The Second Coming of Avarice Chapter 89

Not a sound could be heard. There was no prelude, either.

Still, Seol Ji-Hu could clearly sense it. He sensed the enormous air pressure rushing at him in an instant as if to shut his mouth up for good. If the Sky Fairy didn't hold him with her arms tightly interlocked behind his back, he might have been flung away by now.

‘So, this is the Spirit of Wind….!' (Seol Ji-Hu)

This was a completely different type of experience compared to his Festina Earring. The whirlpool of gushing winds seemed to push against his entire body.

Increase their speed as much as possible before emerging from the mountain range and, at the precise moment they leave the relative safety of the mountain, borrow the powers of the Spirits to surpass their top speed to go faster - that was their plan. And so, eight flying figures, gathered into one group, crossed the sky as if to split the heavens itself.

Previously, the Fallen Angel called this plan ‘Sink or Swim' considering that they needed to overcome two large hurdles. She added that, although they could somehow survive the first hurdle, they would have no choice but to leave the second hurdle to lady luck.

Even then, there was a reason why Seol Ji-Hu's plan was chosen instead of the one with causing diversion - because they had something to block the pursuers.

‘With this much speed…!' (Seol Ji-Hu)

Would it feel like this if he stuck his head outside the window of a sports car driving fast enough to overheat its engine? It was as if his face was about peel off from the air resistance. He forced open his eyelids that were trying to close by themselves and kept glaring at his front. The mountain range passed by in an instant, and they arrived at the huge expanse of the forest stretching endlessly before their eyes.

Just before they entered it, though….

Kyahaaaaaah-!!

From somewhere below, a loud screech exploded forth. Seol Ji-Hu inwardly clicked his tongue. He'd have much preferred to not get discovered, but that was not meant to be, it seemed. After all, they were dashing past the wide-open sky as if to shout out, "Hey, look at us!"

Unless the Parasites were blind, they would definitely discover the escaping party for sure.

Rumble-!!

The cacophony of swarms of things rushing on the ground resounded out. Innumerable strange shadows appeared from everywhere near the entrance of the forest.

Was that all? Noises of powerfully flapping wings as well as unpleasant insect-like buzzing began their vicious assault on his eardrums.

Not too long afterwards, Seol Ji-Hu witnessed the horde of Parasites gathering into a swarm right in the escaping party's path and cleared his mind. Everything would be decided in one single moment.

The distance between his group and the enemies disappeared in the blink of an eye. He kept his eye open and got ready to deal against the impact force.

Just before the two sides were about to clash, the Fallen Angel and the Sky Fairies chanted out another spell.

Woooung, woong!!

The first one to touch this living wall of creatures was the roundish barrier that suddenly appeared around the Fallen Angel as its centre. At the same time, the gust of wind picked up the pace by a notch, and an explosive elasticity was added to her already-fast speed.

Wujijijijik!!

BOOM!!

Along with something loudly cracking up, noises of explosion resounded in the air. His ears were deafened by that, and his vision was filled up by a sudden splash of darkness. But only a second later, this darkness was pulled back abruptly, and the blue sky greeted him once more.

It was at that point that Seol Ji-Hu knew they had safely navigated past the wall. Parasites flying around the vicinity were urgently gathering towards this location, no doubt having received the telepathic summons, but they simply weren't going to delay the group's determined effort to break through a single point. Meaning, choosing to pierce through with a frontal assault resulted in them safely overcoming the first hurdle.

‘Euhk…!' (Seol Ji-Hu)

The residual impact from that forceful breakthrough caused his body to shudder. He didn't even have time to pull himself together, though.

The situation up until here had unfolded as they expected it to. The basis for the Fallen Angel's opinion of escaping being impossible was predicated on the sniper now referred to as ‘Evil Phantom' hiding somewhere nearby. To make matters worse, there was not just one, but several hundreds of them here, apparently.

Long story short, they had succeeded in entering the Forest of Denial, but it was still too early to celebrate because they all knew what kind of attack would follow next. So, they created as much distance as possible with everything they got while breathlessly chanting one protective barrier spell after another.

Seol Ji-Hu watched as barrier upon barrier was stacked on top of each other around him and nervously swallowed his saliva. It was then, he abruptly felt his breathing come to a stop. For some reason, his wounded left shoulder began aching again.

A certain ominous sensation began plaguing him. If he were to put it into words, it felt like a very sharp needle was softly brushing against his ankle.

Unfortunately, that sensation didn't stop there and it now felt like it was softly scratching at his flesh while creeping up higher and higher. Their flying speed was so fast that his hair was threatening to pull out from their roots, yet never mind shaking it loose, the unpleasant sensation clung onto him even worse than before.

‘This….' (Seol Ji-Hu)

The moment his brain rang the alarm bells…

Blam, blam, blam, blam!!

An unknown number of gunshots rang out and echoed within the air. He could vividly see what happened next. Sky Fairies flying at the right-hand side as well as at the rear suddenly broke away from the group's flight path. The meaning behind that action was clear. Their barriers were all shattered.

The two fairies powerlessly faltered in their descent, being buffeted by the wind like butterflies with wet wings, before eventually crash-landing on the ground. A portion of the pursuing horde of Parasites rushed towards the fallen and had them surrounded. Seeing all those holes in their bodies, roars of laughter resounded out. Even though suffering from the merciless pain, the Sky Fairies were smirking back.

Seeing those ridiculing grins, the Parasites stopped laughing. The escape attempt was a failure, yet they were grinning?

The reason for that became clear soon. Summoning up the last dregs of strength, the Sky Fairies raised their trembling hands. Before anyone could do anything about it, the bluish stones held in their hands suddenly began emitting blinding lights.

Rumble, kwboooom!!

Two ‘thunders' rumbled loudly enough to rock the world with a short interval in-between. Seol Ji-Hu squeezed his eyes shut involuntarily at the blinding flash of light. If he could, he'd have covered his ears, too.

But that line of thought lasted only for a brief moment. Even though the first sniping attempts had ended just now, that unpleasant poking sensation remained still. Rather than stopping, this feeling brushed past where his heart was, past his face, and then, towards the front….

‘….Front??' (Seol Ji-Hu)

He quickly opened his eyes and abruptly realised the source of that weird disharmony. He was shocked out of his mind and looked to his front. Upon activating Nine Eyes, he found that the empty air before him was a riot of red and black colours. But, even before he could shout out, "It's dangerous!"

Blam-!!

The gunshot didn't bother to wait for him. What a cruel b*stard it was.

"Ah-ahck!" (?)

A short scream slapped him in his ear. His line of sight suddenly tilted to a side. He was now falling, while others were still flying. His eyes caught the Fallen Angel carrying Teresa get further away with every breath.

‘N-no….' (?)

The intolerable pain assaulted the Sky Fairy and her focus shattered. Naturally, the gust of wind scattered as well.

She somehow didn't let go of the arm holding on to the young human man even after being sniped, but that was about it. She tried hard to flap her wings, but with one wing half-blown away, all she could do was to ease the arc of descent.

Eventually, they crashed into the forest like a paper plane losing all of its momentum.

"Fuu-wuueuph!!" (Seol Ji-Hu)

They weren't making a safe landing, so as soon as touching down on the ground, both of them tumbled around like a hoop. It was as if they were being swept away ungainly by many waves powerfully crashing into them. Although he was suffering from a severe case of dizziness, Seol Ji-Hu gritted his teeth and held onto the thin thread of wavering consciousness. He couldn't give up here.

"Heuh-euh, euh-!!" (Seol Ji-Hu)

The world seemed to dizzily spin around, but he managed to force himself back up. He turned around instinctively, and his vision narrowed down in an instant to discover the Sky Fairy near his feet, moaning out in pain. Her hood was pulled back during their somersaults, and her azure-coloured hair had scattered messily about.

For a brief moment there, a flash of hesitation brushed past his mind. However, he remembered that she held onto him tightly even during the crash-landing, so he tried to move his left arm. His wound hadn't been perfectly healed yet, so when he moved, the pain intensified almost immediately. The sounds of him gritting his teeth were so scary that it was as if he was actively trying to grind his molars down to nothing.

‘We need to get out of here.' (Seol Ji-Hu)

He somehow succeeded in pulling up and hugging the Sky Fairy, then he activated the Festina Earring. Just a little bit further. Just a bit further - that singular thought drove his feet to kick the ground.

Too bad - time was fair regardless of who it was, and reality remained cold, uncaring. All the time spent during falling, tumbling on the ground, standing back up, and lifting the Sky Fairy up - it was more than enough for the ‘Evil Phantom' to prepare a new round of sniping. Not only that, it was also more than enough time for the crazily-pursuing Parasite horde to catch up to them, too.

Even before he could take a few more steps, the sound of gunshot cruelly rang out again.

"Ahck!!"

Seol Ji-Hu was shot cleanly through in his thigh and fell back down to the ground, unable to even say anything. To make matters worse, he sensed the noisy presences getting closer, as well.

"….Ha, hah…." (Seol Ji-Hu)

The pain was crippling beyond imagination, yet a hollow chuckle still leaked out of his lips. Didn't someone tell him this before? That Parasites were a bunch of b*stards that always managed to exceed one's expectations. Those words came back to haunt him now. Should he say this was far too cheaty?

No, actually, he had been too greedy, hoping for his enemies to be lackadaisical. Parasites were famed for being vicious and cold-hearted; they weren't so gracious enough to wait until the MC of an anime powered up before the battle, or the giant mech suit finished its transformation.

‘God d*mn it….' (Seol Ji-Hu)

He had no other methods left now. Truly. No matter how hard he wrecked his brain, he couldn't think of a way out. He couldn't even tell where he was right now, too. Worst of all, the ‘Future Vision' that seemed to kick in during the moments of danger to save his butt showed no signs of activating at all.

‘Is this the end?' (Seol Ji-Hu)

His thoughts reached there, and abruptly, tears began welling up on his eyes. The past eight days of hardship he went through brushed past his brain. He survived unimaginable hurdles to get here, but this? He felt angry and resentful; sorrow rushed in like a tidal wave.

"…Keuk!" (Seol Ji-Hu)

Tears that he thought had long evaporated trickled down his cheeks. Even then, his arms flailed about as he crawled on the ground. How wretched and pathetic did he look right about now?

Even still, he didn't care. Even if this world was dog-sh*t, he preferred it over death. He didn't care if others berated him for being pathetic, that he was acting like an insect.

‘I want to live….!' (Seol Ji-Hu)

As long as he could survive - he couldn't let go of that desire, even as death's footsteps continued to draw closer and closer.

Even then….

"…He…." (Seol Ji-Hu)

With his trembling lips…

"….Help…." (Seol Ji-Hu)

Grasping the grass below like straw….

"….Please….." (Seol Ji-Hu)

As he gasped and wailed softly under his breath….

"….Help me, please….!" (Seol Ji-Hu)

He loudly cried out.

CLUNK!!

The noise of a certain door opening in hurry resounded out.

Near a large tree among the many within this forest, a certain hidden creature slowly raised its body up.

It was about two metres tall; at a casual glance, it resembled a human, but then, there was a large red eye filling up over half of its face, plus its ears were pointy like a Fairy's. Its long arm was shaped like the barrel of a rifle; at the end of this arm, there was a hole designed to look like the muzzle of a gun, or perhaps the open end of a pipe, instead of an actual hand.

Keek, keek!

Seeing the human crawling on the ground like an insect, this creature began cackling to itself. Although a few did slip out of its net, it didn't care about that anymore because it had already performed its mission admirably well.

Seeing its kind rush towards the targets, the Evil Phantom slowly raised its body. And just before it was about to take a leisurely walk…

Shuck….

Something brushed by its cheek. It reflexively turned around but could see nothing. But then, just as it thought there was indeed nothing here, a similar sensation brushed past its other cheek now. The Evil Phantom froze up on the spot.

"….."

The unknown thing's presence couldn't be detected. However, that sensation was crystal clear, as vivid as they come. Even now, that thing was brushing past the creature's face constantly.

Stranger still, its body didn't want to move. Inexplicably, every little portion of its flesh threw out urgent warning bells. They said, do not move a muscle.

The Parasite sniper finally noticed that the forest had fallen unnaturally quiet, as well.

Blink, blink.

Its large red eye blinked several times. The Evil Phantom eventually shifted its gaze to the side. It sneaked a glance and discovered a certain small foot right next to it. Sway, sway…. The identity of the thing brushing the Parasite's cheeks was that human foot, swinging back and forth like a rocking pendulum.

The Evil Phantom stared dazedly before it flinched. Unconsciously, it looked up, only for a jet-black something dangling on the tree's branch to fall on top of it.

CRACK!

That was the end. The Evil Phantom didn't even get to take a closer look at the falling ‘something' before its neck was torn off from its body. It died instantly, unable to even squeak out a scream.

The problem was, this creature wasn't the only one to sense the strange phenomenon unfolding around them.

"Kiereuk….?"

The horde of Parasites, previously rushing madly towards the two collapsed male and female and just about to reach them, were also frozen stiff in their spots.

They could do nothing but just stand still. One of them cautiously took a look around.

Wuuuuu-…..

A quiet, eerie call came from somewhere. After hearing that unknown, chill-inducing cry, the Parasite began stepping back inch by inch.

Heuh-euh…..

However, as if the owner of the voice wasn't going to permit them from leaving, another chill-inducing cry danced around them.

They could see nothing. They could hear nothing else. They couldn't even feel anything. However, the Parasites could acutely sense it.

They could sense the horrifying malicious intent permeating in the entirety of the forest.

They sensed the approach of a ghastly murderous intent large enough to crush every single Parasite here like worms.

It was inevitable that these creatures could sense this change. They were monsters, that was why; a monster knew better than anyone regarding other monsters. And manufactured monsters could never win against a ‘real' monster.

It was then.

Crack!

A neck of one Parasite suddenly snapped to the other side. Its eyes remained wide open as its head rolled on the ground. Soon after, the eyeballs of another one began spinning around before its entire body trembled pitifully.

Peok!

In less than a blink, its body exploded, flesh and bodily liquids being sprayed around.

"Kiiieeh…. Puwaaaak!!"

The creature opening its mouth got its jaw completely ripped apart, and then….

"Kuwaaah!"

Another one's limbs were all torn apart from their sockets.

Even before the remaining Parasites could blink their eyes in shock at the deaths of their kin, jet-black smoke rushed at them like a poisonous snake. This smoke proceeded to tightly wrap around their bodies before lifting them up high into the sky as if it was a whip.

"Kiiieek! Kiiieeek!!"

"Growl, growl!!"

The Parasites belatedly struggled and resisted, but the smoke didn't want to scatter away.

Instead, the horde remained tightly wrapped by the black smoke and rose up higher and higher in the air before they were thrust back down on the ground with their heads first. Boom, boom, boom, boom!!! The earth rocked violently as vicious and horrifying sounds exploded out.

And then, they were raised back up to the sky again before smashing down to the ground once more. As if to say that once wasn't enough, the ‘whipping' motion continued on for several times more.

The spectacle of dozens of heads being smashed apart like watermelons to the point where they now resembled minced meat was grotesque enough to avert one's eyes.

Kyahhhh…

Kyahhhh…..

Maybe it felt that this was not enough? This black smoke, this aura that managed to massacre dozens of creatures in an instant, spread out to all corners of the forest like a fired arrow.

Not too long after, many screams resounded out from several areas. They sounded so sorrowful that one couldn't even imagine they were made by scary monsters.

Teresa Hussey had safely made it to the tomb and was quickly making her way back, but upon witnessing this cruel scene of the massacre, she just couldn't bring herself to close her slack jaw.

"What on earth is….." (Teresa Hussey)

All those terrifying Parasites had been turned into bloody mush, without a single exception.

She dazedly stared at the bits of broken flesh and bodily fluids forming a thick river on the ground before spotting the young man nearby and gasped out in horror. He had been injured greatly already, yet another heavy injury was inflicted on him. The panicking Teresa hurriedly ran towards him. No, she tried to, but then…

Kywaaahk!!

"Seol…Ah-ahhk?!" (Teresa Hussey)

A shapeless aura sharply poking her from all sides forced her to plop down on the ground. She didn't even mean to, but her body fought against her control and began trembling non-stop. She would never be scared of anything under most circumstances, yet she was so terrified that her teeth clattered all by themselves.

Kyahrurururu….!

Teresa heard that supernatural growling and lowered her head before nodding it like crazy. She didn't have to hear any words to figure it out.

That black smoke circling around the young man was really, really p*ssed off. So much so, it didn't even permit the approach of another human being.

A short while later…

Crunch, crunch… She could hear the soft footsteps crossing the grass. And then, "Heave-ho"….

‘….Eh? Heave-ho??' (Teresa Hussey)

Teresa blinked her eyes several times more before cautiously raising her head to look.

She saw a slender, feeble-looking woman… No, hang on. That figure was definitely not feeble at all. Seeing the evidence of massacre staining the hands and the white gown of this unknown figure, the terror she forgot for a moment got revived in her head again.

While Teresa's mouth bobbed up and down silently, this woman with a brilliant waterfall of silver hair cautiously held the young man and disappeared back into the forest.

Her direction was towards the tomb.

< 89. Evil Phantom-catching Vengeful Spirit > Fin.

Chapter end