BTE (59) — The Nightmare Never Ends IV (Patreon)

Normal gunfire wasn’t much effective against Galvathian armor.

But when a fleet of Apache helicopters took to the sky, with full anti-tank rockets loaded up, there was no longer a need to pointlessly waste ammunition in the face of impossible odds, like shooting at an armor tank using only a handgun, like a dumbass.

The Galvathian soldiers, both on the ground and in the air, fell down like flies under the barrage of explosive firepower. Of course, achieving that result took a lot of manpower and ammunition. The Seoul sky turned scarlet and smelled heavily of burnt flesh and blood.

Corpses lined up the road—Galvathians, civilians, human soldiers. 

Hari held a hand to the window. Yuhee had to slow down the driving due to debris and other obstacles. “This is horrible…” Her gaze lowered. Things she once only saw on television happened right before her eyes; all the death, the violence, the massacre… Seoul was bathed in blood. How many had died by now? How many of those dead did she know or meet?

Nari shakily nodded.

Their mother. She hoped she wasn’t one of these corpses. She didn't know what she would do otherwise. She lowered her head as well. Bada softly patted her back in understanding, not saying anything at all.

Bombs continuously exploded, and every single time it did, a Galvathian soldier was dead, at the expense of many, many human lives.

Leandro only ever dispatched anyone who posed a credible enough threat—those who seemed relatively more powerful, larger or imposing Galvathians—than crippling the weaker ones for the girls in the car to finish off. 

He wasn’t exactly sure how their ‘contributions’ would play out for the system, but a moving vehicle should count as a weapon, in some way. 

Speaking of contribution, Leandro didn't let those wounded but not outright dead Galvathian soldiers hobble away. Anyone stupid enough to do so earned a blade between their eyes. He made sure no one even came close to the girls.

“We’re getting close to the airport.” 

They were—that was until something was sent propelling into a nearby building, causing it to collapse.

Yuhee swerved at the very last moment, tires screeching and nearly breaking due to the sheer inertia. When her gaze snapped ahead again, Leandro already hopped down in front of them.

The road was covered in a cloud of dust and hefty chunks of debris.

“Seriously!” Yuhee threw her hands in the air, frustrated. Then she saw the reason why a perfectly standing, cleverly engineered building came down all of a sudden. “Those damn bastards!” She spat, glaring at the silhouette that walked out of the smokescreen. 

"What's that...?" Bada whispered, perking up curiously when she noticed that ghastly silhouette stepping ahead, moving faster and faster, parting through the veil of smog.

Yuhee narrowed her eyes, lips pulled apart in a tight scowl.

That creature looked so stupid she could only growl under her breath in annoyance. "That looks like some pet lizard..." What irritated her, what truly got under her nerves, was how this four-legged Galvathian's arm had two girls chained like animals—one had dark black hair, the other one fiery red locks. They both looked dead; eyes blank and defeated as their skin bore countless bruises and open, bleeding cuts.

Hari stared in horror, her pupils visibly dilated in shock. "Nari—That, those two…!! They were classmates… they live near us…” It took one, two, then three seconds for her to snap out of shock and then start crying in fear and dread, tears falling like a fountain over her blotched cheeks.

She nearly tore the window open with her sheer force until Nari restrained Hari in a tight hug. She shook her head silently, fresh tears in her eyes. Yuhee looked in the mirror—

Nari met Yuhee's violet, strangely comforting gaze, before she looked out the window, right where Leandro was. 

Perhaps sensing her gaze, Leandro briefly made eye-contact with her. The briefest of smiles crossed his lips as he quietly mouthed out. “Don’t worry, gatita.”

Then, he walked forward.

Nari bit her lip. There really was nothing more frustrating than simply staying on the side and doing nothing to help Leandro. She doubted her weak ass flame could do anything against that armored behemoth. 

The four-legged Galvathian didn’t look like it could speak, or if it did, decided not to do so. It rumbled with coarse laughter, chucking the dead girls in its grasp towards the ground, bursting them up like watermelons. 

Leandro stared dispassionately at the Galvathian’s taunting display. He turned to glance behind him and lifted a hand. "Noona... back away a bit, please. I’ll clear a path.”

"Hm!"

Yuhee immediately reversed for a few dozens of meters. When she stopped, everyone's heart was nearly leaping up their throats due to the sharp atmosphere around Leandro.

The four-legged monster roared as it charged forward. It was nearly twice as tall as the Galvathian fodders they met on the way, and almost thrice as large. It was a miniature tank of flesh and limbs. 

Leandro calmly lifted his weapon. His sword shone in all of its moonlit beauty. Yuhee found herself entranced as soon as silver light washed over her. Everyone's breathing almost stilled entirely, as if they didn't dare to move an inch, perhaps for fear of breaking that otherworldly beauty before them.

Leandro twisted the sword to the side before sharply swinging parallel to the ground. His fingers flexed and the sword's blade came alive, slicing through the air in an arc—a beautiful arc, bright enough to blind those careless enough to not shield their eyes.

Moonblade Style — 4th form — Waxing Gibbous.

A gigantic, horizontal slice tore through the road and flung the debris with a grand blast, completely shattering it apart like wet paper. The initial wind blast propelled the charging, titanic reptilian backward. 

And then the beautiful crescent of scorching, lunar energy engulfed its hulking, scaly body, burning away layer after layer of scales with the sheer energy alone. The creature could only screech agonizingly for a good, one and a half seconds—until it was ripped open and in half, spilling innards everywhere and coating the street in a crimson liquid.

The wave of white energy continued forth, impacting the barricade of debris that used to be a building. It obliterated everything before finally dispersing, leaving no remains or craters behind, only a long, thick trench carved into concrete.

Yuhee's hands gripped the steering wheel so hard it cracked in her palms. Bada nearly slammed her head through the window due to her close proximity with that grand display of power. Her eyes grew nearly foggy while her cheeks blushed crimson in excitement.

Hari had a hand covering her mouth in surprise. Nari had her hands balled into fists over her lap as she stared at her Oppa, eyes wide and unblinking. 

Leandro remained unscathed, as was the road in his immediate vicinity.

…

Incheon International Airport. 

Its tarmac once so lively and bustling with activity now had people crawling over its bloodsoaked runways.

Myeong and Yuna had barely landed when chaos broke out, like some poorly-delivered punchline of a cosmic joke. 

Passengers and airport employees were running around, screaming their heads out in panic and fear, desperately trying to escape a pack of monsters that ambushed them the moment they stepped inside the terminal.

Security rushed towards the assailants in the distance, only to be promptly tossed, butchered, and disemboweled with the unadulterated savageness of a predator dismembering their prey. A few of them managed to get a few lucky shots in and take down some of the creatures. 

Myeong caught sight of a reptilian creature leaping on the roof of an airport employee's car. It tackled the unsuspecting passenger into the driver's seat, its tail promptly and skillfully ramming through the vehicle's window to grab the driver's head before the monster slammed him down on the steering wheel, cracking the windshield like paper.

"What the..."

Yuna's eyes widened, while Myeong despaired. Had they been too late, after all?

Alfred, Yuna's butler, quickly ushered both of them further into the airport as an eerie silence fell over them. 

Myeong peered past her shoulder—in time to see an injured survivor desperately trying to crawl away, screaming for help. However, his screams were quickly snuffed out, along with his legs, as he was hoisted into the air by one of the reptilian creatures. It licked the blood off of the survivor's legs before tearing them apart with its hands and jaws.

She felt her stomach churn. It was her first time seeing such a gruesome scene play out live; and in front of her eyes, no less. Myeong gripped Yuna's trembling hand, and squeezed. 

'Right, her daughters.' Myeong bit her bottom lip, sweat flying with each fluttering of her ponytail. 'Leandro... damn it, is he coming here? No… maybe he’s hiding somewhere. Yes… he might be. Please…'

She couldn’t stomach the thought that her precious son was out there, caught in the crossfire. 

All of the terminal was dark and practically ominously silent, even the previously jarring chaos had gone to a complete stop, save for a few sounds of agonized screaming.

Alfred shoved a hand into thin air, his arm briefly disappearing from his elbow down, until he pulled out a knife and a gun. A small Glock-19. “Madam Yuna, Madam Myeong, please stay behind me, and don't make noise. If worse comes to worst, run and don't look back. I will protect you even at the cost of my own life. Understood?”

Yuna swallowed past the bitter feeling clogging her throat. "Understood..."

"Don't do anything reckless, Alfred." Myeong pursed her lips, steeling herself. Yuna briefly squeezed her hand one last time before letting go; her trembling had come to a sudden stop.

They carefully crept past overturned tables and broken displays, moving with calculated steps and staying close to the walls. Alfred quietly listened and peeked through the corners, carefully advancing forward and motioning both Myeong and Yuna to move.

Alfred was about to speak when a chilling sensation froze him on his tracks—and it was by the skin of his teeth that he managed to duck under a tail sweep. The wall next to him cracked from the impact, sending a cloud of paint chips all over them.

He immediately lifted his gun, steadying his aim, and shot—once, twice, thrice. 

The spent casings clinked as they fell to the ground. 

One of the bullets penetrated the creature’s eye, toppling it backward, dead.

Unfortunately, the sound attracted more of them. 

A series of thuds echoed out as the aliens jumped out from wherever they were hiding and landed in front of them. They were tall, with black, scaly skin, an elongated maw, and crimson eyes. 

Myeong let out a frightened whimper before covering her mouth. 

A reptilian creature cackled and hopped in front of Alfred in delight; his red eyes zeroing on Yuna, who was currently shielded behind the butler's towering figure.

"I smeell a tasty one! You guyss would make for a good meal!" It barked, tail flicking in excitement. Alfred wasted no time and lifted his gun once again, firing four more rounds, only for the monster to dodge each bullet with acrobatic ease, which then slammed its tail against Alfred's weapon with an upward swing, flinging it up the air.

Alfred switched to his knife, wielding it skillfully. He closed in, expertly avoiding an incoming claw that would have torn his head apart like a fruit. Strength wise, the reptilian was head and shoulders above Alfred, but he had focused most of his hard-earned points on agility. 

He kicked it, adding some distance between them. The Galvathian growled in irritation—not for long. Alfred dashed in close quarters once again, so fast that it couldn’t react properly. He embedded the sharp blade right under its elongated maw. 

It grabbed his hands, desperately, trying to push him off. Alfred insisted, gritting his teeth. A momentary tug-of-war ensued, with the reptilian on the losing side due to the deep wound inflicted. Its scales were snapping like the bands of a rubber band ball. Its hide was tough, but his knife was tougher. 

With a last ditch effort, Alfred pushed in. 

Blood sprinkled out as the monster stumbled back and fell down, surprise coloring its menacing crimson eyes for one last moment. Alfred, unfortunately, knew that taking one down didn’t mean a lot when they were surrounded. Not to mention that he didn’t come out totally unscathed from that encounter. His wrists were throbbing in pain. 

That was when an ear-piercing screech boomed through the terminal. The rest of the reptilians rushed in, likely to avenge their fallen comrade. Alfred thought they’d jump in sooner. Perhaps they were arrogant, thinking that a single one of them could have won what was a seemingly easy fight.

“Damn it!” 

Yuna was about to move, to retrieve the fallen gun when another reptilian appeared from the shadows, crushing the firearm under its talons before backhanding her. She staggered to a side, stumbling all the way until the wall stopped her momentum. She held her swollen cheek, blood trickling down. 

Myeong gasped when Alfred was sent flying in a soaring arc of blood. 

“Alfred! Yuna!”

She knelt in worry next to him. Yuna staggered her way over—she looked fine, albeit a bit roughed up. 

Myeong turned towards the alien creatures that barred their way, hissing and laughing, mockingly. She gritted her teeth. 

“What is this? These inferior lifeforms break so easily.”

“Kekeke, don’t mind it, Gullundar. They’re not even a Type 1 civilization. So weak, so fragile.”

They moved with human-like intelligence—which, by default, already scared her silly—but that thing was even capable of speaking the same language as them. It was downright terrifying. 

Myeong felt all the courage that tried to build up leave her when one of the aliens extended its forked tongue, taking in her and Yuna's scents, delight clearly visible within its murky red eyes. She realized, with startling clarity, that they were nothing more than prey to be feasted upon. 

“Yet we still killed two of your own.” It was Yuna who snapped, seemingly looking down on them. She had this casual confidence. Everyone knew better than to run when facing dangerous animals. but Myeong knew it was a lie. It didn’t help that her upper lip was split, smeared with blood. 

She was trembling as well. 

The creatures simply grinned menacingly in response, tails whipping in an untamed fury. One of them, probably a higher ranking soldier given the more embellished armor and stature, walked forward. “It’s cute how you think that your collective effort and paltry, primitive armament is enough to contend against us and win~ hahaha, kekeke. Hilarious! Hilarious I sssssay!"

Myeong swallowed back her fear and did her best to steel her gaze.

Yuna maintained her dignified poise while cradling a badly injured Alfred. He grunted in pain—that creature managed to tear off a huge chunk of flesh from his chest. It was so bad that Myeong was honestly unsure of what would happen to him at this point.

That's why she had to do something, anything! Stall for time, wait until reinforcement arrived!

'Would it even arrive...?'

Yuna still managed to give the monster an uncharacteristic glare as Alfred was beginning to lose consciousness.

Myeong clutched her hands together; her fingernails dug into the tender, warm meat of her palms. “I want to speak with your King—we had an agreement!” She didn’t think it’d do much at this point, but the threat of death had never been so clear, or so close.

The reptilian leader simply tilted its head to the side, wickedly amused. "Oh? An agreement? Ahh!”It opened its mouth, the tip of its long tongue tapping the corner of its lips. The other creatures shared a mocking sneer among each other. “So you're that foolish Earthling female! How delightful. Sorry, sorry~ I didn’t realize I was in the presence of such a distinguished diplomat. Here, let me personally deliver your head to His Majesty.”

Myeong’s eyes dilated—it was fast, too fast. It was as if reality had lost a few frames, making the creature’s sudden dash laggy and disjointed. Ah… was that how she died?

Just when the creature was about to grab her neck in its clawed grip—a silver, shining crescent of light effortlessly decapitated everything in its path; body, armor, limb, and tail. Myeong instinctively dove out of the way as the remains toppled on the floor. Yuna almost fell back; Myeong immediately came to her aid. Blood pooled on the airport's immaculate floors, forming a quickly spreading, viscous circle.

Everything was still, soundless.

No one dared move.

The loud clacking of shoes resounded. The sound was eerily amplified, echoing out perfectly, one leisure step at a time. 

A tall figure stepped on the puddle of blood. The very air turned heavy, as if charged by lightning.

Yuna felt her breath hitch in her throat. She knew that it wasn't an enemy. The Galvathians, on the other hand... 

Her gut churned when they shrieked menacingly; they sounded almost… frightened.

The figure stepped closer and was finally visible in Myeong's field of vision.

Ah—there was no way she wouldn’t recognize him.

“Leandro…”