The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 432

430. Nightmare in Broad Daylight (3)

“For someone who’s supposed to be a king, you sure are scared.”

I gripped the spear tightly with both hands. Rauchitas reflexively flinched at the pointed tip. Han Yoojin’s curses echoed from the ceiling as he shifted his position again.

“How long are you going to keep staring?”

He took a slight step forward with one leg, poised as if ready to pounce at any moment. The dragon’s eyes, now reduced to two pairs, stared intently at me. It seemed like a tense standoff where neither side could easily make the first move, but Han Yoojin was moving without a care.

His hand gripped the A-grade spear. As if to compensate for his lower stats, he took out a wire and wrapped it around the spear and his wrist, binding them together. The spear aimed at the crown of Rauchitas’s right head, and Han Yoojin’s legs were deeply bent.

The cave ceiling was high enough for a giant dragon to run around freely. If an F-grade or E-grade [low-level hunters] jumped from there, it would be suicide. Moreover, the monster standing below was an S-grade [highest level monster]. One might hesitate a bit, but Han Yoojin only let out a faint breath.

It wasn’t just because of his fear resistance. Even without fear resistance, he, I, would have trembled while holding the weapon.

To avoid a far more terrifying end than facing an S-grade monster.

“Oh, by the way, I caught and killed your dad? I wonder if you can understand me. I tore him to pieces.”

– Grrrr.

He pulled back the spear. The spear was drawn back. Rauchitas tensed even more. Strength entered his toes, and strength entered his toes. I didn’t jump out. But Han Yoojin was aiming at the ground, at the ceiling.

“I’ll make you the same way!”

He kicked off, and at the same time, I shouted. To hide the sound of my footsteps even a little. With the added effect of the stealth skill, Rauchitas didn’t notice the strong descent.

Han Yoojin’s body dropped straight down. Just before the skill imbued the weapon and the spear tip touched the scales, the Momentary Acceleration of the artifact activated.

His entire body became a single sharp spear, plunging straight down.

Kwaaang!

– Kyaaaa!

The thick scales shattered. The spear tip, unable to withstand the force, melted and crumbled. The distorted spear shaft, Han Yoojin’s body, pierced through the dragon’s head. Making a huge hole under the jaw, it fell and tumbled to the ground.

Dashing forward, I threw the wire towards Han Yoojin. As if he had been waiting for it, he grabbed the end of the wire, and I pulled with all my might. No sooner had I pulled Han Yoojin out than Rauchitas began to rampage again. The right side of his head, almost halved, eventually cracked and tumbled to the floor.

– Kyareureureuk!

The Cursed Poison Dragon, half-crazed, charged at us. Kwang, Kwaang! Huge claws left long marks on the floor. I quickly used the stealth skill, but with our stats, it was hard to avoid the rampaging dragon’s attacks. We were caught by claws, trampled underfoot, and crushed by the tail. If it weren’t for Grace, we would have lost our lives four or five times.

‘It seems impossible to calm him down now!’

‘I thought it would be hard to get to the last head!’

‘Do you have any flight or teleportation items?’

‘I didn’t buy any, but even if I did, it wouldn’t work.’

Flight would be hard to keep up with, and teleporting would just make us slip and fall right away with him rampaging like that. With our stats, we could only attack when standing still. So, we needed a way to fix the remaining head in place.

‘Damn it, that bastard is going towards Yoohyun!’

We both released our stealth skills at the same time. Rauchitas, who had been trying to find us, turned his body.

“Over here, lizard, ugh!”

A sharp claw pressed down on my body. It was a great relief that the lizard didn’t think of cutting off my breath. I raised my spear and stabbed the claw hard. Kagang! The claw broke off, and Rauchitas roared loudly and retreated. But a claw like that would recover in an instant.

“Guess poking at him won’t do the trick.”

Han Yoojin said, holding a new A-grade spear.

“There are no more A-grade spears! Save it!”

“G, ack!”

His figure disappeared under the dragon’s paw. Oh, no.

“Rauchitas!”

I shouted spiritedly and stretched my hand forward. Electricity crackled at my fingertips. Seeing me about to use a new skill, the giant dragon became wary and jumped back. Han Yoojin, who had been half-buried in the floor, groaned and raised himself.

“That works.”

“A startled turtle is scared of a pot lid too [even the smallest thing can scare someone who is already frightened].”

How would that guy know that I only have a tiny bit of auxiliary attribute power? Just in case, we both used the stealth skill again at the same time, and Rauchitas started rampaging again. He was determined not to allow enemies who had concealed their presence to approach.

He’s not brainless, after all. Even though two out of three are gone. We had to quickly release the stealth again before he went towards Yoohyun.

– Grrr, Krrr.

The one remaining dragon head glared at us, breathing roughly. He stopped moving for a moment, but he would go berserk as soon as he suspected something.

“Rauchitas falls asleep every five hours, but he won’t do that in this state.”

He wouldn’t fall asleep unless he inflicted a fatal wound on us, just like before the regression [time travel/reincarnation].

“We both have to be in sight.”

“That’s when he’ll feel safe.”

“Even if he doesn’t fall asleep, he’ll try to recover. If he gets the chance.”

He was badly injured, and his regeneration skill was also downgraded. On top of that, we only had attack power, and our movements themselves were slow. He must have realized that by now. That he could easily stop the attacks of those tiny things if it weren’t for the stealth skill.

The head is too high, and below the legs can’t be fatal.

So, if we keep our distance, he’ll relax and rest.

“Who’s going?”

The deliberation didn’t last long. The me from before the regression asked.

“I’ll go, since it’s unsettling to leave Grace even for a moment.”

Grace’s sturdiness wasn’t a skill and couldn’t be shared. After finishing the preparations, I shouted loudly.

“Yoohyun, it’s not real, so don’t worry!”

He shouldn’t get unnecessarily alarmed. Gripping our weapons tightly, we both started running towards Rauchitas at the same time. We kicked off the ground with all our might, but it was a speed that would make an S-grade monster yawn. Moreover, neither of us had legs that were in perfect condition.

With a growling sound, Rauchitas rotated his body greatly.

Kagagagak!

The spiked tail scraped sharply against the cave wall. The flying rocks flew towards us. The damage was nullified, but we couldn’t withstand the weight, and Han Yoojin fell to the ground first.

– Kyareureuk!

The lizard showed its teeth as if mocking the sight. Knowing that he wouldn’t suffer a fatal wound if he was careful, he seemed to be slowly relaxing. Yeah, let your guard down as much as you want.

Kwaddeuk, the forefoot scraped the floor and dug up a large rock, throwing it at us. Kung, Kung! Rocks continued to pour down. We were buried, bumped into, and helplessly swept away. It felt like we had become persistent ants.

“That cunning bastard!”

“He got smarter as his heads decreased!”

Shouldn’t we be thanking him for cutting them off at this point? Ungrateful lizard. Kwaang! A rock about three times my size plunged down, and dirt and sand flew up. Staggering greatly, I stabbed the floor with the spear tip.

Thanks to the skill, it stuck deeply with a kwaak, and part of the ground rose up. Again, a rock flew, and then.

“Han Yoojin!”

Han Yoojin shouted. He hugged the body tumbling on the floor and retreated. Rauchitas narrowed his eyes and looked at us.

“Damn it, wake up!”

Han Yoojin, having created some distance, shielded the limp body with his own.

“I told you not to put a death flag on me [a trope where a character says something that foreshadows their death]! Why did you die!”

– Grrrr.

Although he couldn’t understand the words, Rauchitas seemed to have grasped the atmosphere and growled pleasantly. Even so, he never took his eyes off us. Han Yoojin took out a potion but dropped it because his hands were trembling. The dropped potion bottle rolled away.

“You damn lizard bastard!”

Even as he shouted fiercely, Han Yoojin didn’t move from that spot. Rauchitas crouched slightly. He seemed to be taking this opportunity to heal his wounds.

The one remaining head loomed below me. I tightened my grip on the spear.

Doppelganger doll [a magical item that creates a copy of a person]. Against an S-grade opponent, they would notice something suspicious even from a distance, but it would be different if we tricked them into thinking it was a semi-corpse that wasn’t a living person. The fact that it had no life force would make it even more plausible.

It would be even better if there was someone who would react to it.

Rauchitas was still only looking at Han Yoojin and his doppelganger doll. Han Yoojin screamed, and at the same time, I kicked off the ceiling strongly. If I could just cut off that last head!

– Kyareuk!

But it was a trick he had already fallen for twice. Rauchitas quickly pulled his head back. It was a predictable movement. When avoiding attacks aimed at the head, he moves backwards. So, I deliberately jumped down behind the center of the head.

“Ugh!”

The spear tip slipped due to the violent movement! I didn’t know if he had used a defensive skill. A skill he obtained after the optimization skill.

Kadeudeuk!

The translucent spear blade scraped the scales for a long time, and I quickly took out a dagger with my other hand and swung it. Even a sword can stab. The dagger, empowered by the skill, dug into the scales.

– Kuaaaa!

Rauchitas started thrashing to shake me off. I’ll never fall off, even if I die! Stepping on the dagger hilt, I took out another knife and stabbed it into his face. I saw the eyeball, as big as my torso, rolling nearby.

“Just block the forefoot!”

I shouted, and Han Yoojin, who had already run over, plunged the spear into Rauchitas’s instep. The lizard, who had been trying to lift his forefoot to tear me off, screamed. Then, the cave wall rushed towards my nose.

Kwang!

“Keuk!”

He roughly rubbed his face against the wall. I managed to endure by clinging to Grace, which was deeply embedded. Meanwhile, Han Yoojin took out his spear and stabbed Rauchitas’s forelegs wildly. The C-grade spear, which had been hard to obtain, broke off in an instant. He swung D-grade and E-grade daggers and knives at the scales that had been torn off thanks to the skill.

The weapons kept breaking, and blood splattered.

– Kyaaak!

Han Yoojin tumbled as the forefoot, dripping with blood, swung around. His weapon fell. But he grabbed a rock. Kaang! The rock struck the long, curved claw several times, and the claw eventually broke off. He charged again, wielding that claw as a weapon.

I wasn’t just standing still either. As soon as the head that had been rubbing against the cave wall lifted, I stabbed in a new knife. Rauchitas’s blood soaked my entire body, and I transformed Grace into a chain and wrapped it around his head.

Gripping the dagger tightly, I crawled up to his eye.

Puk!

I stabbed it straight in. I dug into the lizard’s eyeball so deeply that it reached my shoulder, past my forearm.

– Kyaak! Keureureuk!

Pajijijik! I poured all the remaining electricity from the ring. The eyeball completely burst, and Rauchitas roared in agony. Han Yoojin was rampaging below, preventing him from lifting his forefoot. If he couldn’t use his legs, there would be no point in protecting his head. But there was also no way for him to tear me off his head.

If he had three heads, or even two, he could have bitten me off. But now, he only had one head, and he didn’t even have wings. He swung his tail around, but I could withstand just being hit by it.

Stepping on his eye, stepping on his eyelid, I crawled upwards. One side of his face was a mess. The places where the skill had properly hit revealed the white bone.

Kwaddeuk! I dug into the crown of his head and put both feet in. I used the cold to freeze it solid. So that my body would never fall off, no matter how much he struggled. Chareureuk, I retracted Grace’s chain, changed it back into a spear, and lifted it high with all my might.

And then, I stabbed down.

Kwaang!

– Kyaaaaak!

Once again, twice, and finally a third time!

Kugugugung, the giant dragon’s body fell forward. The overflowing blood created a puddle. It was like a thick swamp. A wire flew towards me, struggling in the head that had been dug up more than halfway. I grabbed the end, and it pulled me out.

We were both panting heavily. We were out of breath. Damn F stats. No, it’s E now. We collapsed to the floor.

The dragon’s breath completely stopped.

Silence fell. Only our rough breathing could be heard.

[The Nightmare has fallen asleep.]

The system message appeared. Did we really catch it? Is it over? Huh?

“…Yoohyun.”

I had no strength left in my body, but I forced myself to get up. Rauchitas is dead. So, he must be safe. He has to be safe.

“Yoohyun!”

We shouted without knowing who did it first. Only then did my legs seem to throb. I saw my brother, who had raised himself halfway, where I rushed to. He was fine. He couldn’t move properly yet, but he was breathing. He looked worried, but his complexion was bright.

“Hyung!”

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Did any poison or curse splash on you?”

The me from before the regression knelt on the floor and hugged my brother. I wanted to reach out too, but I couldn’t. Yoohyun wore a relieved smile.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Are you hurt anywhere, Hyung?”

“I’m fine! I look like this, but I don’t even have a scratch!”

That couldn’t be true. We rolled around, so I must have a lot of bruises. I smiled, and I smiled a little too.

[The boss monster has died. The dungeon gate opens.]

The message window kindly informed us.

“Hey, let’s get out of here now.”

Before any other problems arise. With my brother in my arms, the other me looked up at me.

“I’m not going.”