Ellie's Fairy Is Incredibly Strong
Han Yuseol realized something was wrong about fifteen minutes after they entered the gate.
A rank measurement error…
Or some kind of gate anomaly.
"From this point on, we'll treat this as a B-rank gate and proceed accordingly."
They had already found far too many monsters that simply should not have existed in a C-rank. Han Yuseol restructured the raid team's formation and pushed the assault forward again.
"Tanks, shift to Position Two. I'll take the lead. DPS, watch every direction. Chaerin, cover the tanks. Healers, keep the heals flexible and respond as the situation demands."
Once she had assigned every role, she strode back to the front. They cut down the monsters that came at them and made for the boss room that held the Dungeon Core—until a shout cut through the dungeon air.
"!? Anomaly! Monster wave incoming!"
A teammate with a detection skill had spotted it: a distant mass of monsters churning the ground as they surged closer. A wave like that was more than Team 2 could hold alone. Han Yuseol was about to order a full retreat when something closed the distance faster than anyone could register.
Whoosh!
CRASH!!
"Chaerin!!"
Red skin. A massive orc drove straight into the heart of the raid. Its swung arm caught Lee Chaerin square in the head and hurled her body into the far wall like a thrown doll.
It had happened in an instant. Han Yuseol's pupils shook with panic—then flared with a crimson light as she lunged for the orc. Her katana accelerated, streaking for the red orc's throat.
CLANG!!!
!?
It reacted. The blow was casually turned aside by the greatsword in the red orc's hand. In that moment, Han Yuseol felt the gulf in raw power.
That's a boss monster at the very least.
Which meant the boss had left its room. Outside the gate, the only people waiting were two Association hunters—and Ellie. They would never stop a boss monster, let alone a full wave.
In that case—
"Everyone, fall back! Get out of the gate right now and call for support! Hurry!"
"B-but—!"
"I'll hold this thing! So move!"
It was faster than any of them could answer. Someone had to pin the boss in place.
"Now!!"
"J-just hang on a little longer! We'll get help!!"
The team scooped up the unconscious Lee Chaerin and sprinted for the exit. Han Yuseol barely had time for a breath of relief before the red orc's next strike came on.
Whoosh!!
A heavy arc of the greatsword. The wind of it alone whipped Han Yuseol's hair back. From there, it became a true life-or-death struggle. She unleashed her A-rank skill, Coercion—normally kept carefully reined in—to keep the surrounding monsters at bay, and moved like lightning to lock down the red orc's range.
Even a clean cut only left shallow scratches; sealing its movements was the best she could do. And so she was the one who tired first.
The instant her stamina hit its limit, the red orc seized the opening.
THUD!! Whoosh!!
It closed the gap in a blink and swung. Judging she couldn't dodge, Han Yuseol snapped her katana up to block—but its strength was beyond anything she had imagined.
—Krrk!
CLANG!!
The impact drove her back, katana and all, and her body went flying through the air in a straight line.
Whoooosh!!!
CRASH!!!
She slammed into the wall.
"Guh—!"
A blinding pain shot up from her back—the kind that would have knocked her out if she had let go of her strength for even a second.
Thud. Thud.
It was coming. She had to move, but her body would not listen. She forced her head up just as the red orc let out a low snarl and raised that enormous greatsword high.
Ah.
I'm going to die here.
The thought of dying sent a flood of memories flashing through her mind—and among them was Ellie.
We were supposed to get a meal together after this…
The regret that she had not spent more time with Ellie had barely formed when—
"Pi!"
"Huh?"
—Krrk?
A fairy popped into the space between Han Yuseol and the red orc. One of Ellie's fairies, without a doubt.
"Pi? Pipi!"
Seraphin bounced in place, waving both tiny hands as if to ask whether Han Yuseol was all right. Stunned, Han Yuseol could only stare.
Then—
—Krrk!
As if brushing aside a pest that had the nerve to hover in front of it, the red orc flicked its greatsword at the fairy.
THUD!!
The blade never landed. Seraphin's small hand caught it as easily as if it were nothing.
No—caught was the wrong word. She gripped it.
Han Yuseol's eyes went round. In the next breath—
CRACK!!
Seraphin squeezed, just a little, and fractures spiderwebbed across the greatsword.
—K-krrk!?
The red orc staggered back in shock. Seraphin looked up at it with a frigid little face, as if to say, How dare you raise a hand against me?
"Piii…."
"Pi!"
And then Seraphin's form vanished—or rather, moved so fast it looked as if she had. She shot straight into the red orc's face and drove a fist home.
What followed was catastrophic.
Whoooosh!! BOOM!!!!
The red orc's body was literally launched. It bounced, tumbled, slammed along the floor without losing any of that terrible momentum, and finally crashed into the wall.
KRAAAAAASH!!!
Of every roar that had shaken the dungeon since they entered, this was the greatest. For a heartbeat the entire gate trembled under the impact.
"…Huh?"
Han Yuseol could only blink. She could barely believe the scene in front of her was real. That tiny fairy had just done the unimaginable. Cognitive dissonance threatened to swallow her whole.
"Ellie's fairy… is incredibly strong…."
In the end, she simply accepted it as it was.
That was when she noticed the girl approaching from a short distance away. Ellie herself. Ellie's other fairy, Arwen, was clearing a path with magic—burning some monsters to ash, freezing others solid—as they closed in on Han Yuseol.
"Ah—Ellie."
The moment she saw her, a smile rose unbidden to Han Yuseol's lips. Relief washed through her, and every taut muscle in her body went slack. Ellie spotted her as well and quickened her steps, worry plain on her face as she spoke.
"Are you all right?"
"!?"
Ellie had spoken. Of everything Han Yuseol had witnessed so far, this might have been the most shocking of all.
"Pin."
"Pi?"
"Heal her, please."
"Pipi!"
Seraphin, who had been busy finishing the red orc and slaughtering the remaining monsters, flew to Han Yuseol and began healing at once. Under the soft light, her injuries started to mend. Whether it was the relief or sheer exhaustion, Han Yuseol's eyes grew heavy. Ellie smiled.
"Rest. It'll be over soon."
"Yes…."
Maybe it was those words. Han Yuseol let herself sink into sleep, certain—somehow—that if it was Ellie, everything would be fine.
I set out for the gate exit with Han Yuseol in tow. Not that I was the one carrying her—Arwen had lifted her with psychokinesis.
"Pi!"
Then Pin came fluttering over, proudly brandishing a massive rock. On closer look, it was the Dungeon Core.
"Pipi! Pipipipi!"
She was clearly saying something along the lines of, With this, we can grow the World Tree even more! I gave her head a fond little pat for a job well done, stuffed the Dungeon Core into my pack, and kept walking.
Outside the gate, Team 2's raid party and the two Association staffers were waiting. Only a few minutes had passed since I'd gone in, so backup still hadn't arrived. I handed Han Yuseol over to the team and spoke up.
"Hunter Han Yuseol has been treated. She should be fine."
"Ah—yes. Um, about those fairies—"
"I'll be going, then."
I cut them off and started walking. I'd already gone and done it; the situation was getting awkward enough as it was.
"E-excuse me! Just a moment!"
An Association staffer called after me from behind. I ignored them and kept moving, silently begging them not to grab me as I picked up the pace.
"Ppyu!"
Fortunately, the shouting cut off at some point.
"Whew…."
I let out a breath of pure relief and made it home without further trouble.
Association staffer Shin Jiyeon blinked.
"…She's gone."
The person they suspected of being the Fairy King. She'd tried everything she could to keep her there for questioning—but the tiny fairy who looked like a mage had given her staff the slightest wave, and the woman's form had turned translucent and vanished in an instant.
Shin Jiyeon was still standing there slack-jawed when—
"…Huh?"
The gate was collapsing. A collapsing gate meant the boss monster had been slain—and that the Dungeon Core had been recovered as well. Staring at the vanishing portal in pure shock, she turned to her subordinate and asked about the raid time.
"H-how long was it between when that healer entered the gate and when she came back out?"
"F-five minutes. It only took five minutes."
Which meant… she had rescued Hunter Han Yuseol and cleared a gate estimated at B-rank—all by herself. In a mere five minutes.
"Good heavens…."