A Period of Chaos - Chapter 47

Chapter 47. Cradle

A large hand gently stroked Ah-hee’s head as if comforting her. Ah-hee didn’t need comfort, but she gladly accepted the gentle touch. Then she shook her head calmly.

“You don’t know what I’m worried about.”

His thick eyebrows knitted sharply. He seemed reluctant to admit that he didn’t know Ah-hee’s feelings. Regardless, he showed he was willing to hear it anyway.

“What don’t I know?”

Instead of explaining in words, Ah-hee drank the water in her cup. Tae-joo only gave her an observing stare. Ah-hee pulled Tae-joo, who didn’t show any particular caution, toward her and kissed his lips.

The water that flowed down Ah-hee’s lips poured into Tae-joo’s mouth.

“The fact that I’m worried about you, Lieutenant General.”

“……?”

“Swallow it. It’s not much water.”

Ah-hee gently rubbed Tae-joo’s cheek and urged him on.

“You…..”

As soon as Tae-joo, who had swallowed the water, opened his mouth, Ah-hee clung to him again. Once again, her tongue, filled with moisture, teased him.

“Uhm…!”

Ah-hee, who was helplessly subdued, groaned and trembled. Tae-joo, who held her small chin, sucked her tongue hard as if punishing her.

Ah, the short cry was swallowed hard. The water flowed down through the gaps of their tangled lips. Tae-joo’s lips moved along the water stream and cleaned the w*t skin.

“Don’t mess with me, again.”

The wind that blew like an icy draft swirled around. Tae-joo whispered, quickly covering her cold cheeks and earlobes.

“Go in.”

The low voice, as if the heightened excitement had remained, flowed out like honey. It was more obsc*ne than anything.

Ah-hee’s eyes opened moistly. Unable to resist the hand gently stroking her back, she quietly went into the car. Her flushed cheeks felt hotter than the mug that had not yet cooled down.

“You have to…”

“What?”

Tae-joo, who had returned after warming up the combat rations, gave her a puzzled look. Suddenly, his face seemed to ask what nonsense she was talking about.

“Then, do you think I would be scared and afraid? Not at all. I gave in to the temptation.”

“What are you talking about?”

It wasn’t unusual for Ah-hee to become docile to Tae-joo’s s*xual charm. He seemed to think he had warned her, but he definitely didn’t. Ah-hee just liked him so much that she wanted to obey him.

“You said scary things last night too. Like you were going to turn me into a charger, or you were going to eat me up…”

Tae-joo’s face slowly turned red because he was embarrassed by what he had said. He sighed and roughly ran his hand over his shiny, smooth face.

“No matter how scary you are, I’m not scared. It’s really all right.”

“Ha… Stop talking nonsense, just eat.”

“Eat them, Lieutenant General. I’m full because I ate yesterday.”

She wasn’t complaining at all. Ah-hee was sincere.

Thud! But the plastic spoon sank into the hot fried rice like a knife.

“Eat.”

The fiery man’s patience had already reached its limit, as he glared at her with his pitch-black eyes.

“Yes.”

Ah-hee pronounced it as something close to ‘yes’ and accepted the fried rice he handed her. Her picky taste buds did not judge the food as delicious, but she silently chewed. After scraping everything clean off the bottom, her grim expression softened a little. Ah-hee was happy because he liked it.

After finishing their meal, they started moving west again.

Slide, swoosh-

The tentacle with the car on it slid down the steep slope as if it were sledding. The tentacle, slippery with mucus, slid smoothly despite its large mass.

However, Ah-hee was not that scared because she was inside the car. It felt like driving in the open nature with nothing but white snow mountains as the scenery.

“Is it always this quiet?”

“Finding it is also work.”

There were two tasks in the strategy. One was to survive until finding the boss monster, and the other was to survive until killing the boss monster.

“If you don’t know the direction, you’ll get lost because the scenery is the same everywhere.”

“Don’t worry, we’re going the right way.”

It wasn’t something to worry about. In fact, it felt like she was just on a trip as the sense of crisis had diminished. As her alertness dulled, she fell asleep at the boringly static scenery.

Ah-hee, who had been dozing off, fell deeply into a deep sleep.

“…….”

Tae-joo, who glanced at Ah-hee who was sleeping, quietly opened the car door and got out. The speed gradually increased so much that Ah-hee didn’t notice.

He jumped up onto the roof of the car. His sense of balance was so excellent that he barely swayed even as he rode the tentacles that slid down at high speeds.

Originally, he didn’t move this quickly inside the gate. It was rare for Tae-joo to act alone in a gate attack. He commanded a group, and he had to consider more things when the group moved.

Furthermore, this kind of movement was bound to attract attention. First of all, the size of the tentacles was visually striking, and the sound and vibration they made as they moved were loud.

In the distance, he could see red, sparkling eyes. Tae-joo controlled the tentacles while figuring out the monster’s identity. He wanted to clean up everything when Ah-hee hadn’t noticed, but he couldn’t be sure that it would go as planned.

Tae-joo kept his distance as much as possible to avoid the impact on the car and slaughtered the enemies one by one.

The monster’s blood and flesh were sprayed red on the pure white snow.

Kurrrggahhhh—!

The monster’s roar was full of power. Ah-hee woke up, her hair standing on end in fear. What on earth had happened while she was asleep? The white snow was covered in blood.

“Lieutenant General…”

Ah-hee, who confirmed that the driver’s seat was empty, tried to call Tae-joo right away, but closed her mouth. She couldn’t interrupt him in the middle of a battle.

Black tentacles with sharp thorns were fighting the monster in the snowfield. Dozens of monsters were running in a swarm. When the steel-like hooves rolled together, the dull impact that shook the ground was felt even by Ah-hee.

It was a monster that looked like a mixture of a goat and a bull. Its four eyes were filled only with red light without slits, and its two huge horns were several times longer than the monster’s face.

Its entire body was covered with thick hair like a mane, making it difficult to clearly distinguish between its head, neck, and torso.

The thick fur that seemed to be made of wool served as a shield. Somehow, it got up unharmed even after being hit by the tentacles that swung like a whip.

The sharp horns pierced the tentacles, causing sticky blood to flow, and its strong jaws and saw-like teeth tore the tentacles apart in an instant.

Like sharpened knives, the thorns on the tentacles were pointy, but it seemed difficult to inflict significant damage because of the thick fur.

The tentacles twitched and wrapped around the monster, crushing and bursting its rebelling prey. Covered in lush fur, the monster shrank like a balloon with a needle stuck in it and was spitting out its internal organs through its mouth.

They moved only to kill each other. It was a horrifying sight that was too horrible to describe in words, so it felt unrealistic.

Tae-joo stood tall in the middle of the battlefield. His black eyes were very busy.

The giant tentacles caught the monster that was rushing toward him with a roar and wrapped it tightly around it. Squeezing, the tentacle was writhing around the monster that was resisting madly. It looked like snakes devouring their prey.

Tae-joo flexibly dodged the attacks directed at him and commanded the battlefield. The gliding movements were as graceful as a dance on a snowy field.

The giant tentacles passed by him and struck down like a flash of light.

The monsters gathered in a circle and protected each other. Their huge horns stabbed and pushed the approaching tentacles, preventing them from approaching their own kind.

Kwoong! Kwoong!

The monster repeatedly kicked the ground with its right foot.

In the blink of an eye, the accumulated snow on the slope fell.

Kwaang! Ah-hee felt the shock of the car shaking violently and looked back. A huge avalanche that had come close was about to crush the car. Tae-joo must have expected this, so he adjusted his tentacles to block the snow that was being swept away.

However, the ground collapsed, unable to bear the weight of the snow that had suddenly swelled. A huge sinkhole in the snowfield swallowed the tentacle carrying the car, blowing white snowflakes.

Tae-joo’s eyes, who had been standing precariously in the middle of the battlefield and watching Ah-hee, widened.

Before Tae-joo could do anything, the car Ah-hee was in disappeared from his sight.

Despair rose up, scratching his eyes.

***

“Urgh…!”

Ah-hee, who had lost consciousness from the impact of the fall, opened her eyes, covering her pounding head. For some reason, her vision was pitch black. A sticky l*quid flowed down her cheek.

There was also a crunching sound that she couldn’t figure out.

Ah-hee felt around.

Touch, touch. Despite her darkened vision, her hearing and touch were clear. She caught a hard, sharp object in her hand.

“Ah!”

Ah-hee felt around in panic, and her hand got cut by something sharp. Still, she succeeded in finding the glove box handle. Tae-joo had clearly put a flashlight in there. Ah-hee felt around inside, found the flashlight, and turned it on.

Gasp. Ah-hee swallowed a surprised groan. The car was in chaos. The car window shattered and glass poured into the car.

Crash! Kiirk! The biggest problem was that the car was screaming and being crushed right now.