The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 177

177. Sibling Fight (5)

“Yujin, sir.”

Seeing me approach, Noah lowered his wings and crouched down. I climbed onto his back and fastened the belt connected to the harness. Then, I used the Teacher Skill on Noah. I could clearly see Riette standing at the opposite end.

I wrapped the shawl borrowed from Yerim around Noah’s neck. It was dyed white like the harness to make it less conspicuous. I reached out and lightly patted his scale-covered back.

“Focus on evasion at first.”

“Yes.”

In the distance, I saw Yerim floating into the air. She was wearing a broadcasting headset and holding a camera in one hand, also using an item to enhance her eyesight.

For ordinary people, it was too dangerous, and their dynamic visual acuity couldn’t keep up with the movements. Therefore, A-Rank Hunters with flight skills were usually deployed for filming and commentary during A-Rank ranking matches. But that wasn’t possible now, as they could get caught up in it and cause casualties. However, Yerim was an S-Rank and could teleport, so she could safely broadcast an S-Rank battle.

I also put on my earphones and turned on the receiver that was pre-connected to Yerim’s microphone. Soon, Yerim’s voice came through clearly.

[Hello everyone~ This is Park Yerim, in charge of today’s broadcast.]

She greeted cheerfully, waving at the drone filming her.

[Both of them, both competitors, are currently on standby. The signal to start the battle will be given by the Guild Master of Sesung.]

The Sesung Guild Master was over where the broadcasting equipment and healers were. Since he was here anyway, he decided to protect the broadcasting equipment. Though, judging by his skills, he might end up breaking it himself.

Yuhyun was standing not far from there. Noah’s stat sharing duration was 30 minutes, so I asked him to borrow them when needed.

[The Sesung Guild Master is raising his hand. It looks like it’s about to start.]

Listening to Yerim’s broadcast, I lowered my posture more stably and shared double the attack skill effect with Noah. I was worried that the skill might unavoidably解除 해제 [be unavoidably解除 해제 – a literal translation meaning ‘unavoidably released’ or ‘cancelled’] during flight, but thankfully, as long as it was connected by a string, it was considered contact. Until now, there had always been clothes or gloves between us, not direct skin contact.

After experimenting precisely, connection through objects like strings or sticks was effective up to about half the height of the target. However, it was the distance from the torso, not the fingertips of an outstretched arm. In fact, it was a slightly longer range than grabbing with a fully extended arm.

A faint light flickered in the sky. Noah’s wings tensed, and his hind legs prepared to push off the ground. Riette also drew the sword she had been wearing at her waist.

Kwaaang!

Thunder roared. Noah folded his wings, which had been spread out as if flying, and leaped forward. At the same time, the atmosphere trembled greatly at the spot where he would have been if he had flown up.

Kiiing—

A crescent-shaped sword strike swept widely past. Then, an explosion was heard from behind.

[Riette’s attack has deeply gouged out the mountainside! Noah avoided it well without flying straight up! Now he’s taking off! Riette is chasing right after him.]

“Towards the mountains!”

Since we can fly, it’s better to be in an area with obstacles than on flat ground. Noah quickly flapped his wings. I didn’t need to look back because Yerim was telling me Riette’s movements. Soon, the area below turned into a summer forest.

Kwaaang!

[When Riette swung her sword, all the trees were cut down, no, destroyed! Is it a skill? Fragments wrapped in something like wind are being thrown into the sky.]

A part of the forest unfolded in the air. Trees with branches and leaves still attached swept past right next to us. Noah avoided the fragments with his honed flying skills, or broke some with his claws, quickly moving away from Riette again.

“Keep evading like this until Riette goes into Specialized Mode.”

Even if the attack skill effect was doubled, it wouldn’t have much effect on Noah. In the first place, it was a skill that wasn’t very useful for support and defense types. The problem was whether there were any attack skills to apply in the first place.

Noah was the same. He couldn’t use poison, and Soundless Scream didn’t work on Riette. Items other than equipment were prohibited in ranking matches, so he couldn’t take painkillers either. So, I thought it might be useful, but…

‘It won’t work on my sister.’

Noah said, telling me about the skills Riette had while we were planning the strategy. Riette’s combat support skill, Heart Towards Victory. When focusing on a fight, it speeds up the reaction to the opponent’s movements and greatly reduces the pain of injuries, helping to prevent disruption of activity with rapid hemostasis [the process of stopping bleeding].

Therefore, even if it was a doubled Soundless Scream, Riette would be able to endure it easily. In the end, both of my only two attack skills were sealed.

All that remained was the newly acquired Silent Wound, only one.

[Noah keeps running away; I’m worried he might lose by going out of bounds.]

Yerim said, sounding genuinely worried. The arena’s range wasn’t precisely defined, but there was an out-of-bounds rule to prevent people from going beyond a certain area. If someone approached the out-of-bounds area, the Hunters on standby would fire signal flares to let them know.

“Are you just going to keep running away, Pebble!”

A booming shout was heard. Noah reflexively turned his head to look at Riette. At the same time, the air trembled again. Golden wings abruptly twisted, and Noah’s body descended diagonally.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Unlike the initial attack that had cut down the entire surroundings, this time, disjointed sword strikes chased after us in succession. Noah twisted his wings and body this way and that, dodging the attacks that followed like guided missiles. A few times, the tips of his wings and tail were grazed, but there were no injuries. I thought it was fortunate, but then…

[Ah, Riette is luring Noah’s movements towards her side!]

Yerim’s voice was heard. Come to think of it, we were getting closer to the ground. I felt like I had been splashed with cold water, and at the same time, I conveyed the pre-determined sensation to Noah through the Teacher Skill.

If we were lured, it was already too late to avoid it. So.

“Hello, Pebble.”

Riette pounced from between the trees. The blade shone at an unavoidable distance. Instead of dodging the attack, Noah’s body spun around.

Kagang!

The swung sword collided with my arm. Originally, it was an attack that would have swept away the surroundings with just the aftershock. But the aftermath other than the impact sound was swallowed up by the power of Damage Nullification and completely disappeared.

Riette, who met my eyes, frowned. Only for a moment, though. Not missing the gap where the attack was nullified, Noah swung his tail.

Thwack!

The sole of the raised walker [a type of footwear], as if waiting for it, collided with the gold-wrapped tail. Riette’s body soared up as if bouncing, and Noah bared his teeth at her, who was floating in the air in a defenseless state. Noah, who had been flying in as if to cut the seemingly frail body in half compared to a dragon, saw the smiling golden eyes and hurriedly changed the direction of his wings.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Riette raised her sword in the air. Her body spun, and she kicked the blade hard with her foot.

Teong—!

Already, sharp black claws were revealed on her hand. It flew towards Noah like an arrow.

Kagagak

“Ugh!”

Since we had already created distance, he wasn’t hit directly, but the scales on the wing joint were scraped off lengthwise. A faint drop of blood splattered, and Riette, who had fallen to the ground, quickly picked up her sword. In the meantime, Noah, who had turned his body, used a recovery skill and ran away in the opposite direction.

[That was really close! Having a recovery skill is a big advantage in ranking matches where you can’t use potions. That’s why you shouldn’t ignore support-type Hunters. Every Hunter has their strengths and weaknesses.]

That must be what Seoksik ordered her to say. Riette chased after Noah again. She seemed to be getting annoyed by constantly running away. Unless they had a special skill, a small human running on two feet would inevitably be slower than a dragon with wings. The movement speed due to the explosion of instantaneous power was fast, but it was difficult to maintain it continuously.

“Is your stamina still okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Shall we tease my sister a little more? Even if I get hurt a little more, I still have plenty of mana.”

“Still, you have to be as careful as possible. You said she won’t even give you time to use a healing skill if she catches you.”

“Yes……”

Noah’s voice lost strength as if he was reminded of something from the past. Oh no. I quickly reassured him, telling him not to worry and that he was doing well.

[Noah is approaching the out-of-bounds area. A signal flare is being fired over there!]

Piiing, a red flame soared into the sky. At the same time, Noah abruptly changed his flight direction. As if teasing Riette, who was chasing after him, he quickly passed right above her, and intermittent attacks flew in. But it wasn’t difficult to avoid thanks to the distance.

“You’re like a rat!”

Riette’s voice was starting to get annoyed. And finally.

“Krrr.”

Along with a heavy rumble, a huge black dragon appeared. Claws, each like a giant iron hook, scraped the ground.

“Noah, to Yuhyun!”

Bang, bang, bang. With a terrifying rumble, the black dragon closely followed behind. The ground behind Riette was a mess, as if there had been an earthquake. The speed created by the huge size and power quickly caught up with Noah’s flapping wings.

“Come here!”

Like a cat chasing a butterfly, Riette, who leaped up in a way that didn’t suit her size, swung her claws. Even though he wasn’t hit directly, the aftermath roughly wrapped around Noah’s wings. Precariously staggering, Noah used the stat sharing skill towards Yuhyun. What he borrowed was none other than strength.

Immediately after, Yuhyun drew his sword.

Kagagak!

A long line was drawn in front of Riette’s feet, and flames soared like a barrier. Yuhyun spat out towards the narrowing golden eyes.

“From here on out, it’s out of bounds.”

“It seemed wider, aren’t you taking sides?”

“Why would I?”

[Is an exhibition match breaking out! But what happens if another Hunter interferes? Is the match suspended? A three-way battle would be fun too!]

While Yerim was excited and Yuhyun and Riette were growling at each other, Noah took out and put on the equipment he had prepared. It was none other than a cover to be attached to his claws.

“I already said, it’s disposable.”

It was equipment made by Myungwoo that maximized the penetration power of the claws, for one use only.

With Noah’s power, he couldn’t inflict a proper wound on Riette. When he was human, he couldn’t approach properly, and when he was in dragon form, it was difficult to pierce the thick scales.

But Noah’s new attack skill, Silent Wound, was activated only after inflicting an injury on the opponent.

“Aim for an opportunity to make the longest, deepest wound possible.”

Riette also had strong recovery power. Even without potions or healing skills, the bleeding would stop immediately, and even in Specialized Mode, light wounds would heal before long. So, he had to inflict a wound that wouldn’t heal and would be maintained.

“Riette in Specialized Mode will trust her scales and pay less attention to defense and evasion. Her neck is thick and short, so her field of vision is also narrow.”

“Yes, I practiced a lot.”

A C-Rank dungeon where a similar-looking earth dragon to Riette but smaller appeared. Noah went in there all day and studied the earth dragon’s movements. The speed and power were worlds apart, but the basic movements would be similar.

The golden dragon turned its body towards the black dragon. Riette looked at Noah, who had stopped in the air, with satisfied eyes.

“Have you finally decided to do it properly?”

Instead of answering, Noah folded his wings. Towards the golden body that was falling straight down, the black mass rushed in as if snatching prey. The sound of thorns lining up tore at the ears, and dust flew over the dug-up ground. Just before colliding with Riette, Noah greatly spread his wings and flapped.

Whoosh, the air swelled, and the dust that was already rising spread even more thickly and widely. Riette blinked momentarily. Whirlick, Noah turned his body and swept past the terribly exposed fangs. The tips of the golden wings softly scraped the black armor-like scales.

Kwagaak!

Noah’s claws dug into Riette’s neck, into the thick muscles. A red line continued all the way to the shoulder, thanks to the speed of the sudden descent. The sound of scales scattering and flesh tearing was heard, and blood soaked even my clothes. The claw cover, having exhausted its effect, shattered and scattered.

“Krr!”

It wasn’t a painful sound. It was anger. The black dragon’s body showed mobility that didn’t match its size and turned sharply. The raised thorns blocked the view, and the huge forefoot struck Noah’s relatively small body.

“Kyaak!”

“Noah!”

Noah’s right wing and hind leg were almost torn off. Fortunately, Noah didn’t lose consciousness and used a healing skill, limping onto Riette’s back. Just before the black dragon turned its body to throw him off, the recovered wings spread.

“Good job!”

I quickly praised Noah, who was panting as he flew up.

“Now time is on our side.”

Silent Wound was activated with double the effect. The golden dragon trembled slightly and looked down at the black dragon far below. The trembling slowly stopped. Even while facing his angry sister’s eyes, Noah calmly moved his wings.