NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 14 - Shadow Worm, Chara-Tebil (6)
Chapter 14. Shadow Worm, Chara-Tebil (6)
Time seemed to slow down for a moment.
A dawn-colored flash swirled from the blade, then suddenly exploded, unleashing a storm of wind in all directions.
Charrarararara!
A radiant explosion.
Within that light, two small blades emerged.
No, should I call them the Twin Dawnblade?
One glimmered with the crimson of dawn.
The other shone with the golden light of dawn.
It was as if the Dawnblade had split into two.
[Unique Skill, 《First Liberation: Morning Light, Dawnblade》 activation complete.]
Succession Progression: 10% | Duration: (15) seconds.
First-time privilege: The memory of mythical combat will personally guide you!
What… personally guide me?
Suddenly, the combat memory invaded my mind and body.
My body began moving on its own.
Both hands darted out and grabbed the twin blades.
Then.
──Chaaang!
I immediately crossed the swords to block the scythe that was descending vertically.
「Ssshhsss……?!」
Unbelievable power.
Unbelievable speed.
I think I was even more shocked than Chara-Tebil.
No… there was no time to be astonished.
The duration was only 15 seconds.
Shin Taeup’s wall of flames was also weakening, and my body wouldn’t last beyond those 15 seconds.
I didn’t understand everything.
But one thing was clear: I had to defeat this thing within these 15 seconds.
Pababat!
The combat memory drove me straight toward Chara-Tebil.
Moving had been difficult before, but with the combat memory completely controlling my body, ignoring pain, the situation changed.
Swooosh!
The right scythe tore through the air toward me.
I couldn’t even see it.
I barely heard the sound of it slicing through the air, a lethal strike.
Yet.
──Sshraaack!
The combat memory tilted my head back slightly, effortlessly dodging it.
The scythe grazed just above my eyes.
In that moment, my body spun like a top, closing the gap to its main body.
As I charged, the spinning blades tore into its right arm.
「KIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!」
Chara-Tebil screamed in pain.
Was it panicking?
Was it overwhelmed?
For a brief moment, Chara-Tebil faltered.
The combat memory didn’t miss the opportunity.
The crimson blade slashed downward across its chest.
Almost simultaneously, the golden blade struck horizontally.
Then, the crimson blade rose again, cutting upward.
[■■■■■, ■■■■■, ■□□□□]
Gold. Crimson. Gold. Crimson.
And then gold again.
A dazzling sword dance, with traces of blood-red light and golden radiance weaving through the air.
A rainbow of dawn etched into the sky.
[■■■■■, ■□□□□, □□□□□]
Just one scream.
From all of Chara-Tebil’s counterattacks, only one was even remotely effective.
The combat memory evaded every counter while continuing to slash the creature relentlessly with the twin blades.
It made a final desperate move.
It attempted to retreat into the shadows, just as it had before.
But… why was it so slow this time compared to before?
It wasn’t just Chara-Tebil.
It felt as though everything in the world except me had slowed down.
Regardless, I couldn’t let it escape.
The creature must have known the state I was in.
This was the decisive moment.
“Uaaaaaaaahhhhhh!”
I let out a scream, almost like a battle cry.
The creature’s main body was retreating into the shadows on the ground.
I slashed, struck, and slashed again to prevent its escape.
[■■■□□, □□□□□, □□□□□]
My physical limits were nearing.
My vision blurred.
The sensation in my fingers faded.
[■■□□□, □□□□□, □□□□□]
So I clenched my teeth.
I bit my tongue to desperately hold onto consciousness.
And I muttered to myself.
We came to save you.
Here, now, I had to take this creature down.
「……SHIAAAAAAAAAAKKKK…….」
I couldn’t tell if the blood drenching me was mine or the creature’s.
The combat memory merely guided my hands to wield the blades.
[■□□□□, □□□□□, □□□□□]
In the final moment.
Suddenly, the euphoria that had enveloped my entire body vanished.
[Unique Skill, 《First Liberation: Morning Light, Dawnblade》 duration expired.]
A cold pain exploded in my left arm.
From the corner of my vision, I saw an arm and the crimson blade flying into the air.
My left arm had been severed.
It seemed Chara-Tebil, realizing it wouldn’t make it, had abandoned its retreat to launch a decisive counterattack.
Now, except for its head and one front limb, it had almost fully submerged into the shadows.
…Fine.
I’ll give you my left arm.
In return, I’ll take your cursed head.
It happened in an instant.
As the crimson blade flew toward my right hand in midair.
As the two blades shimmered faintly before merging once more into the Broken Greatsword.
As Chara-Tebil was just about to completely submerge into the shadows.
Chaaarrrang!
I drove the broken blade into its forehead.
A sharp silence followed.
「You… you… could it be……」
Chara-Tebil, its head impaled.
Its grotesque eyes filled with hate began to shift into an expression of disbelief.
「He… why would He… favor someone like you… Hi… hihihaha….」
It seemed to mutter something.
[□□□□□, □□□□□, □□□□□]
The area pierced by the Dawnblade.
There, blood-colored light flickered before spreading rapidly into the shadows it had been hiding in, igniting them.
「HIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!」
Its scream, filled with rage, was its death throes.
Faster.
Just a little faster.
…Fwooshhh…
Chara-Tebil’s massive body was completely incinerated, and ashes swirled gently in all directions.
Still… is it over…?
Clink.
It felt like an eternity.
A massive Soul Stone dropped at the center of the ashes.
I couldn’t hold on any longer.
As my knees finally gave out, the long-awaited notification echoed in my mind.
[Hunt Success: Noble Familiar, ‘Shadow Worm, Chara-Tebil.’]
[Legendary Achievement Unlocked: First to Hunt a Familiar (1 / 10)]
[The world salutes the hunter who first slew a Familiar!]
All physical stat values are increased by (+3).
I collapsed onto the ground.
The sound of the Dawnblade clattering against the floor reached my ears.
[Unique Weapon Unequipped: Dawnblade.]
I saw the blood pouring from my mouth, severed shoulder, and side.
This was manageable.
Three of my senses had already gone numb.
[Notification: ‘Muwak-dong’ has been annexed into ‘New Seodaemun District.’]
Kim Baekjun… don’t lose consciousness… absolutely not… otherwise… you’ll die… die…
[Notification: Purification process initiated in the ‘Muwak-dong’ area.]
Someone was sprinting toward me at incredible speed from afar.
It was Jung Hayoung.
The next moment, Jung Hayoung held me in her arms, shouting frantically, but her words were hard to hear.
“This… insane… look… feet… damn…”
At that moment, a deafening roar echoed from behind.
Through my blurred vision, I saw a swarm of human roaches surging toward us.
These bastards… were they trying to avenge their master?
But what was that surging behind them… a mist?
The mist was faster than the swarm.
In an instant, it swallowed them whole and then enveloped me.
This… was a familiar mist.
Ah… the mist I had desperately longed for.
[Region Entry: Seongnakwon – ‘New Seodaemun District’]
[You are now located in the ‘Paradise Zone.’]
Hunter Privilege: The effect of ‘Healing of the Stars’ is activated.
Signals confirming that my reckless gamble had succeeded.
Which meant.
Ah… I see… it’s over.
I finally let go of the desperate grip I had on my eyelids.
Darkness overtook me instantly, and my consciousness faded away somewhere.
When the miracle happened.
Jung Hayoung was struggling at the wall of human roaches.
She had thought to distract the minions even a little.
So, she hadn’t returned to the wall of flames.
‘Foolish girl.’
It was a decision she had just begun to regret.
She had exhausted her unique skills, and now she had no ammunition or weapons left.
The human roaches knew this well and sneered with their grotesque laughter.
“Hi-hi-hi… Hee-hee-hee…”
Even as the end approached, she found herself surprisingly calm.
‘From the start, this was a fight humans couldn’t win.’
She had accepted this reality ever since the day of destruction.
The world had become a playground for beings, alien or divine, she didn’t know.
And humanity was nothing more than pawns in their game.
A truly f***ed-up reality.
“You freaks must’ve had fun watching one little human struggle, huh? You bastards.”
[The Holy Spirit, Baladon’s administrator, feels a strange familiarity with your language.]
Unique Skill, 《Hyper Acceleration》 usage count (1) has been recharged.
What the hell?
This had to be mockery.
Even with an extra usage, it meant nothing.
If you exceeded the usage limit, the skill would impose severe physical strain, leaving you immobilized.
Hee-hee-hee…
The human roaches all suddenly froze.
It wasn’t because of the Holy Spirit.
It was because of the horrific scream that erupted from beyond the wall.
“What is that?”
She wondered what was happening.
Then, an unbelievable notification appeared before her.
[Hunt Success: Noble Familiar, ‘Shadow Worm, Chara-Tebil.’]
It was strange.
She blinked repeatedly.
The words were in Korean, yet for a while, they made no sense to her.
Of course… it couldn’t be true that they had won, right?
“Kiiiiiiii!”
But when the human roaches began fleeing one by one, and the mist started surging from the Paradise Zone like a wave…
Her heart began pounding.
Not in fear, but in exhilaration.
Kim Baekjun.
Did that man… actually…?
Jung Hayoung activated 《Hyper Acceleration》.
Physical limits or anything else didn’t matter at that moment.
In a world where everything slowed down, and she alone moved swiftly, she ran to Kim Baekjun.
Kim Baekjun lay in a pool of blood, seemingly dead.
He looked pitiful.
His left arm was severed, and his intestines spilled from his side.
Oh my god.
Jung Hayoung cradled Kim Baekjun.
He’s dead… after saving all of us…
At that moment, she felt a pulse.
No.
He’s still alive.
He’s alive…
But barely, on the verge of death.
“This is insane.”
Jung Hayoung shouted in dismay.
“Look at me. Look at me. Look at me, damn it! If you lose consciousness now, you’re dead!”
The human roaches were closing in.
They charged with desperation and fury, making the entire underground passage tremble as though it would collapse.
She tried to run away with Kim Baekjun, but her body failed her as a notification appeared.
[Warning: Your body has reached its limit due to overuse of unique skills.]
Damn it all.
Her mind went blank for a moment before something enveloped her.
It wasn’t the human roaches.
It was the mist.
In an instant, all the noise vanished.
Within the pure white mist, there was only calm and comfort.
Amidst the silence, there wasn’t a single human roach in sight.
When the wave of mist finally swept everything away, Jung Hayoung collapsed to the ground at the unbelievable sight.
The first thing she saw was the stars in the night sky.
Next, she saw a modern-style city.
Countless Soul Stones littered the streets.
Daaaang… Daaaang… Daaaang…
Somewhere, a clock tower chimed mournfully.
Jung Hayoung looked at the hunters.
All had dazed expressions.
No one spoke for a long time.
After a while, someone let out a sob.
In that moment, the joy of survival mingled with laughter and tears.
“We won… we actually won…”
How they had emerged from underground to the surface, she didn’t know.
Why all the aberrations had disappeared and left Soul Stones in their place, she didn’t know either.
But that wasn’t important now.
[Notification: ‘Muwak-dong’ has been annexed into ‘New Seodaemun District.’]
[Region Entry: Seongnakwon – ‘New Seodaemun District.’]
=====
Paradise Name: New Seodaemun District
Area ‘Muwak-dong’ has been annexed to the zone. (+500)
Current / Limit
[Main Paradise District]: 3,000 / 3,000
[Sub-Paradise District – 1]: 0 / 500
=====
This… wasn’t just a simple victory.
This wasn’t merely the reclamation of one area.
This was the moment humanity defeated a nightmare for the first time.
The moment humanity shattered the despair they had vaguely accepted, the belief that ‘we can’t win.’
It was, truly, a moment where a ray of dawn pierced through the darkness.
Jung Hayoung looked down at Kim Baekjun.
His entire body was shimmering with the starlight from the ‘Healing of the Stars’ effect.
His face showed not the agony of his final moments, but the relief of accomplishment.
I will not give up on you. On everyone here.
If I win, won’t that make all of this possible?
Jung Hayoung let out a hollow, dazed laugh.
“That insane man actually… did it.”
She didn’t even notice the tear slipping from her eye.
She forgot that it was a tear she hadn’t shed once since the day of destruction and thought she never would again.
April 11, 2045.
On the seventh day of destruction, one human’s determination defeated a mad world.
But for that light to illuminate the world, the darkness of the world was still deep and heavy.