The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 105

“Hand it over.”

Noah said, gritting his teeth. Despite the fact that those much stronger than him were exuding an energy that hadn’t cooled down since the battle, he didn’t back down.

His stubbornly standing figure reminded Sung Hyunjae of the immediate aftermath of defeating Barbar. The opponent was completely different, but the situation was somewhat similar.

However, unlike then, he didn’t feel any murderous intent. Of course, he still had no intention of handing over the young man he was holding.

“Guild Leader Sesung.”

Ignoring the urgent voice calling out to him, Sung Hyunjae looked at the face of Han Yoojin, who had lost consciousness. Suddenly, he thought that face looked young. Wouldn’t it suit him better if he were a bit older? Around… thirty years old.

“Hey, don’t ignore someone else’s little brother.”

Liete, who had been examining the dead dragonkin, frowned slightly.

“Why don’t you start by educating your little brother?”

“What?”

“You shouldn’t covet what belongs to others.”

“I did teach him to get what he wants by any means necessary, though.”

Liete stood up from her spot with a flick. Her golden eyes smiled brightly, but fiercely.

“And I want to have him too. Our darling seems to have many abilities.”

“It’s inevitable that ants will swarm a candy box, but…”

“Why ants? Say it’s a passing dragon.”

“Shouldn’t we lay him down somewhere first?”

Noah, who had flinched back when his sister approached, mustered his courage again and interjected.

“Rather than that, it would be better to finish the attack and leave. Last time, it took him several days to wake up, and there are healers outside.”

“Was there even a second floor here? I’ll have to use some strength for my delicate honey.”

Liete, who had transformed back into her dragon form, confidently swung her tail—long and powerfully. With her exceptional speed and destructive power, she would be able to complete the attack in a short amount of time if she stepped up.

– Should I give you a ride?

“I have a few things to take care of, so I’ll ask you to do that.”

– Huh? Oh, are those guys still alive? Why did you keep them alive?

Liete, tilting her head, recalled the hunters from MKC and Sudam and asked.

“Since we’ve made such a big deal out of this, we can use them effectively in the future, can’t we? We even have two S-Class Hunters.”

– You’re so thrifty.

“We have to use what we can. From now on……”

Sung Hyunjae stopped speaking. Something vaguely 떠오른 [떠오른 means ‘ 떠오르다’ which means to float, to come to mind, to rise] soon disappeared into thin air. Feeling an unpleasant sense of incongruity, he looked down at Han Yoojin again.

* * *

Everywhere I looked, there were dragon corpses, traces of corpses. They varied in size and shape, but all of them were Cursed Poison Dragon species.

– Krrr.

A dragon with a long, serpentine body was writhing, pierced by a spear made of black flames. Then, blocking my path was a rather welcome face.

Rauchitas.

The Cursed Poison Dragon King, who seemed bigger and stronger than the one I had encountered before my regression, was roaring. How many kings are there? Well, there were more than a few in my neighborhood too.

“Is your only talent showing off your pets? You’re a truly pathetic master.”

Well, if the main attack skills are poison and curses, it can’t be helped. I lightly inhaled the pungent poison. To me, it’s refreshing air.

Spreading my wings, I flew past Rauchitas and cut off his three heads in one swift motion. If that disaster were to appear outside the dungeon right now, they would have to abandon the entire continent and be grateful for the existence of the sea, and for being a dragon species that can’t fly, as it collapsed powerlessly.

Koo-oong.

Without any particular emotion, I sent a cold sigh towards the master who was pouring out dragons. Then, in the shadowless daylight, magic power and fire attribute enhancement.

Towards the guy trying to drive away the white mist.

Swish!

Cold, frozen raindrops poured down. The sweltering air momentarily cooled, but it soon heated up again, unable to overcome the momentum of the black flames erupting from everywhere.

I quickly flew towards the guy who was immobilized. It was tricky to use Hermes’ Shoes’ teleportation. My flying speed was faster with wings.

“Being held back by an F-Class.”

I slapped him with my transformed hand, and he rolled away. It’s truly a beautiful sight.

“Kugh, damn it!”

“Losing your pets one after another.”

Folding my wings, I landed on top of his horned head. I lightly countered whatever skill he was attacking with. If it’s skill versus skill, I have a much greater advantage.

“Now your memories are about to become tattered. Shouldn’t you automatically get a Minus F-Class or something at this point?”

Pajit, light sparked as his arm burned away. I used the Teacher Skill to dig into his memories more easily. It helped me get dragged here, so it should have some effect. The opponent’s rank was high, but thanks to the increased skill effect, I was able to delve in without much difficulty.

Inside his consciousness, memories were piled up like countless layers of old dust. I forcibly dragged out those fragments.

I had guessed it, but there were indeed other worlds.

‘This guy was something like a born S-Class, too.’

An ancient dragonkin of poison and curses who was ostracized and nearly extinct in some world. A kind of shaman who tamed and fused dragon species to create new species.

It was somewhat interesting, but not what I was looking for.

“Think about the star-counting bird.”

Who she is, where she is, how to find her.

I searched the memories again. This time, it was about his skills. It seemed that this mental skill could only be released if both sides wanted to leave. He can’t escape, so that’s good information.

And again, discarding useless memories again.

“You already know that if you can’t stop the dungeon and it gets consumed, the world is already doomed.”

There were also memories of worlds that had disappeared like that. When dungeons kept bursting and monsters poured out, and most of the humans, the intelligent beings of that world, disappeared. The parts where the burst dungeons were located also disappeared as if they were being eaten, completely absorbed by something.

“It’s not always about dungeons. There are worlds where monsters just roam around without dungeons?”

There were also worlds without systems or awakenings. Medieval era? Should I call it fantasy-style? Worlds where they could use magic and sword energy from the beginning. From some point on, the monsters became increasingly stronger, and when they couldn’t handle it, they were also eaten by something.

In those worlds, the creators of the system, the parricides, disguised themselves as various gods instead of systems, giving oracles and gifts according to achievements to help the intelligent beings. In the end, they failed.

“Are there any successful cases?”

I became a little uneasy. It can’t fail. At least for the next hundred years, or maybe S-Classes have long lifespans, so let’s say two hundred years.

Ignoring his struggles, I searched his memories again. Useless memories, this is also a useless memory, and Han Yoohyun.

My younger brother, older than now, was making a cold expression. My heart instantly cooled down. …It didn’t seem like the right time to make a contract because of me.

[Why are you asking me for Sung Hyunjae’s whereabouts?]

It seemed to be after Sung Hyunjae disappeared. Because it was a recent memory, the image and voice were clear. He sent only a cold gaze as if there was no need to talk for long, and then Yoohyun’s figure disappeared.

I tried to bring out that memory once more, but it seeped into the countless fragments. While I was standing there blankly for a moment, I grabbed the dragonkin guy who was trying to escape and tore him apart again.

After searching through memories that were of no value to me countless times, I finally grabbed something unusual.

“The third, the deepest spring?”

It was called a spring, but the image that came to mind was completely different. Like a black hole’s imagination, light flowed in an endlessly deep hole instead of water.

Then.

“The fifth, the snow-falling tree.”

A giant tree whose size I couldn’t even guess, and particles like falling snow. A bird was seen flying between the infinitely extending branches.

Too small compared to the size of the tree to properly recognize its shape, but definitely a white bird that would have been larger than any ordinary dragon.

The star-counting bird. I had a feeling that it was definitely her.

“What is the snow-falling tree? Where is it?”

“You said you wouldn’t listen to it from my mouth.”

The guy who spoke growlingly suddenly let out a hollow laugh.

“I never thought it would get this twisted. But what’s certain is that Han Yoojin, you are the key.”

“What?”

“The sound of this world ending if you just die.”

What nonsense. More than that, how are you going to kill me? Already beaten to a pulp, I thought, and at that moment, part of the space began to break down.

The figure of the guy who was grabbed by my collar disappears. The cracks in the air become even bigger, and fragments scatter.

Exactly half of the space.

Beyond the broken space, in another empty space, a giant dragon rose. Light scattered beyond the unfolding wings. No, it’s stars. The moment I realized that, my vision became faint.

“Ancient dragonkin of poison and curses, Diarma.”

Muttering as I stepped back further into my space. The master who created countless cursed poison dragons, his dragon transformation. The unweakened main body. The seedling skill barely reads him.

“…He’s definitely stronger than me.”

And now that dragon was real. Not a mental entity, but the real thing, breaking through space and intruding. My whole body trembled slightly.

“Is this okay?”

– I’ll have to sleep for a long time as a price. But I’ll be satisfied with killing you.

“Your ambition is too small.”

I spat out the words sarcastically, but I couldn’t help the end of my voice becoming blurred. The dragon moves. At the moment when the tip of its claw was about to break my space.

Thump!

A ball bounced. It’s a volleyball. The face drawn on it was frowning.

Thump— Thump!

– It’s a foul!

The volleyball, the newbie, shouted.

– You are.

– It’s a foul! Connecting, Water Drop Senior!

And it rained.

Swish—

In the heavy air where the fire went out, the poison scattered, and the air became heavy. A giant figure appears. The dragon shouted, raising its thorns.

– Mermaid Queen!

As the words said, it was a mermaid. But it was a different image from any mermaid I knew. She was a very beautiful female with blue scales and transparent fins, but at the same time, she was ferocious.

Should I say she was the most combative form of mermaid in the world?

Crack.

The scales on her back, spread like wings, moved, pushing against each other. The earrings that shook with a clear sound were somehow familiar. A long spear was held in the Mermaid Queen’s hand, and the dragon roared loudly.

– The imprisoned parricide is going out!

“Strictly speaking, it’s in Honey’s consciousness. We can’t come out. Absolutely.”

The spear was pointed like a knight setting out to hunt a dragon. She turned to me, and her deep blue eyes without whites held a smile.

“Will you allow it, Honey?”

“…Yes?”

“Because the owner of this place is Honey.”

I looked at her and the dragon beyond her. Permission.

“Is there anyone who wants that guy’s head more desperately than I do? So, I’d like to ask for your cooperation.”

At the same time as the words fell, the spear tip was swung. The air shook heavily as if submerged in water.

– Kuaaa!

The dragon lunged at the Mermaid Queen. The moment he couldn’t break my space and entered, his size also decreased. The body scattering blood here and there is at most about half the size of Rauchitas.

Even the sense of oppression that was evenly matched with fear resistance was greatly reduced.

“What happened?”

I asked, turning to the Mermaid Queen. She was also reduced to a size slightly larger than a human.

“Even if it’s in consciousness, Honey could be in danger if we fought as we were. I connected with you and adjusted it to a level that wouldn’t be dangerous. And, I said cooperation, right?”

Yes, cooperation. Thank you. Sincerely.

“Mr. Diarma, shall we go again?”

I spread my wings in the falling rain. The dragon, wary of the Mermaid Queen, bared its fangs.

– Even if I’m weakened, it will be different from before!

“That’s more welcome. I don’t feel like I’ve really fought unless I get a bite on my side.”

Isn’t this a space where I only need to avoid instant death? So, make me tattered as much as you can.

Lightning struck along with the cold rain.

A violent wind tore my body in the overflowing poison that seemed to melt the world. I folded my severed wings and fell onto the dragon’s head. Blood flowed from the dragon’s eyes. Of course, it’s mine. The blood that seeped between the eyelids and between the scales blazed.

Screams and the smell of burning flesh.

I stabbed a poison-mixed blood spear into the gap that had melted beyond burning, and struck lightning again. The current concentrated in one place bursts dazzlingly.

Gnawing and gnawing like that, at the end that remained.

A cracked magic stone was held in my hand. It wasn’t very big. It was a cloudy black magic stone, slightly smaller than the palm of my hand.

Thud, thud.

The rain continued to fall without stopping. Standing in the blood being washed away, I looked at the Mermaid Queen. And asked.

“Do you know about the star-counting bird?”