By Zephyria 
“Really? Azaleas? Already?”
“I heard they are the first flowers to bloom in spring.”
“Yes. They bloom earliest, along with the forsythia. Indeed, since it has become this warm here, flowers might have already bloomed in that spot where the light hits well.”
Azaleas… Imagining the modest and beautiful pink flowers, Ho-eun smiled, feeling a strange sense of contentment. The fact that flowers were blooming felt remarkably fresh. It made him feel that spring had truly arrived, and he felt a sense of relief that winter was finally gone.
As Ho-eun continued to smile, Tae-muk, who had been glancing at him, asked casually.
“Shall we go for a walk there?”
“What?”
At the sudden suggestion, Ho-eun’s eyebrows arched upward. Tae-muk then slowly reached out his hand and spoke again.
“If we go quickly, we can be back before dinner. Well, it wouldn’t matter if it’s a bit later…”
Ho-eun gazed silently at the hand before breaking into a wide beam and taking it.
“Yes, I’d love to.”
Let’s go, to see the flowers.
Cradled in Tae-muk’s arms, Ho-eun clung tightly to his neck, watching the scenery whip past them.
In the past, being held in Tae-muk’s arms while he ran like this made him feel as if the rushing wind and biting cold would tear his ears right off, but now, though it was slightly chilly, it wasn’t that extreme. It was because the wind, which once had its claws out, had grown docile, and the freezing chill that once spat thorns had softened.
Furthermore, the snow that had piled up to their knees had melted away completely, leaving no trace. Thanks to that, the stripped mountains were fully exposed and looked quite desolate, but in a short while, green sprouts would rise across the world, leaves would unfurl, and flowers would bloom in full.
He would be able to enjoy that day soon.
It was just as Ho-eun was taking a deep breath to savor the scent of spring. Suddenly, Tae-muk dug his heels in and came to a sliding stop on the dirt. There was a shhhhk sound as his feet frictioned against the earth.
Ho-eun looked up at Tae-muk with a puzzled expression. He wondered why he had stopped already, as there was still quite a distance to where the large tree stood. However.
“…”
Tae-muk was staring intently at a spot where the trees grew thick. His expression was unusual. Consequently, Ho-eun’s face also clouded over.
“Is it a Devouring Ghoul?”
“No.”
Tae-muk narrowed his eyes as if trying to identify the source of the noise. Because the distance was great, the sound was very faint, and it took time to discern. He glared into the void for a long while, and then, at a certain moment, his brow furrowed sharply.
“It’s people.”
Bang! Bang-bang!
The distant sound of gunfire echoed from afar. Ho-eun swallowed hard. Gunshots were rare within the Crimson Rain Brigade. It was even rarer for those shots to ring out on a battlefield. It was only natural, as Ho-eun was the only one who used a gun.
Thus, the sound of someone else’s gunfire felt incredibly alien and unfamiliar. He felt a throbbing tension near his heart.
Bang! …Bang!
The gunshots rang out again. Listening closely, Ho-eun faintly frowned.
“The frequency of the shots is decreasing.”
At first, it sounded as if five or six people were firing together, but now it seemed as though only one or two were shooting. Either they had run out of ammunition, or the number of shooters had decreased—and the latter was more likely. This was because Tae-muk had mentioned sensing the presence of Devouring Ghouls.
“…”
Tae-muk increased his speed. The trees dominating the surroundings blurred past so quickly they were hard to perceive.
Ho-eun hugged Tae-muk tightly and buried his face in his shoulder. His braided hair fluttered like a flag in the fierce wind. His body jolted as if he might be flung off at any moment. Still, he wasn’t afraid. It was because Tae-muk was holding him firmly with his large hands.
How long had they run like that?
Suddenly, Ho-eun caught a metallic scent. That familiar smell was the scent of blood. He couldn’t tell if it was the blood of a Devouring Ghoul or a human.
He hoped it wasn’t the latter.
It was just as Ho-eun let out a worried sigh.
Kieeeeeek!
Kak, kagak, keiiiiiik!
The cries of Devouring Ghouls echoed through the dense trees. Even though he had heard them many times, the sound was still spine-chilling. Simultaneously, Tae-muk came to a sliding stop. Ho-eun reflexively looked forward. A blood-red landscape filled his entire field of vision.
“Ah…”
He let out a small gasp. Rather than a battlefield, it was a scene of slaughter.
“Heuuu…”
“Keup… kuruk, keok…”
People whose bodies had been torn apart horizontally or vertically were dying, unable to even scream fully. It was common for limbs to be missing, and there were many whose heads were gone or whose bellies had been eaten away. One person, whose chest had been gouged open while alive, gasped for air as if choking on phlegm before dying with their eyes open.
The ground, soaked in blood, was entirely red. Furrows made of blood were carved haphazardly here and there, and various body parts were mixed with the soil.
There seemed to be about fifty people. No, to be precise, there were twenty corpses, and only thirty survivors. Even those survivors were in a state that would be better described as barely clinging to life rather than actually living.
Bang!
Among them, only three or four were firing guns, but they too were pale and vacant-eyed, not in a state to actually aim. Indeed, the guns they fired—bang! bang!—often pierced trees or the sky instead of the Devouring Ghouls.
Fortunately, there weren’t many Devouring Ghouls. Eight of them. The leader, a Tentacle Plant Monster, was nowhere to be seen. They seemed to be a group that had strayed from a larger pack.
The creatures were feasting. While trampling people underfoot, they tore off heads or legs with a crack and brought them to their mouths. They slurped up brains and intestines as if eating noodles.
Chup, chujup, jjeop, kadeudeuk, kkeudeuk, chup…
The echoing sounds were utterly repulsive. Their teeth were stained bright red with blood, and their blood-covered black hides glistened.
As Ho-eun instinctively felt his side to confirm the presence of his pistol, Tae-muk carefully set him down behind a thick tree and spoke.
“Stay here.”
“Many people are injured. We must stop the bleeding quickly—”
“No. Stay still. Until I deal with all the Devouring Ghouls, don’t fire your gun, don’t breathe loudly, just stay still.”
“…”
Ho-eun looked up at Tae-muk. Tae-muk looked down at him with a stern expression. At a glance, he looked angry, but what flickered in his black pupils was clearly worry.
“…”
Ho-eun clenched and unclenched his fist. Gil-sang, who always stayed by his side, was not here now. This meant Tae-muk had to protect him and save those people at the same time. Since saving those people was the priority now, he had to leave Ho-eun unattended for a moment. For Tae-muk, leaving him here alone must have required a great deal of resolve.
Knowing Tae-muk’s heart, Ho-eun had no choice but to nod.
“Yes. I will do so.”
As if emphasizing that he must absolutely not move, Tae-muk locked eyes with Ho-eun one more time and then turned around. He then charged toward the Devouring Ghouls, who were happily devouring the people. The ghouls were so immersed in their feast that they paid no heed to Tae-muk’s presence.
“Hey.”
Tae-muk strode toward the nearest one and called out to it. The ghoul looked at Tae-muk with a kureuk sound, as if it understood the words. At that moment, Tae-muk swung his fist.
The instant that heavy fist collided with the ghoul’s helmet bone, a clang! sound rang out. The head of the creature, which had been stuffing chunks of flesh into its mouth, burst open helplessly. The headless creature stood still for a moment before slowly collapsing to the ground.
Thump…
The ground shuddered as the massive body fell. Nearby people screamed and crawled away in terror. Without a moment to soothe them, Tae-muk immediately headed toward another Devouring Ghoul.
The ghouls remained indifferent to Tae-muk. They didn’t even seem to realize a comrade had died. They simply glared with blood-red eyes, shoving corpses into their mouths with both hands.
Tae-muk dealt with those ghouls one by one, nimbly and quickly. His movements—tearing off helmet bones, smashing heads, and snapping necks—were seamless and efficient. Wherever Tae-muk passed, Devouring Ghouls collapsed forward, sideways, and backward.
“…”
Ho-eun, who followed Tae-muk’s movements with his eyes, wasn’t particularly surprised. He had seen Tae-muk handle eighty ghouls alone, let alone eight. This time, since there were only eight, he only felt relieved that Tae-muk was unlikely to get hurt.
Ho-eun briefly took his eyes off Tae-muk to examine the people. However, their appearance was strange. As if they had come from a very cold place, they wore hats with thick fur and overcoats that looked not just thick, but heavy. The style of the coats was not hanbok, nor was it Western clothing. Nevertheless, their features were clearly those of people from the Korean Empire.
They resisted by firing guns at the ghouls. A few, perhaps God of Wars, tried to tackle the ghouls. However, they were either swatted away by the ghouls’ hands or had a limb torn off, rolling on the ground in agony.
“…”
Seeing this, Ho-eun frowned. He wanted to step forward, but if anything happened to him, it would only delay the time it took for Tae-muk to finish off the ghouls, so he had to maintain his position.