My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros' Obsession-Chapter 118

I pulled away from him slightly, meeting his gaze.

Aquila, who always seemed composed no matter the situation, had a single tear slipping from his crimson eyes.

Carefully, I reached out and wiped it away.

It was warm. Almost burning, as if it had come from a fire.

“...Sorry.”

His voice was low, almost a whisper.

“I can’t control myself when I’m with you. But I don’t need anything else. Just you.”

“I’ll always be by your side.”

Hearing that he still needed me—it sent a strange thrill through me.

Someone in this world wanted me.

Someone in this world prioritized me above all else.

And that was what kept me alive here.

Aquila didn’t respond right away. Instead, he buried his face against my shoulder for a brief moment before pulling away with his usual, composed expression. He reached out his hand.

I took it.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

We were covered in bruises and scrapes from rolling down the slope. My body ached all over. The sooner we got back to base and treated these injuries, the better.

But just as we moved toward the cave entrance—

Rumble—!

“What the hell?”

A deep vibration shook the cave.

The entire ground trembled beneath our feet, making it difficult to stay balanced.

Then, suddenly—

Crash!

Rocks collapsed from the entrance, blocking the way.

The last bit of light from outside vanished, plunging us into darkness.

And just like that, I realized—

We were trapped.

‘Why the hell did the cave collapse?’

The tremors continued.

Something—something big—was moving inside the cave, approaching us.

“...A monster.”

Aquila muttered, quickly coating his sword in aura to illuminate the space. I did the same, infusing my gun with aura to act as a makeshift light source.

But even with the glow, we couldn’t see what was coming.

Instead, a stench filled the air.

A putrid, gut-wrenching odor of rotting flesh.

I gagged, barely managing to hold back the urge to vomit.

A deep cave.

A horrific smell.

Which meant—

“...Gasts.”

I inhaled sharply.

They were bipedal, gray-skinned creatures with long, flicking tongues and patchy tufts of green fur.

And they weren’t alone.

Dozens of them were emerging from the darkness, shambling toward us.

‘Why the fuck does this kind of shit keep happening today?’

First, the brutal guerrilla training. Then, some wish magic bullshit destroyed the border, sending us on this monster hunt. The Boss Mudpet dug up the fucking graves, forcing us to kill it, and I had to rescue a recruit, which got me trapped in a goddamn cave.

And now, of all things, we had to deal with a horde of Gasts.

‘I swear there’s a name for this kind of shitstorm.’

Was it Patty’s Law? Matty’s Law? Whatever. That wasn’t important.

Aquila wasn’t in peak condition. Could he fight them off?

I glanced at the blocked cave entrance.

Completely sealed.

No way in hell we could push those boulders aside before the Gasts reached us.

If we wasted time trying to dig our way out, we’d be ambushed and ripped apart.

A textbook no-win scenario.

***

Meanwhile, outside the cave...

“What do you mean Salvia’s trapped in there?!”

Dalin, one of the soldiers who had responded to the whistle, grabbed Tia by the shoulders, panting from the rush.

“I-It’s my fault... She was trying to save me...!”

Tia broke down, tears spilling from her clear blue eyes.

But instead of comforting her, Dalin tilted her head and frowned.

“Wait. Salvia got trapped saving you?”

“Yes! If it weren’t for me—”

“No, that doesn’t sound right.”

Dalin’s face was deadly serious.

The other soldiers nodded in agreement.

“Salvia would never get trapped just trying to save a recruit. There has to be another reason. Don’t blame yourself.”

“...Huh?”

“I mean, come on. It’s Salvia.”

Tia’s face twisted in confusion.

Sure, the words were meant to reassure her, but the way they said it made it seem like they were discussing something totally normal.

At the same time, Benny had been staring at the cave entrance, her expression darkening.

“...It’s dangerous.”

“What do you mean dangerous?”

Karon snapped his head toward her.

For a second, Benny flinched at his intensity, but she quickly composed herself.

“Something caused the entrance to collapse. Which means there’s a high chance a monster is inside with them.”

“...If it’s inside a cave, then... Gasts? Stonebugs? Three-Eyed Bats?”

Dalin listed off the monsters Salvia had drilled into their heads.

But she couldn’t figure it out, groaning in frustration.

“Then shouldn’t we hurry up and dig them out?!”

Before Dalin could even finish speaking, Karon was already hurling himself down the slope.

He didn’t even flinch as his knees slammed into jagged rocks, bruising and scraping his skin.

“Salvia!”

He roared, throwing his weight against the massive boulders, trying to push them aside.

Benny turned and signaled the others.

“Come on! We have to help!”

Dalin, Patty, Matty, and Gina immediately followed her.

Meanwhile, Benny stepped toward Tia, who was still trembling.

She placed a hand on Tia’s shoulder, steadying her.

“Tia. It’s going to be fine. Those two are strong. The best thing we can do right now is stay calm and think things through.”

Boom! Boom!

By the time Benny led the recruits safely down the slope, Karon was slamming his body against the boulders, trying to break them apart through sheer force.

His palms were scraped raw, his skin red and bruised from the impact. Benny, horrified, rushed to stop him.

“Karon, you’re only going to hurt yourself if you keep doing this.”

“But Salvia might be more injured! It’s dark inside, there could be dangerous monsters—!”

Karon’s voice wavered, on the verge of breaking.

Benny realized then—there was no calming him down.

The only person who could control Karon was Salvia.

Bang—!

Karon rammed into the rocks again.

It was like he didn’t see anything else.

No one else existed in his world except Salvia, trapped behind those stones.

Realizing brute force wasn’t working, Karon muttered blankly to himself,

“If I use explosives, Salvia might get hurt... But maybe Aquila will shield her? No, it’s too risky... Then I should dig a tunnel instead... No, no, wait—maybe I should run back to the base and grab a hammer—”

The sheer obsession in his voice was suffocating.

Trying to reason with him felt dangerous.

And then, unexpectedly—

“Karon! You need to take out the rocks below first!”

“...What?”

All eyes turned to Patty.

She stood firm, not intimidated by their doubtful stares.

“I’ve knocked over a lot of storage crates in my family’s trade warehouse! Heavy objects always have a center of gravity—if you collapse these specific rocks, the whole thing will come down easier!”

Benny followed Patty’s gesture, eyeing the indicated stones uncertainly.

But... maybe she was onto something.

“We should use tools!”

Matty, already on it, rushed off and returned with a long wooden branch, quickly assembling some kind of lever.

Benny opened her mouth to stop him—Matty had never been good at this kind of thing—

“This makes it easier to move heavy objects! I know it works because I used it to steal fruit from my dad’s orchard!”

“...Wait. Didn’t you farm? Whose fruit were you stealing?”

“My dad’s.”

Benny’s expression flickered for a moment.

But ultimately, she decided to trust them.

Matty handed the makeshift lever to Karon, who immediately seized it, pushing against the boulders with all his strength.

“Oooh!”

“It’s working!”

The previously immovable rocks shifted.

Their victory was short-lived.

“KYAAAH!”

Dalin screamed, leaping back as something wriggled beneath the soil.

Realization dawned on Benny.

“Monsters are burrowing up from underground! Protect Karon while he clears the entrance!”

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

Even as she shouted the order, she wasn’t exactly hopeful.

Patty and Matty? Barely capable.

Dalin? ...Yeah, no.

The two recruits? Inexperienced.

Only Gina, Dalin’s partner, was somewhat competent.

‘Looks like I’ll have to handle most of this myself.’

Benny swallowed as dark shapes began to emerge from the ground.

Then—

“...Salvia.”

Dalin’s voice was quiet.

Serious.

She tightened her grip around her sword.

‘She said I could do it.’

Salvia had always told her she could.

And when Salvia said something, it always became true.

She had called Dalin’s Light Aura a gift. A rare, extraordinary power.

Even if Dalin had only ever used it to cut things before.

‘Aquila wields fire. Benny can control the wind. Winter can freeze everything.’

So...

She had to be able to do something too.

The moment Dalin focused—

Her sword’s white aura flared.

Brilliant light flooded the area.

Light—a natural antithesis to darkness.

Fwoooosh!

The monsters froze.

Paralyzed before they could fully rise from the ground.

Dalin stared, stunned, glancing between her sword and the unmoving creatures.

“...So this is how it works.”

She had never needed to swing her sword at all.

Her Light alone was enough to purge the darkness.

“Dalin, good job!”

CRASH—!

Right then—

Karon succeeded.

The rocks collapsed.

Light spilled into the cave, illuminating what lay inside.

Benny’s warning echoed in Dalin’s mind—

‘It’s probably full of monsters.’

Tightening her grip, she prepared to clear them out.

“Salviaaaaa—!”

She called as she rushed forward, ready for battle—

And stopped dead.

“—Oh. Hey.”

Salvia.

Standing among the corpses of dozens of Gasts.

She blinked, tilting her head slightly, her bloodstained gun resting casually in one hand.

Her cheek was smeared with red.

“You guys really came all this way to rescue me?”

“...A-Are you okay?!”

Dalin’s voice cracked.

She had imagined saving her—

And instead, Salvia was perfectly fine.

“Yeah.”

Salvia’s voice was disturbingly casual.

“Violence and fear saved us all.”