Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 34

Kwa-ang!

My ears were ringing. The sky shook several more times after that. Looking up, I could see the trees near where the lightning had struck were on fire, even from a distance.

“Looks like the Captain is here.”

“The Captain?”

Vanessa’s eyes widened at Grain’s words as he massaged the back of his neck, looking weary.

That lightning, that person—so Gideon actually realized magic?

Anna grinned and said,

“If you’re lucky, you’ll see it a lot. The Captain is someone even the mages of the Boundary Force can’t easily stand against.”

Vanessa scanned the hill again. The flames rising above the trees were still intense.

“Shouldn’t we go check it out?”

“Does it look like we need to? He’s dropping lightning from a clear sky.”

It didn’t take long for Gideon to return. He dragged the corpse of a truly massive monster behind him.

“Ah, no…”

Moshwi’s mouth hung open at the size of it.

Gideon casually tossed the monster nearby. The ground vibrated violently as the monster’s leg fell.

Gideon surveyed the Special Forces members and students, all looking disheveled. He frowned when his eyes met Vanessa’s, who looked slightly pale.

His gaze lingered, making Vanessa cautiously pat her cheeks, wondering if she had something on her face, but there was nothing.

Gideon swallowed whatever he wanted to say and opened his mouth.

“…Looks like they’re all the same type. Bull’s head, monster’s body. Did only small ones appear on Captain Anna’s side?”

“A larger one appeared on our side as well. I just didn’t drag it along separately.”

“Abilities?”

“None.”

“Could it be that it wasn’t a binding ability, but rather that those who saw the monster for the first time felt fear and their feet stopped moving?”

Gideon lowered his eyes. It was impossible to know. They were people who had half their lives on the line, so they couldn’t feel the same fear as ordinary people.

Major Andalus sighed.

“Maybe so. But so many monsters… Does this even make sense?”

Anna threw her sword down and lay on the grass. She didn’t even care about getting dirty with mud.

“Ugh, I don’t know. My legs hurt! Annoying! Tired! Just come out already!”

Anna rolled around on the ground. Gideon looked down at her—he definitely sighed—and said slowly,

“Captain Anna.”

“Yes, sir!”

Anna jumped up.

“We need to sweep them all out. Not a single one should be left.”

“It’s big, but I can handle it alone. So far, none of them have had any other abilities.”

“They only move in a straight line, and if you avoid that path, it takes them some time to charge again. Now that we’re used to it, it’s easy enough to defend against.”

Major Andalus spoke first, and even Lieutenant Hisop said the same, but Gideon shook his head.

“I agree that we need to check more places in detail, but there are students here. I will not allow them to fight the monsters.”

Graine’s mouth jutted out, but Gideon coldly ignored him.

“One member and one student. Split into five groups to check the monsters’ habitats, but absolutely do not engage. If you find a habitat, just mark it and retreat.”

Gideon cast a cold gaze as if warning the headstrong members.

The members pretended to nod diligently, as if promising not to cause any trouble.

Finally, Gideon’s gaze met Vanessa’s. Vanessa, who had been blankly staring at him, flinched in surprise.

The man’s lips slowly opened.

“…Make sure to protect the students well.”

With those words, the members scattered again in five directions.

Vanessa headed west of the village with Hisop.

“This magic was actually developed to find injured people. The application is simple.”

Hisop grinned. The two thoroughly searched several dilapidated houses. The empty houses were piled high with dust.

After snapping off the waist-high weeds and leaving the fence, there was a path leading to the hill. The two naturally climbed that path.

There were a few small monsters on the back road. Lieutenant Hisop took care of them all since they were mostly incomplete ones without any abilities that Vanessa could handle.

Some didn’t even have legs. It seemed they were the offspring of chimeras [monsters composed of different animal parts] whose reproductive abilities weren’t intact.

“They’re all small ones.”

“There were already plenty enough. So many monsters in such a small village.”

The sunset was slowly descending over the hill. It was a very bright red. Soon, darkness would come, and then the monsters’ time would come. Before that, they had to check all around the village.

Vanessa and Hisop headed towards the large tree on the hill. The tree was so huge that its trunk alone could easily hide two or three people.

Then, something enormous that came around the tree appeared before their eyes.

“Lieutenant.”

“Yes?”

“There’s a cow over there.”

Hisop looked up.

What Vanessa pointed to was a black cow under the tree. It was just an ordinary cow, with no signs of being attached to a monster.

The cow was slowly chewing grass. But somehow, it felt like it was aware of them.

The cow’s body was bumpy, and a subtle rotten smell wafted from nearby.

The black cow slowly moved away from them. Vanessa and Hisop involuntarily followed.

“I feel like something’s strange… but it just looks like a cow. What are those bumps on its body?”

“Should we approach it?”

Hisop looked back, but he couldn’t see the other members. The village was large, so they seemed to be scattered in every corner.

“It’s just one, and I’m not sure, but… we need to put a mark on ‘that’ so it can be seen from afar. Let’s just do that and retreat for now.”

“I think I’m going to start hating cows.”

“I was going to say the same thing!”

Hisop walked out first, and Vanessa followed behind him. The distance to the black cow was appropriate.

Or so they thought. Until the black cow suddenly turned and charged.

Hisop, who had been completely off guard, shouted in surprise.

“Vanessa!”

Vanessa quickly stepped aside. If she couldn’t help, it was better to get out of the way.

Hisop clapped his hands together with a snap and stomped his feet. The ground vibrated, and a sturdy vine that grew out of the ground bound the cow’s legs.

The cow stopped without much resistance. Hisop grinned.

“Simple enough.”

However, the moment Hisop clapped his hands again, the bumpy things on the black cow’s back moved.

Twitch.

They weren’t just round bumps. Each one was an eyeball covered by an eyelid.

Slit pupils that were eerily split horizontally. Dozens of eyeballs on the body opened simultaneously and stared at Hisop.

In an instant, Hisop’s fingertips and toes went numb, and even his mind became clouded.

The binding magic he had cast on the monster was released, and the monster charged. The large, black body felt like it was approaching slowly.

So this was the feeling of the body stopping that the man had talked about. Embedding Belov’s eyeballs… they must have money to burn.

That was all he could think. Hisop was stiff and couldn’t even open his mouth.

“Lieutenant!”

Seeing Hisop unable to resist, Vanessa detonated an exploding light. It had no offensive power, but the searing light caused all the cow’s eyes to close.

The magic was released, and Hisop staggered and fell. Vanessa quickly pulled Hisop away from the path the cow was charging.

“Ma, ma, damn-it. Binding… magic.”

Hisop muttered, trembling. It seemed the aftereffects of the binding were still lingering. No matter how hard he tried to clap his hands, his hands and feet wouldn’t move.

The black cow was preparing to charge again, kicking its hind legs. The eyeballs on its body were spinning around, looking for prey.

Vanessa snatched a flare from Hisop’s waist and fired it. A firework-like light streaked across the sky in a straight line.

“Va, Vanessa.”

Run, you have to. Hisop whispered haltingly, but Vanessa instead hugged Lieutenant Hisop and tightly closed her eyes.

There was no time to run. Vanessa couldn’t use teleportation magic.

The black cow charged again. A dazzling light burst forth, and a huge, transparent wall blocked Vanessa and Hisop.

As always, no matter how much magic power was invested, a barrier made with incantations was only one-time use.

The transparent wall shattered, and Vanessa groaned in pain. She felt like something was flowing back up her esophagus.

But the pain cleared her head instead. Vanessa opened her eyes.

She remembered what she had done in the past. The magic she had used on that monster that had snatched Lina.

She didn’t know how she had done it, but thanks to a very powerful magic power, a thrill ran through her fingertips. It was definitely a power she possessed.

Then, couldn’t she do it now too?

Don’t be afraid. Just hold on for a moment before the other Special Forces members arrive.

The eyes of the monster she faced were all black, making it seem as docile as an ordinary cow.

Vanessa felt like her whole body was floating. No, it felt like her body had disappeared. It was as if she had shed her flesh and only something flowing through her fingertips remained.

Faster than that monster. Stronger.

She seemed to whisper something. Or maybe not.

It was like a day in the past. Just as a beam of light descending from the clear sky had pierced through the monster that appeared in the lake, a vermilion beam of light dyed with the color of the sunset poured down.

The lights were like meteors adorning the night sky.

The light pierced through the monster’s legs, cut off its horns, and pierced into its back. It was several times more powerful than the magic Vanessa had wanted, but fortunately, the effect was certain.

The monster cried out in pain.

And someone’s sword appeared, tearing through the air and falling. A strong force cleanly split the huge cow’s torso.

Thud. Blood gushed out, soaking their bodies.

“Captain…”

Gideon raised his sword again and struck repeatedly. A terrible sound was heard. The black cow, with its spine completely shattered, finally collapsed.

Gideon turned and looked at Vanessa and Hisop. His eyes widened when he saw Vanessa.

Vanessa felt her body was heavy, as if she had regained the flesh she had lost.

Ah, now I’m safe. Because the Captain is here. He split that huge monster in one strike.

So Lieutenant will be okay.

Vanessa fainted on the spot.