Nutrient (3)
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Seung-ho missed most of the words that Eid said because she spoke too fast, and he had no choice but turn to Min-jong.
“What is he saying now?”
“Well… She’s asking you to please let her go.”
“Are you sure? She’s using her magic to escape.”
Eid has been trying to push Seung-ho with her power, but Seung-ho was unmoving.
After trying several times, she admitted it was impossible to break away, and raised her hands to signify her surrender.
“Tell this gorilla to let me go. I’m not here to hurt you. I came here to ask you something; there’s no reason I should be treated like this.”
“I heard ‘gorilla,’ is she cursing me right now?”
“Well…”
Min-jong was torn between Seung-ho, who was annoyed, and Eid, who was held down. Min-jong decided to tell him what she’s saying, but there seemed to be no sign of letting her go.
“Is she here to kill you?” Seung-ho asked Min-jong.
“Eid? What does Khan’s story have to do with you coming here?”
“If my expectations are right, Khan will come back to see you again. I came here because I think I’ll find him sooner if I wait for him here rather than going around the world to look for him.”
Eid laughed at Min-jong’s confused expression before she continued. “Why didn’t you tell the Association that you were attacked by Khan?”
Min-jong shrugged. “If I told them that Khan attacked me, that wouldn’t stop him from trying to kill me again.”
Eid’s eyes twinkled. “Definitely. I like Khan’s style.”
Min-jong found her ridiculous and conveyed the message to Seung-ho.
Seung-ho then looked at Eid as if she was a psychopath then shook his head.
Min-jong spoke to him. “Eid and Khan have been together for almost 30 years; she can predict his behavior.”
“Then is he really coming to kill you this time? This woman is here to warn you?”
The more Min-jong told him, the more Seung-ho understood what’s happening.
While Seung-ho and Min-jong spoke, Eid felt that the atmosphere was changing and that they were ready to talk.
“I’ll tell you everything, please let me go,” she asked once more.
Min-jong nodded at Seung-ho, who then pushed her to the wall farthest from the bed.
“Tell her that if she moves, I’ll kill her in an instant.”
Eid laughed. “You don’t need to translate that. I understand just by his eyes and tone. Where do I start… ah. First, I’ll tell you about the day Drax suddenly changed.”
Eid slowly pulled out the chair and crossed his legs.
“Before attacking the last gate, Khan and Drax decided that they could not destroy the nucleus without sacrificing lives. The possibility of failure was huge. They need baits to sacrifice the minimum number of personnel.”
Min-jong hesitated, but he conveyed the message to Seung-ho. There seemed to be fire coming out of Seung-ho’s eyes.
Hearing the story from someone who stood close to Drax as it happened, he struggled to control his anger.
“It’s true. We didn’t know until later about their plan. The bait included Drax himself. Then, he changed after that incident.”
* * *
“Drax is taking so long! What is he doing? Kanyu, what are you doing? You’ll die if you stay there!”
Eid screamed at Kanye, who was staring at the horde of monsters chasing the porters.
“Break through! Teams 1 and 2, break to the front! Team 3 to the left side and Team 4 on the right!” Khan yelled.
“Shit! The monsters are catching up from behind, too! Send one team to the back for the porters!” Eid protested, but Khan decisively shook his head and refused.
“No! When Balrog reaches us, we will all be annihilated. I am your commander after Drax! Listen to me, Eid!”
Eid, the Team 2 leader, was angry, but she still struck forward following Khan’s command to break through.
Behind her, the screams became more intense, signaling that the monsters have already caught up. Eid bit her lips and continued to rush forward through the hordes of monsters.
The raid broke through like a small boat trying to survive a stormy sea of monsters.
“Teams 3 and 4 on odd group positions, join the even group, and drill ahead!”
As Eid watched from the center, the monsters coming from the left and right were lower-level monsters, so Khan turned all into the front to break out of this place faster.
As the number of people in front has been reinforced, Eid had a little time to spare and look behind her.
She saw Drax trying to fight against the swamps of monsters, with porters all around him dying one by one.
Some tried to run to the forest, but their spine-chilling screams could be heard shortly afterward.
“Drax!” Eid yelled.
Khan snapped at her impatiently as she called out for Drax. “Keep going!”
Drax didn’t want them to come back for him; he shouted at them as he blocked the monsters alone.
Eid soon couldn’t see the porters dying as she was engulfed by more monsters in front of them. Meanwhile, the sound of Balrog’s wings came louder from behind.
“Don’t look back, just look ahead and push! Break through! Just a little space!”
Unless they can make a hole to escape through, they would leave this place alive. The raid struck desperately forward.
“Khan!” She heard Drax from behind them. “Khan, come back. I only need Khan; the rest of you continue forward! Run fast to the gate! Baldrow, take command!”
Eid bit her lips as she heard that Drax skipped her and gave the command to the 3rd team leader.
Baldrow, who received the command, desperately broke through the walls of monsters.
“Team 2 odd group left, even group right; Teams 3 and 4 push ahead! Don’t spare your power; give it all out!”
Eventually, the raid started to run with more stability and broke through smoothly towards the gate.
Eid turned her head to watch Khan and Drax, who was left behind.
She held back her tears and slaughtered the remaining monsters blocking her path to the gate.
Eid, Baldrow, Kanyu, and the rest of the raid were able to make it after seemingly thousands of years in battle.
The gate collapse began to progress slowly, and they prayed earnestly for Khan and Drax to survive. There were no signs that they were coming out.
Whether due to their prayers or not, just before the gate collapsed, Khan and Drax popped out of the gate.
They collapsed to the ground, covered in blood.
* * *
“The original plan was for everyone to escape while Drax covered for them, but he needed Khan because he thought he couldn’t stop all the monsters by himself. Using their own lives to buy time for the others to survive… wasn’t that really cool?”
At the end of Eid’s words, Min-jong and Seung-ho were silent. Eid saw that they were unresponsive, and she simply shrugged before continuing.
“They survived. I’m not sure how they did it. I was curious about it and asked them several times, but the two never answered. After that day, Drax suddenly changed. He retired and began asking Khan to do dirty things. Oh, do you have something to drink?”
Min-jong threw a bottle of water, which she caught effortlessly. She quickly emptied the bottle as if she was really thirsty.
“For 20 years, Khan believed in Drax more than anyone else. He did everything with the expectation that someday Drax would trust him… but Drax didn’t have the same belief in Khan. So, in the end, he felt betrayed and left.”
When she finished talking, Eid stroked the empty bottle and stared at it with blank eyes.
It was difficult to know why Eid is telling them all these.
“What do we have to do with that, and why would Khan come back for me?” Min-jong asked her.
Eid raised her head and laughed.
“If I help you, I’ll find out what Drax is up to.”
* * *
“They ran this way…”
Team 3’s Howl was searching the area slowly with his teammates.
Searching in the thick forest is slow, and there were no signs of the monsters.
“Sir, didn’t we go too far in advance?” one of the team members asked.
Howl shook his head and moved forward.
Although somewhat in an easy mood, the search continued.
There were still no signs of the monsters. Eventually, Howl decided to call off the search.
Suddenly, they heard a rustling sound near them.
Howl raised his hand, and the team stealthily approached the source of the sound.
Slowly… slowly…slowly…
“Have you been searching for the missing monsters?” Drax suddenly appeared in front of them.
The team, including Howl, was startled. Howl felt cold sweat running down his back as he responded. “Uh, yes. Two have fled this way.”
“Take care of them and take out the mana stones. Look for them in another direction.”
“Okay.”
The team members bowed and began walking away.
Drax watched them until they disappeared over the thick bushes, then he turned around and walked towards a hidden monster carcass.