Chapter 696: London, 24 Hours (4)
Crunch, a red double–decker bus was crushed flat, warped under the weight of a giant snake’s body. Smooth scales, sleeker than the asphalt they slid across, hissed along the road as the snake raised its head and flicked out a long, split tongue.
SS-class, Lava–Drinking Snake. Every time heat ran once along its dark red–black scales, everything around it melted. The snake licked at the molten ground, then raised its head again. Over its bright yellow eyes, a blue–glowing willow leaf drifted down. Then whoosh, the leaf turned into flame.
The snake did not dodge. Heat was nothing more than simple food that could not harm it. The red flame deepened. As it brushed against the snake’s eyes, it turned black, then dark blue.
– Kiiiiiik!
Both of the snake’s eyes were burned away. Heat that even its powerful fire resistance could not block stole its sight in an instant, and its huge body began thrashing like a fish hauled up onto land. Boom, crash! The few old buildings still standing cracked and collapsed.
[Most weapons melt the instant they touch its scales. So for an SS-class, its scale durability is on the low side.]
Han Yujin’s voice echoed around Han Yuhyun through the system. The Lava–Drinking Snake melted skills and weapons alike. Even if several S-class Hunters joined forces, their attacks barely registered, making it a difficult monster to face.
However.
Han Yuhyun’s body skimmed through the air, stepping on willow leaves. The rampaging snake’s body whipped up high, blocking his path. As its scales arched like a gate, Han Yuhyun bent smoothly and slipped under, spinning his sword once and gripping it in both hands.
Sword of the Corrupting Sovereign. The pitch–black blade, made from the flesh of a dragon that dissolved and devoured all things, drove straight through the snake’s scales in a single thrust.
– Kirrreeek!
The snake drew up every last bit of heat with all its strength. Scales that had been dark red flared bright scarlet. Even the indirect heat began to warp not only the ground but the distant walls of buildings several meters away.
But the Black Dragon’s sword swallowed that heat instead. Strength filled Han Yuhyun’s arms, and he brought the blade down with a grinding rip. A long diagonal line was carved into the snake’s neck. Blood geysered up and burned away into steam before it could touch Han Yuhyun’s body.
Thud! With a thunderous crash, the monster’s body melted, then toppled in a long heap across the road as it hardened again. In that brief moment, Han Yuhyun had already stepped back onto the willow leaves and was sprinting through London’s sky.
[Don’t overdo it.]
With those words, Han Yujin’s voice cut off. Han Yuhyun dropped down onto the top of a streetlight. Before him stretched a district turned to ruins by dungeonification. Above his head, S-class and A-class flying monsters flitted back and forth. He drew a short breath and kicked off from the streetlight, leaping upward. Once, twice, he pushed off the willow leaves and sprang again!
His body appeared in an instant among the flying monsters. Before their sharp beaks and talons could reach for him, the Sword of the Corrupting Sovereign lengthened and traced a wide circle.
Kragak! Krakk!
Feathers scattered and blood sprayed beneath the blade as it lashed like a whip. Flying monsters with severed wings and heads tumbled out of the sky. Han Yuhyun likewise did not resist gravity, simply letting himself fall. The rushing wind teased his short hair and the blue–feather tassel at his waist.
Han Yuhyun could only exist at Han Yujin’s side.
At the same time, if Han Yujin vanished, Han Yuhyun could be freed from everything. From all emotions, from the moments of struggling, bound up in those emotions. Love, of course, and even the tiniest sliver of affection would disappear completely.
Tap.
Just before his body hit the ground, a willow leaf appeared to lightly catch the soles of his feet. Around him, monsters half–buried in the earth let out rough, rattling breaths. Cutting the throat of one that was still alive, Han Yuhyun started running forward again.
Worry, anguish, and sorrow would all disappear. Everything born from the existence of his feelings toward Han Yujin. Fire does not love anyone, and it does not suffer because of it.
That was why the ‘Han Yuhyun’ here could only look at Han Yujin. Because his existence itself was formed that way, if the premise called Han Yujin disappeared, he would simply return to being flame. Han Yujin was the air that let the Han Yuhyun who had walked out of the water breathe.
‘Hyung.’
To swallow Han Yujin, break free of all restraints, and burn away completely into nothingness. That desire was also rooted in the deepest part of Han Yuhyun. A near–instinct that could never be removed, the self he had always been suppressing.
– Kyaaaaa!
Thoom, a beast with two heads kicked off the ground and charged at him. A maw packed full of sharp teeth gaped wide, trying to snatch Han Yuhyun up.
Chomp!
It bit down on empty air. The tip of Han Yuhyun’s foot lightly stepped on the monster’s snout as he climbed up onto its crown. The other head snapped at nothing again. And right after that—
Thunk, thunk!
The two cleanly severed heads fell to the ground one after the other and rolled away. Without looking back, Han Yuhyun kept walking.
‘I, am.’
Han Yuhyun had been wary, because living without his own world was impossible for him. He had been relieved only because Han Yujin had reassured him, over and over, that he would never let go of him. At the center of the world that Han Yuhyun loved stood Han Yuhyun. That fact would never change.
But what if there were more than one Han Yuhyun.
In a simple world divided into two things, Han Yujin and everything that was not Han Yujin, an alien existence had appeared. Han Yuhyun. The one most loved by Han Yujin.
It had been bewildering. He had not known what he should do. The old Han Yuhyun would have thought only that there was one more person to protect Han Yujin. With no emotion at all. But now, he acknowledged his own desires and let his greed show.
For the first time, Han Yuhyun felt jealous.
It was different from the vague anxiety in the past that Han Yujin might be taken away. This was pure envy. Han Yujin did not change. Even so, he disliked it.
‘Picking the achievements from before the regression would be the right choice.’
He should have decided without a second thought, but he hesitated. He did not want to become the same existence as that other Han Yuhyun. As the current Han Yuhyun, as the one and only unique self, he wanted to receive Han Yujin’s love.
Even while thinking that this choice might be wrong, still.
And Han Yujin had told him that he loved even that version of Han Yuhyun.
Han Yuhyun stopped walking. His heart was pounding. It was not from the battle. The thing that always set his heart racing was Han Yujin.
[Yuhyun!]
Han Yujin’s excited voice came through.
“I love you, Hyung.”
[…Huh? Uh, yeah. Me too. About the achievement rewards, do you want to take them combined or separately? What came out is—]
“Combined.”
[Without even hearing them? I also think combining them is better, but. Then!]
Han Yujin chose to receive the achievement rewards combined. A moment later—
[Achievement Reward (L)
Random reward according to the awakened one’s achievements and stats
※By lowering the grade by two levels, the reward can be designated]
A random box appeared. Han Yuhyun opened the reward box.
[Extremely sensitive eyesight! Use a flashbang, then from the bottom of the leg bones cut through every rear gap on the second segment!]
[Impossible to handle on land, lure it to the river. From there, go east!]
[Yerim, I’m luring an SS-class into the river. Toward the yellow goblin fire! It can’t breathe underwater and it’s heavy so it can barely float. Just shove it in and bind only its legs and it’ll be easy to catch!]
[Everyone near the red goblin fire, fall back! The Hunters there can’t stop that one!]
[An SS-class flying–type has appeared! It’s nocturnal so it’s on edge. Use loud noise to draw it in!]
Voice messages shot out in breathless succession. Kwoooom! The ground shook as Liette slammed into a massive monster near the red goblin fire.
“Sis, charge!”
Kang Soyeong leaped off Comet’s back, landed on Liette’s head, and immediately activated a skill. Liette, who had seemed about to be pushed back by sheer force, began driving forward.
– Kraaaar!
“You’re so dragonlike, Sis! So cool!”
Spewing miasma, Liette smashed her own head into the monster’s skull. Thunk! One of Liette’s spiked horns snapped, and the monster staggered with a snarl. The black dragon bared all her fangs in a savage grin.
“These messages are insane!”
A London Hunter drew his bowstring back to the limit and shouted. Another voice message came to him.
[Match with the Hunter next to you and aim at the same point!]
Five Hunters loosed their arrows at the same time. Two of them matched perfectly, from their breathing to the point of impact.
“What kind of magic is this?”
Another London Hunter panted as he spoke. Hunters who had appeared via teleportation. Their skills were astounding. It was not just that they were excellent Hunters. High–rank Hunters were coordinating so perfectly it was as if they shared a single body. Even the cooperation of S-class Hunters, something they had thought practically impossible, flowed as smoothly as water.
“It’s SF magic!”
“What? Is he Merlin from the East or something?”
“Almost dying a bunch of times helped a lot too!”
A few Hunters from Han Yujin’s team snickered. Their resting place guaranteed their lives. Having learned the fun of coordinated attacks through one round of defense, the Hunters had taken it on themselves to practice matching hands as much as they liked. Since they could not die, battles they would never have dared normally—S-class against S-class, S-class against A-class—had taken place.
It had not been a long time, but it was enough for the sub–team to grow.
S-class and even SS-class monsters were going down one by one. They knew the weak points and attacked together. That was enough to make up for a one–grade difference.
Only—
“Three hours have passed.”
Han Yujin let out a long breath. Even so, his hands and eyes were busy. He checked system windows here and there and sent messages.
“They can’t help but be exhausted.”
The monsters were endless, but the number of Hunters was fixed. Hunters were coming from neighboring countries, but not that many. From the start, most of Han Yujin’s main team members were European Hunters. Seong Hyunjae looked at his pale face. A little distance away, Yun Yun kept glancing over, clearly worried as well.
“You already look tired.”
“I’m still okay. It’s not like I’m moving myself.”
“I have found this appearance of yours rather entertaining, but now it is frustrating. I cannot even support you.”
“Well, you are cute. I don’t think it’d be so bad if you stayed like this forever.”
Han Yujin laughed, then coughed briefly. Through the Goblin Gate, he had brought over every last stamina potion and even all the unfinished materials. But he had no way of knowing how much longer he could keep going.
“…At this pace, at least three more hours. We’re only about halfway.”
And that was three hours counting from the very start of the evacuation. The real fighting had only been in full swing for about an hour. Even when they stayed in a dungeon for days, the battles themselves usually ended within an hour at most, followed by rest. But here, rest was impossible.
Boom! A pillar of water shot up from the river. High above, Blue and Comet streaked across the sky. Comet was ferrying another Hunter instead of Kang Soyeong.
“Even now, it is already astonishing.”
From his perch on Han Yujin’s shoulder, looking down over London, Seong Hyunjae spoke.
“Under normal circumstances, these Hunters would have failed to match their timing and been chased back by SS-class monsters. Yet you have drawn them together to this degree.”
“But the most important thing is their will. They could have chosen not to help and just taken care of themselves. These are people who stepped up from the start to catch the terrorists. I did put up a reward, though.”
“And they are not the only such people.”
Seong Hyunjae lifted his head. Han Yujin also took his eyes off the system windows and looked up. An airplane. A single plane was racing toward London. What had been a tiny dot grew larger as it slowed. Then, clunk, the door opened.
“Are you really going, ma’am!”
A Hunter inside the plane shouted over the rushing wind. Emily Spence turned back to him with a bright smile.
“I said I’d never go into a dungeon.”
She had raised both hands in surrender to the people who wanted to protect her.
“But this is London! Long live the Queen!”
Laughing out loud, Emily was scooped up into Hwang Rim’s arms.
“Hold on tight!”
Using a flight skill copied from another Hunter, Hwang Rim jumped out of the plane. As soon as they were steady over London, Emily activated her own skill.
SS-class wide–area healing skill, A Thousand Lashes.
“I finally get to really use this skill~.”
Emily’s mana spread out over all of London. Everywhere her gaze reached, her skill healed a thousand people. Because the range was so wide, she could not fully heal severe injuries. But she could rapidly restore stamina and mana and heal lighter wounds, and the duration was extremely long. On top of that, she could immediately sense severely injured people within the area and send them single–target healing skills.
“The ink on that contract had barely dried.”
“Did they really evacuate everyone? That goblin, seriously, unbelievable.”
“Thinking about the future, there’s no way we could not come.”
American Hunters, each checking their gear, began jumping down. Through the gaps between them, Isabella’s figure could also be seen. Every Hunter who could make it in time had been gathered. And that was not all.
“Hunters who need consumables, get to Buckingham!”
“Anyone hungry?!”
They had loaded as many supplies as they could. New Hunters poured onto the battlefield. Stamina and mana were fully restored. After catching their breath for a moment, the Hunters tightened their grip on their weapons.
“I’ve wanted to meet you, Director Han Yujin.”
“Hi, honey~ I’ve really wanted to see you too♡”
Holding Emily, Hwang Rim approached Han Yujin. Peace let out a low growl. Yun Yun waved energetically.
“Hi, Saintess!”
“Yes, hello, Goblin–nim!”
“It is an honor to meet you for the first time, Saintess.”
“Please call me Emily.”
Emily looked at Han Yujin with sparkling eyes. Wearing a slightly awkward smile, Han Yujin opened his mouth.
“For certain reasons, I can’t receive healing skills.”
“Oh my, really? You don’t look very well.”
“Let’s call it mana overload.”
“It does feel strange, that’s true. Almost like a spring made entirely of mana…”
Emily tilted her head and cut herself off. It was not right to dig into a Hunter’s internal circumstances without permission. Instead, she offered Han Yujin a gentle smile.
“I think you’re a good person, Mister Han Yujin.”
“Huh? Me?”
“You can tell the parent by the child. He was such a cute and kind kid. He only looks like the Sesung Guild Leader in the face.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“I wish we could sit and talk properly, but it’s a shame the situation doesn’t allow it. I have quite a few support–type skills, so I should go help.”
“Yes, please ride Comet. Comet!”
At Han Yujin’s call, the black wyvern flew over. Emily stared in fascination, then climbed onto Comet’s back with Hwang Rim. Han Yujin quietly watched the two of them and the newly arrived Hunters as they moved away.
“Emily is right.”
A deep smile spread across his lips.
“Our Gyeol really is amazing. Gyeol–ah, this is the sight you brought into being.”
Monsters kept pouring out, and Hunters kept arriving. Over a hundred Hunters.
All preparations were complete.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt