The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 698: Things Taken, Things Gained (2)

[First–Class Chimera Species ? Daernix (SSS)

Ruler of the Werebeasts and chimera created by □□□ mixing a dragon and a leopard.]

The system window spilled the creature’s information.

Above the head of the black leopard, metallic horns curled upward. A blade–like mane ran down its back, stretching all the way to the tail. Bronze–colored scales were scattered between the black fur, and the tail was that of a pure dragon.

Tadatak, tatak– The raised mane bristled and scraped against itself, making an unpleasant noise, and its sharply slit pupils swept lazily over its surroundings. There was nothing here stronger than it. That confident gaze settled on Yuhyun. He still couldn’t match an SSS-class. Even so, as if it had the instinctive sense that getting bitten by him would still hurt quite a bit, Daernix let out a low growl, krrrk, and lightly scraped the floor with its claws.

A gesture that announced the start of the hunt. Battle precognition flowing in from Seong Hyunjae sent a thrilling shiver down my spine.

“It’s coming.”

I said shortly. At the same moment, Yuhyun kicked off the ground. Power in his step combined with the Regalia’s instant acceleration, and his body shot backward in an instant. Even so—

Sssk–

The tips of his fluttering hair brushed the claws and—bang! They slammed past Han Yuhyun at an angle and drove into the hardening stone behind him. The rocks crumbled like grains of sand. Without losing any of that tremendous speed, the beast rushed for the small human again; fangs ripped through the air and its forepaws raked long furrows in the earth.

KWA–BOOM–!

Along the monster’s path, dozens of meters of ground were blasted to ash in an instant. Flames trembled, and dirt and building debris flew up. Through the dust and smoke, the leopard flicked out a red tongue. Blue willow leaves scattered down in front of it. Standing on the thin leaves, my little brother looked down at Daernix.

“You’re definitely fast.”

Even with My Kid Is The Best, Noah’s buffs, and Melted Last Gate stacked on top, he still fell short of SSS-class stats. But he also wasn’t going down easily. Molten metal circled slowly around him, glowing red–hot. SSS-class weapons forged by Blade–Devourer. Dark blue flames rippled along them.

Strength gathered again in Daernix’s four legs and, tap! With a soft sound that didn’t match its massive body—

– Kyarrrk!

Razor claws reached right in front of Yuhyun. It was a movement close to teleportation. But just a hair earlier, Yuhyun slipped downward like he was sliding. Thunk, his falling body caught itself on a willow leaf. Instead of vertical, he kicked out hard, horizontal, shooting like a bullet underneath the leopard’s body.

For large, four–legged monsters, the area under their bellies was generally unprotected. And when they jumped like this, they had even fewer ways to respond. Yuhyun twisted his body up in a flip. At the same time, the blades of the melted weapons slashed for Daernix’s exposed abdomen.

Vreeeeen!

With a strange sensation, space around Daernix warped! The crimson flaming blades twisted bizarrely. They bent away toward empty air instead of its belly, missing completely, and Yuhyun’s body was flung aside.

Skkrrrk– Spinning quickly to right himself, Yuhyun skidded a long line on landing. The leopard, which had already come down, glared at us savagely.

“Space distortion. As long as it’s using that, landing attacks is going to be hard.”

It twisted every attack just enough to make it miss. It couldn’t completely control space. But just by warping the area around its body, it was more than enough. Rumble, a building that had been left standing like a ruin collapsed in flames. Daernix started to charge again, this time more cautiously.

Each time the monster’s claws or tail swept out, the earth flipped over. BOOM, layered buildings shattered like rotten logs, and the grass that had grown lush thanks to dungeonization scattered wildly as if a storm had hit.

In the middle of that massive devastation, Yuhyun’s body ran smoothly through the air. Just once—if those claws dug into him even shallowly, that would be it. Not even the stacked defenses of the Regalia would withstand it. Yet even while walking that tightrope with his life on the line, Yuhyun’s expression stayed calm.

Whoosh, the spreading flames soared even higher. A forepaw that missed him by just a sheet of paper’s width kicked up a violent gust; shoved by the blast, Han Yuhyun leaped high. Flames rose with him. Red, black, and then dark blue–black.

Leaves, trees, and debris that Daernix had scraped up were swallowed whole, becoming a spiraling column of fire. Normally, he wouldn’t have even tried this because of the mana cost. But right now, for Yuhyun, everything that burned turned back into mana and flowed back to him.

– Krrrk!

Attack skill effectiveness doubled. The power of the SS-class skill Black Flame had been doubled again. On top of that, the buff from Melted Last Gate stacked in. Faced with that overwhelming fiery whirlwind, Daernix faltered. At the same time, Yuhyun’s magic exploded outward all at once.

KRAAAAAASH–!

A wave of fire crashed down on Daernix. It wasn’t easy to distort every flame pressing in from all sides. Wherever it twisted space to bend the flames away, more fire was already filling that spot.

– Kyaaaa!

The leopard pushed back the blaze as much as it could and retreated. Part of its mane was singed black, but there was nothing you could call a real wound. The flames that had been raging suddenly died down. Seeing them vanish in an instant, leaving only embers, Daernix’s drooping mane rose again. It seemed to think he was spent.

Fwoooosh—

The fire came back to life. It hadn’t disappeared; it had turned into mana, been recovered by its owner, then lifted its head again as it gained new fuel and danced. Red, black—

Crunch! Daernix stamped the ground. Its head, forepaws, and front torso warped in a grotesque way. No matter how powerful flames were, they were useless if they couldn’t touch you. The flames he’d drawn up surged to cover Daernix’s face. The fire bent sharply away, scattering behind its head. Flames that didn’t quite get dodged burned the tips of its fur as its fangs flashed.

Kagak! White teeth and pitch–black blades slammed together with force. Leaving a long line across the fang, Yuhyun kicked off, bouncing upward. The fire he’d gathered wavered precariously. As if not wanting to miss the chance, Daernix sped up even more, sticking tight on his tail.

Even with SS-classed eyes boosted from S-class stats, it was hard to follow its movements as they carved through the air one after another. Amid the sharp sounds of air being split, one corner of the Regalia fluttered and tore. A giant claw grazed his face by a hair, and the aftermath left a faint scratch on his cheek.

Noah’s orbs of light kept hitting Yuhyun’s body, but he couldn’t easily use Forced Blessing. Even a momentary disruption could mean death, and even a veteran support–type found it hard to intervene.

– Grrrrrr.

Daernix let out an irritated growl at the prey that kept slipping out of reach. In that tiny gap, BOOM! The condensed flame right in front of Daernix exploded. In that instant when all four of its paws were off the ground. The huge leopard was suddenly blasted backward. Yuhyun too was flung upward, soaring high. The moment distance opened, he drew out fire again.

Flames gathered into a sphere about the size of a human head; the Ruler’s Sword swung toward it. It wrapped and transmitted the dense fire attribute power and—THOOM! The ball of fire flew toward Daernix and exploded like a bomb.

Bang! BOOM! Pop!

Light and heat flashed in relentless succession. The leopard shuddered and threw itself toward the river. Yuhyun’s flames crawled over the ground toward the river like dozens of snakes. They devoured everything they touched, growing larger and larger until—KA–BOOM– They plunged their heads into the water.

Sssssss– Thick steam billowed up, only to be swallowed by the flames as well. Fire that burned even the river water poured out without end. A natural river and fire drawn out by mana. Even an SSS-class would quickly exhaust themselves from meaningless mana consumption and tire out. But around the river, fuel for the fire was everywhere. All that fire was Han Yuhyun’s mana.

The flowing water was dammed and the riverbed dried up. Flames, instead of water, flowed over it. Distorting space to dodge the river of fire, Daernix leaped and let out a fierce roar at Yuhyun.

Annoying and troublesome as he was, Han Yuhyun’s attacks still weren’t inflicting fatal wounds. Even stronger flames than now would be pointless unless they burned away the space distortion itself. So just a little more. If it could get just a little bit faster, it could catch that prey wrapped in threatening flame. But Daernix couldn’t get any faster. Not in this form.

– Kyaaaaaah!

Daernix roared again, loud enough to shake the air. Its attacks stopped.

“Yuhyun.”

I called my brother and opened the pouch I’d kept closed. The flames around us were all pushed away as powerful space distortion began to form around Daernix. Not toward his opponent, but inward, toward himself.

Werebeast. A monster species that could transform into a bipedal form. The huge leopard body began to shrink. It warped and compressed its own flesh, compressing and compressing again, until it was just barely three meters tall. It was a different kind of transformation from ordinary metamorphosis. The stats of that massive original body were compressed too, its speed and power nearly doubling compared to its original form.

Yuhyun had been barely dodging its attacks. If it added another 100% on top of that, even with help from battle precognition, evasion would be impossible.

Daernix’s body finished compressing. It literally vanished. Speed that couldn’t be tracked, power that couldn’t be blocked. Claws like blades shot toward Yuhyun.

KANG!

– Krrrk!

They crashed into my arm. My body, catapulted forward like magic by the Mini–Mini Cookie effect ending, in front of Yuhyun. I smiled into the eyes filled with startled confusion.

“It’s L–rank.”

And then Yuhyun—

CRUNCH, the bent Ruler’s Sword and the molten blade punched through Daernix’s body. The Fragment of the First Flame buff.

Melted Last Gate, SSS-class. Buff active.

Black Flame, SSS-class. Skill effectiveness doubled.

“Space distortion is unavailable.”

It was currently applying space distortion inward on its own body, so it couldn’t use it for defense. Flames flowing along the two blades burned through the monster’s body.

– Kyaaaagh!

“A compressed body can’t return to normal for at least thirty minutes.”

Yuhyun grabbed me and leaped backward, landing on the willow leaves. Daernix had been goaded into shrinking its own body and turning its space distortion inward, making it unusable. Its near–misses had been real, but also bait.

Without space distortion, Yuhyun’s attacks landed just fine. In exchange, Daernix’s attacks couldn’t be blocked. If I, if Grace hadn’t been here.

“The fire fragment made it easier.”

Without it, killing it in one go like that would’ve been hard. Iryn snorted, huffing. Daernix, wrapped in flames from the inside out, finally fell. The flames that had spread like wild grass quickly died down. River water flowed again, wetting the once–dried riverbed.

“Amazing! That was so cool! I was watching with my eyes half–covered!”

Yun Yun ran over, shouting. Yuhyun set me down on the ground. I turned to look up at my brother.

“Good work.”

“No. I didn’t even get hurt.”

“Hey, I was using Teacher skills on you. You got a cut on your cheek and your mana circuits were overloaded. Just because your mana gets replenished, who blows it like that? There was no need to dry up the river completely.”

“It was faster that way. And I wanted to test it.”

That brat Yuhyun was already strong, and with the fire fragment on top of that, he was insane. Even if it was only for thirty minutes.

“Are you both all right? I can’t really do anything about magic power, so…”

“Plenty of rest will fix it.”

Probably. Just then, a system window appeared.

[Congratulations! You have defeated all monsters!]

I already knew that, but my breath still burst out of me. Countless A–ranks, S-classs, SS-classs, and finally the last SSS-class, all of them.

[One hour until London is sealed. Please vacate the area as quickly as possible!]

Dungeonization, which had paused once all the monsters were defeated, started up again. The remaining buildings visible in the distance began to turn into ancient ruins. Noah turned back into a dragon.

– Let’s hurry.

“Boss Kim Hubby, this!”

Yun Yun pulled Seong Hyunjae out of her sleeve. Still tied to the cord, Seong Hyunjae gave me a bright smile. Was I supposed to keep looking after him?

“If it’s a hassle, hand him over to the goblins.”

Yuhyun said calmly. No, see, that’s…

“For now, he’s technically Gyeol’s property…”

Gyeol would probably hate that, but anyway. Tossing him away carelessly wouldn’t be good for education either. In his original form, he was the kind of human who’d live just fine on his own, but right now he wasn’t.

“It won’t do you any good to get found out, so stay quiet. Even if it feels like a lot of people already know, still.”

“I’ve grown a bit tired as it is. I should get some sleep.”

Seong Hyunjae yawned and vanished. The bead on the necklace gleamed smoothly. My brother and I climbed onto Noah’s back.

“Let’s go home.”

It had been a while since we went home. Of course, there was something we had to do first.

“Dad!”

“Mister!”

– Kyaaang!

The moment we stepped through the goblin door, Gyeol, Yerim, and Peace, who had been waiting, rushed toward me. I told Yun Yun to close the door and looked around.

The door had opened near the high–rank Hunter training center and the Monster Mounts ranch in Gyeonggi Province. In the distance, I could see buses lined up in rows. Outside central London, we had recommended using land routes. Monsters had mainly appeared in the center and the timing was reasonably generous. Thanks to that, more people had gotten out by land, but I figured at least a million people had also come through the goblin door. It was an enormous number.

Even after mobilizing every bus, there were still tons of people gathered, waiting. If we ultimately won the game, we could get London back. If dungeonization was canceled, then aside from a portion of the central area, the buildings would probably return to normal. And even if they didn’t, the Transcendents would at least give us that much service.

‘The King of Predation granted a wish before too.’

He’d said nothing excessive, but restoring a city to its original state felt reasonable. For now, though, many people had lost their homes.

“Japan has decided to accept refugees as well.”

Shishio came over as he spoke.

“Taking in over a hundred thousand will be no problem. The U.S. and various parts of Europe have agreed to do the same.”

“Everyone’s being cooperative.”

“Because it could be our problem next.”

I’d expected an answer like, “Because that’s justice,” but he was surprisingly cool–headed. Well, Shishio was the guild leader of Japan’s largest guild and the ruler of Japan’s Hunter world. Even if his aides did most of the work, there was no way he was clueless about how the world worked.

“As for funding, S-class Hunters have agreed to step up, so there won’t be any issues. Nothing to worry about.”

After that rather reassuring statement, Shishio left, saying he had to help prepare to move refugees. Other high–rank Hunters who’d come to Korea were busy making calls here and there. I could also see Hunter Association staff lurking around those Hunters. They were probably wondering if they could lure any of them to Korea. London had gone, not the entire United Kingdom, you know.

“Hyung, let’s go home and rest.”

“He’s right, Mister! You don’t look so good.”

“Dad, are you really tired?”

Even Peace circled my feet, whimpering softly. I also desperately wanted to go home for the first time in a while. I looked over at Yun Yun, surrounded by goblins. Then I turned to a nearby Association employee.

“The broadcast preparations are ready, right?”

It had to be now. Just a bit more work, and then we’d go home.