boyutpedia Chapter 42: Collateral Damage
Chapter 42: Collateral Damage
Chapter 42: Collateral DamageMin-ho had remained quiet for the duration of their walk. And his absentminded disposition had not gone unnoticed by anyone. Having had enough, Sae-wee asked—right before Jang-book, Im-hee, or Ji-su could.
"Is something wrong?"
He turned to her. Then his eyes widened, as though snapping out of a trance. He turned to everyone,
"KKKKKAAAAA!" the Worm Hound screamed from pain, before losing its strength and crashing to the ground.
[Your Subject Has Slain A Tier Three E-Ranked Spector ’Worm Hound’]
[You Have Received A 20% Coin Bonus As Monarch]
[You Have Acquired 100 Coins]
CRACK!
CRACK!
Min-ho turned to the sound, only to find the two Worm Hounds he had turned to stone with his Relic breaking free of their entrapment.
Not long after Ji-su had lost his sight and his spatial awareness, the group had run into four Worm Hounds—an encounter that almost cost Im-hee her life had Jang-book not intervened.
Thanks to Min-ho’s quick thinking, he managed to freeze two in place, while the last two were split between Jang-book and Min-ho, Sae-wee, and Dok-su.
Luckily for them, Sae-wee had found a chink in the Worm Hounds’ armor when she was ravaging its corpse. This was the only reason they were able to bring one down in a span of just ten seconds.
Jang-book, who was dealing with one by himself, managed to exploit this weakness as well to finish off his Spector right as the other two awoke.
Without giving them a second to breathe, the Spectors lunged at them.
This time around, the Spectors acted with a noticeable shift in ferocity. They were more aggressive than the ones they had just taken down, as though their deaths affected them to some degree.
Jang-book fought as best as he could but was pushed back.
It was the same for the trio. Many times they evaded and tried to attack but never found an opening. Min-ho had tried to distract while Sae-wee got to its back, but nothing.
The Worm Hound seemed to both lash out like it had lost all sense of self-preservation while somehow protecting its weak spot.
As the fight dragged on, bruises began to appear on Min-ho’s body. Had it not been for his armor, he would have had nasty gashes on his shoulder, back, and chest.
Though they were only bruises, the force of the attacks was nothing trivial—which was why Min-ho found himself battling both the Spector and the pain making each collision a cry for help.
Dok-su and Sae-wee were still going strong, but he knew if the fight carried on this way, they would be worn out and defeated. Sae-wee already had that injury on her leg, after all.
His mind began to run wild, searching for solutions.
Glancing at his environment, an idea sparked in his head when he saw a large pillar standing next to a building broken down the middle. The building was of no interest, but one could not say the same for the pillar.
As it was leaning toward them, looking as though it would fall any day now.
He immediately brought his attention back to the fight, then asked:
"Could you two hold the Worm Hound back for a few seconds?!" he screamed, afraid his voice wouldn’t register due to the frenzied nature of the fight.
They didn’t give an answer immediately, but then Sae-wee’s voice rang out.
"Go," she said, as though aware he was planning something.
Upon hearing this, Min-ho ran like a madman. Just then, an arm came swinging his way, but Sae-wee rushed in and deflected it in time. She gritted her teeth as her arms took the shock of the attack.
Looking at her, Min-ho could see the pain in her being. As his gaze lingered for a heartbeat, he noticed something off about her left hand. But he didn’t have time to investigate, so he dashed on.
The pillar wasn’t too far from them. Turning to the fight, he gauged the distance, then returned his sights to the pillar.
Gritting his teeth, he gripped his dagger tightly and began to swing the blade at the base of the pillar with all his might.
Just like with the Worm Hound, his dagger vibrated—the vibration spreading throughout his arm like a wave of electricity. But unlike the Worm Hound, he had managed to make a sizable dent.
He didn’t stop. He swung and swung and swung.
Within a second or two, he had made a big enough hole in its base.
"Push it down!" Dok-su’s voice exploded, having finally caught onto Min-ho’s plan. He gave a hundred and ten percent of himself to push the Worm Hound toward the pillar—even if it meant more bruises on his body.
Min-ho glanced at them for a second, then rushed to the back of the pillar. He took several steps backward, then ran toward it and slammed his shoulder on it.
CRACK!
The pillar’s base gave out. At first slowly, but then it began to fall.
Sae-wee and Dok-su had given it their all. And with one final push, they put the Worm Hound in place.
CRASH!
The pillar fell and dust rose.
Min-ho immediately turned to Jang-book, who was still fighting his Spector.
"Let’s go help—"
"It’s still alive!" Dok-su shouted, stopping Min-ho’s heart.