Chapter 136. Emergency Stop Technique (3)
…...Hiss!
The face of the flushed statue!
Baal’s heartfelt kiss successfully docked with the statue’s cheek. At that moment, the statue’s massive body trembled.
[...... Thump!]
The statue’s once-frozen heart gave a mighty beat.
The statue thought,
This is the first time I’ve felt like this.
And that thought was its last.
…….Psssh!
Steam surged out from the statue’s entire body. Its rampaging movements slowly began to cease.
‘Did it work?’
Kim Jangcheol tried to look up at the statue with anxious eyes.
Of course, it wasn’t easy.
His eyes stung terribly.
He had kept his bloodshot eyes open for over 400 seconds earlier, and again for more than 200 seconds just now without blinking.
Thanks to that, not only was it now nearly impossible to keep his bloodshot gaze, it was actually difficult to keep his eyes open at all. Tears streamed freely, and it felt as if a metal skewer were gouging out his eyeballs—stinging and painful.
Even so, he forced his eyes open.
He had to check whether the emergency stop method had worked on the statue, which had just received Baal’s heartfelt kiss on its cheek.
— Did it work?
Artanis, who had somehow landed nearby, asked.
“I’m not sure yet.”
He couldn’t be certain hastily.
Nor could he afford to be careless.
So, he absolutely couldn’t blurt out any premature lines like—
“.......Did we get it?”
“........!”
He blurted it out!
That cursed line!
‘Who was it!?’
He had tried so hard to be cautious!
Kim Jangcheol snapped his head toward the direction from which that accursed sentence had been uttered.
And he found him.
The kingdom’s only swordmaster.
The captain of the royal guard.
Hector, breathing heavily, came into view.
“Uh, why are you glaring at me like that? Did I do something wrong ......?”
Hector shrank back.
And then it happened.
…….. Kwaaaang!
The statue moved.
It took a step forward, which had been halted.
It raised its once-lowered head.
It gripped its loosened sword once more!
And roared even more savagely than before!
[NuoOOOOOOOO—!]
Then, as if it had never been subjected to an emergency stop, it swung its greatsword toward them.
With even greater ferocity than before!
“.......This is all your fault!”
Kim Jangcheol screamed resentfully at Hector and flung himself sideways.
Away from Hector. To prevent others from getting caught up in the attack directed at him.
But it wasn’t easy.
‘............!’
Too slow.
His reaction.
Meanwhile, the falling greatsword’s force was far too swift.
Then—
Thunk!
An abrupt, deafening crash and shockwave rang out from the side of the descending greatsword.
Startled, he looked up.
And finally noticed.
Artanis had somehow leapt into the air.
Had she struck the greatsword’s side? It seemed so. The blade, receiving a side blow, veered off course.
In the opposite direction from where Kim Jangcheol had flung himself.
Ku-kwahak—!
The greatsword slammed into the ground, shattering it into countless fragments. Kim Jangcheol retreated further to avoid getting caught in the debris. Then he scanned his surroundings.
In the distance, he spotted the archbishop.
He shouted toward him.
“Archbishoop! The emergency stop! I don’t think it’s working!”
“I-I think you’re right!”
“Why the heck isn’t it working!?”
“I don’t know either!”
The archbishop wore a profoundly troubled expression, visible even from afar. He pointed toward Baal.
“Could it be that the kiss just now didn’t have enough sincerity!?”
“.......Baal swear! That was sincere!”
“If it truly carried pure sincerity, there’s no way the statue would behave like this! Are you sure it was genuine?”
“It really was! If you keep saying that, Baal will cry!”
Baal’s eyes were already welling up.
Meanwhile, Kim Jangcheol felt a headache coming on.
‘Why didn’t the emergency stop work?’
Baal’s sincerity?
He could trust that.
The Baal he had known all along was a naïve fellow who didn’t know how to lie. If Baal liked something, it truly meant he liked it. If he hated something, he genuinely hated it. He always expressed himself clearly.
And that hadn’t changed.
So Baal’s feelings toward the statue couldn’t have been false or lacking.
‘That means the emergency stop method should have worked properly.’
But then why?
Why was the statue rampaging again?
‘......Ugh!’
Kim Jangcheol forced his eyes wide open once more. To determine the cause beyond all doubt. To use his bloodshot gaze. He glared up at the statue.
But…..
‘......Guaaaagh!’
His already overworked eyes betrayed him. The moment he forced them open, excruciating pain, as if a cigarette burn were searing his eyeballs, overwhelmed him.
In the end, he couldn’t keep them open for even ten seconds and had to squeeze them shut.
‘Damn it!’
If this kept up, he wouldn’t just fail to use his bloodshot gaze—he might seriously damage his vision. Admitting that, he considered a fallback and shouted.
“Everyone! Emergency stop method, one more time!”
If it didn’t work once?
And they didn’t know why?
Then the best course was to try again.
‘If it works, great. If it doesn’t, at least we might find a clue to the cause!’
Thunk!
Dodging the greatsword that stabbed down at an angle, he shouted again.
“Sir Hector! The flower petal basket! Please, one more time!”
I’ll draw the statue’s attention. I’ll take all its attacks. I’ll buy time that way.
“......Understood!”
Hector sprang into action.
Baal, Asurat, and Sirgi also readied for takeoff.
Artanis rekindled her fighting spirit and charged toward the statue again.
And so it began.
Artanis leaped up. The statue roared and swung its greatsword. Kim Jangcheol ducked and rolled to evade the blade.
Artanis’s tail struck the statue’s shoulder. Enraged, the statue tried to swat Artanis with its non-sword hand.
Kim Jangcheol halted his steps, turned his backside to the statue, and boldly twerked.
That sacrilegious(?) motion elicited a furious kick from the statue.
Kwahoooong—!
The kick missed.
The statue’s large foot and leg sliced through the air, causing a powerful aftershock.
At that moment, Hector hurled the flower petal basket into the aftershock.
“Haaah!”
Whoosh!
A wave of petals scattered in the wind!
Thousands, tens of thousands of light pink petals rode the updraft. They formed a majestic curtain of petals around the statue of the Archangel.
Through the curtain, Sirgi the alpaca sprinted. Asurat the pelican spread his wings. Mounted on his back, Baal shouted.
“Baal will go again! Get ready for another kiss!”
……. Pahaah!
The Three of the Four Heavenly Kings soared powerfully into the air.
With an even sharper angle of approach than before, they slid toward the statue’s face.
Everyone felt certain of success.
Thus, none of them realized.
The emergency stop method they had previously attempted on the statue,
had in fact now caused a malfunction within the statue itself.
[.....!]
The statue of the Archangel thought.
It felt deeply wronged.
It should not be treated like this.
[......]
In truth, contrary to the archbishop’s misunderstanding, the statue of the Archangel had not been rampaging due to a malfunction.
It had, in fact, been operating perfectly normally.
Its ultimate purpose for which it had been created—
Extermination of the Demon King.
Demon destruction and eradication.
It was moving, very faithfully, solely for that purpose.
But no one around was cooperating. No, they were actively interfering.
The Demon King was right before its eyes. Just a little more effort and it could crush and obliterate him.
Yet no one was helping it!
In fact, they treated it like a defective product having a malfunction, going so far as to activate the emergency stop method!
[........]
At first, it had been a bit excited.
It had received its very first cheek kiss in its entire statue-life.
But thinking it over, this wasn’t right at all.
Did they think I was some kind of joke?
Wow. Seriously insulting.
The moment it felt that emotion, its mind, which had been operating normally, became unstable upon receiving an emergency stop input meant only for malfunctions.
Its logic tangled. Its operating system twisted.
Thus, the emergency stop method meant for malfunctions instead caused a malfunction.
[NuoOOOOOO—!]
The statue’s head whipped around.
And it locked eyes on the three Four Heavenly Kings approaching its face.
Those who had not been its targets before.
But now, things are different.
Demon destruction and eradication?
Extermination of the Demon King?
It didn’t care anymore.
Those who did not cooperate with its purpose, all such beings, they too should be eradicated and crushed.
There was no reason. It simply wanted to.
As the torrent of malfunction completely seized the statue’s mind, it raised its greatsword toward Sirgi, Asurat, and Baal for the first time.
………Whoosh!
“......Guaak?"
The first to sense the danger was Asurat.
The moment his eyes met the statue’s, he felt a chilling sensation.
It was like...
‘The way Credos looks at me when he’s about to use me as a lightning rod.’
The gaze of a predator eyeing prey.
A look weighing how best to deal with him(?). In a way, a familiar stare!
“...........”
This was a situation to dodge first, ask later.
The moment he sensed that, the statue’s swung greatsword rushed toward them like an enormous flyswatter!
Thuwaaaang!
“........Kuuagh!"
Asurat folded his wings abruptly and twisted his body.
A steep, sudden dive!
Just in time, the colossal greatsword narrowly sliced through the air past him.
"Ugh, uuugh, I’m— I’m going down! Hold on tight!"
Caught in the aftermath’s turbulence, he couldn’t regain his posture.
His whole body spun wildly.
But even in that chaos, he saw it.
The statue, having missed, readjusting its grip on the greatsword.
Its furious eyes sweeping around before lifting the blade toward another target.
“Kh!”
Who was it aiming for now?
Asurat’s gaze instinctively followed the statue’s eyes.
And he spotted it.
A tall platform standing at one side of the plaza.
Atop it, still unmoved from his spot—the plump, mustached King, known as the Steamed Bun King.
“..........”
The king?
It’s swinging at him?
With that greatsword?
The king probably can’t dodge that.
This… this could turn out really bad.
That thought crossed his mind blankly.
Kwaaahaak!
The statue of the Archangel mercilessly brought down its greatsword.
Directly aiming at the King, intent on crushing him in a single blow.
The king’s eyes widened.
“ .....! ”
Is this really happening?
A statue attacking me?
Can I dodge this?
No, absolutely impossible.
His heart sank.
It felt like all the blood in his body went cold.
Like glimpsing a flash of his life’s memories.
And in that sensation, the king thought,
So this is how I end.
Without having fully spread the beauty of perfect ratios to the world, without ever leaving my glorious name in the pages of history, my life ends so emptily like this.
‘That... I don’t want that…’
At that moment—
“Your Majestyyyy!”
“ ......! ”
A desperate shout rang out.
Then, someone’s even more desperate flying kick came hurling in.
Thwack!
“......Kuugh!"
Something struck the king’s side.
Thanks to that, the King’s body floated to the opposite side. He was flung away. From the spot where death had been certain, toward safety.
‘Who?’
Who shoved me so desperately?
The King turned his eyes toward the one who had struck his side.
And he found him.
‘Sir Kim Jangcheol…?’
It was Kim Jangcheol, who had delivered the urgent kick.
Their eyes met.
At that moment, the king felt it.
Kim Jangcheol was smiling.
Smiling because he had succeeded in saving him.
Feeling only relief and joy at that fact.
Without a thought for his own danger.
“..........! ”
No, this can’t be.
You have a duty to develop the abandoned lands in my place…
Thuwaaaang!
“..........!”
A blast resounded.
A shockwave swept through the surroundings.
“........Kh, kuheok! Kgh, cough!”
The king coughed amid the thick dust and forced himself upright.
Then, with desperate eyes, he looked toward where Kim Jangcheol had been.
‘Sir Kim Jangcheol! Are you…?’
The king realized what had happened.
He, who should have died, had been pushed aside, and Kim Jangcheol had taken the statue’s attack in his place.
Tears threatened to burst forth.
‘P-Please... please!’
Just be alive. That’s all I ask.
If you are somehow alive, I will honor you as my eternal loyal subject and benefactor, treating you more preciously than my own hands and feet.
Resolving and praying desperately, the king scoured the area where Kim Jangcheol had been.
And perhaps his prayers were heard.
“Ku, kuh! Cough…!”
A coughing sound came from within the thick dust.
A familiar voice.
“Sir Kim Jangcheol!”
The king cried out the precious name of his savior.
Whooosh…!
A gust of wind swept the dust away. The dense curtain of dust between the king and Kim Jangcheol lifted.
And then, the king saw.
Kim Jangcheol, who had narrowly dodged the direct blow of the greatsword. But had been battered head to toe by debris and shockwaves erupting mere inches away. He had blacked out for about two seconds but barely regained consciousness.
Thus, revealed beyond the dusty veil was—the figure of Demon King Credos Kim Jangcheol, his elixir of transformation having worn off.
This one is so exciting! I'm waiting for further interaction between Aged Kimchi and Kim Jangcheol!
I really enjoy reading this, and I adore the loyalty Credos' people held to him!