Rust - Chapter 922



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-922

The company commander checked the soldier’s body being carried out on a stretcher.

“monkey···.”

A red handprint is clearly visible on the neck. It resembles a human handprint, but it feels like it is not human.

“A monkey sound? A trace?”

The soldier with the marks on his neck moved his lips with difficulty. The soldier’s face distorted in pain as he tried to say something.

“Oh···ah···. Ugh-”

When the soldier fainted from heavy breathing, the medic paused for a moment, then quickly put an oxygen mask on him and started running while carrying the stretcher.

“······.”

The company commander stood there blankly, as if he had lost his mind. When the soldier was about to say something, the red handprint on his neck moved… No. It moved. As if strangling his neck.

‘Did I see something wrong because I was so nervous?’

That couldn’t be. It was clearly like the handprint was grabbing the back of his neck.

“Outpost! Send a replacement crew to the outpost!”

The company commander shook his head quickly from side to side and continued to give orders.

“Secure the view further. Cut down trees within a 100m radius and burn them with flamethrowers!”

Several soldiers wielding chainsaws began cutting down trees. Wheeeeeeeeing- The sharp sound of the chainsaws was followed by flames from flamethrowers that swept across the front, and the jungle began to vomit out black smoke.

There was no sign or sound of monkeys anywhere in the burning jungle. There were only soldiers falling one by one, clutching their necks.

“Signalist! Connect to the battalion! Now!”

When the company commander, who had been shouting while looking straight ahead, turned his head toward the unresponsive signalman, he saw the signalman unconscious with a red handprint on his neck.

“···Conscripts!”

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Ki-sun’s eyes furrowed as he intercepted the Korean military’s communications.

“This is weird?”

“A curse?”

Maru and Gisun’s thoughts coincided.

“Right? You felt it too? How’s the touch? Oh. You said the touch disappeared in that direction.”

“Anyway, even if it wasn’t a hint, I think the communication from earlier was a bit strange. If they can destroy a platoon or a company in an instant, then they shouldn’t be able to approach the cursed area, whether they’re rebels or government forces.”

Maru also thought something was strange.

Ki-soon nodded and added.

“There’s another strange thing. There’s a rebel-occupied area right in front, and a government-held area nearby. The Korean army entered the empty space between the two. There’s no word from either side that they’re under a curse.”

Ki-soon confirmed this by reviewing the contents of wiretapping communications between the rebels and government forces.

“So the rebels and government forces are fine, but only the Korean army is being cursed?”

“Yes. It’s a story about a monkey singling out and cursing only the Korean soldiers. Isn’t that strange? Since crows have become smarter, the monkeys have also become smarter and could have just as easily distinguished the Korean soldiers by looking at their faces and uniforms, but…”

It was strange, after all.

“You were cutting down and burning trees to secure a view, and not only did you curse the soldiers who were cutting down the trees, you even cursed the soldiers inside the camp? Even if you were a smart monkey, you wouldn’t have entered the camp through the burning jungle?”

Ki-soon’s squinted eyes became even narrower.

The monkey curse had something to do with it. Judging from the communication logs, it was as if a whole heavily armed company had been annihilated in an instant.

“First of all, no one has ever seen a monkey. No one has ever heard the monkey’s distinctive sounds.”

It was difficult to understand that rebels and government forces were fighting in a jungle where there were monsters that could wipe out a company of troops in an instant.

“Furthermore, despite all that chaos, the rebels and government forces made no move. In particular, the government forces stationed nearby did not make a single contact even though black smoke was rising from the direction of the Korean army’s positions.”

Maru had the same thought.

“That’s true, too. He’s a filthy brat in so many ways.”

It was a vicious curse that started with a red handprint, then each of the five fingers turned black one by one, leading to death over the course of five days.

“You said that the soldiers had handprints on their necks, and that they were instantly incapacitated. That means that they could have been strangled. But you’re just wasting time, calling it a curse.”

But instead of killing him right away, he gave him five days. As one finger turned black, a day was lost. As another finger changed, a day was lost. If the person who had the handprint first died like that, what kind of feelings would he have?

“The fear and terror of death will increase… Really?”

Ki-sun immediately understood what Maru was saying.

“The cursed bastard is maximizing the fear of death by giving it five days.”

He was spreading despair to the victims and those around them that they would die as time passed. He personally showed them that they were getting closer to death by letting them know that their fingers were turning black one by one.

Ki-soon continued Maru’s words.

“And… the more the curse increases death and fear, the more people will be enthusiastic about the so-called saint who removed the curse… Maruya, this is it.”

“Yes. I guess it’s the same with curses and rebel saints.”

Ki-soon’s narrowed eyes turned cold.

It is unclear whether the one casting the curse is a human or a monkey, but the creature maximizes death and fear through its unique curse. ‘Death and fear’ directly overlaps with the area where Maru is gathering faith.

“Why the rebel saint?”

“What a coincidence. Death and fear. And then the saint of salvation appears as if he had been waiting for it.”

Ki-sun also agreed with Maru’s answer.

“Looking at it this way, it certainly is true.”

“I guess I’ll have to check it out somehow.”

Maru stood up holding the New Clips.

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Indonesia and the Philippines are on the Ring of Fire, so earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent, and that’s still the case today.

Although the aftermath wasn’t as severe as in Japan, where multiple volcanoes erupted simultaneously, there were clear limitations to reconnaissance by stratospheric blimps and drones.

[That’s the limit of reconnaissance.]

[I get it.]

Maru, armed with a Ripper suit for the first time in a long time, delves into the jungle. Every time he opens the Garden of Death, his electronic devices go dead, so he doesn’t use the Ripper suit.

The newly improved Ripper suit is said to be able to withstand repeated blackouts to some extent, so there was no reason not to use it.

[Here is the volcanic ash and dust. Crackling- It seems similar to Japan. Crackling-]

As the thick, foggy dust grew, communication sensitivity began to decline.

‘It’s been a while.’

It had been a while since I had moved without backup, reconnaissance, or communications, so my heart was pounding, but the sound of my heartbeat was calm and regular.

As expected, there was no warning from the heart.

The dark green jungle was covered in volcanic ash and dust, and had turned into a concrete sculpture. The atmosphere was tense, but there was no sense of crisis, so Maru consciously sharpened his senses.

‘There’s a rebel stronghold in a place like this?’

Even the purification tanks made with the highly developed technology of the Holy Kingdom could only last about 6 hours. The volcanic ash and fine dust were so bad that this was a rebel stronghold.

‘What if my respiratory system gets messed up?’

As he continued to walk in, visibility decreased and various booby traps greeted Maru. They were all mechanical booby traps that did not require electronic sensors, but they could not escape Maru’s keen senses.

‘I see there are more traps, I guess we’re almost there.’

After another hour, the rebel stronghold was finally revealed. Among the rebels wearing gas masks, there were those walking around without gas masks.

Since visibility was around 20 to 30 meters, it seemed like I would have to get closer to see people walking around without gas masks.

‘Should we climb the tree and approach? No. That’s not good.’

I was reluctant to step on the bushes mixed with cement. They might break the moment I stepped on them, and even if they didn’t break, there was a high risk that my location would be revealed.

‘If we were to open the garden of death here.’

If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have expended all my death. It was a shame to exhaust myself to the limit in order to find out the limit of my control.

‘The range that can be expanded while maintaining physical and mental strength would be a radius of 50m.’

If you can harvest enough life inside, there will be no problem maintaining the Garden of Death. Then, you need to go deeper and let more enemies enter the Garden of Death’s range.

“Ohhhhh – You have come to punish the invaders!”

“Life from death!”

“Death to the enemies!”

“Give us life!”

“Allah!”

“Allah!”

“Allah!”

A scream heard beyond the thick dust.

‘Is this ability?’

The muffled screams, as if water had entered their ears, were not simple screams. The sounds of people screaming were amplified and intertwined, acting like psychic waves.

“Life from death!”

“Death to the enemies!”

“Give us life!”

A shout repeated like a spell rang out.

‘It’s now.’

The time to move inward was now.

“Allah!”

“Allah!”

“Allah!”

Maru took advantage of the commotion and ran into the empty lot.

Break-

The small sound of the steps on the floor that narrowed the space by 12 to 15 meters at a time. That small sound drowned out the sounds of the people who were shouting loudly.

“······.”

“······.”

“······.”

‘shit.’

The floor opened up a garden of death. Death spread out over a 50m radius, and blades of grass and vines shot up toward the rebels within the area.

!!!

!!!

Even though their limbs were pierced by blades of grass and squeezed by vines of death, they did not scream. Even though they had harvested life, they had much less vitality than ordinary people.

‘what?’

Are you not human?

no.

Humans are right.

But do people have this little vitality?

It seemed like only half a shell remained.

Perhaps that is why it is a garden of death that cannot expand even after harvesting life.

Whirik-

A vine rose up from under Maru’s feet, blocking something.

Kujik-

A handprint clearly visible on the thick, rising vines.

Kujik-

Kwajik- Kwajik-

In an instant, more than ten sounds erupted simultaneously in a semicircle.

◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘▬—-

A curse that continues again in the image of the vines blocking the invisible hand in the middle turning into black particles and disappearing into the dust.

Pak- Papak-

Kkujik-kkujik-kkujijik-

◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘◘▬—-

‘This kid···.’

At Maru’s will, the vines behind his back pulled out daggers. Twenty daggers containing fragments of the altar began to flutter behind Maru’s back.

‘There you are!’

The moment Maru’s gaze, which had settled coldly, turned towards the front. Invisible hands burst out one after another.

Pok-pok- grasp-

Clang-clang-clang-

The vines fluttering behind Maru shot forward and stabbed their daggers at the invisible hand.

There was a loud noise of something being torn in the air, and at the same time, an urgent sound was heard from far away.

Maru began to run, unfolding a garden of death with every step. A simple garden of death with a radius of 50 meters unfolded one by one, forming a black line.

At the same time, rebels are desperately rushing in.

Those who ignored death and shouted their own slogans rushed into the black garden.

Tudadadada-

Tang-tadadang-

Bullets poured in from all directions, aiming for the floor, but vines and blades of grass blocked everything. Still, the rebels threw their whole bodies to block the floor.

At first, they were armed rebels, but the people blocking their path began to change their appearance. One by one, unarmed people began to mix in. After a while, unarmed people linked arms and formed a scrum to block their path.

“Get out of the way.”

Maru didn’t care. Maru’s gaze was only on the back of the guy running away across the people.

“Get out of the way-”

As the running speed increased, the speed at which the black death spread also increased. The Garden of Death, which had a radius of 50 meters, began to expand its area little by little.

As the death zone expands again from 50m to 70m, 80m, 100m, and 120m, the civilian barrier instantly melts into death.

Maru was not shaken by the meaning in the eyes of those blocking his path, pushing forward old people, women, and children.

And one step further.

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

The garden of death has finally expanded to the feet of the one who was running away.

Crunch-

The blade that pierced the bastard’s ankle spun around and entangled his leg like a noose. Unlike the civilians who died quietly, this bastard howled loudly.

As the invisible hand cleared away the blades of grass that had entangled his legs, he took a stance to fight back. However, it was already too late.

He burned with fighting spirit, striking down the vines, rats, and blades of grass pouring down from all directions with his deadly hands, but that was all.

Twenty daggers pierce the invisible hand simultaneously.

???

Eclipse, who had entered through the gap, chewed up the space with his newly emerged invisible hand.

Kwajeok-

The upper half of the bastard’s body was obliterated by the separation that followed.

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And after that.

Neither the monkey’s curse nor the saint who lifted the curse showed up.