The Monster in the Water

Evacuation came before questions.

Whatever the Han River monster was, I could ask later once we got back.

So instead of asking, we sprinted up to the rooftop. We left behind everything unnecessary.

Since the rooftop door had already been opened in advance, there was no delay on the way up.

As the last one up, I made sure to shut the rooftop door firmly behind me.

The rain was still falling.

Everyone pulled their hoods low, and Ami activated her boots.

“Something big and black came out of the water.”

She didn’t take her eyes off the rooftop door.

“It looked like a giant leech with a lot of legs.”

“It comes out of the water?”

Ami answered Yun’s question.

“Yeah. It crawled out.”

About twenty-five minutes until the aircraft arrived.

I blinked as I prepared to draw my sword. The raindrops clinging to my lashes fell away, sharpening my vision.

I focused my hearing, trying to separate any other sounds mixed into the rain.

Krrrk-krrrk-krrrk....

A strange cry echoed from far away.

It wasn’t the sound I was listening for. Once outside the Core, all kinds of eerie noises were normal.

What I cared about was the sound coming toward me.

I slowly sank deeper into my surroundings.

Staring at the tightly shut rooftop door, I waited for something to come through it.

Beyond that door stretched a flooded wasteland.

The muddy water covering the area around the building surged in one direction with a fierce current.

If it rises past calf level, standing your ground won’t be easy.

“Choi Ami. The moment the water comes in, take to the air.”

“Okay.”

“You handle communications with HQ too.”

Yun adjusted the communicator.

Then he checked the state of his gun and turned back to us.

“If your condition gets bad, say it in advance.”

He said it while looking at me.

I answered immediately.

“I’m fine.”

“Choi Ami. Did you get a sense of its size or attack method?”

“About the size of two hippos put together?”

That’s huge.

“It didn’t spit poison, but I can’t guarantee it doesn’t have any.”

“Squad leader.”

Carl, standing at the very back, spoke up.

We turned our heads toward him.

The senior, whose face was hidden except for his blue eyes, shifted his gaze toward the water stretching beyond the rooftop.

“The water flow is strange.”

I followed his line of sight.

“Do you see it?”

Ah.

A beat late, I understood what he meant.

The water that had been rushing past the building suddenly split into a bizarre pattern at one point.

As if something invisible was standing there.

I couldn’t see what it was.

But I could clearly tell that something was there.

Now that water had risen instead of air, its presence had been revealed.

Because the water failed to fill that space, we could roughly guess its shape.

“It looks like something like a utility pole is standing there.”

Carl said.

“We don’t know how tall it is, so we need to signal the aircraft.”

As I blinked and stared at the dry cylindrical gap in the floodwater, Yun moved.

BANG!

He fired into the empty air.

TING!

The bullet ricocheted.

“Huh.”

Ricardo let out a short sound.

I turned my body toward the direction of the invisible structure.

Yun didn’t stop me as I walked toward the western edge of the rooftop.

“It’s not one of yours, is it?”

“I have no idea what it might be.”

I answered while staring at the unnaturally empty cylindrical space.

How tall is it?

Either way, it should be breakable.

Didn’t it disappear when it collided with the train?

“Should I destroy it?”

“Let’s try it.”

“I’ll strike on three.”

“Do you hear that?”

Ricardo said shortly to Yun.

Instead of answering, Yun gave an order.

“Battle positions.”

I didn’t bother turning toward the rooftop door.

Destroying the structure came first.

“Strike on one.”

“One.”

Something was climbing up behind the closed rooftop door.

Listening to that with one ear, I counted.

BOOOOM!

I unleashed a sword slash toward the invisible structure.

The slash collided heavily with something.

Exactly as intended, it rode up the slanted surface and struck something above rooftop height.

WHUMP!

Something splashed into the water.

The spray made it clear something long had actually fallen in.

“Oh! There’s another one over there!”

Ami shouted.

“I don’t think there’s just one!”

THUD!

But before I could turn toward where she pointed, the rooftop door broke apart.

I whipped my head toward where the door had been.

Swimming in the rising water—

it really did look just as Ami had described.

A giant leech-like Creature with multiple legs.

SKRAAAAK!

RATATATAT!

The seniors immediately opened fire.

At some point Ami was already in the sky, and the other four seniors had already positioned themselves so they could fire without blind spots.

All four knelt on one knee and kept shooting without pause.

With my sword in hand, I stared at the Creature trying to crawl onto the rooftop.

Because I couldn’t sense its presence properly, I couldn’t tell how effective the attacks were.

And with the rain still pouring, it was even harder....

Ah.

“Yun!”

I shouted, tightening my grip on the sword.

“Someone is healing that thing!”

It had to be some kind of healing magic.

A faint blue glow wrapped around the Creature like an outline before vanishing, and I caught sight of its wounds knitting shut.

It didn’t look exactly like the magic I knew, but I wasn’t especially surprised that an intelligent will was involved.

The chances of that transparent cylindrical structure being natural were low.

There was something nearby.

Something close to human.

“Take the ceiling off.”

Yun ordered.

SHNK!

I sent a horizontal sword slash.

The white arc skimmed right over the seniors’ heads.

The ceiling structure was sliced away cleanly.

Seems my control’s improved a little since returning to the field.

Instead of exploding, the stairwell structure was cut as neatly as fish fillet, and I smiled faintly.

Not really the time to be smiling, though.

KRRRAAAK!

“Feels like we made it angry~.”

“It’s coming out.”

Sophia muttered.

“How is someone healing it?”

Either the caster was nearby, or there was some implanted chip or magic array.

I watched the Creature slowly crawl through the rubble.

Its black flesh was gouged in several places.

I could see scraps of that flesh mixed among the debris.

Rubble, rapidly cooling bullets, and black chunks of meat.

So the bullets are working.

And it bleeds too.

The rain was washing away the blood pouring beneath its body.

Ricardo gave a sharp grin.

“So that thing’s blood is red too....”

“Should I bind it with my wires?”

Ami shouted from the air.

“We might be able to hold it until the aircraft gets here! Fifteen minutes until arrival!”

“I’ll cut it.”

I offered too.

When you hold a sword long enough, you start getting a feel for even completely unfamiliar lifeforms.

And this felt cuttable.

“I think it’ll sever.”

“Then try cutting it with your slash.”

“It’d be better to get close.”

No matter how powerful a sword wave was, it still lost force over distance.

If I wanted certainty, I had to close in.

The seniors all turned to stare at me.

But Yun didn’t stop me.

“You....”

I didn’t wait for the others ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) to speak.

The instant Sophia opened her mouth, the Creature lurched upright with a grotesque shriek.

I dashed forward between Yun and Carl.

“Hilde!”

Ami screamed.

“Be careful!”

In an instant it was right in front of me.

I couldn’t tell whether it was more leech or fish.

The moment it saw me, it opened its mouth wide, revealing a disgusting number of teeth.

White teeth lining even the roof of its mouth.

A big target is better.

Smiling, I drew the blade quietly.

SKYAAAK!

“Whoa.”

That landed.

It cut cleaner than gunfire ever could.

But it didn’t split in half.

This thing didn’t sever?

“Seriously?”

Did my skills get worse, or is this thing just that tough?

Ah.

It’s even trying to dive back into the water.

“Hey, don’t go!”

“Hilde!”

I tried to cut it once more as it leapt off the rooftop—

but Ricardo shouted,

“Fall back!”

I quickly pulled back and returned to my original position.

The muddy water had now risen almost to rooftop level.

The Creature dove into it and vanished.

As I shook the raindrops from my hair, Ricardo muttered,

“Don’t you remember your whole arm getting blown off by a dying dragon’s last scream~?”

“I’ll be careful.”

The senior had a point.

So I didn’t push it.

This was a completely unfamiliar lifeform.

And judging by how stubbornly someone kept healing it, it wasn’t approaching to eat us—it was attacking.

Even if it exploded right before death, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Since it hadn’t spat anything, it probably wasn’t a venom-spitting type.

That’s why I had deliberately aimed to split the roof of its mouth.

And yet....

“Do you need the tooth?”

I muttered while rolling my eyes around, trying to track where it had hidden in the muddy water.

“It got knocked free, so I caught it with my left hand.”

“Keep it. We’ll look at it when we get back.”

“Yes.”

“Water’s coming.”

As I answered Yun, Sophia muttered almost to herself,

“Careful not to get swept away!”

The moment she shouted, the water slammed in.

A heavy impact struck my body and passed through.

The roar of rushing water pounded in my ears.

The muddy flood rose to my calves in an instant.

A freezing chill wrapped around my legs below the knee.

Even at only half-calf height, the pressure was intense.

The current was fast, and there was nothing on the rooftop to grab onto.

If Sophia hadn’t warned us, I might have lost my footing.

I raised my arm to keep the sword from dipping into the water.

Ami shouted,

“Seven minutes until arrival!”

She dropped down beside me and held out her hand.

“Hilde! Give me the sword!”

“It’s fine.”

It was a lump of metal, floating or not, so it wouldn’t help much.

But it wasn’t as if I suddenly couldn’t swim just because I was carrying it.

Besides, I didn’t think that thing had completely fled.

“It’ll definitely come back.”

This situation was too advantageous for it.

And with the water, the bullets’ effectiveness would inevitably be reduced.

“Drop the rifles.”

As if thinking the same thing, Yun gave the order.

“Carry only minimal weapons.”

Shhhhhhh....

The rain kept falling.

The seniors threw away their rifles and drew jackknives.

Splash, splash!

The sound of rifles hitting the water faded, leaving only the rain.

No one spoke.

Everyone stayed razor-alert.

The tension in the air pulled tight.

The water level climbed rapidly.

What had reached our calves now touched our knees.

Once it got to thigh level, staying upright would become nearly impossible.

The aircraft had to arrive before then—

“Ah!”

Sophia cried out.

Ami dropped instantly.

Ami and Ricardo caught her as she lost her balance.

Ami seized Sophia’s raised right hand, while Ricardo grabbed the fabric at her left shoulder.

At the same time, Sophia kicked hard with her right leg.

SPLASH!

Her strike hit nothing but spray.

“That thing hit me.”

Sophia muttered, anger in her voice.

“With some kind of tail.”

“There.”

Carl muttered quietly.

“The current.”

I saw it too.

It vanished quickly, but something circled around us beneath the water before disappearing downward.

It was waiting for the moment to attack.

One monster after another.

I frowned and tightened my grip on the sword.

Then I sharpened every nerve.

Standing against the violent current, I rolled my eyes around, trying to catch any abnormal movement in the flow.

But the Creature remained unseen.

Instead, the siblings spoke almost at the same time.

“A person.”

“The aircraft’s here!”

Yun said it quietly.

Ami shouted.

Yun’s low voice was nearly swallowed by the propeller noise and the rain.

But Ricardo and I both caught his near-mutter.

And the fact that he wasn’t looking at the water around the rooftop—

he was staring toward where the forest stood at the edge of the flooded wasteland.

“There’s someone there.”