BXBX NOVEL Chapter 177: Episode 45. Reinforcement
“No. Rather, El, what do you mean the situation isn’t good? Maybe Ha Tae-heon-ssi…”
“Yeah.”
Seeing me unable to finish my words, Elohim frowned slightly and nodded his head.
“You must understand quickly because you have seen the news. As predicted, they started moving in earnest.”
“…you mean Kali’s puppets.” (칼리의 하수인들 말이군요, servants, puppets, followers?)
“If this is the case, not only Ha Tae-heon, but Cheon Sa-yeon won’t be safe.”
“Cheon Sa-yeon too?”
At the unexpected name, I grabbed Elohim’s arm and asked.
“Why is Cheon Sa-yeon… Roheon took the gate.”
“The kid went in, too. He knows that Ha Tae-heon is in danger if he doesn’t go.”
“Are you saying it’s dangerous even if Cheon Sa-yeon’s there?”
“This is the first time they have appeared publicly at such an early time.”
“……”
I couldn’t open my mouth easily because I was confused. Then, Elohim spoke to me in a soft voice as if to sooth me.
“It’s a gate that was created because the world weakened due to repeated time, so we don’t know what kind of variable it will act as. We can make predictions based on the countless experiences we have accumulated over the years, but that’s all.”
“Then…”
“They’re approaching in a violent way that is incomparable to the past. Even if Cheon Sa-yeon or Ha Tae-heon were lucky enough to survive, other humans wouldn’t be able to do so.”
Elohim’s expression, holding my shoulder with strong force, was firm.
“Se-hyun-ah. As you know, if Cheon Sa-yeon dies like this, time could go back and the world could collapse without being able to stand it any longer.”
“…you need my ability.”
“Right. We can’t interfere directly, just like Kali.”
“But I don’t know how to use my ability.”
“Don’t worry. We will help you.”
He grabbed my hand and led me. As Elohim and I approached, Elahah slowly opened his eyes.
“Everything that is happening right now is recorded in the book. You should read that. Even if you can’t get to your body, you’ll be able to go beyond consciousness.”
It meant using the book as a passageway. I frowned in anxiety.
“Doesn’t a price need to be paid to read the book?”
“The price will be paid by me and Elahah.”
As soon as the explanation was over, the book left Elahah and flew in front of me. The book, which was about half full on the left page, was emitting a pure white light.
“If I can’t use my ability even after I arrive…”
“You’ll be able to do it enough. Trust us.”
My mouth was dry. I felt my heart beating faster and faster with tension as I slowly reached for the book.
“Se-hyun-ah, please.”
After hearing Elohim’s bitter words, I received the book. Then, the pure white light that burst out in an instant engulfed all of my vision, and the floor I was standing on disappeared, and a dizzying sensation as if I was falling down passed through my body.
“Gasp…”
I exhaled heavily. When I reopened my eyes that I didn’t know when they were closed, everything appeared anew.
* * *
“Not much time left!”
“A little bit more!”
The number of Wyverns that were rushing in endlessly decreased noticeably. The guild members thought that the number of Wyverns in sight was about 20, and they thought that it was the end, so they gathered up the remaining energy and attacked like crazy.
Kieeek!
The last remaining one fell with its wing cut off by Ha Tae-heon’s sword. Just in case, Ha Tae-heon, who put a sword into the fallen Wyvern’s chest and finished it, sighed in relief and sat down.
“Ah, I’m going to die…”
“I don’t even have the strength to move my finger.”
Those who had finished the fierce battle made a sound of pain. Some, who had used their energy to the bottom, became pale and sweaty.
The clear team, who endured the unimaginable number of Wyverns, couldn’t even take a step, even though there was a gate exit close enough to be seen.
“Let’s rest and move.”
Lee Joo-ha, who ran around and killed the Wyverns as much as anyone else, called for rest with a tired face. Hearing the report that the fight with the Wyverns was over, the healers ran out of the building and looked at the injured.
“Ha…”
Ha Tae-heon, who had unleashed his ability and removed his sword, looked around and let out a long sigh of exhaustion. Noticing that the jacket he was wearing had long torn near the shoulder, he took it off without hesitation.
Anyway, he didn’t need anymore coats because he planned to use the SS-class coat that he put in his inventory at this gate as if he had just discovered it.
‘Now that the gate exit has appeared, we must move on as I talked with Master.’
Yeah, it wasn’t that great. He put his coat in the box he brought in from the corner in advance and brought it out. Then, it planned that Lee Joo-ha handed over the coat to Ha Tae-heon because she was the first to discover it (그럼 이주하는 제일 처음 발견했다는 이유로 코트를 하태헌에게 넘긴다는 내용이었다).
It was sloppy, but anyway, the gate had changed a lot from the previous one due to an anomaly. Above all, this clear team had no worries because most of the guild members believed and followed Lee Joo-ha.
A familiar voice spoke to him as he was about to move to find a place for the item.
“You look tired.”
“……”
Ha Tae-heon stared at Cheon Sa-yeon, who was approaching him with a tired gaze.
Cheon Sa-yeon was the biggest problem compared to other guild members. He knew that Ha Tae-heon already had an SS-class coat, and he didn’t know what he was trying to do, so he couldn’t let go of his guard.
Ha Tae-heon, who confirmed that no one was listening to the conversation, answered without hiding his displeasure.
“I still haven’t heard what it means to not move away from you.”
“We’re going out of the gate now, so I wonder if it’s really necessary.”
“Tsk..”
Such a sly bastard (능구렁이 같은 놈). Ha Tae-heon turned his back and clicked his tongue, thinking that he would never accept Cheon Sa-yeon’s proposal again.
“Where are you going?”
“Why do you follow…”
Something strange was caught in Ha Tae-heon’s gaze, who was about to say something to Cheon Sa-yeon, who was following him as if it was natural. A man in a black hood was walking towards the healer while stumbling.
“Uh, where are you hurting?”
The healer, who thought he was an injured person with an uneasy pace that looked like he was about to fall, spoke to him. Ha Tae-heon frowned at the sight.
He didn’t feel the flow of energy that anyone who entered the gate should have felt from that man. It was like an inanimate object.
His face wasn’t visible because of the hood, so he couldn’t confirm which side he belonged to. When Ha Tae-heon was about to intervene in the sudden surge of uneasy feelings, Cheon Sa-yeon, who saw the same thing as Ha Tae-heon, shouted in a harsh voice.
“Ha Tae-heon! Don’t let him get close…!”
Kuuung—!
Before he could finish those words, a white light burst out of the hood, and then an explosion occurred with a deafening roar.
Before making a rational decision, everyone nearby, including Ha Tae-heon, who instinctively ran to the healer, and Cheon Sa-yeon standing behind him, were swept away by shock and flew backwards.
“Wh, what the..!”
“So… someone exploded…”
Ha Tae-heon, who fell to the stone ground after hitting the wall, barely raised his upper body and shook his head. Since he was hit directly by the explosion, all the sounds were heard along with a loud tinnitus of beeping.
“Damn it, protect the healers!”
“…careful… run away!”
“Kkeuaak!”
Explosions were heard non-stop from all over the place. Clouds of smoke soared and the broken breakout pieces fell. The person, who approached Ha Tae-heon through the explosion, pulled his arm with strong force and forcibly lifted him up.
“Get up, Ha Tae-heon.”
Like Ha Tae-heon, it was Cheon Sa-yeon, bleeding from his forehead as if he had bumped into something. Thanks to this, Ha Tae-heon, who barely escaped the shock of the explosion, made a sword with his ability and checked the situation.
“Master!”
Ha Tae-heon, who ran through the smoke with his team members, saw Lee Joo-ha lying on the ground and hurriedly ran to check her condition. She suffered severe burns to her right leg and was bleeding from her shoulder, but fortunately, she was breathing.
“I, I fell down stupidly, so Master took over…”
The healer, who was standing by Lee Joo-ha, pale and tired, shed tears as he looked at Ha Tae-heon.
“Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon! Are you okay?”
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi! Master!”
Min Ah-rin and Do Ha-seok, who were lucky enough not to be swept away by the explosion, came running. Ha Tae-heon, who entrusted Lee Joo-ha and the healer to them, headed to Cheon Sa-yeon’s side, who was looking to the south.
Through the smoke scattered here and there in the cold wind, he could see people wearing black masks approaching at high speed. Ha Tae-heon, who saw it, recalled the explanation he had heard when he returned from a business trip to China and met Han Yi-gyeol.
“Master Lee Joo-ha?”
“…I left her to the healer.”
Ha Tae-heon, who finished the answer in one word without any explanation, narrowed his eyes and made a complicated face.
‘Looking at the direction, they came here through the gate entrance.’
At the same time that he was worried about what might have happened to the people guarding the entrance, the first question about why this had happened arose.
‘Weren’t they aiming for Han Yi-gyeol?’
Now, it was clear that this wasn’t an accidental terrorist attack, but a well-planned attack. Ha Tae-heon felt that there were a lot of things he was missing.
“Focus, Ha Tae-heon.”
Cheon Sa-yeon, who was standing next to him, woke him up from his thoughts with a low voice. Come to think of it, Cheon Sa-yeon didn’t lower his vigilance while holding his sword even after he had cleared all the Wyverns.
“I’m not the one who’s working on things.”
Ha Tae-heon, who remembered the conversation he had with Cheon Sa-yeon upon entering the gate first, gave strength to the hand holding the sword. What he meant was this.
He shouldn’t have skipped over it just because he was ignorant. When this issue was resolved, Ha Tae-heon took out an SS-class coat from his inventory and wore it, vowing that he would dig it out even by grabbing his collar.
Anyway, they had no mind to talk about items in this situation. When Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon finished preparing for battle, those wearing black masks also found the two appeared in the smoke and raised their weapons.
Cheon Sa-yeon slowly drew his palms while staring at the heterogeneous blonde woman, the end of the group of thirty people (천사연은 서른에 달하는 집단의 가장 끝, not sure about the group’s name). A dark gloom was reflected on his face, exposed under his dark hair, scattered in the wind.
They were going to use the bomb doll like this. It was a raid that was properly aimed when everyone was exhausted and careless due to the hard fight.
Master Lee Joo-ha collapsed and most of the clear team were seriously injured or killed. He and Ha Tae-heon had to stop the group of thirty people. The shadow of misfortune that he felt sick and tired of began to engulf his body again. Even though he knew that clearly, Cheon Sa-yeon never let go of his sword.