows and let them loose. Her shots accurately landed on the main body of the creature, but didn't even hurt it in the slightest.

”Useless b*tch!!” (Maria)

Maria gnashed her teeth and gripped the crucifix hard as if to crush it. She felt her heart might explode from frustration at this rate.

Crack, craaaack…!!

”….Ah…!!” (Maria)

In the end, cracks began forming on the protective barrier. Her expression became uglier and uglier. She closed her eyes shut and tried to squeeze out every drop of her energy, but then….

Wuuuuueeeehhhh!!

She abruptly heard a horrible cry coming from up above and the pressure on her lessened considerably. She opened her eyes just a sliver, and spotted Seol Ji-Hu and his raised right arm. He quickly rummaged through his bag and short throwing spears tumbled out in droves. The youth instantly picked one up and after taking quick, short strides forward, threw his raised arm.

POW!

The lance flew and struck the body of the creature accurately. Maria only then noticed that there were two lances stuck there now, meaning that he had thrown one before. She finally spat out a breath of relief.

The ‘Nest' let out a horrifying screech that was loud enough to shake the entire cavern after it got struck several times by the throwing lances. Disregarding that, Seol Ji-Hu picked up yet another lance. Tentacles receded away as if they were colts scalded by hot branding iron. He threw his lance as fast as he could, but it was deflected away by the retreating tentacles. He clicked his tongue and quickly shouted out.

”Everyone!! Get out of the ca….?!” (Seol Ji-Hu)

He couldn't finish his shout. Four tentacles were already blocking up the sole exit, after all.

Huuuuooong-!

Right afterwards, the shadow cast by the Nest loomed larger and larger. All hair on his body stood up.

Boom!!

”Euhk!!”

”Keu-heuk!!”

The ground undulated violently from the immense vibrations. The team members barely managed to regain their balance, but their expressions were not good at all. Because, the only exit was now completely blocked up by the Nest. They made a big mistake by entering deeper, having been lured in by that trace of someone's footsteps.

They didn't even have the leeway to blame Veronika on this one, too. The grey-coloured Nest filled up their view with its unimaginably huge size. Its height alone exceeded two metres, while its width was easily twice, thrice that. As if to show that it was a living, breathing ent.i.ty, red and blue veins pulsed and wiggled all over its formless figure, with countless tentacles dancing all around it. Now that was one rather grotesque sight to behold.

”This…. That's a mid-level Nest! Why the h.e.l.l is a Parasite doing in here?” (Cho Hong)

”A mid-level Nest? A Parasite?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Cho Hong muttered to herself in disbelief. Seol Ji-Hu quickly picked his regular spear up while asking her for clarification.

”A Nest is a type of ‘Cerebrate'. That thing creates the highest evolved Parasites within the mid-level bugs, the Medusa. And a Medusa is supposed to give birth to lower ranked bugs….” (TL: I got the name ‘Cerebrate' from Starcraft because the author used the Korean term for that.)

Cho Hong leaked out a helpless groan.

”B-but, this makes no sense! I've never, ever heard about a Nest with either a.s.similation or regeneration ability before!!” (Cho Hong)

Cho Hong's expression morphed from one of disbelief into one of pure anger.

”You dumb stupid greedy b*tches! If only you listened to him…!!” (Cho Hong)

Seol Ji-Hu quickly covered her mouth.

”Hey! Let me go! You…!” (Cho Hong)

”It'll barely be enough for us to work together to defeat that thing. Are you trying to get us killed?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seol Ji-Hu rebuked her with a sharp voice. She gritted her teeth, hard.

”…F*ck it!” (Cho Hong)

In the end, she chose to pick up her mace and recited a chant. The youth understood where her anger was coming from, but there was nothing to gain from losing one's cool right now. With their escape route blocked off like this, they had to focus on fighting their way out of this place somehow. Seol Ji-Hu quickly issued his commands.

”Veronika!” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”M-mm??”

”Keep shooting your arrows at the main body and distract it. Gierszal, you protect Maria no matter what happens.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Gierszal's face was stiff but he still stood before Maria, his s.h.i.+eld at ready.

”Cho Hong? Mikhail and I will hara.s.s that thing from left and right, so you….” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”You want me to take that opening and destroy the main body, is that it?” (Cho Hong)

She only needed one glance. Cho Hong lifted up the mace now glowing white-hot and nodded her head.

”It ain't gonna be easy, but I'll give it a shot.” (Cho Hong)

A short while later.

Three Warriors dashed forward in three different directions. Tentacles pounced on them as if they were waiting for the humans to come out of the protective barrier.

Shh—pletely relying on nothing but pure intuition, and thankfully enough, he was able to free his captured left arm right away. Too bad, what waited for him the moment he regained his bearing was….

”Uwaaahh!” (Seol Ji-Hu)

….It was the intolerable pain of his shattered ankle announcing itself belatedly. Not only that, a tentacle swelling up greatly positioned itself in front of him to take aim at his face. Greenish liquid spewed out in a straight line towards the youth crying out in pain.

”Luxu, Lu, Luxuria!!” (Maria)

His entire body sparkled in bright light. The green liquid arrived a step later, and rather amazingly, couldn't touch his flesh and simply slid off to the ground, instead.

Psuhhh!

The ground coming in contact with the liquid melted down as white fumes rose up. Seol Ji-Hu's jaws dropped nearly to the floor, too, before he abruptly sensed warmth flooding into his body. The pain from his ankle disappeared and vitality began filling him up again.

He had no time to say his thanks, though - as if the Nest got angry at the prey regaining vitality again when he looked like dead meat, tentacles began raining down on him at an even more frightening pace.

Seol Ji-Hu immediately beat a hasty retreat from there and confirmed the condition of the battlefield through the corners of his eyes.

He couldn't see where Mikhail was, as that direction was blocked off by the Nest's body. Cho Hong had retreated to some distance just like he did and was panting out non-stop at the moment. There were a dozen destroyed tentacles laying on the ground near her as if to prove her credentials as a grizzled combatant, but her expression showed how desperate she was feeling inside.

”Pant…. Pant….!” (Maria)

It was roughly the same story with Maria. She was panting out madly right now. She had sweated so much that actual droppings of liquid were falling from the ends of her damp blond hair.

But, that was to be expected - she ended up expending three spells in a row trying to save Seol Ji-Hu just now. More importantly, she was watching three different directions at the same time, so she had to use nearly ten spells in that very short span of time.

”Why are you acting like an idiot, too?!” (Maria)

As soon as locking eyes with Seol Ji-Hu, she cried out in pure anger. In all honesty, he could be considered more than decent enough for a Level 2, when his actions were a.n.a.lysed objectively. Of course, she was aware of that, too. No, the reason why Maria got so incensed wasn't because of him, but something else.

”What are you trying to do, making me use up almost all of my spells already?! Do something!! Hurry!” (Maria)

She was running out of the spells she had prepared in advance, yet the Nest was still in one piece. Even though Cho Hong's skills and Seol Ji-Hu's battle prowess had resulted in reducing the number of tentacles by over a dozen, there were still over thirty of them remaining.

Wuuuooeuh!

Perhaps it got furious from getting hindered during all the critical moments? The Nest let out a truly eerie, unhappy growl. Maria flinched from that. She felt that the Nest was now looking straight at her.

”Stop that thing!” (Cho Hong)

Cho Hong was the first to sense the change and she cried out loudly to let the others know. Three Warriors freaked out and pounced on the monster, but one of the tentacles still managed to slip through and flew forward at a frightening pace.

”Lu….” (Maria)

Maria was about to chant another spell, but realised that it was too late and quickly hid behind Gierszal. But then, the d*mn tentacle abruptly changed its trajectory.

POW!!

”Ah-ahhk!” (Veronika)

The tentacle slammed the side of Veronika standing not too far from them in the blink of an eye. The Archer, previously in the middle of supporting Mikhail, screamed out loudly and got flung away to the nearest wall; she crashed unceremoniously against it and stopped moving.

”G.o.d d*mn it, Veronika!!” (Mikhail)

She crumbled to the ground, blood pouring out of her. Mikhail cried out and reached out to her. Because of that, he lost his concentration for a second, and a tentacle seized upon this opening to smack him in the back.

”Heo-urk…” (Mikhail)

Mikhail fell hard to the floor, completely knocked out cold.

”That d*mn stupid b*stard!!” (Maria)

Maria jumped up and down on her spot, and pushed at Gierszal's back.

”What are you doing?! Go and bring them over here!” (Maria)

In an instant, they just lost two combatants. But, the real despairing thing they needed to worry about was….

Keu-duk!! Keu-dududuk!!

The tentacles they thought were taken care of now showed signs of movement again. Bubbles slowly rose up on the parts Cho Hong's mace had struck, while broken ice particles fell steadily from the parts Ji-Hu had sliced off. Its speed of regeneration was agonisingly slow, but the meaning behind that development was far, far too obvious to everyone present here.

‘We're screwed.' (Seol Ji-Hu)

Seol Ji-Hu continued to wield his spear, but felt his innards twist in knots right now. The flow of the battle had turned to the absolute worst. They lacked two people, which meant he and Cho Hong had to take up on the slack now. They might have Gierszal, but if he stepped up, then Maria would be in danger.

”I'll be fine, so go and bring them over here!! Do you want to die??” (Maria)

Maria angrily kicked Gierszal in the s.h.i.+n when he remained standing there like a stone statue. Only then did he step forward hesitantly, but his complexion hardened rapidly out of the blue. He raised his s.h.i.+eld up high to his right and while hugging the nearest wall as much as possible, he began running forward.

Maria was about to desperately chant a new spell, but then, an expression of stupefaction formed on her face. Because, Gierszal actually jumped over the slouched Veronika. He didn't even look back at the fallen Mikhail, too. He maintained that speed and soon disappeared behind the Nest.

‘Staying here means death! I'm taking my chances!' (Gierszal)

He had carefully watched the developing situation and in the end, made a shrewd but drastic choice. When he saw no hope, he chose to run away while using his teammates as baits. He was thinking that, remaining here would only lead to his death.

”That son of a b*tch…!!” (Maria)

Maria plopped down on her b.u.t.t as if she no longer had any energy left for cussing out. Cho Hong was leaking out a wry chuckle.

While desperately evading the tentacles, Seol Ji-Hu got to clearly see it - and that would be Gierszal escaping in a hurry through the now-opened up exit. Whether he knew that several tentacles were following him from behind or not, it was unknown. Maybe the Nest didn't want to let anyone escape. Whatever the case may have been, that was one h.e.l.l of deflating sight, that's for sure. And as the old saying went, you might know what's under the river, but you could never tell what was in a person's mind.

‘He didn't even look like a person who'd do this….' (Seol Ji-Hu)

In the end, the number of people still standing up were reduced to a mere three. It must've thought that it had won, because after using a powerful slap with a tentacle to push away Seol Ji-Hu and his persistently annoying attacks, the Nest remained in its spot and let its appendages wiggle around in a disgusting dance routine.

Trapped within this despairing situation, Cho Hong a.n.a.lysed their chances quickly and quite accurately. The battle had gone beyond the point of saving it, never mind overturning it to their favour. On top of this, the Nest had time on its side, too. They already couldn't see any escape route, but what if all the tentacles unable to move right now regained their mobility?

”Seol!! Take a step back! Keep your eyes open, and get ready to hit it with everything you got!” (Cho Hong)

Cho Hong loudly yelled out and stood upright. Her mace was lowered towards the ground.

”What are you….?!” (Maria)

Maria's forehead creased up. She saw Cho Hong's lips rapidly bobbing up and down. As if she was reciting a chant, she didn't waste a single second and breathlessly muttered out non-stop.

Guuuooooh….

Soon, the strands of her long black hair began floating up one at a time, and….

*SFX for a burst of bright light*

Blinding rays of light suddenly exploded from beneath her feet. An unthinkable amount of the latent power roused up from its slumber and the entirety of the dome-shaped interior began reverberating in resonance. The energy pulsing out of her was so great that even the Nest flinched noticeably and stopped extending its tentacles towards the fallen Mikhail and Veronika.

Wuuuuooh?

By the time it s.h.i.+fted its attention towards her, vivid curtains of light had completely enveloped Cho Hong in their embrace. Seol Ji-Hu did as she said and had retreated to some distance away by then. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets after seeing the change taking place on her.

”Cho Hong??” (Seol Ji-Hu)

The bright, s.h.i.+fting light rapidly changed to rather cool-looking armours made out of pure light wrapping around her upper and lower torso. And a wing-shaped tiara settled down on her forehead next. Finally, brilliant light shone down from the top of her head, dyeing her hair in beautiful shades of sparkling silver.

Maria's jaw almost fell to the floor, too. Because, Cho Hong just activated the most powerful ‘spirit summoning' spell within Level 4, one that could only be performed by a paladin personally acknowledged by the G.o.ds themselves.

The ‘Valkyrie Skirt'. (TL: Not a typo, this name's straight from the raw. The author actually wrote it in English.)

”are you trying to kill yourself along with the enemy, too?!” (Maria)

Maria yelled out at the top of her voice, but Cho Hong didn't even respond. No, she only icily glared at the Nest with deep silvery eyes reminiscent of the field covered in wintery snow. She raised her s.h.i.+ning mace and silver s.h.i.+eld.

Maria bit down on her lower lip. She was not a moron and knew better than anyone why Cho Hong chose to activate that right now.

If that was the case….

”G.o.d d*mn it!! F*ck!!” (Maria)

Maria angrily yanked her bag closer and pulled out an altar. The signs of internal struggle were clearly visible on her face, but in the end, her trembling hands placed the crucifix on top of this altar.

After that initial preparation, she chanted a spell for a protective barrier. With a gravely determined face, she reverently knelt down before the altar. She slowly prostrated and opened her mouth to speak.

”Oh, Luxuria!”

That was the beginning of another ceremony.

< 74.=”” king's=”” wrath=””> Fin.