Chapter 124
“What’s…”
Ridiculous. The number of monsters wasn’t high, but they handled them so easily? As the shadows surged, the monsters trying to flee out of the cave vanished completely. When the Academy was attacked, the spear-wielder had seen the wolf. It didn’t look like a puppy back then, but he clearly remembered its handling of shadows.
“….”
Back then, it was incomprehensible and overwhelmingly monstrous, but now it’s entirely beyond imagination. To put it simply, it’s on a different dimension. He’d heard tales of a dungeon boss-level monster in the worst dungeon, Neverland, but since the spear-wielder had never been there, he couldn’t grasp how formidable it actually was. Yet, he caught a glimpse of that monster now.
“…Insane.”
Seeing the way it played casually with the Fairy-type monster, the spear-wielder twisted the spear tightly in his grip. …It was a somewhat pitiful thought, but it seemed like he wouldn’t die, so it looked like he could fight without worry.
“―――!”
It wasn’t just the hunters who were shocked. Realizing the source of the gaze he felt inside the cave, Raihon scanned the surroundings to escape. However, the group that had fled the dungeon first was lying in disarray, and they gave up on escaping. After all, running away would mean death. If that were the case, it’d be better to take vengeance on the monster before it could act. Thus, the superior being Raihon and the four hunters faced off, and the wolf licked its lips.
‘What a pity…’
Perhaps due to the level difference, experience points weren’t accumulating properly. Although it was regrettable, the wolf had some ideas in mind, so there was no need to worry about experience points.
As Raihon dashed, the hunters ran as well. With one leg cut off, balancing was difficult, and the more violently he moved, the more blood he lost. Thinking that dragging out the fight would be beneficial, he put distance between them, but Raihon caught up swiftly. Leaping and pouncing with only his hind legs, the spear-wielder raised his spear to block. Though heavily pressed by the force, he managed to withstand it with magic power.
“Now!”
As the spear-wielder shouted, Euna began spell chanting. Spikes erupted from the ground, piercing Raihon’s hind legs.
“Embiggen!”
The spell of enlargement. As the spikes surged up, they grew larger, but Euna frowned. Raihon, already putting weight on the spear-wielder, had jumped up. If both legs were intact, this wouldn’t have been impossible, but the overwhelming power and the sturdy support of the spear-wielder made it feasible. Dodging the massively risen spikes, Raihon pressed down with his weight, and the warrior pushed Raihon away with his shoulder, saving the spear-wielder. However, at that moment, the spear-wielder’s spear had become bent and unusable. Both the warrior and the spear-wielder had lost their weapons.
Feeling a slight headache, Euna quickly drank a potion and threw the bottle at Raihon. The hunter might have been quite the baseball player, but Raihon didn’t even blink. It shattered against his head, but it was pointless, as glass shards wouldn’t hurt him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just a bit stiff.”
No injuries. But the problem was that without weapons, there was no way to stop Raihon. The spear-wielder also pulled out a dagger like the warrior, but that was more for throwing. If he weren’t out of his mind, he wouldn’t think he could stop such a monster with a dagger.
“You have to dodge from here on.”
There was no front line to cover him now. However, Raihon was staggering from blood loss. On the other hand, the hunters still had plenty of stamina left. Kang Tae-ho nodded. They were almost there; just a little more pressure, and they could take it down. The warrior and the spear-wielder threw daggers from different directions, and Raihon, unable to dodge as easily as before, twisted and bit down on a dagger, getting a few stuck into him.
“―――!”
Raihon roared in frustration. But when that guy charged, the archer drew their bow—without fail, an arrow flew and struck Raihon’s foot, which was chasing the hunters.
“Hm…”
The outcome was already clear. Losing one of the front legs he used to attack was fatal. Kang Tae-ho nodded slightly and looked at Euna.
“We could elevate to C-Class immediately.”
Seems like what Hong Yu-ri taught him really paid off… The nervousness he had when he first entered the dungeon had vanished. Perhaps he found confidence. No, it must be that the dungeon standard was Neverland. In reality, that terrifying high Raihon was just one among many monsters in Neverland. Having already faced worse trials, the panic didn’t show.
“Hm…”
Was there a connection? Perhaps this wasn’t the image Alpha wanted to see. As Raihon charged in a last-ditch effort, the hunters scattered. It was clear who Raihon targeted, but with a bizarre mount zipping around, they couldn’t catch up. Eventually, an exhausted Raihon came to a halt, and the hunters cautiously maintained their distance while an archer’s arrow pierced Raihon’s forehead. After which, they drew back the bowstring again to confirm death.
“He’s dead.”
Finally approaching to confirm Raihon’s death, he let out a sigh of relief. Then, reminded of the monsters that had fled in panic from Raihon, he was alarmed, but Kang Tae-ho gestured for him to look around, and he saw the monsters lying dead in various places, allowing him to relax again.
“…….”
There was no need to ask whose doing it was. When they finished cleaning up the monster corpses and wrapping up the exploration of the collapsed dungeon, twilight was already falling.
“Now I just need to move this. I’m going to head over there, so Euna, you…”
Seeing Euna’s somewhat dazed expression, the spear-wielder waved his hand in front of her.
“What’s up? You okay?”
“Yes? Yes! I’m fine.”
She answered the question, but her complexion didn’t look good. There probably weren’t any injuries… Confused, the spear-wielder saw Euna shake her head as if to say it was nothing. For now, she replied that she would move the dead monster’s legs and began to drag them.
“…….”
It was indeed a major accomplishment to have defeated the superior being Raihon. Alpha hadn’t moved at all while they were taking down the boss. No matter what else, that was a definite win… However, Euna shook her head, pondering. She thought to finish the assigned task first… When she considered that, she gasped at the sight of the Fairy-type monster fluttering over.
“…Wow.”
Beautiful sparkling motes of light reflected in the sunset. Euna stared dizzily as the Fairy-type monster flew close.
“Kkyu~”
When it landed on her shoulder, Euna finally snapped back to reality. She was covered in blood and dust after entering the dungeon, wondering if she would make it dirty. Wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, she let go of the monster she had been dragging.
“—Good job.”
The voice that came from behind startled Euna, and upon turning around, she saw Alpha and sighed with relief.
“Ah~ you scared me.”
“How was the dungeon?”
Despite the somewhat abrupt question, Euna managed a wry smile. It was something she had been thinking about.
“…Did it show?”
The wolf nodded. Euna, stroking the Fairy-type monster on her shoulder, replied.
“I don’t know. But…”
“Are you disappointed?”
“……Yeah.”
It felt like the wolf had peered inside her head. As the wolf pointed out, Euna was feeling regret. It might seem a bit sudden or rude, but… she thought she could do better if they had to do it again. She wondered if there was a better method. She kept turning the thought that maybe she could have kept Alpha from stepping in over and over in her mind. As those thoughts arose again, Euna shook her head vigorously.
“Thank you for your help…”
If it weren’t for Alpha, she would have faced a disaster when the monsters rushed out during the fight. The truth was, without being aware that Kang Tae-jun had sent them to explore the dungeon with the minimum number of people to use Alpha, Euna couldn’t help but think that. The wolf had already realized and thought of him as a slippery fellow.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Nonetheless, the time spent at dawn was coming to an end. Even though she hadn’t formed strong ties with all the hunters, at least she believed there wouldn’t be any hostility from the members of dawn. No way to expect mediation even if conflicts arose with other hunters.
‘…It might be pointless.’
For now, Kang Tae-jun had said that the investigation he had entrusted would be completed today. Whether he had found what he was looking for or not, she didn’t know. He figured it could be a 50-50 chance. Either finding it or not; in truth, either outcome wouldn’t be strange. The wolf, lost in thought, felt the Fairy-type monster land on his back. Now, the rest was over here—it had been a surprisingly pleasant time. Alpha extended a tentacle and lifted the corpse that Euna had been moving.
“Huh? You don’t have to help…”
“I’ll leave the elixir… for later.”
“Huh?”
As the wolf’s figure receded, Euna mumbled blankly.
“…Is he leaving?”
***
“Wow. It’s really not moving at all.”
Only packing up the necessary leather-like by-products filled the trunk to overflowing, making it impossible for the car to move. After a terrible fuel economy, they finally reached the clan after stopping at a gas station. By then, it was already deep into the night.
“Go ahead and clock out first.”
Kang Tae-ho stuffed heavy by-products into a large bag and flew into the clan with it. He didn’t mind lending a hand, but he couldn’t extend tentacles outside. Kang Tae-ho gestured for them to go in and then slipped inside the clan to avoid being seen with possible Fairy-type monsters. Given the time, it seemed most of them had already clocked out. Feeling tired, he saw the Fairy-type monster nodding off as he climbed the stairs, and a red-haired girl flinched as Alpha waved a tentacle lightly at her. By the time they reached the 7th floor, Kang Tae-jun welcomed the wolf as though he had been waiting.
“You’re a bit late.”
If he were alone, he might have come through stealth, but with the Fairy-type monster, that was impossible. Of course, he would follow along obediently. Upon handing over the documents, the wolf exhaled deeply, as if venting emotions.
“…….”
There were signs. No, there were countless signs. The first time he sensed something was off was when they organized the island by the west coast. The traces beyond the bars. Even though he hadn’t seen that scene directly, emotions had welled up. And most recently…
‘…Silent Mouth.’
The sight that had come to mind when he fought that puppet. What he had felt back then was more than just emotion. Memories had surely flowed in. The transmitted feelings and memories. With each passing day, the intensity keeps increasing. When he saw that memory, he had already realized the identity of the system. But still, there were questions that remained unresolved. Now was the time to meet the system to solve those questions…
The wolf took a slow breath and began reading through the documents.
