Beyond the End (My Landlady Noona)

It was a mistake to think that Glavathians would only use cold weapons. 

An inferno descended towards earth with a flash of scorching flames. Heat made the asphalt bubbly, peels of it breaking away from the ground and flying about like embers.

"Bada? Bada!"

Leandro had taken her to another building, far from the heat of the battle. 

"I'm—I'm okay…!" Damn it, she was barefoot, and shards of broken glass clung to her soles, making her wince slightly. 

Leandro helped her up on her feet, pulling her in his arms. There was a nasty gash on his face. Bada felt a knot in her throat as blood dripped on his shoulder. "L-Leandro, you!"

"It's fine." He smiled, before swiping with two of his fingers to clean off the blood that trickled from the open wound. "It'll heal before you know it. Stay put, you can't stay like that..."

He removed his now-tattered coat and wrapped it snugly around her shoulders. 

Her eyes widened.

Leandro then proceeded to quickly tear off the sleeves of his shirt. "Give me your feet, Bada."

Bada simply obeyed with bated breath. He kneeled down and, with her sitting on one of the tables, he deftly wrapped the torn sleeves against the underside of her feet—the fabric tied together snugly, covering her soles. They even felt very fluffy, with Leandro's body heat seeping through. "There we go. Better?"

Bada simply blinked at him, a smile spreading on her face soon enough.

"Better."

It truly was. And it wasn't so much about the pain, but the utmost care and gentleness in which Leandro took care of her. Ah, seriously! He was making things so much harder—why couldn't he have been a normal guy? 

Though, with her luck, she would have still found a hundred ways to like him. 

She didn't have the time to enjoy the moment though—something rumbled outside. 

The door, already hanging ajar and teetering on its hinge, was torn off from its frame as four Galvathian Warriors barreled in, so tall that they had to duck under the header. 

"Well, well. Look at what we have found. Enjoying yourselves?" They stomped towards them in a slow, intimidating stride, each step resounding loudly on the ground.

They sniggered, their maws twisted into ugly smiles. Perhaps to those creatures, Leandro and Bada might as well have been mice in a cage, but she knew it was the opposite. 

Leandro casually rose to his feet. "Gotta give props for determination... why don't you and your buddies scoot over so we can wrap this all up in time for a picnic tomorrow?" He casually drawled. Bada giggled.

"Kek kek kek... a comedian." One of them stomped and rushed towards him, brandishing his weird rifle and a wicked-looking blade that resembled a hook attached to its end. "We'll see if you have the time to be funny, after I hang your intestines on a rack, Eart—"

Moonblade Style — Enshroudment.

Leandro snapped his hand in an impossibly smooth motion that blurred reality—as far as Bada's eyes could see, a stream of pale white shot across in a straight line that spliced the warrior right across the waist, instantaneously.

It was too quick for even them to notice. One moment Leandro was just staring leisurely, and in the next, the monster toppled over like a lifeless puppet, its torso detached from the rest of its body, flying towards a wall, spilling blood on the ground. 

"W-What…"

"How—!?"

"Oi! Wasn't Earth supposed to be a primitive civilization?! Where did this guy come from?!"

Bada frowned. Ah, the moment she had with Leandro was ruined. "How rude!" She waved her sleeve-wrapped foot in their direction. "You better leave or Leandro here will turn you into women's handbags." She tapped her chin thoughtfully, and quickly amended. "With your ugly faces no girl will use you even as a grocery tote though."

One of the monsters growled. "What is that stupid bitch even tal—!" It flinched. 

Leandro moved—a flick of the wrist. A glowing crescent blade of lunar energy left his sword, scraping across the floor and through all four Galvathians, obliterating them in one swing. 

"I was right, wasn't I~?" Bada stretched her arms and legs, as a sign that she wanted to be picked up. 

"What are you, a child?" Leandro sighed, though not of annoyance. "Come on, we have to go."

He carefully scooped her up. 

Once Bada rested her head on his shoulders, she took a look around. Fighter jets were patrolling the skies as more and more men were storming the area, probably to rescue trapped survivors or maybe even securing the perimeter.

Leandro tightened his hold on her and, in a burst of unbelievable speed, disappeared from their current location.

…

Yuhee thought she could stay calm, focused, and rational in any situation thrown her way. She had been told many times before that she had nerves of steel, and her ability to stay stoic and think fast when other people would panic was a testament to her competence.

It was not every day a spaceship flew through the sky. She barely saw the damn thing because the sky was still coagulated with a cluster of thick, dark clouds, but the streak of thunderous lights she witnessed and the ensuing shockwaves and sounds that soon followed made Yuhee believe that the true ending was this. 

Hari continuously looked at the door, as if doing so would make Leandro magically appear and reassure her that everything would be fine. It didn't help that she had received a message, a while ago, that her mother had come back to South Korea. 

Anything that could go wrong, had gone wrong. 

"Damn it. What do we even do in a situation like this?" Yuhee knew better than to carelessly approach the window—what if one of those things saw her? 

"Oppa is still out there!" Nari paced back and forth. She was on the verge of tearing her hair off and ruining her idol career due to stress and concern over that stupid brother of hers. 

Of course, all of them knew that he was a Challenger, but Seoul had been turned upside down, with fire raining down from those flying things, and anything could happen, even to someone like him. 

The room suddenly seemed so small. It was frustrating how they couldn't do much more than just huddle up together on the bed, helplessly trying to comprehend what was even happening.

A rumbling echoed outside, sending tiny jolts through the apartment. 

Nari bolted up from the bed and peaked through a slit in the blinds. Yuhee heard her sigh and say. "Oh, it's the military… finally!"

There was something reassuring about hearing planes instead of monstrous roars echoing all over Seoul—perhaps some semblance of humanity could prevail if they could defend their skies.

Yuhee wasn't so sure about that. While the army outnumbered those creatures, the latter boasted, at surface glance at least, a more advanced weaponry. Their bullets looked like laser jets in comparison. 

She had been trying to get in contact with Bada, to no success. She wasn't overly worried. Leandro was with her. That was also a problem. Leandro was with Bada, and not them. Which meant that Yuhee, Hari, and Nari were more at risk if something went awry. 

That would not help him either if something did in fact go wrong. He couldn't concentrate on saving Bada while worried over them. Yuhee was surprised he wasn't back by now. Though, knowing him, he must be running at full speed. And knowing his full speed, it shouldn't take long.

"We should stay here and wait for Leandro."

It was odd for Yuhee to suggest something like that—as a CEO, she was someone who'd rather take action than wait for someone else, but this situation was beyond anything her marketing or office skills could solve. Leandro had the highest chances of coming back from all this in one piece. She was confident about that. 

Besides, she figured that's what he would want as well. It was, after all, what he envisioned before all of this mess went down.

The window shattered as a shockwave rippled through the entire block. Yuhee instinctively scrambled across the bed to cover Hari—the latter had let out a cute little yelp, the hairs on the nape of her neck standing up due to the burst of air that entered their apartment.

The curtains flapped wildly about.

In an instant, the otherwise perfect and neat room was ravaged; furniture overturned, dust scattered all around.

Yuhee felt debris smack against her back; the TV flew off the wall. Glass sprinkled. That bedroom had never seen anything like this before—she doubted even the fiercest storm would have wrought as much destruction. 

The bed had toppled, banking on one side as they hid behind it, using it as some sort of protective fence. Yuhee stayed huddled over Hari for a good few seconds until her ears stopped ringing. 

She didn't look up immediately, but Nari got up first.

"W-What... the..." Yuhee coughed due to the dust that flew into her mouth. Her head was buzzing; her throat was clogged up. "Wh-What was that explosion? Why would the military attack here?!"

Damn it, what was going on outside? 

"I don't think it was the military..." Nari trailed off, fearfully. 

Hari gasped when claws sunk into the frame of the open window. Long, sharp nails left cracks on the wall as the rest of the body they belonged to crawled in.

Nari took a step back when the creature straightened its posture. It looked reptilian—like a monster from children's story books come to life. It wore armor that emitted a menacing gleam, its glow mixed with the surrounding destruction.

It was tall, incredibly tall. Its head elongated, gator-like head nearly reached the ceiling. 

Yuhee almost let out a curse, but held it in when the monster glanced their way. 

"You humans..." Its beady eyes glared at them. Yuhee thought that she was looking into the eyes of a bloodthirsty predator; an alien, she thought. "Kekeke… three at once? Lucky~" 

Nari took a step back, brandishing a nearby lamp, as if it would do anything against that. "W-What do you want, bastard." She took a shaky breath, trying to mask her fear. "You think we're easy prey just because our brother isn't here? We'll have you know that he's out there, killing your kind right now."

Probably not the smartest thing to do—provoking it. But Yuhee figured stalling for time was a good idea. The creature certainly loved to talk, to play with its food.

"Ohhh?" The creature's sturdy tail slammed into a nearby piece of furniture, in mockery. "It seems like you don't know... your city, it burns!" It hissed. "Your kind burns and roasts like livestock. Your brother is dead." It laughed, a piercing, scraping sound that sent shivers down their spines.

"He's not dead!" Hari, in a surprising burst of anger, took the lamp from Nari's hands and chucked it at the reptilian.

It simply scoffed as the piece of furniture bounced off its armor, uselessly.

Yuhee knew it wasn't the time to freak out; her self-control was slipping, bit by bit. 

Still, she forced herself to calm down and don on a mask of confidence, even if it was only a front. She met its amused, predatory eyes with one of steel. "You're a fool." Good, start with an insult, make it sound confident. With an upturn of her eyes, and a defiant tilt of her chin, she continued, arms crossed. "You should tuck that ugly tail between your legs and leave before my BF comes back. He's not going to like the way you're looking at us~ and he can be very obsessive and compulsive. Imagine losing your head because you were ogling my boobs..." She faked a surprised gasp. "He might even throw your guts inside out and roast your balls like cheap meatballs at a backyard barbeque."

Nari and Hari stared at Yuhee in disbelief.

The creature regarded her words for a second. Then, with a tilt of its head, the reptilian let out a gruesome roar of laughter. "Kek kek… big words coming from such a cute looking creature…" 

Nari gritted her teeth, her chest felt heavy. She was scared. Not only for her, but also for her Unnie, and deep down, even for that stupid big-breasted, stupid Yuhee. The creature took a step forward, taking its sweet time. Its tail swished around it, in contentment, in anticipation.

Something bubbled within her. 

She gulped, concentrating. She had tried this before—nothing more than a spark would come out, but now, maybe?

Nari brought both hands forward. She chanted under her breath, hoping not to mispronounce even a single letter. 

The reptilian took another step forward, its serpentine tongue sweeping out to lick its lips. Disgusting. 

"Oh? What do we have here? What are you going to do?"

Sweat poured down Nari's hair. 

A flickering light briefly lit up the room. It crackled, spinning in a perfect, fiery ball in front of her hands. "Yes!" She cheered, much to Hari and Yuhee's surprise. "Die, you disgusting bastard!"

She flung the spell forward with all her might, and nearly slumped down from the exhaustion. Hari immediately supported her. The fireball impacted against the reptilian's armored chest, blasting outward in a shower of embers and heat. 

Nari didn't expect for it to actually kill the Galvathian, but she hoped it would, at least, do some sort of extensive and crippling damage—anything to buy more time, or even escape. 

"Kekeke! What is this? Do it again~ it felt reeeally good!" The Galvathian clawed away at the wisps of fire that clung on his shoulders, wiping it off as if it were dust. 

Nari merely panted, looking back at it with mounting despair. Hari stood in front of Nari, protectively, arms wide open. "You won't touch my sister!"

"U-Unnie…!" Nari desperately tried to scramble back to her feet, only to tumble back down midway through. "Damn it!"

The monster's grin widened, displaying a terrifying amount of teeth. It crouched, readying a charge, looking like a predator preparing to pounce. "How touching. You guys are so entertaining to watch. I wonder what other expressions you can use. Hm, yes. I'll rip you apart slowly. I'll store your cute little heads in fancy plastic bags. Now, who should I start with first…?" Its eyes zeroed in on Hari, who stood there, shaking, arms still wide open. "Or…"

"Don't even think about it." Yuhee spoke up, stepping forward with deliberate, confident strides. Hari reached out to stop her, but Yuhee was faster. Her heels clacked sharply in the silence of the room. She crossed her arms under her bust to hide the trembling of her fingers.

'Leandro, just come back already you piece of shit!'

"You think you're so terrifying? You're just a glorified lizard playing soldier." She sneered, her eyes narrowing. "Your kind? I've seen pests with more brains and roaches with more finesse. You think you can scare us? Pathetic. Our city will crush you like the vermin you are."

The creature's eyes flashed with anger, but Yuhee continued, her voice dripping with disdain. She had to talk, to buy more time for that dramatic motherfucker to come back and save her ass, because damn, she was about to pee herself there! 

"Leandro will be back soon, and when he sees what you've done, he'll make you regret ever crawling out of your hole. He'll peel that ugly hide of yours like cheap wallpaper and string your entrails up as decorations. So, enjoy your little moment of bravado while it lasts. Because when he's through with you, there won't be enough left to roast."

Nari and Hari stared at Yuhee, wide-eyed, as the reptilian's smug grin faltered for a fraction of a second. The creature let out a low growl, its claws flexing.

Yuhee's lips curled into a taunting smile. "What's the matter? Scared of a little human? You should be. Because you're about to find out just how fragile you really are."

"You've got a sharp tongue, Earthling. But words won't save you. Oh, I'll enjoy biting that confidence of yours apart… little by little." It stuck its slimy, disgusting tongue out in a way that, ironically, reminded Yuhee of herself. At least when she was around Leandro. 

Speaking of which, where the fuck was he?!

The Galvathian made to move—Yuhee's eyes splayed wide open.

A hissing sound. 

The creature turned around, a panicked look twisting its reptilian mug. 

A bright light enveloped the window, as if a helicopter had pointed its blinding searchlights at them. Yuhee didn't see it clearly—she had to look away when the light intensified, as if a sun had emerged right outside the window. 

Then came a loud cracking, followed by the splashing of liquid on the floor.

When Yuhee, Hari, and Nari fluttered their eyes open. 

The light had died out, as had the towering creature that looked so arrogant and strong moments before. Now the unrecognizable corpse on the floor had stopped running its mouth, not that it had one anymore. 

Its head had exploded.

There was blood and brains smeared over every corner of the room, stuck to their beds, the couch and TV. A splashing sound could still be heard… its head was gushing the nasty contents inside its now-vacant shell. The tail on the floor, split open in half, twitching uncontrollably.

Yuhee suddenly felt dizzy, wobbly.

Hari was a little pale, as was Nari, but they easily supported each other.

"Leandro…?"

Yuhee took a tentative step forward, even going as far as to use the fallen Galvathian as some sort of fleshy ladder for her to step on. Hari and Nari, she saw, chose a safer route instead, stepping around the body like one would a piece of filth.

Bada, in Leandro's arms, waved cheerily, her mouth twisted into a cute '3' shape.

"Hayoo~"