The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
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chapter-244
Thunk… Thunk…
The ground shuddered with each step the Large Soldier took.
Kieeeeeee!
Suddenly, an enormous ghost appeared.
It was huge, even comparable to the Large Soldier.“No… at this rate…” murmured Seol Hong.
“What’s the problem now?”
“This Large Soldier isn’t designed for combat. It won’t go down without a fight, but…” began Seol Hong before turning to Chi Woo. “At this rate, we’ll run out of fuel and oxygen before we reach the surface.”
Chi Woo sighed after seeing Seol Hong’s worried face.
“Leave that to me.”
“Chi Woo?”
“He probably won’t fight me if I let you die, so…”Tear!
Chi Woo leaped out of the cockpit, still wearing his protective suit.
Kieeeeeeee!
As Chi Woo stepped out from the Large Soldier, his smaller stature contrasting sharply with the massive machine, more ghosts began to appear around him.
They were ghosts that had been hiding, scared of the Large Soldier’s size.
“You bastards… You’re looking down on me, huh?!”
[Chi Woo used Tall Mountain’s Wrath.]
[For a short duration, your attacks push back all enemies hit. If an enemy is pushed into another enemy, both take double damage. This effect can be repeated.]
Chi Woo swiftly leaped up.
Baaaaaaam!
He then landed a clean kick on a moderately sized ghost.
Fwoooosh…
Baaaaam!
The ghost hurtled into a larger ghost, causing the larger ghost to also go flying back.
Baaaaaam!
This effect repeated until the ghosts collided with the extremely large ghost chasing after them, resulting in a massive hole in its chest.
“Oh my god…”
Seol Hong knew that Chi Woo was strong, but not this strong.
Then again, it was also possible that Chi Woo just never had the opportunity to fully showcase his true power before.
“Come on, you shitty ghosts! I’ll exorcise you all!” smiled Chi Woo, baring his fangs.
Chi Woo’s wolf beastman features often emerged whenever he used his powers like this.
Baaam!
Whaaam!
Fwip!
Chi Woo was practically a wolf leaping into a herd of sheep.
Crush!
Cruuush!
[Chi Woo used Vortex Fist.]
[Your movements create a gust of wind.]
Fwooooosh!
Whaaaam!
A gentle wind breezed past them with each movement Chi Woo made.
Fwoosh…
Fwoooooosh…
Having been taught martial arts as well, Seol Hong recognized the movements Chi Woo was performing.
She could also gauge the level of mastery he had achieved.
‘He’s spinning.’
Though Chi Woo’s movements seemed excessive at a glance, he was doing so to form a small wind.
Fwooooosh!
The vortex steadily and slowly grew bigger until it became a massive tornado, reaching the size of a Large Soldier.
Woooooooosh!
Kieeeeeee!
The ghosts were pulled into it before being slammed against a wall, pressed together in an unsightly state.
“Seol Hong! Where are you?!”
The issue now was that Chi Woo had lost sight of Seol Hong’s Large Soldier during the fight.
“Over here, Chi Woo.”
“Wasn’t I behind you? Why are you in front of me now?”
“The space is constantly changing,” replied Seol Hong. “You should quickly connect to the Large Soldier.”
Fwip!
A towing cable shot out of the Earth King’s left shoulder.
Wrap… wrap…
Chi Woo then wrapped himself in it.
“At least I won’t get lost with this now.”
“We need to hurry. If we take too long…”
“I know, just run! From now on, keep moving, no matter what! I’ll handle everything, okay?”
Thunk…
Thunk thunk thunk!
The space around them continued to change.
Even after spending an entire day running, they failed to reach the surface.
“Haah…. Haah… Seol Hong… How much… oxygen and fuel… do we have left…?” asked Chi Woo.
“......”
“Seol Hong?”
The Large Soldier paused for a second.
“Seol Hong!”
“Ah, it’s still… fine….”
“You idiot!” Chi Woo shouted. “How much did you lower the purification levels?!”
Chi Woo realized that Seol Hong had lowered the purification levels in the cockpit to conserve oxygen. The pause they had just experienced was due to her fainting momentarily from the effects.
“70%.”
“You idiot… I bet your protective suit is turned off too, huh?”
“I-I’m fine… We’re almost at the surface.”
“Yeah. And there’s also no more ghosts appearing now that we’ve made it away from Phantom. Now…”
Thunk…
Thunk…
The Large Soldier continued to the cliffside.
“We did it, Chi Woo.”
“We made it?”
“Yes, the lift is… over there…”
“Hahaha… I wonder what face that bastard Kang Seol would make after he learns that we succeeded, no? If it wasn’t for my help…”
Thunk…
The Earth King slowly got on the lift.
“Then… let’s go up.”
“Yeah. Also, can I go back into the cockpit now—”
Clatter clatter clatter!
The lift began to rise.
While it wasn’t exceptionally fast, the fact that it could achieve this speed while carrying a Large Soldier was impressive in itself.
“Chi Woo.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry about the things I said earlier.”
“It’s fine. I don’t care about things like that at all. More importantly, are you alright?”
“......”
“Like about Kang Seol, he’s probably…”
“...stop.”
Chi Woo asked another question instead.
There was nothing to do while being carried up the lift, after all.
“You know… what’s so good about that?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Like you guys… you guys sacrificed a bunch of things for people you only met a few days ago.”
“......”
“Why would you be that reckless?”
“The faith of our people are the roots. As they work on behalf of the Khan Empire, they develop a vague sense of faith.”
“Faith? Faith in what?”
“That the Empire would surely help them in instances where they alone aren’t enough.”
“......”
“Betraying that trust is essentially like filling our bowls with water. And with the Khan Empire’s long history, I’m sure that the bowl is nearing its tipping point.”
“So rescuing these miners… is going to remove the water from our bowl?”
“It at least won’t fill it further.”
“Don’t make me laugh, how could just a few lives…”
“Chi Woo.”
Seol Hong looked down at Chi Woo from the cockpit. Her proud eyes had a lot of things behind them.
“A single drop is more than enough to spill a bowl that’s filled to the brim.”
For some reason… Chi Woo shuddered.
“You… You…”
Creaaaaaaaak…
The cliff began to creak as they reached the mid-way point.
It was a sound from the riflings of the lift.
Thuuud…
“Wh-what the hell?! I almost fell off…”
“Chi Woo, hold on! Don’t let go!”
“...What?”
Rumbleeeeee!
Rumble!
Thud…
For a second, Chi Woo’s heart had left his body.
The lift had tilted before plunging entirely back into the abyss.
Thankfully, both the Large Soldier and Chi Woo were unharmed.
Seol Hong had managed to keep the Large Soldier anchored to the cliff before it could fall.
“...Hey, Seol Hong?”
“There was a problem with the lift’s rifling. The ghosts probably did it, but…”
“...What do we do now?”
“We have no other options. We’ll have to climb up the cliff.”
“......”
“Hold on tightly, okay?”
Thunk…
Thunk…
Seol Hong moved the Earth King’s arms one by one to climb upward.
“......”
“......”
But then… it suddenly slowed down.
After a few seconds, the Earth King began to shake.
Fwoooosh…
Clunk…
Thuuuuuud!
The Earth King’s lower half fell into the abyss.
“Wh-what did you just do?” Chi Woo asked.
“Dropped weight.”
“...Why?”
Seol Hong had removed the Large Soldier’s fully functioning legs to reduce its weight. Something was definitely off.
“You’re keeping something from me, aren’t you?” said Chi Woo.
“Chi Woo, listen carefully.”
“......”
“We only have one chance. While we can reduce fuel consumption, there’s no way to conserve oxygen. If the miners lose oxygen even once and are exposed to the ghost energy, then…”
“They’ll all die…”
“We can’t fall back down and just climb up again. If we fall, we die. We only have one option.”
Chi Woo then locked eyes with Seol Hong in the cockpit.
“We must reach the surface before more time passes, no matter what.”
Thunk…
Thunk…
Was it because Seol Hong had gotten rid of the Large Soldier’s legs? It was moving at a much faster pace than before.
Eventually, they saw the edge of the cliff.
“We’re almost there, Seol Hong!”
“.....”
“...Seol Hong?”
Seol Hong had told Chi Woo another lie.
- Purification level is now at 50%. This could lead to issues with the body.
“Haah… Haah…”
Ghost energy was slowly seeping into the cockpit.
The immense amounts of ghost energy they were dealing with didn’t come from the eerie ghost stone but from Phantom himself.
Though it should have been much lower now that they had distanced themselves from him, even the faint remnants were more than enough to cause problems.
Rather, that small amount could still be too much for Seol Hong.
‘It hurts…’
Her vision began to blur and turn white.
Even this much ghost energy was incredibly painful. Seol Hong could only imagine the pain Seol must be enduring while grappling with the full force of Phantom’s power.
‘I want to give up… Seol… I want to give up.’
After checking the remaining oxygen, Seol Hong fiddled with some buttons again.
Beep.
- Purification level is now at 40%. This could lead to issues with the body.
“C-Cough… E-Even lower!”
- Purification level is now at 30%. This could lead to issues with the body.
Beeeeeeep…
Seol Hong’s vision completely blurred as she heard a ringing sound wash over everything else.
However, she had no other choice. If she raised the purification level, the miners would run out of oxygen and die after being exposed to the ghost energy.
Thunk…
Crumble…
The moment the Large Soldier reached for another rock, it collapsed.
‘...Huh?’
Rumble rumble rumble!
As Seol Hong desperately reached for another rock, the Large Soldier’s left arm, which had already been straining, suddenly lost its light.
It malfunctioned.
The Earth King had no legs, and its left arm was malfunctioning. There was no way for it to climb up the cliff. It was impossible with one arm.
‘I guess this is the end…’
She would fall like this.
With her mind growing increasingly foggy, Seol Hong began to stop caring.
Humans, when faced with unimaginable pain, become willing to give up. It’s much easier, after all.
Creak…
Creak…
But for some reason… they didn’t fall.
“…up!”
“…Hong!”
Why was the Large Soldier still hanging onto the cliff?
Seol Hong slowly grew interested in that question despite accepting her death.
Seol Hong, her eyes bloodshot from the ghost energy, slowly looked at the Large Soldier’s left arm.
“Arghhhhh… Seol Hong!”
Chi Woo, wrapped around the cable that extended from the Large Soldier’s left arm, desperately clung to the cliffside.
“Chi…Woo?”
“Wake up! Do you seriously plan to die here?!”
“Why… Why…?”
“From now on, I’m your left arm! Nothing’s… changed. I’ll do it, so… let’s go up!”
“Chi Woo…”
“Please… we can do it!”
Seol Hong quickly regained focus.
“You’re insane! There’s no way a human can pull up a Large Soldier on their own!”
“But I’m not a human! I’m a monster with the Lang Tribe’s blood in me! That’s why… I can do it!”
“...You might even die.”
“Then keep me in your memories, you cold-hearted bitch!”
Crackle crackle…
Chi Woo began to radiate a somber, golden light from his body.
His wolf ears began to twitch as his eyes slowly turned more animal-like.
“Move!”
Fwoooosh!
Thuud!
The Large Soldier firmly planted the fingers on its right hand into the wall.
“Urghhhhhhh…”
“Chi Woo.”
“I-I almost threw up my guts, haha! I’m Next…!”
Clench…
Clench…
Chi Woo climbed up the wall effortlessly, as if the Large Soldier’s weight was nothing to him.
“Next.”
Thuuuuuuud!
“Grghhhhhh…”
Clench…
“Next…”
“Chi Woo.”
“Next!’
Thuuuuud!
“Haah… Haah… Why are we doing this again? I’m so stupid I already forgot,” asked Chi Woo, vomiting blood.
Slowly, but ever so steadily, the Large Soldier climbed up the cliffside.
“I think I got the hang of it now! A few things might be broken, but maybe I’m fine… Nope, not fine.”
Grit…
Thuuuuud!
“Seol Hong, are you crying?”
“Hrgh… ahhhh…”
“Can you answer the question I asked earlier?”
“Is now really the time…”
“Nevermind.”
Grit…
Fwoooosh…
“We’ve reached the surface,” sighed Chi Woo.
