Chapter 88
Chapter 88. Terminal Diagnosis (13)
Before long, most of the ice shards that had been trailing after Pafnir like a school of fish had melted away. Only after eliminating every last one of the crystals chasing it did Pafnir finally stop running and began to grow in size. Its body, once only the size of a palm, started to swell and bulge until it reached half the height of the surrounding trees. Only then could Sodam get a proper look at Pafnir.
Covered entirely in red scales, Pafnir exhaled in short, ragged breaths, and each time, flames flickered at the corners of its mouth. The moment its now-fierce gaze landed on Juyul, blazing red fire—matching the hue of its scales—shot out from its pointed maw.
Without so much as singing a single leaf around him, Juyul summoned a massive ice shield to block the flames that came flying straight at him. Fire and ice clashed with equal force, creating a thick white fog of steam. As the ice melted in the path of the burning flame, it looked almost as if the two elements were blending together.
Despite the clear signs that an intense battle was unfolding, Sodam found herself thinking—strangely—that it was beautiful. The flames moved like dancers, and the ice embraced them, vaporizing in pale white clouds, creating a strange but captivating harmony.
While all eyes were fixed on that interplay, Juyul summoned a new set of ice spears behind his back and gripped one before charging at Pafnir.
Perhaps because it had forced itself to grow too quickly and unleashed too much power at once, Pafnir couldn’t even put up a fight and scrambled clumsily to get away from him. But its bloated size proved to be a disadvantage. Without much difficulty, Juyul drove the spear into Pafnir’s shoulder.
Thud—
Krrrrrraaaaagh—!
“So loud.”
With that cold mutter, Juyul pressed harder, driving the spear deeper and deeper into Pafnir’s shoulder.
Crack, crunch. The chilling sounds of bones breaking and flesh tearing dug into the ears, mingling with Pafnir’s screams. And even though he was hearing it all at close range, Juyul didn’t flinch—his expression never wavered as he pushed the spear in.
Eventually, he drove it in so deep that it pierced through Pafnir and embedded into the tree behind it. When he let go, the creature, now pinned like a mounted specimen, quivered in agony. It would have been an easy thing now—to slice its throat, stab its heart, finish it off in any number of ways.
Sodam bit her lip when she saw his hand move toward Pafnir’s neck. She prayed that the real Juyul—this world’s Juyul—would be someone cold enough not to feel an ounce of pity, even for a weak creature like this.
Her hand, clasped tightly without realizing, trembled with tension. She couldn’t even blink as she stared at him, and just then, Juyul whispered something to Pafnir and withdrew the spear. As she saw him approach her with the weapon, now stained with green blood, Sodam squeezed her eyes shut.
She couldn’t bring herself to tell him to go back and finish it off, nor could she scold him for returning. Her heart was in turmoil. Pressing herself against the ice wall that blocked her view, she banged on it and called out.
“Juyul! Why on earth…?!”
“Oh, well. Even something like that might be useful someday.”
“But it’s an S-class mutant! What if something happens after you let it go?!”
“We’ll see, won’t we?”
His vague, evasive attitude made Sodam’s brows furrow in frustration. The cold ice stung her skin every time her hand touched it, but she kept pounding on the wall, desperate to persuade him. Juyul narrowed his eyes slightly.
“You’ll hurt your hands. I’m going to melt it soon, so just wait a bit.”
“…Hurry, please. What if it escapes?”
“Don’t worry. It won’t.”
The certainty in his voice sounded like more than just confidence. It didn’t seem like he was trusting in Pafnir’s lack of hostility—it felt like he had some kind of leverage. Like blackmail, perhaps.
No matter how much Juyul might sympathize with Pafnir, it was hard to believe he’d let it go this easily. If he were going to, he wouldn’t have attacked it so violently in the first place. In the original story, Pafnir had never grown in size like that. There had been no spear through the shoulder either.
There had to be something in that whisper he shared with Pafnir—something Sodam couldn’t even begin to guess at.
The moment Juyul’s hand touched the ice wall surrounding her, it began to melt. But it melted so slowly that the impatience in her chest only grew stronger.
Then, Sodam noticed a crimson sunset slowly painting the forest behind Juyul. As yellow and red beams of light filtered through the trees, the ice caught the glow and shimmered. Mesmerized by the strange beauty, Sodam stared blankly at him. With the light behind him casting his face into shadow, Juyul was smiling—a smile she couldn’t understand.
Screeeeech—!
“Wait—no, don’t! Baek Juyul!”
“Gah…!”
What Sodam had thought was the glow of sunset was actually the lingering heat of a blazing fireball expelled by the rampaging Pafnir—its light mimicking the sun.
With a metallic screech that sounded like steel being scraped, the creature reappeared, spewing waves of flames in every direction as it charged toward Juyul. What Sodam truly couldn’t understand was what happened next.
The ice wall—though melting—was still thick enough to serve as a decent barrier. No matter how powerful the attack, Sodam would have had a chance to escape. Even someone like her, who had only been to three field sites, could tell that much.
Yet Juyul, who had surely experienced this kind of situation dozens, even hundreds of times, chose to stand in front of that overwhelming attack for the sake of protecting just her. His hastily formed ice shield, made while he was still using his powers, was far cruder than before, and Pafnir’s fireball easily pierced through it, striking him head-on.
Through the melting ice wall, Sodam could see Juyul clutching his side. His clothes had been scorched far beyond where his hand gripped, exposing the charred, crimson-black skin beneath.
To Sodam, the entire scene unfolded in slow motion—every detail sharp and vivid. Her stomach churned with nausea and disbelief.
Baek Juyul, the protagonist, injured? Why? For what reason?
In all the countless times she had read the original story, the main character had never once been hurt. There was never a creature powerful enough to leave him with wounds, and the only time he was ever in a disadvantageous situation was when corruption pushed him to the brink of losing control.
But this? What the hell was going on here? Pafnir was only S-class, and Juyul had been receiving regular Guiding. The only variable—
…Could it be me?
Sodam’s existence was the only possible cause. As she stared blankly at Juyul, leaning against the ice wall, she suddenly gasped and inhaled sharply. She rushed forward and pounded on the wall, but it remained firmly in place, shedding only a few droplets of melted water.
Her face twisted in despair as she raised her nails against the ice, scraping it furiously until it felt like her fingertips would snap off. With reddened eyes, she cried out in anguish.
“Move this thing! Now! Goddamn it, Baek Juyul, look at me!”
“Quiet… You’ll get hurt too if you—gah…”
“Let it! I don’t care! Your injury—are you okay? Is it serious?”
“Bad enough. But I can move.”
Juyul, leaning on the wall for support, slowly rose to his feet, staggering slightly before regaining balance. With a long exhale, he looked up. Blood was dripping from Pafnir’s shoulder; it, too, was exhausted.
The moment their eyes met, red and blue forces clashed again. Ice arrows, far less refined than before, curved around the branches of the trees and pierced mercilessly into Pafnir’s back.
The flying ice shards, fired to intercept the oncoming sparks, occasionally missed their mark and shattered against tree trunks or embedded themselves into the ground.
At the sound of the blasts rippling through the air, Sodam covered her ears. The anxiety and dread she felt now made her want to shut her eyes and pretend none of it was happening—but if she did that, she might go mad with worry for Juyul. In a panic, her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
Juyul’s distorted reflection on the surface of the ice was so warped it was impossible to tell what was happening anymore. Not knowing how this was going to end, and the fact that all she could do was sit and wait, tormented her.
As she rubbed her pale cheeks, Sodam suddenly remembered the dagger in her pocket. If she couldn’t break the wall herself, couldn’t Juyul do it with his power?
What came after breaking through… she would figure that out later.
“To hell with it. If I die getting hit by a stray flame, then so be it.”
Gripping the dagger with both hands, Sodam clenched her teeth. After taking a deep breath to steel herself, she charged straight toward the ice wall.
