Gate (2)
=Krrrrr...
The three-headed giant Jellyfish Dog glared at us with all its eyes.
Triple-headed Jellyfish Dog spotted.
"Hm... that must be the alpha specimen, right?"
"Yes. Triple-headed Jellyfish Dog. Since every head can control the body independently, we'll need to take them all out."
"Master, if you look closely, it's missing a leg on one side. That's why it chose ambush and ambush tactics."
"Huh?"
It was true. The creature's hind legs were gone on one side, and it supported only half its body with the remaining one.
"Let's just hit it with one and see!"
-HAH-WA-AWK!!!!
The Fourth Mansion. It was probably the most powerful ability Yuyeon could use.
Scarlet flames surrounded the monster like starlight filling the sky. The flames grew larger and larger before pouring down onto the left head.
=Kweeeeeeek!!
The head that took Yuyeon's attack fell, writhing in pain.
"Too bad. If I'd shoved it down its throat, I could've grabbed it right away."
With a look of regret, Yuyeon flared her arm with fire, clenched her fist, and charged forward.
"I'll take the right head!"
Seolhye latched onto the right head and swung her sword. Just like when she'd fought the instructor before, her blade blazed with white light.
"Kyahaha!!! Nice lookin'!
She dodged the monster's fangs and thrust her sword in. Not a single scratch on Seolhye, while the monster's head accumulated more and more wounds.
Now only the middle head remained. The left and right heads were in pain, so the middle one brayed defiantly.
=Krararararar!!!!
"Shall I handle the remaining head, Cheonghwa? It might be more helpful for Master that way."
"Very well."
Cheonghwa emerged from behind with resolve.
-Kurrurrriiing!!!!
Blue lightning condensed in Cheonghwa's hand. Its shape elongated into something long and sharp — something anyone who saw it would immediately call a spear.
"...Pierce through."
She shot the lightning from her hand with a single word. A command describing what that power would accomplish.
-Tsu-kwaaahhhh!!!!
The thunder lance pierced the center head's forehead and continued in a straight line, boring through its entire body.
=Kiii...
At that moment—
Yuyeon climbed onto the head and grabbed the arm with her eyes,
and Seolhye concentrated all her radiance into the tip of her sword and bisected the remaining heads from left to right.
-Tleuk!
"...Wow."
And just like that, the boss raid was over.
"Hm, as expected it was simple! This is nothing."
"Ugh... there's blood on my arm... it's creepy..."
-Whoosh!
Seolhye swept her sword clean and nodded her head coolly, while Yuyeon reignited the flames on her arm to burn away the blood.
But there was someone who reacted far more dramatically.
Summoned beast has defeated a B-rank gate boss!
Wood element energy assists growth. Stats increased.
"Yes!!! That's what I'm talking about!!"
The hitchhiking bus ride was a success. Since they were counted as my summons, it seems my share increases even when others take them down.
"What a relief. I wasn't sure it would work, but if it's like this, you'll definitely grow quickly."
"Alright, let's check the cores then."
=Dreggledreggle... Degrurrr...
"Huh? Why are there three cores?"
Strangely, there were three cores in total. The colors were different from each other, but I couldn't tell which was which.
"It looks like one from each head. Front, middle, and rear each took one."
Me and Jinyul got one, Seolhye and Yuyeon got one, and Cheonghwa and Ilena got one.
"Hey, Saintess. Do we just smash them?"
"Yes. Shall I break all three at once? One, two, three—!"
-Pashak!
She shattered all the cores.
Now the gate would close, and we would return to the spot before we entered.
=Wuuuung...
A resonant hum echoed in my ears.
I thought the gate was surprisingly anticlimactic. After all, we'd just been getting escorted by people who were already perfect in strength — so even though the hitchhiking success felt good, it wasn't exactly thrilling.
"Wait. Master, the gate clear notification isn't appearing. Could this be...!"
"Is something wrong right now?!"
=Wuuuuung!!
The resonant hum suddenly grew far too loud. My entire field of vision flooded with blinding light, and my eyes and ears stopped working properly.
"Kuhh...!"
A moment later—
"Huh... what is this..."
As the light faded, what I saw before me was a sight that shouldn't exist.
An entirely white and blue cave of ice. Not the mountainous area from before entering the gate, but the interior of another gate.
Danger level: A-Rank
Ice cave environment. Extreme cold.
An A-rank gate. I had ended up alone here.
"A... A-rank gate... no way..."
Correction — at least Jinyul was still with me.
**********
"Master!!!"
Cheonghwa searched through the blinding light, looking for her master, Hwanhyeon.
In the face of this clear anomaly, she had to protect him first and foremost.
But when her eyes opened, all she saw was an ice cave even larger in scale than before.
Danger level: A-Rank
Ice cave environment. Extreme cold.
"M-Master... where are you..."
She searched frantically, stumbling over her words. There was no way he could survive alone in an A-rank gate.
"Now there are just the two of us left. Shall we talk slowly?"
"...!"
A voice came from beside her.
It was definitely Ilena Cartesia, the mysterious woman who had recently attached herself to the master — known in the world as the Saintess.
"...What exactly did you do. Where did Master go."
"Oh, calm down a little."
"Do I look calm right now! It's an A-rank gate! Master could be alone in this dangerous place!"
"It's fine. Jinyul will be with Master. The Hyunmu Hall's protective abilities are excellent, after all."
Hyunmu Hall.
A word that should never have come from an outsider's mouth.
Actually, it had been suspicious from the start. Out of nowhere, demanding to act as his girlfriend. And today, she had known that three other people had been summoned by Hwanhyeon's skill.
"Just what exactly is your true identity."
"Me? I'm just the Saintess."
"Nonsense. Even within the Sacred Halls, information about Master is treated as top secret. How exactly did you find out about and approach him?"
"The intelligence agency told me, that's all."
"Don't try to change the subject. If you keep being uncooperative—"
-Shiieek!
Ilena vanished before my eyes.
"So what. Are you going to kill me? You?"
"..."
The voice came from behind. Without detecting any movement.
"...Master is."
"Hm?"
"Is Master safe?"
"No, he's safe. How many times do I have to say it for you to understand?"
"What if—"
"Fucking hell, I said he's safe. Shut your mouth."
"...!"
Profanity spilled from her lips. Rough, harsh words completely unlike her usual soft and intimate tone — and in that instant, Cheonghwa's breath caught.
"Kid, you're too good. You should've said something like this earlier."
"..."
I felt Ilena's hand reach out and grip my neck.
If she put all her strength into her grip right then, I might have died on the spot.
"Hah... originally I was going to kill you here..."
-Hm.
"You care more about Master than I expected. At night too, you know. How should I put it. It was a bit different from what I expected."
"...Are you saying I treated Master falsely?"
"Yeah. At least, the Yucheonghwa I knew, the Blue Dragon Hall I knew — they weren't like that."
"You're mistaken. The Blue Dragon Hall owes unconditional loyalty to the Hwan family—"
"That's the problem. You're loyal to the Hwan bloodline, not to Hwanhyeon, aren't you."
How was that a problem?
In the rules she had learned, those two had always been the same.
"Why. Why is that a problem."
"You tried to handle the others alone while leaving them out, didn't you?"
"...It's nothing but simple jealousy and a desire to monopolize."
"Yeah, yeah, but when you get pregnant, you'll run off to report it, won't you? You will, right?"
"It's only natural. It would be an honor for the Hwan bloodline to continue through the Blue Dragon Hall—"
"But Master is the last person of the Hwan family. He grew up in secret for about twenty years, hidden from the Blue Dragon Hall, unable to do as he pleased, right?"
"...The current head would never be that kind of person."
"But if you get pregnant... and in that state, you kill Master..."
"...!!!"
"The lastborn of the Hwan family grows up under the Blue Dragon Hall's control, doesn't he?"
It was a shocking statement. The current head of the Blue Dragon Hall killing Hwanhyeon and placing a new life in his stead.
"Th-That's... that can't happen. The head would never commit such an outrageous act... I've never heard of it."
"You wouldn't remember. It's content that's been implanted through Soul Command."
"...How could that..."
What kind of woman was this? She knew even that which no one had revealed, that which no one was supposed to know.
"...Are the things you just said true?"
"You don't have to believe it. It's something that will happen in the future anyway."
As if she knew the future too.
In Cheonghwa's mind, a concept from a world she had never believed could exist rose to the surface.
"...Time Regressor."
There was no word better to describe Ilena than that.