Chapter 1339. First Life Ha-Yan (22)

The sight was disgusting enough to make my eyelids twitch without realizing it. Since the Rafael-less Rafael party had already seen it once before, they showed no sign of surprise, but Jung Ha-Yan and Kim Ah-Young stared at the swords in disbelief.

“No... way... O Great One... what are we supposed to...” Kim Ah-Young mumbled.

‘For god’s sake, stop calling for that Great One already.’

“What in the world... is this...” she muttered.

‘That’s the only trick he’s got.’

That was all he had. Of course, that one thing was the most troublesome, but as long as the conditions were met, it was possible to overcome it. To the eyes of mere mortals, it was shocking, but it wasn't as scary as the visuals suggested.

‘We can do this.’

We weren’t as strong, but we had satisfied the conditions.

There were multiple reasons why I could say that, but the first reason was that Dominions seemed to have no intentions of interfering. I felt like she was doing that because she wanted to make Seraphim even stronger.

The second reason was that the current Seraphim was far clumsier compared to the one from the second life. The one from the second life was an idiot as well, but he was better than this Seraphim in front of us right now.

‘We can hold him off.’

This wasn't going to be my first time, after all. Of course, the cards I held then and the ones I had now were different. However, Jung Ha-Yan was here.

Realizing that it was time to focus on defense, Jung Ha-Yan hurriedly chanted a spell.

The countless swords floating in the sky were surely born from Jung Ha-Yan’s guilt, but many of them seemed to be tied to Rafael’s party and Kim Ah-Young as well, but it didn't really matter.

In the end, they were all going to rain down on our party anyway.

As if on cue, the golden swords descended.

The first thing to block the rain of swords was Jung Ha-Yan’s magic circle, which opened up like an umbrella. Like hailstones, they crashed down with loud

bangs

one after another, and each time, Jung Ha-Yan would wince in pain. She managed to block the swords, but of course, she knew the magic circle wouldn’t last much longer.

‘The second is Marian, and then the old mage.’

Soon, Jung Ha-Yan’s umbrella shattered, but the spells cast by Marian and the Rafael party’s mages enveloped us. Contrary to what I had expected, the disposable umbrella made by Marian and the other mages broke apart miserably; it was far weaker than I had thought.

‘That old woman... Damn it, has age finally caught up to her?’

Just then, Jung Ha-Yan’s umbrella opened up once again.

The problem was that this had to be repeated over and over, and we had fewer resources than Seraphim. By alternating spells, we could keep blocking, but in the end, we’d be nothing more than rats in a trap.

We would be forced to take hit after hit until the game was over.

After the fifth umbrella shattered, the attacks began affecting us. Dealing with them were the vanguards of the Rafael party, including the Hunting Dog. Those holding swords or shields slashed at the slow golden swords or shoved them aside.

This gave the mages a stable environment to keep casting their spells. I could see exactly where each sword was falling and how to avoid them, but the Hunting Dog was too exhausted to keep up. It was true that he had grown, but...

'This bastard doesn't even have wings.'

I wanted to shout at the ones falling down far more miserably than I had imagined, but I couldn't order them to do the impossible. The Hunting Dog took another step forward upon sensing that they couldn't keep up.

‘Do we have no other choice?'

Charging at Seraphim seemed inevitable. We would have to take damage here if we wanted to get out of this miserable situation. Giving up on the idea of a perfect defense, in the end, I had no choice but to invest a little more in the Hunting Dog.

'Damn it. Damn it'

Of course, it didn't take long for me to realize that it was the incorrect choice. I sighed when I saw Lee Joo-Hyuk being forced to come to a halt. With swords sticking all over him, he tried to move, but he knew better than anyone that he could no longer move.

"I'm sorry," Lee Joo-Hyuk said.

"Damn it," I muttered.

"..."

"Get inside! Just hold on a little longer!" I shouted.

"O-oppa, what about—"

"Keep the defensive magic up!" I interrupted Jung Ha-Yan.

"O-okay!" Jung Ha-Yan answered.

"O Great One! What should I—!"

"Stop calling for that damned Great One! For now, block them! Block!" I ordered Kim Ah-Young.

'Shit... shit.'

"Judgement... Divine... Punishment!" Seraphim cast.

"...."

"Divine Punishment! Die... die! Die!" he shouted.

"..."

"Divine Punishment!" he cast again.

‘That damn Judgement and Divine Punishment. Seriously. I can’t bring myself to like him. Damn it.’

“I said I can’t bring myself to like you! You damned Seraphim!” I shouted.

With a

clang

, the spell that had been holding the magic circle together broke apart.

In an instant, the party was left defenseless. I gave them the optimal positions to dodge the swords, but from here on, it was up to each individual to avoid them.

The party's movement options were being restricted as time went on, and the golden swords pierced some of them, pinning them to the ground.

‘Just a little longer.’

“Hold on! No matter what!” I shouted.

‘Just a little longer, and then it’ll be our turn.’

“Aaaaargh!” I screamed.

“Oppa!” Jung Ha-Yan yelled out.

“Protect Father Lee Ki-Young!” Lee Joo-Hyuk ordered.

“Joo-Hyuk! Joo-Hyuk!” Marian shouted.

“Don’t scatter! Stay as close as you can! Don’t move! Marian! Marian! Damn it! Don’t move, keep formation! Don’t worry about me! I’m fine, so just hold the line!” Lee Joo-Hyuk instructed her.

Amidst the chaos, Hunting Dog Lee Joo-Hyuk finally went down. Marian, who was supposed to hold position and maintain control over the spells, rushed toward him, but she ended up getting stabbed instead.

“Kyaaaaaah!” Marian screamed.

“....”

‘Damn it.’

Jung Ha-Yan gnashed her teeth while holding me tightly; she seemed to be convinced that the swords would end up piercing me, as she cast spells nonstop while stretching a hand over me to protect me from any stray sword.

The party was falling apart.

The overwhelming onslaught was throwing us off balance.

Jung Ha-Yan's "umbrellas" grew smaller as she was losing her composure. Even though she could normally cast multiple spells at once, she couldn't exactly concentrate beneath the golden shower of swords.

Since she wasn’t used to combat, casting other spells was even more impossible.

To make matters worse, having something to protect only made her more passive.

‘Shit!’

'Should I cast a warp spell? But then what about Lindel? Hyun-Sung might be fine, but what about Hye-Jin?'

While I was hesitating, the barriers around me cracked open.

Just then, an unexpected face came into view.

‘What the....’

“H-hey, kid!” Big Boy shouted.

‘What the hell... Those guys....’

“...”

“Damn it! Carlton! Yoojin!” Big Boy yelled.

‘Why are you guys here? Where’s Hye-Jin? Why weren’t you holding them back?’

“Hey, kid! Can you hear my voice?

Huh

?! Hey?!” he shouted again.

If my eyes weren’t deceiving me, Big Boy, Carlton, and Yoojin were standing before me.

I never even dreamed that they would make it here, which made the scene even more startling.

Since everything had gone to the dogs, they were supposed to stay put in the Blue Guild. How had they managed to reach this place? I couldn’t understand it.

They were covered in wounds.

Big Boy looked like his arm was broken, Yoojin was limping, and while Carlton looked the most intact, a blade was sticking out of his stomach. There were cuts and bruises all over them, so I couldn’t really say that they were in a position to fight.

Despite that, they were moving toward us.

I hoped they would panic and run away, but instead, they looked ready to advance, ignoring the golden swords.

‘Those crazy bastards.’

“Don’t come!” I shouted.

“...”

“Don’t come, you dumb idiots!” I shouted again.

Explosions were echoing all over Lindel, so my voice couldn't reach them. Stupidly enough, they lifted their shabby shields overhead and charged at us.

It was the dumbest and most pathetic move imaginable; they were more idiotic than moths diving into a bonfire. They were using shields that couldn’t even block a single arrow as umbrellas while running toward us.

“Hey, kid! Damn it! Stay right there! Just stay put!” Big Boy instructed.

“Big Boy! Are you really going?” Carlton questioned.

‘He’s already running. Why is that idiot asking such a dumb question?’

Of course, Big Boy’s shabby shield broke apart far too easily for it to be useful, but they were still running toward us while allowing the golden swords to pierce their fragile forms.

When I muttered that they were stupid bastards, the magic circle finally shattered, and the blades poured on me.

Jung Ha-Yan was the first to cover my body with her own.

“No, no! Oppa!” Jung Ha-Yan cried out and gnashed her teeth.

“

Huh

?”

My vision was blocked, so I couldn't see anything other than Jung Ha-Yan. I instinctively switched on the Telescope and saw Big Boy and Carlton covering Jung Ha-Yan and me.

It was a mystery how they made it here, even though swords were sticking out of them, making them appear like pincushions.

Yoojin crawled up desperately and covered Jung Ha-Yan.

“

Ah...

” Jung Ha-Yan groaned.

Behind her, I heard Big Boy’s voice.

“...”

“...”

“Looks like this is how we die,” Big Boy said.

“...”

“Damn... we shouldn’t have taken him in,” Carlton mumbled.

I heard some

swishing

noises. I thought it was the sound of blades being driven into them. I struggled, but Jung Ha-Yan hugged me even tighter.

“Still...” Yoojin muttered.

“Yeah, right?” Big Boy asked.

“It was fun, wasn’t it?” Yoojin asked.

“Yeah... it was fun. It was... fun...” Carlton answered.

“...”

“...”

“Hey, kid,” Big Boy said.

“...”

“Sorry I couldn’t keep my promise...” Big Boy said.

“Promise? Promise? You stupid bastard, let go of me! Damn it! You stupid bastard! Who asked you to come help? Who told you to come here? You useless monkeys! Didn’t I tell you? I told you repeatedly to do nothing and just stay put!” I yelled at them.

“...”

“I told you that if you want to hold on to that worthless life of yours, you should’ve just shut up and stayed quiet! You stupid bastard!” I continued.

“P-people... who live... by the sword...” Big Boy muttered.

“...”

“Who live by... the sword....”

“...”

Yoojin and Carlton had gone silent.

“These kinds of things... they happen all the time... right? Yoojinn... Carl....”

“...”

“Are you guys... dead...?” Big Boy asked.

“...”

He no longer seemed to be in pain.

“You... idiot. You damn idiot!” I shouted.

His final words...

“Hey, kid...”

“...”

“Our... kid...”

“...”

“Our... cute... kid...”

“...”

“You experienced... so much pain... our poor... kid...

ugh

...”

“...”

“You have to... be... happy...” Big Boy said.

“...”

“I... love... you.”