---

Chapter 219

As Choi Yeon-woo swung the great sword, White, he observed Shar, who had suddenly come to a halt.

The name wasn’t something Yeon-woo had made up. It was written that Pillar had named it White. Nea didn’t seem to want to object to that either, so they decided to just call it White.

Honestly, it felt like a rather thoughtless name, but what could be done? If the creator insisted on calling it that, who were they to argue?

‘Did asking Nea to keep an eye on things pay off?’

Recently, Shar had appeared to be troubled, so on a whim, Yeon-woo had requested Nea to watch her, not realizing it would come in handy here.

The fact that Nea offered to watch over Shar without interfering in her business showed her diligence.

‘Talking in the middle of a fight feels a bit off though.’

Well, it wasn’t that they couldn’t move in a trance-like state. Yeon-woo was evading and blocking all attacks, so he could step in as the main fighter for a bit.

All Yeon-woo wished for was that Shar would relieve her worries. To be honest, he didn’t think living a life away from fighting was such a bad idea if it meant worrying less about Shar.

‘After all, she’s a daughter that’s precious enough to be put into one’s eyes. Who would want to send her into a battlefield?’

At that moment, Yeon-woo began to understand the sentiments of Claire, who had been worrying about him.

*

“It’s okay to interact with humans and learn their ways. But you must remember that you are not human.”

Nea’s words began with that note. Of course, Shar was already aware of this. Unlike humans, she was a dragon—a top-tier predator since birth.

‘Am I not using it well enough right now…?’

Shar thought she was making good use of herself. After all, wasn’t she engaging in the fight with her overwhelming physical abilities?

[You’re not exploiting it at all. Especially not against such trivial monsters. Let’s take that strike just now as an example. Why did you dodge?]

‘Um… because it would hurt if I got hit?’

[That’s not it.]

At Shar’s cautious answer, it was as if Nea shook her head disapprovingly. Shar didn’t feel intimidated by the tone. Instead, she became curious about what was wrong.

[Do you really think the Dragon’s barrier would allow such a thing to affect it?]

‘…Oh, no, I don’t think so. But my dad dodges those kinds of things….’

[Right, and that’s the problem. Yeon-woo has to dodge to avoid pain. But does Shar need to avoid them? You should actually counter with the speed of the enemy’s attacked arm.]

Ah, Shar gasped in realization. It made sense. While she was using her physical abilities for offense, she had not been utilizing them at all for defense.

[The strength of a dragon comes from its overwhelming physical capabilities. Sure, compared to its original form, it might seem trivial, but if you want to fight in human form, you should leverage that advantage.]

‘Ah, I get it now, Mom…!!’

[And one more thing. I know you’re refraining from using magic because you’re sharing mana with Yeon-woo, but to completely avoid it would be foolish. We are able to maximize efficiency even with little mana. Blend magic into everything.]

Shar nodded vigorously. Nea noticed her vision wobbling from the rapid nodding and couldn’t help but chuckle.

Honestly, Nea didn’t have a wealth of tips to offer. To put it bluntly, most of her combat experience was simulated in her mind, aside from facing an adventurer who had wandered into a dimensional rift.

Even then, most would lose their will to fight after a brief tussle, so it wasn’t particularly significant. However, she could establish the theory of fighting. The memories of ancestors that should have been passed to Shar were stored in her mind.

[Hang in there. I know you can help Yeon-woo.]

‘I’ll do my best! Please watch over me, Mom!!’

As she said this, Shar felt the communication with Nea cut off, making her feel like she’d just jokingly said something morbid about her mom being dead.

Just then, thick branches from the nearby trees extended toward Shar.

The Elder Tree wasn’t controlling them; it was simply uprooting them with the roots it had embedded in the ground.

Shar didn’t think to guard herself or dodge. When she thought about it, there were very few things that seemed threatening to her on this battlefield. Aside from her dad’s Aura Blade and Kim Yoo-min’s punches, the only interference was undeniably tricky Tae-oh.

Although they were classified as high-ranking monsters, they were still just monsters. Even the strongest species, the dragon, required considerable effort to inflict any injury on her once her Dragon’s covering was properly established.

Shar’s gaze turned towards the incoming trees. Small sparks flew from the branches slicing through the air, and in an instant, they ignited and vanished into ash.

Of course, with her line of sight and the semipassive sharing of senses with Yeon-woo, Shar could easily summon magic as long as it was within Yeon-woo’s vicinity. Once she stepped away from this “human fight,” things began to seem manageable.

“Dad, can I try a one-on-one fight!?”

“…Um, of course, that’s fine!”

Yeon-woo looked at Shar with a gaze that was unsure if he should be happy or worried.

However, Shar was determined, unwilling to pay attention to Yeon-woo’s conflicted expression. She wanted to get stronger until she could confidently say that it wasn’t a threat since her opponent wasn’t really an enemy.

Seeing Shar, Yeon-woo turned away with a slightly sour expression.

‘I’ve been demoted by my daughter.’

He sniffled, trying to imitate a crying sound to elicit some sympathy, but it wasn’t all that sad. While deep down, he wished Shar would live a life without fighting, he was still happy about her getting stronger.

Though they hadn’t yet crossed paths with the Demon King faction, it was only a matter of time until their family encountered danger when they began to oppose them.

Once that time came, even a dragon could find the circumstances overwhelming.

Considering that future, Shar getting stronger was certainly not a bad thing. After all, the fastest way to keep away from the fight was for her to become strong herself.

“I’ve come to help, Kim Yoo-min!!”

“Yeon-woo!! This is so irritating!!”

At Yeon-woo’s exclamation, Kim Yoo-min turned her head sharply, her face teary-eyed. Just seeing that expression, Yeon-woo could easily guess what had happened.

“You’re doing the exact same thing to me, huh?”

“What am I supposed to do!? I’m so angry!!”

The ultimate hit-and-run. And with the Elder Tree as a substantial and impressive shield, it was clear she was taking full advantage of it.

“Well, the Elder Tree seems to be something Shar can handle on her own, so I guess I just have to wait and see while being careful not to lose stamina by jumping in.”

Yeon-woo had transformed White into a spear, elongated it, and halted midway between Kim Yoo-min and Shar. At any moment, Ja-young could be lurking behind Shar, so he intended to cover that area.

After all, Ja-young had sustained serious injuries from Kim Yoo-min’s earlier strike. She was likely avoiding chaos to keep her stamina in check.

‘But I wonder what will happen now. If we just hold on like this, they’re the ones who will end up dead.’

Although the others might just hold on, Ja-young certainly would consider fleeing. After all, wasn’t she the one who used to run away and conduct guerrilla warfare before her return?

“I’ll use magic to distract them and heat things up, so aim well.”

“I just need to land one counterattack…!!”

Having fire in her eyes was a good trend. Yeon-woo thought he just needed to carefully control that drive.

*

“Hehe, something feels… super refreshing!!”

With the Elder Tree’s scorched corpses scattered around, Shar had a bright smile on her face.

The word didn’t seem to fit a child, but was she perhaps somewhat frustrated? Maybe her fondness for block toys was also a means to appease her desire for destruction.

Ja-young… had fled. Though she’d run away, she probably wouldn’t survive for long. After poking her a bit, Kim Yoo-min had landed a solid counterpunch.

If nothing unusual happened, she would either wither away or stumble into other hunters and get hunted.

“Shall we go join the others now?”

“Phew, I feel relieved after landing that hit.”

Leading the two gleeful children, Yeon-woo headed toward the center of the forest with a tired expression. After all, he remembered the place where the two had been fighting.

‘From above, it must look like a hole in the head.’

Thinking that, he left the area that had turned into nearly flat ground, resembling a wasteland.

It was unfortunate that he couldn’t bring back Ja-young’s materials, but collecting the most precious and versatile resource, the Elder Tree, wasn’t too bad.

“The way you swing your fists that your sister taught you was amazing! I threw punches at the Elder Tree like this, whoosh!!”

“Hehe, it was useful, right? Shar, your magic was crazy too! I felt so light!”

Returning with two excited kids to where Baek In-hwa was, they soon spotted Namgung Seong, tired, fighting the Grand Serpent as he lay lounging outside the ice rink.

“Oh, did it end?”

“Looks like you finished early? Come help me out.”

“No, I can’t fly. That thing is a pain, Night Stalker.”

“Stop whining.”

At Yeon-woo’s comment, Namgung Seong chuckled. After sharing a light high-five, the sound of the Grand Serpent collapsing echoed nearby. Its body was stained with blue all over, making it painful just to look at.

“…Huff, huff….”

“Thanks for your hard work, Baek In-hwa.”

“Really, I was about to lose my mind….”

So much so? Surprised by the unusually intense emotional expression from Baek In-hwa, Yeon-woo had not expected this. He thought they would have a relatively easy win due to a good matchup.

“Winning wasn’t hard… but no matter how much I killed it, it wouldn’t stay dead….”

“Now, that’s a bit scary.”

“I swear it’s true. That Grand Serpent or whatever, I’ve seen it die five times, yet it keeps coming back.”

“Seriously?”

Given it had been years, they thought it would have weak vitality, but that resilience seemed to be its unique ability, strengthened even more in the source of magic. Ridiculous.

“Great job. After this, let’s go grab some food. So, did you bring everything, Namgung Seong?”

“Yeah. The body is over there. I just tossed it because it was heavy.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of the cleanup and distribution.”

“…Take this one too.”

At Baek In-hwa’s reaction, Yeon-woo awkwardly smiled as he tossed the Knight Stalker and Grand Serpent’s corpses into the storage. Just pulling out the internal organs of the Grand Serpent sufficed, and the Knight Stalker had various materials as well.

Ja-young would have been ideal, but missing her was a bummer.

Regretting the gold piece that had escaped, Yeon-woo smoothly headed back to the center of the forest. It was a bit difficult to find direction amid the trees, but the directional sense of an Aura Expert guided him.

“Alright, let’s go collect the real loot.”

The heist to steal the fountain of mana hiding in the western forest operation was now about to begin in earnest.

(To be continued in the next part)

 

---