The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 272

Swish, swish, swish—

A downpour raged. It wasn’t ordinary rainwater. This world, the dungeon, was melting away. Neither the Filial Unpiety [those who defy the natural order] nor the Filial Piety Addict [those excessively devoted to the natural order] should directly interfere in a world to which they didn’t belong. They forcibly broke through using the fact that the fake, the true form, was a dungeon, but the repercussions were naturally significant.

Moreover, with two immense powers colliding, the world was rapidly collapsing, just as the newbie had said.

“You broke free of the restrictions with just that contract? There’s no way you could preserve power equal to mine, who contracted with the King of the Harmless at the cost of an SSS-class monster!”

The sixth fragment of the Crescent Moon shouted in disbelief. Certainly, it was too small a price for a Transcendent [beings who have surpassed the limits of their world] to intervene in this world.

“It’s partly thanks to someone barging in and making a mess first, and also…”

Seong Hyeonje reached out to the side. Sigma, who had been standing blankly, tried to avoid him but was grabbed by the shoulder first. Since both possessed Battle Prediction, the one with higher stats had the advantage.

“It’s thanks to having someone with a deep connection to me.”

“Let go of me!”

“Bring out the Chains of the Seeker.”

Sigma’s brow furrowed at the commanding tone. Being so close, they looked even more alike. At the same time, Seong Hyeonje clearly seemed more mature.

“Why should I?”

“Good boy, little one.”

The hand that had been holding Sigma’s nape suddenly pulled him down as if pressing him. Two pairs of golden eyes met. Perhaps due to the influence of the body he was in, Seong Hyeonje’s eye level was slightly higher.

“Don’t bully the kid.”

“He’s cute, that’s why.”

“Wow, you can say that with the same face as yours right in front of you.”

Sigma, who had been grinding his teeth in resentment, eventually took out the chains. As the golden chains touched Seong Hyeonje’s hand, they shed their skin, so to speak, and soared into the sky like a dragon ascending, with an even more intense aura. The centaur looked at the sight with a bewildered expression. Released, Sigma rubbed the back of his neck and stared at Seong Hyeonje with stiff eyes.

“Those chains cannot be wielded by anyone who isn’t a contractor.”

“That’s right.”

“Are you me?”

A light smile answered the heavy question. Clatter, clatter, the golden chains wrapped around us protectively, deflecting the pouring raindrops.

“Just what is your true identity, Delloews!”

“Even if it’s a fake world that will soon disappear, you shouldn’t call my name so carelessly.”

The centaur pointed the bow he was holding forward. Black branches sprouted from the black bow, intertwining and stretching out. Gripping a massive longsword, like a club without a blade, black hooves pounded the air.

Clang! The longsword cleaved the air, tangling with the golden chains blocking its path. Each time they scraped and pushed against each other, creating sparks, the ground and sky shook simultaneously. Without any protection, I, as well as the SS-class guard Sigma, would have instantly lost our lives just by touching those sparks.

The longsword was swung wildly, and dozens of arrows rained down through the downpour, but the golden chains didn’t budge. It was as if we were leisurely watching the falling rain and echoing thunder beyond a thick window.

The white barrier-like area centered around where Seong Hyeonje stood did not allow the encroachment of the night in the slightest. No, it seemed to be expanding its territory even further.

“That chain was given to the Little Moon! No one but the Little Moon and the original owner, the Crescent Moon, can use it!”

“You’re good at answering your own questions.”

Answering my own questions. No, but still.

“I don’t understand either!”

I reached out and grabbed Seong Hyeonje’s sleeve, then flinched and let go. It was the sleeve of the missing arm. It wasn’t a real body, but it was still awkward.

“So, ack! What is this.”

Something wrapped around my waist as I stepped back. A white, long tail. What, what’s this attached to me! A white tail, it’s really there!

“Han Yoojin-gun.”

“Yes, let go of this.”

“That’s a scout.”

“Excuse me?”

“The cradle of Transcendent beings, created by the Crescent Moon based on a part of itself, to find, contact, and nurture talents who can become Transcendent beings to save the world. The sixth of the scouts.”

In the low voice, the stars in the sky disappeared. The surroundings were all painted white or black. The only thing intact was the vicinity of the Mana Hole where we stood. The Mana Hole, scattering bright blue light, felt bizarre.

In the extremely surreal scene, Seong Hyeonje turned his head and looked at the sixth fragment of the Crescent Moon. White eyes glared back at him fiercely.

“…Who exactly is the Crescent Moon? Have you remembered?”

“No, this isn’t information I know. It’s the memory of this body, the White Tail Delloews, a member of the Filial Piety Addicts. The Crescent Moon is said to be a very old being. Naturally, there can’t be so many System Administrators, the Filial Unpiety. No matter how outstanding their talents, it’s extremely rare for them to grow into Transcendent beings.”

But the Filial Unpiety in charge of our world that I know alone filled more than one hand. There would certainly be more in other worlds.

“So they artificially created them. By having them devour their own world.”

Sigma’s, Alpha’s, Delta’s, Mu’s, and Lambda’s worlds were rapidly disappearing. I inadvertently looked at Sigma.

“Devour their own world?”

“Filial Unpiety. Isn’t it a very fitting title? It may not be true for everyone, and there may be those who have grown naturally with long time and special luck, but the majority of the Filial Unpiety are, as the name suggests, Filial Unpiety. They devoured the world they were born and raised in.”

Including that one, the centaur struck the chain hard. A terrifying wave spread out, and the golden chain creaked and was pushed back slightly. White hair fluttered in the wind. Raindrops fell through the gaps, soaking our feet.

“Since only those who belong to and have grown up in the world can devour it, the Crescent Moon planted its fragments in various worlds while searching for talents to nurture. Not all fragments could become Transcendent beings, but they were more likely to be far superior to ordinary humans.”

[The Moon That Devoured a Thousand Worlds]

That message suddenly came to mind. It meant that the Crescent Moon didn’t directly devour the world, but had its fragments and the talents it found devour them.

More than that, if most of the Filial Unpiety became Transcendent beings by eating their own worlds… I felt nauseous. The newbie’s bright message, saying he would help save the world, flickered before my eyes. Devouring their own world, and then.

“…Am I one of those fragments?”

Sigma asked.

“No, you and I are human. We’re just receiving troublesome attention.”

It meant that he was one of the talents the Crescent Moon had marked to nurture into a Transcendent being. That was plausible. It would be blind to pass that human by.

“Will you accept that attention? You’ll become incredibly strong, though. Like now.”

The voice asking trembled slightly. Seong Hyeonje widened his eyes slightly and looked back at me. And then made an exaggeratedly disappointed expression.

“I had already answered, but am I that untrustworthy?”

“What, what is it?”

“Please stay as you are. Without changing, without disappearing. Just as you are.”

I was momentarily stunned by the words spoken with a gentle smile, and then the back of my neck flushed. Crazy, his memory is disgustingly good. No, what I said is right, but hearing it again like this makes me embarrassed and my hands and feet curl up. I must have been crazy. What was I thinking when I said such a thing? Was my poison resistance turned off? Or was I drunk?

“Ah… no, that’s different! It was just, like, asking you to wait a bit.”

“And. You’re not my type either.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Forcibly swallowing what isn’t mine and wielding it as my own power.”

A chill ran down my spine. The pupils of the golden eyes narrowed like needles. They looked like a cat’s, but also felt like a reptile’s.

“Powerful weapons, excellent skills, and the humans who possess them. I have no aversion to holding and handling them at all. On the contrary, it’s enjoyable. The higher the value of the opponent, the more so. But power that isn’t rooted in me, that isn’t based on my will, has no meaning. It’s just boring and unpleasant.”

So. Immediately after the low growl, Seong Hyeonje’s figure disappeared from before my eyes. Bang! Only after hearing the explosion did I hurriedly look around.

“Keuk!”

A pure white spear was already embedded in the centaur’s hind leg. The falling rain turned into a storm, madly pounding in all directions. The centaur swung the greatsword, but Seong Hyeonje lightly avoided the attack by taking a step back. With a cool smile, Seong Hyeonje’s body disappeared again as if sinking.

The centaur, anticipating the continued attack, spread his magic power in all directions and held the greatsword like a shield. Branches sprouted from the sword, protecting and enveloping him, and at the same time, Seong Hyeonje, who appeared in the air, greatly rotated his body and pressed down on the broad side of the greatsword with his heel as if hammering it.

Kugung!

With a roar like a bomb exploding, the branches surrounding the greatsword snapped off. Without a moment to breathe, Seong Hyeonje held a white spear in his hand. Almost simultaneously with the heel kick, the spear pierced through the gap where the branches had broken. The centaur hurriedly raised the greatsword diagonally, blocking the spear. The spear and sword collided, causing an explosion that stung the eyes.

Gwooooong—

A fierce wind like a blade wrapped around the two bodies, and Seong Hyeonje floated his body as if riding that wind.

Bang, bang!

Continuous attacks exploded, making the eyes dizzy. The two masters’ two chains were entangled with each other, neutralized, and skills and skills, magic power and magic power, were also scattered in a tense tug-of-war, repeatedly colliding again.

“Stop! Even if you attack me, it’s just fake information!”

What remained as transcendent power in an equal state was physical assault. The centaur’s greatsword was powerful, but its movements were surprisingly clumsy. Seong Hyeonje, who had already moved behind the centaur’s head, strongly kicked the horse’s back with his foot. It was just a simple shoe, but the splendidly decorated hem of his clothes split long along with the skin beneath it, as if wielding a sharp blade. Kicking away the centaur’s body, which was trying to avoid him, Seong Hyeonje raised the corner of his mouth.

“You were raised being fed whatever was given to you, so you’re in this state. You’re no different from livestock.”

“Keuheuk!”

The centaur stretched out black branches towards Seong Hyeonje with a resentful cry. And before those branches could break in retaliation, he fiercely charged and swung the greatsword. The momentum was undoubtedly fierce, but only rainwater was caught on the sword.

Seong Hyeonje, kneeling on the ground and lowering his body, smoothly slid to the side and swung the spear towards the centaur’s legs. The two front legs that were struck snapped with a crack, and the centaur’s body collapsed forward.

“You bastard!”

But he immediately bounced back up, planting his hands on the ground. In that short time, the broken legs were healed. Whether he had a recovery skill or the body itself had high regenerative power. He quickly healed the wounds, but Seong Hyeonje’s movements were even faster. He grabbed the face of the centaur who had stood up and lifted his knee to strike his chest. The centaur’s movements momentarily froze at the powerful attack that seemed to crush all the ribs.

Not missing the gap, Seong Hyeonje put strength into the hand holding the centaur’s head and snapped his neck as it was. The huge bulk tumbled to the floor, and the spear was repeatedly plunged down on top of it.

“You’re fake, but the Little Moon you were managing cannot be said to be completely fake.”

“Keueu, you, just what…”

Seong Hyeonje’s foot stomped on the centaur’s head. The eyes looking down at him were chilling.

“It will leave this place safely without being recovered.”

“Not completely, not real either…”

“Yes. Because this place is just the past. But even a small twist, a branching point, is said to be enough. I don’t like following such words willingly either.”

The white spear pierced through the panting neck and was embedded as if fixing it to the floor.

“Because I have to keep my promise.”

Even in that state, the centaur was still alive. But the momentum that had covered the sky had completely subsided, and the silver chains had lost their power and lay on the floor. Seong Hyeonje turned back towards us without finishing.

“Why don’t you kill him?”

“If I kill him now, the aftermath will cause the world to collapse in an instant. Then the little one won’t be safe either.”

Seong Hyeonje and I simultaneously looked back at Sigma. Perhaps because of the nickname, Sigma made a displeased expression.

“What are you going to do with me?”

“Let you escape this place alive.”

“…To where C-classes are?”

“That won’t do. Because I’m already there.”

I looked at the two people facing each other. They were definitely the same, but.

“The Crescent Moon probably thought of the Little Moon as quite special. To the extent that it directly took its name and attached it. But the Little Moon would have refused. Several times. Devouring the world.”

Seong Hyeonje said lightly, as if it were someone else’s business, that this was all he knew.

“I’ll send you away when there’s enough of a gap. I don’t know where it will be, though.”

Sigma glanced at me once and nodded. My head became dizzy. Then Sigma is the long ago… Seong Hyeonje.

The Crescent Moon tried to make him a Transcendent being but failed, and took him out and planted him in another world? That… repeated several times. Although he didn’t have the memories, these two people were clearly feeling that repeated sensation. The two people who always acted as if the world was boring came to mind.

“…The Crescent Moon or whatever, is really a pain in the ass. Why grab someone who says they don’t want to.”

Isn’t that playing around with people’s lives? While saying grand things like saving the world. And the Filial Unpiety are…

In what way will they allow us to save our world?

In the complex mood, the rain continued to pour. At that time, the strength drained from my whole body. In front of me, staggering.

– Peep!

A blue bird appeared. It was Eunhye. Eunhye circled around me as if glad to see me.