"Block it! If it keeps going that way, it'll reach Shelter No. 3!"
"Decoy fireworks launching! 3, 2, 1!"
Fireworks shot up from the direction of the defense wall. With a loud noise, mana-infused lights flashed brilliantly, but the monster only gave it a sidelong glance and didn't change direction. An SS-class monster—a blue serpent with deadly venom. Monsters with potent poison were more threatening to the city than any others. If, by any chance, the venom seeped into the ground where the shelters were, even the protective barriers would struggle to block it. The shelters could only withstand poison up to A-class.
In the end, Solemnity's S-class guards stood directly in the monster's path. The serpent widened its green eyes, flicking its long tongue. The standoff between the two sides was brief. The serpent's body shot forward in an instant, tearing up the road in a long line. Guards scattered like sparrows attacked by a hawk, dodging the splashing venom. Attacks imbued with skills poured toward the monster but failed to inflict fatal damage. However, it was enough to provoke the monster's temper.
"Hissss!"
The serpent's eyes fixed on the man among the guards who had severely damaged its scales. The S-class guard from Solemnity gritted his teeth and began running toward the outskirts of the city.
"It's on his tail! Provide support!"
Supportive skills enveloped the fleeing guard. Gunfire continued, and explosives detonated to slow down the serpent's charge. The monster slithered rapidly toward its target, destroying buildings and crushing roads.
Without Sigma, hunting an SS-class monster was difficult. It wasn't impossible, but the manpower and resource consumption would be extreme, so luring it out of the city and distancing it was the best solution.
Bang! Boom! The serpent, unable to catch its elusive prey, twisted fiercely. Tearing up the ground, it coiled its body tightly and then sprang high like a compressed spring.
"Screee!"
In an instant, the serpent shot through the air like an arrow, leaping over the head of the fleeing guard and blocking his path. Before the guard could even change direction, the long body coiled around him like a wall.
"Damn it!"
Surrounded by the serpent's tough, scaly body on all sides, and with the venomous head waiting above if he tried to jump, there was no way to escape. The S-class guard braced himself for the end, activating a defensive skill that would be of little use.
"Kieeek!"
A scream erupted from the monster. Then, the sound of flesh and bone being crushed echoed. The S-class guard looked up. In his eyes, he saw a red-furred monster firmly biting the serpent's head.
"Wha... what the..."
A fierce beast with a golden horn and a golden-tinged mane growled low, pressing down on the serpent's neck with its front paws. Venom splashed here and there, but swirling flames burned it all away, not touching even a hair of the newly appeared monster.
Before long, the serpent's writhing ceased. In the silence, the red monster looked down at the S-class guard. Although fire was strong against poison, this creature had taken down an SS-class monster in an instant. Naturally, it must be an SS-class monster itself.
Should he run? No, could he even escape? As the guard hesitated, the monster gave a small growl.
"Uh..."
The enormous size shrank instantly to something much smaller. Triangular ears perked up, and a bushy tail wagged gently. Seeing the monster reduced to the size of a medium-sized dog, the S-class guard blinked. Unintentionally, he thought it looked kind of cute.
"Yip!"
No, it was definitely cute. The monster trotted over to the guard and looked up at him with golden eyes. Its upturned snout twitched slightly.
"Stand back!"
As other guards approached wielding weapons, the man hastily raised both hands above his head.
"Wait! It's not hostile! No need to provoke it!"
"What? A monster?"
"Does that make sense?"
Monsters usually display hostility toward humans. Tamed monsters were exceptions, but it was virtually impossible to tame monsters above B-class. Yet, an SS-class monster was not attacking people?
"But look, it's being docile."
The monster was just sniffing around as if looking for something, showing no intention of attacking. The other guards, though still on alert, watched the monster curiously.
"Well... thanks to it, we can relax a bit."
"Indeed. It took care of a monster that we could only lure away in an instant."
"If Sigma were here, it would have ended quickly too."
A heavy silence fell momentarily. In the gloomy atmosphere, one of the guards spoke up.
"This monster also has golden eyes."
"Yeah, you're right."
At the familiar glow in its eyes, the expressions of Solemnity's guards became even more somber. At that moment, the monster hopped over the dead serpent's corpse. The direction it headed was none other than Solemnity's Defense Agency.
"Shouldn't we stop it?"
"There's no way to stop it, but..."
Not knowing what to do, the guards followed behind the monster. At the entrance of the Defense Agency, guards who had heard the news were waiting. Seeing the small and cute monster, they too showed signs of confusion. Regardless, the monster didn't stop. The way it casually walked into the Defense Agency with light steps, as if on a stroll, was so natural—like it had lived there for a long time.
"What on earth is that monster?"
"Is it okay to just leave it alone...?"
The guards, while worried, couldn't rashly block it and just followed behind the monster. It entered the Defense Agency building, walked down the corridor, and went into a room. After looking around, it soon came out and headed toward the elevator that led to the Mana Hall. It jumped up and pressed the button, but without a key card, it was inoperable.
"Yip!"
The monster turned to the Solemnity guards and cried out as if urging them. As if under a spell, the elevator doors opened, and the monster went down to where the Mana Hall was, spun around once, and then went back up. After stopping by the armory, the last place it arrived was none other than Sigma's office.
"Growl."
The monster lightly poked at Han Yoojin's belongings that were still on the desk with its front paw, shook its head slightly, and then turned around. Now, there were no more guards trying to stop the monster. Though they didn't say it aloud, they were all thinking similar thoughts.
Wagging its bushy tail, the monster headed to the rooftop. Realizing its destination, the guards wore gloomy expressions. Soon, the monster reached the rooftop and walked forward without hesitation. Feeling that the monster intended to leave, the guards looked at each other. Then, one of them spoke up.
"Farewell!"
The monster tilted its head quizzically and looked back at him. At the same time, the other guards began to pour out their farewells.
"Thank you for everything!"
"Don't worry about what comes after! We'll do our best, even if we're lacking!"
"Please take care of yourself!"
Fluttering, small wings sprouted from the monster's back. The red, crescent-shaped feathered wings flapped and quickly soared upward. The guards of Solemnity gazed blankly at the figure rapidly disappearing without leaving a trace of regret.
Perhaps it was just an unusual monster. That possibility was higher. But they felt a sense of peace in a corner of their hearts.
They had exchanged final farewells. That alone was enough.
"Let's go handle the aftermath. We need to neutralize the poison, too."
"Thanks to it, things will be quiet for a while."
"Still, we can't let our guard down. We need to prepare for the next time."
Solemnity's guards left the rooftop with lighter steps.
Although strictly speaking it was a slightly different species, Peace, the Flame-Horned Lion, swiftly crossed the sky. The place where Peace landed was a region far to the south from there. Entering the body of a fire-attribute monster, he wandered for a long time, hunting all the noticeable monsters.
Then, he finally found traces of Han Yoojin, but his father had already left. Using tracking skills to assess the situation, Peace followed the continuous traces of his dad. The Flame-Horned Lion that had been flying for a long time descended upon none other than the devastated Akates Defense Agency.
"Ahhh! A monster!"
An administrator checking the machines around the Mana Hall screamed in fright upon seeing Peace. Guards who rushed over in an instant scratched their heads at the sight of the small beast.
"Is that really a monster?"
"Isn't it a fox? They said they went extinct long ago."
"But its snout is short."
For guards below S-class, it was difficult to recognize the identity of an SS-class monster that had transformed and hidden its power. Peace wandered slowly around the Mana Hall, ignoring their chatter. The tracking skill faintly conveyed what had happened here.
"Growl!"
Peace growled in dissatisfaction. The guards just stared blankly at him as he rummaged around without any sign of attacking people, wondering if it was really a fox.
"That's not a fox."
"Mr. Gnossi, is it okay for you to be up already?"
Gnossi, an A-class guard, waved his hand, saying he was fine.
"I don't know what it is, but it's completely different from the foxes I've seen."
"You've seen foxes before, Mr. Gnossi."
"When I was young."
Now, unless they were birds or small animals hiding underground, it was hard to find wild animals. As Gnossi gazed at the Mana Hall, Viterra approached him. Gnossi glanced back at her.
"You said Alpha left with Han Yoojin."
"Yes. We hoped he'd stay, but he didn't seem to have any intention of leaving Han Yoojin's side."
Gnossi rubbed his right hand. After a brief silence, he spoke.
"Are you sure it didn't seem like brainwashing or something?"
"He didn't look like someone who could be affected by that, at least the Alpha I saw. More than anything, Han Yoojin truly cared for him. Just by watching them briefly, you could easily tell how much they valued each other."
Gnossi fell silent again. He had already heard similar words from many others. He let out a long sigh.
Han Yoojin, who possessed a high-level stealth skill, had infiltrated Akates City a year ago to verify rumors about the treatment of Akates guards. At that time, he met Alpha, on whom stealth skills did not work, and while secretly building a friendship, he was caught trying to extract Alpha. The Akates Alpha manager tried to use Han Yoojin, and to escape, Han Yoojin faked his own death and slipped away.
After that, Alpha's rampage occurred, and Han Yoojin went to Solemnity to seek Sigma's cooperation, then returned to Akates to carry out his plan—that was Han Yoojin's explanation. There were some suspicious points, but it was a plausible story.
"Anyway, it's not something I can interfere with."
He had endured for many years, citing lack of strength as the reason. But now that a C-class guard had restored freedom to Alpha, he realized it was just an excuse born from his own weakness. He should have risked his life instead of taking the long way around.
"Why the long face? Han Yoojin wouldn't have easily saved Alpha without us. We can't say that what we've built over a long time wasn't helpful. We would have succeeded with our own strength someday, surely."
It just happened a bit faster. But Gnossi's expression remained dark. Just then.
"Grrrr."
The small beast that had been harmlessly wandering around suddenly bared its teeth fiercely. Flames surged over its red fur.
"It's a monster!"
"Be careful!"
Thinking it might be low-ranked since it was so small—before they could even finish the thought—the Flame-Horned Lion kicked off the ground. Moving faster than the eye could follow, it lunged directly at Gnossi.
"Mr. Gnossi!"
"Ugh, get back!"
At least an S-class, or higher—a monster of this caliber. Gnossi, pushed by the terrifying power from the small body, fell to the ground as Peace's front paw pressed down on his chest. His clothes burned in the flames, and his skin turned red.
"Kyah!"
Peace coldly looked down at the human he had pinned and raised one front paw. He vaguely sensed that this man had harmed Han Yoojin, but both Han Yoojin and Han Yoohyun hadn't killed him. Guessing there must be a reason, Peace lightly swung his paw.
With a sharp sound, a long scratch appeared on Gnossi's cheek. His eyes widened. The red flames seemed to heat his blood and burrow into his core.
Peace growled once more as if scolding him, then spread his wings. Gnossi blankly watched the small monster engulfed in flames fly away. A potion was promptly poured over his head.
"Are you okay?!"
Gnossi raised his hand to touch the wound on his cheek. Viterra helped him up and applied potion to the burns on his body.
"That monster just now seemed to be about SS-class, but for some reason, it just left. It's fortunate, though."
"...Yes."
Amid the murmurs of the people, the two watched the monster, now a mere speck in the distance.
"Will he return someday?"
"Pardon? Oh, Alpha? Hmm, well, it's his hometown after all. Even if he doesn't have many good memories, he might come back once. Does that skill have a healing suppression effect? The burn will leave a scar. Let's go see a healer."
"No, it's okay."
A burn mark—it wasn't bad. Although it was a different flame, still.
"Until then, we'll have to work hard on reconstruction. We have to do what we can."
"That's exactly what I mean!"
Viterra smiled, noting that fortunately, the Mana Hall had calmed down.
Peace flapped his wings without rest. As he flew swiftly across the sky, scattering flames thanks to his dash skill, strangely, no monsters attacked him. The monsters that should have been scattered outside the cities had almost disappeared. Thanks to that, he flew nonstop and arrived at Lanchea before sunset.
"Look over there!"
A guard of Lanchea, preparing for the night, shouted, pointing at Peace.
"Isn't that the monster that appeared in Solemnity?"
"Seems like it."
Having just heard the news via intercity communication, Lanchea's guards waved their arms over their heads.
"Come over here, little one!"
"You took down an SS-class monster, right? Come to us; we'll treat you well!"
"We don't discriminate against monsters. If you're job-hunting, you're more than welcome!"
Amid their coaxing, Peace slowly circled once in the air. Even here, he could only sense slight traces of Han Yoojin. Peace looked toward the distant north. He didn't like cold places or ones with a lot of water, but he had to go.
Seeing the small monster flapping its wings and heading north, the Lanchea guards couldn't hide their disappointment.
"He's heading north too."
"I wonder if Lambda is doing well."
"If you meet him, send our regards!"
"Mr. Lambda, we couldn't hold him back because he wouldn't come down!"
Leaving behind the hands waving in farewell, Peace flew on. The air grew colder, and snowflakes brushed against his fur. After flying for some time, the northern city finally came into his golden eyes.
"Kyah!"
This time, he wouldn't be too late. Peace flapped his wings even more vigorously and entered the airspace over Drosia City.