BSW 250

Ho-eun’s eyebrows slowly rose. He had thought Gil-sang was merely listening to him out of politeness, so he was surprised to find that the man had been listening quite seriously. Moreover, to think that he actually believed Ho-eun’s words to be correct.

He felt a fresh wave of emotion—a mix of bewilderment and pleasure—realizing that his opinion could be trusted to such an extent. It was a childish feeling, but he had it nonetheless.

As if reading Ho-eun’s inner thoughts, Gil-sang spoke with a slight smile.

“Even if it ain’t true, what of it? Ain’t it better to be over-prepared?”

“……Yes. I suppose so.”

Ho-eun smiled along, his eyes curving. However, his heart soon grew heavy, and he let out a long sigh. He wished there had been someone else who shared the same doubts… and naturally, Byeonguk came to mind.

“If Byeonguk-nim were here, I would have shared my thoughts with him…….”

There had been no word yet from Byeonguk, who had departed for Hanyang. Ho-eun missed his presence dearly. Byeonguk was the person he had spoken with most regarding the Devouring Ghouls. Had he been here, Ho-eun might have been able to organize these doubts more clearly.

“True enough. He’s takin’ his time. He ain’t the type to be this late…….”

Muttering as if to himself, Gil-sang habitually turned his head to look at the sky. He was checking to see if a kite had risen. Just as a blue kite had appeared when Gil-sang returned, a similar kite would fly when Byeonguk returned.

However, as he looked at the sky, Gil-sang’s eyes gradually widened.

“Young Master. A kite…… has risen.”

“A kite?”

Ho-eun quickly snapped his head back. A kite had risen. Had Byeonguk returned? To think it happened at such a perfect moment. He thought to himself that it was just like Byeonguk.

But.

“That is…….”

The kite floating in the sky was not blue, but black.

“Haa, haa…….”

Ho-eun sprinted up the mountain. Running up the steep incline, he was so out of breath that his throat burned, but he couldn’t stop.

A black kite. A black kite!

Black was the color that signaled the appearance of Devouring Ghouls. If it were announcing Byeonguk’s return, a blue kite should have risen, just as it did for Gil-sang. But a black one had appeared.

Had the soldier handling the kite made a mistake? Yes, that must be it. Even as he tried to believe [Read on Read BL Novelsvisit our sitestyle="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]that, his heart throbbed as if sensing some impending misfortune.

“Ugh, hng…….”

Clumsy with his own legs, Ho-eun slipped on the soil and nearly tripped over tree roots and rocks. Still, he pushed himself up the mountain relentlessly. Using leaning trees as supports to pull himself up and gripping tough grass like rope, he climbed without rest.

Finally, he reached the summit. The entire world opened up before his eyes. Gil-sang, who had arrived before him, was already standing there. Ho-eun quickly hurried to his side.

“Haa, haa, haa…….”

A black kite floated adrift in the empty sky. However, the kite continued to rise higher and higher. Eventually, the color faded until it was impossible to tell if it was a kite or a bird, and then it vanished completely.

The kite…… had been cut. It seemed something had happened to the soldier who had been flying it.

But before he could worry about the soldier’s safety, a horrifying sight appeared. From behind the mountain opposite them, a pitch-black swarm surged forward like a wave. It truly looked like a wave—as if the ocean had invaded the land.

He hoped they were soldiers in the Korean Empire uniforms, but unfortunately, they were Devouring Ghouls. Ghouls charging at full speed, kicking up clouds of grey dust.

Even at a glance, their numbers were not small. While not reaching 100,000 like the main force, there seemed to be at least 10,000. One might argue that 10,000 were nothing compared to the 100,000 they had fought before, but 100,000 entering slowly from across a river was entirely different from 10,000 charging all at once on the same land.

“H-how, why…….”

Ho-eun’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper. Where did so many Devouring Ghouls come from? No, how did Read on Read BL Novelsthey appear? Unless unauthorized stolen contentcopysomeone had called them, how could so many of them simultaneously—he stopped breathing as the thought hit him.

Yes, they had called for reinforcements. Just as they had.

He didn’t know the method. They might have given orders through their tentacles, or perhaps a few had slipped away from the swarm unnoticed to avoid their eyes. In such chaos, no one would have noticed one or two disappearing out of 100,000.

“…….”

With trembling hands, Ho-eun brought the telescope to his eye. The moment he aimed it at the ghouls, a sharp glint scratched his retina.

Among the undulating black mass of ghouls, tentacles of all shapes were protruding, and one in particular stood out. A shimmering gold tentacle, Fan Type. It stood at the very front, leading the swarm.

Could it be…… that thing? The Fan Type sent by the Crimson Rain Brigade that had crossed the river as a vanguard. Perhaps it had realized the main force wasn’t following and had gathered other ghouls to return.

They approached at an unbelievably fast speed. With every blink of an eye, they drew closer.

It was an ambush.

The Devouring Ghouls had ambushed them.

“Damn it…….”

Gritting his teeth, Gil-sang hurriedly observed the ghouls’ movements. They were gathering from [Read [stolen content]on Read BL Novels]all directions, but cruelly, they weren’t heading for the riverbank—the main battlefield—but for this mountain. They were swarming toward the mountain where Ho-eun and Gil-sang stood, and where the camp was located. Some had already begun to climb. The sight of them leaping up the mountain on all fours like enraged beasts was terrifying.

“They seem to be comin’ this way.”

“Do they know this is the camp?”

“Looks like it.”

“How…….”

Ho-eun frowned at the fact he didn’t want to believe. They knew it was the camp. Then, did they also know that the people here weren’t as strong as the Gods of War? Did they know that the Bondmates, whom those Gods of War cherished, were gathered here? Did they know it was full of wounded soldiers who could barely move and were easy to devour?

“…….”

“…….”

The two of them stared at the encroaching ghouls in silence for a moment, as if watching a spectacle. Then, they slowly looked at each other. And in an instant, without a word, they both began to sprint down the mountain.

As Ho-eun raced down, he thought of the people at the camp.

The doctors and nurses from Ramjae Town who had come all this way to save people despite being in a safe town; the grandmother who had just returned to camp after gathering firewood; Chilbok and Man-soo, who would be making rice balls; and Seong-im, who would be wondering where he and Gil-sang had suddenly vanished to.

He had to save them.

Gritting his teeth, Ho-eun moved his feet even faster.

Kieeeeeeek!

Uaa, uaaaaa!

Kuaaaaaak!

The ghouls infiltrated the camp before anyone could prepare. They devoured the defenseless people indiscriminately. The cries of the ghouls and the screams of humans tangled together, making the chaotic situation even more frantic.

The ground was instantly slick with blood. With every step, the mud pulled at the soles of his shoes with a wet, sucking sound.

“Young Master, you’re behind me, right? Huh?”

Man-soo, with his back to Ho-eun, asked in a trembling voice. He was holding a spear, and he gripped it so tightly that his dark skin turned white.

“Yes, I’m here, Hyung-nim.”

Ho-eun answered in a shaking voice. He held a gun in one hand and Chilbok’s hand in the other. Seong-im was to his left, and Gil-sang was to his right. Other soldiers also guarded Ho-eun’s side. They surrounded Ho-eun in a circle and slowly backed away, looking for a gap to escape.

But before they could take more than a few steps.

Kieeeeeeek!

A ghoul lunged, aiming for their rear.

“Hyung-nim! Behind you!”

Gil-sang shouted as he sliced off the creature’s lower jaw.

“Ah!”

Man-soo spun around quickly and thrust his spear into the creature’s exposed palate. However, he lacked the strength to pierce through to the ghoul’s brain with one hand.

Krrrk, kak, krrrrrk!

The ghoul spat blood from between its teeth and stubbornly pushed its face forward. Man-soo was pushed back by the force. Just as the creature’s teeth reached right in front of Man-soo’s nose—

Seong-im used the creature’s thigh as a stepping stone, leaped high, and plunged a knife deep into its red eyeball.

Kieeee…….

Half the blade entered the creature’s head, and after its head twitched violently, it collapsed Read on Read BL Novelstoward Chilbok. Ho-eun quickly pulled Chilbok close to his side.

“Y-Young Master, are you alright?”

Even while pale with terror, Chilbok checked on Ho-eun’s safety first.

“…….”

Ho-eun didn’t answer. Instead, he gripped Chilbok’s hand even tighter.

Originally, he had intended to alert Gil-sang and the camp of the attack and then flee. He had planned to hide in a corner of the mountain or leave the mountain entirely to hide far away until things settled down, but the ghouls climbed the mountain so quickly that they were surrounded in the blink of an eye.

The nearly 10,000 creatures used their numbers to tighten the circle around the camp from all sides. There were more wounded than able-bodied soldiers in the camp, and while there were soldiers guarding the perimeter, they couldn’t block them all.

Tents were torn by the creatures’ rampage, the rice balls they had painstakingly rolled were trampled, and the arrows they had managed to make were snapped. The unconscious wounded were devoured by the ghouls’ maws, passing away without even knowing they were dying.