The Jangsanbeom sprang up and slashed its massive claws, prompting the two knights to raise their shields simultaneously.
Kwaang!
A powerful impact rippled outward, shaking the cave momentarily.
[What kind of taste would your innards have? When I chew on meat, the juices flow. The fleshier the human, the lower the quality—dry and flavorless. But the human brain? It’s sweet. Sweet and a little salty. Sweet. My favorite delicacy is the brain. Kikik.]
With a voice that sounded like a woman in her mid-twenties, the Jangsanbeom spoke eerie words, its mouth stretching to the ears in a grotesque grin.
From the back, where she had been observing the battlefield, Lee Eunha shouted,
“Gi-jun! Yeonghui!”
[Gi-jun! Yeonghui!]
The Jangsanbeom mimicked her voice mockingly.
At the center, Gi-jun clenched his fist tightly, focusing his mind, while beside him, Go Yeonghui pulled the trigger of her pistol, which was as large as her own face.
An invisible force seized the Jangsanbeom’s back legs. Immediately after, two bullets, infused with condensed fear, shot toward it.
Bang! Bang!
[Heehee! That tickles. It tickles!]
But it wasn’t enough to stop the Jangsanbeom. The thick white fur covering its body deflected all of Yeonghui’s bullets.
[You look delicious. I wonder what your brain tastes like? Ihihihihi!]
The Jangsanbeom swung its front paw fiercely at Oh Haeyoung, who was draped in the red cloak. Instinctively, she raised her axe to block, but the sheer difference in strength sent her backward, leaving deep marks on the ground. If Gi-jun hadn’t lifted her up with his telekinesis, their formation would have crumbled.
Haeyoung steadied her breathing and charged forward with a beastly roar. A faint red aura shimmered around the axe in her grip.
“Hyaap!”
The fear that she might die here.
Facing an overwhelmingly powerful opponent, her body should have recoiled in terror. Yet, Haeyoung burned with fighting spirit instead. It wasn’t that she wasn’t afraid—she simply steeled her mind with the thought that if she collapsed, it would all be over.
[Yes! That’s it! The deciding factor in battle is momentum! If you falter, even the strongest warrior can’t unleash their true power! Even if your limbs are severed and your chest is pierced, keep swinging your weapon, warrior! Let us march together to Valhalla!]
‘Old man! What Valhalla?! I have no intention of dying yet! I plan to live until I’m old and gray! I swear it!’
The spirit within the pendant was none other than Ragnar Lothbrok—the king of all Vikings and a legendary hero.
The mightiest Viking.
Oh Haeyoung had yet to fully awaken his true power, but even the Tree organization classified him as an “evolving entity” due to his immense potential.
[This time, aim for the chest! Don’t shrink back! That beast is nothing but raw strength with clumsy, unrefined movements.]
Thanks to the old ghost’s advice, Haeyoung’s combat instincts had sharpened rapidly, and now, they were shining through in this battle.
“Uaaaaaaaah! Die! Die! Dieeeeeee!”
[That wretched cloak… What is it? It reeks of misfortune! It reeks of misfortune! I must tear it apart! How dare you! How dare you! How dare you!]
The absolute difference in rank between an Epsilon-grade and a Gamma-grade entity was evident. Proof of that lay in Haeyoung’s body, which was being shredded with every second that passed.
Her hair, coloured with blood, clung to her face in tangles. Her left shoulder dangled loosely. Her right thigh, where flesh had been torn away, exposed the white of her bone.
Judging by her appearance alone, she looked like she could collapse at any moment. And yet, she was growing stronger.
This wasn’t just about sheer willpower.
The heat of battle, the stench of blood thick in the air, the reddening vision, the sensation of her blood constantly draining from her body.
These things only made her more exhilarated. And as her excitement rose, so did the latent madness within her. Having held onto the pendant for so long, she had begun to assimilate Ragnar Lothbrok’s traits as a warrior.
The more she bled, the stronger she became.
The more intense the battlefield, the stronger she became.
The more wounds she suffered, the stronger she became.
The more she killed, the stronger she became.
A berserker.
“Slash! Slash! Slash! Kill! Kill! Kill!”
A crimson aura, like a veil of blood, surged from her body.
Oh Haeyoung, her eyes rolled back in frenzy, swung her axe wildly, while the Jangsanbeom, now visibly flustered, reeled back.
[Kkrrrrr! Why won’t this crazy woman fall?! Stop being a nuisance and just die! Just die already!]
The scale, which had been overwhelmingly tipped in one direction, was now gradually leveling out.
A replica of the ‘Red Cloak’ from the original entity, coupled with the berserker’s trait of growing stronger over time.
The guidance of a legendary hero, the defense provided by the two knights filling the gaps.
And the relentless support of Gi-jun and Yeonghui, who were pushing their powers to the limit.
All these elements had come together to create the balance they now held.
‘…Finally, finally, we’ve evened the playing field. No matter what, we have to finish this now!’
Lee Eunha knew.
This balance was only temporary.
There would be no second chance.
Oh Haeyoung was not invincible. The time limit on the replicas and the iron knights was less than five minutes. When they disappeared, Haeyoung would fall. And when Haeyoung fell, everyone would fall.
Which meant they had to end it now.
“Gi-jun, Yeonghui. Use everything you’ve got. This is… our last shot.”
Gi-jun and Yeonghui nodded solemnly. They both understood what her words meant.
“Damn it. I’m not dying here. I won’t die before I see my wife again!”
“…M-Me too. There’s still so much I want to do.”
Eunha leaned against the wall and pulled out her sketchbook once more. This was in case the worst happened.
They would do their part, and she would do hers.
She wasn’t someone like Lee Taeseong or Taesan, capable of protecting her team with overwhelming strength…
But she was still their leader.
The Jangsanbeom’s blue eyes glowed eerily as it spoke again, this time in the voice of a young boy.
[Alright. Playtime is over. I need to feast on your flesh to soothe my weary body. Mom! I’m hungry. Mom, feed me!]
It, too, had made its decision.
A surge of malevolent energy unlike anything before erupted.
The Jangsanbeom’s form vanished.
Swish!
With lightning-fast movements, Jangsanbeom revealed itself, and with a single swipe of its forepaw, crushed the two knights’ bodies like tofu. Its joyful voice echoed throughout the cave.
[Uhihihihihihi! Uhihihihihihi! Uhihihihihihi! Uhihihihihihi! Uhihihihihihi! Uhihihihihihi! Uhihihihihihi! Uhihihihihihi!]
“You creepy bastard!”
Oh Haeyoung, gripping her axe with her dangling arm, kicked off the ground and leaped toward Jangsanbeom’s head.
A massive axe came crashing down vertically.
It seemed like it would cleave its head in two, but—
Crunch!
Astonishingly, Jangsanbeom had caught the axe’s blade in its jaws. Losing control of her weapon in an instant, Haeyoung struggled with all her might, but it didn’t budge.
“Urgh!”
[Puhihihit! Puhihihit!]
Mocking her, Jangsanbeom twisted its head and flung the axe away, sending Haeyoung flying into the wall.
‘Ugh… My ribs…!’
The impact shattered three or four of her ribs, but Haeyoung immediately got back on her feet and charged at Jangsanbeom once again.
“Arghhh! Die, you bastard!”
She staggered as she swung her axe wildly. With a sneering grin, Jangsanbeom lashed out with its forepaw, tearing off her left arm entirely.
With one arm gone, she couldn’t properly wield the axe, and it clattered to the ground.
[Puhit! Beg for your life! Huh? Try begging for your life.]
“Go to hell.”
Growling, Haeyoung fell to her knees but then opened her mouth. She gripped down on the axe handle with her teeth and grasped it with her remaining hand.
[…Is this woman actually insane?]
Hearing such an “admiration-filled” remark, Oh Haeyoung grinned. Just then, the voices of Gi-jun and Yeonghui rang out.
“Thank you, Haeyoung.”
“…Thank you, Haeyoung.”
They were grateful she had bought them time. Even though they had watched her desperate struggle, they had been unable to help.
But if Haeyoung saw the state they were in, she’d probably stay silent.
Gi-jun had pushed his power to the limit, and blood streamed from his eye sockets, ears, and nostrils.
Meanwhile, Go Yeonghui’s hands no longer moved as she gripped the trigger of her massive sniper rifle.
They were little more than walking corpses.
They, too, had put everything on the line.
“Now, just die already, you bastard.”
“……”
Gi-jun’s gaze locked onto Jangsanbeom’s back legs.
Clapping his hands together, he released his power at its very limit. The energy compressed to the brink exploded, momentarily distorting the space around them.
Boom!
Jangsanbeom’s lower body erupted, sending flesh and blood flying in all directions.
[J-My legs…?]
“Serves you right, you son of a bitch.”
With a twisted grin, Gi-jun leaned against the wall. The ringing in his ears was so intense that he could barely keep himself upright.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, so loud it sounded like a thunderclap.
The extreme conditions.
The emotions extracted and condensed to their limit to manifest a massive sniper rifle and its bullet.
Go Yeonghui infused it with the last remaining sliver of hope she had left.
Because she believed that only by abandoning hope could true hope be found.
The bullet, ripping through the air, pierced Jangsanbeom’s heart. The spiraling energy compressed within it detonated from the inside, engulfing everything around it.
The finishing blow belonged to Oh Haeyoung.
Like a zombie, she crawled toward Jangsanbeom and, at last, swung her axe.
Slash!
The razor-sharp blade cleaved through its neck, sending a fountain of blood spraying into the air.
Thud.
Jangsanbeom’s severed head hit the ground.
Watching the scene, Haeyoung finally let go of the axe handle clenched in her teeth and flashed a carefree smile.
“…Hehe. We won.”
Lee Eunha, who had just completed her last drawing, stood up and surveyed the surroundings.
‘Is it finally over? Thank goodness… I won’t have to use this drawing, after all.’
Though her comrades weren’t in great shape, the fact that not a single one of them had died meant they had done their best.
‘I should start by reattaching that arm.’
Just as she was about to step forward to retrieve Haeyoung’s severed limb, her body froze in place like a statue.
“……”
Something was watching them from the thick darkness deeper in the cave.
“D-D-Deputy Leader….”
“Fuck. What the hell is that now…?”
Emerging from the shadows was yet another Jangsanbeom.
The difference this time?
It had not one but two heads.
[What, is it really dead?]
[Pfft. Told you it would die. I won the bet, so I get to eat all of them, right?]
Even Haeyoung, who never backed down no matter the situation, accepted her nearing death.
Gi-jun and Yeonghui were no different.
‘That thing’ was fundamentally different from the creature they had just fought.
No matter how they struggled, there was no way they could win.
Facing it meant only one thing—death.
Only Lee Eunha muttered with a composed face.
“Fuck… I knew it. I just knew I wouldn’t live a normal life.”
With a sigh, she ripped apart a drawing.
“Team Leader.”
At the same time, a massive man materialized.
Swinging his fist, as large as an iron cauldron, he sent both of Jangsanbeom’s heads bursting apart with a single punch.
Wiping the blood from his face, the man—Taesan—grinned brightly.
“Haha! You guys! How have you been?”
