The difference between Yuhyun and was obvious. Even if he wrapped himself head to toe in SS-rank items, there was no way I—let alone an S-rank, even an A-rank—could keep up. Charging him head-on, my chances of winning were virtually nil. What’s more, Yuhyun knew well. An S-rank with limited intel might look for an opening, but that wasn’t possible either.
I drew a sharp breath. At the sa ti I activated Teacher Skill toward Yuhyun and leapt backward.
Crack!
A blade whisked past and pierced the asphalt beneath. Grabbing the tip of the upright sword, Yuhyun’s body spun and his foot ca flying straight at . Even knowing his next move from Teacher Skill, there was no way to dodge such speed.
“Ugh!”
He kicked squarely under the jaw, sending airborne. Thanks to Eun-hae’s protection, I only tumbled backward, but before I could pull myself upright there was another crack. Like a horseshoe, a bent rebar snatched my wrist and drove deep into the road. Then my other hand and both feet were fixed as if tied.
Before I could even twitch, Yuhyun’s foot pressed lightly on my chest. Suddenly I felt how weak I really was alone. But, well, having people ready to lend a hand is a skill in itself.
“Yuhyun-ahnae-mal-euep—”
I tried to speak, but Yuhyun knelt, pressing on my chest instead of his foot, muffling my mouth. Maybe he feared I’d waver if I heard my own voice. ...Still, I wish I were a bit stronger. At least I should be able to speak.
[Hang... Hyul-ah!]
I sent a ssage to Park Hayul. Although clumsy compared to speaking aloud, thanks to the Puppeteer who had trained it wasn’t difficult.
[Bomb! Send the bombs over!]
[Hyung, those items can’t be moved! Mana- or magic-imbued objects beyond a certain threshold are impossible to touch. Otherwise we’d have stopped both you and your brother. Even setting off a bomb earlier was tough.]
If I could move anything at will, it would be an overpowered skill. It’s still extrely useful, though.
[Not items—]
“Hyung.”
Yuhyun spoke, his voice dark as if cloaked in shadow.
“I don’t think you’re weak. You’re stronger than anyone.”
I wanted to answer and thank him, but my mouth was still tightly sealed. And my ssages were blocked.
“But look at this.”
Yuhyun’s gaze fell on my arm stuck in the steel rebar. No matter how much force I applied, it only creaked slightly.
“Pure physical strength, there’s nothing you can do. No matter what I do right now, you can’t dodge. Nor could any other S-rank.”
Even a hunter weaker than S-rank. I know well myself—I’ve been on the receiving end often. Yuhyun’s eyes twitched. A short breath scattered over my hand.
“Still, it was okay. Because you allowed it.”
Permission, that is.
“I would’ve preferred you alive, but even if things went wrong... you told it was okay to stay by your side.”
You said I could follow you. You accepted that I was different from you. Instead of saying “live on,” you said “stay with .” Though it made uneasy, for Yuhyun that was how to keep living.
“So even in danger, I followed you and protected you.”
Indeed, since then Yuhyun tried less to hold back. Between Chatterbox’s party and the Transcendents’ wagers, everything was fraught with peril, but he didn’t overdo it and just followed .
“But now it’s different.”
Yuhyun’s jaw tensed as if biting down hard.
“At this rate, only your shell will remain.”
‘Shell?’
I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t speak. Fortunately Yuhyun continued.
“Seeing the before regression made it clear. At first I didn’t realize, but what faded away close up—aside from my mories—wasn’t .”
Even if I said it wasn’t, still.
“If your core shatters, you’ll beco like that too. Leaving nothing but a trace I can’t even devour.”
I could clearly see his pupils tremble. Irin, who had climbed onto my shoulder without noticing, spoke in a mournful tone.
“Hyung, we could intermingle and blaze together forever. I didn’t know the exact aning, but I think it ant rging our cores. Both Irin and Yuhyun instinctively understood. So the one we truly love and want to stay with forever is what we must perfectly consu! It can’t be many—only one.”
Not an end in death, but sothing more fundantal—our world’s term would be that souls unite.
“But if you yourself vanish... then Yuhyun truly, can do nothing!”
Irin spun anxiously. If my core shattered and my existence erased, Yuhyun would be left utterly alone. My permission would an nothing. The fla that lost its world would sputter out by itself.
I wanted to reach out, embrace my brother, tell him that would never happen. I wanted to calmly share words to ease his fears.
[...A mundane bomb.]
[Yes?]
[It doesn’t need to be an item. Ordinary bombs are everywhere. I’ll tell you the location.]
Then, first, I needed to set us apart.
[Found them! Where should I move them?]
“Even now, Hyung.”
[To my body. Hand the trigger device.]
Park Hayul moved. Bombs rolled down onto and around . Yuhyun reacted, but my fingers moved faster. One detonator I triggered. The blast set off the others in noisy succession.
Kraaaang!
My breath hitched. The air vaporized as imnse pressure surged. Ordinary bombs without mana couldn’t pierce an upper-rank hunter’s magic. But pressure was different. The force hurled Yuhyun from in an instant. I was swept up too. The bars tying my limbs rattled until successive blasts finally tore them free. I whooshed through the air, the wall of a building looming before . Borrowing the power of the Wildcat Template, I barely twisted my body.
Thunk.
My toes slamd into the wall. Smoke and flas thickly blanketed the road. I imdiately used Stealth Skill. Even Yuhyun would struggle to spot in this chaos. As expected, he hesitated. Between the smoke, green willow-leaf sparks drifted. Cutting through the blast’s aftershock, Yuhyun leapt into the air.
[Hayul-ah!]
Holding my breath, I ran along the wall. His red-tinged black eyes calmly scanned everywhere. The flas of the explosion bent to his control, the willow sparks spreading more densely. Like a spider’s web—but even more so—they danced continuously. In human form it was hard to evade. I landed on the next building, transford my body into Deleuze Fluid. The flas barely brushed my fur. Exiting the bombed area, I reverted to human form. At that mont the fire touched .
Thud!
Yuhyun shot forward like an arrow. He landed on the wall just behind . Without a wall-run skill, his foot dug into the concrete. Just before he seized , I fired the Wildcat Gun preloaded and aid at the wall.
Twang!
The recoil blasted backward. Yuhyun’s fingertips gripped the spot where I’d been. He reached the opposite building in an instant and leapt down. Park Hayul had positioned a bike there. Without a mont’s hesitation I sped off along the road.
[This bike really is a great deal!]
Yeah, the acceleration is insane. In no ti I hit a hundred KPH and kept climbing. Even an S-rank would struggle to match a machine’s speed. For now, Yuhyun has no Peace. Just as I felt safe—
[Hyung, follow !]
The roar of a bike ca from behind. Sure, it must be Yuhyun. No reason he couldn’t ride too. Maybe he’d always kept one stashed away. I quickly checked my surroundings. Map, map.
[Newbie, can you turn on the map here?]
[Yes, one mont!]
Good, I turned direction into a narrower street.
[Hayul-ah, place bombs on that building ledge over there.]
Down below, a heap. I drew my gun. I fired at the bombs stacked on the adjacent buildings.
Bang, Kraang!
The explosions roared, followed by—
Rumble—
The building began to collapse. Blowing out the facade alone wouldn’t bring down a structure so easily. But this building had been pre-seeded with bombs and items. When the lower section and the interior detonated together, it couldn’t hold and tumbled toward the road. Kra-rung, bang! The crashing echoes rang out. Because of the late start, Yuhyun, who trailed slightly behind, was buried under the rubble. Without slowing, I glanced back.
......
Through the dust cloud rising from the debris, Yuhyun stood watching my fading form. The black butterfly circling him felt both creepy and ominous.
‘By now even Yuhyun must be in that Gardener’s grasp.’
He receded into the expanding dust, then vanished completely.
“...I wanted to talk, to talk!”
He’s not letting speak. I sighed heavily.
‘I understand his turmoil.’
It’s not simply death, but the possibility of complete erasure—anyone would lose their mind. Still, can’t we at least talk? I’m talking alone here.
“This Hyung never raised you like that.”
When we were young he barely spoke, so I used to talk to myself. Anyway, it seems talking won’t work. He won’t even hear ; he’s sealed my mouth. I’ll need Yerim’s help to sohow pin Yuhyun down so we can talk.
[Yujin-i hyung, is it really okay to go on like this? It seems dangerous, just like what Willows said.]
“Yes. The one in most danger is my brother.”
As for the others... the Han River caught my eye. Because Yerim’s water had spouted along the river, most subordinates had fled across it. They were still gathering beyond the river—so we were near Seoul Station.
‘Not far from Sesung Guild. They wouldn’t co this side of the river because of Yerim.’
Twenty-one-year-old Yuhyun ca on reconnaissance, perhaps. Unlike the other subordinates, he knew this area well and Yerim wouldn’t truly attack him. The other subordinate was probably still with the rest.
“Director Song, how are things on your side?”
[We just captured one subordinate. We heard several explosions—are you all right?]
“Yes. We got out safely.”
We crossed the Han River and kept riding. With the roads clear, we soon neared Seoul Station.
[Newbie!]
Suddenly the rookie ssaged in a panic.
[I think I have to check sothing. There’s a problem!]
“Problem?”
[Yes. It seems related to the subordinates. I’ll confirm and tell you!]
What is it? If it’s good news... thinking we’d grow closer again before regression made my mouth go dry. That Yuhyun, too, didn’t seem in a state to communicate.
‘Besides protecting , he really doesn’t care about anything else.’
At least the current Yuhyun voiced his own desire. He said he wanted to stay with . But he wasn’t the pre-regression brother. I had no plan how to persuade him, but I’d have to try.
[Subordinate!]
Park Hayul’s ssage flashed urgently. Right on cue.
Rumble!
The ground upheaved. Asphalt cracked and flew like a turtle’s shell, and I was thrown off the bike. Landing with a heavy thud, I saw a flat cobra-like head erge from the earth. Sohow a Snake Transcendent had beco like my family’s pet—were we acquainted? If I were his parent, I’d be sothing like his ancestor.
—I am.
“Hey! What are you doing to a fragile F-rank? Are your superiors making you do this? Capture that odd F-rank and bring him in as a mangled corpse?”
The cobra hesitated. Waving the scraped palm from his failed escape, he croaked as if near death.
“If you’re unlucky, one misstep and F-ranks are hellbound! Touch and I’ll shatter like a glass bead!”
I’m going to die! The snake threatened, “If you touch I die!”
—...Calm down.
“Ouch, my back, my leg, my arm, my whole body aches—I’ve lost ten years off my life, ouch ouch.”
Hayul mounted the bicycle she’d just brought. She rang the bell crisply toward the cobra.
“Move on, please. Why hassle soone already rolling in on their own?”
Pedaling leisurely, she made the snake shudder. At the sa mont the ground trembled, and I went flying sideways.
“Argh!”
The cobra froze. Hey! If you touch I die! I die!
“Anyway, this is why strong ones... don’t gauge the durability of fragile F-ranks.”
Grumbling, Hayul set the bike upright again. The snake hissed softly behind. Hmm, maybe I teased it too much. It looks like it’ll use poison—that’s no problem, but constricting with its body is risky. The ground heaved again. Click—fangs t behind . Still, it wouldn’t aim ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) to kill outright. It knows I’m weak, so it’d underestimate and take a light first strike—
Thunk.
Sothing heavy fell. I turned my head. It was the snake’s head. No slicing sound, the body detached and lay there. The black scorched cross-section revealed no blood. The half-buried body soon thudded over.
“You’ve beco even more reckless, Hyung.”
With the flutter of butterfly wings, I heard Yuhyun’s voice.
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