Chapter 3: Great Cataclysm (3)

The distance to the funeral parlor was less than 200 meters, but the path there was far from safe.

Following the spirit of the shaman, Xiaoming ran out a bit and saw creatures he had never seen before attacking people.

Grrr, woof!

Woof woof!

"What are those? Wolves?"

They looked like dogs, but their size was far from that of ordinary dogs.

Even though they stood on all fours, which should have made them shorter than a human standing on two legs, they reached up to the chest of the 180 cm tall Jiang Shahu.

The dog-like monsters spotted Jiang Shahu and approached him, growling lowly.

"Indeed, they do look like that."

As Jiang Shahu tensed and looked at the dogs, a small hologram suddenly appeared above one of them.

Reading the text, it said "Giant Hound."

The fact that a hologram was floating above the monster was surprising, but given the current situation where the sky had collapsed and he had awakened, it was a trivial matter.

More important was overcoming this obstacle, so Jiang Shahu didn't waste time trying to understand the inexplicable.

"So, 'Giant Hound' is the name of that monster."

However, knowing its name didn't help much.

As the Giant Hound growled and prepared to attack, Jiang Shahu quickly recited a spell in a low voice.

Given the size of the creature and the fact that it was something he had never seen before, he used his qi (氣) without reservation.

Woof woof woof!

Just as the Giant Hound was about to pounce, spinning around, Jiang Shahu pointed at it with his palm and clenched his fist.

Crack!

Kek!

The ferociously charging Giant Hound spat blood from its mouth.

Before it could even reach Jiang Shahu, its body twisted grotesquely, and bones protruded from under its skin.

The ribs grew abnormally due to the magic, tearing through its insides and shredding its organs in a bizarre manner.

The Giant Hound writhed in agony, bleeding from its mouth, and then died.

The spirit, Ling, was shocked by the sight, which he had never seen or even imagined.

Given that Ling's perspective was different from that of a living person, he could better understand how the Giant Hound died.

Jiang Shahu's qi flowed from his body into the Giant Hound, and with his will, he manipulated the bones inside, tearing the creature apart from the inside out.

Since Ling could see things that humans couldn't, the method was even more bizarre to him.

However, Jiang Shahu didn't respond and instead wore a serious expression.

"That's strange. This Giant Hound, it has no spirit."

Every soul, upon death, becomes a spirit.

Necromancers use the energy of these spirits to cast spells.

While he had used his qi to cast a spell in this emergency, the spells he could cast using qi were extremely limited.

It was like rowing hard to start a motorboat, but the motor had no fuel.

Faced with this unexpected and serious situation, Jiang Shahu frowned.

"Given the current situation, I can use it at most one or two more times..."

As he checked the remaining qi in his body, he stopped speaking.

The spell he had just cast could normally be used only three times with his qi, but the amount of qi that had left his body was less than one-tenth of what he usually used.

"What's going on?"

Jiang Shahu was shocked to realize that the amount of qi consumed was minimal.

Moreover, when he tried to gather his qi, he felt that the amount of qi in his body was several dozen times more than usual, and it was much stronger.

'Is this what the awakened ones call mana?'

Jiang Shahu's eyes trembled as he felt the powerful and vast qi in his body.

Even a person who had practiced qi all their life couldn't match the power surging through his body.

"With this much qi..."

He swallowed, trying to imagine what he could do with the suddenly amplified and powerful qi.

With this much qi, even if the necromancer's spells that could replace spirits with qi were limited, he had enough to use them in rapid succession.

The process of preparing and gathering materials for a spell, which was usually necessary for stable casting, could now be ignored.

He clenched and unclenched his fist, then, on a whim, aimed his palm at the dead Giant Hound again.

A spell that normally required days of preparation, including preparing the corpse and performing rituals, and which had a high failure rate, making it difficult for necromancers to use, he was confident he could cast now using only the mana, or qi, in his body.

He quickly recited the spell and whispered the command.

"I defer your rest."

Immediately after his quiet words, the body of the Giant Hound, which had been lifeless and limp, convulsed violently.

* * *

"Yewul, are you okay?"

"Sniff, Ah, Dad. What do we do?"

Wearing a black funeral suit, Yewul cried as she tried to stop the bleeding from her father, Tae-hyun's, wound.

After a tremendous explosion outside, people had screamed and fled, leaving only the two of them in the funeral parlor.

Shortly after the explosion, screams echoed from all directions, and a monster she had never seen before attacked Tae-hyun.

They barely managed to fend off the monster and return to the funeral parlor, closing the thick steel fire door. However, the monsters outside didn't give up and continued to pound on the door.

For her, it was a situation that was hard to believe was real, but the terrifying monsters pounding on the fire door and Tae-hyun's bleeding wound were too vivid to be a dream.

She had come to the funeral parlor to mourn her grandmother's passing, but the sudden, inexplicable events had left her half in a daze.

"What are those monsters? Ah, Dad, you can't die. You can't die."

"Huff, huff. Don't worry, Yewul. Dad won't die. Huff."

Tae-hyun answered with great effort, but his vision was gradually blurring.

"Yewul, huff, listen to Dad."

"Sniff, why? What are you going to say, Dad?"

Tae-hyun paused, breathing heavily.

If he were to die...

Thinking of his daughter, Yewul, who would have to struggle alone after his grandmother and mother had passed away, made him want to cry.

Moreover, could his daughter even survive this situation?

His vision grew hazy.

"If, if Dad..."

Just as he was about to speak, the steel door, which had held up against the monsters' pounding, began to buckle.

The barricade they had set up to block the door opened slightly, and the long snout of the monster they had seen earlier appeared.

The monster, with blood on its mouth, showed its red teeth and growled, causing Yewul to scream.

"Yewul, move back! Hurry!"

"Dad, no! You'll die!"

Blood flowed from his bitten left thigh as the man desperately pushed the barricade to prevent the Giant Hound from entering.

Even in a normal state, he wouldn't have been able to hold it back, and with his leg injured, Tae-hyun couldn't withstand the Giant Hound's strength.

"Grunt!"

"Dad!"

As Tae-hyun fell, the Giant Hound pushed through the door and the barricade in one go, extending its front paws inside.

Like a demon crawling out of hell, the Giant Hound scratched the floor with its front paws, ready to pounce on them.

"NO! Yewul! Stay calm!"

Seeing Yewul faint, Tae-hyun rushed to her, and the Giant Hound finally managed to get its body halfway through the door.

"Grunt!"

Tae-hyun, holding Yewul, closed his eyes, prepared to die.

Clack! Clack!

Each time the Giant Hound growled, Tae-hyun's body trembled.

Thinking he was about to die, his body shook and he felt weak, but he held on to his daughter with all his might.

At least, he didn't want her to die before him, a father's protective instinct.

The terrifying sounds soon subsided.

However, when the Giant Hound's growling stopped and he didn't feel the expected pain, Tae-hyun turned his head in confusion.

Clack

"Wh-what?"

The monster, impossibly large, was dead, bleeding.

Surprisingly, it seemed to have been killed by four other monsters of the same kind.

The only difference was that the four new monsters had deep wounds on their necks that would have been fatal if they were alive.

Seeing the four Giant Hounds, now silent and motionless, staring at him, Tae-hyun felt a wave of fear.

However, just before he fainted, a person entered through the opening.

"Hello, Mr. Lee Tae-hyun, is that you?"

Tae-hyun was startled when the man he had never met called his name.

"Wh-who...?"

"I was sent by your mother. Let's go out."

"Y-yes? My mother...?"

"Yes, she passed away. But her spirit came to me and told me your location."

Tae-hyun looked at Jiang Shahu in shock.

It sounded absurd, but was the current situation any less absurd?

Most importantly, seeing his unconscious daughter in his arms, Tae-hyun steeled himself.

"Alright. Grunt!"

As he tried to stand, the pain in his injured leg made him stagger.

Jiang Shahu, who had been commanding his Giant Hounds to go outside, noticed and called the last one that was about to leave.

"Carry him."

"Grunt?!"

Clack?!

Tae-hyun and the Giant Hound looked at Jiang Shahu in shock.

Jiang Shahu tilted his head in confusion.

"Hmm? The zombie without a spirit still has a soul?"

The Giant Hound, which should have lost all emotions and followed commands mechanically after coming back to life, showed reluctance, which intrigued Jiang Shahu.

"I'll have to check later. For now, carry him."

While the other Giant Hounds went outside to clear the way, Jiang Shahu supported Tae-hyun and helped him onto the Giant Hound's back.

The Giant Hound clicked its jaw, clearly unwilling.

Of course, Tae-hyun, who was about to be carried by the monster that had bitten his leg and tried to kill him, felt just as terrified.

'At least we're alive.'

Tae-hyun tightened his grip on his daughter.

While he didn't understand how his mother, who had passed away, could have sent someone, he thought it was possible given that she had been a shaman in life.

Clack, clack.

"..."

Dozens of Giant Hounds greeted Tae-hyun as he emerged into the hallway, clicking their jaws.

'...Am I already dead?'

Tae-hyun's face turned pale, having just rejoiced at the hope of survival.

* * *

"Thank you."

Jiang Shahu, riding on a Giant Hound, felt embarrassed by the spirit's gratitude.

It was something he had done to survive, and he felt a sense of duty to help the spirit who had helped him.

"If it weren't for you, I would have given up on finding the necromancer card. I'm the one who should be grateful."

"If you say so... I understand."

As they emerged from the building, a cacophony of sounds and smells hit them.

The pungent smell of gunpowder, the sound of gunfire, and the screams of people and the growls of Giant Hounds made Jiang Shahu's eyes calm down.

"Mr. Lee Tae-hyun, can you bear a bit more pain?"

Jiang Shahu's question startled Tae-hyun, who had been focused on the Giant Hound carrying him.

Although he was confused by the sudden question, the serious expression on Jiang Shahu's face told him he hadn't misunderstood.

"Of course. I'm already grateful for being saved."

"Understood. I'll clear the area first."

As he thought of the commands to give to the Giant Hounds connected to him, his will was immediately transmitted.

Clack, clack.

Clack, clack.

"Grunt."

Tae-hyun felt a chill run down his spine as he saw dozens of Giant Hounds raise their heads and click their jaws in unison, like a chorus of roars.