Stagnant Water of Apocalypse

Chapter 140: When a whale gets caught in a fight between shrimp (3)

As long as Seongho stayed focused, he would be able to block any attacks coming from his front and sides using the dimension wall. However, the skill was by no means omnipotent, because it also meant that he couldn’t block the attack that came from the direction of his blind spot. For example: the attack which just struck Seongho.

After the guy made a strange hand gesture in the alley, the attack slithered through the ghouls and struck Seongho. He had reacted by trying to move his body away from the trajectory of the attack when it blitzed towards him. Unfortunately, it was in vain. His consciousness grew hazy for several fractions of seconds when his body hit the asphalt. And when he opened his eyes once again, a puff of smoke rose from his forearm.

Seongho gnashed his teeth as excruciating pain stabbed into his forearm. However, on the other hand, he knew that he should be thankful to the elemental resistance skill that had lowered the attack’s effect to only this much. The Stamina Regeneration skill was activated at that moment. The reddened and bruised skin on his arms begins to recover. At about the same time, the Fighting Instinct and Ferocity skill were also triggered.

Seongho slowly stood up to his feet while sensing that Da-jeong was looking at him.

“…” No conversation was needed between them. They had played together for so long to the point they knew what the other was going to do as well as what themselves had to do.

The black iris of Da-jeong’s eyes changed to red and the strengthened ghouls began to run rampant with a single flick of her fingers. As the grasshoppers jumped and moved, the Chinese who attacked them were startled.

Without giving them time to think, Seongho rushed towards them.

“He’s coming!”

“Stop him!”

“Yaab!” A stocky Chinese man ran towards Seongho and swung his spear at him. Seongho calmly put the dimension wall on the trajectory of the spear. As the spear bounced, the Chinese men staggered. However, he’s not lost on what he should do next. He pulled the long knife hanging on his waist from its scabbard and unleashed a follow-up attack, but there was also the dimensional wall on its trajectory..

“Agghhh!” The moment the powerfully swung long knife bounced off the dimension wall, Seongho’s fist landed on his chin. With a crunching sound, the man flies for a few seconds before slamming to the ground. Considering that a lot of his teeth were also flying just like him, the man would have no choice but to eat something soft for the time being. Though, that will only apply if he ever survived from this fight.

Just before the man could scream from the belated pain, Seongho was already on top of him, gazing at him with cold eyes. He then hurled his fist towards the man’s abdomen.

“Keeeuk!” The man’s stomach churned and his back was planted firmly on the asphalt. He couldn’t stand the pain and began to vomit blood and stomach acid.

Seongho left the man behind and rushed to another survivor with a body strengthening unique skill. The moment he thought about sending the man to the dimensional prison, a grasshopper beat him to the action by jumping towards the man.

“Ughhh!” The man groaned as the grasshopper latched into him. The two of them were hugging each other and rolling around the asphalt. Since the ghoul was Da-jeong’s subordinate, the man wouldn’t die. However, it didn’t mean that he would be left unschatced. On the contrary, he would feel like death was the better option.

Within seconds, two chinese were already incapacitated. Looking at the sorry state of her subordinates, Shenlong bit her lip and raised her hands to call for the wind again. A strong gust of wind rose from Seongho’s feet and lifted him up to the air.

‘10 seconds.’ Shenlong said to herself. After attacking, for 10 seconds, she would be nothing but a normal person. However, she’s not not worried at all.

Sharing her confidence, Mao Chen held out his hand toward Seongho, who floated into the sky. A smile appeared on their lips at that moment.

“Die!”

The moment a single streak of lightning blitzed towards Seongho, he’s no longer there. He turned in mid-air and started running through the walls of the building as blue lightning flashed past Seongho’s side.

The Chinese cried out, their eyes were wide open. How could they not act so? After all, a human was currently running on the walls of the building as normally as if it was the ground!

“Hey, does that make sense?”

Everyone was startled and left speechless by the movement that seemed to defy gravity. Meanwhile, Seongho was narrowing the distance between him and the Chinese at a rapid pace. To them, Seongho looked like a madman with red eyes.

‘Sc-scary!’

‘What kind of demon did we just anger!’

Unfortunately for them, their regret comes far too late. There’s no escape for them now. Aside from the demon in human clothing, who was closing down to them fast, the ghouls controlled by the woman were also circling them.

The survivor with levitation unique skill tried to take Shenlong into the air, but three grasshoppers jumped up and dragged them down.

“Ahh!”

“Aaaah!”

The two were thrown into the ground and rolled. Meanwhile, the other Chinese did their best to keep the ghouls and Seongho in check. They shot arrows and threw spears at him. But he blocked everything and rapidly closed the distance between them. To the Chinese, the image of Seongho was like a messenger of death, who rushed to them with a single purpose: dragging their soul into the afterlife.

“AHHHHHH! Don’t come!” In the end, Mao Chen, who was panicking, tried to escape. He couldn’t even use his trusty weapon, lightning, as it was still on cooldown and started to run away. Unbeknownst to him, the ghouls deliberately opened up a place for him to escape.

However, just when he thought he would be able to survive, the portal of dimensional prison appeared right in front of him. Without his knowing, he was plunged into the dimensional prison.

“Uackkkk”

When Mao Chen came to his senses, he was standing on a white plain. He couldn’t see far as a thick blizzard obstructed his view.

Where the hell is this?

A chill that seemed to freeze even his brain came rushing in at that moment. Mao Chen shivered and crouched down, trying to preserve every little heat he could have. He knew that if he didn’t move, he would freeze to death, but he could hardly walk.

“Ughh…”

When the blizzard turned his body completely white, he finally returned to reality. Mao Chen could barely move his eyes in order to look around. And the sight which greets him was nothing but hellish. Many of his colleagues had collapsed. All that was left were the large Korean man and Shenlong.

“Shenlong…” Mao Chen uttered. He lifted his hands and pointed them towards Seong-ho, but couldn’t fire his lightning bolt. It was not because his skill was still in cooldown, but because Seongho was glaring at him with a terrifying look. His cold and sharp eyes conveyed that he challenged him to shoot it.

Mao Chen trembled as it was clear what the Korean was going to do next.

Just like he predicted, the Korean man planted his fist filled with power on Shenlong’s stomach.

Bam-!!

Bam-!!

Bam-!!

One after another, a dull sound echoed. However, the perpetrator had no sign of stopping.

When you see a movie, don’t the hero usually throw the enemy away at this point? The hero of the movie was always someone who upheld justice, so they would spare their enemy’s life at this point. But the reality is cruel. Mao Chen’s expectations were shattered as Seongho threw another punch towards Shenlong.

Bam-!!

“Ugh!” Blood ran down from the corners of her mouth as she groaned. Shenlong could feel that her intestines were badly damaged. As her consciousness started to fade, she pleaded to Seongho, who just silently beat her down.

“S-spare me…”

He stopped punching his fists for a moment.

“You did attack me with the intention to kill, right?”

Even though it’s true, Shenlong couldn’t help but deny it. She tried to stop his fist that slowly rose to the air by flailing her hands.

At that moment, Seongho’s voice reached her ears.

“You must have attacked because you were confident that you would emerge victorious didn’t you? From now on, please think more thoroughly.”

Bam-!!

Bam-!!

Bam-!!

The series of beating continues once again. Tang Shenlong, who was close to ordinary people without her ability to control wind, was unable to endure the pain and passed out.

Seeing the scene from such a close proximity, fear coloured all of Mao Chen’s being. He looked at the ghouls around him with a disappointed face. A man who beats women relentlessly and a woman who controls ghouls. They shouldn’t have touched them in the first place.

‘If I beg for my life, will they spare me?’ All kinds of thoughts ran through Mao Chen’s mind as he sent his brain to overdrive. However, his eyes were still following Shenlong who was now being dragged somewhere by the ghouls.

And then, something which he never thought would happen, happened. The ghouls threw Shenlong towards a pack of kobolds. When the ghouls disappeared, the kobolds played with Shenlong with glee. They looked like kids who got a big yummy cake out of nowhere. Moments later, her desperate screams were heard and Mao Chen knelt down on her floor.

“Spare me! I will do anything!”

“Good attitude.” Sengho answered. However, contrary to his warm words, his eyes were cold. “Do that in your next life.”

Realization dawned at Mao Chen. No matter how many times he begs, the man who was walking towards him would never spare him. In a state of panic, Mao Chen turned his head to look at the situation around him. No matter how helpless he was, he wouldn’t just accept his death like this. Unfortunately for him, no ray of hope–even the slightest sliver of it– could be seen anywhere. There’s only ghouls all over the area.

He had fought the 2 Koreans with his 4 comrades. But now, they have all died, and he’s the only one who is still living. But that’s not the most appalling thing in this situation. The fact that the huge man had killed his comrades without turning into murderer bog his mind more than the death of his comrades.

A human with strong fighting power and the coolness of not getting blood on his hands. They shouldn’t have touched this kind of man in the first place. But it had already happened, and he knew that his power alone wouldn’t be enough to save him from his predicament.

Mao Chen fired a last ditch lightning bolt at the incoming man, but it was blocked right in front of the man.

“What the hell…” His will and the strength to resist were now all gone. He then literally flew away as a punch struck his abdomen. When he crashed into the ground, blood came out everytime he coughed. However, without even being able to feel the pain, another barrage of punch rained over his body. But this time, it wasn’t from the Korean man but from the ghouls who were swarming at him.

When his sight grew dimmer and dimmer, he could feel that his body was being dragged. Moments later, he could see a werewolf in front of him. It was busy fighting the ghouls.

When the ghoul who was dragging him tossed his body towards the werewolf, the ghouls that had been fighting it dispersed, leaving him alone in front of the werewolf.

In front of the literal jaw of death, Mao Chen closed his eyes.

Awoooo-!!

The werewolf howled as soon as it finished chewing the food that fell in front of him. When the deafening howl was heard, all the Chinese who had entered the time shelter came out. Horror painted their faces as they saw the road right in front of the time shelter. It was full of blood and remains of both monsters and humans. The only living beings were the two humans who were fighting against a werewolf.

The werewolf howled again, covered in blood all over his body. Not long after, two long knives split and sent its arms flying to the sky. At almost the same time, its legs and neck follow suit. Blood gushed like a fountain from its severed neck and pooled at the road beneath it.

Only then did people realize. The man and woman, who were now standing leisurely a few distance away from the corpse of the werewolf, were the cause of the devastation they saw.

The man who cut off the werewolf’s heads with a long knife approached them.

“Leave this place.”

No one could disobey him. The people raced forward and ran away without even thinking of rebelling. The street in front of the department store became quiet.

At that moment, Da-jeong threw the long knife at a ghoul and hugged Seongho from behind.

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.

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Goo Myung-hoon furrowed his brow as soon as his subordinate’s report came to an end. He had heard that there’s a commotion around the department store building.

“It’s chaotic every day there, so what’s the big deal?”

“It’s different, Hyung-nim! Someone came and just killed everyone there!”

“Does that make sense?” Goo Myung-hoon queried, his voice was tinted with doubt. The street in front of the department store, which hosted the time shelter underneath, was always being watched by dozens of people everyday. Even at dawn–the most dangerous time throughout the day–there’s always a watchful eye guarding the area. If someone approaches, arrows will fly towards them, no matter who it was. Therefore, no matter how he thought about it, someone going there and killing all the Chinese as well as all the monsters was simply absurd.

“I’m not kidding. Let’s go together.” At his subordinates’ insistence, Goo Myung-hoon’s face hardened. He quickly starts to prepare to go out by donning his armor. However, at that moment, an emergency message flew in one after another.

“A horde of ghouls are slaughtering the monsters in front of the department store, Hyung-nim!!”

“There’s a man running around and no one can stop him!”

“He is absolutely crazy! He just finished killing a werewolf without much effort!”

‘What kind of guy…’ Goo Myung-hoon led his colleagues to the time shelter in a hurry. As he led his men out of their headquarters and arrived on the street in front of the department store, a terrible view unfolded before them. Countless corpses of monsters were piled up on the road, and blood could be seen painting the ground, wall and nearby building.

“Ugh…” One of his men vomited when he saw a shredded corpse of a man. And when they moved their eyes towards the entrance of the time shelter, someone was standing there with his arms crossed in front of his chest. As soon as Goo Myung-hoon laid his eyes on the man, he immediately recognized who he was. It was him, the huge man who arrived at Gwangju yesterday.

“Let’s have a talk.” The heavy voice of the man echoed. As if possessed, Goo Myung-hoon approached the man without even thinking of rejecting him. He couldn’t even hear his men’s words anymore. Right now, he is busy regretting calling the man shrimp yesterday.

Goo Myung-hoon stopped in surprise when he realized he had finally right in front of the men.

“Mr. Goo Myung-hoon, right?” Seongho opened his mouth.

“Yes….” Goo Myung-hoon was the leader of a clan which he proclaimed to be the best in Gwangju. But he couldn’t stand Seongho’s eerie gaze and bloody smell. He quietly put his hands in front of him and listened to him.

“Do you know some Chinese who used wind and lightning?”

Of course he knows. Several clans, including his own, had fought against the forces led by the two for almost a month to secure the time shelter. Although the other Chinese did not have high individual fighting power, the two of them were different.

“The two are dead. The same goes for the guys closest to them. I also kicked out all the Chinese who were watching this place. There are no Chinese here now.”

“P-Pardon?” Taken aback, Myung-hoon made a stupid sound.

Seongho sighed and looked at him. “Do I have to explain again?”

“Oh, no, no, no, no. But, is that true?”

“Yes. As you can see, there are no monsters either.”

Looking around, Goo Myung-hoon realized that what the man said was true. However, that realization left a big question mark on his head. Just how did he clean the area?

At that moment, Myung-hoon remembered the four stagnant waters. If it’s those people, they might be able to do this. From how the man in front of him dressed, he could rule out the possibility that he was Rapwi. He’s not Survivor 1 either, as he rarely ventures out from the government shelter. Which leaves I Love Gimbap as the last viable option, because Duck Buttock was a female.

The thread in his head kept getting tangled and tangled when he reached that conclusion. Just how could the man, who was at Sindorim Station a few days ago, be here?

Myung-hoon swallowed dry saliva to organize his thoughts. “If it’s like that… What should we do next…”

“The time shelter has been opened.” Seongho stated calmly. “The Chinese and the monsters are gone too. So naturally, it is now yours.”

“A-are you serious?” Goo Myung-hoon was thrilled at his words. They had been salivating for it almost for months now, and now, it’s finally happening.

However, Seongho’s words were not over just yet. “Though, it will be yours in five day. I will use it for exactly five days, so be patient until then.”

“F-five days?” Myung-hoon’s voice became low. Once his clan members knew that the time shelter had been breached, they would ask to go in immediately. Actually, he also wanted to do it. After all, how could they wait for 5 more days when they could just storm in and get all the supplies they didn’t have to ease their suffering?

Seongho said as if he knew his feelings.

“I will give you enough supplies for a few days. We won’t be here long anyway. After 5 days, I will leave this area and the time shelter will be yours. Is it difficult to wait for a moment?”

“Oh, no, no, no.”

It is foolish to refuse to take such consideration. On top of it, knowing that the man in front of him was strong enough two kill the Chinese duo, it was better to wait 5 days rather than fighting him which could end up as their total loss.

When he returned to the alley where the clan members were waiting, ghouls poured out of the time shelter and laid down their supplies. Everyone swallowed their saliva at the sight.

“Wow, the goods are coming!”

“Hyung-nim, what did you talk about with that guy?”

“He wants us to wait for five days before entering the time shelter.”

“Yes? 5 days? Until then, what is that person going to do?”

“That’s not our business, isn’t it? We just have to wait.”

“I don’t think the other clan leaders would agree…”

“What can they do even if they don’t agree? Do you think they are strong enough to fight that person?”

Everyone looked at the man with a serious face. He was someone who was strong enough to devastate this entire area. If he become their enemy, they knew that things won’t end well for them,

“By the way, who is that person?”

“If he have that kind of power, maybe…” There was a certain person that came to mind of the clan members at that moment. I Love Gimbap; a stagnant water who was known for his dirty personality and the object of scrutiny of the Auction House’s addicts.

“I don’t think he’s that bad, judging by the fact that he gives away stuff…”

“I know, right?”

But did I Love Gimbap control the ghoul as well? Or was the Ghoul Queen also inside the time shelter?

Everyone was puzzled, but right at that moment, one person joined them belatedly. He looked at Seongho and then opened his mouth.

“Oh! Hyung-nim, it’s him! The shrimp you mentioned back then!”

Myung-hoon groaned and shook his head. “You madman! He’s not a shrimp, he’s a whale!”

“Sorry?” Hearing that, he opened his mouth wide.

“By the way Hyung-nim? He wouldn’t take many supplies with him, would he?”

“He’s just alone. Even if the ghoul queen was here, he wouldn’t be able to take a lot of things.”

“Haha, that’s right.”

The expectations of the clan members soared at Goo Myung-hoon’s words. They were all fantasizing about what would wait for them once 5 days passed.

However, unbeknownst to those shrimp, whales eat a lot because of their size.