I am not a returner Episode 276:
The Dog and the Wolf (1)
In the thick bush.
Two wolves with silver manes were running through the bushes.
“Huh oh oh oh oh!”
My breath rose to the tip of my chin.
The two wolves were frantically running forward through the bushes without even thinking about wiping the drool that was dripping between their sharp teeth.
“Oh brother, I...”
“Hold on just a little longer!”
A wolf that was lagging behind stumbled and fell to the ground.
The wolf called Oppa quickly turned around to check the condition of the fallen wolf.
Silver mane with dark spots.
The beautiful silver fur that would once have shined like silk had become tattered with dust, and its entire body was full of small wounds caused by being swept away by tree branches.
“Liru! Wake!”
“I’m sorry... Leo. Now I’m more...”
“Ugh!”
The wolf called Leo swallowed a low sigh and fiercely bared his teeth.
“wait a minute.”
Crack!
Soon, with a sound like bones being twisted, the wolf’s appearance began to change into a human body.
A wolf covered in dust but in the form of a boy with neat features.
The appearance itself was not very different from that of a human, but it had the ears and tail of an animal rather than a human.
“Hmph!”
Leo, who took human form, hugged the fallen Liru.
“Oh brother. If this continues, even my brother...”
“Be quiet.”
Leo ran through the forest while holding Liru in his arms.
Although he was so thin that he couldn’t lift a bag of rice, the animal blood flowing through his body gave him incredible strength.
“Huh oh oh oh oh!”
But in the end, as long as it is a living thing, its physical strength reaches its limit.
Not only had I not eaten properly for several days, but I was also trying to carry Liru on my back, so my stamina began to deplete quickly.
“Over there!”
“Catch that bastard!”
A fierce shout pierces my ears.
Hunters immediately surrounded the surrounding area.
“Tsk, if only they had fast legs....”
A hunter approached, frowning.
The human-shaped hunter had the ears and tail of an animal, just like Leo.
The difference is that, unlike Leo, which is covered with silver fur, it has ears and tail covered with dull brown fur.
“damn.”
Leo let out a low curse and glared at the hunters.
“Give up now, kid.”
“If you catch it gently, you won’t get hurt.”
The hunters let out mocking laughter and narrowed the siege.
“shut up.”
Leo stood in front of Liru and spread his arms wide.
Sharp animal claws sprouted from his outstretched hand.
“I am a wolf of the Silver Mane tribe.”
A boy who burns his fighting spirit as if he will never give in.
The hunters shook their heads as if they were fed up.
“Anyway, those silver-maned bastards are still the same.”
“Don’t you know what you’re getting into now if you’re stubborn like that?”
“Well, it’s been like that for a long time.”
He placed his hand on his left chest, as if the hunters had given up trying to calmly subdue him.
Crack, clap, clap!
With an eerie sound, brown manes grew from their bodies.
“You know you shouldn’t kill, right?”
“But isn’t it okay to chop off a limb?”
“Well, I’m sure higher-ups would understand that.”
The hunters, who took the form of werewolves with ferocious eyes, long snouts and sharp teeth, rushed towards Leo.
* * *
Let’s cross the black crack that spreads like a curtain.
What unfolded before my eyes was a vast forest.
“We’ve arrived.”
From a distance, it didn’t look much different from the forests on Earth.
If you look a little closer, it is not difficult to see that this is not Earth, but the land of demonic beasts.
Is there even a need to look into it in detail?
Hiss!
Green stems stretched out like whips from the huge 3-meter-long flower.
Most of the awakened people who settled in the Demon World were those who committed some serious crime or ran away after being targeted for extermination.
Fortunately, Cheon Kwon-seong is not such a case, so it would be worth meeting him.
[Now that I think about it, Deneb has hardly ever heard anything about heavenly authority.]
“Even from Deneb?”
Still, he is the highest awakened person out of only 12 apostles, but he didn’t hear anything?
[Cheon Kwon-seong was not selected as number one because of his strong military power. Perhaps, in terms of simple force, Allen Oscar is far superior.]
“Then?”
[He is ranked high because of his symbolism as the first apostle. Oh, of course, that won’t make him weak.]
“Well, after all, it’s Chilseong.”
If Ilshin’s strength wasn’t enough, he wouldn’t have been able to survive alone in the demon world for several years.
[Uhm. Now that I think about it, it’s a bit strange. When I first made Allen an apostle, the child who came to the main woman’s temple and boasted about it for hours was especially careful to talk about Heavenly Powers.]
Deneb recalled the memory of when she first introduced Allen.
Deneb, like her generous father, did not hold back on bragging about Allen.
He boasted tirelessly not only about Allen, but also about Sister Xiaolin Xiaoran and other apostles.
‘But you said you didn’t say anything about Cheon Kwon-seong?’
Considering Deneb’s personality, it was an action that was not easily understood.
[Okay. If I had known this would happen, I would have asked in advance.]
“That’s okay. “We’re not that close to each other, are we?”
Rather, if you were to consider whether the relationship is good or not, it would be closer to the bad side.
“Well, you’ll know once you meet them in person.”
I followed Ojin’s Riak and walked in the direction the compass pointed.
* * *
A week of continuous walking through the thick bushes.
After camping for some time and walking without stopping, I was finally able to get out of the forest.
“I finally got out of that damn forest!”
Ha-eun spread her arms out toward the shining sunlight and roared.
“It’s a really big forest.”
“that’s right. There are too many demonic beasts in the middle...”
Isabella also shook her head with an expression of boredom.
Misin Ha-eun Isabella.
Even though all three of them have transcendent bodies that are far beyond humans, it took them a week to get out of the forest.
Even though there were frequent attacks by demonic beasts in the middle, it was too wide.
“The Forest of Demon Sea is a notorious place even within the Demon World.”
Riak also looked back at the forest with a quite tired expression.
“If the first crack had opened somewhere other than the Demon Sea Forest, the damage to the Earth would have been much less.”
“...but.”
Even on the outskirts of the forest, the number of demonic beasts had significantly decreased compared to where they first arrived.
‘When I came here on Poppy before, it wasn’t like this.’
Even then, it took quite a long time.
Demonic beasts did not attack from all directions like they do now.
“Ugh... the Baekmu River, the Cheonmugang, how much is left to get to where Cheon Gwonseong is?”
“I don’t know that.”
A compass only tells direction and does not tell you distance.
“Anyway, now let’s increase our speed and move.”
“Can’t we take a break?”
“You know I don’t have time.”
It’s been a week since I entered the demonic realm, and I haven’t even met Cheon Kwon-seong yet.
“Okay.”
“...for a moment.”
Riak, who was leading the way, put his nose to the floor and sniffed.
“It smells human.”
The direction he pointed was exactly the direction the compass needle was pointing.
Ojin and his party increased their speed and ran in the direction the compass pointed.
Did you run like that for about 5 minutes?
I saw a small hut built next to a babbling stream.
Sweet.
The person who opened the cabin door and came out was an old man.
Will the key just barely reach Ojin’s chest?
His back was bent like a hunchback, and his face was full of age spots.
An old man so ugly that his eyes are frowned upon.
“huh?”
The old man who discovered Ojin and his group approached them with shining eyes.
The old man, who approached with a rather comical gait, perhaps because his back was bent, looked up at Oh Jin and laughed.
“First time with someone other than Allen.”
The old man smiled brightly and raised his hand.
I thought he was going to shake hands, but he started picking his nose with his raised hand.
“I am Cheon Gwon-seong... huh? Is this true? Umm. anyway. “My name is Baek Moo-gang. Nice to meet you.”
“....”
Oh Jin’s expression hardened as he looked at Baek Mu-gang, who was holding out his booger-covered hand with a wide smile.