Chapter 168: CH 167

[Kekkkk!]

     However, the moment I filed out of the ranks, something like a gigantic bird appeared in the air before me. To be exact, it wasn’t a bird, but rather a [Gargoyle]–a bat-like monster that wakes up and roams around at night while sleeping as a statue during the day, like the one I saw in the [Tower of Command].

     I had thought the [Gargoyle] looked bizarre when I had seen it earlier, but, under the light of day, its features were more disgusting than I had imagined. Horns that sprouted from its head; sharp teeth jutting out beyond its chin. Furthermore, long arms that reached below its feet coupled with its incredibly long nails…

     Anyone could see that it wasn’t a normal beast. In particular, the shiny yellow eyes of the [Gargoyle] made me feel numb even if its focus wasn’t turned my way. It felt like I was staring at the embodiment of a devil.

     For me, despite the fact that I had already encountered other monsters, I already felt incredibly overwhelmed; how much more overwhelming would it have been for ordinary people? In addition, the unique bloodthirst flowing from the monster was powerful enough to freeze everyone in the area.

     Everyone in the crowd was fixed to their feet, riveted still as they watched the [Gargoyle] orbiting the sky. We were scared enough to run away immediately, but the fear of becoming the target after being the first person to move creeped over us.

      However the taut tension soon shattered when the [Gargoyle] spread its two big wings. Confused screams erupted everywhere.

      “W-What is that!”

      “Kyaaaa!”

     “Save us!”

     As soon as the [Gargoyle] heard these screams, it folded up its wings and, like a diving athlete, swooped through the mob of people. It happened in an instant.

[Kekkkk!]

     “AugghhhH!”

     Then, the monster slowly soared back into the air; a man struggled, his shoulders held in the monster’s grasp. “…S-Save me!”

     The man shook his body desperately. In a flash, the two rose quickly upwards, and they were soon approaching the height of the fourth floor of a nearby building. It would be difficult to avoid serious injury if he fell. Nevertheless, the man tried in any way he could to escape the [Gargoyle]’s grasp–even biting at its wrists.

      Well, I suppose if they continued to rise in altitude it would become more dangerous for the man… Maybe the man was too engulfed with fear, of the [Gargoyle], that he hadn’t even thought of the consequences.

    Perhaps annoyed by the aggressive rebellion, the [Gargoyle] used greater strength in its grasp on the man’s shoulder. Even at a far distance, I could hear the brutal sounds of the man’s shoulder blades being crushed into pieces. A scream resonated from the sky.

     However, the man’s suffering didn’t last very long. Right after crushing the man’s shoulder, it opened its mouse-like mouth and tore into the back of the man’s neck. The man convulsed with his mouth wide open, as if he had been muted.

     A little afterwards, the man’s head slowly dropped. He didn’t move anymore. With the man still hanging from its mouth, the [Gargoyle] descended. It was truly a hair-raising sight.

      The monster continued to chew on the man’s neck; eventually, it separated the pitiful man’s head and body. Only after hearing the man’s head burst like a watermelon upon hitting the ground, could I close my eyes.

     Obviously, the other people couldn’t have been fine with this gruesome scene. Even Seo Dawon, who had previously maintained a calm attitude throughout this pandemonium, couldn’t tear his eyes away and could only just stare up into the sky.

     “A-Aaack–!”

     “H-Help…”

     Everyone screamed; people scrambled to escape from the [Gargoyle] that began to eat the man’s corpse. There were even some folks that were crawling away. The expressions of those who stepped on fallen folk while running or pushing young children away seemed to inform us that we were already in hell.

     “What’s that! What is that!!”

     “Save us!!!”

     “Arghh!” A scream cut through the pandemonium.

Bang bang bang–!

      Finally, the soldiers opened rifle fire at the [Gargoyle].

     As soon as Seo Dawon heard the gunshots, he looked at me with an expression like he had just awoken from a nightmare. He looked as if he had something to say, but eventually he just grabbed my hand without saying anything. He must have had questions, but first and foremost, it was best to get out of this place.

     “Guns are of little use against monsters though…” I mumbled.

     Seo Dawon paused momentarily when he heard my quiet, subdued murmur to myself. He adopted a complicated expression before coming to a full stop. “Are you still sleep-talking?”

      He spoke sarcastically, but hitherto unseen tension lined his face.

      Actually, Seo Dawon had been glancing at me ever since the [Gargoyle] had appeared–the [Gargoyle] had appeared in one of the stories I had told during the day. Just by looking at the monster circling in the air while eyeing the crowd below, one could plainly see that my earlier talk wasn’t just simply nonsense.

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     However, as if Seo Dawon was desperately hoping to deny it all, he pretended to be ignorant.

     “You heard what I said during the day!” I shouted.

     “I only pretended to listen.”

      “……What?”

     “I still don’t understand a single thing you’re saying right now, okay? So please, be quiet.”

     “Does that make any sense? I……!”

     Unexpectedly, Seo Dawon cut me off before I could begin to tussle with him. To be exact, he roughly pushed me over to block something over us, cutting off what I was about to say.

     The [Gargoyle] had left the shooting soldiers–who knows when that change happened–and swooped in our direction. I seemed to be the target this time.

     “Gasp, Gasp…”

      “Get up!” Seo Dawon reached his hand out to me, who laid there blank at the sudden attack. I managed to stand up with his help and looked backwards. The Gargoyle glowered at me while perching on an electrical pole not far away. Its expression–that of a predator chasing its prey–matched the one I saw in the dungeon not long ago.

     The monster was gruesome in the context of the dungeon, but seeing it in this modern location gave rise to new fears. No matter how I might try and convince myself that this wasn’t reality and that I was in a [Vengeful Ghost Memory]… I didn’t want to face the same fate as the man who died earlier.

     However, the more dire the situation, life tends to throw ironic events at me. This time was no exception; unfortunately, my thighs were suddenly seized with cramps.

     “Ngh…!”

""

     “Lee-kyung-ah!”

     My muscles became suddenly rigid, and I collapsed. The [Gargoyle] must have noticed the stiffness of my legs; it gently spread its wings and leaned forward slowly.  It adopted the perfect posture to glide towards me on the wind.

     Seo Dawon also noticed my dilemma and bent down to support me on his shoulders. However, if this continued, we would end up becoming a tasty 1+1 deal for the [Gargoyle].

     I made the instantaneous decision to push Seo Dawon away.

     Originally, our differences in physical strength would mean that he wouldn’t have budged an inch at my push, but right now Seo Dawon was only an ordinary high school student. In the end, he lost his balance. Simultaneously, I could feel a creepy presence right behind me, though I didn’t dare look back.

     Afterwards, something cool-to-the-touch and stiff tightened around my shoulders, and my feet rose off the ground. In just two seconds, I went from looking at Seo Dawon to a view of the far-off street corner.

     The situation felt much more grim as I could hear the flaps of wind rhythmically against my ears. Whenever I blinked, the ground moved further and further away, as if I were in a departing airplane.

     I had moved far enough away that I couldn’t see Seo Dawon’s expressions; my whole body curled up in fear. I began to hear the [Gargoyle]’s soft breaths.

     I didn’t dare look up; I simply closed my eyes and hoped my death wouldn’t be painful. ‘If I die like this, what will happen to Woo Ragi?’ Such thoughts flashed through my mind in these long seconds.

     However, not long after I firmly shut my eyes, all noise (especially the sound of the wind) had suddenly disappeared as if someone had turned the volume off. The [Gargoyle] slowly began to ease up on its firm grasp.

     I thought that bastard was going to drop me from this high altitude in order to gobble me up… But something was too strange for that.

     My body descended slowly and smoothly, like I had worn a parachute. Even if I had closed my eyes, it didn’t feel as if my body was tilting on an axis.

     In the end, I couldn’t stand this strange dissonance and opened my eyes. I hadn’t been imagining things. I was actually slowly descending towards the ground. Of course, I wasn’t heading towards the place where I had last left Seo Dawon but, instead, the middle of the inner city right below the blackened sky.

     ‘…No way, was the [Gargoyle] trying to bring me here?’

     Feeling suspicious of this incomprehensible situation, I mustered up the courage to look around me.

     “Crazy…”

It seems that my thoughts were half-right and half-wrong.

     Hanging gruesomely behind me wasn’t a parachute…but a beheaded [Gargoyle]. As it flapped its wings aimlessly without a head to direct it, the [Gargoyle] acted as a faithful parachute.

 

TL: I can’t tell if it’s more morbid or funny to imagine a gargoyle parachute >.<

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