259. The End of the Shin Family (1)
259. The End of the Shin Family (1)
In Velvetsra, the final battle against Shin Do-hwa boasted a pretty brutal difficulty.
The Shin Family Guard, taking direct orders from Shin Do-hwa.
And Shin Do-hwa herself, providing support from the rear with powerful fire.
The combination of the two was absolutely insane.
In short, even if you were a total veteran, eating a few retries on this fight wasn't the kind of thing anyone would get flamed for.
However.
I'd assigned Shin Se-hee, Kang Do-hee, Sofia, and Ichika separate tasks.
The remaining personnel were me, Lee Yu-ri, Ga-eul sunbae, and Shasha Pong.
Of those, Shasha Pong was outside the combat roster to begin with, and Ga-eul sunbae couldn't perform her Support role since she was busy recharging the White Magic Stone.
Which meant the only actual combat strength boiled down to just two people: me and Gukbap.
And yet, I was completely certain of victory.
'Honestly, if Shasha Pong hadn't been here, I would've had to drag the whole party along.'
The White Magic Stone she'd brought had set off one hell of a snowball.
The biggest factor was taking out the Shin Family Guard early.
Normally, even if you dragged in bugs like this,
Shin Do-hwa would've quickly regained her composure thanks to the Shin Family Guard's intervention.
"—D-disgusting!!!! Get away!!!"
But stripped of every barrier, she'd now lost her original icy composure and was shrieking and frantically shaking off her body.
And then, as if she just couldn't take it anymore.
"G-get the hell away from me!!!"
Fwooooosh—
Huge flames erupted all over her body.
'And here's the other trump card I prepared.'
I flicked my eyes toward Gukbap.
Lee Yu-ri nodded back at me.
Claaaaaaang—!!!
The moment she drew her shortsword and struck her shield.
Fwoosh! BOOM!
The flames Shin Do-hwa had summoned converged onto Lee Yu-ri's shield.
Watching that, I tugged up the corner of my mouth in satisfaction.
How should I put it.
Shin Se-hee, Shin Do-hwa — both of them.
You could say that household just gets straight-up hard-countered by Lee Yu-ri.
Even in the game, no matter how much Lee Yu-ri's Taunt didn't work on chimeras, Gukbap was the undisputed one-pick you had to bring for this episode.
Let alone Shin Do-hwa without the Shin Family Guard?
She was just a free meal for Lee Yu-ri.
'As expected, she's the Shin family's designated bully.'
* * *
"Alright, Gukbap. We'll take care of Shasha Pong's dad. You handle Shin Do-hwa in the meantime."
At Jin Yu-ha's words, Lee Yu-ri nodded.
'It's really true.......'
Staring at the flames blazing as if trying to devour her shield, she felt a strange emotion.
She hadn't said it aloud during this China mission, but in truth she'd been pretty dispirited.
After all, her skills hadn't properly landed on any of the enemies she'd faced throughout this mission — the chimeras.
Sure, she'd played the role of temporarily pinning the chimeras down, but honestly, even without that, Sofia's arrows would've been more than enough to wipe out every last chimera.
Because of that, Lee Yu-ri hadn't been able to shake the feeling that she'd turned into some kind of useless dead weight.
And then, out of nowhere, Jin Yu-ha had specifically singled her out and asked her to face this operation's final mastermind alone.
She'd doubted whether she could actually pull it off.
But now, actually blocking the attacks for real, she understood.
Flames that shrank and died the moment they touched her Mana, as if submitting to her.
'These flames can't leave a single scratch on me.'
She felt her confidence flooding back.
And maybe because her opponent was a woman who looked exactly like Shin Se-hee, her fighting spirit seemed to burn even hotter.
'I already wanted to give Shin Se-hee a good thrashing for what happened last time anyway.'
The atrocity Shin Se-hee had committed before.
Lee Yu-ri hadn't forgotten her grudge from that day — when Shin Se-hee had impersonated Jin Yu-ha to deceive the party members and contacted them.
Back then, a silent agreement had formed. And she couldn't use violence against a fellow party member anyway. So she'd let it go.......
A pheasant instead of a chicken, as they say — if she could deliver some corrective education to this woman who was the spitting image of Shin Se-hee, that would be satisfying enough.
"Why! Why! Why do you keep coming at me! Get away! I said get away!!!"
Shin Do-hwa summoned even larger flames than before.
Fwooooooooosh!!!!!
BOOM!
But her flames once again converged not on the bugs, but on Lee Yu-ri's shield.
Only then did Shin Do-hwa register Lee Yu-ri's presence.
As she turned her head, her face twisted into a deep grimace.
"You....... What are you."
Lee Yu-ri answered in a voice brimming with confidence.
"Hey, lady. You're gonna play with me."
* * *
Leaving Shin Do-hwa to Lee Yu-ri like that,
Ga-eul sunbae, Shasha Pong, and I headed toward the glass tube.
Inside the glass tube stood a muscular man with long gray hair, grinding his teeth.
His eyes had lost all focus.
"......D-Daddy."
Shasha Pong reached out.
The moment she saw him she tried to run straight to him,
but I grabbed Shasha Pong by the shoulder and held her back.
"It's dangerous."
"B-but Daddy! Daddy!"
"Shasha Pong."
I turned Shasha Pong around and met her eyes.
"Don't worry. Wait back there with that big sis. I'll definitely save your dad."
"......."
Shasha Pong, who'd been staring at me, bit down hard on her lip and nodded.
I gave her head one stroke,
then headed toward the glass tube alone.
And then.
BOOM!
He threw a punch from inside the glass tube.
His powerful fist shattered the glass tube and burst through.
The green-tinged liquid inside gushed out in surges.
Crack—
Soon, Yu-won destroyed the glass tube and stepped outside.
Blank white eyes with no focus.
A muscular body with water dripping from it.
The moment he emerged, the horrific wounds from all kinds of experiments covering his body began regenerating in an instant.
It was an astounding regeneration ability.
'He couldn't use his full strength inside that liquid.'
Meaning you couldn't underestimate him just because he'd been trapped in that glass tube.
"Father."
I spoke to him.
"Grrrrrrr......."
But Yu-won simply let drool drip from his mouth, his eyes unfocused.
"......Berserk Mode, huh? Telling him to snap out of it would be pointless right now."
I stared at him for a moment, then let out a sigh.
"Well, I'm going to weaken him starting now....... It'll probably hurt a bit. It's unavoidable for the treatment, so bear with it."
The moment I finished speaking.
"Kraaaaaaaah!!!!!"
Drool flying from his mouth, Yu-won charged at me.
Whoooosh—
Yu-won swung his huge hand like a wild beast.
I drew my sword, still in its scabbard.
Sofia's here, and with that regeneration, he'd probably be fine — but if things went wrong he could end up crippled, so I was being cautious.
BOOOOM—!!!
Yu-won's fist slammed into the floor.
A massive crater formed in the underground laboratory floor.
But I twisted my body to dodge his punch,
then swung my sword horizontally, carrying all that centrifugal force.
WHAM—!!!!
My scabbard struck deep into his side.
CRASH!!
Yu-won flew back and slammed into the laboratory wall.
However.
As if he'd taken no damage at all, he shook his head and sprang right back up.
"......You really live up to your name as a mid-boss."
I spoke in an exhausted voice.
"Hmm, I'd like to go easy on him if possible. Wonder if I can manage to pull my punches......."
*
BOOM!
WHAM—!
BOOM!
WHAM—!
BOOM!
WHAM—!
The battle between Jin Yu-ha and Yu-won unfolded with breathtaking intensity.
Yu-won's speed and destructive power were on a phenomenal level.
He lashed out with fists and feet at a speed too fast for the eye to track,
and each time, the floor and walls, built of solid material, crumpled and shattered miserably.
But through it all, Jin Yu-ha didn't allow a single hit to land.
As if he knew exactly where the fists and kicks were headed.
Jin Yu-ha dodged the attacks and swung his scabbard into the openings.
Shasha Pong watched the scene, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood.
Im Ga-eul, too, swallowed nervously as she looked on.
'......Hoobae, what is this. Something about him seems different.'
Jin Yu-ha always displayed superhuman skill,
but today he looked just slightly different.
How should she put it.
Before, his sword had been light and dazzling, almost like dancing, seizing your gaze,
and then he'd land the decisive blow — but now, his sword felt excessively plain and concise.
Yet it was hard to say his skill had diminished.
Because in Im Ga-eul's eyes, the same sword from before was still visible.
Not in reality, but in the realm of imagination.
He performed just one very simple motion — swinging his sword downward.
But in that instant, her mind conjured an image on its own.
The scene of Jin Yu-ha's sword spreading wings as colorful and magnificent as a peacock's.
'......Maybe I've just watched hoobae's sword too many times.'
She had that thought for a moment.
BOOOOM—!!!
This time, Yu-won's head was slammed into the floor.
Even though it was an honest attack, simply striking down from above, he still handed over his head.
'Wh-what is this.......'
Unable to believe the scene she'd just witnessed, Im Ga-eul's mouth fell open in disbelief.
Yu-won was clearly seeing Jin Yu-ha's sword for the very first time.
Yet he'd twisted his body and dodged, as if he too had seen the same vision Im Ga-eul herself had seen.
And in that gap, hoobae's sword, which had been moving slowly, suddenly accelerated and smashed into his skull.
'What kind of monster has hoobae turned into now.......'
She was standing there, mouth agape, watching Jin Yu-ha, when it happened.
"Ga-eul sunbae!!!"
Jin Yu-ha suddenly turned and shouted at her.
"Huh......?"
"Now!"
Ah.
Right. She was here for this exact moment.
Im Ga-eul immediately snapped back to her senses and ran toward Yu-won.
Dash—
She reached out her hand toward the unconscious Yu-won.
With one hand, she grasped his head.
With the other, she drew up the energy of the White Magic Stone.
'Swap the two energies.'
Yes — what hoobae had asked of her.
To swap the Mana of the White Magic Stone with Yu-won's Mana.
With herself serving as the conduit!
"Hyaaaaaaaat!!!"
Im Ga-eul let out a powerful shout.