The mud swallowed even the screams. We retreated into the 'Black Swamp,' where the stench of death vibrated through the air. Every time the shrieks of the comrades left behind grew fainter, my heart was shredded by guilt.
"Haa... haa... Lieutenant... please..."
Yeon-woo's steps were treacherous. One of her boots had already been swallowed by the deep mire, and her bare foot was a mess, torn by sharp rocks and thorny vines. But we couldn't stop. The moment we stopped, the hounds of Aran would snap at our throats.
"Shut up and walk. You want to die here? Huh? You want to end up like Mr. Chul-soo?!"
I shouted even more harshly on purpose. Tears welled in Yeon-woo's eyes and rolled down her mud-caked cheeks. I'm sorry, Yeon-woo. But the only thing I have left now is a cowardly obsession with keeping you alive.
Suddenly, a cold metallic sound echoed from the other side of the forest.
"Get down!"
I pushed Yeon-woo's head down and threw myself onto the damp moss. In less than a second, a magic bullet slammed into the tree trunk where we had been standing. With a hissing sound, the wood charred black. An Aran sniper.
"Fuck, they followed us all the way here. Persistent bastards."
I spat out the burnt-out cigarette butt clamped in my teeth. I surveyed the surroundings. Out of our entire squad, only four survived, including myself. One of them, the youngest, Min-seok, was already disemboweled from a fatal abdominal wound.
"Lieutenant... just, just leave me behind. Please... it hurts too much..."
Min-seok whispered, coughing up bloody foam. Nineteen years old. This boy, the same age as Yeon-woo, had been treasuring a letter to his mother in his pocket just yesterday. I squeezed Min-seok's trembling hand. It was already as cold as a corpse.
"Min-seok, hang in there a little longer. It'll be over... it'll be over soon."
Instead of an answer, I felt for my bayonet. Yeon-woo, the medic, was pressing down on Min-seok's stomach with a look of utter despair, but her hands were too small to hold back the spilling organs. This wasn't medical treatment; it was torture.
"Yeon-woo, let go."
"No! I can save him! If I just put the organs back, if I sew him up...!"
"I said let go, you bitch!"
I shoved Yeon-woo away roughly and covered Min-seok's eyes. Min-seok looked at me with terrified eyes for a moment, then smiled weakly as if resigned.
"Thank... you... Lieutenant..."
I drove the bayonet deep into his heart.
Min-seok's body gave one violent shudder before going completely limp. The heavy vibration traveling up the bayonet embedded itself into my wrist and straight into my heart. I killed him. Not an enemy, not a monster—I sent my own boy, whom I cherished, away with my own hands.
"Aaaaaah! Lieutenant, how... how could you do this!"
Yeon-woo sobbed, pounding my chest with her fists. Her small hands spread the blood on my uniform even wider. I stood there like a stone statue, taking her blows. Cry. If crying could wash away even a fraction of this hellish reality, I would let her strike me a hundred, a thousand times.
Clang!
Another magic bullet struck a nearby rock. Shrapnel flew and grazed my cheek. Along with the stinging heat, the metallic scent of blood filled the air once more.
"There's no time to cry. That bastard is treating us like prey."
I grabbed Yeon-woo by the collar and forced her up. Her eyes had already lost focus. I shoved her into the arms of Sang-chul, the other surviving soldier.
"Sang-chul, take Yeon-woo and crawl into that crevice between the rocks. I'll draw the sniper's fire. When I give the signal, run and don't you dare look back. Got it?"
"But Lieutenant, by yourself...!"
"It's an order, you piece of shit! Do you hear me?!"
I gripped my rifle and lunged into the bushes on the opposite side. The sniper didn't miss my movement. A succession of explosions followed right at my heels. Dust kicked up everywhere, and splinters of wood scattered like bits of flesh.
I held my breath and buried my face in the mud. My heartbeat thudded in my ears. Thump, thump, thump. The proof that I was alive, and a warning that I might soon be dead. I slowly turned my barrel and peered through the lens. Far in the distance, I saw the Aran sniper concealed atop an ancient tree. He was expressionless. Like a child squashing bugs, he was aiming at us with utterly dry, vacant eyes.
"Found you, you motherfucker."
I hooked my finger over the trigger.
I held my breath. A tension so sharp it felt like it would tear every single alveolus in my lungs enveloped my body. The moment the sniper's lens flashed, I pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet spat from my barrel pierced his scope with pinpoint accuracy. Glass shards crushed into his eyeball and exploded out the back of his skull. The bastard tumbled from the tree. A dull thud echoed as his corpse hit the muddy ground. But I didn't stop. A beastly impulse swallowed my reason.
"I'll kill you... I'm going to fucking kill you..."
I sprinted toward him, tearing through the swamp like a madman. He wasn't dead yet. Despite half his head being blown away, his body—augmented by the magic of the Holy Relic—twisted and convulsed grotesquely. Dark red fluid surged and spilled from his hollowed-out eye socket.
I mounted his chest and swung my fists.
Thud! Crunch!
The sound of human bone shattering echoed through the silent forest. His jaw dislocated and teeth sprayed in every direction, but I didn't stop. My knuckles were already a bloody pulp, devoid of feeling, but the memory of Min-seok's final gaze kept flashing before my eyes, making it impossible to quit.
"It's because of you... because of pieces of shit like you that my boys are dead!"
I grabbed the sniper's own dagger from the ground. I drove it straight into his throat and twisted. A bone-chilling, gurgling sound of escaping air followed. I hacked at his chest, stabbing the still-beating heart dozens, no, hundreds of times.
Bits of flesh splattered into my eyes, but I didn't wipe them away. His entrails coiled and tumbled in the mud like snakes. It was a filthy, disgusting, and desperate revenge.
"Lieutenant... stop... please..."
Yeon-woo had approached and now gripped my arm. Her voice was thick with terror. She was trembling as she looked at me—someone who looked more like a monster than the enemy. I dropped the blood-stained knife and looked up at the sky, hollow.
The sky was still beautiful. As if it couldn't care less about the massacre unfolding in this bottomless hell.