Chapter 155: The Path Leading To The Cold Hell (6) |
* * *
Early evening.
Once their preparations were complete, the group had a simple meal before heading straight for the city’s western district.
Instead of sneaking around to enter the sewers, Yeomyeong and his party openly boarded a carriage.
With so many people crowding the sewers, paradoxically, there were fewer eyes watching the main roads.
After a brief journey, a building bathed in the glow of the sunset came into view through the carriage window.
The Pantoliano Building—the only complete building in the city and the Western Count Palatine’s court.
Gazing at it briefly, Yeomyeong spoke up.
“Neti, there’s no need for you to join the fight. You can stay in the rear.”
“Oh… brother-in-law? I might be more useful than my sister in a fight, you know?”
It was a daring response. Seti jabbed her in the ribs, but Neti ignored it, opening her bag to ‘raise’ two rifles into the air.
“I specialize in Telekinesis and Force Field magic, so I’m way more versatile than my sister, who’s all about fighting. Plus, I’ve also been trained in martial arts like the Flying Kick technique, which allows for high-speed movement, so there’s no need to worry about me falling behind in combat. You know that, right?”
Yeomyeong recalled her nimble movements when she caught up with him back at the northern station and nodded.
“And as for combat power—Telekinesis allows me to suspend and fire guns, which is more than enough.”
As if to prove her point, Neti caused two more rifles to float into the air.
The sight of four rifles hovering inside the carriage was impressive, though Seti, sitting next to her, sighed deeply.
“…And why haven’t you mentioned your lack of combat experience and poor spell precision as well?”
“Well, that’s…”
“Neti, we’re not heading for some casual outing. If you mess up here, you’ll get hurt—or worse, killed. So… just do as Yeomyeong says and stay in the rear. Got it?”
“…”
Neti didn’t argue. She couldn’t deny her sister’s words, and if she said anything more, it would only look like she was doing it out of stubbornness.
And just like that, as she silently returned the rifles to her bag, a flash of light burst from outside the window.
Everyone in the carriage turned their heads at once, but the light was already gone.
All Yeomyeong could sense was the twisted mana lingering in the direction the light had come from.
“…The Shepherds’ magic.”
Yeomyeong frowned.
Did they just use magic that blatantly? And on top of that, they even used a spell so powerful that anyone sensitive to mana would easily perceive it.
There were only two possibilities.
Either they were unable to hide it as they cast the spell due to sheer urgency…
Or they no longer care if they are discovered.
His deliberation was brief, and he quickly decided on his next course of action.
“Everyone, get off. We’ll enter the sewer from here.”
With those words, Yeomyeong opened the carriage door and leaped out.
“Huh?”
While Neti was dumbfounded, Seti grabbed the wooden crate of weapons and followed after Yeomyeong.
Left alone, Neti hurriedly jumped off the carriage and descended into the sewer through the same opening as the other two.
However, before doing that, she didn’t forget to toss the carriage driver a gold coin on her way out.
Splash—
As soon as Yeomyeong saw Neti land in the sewer water, he began spreading his mana throughout the sewer.
Scouring for a bribed guard who should have been nearby, Yeomyeong’s senses picked up something else instead.
The distinctive repugnant presence of the Shepherds.
And it wasn’t just one—he detected dozens of zombies being herded along with them. They weren’t even making an attempt to conceal themselves any longer.
“…What’s the plan? Do we take out the Shepherds first or head straight for the building?”
Having sensed the Shepherds’ presence as well, Seti posed the question. Yeomyeong set the wooden crate labeled ‘Magic Wands’ on the ground and opened it.
In it were anti-tank rockets and warheads—commonly referred to as ‘Boomstick1.’ Yeomyeong slung one over his back as he answered.
“Both. Kill anything we see while making our way to the building as quickly as possible.”
Neti was about to say that sounded like a crazy plan, but seeing her sister pick up a rocket launcher as well, she decided it would be wiser to keep her mouth shut.
* * *
BOOM!!
The deafening sound of an explosion echoed through the confined sewer as flames quickly engulfed the space, followed by a powerful shockwave.
All that remained in the wake of the destruction was nothing more than shredded pig-heads and zombies.
Despite the gruesome scene, the girl who had caused it didn’t spare the carnage a single glance. She simply stepped over the corpses and continued moving through the sewer.
And when she sensed the presence of more shepherds approaching…
“Neti, reload.”
Seti tossed the empty rocket launcher to her sister who caught it mid-air with Telekinesis.
Using the same power, Neti floated a rocket warhead into the launcher, reloaded it, before handing it back to her sister.
Having already repeated this process nearly ten times, her reload time barely exceeded thirty seconds.
Of course, her sister’s firing speed was even faster.
“Intruders?! Sound the alarm—!”
A pig-headed figure waiting at the sewer junction spotted the group and shouted, but nothing was faster than a moving rocket.
The heavy sound of a launch and the following backblast reverberated through the sewer as the rocket lit up the darkness.
And in the next instant—
BOOM!!
The pig-heads were consumed by the explosion, reduced to blood and black dirt.
Some zombies, lucky enough to be outside the blast radius, managed to survive(?)—but only for a moment. Before they could even turn their heads, Yeomyeong’s blade had already carved a long arc through the air.
The group pressed onward as decapitated zombies fell behind them.
Their approach was too crude to be called an infiltration, and the fight was far too one-sided to be called a battle.
“How much further?”
Neti, who was now using Telekinesis to float several rocket warheads around her, asked.
The group, all using the Flying Kick technique, was speeding through the sewer at an astonishing pace.
She thought they’d have surely reached Western Count Palatine’s building by now. Hence, her question.
But the answer came from someone unexpected.
“The Western Count Palatine’s building? You’re already there.”
A voice answered from beyond the darkness of the sewer.
The group came to a halt at the same time and turned to identify the speaker.
The figure emerging from the shadows was not a shepherd. No shepherd had a scrawny frame like that.
As Seti debated whether to fire the rocket, the figure pulled back their hood, revealing their face.
“Who sent you? The East side? Or the South side?”
The speaker had a gaunt face as thin as a zombie’s and bloodshot and gleaming eyes that resembled the corrupted humans he had seen back in Manchuria.
And the twisted mana filling his brain was the proof of it.
However, unlike the ones he saw in Manchuria, this one could speak normally, so it seemed like an improved version…
After the shepherd, they now had a corrupted human. Yeomyeong felt a strange sense of déjà vu as he secretly gathered mana.
But it didn’t matter. The creature mocked the group.
“No matter whose orders you follow, it’s already too late. The Western Count Palatine has already opened the path leading to the underground, so all that sleeps below is ours.”
His tone was smooth, almost like he was reciting poetry. Neti, now completely tense, carefully loaded her rocket.
Usually, such creatures would either have traps prepared or were formidable warriors—
But before she could finish her thoughts, the creature’s head was twisted all the way around.
Crack.
A horrifying sound echoed as the neck twisted 180 degrees. Soon after, the creature collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
“What a crazy…”
Did Yeomyeong just use Telekinesis to kill that creature? How was he able to do that?
Even the powerful farm owner who claimed to be an Archmage would not be able to pull off something like this. And it wasn’t even that type of spell in the first place.
Neti stared at Yeomyeong with shock in her eyes.
Even after executing such an abnormal act, his face showed no traces of satisfaction.
Calm as ever, he simply gazed beyond the sewer as if thinking nothing of it.
What on earth is brother-in-law’s true identity…?
As her questions began to deepen, Yeomyeong spoke while drawing his sword.
“Neti, prepare your weapon.”
“What?”
“And keep your guard up—the real battle starts now.”
As if in response to his words, dark shadows began to appear from beyond the sewer.
One, two, five, ten, twenty, forty…
In the blink of an eye, the creatures with eyes glowing red like those of a madman began occupying the sewer.
* * *
A huge concrete staircase leading deep underground.
At the place where no footsteps had been heard for a long,long time, two sets of footsteps echoed.
Click, click. The rhythmic sound continued for a while.
The Western Count Palatine, Joe Pantoliano, spoke.
“I can’t believe a space like this existed below the city…”
He stopped walking and gazed down at the seemingly endless staircase.
What could be hidden down there to warrant such a thick concrete bunker?
“…Is this really an armory?”
Western Count Palatine asked unintentionally. His companion, descending the stairs with him, halted and answered.
“Yes, it is an armory.”
“What kind of weapon would possibly require a place like this to be built? It almost feels like a demon king is sealed in this place.”
Seemingly finding his question ridiculous, the other person let out a small laugh.
“A demon king? The item down here is far beyond something like a demon king.”
“…Far beyond?”
“Even a demon king couldn’t scratch the World Tree, could it?”
His words were filled with meaning, but it took the Count Palatine a moment to comprehend.
However, the lifetime of knowledge he had accumulated soon helped him decipher the true meaning behind those words.
After all, only one Earthian weapon that could destroy the World Tree.
“…”
Western Count Palatine swallowed his saliva and looked at his guide.
An Earthian wearing an intricate yet repulsive horse head.
For some reason, the face that had seemed so reliable just a moment ago now appeared grotesque.
A brief silence filled the space between the stairs, and just as a look of fear began to creep into Count Palatine’s eyes, the one with horse head turned their head and spoke.
“Our country was able to find this thanks to the assistance of Your Excellency, Count Palatine.”
“Y-yes, I have played a big role here…”
“Your Excellency will be greatly rewarded for sure.”
“…”
That was right, reward—An opportunity to escape this rotten world and become a noble in the advanced Earthian society.
After all, desire was the strongest drug of all.
Pushing away the fear and doubts rising in his heart, the Count Palatine continued down the stairs.
Or rather, he was about to.
However, just as he started to move, a heavy thud from the ceiling caught his ankles.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Following the sounds, concrete dust began to fall from the ceiling. What was that?
“An enemy attack…? Hey, what’s going on? How was the enemy able to get here already?”
“…”
The horse-headed man didn’t respond immediately. He narrowed his eyes, gazed at the ceiling for a moment, and then, once the vibrations settled, he spoke.
“There’s no need to worry. It’s nothing serious.”
“Nothing serious? How can you still say that after hearing that sound?”
“We’ve already deployed troops throughout the western sewer, and there are barrier magic spells surrounding the building. There’s no need to worry.”
“But didn’t we use a really powerful spell when breaking the seal e? If they saw that magic—”
“If anyone is brave enough to try, we can just kill them.”
The Count Palatine looked doubtful, but couldn’t bring himself to argue. The skill Korea had shown so far was undeniable and real.
Yeah, maybe it’s really nothing serious—
Just as Count Palatine was trying to reassure himself…
KABOOOOOM!!!
The concrete ceiling cracked, and a large hole appeared.
Soon, amidst the scattering debris and dust, a totally unexpected intruder revealed themselves.
Footnotes
- 1. This here refers to an RPG-7. The original word used here is "Allah's Wand", but we decided to tone it down since it might sound offensive to some people and we don't want to be disrespectful.