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Chapter 31: Encounter (2)

“P-platoon Commander?”

All the platoon members, including Allonde, couldn’t believe their eyes. Their new platoon commander, who had been confidently giving out orders just moments ago, had been charred in the blink of an eye.

Thud! Thud!

Shortly after the thunderbolt fell, a giant Taurus appeared from within the forest that they were about to cross.

“This can’t be…”

At first, everyone was in shock, it all happened too suddenly. Then, tears began to flow as reality sank in. When the group of Taurus finally appeared, the platoon members trembled with rage.

“You… you sons of bitches…!”

They had been trying to avoid the Taurus at all costs while navigating the 6th district. Taurus were much stronger than the special task force, and outnumbered them too. However, the platoon members were filled with rage and did not hesitate to pick up their weapons.

“Everyone, wait,” ordered Allonde.

“Deputy platoon commander, sir?”

“Everyone, calm down. We are all a bit rattled by the platoon commander’s death, but we have to think clearly. He was not killed by the Taurus, but by lightning.”

It was a sharp observation. As Allonde said, the Taurus had appeared immediately after Henry’s death. They were just uninvited guests who had nothing to do with the attack.

“From now on, I’m in charge. Everyone, maintain your formations and return to the unit.”

“What? We’re just going to retreat?”

“Are you going to start whining like a kid? They are the Taurus. Even if we run away with all our might right now, there’s no guarantee that we will survive. Are you still going to stand there and bitch about it?”

The deputy platoon commander’s eyes were bloodshot red. He was also evidently grieving over Henry’s death. However, befitting his position as the deputy platoon commander, he calmly took control of the platoon.

“Maintain a steadfast position, and we’ll get out of here swiftly.”

In the end, everyone agreed with Allonde. Now was the time to act with reason, not emotion.

Goooooooar!

Just as Allonde ordered the escape, a pure white Taurus that had never been seen before appeared from within the gathered crowd of Taurus. Allonde had been venturing the 6th district for a long time, but he had never seen a Taurus like this before.

“What’s with that guy?”

It had a gracious air about it, as if it was an angel that had descended, contrasting starkly with the dreary forest.

“Taurus…?”

Its appearance was still definitely that of a Taurus, but its white skin made it appear almost holy. The albino Taurus roared and raised its hands.

Roooooooar!

Crash!

The Taurus clasped its hands together and slammed them down onto the ground. Its body started to generate white electricity.

“Lightning?”

“Sir, tell me that I didn’t see what I think I just saw.”

“...I wish I could say that what we saw was a lie.”

Everyone had doubted the albino Taurus’ abilities, but now, seeing the electricity spread across its body even as it stood still, all the platoon members had the same thought.

‘That bastard’s behind all this.’

No one needed to say anything to know that this was what killed their platoon commander. There was a heavy silence between them for a moment.

Finally, Gabo broke the silence.

“Today, I die here.”

“Gabo!”

“Don’t even think about stopping me. You guys feel it, too, don’t you? That bastard’s the culprit.”

This was an unexpected remark, coming from the most unexpected person, but everyone nodded in agreement.

“Me too.”

“I’ll die here with you.”

“Let’s go. We have caused the loss of our platoon commander twice already, we have no reason to go back to the company.”

Gabo’s resolve spread quickly through the platoon like wildfire. The nine men decided that they would die fighting and picked up their weapons.

Roaaaaaaar!

With their resolve at its peak, the cry of the albino Taurus set off the battle.

“Aaaaargh!”

The shouts of the platoon echoed through the Demonic Beast Forest as they shook off their fear. They each formed a blue aura as they rushed toward the Tauruses, bursting the veins in their eyes as they did so.

Clang!

Swords and horns collided, and armor and fists connected. The whole place was in pandemonium.

When a cornered mouse bares its fangs at a cat, there’s no weapon more dangerous in the world than those fangs. These warriors, who had decided to fight to their deaths, radiated a spirit that was stronger than usual as they began cutting down the Taurus.

Goaaaaaaaaar!

As the sounds of death echoed across the battlefield, the Tauruses also began to turn crazy. Strangely, the albino Taurus who killed the platoon commander was not interested in fighting. It looked around and wrinkled its nose, as if it was trying to smell something. Then, it began moving forward slowly, toward Henry’s charred corpse.

“How dare that bastard!” Gabo exclaimed as he extracted his sword from a slain Taurus.

Noticing the albino Taurus’ abnormal behavior, Gabo immediately turned his attention toward it.

“What the hell are you doing!”

Whoosh!

He dashed toward the albino Taurus. In an instant, Gabo was flying. His leaping power was so strong that it almost appeared as though he was stepping on thin air. As Gabo rushed forward, the albino Taurus looked directly into his eyes. It shouted out at the top of its lungs to unleash the mighty power that it possessed.

Goaaaaaaaaar!

Flash!

Gabo realized that time had slowed down. This was time dilation. He could see the sky twinkling and feel his blood turn cold.

‘This is the end…!’

It was said that one could see their life flash before their eyes right before their death. Gabo closed his eyes tightly; this was the first time he had ever experienced the slowing of time like this. He then lifted his sword over his shoulder, ready to deal the final blow of his life.

Crash!

Just then, a huge bolt of white lightning struck Gabo’s head.

Pwook!

Right before the thunderbolt hit him, Gabo felt the tip of his outstretched sword slice through a heavy chunk of the Taurus’ flesh. His final attack, that he had put everything he had left into, had succeeded.

Gabo rolled straight onto the ground.

Crash!

Unprepared to land, his armor crushed his muscles as the contact with the ground blasted the air out of his lungs. However, he did not feel any pain.

‘Is it because of the lightning bolt?’ Gabo thought to himself as he shuddered, frozen in fear. However…

“...?”

Gabo braced himself and closed his eyes tightly, but after a few seconds, he still did not feel any heat or stinging sensations.

“Good job, Gabo.” said a familiar voice.

“...Excuse me?”

Gabo could still barely bring himself to open his eyes. When he finally looked up, he almost let out a scream.

“P-platoon Commander?”

The person in front of him was clearly Henry, clearly still alive and not looking like a lump of charcoal. He had caught the falling lightning bolt with his holy sword.

It was a spectacular sight.

Suddenly, the lightning disappeared. Henry lowered his holy sword and tore off a scroll that was stuck onto the hilt. It was a magic scroll that had absorbed the albino Taurus’ lightning attack.

“Get up.”

Henry reached out to Gabo, who was still on the ground. Gabo stood up, holding Henry’s hand with a bright smile. However, they were still in a dire situation, and there was no time for any touching reunions.

“Go and tell the rest that I’m alive. And tell them they’re not allowed to die either.”

“Yes, sir!”

After giving his orders to Gabo, Henry turned to face the albino Taurus.

“It’s you, isn’t it? The bastard who threw the lightning strike at me.”

Roooooar!

The fight resumed. The moment Henry had reappeared, the smell of Dhdl, which had disappeared for a while, radiated strongly once more, sending Black into a frenzy.

Rooooooar!

The remaining undiluted solution that Henry had poured on the nape of his neck had been enough to lure Black out. Black swung its gigantic fists like two axes, its eyes bloodshot with rage, just as it had done against Holtervelt.

Crash!

Henry did not dodge the attack. Instead, just as he had done against Iselan, he supported his blade with both his hands to block it.

“You’re nothing.”

Compared to Iselan, Black’s attack was very weak. Henry pushed his sword and the Taurus away, leaving an opening for him to land a powerful kick.

Crack!

Thanks to Henry’s magical buffs, Black fell backward in an instant. Next, Henry imbued his holy sword with magic and cut through the nape of the Taurus’ neck.

Slash!

As a result, the Taurus’ blood supply was cut off. Bright red blood gushed out like a fountain from the nape of its severed neck.

“My, oh my…”

Perhaps because he was standing a bit too close, a squirt of blood hit Henry. Then, suddenly, more blood began to spurt out of the Taurus\'s neck. Henry’s whole body, including his face, was soaked in the albino Taurus’ blood.

Henry let out a deep sigh. One of the things he hated the most was filthiness. He didn’t have much time to dwell on it though, because at that moment…

“Useless piece of shit.”

The severed albino Taurus’ neck wrinkled and started spewing out profanities.

“Huh?”

Henry was bewildered. He had never heard of a beheaded Taurus still being able to speak.

Pssssssssssh.

Black gas began to escape from the bottom of the decapitated Taurus’ head. It escaped through the hole at speed, propelling the severed head around and giving the Taurus a new sense of life. The sight was truly bizarre, but Henry couldn’t help but smile.

“Thanks to you, I’ve finally come to my senses.” the severed head spoke again, clearly and word-by-word. “You should consider it an honor to be my new host.”

The pure white head stopped bleeding. Then, the unknown black gas began pushing the head toward Henry’s face. Henry did not avoid it. Instead, he smiled brightly as the white head came close to his face, revealing a pair of red eyes.

“Found you.”

“What?”

When the white head came close to his face, Henry became certain that this creature was Black. Otherwise, the dead Taurus could not have been resurrected like this. He let out a shout as he concentrated all his magical power into his fist.

Thud!

There was a dull sound. Then, Henry imbued all of the magical power from his fist into his holy sword and swung it without hesitation.

Slash!

The Taurus’ head was split cleanly in two. Then, a black mass, similar to the ‘evil spirit’ that Holtervelt had spoken of, emerged from the two split halves.

It was Black’s true body.

“Damn it!”

The reason why Black had suddenly regained his sanity was simple. After Henry had been doused in Taurus blood, the scent of the deodorant had been totally masked.

Having accidentally encountered Black, Henry was able to finally complete his mission.