Chapter 24

Enticing Blood with the Right Hand

Crawling beneath the gap of a grotesquely twisted train car, I lay flat on my stomach and steadied my breathing.

Hooo. Hooo.

The sound of breathing through a gas mask was difficult to hide.

Whenever I inhaled, the rubber would pull slightly inward, and the damp texture brushed against my cheeks. Whenever I exhaled, air that couldn't fully escape swirled around inside the mask before condensing into droplets like morning dew.

Because the fog had already risen to thigh height when we'd entered, everything beyond the lenses appeared pale and hazy. The chill of the damp marble tiles seeped through my clothing and into my skin.

But moving carelessly wasn't an option.

Beyond the whitish fog, I could see the shadows of tangled capillaries contracting and expanding as they retreated toward the ceiling.

At the same time, the monster's groans and footsteps echoed through the station.

Grrrk...

I had learned eye magic, not ear magic.

I couldn't hear whatever that creature was muttering to itself.

For the first time all day, I was profoundly grateful for that fact.

It was also the first time I'd genuinely felt sorry for Shin Nain, that lunatic.

Clack.

The priest monster's foot struck the rail.

Clack. Clack.

The being that had once knelt before an altar no longer knelt.

The eyes that had once gazed upon a cross were gone.

And yet it still wandered in search of the living.

Still, a creature without eyes had obvious limitations.

The priest monster, walking between the tracks beneath the platform, suddenly froze.

Its silhouette shifted within the fog.

Slowly, it raised its limp arms and touched the place where its head had once been.

No gurgling groans escaped it.

Only the futile gesture of someone expecting to find something that no longer existed.

Its fingers touched the great artery extending from its spine to the ceiling.

For a moment, the creature stood perfectly still.

Both hands wrapped around that unnatural artery, caressing it as though savoring its pulse.

Thump.

The capillaries across the ceiling convulsed and glowed crimson.

The red light was bright enough to momentarily overpower even the flickering fluorescent lamps.

Beneath that eerie glow, the priest monster remained silent.

Instead, it caressed its artery with reverence.

Tenderly.

Devoutly.

As though performing a sacred rite.

And then it sang through its dangling tongue.

That was the attack.

A song performed by a priest whose lips, mouth, and vocal cords barely remained.

The wet rattling groans and dangling tongue striking against its exposed jaw became drums and music-box chimes.

Within the underground cavern, bizarre rhythms and melodies collided.

The problem was the dizziness.

I clutched my chest while holding my rifle beneath my arm, but I couldn't suppress the nausea.

Back when I lived alone, I'd once gotten food poisoning from eating week-old takeout because I didn't want to waste money.

This was worse.

Far worse.

A wave of weakness swept through me as my vision spun.

At this rate...

I was going to keep vomiting.

"Ugh...!"

I ripped off my gas mask and immediately turned my head.

"Bleeeurgh!"

Acidic stomach fluid poured out.

Fortunately, I hadn't eaten a proper lunch.

For the first time in my life, I was deeply grateful to my past self for developing the habit of eating light breakfasts.

Relieved that I'd removed the mask before vomiting inside it, I spat, wiped my mouth, and immediately put it back on.

There could still be blood agents lingering underground.

Or perhaps that monster might release something similar.

That thought made me tighten my grip on the rifle tucked beneath my arm.

Then I saw it.

The priest monster was looking directly at me.

A chill ran down my spine.

It had no eyes.

Yet it felt as though our gazes had met.

The creature stood silently, staring through the fog toward the gap beneath the train where I was hiding.

When I activated my vision and looked ten seconds ahead, crimson footprints were already stamped atop my right hand.

At that moment, I moved faster than I ever had in my life.

I curled and uncurled like a shrimp.

I didn't care that vomit smeared my pants.

I just rolled.

The instant I tumbled away, I understood what had been about to happen.

Within the gray cloud of dust, shattered concrete, and fog, capillaries spread across the train like an intricate net.

The strands descending from the ceiling gently reached toward where I'd been lying.

Like a mother tenderly caressing a beloved infant.

Soft.

Silent.

Secretive.

Every pulse caused the web enveloping the train car to writhe.

For a brief moment, it looked as though the entire train compartment had transformed into a lump of living flesh.

A cold bead of sweat slid down my spine.

There was no sound.

A strike from above should have produced at least the whistle of displaced air.

Yet there had been nothing.

It had moved silently.

Stealthily.

Almost as if it were intentionally avoiding detection.

A chilling thought crossed my mind.

Does it know?

My trembling fingers tightened around my rifle.

Slowly, I turned my head toward the priest monster's silhouette within the fog.

The creature was still staring at the spot where I'd briefly stopped to vomit.

I aimed my rifle.

I had to shoot.

Should I use Stage 2 Eye Magic?

The hesitation lasted only a moment.

I chose certainty.

Bracing the rifle beneath my arm, I placed my right index finger on the trigger.

Pain needed to be fast and decisive.

I didn't have time to remove my gloves.

My left fist slammed into the ground.

Keeping the rifle as steady as possible, I squeezed the trigger.

Bang!

Bang-bang!

The first thing I heard was brass casings bouncing across the floor.

The blood spray came afterward.

But at that very moment, someone grabbed the back of my neck and yanked me away with all their strength.

My rifle slammed against the ground.

I rolled over it.

Pain exploded through my shoulders and back.

Tears nearly sprang from my eyes.

Yet before I could even groan, gunfire erupted.

Tatatatat!

The gunshots echoed violently throughout the underground station.

My ears rang.

Only then did I look up to see who had dragged me away.

"May the Lord be with us."

I recognized the voice instantly.

Without offering any explanation, Shin Nain pointed toward the place where I'd been firing moments earlier.

I couldn't even manage a groan.

The crimson capillaries were stabbing into that exact location, writhing like a fishing net.

But the strangest thing was this:

The priest monster I'd definitely hit was nowhere to be seen.

There was no way I'd killed it.

I didn't even know where its weak point was.

A few bullets couldn't possibly have finished it off.

As I sat there confused, Shin Nain tapped my shoulder.

"Even if we're separated, I can still hear you. Think your words instead. I'll try to coordinate."

"What about Lee Sejun?"

"We'll regroup later."

We immediately split up again.

Shin Nain headed toward the last place the gunfire had originated.

I carefully advanced along the intact section of the platform.

After realizing just how overwhelming the priest monster's attacks were in this underground environment, clustering together seemed like the fastest route to total annihilation.

Just in case, I kept my left hand free.

If I needed to stop an attack instantly, strike the floor, or even bite off a glove, I needed freedom of movement.

Keeping my left hand slightly raised, I advanced one careful step at a time.

Firing from beneath my right armpit was horribly inaccurate.

But I had no choice.

If I got attacked, I could at least stop it.

The others could then fire toward the sound.

Yet as I continued thinking, silence descended.

The only sound was my boots crushing broken tile fragments.

Crunch.

Crunch.

My breathing almost grew heavier.

Afraid the gas mask would reveal my position, I deliberately held my breath.

Then my heartbeat filled my ears.

Slowly, I inhaled.

Slowly, I exhaled.

My exhausted body screamed in protest.

Cold sweat trickled down my face.

I found myself stopping.

The echoes were too loud.

I'd walked perhaps fifty paces from the center platform.

An irrational terror seized me.

What if I was the only one left alive down here?

Given how silent and stealthy the priest monster's attacks were, what if it had already killed the others?

What if I was the sole survivor?

Click.

I became painfully aware of swallowing.

A frightened voice inside me screamed to run.

But another voice—

My most loyal instinct.

My survival instinct fused with reason.

Spoke a cold truth.

Run?

Where?

These weren't mere corpses.

Nor mindless abominations.

They were predators.

Parasites.

Monsters born from twisted human flesh.

Creatures capable of patience.

Creatures that understood hunting.

They wanted prey to run.

It made the hunt easier.

And they had no intention of letting survivors escape.

Being discovered was fatal for a predator.

If they possessed intelligence, then even setting instinct aside, they would kill anyone who had seen them.

So where was it watching from?

I stopped thinking of the priest monster as something that had once been human.

Its shape didn't matter.

It was simply a monster.

And once I accepted that, its behavior became clearer.

Slowly, I pulled back my poncho.

Then I turned my tactical light back on.

Click.

A proper beam of light cut through the flickering fluorescents and the ominous crimson glow.

The fog parted.

The platform floor and nearby rails became visible.

Bloodstained combat uniforms.

Torn clothing.

Things that hadn't been visible during the drone reconnaissance.

And then I remembered the background of this operation.

[Two weeks of heavy gas deployment for purification.]

I stopped hesitating.

Instantly, I raised my rifle toward the ceiling.

Toward the pulsing blood vessels.

Without caring what my flashlight might reveal, I fired.

Bang!

Bang-bang!

Recoil battered my shoulder.

My ears rang.

Without realizing it, I was shouting.

Not quite a battle cry.

Not quite a scream.

Something between the two.

Then the rifle ran dry.

Click.

Click.

No more casings flew.

At that moment, I ripped the glove from my left hand with my teeth and threw myself aside.

Thud!

Something landed where I'd been standing.

A corpse.

A living corpse.

But not the one I'd expected.

Instead of the black cassock with torn sleeves, it wore casual clothing and a string of prayer beads.

Only the lower jaw remained.

Its tongue dangled limply.

The artery extending from its spine pulsed violently.

It emitted the same grotesque groan.

Grrrk...

The Writing Bodhisattva had become something almost identical to the priest monster.

Twisted grotesquely by the impact, its broken arms flailed as it swung its tongue.

Then it looked at me.

It had no eyes.

Yet it saw me perfectly.

At that moment, someone grabbed my poncho and dragged me backward.

"Get down!"

Following Shin Nain's shout, I rolled and hit the ground.

Then the explosion came.

BOOOOM!

Shrapnel erupted everywhere.

A piercing ringing consumed my hearing.

When I opened my eyes slightly, I saw the platform covered in debris.

Tiny fragments of flesh and twisted metal scattered across the underground station.

The shockwave dwarfed anything a rifle could produce.

The fog itself was pushed aside.

When I looked up again, the Writing Bodhisattva monster had lost its right arm and both legs.

Its artery contracted violently as it was reeled back toward the ceiling.

Dangling there, the creature extended its saliva-soaked tongue even farther and released another grotesque sound.

At first, I thought it was merely another rattling groan.

Three seconds later, I realized it wasn't.

The moment I heard it, an unbearable sense of dread consumed me.

Something rough lodged itself deep within my brain.

Not sharp.

More like coarse plastic scraping against thought itself.

It felt as though an eyeball had spontaneously grown in the center of my mind.

Its eyelashes scraped against my neurons.

My stomach twisted and writhed with ecstatic agony.

A song whose meaning could never be fully expressed through the crude language of humanity.

Blood Drawn by the Right Hand

A curse-like prophecy spilled from the monster's mouth—something no fragile and inadequate vessel like a human being could ever fully utter.

As nausea and dizziness shook me, there was only a single phrase I could understand.

[ ... Eternity... ]

The second explosion came then.

The Writing Bodhisattva hanging from the ceiling was suddenly struck by something.

For a split second, I thought it was a rock.

Then it exploded.

BOOM!

Instinctively, I threw up my left arm to shield my eyes.

Wet chunks of flesh rained down.

Only then did I realize Shin Nain was standing behind me with her hands clasped in prayer.

"Almighty Lord God, do not permit Satan's servants to deceive me. Though their dreadful power overwhelms us, grant me courage and hope so that my journey toward Heaven's gate may not end. Speak but one word, and I shall be healed..."

I understood instinctively.

I didn't need foresight to know it.

Shin Nain couldn't fight any longer.

Being an ear-type mage, she seemed especially vulnerable to the creature's song.

Then who had thrown two grenades?

Lee Sejun?

The man's accuracy was insane.

The distance was enormous, yet the grenade had flown almost in a straight line instead of an arc.

If so, the monster would likely target him next.

He was the one inflicting meaningful damage.

My eyes burned.

But it was enough.

Mutation-Type Eye — Stage 1

Without hesitation, I aimed at the ceiling and emptied the rest of my magazine.

I swapped magazines, racked the bolt, raised the rifle, and pointed it toward the crimson footprints appearing overhead.

Now I understood how it deceived my foresight.

Bang!

A casing rolled across the floor.

The writhing capillaries on the ceiling visibly recoiled.

Bang!

The recoil hammered my shoulder.

But every shot pressured the monster above.

The priest creature still hadn't revealed itself.

That didn't matter.

Those blood vessels were the real body.

"Shin Nain! Get it together! Report upstairs! Tell them to deploy smoke!"

"Lord God... what? Smoke?"

I practically shouted in frustration.

The idea had come to me in an instant.

If they detonated smoke grenades, they could increase the fog density.

The pressure wave might even push the fog all the way to the ceiling.

Killing the priest monster wasn't the priority anymore.

I'd been handed a chance.

A chance to learn magic directly in the field without relying on a booklet or another person.

Then I'd use it.

"You want to learn magic, don't you?! Can't you see the symbols formed by those blood vessels? Spread the fog! Use smoke grenades!"

"Mr. Baek Jemin, this isn't the time—"

Click.

The rifle ran dry.

I immediately turned my head and dropped the empty magazine.

As it clattered among the spent casings, I stared at Shin Nain with bloodshot eyes.

"WE HAVE MAGIC!!!"

Only then did she scramble to gather her gear and sprint toward the stairs.

That movement finally drew a reaction.

The blood vessels overhead convulsed.

And at last, the priest monster revealed itself.

There.

Beyond the tracks.

Hanging in darkness where the light couldn't reach.

Its spinal artery writhed like the cable of a crane machine, moving the creature along the ceiling.

Its target was obviously Shin Nain.

At that moment, I stopped hesitating.

I lifted my gas mask slightly.

Opened my mouth wide.

And brought my left hand toward my teeth.

Mutation-Type Eye — Stage 2

My pain is longer and deeper than any I have ever known...

CRUNCH.

Blood burst forth.

I felt my own teeth pierce my flesh.

When I pulled away, blood poured from the bite marks mixed with saliva.

The backlash from earlier only intensified the agony.

A burning current raced from my fingertips through every nerve.

My spine stiffened.

My entire body trembled.

Holding up my shaking left hand, I stared at the priest monster hanging motionless from the ceiling.

And shouted.

"LEE SEJUN!"

My voice echoed through the underground station.

Finally, Lee Sejun emerged from the tunnel.

Even now, he looked tireless.

Fearless.

He sprinted into position, crouched behind cover, and nodded.

"I've got one grenade left. I'll pull the pin and—"

"No, you idiot! Don't throw it!"

"...Huh?"

"Wait for the smoke grenade! Keep your mask on!"

But my eyelids were reaching their limit.

While pulling the gas mask back on using my blood-soaked left hand, I must have put it on crooked.

The right lens pressed painfully against my eyelid.

The stabbing pain twisted my body.

Tears streamed from my eyes.

My vision blurred.

Which meant the magic was fading.

One more time.

"Lee Sejun! I'm closing my eyes! The spell's ending! Shoot it! Hit the blood vessels!"

Blink.

The instant I closed and opened my eyes again—

Gunfire exploded.

"AAAAAAAH! DIE!"

Lee Sejun's scream echoed through the station.

The monster's grotesque groaning answered.

But the creature had already vanished from my sight.

Was there a cooldown on Stage 2?

Did it require a different kind of pain?

I didn't know.

But my magical tool—my left-hand staff—remained perfectly reliable.

The lingering pain was already there.

Adding more was easy.

I'd bitten myself.

I'd smashed my hand into the floor.

This time...

I'd cut it.

Throwing my rifle aside, I pulled out the greatsword and prepared to slice my palm.

Then I listened.

Bullets ricocheted throughout the underground station.

But this was an enclosed space.

A labyrinth of echoes.

Gunshots bounced from every surface.

Determining where rounds were actually striking was nearly impossible.

And the monster had already learned how to disappear among the flickering lights.

Still.

My magic had more than one stage.

The burning sensation behind my eyes felt like someone smearing mint toothpaste directly onto my eyeballs.

I forced my eyes open and scanned the entire platform.

Crimson footprints rained from every direction.

The monster had adapted.

It had spread its true body across the entire ceiling.

Thin.

Wide.

Capable of attacking from anywhere.

Its strategy was obvious.

Exploit the ten-second gap in my foresight.

Attack within the blind window.

But after experiencing Stage 2, it no longer wanted to attack me directly.

The risk was too high.

An intelligent predator doesn't gamble unnecessarily.

Even if it attacked within those ten seconds, failure meant I could stop it.

So it changed targets.

It chose Lee Sejun.

Kill the one capable of inflicting real damage first.

Then hunt me afterward.

Once again, I understood.

The thing before us had once been human.

Now it wasn't.

We were fighting a monster.

And that monster was an intelligent predator.

The only difference was that it held more cards than we did.

Then it began singing again.

Grrrk...

Nausea surged upward.

I nearly closed my eyes.

Instead, I gritted my teeth and slammed a fist against my chest, forcing myself to stay conscious while staring upward.

Now I finally understood.

That sound wasn't actually a gurgling groan.

It was a language beyond human comprehension.

What I heard was merely the noise produced when an impossible language escaped through human vocal cords.

At that moment, something rolled down the stairs above.

Clink.

Rattle.

"Signal smoke grenade! Masks on!"

The instant Lieutenant Baek Hanseong shouted, smoke began hissing into the station.

Fssssssshhh—

Yellow smoke mixed with the white fog.

Visibility deteriorated immediately.

And then the priest monster appeared.

It had been lying in ambush near the platform stairs.

Hanging from the ceiling.

Using its black cassock as camouflage.

Its twisted arms had been folded inside the robe.

The moment it heard the smoke canister, it moved.

Grrrk...

Like the claw of an arcade crane descending toward a prize.

The priest monster relaxed its spinal artery and lowered itself.

The artery formed from countless intertwined capillaries pulsed with alien life.

Thump.

The creature twisted.

Its broken arms emerged from the shredded cassock.

The bent limbs spread outward like an embrace.

Its saliva-soaked tongue twitched weakly.

And it sang.

[ ... Eternity... ]

Not yet.

Yellow smoke thickened.

Fog swirled around it.

The priest monster became a shadow within the haze.

I kept watching.

No footprints appeared.

Then I realized.

The moment had finally come.

I looked up at the ceiling.

The fog reacted to the smoke grenade as if answering a call.

It surged upward.

Soon it reached my nose.

The stench of chemical smoke pushed through the gas mask filter.

My vision blurred.

Then the fog wrapped itself around me.

Or rather—

Around the blood vessels on the ceiling.

The capillaries convulsed.

And suddenly the symbols became clear.

This time the magical characters didn't rearrange themselves.

Instead, the capillaries forming each symbol glowed brighter than the rest.

Two sets of five lines.

Crossing horizontally and vertically.

The thing rearranging itself wasn't the symbol.

It was my mind.

No matter how stupid I was, I couldn't help understanding.

The magical characters forcibly twisted my thoughts until comprehension became inevitable.

As though declaring an undeniable truth that even the dumbest fool would understand.

The symbol represented a hand.

Five fingers.

Two hands crossing.

The evolutionary miracle that made humanity what it is.

A shiver raced down my spine.

This...

This is hand-type magic.

A magic representing human intelligence itself.

A branch of magic the military hadn't discovered.

Perhaps...

A branch I had become the first human to awaken.

At that moment, I instinctively understood the first stage of Hand-Type Magic.

So I changed my grip on the greatsword.

Instead of cutting my left palm, I activated my burning eyes and looked ten seconds into the future.

I saw it.

Crimson footprints covered my right arm and hand.

The monster understood.

I had become more dangerous than Lee Sejun.

But those ten seconds belonged to both of us.

Within them, either side could create a miracle.

Without hesitation, I tore off the glove from my right hand.

Then I slashed across my palm.

Slash!

Blood erupted immediately.

I was careful not to sever any fingers.

The pain arrived a heartbeat later.

And without hesitation, I raised the bleeding hand toward the capillaries descending from the ceiling.

I offered my blood.

My right hand.

To the monster.

The capillaries eagerly accepted.

To them, it was an opportunity.

Food.

Reproduction.

The reward of a successful hunt.

The microscopic vessels slipped beneath my skin.

I could feel them.

The monster's capillaries intertwining with my own blood vessels.

A nauseating sensation.

As though our circulatory systems were becoming one.

Then, just before the connection completed—

The monster realized something was wrong.

And tried to retreat.

I didn't allow it.

My hand clenched into a fist.

My blood-soaked right hand grabbed the bundle of capillaries.

And Hand-Type Magic activated.

Hand-Type Magic — Stage 1

Blood shed from the right hand can harm these monsters.

With a groan, I hauled myself onto the platform.

"Mr. Baek Jemin... what is this?"

I smiled.

For all his hard work, I decided Lee Sejun deserved a special privilege.

The capillaries soaked in my blood withered rapidly.

Like creatures poisoned.

Like slugs drenched in saltwater.

They began melting.

Crack.

Crack-crack.

Across the ceiling, dried blood split apart.

Dust-like flakes drifted downward and mixed with the yellow smoke and white fog.

The capillary bundle in my hand had become nothing more than a clump of dried blood.

Without hesitation, I crushed it.

"Ahahahaha..."

Holding up both blood-covered hands, I grinned.

"From today onward..."

I spread my arms proudly.

"Address me as Archmage Baek Jemin."

A laugh escaped me.

At the same time, Lee Sejun stumbled closer, panting heavily, finally emerging from the panic that had gripped him moments before.