The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 377

His stats were definitely superior. His practical experience was also considerable. Indeed, Cho Hwa-un had faced a wider array of S-Rank Hunters than Han Yu-hyun, meaning his accumulated data would be far greater. However, although Han Yu-hyun’s weapon was of a lower grade, the highest-grade S-Rank sword from China, enhanced with skills, was enough to withstand Cho Hwa-un’s attacks.

Clang-

The red blade slid along the black blade. The moment their blades grazed, Cho Hwa-un’s kick lashed out. With his superior speed, normally such a close-range attack would be unavoidable. But Han Yu-hyun anticipated the move, using his suit’s acceleration to lightly deflect the kick aimed at his knee. Simultaneously, dark blue flames erupted beneath Cho Hwa-un’s feet.

“You don’t want to end up like your brother, I see.”

Cho Hwa-un said, nonchalantly stepping onto the flames that spread across the floor like a thick carpet. Thanks to the high-grade fire resistance item he wore, the small flames were barely a tickle, like a field of unusually colored grass fluttering in the wind.

“It was around here.”

Cho Hwa-un’s toe lightly tapped the floor, causing the crumbling, flame-engulfed remains of the building to collapse further.

“You rolled quite a bit.”

He wasn’t usually one to engage in idle chatter, but now, Cho Hwa-un could hardly contain his temper without resorting to sarcasm.

A mere F-Rank, caught in a backwater country. That he wasn’t broken might be understandable. But what bothered him most was the way Han Yu-hyun didn’t regard S-Rank Hunters as special. Cho Hwa-un had been treated specially his entire life. Humans might claim equality, but reality was different.

He couldn’t comprehend being considered the same as those weaklings with no special abilities. With the emergence of Awakened [individuals with supernatural powers], Cho Hwa-un’s doubts solidified into certainty. How could anyone dare equate an F-Rank with an S-Rank? Inferiors should bow before superiors; it was the law of nature. No matter how brave a rabbit, it trembled before a tiger.

Yet this F-Rank, not even a mid-rank, looked at Cho Hwa-un not as a superior, but as a common thug who just throws around violence. He was annoyed at being bothered, as if he’d encountered a neighborhood bully who wasn’t even an armed robber.

“Looks like you hurt your other leg too; you can’t even stand properly.”

Clang-!

The clash of blades, separated by less than a finger’s width, created a resounding echo that spread like an explosion. Beneath their feet, the debris groaned and sank. As if a supporting pillar had broken, a wide pit nearly a meter deep formed.

“Crawled on the floor.”

Cho Hwa-un laughed. Despite being engulfed in dark blue flames, Han Yu-hyun’s expression remained as cold as ice. But unlike before, he was definitely glaring at his enemy. Cho Hwa-un’s forearms were tense with power. The ground beneath Han Yu-hyun’s feet sank a little more.

Han Yu-jin, soaring on a golden dragon. He had ultimately missed him, but if he caught this guy and threw him down in front of him, he would walk back on his own.

Kang! Cho Hwa-un struck Han Yu-hyun’s sword and stepped back. Then, he immediately activated the Leaning Scales skill [a skill that redistributes stats]. A skill that instantly poured half of his total stats into one attribute.

A tremendous power surged into Cho Hwa-un’s sword strike. Han Yu-hyun instinctively dodged. Merely grazing his shoulder, the attack tore through his suit and the clothes beneath, drawing blood.

Kwaaaang-!

The area around the sword strike caved in. Not just a small part, but a wide crater formed, as if a giant meteorite had struck. Concrete crumbled like sand, and steel bars twisted and scattered like fallen leaves in a whirlwind.

The red sword, buried in the ground, was pulled out in an instant, cutting through the air once more. Although the building had collapsed, the accumulated debris meant the place was originally about three stories high. But now, it was almost down to the first floor. Debris surrounded the deeply dug pit like the walls of a colosseum. The dark blue flames still spread wide, eerily illuminating the space.

“Which one is it?”

Han Yu-hyun said, landing on the diagonally cut wall. The hem of his suit fluttered amidst the scattering willow leaves. Cho Hwa-un, understanding the short question, replied.

“Right.”

A spear made of magic appeared in Cho Hwa-un’s hand. He threw the spear while greatly rotating his body, and simultaneously kicked the wall Han Yu-hyun had landed on. Rumble! The wall collapsed, and the black chain sword curved out. Not stopping at deflecting the spear, it writhed like a venomous snake towards Cho Hwa-un below.

“But you can’t.”

Thud! Roughly deflecting the chain sword, Cho Hwa-un charged towards Han Yu-hyun.

“Possibly repay me.”

He may have made a name for himself in Japan, but it was still a small country, and he was from a small country. Even if you combined all the S-Rank Hunters from Korea and Japan, it wouldn’t even be half of China’s. To think his power is only this much. In the end, he’s just a frog in a well [an idiom for someone with limited experience].

Han Yu-hyun lowered his upper body to avoid the menacingly flying blade. He stepped down hard with one foot, spinning his body low to add rotational force and swung the chain sword. Cho Hwa-un grabbed the chain sword, trying to intercept the attack aimed at his waist, with his gauntlet-clad hand. A pure white line was etched onto the black scale plate of the SS-Rank gauntlet, but that was all. Even the small scratches were soon healed. It was an item with a high defensive effect against blades.

Cho Hwa-un tried to pull the chain sword away, but.

“Ugh!”

The moment he pulled, the Ruler’s Sword turned red as if resisting. Cho Hwa-un quickly let go and stepped back from the heat that melted even the gauntlet.

“Your weapon is quite something.”

Han Yu-hyun raised his eyebrows slightly. Except for his weapon, his opponent was almost completely decked out in SS-Rank items. Even so, Han Yu-hyun had not yet used the last melting door [likely a reference to a powerful ability]. Instead.

The blue willow leaves swirled violently. They poured down, almost completely obscuring the space between Han Yu-hyun and Cho Hwa-un. Cho Hwa-un’s lips twisted at the trivial tactic of obscuring his vision. He felt the presence of someone charging straight at him. A straightforward, direct charge.

Was it a lack of experience, or did he have another trick up his sleeve? But Han Yu-hyun’s stats were definitely weaker than Cho Hwa-un’s. If it was a frontal attack, there was no reason to back down.

Flutter, the blue willow leaves scattered sparsely, and Han Yu-hyun reached right in front of Cho Hwa-un. Cho Hwa-un’s sword was raised. If they collided like this, the impact would clearly be devastating for Han Yu-hyun. Right then.

Rustle.

With a faint sound, Han Yu-hyun’s Adam’s apple moved. And his figure disappeared.

“……?”

Cho Hwa-un’s eyes widened. No, he didn’t disappear; he shrunk. Reduced to one-tenth of his size, Han Yu-hyun passed by Cho Hwa-un’s sword strike, which he didn’t even need to avoid, and jumped up, stepping on the willow leaves. The length of the willow leaves was about ten centimeters. Even gathering just two or three would be enough to conceal Han Yu-hyun’s figure. Moreover, his presence weakened as much as he shrank.

In an instant, Han Yu-hyun went over Cho Hwa-un’s shoulder and landed behind him, returning to his original size. The black blade bared its fangs towards Cho Hwa-un’s defenseless right leg.

“…Keuk!”

Cho Hwa-un hurriedly tried to dodge, but it was already too late. Even if his agility stat was high, it was difficult to escape an attack unless it was teleportation level. Slice.

That short gap cost Cho Hwa-un his leg. Cho Hwa-un gritted his teeth at the extreme pain and kicked the ground with his left foot. He quickly jumped back and stood, using a spear from his inventory as a cane.

“Space, movement, humans, can’t use it……!”

Teleportation was simply moving fast. For an object the size of an adult man, it would be difficult for an S-Rank not to sense the movement of someone teleporting behind them, even if it was teleportation. But there was definitely no such significant presence.

Han Yu-hyun, watching Cho Hwa-un take out a potion to stop the bleeding and raise his guard, stomped on the severed leg.

“Is this all you’ve got.”

Flames soared, and Cho Hwa-un’s right leg, the part below the knee, turned to ash. If the severed area was completely destroyed, even the highest-grade potion would not be able to restore it. He would have to use an elixir or find a healer capable of regenerating the body.

“To lay a hand on my brother.”

It was a tone of disbelief. A faint sweetness lingered in Han Yu-hyun’s mouth. The method just now was what Han Yu-jin had taught him. He had been impressed by how he had momentarily escaped the opponent’s perception using the MiniMini Cookie, and Yu-hyun had told him to try it too, giving him a cookie and saying it would be even better to use it with the blue willow leaves.

Cho Hwa-un glared fiercely. He took out a wire and tied the spear tightly to his thigh. He didn’t know how it happened, but even if it was spatial movement, it wouldn’t be a method that could be used continuously. If he used it briefly once, there would be a cooldown, so he must have used it now.

The advantage in stats was still there. If he couldn’t use the same trick in succession, his chances of winning were still high. Since his mobility had decreased, he would approach and grab him in an instant. Cho Hwa-un poured the Leaning Scales skill into his agility stat. As his other stats decreased, his agility rose frighteningly.

Cho Hwa-un’s left foot kicked the ground hard. The moment he approached Han Yu-hyun almost as fast as teleportation.

“What-!”

Cho Hwa-un’s body couldn’t stand properly and tilted greatly. The spear shaft that had replaced his right leg had already burned away nearly half of it. A lizard was clinging to the half-remaining spear shaft before it slithered into the flames on the floor and disappeared.

Han Yu-hyun’s fist dug into Cho Hwa-un’s solar plexus, who had lost his balance and even had his stats other than agility decreased.

“Cough!”

Cho Hwa-un’s body floated into the air from the strongly upward-striking fist. In succession, his leg, his bent knee, stabbed Cho Hwa-un’s side. Crack, the sound of bones breaking was heard, and the chain sword followed the body flying sideways. Swish, with a rough sound, Cho Hwa-un’s left arm was severed.

Gathering the extended chain sword, Han Yu-hyun looked down at the ground where Cho Hwa-un was falling with cold eyes.

Charrarak!

The flames, which had been swaying like grass, soared and weaponized. Cho Hwa-un, who belatedly noticed the blades and spearheads sticking out, desperately twisted his body. He barely avoided fatal injuries, but even his intact limbs were pierced.

“Keeeuk!”

The weaponized flames disappeared, and Cho Hwa-un coughed up blood and rolled on the floor. Han Yu-hyun’s toe kicked the dropped red sword aside and stopped right in front of Cho Hwa-un.

“Tricks, cough, are quite something…….”

“You’re just high on stats; you can never beat my brother.”

Cho Hwa-un laughed at the cold voice.

“Will the caretaker, Han Yu-jin, think so too? I didn’t just break his legs. I trampled on him several times. So much that he’ll never forget.”

Han Yu-hyun raised his head. A golden dragon was approaching him. His eyes curved roundly, and a bright smile spread from his lips.

“It’s a gift.”

“…What?”

“This is my gift for my brother.”

That’s why he didn’t kill him, to entrust him to Han Yu-jin’s hands.

“My brother will think, ‘My younger brother prepared this for me, thinking of you’.”

“Th, that’s…….”

He would smile, feeling proud. Han Yu-jin prioritizes Han Yu-hyun in everything. So, erasing the memory of something like this wouldn’t be difficult. Cho Hwa-un coughed up blood again. A gift? To an F-Rank?

“Me, to an F-Rank Awakened…….”

Cho Hwa-un shouted for Han Yu-hyun to kill him, but his pleas didn’t reach Han Yu-hyun’s ears. The hunt was over. Instead of killing the prey, he would offer it to his brother as a gift.

As if he had already forgotten about Cho Hwa-un’s existence, Han Yu-hyun looked at the approaching gold with joyful eyes. He waited for the only being he loved to come down, hug him, and praise him.

It was then.

Gugugeugeung-!

The ground rumbled. It shook faintly once, then again more greatly, and even more greatly. A strange energy spread out, and the golden dragon staggered in the air. The wings that had been spread out disappeared, and its size decreased, turning into a human.

“Brother-!”

Han Yu-jin, who had been riding on the dragon’s back, fell. Han Yu-hyun’s condition was also deteriorating. Strangely, his whole body felt heavy and drained of strength. His flames also quickly subsided.

Even so, he ran somehow. He reached out his arms towards Han Yu-jin, who was falling away from Noah [presumably the dragon’s name]. The moment his hand barely touched his brother’s body, he hugged him tightly and rolled on the ground to cushion the impact of the fall.

“Brother! Are you okay?!”

“I’m okay, hey! Your, shoulder! Where’s Noah?”

“He’s an S-Rank. My shoulder is fine too.”

Han Yu-jin frowned at his brother’s casual reply, but soon relaxed his expression and smiled kindly. But that was only for a moment; Han Yu-jin’s face hardened again.

“But… what on earth is this.”

An unknown force was thickly lingering in all directions.