久久大陆

[WARNING: [BOSS] FOE APPROACHING.]

It was through the touch of his shadow-formed particles that stretched around the corner of the street did he sense it before the other two, but they sensed it soon enough.

"Hey, what's—"

As Xiaodan stepped forward, all words were stifled and movements were frozen as a thunderous stomp echoed out:

It stepped out from around the corner. The scrape of what it dragged across the cement was like nails to a chalkboard.

"…What the hell is that thing?" Korain asked in quiet disbelief.

The pale-white entity was tall and bulky, possessing a humanoid body but the head of a fish with pale, feathered wings protruding from the sides of its head. It was easily four meters tall, holding in its arms its prey.

There were demons limp in its grasp along with humans, all dripping of blood and reeking of death.

[BOSS Enemy Identified: The Exterminator | Level 38]

A Defect…? It's hunting demons and humans alike? It looks like trouble, he thought.

There was no hesitation in drawing his daggers as he called out to the two behind him, "Stay behind me! I'll handle this!"

"Are you kidding me?! Do you not see that ugly bastard's level?!" Korain yelled in response.

"Yeah! That's too much to handle by yourself!" Xiaodan added.

He didn't relent, "—And you two are half-dead as is! You'll only get in my way now!"

"Gh-!" Korain angrily clenched his teeth, "I'm perfectly capable of fighting!"

"I don't want to hear it—"

Just as he was retorting, having turned back to respond to his ally, the wind changed.

A sharp chime played against his eardrums.

Whistling? The air is…? He thought.

He could see the expressions slowly change on the faces of Korain and Xiaodan as they were able to see what was coming from behind.

As he turned back around in that moment of heightened perception—his stomach sank in shock and confusion at what he saw:

Bodies? He thought.

They were thrown in his direction as blood laced the air, flapping with the limpness that came of death.

Time fully resumed—

"What the?!" He let out.

The air whistled as the thrown corpses zoomed by like cannonballs, crashing into the ground around them before exploding into messes of flesh.

Chunks of meat exploded like shrapnel and the smell of iron filled his nostrils as he stood there amidst the dust clouds that were kicked up.

"…What was that?What…?" Xiaodan said.

He looked forward, seeing the fish-headed man-bodied Defect standing on the other end of the block, raising its arm slowly.

"What is it…?" He mumbled.

While the other two were still perplexed by the corpse projectiles, he was watching the Exterminator closely as its hand morphed into a new form: it was a snow-white binding of barrels with a handle protruding from the side.

What's that…? Wait, that's a…! He realized.

"Move! Get to cover!" He shouted.

He was forced to grab onto both of his allies, tackling them behind the abandoned delivery truck.

"Huh? Why did you—?" Xiaodan asked.

The question was answered as the sound of gunshots filled the air, soon sailing through the streets and colliding against the truck they were hiding behind.

"Gah! Gunfire?!" Xiaodan said, hugging his own head.

All of the windows in the street were shot out by the rapid gunfire, shattering as the abnormal bullets carved up the street.

He was forced to quickly move his boot as it was merely an inch from behind the truck, but a bullet came zipping by anyway, nearly nicking his foot.

"Shit! It really is shooting at us! What kind of Defect even is that?!" Korain said.

It was hard to focus on the words from the man's mouth as the sound of glass breaking, cars being battered by bullets, and the block being scraped up, all filled his ears with an abrasive orchestra.

"It had a "BOSS" identifier on it! That's not something we can fight in our condition, is it…? We have to run!" Xiaodan said.

He huffed, keeping his back pressed tightly against the truck, "--Maybe I could make it out of here, but if either of you tried, you'd be turned into swiss cheese."

"--" Xiaodan went silent.

"You're a real ass today, lad. But…that's what we need," Korain breathed out with a wry smile.

The bullets continued filling the block while the slow stomps of the fish-headed Defect began moving down the street.

He glanced around the carved-up truck, getting a small peek at the Exterminator before being forced to hide again as a bullet flew by.

"What's the game plan?" Korain asked.

"--" He was silent for a minute as he gathered his breath before he gripped the handles of his weapons tightly, calmly answering, "I'll take it on."

As expected, his words spurred on his worried allies as they looked at him as if he were some sort of madman.

"Quit with that, Jeong-Hui! You don't seriously think you can fight something like that, do you?" Xiaodan asked him concernedly.

"...I thought it was crystal clear that I wasn't letting you get yourself killed for a half-dead old man like myself," Korain added in.

He was quiet for a moment before looking up with his calm expression, "Who said anything about dying?"

"Huh?" Xiaodan raised an eyebrow.

"I'll buy you both enough time to go around this thing. I can do that much. Just give me the signal when you're in the clear, and I'll make a run for it," he said, "--if there's one thing I'm good at, it's surviving. Let me use that."

"--"

This proposition made the other two silent while the hail of gunfire continued, carving up the land in its path as the truck behind them only became more and more shriveled up by the bullets.

"We don't have much time. Hurry and decide–now," he said.

Amidst this dreadful night, his attitude had slowly shifted, being molded by hardship into necessity of one that sought the most optimal outcome for survival; this resulted in a certain abrasion to his words.

Korain looked down at him, "Lad, you better not let yourself die here. Not when we're this close to the Tower."

"Of course," he nodded.

–Just like that, it was decided.

While the other two ran straight for the alley leading to the neighboring buildings so they could go around the Exterminator, he made his move.

SWOOSH.

Out from behind the truck, something was flung out–

The fish-headed, bulky Defect swerved its arm-gun to the side, filling the object with holes, leaving it in tatters within a moment.

A coat.

–It was a distraction; now running along the wall towards the pale-white Defect, the red-headed assassin sprinted without his coat on, only having his black t-shirt on beneath.

The minigun-turned arm pointed in his direction, resulting in the torrent of gunfire to begin carving up the brick wall, but not before he vanished from the sideways platform–now appearing to the side of the Exterminator with his daggers in hand.

Utter focus swirled in his emerald irises; there wasn't a thought flowing through his concentrated mind.

He swept his daggers from a near distance, unleashing violet slashes in a set of [Twilight Cutters] that carved through the asphalt and crashed against the muscular, giant body of the Exterminator.

–No effect.

It was annoying, but not surprising to him as he began sprinting around again, running as the gunfire chased behind his feet.

This thing is a level higher than Dae-Mon. I was hardly able to survive against Dae-Mon…I needed Yeong-Un's help to finish him–and this thing is stronger than that. But, I'm stronger, too, he thought.

"--!"

Amidst his run from the constant gunfire, he was caught off-guard as the fish-headed creature was looming over him, blocking his path with stomach-dropping speed.

What? I assumed it was a ranged-fighter…Is it not? This kind of speed–he thought.

That minigun-shaped right arm of the creature morphed, taking the shape of a massive mallet that was slammed down towards him.

It's just like him–Dae-Mon. This ability to morph its body…That just means I have experience here! He thought.

With a [Blink Step] executed just as the blunt side of the snow-white hammer began to press down on the flowing vermilion strands of his hair, he reappeared above the Exterminator. The oversized mallet slammed into the asphalt, sending a ripple of destruction through the street as the asphalt split and caved.

In his mind, the thought of what would've happened if he were still on the other side of that blunt force was prominent–there was no doubt that his brain matter would've been painted across the street like contemporary art.

Still, he followed through, having the broad, feathered back of the Exterminator open to him.

"Ripper!"

[Spirit: -200 | 3700/3900]

The onslaught of slashes came swiftly, using the adrenaline flowing through his veins to amplify the strength of his attacks as he etched them across the Defect's back.

But, there was once again a futile display on his end.

–Not even that? He thought in surprise.