By Zephyria 
A Devouring Ghoul was stuck high up in a tall, thick tree. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say impaled. Judging by the stake driven through its chest, it seemed to be dead, thankfully. The dark red blood that had trickled down the tree and pooled on the ground like a pond made it clear that it was indeed dead.
“……”
Ho-eun stared blankly at the Devouring Ghoul. It was no wonder, as it was the first time he had ever seen one. Still, he knew what they looked like. He had often seen them in pictures or drawings. But seeing one in person was a different story altogether.
“H-How can such a thing exist……”
They were said to be bigger than humans, but it wasn’t just a matter of being big. It looked to be about the size of a small house. If he were to put it in Ho-eun’s room, only one would barely fit.
The Devouring Ghoul’s general form was not unlike that of a human. It had a head, two arms, and two legs, walking upright unlike other beasts. That meant it could use its arms and hands like a human, which made it all the more threatening.
Its head was bald and shiny, with something broad forming the frame, like a helmet or a crab’s shell. But for some reason, this Devouring Ghoul didn’t have a helmet. It didn’t seem like it was originally missing, but rather torn off. From the crown of its head to its nose, it was deeply gouged, revealing its gruesome insides.
However, its mouth remained intact, its jaw gaping loosely, exposing all its teeth. The Devouring Ghoul’s mouth was long vertically and narrow horizontally. Because of this, it couldn’t tear off a human’s head in one bite, usually taking two or three bites to devour it. There were also rumors that it considered the protruding nose and ears a delicacy. Its teeth were not thick and sharp like those of a predator, but rather resembled a saw.
Its neck was thick, and its chest was short. Its belly had wrinkled, folded skin, which, according to books, stretched and expanded endlessly because it could devour three people at once.
It should have had arms, but they were either torn off like its head or not visible. No, two arms were carelessly discarded in the pool of blood beneath the tree. Its legs were bent like a wolf’s hind legs, with thin calves and thick thighs. That was why they were said to be much faster than humans.
“……”
Ho-eun couldn’t take his eyes off the Devouring Ghoul. It was so grotesque and frightening, which made it all the more captivating.
Blood continued to drip from the Devouring Ghoul. From its head, from its torn arms, and from the stake in its chest, blood flowed endlessly. It seemed to have died not long ago.
Then, with a twisting sound, the Devouring Ghoul couldn’t bear the weight of its body and fell to the ground. The pool of blood below caught the Devouring Ghoul, splattering blood everywhere!
“Oh, my god……”
The blood didn’t splash on him because he was far away, but Ho-eun frowned as if his face was covered in blood. He felt sick. He felt like he was going to throw up.
As Ho-eun patted his chest with a small fist, Gil-sang said in a casual tone.
“That’s the Captain’s handiwork, I reckon.”
At those words, Ho-eun turned to look at Gil-sang.
“By Captain, do you mean General Lee?”
“Aye.”
“……”
Ho-eun looked back at the Devouring Ghoul. Tae-muk did that? How could he have impaled that huge thing so high up with a stake? He couldn’t picture it at all.
But after that, he often saw the corpses of such Devouring Ghouls. They weren’t all impaled on trees, but there was an excessive amount of blood nearby. Sometimes, only the sight of them collapsed in the bushes was visible, and he couldn’t even guess how many corpses there might be beyond the unseen forest.
So he really left the capital.
Devouring Ghouls were everywhere.
Just as Ho-eun was turning paler and paler, as if blood had been drawn from him, Gil-sang said to soothe him.
“There won’t be any Eater Bugs around for a while. They’ve drenched the whole place in those fellas’ blood.”
“Do they smell the blood of their own kind?”
“Aye. They’ll be thinkin’, ‘All my friends are dead.’ These bastards, they won’t attack if they think they can’t win. They’ve probably gone somewhere else to find food.”
“Are they that smart?”
“Well, whether they’re smart or not, it’s the same as a rabbit not attacking a tiger.”
“……”
Ho-eun tilted his head. It was strange to call such a Devouring Ghoul a rabbit, no matter how you looked at it. But Gil-sang, misunderstanding his ambiguous expression, awkwardly raised the corners of his lips.
“Ah, I don’t mean that I’m the tiger. I mean our Captain.”
“Ah……”
Ho-eun nodded as if he understood. Devouring Ghouls were scary, but Tae-muk was a little more, well, intimidating, or perhaps it was his aura, something like that, that was so thick around him.
Afterward, the corpses of Devouring Ghouls were sporadically visible. There were none alive.
Around that time, Ho-eun was able to understand what Tae-muk meant by ‘I’ll pave the way.’
The day began to darken again. But even so, the Crimson Rain Brigade didn’t know how to rest. They kept moving, and they ate while walking or on horseback. All they ate were potatoes, rice cakes, or jerky, but they filled their hunger that way.
“Haa……”
Ho-eun didn’t eat anything, feeling like he would choke to death if he put anything in his mouth on the swaying horse. He only felt thirsty, but he didn’t want to ask anyone for anything, so he just endured it. For a moment, Deok-woo came to mind. Deok-woo, who always took care of him before he even asked for anything.
Would he have gone back to the hospital? He should have. His legs needed to heal well. So the ladies would like him. He had to get married.
As he was thinking such thoughts, his vision became hazy. It wasn’t because of tears. It was because his body, pushed to its limit, was protesting with dizziness.
He couldn’t sleep, couldn’t rest, and couldn’t eat, so there was no way his weak body could hold out. Still, Ho-eun stubbornly forced his eyes open. If he collapsed here, he would only be a burden.
But his body, which never listened to him, wasn’t going to do as he pleased now. It was when he unknowingly closed his eyes that someone shouted from the front.
“Halt, halt.”
The brigade stopped all at once. Ho-eun, startled, looked at Gil-sang, who kindly explained.
“We can’t go any further because of the horses. They need to rest too. We’ll sleep here tonight.”
Gil-sang, who had jumped down to the ground, patted the neck of the horse he was riding. At that, Ho-eun let out a sigh of relief.
The soldiers who had dismounted took the reins and went into the forest. Ho-eun was about to get off as well, but Gil-sang grabbed Ho-eun’s reins and pulled him forward.
After pushing through the forest path a little, a space appeared that wasn’t a plain, but was roughly flat. The soldiers skillfully led the horses to one side and unloaded their luggage. Ho-eun also got off his horse with Gil-sang’s help.
“Thank you. Thank you.”
Ho-eun awkwardly stroked the horse’s neck, thanking Gil-sang first and then the horse. The horse snorted once and lowered its head to graze.
“Wait here for a moment.”
With those words, Gil-sang left somewhere. At the same time, Ho-eun staggered weakly. It was because an even greater dizziness had come over him.
Perhaps it was because he had been riding for too long, but even though he was standing on the ground with both feet, he felt like his body was swaying. His stomach was churning.
“Haa……”
Ho-eun quickly grabbed a nearby tree and stood there. But the dizziness didn’t go away easily. His vision was spinning. The ends of his limbs felt cold, and soon cold sweat formed on his forehead.
Through his blurred vision, he could see the soldiers moving busily. They were all skillfully picking stones, setting up tents, and guarding the surroundings.
He had to help too. He couldn’t just stand here.
Just as he gritted his teeth and tried to take his hand off the tree.
“Excuse me.”
Someone brushed past Ho-eun. A soldier was carrying a log that was more than twice as tall as Ho-eun, whether he had cut down a tree or picked it up somewhere.
“Ah, s-sorry.”
Ho-eun, flustered, quickly stepped aside. Then, his heel caught on something, and his center of gravity shifted backward in an instant. As his vision turned upside down, he didn’t have the strength to scream. He vaguely thought that there shouldn’t be a stone where he was falling.
But.
Thud.
Something touched Ho-eun’s back, who had half-collapsed. Judging by the feel, it wasn’t a stone, thankfully. If it was a tree, it didn’t seem like it. Ho-eun, who had thought that far, stiffened in surprise.
……If it’s neither a stone nor a tree, then what is it?
In an instant, the images of the many Devouring Ghouls he had seen on the way here flashed before his eyes. Ho-eun slowly raised his head with a creak. There.
“Ah……”
A huge figure was covered in blood. It was black and red at the same time. It was different from the corpses of the Devouring Ghouls he had seen so far. Of course, it wasn’t dead either.
Ho-eun, terrified, froze stiff. His throat was blocked, and he couldn’t breathe properly. But for some reason, it didn’t try to bite Ho-eun.
Feeling strange, Ho-eun stared at it blankly. Come to think of it, it didn’t have a helmet on its head. It didn’t seem to have any teeth either.
Ho-eun belatedly realized that it was in the shape of a person. Because he was holding his head upside down, he didn’t know it was a person even after seeing it.
In fact, he would have been surprised even if he had seen it properly. Because he was covered in too much blood. Thick drops of blood dripped from his hair, which was hanging down in front of him. It looked as if he had been swimming in a pool of blood.
At that moment, the soldier who was passing by with the tree greeted him.
“The Captain’s here.”
At those words, Ho-eun’s eyes widened as if they would pop out. Captain meant…….
“……General Lee?”