Chapter 499: The Cliché: Growing Soon After Collapsing (2) |
Armies that had lost on the battlefield would always look pitiful, and the Continental Union’s expedition team was no exception. Many of them were severely injured, and the priests couldn’t even wield their holy power, afraid that the demons would discover their location. In other words, the injured could only be treated with potions.
Everyone’s senses were still heightened, so they were on edge. Unfortunately, they couldn’t yell, so they couldn’t cry their hearts out either. I[1] could hear people holding in their tears here and there, but I couldn’t hear anyone criticizing them for sobbing.
‘It’s impossible to control that, anyway.’
This sounded cliched, but I was sure that the injuries on their heart were deeper than their physical injuries. I lowered my head upon recalling the people I had to leave behind in the nest. They were like family to me, but I had no choice but to leave them.
I could still remember the screams and the cries...
I could still see the people we had to abandon, and I could still remember how they screamed at us to leave.
I could still hear the roars of the demons as well, and I could still see the people we had abandoned being dragged away.
We managed to escape from that hell, but it wasn’t strange that the troops were grieving.
However, the aforementioned weren’t the only reasons we were grieving.
Some of the soldiers of the Republic, the named members of the Union of Kingdoms, dwarves, and the members of the other races didn’t seem that shocked, but the soldiers of the Sacred Democratic Country and the elves were in despair.
The Sub Guild Master of the Blue Guild was the symbol of Benigo and Elune. He was also widely acclaimed to be the chosen of both Benigoa and Elune.
He had stood at the forefront of mankind and had shown everyone an incomprehensible miracle by uniting mankind and becoming the symbol of peace in addition to healing the continent’s wounds.
He was also the emotional anchor of the Blue Guild and was like a mother to everyone in the guild.
The situation was worse than I expected.
“Jung-Yeon unni.”
“Ye-Ri.”
I turned and saw Kim Ye-Ri, the youngest member of the guild.
She was wrapped in bandages.
“How’s your arm and leg? Are you feeling better?” I said cautiously.
“Yes. I can move around,” Kim Ye-Ri replied.
“Your external wounds should be fine, but you won’t recover your strength with just those bandages. Be careful not to overdo it. The bandages weren’t infused with holy power as well, so you might feel uncomfortable. Take care of yourself as much as you can today, and once we reach the 17th base, I’ll talk to Miss Elena and Miss Hee-Young, so we can take a look at your wounds again,” I suggested.
“Okay. If the demons come back—”
“I think the derangement spell worked… so it shouldn’t be a problem right now. Don’t think about that and just rest for now. It’s important to rest while it’s possible so we can think about our next move,” I told her.
“Okay…”
It was difficult to tell, but I saw tears in her eyes. I was sure she was uncomfortable about all this because she also had a good relationship with the sub guild master, even though they often bickered.
Kim Ye-Ri had always come off to be uninterested in the people around her, but she was very caring. Therefore, it wasn’t strange for her to react this way. She had a horrible past as well, so I reckoned that she found this situation to be traumatic.
Kim Ye-Ri’s condition was actually better than the others.
I sighed when I recalled how there were still people who were still unconscious.
Miss Elena was still crying, while Miss Hee-Young hadn’t eaten a proper meal for quite a while now. Ah-Young, Mr. Ahn Ki-Mo, and Mr. Chang-Ryeol looked gloomy because of their nature, but out of all the guild members, the ones who received the most shock were the three original members of the guild’s first party.
Miss Ha-Yan was unconscious more often than she was conscious. Whenever she was awake, she would talk to herself, bite her nails, pull out her hair, and then she would start screaming until she passed out.
She even tried to commit suicide.
If it hadn’t been for Miss Sora, Miss Ha-Yan could have severely injured herself.
However, Miss Sora herself didn’t look any better than Miss Ha-Yan.
Miss Sora looked like she was mentally stable, but I kept feeling that she was overdoing it. I even saw her blaming herself and holding back her tears, which broke my heart.
However, the biggest issue was…
“How’s the guild master?” I asked.
“Oppa is…” Kim Ye-Ri started.
“Yes?”
“I think he’s still unconscious. He used a lot of mana in the fight with the demon earlier, and I think he hurt his head at the end… Elena said that he received a huge mental shock, and he keeps on insisting that everything was his fault even though it’s not…” she continued.
“I’m sure he’s going through a lot, considering their relationship—”
“But he’s fine physically… It’ll take some time for him to recover his mana, but there’s a different issue that’s bigger than that… H-he doesn’t answer whenever people try to talk to him. Elena suggested that we leave him be for now, but… h-he should be fine, right?” she asked.
“I’m sure the guild master will be fine,” I replied.
“No, Mr. Ki-Young…” she said.
“Ah, of course, he’s fine. You still remember it, right? The spell that the sub guild master tried to cast before we left.” I pointed out.
“Yeah…”
“They say that he briefly woke up. Many people saw it happen, including Mr. Deok-Gu. I think that’s the reason the spell was canceled. I don’t know the details, but there’s a huge chance that he’s fighting himself inside,” I explained.
“You think so?” she asked.
“I don’t know what the demons had done to the sub guild master, but there are too many questionable things for it to be a simple brainwashing spell. He was definitely under immense pressure due to the torture and those tentacles, t-the demon and… tentacles… the… t-tentacles… tentacles—I mean, I think we shouldn’t talk about this. S-Sorry,” I apologized.
“I already know everything,” said Kim Ye-Ri.
“A-Anyway, I’m sure they used all sorts of methods to break the sub guild master’s mind. If a simple brainwashing spell were enough, then they probably wouldn’t have used those methods, but I believe that they were in a hurry,” I continued.
“I see…”
“I’m not certain of this, but…” I paused.
“No, I’m sure you’re right.” a familiar voice interrupted.
I turned and saw a woman with large horns on her head.
I was kind of surprised, but I released a sigh of relief because if she was here, then they had successfully conquered the 17th base. I gave a thumbs up to them for providing us with a place to rest—both physically and mentally.
“Miss Dialugia,” I said.
“My connection with him hasn’t been severed.” Dialugia pointed out.
“Are you saying that…”
“Yes, your presumption is correct. It’s becoming faint, but I’m sure that man is resisting Belial’s power. I don’t know how much time we have left, but… he has always been a stubborn person, so I’m sure that he’ll endure it just fine,” she replied.
“That’s a relief…” I remarked.
“By the way, are these all the troops that will be heading to the 17th base?” she asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“I’d appreciate it if you could tell them that it’d be great if they could move a bit faster. I think the enemy’s army is nearby. I’ll investigate the situation a bit more, but we need to keep our guard up so that the enemy troops won’t get any closer…” she suggested.
“Thank you…” I said.
“No need to thank me. I… just can’t have t-that human die on me… and I’m indebted to the Blue Guild, anyway. As for Luria…” Dialugia trailed off.
“Okay…”
“I’ll leave it to you,” Dialugia said.
“Should I come with you?” Kim Ye-Ri asked.
“No, you should rest here. I’ll be quick,” I replied.
“Okay…”
“Whew.”
Miss Dialugia disappeared into the crowd, and I walked faster to catch up to the people ahead of us. I quickly caught up to Cha Hee-Ra of the Red Mercenary Guild, and it seemed that she was having a serious conversation with someone.
My footsteps lightened at the thought of delivering a good piece of news after quite some time, but I felt someone pushing me away.
“Miss Hee-Young?”
The person who pushed me was Sun Hee-Young, one of the original members of the guild’s first party. The frown on her face as she passed by me made it obvious that she was in a bad mood.
As expected, she started shouting, “Tell the troops to go back there!”
“Please don’t do this.”
“I ordered you to send the troops back there!” she yelled.
“It’s impossible. I understand how you feel, but we have to observe—”
“Let go of me. Let go! Don’t touch me. I said, don’t touch me! Send the troops back there, you bitch! Can you not hear me?!” she cursed.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Send the troops back there! Tell them to go back there!” she screamed.
“Hold her down! Make sure that she can’t move!”
“Let… go!” she yelled.
“If you cause any more trouble, I’ll punish you for disobeying orders, Miss Sun Hee-Young. I understand how you feel, but everyone is having a hard time. Please calm down and—”
“Punish? Do you even have any idea about who should be punished here? How dare you say you’re going to punish me! Did that bitch Cha Hee-Ra tell you that? To lock up all the bitches who would dare to rebel? They call people like her an ass in the lion’s skin. She has been using our sub guild master as she pleased, but she suddenly doesn’t want to get involved in a crisis?” Sun Hee-Young complained.
“It’s because of the unprecedented situation. We have no choice—”
“Have you ever thought about trying to save him? You people are useless! All of you are nothing but trash. Every single one of you! You all act like a parrot, calling him Father Lee Ki-Young and whatever and then showering him with everything you have, but now, you’re just going to throw him away? You sly and incompetent bitches!” she cursed.
“Miss Cha Hee-Ra is also going through a lot right now. Please don’t do this. Return to the outpost for now, and I’ll deliver information—”
“Do you know who’s having the hardest time?” she asked.
“...”
“I asked you a question,” she said.
“Well…”
“Can you even imagine how miserable and sad he felt the moment we left the nest? He has been living his whole life in service to others, and he disregarded his safety to help the evacuating denizens of the Federation, but he ended up getting caught…
“He had always been like that—kgh—he was always prepared to sacrifice himself for the sake of others, but he had always been the only one suffering from the consequences of his actions…
“There was even that incident where he sacrificed himself to the point of suffering injuries that rendered him bedridden and on the verge of death. He only lived because of holy power and medicine. He had done so much for us, and this is how we’re going to repay him? Kgh…” Sun Hee-Young said.
“...”
“Is this really the treatment he deserves?! Can you imagine how sad he must be when he saw his allies turning around and running away instead of saving him? Can you imagine how miserable he must’ve felt at that moment?” she questioned.
“...”
"You people are useless. You bastards are useless. The continent does not need useless bastards like you…” she insulted.
“I completely understand, Miss Sun Hee-Young, but…”
“If you understand, then tell the troops to go back! It’s an order!” she screamed.
Her scream sounded like a shriek.
1. Hwang Jung-Yeon’s POV ☜
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