Chapter 15

00015 Split. =========================================================================

The Deadmen kept sniffing and slowly approaching us. Their skin was torn in various places, and their faces revealed rotten bones, giving them a grotesque appearance.

The children's eyes were filled with fear as they looked at the Deadmen. It was clear that just until the day before, they had been enjoying a normal life, and it was a far-fetched expectation to hope for quick and agile actions from them after seeing the Deadmen for less than a day.

Grrr. Grrr.

The Deadman at the front growled lowly. From the slow pace, it didn't seem to be infected yet. However, as I watched one of them at the back change direction, I frowned. In this situation, dealing with all three at once was almost impossible.

Grrr. Grrr.

Each time the Deadman growled, I felt the trees trembling. When I turned my head, as expected, the culprit was Ansol. She was leaning against the tree, shivering violently.

Swish, swish.

With the sound of grass rustling, two Deadmen soon reached right in front of the tree. After pausing for a moment, tilting their heads, they began to move forward slowly again. The tree we were leaning against was quite large, so I subtly signaled to the group. Every step the Deadman took, we moved the same distance to the side. If the Deadman suddenly turned, we would be caught immediately, but since they tended to move straight, there was a chance we wouldn't be detected.

One step closer. We move one step.

One step closer. We move one step.

One step closer. We move one step.

After repeating this four or five times, we had moved more than halfway around the tree, and the Deadman had reached the point where they could see where we were just a moment ago.

The surroundings were as quiet as possible, and the Deadmen, shaking their heads and looking around, growled as if dissatisfied and began to walk slowly forward again. Just as everyone started to feel a bit relieved, thinking that we could hold out a little longer in this state:

Thud! Crack!

“Hiss!”

Ansol, who had been trembling and tightly closing her eyes, finally made a sound by tripping. When I looked down, I saw a small branch she had broken. To make matters worse, she couldn't suppress a scream, which was loud enough for the Deadmen to hear clearly. In the end, things went wrong.

Grrr! Grrr! Grrr!

The growls of the Deadmen began to intensify. The bodies of the group, hearing the sound, were frozen in place. The Deadmen's footsteps quickened, and soon they poked their terrifying faces around the tree where we were hiding. We were caught.

“Gaaaah!”

“Ugh! Uuuuuuuu!”

The Deadman, baring its red teeth and opening its mouth wide, lunged forward. Ansol finally screamed. Although Anhyun covered her mouth with one hand, the sound was still loud enough for the three nearby Deadmen to hear.

In a life-or-death moment, I aimed my crossbow, and Anhyun, holding his shield with his remaining left hand, defended himself and Ansol. The shield and the Deadman, who had rushed forward, collided with a loud noise.

Bang!

The collision sound was heard, and Anhyun's body staggered. Fortunately, the defense was successful, but the Deadman only took a step back. This was because Anhyun's attention was divided by protecting Ansol with his right hand. Seeing another Deadman rushing forward, I quickly pulled the string of my crossbow. At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind, and I slightly lowered the crossbow, which I had aimed at the head, and fired the arrow.

'It won't be enough with just one or two shots.'

With a whistling sound, the arrow pierced the chest of the second Deadman rushing forward. While the Deadman staggered, I immediately drew the long sword from my waist.

“Anhyun! Send your sister this way! And use this sword!”

Seeing the Deadman charging at him again, Anhyun gritted his teeth. He pushed Ansol towards me and extended his right hand.

“Then, I'll leave it to you!”

As Anhyun finished speaking, the Deadmen pushed him back several steps with the impact of their shield, but he managed to push Ansol towards me. She ran and clung to me, almost falling over. I also threw the sword in a direction that Anhyun could catch it easily. The sword and Ansol crossed paths in the middle. As I safely embraced Ansol, who was almost falling, I heard the urgent voices of Yoojeong and Kim Hanbyul from behind.

“Brother, behind you!”

“Watch out behind you!”

'I know.'

Glancing behind, I saw the Deadman that had changed direction earlier running towards me. Although it might have been a fleeting moment for the culprit, my awareness had already surpassed that. In just two seconds, I reloaded the crossbow and aimed at the forehead. And, I fired.

Thud!

This time, aiming precisely at the forehead, the arrow easily pierced the Deadman's head.

“Hh... uuu... uuu...”

When I just saw her from the side, I thought Ansol's convulsive actions were normal. But when I hugged her, I realized she was crying so hard that it was heartbreaking to see. Without realizing it, I stroked her head and whispered, “It's okay,” in her ear, and I felt her trembling subside a bit.

Anhyun's eyes, equipped with a sword and a shield, were filled with fear. However, he did not back down. He faced his fear head-on, and his legs were firmly planted on the ground. This attitude was exactly what I had hoped for from Anhyun and the group. Anhyun's mental awakening had begun.

Anhyun raised his shield to his upper chest. As the saying goes, the best defense is the best offense, so it was a good choice. He didn't swing his sword first but charged at them with his shield.

Bang! Crack!

This charge was quite powerful, and the sound of something breaking could be heard. Upon closer inspection, the Deadman's chest was indented where it had been hit by the shield, indicating that Anhyun had charged with all his might. Seeing him quickly raise his sword for a counterattack, I offered a helpful suggestion.

“Aim for the head. Their heads are their weak point.”

Anhyun, who was about to strike his sword randomly, seemed to have heard me and struck the Deadman's head. The form was clumsy, but the strength was considerable, and the Deadman in front of him had its skull split without much resistance.

The fate of the next Deadman that rushed forward was not much different. Using the same method, he defended with his shield or gave a shock, and then aimed for the head while they were disoriented. With a crunching sound, the Deadman twitched a few times and then fell, impaled by Anhyun's sword. As the weight dragged his arm down, Anhyun quickly pulled out the sword and turned his head with a dazed expression.

Rough breathing dominated the surroundings. After being highly tense, everyone exhaled simultaneously after successfully killing the Deadmen. The actions of blocking with a shield and stabbing with a sword were simple but not something anyone could do. What if the Deadmen had gone to the others? Even if they didn't freeze like Ansol, it would have been difficult to perform a clean series of attacks while facing the Deadmen.

Anhyun let his arms hang and panted heavily.

“Huff... huff... I didn't realize it would be so hard when I was throwing stones from above.”

Of course. In a life-or-death situation, maintaining composure and controlling your body is a remarkable feat. At that moment, I felt something small stirring inside me, so I gently released my embrace. Ansol ran over and checked on Anhyun.

“Brother... are you okay?”

“No bites. I think I'm fine.”

“Hh... uuu... I'm sorry...”

“Don't cry. It's okay.”

Knowing that her brother had been in danger because of her, Ansol shed tears. Although Anhyun said he was fine, her tears didn't seem to stop. Yoojeong, with a face that seemed to have aged ten years, walked over and patted Anhyun's back.

“Thanks to you, we survived. Not bad, huh?”

“Yeah, if Hyun had not given me this, it would have been quite tough. Brother, I'll return this.”

Seeing Anhyun reluctantly offering the long sword back, I shook my head. Anhyun's face lit up.

“I think the long sword is better off with you.”

“Really, is that okay?”

“Yeah. You have the crossbow anyway. Where did you learn swordsmanship?”

With Yoojeong's encouragement, Anhyun sheathed the long sword and bowed to me. Watching Anhyun and Yoojeong chatting, I smiled inwardly. Just now, I had aimed at the Deadman's forehead but intentionally shot the arrow at the chest.

'It seems to be okay...'

“Wait a moment.”

At that moment, Kim Hanbyul, who had successfully made the Deadman stagger with a stone, looked at us with a slightly anxious face. Since she usually kept quiet, I was quite curious about what she would say.

“Didn't they suddenly swarm after we killed one of them in the open area?”

“Yeah... that's right.”

As Yoojeong nodded with a dubious expression, everyone's faces changed. Especially Ansol looked like she was about to have a seizure. Sensing his sister's convulsion, Anhyun patted her back and spoke urgently.

“Then, shouldn't we leave this place quickly?”

“Yeah, that's a good idea. How about we go in the opposite direction of where the girl came from?”

“Hmm... No. Let's keep going in the direction we were heading. If we change direction now, we might have to spend the night in this forest.”

Anhyun, commendably, was thinking of leaving this place by tonight. If we were in a teacher-student relationship, I might have ruffled his hair, but I just nodded in agreement. Although a few Deadmen were detected ahead, Anhyun's suggestion was correct.

After a moment to compose ourselves, we quickly left the area.

============================ Author's Note ============================

1. Typos and context corrections.