The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 417

415. The Moon Rises (3)

Han Yoojin took another step back until his back grazed the wall. Dozens of strands of moonlight struck the wall, creating a clear, ringing sound.

After a brief silence, both of them moved simultaneously.

*Crackle*— An icy path spread across the pavement as Han Yoojin slid sideways along the wall, trying to escape the confined space. As soon as Han Yoojin lowered himself, golden chains followed, tangling wildly with silver ones. Amidst the loud metallic clatter, Sung Hyunjae ran parallel to the extending ice path.

*Screech*, Han Yoojin’s boots screeched loudly as they stopped where the ice ended. He bypassed the building directly behind him and reached a wide-open intersection. Sung Hyunjae, who had quickly caught up, reached out his hand. Han Yoojin hadn’t even regained his balance yet.

He could use Instantaneous Movement, but Han Yoojin opted for his gun, which he had pulled out while sliding on the ice, instead of a skill with a delay. Just before Sung Hyunjae’s hand reached him, a magic bullet was fired first.

*Bang!*

The magic bullet struck Sung Hyunjae’s forearm and exploded. Because the charging time was short, it didn’t do more than a light tap. Instead, Han Yoojin’s body recoiled sharply backward.

Han Yoojin, having gained distance and bought time, transformed the flame in his hand into a spear and threw it with all his might. Sung Hyunjae dodged the fiercely flying black spear with a slight twist of his shoulder and put strength into his toes. The soles of his shoes shattered the black and white asphalt with a crack, and Sung Hyunjae’s body shot forward.

“There’s a size difference, yet you keep forcing close combat! And using those longer legs, too!”

Han Yoojin grumbled, blocking the incoming kick with his scaled arms. Even with the same S-Stats [S-Rank Statistics, a measure of power], the reach was significantly different. If they both threw a punch at the same time, only one of them would get hit.

“It must have been the same when facing Do-ryeong-nim [term of respect, like ‘Master’].”

“Brothers always seem small, even when they’re grown up. Besides, Yoohyun will always be younger than me.”

Ducking to avoid the continuous punches, Han Yoojin bent one leg and raised it high. As if perfectly timed, Sung Hyunjae’s knee kick came in exactly as if to support Han Yoojin’s foot. *Thud!* Han Yoojin leaped upward, using Sung Hyunjae’s knee as a stepping stone.

Meanwhile, the retrieved golden chains stretched out to chase Han Yoojin, only to be blocked again by the silver chains.

“Use a weapon, use a weapon! You should have a full inventory!”

Han Yoojin said, standing on top of the traffic light. Seeing his gaze flick towards Noah, Sung Hyunjae smirked.

“The basic rule is to keep opponents who use Instantaneous Movement as close as possible. I wonder if you’re deliberately not using it, waiting for an opening.”

“You know me well—”

*Kwarurung!* Lightning struck the traffic light. The traffic light flickered momentarily and exploded, and electricity surged violently to where Han Yoojin was standing. Simultaneously, Han Yoojin threw a wire towards a streetlight, pulled the wrapped wire tightly, and moved away from the spot.

*Screech*— The streetlight bent, unable to withstand the force. Han Yoojin’s body landed on the opposite sidewalk much faster than with Flight, and the moment Sung Hyunjae, who had immediately caught up, got close,

*Kwang!*

A bomb exploded. Han Yoojin and Sung Hyunjae were both thrown into the air. Han Yoojin’s back slammed hard against a building wall, and Sung Hyunjae’s shoes dug deeply into the asphalt. Both were not unscathed by the powerful mana explosion that had occurred right in front of them.

Sung Hyunjae’s arm, which had defended against the explosion, was tattered, with both his clothes and skin torn. Beneath his disheveled hair, one of his ears was split open, and blood soaked his neck. Noah, who had been healing Han Yoohyun, reflexively rose, but the distance was too great to use a healing skill.

Instead of turning to receive a healing skill, Sung Hyunjae charged straight at Han Yoojin without even using a potion.

Han Yoojin, who hadn’t used a defense skill to completely draw in his opponent, leaped to the side, stopping his treatment. *Kwaduk!* Sung Hyunjae’s toes carved a long line into the building wall where Han Yoojin had been. Exterior materials fell like debris from an earthquake, raising dust.

Han Yoojin’s hand hit the ground, and he spun his body around. No sooner had he stood up than Sung Hyunjae stepped on the cracked wall and leaped up, bringing his heel down high in the air. There was no time to dodge, and the power imbued was too strong to block!

Beneath the wildly fluttering coat, Han Yoojin finally used Instantaneous Movement.

As soon as Han Yoojin disappeared, Han Yoohyun and Park Yerim sharpened their senses. Park Yerim was the first to move. A cold mist spread out about ten meters away from the three of them, and Han Yoojin appeared precisely within that area.

“As expected! The maximum range of my skill is exactly up to there!”

“Our Yerim, you really did well this time?”

Han Yoojin immediately created flames to push back the mist, but a slight gap inevitably appeared. Not missing it, Han Yoohyun tried to run out, then stopped, conscious of Noah. Instead, he took out a spear from his inventory and threw it at Han Yoojin.

“Create some distance.”

“Okay!”

Park Yerim also created an ice spear and shot it to check Han Yoojin. *Kwaduk!* The metal spear was embedded in front of Han Yoojin’s feet, and ice spears flew in succession. Han Yoojin deflected the ice spears with a black flame spear and retreated as if he couldn’t help it.

“They’re growing too fast.”

To take and use someone else’s skill, it was difficult with just a brief experience. It wasn’t easy to overwrite and upgrade a skill that was already familiar. As a result, except for the skills of the deceased, like Han Yoohyun before his regression, Han Yoojin’s skills inevitably weakened over time compared to those of the original owners.

The double effect only applied to attack skills and was useless for support skills like resistance.

Meanwhile, Sung Hyunjae also approached. Beneath Silekia’s coat, which was undergoing self-healing, the muscles of his forearm, treated with a potion, were faintly visible. Han Yoojin tilted his head slightly and looked back at him.

“I’m thinking of going to find Chief Song now, but could you give me a hint?”

“I’ll answer any other question.”

“Oh, dear.”

Han Yoojin scratched the back of his head as if troubled. He was confident he could get out of here right now. If no one here knew where Song Taewon was, there would be no reason to be caught.

He would just search Seoul diligently.

But because Sung Hyunjae was here, it was faster to find out from him where Song Taewon had gone, so he couldn’t leave. It was an operation for that purpose in the first place.

“I didn’t want to say this.”

Han Yoojin said, slowly stepping back. Silver chains returned around him. With the jingling rhythm, his silver eyes narrowed.

“Even if you say it’s safe because it’s a Vessel Body [a body designed to contain a powerful soul or entity], is self-harm completely impossible?”

People’s expressions instantly hardened.

“Let’s say you can’t touch the body. But the one inside is me, right? Isn’t that right, Yoohyun?”

“…Hyung.”

Han Yoojin’s gaze, which had been directed at Han Yoohyun, shifted back to Sung Hyunjae.

Han Yoojin tapped his temple with his fingertip.

“What about mentally? Well, I guess Sung Hyunjae doesn’t care? As long as it can understand orders and move, a shell that can’t do anything foolish is easier to handle.”

“If I wanted that.”

Sung Hyunjae carefully took a step towards Han Yoojin. Golden chains coiled around him like snakes ready to strike at any moment.

“I would have already been keeping you safely in my mansion.”

“Come on, there must have been times when you wanted it. Should I grant Partner-ssi’s wish this time?”

As if taking it out of his inventory, Han Yoojin held something at the tip of his finger. Sung Hyunjae’s body bounced back. Even faster than that, golden chains wrapped around Han Yoojin’s wrist. In that brief gap where Han Yoojin’s movement was blocked, Sung Hyunjae snatched the wrist entangled in the chains.

And as it was, he put what was held in his finger into his mouth.

“It’s dried fruit.”

“What if it’s a poisonous substance disguised as dried fruit?”

Han Yoojin smiled and reached out to straighten Sung Hyunjae’s coat collar as if tidying it up.

“I could turn off poison resistance and swallow something really toxic. What do you want to do?”

“You have to think about your brother.”

“Yoohyun will like any version of me. Unlike you.”

“Hyung!”

Han Yoohyun shouted at Han Yoojin’s words.

“Still, I don’t want Hyung to hurt himself!”

“Then I’ll just stay quietly at home, and Sung Hyunjae will lose interest in me?”

“That’s—”

“Han Yoohyun, are you crazy? What are you hesitating about? Ajusshi [term for ‘mister,’ often used for someone older]! Don’t do anything weird!”

“That’s right, Yoojin-ssi!”

“The kids are so kind.”

Han Yoojin pulled his wrist away and stepped back.

“Don’t chase me. There’s no way for you to stop me. I’ll give you time to think. Let’s see, there’s still quite a bit of time left, so about 3 minutes?”

Sung Hyunjae, who had been about to follow Han Yoojin, stopped. Han Yoojin, who had crossed the road to the opposite sidewalk, waved to Sung Hyunjae and the other three.

“Kids, try to persuade Sung Hyunjae well~”

“Ajusshi, really!”

Noah tapped Park Yerim’s shoulder, who was shouting in anger. Then he whispered something to Park Yerim and Han Yoohyun in a small voice. Park Yerim frowned and gestured to Sung Hyunjae.

“Seseong Ajusshi [another, more polite term for ‘mister’], come here for a second. It looks like Ajusshi is really going to do something.”

Sung Hyunjae approached the three, and again, low voices were exchanged. Han Yoojin tilted his head and looked at them.

“It’s nice to see the four of you getting along. But Sung Hyunjae isn’t someone who should be included there, right?”

“I’m sorry for making you feel lonely. In terms of age, it should have been Han Yoojin-gun [formal suffix, like ‘Mr.’ or ‘Ms.’] who went, but.”

“My body is twenty-five years old. Well, thirty is right. If you manage your physical age well, you can be in your twenties even at forty. Now, this person.”

Han Yoojin raised his empty wrist, pretending to check the time. Sung Hyunjae stood there, and this time, Han Yoohyun, Park Yerim, and Noah stepped forward. Han Yoojin’s eyes widened.

“Huh? What is it? Protecting Sung Hyunjae and having you guys step up? Are you afraid he’ll do something foolish in front of the kids?”

“Even if you kill Chief, Ajusshi will definitely be greatly hurt.”

“Maybe not. Yerim, don’t talk too much. The brakes on my tongue are broken right now.”

“I’m used to hearing tearfully painful sounds.”

“Should I just kill Uncle’s family after all? And just because I’ve become good at enduring wounds doesn’t mean the depth is less or that they heal faster.”

Saying that, Han Yoojin rolled his eyes. Han Yoohyun stepped forward, followed by Noah, and then Park Yerim. Noah spread his wings wide and flew next to Park Yerim.

“Wow, you’ve really changed. Awesome.”

“Thank you.”

“But it feels too obvious that you’re telling me to aim for it.”

Was it a plan to lure Noah out as bait to firmly hold him in place? But it was sloppy. Han Yoojin kept tilting his head and looking at Sung Hyunjae. Sung Hyunjae had completely turned away.

“Sung Hyunjae-ssi [formal suffix, like ‘Mr.’ or ‘Ms.’]! Did you block out the sound too? To protect Chief so much, that’s too much. You said I was your only partner.”

Towards Han Yoojin, who was grumbling, Han Yoohyun rushed. Silver chains shot towards him, and a black blade curved and cut through the air. *Clang, clang, clagang!* The subtly undulating flexible sword deflected all the chains. The chains retreated like living creatures and then pounced again, but this time, Park Yerim fired an ice spear to protect Han Yoohyun.

“Was this what you two coordinated?”

Unlike before, they clearly divided the offense and defense. Park Yerim’s ability, which would only be a hindrance in close combat, perfectly blocked ranged attacks.

*Jjeojeojeok*, ice climbed up the silver chains, slowing their movement. Without being greedy, they only blocked the chains and then withdrew their hands.

Meanwhile, Han Yoohyun approached Han Yoojin. *Kagagak!* Weapon and weapon collided, and Han Yoojin took half a step back.

“It’s too obvious that it’s a trap, but it’s a shame to pass it by.”

As long as Noah was holding out, it was difficult to deal with Han Yoohyun and Park Yerim properly. To neutralize them, he would have to inflict severe injuries that would be difficult to heal with Noah’s healing skill.

So, to safely block the two, he had to catch Noah first.

Han Yoojin clicked his tongue and twisted the Black Flame Sword. As if telling him to come in, the Ruler’s Sword pierced Han Yoojin’s arm without hesitation. Blood spurted high, and it immediately turned into black flames, momentarily obscuring Han Yoohyun’s vision.

Immediately after, Han Yoojin detonated a smoke bomb. Red mist spread out in an instant, and Han Yoojin’s body disappeared from that spot. And on Noah’s wing,

*Kwaduk!*

The sword was embedded.

“……!”

“I’m sorry, Noah-ssi!”

Han Yoojin said, cutting deeply into the golden feather wings. He deliberately attacked the wings to avoid a silent scream and planned to paralyze and capture him by injecting a powerful poison with the double buff. Cutting off almost half of Noah’s wings, he took out a wire at that moment.

“Aaaagh!”

Han Yoojin’s scream soared high. His body dropped to the floor and exhaled roughly. Intense pain struck his entire body. Han Yoojin struggled to regain consciousness and used a spare Instantaneous Movement item with trembling hands.

*Kwagwagwa!*

As soon as he teleported away, a sword wrapped in flames carved deeply into the spot where he had been.

“Heok, eugh… Noah, ssi. Skill…….”

Clearly, he had attacked the wings, but the pain was felt inside Han Yoojin’s chest. It felt like a heart attack was happening.

“Yes, eugh, it’s changed.”

As expected, Noah, who had landed on the ground, said while healing his wings. Han Yoojin’s eyes, who had risen from his spot panting, widened greatly.

“Sung Hyunjae……!”

Before he knew it, his figure had disappeared.