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Join the Server“Dali, I’m counting on you.”
Those were the last words. In the instant when everyone cowered from the flames surging in the aftermath of the explosion, Dali, with his fur bristling, snatched Beom Yeonhu, Kang Taesan, and Byeon Yeongchan with his tail and leaped into the distance.
Baek Jiun was already far away, hiding behind the Hell Generals, capturing the scene through his lens.
“Argh, I can’t see anything. Ah, this is no good…!”
Anxiously licking his lips, Baek Jiun shifted his gaze, searching for Dali’s location. As soon as he spotted a pale shape through the moisture-laden fog, he quickly focused his camcorder on it.
The comment section was already ablaze with activity.
[DKSHG23: Someone clear the damn fog, it’s driving me crazy;;]
[Ziruhangun: Tch, they’ve all gone mad, what are they doing?]
[CopyPasteManse: Am I the only one who sees that E-rank lunatic? Why is he causing trouble with two lives?????]
[errrr1111: What the hell is going on?]
His heart pounded in his ears. Among the flood of comments, there were reports from other broadcasting hunters who had hastily started their streams to cover the current situation. Probably, hunters from Geon Ita’s or Taeseongyeon’s teams were filming the scenes visible through the gates.
The pale fog that had obscured his vision slowly cleared. Finally, Baek Jiun swallowed dryly, tore his gaze away from Dali who was protecting the others, and quickly turned the camera. No, he tried to.
Uh… what the?
Bam, bam-
It wasn’t something else. It was because Dali, protecting the people with his body, was trembling in fear, his legs shaking.
Even though he was in the form of a chimera, not a child, Dali opened his beak, then squeezed his pitiful eyes shut, curled his wings, and buried his head in terror.
No way.
Baek Jiun’s pupils dilated dangerously. His gaze shot forward like an arrow. Where the faint mist and vapor danced.
A heavy thunder sounded there. Evaporated currents burst in all directions, and ground-shaking explosions followed one after another.
The fog cleared and thickened several times. Forgetting to even breathe, Baek Jiun instinctively captured the entire situation in his lens. Little by little, the fog was clearing.
A pale shape collided with something at high speed. The impact threatened to burst his eardrums. Kwaang! When the roaring boom made Baek Jiun unable to hold back a suppressed groan—
Through the gap in the completely cleared fog, Baek Jiun witnessed a bizarre scene.
“…What is that thing…?”
Blood poured down in droplets. A pistol was held in their hand, and their shoulders, slightly bent from strain, heaved. The person had water-colored hair. But unlike Agon, their build was smaller, and their hair was short.
The white, bloodless face spotted with fresh red blood evoked the image of blood spreading in water. On the neck, gills were carved long, and on the back of the hand wiping blood from the lips, faint transparent scale patterns were visible. The atmosphere itself was strange.
But that—
“…Must be crazy.”
It was eerily beautiful.
****
That brat is damn tough.
[You have succeeded in the ‘Special Skill’
Pushing aside the now-fading text, Dokyeom wiped the blood from his lips. He had already rammed into it with all his might several times. Yet, he hadn’t been able to leave any significant damage.
Moreover, unlike Dali, he had no skill resistance, so he was helplessly taking internal damage from the witch’s attacks.
What should he do?
The ‘Three Sisters of the Snow Mountain’ are originally witches with only one eye each. It was to balance their power. But when one of the three witches gains two eyes, their potential awakens.
Especially for the third witch, whose power remains in the ‘past.’
The ‘awakening’ of the third witch, ‘Pteia,’ was such a case. Of course, more prerequisites were needed.
First, the other witches must die first.
Second, there must be exactly ten beings in the boss room.
Third, the ‘challenger’ who challenges her must possess a suitable ‘fame.’
And this ‘challenger’ is granted to the one with the highest ‘fame value’ among those present, based on the ‘present.’
Therefore, Dokyeom had to raise the highest ‘fame value’ among them. That was why he had brought Baek Jiun along.
To be seen by people and increase his fame. And to some extent, that goal had been achieved.
[Your ‘fame’ has significantly increased!]
Kyaaaaaa-!!
“Ugh!”
A long arm, like a spider’s, scraped across the ground. Clods of earth flew violently before his eyes, and flames that melted flesh rode the wind above.
‘Pteia’ is the witch symbolizing fire. Even though she was trapped in this freezing land and lost her power, her instincts remained.
Just as her belly, swollen like a toad’s, seemed to heave upward, a hideous mouth opened and a massive torrent of flames erupted. Dokyeom bit back a curse and threw himself sideways to escape the lava-like blaze.
If only he could block that attack.
The cold was now a distant memory; the surroundings were filled only with flesh-melting hellfire. He even felt as if he had been thrown into a pit of fire.
The variable was that arm, which could come flying from anywhere at any time when he got close. Dokyeom loaded his gun, aimed at the witch’s eye, and pulled the trigger.
‘
Bang—
The light beam shooting from the muzzle was blocked by the rising hellfire and melted away. As soon as the bullet was blocked, Dokyeom leaped. His target was the witch’s eye, grotesquely protruding.
Clenching his fist until his joints cracked, he put all his strength into a downward strike. The air layers collided with a thunderous roar, and the wind howled like a scream. A transparent film briefly reflected its shape over the eye.
The witch, flailing its limbs grotesquely, opened its web-filled mouth and let out a piercing scream.
Kyaaaaaak-!
If only that were the end. After the scream, a hook-like hand stretched out and violently tore Dokyeom away. With an explosion, Dokyeom’s body was helplessly flung back like a stone hitting a wall.
“This bastard really…!”
Just before being slammed into the cave wall. Bracing for injury, Dokyeom gritted his teeth. Behind him, a dark shadow briefly loomed. The shadow tightly grabbed Dokyeom’s body and held it steady.
Then came the booming sound.
Kwaang-!
“Keoheuk…!”
Someone’s blood splattered into the air. Their body bounced as if breaking. Dokyeom exhaled sharply from the violent impact. But the pain was quite different from what he had anticipated.
Dokyeom’s gaze followed the scattered blood. It wasn’t his. As soon as he realized that, his head whipped around. And when his eyes captured the person behind him, Dokyeom had to freeze.
“…Hyung.”
It was Beom Yeonhu. He had held Dokyeom’s body firmly, acting as a cushion. On the hand gripping Dokyeom, veins like leeches writhed grotesquely.
“Heok, heok….”
Was Beom Yeonhu this fast?
Even as Dokyeom’s hazy mind entertained that thought, he hurriedly got up to check Beom Yeonhu’s condition. But the firm hand gripping his own conveyed a long message.
“…Dokyeom-ah. I don’t know about anything else….”
Spitting out blood, Beom Yeonhu closed his long eyes. It was that smile that always made one feel drowsy. Yet his attitude was no different from a fighting pit bull.
With a resolve to even throw away his life, Beom Yeonhu stared over Dokyeom’s shoulder.
“Hyung came here… to protect you.”
The moment the inside of his palm gently brushed against his, his body was pulled forward. A heavy breath touched his ear.
“But if not now, when will I ever… get to protect you.”
‘I wish I had power.’
Dokyeom heard Beom Yeonhu’s heartache brushing past his ear.
It had been a heavy worry lodged in a corner of Beom Yeonhu’s heart for some time. That single concern had gradually eroded the daily life that Beom Yeonhu had taken for granted, like water dissolving something.
[People call that the generalization fallacy. ]
Beom Yeonhu accepted the estranged daily life caused by his lack of normalcy as a matter of course. The only one who didn’t accept it was Han Dokyeom.
So he was grateful. And he wanted to prove it. Now… yes. He wanted to repay.
“Hyung just… I don’t need anyone else… I want to be a good hunter only for you.”
[After all, I’ll be living with you, so as long as I’m good to you, that’s enough. Why do you keep meddling?]
“…That should be enough, right?”
‘So, please give me that opportunity as well… Miss Vine.’
In the past, when he had been injured and came down from the ring, or just a few months ago when his qi and blood were twisted and he couldn’t use his strength, Beom Yeonhu was someone who didn’t know how to resist.
He accepted everything like a natural order and incorporated it into his life. He should have screamed and denied it. But now, he didn’t want to be as calm as he had been in those past days.
Kyaaaaaaa-!
A meteor-like mass of demonic fire shone in Beom Yeonhu’s golden pupils. The red-hot stone melted everything around. The surroundings were already boiling with lava, leaving no room to step.
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read Crow's Golden Fragment! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : Crow's Golden Fragment
