Don't Touch My Kid
Don't Touch My Kid
I analyzed the observed information once more.
A vast soul befitting a 2nd Rank. Countless smaller souls had been swallowed into it, slowly digesting to nourish its own growth.
It was my first time sensing it directly, yet the method felt familiar.
There were certainly other unique abilities that handled souls, but I knew of only one case that manipulated them so profoundly and precisely in the form of a 'monster.'
‘The 12th Iteration.’
Soul Hunting Sublimation isn’t just a skill; it’s an expansion ability. The expanded innate talent, the Soul Ingot, is the 12th Iteration’s unique ability.
I had not laid eyes on him yet, but his existence was all but confirmed.
A dark cloud settled over Lee Ha-yul’s face.
“Aha? So that’s a 2nd Rank.”
Just then, Hong Yeon-hwa strode forward a step, making her presence blatantly known, and spoke.
A deep crater formed by a particularly high-output Heavenly Thunder strike.
In the spot where the ground and monsters had been completely annihilated, a lone, unscathed black figure was visible.
Its body, murky as a shadow. Its head looked like it was covered by a crude helmet, and its upper body was sparsely sprouting gray scales.
Its two arms were thin, but the hands were large. The thick, pointed fingers were practically blades.
It had no legs; its lower half was long and writhing, like a snake.
“It’s small.”
Atra muttered.
Was its height barely over two meters?
That isn’t small by human standards, but it’s so tiny it would be hard to find on a battlefield teeming with house-sized monsters.
Yet every gaze on the battlefield was fixed on this creature.
“But it looks strong as hell.”
“We couldn’t sense its presence until just now. A stealth-type unique ability, maybe?”
“Fast enough to dodge a serious Heavenly Thunder strike… looks like an assassin-type.”
“Ah… stealth and speed… seriously, the most annoying type.”
Liana clicked her tongue, a sickened look on her face.
Hadn’t she been ambushed and wounded by a monster with a stealth-type unique ability during her last operation on the African Front?
It wasn’t a deep wound, but it had been a hair-raisingly dangerous moment, and the memory made her frown.
And to top it off, this thing was a 2nd Rank.
“If a monster that size slipped out and started roaming the world unnoticed… ugh, just imagining the disaster without a kid who could observe it…”
“Blegh. Just imagining it makes me seriously sick.”
Baek A-rin grimaced and stuck out her tongue. Hong Yeon-hwa shrugged at her reaction.
“Exactly why we have to take it down here.”
She deliberately spoke loudly, redirecting the attention onto herself. Lee Ha-yul nodded slightly at the warm gesture.
“That thing, if possible, I’d like to capture it alive.”
“Huh?”
Lee Ha-yul observed the battlefield.
The war situation was overwhelmingly in our favor. The firepower and preparations had been thorough from the start, and with the pre-set workshops and magic, it was impossible to be at a disadvantage.
Plus, with golems being churned out like a factory, undead growing in number, and spirits rampaging through by pouring elemental attributes into contested zones—
There was no way our casualties were getting any bigger, even without Lee Ha-yul.
“Since it’s a 2nd Rank, it’s fine to subjugate it and put it to whatever use, but there are things to confirm, like evidence collection… So it doesn’t really matter if we kill it, but I want to leave it on the brink of death, enough to capture it if possible.”
“Yeah? Then sure, whatever.”
Historically, only a handful of 2nd-Rank monsters had ever been successfully subjugated, yet Hong Yeon-hwa nodded nonchalantly.
“Hm, Yeon-hwa, your confidence is something else. Think you can capture that thing on your own?”
“If you’re scared, just stay back.”
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been glaring at Baek A-rin through narrowed eyes, stepped forward.
At the edge of the rampart, she rested the sword woven from winged garments on her shoulder.
“Might as well show off a little, since my husband’s watching.”
“Looks like the wedding ceremony already happened in your dreams.”
Atra snickered and loosened her hands. The unraveled golden winged garments wrapped around her hands and forearms like gauntlets.
“Hoo, well, if my dear husband wishes it, I’d better put some effort in.”
Baek A-rin laughed slyly, also weaving a spear from her winged garments.
“…….”
Daera, looking around awkwardly, glanced over her shoulder.
Ellia and Liana weren’t vanguard fighters and hadn’t stepped forward, but they had either woven staves from their winged garments or were in a defensive stance with the cloth as it was.
The moment Daera’s expression turned complicated with a vague sense of deprivation, she spotted Lee Ha-sol, who had a similar look on her face, and her eyes lit up.
“Oh, so there is a comrade.”
“……”
[……]
Feeling inexplicably offended, Lee Ha-sol frowned and raised her bow.
Even though it was a bow Lee Ha-yul had personally made and given as a gift, he thought to himself that he should make one more winged garment soon, and jumped down from the ramparts.
Of course, he didn’t forget to leave an Incarnation on the rampart.
- Tak, tadak
Then, as if worried he might charge off alone, Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek A-rin, Atra and Daera landed right beside him immediately.
[…I won’t overdo it, so don’t worry.]
“Ah, right.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“…….”
Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek A-rin answered, blatantly half-hearted. By the time he got to Atra, she didn’t even give a verbal reply.
With a sour face, Lee Ha-yul pulled two swords from his subspace.
- Skree
The 2nd-Rank monster melted into the empty air.
There was no warning at all. Its presence truly vanished completely in an instant, as if it had never been there.
The people who had been narrowing their eyes clicked their tongues.
It sure didn’t earn its 2nd Rank for nothing; even while being within their sensory range, it was hard to find.
- Association President Proxy Lee Ha-yul broadcasting. From this moment, the 2nd-Rank Monster appearing on the battlefield is temporarily designated ‘Sicarius.’ Its manifested unique abilities are darkness-type and its expansions, Super High Speed and fluidization.
“Wow, Observation is seriously broken.”
It had only shown itself once, yet all its unique abilities had been completely exposed. Lee Ha-yul was likely still observing the thing even though it was concealed by stealth.
“This way.”
Lee Ha-yul wasn’t the only one who’d perceived it.
It wasn’t as precise as Observation yet, but Gale was equally excellent at detection.
The moment Lee Ha-sol, who had been focusing her sight, released her bowstring, dozens of Gale streaks poured onto a single point and exploded.
The cutting wind scoured the ground and the air equally.
Suddenly, a hole was ripped in the storm, and in front of it, Lee Ha-yul was already bringing down a sword thickly wreathed in Heavenly Thunder.
- Kwa-rurung!
The ground caved in with the thunder. When the sword, suspended in mid-air, scattered its Heavenly Thunder, a thin arm was revealed, as if its skin was being peeled off.
- Kkii-geek…!
Two similar sounds mixed together.
The sound of the sword scraping an arm, and a screech like metal being scratched. Sicarius’s arm vanished, its murky Mana Gleam flashing.
Super High Speed.
A simple yet exceptional innate talent. Perhaps because of its status as a 2nd Rank, it was fast enough to perceive and evade even Heavenly Thunder.
Heavenly Thunder Expansion Ability —
Lightning Step Movement
A Heavenly Thunder-charged prosthetic arm swung from behind and cut into its attack. The prosthetic, stripped of its Heavenly Thunder, trembled faintly.
“Ngh…!”
Even though she had blocked with the prosthetic, it felt like every bone in her body was shaking.
Lightning flashed in Daera’s eyes as she gritted her teeth. Her senses sharpened to a dizzying degree, and in her eyes, pooling with Heavenly Thunder, another point of view appeared.
A huge monstrous hand—Hungry Ghost—covers my face and crushes it like an apple.
- Crash!
Lee Ha-yul’s blade, swung up hard without warning, shattered its prediction.
The arm that was aiming for my head was knocked upward. Daera’s fist, eyes flaring, shot in like a lightning strike.
Sicarius lurched and was dragged far back. There wasn’t much satisfying feedback from the punch, but Daera grinned anyway.
- Zzap!
The infiltrating Heavenly Thunder tore through its body.
When the Heavenly Thunder that had seeped in through Lee Ha-yul’s slash resonated with it, Sicarius—who had been trying to slip free with either stealth or super-high speed—froze for an instant. Nothing more than a brief moment.
- Kabooooom─!
That moment was more than enough. From the rear, Atra came crashing in, twisting her waist with all her strength and driving her fist—fiercely dyed in White Night—straight through.
- Kkigk…!
This impact couldn’t be deflected.
The scales scattered unevenly across its back shuddered. From inside its helmet-like head, a chilling murderous glare flashed. It swiveled back at super-high speed to tear out a throat right then and there—
- Craunch!
A blade flickering with Heavenly Thunder drove into its neck.
The seeping Heavenly Thunder locked up its body for a fleeting instant.
Just like before. This time it wasn’t light, but Calamity Flame, and it wasn’t from the back, but a slash carving down from the face.
- Shraaak!
The durability of a 2nd-Rank monster was monstrous.
Even from a direct, square hit, only a faint gash remained. Right as that wound started to bubble and seethe with regeneration, the Calamity Flame embedded in the cut swelled up.
The Calamity Flame flickered stickily against the wound and tore into it.
Sicarius let out a grotesque cry and twisted its body. A surge of dully colored mana swallowed the Calamity Flame and filled the wound.
Immediately following, super-high speed manifestation.
Amidst the White Night driving in from behind, the Heavenly Thunder flanking from the side, and the Calamity Flame once again hurtling from the front, a jet-black line pierced straight through.
In the same instant that Sicarius broke through the encirclement, it wrenched its mana-charged jaws wide open toward Hong Yeon-hwa.
Chew her to death, or blast her to death with a mana cannon. Facing the two obvious intentions, Hong Yeon-hwa reflexively drew her sword back and flared her aura with all her might.
『Stop.』
- Crrrrk…!
In that instant, Sicarius was seized in midair. A clear will completely and temporarily bound its every action.
In the murky glare, shock registered—and reflected within it was Hong Yeon-hwa, smiling brightly as she slashed her sword down.
Shraaak! The gash sliced into the exact same spot was wider and deeper than before. The Calamity Flame clinging to it blazed even more fiercely.
Soon the Gale that filled the whole area swept in to aid the Calamity Flame, and Lee Ha-yul’s sword, drenched in that Gale, churned through the wound now covered in Calamity Flame.
Sicarius thrashed and twisted its body in frenzy.
- Thunk!
The moment it shook off the Word Command that had confined its body. A blue-tinted spearhead lodged into its neck. Right where Lee Ha-yul had so tenaciously slashed and left that gash open.
“Ta-da.”
Baek A-rin grinned and twisted the spear. Along the shaft, a distant cold aura surged in like a tide.
- Crack-craaack…!
With the cold aura bursting through, hoarfrost began spreading from the neck. Even its unseen interior chilled, locking down its movements.
The expression on Lee Ha-yul’s face as he observed that phenomenon became very, very uncomfortable, but given the circumstances, he kept his sword moving regardless.
‘So far…’
Starting from the lodged Azure Sea spear, a merciless combined assault erupted.
While Sicarius was briefly held, Atra’s White Night and Hong Yeon-hwa’s Calamity Flame crushed and cleaved in a frenzy.
Before the wounds could regenerate, Baek A-rin would jam her spear in and pour Azure Sea power through, locking it down.
Even so, the attacks it continued to launch in maddened frenzy were intercepted by Daera with Heavenly Thunder, and the seeped-in Heavenly Thunder further tore into the wounds and sealed its movements.
That wasn’t the only means of suppression.
Lee Ha-sol dedicated herself to supporting from a distance.
The Gale that saturated the entire area swirlingly seized Sicarius’s body, while conversely making our movements lighter and faster.
Gale-driven knifelike winds tore into the wounds, even hurling themselves into the Calamity Flame to amplify its output.
Simultaneously, two-colored clusters of light were carried in from the fortress walls.
Ellia’s Healing Melody rode the Gale and properly seeped into each of our bodies.
Even before our physical stamina could drain from the intense movements, it was refilled, and the fatigue accumulating dissolved away.
The monster horde commanded as a higher-rank entity? It was currently being massacred by the spirits waiting outside the Gale.
‘…….’
During all of this, Lee Ha-yul fought in a way that appropriately supported.
He stepped in by reproducing whatever Innate Talents were needed through Homogenization and supported the party with magic. Whenever danger threatened, he stopped it with Word Command.
My expression turned complicated despite myself.
It’s a 2nd-Rank monster. Obviously, it’s far below any Tower Master; in fact, the 8th Iteration had taken down multiple 2nd-Rank monsters solo.
Still, even accounting for that, this is too easy. It’s being ground down without any chance to resist.
Restraint magic and Azure Sea power are spiked like nails across its whole body, and it’s just moments away from being captured, entangled in frozen pillars and chains planted into the uneven ground.
There are multiple reasons.
One is that the party’s coordination is incredibly proficient, the affinities between their unique abilities are well-matched, and even the tiny gaps that remain are precisely covered by Lee Ha-yul’s interventions.
Another is that Sicarius is a specimen specialized in stealth and speed.
Every moment, all its movements are being observed—so stealth and fluidization fail at the very instant they’re attempted, and even when it exerts its speed, Lee Ha-yul blocks it.
With every one of its strengths completely choked off, the conditions are too perfectly favorable for us to flatten it.
And from the start, the whole party has been frantically throwing themselves into this to make sure nobody overexerts anyway.
‘Even so…’
Around then.
Right as that thought passed.
- Kkig, kkigigigigig…!
Frozen by Azure Sea, burned by Calamity Flame, seared by Heavenly Thunder, crushed by White Night, and lacerated by Gale.
The murderous glare of Sicarius, now an utter wreck, oozed murkily.
Spiritual information flowed through the observation.
The countless soul ingots Sicarius had swallowed. Some of them now melted down into a slush, grotesquely fattening its soul.
- Crush, crrrunck…!
A surge of soul energy gushed out, colliding with external force and annihilating itself.
The soul soaked into the wounds. New flesh sprouted, and more than that, began gradually swelling outward.
Its presence expanded explosively. At the chilling sight of something that had been on the brink of death not merely reviving but growing stronger, the party’s faces hardened.
“Take it down fast─!”
Right as everyone tried to ram more attacks through, a blade enveloped in subtle ripples—as if waiting for this very moment—stabbed home first.
Applied Authority of Space
Spatial Slash
- Thunk!
The creature, which had been trembling full-body as if in ecstasy, stiffened abruptly.
- Kkigk…?
Even though the flesh had been restored whole by regeneration, the sword tip plunged straight into its chest as though it were soft tofu.
Pure white mana coiled deeply through it. Lee Ha-yul focused every nerve, reprocessed the mana, and drew forth an innate talent.
Honestly speaking, data was insufficient.
But he had observed the manifestation, process, and phenomena. The missing information could be substituted with analysis and prediction.
Mana Affinity Expansion Ability
Homogenization
‘Soul ingot (?).’
- Crrrsh…!
Where the blade was driven in. The soul ingots swallowed into its soul shattered apart.