By Zephyria 
73
However, Gil-sang hadn’t fallen off. His legs were still wrapped around the horse’s waist. Only his upper body was lowered from the running horse, making it look like acrobatics.
“Haa…”
The moment Ho-eun let out a sigh of relief, Gil-sang’s fingertips scraped across the dirt ground. When he reached the child, Gil-sang snatched the child’s waist. The child’s arms and legs stretched forward due to the rough recoil. And at the same time.
Kaaaak! Kak!
Kak, Kagak, Kaaaak!
Devouring Ghouls began to pour out of nearby buildings. From the rooftops, windows, doors, and alleys, dark-colored Devouring Ghouls surged out haphazardly. It was like a wave made of Devouring Ghouls. A wave with a cockroach-like dark color.
Ho-eun had encountered quite a few Devouring Ghouls, but this was the first time he had seen so many. At a glance, there seemed to be hundreds. It was a wonder how they had all been hiding.
Ho-eun sensed an ominous future.
They can’t win this. Not even Gil-sang can do it. Tae-muk had to be here. No, maybe it would be impossible even with Tae-muk.
What to do now? Is this how I die? The moment Ho-eun thought that far and loosened his grip on the reins.
“Faster! Faster!”
Gil-sang shouted, veins popping out of his neck. Ho-eun looked at his back as he went ahead. For some reason, Gil-sang didn’t seem to want to fight at all. He was only holding the child tightly and didn’t even draw his sword.
But strangely, Ho-eun felt relieved at the sight. He had an inexplicable conviction that Gil-sang had a clever plan to overcome this difficulty.
Ho-eun, with his lips tightly shut, readjusted the reins and spurred the horse on even faster. Occasionally, his lean body, unable to withstand the recoil, tried to fly into the sky, but each time, he clenched his teeth and endured, his insteps firmly planted in the stirrups.
Dudududu, dududududu.
The sound of hooves echoed loudly. As the Crimson Rain Brigade sped away, the Devouring Ghouls began to chase after them frantically. With the horse running and the Devouring Ghouls running, the surroundings trembled as if there was an earthquake. The vibrations made his fingertips and cheeks tingle.
“…”
Gil-sang, holding the child in his arms, kept looking back to check something. Each time, Ho-eun couldn’t help but follow him and look back.
The Devouring Ghouls were chasing after them at a very fast speed. Their panting breaths and the croaking sounds, as if they had phlegm in their throats, were threatening and disgusting.
Moreover, their numbers continued to increase. Perhaps because the ones that had disappeared into the alleys before had joined them, they not only filled the road but also ran on the roofs of houses.
The Devouring Ghouls’ thighs were unusually thick compared to their bodies, allowing them to move at a fast speed, so the gap didn’t widen easily. No matter how much they ran, the Devouring Ghouls didn’t get further away; instead, they got closer.
Just as Ho-eun was biting his lip in anxiety, Gil-sang suddenly pulled hard on the reins and changed direction. Ho-eun, who hadn’t been prepared, belatedly pulled on the reins, but the clever horse followed him on its own. Gil-sang glanced at Ho-eun and then stared ahead again.
An alleyway with thatched-roof houses and tiled-roof houses intertwined appeared. Unlike the main road, the alley was narrow and didn’t get much sunlight. The horses carrying the soldiers were packed tightly together on the narrow road. The fluttering cloaks brushed against each other’s arms and thighs.
Kaaaak!
Kak, Keok, Kagak!
Kaaak, Kak, Kkik…
Due to the sudden change in direction and the drastically reduced width of the road, the Devouring Ghouls chasing after them collided with each other, crashed into walls, were crushed, and trampled. The Devouring Ghouls’ limbs were tangled in a chaotic mess.
Thanks to that, the speed of the Devouring Ghouls slowed down for a moment, but it was only for a moment. The Devouring Ghouls in the back row jumped over the tangled Devouring Ghouls and ran forward. The moment the distance widened even a little.
“Now!”
Gil-sang shouted. Then, the soldiers following behind took out three or four of something that looked like potatoes from their pockets and casually dropped them on the ground.
Something hard and heavy like iron balls rolled away with sounds of tang, teong, teodeong, and disappeared into the Devouring Ghouls. As Ho-eun turned back to look at the unidentified objects.
Pubeobeobeong!
Pubeong!
Pubeobeobeong!
Explosions rang out. Only then did Ho-eun realize that what the soldiers had thrown were grenades.
Grenades. He had completely forgotten about their existence. The Crimson Rain Brigade soldiers usually used short-range weapons like swords and spears, and didn’t use new-style weapons often. Moreover, Tae-muk fought with his bare hands…
Kaaaak, Kak!
Kaaa…
The Devouring Ghouls swept up in the chain explosions all fell backward at once. Severed arms and legs floated into the sky and then fell to the ground. Crimson blood quickly soaked the ground. Blood poured down like rain, streaming down the walls and roofs of nearby buildings.
It was a successful attack. Ho-eun was sure that they were dead.
But when the explosions stopped and the thick smoke rippled and dissipated.
Kkieeeeeek!
Devouring Ghouls covered in blood appeared. Although their arms or legs were blown off, and their sides were caved in, none of them were dead. This was because the grenades had failed to penetrate the Devouring Ghouls’ thick helmets.
Still, quite a few of them were unable to move. As they fell and floundered, the distance widened further. If they kept running like this, they would somehow be able to reach the hospital.
“…”
Ho-eun looked at Gil-sang’s back as he led the way.
No one in the Crimson Rain Brigade was hurt, and the child was saved as well. Ho-eun knew that Gil-sang was an excellent soldier, but he seemed to be much more outstanding than he had imagined. At the same time, he felt ashamed of himself for predicting an unfortunate future the moment the Devouring Ghouls appeared.
To think that he, who was the most lacking here, had such thoughts. From now on, he shouldn’t make hasty judgments, hasty fears, or hasty sorrows.
Ho-eun, with his lips tightly pressed together, kicked the horse’s side a little harder.
[Daehan Mukeo Hospital]
In the distance, the destination began to appear. The hospital, made of red bricks, was larger than any building they had passed, and a sign with the hospital’s name written one letter at a time was attached to the roof.
However, although the hospital building was visible, the entrance was not. This was because the corpses of the Devouring Ghouls surrounded the hospital, piled up as high as Ho-eun’s height.
“Oh…”
Ho-eun sighed softly. He had finally found the destination, but there was no way to enter. It seemed impossible to jump over or climb over the mountain of Devouring Ghouls while riding a horse. It might be possible to get off the horse and crawl on his hands and knees, but…
Ho-eun looked back. The Devouring Ghouls were still panting and following. Even with one arm or one leg missing, they limped and stubbornly followed. It was impossible to get off the horse and crawl with those things following. He would be caught as soon as he got off.
At this rate, he was stuck, blocked from both the front and the back.
Ho-eun felt his palate dry up, but he decided not to be unhappy. Because Gil-sang was here. He believed that he would somehow find a way. Even if it meant going against those Devouring Ghouls, he was prepared to follow.
Gil-sang continued to run towards the hospital without slowing down. Just as the hospital was getting closer and closer.
The left corner of the pile of Devouring Ghoul corpses twitched as if it were alive, and soon collapsed downward. And someone appeared through the gap.
“This way!”
It was a Crimson Rain Brigade soldier whose name he didn’t know but whose face he recognized. He was also the soldier who had gone to a different place alone at Gil-sang’s signal earlier.
“Come this way!”
He shouted loudly and began to make a path by throwing and pushing the corpses of the Devouring Ghouls nearby with his hands and body. Soon, a fence appeared. Made of iron, it soared high into the sky, and the ends were pointed like spears. Soon, it opened with a creaking sound.
It wasn’t fully open. It was only wide enough for two or three horses to barely enter at a time. Seeing that, Gil-sang slowed down the horse slightly and said to Ho-eun.
“Young master, please go in first.”
“But…”
Ho-eun tried to argue, but then nodded.
“Yes, I understand.”
Ho-eun spurred the horse on faster. Gil-sang passed him by in a flash. He seemed to gradually slow down, and eventually stopped altogether. Holding the child in one arm, he drew his sword with the other and guarded against the approaching Devouring Ghouls.
Meanwhile, the other soldiers passed him and followed Ho-eun. In a daze, Ho-eun became the leader.
Ho-eun was worried about Gil-sang, but he decided not to look back. He judged that it would be helpful to get inside quickly.
Continuing to run, Ho-eun soon crossed the mountain of Devouring Ghoul corpses. The Devouring Ghouls seemed to have been dead for a long time, and they smelled terrible. It was a completely different smell from the smell of human corpses he had encountered in the wasteland before. It was much more acrid and stinging.
“Ugh…”
It was literally a stench. His nose tingled so much that even his eyeballs stung. Every time he breathed, his brain throbbed, so he simply stopped breathing.