Chapter 713: The Final Bet (4)
“Throw it!”
With that shout, Liette’s body swelled.
The massive black dragon that appeared, stomping the surrounding buildings flat, opened her jaws wide toward the forest.
Thud! Her teeth crashed into the invisible barrier and her bright–red tongue flicked.
– Right here!
Uh… sure, if we tossed it straight into that mouth, the other team would have a hard time stealing it.
It was a sight that would rattle anyone, but Yuhyun calmly pulled out the baton and threw it into Liette’s mouth.
“Hey! What if you swallow it, be careful!”
– Don’t worry~.
Liette tucked the baton under her tongue and chirped back cheerfully.
‘And if she does swallow it, then what. Force her to chug some ipecac?’
With a rumbling, thunderous stomp, Liette turned her body.
She’d have to go around to follow the main road, but a black dragon didn’t need to bother.
She could just run straight.
As Liette pushed off the ground―
– Huh?
Chief Song Taewon wrapped his arms around her long, whipping tail.
His feet sank deep into the cement.
One of Chief Song’s skills was the ability to change his body weight.
Even at maximum, it probably wasn’t even a quarter of Liette in full dragon form.
Even so, Liette faltered.
– Ow, my tail actually hurts?
Startled, Liette glanced back.
Black shadow flickered in Chief Song’s grip.
“Because Plunder weakened Liette’s defense, she can’t put her full strength into it.”
If she wasn’t careful, her tail might tear right off.
But Liette wasn’t just going to take it.
She dropped her body like she was collapsing and then lifted her tail straight up.
With a perfectly vertical yank, like pulling out a nail, Song Taewon’s body shot straight into the air.
Song Taewon’s hands slipped from her tail.
Flung high, he pulled out his spear.
Shadow gathered at the spear tip.
If that meteor–like strike landed, even Liette’s thick scales would tear like paper.
– Tough girl!
Liette’s dragon form vanished.
She’d returned to human form.
Having lost his target, Song Taewon twisted in the air and landed on both feet.
At the same time, Hwang Rim arrived.
“Sorry I’m late! Had to settle some karma~.”
‘Settle, my ass, there was still plenty left.’
Trying to call it square after just a few hits, unbelievable.
Song Taewon snatched the baton Hwang Rim threw.
Once they passed the baton, the runners returned to their respective team rooms.
Yuhyun looked up into the air as if worrying about me.
“I’ll be fine, go back. Don’t worry too much.”
Meanwhile, Liette had already dashed ahead.
She wasn’t in full dragon form, but her arms and legs were close to a dragon’s.
Her long tail swished behind her.
With the baton at her waist, she crashed straight through a building wall.
Song Taewon immediately turned.
No need to knock down any new buildings when he could just follow the trail Liette left.
Stat–wise, Liette should definitely be higher.
But Song Taewon’s sprinting speed was better than expected.
“Mister Song is constantly tweaking his weight right now, isn’t he?”
Heavy the moment his feet hit the ground, light the moment he moved forward.
With the same strength, a pebble flies much faster and farther than a boulder.
But you couldn’t make him too light for his size either, so he had to tune it to just the right point.
“Song Taewon’s self–control is impressive. Except in one thing – Plunder.”
“Stop picking on Chief Song. Plunder’s never going to be used on you anyway, Mister Seong Hyunjae.”
My eyes met Seong Hyunjae’s.
Even though I was standing and he was sitting, his gaze still felt like he was looking down on me.
“That’s not something you can guarantee so easily.”
“There’s nothing easy for me. I had to gamble my life on mid–grade dungeons you can clear half–asleep.”
And yet here I was, jammed in among S–class hunters and tangled up with Transcendents.
Keeping my one life intact and taking a breath was hard enough; nothing about this was easy.
Seong Hyunjae just smiled instead of answering.
He said he’d come here to help his current self, but he was still Seong Hyunjae.
‘…If it came down to it, he might try to cleanly end the current Seong Hyunjae himself.’
He said he loved seeing himself live, but because he loved it, he might insist on ending it with his own hands.
Even if that wasn’t typical of Seong Hyunjae, I couldn’t let my guard down.
He’d already tried using Plunder to end things once, and in the end, the two of them were the same person.
“We should start getting ready too.”
Chief Song had almost caught up to Liette, and they’d passed the halfway point in the fifth zone.
Seong Hyunjae rose from his chair.
I put my maracas away too.
“You’re fast, civil servant!”
Liette laughed as she launched herself upward.
She wedged her claws into the smooth building wall and ran up like it was flat ground.
Liette sprang off the rooftops and into the air, and right after―
Crash–crumble–!
The black dragon came crashing down on the buildings.
She twisted her huge body and toppled the surrounding buildings, blocking Song Taewon’s path completely.
You could pass through a building by knocking a hole in a wall or two, since they were hollow inside.
But piled–up rubble was different.
Unless you could blast away the debris of three or four buildings in one go, going over it was faster.
Whoosh!
A wire snapped out through the rising dust clouds as if it had been waiting.
But just before it wound around the black dragon’s body, Liette released her full dragon form.
“Take your time co― huh?”
The wire dropped and hung limp.
She hadn’t been the target to begin with.
“Liette, look to your side!”
While Liette was distracted by the thrown wire, Song Taewon yanked hard on the line he’d tied to his real target.
A protruding pillar amid the debris.
Song Taewon vaulted up onto the rubble in one move.
“Should I just go all out and latch onto him?”
“Don’t do anything unnecessary, just run. It’s fine if you reach the goal at the same time.”
If it turned into a fight instead of a race, neither of them would know how to take it easy.
Chief Song still only had one life here; Liette didn’t, and there was no guarantee of healing, so it was better to avoid injuries.
Liette pouted, then kicked off the ground.
She still listened, though.
Even though I didn’t absolutely have to raise Belare anymore.
“Civil servant, honey! If you pass me, I’ll go full dragon in the middle of Seoul and do a breakdance!”
“…Excuse me?”
Chief Song stiffened.
Wow, that was one hell of a threat.
And it was scarier because Liette absolutely would do it.
“Don’t worry, I’ll shout for an evacuation first~. I won’t let anyone get hurt~.”
“Destroying buildings is not okay either!”
Liette giggled and turned into a dragon again.
She swayed her tail like, Come and get me, but Chief Song hesitated.
Liette… she was on our side, but that was dirty.
– You can’t arrest me for just saying it!
“Hunter Liette!”
As if demonstrating exactly what Seoul would look like, Liette barreled ahead, slamming into building after building.
Chief Song’s brow furrowed on its own.
‘Good grief.’
“Um, Chief Song. Sorry.”
“…It’s fine. There was no rule against threats.”
“She’s probably sulking because I told her not to fight. Mister Noah and Soyeong will stop her somehow, so try not to stress about it.”
“It’s fine. It’s common.”
Common? So there were lots of hunters like that, huh.
Right then, a message window appeared.
[Get ready!]
Seong Hyunjae and I were transported to the starting point of the final zone.
At the same time, my stats rose to S–class.
I lightly clenched and unclenched my fist.
‘Definitely weaker than Yuhyun.’
Still, it felt stronger than your average S–class.
Of course, most of the hunters here were top–tier.
I slipped on my Wildcat Set and looked at Seong Hyunjae.
“My stats are S–class, but my combat skills are trash. Go easy on me.”
I literally had nothing but a D–rank Stab I’d bought from the nightmare dungeon.
“The hero of London, talking like a weakling.”
“…I was just support, okay.”
He really had no shame saying stuff like that.
Rumble, a tremor rolled in from far away.
I swallowed hard and stepped right up to the zone boundary.
My stats were worse, and my skills sucked.
Even my stealth skill wouldn’t help much in a close fight.
Objectively, this was a disaster.
“You’re smiling.”
The corners of my mouth had curled up.
“Well, it’s not like I’m going to die.”
“You’re not really enjoying the fight; you’re enjoying doing what you can yourself. And there’s the complex too.”
“…You phrase things so nicely. You’re not wrong, but right now, just crashing in and doing my best with what I’ve got is actually pretty fun.”
Even more so when the only thing getting wrecked was my own body.
The building in front of us collapsed.
Thud! The black dragon kicked off the road and cleared a low building in one leap.
Everywhere her feet landed cracked and crumbled.
– Sweetie!
Liette opened her jaws wide.
The blue baton popped up onto her tongue.
…I mean, I knew she couldn’t exactly hold the baton in a hand while in full dragon form.
“I’ll just wipe it off a bit.”
I asked for a second and pulled out a handkerchief.
That dragon mouth full of razor–sharp teeth rushed right up in front of my face.
It was like a dinosaur movie in 4D.
The long red tongue flicked the baton up, and I snatched it, wrapping it in the handkerchief.
– Run!
I clipped the baton to my waist.
At the same time, I heard the clink of chains.
I kicked off the ground, launched myself forward, and used my teacher skill on Seong Hyunjae.
A rough backlash surged toward me, but I could easily handle one S–class now.
With S–class stats, it was even easier.
“You should behave and wait quietly.”
“I’m not your dog.”
Crack, thud, thud! Chains buzzing with electricity slammed one after another into the spot where I’d been standing.
I dodged quickly, but my back soon hit a wall.
Reaching out toward the approaching Song Taewon, Seong Hyunjae tried to bind me with his chains.
I dropped my body low.
My vision dipped close to the ground as I slipped smoothly under the chains.
“Then I’ll have to keep a cat instead.”
‘What is he talking about.’
Delroux–form.
I slipped free of the chains in my smallest body, then immediately grew.
I was about the size of a medium dog as I started to run.
Having received the baton from Song Taewon, Seong Hyunjae chased after me.
But an S–class quadruped was much faster than an S–class biped.
Just as I thought I could widen the gap and win easily like this, the shared Battle Precognition I had with Seong Hyunjae sent up a warning.
Scrape, my claws raked the ground as I flipped backward.
An instant later, metal objects burst from the ground like bullets.
– Kyak!
Seeker’s Chain rings? He sent those ahead of time? When?!
As I landed, a sharp tearing sound of wind came from behind.
Golden rings poured down like rain.
With Grace I wouldn’t take much damage even if they hit, but getting caught was the problem.
Below me mid–jump, I saw the rings snap together like magnets and turn into chains.
Closing the distance in a flash, Seong Hyunjae threw a wire at me.
I hurriedly turned human, pulled out my spear, and blocked it.
The wire wrapped around the shaft instead of my neck.
“Sending your weapons ahead of time! Isn’t that cheating?”
“The only ban was on attacking the opponent.”
I let go as the spear shaft dragged me halfway along.
I vaulted right over Seong Hyunjae’s head and landed on top of a streetlight.
He reeled the wire back in and gave it a casual shake.
“You should wear your leash when you go out.”
“You’re not supposed to walk cats, you know?”
I walked up the head of the streetlight and looked down at him.
‘If I used terrain change to open up, say, a 10 km pit under his feet…’
[Terrain changes targeting opposing team members are not allowed!]
So that’s a no.
Yeah, that would’ve been broken.
If I kept fighting him head–on like this, I’d lose.
I didn’t have any real offensive skills either.
Running was my best option.
I aimed my gun at him.
His golden eyes turned up to me.
Being unable to stand next to my S–class little brother as an equal had definitely been a complex.
That was why standing up to him like this and clashing had felt so good.
How about now?
Bang! The magic bullet flew.
He dodged with nothing but a slight tilt of his head.
His faded hair fluttered.
His dress shoes pounded the ground as he closed the distance in a single burst, then swung his foot up with that same acceleration.
Crunch. The streetlight split in two and tipped.
A beast wrapped in golden electricity bared its teeth at me as I jumped down.
Light burst in front of my eyes.
I crossed my arms to block his leg and bent my torso back to barely avoid the hand reaching to grab me by the collar.
As I fell back, my body turned into a black cat.
I twisted away nimbly, but chains slithered after my retreating tail like snakes.
He was prioritizing capture over damage.
Our Battle Precognitions clashed and canceled out.
But all of Seong Hyunjae’s experience was still there.
As I turned human again, his gloved hands pursued me relentlessly.
He had the advantage in experience, strength, and speed.
I caught myself gasping.
I was barely evading and parrying, like I was being swept up in a storm.
But my limit was closing in.
“You held out for a long time.”
“Ghk!”
A big hand clamped down on my neck and slammed me to the ground.
A bent knee pinned one thigh like a stake, and chains coiled around the other leg.
“This bracelet.”
Seong Hyunjae grabbed the wrist wearing Grace.
– Beep!
Grace popped out with a protesting beep, but he ignored it and unfastened the bracelet.
Then he set it against his own wrist.
“It’s a bit short.”
– Beep–!
“It’s not going to go into my inventory for me, and this is better than losing it.”
At his words, Grace squealed in frustration and slipped back into bracelet form.
The band lengthened to fit his wrist.
He put the bracelet on.
As Grace left me, pain spiked in my thigh.
“I don’t want to break your leg, but it’ll be more convenient that way.”
Terrain change. Target: me.
I stretched both arms up and grabbed his shoulders like I was hugging them as he pressed on my neck.
S–class Poison Pond.
I turned off my poison resistance skill.
Splash! Water flew as I plunged with him into a pitch–black pool.
The toxic water was so dense I could barely make out the person right in front of me.
I clung to Seong Hyunjae as he tried to get out.
He was stronger than me, but I was still S–class.
I thought I saw a flash of golden eyes.
No, not his eyes―
Boom!
Electricity surged and the pond exploded.
We were both flung out of the water.
Clinging to him had let me share some of his electricity resistance, but parts of my body still tingled.
The poison was also spreading rapidly through my body.
“Cough, khak!”
I tried to retreat fast, but this time, Seong Hyunjae grabbed my arm.
“That’s quite potent.”
“It’s only S–class. If it were SSS–class, you’d have dropped right away.”
Seong Hyunjae laughed.
He had to feel the poison spreading too.
Our eyes met head–on.
I swallowed my breath and turned into a cat.
My now tiny forepaw slipped free of his grip.
Before I could turn poison resistance back on, a chain whipped my body.
“Dammit!”
Smaller body, faster poison spread!
As I hurriedly shifted back to human, Seong Hyunjae closed the distance.
I barely dodged and tried to activate poison resistance, but there was no opening.
‘Can’t there be a simpler way to toggle skills off?!’
‘I needed to turn it on and off instantly, but having to say it twice to activate and twice to deactivate took too long!’
If I accidentally detoxed Seong Hyunjae too, this whole thing would be pointless.
Scratch! The chain’s tip grazed my cheek.
I could feel blood trickling from the torn skin.
The wrist I’d barely yanked free throbbed dully.
It was definitely bruising up.
“Let’s keep a little distance, yeah?!”
“Can’t do that with the antidote right here.”
My body creaked.
Seong Hyunjae was visibly slowing too.
The current Seong Hyunjae didn’t have any high–grade antidotes in his inventory.
He’d needed them even less with me around.
“Urgh!”
His knee slammed into my gut.
I couldn’t dodge completely, and a groan escaped me.
I raised my forearm to block the hand reaching to grab my throat.
His grip strength felt like it would snap my bones; my teeth clenched.
“My mouth tastes bitter.”
Even as he commented that the poison was getting stronger, he sounded relaxed.
He twisted my arm and pulled.
Chains wrapped around my legs again.
“Maybe I’ll take the antidote… later.”
The chains tightened.
Like they meant to crush my legs.
I’d been waiting for him to burn his terrain change, but I couldn’t wait anymore.
A sword appeared in my free hand.
Seong Hyunjae tried to dodge.
But his movement came through to me with crystal clarity.
His now–slower motions, and the curving black blade.
Crunch–!
“…That sword is.”
“Yuhyun lent it to me.”
The blade drove deep into Seong Hyunjae’s side.
He kicked me away and staggered back.
Then a tiny Seong Hyunjae hopped up onto my shoulder.
“Another Battle Precognition.”
His Battle Precognition and mine had clashed and canceled each other.
But I could summon one more Seong Hyunjae with Battle Precognition.
Seong Hyunjae looked down at the sword buried in his side.
Red blood trickled down the black blade.
–TL Notes–
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