First Battle

Though the Infected Monsters' bodies were grotesque in nature, when Edmund saw them, wolves was the first word that appeared in his mind.

They were so big, scary and a bit deformed for any of them to be called a wolf.

In fact, the big guy of them all had three eyes, the third one placed slightly above the other two in the middle, glowing as ruby as those of the other monsters.

Even their fur and whiskers were so long and thick to belong to a wolf. However, it was the only animal Edmund could relate them to.

This made him shudder. On top of resembling a dangerous beast like a wolf, they were infected and carried a god's blood within their veins.

Did he really stand a chance?

'Damn!'

Though they were still far away from him, Edmund doubted he could outrun them. Because, not only were they big, but also fast.

'What do I do?'

'There must be a way. There's always a way.'

The problem was, which? Which way could he use to defeat a dozen monsters, not to mention these ones were infected?

Edmund wandered his eyes around the area to see if he could find anything of help.

Beneath his black boots lay a floor of dry clay, several cracks drawn on it suggesting it had been long since water flowed over the area.

On his left, all he got was an empty dry expanse that stretched until his eyes could not see.

A few shapes which resembled trees stood here and there, their lustrous colour and lack of leaves adding a mysterious tune on them.

Not wanting to believe his bad luck, Edmund shifted his gaze on the other side. Maybe there was something he could use.

Though he didn't know what that thing could be, he scanned his surroundings looking for the unknown.

There, a cliff so tall and scary stood, its jagged skin and furrows made by flood making Edmund conclude that, if he could go back a thousand years ago, he would find himself standing beside a waterfall.

'Oh gods!'

Until now, he still didn't understand how his body was still in shape after falling off such a deadly cliff.

He could also not understand how there wasn't even a scratch on his body after crashing onto the ground from that height.

Was all this an illusion?

Perhaps he was still on earth, in his luxurious bed sleeping and having a nightmare.

'Stop that nonsense,' he started talking to himself. 'Be glad that you're still alive after falling from that height.'

'Of course I'm glad. It's just that I don't understand!'

Wait!

Did he say glad?

What was so glad in surviving when a swarm of Infected Monsters was lurking nearby to turn him into their meal?

'I really should cut the crap and focus on thinking of a way out of this!'

The interval between him and the abominations was closing at tremendous speed that, if he didn't come up with an idea as soon as he could, they were going to devour him only a minute later.

'OK! Let's see!'

Fighting was not a new concept to him. However, his body on earth was totally different from the one his soul was inhabiting now.

Not wanting to continue wasting time pondering, he told himself some encouraging words and bent toward the ground to grab the Goddess of Beauty's hairpin.

The jade fat needle felt heavy in his right hand, a sign that if he could manage to stab one of the Infected Monsters with it, it would pierce through its body... maybe.

'This is enough. I don't have my old muscular body, but my cunning and proper planning is still with me.'

Yeah! That was the plan. The Infected Monsters might have been so big and terrifying, but he doubted they could be as cunning as he was.

Because, not only was he a human, he was a superstar who lived his entire life trying to survive in the entertainment industry.

An industry where masters of deception were more powerful than the true fighters.

That's why he narrowed his gaze and stared at the swarm of Infected Monsters once more, this time with a scanning eye.

Among the twelve Infected Monsters, seven smaller ones were running in front of the three-eyed big guy.

Four more, bigger than those seven, were on the sides of that big guy, almost as if they were protecting a king.

Saying that those seven ones in front were small was due to the comparison between them and their masters.

Actually, they were as big as a grown up tiger, the four on the rears were bigger, then the big guy who was as big as a truck-kun.

If he could fight one of the smaller ones, it would take him quite some time to stab it to death.

Time that he would not get considering the speed of other abominations. That's why he focused his gaze on the big one.

'Kill the leader. Rule the rest!'

With its hairy black body that seemed as tough as a rock, he wasn't sure if the jade binyeo in his right hand would do it any damage.

However, there's a part of the body that never grows tough. That's where his gaze was fixed. Eyes... and ears.

'Let's see! How do I reach the big guy?'

Some scenes of movies he watched on earth flashed into his mind, then just like that, he tightened his grip on the jade binyeo and launched forward.

The Infected Monsters, especially the big guy reacted to his move, almost as if they were surprised by his bravery and... scared?

No way!

There's no way a monster could feel frightened by seeing its prey delivering itself to it.

But these... These were Infected Monsters.

They had a god's blood flowing through their veins which meant they possessed intelligence of some sort. Maybe they really knew the meaning of his fearless expression.

Not even a second passed, and the Infected Monsters were back to their senses, rushing toward him with a new found hunger to taste the flesh of a fool delivering himself to them.

'Whatever!'

The new body felt uncomfortable at first, but as Edmund covered more distance, his agility and flexibility increased, a good sign that he was going to make it.

He was going to teach the fools a lesson to never mess with a guy who lived his entire life roaming the world in such of wild animals to fight.

A guy who wanted to live so he could finally satisfy his manly desires.

Not long after, one of the Infected Monsters reached within the reach of his jump, giving him a chance to lift himself as high as his new body could, landing on the back of the surprised abomination.

A SIGH OF RELIEF.

Before the Infected Monster could shake him off its black body, Edmund drew in a deep breath and stepped onto the next monster with his right foot, his left one shooting toward the third monster.

Only four small monsters remained, and he would reach the big guy... if the other four guardians on the sides didn't intervene of course.

Because it was not his to decide if they would intervene or not, he pushed his leg toward another small monster, praying they would not.

Now, only three were left between him and the big guy.

As fast as blinking, his right foot was landing on the third monster, his left one still in the air.

Two.

The Infected Monster shook its body and made Edmund struggle to keep his footing on its back.

That was not a problem for him though. He was soon going to step onto another monster, then another then the big guy.

'Easy thought than done. Focus!'

Unfortunately, now, the monsters had realized his actions.

The two small ones slowed down and changed their direction sideways so he could not be able to jump on their back.

If they could put enough distance between him and themselves, he would either jump to the ground to get himself surrounded or stay where he was, the one he was standing on shaking him off its back to send him crashing on the ground in a position he didn't want to think of.

Simply, he was dead either way.

'Clever!'

On their level, the monsters had proved to be clever somehow.

But he, Edmund, was not somehow clever like them. He was clever.

That's why he jumped toward one of them, kicked it on the sides to push himself in another direction to the other, jumping to the big guy before its four guardians could react.

Now, on the leader's neck, he threw his right hand in the air, preparing to stab its third eye with the jade binyeo.

Caught off-guard, the leader of the Infected Monsters shook his head to shake off the disturbing tiny human, only to feel something tough, long and pointy penetrating into its third ruby eye.

'Yesss! I have stabbed it! Now what? What am I going to do next if this bastard refuses to die?'

The bastard in question didn't give him even a second to figure out what he would do next.

He trembled slightly and, as if the jade hairpin had only tickled him, he jerked his body backwards and threw its forelegs in the air, causing the tiny human on his back to plummet toward the ground.

It was only going to be a matter of half a second, and Edmund would fall off the back of that truck-sized wolf and smash onto the ground.

If the impact would not kill him at that very instant, the monsters would have already turned around, stomping over his tiny body or tearing it apart with their blade-like fangs.

Left with no choice but to fall, all Edmund did was to feel sorry for the monsters. Because, being lanky as he was, he was sure that the meat on his tiny body would not quench their hunger.

'Damn!'