Dry Drowning - Chapter 44

Kruck!

It was a very nervous cry of pain. The knife stuck in the thigh seemed to be properly inserted. Whenever it moved, blood leaked out of the wound. Ian swallowed his breath briefly, feeling its stench.

“Run away!”

The knights were rushing towards them, but they were quite far away. The beast lightly knocked off the arrow aimed at its head with its front foot and moved his red-stained eyes. Ian had no more weapons in his hands. Its eyes twitched as if to check it.

With a displeased expression, the large front feet that were lifted up came at a high speed as if to trample on him.

A member of the crew realizing Ian’s condition, who was not even wearing armor, shouted something. However, even before it was properly delivered, a sharp sound of hitting rang out loudly.

“Deputy leader!”

It was Claude.

Blood splashed into the air as he swung a modified spear at the end while quickly blocking Ian’s front. The beast, pushed by the swinging force, had a couple of claws dangling. Claude slowly opened his mouth with a well-groomed face, looking at the dark red fluid dripping to the floor.

“You’ll be in trouble if you get hurt.”

I’m in trouble even if I die.

It wasn’t just that he participated in the search party to get killed by something like a derivative. Claude quickly moved his body, swallowing the words he couldn’t utter. He descends to where he saw the stamped foot of the beast and swings his spear once again.

Slash!

The knee folds were torn and blood spurted up like a fountain.

Kyaaaaagh!

An ear-splitting cry roared through the forest.

Claude, who knew what it meant, hurriedly stabbed him in the neck, but it was already a beat late.

The beast that fell on its side with a loud noise, stopped moving, but derivatives that were nearby were already appearing in the forest one by one.

“Don’t do anything dangerous like just now.”

They were much bigger than before. A total of four, including the one at the forefront. He didn’t know if he should handle them one by one, but it would be dangerous if they rushed at the same time. He held the spear and whispered to Ian behind him, but of course, he couldn’t hear the reply.

“Take aim!”

The knights at the back aimed at the beasts who started rushing in an instant.

Screams erupted from everywhere as the arrowheads soaked in blue holy water pierced into the beasts’ bodies. The part where the arrow was stuck stinks like rotting flesh.

“Keep your eyes on the front! Go for the neck!”

“One more coming!”

“Def! On your left, go ahead and shoot!”

It was a mess, mixed with shouts and cries.

Ian took a step back and changed his gaze as he watched the scene of blood and flesh splashing. Claude stood out among them. Swinging a fairly heavy-looking spear casually, slaughtered the beasts in front of him one after another.

As if he hadn’t earned the title of deputy leader for nothing, all of them* were neat and tidy.

[*T/N: All of his moves and techniques were neat and tidy.]

Claud stabbed the animal in front of him in the neck and was covered with blood. Before he knew it, two out of four were lying on the floor. It was when he tried to take care of the rest of them with such momentum.

“Aaahghh!”

Ian turned his head to the scream heard nearby. A derivative that was quite far away from the beast Claude was dealing with, was biting a knight holding a sword.

“Sa-Save, save…”

Khwajik.

The body rises into the air with the sound of bones being chewed. The eyes were filled with fear. If he hits the floor like that, he will at least have a concussion. If he was unlucky enough to break his neck, it would be the end.

Ian looked around, but he was the only one who was closest.

Claude’s derivative was the largest of the bunch, so most of the crew was heading toward it.

Why does this keep happening?

It felt like someone was throwing the situation at him as if it was a test, even though he knew it wouldn’t help. As Ian blinked, the stuttering voice came again. His pronunciation was muffled and he was barely audible.

“…….”

Eventually, sighing, Ian moved toward Rick, who was nearby. He took the sword out of the bayonet next to the limp man. He turned around and headed towards the sound. It was just before the body of the knight, who was shaking like a doll in the air, was just about to hit the floor.

Slash!

Ian, who ran quickly, slashed the foot of the beast standing on the floor with a sword. When unexpected pain came through the tough skin, the struggling beast opened its mouth involuntarily.

“Khuk!”

Ian caught the falling knight and rolled on the floor together with the rebound. Fortunately, he didn’t fall on his head, but the knight with the tattered shoulders was breathing heavily. He groaned and looked at Ian while he was barely conscious.

“Th-Thanks…”

There was no time to listen to all the greetings.

Quickly avoiding the claws pointing toward him, Ian moved away from the fallen knight. Perhaps it was angry at the bleeding feet, but its red pupils were redder as if they were burning. Now the whites were almost invisible.

It was when Ian, who fixed his sword at a strange situation, frowned. The beast that seemed to attack any moment suddenly, thump! He fell to the floor with a loud sound. Dust rose nearby.

“……?”

What is it?

I’ve only stabbed him in the foot yet. He couldn’t have collapsed like this, but he didn’t even move. As if he died all of a sudden.

There was a strange feeling. Thinking that he had seen this somewhere, Ian took a few steps closer to make sure it stopped breathing.

And Claude, who witnessed the scene from afar, hurriedly opened his mouth. He had a distinctly different expression from the moment before when he was cutting derivatives without shaking.

“Ian, if you go closer…!”

It was just the moment.

The drooping beast’s mouth opened wide and red tentacles popped out in an instant. It quickly headed towards Ian’s side and wrapped around his ankle before it could be avoided.

There were also kinds of derivatives. In some cases, only the size grew, but in some cases, it was more developed*, so they could not always be vigilant. In particular, there were quite a few evolving situations during the battle, so the members were most wary of the derivatives that suddenly collapsed. But Ian wouldn’t have known.

[*T/N: It basically means that the derivatives also evolve, some just grow in bigger size and some might be even more developed, physically or mentally. Some derivatives even evolved during battle. So the knights are always wary of the derivatives that suddenly collapse as that might mean that it has evolved or something.]

Claude, who had not thought of telling him that far, turned his head toward Ian, blocking his front paw swinging in front of him.

At the same time, he could see Ian being dragged by his ankle, and the beast showing his teeth as if he was going to bite him.

“Ian!”

The nearby crew began to run at Claude’s cry, but it was too late. Sharp teeth flashed toward Ian, who was dragged right in front of his nose. The red eyes glistened as they tried to dig into the soft-looking flesh.

“Ugh!”

The situation that would follow was too obvious.

The running crew stopped and turned their heads.

Blood splattered and spilled to the floor was vivid. It was a scene that no one would ever get used to for the rest of their life no matter how many times they watched it over and over again. Knocking down the beast in front of him, Claude hurriedly turned around. Then, at a loss for words at the situation that unfolded before him, he closed his mouth.

“…..”

“Hugh…”

A rumbling cry echoed through the muzzle dripping with saliva.

Ian, who thought he would have been eaten, was holding on with both feet on the beast’s lower and upper jaw.

The tentacle, which was closing its ankles, wrapped around its waist and pulled it back into its mouth, but Ian lowered his head with an expressionless face and met the beast’s eyes.

Squeak.

The sword, which had not been let go while being dragged, was slowly lifted up. Ian’s right hand was faster, although his tentacles had been tightening his waist as if it had witnessed it belatedly lose its strength.

Khwajik!

The sword was driven right into the beast’s right eye.

Deep enough for the silver blade to be barely visible.

Aaaaagh!

It swung its front paw with a painful scream, but it couldn’t catch Ian who had already jumped to the floor. Ian’s back stung, but he did not care and quickly looked around, soon found the sword of the member who had been bitten earlier.

It weighed, but it didn’t matter.

Holding it in his hand, he ran toward the beast still struggling to pull out the sword.

Slash!

He cut down the tentacles swinging like a whip here and there and drove the sword he had into his left eye.

With a tearful cry, the blind beast crawled on the floor.

“……”

Is this enough?

He took a step back, wiping the blood splattered on his cheek roughly with the back of his hand. Ian wondered where he saw this and it was that day a few days ago. a beast resembling a wild boar. It suddenly opened its mouth after it stopped moving.

It was this tentacle that was wriggling in its mouth.

He thought it was embarrassing, but it felt like the question was finally solved. Ian, who nodded while leaving the animal still screaming, turned around.

And soon, his eyes met with the crew looking at him with strange expressions.

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