The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 594: The Party’s Over (3)

“The fairy dragon is my monster!”

I shouted fast before Chatterbox could pull anything. Gyeol dropped down onto my shoulder and wrapped his neck around mine as tight as he could.

“Nine minutes.”

Thankfully, Chatterbox didn’t show much reaction to the sudden appearance of a monster. He looked confident that nothing I did would matter anyway. I pulled Grace out and snapped it onto my wrist.

“How did you even get here?”

The King of Harmless bent down to peer at Gyeol. Gyeol’s wings trembled.

“That teleport just now didn’t feel like a Transcendent’s power.”

Instead of answering, Gyeol just looked up at me. The comment about it not being a Transcendent’s power bothered me, but I didn’t have time to get distracted.

“Gyeol, help me out.”

– …Okay, Daddy.

His golden eyes blinked. He was clearly worried this would take a toll on my body, but he didn’t say it out loud. He knew there was no helping it. Which meant I all the more had to make it back alive.

“…Ugh.”

The fairy dragon’s mana wrapped around me, and my dulled mana imprint lit back up, sharpening my senses. I chased quickly along the traces of the King of Harmless’s power that had taken root in my body.

The endless spread of mist. Every tiny droplet that made up the haze was a memory. People’s memories flowed into the mist and linked together. And those memories—

[Swallow them.]

Ru Ga Pheya’s voice rang in my head.

[Our nourishment is memory. We gain power by absorbing memories. Do you remember the human from your world I bound to me?]

Choi Seokwon. The S–rank Hunter who had made a contract with the King of Harmless. Choi Seokwon had spread the mist, swallowed people’s memories, and turned into an SS–rank monster. He’d offered up half his lifespan and climbed all the way to SSS–rank, only to fall into my trap and die at the hands of the Doll Knight.

Back then, he’d barely swallowed a neighborhood, not even one country. But now, it was connected to the entire world. If I devoured all of those memories—

[Word of advice, don’t get too greedy.]

Ru Ga Pheya spoke with a faintly amused tone.

[Right now, the only memories you can swallow are the ones that start from you. If you tried to take all of them, it would be hard for you to survive either~]

[What? What do you mean?]

[Memory is relative. When you see the sky, you remember drifting clouds and shining sunlight. When you see a river, you remember leaping fish and birds beating their wings. Most memories are born when you encounter someone or something. Memories made up of nothing but “me” are almost nonexistent.]

I could feel the countless memories scattered across the world. They all held me, but the memories weren’t mine.

[That’s why being forgotten can mean complete erasure of a being. Usually, if a few people forget you, it doesn’t directly hurt you. But deliberately erasing someone is different.]

Fingers tipped with tendrils poked my cheek.

[If countless people forget you all at once, in a single instant, your very existence might be erased from this world.]

…For some reason, instead of my own safety, a twenty–five–year–old Yuhyun popped into my head. Ru Ga Pheya laughed, telling me not to stiffen up so much.

[With your abilities, you won’t be able to swallow more than the Han Yujin I showed you anyway~ I’m just saying it in case.]

[Just the stuff you showed me─ wait a second.]

If I swallowed that, then… Chatterbox said, “Six minutes.”

[Does that mean everyone forgets I regressed? The way I was before regression too?]

[People of lower rank, sure~ If they’re high–rank Awakened, it won’t all get erased. Your existence value is way higher than an S–rank’s, but your stats are way too low! So it’s hard to take all the memories of people with high rank or high existence value. Their memories will remain in pieces, or maybe completely, depending.]

That was still a massive relief. It would be a pain if the high–rank Hunters remembered everything, but even so, this was huge.

[Even if I make it out alive, I was worried about how we were going to clean this up. This lets me breathe a little.]

[But the emotions will stay.]

[…Huh?]

[The feelings that settled into their bodies when they watched you, when they felt you. Even if the memories vanish completely, some people will pity Han Yujin for no reason, and some will feel anger they can’t explain. If someone claims regression is real, they’ll be easier to convince. Or, they might reject it even more strongly.]

That’s how memory is. Even when it brushes past, it leaves traces. Ru Ga Pheya hummed like she was singing.

[Even if you erase the memories, you can’t go perfectly back to how it was before. Things are already different.]

And from here, they were only going to change more.

“Four minutes.”

Chatterbox’s voice came. At the same time, memories surged toward me. Everyone had watched the same thing. But the memories they’d taken in were all different. Some focused on the pre–regression story, others were more interested in the post–regression story.

It was my story, but I could feel memories where someone else stood out more sharply. They grieved Yuhyun’s death and rejoiced at Yerim’s exploits. Some people had completely fallen for Peace. A lot couldn’t bring themselves to believe what they’d seen and treated it as an extension of the party, just a staged show.

[Look at this, I’m a total villain.]

Han Yujin was using Han Yuhyun with a nasty smirk on his face. I couldn’t help laughing a little at the memories where my pre–regression bullshit came to mind. Even when you showed it all straight up, there were people who clung to their own version like that.

[…Is that really me?]

On the other hand, I saw a Han Yujin who looked like he’d topple over if you just poked him lightly. There were so many appearances that looked so different it made you doubt it was the same person. My head started to throb from the endless flood of memories. The King of Harmless patted my shoulder.

[You can’t look at everything. Do you separate every single grain of rice and inspect it when you eat?]

Obviously not. When you scoop up a spoonful of rice, you swallow it without ever seeing all the grains inside. I stopped trying to check each memory and just took them in, like gulping water.

“Two minutes.”

Gyeol clung tight to my shoulder. The mist of memories piled up. The power Ru Ga Pheya, the King of Harmless, had wielded. The oppressive, suffocating presence of Chatterbox that had pressed down on my whole body thinned. He was still stronger than me. But I got the distinct feeling it wasn’t hopeless anymore. Like I’d gone from a rabbit in front of a tiger to, say, a leopard.

“One minute.”

Chatterbox’s lips curved clearly. He looked at me like someone staring at ripening fruit.

“And what might this be.”

He had to feel it. That a power similar to the King of Harmless’s was gathering inside me. His smile deepened.

“My mist.”

What the hell.

“From start to finish, all you do is talk crap. None of this is yours!”

Before the last minute ticked away, I lunged at him. White mist billowed out after me, snaking around Chatterbox’s legs. I swung my fist at his irritating face. It would’ve been nice if it connected with a solid thump, but he dodged lightly. At the same time—

Swaek!

Dark red strings flew in. They weren’t aiming for me, but for Chatterbox.

“The King of Harmless’s staff.”

Chatterbox looked at me with satisfied eyes. Grrrrng, the monsters charged the strings and were shredded apart, vanishing. The staff, whose owner had changed, flew into my hand.

“You turned it down, and yet you took the mist in on your own.”

“This is my power, you idiot.”

“It’s the power of the mist.”

“These are the memories I built up myself.”

This wasn’t some power Chatterbox had magnanimously tossed me. It was the result of the memories Han Yujin had piled up one by one. But Chatterbox didn’t even pretend to listen. He just looked me over, pleased. There was still plenty of ease in his attitude. I knew it too. The fact that Chatterbox still had the advantage.

[…Choi Seokwon got all the way to SSS–rank on this amount of memories, so shouldn’t I breeze past L–rank at least?]

[Your base stats are low. And he bound himself to me and paid his lifespan~]

Stats, again. I kept my guard up and locked my eyes on Chatterbox. He still had no intention of killing me.

“Gyeol, don’t let go of me, no matter what.”

– Okay, Daddy.

I floated the staff at my side and pulled out the Ruler’s Sword—

Whoosh!

“Ah!”

The instant the blade slid a bit out of its sheath, the flames clashed with the mist. I hurriedly shoved the sword back into my inventory.

[That attribute doesn’t match. Mist counts as water–aligned, basically. Still, he’s really touchy. Guess that black dragon’s got a bit of a temper?]

Yeah, the Black Dragon hadn’t exactly seemed like a sweetheart. Instead, I pulled out another A–rank sword from my inventory. Chatterbox was still empty–handed. He’d said he was a maze magician, so maybe he was weak in close combat. But who knew—

“Now, for real this time.”

“…!”

Chatterbox suddenly dropped into the space right in front of me. Teleportation? I tried to hop back, but my mana sense and Combat Precognition screamed a warning. I twisted my foot mid–step and ducked forward. A white–gloved hand thrust into the space where my neck had been. Fingers grasped at the empty air and vanished again. I rolled forward once and opened up distance, pulling the mist thick around me.

Through the haze, the tall man’s silhouette emerged faintly. Spatial movement was his specialty. Even Seong Hyunjae’s Combat Precognition was weak against teleportation. Because the gap between his prediction and the movement was so tiny, there was no room to counter. You could barely dodge by a hair’s breadth.

[You don’t know any of Chatterbox’s weaknesses?]

[That’s not the Chatterbox I knew. He said he threw all that away.]

Just like Ru Ga Pheya said, the Chatterbox from before had disappeared as a sacrifice. So he wasn’t a magician anymore either? Chatterbox, the party’s host.

“All I need to fix is the exterior, then.”

Chatterbox’s hand moved lightly. Wind rose. It tore through the mist and came crashing down like dozens of razor blades.

Clang! Clang!

I swung my sword, cutting away the wind. Even a passing touch gouged out the ground and split trees. The sight of rock faces being scraped away in ribbons made me wince. Was he trying to peel my skin off.

“I’m not planning on anything more than a basic face mask!”

I’ve got nice skin, okay! I kicked hard at a tree trunk tipping toward me. The tree flew across the air and shattered into pieces in front of Chatterbox. I jumped through the scattering splinters. Dark red strings tangled wildly, trying to bind Chatterbox, but his figure vanished in an instant. I landed in empty space and scanned around quickly. He’d teleported a little ways away and was fanning out a white dress.

“I am curious about the interior of that drawer.”

Damn it, teleport is totally busted. On top of that, I had no idea how to properly handle the King of Harmless’s power. I’d buffed my body, sure, but was there a way to use memories directly in combat. Maybe I could try creating an illusion of Ru Ga Pheya?

[Why would you use it like that?]

Ru Ga Pheya pointed at the staff, puzzled.

[…The replica can’t teleport.]

If it could teleport like she’d done before, it’d be great.

[It’s not teleportation. The branches of the Red Mist Tree are memory trees I grew. Every branch is a memory, and it’s the replaying of those memories.]

What is she talking about. It had looked just like teleportation, but it wasn’t?

Rumble, the ground shook. A bad feeling shot through me and I leapt into the air, gathering the mist thick beneath my feet. The moment I sprinted forward on the mist like stepping stones, the ground dropped out below, revealing a round pit. Whirrr, with a motor–like sound, a black hole in the center began sucking in the surrounding dirt and mist. My mist!

[The branch was always there. You’re reviving the memory that it was there before!]

“What?”

I pulled out a bomb and tossed it into the hole. Boom! With the explosion, the suction dragging my mist down faltered. I fired all the metallic strings hanging from the staff into the hole. Clang, clang–clang! Loud impacts rang out in rapid succession, cracks spreading through the circular chamber until it shattered with a crash.

– Daddy!

Just when I thought I could finally catch a breath, a chill ran down the back of my neck. Chatterbox had appeared right behind me, reaching for my arm. I dispelled the mist under my feet and dropped straight down, dodging his grasp.

“Explain, please!”

[I’ve bound people, but I’ve never taken on a disciple~]

“What disciple─”

[You don’t want to?]

“Teacher!”

I shouted as I rolled across the ground. Pababak, razor–sharp bits of metal drove into the spots I’d just been in. They looked like surgical scalpels.

[It’s not teleportation, it’s appearing. There was an apple on a table. You ate the apple, but the memory of the apple on the table remains, right? You’re pulling that memory back out. Into reality.]

“He seems to favor close combat.”

Chatterbox appeared in front of me again and reached out a hand like he was asking me to dance. Instead of taking it, I swung my sword. His palm flipped and the back of his hand smacked the blade aside with a hard ring. I staggered from the rebound, and his other hand shot toward me. Gyeol growled, and I dropped to a kneel, ducking under his grasp. I planted one hand on the ground and lashed out a kick toward Chatterbox’s leg, but he vanished again in an instant.

“Making memories.”

Into reality. It reminded me of Changeling’s ability. Gyeol had said before that his power basically amplified the King of Harmless’s abilities, that their compatibility was bad. In other words, that meant he was helping me right now too.

“Drawing power from people’s gaze is the same for me as well.”

Chatterbox spread his arms. What was happening here was still being broadcast all over the world. A white halo appeared around him. What was he—

Thud!

“Kh!”

Suddenly, a heavy impact slammed into my back. I spun and jumped away, catching sight of Chatterbox. Wait, he was over there too?

“Could you be any more clingy!”

“One entity appearing in countless spaces at once. That’s one of the special traits of broadcasting.”

I swung my sword. Thankfully, the images of Chatterbox split apart and faded easily. They were much weaker than the real body. The problem was, I could only sense the real Chatterbox. The copies, the broadcast images, had no movement I could feel.

“What else is there. A change of stage?”

Squish, the ground under my feet turned into a swamp. Before I could pull my legs free, it shifted again, becoming a metallic floor. My lower legs were stuck fast. What the hell.

“As the owner of this broadcast channel and as the party’s host, my tenure is short, so I am still inexperienced in some aspects.”

So, he didn’t fully understand his own power. Ka–gagang! I hacked at the metallic floor with my sword and the staff’s strings.

[When I fought you, I was bound to be at a disadvantage because of the nature of my power. I never fully set foot in this world. But you fought here, didn’t you?]

Revive your memories. Ru Ga Pheya said. The memories of this place. The Chatterbox images appeared, flooding between the mists.

Crackle!

A powerful burst of light flashed. It was only S–rank–level current at best, but when the light flashed, I re–played the memories again. And again, as far as my power could reach, dozens of times over. With Changeling’s amplification layered on top, the stacked and overlapping bursts of light grew so bright even Chatterbox had to squeeze his eyes shut. The images shattered into fragments and vanished. I reached toward the staff.

[Memories are everywhere. Those strings on the staff are memories themselves, remember?]

So.

Dozens of strings vanished. And reappeared. Chatterbox teleported again, but—

Screech!

There were memories there too. His clothes tore in a long rip. And then—

Chrrrk–

Dozens of golden chains spread in all directions, blocking off Chatterbox’s teleportation as—

Kwarrrrrng!

The bombs that had once numbered in the dozens, and now were close to a thousand, detonated all at once.