Chapter 118
And “Helga,” after tracing something in the air for a moment like that, soon began to scream.
“There’s a way out of here.”
Krrr–krrrk
“There’s a way out of here!”
“Here!”
Krrr–krrrk
“It’s here!”
Helga started screaming like she had gone mad. At the same time, she grabbed the long rod in her hand and swung it wildly. It looked like a fire poker, but since it was made of stone, every swing carried a heavy weight.
Whoosh!
With a sound like that.
The moment I lowered my body, a second strike came in at the same time. The stone rod was about to fall over my head.
Clang!
Lee Hoin quickly tilted his greatsword and blocked it. The blade trembled violently above my head. It wasn’t that Lee Hoin lacked strength… it felt more like the vibration created from the clash of two forces.
I quickly slipped out from beneath the trembling blade.
“Run!”
As I said that, I ran forward. From all directions came the grinding krrrk, krrrk sounds. It was a straight tunnel anyway. If we went forward, there was Ernst; if we went back, there were the stone statues.
If that’s the case, it’s better to bet on Ernst and move forward. If we’re going to die, it won’t matter whether we go forward or back.
“Hey, kid. What are you going to do when we meet Ernst? Say it properly so I can help you.”
At my words, the kid clinging to me muttered.
“Just… just talk…”
“Talk?”
In that state, can you even talk? Damn it. I ran anyway. From behind us, the mad grinding sounds continued to follow.
And soon, I saw a massive back of a head. A huge figure dragging a hammer as big as my body.
The aimless footsteps suddenly stopped in response to the massive noise.
It clearly recognized the sound… the noise made by countless stone statues gathering behind us while shouting something.
The blackened hammer, as if something had stuck to it, slowly drew a circle. If the hammer is drawing a circle…
That means it turned around.
As if it had recognized us, the thump, thump footsteps changed into boom, boom steps. Each step carried force, making a strange, deliberate sound.
“…Where….”
I looked at the creature approaching step by step, muttering “Where… where…”
“…That thing can have a conversation?”
That? Is that even in a state where conversation is possible?
“Ernst!”
At the moment, the kid called out to Ernst…
The one that had only been repeating “Where, where” spoke a different sentence.
“…Was it you… who killed them?”
It was a question, but…
—
[Oh ho. It doesn’t really sound like a question.]
—
It didn’t seem like it intended to hear an answer. It had already picked up the massive hammer before any reply.
The hammer still looked grotesque. Whether it was caked blood or something else, I didn’t even want to guess. The massive hammer tore through the air with a dull sound.
Whooom
Lee Hoin immediately shoved me aside. One of the statues chasing us was struck by the hammer and turned into powder.
Literally… powder.
Slamming into the wall, I exhaled once. I could hear my stamina decreasing.
The weightless boy was still in my arms. Maybe he was in shock; he didn’t say anything.
Damn it. I want to be a better adult.
“Say something! What do we do now?!”
At this rate, we’re all going to die.
“…Master…”
From the helmeted head, that strange, dark-red liquid kept dripping. The helmet couldn’t function as a face, yet whenever it spoke, the mouth area opened and closed.
Inside the helmet was just darkness.
Watching that grotesque sight, Ernst paused briefly and quietly looked at the boy in my arms.
‘…Is it recognizing him?’
Finally? Then why didn’t it recognize him earlier?
“…□□….”
The moment “Ernst” tried to say something…
With a tearing sound in the air, the dark-red liquid that had been slowly leaking began to pour out violently.
At the same time, it raised the hammer.
“…□□□□□.”
Its condition just got worse, didn’t it? This crazy thing…
Boom! Boom! Boom!
I immediately ran in the direction Ernst had been walking.
Behind me, I could hear countless stone statues moving and Ernst raging as they chased us.
At regular intervals, there was a bang! sounds and things breaking.
My breath reached my throat. Gasping, I shouted at the kid in my arms, who was staring at Ernst chasing us relentlessly.
“What do we do now?! It at least recognized you! Now it’s your turn!”
Didn’t you ask me to bring you to Ernst because there was some kind of method?
That thing couldn’t distinguish friend from foe right now. It was smashing statues like mad as it came. In contrast, the statues didn’t attack Ernst at all.
So that means… it has no reason left. It recognized him, but how it recognized him, or whether it recognized him properly, is unclear.
I can’t even hear this kid’s name.
The kid clinging to me muttered:
“…Ernst doesn’t recognize me?”
Don’t tell me you’re going into shock too.
“How far do we run?! I hear sounds from the front too!”
Lee Hoin shouted from behind.
In the end, we couldn’t go far and had to stop.
Statues were approaching from the front as well.
A complete encirclement.
As we caught our breath and faced them, the kid slowly opened his mouth.
“That helmet…”
“What?”
“The helmet… It’s not Ernst’s.”
The helmet? That thing that kept pouring that strange liquid?
“That’s why Ernst can’t see me.”
“It looked like it saw you properly. Didn’t it call your name?”
At my words, the boy smacked my shoulder.
What a temper.
“It’s seeing me wrong. It called my name, but it didn’t truly see me.”
So it can’t recognize him? Why? Because it’s filled with that liquid?
Or…
‘Because that thing itself is the problem?’
Because of the helmet? Wait.
‘Then we have to take it off?’
That head is so high you’d need a ladder to reach it.
“I’m telling you, because of that, Ernst can’t see me!”
I let out a deep breath and looked at Lee Hoin.
“Looks like we have to get up there.”
“Then don’t we have to subdue that giant first?”
At that horrifying thought, I squeezed my eyes shut briefly.
Behind us, statues charged.
In front, the creature raised its hammer again.
What kind of reward are we even getting for this insane situation?
What kind of return justifies this damn high risk?
—
[Haha! The choice is always up to the narrator.]
—
I set the kid down, tore open the air, and pulled out the dagger I had stored.
Whether it works or not, I had to try.
“If we just take that off, that’s enough, right?”
“Hey.”
Lee Hoin’s voice trembled uneasily.
“What are you trying to do now?”
“Just struggling to do something.”
I exhaled and looked at the kid.
He hesitated, then answered:
“Y-yeah… probably…”
Probably.
Risking your life on something that’s not even a guaranteed outcome is truly foolish.
“Nam Muyeong!”
Ignoring Lee Hoin’s shout, I steadied my breathing.
I was especially good at doing foolish things like that.
That’s how I gambled and ended up eating dozens of egg tarts.
“I’ll try it. Lee Hoin, move.”
Why do I always end up like this?
—
[The narrator’s sense of justice and sympathy will end up killing him!]
—
There was no time for useless thoughts.
If I had time to think, I should think of something more productive.
How do I reach that?
No matter how I think about it…
‘There’s only one way.’
Climb.
I glanced at a nearby window frame, then jumped onto it and stepped onto a tall cabinet.
The distance closed a bit, but Ernst was still towering far above.
As I got closer, it fully recognized me.
‘Good thing I invested in agility.’
Steadying my rough breath, I watched Ernst swing the hammer. I barely dodged it as it spun toward my head. As it lifted the hammer to strike down, I shifted slightly.
BOOM!
With that sound, the cabinet turned to ash.
I climbed onto the hammer.
Whether you call it climbing or desperately scrambling, I don’t know.
I jammed my dagger into the joint of the armor.
As expected, instead of hard metal, something soft touched the blade.
Crack!
I don’t know what’s inside that thing.
Yeah… I don’t.
‘Whether that’s really Ernst, he’s desperately searching for…’
Or something pretending to be Ernst.
Or something that used to be Ernst.
Fixing the blade firmly, I reached out with my other hand toward the shoulder ornament.
The disgusting, dark-red liquid soaked into my hand, making it slip several times.
Even so, I reached again and finally grabbed hold.
“Picked up quite a few things along the way.”
I extended my hand toward the neck.
Hard metal and sickening softness mixed in my grip.
I pulled out another dagger from the air and shoved it beneath the helmet.
Ernst, having dropped the hammer, grabbed my ankle tightly.
As if to crush it.
“I hope you didn’t personally collect my grave goods.”
I took a deep breath.
Then exerted force again…
Not caring whether my ankle shattered or tore apart.
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