Explosive Diversion

I actually managed to catch it, but— 'Huh?!' Whoooosh—! The instant I drove my greatsword into its body, the monster's front leg whipped around at terrifying speed and smashed me square in the ribs, launching me dozens of meters through the air.

'Ugh—! Too slow!' Even though my sensory waves had detected the incoming attack, my agility was still too low for my body to react in time. If Ran had used her Acceleration, things would have been different, but she was perched on Yeon-hee's shoulder. Against a strong enemy, protecting the summoner came first.

While being hurled away by the High-Speed Flight attack, I activated a skill in the opposite direction to kill my momentum, landed cleanly, and immediately charged the creature again.

Between the bone armor, the chainmail from the hidden dungeon, and the membrane Yeon-hee had wrapped around me, most of the impact was absorbed. None of my skeletal parts suffered any damage.

Health: 238/242

'It still got through. Wow…'

Only four health points. Just four. Yet I could only shake my head in disbelief. A field monster's normal attack shouldn't pack this kind of destructive power. This was the moment I truly felt the crushing weight of the rank gap.

"Everyone, reform and press it!"

The first clash had shattered our formation, but thanks to the shields, none of the summons had died. Yeon-hee immediately began driving the monster back. Even surrounded on all sides, the Tarantara showed not the slightest hint of fear.

Spurt—! Spit—!

It rapid-fired acid orbs at the approaching summons. Sssssssss— The rate of fire was excellent, the speed frightening, and each hit lethal enough to melt straight through the torso of a mid-tier orc warrior.

'Just don't get hit. Whatever you do, don't get hit.'

Whirrr—

'Whoa!' A green web wide enough to blanket four or five summons at once came flying. The acid-laced spider silk had stickiness that defied imagination. Getting caught was not an option.

I barely slipped away, but the other summons were constantly getting glued to the ground or melted on contact. 'This really is walking on a tightrope.'

Still, Yeon-hee calmly freed every summon trapped by the webs, allowing us to maintain the standoff.

Pew—!

Yeon-hee fired arrows between maneuvers. The arrowheads now carried a respectable edge. Ting-ting-ting—! Personally, I wished she would stop using the bow. It did zero damage to the monster and only drew unnecessary aggro.

Krrrrrrr…!

The silver lining was that the creature's full attention was locked on me.

Whoosh—

'Fire really does scare you, huh?' The fireballs and Special Strong Acid I threw intermittently seemed to annoy it to no end. Its arsenal consisted of acid orbs, wide-area webs, and tail strikes, so stacking Flame Marks by sacrificing summons at the right moments wasn't particularly difficult.

But the summons were dying faster than Yeon-hee could resummon them. In the end, I had to step up and draw its aggro directly. The battle turned into me running for my life with the Tarantara in pursuit, while the rest of the summons chased after it.

To any outsider it probably looked like some absurd game of tag, but—

'Aaaaaah! Save me! I don't want to melt to death!'

For the one actually fleeing, it was pure torture. The fused Special Strong Acid was strong enough to melt the monster's thick, tough tail, but its sticky effect still couldn't match the Tarantara's webs. Probably because my level was still low. A regrettable limitation.

Still, by glancing back and launching the fused acid to slowly chip away at its health, after roughly five minutes I finally managed to stack five Flame Marks on the clearly exhausted creature.

'Yeon-hee—'

I sprinted to her, scooped her into my arms, and leaped high into the air.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaang—!

I detonated the five stacked Flame Marks. Yeon-hee wouldn't take damage from my skill, but I was terrified her body might get splattered by the Tarantara's fluids, so I put as much distance between us as possible.

We had deliberately drawn the monster away from the gymnasium, so no hunters were visible nearby. Yet the explosion was so violent that every hunter inside the gym whipped their heads toward the sound at once.

Kieeeeeeerk…

'Wow, what a stubborn bastard. It actually survived that…'

More than half its torso had been vaporized, yet the Tarantara still had enough life left to crawl. It was like a damn cockroach. As disgusting on the inside as it was on the outside.

"Whoa— Incredible! It lived through that? As expected of a high-tier B-grade monster."

"Clack clack clack…"

I set Yeon-hee down, walked over to the creature, and sliced its head clean off in a single stroke.

Slice—!

'Tsk…'

The low-probability trait steal had once again crushed my hopes. The job-change perk was supposed to guarantee a trait steal every five levels, but because it triggered automatically at each milestone, I couldn't use it on a golden opportunity like this. What a waste.

'Please, just let me bring a trait for sure during this job change…'

I quietly made that small wish in my heart.

'Ohh, a vitality ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rune. It's been a while.'

'Kya… Nice.'

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Getting a superior rune from a B-grade monster wasn't exactly a jackpot. But with how often I had been using Phantom Dash lately, the absolute value of my health pool had become crucial. This was exactly what I needed.

I immediately swapped it with the lowest-value rune among my Giant Runes (Intermediate). My strength dropped slightly, but my maximum health shot straight up to 281.

'Kya— Level up in one shot. Nice.'

The blue particles shimmering from my body like heat haze felt incredibly welcome. Yeon-hee seemed to have leveled up as well, surrounded by the same glowing effect. Even though I had landed the final blow, her contribution was probably higher. The beads of sweat on her forehead proved how much mental energy she had spent repeatedly summoning and dismissing her creatures.

"Haa— That was exhausting. A high-tier B-grade monster… It's really something, isn't it?"

Nod. Nod.

We had gone all-out and barely managed to kill a single one. I had known the rank difference would be huge, but experiencing it firsthand made it difficult to accept. On the flip side, the fact that we—a pair of D-rank hunters—had taken down something that even B-rank hunters struggled with was pretty impressive in its own right.

While I collected the Tarantara's magic stone and its corpse for Essence Devour materials, Yeon-hee urged me anxiously.

"H-hurry! Let's go!"

She seemed to think the gymnasium side must be suffering just as much as we had. As we ran, we quickly discussed how to break the deadlock. Yeon-hee cautiously offered a plan she had steeled herself to carry out. I nodded without hesitation.

Our prediction had been spot on.

"Ah… W-what do we do…"

The situation back at the school had deteriorated to the worst possible level. The playground was holding better than expected, but the evacuation facility was in critical danger.

Creeeeak—!

A Tarantara was ripping apart the acid-melted gymnasium ceiling with its grotesque hands.

Cha Jin-hyeok staggered, blood pouring from every orifice on his face. He screamed desperately toward the hunters, begging them to help. But to people who had never intended to fight in the first place, his pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Warrior-nim!! Eunbi! Jiyeon!! Please, help us!!"

Cha Jin-hyeok reached out to his comrades once more. They continued to stare at him with eyes as cold as ice.

At least there was one Tarantara corpse near the trio, so they had apparently managed to kill one that had broken outside. Of course, with roughly twenty hunters surrounding the body, it clearly hadn't been the trio's power alone.

Even C-rank hunters could support B-ranks well enough to take down one monster if they used their skills properly. They knew that. In the end, the real issue was trust—whether they could trust each other to watch their backs in the middle of this chaotic battlefield.

'So they're refusing to overcommit unless it's a stray that wandered out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on its own.'

But the Tarantaras' intelligence had risen significantly. They wouldn't carelessly send individuals outside. That left the hunters with nothing to do but watch the gymnasium get torn apart.

Among those who had bravely stepped forward with Cha Jin-hyeok earlier, many were injured—including one who had lost an entire arm. 'They actually held up pretty well. No one's dead yet.'

Courage backed by skill. The hunters around Cha Jin-hyeok seemed genuinely talented.

The two Tarantaras that had been confronting them were now moving toward him again, one of them still chewing on a severed human arm. Four had originally descended. They had already killed two.

'Are the top hunters still occupied elsewhere?'

If even mid-tier B-rank experts arrived, the situation could improve. But Yeon-hee's phone was practically exploding with notifications. It seemed every other location was in equally dire straits.

When a dungeon break occurred, the first priority was always clearing the monsters that had burst out around the dungeon. All the strong hunters in the area had likely converged on the gate itself.

'This isn't going to be easy.'

Even so, we walked straight toward them. The plan Yeon-hee and I had agreed upon on the way here was put into motion immediately.

"Nepy! Take to the sky!"

'Let's do this!'

This wasn't really my style. Helping the future villain Cha Jin-hyeok still left a bad taste in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my mouth. The biggest risk was that I would be separated from Yeon-hee. But she had made this decision with cold logic for the first time in a while. It would clearly become a stepping stone for her growth. I had to follow through.

Even if it cost me my life.

'…Yeah. That's how it is.'

Yeon-hee sent her Neos Harpy flying toward the monsters that looked ready to smash through the gymnasium ceiling at any second. In Nepy's claws were the ever-reliable Dakdaki and Jeombaki.

Soon, the two summons unleashed their blood-curdling cries across the area. The Tarantaras on the roof immediately focused all their attention on that single point.

Grrrr?!

Kieeeeee!!

'Good. Provocation still works.'

I had followed behind Nepy and leaped into the sky under Stealth. The seven Tarantaras that had jumped high into the air after being provoked became the perfect targets. I carefully hurled every skill I had prepared into their center.

Whoosh—

Condensed fireballs, acid orbs, and fifty skeleton bombs.

'Eat this!'

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaaaaaang——!

The earth-shaking roar drew every living creature's gaze toward me. The monsters whose attention had been stolen by Nepy took the full brunt of the skills coming from their blind spot. The moment the explosion went off, I snatched Jeombaki and Dakdaki from Nepy's arms.

"Pi-?" (I'll lure them. You protect Yeon-hee.)

"Pi!"

Nepy immediately flew toward Yeon-hee after hearing my order.

'She's actually listening right away for once.'

Nepy usually ignored me completely, yet today she obeyed without hesitation.

'Oh… So it works on Yeon-hee's summons too.'

Thinking it would be quite useful going forward, I immediately left the area.

Kiyaaaaaaaah!!

The seven Tarantaras caught in the massive explosion chased after me in a frenzy of rage.

'Perfect.'

The plan was proceeding smoothly.