Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 268

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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268. Australia Subjugation (4)
“?”
Shin Chang shifted his stance, tilting his head. He would charge forward, but only after assessing the situation.
“Stick to the original plan! Let him throw his spear! I’ll handle the….”
The moment those words left my lips, Shin Chang seemed to grasp my intent. He kicked off the ground with a sharp whistle and retreated to the side.
He maintained a certain distance while keeping the creature under observation.
We would prioritize ranged attacks from our allies, but if it attacked from behind, he was ready to shift into defense immediately.
That’s Shin Chang for you. No need for lengthy explanations.
‘The problem is… this won’t be easy.’
Though I’d only witnessed it once, I’d gotten a good look at that creature’s spear throw. The destructive power was immense, and the speed was extraordinary.
The helicopter had exploded the moment the sound barrier was pierced.
But it wasn’t something I couldn’t stop. At the time, I hadn’t anticipated it would throw its weapon.
Discarding one’s own weapon like that would be madness. Yet the spear had returned to it?

‘Still, it’s worth attempting.’
If I maintained focus and it came at a similar speed as before, I could react. It was worth challenging. No—I had to challenge it.
That holy barrier wouldn’t last forever, but even accounting for that, the situation remained far from favorable.
If time dragged on like this, we would be the ones in danger.
While our chances of defeating it would increase, we also had to account for the monsters continuously pouring in.
“Krrgh?”
The moment Shin Chang and I halted our charge, the creature tilted its head. The vanguard remained behind us, covering our rear.
Nothing had changed. This was the original plan.
Hunters capable of ranged attacks would target it while the vanguard provided protection.
Shin Chang and I could engage in direct combat, but that would make ranged attacks difficult.
‘The only reason I stepped forward was because of its spear throw.’
But if I could neutralize it with my Subspace? There was no reason for us to charge first.
‘Go on, throw your spear.’
I steadied my ragged breathing from the previous exchange and opened my eyes wide. I couldn’t afford to miss the moment the spear throw began.
It was instantaneous.
“Krheng!”
Instead of throwing the spear, the creature stomped the ground and charged directly at me. In the blink of an eye, it was five meters away.
Its physical prowess was incomparable to the Lion-Human I’d faced before.
-Clang!
I instinctively swung my sword to block. My hands tingled, and my nape prickled with dread.
Though the Iron Wing Sword had absorbed the impact, if I hadn’t relied on the Imperial Foundation Swordsmanship I’d drilled into habit, I would have lost a limb this time.
-Whoosh!
No follow-up attack came. The Lion-Human, having shoved me back forcefully, kicked off the ground and leaped backward.
From the start, killing me wasn’t its objective. I was simply an obstacle in its path.
-Boom!
“Kugh!”
The vanguard positioned behind attempted to block its path, but stopping it proved impossible.
The moment I thrust my spear and pushed the creature back, it kicked off the ground and leaped over me.
Perhaps because it retained the intelligence from its human days—it was twice as troublesome as ordinary monsters.
Just three clashes. In mere seconds, our rearguard lay exposed directly before it.
-Whoosh!
I intercepted by leaping forward, positioning the Subspace before our rearguard while executing a sharp, decisive slash—not an attack, but a warning to keep its distance.
Shin Chang, arriving a beat late, aimed for the creature’s back.
-Clang!
Metallic sounds rang out in succession. But we were already in chaos. In a one-versus-many engagement, space is everything.
This creature had shattered our formation in mere three breaths. Our rearguard was retreating hastily, but the front lines were already entangled.
Reforming our formation posed another problem. If this creature charged in again as before, we couldn’t possibly contain it.
The Lion-Human pressed against Shin Chang and me, then glanced sideways. Toward the rearguard.
‘Again?’
The moment it flinched, Shin Chang and I reacted as well. But then…
‘Damn it.’
It was a feint. Exploiting the moment our bodies shifted toward the rearguard, it thrust its spear at a foreign vanguard beside us.
We couldn’t react in time. The spear was about to pierce the vanguard’s chest.
-Clang!
An invisible barrier materialized before the vanguard. Han Chul’s First Guard. The provocation never landed.
In this operation, Han Chul and the Saebyeokbit vanguard’s top priority was protecting the rear.
-Whoosh!
Then it leaped again. In the moment Shin Chang and I shifted to protect the vanguard—another counter-move. This time too, it was a reversal.
It soared past the Subspace I’d erected, launching itself skyward.
‘One card…’
I maintained extreme focus, ready to respond at any moment. Even if it unleashed attacks wildly in the sky, our forces would suffer no casualties.
Mister and Yong-yong were positioned elsewhere.
-Whoooosh!
I engulfed the entire space around it in Inferno—just as when I’d captured the Witch, Veronica. Time was critical, so I disregarded mana ratios.
The entire airspace where it hovered was consumed by Inferno’s flames.
‘At least it’s bound.’
The instant I thought that, the creature I’d caught in my spatial sense spun its body while swinging its spear.
-Whoooosh!
By some incomprehensible force, the Inferno flames containing it scattered in all directions.
The flames were about to engulf our own forces. I hastily withdrew my mana and extinguished the Inferno.
‘How is this possible?’
This is Inferno that even burns mana itself. If given time, it would incinerate even Ja-tan, yet I couldn’t comprehend this.
-It’s the work of divine power. That spear—it’s definitely an S-rank superior spear imbued with divine force.
Chun-bae provided the answer. That made sense. The arrows that moved freely in Arachne’s Labyrinth were also products of divine power.
-Thud!
The Lion-Human, having broken through my Inferno, descended to the ground. It planted the spear’s tip into the earth and stood balanced on one foot atop the shaft.
The creature held its spear wrapped in its tail, regarding me as though it had discovered something amusing.
“Heh.”
An involuntary laugh escaped me. What a show-off.
And I genuinely hoped for one thing.
‘I get that you’re strong, so just throw the damn spear already.’
* * *
“Kraaagh!”
The Lion-Human’s roar seemed to shake the heavens and earth. Shin Chang barely dodged the spear the Lion-Human drove down from the sky.
-Boom!
Dirt exploded in all directions as though a bomb had detonated. The battle was becoming grueling. The rear guard was in no position to contribute.
A monster with intellect. It fought the front line without recklessness, refusing to take hits carelessly.
Occasionally, Seo Seung-yeon and the other mages seized openings to land strikes, but they were either blocked or failed to inflict serious damage.
‘I’ve become dead weight… no, I am dead weight.’
That was Seo Seung-yeon’s honest assessment. In truth, there wasn’t much the rear guard could do right now.
Neither she nor the Dragon Knight nor the mages—the opportunities they created by exploiting gaps in the creature’s defense…
…paled compared to the mounting casualties among the front-liners desperately holding back the Lion-Human’s relentless assault.
The formation remained tangled in chaos. Even those positioned in the rear to eliminate lesser monsters were caught up among the front ranks because of the Lion-Human.
“Five o’clock! Block it!”
With monsters, hunters, and the Lion-Human constantly shifting positions, the battlefield was nearly impossible to track.
Without the Space Mage’s leap and Subspace, and Guardian Kim Han-chul’s First Guard, there would have been casualties by now.
‘Huh?’
It was in that moment of thought. For just a brief instant, the Lion-Human was charging straight at her.
It had gone left. She was positioned safely. Even when it changed direction once, she was fine.
But in the span of two blinks, it had changed direction twice and was now bearing down on her.
Kim Han-chul’s First Guard, the Space Mage’s leap, and Subspace had just been used to block it three times.
‘No, no, no…’
Every hair on her body stood on end. As a sniper, Seo Seung-yeon could sense it.
There was no escape. And… she would die.
‘Damn it! I haven’t even gotten married yet…!’
As the spear closed in, Seo Seung-yeon cursed inwardly. In that instant, Shin Chang stepped in front of her.
His broad back blocked her vision.
-Thud!
All she could hear was the sound. She knew Shin Chang had been struck by the spear.
The creature’s spear protruded from Shin Chang’s side.
‘Brother?’
It was a moment when her thoughts seemed to freeze entirely.
“Han Hye!”
Shin Chang cried out loudly, grasping the Lion-Human’s spear that had pierced through his body. The creature tried to wrench it back, but Shin Chang held firm, refusing to yield.
And light gathered along Shin Chang’s spear.
‘Spear Heaven Annihilation.’
Just as Han Hye had hidden multiple strategies, Shin Chang possessed his own trump card reserved for moments like this.
It was an S-rank skill, but one he couldn’t deploy recklessly. Its destructive power pierced straight through everything in its path, leaving no way to prevent collateral damage to allies.
-Whoooosh!
But with the Space Mage present, everything changed.
-Kwaaaaang!
The Subspace unfurled behind the Lion-Human’s back at nearly the same instant light erupted from Shin Chang’s spear.
-Screech!
The sacred barrier that had protected the Lion-Human’s body materialized once more, yet this time it couldn’t hold.
-Kwaang!
The beam of light pierced through the Lion-Human and struck the Subspace, completely negating the damage behind it.
‘Is it over?’
The thought had barely crossed Han Hye’s mind when the Lion-Human moved. It shoved Shin Chang away roughly and yanked the spear free, bounding away in a single leap.
‘Damn it.’
Han Hye watched the creature intently while Seo Seung-yeon caught Shin Chang.
“Brother!”
Multiple Healers’ skills flowed directly into Shin Chang’s body. Han Hye felt genuine admiration.
‘That didn’t work either?’
During training with Saebyeokbit, I’d practiced with Shin Chang. I’d asked if he could block a skill that might cause friendly casualties.
While training to intercept attacks with the Subspace, I’d believed no one could withstand a direct hit from that skill.
Yet the Lion-Human endured it. Barely, with the aid of its sacred power. Without it, the creature wouldn’t have been able to move at all.
Observing the Lion-Human’s condition, Han Hye felt some relief.
‘Still, it’s not unscathed.’
The Lion-Human, having leaped high into the air, now stood atop a nearby tall hill. Just as Shin Chang had been, it bore an enormous cavity in its flank.
Considering the creature’s three-meter frame, the wound would have completely severed a human’s torso from their lower body, leaving the upper and lower halves separated.
Beyond that, wounds covered its entire body—arms, legs, shoulders—blood streaming freely.
Han Hye checked Shin Chang’s condition.
“Are you alright?”
“I can move. Just not like before.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“Was it a fair trade?”
“What fair trade?!”
Seo Seung-yeon burst out, but Shin Chang grinned. A penetrating wound through his flank in exchange for dealing that much damage to the Lion-Human was indeed an excellent trade.
The problem was that Shin Chang bore enormous responsibility in restraining the creature.
“It’s recovering in real-time?”
The sacred power was actively facilitating its regeneration. Fresh flesh was visibly sprouting from the gaping wound in its flank.
-Kwaang!
-Crackle!
The hunters wouldn’t let this opportunity slip. The Dragon Knight’s Dragon Scale Piercing Spear and numerous spells flew toward the creature, but….
-Boom!
The sacred barrier from before prevented them from dealing significant damage.
“Didn’t you just use that?”
“This is insane. How long can you keep using it?”
“Hit it harder! It can’t be infinite!”
That’s when the Lion-Human moved. It yanked back the arm holding the spear.
‘Could it be?’
Han Hye exulted inwardly. The creature had given her trouble because it possessed intelligence, but now that same intelligence was working in her favor.
‘So it’s planning to endure with the barrier and strike back with the thrown spear?’
Shin Chang had done his part. Now it was her turn. Han Hye activated Territorialization and Swiftness.
The world slowed in an instant, and I could see the movement of the creature’s shoulder joint.
-Whoosh!
Even in the slowed world, the spear shot forward at tremendous speed. But I felt no concern.
‘At this level… I can block it.’
The thrown spear flew toward where the rear guard was densely clustered.
-Leap!
Han Hye jumped forward and stood in its path. The moment the Lion-Human’s eyes narrowed…
-Whooom!
A Subspace unfolded. The Lion-Human’s spear entered the Subspace.
“…!”
And before the Lion-Human could retrieve the spear…
-Whooom!
The Subspace closed.
Han Hye smirked.
“S-rank spear. I’ll take good care of it.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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