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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Great Cataclysm (3)
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The distance to the funeral home was less than 200 meters, but the path to get there was anything but safe.
Chasing after the Shaman's Spirit just a short way out, he spotted beasts of a form he'd never seen in his life attacking people.
Grrr... Bark bark!
Bark bark bark!
"W-what the hell are those? Wolves?"
They looked like dogs, but no one could mistake their size for that of an ordinary one.
Even on all fours—shorter than a human standing upright—they came up to the solar plexus of Kang Sa-hu, who stood over 180 cm tall.
The dog-like monsters spotted Kang Sa-hu and crept closer, low growls rumbling from their throats.
Giant Hound
"They sure look the part."
As Kang Sa-hu tensed and stared down the dogs, he suddenly noticed faint holograms flickering above them.
The text floating there read Giant Hound.
A hologram hovering over a monster? Bizarre, sure—but with the sky itself crumbling and his awakening in the mix, it was too minor a detail to dwell on.
Far more pressing was breaking through this mess, so Kang Sa-hu didn't waste time puzzling over the inexplicable.
"Giant Hound must be what they call those things."
But knowing their name changed nothing.
As the Giant Hounds let out deeper growls and coiled to strike, Kang Sa-hu murmured a chant in a low, rapid voice.
These things were bigger than any human, monsters unlike anything he'd ever encountered, so he poured out his Qi without restraint.
Bark bark bark!
Just as the Giant Hound spun and lunged at him...
Kang Sa-hu finished his incantation, leveled his palm at it, and clenched his fist.
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
Kekeke!
The beast charging with savage fury spewed blood from its jaws.
It never even reached him. Bones burst grotesquely from beneath its skin, ribs warped unnaturally by magic twisting wildly inside, shredding every organ in a horrific display.
The Giant Hound thrashed in agony before collapsing, blood streaming from its maw as it died.
[...W-what was that?]
The Shaman's Spirit recoiled at the scene—something neither heard of nor imagined before.
With its unique spirit vision, different from any living person's, it grasped exactly how the Hound met its end all too clearly.
Qi flowing from Kang Sa-hu's body into the beast, hijacking its skeleton and ripping its innards apart from within. A grotesque, horrifying power.
Being able to see what humans couldn't made the method all the more nightmarish once understood.
But Kang Sa-hu offered no reply, his face grim.
[Why the long face?]
"Something's off. This Giant Hound... it has no Spirit."
All life with a soul becomes a Spirit upon death.
Necromancers drew on those Spirits' energy to cast their spells.
Right now, he'd improvised with his own Qi out of necessity, but spells fueled purely by Qi were severely limited.
Like rowing a motorboat with all your might just to get the engine started—only to find no fuel in the tank.
Kang Sa-hu scowled at this unforeseen crisis.
[No Spirit means you're screwed? So how many more times can you pull that off?]
"In this state? One, maybe two at best..."
He trailed off as he gauged his remaining Qi.
That spell should've drained him to the point where three casts were his absolute limit on pure Qi.
Yet the amount pulled from his body was less than a tenth of the usual cost.
"What the...?"
Realizing the minimal drain, Kang Sa-hu stared in shock.
The consumption was overwhelmingly lower than normal.
And as he circulated his Qi, he sensed it: his reserves dozens of times vaster, the power surging stronger than ever.
'This must be the "mana" those Awakener folks always talked about.'
His eyes quivered at the immense, potent Qi permeating his body.
A force even lifelong Qi cultivators could scarcely dream of now roiled within him.
"With this much Qi..."
He swallowed hard, mind racing with possibilities unlocked by his suddenly amplified power.
Even with Necromancer spells limited to those substitutable with Qi for Spirits, he had more than enough to unleash them relentlessly.
The rituals, preparations, and materials needed for stable casting? He could ignore them entirely now.
He stared at his hand, clenching and unclenching his fist, then hesitantly aimed his palm at the fallen Giant Hound.
Normally, this would've required days of corpse preparation and rituals—a spell with such a high failure rate that Necromancers rarely dared it.
But now, he felt certain: he could cast it using only the mana-like Qi dwelling in his body.
"I postpone your rest."
⟨ Embalming ⟩
His whisper ended.
The limp corpse, breath long stilled, convulsed violently.
"Yeoul! You okay?"
"S-sob... D-Dad... W-what do we do?"
Yeoul, dressed in black mourning clothes, sobbed as she desperately tried to staunch the blood pouring from her father Tae-hyun's wound.
After the deafening blasts outside, everyone had fled screaming, leaving just the two of them in the funeral home.
Minutes later, screams echoed everywhere as unprecedented monsters appeared—and one attacked Tae-hyun.
He barely fended it off and barricaded the thick iron fire door behind them, but the beasts refused to relent, pounding relentlessly from outside.
It was too surreal to accept as reality, yet the terrified hammering on the door and Tae-hyun bleeding out felt far too vivid for a dream.
She'd come for her grandmother's funeral, only to face one inexplicable horror after another. She was half out of her mind.
"W-what are those monsters? D-Dad... You can't die... Please don't die..."
"Huff... Huff... Don't worry, Yeoul. Dad's not gonna... Hoo... die."
Tae-hyun forced the words out through gritted teeth, but his vision was dimming fast—contrary to his reassurance.
"Yeoul... Huff... Listen to Dad."
"Sob... Why? What is it, Dad?"
Tae-hyun paused, gasping raggedly.
If I die here...
Grandma gone, no mother—his daughter Yeoul, left to suffer alone. Tears threatened to spill.
But even before that, could she survive this place?
His sight went hazy.
"If something happens to Dad..."
As he choked back a sob and tried to speak...
The iron door, which had withstood the onslaught, began to crumple.
The barricade shifted, cracking open. A familiar elongated snout forced its way in.
The blood-smeared monster bared crimson fangs in a low growl. Yeoul screamed.
"Yeoul, get back! Hurry!"
"Dad, no! You'll get killed!"
Blood streamed from his mangled left thigh as Tae-hyun shoved the barricade with desperate strength, blocking the Giant Hound.
Even in perfect health, he couldn't have held. Already crippled, he stood no chance against its power.
"Urk!"
"Dad!"
Tae-hyun collapsed. The Giant Hound battered through door and barricade in one go, jamming its forepaw inside.
Like a demon crawling from hell, it raked the floor with claws, eager to devour them. Yeoul's eyes rolled back in terror.
"No! Yeoul! Stay with me!"
Tae-hyun lunged for his fainted daughter. The Giant Hound shoved its belly through the gap.
"Grk!"
Crushing Yeoul to his chest, Tae-hyun squeezed his eyes shut, steeling for death.
Clack! Snap!
Each guttural cry from the Hound made Tae-hyun flinch.
Death closing in, his body shook uncontrollably, strength ebbing away. Still, he clung to his daughter with all he had.
The least he could do—the raw instinct of fatherhood—was ensure she didn't go first.
The gruesome sounds faded soon enough.
Yet even after the Hound's cries stopped, no searing agony came. Puzzled, Tae-hyun slowly turned his head.
Clack.
"Gasp!"
The monstrous behemoth lay dead, blood pooling beneath it.
And incredibly, its killers appeared to be four more of the same breed.
The only difference: each bore a deep gash at the nape, as if they'd drop dead any second.
Staring silently, motionless, the four Giant Hounds sent Tae-hyun's mind reeling in horror.
But before he blacked out, a man slipped through the gap.
"Hello. You're Lee Tae-hyun, right?"
The stranger knew his name. Tae-hyun jolted.
"W-who...?"
"Your mother sent me. Let's get you out first."
"Y-yes? M-my mother...?"
"Yes, she's passed. But her Spirit came to me and revealed your location."
Tae-hyun gaped at Kang Sa-hu in disbelief.
His rational mind screamed nonsense.
But was this situation any more rational?
Above all, seeing Yeoul limp in his arms steadied him.
"O-okay. Ngh!"
He staggered trying to rise, leg pain buckling him.
Kang Sa-hu, ordering his Giant Hounds outside, noticed and recalled the last one.
"You—carry that man."
"H-heh?!"
Clack?!
Tae-hyun and the Hound alike stared at Sa-hu in shock.
Sa-hu cocked his head, puzzled.
"Hm? No Spirit makes it a zombie, but... does it still have a soul?"
Zombies should've lost all emotion, slavishly obeying like machines. This one showed clear reluctance. Intriguing.
"I'll look into that later. For now, give him a ride."
As the Hounds headbutted the door wide open for easy exit, Sa-hu helped hoist Tae-hyun atop one.
The Hound clacked its jaws in obvious disgust.
Tae-hyun, mounting the beast that bit his leg and tried to kill him, felt much the same.
'But I'm alive.'
He tightened his grip around his daughter.
The claim of his late mother sending help didn't compute—but as a shaman in life, maybe it did.
Clack-clack.
Clack, clack.
"..."
Dozens of Giant Hounds in the corridor "greeted" Tae-hyun with synchronized jaw snaps.
'...I'm not dead already, am I?'
His face drained of color, hope for survival turning to dread.
[I'm truly grateful. Really, so grateful.]
"Think nothing of it."
Kang Sa-hu, riding a Giant Hound, rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly at the Spirit's thanks.
It was for his own survival, after all.
More than that, having received the Spirit's aid, he felt duty-bound to return the favor.
"Without you, I never would've found the Necromancer card. I'd have quit. I'm the one who's thankful."
[Still, saving my bloodline like this... twice now. I owe you deeply.]
"If you put it that way... Fine."
Stepping outside brought a barrage of noise and stench.
Gunpowder acridity mingled with gunfire cracks.
Screams from people, growls from Giant Hounds—Sa-hu's eyes hardened with calm resolve.
"Mr. Lee Tae-hyun. I know it hurts, but could you hold out a bit longer?"
Tae-hyun, hyper-focused on his mount, startled at the question.
What now? But Sa-hu's earnest gaze confirmed he hadn't misheard.
"O-of course. You've already saved us—I'm in your debt."
"Understood. Then I'll clear the area first."
The command formed in his mind for his linked Giant Hounds—and transmitted instantly.
Clack-clack-clack!
Clack-clack!
"Eep."
Tae-hyun shuddered as dozens of Hounds threw their heads back in unison, roaring with snapping jaws. Goosebumps raced down his spine.
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