Chapter 48 – Flame Spitting Crocodile (1)
At Sungkonghoe University’s sports field, located in Seoul City’s Guro District…
Keu reu reu······.
It had become the stage for a nightmare.
Hundreds of furred Crocodile Wolves filled up the sports field.
The Crocodile Wolves were in the midst of a meal.
The meal was nightmarish.
Euhguk euhguk!
The sound of tens of jaws snapping through bones and flesh was enough to send a s.h.i.+ver down your spine.
“Ggeuaahk!”
The screams of humans being ripped apart was the perfect background music to their meal.
“S, someone save me. Please, please······ “
The sounds didn’t last for long.
Three Crocodile Wolves bit down on a living human’s head, torso, and legs.
Pahsahk!
Like the sound of a cookie crumbling, the man who had briefly called out for a savior disappeared into the Crocodile Wolves’ stomachs.
Similar scenes were being played everywhere.
Screams rang out, bodies were crushed, and various other disturbing sounds could be heard.
The largest of the beasts stood in the center of the field.
Hwareureu······!
It was a yellow grade Crocodile Wolf that spit out sparks every time it breathed out.
It was the leader of these hundreds of Crocodile Wolves.
The monster was so fierce that the other Crocodile Wolves avoided its eyes.
However, it didn’t seem like that creature was in a very good mood.
There was no way it would be.
It had once ruled its own land. It was a land of riches, paradise if you will. There was no shortage of food, and the land was comfortable– it was a land where its kin could thrive.
As a result, it had spent countless amount of effort in order to keep that land. He destroyed any invaders, directly confronting any who dared to trespa.s.s upon his land, ripping them apart with his strong jaws and burning them to a crisp.
But in the end, all of that was lost in the span of one morning.
It was because of one reason– there was an enemy that it couldn’t reach.
Since he literally could not approach the enemy, he and his kin, like a group of beggars, had to move out in search of greener pastures.
What made him angrier was that the enemy had never once shown itself. When its kin goes out in search of food, the enemy would hunt them down.
It didn’t even hunt to fill its stomach, it hunted to give a warning.
This is my land.
Don’t you dare enter.
If you enter, all of you will die.
Just thinking about it made the Flame Spitting Crocodile tremble in rage. The Flame Spitting Crocodile could not accept such blatant provocation.
Because of that, the Flame Spitting Crocodile bided its time.
It would soon be time to find the b.a.s.t.a.r.d and bite him to shreds.
Kyaaaah!
A Crocodile Wolf approached the Flame Spitting Crocodile while showcasing its power.
Aside from the orange glow from within its eyes, it didn’t look any different than the other Crocodile Wolves. It trotted over and approached the Flame Spitting Crocodile while walking atop the bodies of the other Crocodile Wolves.
Then, it carefully placed a bone it had gripped in its mouth before the Flame Spitting Crocodile.
As soon as it laid eyes on the bone, the coiled up Flame Spitting Wolf relaxed.
It straightened out its gigantic body, stood up, and cried out towards the sky, a flame jetting out of its mouth.
Goooh!
2.
At the southern intersection of Yeokgok Station.
The calendar above the road had long since stopped since 31 December 2016.
The cars on the road had been abandoned by their owners, the acc.u.mulated snow having frozen the vehicles solid.
Gwaang!
The reason for why the station had stopped was a herd of 300 Crocodile Wolves, Gw.a.n.g!
The herd of speeding Crocodile Wolves filled up the streets.
They received any obstacles with open arms and obliterated them as they made way through the street.
It was like a tidal wave of fur.
It seemed like nothing could stop these stampeding Crocodile Wolves.
Funnily enough, the thing to stop this seemingly unstoppable herd of Crocodile Wolves was a giant bone.
It was obviously a snake’s skull, but the skull was too large and could not be considered as just a snake’s skull.
The herd’s tremendous momentum stopped before the skull, with some of the beasts even staggering in fear.
Although it was just a skull, the Crocodile Wolves felt it in their instincts.
They knew that this skull once belonged to a superior creature on the same level as their leader.
Of course, there was no real reason to fear what was just a bone. What was dead was dead, and no matter how terrifying and powerful something was, the law of the jungle would dictate that it would be useless once dead.
The terrifying thing was the existence of a creature that had the ability to kill the Black Snake.
The skull was a warning.
A warning stating that any trespa.s.sers would be rendered the same as this skull.
Fear began to spread amongst the Crocodile Wolves.
Koong!
The Flame Spitting Crocodile trampled through the rising fear.
Koong!
A crocodile at the end of the herd advanced forward with a loud roar.
Koong!
The Flame Spitting Crocodile was unwilling to stop.
It took one step forward, trying to force a foot forward.
The footstep shook the ground, shattering the fear that had encompa.s.sed the other Crocodile Wolves.
Koong!
The Flame Spitting Wolf rose up from its spot in front of the Black Snake’s skull.
The standing crocodile had tightly shut its mouth. Its body began to ma.s.sively swell up.
And at that moment it opened its mouth.
Gwaaaah!
A giant flame like fireworks burst from its mouth, burning the Black Snake’s skull.
It was a declaration of war.
A proclamation that he would kill the owner of this land! A declaration that he would take over this land!
“FIRE!”
The master of the land was willing to accept the proclamation.
Peung!
The battle begins.
3.
Kim Tae Hoon had said. He was willing to give them a week.
However, Kim Tae Hoon did not exactly keep his promise. Instead of seven days, it had become ten– three, more than a week.
So it was more than enough.
“FIRE!”
It was more than enough time to secure weapons and ammunition.
“FIRE!”
He had even recruited members to retrieve supplies.
Kwagwakw.a.n.g!
The recruited soldiers were forced to recall their training from the two years of compulsory service they had gone through.
By the end of ten days, all of the preparations had been set and the battlefield had been prepared.
So after all that, of course the Mek Guild wouldn’t refuse the Flame Spitting Crocodile’s declaration of war.
The Mek Guild’s artillery units were waiting to strike the moment the Flame Spitting Crocodile decided to spit flames at the skull.
Sh.e.l.ls began to bombard the Crocodile Wolves.
Kyaaaah!
The Crocodile Wolves’ tough fur was useless before the artillery sh.e.l.ls. The Crocodile wolves began to explode.
It was an attack that the Crocodile Wolves could never face up against.
On the other hand, this was the first time most of the soldiers themselves had ever partic.i.p.ated in a counterattack. They were reduced to mechanically refilling 60mm sh.e.l.ls.
“FIRE!”
“FIIIRE!”
They were numb, and could only respond to the commands that were given to them. The crews refilled mortar after mortar, firing on their commanding officer’s order.
“Die you f.u.c.king monsters!”
The infantry who were wielding rifles, submachine guns, and other weapons cried out.
They were concerned at first.
Very few people would be willing to go to war, especially considering how dangerous it would be for unawakened humans to go to battle against monsters.
Kim Tae Hoon’s expectations for applicants weren’t high, and he certainly didn’t expect there to be an overflowing amount of applicants.
But that concern disappeared once recruitment actually began. The number of applications flooded in.
Many of the volunteers were already on active duty, so they didn’t feel as though they were obligated to join.
Suppressed anger.
Many were itching to take out their anger on these monsters that had suddenly appeared and destroyed their lives.
“Huu!”
‘Yes, my aim is perfect.’
‘I’ll be able to kill at least one more for sure.’
So they were all serious.
None of the active duty soldiers goofed off as all were striving to become as skillful as possible.
Regardless of age, all of the volunteers in the artillery units used their knowledge and skill to dish out as much evil as they could against the monsters.
It was their will to survive.
Kaaaah!
And so the Crocodile Wolves were subjected to volley after volley of bombardments.
The Crocodile Wolves had migrated here for the sake of their own survival. They were not going to lay down and simply accept the outcome of this battle.
Above all, the chief of the Crocodile Wolves, the Flame Spitting Crocodile, stood tall amidst the bombardment.
Gooooooooh!
The Flame Spitting Crocodile let out a loud cry.
Its battle cry changed the direction of the battle.
Kaaaah!
When the Crocodile Wolves heard the cry, they ignored the sh.e.l.ls and began to run again.
However, the unceasing bombardment… ceased.
Fear.
The Fear that the Flame Spitting Crocodile utilized was an attack that the general populace could not resist. The mechanical actions of the soldiers loading the artillery with mortar sh.e.l.ls faltered and stopped, like a broken doll.
Tursseuk!
Some of the soldiers had collapsed onto the floor, foaming at the mouth.
“Retreat!”
“Fall back!”
The awakened began to store the equipments into the vehicles that they had prepared in advance. They had come up with a contingency plan to immediately evacuate those who had succ.u.mbed to the Fear.
But not everyone was prepared to escape.
Instead, some soldiers on the frontline swallowing Fear Resistance pills.
They were a Claymore Unit stationed in the most dangerous places in order to buy time for their comrades.
The pill helped, but they couldn’t stop trembling. However, they refused to take their eyes off the Flame Spitting Crocodile and the rest of the Crocodile Wolves.
“Explode!”
They waited, then they triggered the explosives.
Kwakwakwa!
A shower of metal beads smashed through the crocodiles as they mindlessly ran through the road.
Ggieeeeeh!
The firepower was terrifying.
The Crocodile Wolves running in the front quickly became a pile of corpses.
However, what was frightening was the layer of Crocodile Wolves that didn’t stop and simply pushed through the corpses.
‘You d.a.m.n monsters!’
‘Even though we made so many preparations, we still ended up having to retreat!’
The first wave of monsters had gone silent.
The battle was just as described.
The previous wave of monsters that had flooded through the street had now stepped aside to let the Flame Spitting Crocodile through.
It was ready to tear apart and burn to the ground the figures of the retreating enemies.
Swik!
Suddenly, a sword light opened up a long wound on the Flame Spitting Crocodile’s skin. The hide that had been unscathed by the barrage of artillery was finally damaged.
Feeling a sharp pain, the Flame Spitting Crocodile swept its sparkling eyes around its surroundings.
Keuaaah!
However, the Flame Spitting Crocodile could not find the enemy that had injured it.
It was simply impossible for him to find the culprit.
How could it when Kim Tae Hoon was actually in the air above it?
‘It’s been awhile since I’ve shot this thing against a living creature. How long has it been, four years?’
Hoisted upon Kim Tae Hoon’s shoulder was a Panzerfaust 3, an anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher!