The 163,417,413th Soulslike Hero Chapter 102

Chapter 102 – Blind Poison(2)

The midst of a residential area littered with the corpses of massacred civilians. This place, which had been enveloped in the peaceful silence of a border town’s dawn just moments ago, had long since turned into a living hell.

Seolbaek and I stood facing each other in the middle of it all, silently staring at each other.

“Jeong Yong-nim, I’m sorry. I went against your words.”

Suddenly, Seolbaek said that and bowed her head deeply.

I tried to somehow repair my brain, which had gone into a state of shock. The first thing that came to mind was, of course, doubt.

“… What are you talking about? What are you sorry for?”

“You told me to stay put… but I asked Zenon-nim to bring me to where you are.”

So that’s what happened.

Alright. At least it’s clear how Seolbaek ended up here. But now, there’s a bigger problem at hand.

I grabbed Seolbaek’s shoulders. I probably held on quite tightly, given my lack of mental composure. The slight frown on her face was evidence of that.

“Why? Why did you come here?”

“Because of course…! I couldn’t just let you fight alone!”

Oh no. Is this where the typical shounen manga cliché comes into play?

Should I rub my nose and say, ‘Damn it… I believed in you!’?

‘No. That’s not it, you damn idiot.’

Believed in you, my ass. It’s because I believed in Seolbaek that I can’t understand this situation.

My mind couldn’t keep up, so I asked with a trembling voice.

“I clearly told you to wait there. Did you misunderstand what I said?”

“No. I understood you perfectly. But… there’s no way I could just do that.”

“Why the hell can’t you just do that?”

“Why? Just look at the state of your body right now!!”

Seolbaek raised her voice and grabbed both of my arms. She then shoved them right in front of my face.

‘Oh no.’

My left arm dangles like Detective Gadget’s. It’s been cut to the bone, and it’s barely hanging on by the remaining muscles.

It’s quite grotesque. I’m at a loss for words to refute.

“You’re fighting until you’re this battered… and you expect me to just sit back and watch?!”

Actually, it’s not just my arm. There’s a deep wound on my neck, and my shirt is soaked in blood. There are about three holes in my upper body. My right leg has already lost sensation, and I’m dragging it around.

Even though my body is in this state, I can still move around. I’m reminded once again of the greatness of the hero support system. I’m glad I boosted my stamina so much.

‘Hmm. Now that I think about it, that’s true.’

Yeah. She’s right.

If I had a family member, friend, or acquaintance in such a pitiful state, I would probably act the same way. The reason I can’t understand the current situation isn’t because she’s strange.

What’s strange… is me, who feels absolutely nothing about it.

As I stood there dumbfounded, Seolbaek suddenly stepped closer and wrapped her arms around me.

Without giving me a chance to be startled, Seolbaek buried her face in my chest and muttered.

“How can you do this? How can a person do this! How much debt are you trying to make me owe you…?”

“Debt…?”

“I’ve been trying to repay the debt from when you first saved me… but why are you going this far for me…?”

What debt? I never thought of it that way. This is just my stubbornness, doing what I want.

I live my life based on what interests me. Do you think I’m a pushover for no reason? I can’t live my life calculating the give-and-take of relationships.

‘Was she thinking of it that way?’

Wanting to repay a debt? I’ve never said anything like that before. Could she have thought that?

… No. I didn’t. No matter how much I think about it, I’m sure. If I had said something like that, I wouldn’t have forgotten. Even if I had heard it, I would have corrected it on the spot.

My already confused mind became even more jumbled. I barely managed to squeeze out my voice.

“Run away now. Go through the central district and head to the western gate. I’ve already cleared that area… so it should be safe for now. It’s still dangerous here.”

“… But!”

“I told you. I’m immortal. My wounds will heal if I just lick them.”

Of course, a severed bone won’t reattach even if you lick it. If you don’t want to go into hemorrhagic shock, go to the hospital immediately.

Unfortunately, Seolbaek seemed to know that much, so she immediately used Aran on me. My vitality quickly returned, and my body began to heal. While my body felt lighter, my heart grew heavier.

“No. How can you keep fighting alone after getting hurt like this? If you really want to fight, let me fight with you.”

“No, I told you that’s not possible! It’s okay if I die, but not you.”

“E-even if it’s true that you can come back to life after dying. It doesn’t mean getting hurt isn’t painful!”

“… Even if it’s true?”

I twitched my eyebrows for a moment. A harsh voice, almost out of control, slipped out.

Seolbaek quickly averted her gaze and added, “I-I didn’t mean it was a lie.”

‘No. There’s no time.’

Soon, the Immortal Cultists will swarm this place too. If they notice, it’ll be too late. I need to send Seolbaek back quickly.

I grew impatient. Anxious. I clenched my teeth.

“Anyway, it’s fine. Don’t worry about me. It’s okay if I die. How many times do I have to say it?”

“Who in the world is okay with dying?!”

“I’m right here, damn it!! Not me, you damn idiot! Worry about yourself!!”

I ended up shouting out of frustration.

Seolbaek flinched and shrunk back. Seeing her wide eyes, I realized what I had just done.

Suddenly, fatigue weighed heavily on my shoulders. It was the immense fatigue from the intense battle that I had forgotten due to the adrenaline rush.

‘Oh my. They say the human heart is the most difficult thing to understand. Damn it.’

There’s probably no one in this world, or even on Earth, who would worry about me like that. What a mess. A sense of self-loathing surged uncontrollably.

I spoke with a sigh, as if pouring out my thoughts.

“Seolbaek. I’m really fine. So, worry about yourself first, not others. Right now, the one in the most danger isn’t me…!”

I was speaking while holding my forehead, but I suddenly looked up. My eyes widened.

When did it start? Something was protruding from Seolbaek’s clothes.

“… Huh?”

What pierced through her chest was… a stake.

A thick iron stake, soaked in blood, pierced through Seolbaek’s chest and protruded right in front of my eyes.

―That’s right. Park Jeong-yong. Even if you look at her so affectionately, let her fight with you.

And then, a corpse slowly crawled out from behind Seolbaek.

It was just an ordinary corpse lying around her, but I knew who it was.

The corpse of an Immortal Cultist… The leader of Casas laughed maniacally, tearing apart once again.

―The Plains of Promise. If it’s that far away, it’s hard for me to start the summoning ritual.

Ah. Aah.

I unconsciously let out a dumbfounded exclamation, and so did Seolbaek.

Splat! The leader of Casas pulled out the stake. Blood gushed out like crazy from the hole left by the stake. It was as if it was trying to drain all the blood from her body. The blood poured out like a waterfall, unnaturally so.

Seolbaek stared at the series of events unfolding before her eyes, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Ah… uh… Ah, Aran…!”

Seolbaek called out to Aran while trying to cover the hole with her hand. But Aran didn’t respond to her call.

To be precise, Aran couldn’t respond. The leader of Casas had pierced Aran with a curved double-edged sword.

―Thanks to Park Jeong-yong’s grand mess, I’m still short on life force… but I’ve gathered enough to forcefully awaken. I guess I’ll have to start here for now.

Strange. I was sure that physical attacks didn’t work on Aran.

As if to shatter my thoughts, Aran flailed in the air before collapsing to the ground.

―Kii… kiiiii…

With a dying gasp, Aran’s form slowly crumbled. In an instant, it disappeared into thin air.

“Ah… Ah, Aran!!”

Seolbaek let out a dizzying scream and tried to run towards it, but her body suddenly stopped. And then, thud! From where the stake had been pulled out, a bright red arm emerged.

A huge and grotesque… twisted arm, drenched in blood and glistening, appeared.

“Ah… ah… Aaaah!!”

Seolbaek’s eyes rolled back. She screamed, tears streaming down her face. It was a cry of pain and terror mixed together.

Thud, splat! At that moment, something kept bursting out from the hole in Seolbaek’s body. A bright red and grotesque arm came out. Then the other arm. And then, a bright red face, a mix of beast and human, squeezed through the gap.

“Jeong Yong-nim… ru, run… run away!!”

Seolbaek screamed as if squeezing out her last bit of strength.

And then. That bright red face that had emerged faced her. In an instant, Seolbaek’s eyes widened.

It felt like time had stopped for a moment.

―Hu… hungry.

The bright red face let out a low, heart-sinking rumble.

The arm that had emerged grabbed Seolbaek’s head and pulled it right off. Squelch. Her body, which had been struggling, slumped down in an instant.

It was too quick. I missed the timing to even let out a gasp.

―Hu… hungry.

The thing that had half-emerged from Seolbaek’s body chewed and swallowed the head it had pulled off.

In my dazed state, the only sounds I could hear were squelching and thudding. The sight of that grotesque mouth chewing slowly entered my vision like a slow-motion scene.

“…”

I watched that scene, like a nightmare, without being able to move a finger. I had no choice but to watch.

That thing can’t be beaten. It’s not an entity that can be fought.

Run away. Now. With all your might. Don’t look back, just run.

Because the hero sense was pounding on my entire body, as if it was going to break me.

―Ah… ch.

And then, thud. The monster’s empty, bottomless eyes turned towards me.

It struggled to pull out the remaining lower half of its body and slowly, staggeringly crawled towards me.

And then, with its grotesquely twisted mouth, it spoke.

―Hu… hungry.

I immediately used Black Wings and shot up into the sky.

I flew frantically, at full speed, doing my best to get away from that thing.

“Uh… uwaaah! Aaaaah!!”

I screamed like a madman and flew with all my might.

I flew towards the western gate, where I had first started. My mind was blank, and no thoughts came to me. There was no particular reason for heading to the western gate; I just flew towards the starting point out of instinct.

I’m almost there. Just a little more.

―Go… eat.

Whoosh!

Just a split second before the monster’s grotesque voice, a pitch-black beam swept past my body. An overwhelming pillar of light that swept my lower body and flew off into the night sky caught my attention.

I closed my mouth.

And then, a moment later, the pain hit, and I opened my mouth again.

“Uh… kuh, ugh.”

An intense burning sensation. Pain as if my entire body was being scorched by fire surged through me.

I wished I could just die quickly. The pain was that terrible.

Crash. I tumbled several times on the ground before finally crashing into the wall of a house near the western gate, barely stopping my body.

“Guh… aaaah.”

I let out a low groan, but soon closed my mouth when I saw the state of my body.

I couldn’t feel anything below my lower body. It wasn’t just a lack of sensation; my lower body was completely severed and gone. My intestines were barely hanging on, stretched out and lying on the ground.

At that shocking sight, I couldn’t help but let out an exclamation.

“… Oh, wow.”

So this is what it feels like to be a kite with its string cut. I gained some knowledge. Or did I? Wasn’t the original meaning not this cruel?

With that nonsensical thought, my consciousness quickly faded away.

Whoosh. Like a candle being snuffed out.

* * *

[The Immortal Demon King, Lustica Asmodeus, has forcibly altered the regression anchor point.]

[The Immortal Regression Point has been updated.]

[Time – Continent Year 1108, January 13, 02:44]

[Location – Marktress. Upper region of the Plains of Promise, small town of Kern, western gate]

In front of me, dazedly looking at the panel, Lucy slowly pulled away her lips that had been pressed against mine.

Was it just my imagination? Lucy’s pale, bloodless face seemed to have a slight red tint.

“… Huh?”

And Lucy, who had been quietly staring at my face, suddenly stepped back a little and asked, flustered.

“Hero. Why are you crying?”

“Huh?”

“Was my kiss… th-that moving? I-I’m getting embarrassed!”

Lucy’s incomprehensible words as she awkwardly scratched her cheek. I tilted my head and wiped around my eyes with my hand. To my surprise, I felt something wet.

I was crying. And not just a little, but crying buckets.

“…”

Wow. I never imagined I’d seriously say a line that belongs in a generic god-world story ending.

Anyway, I rubbed my eyes and muttered.

“Huh. Why am I… crying…”

It was a line that came out naturally in this situation.