By Zephyria 
78
The sky began to turn red, slowly, gradually. Tae-muk tossed the tooth he’d just pulled from the Devouring Ghoul’s mouth onto the ground with a thud. Then, looking at the sky, he breathed out a sigh. A sigh filled with boredom and tedium. But before he could even finish exhaling it.
Kack!
Another Devouring Ghoul charged at Tae-muk. Tae-muk moved his body slightly to the side to avoid it. The Devouring Ghoul, unable to slow down, passed him by, and he pressed down on its chest with one hand, while pushing up on its back with the other.
The Devouring Ghoul, caught mid-stride, was lifted up from its lower body. And then it was slammed headfirst into the ground. The earth rumbled with a thud. But the Devouring Ghoul didn’t seem to feel any pain and immediately tried to get back up.
But Tae-muk wasn’t about to let that happen. He stomped hard on the Devouring Ghoul’s chest. And then.
Kieeeeeeeeeek!
He grabbed the Helmet Bone of the Devouring Ghoul, which was letting out a repulsive sound, and ripped its head off whole. Keudeudeudeuk. Tough skin tore, and bones separated. The spine connected to the neck bones was pulled out along with it. The Devouring Ghoul’s limbs stretched out long and then collapsed limply.
Tae-muk separated the head he’d pulled off into the Helmet Bone and jawbone, throwing them to either side. As he did, another Devouring Ghoul rushed at Tae-muk.
“Ha, shit…”
Tae-muk spat out a curse filled with annoyance. He was sick and tired of the endlessly charging Devouring Ghouls. Seeing those bastards constantly popping out of nowhere, even after he kept killing and killing them, made his stomach churn.
It was impossible to kill all the Devouring Ghouls. It was an impossible task. Not because the Devouring Ghouls were strong, but because their numbers were close to infinite. There was a reason why the ancestors called them Myriad Calamities, like ten thousand disasters.
So, when you had to protect the land like this, you had to set a target point and drive out the Devouring Ghouls by reclaiming it one by one. But right now, he had to save the people buried in the landslide, so he couldn’t do that.
He just had to stand here and kill the Devouring Ghouls, who were excited by the fresh prey, until all the people were saved.
“Get lost, will you?”
Tae-muk punched the side of the head of the Devouring Ghoul that had just arrived in front of him with a bang!
Keeek…
The Devouring Ghoul staggered backward with a short cry. In the meantime, Tae-muk looked behind him. The people who had been dug out of the ground like potatoes were receiving water from the Crimson Rain Brigade soldiers. Some sniffed, trying to get the dirt out of their nostrils, while others coughed and spat out dirt.
The rescue was quite successful. Half of the people found in the dirt were corpses, but half were alive. Maybe it was a good thing that the landslide had happened. If they had just been there, nine out of ten would have gone into the Devouring Ghoul’s mouths.
At that moment, the Devouring Ghoul, whose Helmet Bone had been dented by Tae-muk’s punch, charged at him again, panting. Tae-muk fearlessly shoved his hand into the Devouring Ghoul’s wide-open mouth. And then, grabbing the teeth that were as sharp as saws with his bare hand, he pressed down hard.
Jijijik.
The Devouring Ghoul’s jaw tore. The moment it looked down with a foolish face, having lost its lower jaw in an instant, Tae-muk grabbed the roof of its mouth and ripped off the Helmet Bone, ttudududuk.
Dark red blood and disgusting flesh splattered everywhere. Tae-muk didn’t even blink as he was hit by it. It was then.
“Captain, reporting in.”
A familiar voice was heard from behind him. It was Byeonguk.
“Speak from there.”
Tae-muk said, kicking the headlessly standing Devouring Ghoul with his foot.
“The west shelter was completely destroyed by the landslide. It seems unusable.”
“That’s some fucked up news. Again.”
“Dong-ja Noonim has arrived at the school. It seems impossible to go to the west shelter, so I told her to protect the people there and wait until further orders.”
“Yeah. Again.”
“Gil-sang Hyung has also arrived at the hospital and joined the town guards to protect it. I told him to wait for further orders as well.”
At that, Tae-muk stopped breathing for a moment. He ran his tongue deeply along the inside of his cheek. Then, throwing the torn Helmet Bone to one side, he asked.
“Choi Ho-eun?”
There, the Helmet Bones of the Devouring Ghouls that Tae-muk had killed so far were piled up like a mountain. A new Helmet Bone fell on top of it with a thud and slid down. The hard bones collided with each other, making a rattling sound.
“Of course, she is safe.”
Byeonguk replied quickly.
“How is she safe?”
But Tae-muk asked back.
“Yes? Uh…”
Byeonguk blinked rapidly at the unexpected question. The index finger next to his thigh twitched. Tae-muk seemed to want more news about Ho-eun, but there was nothing to report… Something, even something trivial, even a word…
He quickly recalled a word that a soldier from the hospital had said casually.
“I picked up a child on the way to the hospital…”
“A child?”
“Yes. But that… the child was injured, so she’s running around the hospital looking for a doctor.”
At that, Tae-muk turned around abruptly. Then he came towards the soldier with big steps. His eyes were strangely flashing.
“Speak clearly. Is Choi Ho-eun hurt?”
Byeonguk straightened his back at the approaching distance. He pulled his chin in and kept his eyes on the air, not on Tae-muk. Then he shook his head concisely.
“No. The child is hurt. I heard that she is looking for a doctor to treat the child. I’m sure of it.”
If Ho-eun had been hurt, the report wouldn’t have been so bland. Ho-eun’s safety was Tae-muk’s safety, Tae-muk’s safety was the safety of our Crimson Rain Brigade, and at the same time, it was the safety of this country.
“…”
Tae-muk, tilting his head, stared at Byeonguk intently. He didn’t even know why he was doing that. Was he afraid that Byeonguk would lie? Or was he afraid that the report was wrong?
“…Okay.”
Tae-muk, who answered briefly, roughly wiped away the blood flowing down his temple. He wasn’t too worried because he had put a trustworthy guy next to Ho-eun, but he checked just in case. There was no other reason. Just, checking. That was all.
But an injured child. To pick up something like that.
He thought, ‘She can’t even take care of her own body, but she’s meddling again.’ She’d be running around the hospital with that white face full of worry. Her hair tied with a beautiful silk Hair Tie fluttering. To save a child she’s never even met.
Maybe she was even crying. Didn’t she cry when Gil-sang was hurt? As if a Devouring Ghoul’s fingernail stuck in his shoulder was a big deal, the way she cried and cried was so funny.
Tae-muk, who was thinking that far, suddenly looked down at his hand.
“…”
His hand was a mess. His palm was torn, and his fingers, which had been marked by saw-like teeth, had dark red holes where blood had pooled black. His ring finger was torn almost to shreds, and his thumb was bent strangely, so it wouldn’t move even when he made a fist.
It was quite a gruesome sight, but Tae-muk didn’t feel any pain or fear. It was because he had lived a life where he could dismiss such pain and wounds as ‘nothing’.
But why was he looking at his tattered palm now…?
“…”
It suddenly occurred to him that he had never seen Ho-eun cry when he was hurt.
He was hurt much more than her, if you were going to talk about injuries.
Well, it’s not like he particularly wanted her to cry for him, but he didn’t feel good that she only cried for Oh Gil-sang. He didn’t want her to cry because of that injured child either.
“Um… Captain, there’s a Devouring Ghoul coming behind you.”
It wasn’t because he didn’t want to see her cry.
If he had to pick one, it was more on the good side. The way her long eyelashes were heavily drooping with tears, and the way her cheeks turned pale as she cried, but her lips turned red, and the way his molars ached when he looked at it. Of course, other places too.
“Captain.”
So. Was she crying now too? He wanted to know. He wanted to see it with his own eyes, not just hear it from others. He should have just brought her with him if he had known this would happen.
“Captain, I’ll take care of it.”
Byeonguk, seeing Tae-muk’s lack of response, took out the spear he was carrying on his back. And he aimed it at the rapidly approaching Devouring Ghoul.
Kaaaaaaak! Kack, kagak!
The Devouring Ghoul, which had come close, opened its mouth wide towards Tae-muk’s head. At that moment. Tae-muk, turning his body halfway, clenched his tattered hand tightly and backhanded the Devouring Ghoul’s head. With a bang! The Devouring Ghoul’s head exploded like a grenade. The body flew far away and crashed into the wall of a building.
“…”
Byeonguk’s mouth gaped open as he watched it. He had seen his strength hundreds, thousands of times, but his spine still tingled every time he saw it.
No, that’s not it. This is different from before.
Tae-muk had been strong enough to lose his mind until now, but now. So, Tae-muk after meeting Ho-eun had become incredibly strong.
He had used so much strength that the Devouring Ghoul’s corpse was piled up like a mountain, but he was still standing on his own two feet. Before, he would have frowned and clutched his chest, or coughed up blood.
“Are… are you alright?”
Byeonguk asked cautiously.
“Yeah.”
Tae-muk answered, roughly shaking his throbbing hand in the air.
“Are you not in pain?”
“Well, it’s moderate.”
“Still, it’s best not to use any more strength. We’ll take care of it from now on.”
Byeonguk said worriedly. But Tae-muk shook his head.
“It’s okay. Someone said they’d hold my hand.”