They desperately held on.
To keep their lives safe from those damn monstrosities.
To ensure that those abominations, too grotesque to be simply called repulsive, did not breach the base camp. Even if they did intrude, there might be a chance to confront them with sheer force…
Unfortunately, at this moment, there was no one bold enough to bravely declare they would repel those evil spirits with physical strength.
Truly unfortunate, indeed.
Boom!
Boom!
Kaboom!
But nobody blamed the warriors.
No matter how valiantly they bragged while aboard their vessels, no matter how much they boasted about the might of their martial arts and exceptional skills,
Boom!
Kaboom!
Just look at that horror.
That repulsive thing, looking as if it had been made by squishing and mashing humans with evil intent, stands before us.
With a face twisted in malice and desire, drooling putrid liquid from its gaping maw, it keeps pounding against the barrier.
Is this what it feels like to face a monster inside a submarine?
Is this the sensation when witnessing a monster rushing towards you from behind an aquarium?
There’s a wall.
Yes, there’s a wall.
But what good is that?
That flimsy, thin wall barely holds its own with the power of batteries.
At any moment, those grotesque beings might smash through that thin barrier and come at them.
If that happens, those monsters will produce awful sounds and vibrations from their vocal cords, crawling towards them with limbs squirming like a centipede, ready to devour them whole or tear them apart.
Ah, how terrible.
How disgusting this scene is.
This must have been how it felt when humanity faced wild beasts in ancient times.
Standing before a beast unarmed, with no armor to protect them.
The spine chills, the knees tremble, and the urge to flee drives one mad.
This feeling is the instinct of humanity when confronted with an unresistable existence.
Everyone is feeling this.
Everyone is feeling the urge to run.
How can they blame those warriors?
How can they scorn those who had shown their bravery?
They too must be feeling the same.
And perhaps that’s a blessing in disguise.
If the warriors had been the same as before, they might have charged out in a frenzy to slay those monsters, as they had done then.
Just one glance makes it clear that those hordes of evil spirits are not something those warriors can handle alone.
One warrior might offer a glimmer of hope against a single evil spirit, but it’s evident they would require three or four to even make an attempt.
And yet look.
There they are, swarming with at least ten of them, if not more.
If someone foolishly ventured out thinking, “I can handle this,” they would meet a gruesome end.
They’d be torn apart like a soft cake tossed into an ant swarm.
If that happened, not only would they lose precious personnel capable of battling those evil spirits, but the morale of those desperately defending the base camp would take a considerable hit.
Right now, they are driven to desperation, thinking that if they fail to defend the base camp, they will die… but if a foolish warrior were to dash outside only to get ripped to shreds in real-time, some might faint or lose their minds. Perhaps someone might even run out half-heartedly, ready to perish in battle against those abominations.
So it’s better like this.
Now is much better.
Boom!
Ka-bam!
Right now, when they aren’t overestimating their power, recognize their limits, and are quietly offering support from within, is a hundred times better than the worst-case scenario.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!
“Ha! They keep taking these bullets and aren’t falling. Damn bastards.”
“No, they have some effect. But the problem is that those damn fleshbags look half-liquid.”
“Exactly! What good is it to fire bullets and blast shrapnel into their bodies if they just squirm and heal?”
“Let’s just keep shooting for now. It’s at least hindering their movements, right? And they can’t possibly be drawing power from an endless well. If we keep hitting them, we’ll reach a point where they can’t heal anymore. Besides, it’s not entirely ineffective, right? We have special ammo.”
“Though the amount is a bit low…”
Of course, the warriors’ support isn’t hugely effective.
The warriors who came to Dokdo primarily wield cold weapons.
They had no clue how to fight using firearms amplified with qi.
They couldn’t just temporarily coat bullets in qi or infuse them with energy.
Putting qi into bullets or forming bullets with qi to fire requires some skill, which, unfortunately, none possessed.
So all they could do was load and fire their guns like ordinary soldiers.
The bullets they fired were nothing special.
Anyone could shoot them, and whoever fired them had equal force, which turned into a disadvantage at this moment.
The bullets shot from the warriors’ hands sank cold lead into the evil spirits.
The spirits’ skin was not tough at all, allowing the bullets to slip through far too easily, embedding themselves without resistance. The bullets revolved, tearing through the evil spirits’ bodies, creating holes each time.
But that was it.
The spirits squirmed, melting flesh and swiftly sealing their wounds.
The same goes for the shrapnel.
The shrapnel exploded near the evil spirits, even pinning itself into their flesh, dealing significant damage. The explosions caused losses to their bodies, and splinters scattered everywhere, embedding into them.
Yet, while damage was done, it wasn’t a proper hit.
Just like the bullets, the flesh wriggled back into place, restoring itself.
No, it wasn’t just restoring itself.
It grotesquely reshaped like a crumpled clay statue.
And with those newly formed shapes, they effectively charged toward the barrier.
It was a horrifying sight.
Yet, despite this, the warriors could not stop firing their guns because there was hope.
The hope that came from special ammunition.
“Looks like they’re gathering strength to strike at the barrier?”
“We need to use special ammo.”
Various types of special ammunition.
Bullets crafted with demon technology.
Bullets imbued with the power of Onmyōdō.
Bullets blessed by the clergy.
Bullets infused with the energy of spiritual capable persons.
There were many types and their effects varied greatly.
But there was one commonality…
Click.
Bang!
Unlike ordinary bullets, they could inflict critical damage on the evil spirits.
The warriors fired their guns, unleashing special ammunition.
The bullets flew past the barrier and embedded themselves into the evil spirits’ bodies, releasing the power they held.
Whoosh!
The hollow point bullets enchanted with cold magic exploded.
The impact flattened and twisted the projectiles, changing their forms, activating the magical effects hidden within. The magic circle triggered in an instant, releasing an overwhelming cold that reacted with the special substances inside the bullet, swelling to an enormous volume.
The result was an explosion.
An explosion of cold that could remind one of the Antarctic freeze.
The cold whipped through the bodies of the evil spirits, freezing their dripping flesh solid.
Not the outer flesh, but the insides.
Thus frozen, the spirits stopped moving.
The fact that they could wield physical power also meant that physical power had its limits.
The evil spirits adhered to the law that anything frozen cannot move, solidifying just like a stone statue.
“Ha, they didn’t freeze properly. Seriously, what kind of bastard evil spirit is this…”
But this too is temporary.
Normally, for an ice statue to perish, they’d have to freeze solid.
But the damn evil spirit, with its massive size and abnormally strong capabilities, merely stopped moving for a moment.
Surely, as time passes, they’ll thaw or adapt, and they’ll begin to move again.
To break down the barrier, that is.
“Still, we have to use them. Every second counts…”
“Tsk. I should have asked for more special ammo…”
The warriors looked on in horror at the evil spirits, who could casually withstand bullets designed to be lethal for a human.
How strong can they possibly be?
And they prayed they wouldn’t have to face them directly.
They continued to shoot, wishing to survive until dawn.
Firing basic rounds.
And occasionally using the precious special rounds.
Thus, they spent what felt like an overly long night.
A night that felt like it would never end.
And…finally, the night had passed.
Kyaahh-!
Far off, the dawn breaks.
After a dreadful darkness that erased even the starlight and moonlight, dawn finally arrives.
A crimson light spreads across the sky, and the heavens become infused with blue and red, as a round eye begins to reveal itself over the sea.
Ah, that blazing flame!
As the brilliant dawn emerges, the malevolent beings are frightened and hide away.
Kkiyahh-!
The evil spirits scream, beginning to vanish into the shadows.
Before the sun’s rays can touch them.
They move to find hiding places for the daylight.
Thus the evil spirits retreat,
Disappearing with the brilliant light of the rising sun.
What a sight to behold, awe-inspiring yet hard to believe.
The capable persons in the base camp stood frozen, long after the evil spirits had vanished.
Was this really not a dream?
Were they not just biding their time, waiting for a chance to attack when the capable persons let their guards down?
And so, they stood there for quite a while, dazed,
Until the warm rays of sunlight settled upon their skin.
Until they felt the warmth of life permeate their very being.
And finally, those who regained their senses realized they had survived.
“The battery level… 3%…”
“3%? Oh, damn…”
By the skin of their teeth, indeed.
If they had taken just a little longer,
If the capable persons had joined forces to keep the evil spirits at bay but failed to strike back,
then they would’ve had to confront the evil spirits directly.
In that case, there would undoubtedly have been casualties.
But…they had survived.
Maintaining the barrier without a single scratch,
With no one wounded at all.
They all survived.
“Waaaah! We’re alive! We survived! Damn!”
They sunk into a frenzy.
Shouting and shouting again.
They had survived.
They had truly survived.
And thus, they celebrated their survival.
Until something struck them.
“Wait, what about those two?”
“Two…? Wait a minute!?”
The two who had gone outside the barrier before the evil spirits had attacked.
Korean shaman, Park Jinseong.
Japanese shinto priest, Saigo.
They were both missing.
“Damn… Are they dead?”
The tension that had loosened with the thought of survival now returned to their eyes.
“…We need to find them.”
“Damn right. We have to…”
They needed to find the two.
If they were injured, they must be treated.
If they were dead, they had to at least recover the bodies.
“…Let’s prepare quickly and start searching.”
They began to move.
To search for the two, who were likely to have perished.
Ideally, they hoped to find them alive…
But if they had perished, they needed to recover their corpses.
And so, they began to move with heavy hearts,
Beyond the protective barrier of the base camp.
Crossing over from the safety that had sheltered them.
