"Please pass him over."
Noah said, clenching his teeth. Even though the energy right after the fight between people who were much stronger than him hadn't yet cooled down, he didn't back down.
At him purposely standing his ground, Sung Hyunjae thought of right after disposing of the Babar. The opponent was completely different, but it was a similar situation more or less.
But unlike that time, he didn't feel anything like murderous intent. Of course, he still didn't have any intent of handing over the young man in his arms.
"Seseong Guild Leader."
Cleanly ignoring the fretfully calling voice, Sung Hyunjae scrutinized the face of Han Yoojin, who had lost consciousness. He suddenly thought that the face was young. Wouldn't one that was a little older suit better? Approximately… thirty years old.
"Hey, don't ignore someone's younger brother."
Riette, who was searching the dead dragon human type, said, scrunching the corner of one eye.
"Why don't you start by training your brother?"
"What?"
"To not covet other people's things."
"I did teach him to take things he wanted, no matter what he had to do."
Riette bounced up. The yellow gold eyes lightly but fiercely smiled.
"And I want it, too. Our darling really seems to have a lot of abilities."
"You can't do anything about ants infesting a box of candy."
"Why ants? Say it's a passing dragon."
"Shouldn't we lay him down somewhere, first?"
Noah, who had flinched back when his noona approached, brought up his courage again and cut in.
"Rather than that, it would be better to finish the attack and go out. It took several days for him to wake up last time, too, and there's also healers outside."
"Was it up to 2 floors here? It looks like I'll have to use some strength for our weak Honey."
Turning back to her dragon form, Riette confidently whipped her tail. Her speed and destructive power was unique, so if she was actively taking part, the attack would finish quickly.
-Should I let you ride?
"There are several things to take care of, so I'll leave that to you."
-Hm? Ah, are those guys still alive? What did you leave them alive for?
Tilting her head, Riette asked, remembering the MKC and Soodam Hunters.
"They stirred up trouble in this big of a way, so I should use them effectively from now on, right? They're two S-Rank Hunters."
-You sure are frugal.
"You should use things that you can use. From now on…"
Sung Hyunjae stopped speaking and closed his mouth. The thing that faintly came to mind soon disappeared completely. Feeling an unpleasant sense of separation, he looked back down at Han Yoojin.
***
Everywhere I placed my eyes, there were dragon corpses, and traces of corpses. They each had their own size and form, but all of them were curse and poison dragons.
-Keureureuk
A dragon with a long body like a snake's was pierced with a spear made from flames and writhed. Then, the thing that blocked my path was a considerably welcome face.
Lauchtas.
The curse and poison dragon king that looked bigger and stronger than the guy I met before the regression, let out a shriek. Exactly how many kings were there? Then again, there weren't just one or two in our neighborhood, too.
"Do you have no talents other than showing off your pets? You're really a pathetic owner."
Though if his attack skills were mainly poison and curses, there was no helping it. Within the foul miasma, I took in a light breath. For me, it was fresh air.
I spread my wings out and jumped over the Lauchtas, as I cut off the three heads in one breath. The disaster that, if it appeared outside of a dungeon right now, you would have to give up on the continent itself and be thankful that there were oceans and that it couldn't fly, collapsed weakly.
Kooooong
Toward the owner who was spilling out dragons without any particular sentimentality, I sent out Cold Sigh. Then Shadowless Day, Mana and fire attribute reinforcement.
Toward the guy who was trying to expel the white fog.
Swahhh!
Cold frozen rain poured down. The burning air immediately became chilly, but it couldn't win against the energy of the black flames that were sparking up here and there, and soon became hot again.
I quickly flew toward the guy who was bound down. It was difficult to use Hermes' Sandals' instant movement. And for flight speed, wings were faster.
"Being dragged down by an F-Rank."
When I struck him with a beast transformed hand, that guy went rolling. It was really a great scene to see.
"Ugh, shit!"
"Losing your pets in a row, too."
I folded my wings in and stood on top of the horned head. I easily faced the unknown skill he attacked with. If it was skill vs skill, I was much superior.
"Now it looks like even your memories will become shabby. If you've become like this, shouldn't you know on your own to call yourself a minus F-Rank, or something like that?"
With a crackle, light sparked out as that guy's arm burned through. In order to dig memories out a little more easily, I used the Teacher skill. Wouldn't it have some effect, since it apparently was helpful in being dragged here? The opponent's rank was high, but maybe because the skill effect had gone up, I dug in without needing to overdo it.
Inside that guy's consciousness, memories were piled layer by layer like innumerably old dust. I forcefully pulled out those pieces.
I had guessed, but there really were other worlds.
'So this guy was also similar to a born S-Rank.'
Ancient dragon human of poison and curses type, who were shunned and basically died out in some world. He was a type of sorcerer that tamed dragon types and fused them, making new types.
It was interesting in its own way, but it wasn't what I was looking for.
"Think about the Bird that Counts Stars."
Who she is, where she is, how to find her.
I rummaged through the memories again. This time, it was about this guy's skills. It seemed like this mind-related skill right now was released when both sides wanted to go out. That this guy couldn't escape, was great information.
And then again, throwing away useless memories, and again.
"I already knew that if we can't block dungeons and are encroached on, the world will fall."
There were memories of worlds that disappeared like that. Of when dungeons kept on bursting and monsters poured out, and the majority of humans, the world's intelligent lifeforms, disappeared. And the image of worlds where the places where the burst dungeons had been, disappeared as if eaten up and were completely absorbed into something.
"So it's not that there are always dungeons. Looks like there are worlds where monsters just roam around without dungeons?"
There were also worlds where there wasn't the system or Awakening. The Middle Ages? Should I say it was fantasy style? Worlds where you could use things like magic and sword auras from the start. When monsters slowly started becoming stronger at some point and became unmanageable, they were surely eaten up by something.
In those worlds, the people who made the system, the immoral people, didn't use the system, and instead, disguised themselves as various gods and helped the intelligent lifeforms by sending down oracles and presents according to achievements. Though in the end, they failed.
"Are there no successful cases?"
I became a little uneasy. It wouldn't do if things failed. At the least, we had to hold out for a hundred years from now on – no, S-Rank lifespans could be long, so giving room for error, then two hundred years.
I ignored that guy desperately struggling and rummaged through the memories again. A useless memory, this was also a pretty useless memory, and then Han Yoohyun.
My younger brother who was older than now, had a chilly expression. Immediately, my chest became chilly, too. …It didn't seem like the time when he made a contract because of me.
[Why are you asking me about Sung Hyunjae's whereabouts?]
It seemed like it was after Sung Hyunjae had disappeared. Maybe because it was a recent memory, the image and the voice were clear. As if saying that there was no need to talk in length, he only sent an extremely cold gaze, and soon, Yoohyun's appearance disappeared.
I tried to take out that memory again, but it slipped away between the countlessly many pieces. I grabbed the dragon human type guy who was trying to evade while I was briefly standing blankly, and ripped through him again.
Several times after I went though memories that weren't of particular worth to me, finally something unusual fell into my hands.
"Third, the deepest spring[1]?"
The name was 'spring' the but the appearing image was completely different. Light, instead of water, was flowing in an endlessly deep hole that was like an impression of a black hole.
And then.
"Fifth, the snowing tree."
A giant tree, that you couldn't even guess the size of, and fluttering particles like snow. Between the endlessly stretching branches, I saw a bird flying.
It was so small compared to the tree's size that it was hard to recognize the shape, but it was definitely a white bird with a build bigger than that of a decent dragon.
The Bird that Counts Stars. I had a hunch that it was her without a doubt.
"What's the Snowing Tree? Where is it?"
"You said, you had no intention of hearing it from my mouth."
The guy who spoke growlingly, abruptly let out a hollow laugh.
"To think it would get this twisted. Still, what's certain, Han Yoojin, is that you're the very key."
"What?"
"It means that as long as you're killed, it's the end of this world, too."
What nonsense was that. Besides that, how were you going to kill me? At the exact moment I was thinking that he had already been beat up multiple times, a portion of the space broke and started to fall down.
The form of the guy whose collar was being grabbed by me, disappeared. The crack in the air became bigger and bigger and the fragments scattered into pieces.
Exactly half of the space.
Past the broken part, in the different empty place, a giant dragon raised its body. Past the spreading wings, I saw scattered light. No, they were stars. The instant I realized that, my vision grew hazy.
"Ancient dragon human of poison and curses type, Diarma."
I mumbled, stepping back further into my space. The complete dragon transformation of the owner who made countless curse and poison dragons. The main body that wasn't weakened. The Seed-Leaf skill just barely read that guy.
"…It's certain that he's stronger than me."
And right now that dragon was real. The real thing, not a mind-body, had broken the space and intruded. My entire body trembled weakly.
"You can do this?"
-I'll probably have to sleep for a long time for the price. But I'll be satisfied with killing you.
"Your scale of thinking sure is small."
I spoke derisively, but I couldn't do anything about my voice becoming faint at the end. The dragon moved. Just when the tip of that claw was going to break the place where I was.
Tong!
A ball bounced. It was a volleyball. The drawn face was frowning hard.
Tong-tong!
-That is cheating!
The volleyball, Newcomer, shouted.
-You're.
-That is cheating! I will connect you, Water Droplet sunbae-nim!
And then rain fell.
Swahhh-
As the lights went out and the miasma dispersed, inside of the heavily dampened air. A giant shape appeared. The dragon bristled its thorns as it shouted.
-Mermaid queen!
Like they said, it was a mermaid. But it was different from the image of mermaids I knew. It was an incredibly beautiful female form that had blue scales and transparent fins, but at the same time it was ferocious.
Should I say it was the most combative form of a mermaid in the world?
Kkadeudeuk
The scales on her back that spread out like wings pushed and hit against each other as they moved. The earrings that made a clear noise as they shook were somehow familiar. A giant spear was raised in the mermaid queen's hand, and the dragon bellowed loudly.
-To think an imprisoned immoral person is coming outside!
"Strictly speaking, it is inside of Honey's consciousness. We cannot come out. Ever."
Like a knight setting out on a dragon hunt, the spear was aimed. She turned to look at me, and the deep blue eyes that didn't have whites held a smile.
"Will you give permission, Honey?"
"…Sorry?"
"Since the owner of this place is Honey."
I looked at her, and the dragon past her. Permission, she said.
"Would there be anyone else who wants that guy's head more earnestly than me? So I would like to request your aid."
At the same time the words fell, the tip of the spear swung. The air shook heavily as if sunken underwater.
-Keuahh!
The dragon lunged toward the mermaid queen. The moment that that guy came in without being able to break my space, his size also shrunk. The body that was spraying blood here and there was twice that of the Lauchtas at best.
On top of that, the feeling of coercion that was tightly facing off against the fear resistance also shrunk down.
"What happened?"
I asked, turning to ask the mermaid queen. She had also become smaller to slightly bigger than a human.
"Even if it is inside the consciousness, if we clash against each other as is, it could become dangerous for Honey, too. It was connected to me, and fit to a level that would not be dangerous. And, didn't you say 'aid'?"
That's right, aid. Thank you. Sincerely.
"Diarma-ssi. Shall we go one more time?"
Wings spread underneath the falling rain. The dragon that was on guard against the mermaid queen bared their teeth.
-Even if I'm weakened, it'll be different from a while ago!
"That is more welcome. Something like a side flank needs to be bitten out for it to really feel like we fought."
Wasn't it a space where you just had to avoid instant death? So try shredding me up with all your strength.
Following freezing rain, lightning struck.
In the miasma that was overflowing like it would dissolve the world, a frenzied wind ripped though my body. I folded the cut off wings and fell onto the dragon's head. Blood was flowing at the corners of the dragon's eyes. Of course, it was mine. Between the eyelids, between the scales, the seeping blood burst into flames.
A scream, and the smell of flesh burning.
With the opportunity from the burning and melting, I drove in a blood spear mixed with miasma, and struck lightning down again. The current that was focused to one place burst blindingly.
At the end of eating away over and over like that.
A magic stone that was cracked was grasped in my hand. It wasn't that big. It was a murky black magic stone that was slightly smaller than my palm.
Toodook took
The rain didn't stop and was continuing to fall. I stood in the blood being washed away and stared at the mermaid queen. And then I asked.
"Do you know about the Bird who Counts Stars?"