I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 91

91.

【Human.】

“Heeik.”

Kim Su-hyeok, who had confidently shot down Ignis, stuttered and stepped back when he faced Ignis head-on.

“Tsk.”

Yun Ah-jeong clicked her tongue at him but raised Falcion.

Whoosh-

As soon as Ignis’s flames flew, Yun Ah-jeong’s defense skill, ‘Sand Armor,’ spread out widely.

‘Sand Armor’ was an excellent skill for physical defense over a wide area.

With Kang Hae-in’s ‘Water Curtain’ and Yun Ah-jeong’s ‘Sand Armor’ combined, they could withstand the attacks reasonably well.

Even so, it couldn’t completely neutralize the overwhelming murderous intent of the Spirit King [Ignis]. Still, as A-class Hunters, they weren’t paralyzed with fear, but it was enough to make them tense.

[Skill ‘Silent Night’ is activated!]

Fortunately, Seo-ah’s skill soothed their stiff shoulders.

As ‘Silent Night’ activated, everyone could hear Kim Su-hyeok sighing deeply.

【I’ll kill you, human.】

Once again, Ignis’s attack began. Ignis continued to hurl blue flames, as if to turn them all into charcoal.

The blue flames were much hotter than the red ones, so they had to be more careful with their defense.

Kang Hae-in maintained a thicker ‘Water Curtain’ and asked,

“Yoo Ji-an, what do we do now? We can’t last much longer like this.”

“I’ll weaken him enough to have a conversation, for now.”

“Yeah, that’s easier said than done!”

Yoo Ji-an gripped Ruin Blade and stepped outside the ‘Water Curtain.’ As if waiting for him, Ignis created flames centered around Yoo Ji-an. But with a single swing of Ruin Blade, the flames dissipated and subsided. He simply overwhelmed it with force.

【What? I’ve never seen a human like that.】

Whether Ignis was astonished or not, Yoo Ji-an slowly opened his mouth.

“Song Jin-ho and Park Seo-ah, provide support from the rear. The rest of you, assist me.”

“Ugh, does that mean going outside?”

Yun Ah-jeong stuck her tongue out at the flames and stepped out of the barrier. ‘Sand Armor’ reduced its size to focus on the attack team.

Kang Hae-in only put up a barrier around Song Jin-ho and Park Seo-ah. A-class Hunters could somehow endure, but E-class was different. Kim Su-hyeok also stepped forward, carrying Midnight on his shoulder.

“Whew, hot, hot.”

Of course, the power of Icing Ball was a big help in the A-class Hunters enduring this much.

“Everyone, be careful!”

As Seo-ah reached out from inside the barrier, everyone placed their hands on the back of Seo-ah’s hand, as if they had promised. Even though they didn’t say anything.

Seo-ah cast ‘Fighting’ and ‘Love Yourself’ on everyone. And watching the group rushing towards Ignis, she hurriedly drank a mana potion.

In addition, Song Jin-ho also cast a recovery skill on Seo-ah.

“Don’t overdo it. It’s a tough opponent, but Ji-an *hyung* [older brother/term of endearment] is here, so it’ll be alright.”

“Ah… Yes.”

Of course, it was a statement based on faith, but if you think about it that way, wouldn’t Yoo Ji-an’s shoulders be too heavy?

Seo-ah watched the battle with sweaty hands.

As Yun Ah-jeong’s ‘Clay Storm’ was activated, hot earth soared up, swirling and obscuring Ignis’s vision.

At the same time, Kim Su-hyeok fired single shots from a distance, blocking his movements.

Kang Hae-in created water balloons to counter Ignis’s incoming fire. When Kang Hae-in’s water met Ignis’s fire, there was an immediate powerful explosion, and steam scattered into the air.

Earth and water extinguished the flames as much as possible, but Ignis’s flames only grew larger.

【You think you can face me with such things? How pathetic.】

“*Hyung*!”

The time for Icing Ball was not long. He had to weaken him before that.

Yoo Ji-an dragged Ruin Blade on the ground and stepped forward.

“If I was just trying to deal with you, I wouldn’t be wasting time like this.”

【What nonsense…】

“Long time no see, Ignis. This is already your fourth time.”

The last words were almost inaudible to his companions behind him.

Immediately, Yoo Ji-an’s figure soared up and fell vertically towards Ignis. Lightning struck inside the crater.

Amidst the swirling blue and red flames, a distinctly different color struck Ignis.

Ignis was ‘fire’ itself. He wasn’t an entity that could be cut with a sword. That’s how it should have been, but Ignis was startled and stepped back.

The aura of destruction flowing from the tip of the sword was so terrifying that it seemed to cut even intangible things.

He stepped back, but that wasn’t the end of the attack. As the blazing lightning struck Ignis’s body, numerous sparks spread out.

【Aaaaaaagh!】

Pain to himself, who was fire itself, was something he had never experienced before. But the scattered sparks merged back into Ignis.

Ignis wasn’t just taking it. He created a sword with flames and blocked the incoming Ruin Blade.

Clang!

Then, strangely enough, there was the sound of metal clashing against metal. Even in the midst of this, the A-class Hunters assisted Yoo Ji-an and steadily weakened Ignis’s power.

Seo-ah couldn’t see all of those scenes very well, but she could definitely tell that they weren’t being pushed back, given the situation.

“You’re amazing, everyone.”

“That’s right, we’ve worked together countless times.”

Song Jin-ho, who was next to her, also cast recovery skills on members with low health gauges from a distance.

Thanks to that, they continued their attacks without easily tiring, even in the flames that felt like they would burn their whole bodies.

In particular, Yoo Ji-an stood at the forefront and countered almost all of Ignis’s attacks.

Perhaps judging that he was becoming increasingly disadvantaged as time passed, Ignis, who had been facing Yoo Ji-an, suddenly flew upwards.

Then he anxiously looked down. He also didn’t forget to keep throwing flames to check at Yoo Ji-an, who was chasing after him, climbing the wall and almost flying.

【The weakest one… is over there.】

At that moment, Ignis suddenly disappeared. At the same time, Yoo Ji-an looked down and shouted.

“Park Seo-ah!”

But before the other members could grasp the situation, Ignis appeared right in front of Park Seo-ah.

Steam billowed from his body as he broke through Kang Hae-in’s Water Curtain.

“Hunter-nim!”

Song Jin-ho tried to do something, but Ignis completely isolated Park Seo-ah by surrounding her with flames.

“Ugh.”

Song Jin-ho faltered and stepped back.

Yoo Ji-an and the members who had rushed over surrounded Ignis.

【Don’t come.】

Then Ignis slightly lowered the intensity of one flame, showing Park Seo-ah inside.

Park Seo-ah was trapped in the flames surrounding her, unable to move, but she seemed unharmed. She had been taken hostage.

As Park Seo-ah was captured, Yoo Ji-an lowered his momentum a little. In any case, the important thing was Seo-ah’s safety.

“Ignis. Have you thrown away the pride of the Spirit King? What do you want?”

【My child.】

“Are you talking about the Spiritist? I was going to find him anyway.”

【Open the way.】

Ignis raised his hand and pointed to the sky. It meant that he wanted them to solve the crater he couldn’t get out of.

“Before that, if you tell us the location of the one who trapped you, we’ll take care of him.”

【No, then I’ll die… I’ll die again!】

For a moment, it seemed like there was communication, but Ignis’s mind was still incomplete. At the word ‘him,’ he muttered about someone’s death and began to go berserk again.

【Stop! I don’t want to die anymore!】

Seo-ah looked at Ignis, who was nearby, in the blazing flames. But somehow, Ignis’s appearance looked familiar.

Seo-ah carefully opened her mouth.

“…Ellis?”

Ignis had the shape of a small girl, though not clearly. And somehow, that shape looked similar to the child she had seen being beaten on the street during the day.

Whether Ignis heard Seo-ah’s small words or not, he turned his head and looked at Seo-ah. Murderous intent flickered in the flames surrounding Seo-ah, and they soared up.

【You, how do you know my child?】

“Park Seo-ah!”

“Park Seo-ah Hunter-nim!”

The flames flickered as if to burn Seo-ah as it is. The heat that would burn her to a crisp made her dizzy.

Seo-ah took a breath and barely opened her inventory to take out a red gem. Silent Night barely supported her mind.

Still, it was possible because Ignis didn’t have the intention to kill her yet.

Seo-ah opened her palm and showed the red gem in her hand.

【This is…】

Ignis reached out to the gem.

【My child’s.】

[Skill ‘Silent Night’ is activated!]

[Skill ‘Silent Night’ is strongly activated!]

The system window suddenly went wild.

Before she could be surprised by the sudden situation, Ignis grew in size and rushed towards Seo-ah.

【Give me back my child!】

She thought she was going to die like that.

Ignis in front of Seo-ah, who had tightly closed her eyes, looked up at her in the form of a small child. The rampage had subsided due to Seo-ah’s ‘Silent Night.’

[Skill ‘Silent Night’ is strongly activated!]

【…Ellis.】

Sparks welled up in Ignis’s eyes. The fact that it couldn’t flow seemed like his tears.