EVS Chapter 89

“What did you say?”

“It seems the village is on fire!”

“Let’s talk while we move.”

The man who clicked his tongue as if things had become troublesome was Knight Rem. As the leader of Sa-yoon’s reconnaissance team, he spurred his horse and galloped away, with the others hastily following behind.

Not everyone in the reconnaissance team was on horseback. Only the supervising knight Rem and two mercenaries whose skills had been recognized were given horses. Naturally, Sa-yoon and Geon-joo, who had placed first and second in the skill test, rode horses following behind Rem.

“Hya!”

Rem increased his horse’s speed. As they drew closer to the village where smoke was rising, Sa-yoon and Geon-joo could see the crimson flames engulfing the village.

“Damn it, looks like the monsters attacked.”

As they got closer, screams and unsettling cries could be heard from all directions. The “kruk, kruk” cries sounded exactly like the monsters Sa-yoon knew. It was absurd that monsters had attacked a place they had just scouted while returning from a fruitless reconnaissance mission to find monsters.

“I’m going to increase the speed a bit more. Keep up closely.”

Rem spoke in a stern tone, either tense from spotting the monsters or angry that the situation had become bigger than expected, and gripped the reins tightly. As the horses’ hooves hit the ground faster, the wind grew stronger. After galloping for about 10 more minutes, Sa-yoon finally arrived at the village under monster attack.

―Grrrr.

“Aaargh!”

“Damn it, over here! Come this way!”

“Mom!”

“Ilian!”

It was utter chaos. Rem dismounted in the village, which was as noisy and disorderly as a battlefield, and immediately drew his sword. He rushed towards a monster right in front of him. The silver blade pierced through the mouth of the monster that had opened wide to devour a person.

“Kill the monsters and help evacuate the people!”

Rem, proving his worth as a knight, skillfully subdued the monster and immediately engaged another while giving orders. Only then did Sa-yoon dismount along with Geon-joo, and they assessed the number of enemies and the situation.

There seemed to be at least forty monsters visible. Adding those that could be sensed but not seen, there might be over sixty. Frowning at this, Sa-yoon drew his sword, and Geon-joo, who had been watching to see what Sa-yoon would do, also gripped the sword at his waist.

“I thought they were too weak, but they’re pack-type monsters.”

Sa-yoon muttered, recalling the pathetically weak initial monsters they had seen in the forest the day before, as he swung his sword down at an approaching monster. With one strike, its head fell off, leaving only the twitching body on the ground. Sa-yoon’s lips curled up at the sight of blood.

“You take the left side, pretty boy!”

Even if they were weak individually, this number was enough to get excited about. Sa-yoon, exhilarated for the first time in a while, spoke cheerfully as he began the real battle. Geon-joo shook his head at the sight of Sa-yoon slicing through monsters with a smile, then joined in dealing with the creatures.

With just the three of them—Rem, Sa-yoon, and Geon-joo—slaughtering over thirty monsters, the remaining beasts quickly fled, sensing the danger. Just as Geon-joo, judging the situation to be under control for now, wiped the sweat from his chin, Rem’s thunderous command rang out.

“They’re pack creatures! If we let them escape, they’ll surely bring back companions and attack when we’re not here! We can’t let them get away!”

The man shouted, almost screeching, as he chased after the fleeing monsters.

“You go too, pretty boy.”

Sa-yoon nodded to Geon-joo, who seemed to hesitate. There weren’t many monsters left in the village. Since Rem needed the help more, Geon-joo nodded at Sa-yoon’s words and followed after Rem.

As they chased the monsters, they saw other mercenaries just entering the village. Rem, spotting them running up out of breath, immediately shouted.

“Stop the fleeing monsters!”

“What?”

“Don’t let them escape!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

At the voice that resonated throughout the village, the mercenaries who had just arrived and were confused quickly raised their swords and joined the battle. Thanks to this, they were able to block the monsters from the opposite side, which would have been impossible to catch up to at normal human speed.

―Grrrr!

―Kheung!

As their escape route was cut off, the monsters howled and scattered in confusion. Rem took the lead and began to dispatch them.

“There are still monsters in the square! Some of you go into the village to help evacuate people and deal with the stragglers!”

At this order, about five mercenaries including Geon-joo entered the village. Geon-joo approached Sa-yoon, who had been rampaging alone and had already eliminated 60% of the remaining monsters, and relayed Rem’s order.

“He says to evacuate the people.”

“Is it over?”

“More or less.”

“Then you take care of what’s left.”

He had rampaged enough, though it wasn’t quite satisfactory. If he were to finish off all of them here, it would unnecessarily draw too much attention. Sa-yoon sheathed his sword while eyeing the mercenaries who had arrived with Geon-joo.

Having forgotten to wipe the blood before sheathing, Geon-joo frowned and wiped his face as blood splattered when the sword entered the scabbard. Watching him grimace with displeasure, Sa-yoon chuckled and turned to look at the burning houses.

Indeed, now that the monsters had been somewhat dealt with, this seemed more urgent than hunting them. Sa-yoon expanded his senses widely as he watched people frantically fleeing and children falling as they ran.

As his senses expanded, the area he could detect widened. Sa-yoon, who had encompassed the entire village within his detection range, searched for people’s presences.

Focusing on those trapped inside burning houses rather than those who could walk away on their own two legs, he sensed a particularly faint presence at the far left.

It was likely the presence of a very young child or someone on the verge of death.

If unlucky, they would die just like that.

Sa-yoon pondered for a moment and was about to head towards the burning, collapsing house when suddenly, his arm was grabbed.

“You’re not thinking of going in there, are you?”

Geon-joo, who had stopped dealing with the monsters and noticed Sa-yoon about to move, asked with one eyebrow slightly raised. At this questioning look, Sa-yoon nodded.

“I’m going in there.”

“What’s the problem?”

“It’s collapsing, isn’t it?”

“That’s why I’m going.”

Among the mercenaries, there probably wasn’t anyone with the guts and skills to enter a collapsing house to search for people. He was the only one who could safely retrieve someone from a house burning to that extent.

“You stay here and deal with the pack of hyenas.”

As if trying to soothe Geon-joo, who was trying to stop him, Sa-yoon patted his shoulder. Geon-joo’s eyes narrowed.

“…No matter how game-like this seems, if you die here, you die in reality too.”

“Oh, come on. Do you think I’d die in there, pretty boy?”

What do you take an S-class for?

There was no S-class who would die from a naturally occurring fire. To kill a high-level awakened with fire, it would need to be at least at the level of the flame alchemy Chunbok had shown. Sa-yoon spoke as if exasperated and removed Geon-joo’s hand from his arm.

He thought Geon-joo might grab him again, but instead, he just stared at Sa-yoon for a moment before abruptly turning his head away. Feeling a faint emotion that could have been either disappointment or resentment, Sa-yoon briefly stared at the back of Geon-joo’s head before moving towards his target house.

The other mercenaries of the reconnaissance team seemed too busy dealing with monsters and saving people to pay attention to him. It seemed they didn’t have the capacity to worry about him, but one could never be too careful. After surveying his surroundings, Sa-yoon slowly and very subtly activated his frost skill, just enough that others wouldn’t notice.

A blue energy began at Sa-yoon’s feet and gradually spread. When it enveloped his entire body, Sa-yoon stopped using the skill and entered the burning house, using the chilly energy as a shield.

The house, about 20 pyeong in size, must have been where the fire started, as there was no place untouched by flames. Burnt wood creaked and fell, and sparks flew from the ceiling with crackling sounds. Sa-yoon heightened his senses and keenly searched for presences. He could feel an even fainter presence than before. It seemed the condition had worsened during his conversation with Geon-joo.

Really, he has a knack for being stubborn at unnecessary times.

Recalling Geon-joo frowning as he grabbed his arm, Sa-yoon clicked his tongue and went deeper inside. Following the presence, he soon saw a door engulfed in flames. This place must have been relatively far from where the fire started, as Sa-yoon noticed the door was only half-burnt before raising his foot.

Kwaddeuk!

The burnt door crumbled helplessly under Sa-yoon’s kick. The frost energy suppressed the fiercely rising flames as if they were angry. Entering the room where the entrance had been secured, Sa-yoon noticed a small presence coming from under the bed.

Black shoes trampled on the remnants of burnt objects. Sa-yoon approached the bed, crouched down, and lowered his head.

“…Sniff.”

A faint sobbing sound could be heard. Evidence of life.

Having confirmed that the person making the presence was alive, Sa-yoon lifted the bed with one hand. A small boy who had been hiding under the bed to escape the flames looked up at Sa-yoon with startled eyes. His eyes were red from crying. Noticing the blue eyes that seemed to stand out even more due to the moisture, Sa-yoon nodded slightly.

“Come out if you want to live, little one.”

Speaking as gently as he could manage, Sa-yoon saw the small boy’s shoulders flinch. It was then that a violent sound came from above.

Kwajijik!

There was a cracking sound, and immediately part of the wooden ceiling fell onto Sa-yoon’s head. This seemed to be the start of a full-scale collapse, as suddenly the entire ceiling began to cave in.

Talk about bad timing.

He should have come a bit earlier. Then he wouldn’t have had to deal with this troublesome situation. Thinking this, Sa-yoon tossed aside the bed and picked up the young boy.

Kwaaaaang!

Immediately after, the small house collapsed, burying Sa-yoon and the boy.