Chapter 244: Lanchea’s Lambda (2)
Click.
The moment Yuhyun recognized Lambda, he swiftly adjusted his rifle’s aim, lifting it to his shoulder at an angle before firing. Without even properly looking, he shot, and the bullet clashed against Sigma’s chain, ringing out with a loud explosion.
Magic bullets, which required no reloading, were fired in rapid succession. The high firing rate reduced their individual power, but it was enough to momentarily hinder Sigma’s movements. I didn’t just stand by watching either—I pulled a bomb from my inventory and let it float lightly in the air. Without needing any explanation, Yuhyun twisted his body and kicked the bomb mid-spin.
The bomb shot forward at terrifying speed, weaving through the hail of bullets. Just before it could be intercepted by the extending chain—
Boom!
It exploded, scattering light and smoke. This bomb prioritized toxic gas over raw explosive force. Sigma, already poisoned, wouldn’t be able to evade all of it. He was going to have an even worse time now.
Meanwhile, Lambda—Moon Hyunah—and the guards who had come with her began moving.
— Kuuuu.
Sensing danger, the last remaining armor-scaled monster swelled its body. Despite its heavy appearance, it moved surprisingly quickly. Its scales looked tough to penetrate, making it the most troublesome among the three SS-rank monsters. Five motorcycles charged toward it.
Engines roared as they raced across the wrecked ground without slowing down. As they neared the monster, the riders simultaneously fired pitch-black steel cables. The sturdy wires wrapped around the upper part of the monster’s body, interlocking with each other.
Clank!
The bikes skillfully circled the monster, weaving and tightening the wires around it at an astonishing speed.
The S-rank guards holding the ends of the cables jumped off their bikes, planting their feet firmly into the ground and bracing themselves.
— Kyaaau!
The monster thrashed violently, but even with SS-rank stats, it couldn’t overpower the combined force of multiple S-rank guards acting in perfect coordination. They had clearly been through countless battles together, their teamwork seamless as they completely restrained the creature.
And then, Moon Hyunah moved.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Her massive bike crashed through debris and scattered everything in its path. As she neared the monster, she kicked off the bike and soared into the air.
She shot up high, a perfect airborne target—but the monster was completely immobilized.
It struggled to fire spikes toward her, but the S-rank guards immediately intercepted and neutralized the attacks.
A silver spear aimed downward.
As if activating a skill, Moon Hyunah and her weapon became shrouded in a mist-like white aura.
And then—she dove.
A streak of pure white light sliced through the air.
BOOM!
The monster’s armored scales shattered like tofu struck by a hammer.
Its massive body, as large as six stacked trucks, was flattened against the ground, crushed beyond recognition. The S-rank guards quickly backed away just before the shockwave reached them.
The earth trembled, and the already half-collapsed buildings crumbled with a deafening rumble.
Moon Hyunah landed lightly atop the crater formed by the sheer impact. She put her spear away into her inventory and began walking toward her bike.
‘She’s on another level, Hyunah-ssi.’
Two SS-rank monsters had been dealt with in an instant.
A brief silence fell over the battlefield, and Achates’ guards approached Moon Hyunah.
“You arrived quickly!”
“Oh, I left before I even got the call.”
“That works out perfectly. Please assist us in subduing Alpha!”
At the guard’s words, Moon Hyunah raised an eyebrow as if he were speaking nonsense.
“Why would I?”
“…What?”
“I already refused. Didn’t you hear?”
As she casually sat on her bike, the Achates guard stared at her blankly before pleading again.
“But right now, Alpha is a fugitive right in front of us! Even though Lord Sigma is holding him off, for the safety of Achates’ citizens—”
“What a load of crap. Those two are clearly just fighting for fun, and now you’re bringing up citizen safety? Enough. Hey, guys!”
At Moon Hyunah’s call, Lancea’s S-rank guards stepped forward.
“Arrest the Achates Defense Bureau officers. I shouldn’t be the one handling this—it’s your hometown, after all.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Leave it to us!”
Four of the S-rank guards, along with A— and B-rank guards from Lancea’s helicopters, moved with swift precision.
The captured children had apparently been taken from Achates. The Achates guards, already drained from battle, barely resisted as they were restrained.
The helicopters, which had briefly paused, began taking people aboard and headed toward the Achates Defense Bureau.
As I watched the helicopters fade into the distance, Yuhyun turned toward Moon Hyunah.
“You’re not going to keep fighting?”
Moon Hyunah grinned as she spoke.
She looked slightly different, just like Yuhyun.
Her height and build had noticeably increased—she must have been close to two meters tall now.
“Hunter Moon Hyunah, is that really you?”
“Of course, kiddo. Where’s your brother? It’d be dangerous if you got separated.”
“I’m right here.”
I waved from inside the pocket.
Moon Hyunah’s eyes widened.
“Well, damn. Why’d you shrink? You look adorable.”
She immediately reached out to grab me, but Yuhyun quickly stepped back, dodging her hand.
“A little touching won’t wear you out. Besides, you’d be safer with me. That guy over there doesn’t look like he’s planning to back down anytime soon. Isn’t that why you came, kiddo?”
Yuhyun’s face puffed up in displeasure. So that’s why he came—to leave me with her. Not that it was necessary.
“More importantly, Hyunah-ssi, why don’t you help us take down Sigma? Let’s finish this quickly.”
“Huh? Why? Isn’t this the first time you and Seong Hyunjae have fought in a while? Since it’s not even your real body, I figured you’d enjoy a good brawl.”
“That’s not Seong Hyunjae.”
Moon Hyunah looked surprised as she glanced back and forth between Seong Hyunjae—no, Sigma—and me.
“They’re Ctrl C, Ctrl V copies! The only difference is the hair color… Hmm, I guess this one does look a bit younger. But are you really saying they’re different people? With that face?”
“For now, yes. He’s definitely someone else. No memories, either. The first thing that bastard did when he saw me was kick me in the stomach. He even grabbed me by the hair and almost dragged me off—Yuhyun?”
I heard the sound of teeth grinding. Ah, crap. I shouldn’t have said that. I got too relaxed in front of Hyunah-ssi. Whenever she visited the breeding facility, we usually ended up trash-talking the Association together…
“Hyung, stay here.”
“Hey, Yuhyun! Wait a second! Your body’s not in great condition! At least take some potions!”
Yuhyun pulled me out of the pocket and handed me over to Moon Hyunah. I hurriedly took out a bunch of mana potions, and he grabbed them before immediately turning away. Seriously, he could’ve just fought alongside Hyunah-ssi!
“Don’t worry! I brought a healer, too!”
“Still, can’t you at least land one hit on Sigma’s head for me? That bastard tried to forcibly engrave me, you know?”
“For real? But what about Director Han? He looks exactly like that guy.”
I quickly explained my situation to Moon Hyunah, including the need to set up the disc and how Seong Hyunjae had ended up in the system.
“I see. I have an idea where Yerim and Hunter Noah might be, but I have no clue about Peace. They might have been taken down.”
“…No way.”
While I was explaining the situation, Yuhyun and Sigma had already clashed again.
Closing the distance in an instant, Yuhyun pulled the trigger of his rifle right in front of Sigma. A normal person would never be able to dodge a shot fired from such close range. But Sigma not only predicted Yuhyun’s move, he also evaded and counterattacked at the same time.
Electricity crackled around Sigma’s body—not as an attack, but as a flash meant to disrupt Yuhyun’s vision.
At the same time, a chain slithered along the ground like a snake, aiming for Yuhyun’s ankle. Meanwhile, a pistol had already appeared in Sigma’s hand, its barrel pressed against Yuhyun’s side.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out.
Yuhyun’s clothes tore, but there was no blood.
As if all friction had disappeared, Yuhyun’s foot smoothly slid over the chain that had been targeting his ankle, allowing him to twist his body and evade the shot effortlessly.
‘Is that Alpha’s skill?’
Yuhyun didn’t have any evasion skills like that. Even the chain that had tried to wrap around his ankle failed to get a proper grip, slipping right off. It seemed to be a skill that temporarily reduced friction around his feet.
In a flash, Yuhyun and Sigma switched positions, both of them firing their guns at the same time.
Yuhyun’s bullets were completely blocked by the extended chain.
Sigma’s attack, on the other hand, left only a small nick on Yuhyun’s blade before bouncing off.
Occasionally, flames and electricity mixed in their battle, but both of them refrained from using large-scale mana-consuming skills. Sigma needed to conserve his mana, and so did Yuhyun.
I had given him mana potions, but there was no time to sit and drink them during close combat.
Clang!
Yuhyun swung his sword, and the chain coiled around the blade.
Instead of trying to shake it off, Yuhyun spun his sword forcefully, tangling the chain even further before leaping into the air.
Using Blue Willow Leaves spread as narrowly as possible, he stepped on the summoned leaves and hurled his sword downward.
The chain, now bound to the sword, was dragged along and pinned to the ground.
Yuhyun pulled out a new longsword and shot toward Sigma.
Sigma had lost control of his primary weapon, but he didn’t panic.
Just as he smirked—
Whip!
With a sharp snapping sound, the chain unraveled and shot toward Yuhyun like a barrage of golden bullets, as if it were raining in reverse.
It was an attack that seemed impossible to dodge.
But in that instant, a red wyvern leapt in front of Yuhyun, shielding him with its body.
— Grrrr!
Engulfed in flames, Irin took the brunt of the chain’s assault before reverting back to his lizard form.
Meanwhile, Yuhyun’s sword thrust forward, aiming directly for Sigma’s chest.
Sigma twisted his body to avoid the strike, spinning a short dagger in his palm.
The blade, entirely made of metal from hilt to tip, flickered ominously before flying toward Yuhyun—without even needing to be thrown.
There was no preparatory motion, making it nearly impossible to predict the attack.
Instead of dodging or parrying, Yuhyun conjured a small burst of flame, melting the dagger just before it could touch him.
Molten metal splattered in all directions, but it had no effect on Yuhyun.
However, in that brief moment of distraction, Sigma closed in and landed a powerful kick.
“Ugh!”
Immediately afterward, his chain wrapped around Yuhyun’s arm.
Irin quickly jumped onto the chain and bit through it with his heat-infused fangs, snapping it apart.
But in the meantime, Sigma’s relentless assault continued.
Before he could even retract his leg, a bullet was fired straight at his bound arm, this time drawing blood for sure.
Dark blue flames flared up, but golden electricity spread out to counter them at the same time.
As expected, in a close-quarters battle where skills were restrained, foresight in combat was a disadvantage. On top of that, the difference in stamina depletion was significant.
“Hyunah-ssi! Are you seriously just going to keep watching?!”
At my urgent shout, Moon Hyunah simply shrugged.
“Well, since it’s not even really Hyunjae, I guess I could land a hit for Director Han’s sake.”
“Yes! Think of it as avenging me! Do you have any idea how much that bastard tormented me?!”
Of course, I didn’t mention that I had also taken my fair share from him. Honestly, the compensation for my suffering still wasn’t enough.
Moon Hyunah burst into laughter and pulled something from her inventory.
“…What the hell is that?”
It was something that looked like an anti-tank rocket launcher. No, actually, it was way bigger than a regular one. The barrel alone was at least twice the normal size.
“I’ve been wanting to try this out.”
“W-Wait. This isn’t dangerous, right?”
“Of course, it’s dangerous! Director Han, hold on tight in the pocket.”
Moon Hyunah stuffed me into her jacket pocket before aiming the rocket launcher at Yuhyun and Sigma.
Wuuuuung.
With a faint hum, mana began being absorbed into the launcher.
It kept absorbing.
“…Isn’t the charging time way too long? You’re not gonna blow up my brother, are you?!”
“Don’t worry! The kiddo has crazy fire resistance!”
“No, but still—!”
This wasn’t some ordinary weapon. It was dangerous.
“Hyunah-ssi, what rank is that thing?!”
“SS! And not just any SS—it’s one of the top-tier ones!”
What?!
And if it’s devouring this much mana… Hey! Moon Hyunah!
I didn’t even have time to stop her—not that I could have, anyway.
Gwooooom—
With a heavy wave of energy, the rocket launcher fired.
Even though the user was automatically protected from the recoil, the sheer light and heat bursting forth were overwhelming.
KWA-KWA-KWA!
Everything in its path was dug up and swept away as a massive surge of magical energy roared forward.
The deafening explosion made my ears ring, the very air wavered—
BOOOOOM!!!
An overwhelming explosion of firepower.
Shit, Yuhyun!
“Oh no, my little brother!”
“He’s fine, he’s fine!”
I could tell from the teacher skill’s connection that he was safe, but still—!
“Yuhyun!”
Since my Mini Mini Cookie effect was about to expire, I leaped out of the pocket.
As I rushed forward, Moon Hyunah grabbed me.
“You’ll get hurt. You’re still just a C-rank. I’ll come with you.”
Meanwhile, the dust cloud from the explosion began to clear, revealing an enormous crater.
Scorched and molten marks were scattered throughout the pit, flames still flickering across the surface, while the ground at the center bubbled from the extreme heat.
Yuhyun, unsurprisingly, was relatively unscathed.
But Sigma, who either lacked fire resistance or had weak resistance, had clearly taken considerable damage.
“Hey! Sigma! We’ll send a healer, so why don’t you just surrender peacefully?”
Moon Hyunah shouted, and Sigma merely shrugged in response.
He didn’t answer, but his fighting spirit seemed to have dimmed.
Continuing this battle would clearly be pointless.
Yuhyun, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to snap Sigma’s neck right then and there. But for now, he stepped back, drank a mana potion, and turned to look at us as we approached.
Moon Hyunah made a call to someone, and soon, Lancea’s helicopters appeared in the sky.
–TL Notes–
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