Chapter 52. The First Hero (46)
Lee Seolhwa could already predict what Na-ye would choose.
She'll block it.
Everything happened exactly as Seolhwa expected.
Blinded by rage and having completely lost her reason, Silnyang launched a wind blade.
Na-ye intercepted it with her shield.
As she blocked the attack, her exposed back came into Seolhwa's view.
"This is exactly why shield heroes are such a problem."
Seolhwa thrust her spear into Na-ye's side.
Perhaps because the spear wasn't infused with demonic energy, it didn't penetrate completely.
Seolhwa withdrew it, and blood began running down Na-ye's side.
BOOM! BOOM-BOOM!
Silnyang had completely lost control.
It continued launching wind blades indiscriminately, forcing Na-ye to block them.
Meanwhile, Seolhwa mercilessly stabbed Na-ye's exposed back with her spear.
"Help Guild Master Lee Na-ye!"
"We're trying! She attacks with her tails before we even move, as though she knows exactly where we're going! It's driving me insane!"
Kang Tae-sik and the Rice Ball Guild members tried attacking Seolhwa from both sides.
But against her six tails, they were practically helpless.
"Getting tired? Don't you feel like giving up?"
"Silnyang! Come to your senses! We can overcome this! Let's do it together!"
"You still have plenty of energy left to talk, don't you?"
Seolhwa's spear and tails began targeting Na-ye's back.
None of the attacks were infused with demonic energy.
Na-ye's back was covered in blood, although the wound she'd received from the first strike had already healed.
It was the natural regenerative ability of a shield hero.
Unfortunately, while that first wound was healing, Seolhwa had repeatedly stabbed her back and the backs of her legs.
"What's so wonderful about being a shield hero that makes you so desperate to block everything? What an idiot."
Seolhwa laughed as she thrust her spear again.
Even without demonic energy, the relentless attacks were enough to wear Na-ye down.
Thud.
Na-ye fell to one knee.
Her back and the backs of her legs were soaked in blood.
This is how shield heroes end up.
Before becoming a demon, Seolhwa had also been a shield hero.
She had always stood at the front of the battlefield, fighting and protecting everyone.
And whenever she did, she heard the same complaints.
Can't a shield hero even block that?
What are you going to do if someone dies because you fail to block an attack?
Look at her desperately protecting herself with that shield. She only cares about saving her own skin.
Of course, there had been plenty of heroes who spoke kindly to her.
But that didn't stop her from hearing the cruel remarks.
Then one day, someone appeared.
The Wicked Woman.
Wow! You're the famous shield hero! I know a way you can happily protect everyone from monsters. Would you like to hear it?
Seolhwa never should've listened to her.
But she had been emotionally exhausted and deeply discouraged.
She listened to the Wicked Woman, grew close to her, and eventually ate something she never should have eaten.
Strawberry cake.
The Wicked Woman had told her that strawberries tasted best when eaten in a single bite.
She'd even picked one up with two fingers and personally placed it into Seolhwa's mouth.
Only after swallowing it had Seolhwa discovered the truth.
A Fear Mana Stone had been embedded inside the strawberry.
After that, I hunted monsters under the Wicked Woman's orders.
The Wicked Woman had kept her promise.
She'd made Seolhwa happy while she protected everyone from monsters.
After all, Seolhwa had genuinely experienced feelings of happiness.
But I felt like a machine that experienced happiness whenever someone gave it an order.
It didn't feel like I was myself anymore.
Because it wasn't the kind of happiness she'd wanted, Seolhwa resisted.
She tried to control the happiness forced upon her.
She focused on the sorrow of the battlefield while continuing to fight monsters.
After surviving four doses of the Fear Mana Stone, the Wicked Woman spoke again.
You've passed the test of conviction. Now choose. Will you eat the strawberry cake yourself, or will you simply go back out and fight on the battlefield?
A horde of monsters was already approaching when the Wicked Woman forced her to choose.
Seolhwa ate the strawberry cake without hesitation.
Living as a shield hero means being nothing more than a living shield.
After swallowing the Fear Mana Stone, she'd discovered something new.
While focusing on the sorrow of the battlefield to suppress her artificial happiness, she'd begun noticing things she hadn't seen before.
Whenever a companion died, the first thing she heard was someone blaming her.
People shouted at her for failing to block attacks quickly enough.
Some even threatened to attack her from behind.
Why should I keep standing there with a shield?
Back when she'd been determined to protect everyone, she'd either failed to hear those words or deliberately ignored them.
But now she heard everything.
And she decided she would no longer live as a shield hero.
Seolhwa voluntarily swallowed the Fear Mana Stone and became a demon.
"You're such an idiot. This has become boring."
Demonic energy began gathering around Seolhwa's spear.
Na-ye had brought back unpleasant memories from her past.
Seolhwa decided to eliminate her.
She aimed the spear directly at Na-ye's heart.
SWISH!
Na-ye dodged sideways.
THRUST!
She avoided a fatal strike to the heart, but the spear still pierced another part of her body.
"Cough!"
Na-ye coughed up blood and looked ahead.
The vicious look in Silnyang's eyes, which had been fixed exclusively on Seolhwa, finally disappeared.
Thank goodness.
Silnyang tried launching another wind blade.
But before it could finish forming, the blade lost its shape and scattered into the air.
"Kyaooo! Kyao!"
Silnyang's panic and sorrow surged into Na-ye, shaking her emotions.
It's okay, Silnyang. I'm a shield hero.
A hole or two in her body wouldn't be enough to kill her.
Lee Na-ye was a shield hero who stood at the front of the battlefield, endured enemy attacks with her entire body, and protected her allies until the battle ended and everyone could retreat.
"How boring."
WHIRRR!
Seolhwa's six tails began dancing.
"Aaaaaagh!"
The guild members who tried to help Na-ye had their aura-covered swords shattered.
Some lost their heads.
BANG! CRUMBLE!
Only Tae-sik managed to block the tails.
But before long, even his sword crumbled into dust.
"You must be lonely. I'll send you to join your friends!"
All six of Seolhwa's tails simultaneously targeted Tae-sik.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
Na-ye's shield, reinforced with her skills and aura, intercepted the demonic-energy-covered tails.
"Take the remaining guild members and evacuate the villagers!"
"What about you, Guild Master Lee Na-ye?"
"I'll hold her here."
Na-ye wore a calm expression.
It was the same Na-ye who had always remained until the very end, protecting everyone with her shield.
"Understood."
Tae-sik led the surviving guild members away, cutting down demons as they retreated from the battlefield.
"You should die with your companions! Where do you think you're going?"
Seolhwa spoke with a smile.
Na-ye immediately sensed that there was something unusual about it.
Suddenly, several people stopped moving.
Tae-sik and some of the guild members had frozen in place.
"Kang Tae-sik! Why aren't you moving?"
"Why have you all stopped? Can't you see what's happening?!"
The other guild members grabbed their shoulders, confused by their behavior.
That was when something extraordinary happened.
SLASH!
A guild member suddenly attacked one of his own companions.
"Do you know why I have six tails?"
Na-ye ignored Seolhwa's question.
She looked at Tae-sik and immediately understood.
Demonic energy was seeping from one of his wounds.
It's only natural for demons to leave demonic energy on the people they attack.
The demonic energy left by a demon was a kind of mark identifying its victim as someone weaker.
Ordinarily, that energy disappeared after thirty seconds.
But the energy rising from Tae-sik's wound wasn't disappearing.
Following it, Na-ye discovered a purple snake emblem wrapped around the injured area.
The number one was also marked on his forehead.
Silnyang, please.
"Kyao!"
Na-ye entrusted her shield to Silnyang.
"You can see the numbers, can't you? They mean those people have become my slaves."
Tae-sik and the controlled guild members began attacking Na-ye.
Their faces were filled with suffering.
They seemed unable to speak.
Their movements were unnatural, as though they were desperately trying to resist the commands forcing their bodies to move.
But this was a battlefield.
Na-ye couldn't afford to study every little detail.
Her attention was focused on something else.
I have to finish this while Silnyang blocks their attacks.
The guild members who'd been rescuing villagers abruptly changed direction and attacked Na-ye.
Silnyang used her shield to intercept them.
Throb. Throb.
Her wounds were healing.
But the pain hadn't disappeared.
Every movement sent another wave of pain through her body.
She wanted to scream, but she held it in.
Na-ye struggled to maintain her calm expression.
If a shield hero showed suffering on the battlefield, it was practically the same as telling everyone that they were losing.
She's letting her guard down.
Seolhwa was laughing as she wreaked havoc across the battlefield.
Instead of targeting Na-ye, she was using her six tails to torment Silnyang.
Her malicious intentions were obvious.
One of the most difficult parts of being a spirit user is enduring a spirit's complaints and painful emotions.
Thanks to Seongchan's special rice ball, Na-ye's composure had increased by five hundred percent.
