Chapter 13: Blood and Shadow(3)

Comet jumped down from the building window, leaving the power plant employee who had refused a dangerous mission behind.

“This world really knows no honor.”

“It’s just ordinary.”

“Aren’t you going to take the risk?”

“No need to give and take. We’ll collect it after it’s over.”

He took one soul from the soul bead and transformed it into a knife. Though it was hastily made, its performance would be lacking, it would be sufficient.

As he approached Dan Ga-yeon, who was fighting a three-story flame golem, she greeted him with a bright face. It seemed she was struggling just to hold her ground, let alone defeat it.

“Comet! What about the survivors?”

“I saved one. They want to be in a safe place. Can you handle the golem?”

“No!”

Dan Ga-yeon rolled away from the golem’s fiery fist. The ground shook as flames swept the area. Her sword struck, extinguishing the flames.

“The attack isn’t landing!”

“Try putting more magic into it.”

Dan Ga-yeon swung her sword at the golem’s fist embedded in the ground. Instead of slicing the golem, her blade merely struck it. Although it left a mark, it wasn’t significant damage.

“It’s not landing!”

“Then try using your magic more elegantly.”

Dan Ga-yeon dodged the attack again and swung her fist at the scratched area. With a sound of impact, dust rose. The golem remained unyielding. Though she received advice, it seemed to provide little help.

Breaking the golem’s core would end it, but they needed to destroy what was hiding within. The fact that their attacks weren’t effective left them frustrated.

“Why not just abandon the sword and use your bare hands?”

“But I’m a swordsman! If I focus on bare-handed attacks, I’ll leave myself wide open.”

“I’m a necromancer, yet I manage just fine with a knife.”

“Are you joking?”

“There’s no choice. I’ll demonstrate, so just follow my lead.”

Comet slowly approached the golem. Dan Ga-yeon stepped back, panting heavily.

The golem gathered its fists and slammed down. Comet lightly jumped like a spirit and climbed onto the golem’s arm. Flames engulfed him, but he was pushed away by the magical energy.

He placed his hand on the golem’s arm and forcibly injected his energy. Various magic and engineering technologies applied to the golem defended against the invasion of his energy.

Comet maneuvered around and sometimes broke through to inject his energy. It swirled inside the golem’s arm.

When he infused his energy and struck down, the energies collided and exploded. Debris from the golem scattered, and flames swept through the surrounding area.

Comet used the shockwave to fly into the sky and landed beside Dan Ga-yeon.

“I don’t have magic, so I used energy instead, but you can do it with magic.”

Dan Ga-yeon stared blankly at the result. Debris fell from the golem’s broken arm. The golem assumed a defensive stance with its one remaining arm.

“Are you telling me to follow your lead?”

“It’s not difficult.”

“But that’s a top-tier technique.”

“Oh, you know. Usually, raid users aren’t interested because mages are more powerful when casting spells.”

“Ugh, that’s not a helpful demonstration.”

Magic glimmered from the golem. In an instant, the shattered debris reversed direction, returning to where the golem’s arm had been and repairing itself.

Who made it and for what purpose, Comet didn’t know, but it was high-performance; the recovery was fast and stable.

Until the core broke or energy ran low, it would likely continue like this.

“You can do it. Come on.”

“But why are you just watching? It was supposed to be you who caught it, right?”

“Well, that’s…”

Comet paused as he looked around. A familiar man was running toward the burning and collapsing building, holding the spear Comet had made for him in both hands.

Comet’s lips curled into a smile.

This is why he loved human souls.

He simply wanted to become a civil servant. Easy, long-lasting, and smooth. Although working in a public enterprise managing a power plant wasn’t that easy, as he gained experience, he learned the tricks of the trade.

He did what he was told and avoided tasks he wasn’t assigned. He didn’t hear good things about himself, but he also didn’t endure the bad to an unbearable extent.

It seemed his senior didn’t want to live like that. Bringing in new cases from somewhere, he created more work. After being ignored and overlooked, only when he finally got approval did work start moving forward.

Some of the approved tasks failed, and most ended up receiving criticism from other departments while still achieving mediocre results. They were far from the innovative and progressive goals they had set; they were ambiguous outcomes instead.

Rumors circulated about the senior. It was said that he made others tired for his own satisfaction. Perhaps his senior had just been unlucky with his colleagues.

Unlike the bad reputation, his senior’s promotions never faltered. When asked for the reason over drinks, he said,

“Someone has to do the work. Right now, I’m just playing the bad guy.”

He seemed like a different kind of human.

As his senior’s promotions continued steadily, more talk arose. It was said he only did work that would please the higher-ups.

The senior didn’t outright deny it. It was probably a bit of both. Half a desire to improve the workplace and half a desire for promotion.

His senior was neither a hero nor a superhuman. He was the type to get promoted adequately but ultimately retire feeling unsatisfied because he never reached the top.

After retirement, he would probably feel too conscious sitting at home, so he’d open a convenience store or chicken shop, lamenting his fate.

That’s why he couldn’t accept his senior’s decisions.

“We should run away!”

“The chief left the control system unattended! We have to normalize it right now!”

“Why does it have to be you, senior?! Let’s just run away and deal with that guy later!”

“It could explode!”

“But it might not!”

He couldn’t persuade his senior. They simply ran across the power plant site until they reached the central control system. He was overwhelmed with fear.

He couldn’t understand why they were running together. If he couldn’t persuade him, he should have just escaped alone.

Maybe luck was on their side; they hadn’t encountered any wild dog monsters or golems until they arrived. He and his senior exchanged relieved smiles before hastily beginning the normalization of the control system.

It seemed to go smoothly. That was until he discovered a monster hiding in an unseen corner, poised to pounce on his senior.

Just as there was no need for a reason to follow his senior, there was no need for a reason to abandon him and flee.

Without being able to sort out any thoughts, he ran away. He heard his senior scream from behind. In his line of sight, he saw his senior being bitten and collapsing.

When he regained consciousness, he was in one of the buildings on the power plant site.

I didn’t do anything wrong. That’s why I said we should run. He died on his own, doing whatever he wanted.

As time passed, he was able to think rationally.

If I had helped, we would have died together.

It’s better for at least one of us to survive.

It was just luck that we didn’t encounter anything on the way; it’s the natural outcome.

In the first place, my senior made a poor judgment.

I just got caught up while trying to stop it.

At that point, he could move for safety.

He went up the floors, looking for a safe room in case a monster came.

Then he entered a place where he could assess the situation of the control system.

He learned a fact: the control system had been normalized.

His senior had succeeded.

It was just that he couldn’t possibly be alive.

The rescuer with black bobbed hair and red eyes looked at him.

“I really need to help my colleagues, so I can’t stay here.

You should go directly to that building and solve the important issues yourself.”

He couldn’t accept the situation.

“There could be wild dog monsters on the way, and there might be monsters in the building when I arrive.

I’ll give you a weapon.”

A spear was handed to him.

He didn’t accept it.

“Come on. There’s no time.”

He struggled to speak.

“I… can’t do it. I’ve never fought before, and I’ve never learned self-defense!

If I encounter one, I’ll die!”

The rescuer watched him with red eyes before releasing his grip on the spear.

The spear fell to the ground with a sound.

He felt the noise echoing loudly in the corridor.

“That’s understandable. In that case, we’ll catch the golem, and then you can go in with us.

As you explained, the power plant might get damaged in the meantime.”

The rescuer exited through the window.

Even from the third floor, he had an unimpeded attitude.

He lowered his head and clenched his fists.

It’s easy for him to say he’s an awakened one.

He must think he can catch a monster with a weapon.

What does he expect when he’s never fought before?

I didn’t do anything to deserve being belittled for dropping the spear.

I just…

He saw another awakened one fighting a golem beyond the window.

Flames erupted, and the sight of the ground breaking was brutal.

Beyond that, he saw the power plant building, shattered and burning.

The flames grew larger.

The flickering flames swayed back and forth.

Time was running out.

He crouched down, trembling.

The cool spear shaft was in his hand.

It felt light yet heavy, difficult but comforting.

His steps in the corridor turned into a sprint.

He ran down the stairs, reached the second floor, and arrived at the first floor.

A wild dog monster wandering the first floor turned to him and charged.

Its sharp teeth were bared, and the air felt hot.

As the monster leaped, he charged forward, shouting a battle cry.

The thrust spear pierced the monster’s mouth and prodded its brain.

Hot blood flowed down the spear shaft.

The dead monster fell, and the spear was pulled free.

He ran toward where he needed to go.

There was just one reason.

Someone has to do the work.

And right now, that someone was me.