The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 263

261. Peace

“Stop it! If it goes straight that way, it’ll hit Shelter 3!”

“Decoy fireworks launching! 3, 2, 1!”

Fireworks shot up from the defense wall. Light filled with mana flashed with a loud noise, but the monster only glanced at it and didn’t change direction. It was an SS-class monster, a blue snake with potent venom. A monster with powerful poison was more of a threat to the city than any other monster. If the poison seeped into the underground where the shelter was, it would be difficult to block even with a protective barrier. The shelter could only block poison up to A-class.

Eventually, Solemness’s S-class guards stood in front of the monster. The snake widened its green eyes and flicked its long tongue. The confrontation was short. The snake’s body shot out in an instant, breaking the road in a long line. Guards scattered like sparrows caught by a hawk from the splashing venom, dodging to avoid it. Attacks imbued with skills poured toward the monster, but there were no fatal blows. However, it was enough to irritate the monster.

– Sssiiiss!

The snake’s eyes fixed on the man who had greatly scraped its scales among the guards. The Solemness S-class guard gritted his teeth and began running towards the outskirts of the city.

“It’s got a tail! Support him!”

Support skills swirled around the pursued guard. Shooting continued and bombs exploded to slow the snake’s rush. The monster crawled quickly towards its target, destroying buildings and crushing roads.

Without Sigma, it was difficult to hunt an SS-class monster right now. It wasn’t impossible, but the consumption of manpower and resources was so extreme that luring it out of the city and keeping it away was the best solution.

Bang, Kukung, the snake writhed fiercely at the prey that was hard to catch. The snake, which had scraped the floor, crouched its body and jumped high like a spring.

– Kirrreu.

The snake, which crossed the air in an instant like a fired arrow, jumped over the head of the pursued guard and stood in front of him. Before the guard could change direction, a long body wrapped around him like a wall.

“Damn it!”

All sides are hard, scaly bodies, and if you jump up, a venomous snake head is waiting. There is no way to avoid it. The S-class guard uses a useless defense skill and waits for the end.

– Kiiiek!

The monster’s scream was heard. Then, the sound of crushing flesh and bones echoed. The S-class guard raised his head. In his eyes, a red-haired monster was biting the snake’s head tightly.

“…What, what is it?”

A beast with a golden horn and golden mane growled lowly, pressing the snake’s neck with its front paws. Venom splashed everywhere, but it all burned away in the swirling flames, not touching a single hair of the newly appeared monster.

Before long, the snake’s wriggling stopped. In the silence, the red monster looked down at the S-class guard. Although fire is strong against poison, it instantly killed an SS-class monster. Of course, it would be an SS-class monster of the same class.

Should I run? No, can I even run away? As the guard hesitated, the monster rumbled, making a small sound in its throat.

“…Huh.”

The huge bulk shrank in an instant. Triangular ears perked up and a rich tail wagged. The S-class guard blinked at the monster, which had shrunk to the size of a medium-sized dog. He inadvertently thought it was cute.

– Kkiang.

No, it’s definitely cute. The monster trotted up to the guard and looked up at him with golden eyes. The raised tip of its nose twitched slightly.

“Fall back!”

The man quickly raised both hands above his head as other guards approached with weapons.

“Stop! It’s not hostile! There’s no need to provoke it!”

“Yes? A monster?”

“Does that make sense?”

Monsters show hostility to humans. Tamed monsters were an exception, but it was virtually impossible to tame anything above B-class. But an SS-class monster doesn’t attack people.

“But look at this, it’s docile.”

The monster only sniffed as if looking for something and didn’t seem to want to attack at all. The other guards also watched the monster with curiosity, without letting their guard down.

“Well… thanks to you, I’m relieved.”

“I know. It took care of a monster that we could only drag outside in an instant.”

“If Sigma was here, it would have been over in an instant.”

A heavy silence fell for a moment. In the gloomy atmosphere, one of the guards opened his mouth.

“This monster has golden eyes too.”

“…Oh, really.”

The expressions of the Solemness guards became even more clouded at the familiar light in its eyes. Then the monster jumped over the dead snake’s body. The direction it was heading was none other than the Solemness Defense Agency.

“Shouldn’t we stop it?”

“There’s no way to stop it, but…”

What should we do? As the guards pondered, they followed the monster. Guards who had heard the news were waiting in front of the Defense Agency. They also looked embarrassed at the sight of the small, cute monster. Whether they did or not, the monster did not stop. The way it casually walked into the Defense Agency as if taking a walk was so natural, as if it had lived here for a long time.

“What on earth is that monster?”

“Is it okay to leave it like this…?”

The guards followed the monster, unable to stop it easily while worrying. The monster, which had entered the Defense Agency building, walked along the hallway and entered a room. After looking around, it came out and headed towards the elevator leading to the Mana Hall. It jumped up and pressed the button, but it could not be operated without a card key.

– Kkeuang.

The monster looked back at the Solemness guards and cried as if urging them. As if possessed, the elevator door opened, and the monster went down to the Mana Hall, turned around once, and went back up. Then, the monster visited the armory, and the last place it arrived was none other than Sigma’s office.

– Keuheung.

The monster nudged Han Yoojin’s belongings that were still on the desk with its front paw and shook its head slightly. Now, there were no more guards trying to stop the monster. Although it was not spoken out loud, they all had similar thoughts.

Wagging its rich tail, the monster headed to the roof. The guards who noticed the monster’s destination had gloomy faces. Soon, the monster reached the roof and walked forward without hesitation. The guards sensed that the monster was about to leave this place and looked at each other. Then, one of them opened his mouth.

“Goodbye!”

The monster tilted its head and looked back at him. At the same time, other guards began to pour out greetings.

“Thank you for everything!”

“Don’t worry about the aftermath! We will do our best, though we may be lacking!”

“Please take care of your health!”

Flap, small wings sprouted from the monster’s back. Red crescent-shaped feather wings fluttered and quickly soared upwards. The Solemness guards stared blankly at the sight of it moving away in an instant without leaving any regrets, unable to take their eyes off it.

It may have just been a unique monster. Perhaps that was more likely. But they felt a sense of relief in one corner of their hearts.

They exchanged their last greetings. That alone was enough.

“Let’s go clean up. We have to neutralize the poison too.”

“Thanks to you, it’ll be quiet for a while.”

“But we must not let our guard down. We need to prepare for the next time.”

The guards of Solemness left the rooftop with lighter steps.

The Flame-Horned Lion, or rather, a slightly different species, but still the Flame-Horned Lion Peace, quickly crossed the sky. Peace landed far south of here. It entered the body of a fire-attribute monster there and wandered around for a long time, hunting down all the noticeable monsters.

Then, it finally found Han Yoojin’s trace, but he had already left this place. Peace, who examined the situation with a tracking skill, immediately followed his dad’s trace. The Flame-Horned Lion, which had been flying for a long time, landed at the devastated Acates Defense Agency.

“Aaaagh! It’s a monster!”

The manager who was checking the machine around the Mana Hall screamed in horror when he saw Peace. The guards who rushed in an instant scratched the back of their heads at the sight of the small beast.

“…Is it really a monster?”

“Isn’t it a fox? I heard they went extinct a long time ago.”

“The snout is short.”

It was difficult for the guards below S-class to recognize the identity of the SS-class monster who had concealed its power by becoming a spirit. Peace slowly wandered around the Mana Hall area, whether they were talking or not. The tracking skill faintly conveyed what had happened here.

– Keuhang!

Peace growled dissatisfiedly. The guards just stared blankly at Peace, who was rummaging around without showing any signs of attacking people, wondering if it was really a fox.

“That’s not a fox.”

“Gnosis-nim, is it okay for you to get up already?”

The A-class guard, Gnosis, waved his hand, saying he was fine.

“I don’t know what it is, but it’s completely different from the fox I saw.”

“Gnosis-nim, you must have seen a fox before.”

“It was when I was young.”

Now, it was difficult to find wild animals unless they were birds or small animals living underground. Vitera approached Gnosis, who was looking at the Mana Hall. Gnosis glanced back at her.

“You said Alpha left with Han Yoojin-ssi.”

“Yes. I wanted him to stay, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving Han Yoojin-ssi’s side.”

Gnosis stroked his right hand. After a short silence, he opened his mouth.

“The brainwashing or whatever, it didn’t seem like it was happening?”

“Alpha didn’t seem like he would be susceptible to that. More than anything, Han Yoojin-ssi really cherished Alpha a lot. Just watching those two for a moment, you could easily tell how much they valued each other.”

Gnosis was silent again. He had already heard similar words from other people several times. He sighed deeply.

Han Yoojin, who possessed high stealth skills, heard rumors about the treatment of Acates guards and infiltrated Acates City a year ago to confirm the facts. At that time, he met Alpha, whose stealth skills did not work, and secretly built a friendship. While trying to get Alpha out, he was caught. The Acates Alpha manager tried to use Han Yoojin, and to escape from it, Han Yoojin faked his death and escaped.

After that, Alpha’s rampage occurred, and Han Yoojin went to Solemness, sought Sigma’s cooperation, and returned to Acates to carry out this plan, which was Han Yoojin’s excuse and explanation. There were suspicious points, but it was a plausible story.

“…Anyway, I guess it’s something I can’t interfere with.”

He had been enduring for a long time because he lacked strength. But now that a C-class guard had given Alpha freedom, it was just an excuse created by his own weakness. He should have risked his life without going the long way around.

“Why are you making that face? Han Yoojin-ssi wouldn’t have been able to save Alpha easily without us. I can’t say that what we’ve built up over the years hasn’t helped at all. We would have succeeded with our own strength someday, for sure.”

It just got faster. But Gnosis’s expression was still dark. It was at that moment.

– Keureureu.

The small beast, which had been harmlessly wandering around, suddenly bared its teeth fiercely. Flames flared up over its red fur.

“It’s a monster!”

“Be careful!”

Even though it’s so small, I wonder if the grade is low. As soon as he thought that, the Flame-Horned Lion kicked the ground. The opponent who rushed in at a speed that could not be caught up with the eyes was none other than Gnosis.

“Gnosis!”

“Ugh, dodge!”

At least an S-class, or higher-class monster. Pushed by the terrifying force coming from the small body, Peace’s front paw pressed down on Gnosis’s chest, who had fallen to the floor. Clothes burned in the flames, and even the skin turned red.

– Kyaang!

Peace coldly looked down at the human he had suppressed and raised one front paw. He had vaguely sensed that this human had harmed Han Yoojin, but neither Han Yoojin nor Han Yoohyun had killed him. So Peace, guessing there must be a reason, lightly swung his front paw.

Slap, a long scratch remained on Gnosis’s cheek with a sound. Gnosis’s eyes widened. The red flames seemed to heat the blood and dig into the inside.

Peace cried out again as if rebuking him and then spread its wings. Gnosis stared blankly at the small monster that flew away in flames. Potion was poured over his head.

“Are you okay?!”

Gnosis raised his hand and stroked the wound on his cheek. Vitera helped him up and sprinkled potion on the burns on his body.

“The monster just now seemed to be around SS-class, but for some reason, it just left. It’s a relief, but.”

“…Yes.”

Amidst the commotion of the people, the two looked at the monster, which had already become a small dot.

“Will he ever come back?”

“Yes? Ah, Alpha? Hmm, it’s his hometown after all. He may not have good memories, but he might come once. Does the skill have a recovery suppression effect? The burn scars will remain. Let’s go to the healer.”

“No, it’s okay.”

Burn marks, it wasn’t bad. Although it was a different flame, still.

“We have to move busily to rebuild by then. We have to do what we can.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!”

Vitera smiled, saying that the Mana Hall was fortunately not quiet. Peace flapped its wings without rest. While speeding through the sky, scattering flames with the addition of the sprint skill, strangely, there were no monsters attacking. The monsters that should have been scattered outside the city had almost disappeared. Thanks to this, it flew without stopping and arrived in Rancia before the sun set.

“Look at that!”

A Rancia guard who was preparing for the night pointed at Peace and shouted.

“Isn’t that the monster that appeared in Solemness?”

“I think that’s right.”

The Rancia guards, who had heard the news through intercity communication a little while ago, waved their arms above their heads.

“Come here, little one!”

“You caught an SS-class monster, right? I’ll treat you well, won’t you come to your sister!”

“We don’t discriminate against monsters either. If you’re looking for a job, you’re welcome anytime!”

Amidst the coaxing of the Rancia guards, Peace slowly circled in the air. Only a slight trace of Han Yoojin was felt here as well. Peace looked to the far north. He didn’t like cold places or places with a lot of water, but he had to go.

The Rancia guards couldn’t hide their disappointment at the sight of the small monster flapping its wings and heading north.

“He’s going north too.”

“I wonder if Lambda-nim is doing well.”

“If you happen to meet him, please give him my regards!”

“Lambda-nim, he didn’t come down, so I couldn’t grab his ankle!”

Peace flew away again, leaving behind the hands waving as if saying hello. The air was getting colder and colder, and the scattered snowflakes brushed against his fur. How much further did he fly? Finally, the northern city came into his golden eyes.

– Kkyang!

This time, it wouldn’t be too late. Peace flapped its wings even more vigorously and entered the sky above Drosia City.