99. Na Yu-na's Grandfather
99.
The battle against Chimera raged on.
-...!!
No matter how powerful its regeneration might be, there was always a limit.
The relentless assault slowly tore gashes across Chimera's body.
"All right! Everyone's working hard! Mr. Na Sang-cheol, aim for the back of Chimera's neck!"
"...Understood."
I'd burned through eighty percent of my mana in Phase 1, so at this point I had nothing to contribute but heartfelt directions.
Under my command—I knew Chimera's patterns inside out—the attack was proceeding smoothly.
-You are persistent...! Do you not yet understand that I will not die no matter how much you strike me...!!
From Chimera's perspective, we were probably just throwing endless jabs.
But land enough of those jabs on its vital spots, and the accumulated damage eventually brings the target down.
Chimera must have felt that truth through its body, because it started lashing out with frantic attacks.
-Graaah...!!
Chimera pulled back.
A retreat to gain momentum.
'Breath.'
Knowing what was coming, I shouted toward the front lines.
"Everyone dodge! A breath attack is coming from Chimera's mouth!!"
"Got it...!!"
How did I know Chimera's patterns?
They were too busy fighting to stop and wonder; they simply followed my words and fell back.
All except one person.
"You stupid lowborn. A retreat means it has taken that much damage. This is the moment to press the attack."
In life, there are people who hear what you say and still don't get it.
People lost in their own world, not even listening with half an ear.
That description, apparently, included a man born with immense power named Na Jin-myeong.
He gripped his sword and stepped forward, heading straight for the retreating Chimera.
"I will avenge the destruction of NAVI...!"
The way it goes in some games: when five people gather in one place, there's always about one who does something stupid.
And the people stuck on that team can't help but think,
'Of all the teams in the world, it had to be ours...'
Na Jin-myeong.
I'd rather he were useless, but his combat ability was strong enough to land about two gashes on Chimera.
He couldn't be allowed to die this quickly, so I asked Yu Ha-yeon.
"...Yu Ha-yeon. Save that person for now."
"For now... right?"
Later... well.
They could handle that themselves.
Help just this once.
Yu Ha-yeon used her unique ability to stir the wind and shove Na Jin-myeong aside.
-Graaah...!!
In that instant, a deep green-hued mana spewed from Chimera's mouth.
Corrupting mana swept across the floor and spread through the entire palace.
Where the mana passed, the metal flooring melted away.
"...My thanks."
Na Sang-cheol offered his brief thanks and swiftly closed in on Chimera.
He'd committed plenty of sins regarding family, but he still seemed to care about them.
After that single breath attack, my comrades resumed the battle.
In the middle of that chaos, I walked over to the person still lying on the ground.
"Stop being so stubborn, old man."
"Shut your mouth, you wretch... Do you have any idea who I am, to speak to me like that...!"
He's impossible.
No wonder V. AGE had no route where Na Jin-myeong came out unscathed.
"Sigh... Just don't get in the way."
Leaving those words and Na Jin-myeong still sprawled on the floor, I rejoined the battlefield.
"..."
Na Yu-na was silently drawing Chimera's attention.
She dodged Chimera's swinging tail,
and the way she handled her spear was the clearest showcase of her talent.
The most conspicuous presence among them, of course, was Yu Ha-yeon.
A difference in talent.
A cheat-level unique ability paired with the battle sense to match.
Bearing the title of a future S-rank, she displayed a prowess that seemed to overwhelm Chimera.
"You lion-headed bastard...! Stop thrashing and hold still...! I'll tear your mane to shreds...!"
Yu Ha-yeon dominated the ambient mana with her unique ability.
The mana around her fell under her control,
and Yu Ha-yeon could wield it as she pleased.
"Scattered mana. Gather."
Yu Ha-yeon drew together the mana drifting through the air.
While she concentrated the mana, Na Sang-cheol struck at Chimera.
-Grrrh...!
Chimera registered a small spike of pain.
Na Sang-cheol was old, so he couldn't inflict a fatal injury on Chimera.
But if he could wound it, and Yu Ha-yeon's destructive power could drive into that wound,
even a Chimera with superb regeneration would take crippling damage.
"Yu Ha-yeon, now!"
Onto the wound left on Chimera's back.
"Mana, settle down."
Mana poured into that open wound.
Yu Ha-yeon put distance between herself and Chimera's back, then
applied her control over the mana.
"Become thorns. And tear through."
-Guuooo...!!
Chimera let out a roar unlike any before.
The mana that had settled into Chimera's wound took the shape of thorns and tore through its insides.
'As expected of my childhood friend...'
Yu Ha-yeon's skill was undeniable.
-You... you wretches...!
Even a Chimera dulled to pain would have struggled to endure the sensation of thorns writhing inside its body.
And that pain was enough to paralyze Chimera's reason.
-I will kill you...! Humans...! Even if it costs me my life...! I'll bury your bones on this very spot...!
Phase 3.
The phase where a frenzied Chimera attacks using every last bit of its energy.
Knowing it couldn't win, no matter how much it attacked us,
it was pushing itself beyond its limits just to achieve even a fragment of revenge.
-Graaah...!!
Chimera roared, its eyes staining crimson.
A roar signaling the start of Phase 3.
Even I, protected by Yu Ha-yeon, would likely die to Chimera in this phase if I didn't focus properly.
"W-wait! Han Si-jun, dodge!"
"Huh?"
Boom!
...What just flew past?
Something had shot right by my side.
I turned my gaze sideways to see what it was.
"...Tail?"
An attack from Chimera my eyes couldn't even track.
If Yu Ha-yeon hadn't subtly shunted me to the side,
I might have died not by natural causes, but right there at Chimera's hands.
Chimera spread its wings and soared into the sky.
"Things are starting to look deadly if you don't all focus...?"
Unlike the earlier breath, the mana gathering in the airborne Chimera's mouth was charged with a degree of life force.
There's a massive difference between an attack packed only with mana and one packed with life force.
This breath would likely have a wider range and far greater destructive power.
We seemed unlikely to avoid taking damage from this attack.
"..."
"Ch-Chairman...?"
Na Sang-cheol lunged in front of us.
The line of his back showed a figure that seemed to have forged a fierce resolve.
Na Sang-cheol turned to look back at us and spoke.
"...You all still have a future. But I no longer have the strength to move forward."
Was he walking the same path as in the original?
Na Sang-cheol stepped forward and began to stir his mana.
Just as I'd seen in V. AGE, he was trying to take responsibility for this incident.
"Had I raised my son properly, none of this would have happened. The fault is largely mine... I will use this moment to apologize."
The white-haired old man steadily walked forward.
Responsibility.
He looked as though he meant to take responsibility for this incident and burn what remained of his life as his final flame.
Unable to read the atmosphere at all, Na Jin-myeong shouted toward Na Sang-cheol.
"Chairman...! If you leave us...! What is the company supposed to do...!!"
"...To the very end, the company comes first with you."
At those words, Na Sang-cheol tightened his grip on his sword.
He seemed to have hardened his resolve even further after hearing Na Jin-myeong.
"That guy has absolutely no manners, does he...?"
"He really doesn't..."
Yu Ha-yeon rained curses on Na Jin-myeong without any regard for Na Yu-na's reaction.
But Na Yu-na appeared not to care much.
She had never considered Na Jin-myeong a father to begin with,
so I thought it made sense that she was indifferent.
"...Let us be off."
In that moment, Na Sang-cheol erupted with explosive mana.
Burning his life force, he regained the strength of his prime.
He used the unique ability he'd been unable to wield before due to its side effects.
Na Sang-cheol leaped into the sky.
Chimera's breath flew straight at him.
Na Sang-cheol hung briefly in the air.
And then he activated his unique ability.
Butterfly Wings.
A unique ability that embraces incoming attacks with his mana and extinguishes them.
Na Sang-cheol took that breath alone, using his life and mana.
Thanks to the attack he blocked, we sustained no damage,
and the one that took the greater harm was rather Chimera, having overused its life force.
-Grrrr...!!
The frenzied Chimera descended from the sky and immediately swung its arm at Na Sang-cheol.
Claws swept like a whip.
But Na Sang-cheol once again extinguished the attack with his ability.
"...That old man is strong."
"He used to be strong."
Like the man who once led a company on sheer fistpower,
he showed he could hold his own against an S-rank Magic Beast.
We needed to rejoin the battle now, so that his efforts wouldn't be in vain.
Watching that scene, Na Yu-na murmured quietly.
"Thank you, Grandfather."
To Na Yu-na, Na Sang-cheol was the family member who felt most like family.
She left those words of thanks for Na Sang-cheol
and ran back toward the battlefield.
It was the moment the subjugation of Chimera entered its final stage.