Chapter 177: Sibling Fight (5)
— Yujin.
Noah, noticing my approach, lowered his wings and crouched his body to make it easier for me to climb onto his back. I fastened the belt connected to the harness after getting on. Then, I activated the Teacher skill on Noah. Liette, standing at the opposite end, came into sharp focus.
I wrapped the shawl I had borrowed from Yerim around Noah’s neck. To make it less conspicuous, I dyed it white like the harness. Reaching out, I lightly patted his scale-covered back.
“Focus solely on evasion at first.”
— Understood.
From a distance, I could see Yerim floating in the air. She was wearing a broadcast headset and holding a camera in one hand. She had also used an item to enhance her eyesight.
For normal civilians, the risk was too high, and their reflexes couldn’t keep up with the movements in an A-rank match. Typically, an A-rank Hunter with flight skills would be assigned for filming and commentary. But that wasn’t possible now. There was too much risk of them being swept up in the battle, potentially leading to casualties. However, Yerim, being S-rank and capable of teleportation, could safely provide live commentary during S-rank combat.
I also put on an earpiece and turned on the receiver that had been preconnected to Yerim’s microphone. Her lively voice immediately came through clearly.
[Hello~! This is Park Yerim, your commentator for today’s match.]
She waved cheerfully at the drone filming her as she introduced herself.
[Currently, both competitors are on standby. The signal to start the battle will be given by the Sesung Guild Leader.]
That same Sesung Guild Leader was with the broadcast equipment and the healers, ensuring their safety while he was there. Though, considering his skills, he could just as easily destroy the equipment himself.
Yuhyun wasn’t far from that location either. Since Noah’s Stat Lending duration was only 30 minutes, I’d asked him to lend them when necessary.
[The Sesung Guild Leader is raising his hand! It looks like the match is about to begin.]
As I listened to Yerim’s commentary, I adjusted my posture to be more stable and shared a twofold attack skill with Noah. I had been worried that the skill might deactivate mid-flight, but fortunately, as long as there was a physical connection, even just a strap, it was considered valid. So far, even when not in direct skin contact, items like clothes or gloves had sufficed.
Through further testing, we found that the connection remained effective through objects like ropes or rods, as long as they extended no more than about half the target’s height from their body. That was slightly longer than the reach of an outstretched arm.
Up in the sky, a faint light sparked and flickered. Noah’s wings tensed, and his hind legs prepared to push off the ground. Liette, too, drew the sword she had been wearing at her waist.
Boom!
Thunder roared. Noah folded his wings, which had been spread out as if to fly, and leaped forward. At the same time, the atmosphere shook violently. If he had taken off, the strike would have hit right where he’d been.
Zing—
A crescent-shaped slash skimmed through the air. A loud explosion followed from behind.
[Liette’s attack has deeply gouged the mountainside! Noah oppa dodged it beautifully without taking off! Now he’s ascending! Liette is immediately pursuing him.]
“Toward the mountain!”
Since we had the advantage of flight, it was better to head toward obstacles rather than open plains. Noah flapped his wings rapidly. I didn’t need to look back; Yerim was keeping me informed about Liette’s movements. Soon, the ground below changed into a summer forest.
Boom!
[Liette swung her sword, and all the trees were cut—or rather, shattered! Is it a skill? The fragments, wrapped in something like wind, are being hurled into the sky.]
Part of the forest was launched into the air. A tree with its branches and leaves intact brushed past us. Using his honed flying skills, Noah dodged the debris or crushed some with his talons as he quickly distanced himself from Liette.
“Keep evading like this until Liette uses her dedicated form.”
Even with the doubled attack skill, it wasn’t particularly effective for Noah. After all, the skill wasn’t very useful for support— or defense-oriented individuals. The problem was whether there were any applicable attack skills to begin with.
The same went for Noah. He couldn’t use poison, and Silent Scream wouldn’t work on Liette. Items beyond equipment were prohibited in the ranking match, so painkillers couldn’t be used either. What initially seemed like a potential option turned out to be useless.
‘It won’t work on my sister.’
Noah had said this while we were strategizing and discussing Liette’s skills. Liette’s combat support skill, Heart for Victory, allowed her to remain highly responsive to her opponent’s movements during battle while greatly reducing pain and accelerating blood clotting, ensuring injuries didn’t hinder her performance.
Because of that, even a twofold Silent Scream would only be a minor inconvenience for her. In the end, both of Noah’s offensive skills were essentially sealed.
The only one remaining was the newly acquired Silent Wound.
[Noah continues to focus solely on evasion. Could this lead to a ring-out defeat?]
Yerim’s voice sounded genuinely worried. While the exact boundaries of the arena weren’t strictly defined, there was a rule against moving too far outside a certain range. Hunters on standby would fire signal flares if the competitors got too close to the edge.
“Are you just going to keep running away, Pebble!?”
A loud shout rang out. Noah reflexively turned his head to look at Liette. At the same time, the air vibrated once more. His golden wings twisted sharply as Noah’s body angled downward in a diagonal descent.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Unlike her earlier attacks that slashed through everything in the surroundings, this time, a series of abrupt, disconnected slashes followed one after another in quick succession. Noah twisted his wings and body to avoid the attacks, which pursued him like guided missiles. Several times, the edges of his wings and tail narrowly brushed past the strikes, but he managed to avoid injuries. Just as he was relieved, Yerim’s voice cut in.
[Oh no! Liette is leading Noah’s movements toward her own position!]
Her words hit like cold water being poured over me. I realized that we were already quite close to the ground. Feeling a chill, I relayed the preset sensory information to Noah through the Teacher skill.
If he had already been lured in, it was too late to dodge. In that case…
“Hello, Pebble.”
From within the forest, Liette lunged toward him. At an unavoidable range, her blade gleamed. Instead of trying to evade, Noah spun his body.
Clang!
The swung sword collided with my arm. Under normal circumstances, this attack’s aftermath alone would have swept away the surroundings. However, thanks to the nullification power, all the aftereffects were entirely absorbed, leaving only the sound of impact.
Liette frowned as our gazes met. But only for a moment. Noah, not missing the opportunity created by the nullified attack, swung his tail.
Whack!
As if she had been waiting for this, Liette brought her boot down, her sole wrapped in golden light, meeting Noah’s tail mid-swing. Her body shot upward like a spring and hung briefly in the air, defenseless. Seeing this, Noah bared his teeth and dove at her, his golden eyes glinting with a smile that seemed almost playful. Panicked, Liette quickly adjusted the direction of her wings.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Liette raised her sword mid-air, spinning her body. Then, with a powerful kick, she launched her blade like a projectile.
Thunk—!
Her sharp claws, now revealed like black daggers, flew toward Noah like an arrow.
Scrraatch!
— Ugh!
Though he had already created some distance and avoided a direct hit, the scales on the base of Noah’s wing were scraped deeply. Blood spattered faintly as Liette landed on the ground, quickly picking up her sword. In the meantime, Noah turned his body, activated a healing skill, and fled in the opposite direction.
[That was a close call! Having a healing skill is a huge advantage in ranking matches where potions aren’t allowed. This is why support-type Hunters should never be underestimated. Every Hunter has their strengths and weaknesses.]
That’s definitely something Seok Si-myung would say. Liette began chasing Noah again. Her temper seemed to flare as he continued to evade her. Without any special skills, a small human running on two legs was naturally slower than a dragon with wings. Although she could burst into short bursts of explosive speed, it wasn’t sustainable for long.
“How’s your stamina holding up?”
— I’m fine, perfectly fine. Should I provoke her a bit more? Even if I take a few hits, I still have plenty of mana.
“Still, be as careful as you can. Once she catches you, you won’t even have time to use a healing skill, right?”
— …Yes.
His voice deflated as if he remembered something unpleasant from the past. Oh no. I quickly reassured him, praising his efforts and telling him not to worry.
[Noah is getting close to the boundary! A signal flare has just been launched!]
Fwooosh! A red flare shot up into the sky. At the same time, Noah sharply changed his flight direction. As he swiftly flew just above Liette, almost taunting her, a barrage of sporadic attacks followed. However, the distance between them made dodging relatively easy.
“You’re like a rat!”
Liette’s voice was tinged with growing frustration. Finally—
— Grrrrr.
With a deep rumbling growl, a massive black dragon revealed itself. Each claw, enormous like a giant steel hook, scraped the ground.
“Noah, to Yuhyun!”
Thud, thud, thud. The earth quaked ominously as the black dragon gave chase, closing in rapidly. Behind Liette, the terrain looked as if it had been ravaged by an earthquake. The sheer size and power of her dragon form allowed her to quickly catch up to Noah’s wingbeats.
— Come here!
Like a cat leaping after a butterfly, Liette, in her enormous dragon form, leapt gracefully despite her size and swung her claws. Though the attack didn’t directly connect, the shockwave violently whipped at Noah’s wings, causing him to stagger precariously. While recovering, Noah used the Stat Lending skill on Yuhyun, transferring none other than strength.
Immediately after, Yuhyun drew his sword.
Scrrraaaatch!
A long line was etched into the ground ahead of Liette, and flames erupted like a barrier. Yuhyun’s voice was firm as he spoke to Liette, his narrowed golden eyes fixed on her.
“This is the boundary.”
— It looked wider before. Are you playing favorites?
“Why would I?”
[Is this turning into a bonus match?! But wait, what happens if another Hunter intervenes? Does the match get suspended? A three-way battle could be fun!]
Yerim’s excitement rang out as Yuhyun and Liette snarled at each other. Meanwhile, Noah pulled out a piece of equipment he had prepared in advance. It was none other than a claw cover designed for battle.
“As I said, it’s single-use only.”
It was equipment crafted by Myungwoo, designed to maximize the penetrating power of claws for one decisive strike.
Noah couldn’t inflict any significant damage on Liette. In her human form, he couldn’t even get close. In her dragon form, her thick scales made her nearly impenetrable.
Noah’s new attack skill, Silent Wound, only activated after inflicting an injury on the target.
“Seize the opportunity to make the wound as long and deep as possible.”
Liette’s recovery abilities were exceptionally strong. Even without potions or healing skills, her bleeding would immediately stop, and in her dedicated form, minor wounds would heal in no time. Therefore, the goal was to inflict injuries that she wouldn’t be able to heal or erase.
“When Liette is in her dedicated form, she relies on her scales and pays less attention to dodging or defending. Her neck is short and thick, which also limits her field of vision.”
— Understood. I’ve practiced a lot.
Noah had spent hours inside a C-rank dungeon that featured earth dragons, creatures smaller than Liette but similar in form. He studied their movements intently, practicing against them all day. While their speed and power were vastly different, the basic patterns of movement were comparable.
The golden dragon turned toward the black dragon. Liette looked at Noah, who had paused mid-air, with a satisfied expression.
— Have you finally decided to take this seriously?
Instead of answering, Noah folded his wings. His golden body dropped straight down, plummeting toward the ground. Liette lunged at him like a predator snatching its prey, her massive black form hurtling forward. Crack, crack! The sound of spines aligning echoed as the ground was torn apart, dust and debris clouding the air. Just before they collided, Noah spread his wings wide with a powerful flap.
Whoosh! Air swelled, stirring up the already rising dust into an even thicker and broader haze. For a split second, Liette blinked. Swish! Noah twisted his body, narrowly brushing past the terrifying fangs exposed on her massive jaws. His golden wingtips lightly grazed her black armor-like scales.
Slash!
Noah’s claws dug into Liette’s thick, muscular neck. With the momentum of his steep descent, he dragged his claws down, carving a crimson line that stretched all the way to her shoulder blade. Scales flew, flesh tore, and blood splattered, soaking even my clothes. The claw cover, having fulfilled its purpose, shattered into pieces and scattered in the wind.
— Grrrrk!
It wasn’t a cry of pain—it was rage. Liette’s massive body spun with agility that seemed impossible for its size. The spines along her back obscured Noah’s vision as her enormous forepaw swiped toward his relatively small form.
— Screeech!
“Noah!”
Noah’s right wing and hind leg were almost torn apart by the impact. Thankfully, he didn’t lose consciousness. Limping and using a healing skill, he scrambled across Liette’s back, his steps uneven. Just before the black dragon twisted her body to throw him off, his healed wings spread open.
“You did great!”
I quickly praised Noah, who was panting as he ascended into the air once more.
“Now, time is on our side.”
Silent Wound had activated with double the effect. The golden dragon trembled slightly, hovering above the black dragon below. The trembling gradually subsided. Even as he locked eyes with his enraged sister, Noah flapped his wings steadily, his demeanor calm and composed.
–TL Notes–
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