Original Chapters (Manhwa): 80~???
20: the Nameless, Binna (2)
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Antinus was kicked out of Lee Seolhwa's body but her strength overwhelmed both Dokja and Eun-Byeol.
The reader couldn't even dodge in time and the beau could barely escape unscathed. Eun-Byeol took the reader with him lest Dokja got hurt again. Fortunately, Kim Dokja remembered that he still had the Protection Symbol of the Imyuntar and summoned Lycaon Isparang.
Both the wolf and insect fought it out while Dokja and company watched at the side.
Kim Dokja heaved a sigh of relief. As luck would have it, Lycaon gained some enlightenment earlier and suppressed Antinus. Amidst his relief, Antinus grew even more desperate. Instead of battling to the death with Lycaon, she headed straight for the meteorite.
The first to react was none other than Eun-Byeol.
[Your skill, Mental Manipulation, has been activated.]
Instantly, Eun-Byeol suffered a heavy nosebleed. This skill was more human-oriented. If the target was of different specie, he would suffer a drawback. A wave of dizziness hit Eun-Byeol but he stood his ground. The moment his skill reached Antinus, the Parasite Queen released an ear-piercing screech.
Intact glass windows shattered into fragments. Even Binna and Junghyuk, who were quite a ways away, covered their ears.
However, Eun-Byeol underestimated Antinus' desperation. Despite the splitting headache that would have rendered a normal being into unconsciousness, Antinus kept heading for the meteorite, though her speed considerably slowed down. This gave Dokja enough time to catch up and slice the Parasite Queen in half.
Her cut up body fell on the ground, silence permeating in the area. Dokja panted, wondering if he made it in time. When nothing happened, he couldn't help but release the tension in his shoulders. Quickly, he ran back to his sunbae, only to find him kneeling on the ground with Lycaon beside him, holding a cloth soaked in blood.
"Sunbae!"
Worried, Dokja crouched down, cupping his sunbae's face with both hands. He ignored the blood that stained his palms, and tilted Eun-Byeol head side to side. "How did you get hurt?! Were you poisoned by Antinus?! Why didn't you tell me, sunbae?!" Was he trying to keep up his 'I'm strong, I'm crazy, what's wrong with being a little hurt,' act?
That was just stupid.
So incredibly stupid.
"No, no," came his sunbae's groggy reply. "Remember my skill's drawback on non-human beings?"
"Still stupid!" Dokja yelled in worry. "You know it's a skill against humans, why use it on her?!"
"Sorry? Is this coming from you who threatened me by killing yourself?" A smile that was not a smile appeared on his sunbae's lips.
"..." Dokja was rendered speechless.
Right.
He shouldn't be reprimanding someone else when he himself resorted to suicidal actions to achieve his goal. "Dokja-shi ah," his sunbae acted cute, and he did look cute, so incredibly cute despite the blood smeared on his face. "I didn't get to vent my anger on Antinus when you killed her. What should you do to make it up to me?"
"..."
Fuck.
Dokja couldn't help but curse.
His sunbae was oh so cunning.
He could even grab hold of this opportunity to make Dokja promise him something.
"But I remember—" his sunbae cut off his train of thoughts. "—that you said that I could do whatever I want after you get that insect out from that woman, noh? Dokja. Kim Dokja. I hope you prepare yourself later ah." His sunbae glowed like the sun, blinding him with that face filled with joy.
Dokja didn't even know how he should react.
Should he be excited?
Afraid?
A mix of both perhaps?
In the end, Dokja released his sunbae's face. "Get yourself cleaned up."
Everything seemed to be going their way, surprisingly enough. They managed to stop Antinus from hatching the meteorite in advance, took care of the Humanoid Demons, and—
Wait. The people in the churches haven't stopped sending their mana!
Cracking noises sounded deafening in the silence.
Yoo Junghyuk:
Kim Dokja, Eun-Byeol, watch out!
An arm wrapped around Dokja's waist, pulled him close, and the sound of water filled his senses. From the corner of his eyes, Dokja noticed the water wall blocking the debris from the meteorite, protecting everyone from the sharp projectiles.
A human figure could be seen through the cloud of dust, emerging from the broken meteorite.
"Could... Could this be...?"
[The Catastrophe of Questions has appeared in your world.]
[The Catastrophe of Questions has been weakened due to its premature hatching.]
[As a penalty, you cannot attack the Catastrophe of Questions for two minutes.]
We need to kill him. Right away!
But the penalty was stopping them from doing so. In the first place, why were they the ones being penalized?! Kim Dokja grew even more worried when the Catastrophe approached a woman stuck under a rubble. He turned to his sunbae and asked, "Sunbae, can you get that woman away before she answers the Catastrophe?"
His sunbae raised an arm and a small drop of water formed near the tip of his pointer finger. It suddenly shot out like a bullet and pierced through the woman's forehead, instantly killing her. Dokja stiffened under his sunbae's embrace from this unexpected course of action.
"It's easier to just kill her, noh?"
The Catastrophe of Questions stood like a statue, stunned when the woman he was interrogating just now died in a blink of an eye. He had only managed to receive one answer, causing only the first seal to be broken. Frustrated, he glanced at the direction where the attack came from and met a pair of smiling eyes.
Eyes filled with the intent to kill.
"Ho? Were you the one who killed her just now?"
Eun-Byeol's lips parted to answer him but Dokja slapped a hand over Eun-Byeol's mouth.
Kim Dokja:
Don't answer him!
Not even an indirect answer!
Ahn Eun-Byeol:
Why not?
His face is infuriating me.
Can I cut him up?
Kim Dokja:
That, well...
You can but you still can't answer him!
Yoo Junghyuk:
You two, what's going on over there?
The dust cloud still hasn't subsided completely, we can't see what's going on.
Kim Dokja:
The Catastrophe of Questions is starting to ask questions. We can't afford to let him ask any more, it'll be difficult to fight him when he's at full power.
The conversation abruptly ended there because Eun-Byeol picked up Dokja in his arms and dodged the fist that the Catastrophe had thrown. Instead, it cracked the ground.
Eun-Byeol stumbled as he landed while Dokja caught him this time.
Golden threads and water threads formed in front of the reader's eyes faster than one could breathe, crisscrossing like a spider's web. The Catastrophe of Questions, who charged towards them, paused at the other side of this 'wall', giving it one curious and impressed glance.
"Nice. It'll be no fun if you guys get killed in one hit, right? So, who made this wall? Tell me. Can I be their friend? How strong is this wall, exactly? Can it really stop me? What do you guys think?"
His nonstop questions irked Eun-Byeol but the beau remembered what Dokja said.
Don't answer.
Even if it's an indirect one.
But if I give the middle finger, will it count?
However, Eun-Byeol didn't do so lest it went against Dokja's words.
"Hey," the Catastrophe of Questions got a better look at Eun-Byeol through the gaps of the 'wall'. "Aren't you kinda pretty? You're a guy, aren't you? How come you're prettier than a girl? Do you want to go out with me? I may not look like it but I'm probably older than you guys."
At this, Eun-Byeol couldn't keep his mouth shut any further. "What part of you would I desire; Dokja-shi's much better than a scrawny kid like you."
[The second seal on the returnee, Myeong Ilsang, has been broken.]
...
[The fourth seal on the returnee, Myeong Ilsang, has been broken.]
Sunbae! Dokja didn't know whether he should cry or scold his sunbae. This isn't the time for this!
An intense ball of purple light bloomed at the tip of the Catastrophe's finger, pointed directly at Eun-Byeol's head.
[The constellation, Secretive Plotter, urges you to dodge quickly.]
[The constellation, Spiders Are The Best, shakes the table and tells you to dodge.]
[The constellation, Lord Of The Watery Abyss, pulls his hair and asks why you aren't dodging yet.]
[The constellation, Love Me Till Death, clasps her hands together in worry.]
[The constellation, Demonic Judge Of Fire, is worried about your safety.]
A pillar of flame came forth from the purple light, engulfing half the street in fire.
Dokja instinctively closed his eyes and covered his sunbae, even if it seemed useless, but when no pain arrived, only an arm tightening around his waist, the reader opened his eyes and was met by his sunbae's smiling face.
"Dokja-shi must be very worried about me. I'm quite honored." Ignoring his flirting, Dokja turned his head around and finally figured out why they weren't harmed. One, the Catastrophe had yet to reach full power. Two, a water wall had risen from the ground and protected them from the flames. The water wall didn't evaporate or boil, it stayed the same cool water, as if fire hadn't just hit it.
"What is this?!" The Catastrophe yelled in frustration, glaring at the water wall as if it was his nemesis. His gaze shifted to Eun-Byeol, who was focused on staring at Dokja's face. "It must be you, isn't it? How dare you get in my way after rejecting me?"
Sensing that his sunbae was about to answer out of impulse again, Dokja slapped a hand over the beau's mouth.
"Sunbae."
"Shakxjdnk?"
"He's human."
"Hmm."
"You can use your skill now."
"...!"
Eun-Byeol's eyes sparkled in excitement. The beau got off the ground, pushing Dokja behind him. The Catastrophe met the beau's sparkling eyes head-on, confused why this human, who had been running away just earlier, faced him so confidently now. Myeong Ilsang planned to ask another barrage of questions when his mind suddenly went blank.
The Catastrophe that had them fleeing earlier now stood still, like a statue on display. The madness that filled his features vanished, as if washed away by the rain. Han Sooyoung walked up to the Catastrophe, snapping her fingers in front of his face.
"Woa, Eun-Byeol, what did you do? He's not responding at all."
"Simply put, he's a puppet of mine right now. Wanna see how I order him to kill you?"
"Uh, nope. Thanks but no thanks. I value my life."
The situation was now under control thanks to Eun-Byeol's skill, causing Dokja to sigh in relief. Not long after, the rest of their group caught up to them.
Binna arrived, looking reluctant as she helped Junghyuk walk straight. "Ugh, why are you so tall? You're going to squish me! No wonder brother dislikes you, you're so weak that you need a fourteen-year-old's help to walk."
Junghyuk ignored the little girl who had been antagonizing him since day one. Instead, he subconsciously glanced at Eun-Byeol from head-to-toe, checking for any life-threatening injuries.
Fortunately, he didn't have any, causing the invisible tension in his shoulders to dissipate.
"Dokja, Sunbae, how are you guys?" Sangah asked in worry. Both of them took the brunt of the Catastrophe's power, after all.
"We're fine," Dokja patted the dust off his sleeves. "We should kill the Catastrophe before something else goes awry."
Times like this, when things seem to be going their way, were perfect for a plot twist.
...
She remembered it quite well.
The world was in order, and she simply lived every day with her family. Though they had some conflicts with the other ruling species, it didn't escalate to war or anything.
Life was peaceful and fulfilling.
And then, the Nameless descended from the sky like a high goddess, wielding the power of nature in a level leagues above the strongest of their world. The world she knew took a turn for the worse.
Antinus wanted revenge ever since, she trained hard to get stronger but when she gathered enough courage to face the Nameless, the Nameless disappeared, as if she was erased from existence.
But now possessing Lycaon Isparang , watching the humans gather in a group, and seeing the very face that haunted her every single night, broke the last string that kept her sanity together.
"Nameless!"
The humans stiffened in shock, seeing her charge forward with a poisonous claw ready to pierce through fragile human flesh.
"How dare you live!"
Antinus lived in misery after the Nameless showed up. She was forced to kneel and beg to protect her family. But with one wave of the Nameless' hand, her brothers and sisters died a worthless death. They died because they couldn't find the person the Nameless was looking for.
How could they find someone who had no name?
How could they look for someone they didn't know the appearance of?
The Nameless simply watched them go on a wild goose hunt, perhaps even finding their misery amusing.
And seeing the Nameless act so happy, the grievances that Antinus had in her heart, rushed forth like a broken dam.
How come the Nameless, who took the lives of so many of her family members, can live so happily?
While she, Antinus, has to be a Guide for the species that ruined her world and killed her family?
It was unfair.
It was so unfair.
But instead of the little girl, her poisonous claws plunged into someone else.
It was the human who she mistook as the Nameless.
"BROTHER!"
"SUNBAE!"
"EUN-BYEOL!"
...
Ahn Eun-Byeol was never a kind person.
Everyone knew that. Though he acted thoughtfully towards his team members in Mino Soft, they only felt warm and grateful towards him.
Being kind and being thoughtful were two different things.
Eun-Byeol being thoughtful was because he had uses for the people around him and because they were people he had to deal with for the coming years.
The beau thought that was the best route to take. After all, he had a little sister to look after, and it would be bad if he had too many enemies. It would compromise her safety, noh? But who would have thought that the secret his sister had been keeping from him, would bring an enemy of hers instead?
He had thought of many scenarios in his head, thoughts of protecting his sister from the dumb people who had a grudge against him.
It never crossed his mind that he had to protect her against an insect from another world that could possess any living species.
He was strong, there was no doubt about it. He could kill the Catastrophe within just a few moves. He would even fight to the death if the opponent was stronger.
But that was if he was on his own.
People that Eun-Byeol marked as his would always receive his protection. He would disregard his own safety in that respect.
That was why, Eun-Byeol... forgot to defend himself.
Poisonous claws pierced right through his chest.
Ah.
For the first time, the beau called himself stupid.
Don't worry, he wanted to reassure his sister. I won't die.
But his world turned black in the next second.
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Yer author: byeol, who's your idol?
Byeol, on his 'deathbed': dokja-shi.
Ack, Neuvi needs to come home 😭
And yes, Binna's gonna be the 'catastrophe' instead 😌