Chapter 71
- New Members of Happy House
Victor and Emma pressed themselves tight against the wall. They were cornered, surrounded by monsters.
Was this how it ended…?
The creatures surrounding them varied in form. Some looked like beasts of prey, while others took the shape of insects.
Leading the threat was a creature with a long, centipede-like torso and a countless number of limbs.
Clicking its pincer-like antennae, it crept closer to Victor and Emma.
“Vi-Victor… hic.”
Emma sobbed, clinging to Victor’s chest. Victor silently stroked her back before swinging his knife. The centipede monster flinched and skittered back.
The lady from the haunted mansion had done her best to help them, but it seemed their luck had finally run out.
“Victor, there’s something I’ve wanted to tell you all this time.”
Emma began tentatively.
Victor knew instinctively what she was about to say. He placed his index finger over her lips, silencing her.
“Let me say it first, Emma.”
Victor looked at her with a gaze full of longing.
“I love you. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner.”
“Victor!”
Emma clung to him, weeping.
In that brief moment, the hesitating monsters drew closer. The centipede monster at the front reared its body toward them.
A massive shadow from the centipede monster loomed over the wall behind Victor and Emma.
“I love you, Victor.”
As Emma spoke her final words, they embraced each other and closed their eyes.
However, the expected pain never came. Instead, the sound of something slicing through the air was followed by a heavy thud as something crashed to the ground.
Squelch—!
Thump!
Victor and Emma slowly opened their eyes.
Into their line of sight came a magnificent, fluttering blue uniform cloak.
A police officer had cut through the monsters in a single stroke. As he flicked his sword, green slime splattered onto the ground.
Thud— Thump—!
Simultaneously, several monsters fell to the ground, their bodies severed. Through the gap that had been created, a woman of striking beauty stepped forward.
While the centipede monster wavered at the sudden intrusion, the woman swung her axe, effortlessly splitting the massive creature in half. It was a display of incredible strength.
The officer, Eden, approached the bewildered Victor and Emma.
“Are you all right?”
The two looked up and let out small cries of relief.
“Please help us. I don’t care about myself, but please, save Emma.”
Victor, the man in the chef’s whites, tried to push Emma toward Eden. Emma shook her head and grabbed Victor’s hand, offering him to Eden instead.
“I’m fine. I’m weak and useless anyway, so I’ll probably die soon. Please take care of Victor.”
“Emma, don’t! Do you think I could live if you died?”
“Then what about me?! Do you think I could?! Let’s just die together! I can’t live without you either!”
“Wha—what…?”
Victor’s eyes widened at Emma’s outburst.
Watching them, Eden let out a sigh.
“I will save you both, so follow our instructions from now on. The moment you stray on your own, I cannot guarantee your lives.”
When Emma and Victor merely stared at him blankly, Eden frowned.
“Answer me.”
“Ye-yes. Understood.”
Victor managed to respond, while in the meantime, Cherry swung her axe and dispatched a few more monsters.
She kicked away a lunging beast before turning back to them.
“Shall we go?”
Victor and Emma followed behind Cherry. Eden brought up the rear, guarding them.
The villagers who had tried to throw Victor and Emma out as bait had all met gruesome deaths at the hands of the monsters.
Seeing their remains from a distance, Emma swallowed hard and gripped Victor’s hand tightly.
Emma watched in awe as Cherry, who looked so small, relentlessly hacked down and kicked away monsters several times her size.
‘How can she do that with such a small body…?’
It was overwhelming power. Eventually, even the monsters instinctively hesitated before Cherry’s swinging axe.
‘I wish I had strength like that.’
Clutching Victor’s hand, Emma looked at Cherry—who was at least a decade younger than her—and felt a secret flower of admiration bloom in her heart.
Behind them, Eden was busy slaying monsters with his sword. Victor glanced back as he walked with Emma.
Schwing—
A sharp blade flashed, and a lunging monster was sliced in half.
Eden plunged his sword into the head of a struggling fish-like monster before looking at Victor.
“Don’t stop. Keep moving.”
They were now almost at the main gate of Happy House.
Bang—!
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from somewhere.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
It wasn’t Eden who had fired. Eden also looked surprised, his sword still drawn.
What was that?
While they were still wondering, someone ran toward the gate.
The first thing they noticed was soft brown hair fluttering in the wind.
The monocle over one of the man’s eyes was cracked, yet he still exuded an intellectual aura. His elegant suit was soiled, but his dignity remained intact.
“I finally found you.”
The man spoke. His vibrant green eyes met hers.
Cherry’s face filled with shock upon seeing him. She knew exactly who he was.
Harrison Howard.
Cherry’s only family. He had finally come for her.
Vanilla guided Harrison and Jose on the path from Kintne to Brunel. It was the first time both Harrison and Jose had traveled to the village.
“It’s a mess here, too.”
Jose furrowed his brow as he stepped through a puddle of blood soaking the dirt ground.
They had now entered the outskirts of Brunel Village.
“The damage looks severe, but there aren’t that many monsters around.”
Jose scanned the village and offered a brief observation.
It was strange. Given the scale of the destruction, there should have been a high number of monsters roaming the village, but there weren’t.
And then it happened.
Booooom—!
A massive roar erupted, sounding like an explosion.
Skreeee! Roaaar!
The sounds of an immense number of beasts echoed through the air, making them wonder how they hadn’t heard them until now.
The noise was coming from the outskirts of the village, up on the hill. Harrison’s group all turned their heads toward the source of the sound at once.
“So that’s why the village was quiet.”
“They were all gathered there.”
Jose and Harrison muttered.
“That’s where Happy House is…”
When Vanilla muttered worriedly, Harrison and Jose both snapped their heads toward her.
That meant their destination was that monster den, and they would have to fight their way through those damn creatures.
“He-help us! Lady Cherry! Please! Save us!”
“Please! Help! Have mercy!”
The screams of people echoed from the hill. Jose looked at Harrison with a puzzled expression.
“Lady Cherry? …Isn’t Lady Cherry the person we’re looking for?”
Following Jose’s grim question, they began to run frantically. As they raced up the hill, Jose thought to himself.
‘But weren’t those people asking Lady Cherry to save them?’
That would mean it was others who were in danger, not Cherry.
Reaching the top of the hill in an instant, they discovered people being devoured by monsters. Jose hesitated, holding his rifle, unable to move forward in shock.
“Wha—what is this situation…?”
He had seen many monsters on the way to Brunel, but he hadn’t encountered living people. Everyone had already turned into monsters.
To the eighteen-year-old Jose, the scene before him looked like hell itself.
“Aaaaagh!”
A man whose body had been torn by a monster screamed and convulsed before his form began to twist grotesquely.
“Shit, what is this? What the hell…”
Suddenly, Jose’s vision went dark. A cold palm pressed over his eyes.
“You stay back.”
Harrison’s voice reached his ears.
Pushing Jose behind him, Harrison and Vanilla stepped forward.
Bang—!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two moved forward, firing their rifles and taking down the lunging monsters.
Jose followed blankly behind them, rifle in hand, before finally snapping out of it and looking around.
Then, Jose caught sight of people walking along the wall.
At the very front, a small woman was sending monsters flying with incredible super strength.
‘Damn, what on earth is that? Who is that woman?’
