By Zephyria Soon, Lee Hyun-muk gritted his teeth and set Yohan, whom he had been holding, down. Then he grabbed Yoon Seung-ryong, who was clinging to him like a leech. Veins stood out blue on the back of his hand.
“Yohan-ah, go… first. I’ll somehow… handle this here. I’ll catch up later….”
His gritted words spilled out. As he spoke and lifted his head, one of his eyes was red. Yohan shook his head left and right stubbornly.
“No! Let’s go together…!”
Even if it was an illusion, the situation where he had been separated from the two of them had been a terrible nightmare. Recalling the way the monster had changed after being touched by the Flood earlier, he couldn’t leave any more than that.
“Go, hurry…!”
Even as Lee Hyun-muk pushed Yohan away, the mass of Flood that he had barely managed to keep at bay was rapidly approaching. It was now right in front of them. In that moment, when he was beyond anxious and felt like crying, Yohan’s eyes caught something. It was Lee Hyun-muk’s spear.
If one could imbue food and people with abilities, why not other things?
Yohan snatched the spear Lee Hyun-muk had slung over his back. Pouring all his strength into it, the spear blazed with a dazzling white light, just like the metal fragments had earlier. White radiance flowed from the spearhead. The weapon grew hot. The sharp spear tip pointed towards the Flood.
Now, right now! The spear in his hand seemed to say.
Yohan turned towards the entity, like a plague, that was approaching to attack them. With eyes burning with rage and fear, he stood with his back to them, protecting the two. The moment light shimmered from his tear-filled eyes and dripped down, Yohan thrust the spear with all his might towards the terrible mass of sin that sought to devour them.
A dazzling corona of white light exploded.
Fwoosh! A silent flash pierced the Flood’s body. The wriggling mass solidified. Then, pick! It began to shrink with an absurdly anticlimactic sound. The weapon in Yohan’s hand grew even hotter. Inside the mass, light and darkness swirled chaotically, contracting and contracting.
Then, finally, it exploded with a roar.
Black soot, smoke, and filth-like matter shot towards Yohan with all its malice, but only a single drop managed to touch the back of his hand. Even that quickly faded and disappeared meaninglessly. The remaining Flood masses shriveled with a grind and fled with all their might in the opposite direction. The white light rippled in the air and vanished. The dark purple jungle was now filled with lush green light everywhere.
“Hah, hah… I… I did it…!”
Yohan, still holding the spear, staggered and collapsed. Tears and sweat dripped from his face, soaking the dirt. His head spun and he felt dizzy from pouring all his energy into stopping the Flood. He wanted to faint immediately, but he endured and lifted his head.
“Are you two… okay….”
Yohan asked in a trembling voice and turned around, momentarily speechless. There were two pairs of red eyes. The mere close proximity to the Flood had instantly turned the two into Madmen.
“…not….”
He muttered weakly and crawled forward. If they had become like this from mere close proximity, how terrible would it have been if they had been directly touched by the Flood… Shuddering, he first pulled out Yoon Seung-ryong, who was digging at the ground with his claws, trying to burrow into the earth. He put a piece of dried snake jerky, lying nearby, into his mouth, and then tended to Lee Hyun-muk.
“Yangyang-ah.”
Lee Hyun-muk smiled at Yohan, his face as handsome and perfect as ever. Yoon Seung-ryong’s teeth were still embedded in his thigh.
“It’s Yang Yohan…. Are you not in pain?”
“A tactical nuke dropped! So noisy and boisterous? Yangyang? Yangyang? Yangyang?”
“Yangyang meattt? Give it to me, give it to me.”
Following Lee Hyun-muk, Yoon Seung-ryong, sprawled on the ground behind them, mumbled nonsense. He was like a drunkard. Still, it was fortunate that apart from a few teeth sprouting from his arm, there were no further transformations since the Flood had disappeared. Yohan took a deep breath and pulled out the teeth embedded in Lee Hyun-muk’s thigh. Blood gushed out.
“Ugh, ugh….”
Even though he himself didn’t groan, Yohan felt like crying for him. Holding back tears, he pressed his hand to the wound to stop the bleeding. Watching anxiously, the bleeding thankfully stopped after a while. It was thanks to the incredible regenerative power of a High-level Awakener. His sigh of relief was brief before worry flooded in.
“What am I going to do with two people who aren’t themselves.”
It was fortunate, he supposed, that one was passed out from extreme laziness and the other wasn’t thinking of leaving Yohan. With Yohan’s current strength, he could carry both of them, so at least moving them wouldn’t be an issue.
However, he wished he could purify at least one of them, as he didn’t know when another attack might come. But it seemed he had poured everything into fighting the Flood earlier, as only a faint light emanated. As he sat listlessly, exhausted from the weariness after overcoming one hurdle, a memory suddenly flashed through his mind.
‘Come to think of it, my bodily fluid is quite effective.’
Yohan cautiously examined Lee Hyun-muk. He was staring blankly into space with an unreadable expression, humming.
“Lee Hyun-muk-ssi, this is truly unavoidable.”
As he swallowed dryly and approached, Lee Hyun-muk turned his head. Yohan glanced at Yoon Seung-ryong, who was incessantly nibbling on jerky, and muttered.
“So, it’s an emergency situation now, and you said you don’t like blood, so….”
Yohan clenched his fist and moved closer to Lee Hyun-muk. He remained calm even as Yohan bravely grabbed his shoulder and brought his face close. As their noses were about to touch, the red eyes became intensely vivid.
“I’m just going to try it for a moment….”
Yohan’s face, mumbling, was already flushed red. He hesitated greatly, but Lee Hyun-muk’s hand wrapped around his waist. He smiled at Yohan, who looked at him with wide, surprised eyes. As if he had grasped the situation perfectly, he spoke in a low voice.
“Fluttering, brave Yangyang….”
His firm fingers gently caressed his body. Gaining courage from his continued tenderness even in his Madman state, Yohan suddenly pressed his lips against the other’s mouth. Just like in the swamp last time, he hoped Lee Hyun-muk would taste him and regain his senses.
Lee Hyun-muk’s lips were hot. Perhaps due to the influence of Corruption, his entire body felt feverish, like someone suffering from a severe cold. Yohan tightened his grip on his shoulder and exhaled a trembling breath. They rubbed their soft, yielding lips together, then he cautiously extended the tip of his tongue slightly. As soon as he pushed it a little between the other’s lips, he was sucked in deeply.
“Hk…!”
Startled, he instinctively flinched and tried to pull away, but this time Lee Hyun-muk’s tongue came in. It was hot and soft, yet paradoxically, a firm core of flesh invaded Yohan without hesitation. He sucked Yohan’s tongue painfully, greedily exploring the inside. Then, he licked and slurped the clear saliva that had gathered due to tension.
His heart pounded rapidly. The fingertips gripping Lee Hyun-muk’s shoulder trembled. He desperately told himself it was merely an act to save a person.
‘It’s not a kiss. It’s not a kiss, I’m just trying to purify….’
But no matter how much he repeated it, this intimate contact felt incredibly sensual, even though the other person was just sucking all the saliva from his mouth.
Unconsciously, a faint moan escaped him, “Ngh.” Startled, he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to suppress his desire. A hot, firm grip enveloped his face. When he opened his eyes in surprise, black eyes were before him. The joy of the other person returning to normal was fleeting.
“…Hoo, Mmm!”
Even in his sane state, Lee Hyun-muk did not stop exploring Yohan’s mouth. He thrust his tongue deep inside, licking continuously. He probed beneath the tongue, inducing saliva to flow, and sucked his wet lower lip until it was plump. All the while, the black eyes staring at him were so distant that Yohan closed his eyes tightly once more.
It felt too good.
After falling into the Abyss and facing death, his sexual desire, which he had almost forgotten, surged. A tingling excitement rose in his lower abdomen, and he was flustered, unsure of what to do. Lee Hyun-muk greedily took even Yohan’s ragged breaths, completely overwhelming him.
The fortunate thing was that his mind, pushed to its limit by overusing his abilities, was gradually becoming distant. His tightly shut eyelids loosened and began to droop. The strength in the hand gripping the other’s shoulder faded.
“Yohan-ah.”
Lee Hyun-muk spoke to Yohan, who was gasping for breath, confused whether he was passing out from exhaustion or suffocating from being kissed.
“You must only do this to me. Understand?”
The words were perfectly rational, yet strangely unsettling. Before he could even properly consider them, Yohan’s consciousness became distant and completely faded away.