Friends Fight Together
“Ugh…”
Did the shock knock her out?
Kwon Je-na clutched her throbbing head, piecing together her hazy memories.
Falling meteors. Crashing lightning. Raging typhoons.
And blasts of breath.
It was like gazing upon an apocalyptic scene.
Kwon Je-na frowned slightly, then suddenly recalled her final memory.
The blast of breath—and Yoon Myung-ho charging toward her.
“...Myung-ho!”
Her shout was met by a groan of “Ugh...”
Glancing down, she saw Yoon Myung-ho collapsed, shielding her body.
“Yoon Myung-ho?”
“...Vice Guild Master... are you... okay?”
“You...!”
Kwon Je-na's face twisted in anguish as she hurriedly healed him.
His charred back made her own insides burn.
“What the hell were you thinking, jumping in like that?! Want to die?!”
“Sh-shouldn't you be saying thanks right now? If it had been you, Vice Guild Master, with your defense, it would've been a disaster.”
“You idiot...!”
Overcome with fury, Kwon Je-na raised her fist but hesitated, unable to strike.
Yoon Myung-ho grinned at her expression.
“What're you smiling about? Like you did something great.”
“You're safe, Vice Guild Master. That's all that matters.”
“...Don't get cocky.”
She muttered softly, finishing his healing before standing.
The surrounding area was a wreck in the brief interim.
Yoon Myung-ho rose too, frowning.
“...Insane. Can one monster really do this?”
“Magma Wyverns were just as bad, if not worse. It just never got the chance to pull something like this.”
Kwon Je-na murmured bitterly, moving on.
To find and heal survivors amid the scattered hunter corpses.
Yoon Myung-ho followed.
“Ugh...!”
“Hang in there. I'll heal you soon.”
“H-how's the battle...? That monster...?”
A hunter with half his body charred squeezed out the words during treatment.
Kwon Je-na didn't answer, glancing afar.
Boom—
Explosions rang out ceaselessly.
Leysia and the surviving hunters were still fighting the monster.
“...Don't worry too much. Leysia the hunter's here.”
“R-right... then we can survive?”
“...Yes. We'll make it. I promise.”
She healed him just enough to stabilize, then stood.
Many wounded, few healers left.
She needed to conserve mana to save more.
Turning to the next, her face hardened.
In the past, she wouldn't have bothered healing the injured.
She'd have ignored them and charged the monster.
Her priority was revenge against monsters.
Though somewhat sated now, revenge had driven her growth as a hunter.
Long ago, monsters had wiped out her precious comrades—ordinary healers like her.
Comrades who threw themselves to protect her, the healer.
Helpless, she could only watch.
She still couldn't forget those emotions.
That's why she wanted to rush to Leysia now.
To stand tall against the monster, denying her powerless past.
But she couldn't.
As her mentor once said, revenge wasn't her whole life.
Something more important had emerged.
“Vice Guild Master.”
She turned at the quiet call, finishing one heal.
“...Myung-ho.”
“Survivors are barely half. Half of those are wounded. The able ones are with Leysia, holding it off.”
“More survived than I thought.”
“Leysia must've used her power when it breathed.”
Kwon Je-na nodded slowly.
Her gaze flicked to the battling hunters.
Under Leysia's command, the few held well—but not for long, in her eyes.
Frustration welled; she bit her lip.
“What now?”
“What?”
“Leysia's our leader, but she's too busy for orders. So you need to give them, Vice Guild Master.”
—Help? Or flee?
His calm question made her lips twitch.
Sacrificing a few for the many.
Dozens of lives on her shoulders.
Hunter pride and honor.
Her powerless past self.
Her current, capable self.
After a moment's deliberation, she spoke.
“Retreat.”
“...Got it. I'll prepare.”
“I'll help Leysia.”
Yoon Myung-ho, turning with apparent relief, whipped back at her words.
“What the hell?!”
“Exactly what I said. Retreat's on you, Myung-ho.”
“I'm asking what bullshit is this, Vice Guild Master! Are you crazy?!”
She replied calmly to his outburst.
“Exactly. I'll go with Leysia, so leave first.”
“Vice Guild Master...!”
As he opened his mouth, she stepped close.
Mm—
A brief warmth on his lips. She pulled back, grinning at his stunned face.
“Myung-ho. Once we're out, wanna get married?”
“...Huh? M-married?”
“No, too soon? Right. Dating first.”
Nodding satisfied, she turned.
Shoulders relaxed, striding confidently; Yoon Myung-ho snapped to.
“V-Vice Guild Master? What's this all of a sudden?! No, where are you going?!”
“Be careful. I'll catch up soon. Day one starts when I arrive? Oh, call me ‘Jena noona’ from now. Or sweetly, just ‘Jena’.”
“J-Jena noona?! No, Vice Guild Master! Stop! If you're going, take me too!”
“Don't even think of following. You're in charge now. Look after the others. I trust you.”
With that, she leaped away before he could stop her.
Vanishing from sight, he clawed his hair, torn.
He wanted to follow, but...
“...”
Dozens of eyes watched him; he couldn't.
No high-rank left to rally survivors without Leysia or her.
After long hesitation, he chose.
“...Everyone, prepare to withdraw. Minimize gear, prioritize wounded. Move to rendezvous ASAP.”
“What about Leysia and the others...?”
“...They'll be fine.”
Glancing at the battle, he turned away.
He worried for Kwon Je-na, but trusted her more.
She'd return safe, calling “Myung-ho” casually, as always.
Suppressing unease, he led the survivors out hastily.
* * *
Another hunter dies.
Leysia didn't look away from the one screaming, chewed alive.
She couldn't avert her eyes.
It's my fault.
Sacrificing few for many.
Tactically right, but lives aren't numbers.
So I won't dodge.
She'd own her choices.
Not ignore their deaths.
That's why she picked the most vulnerable squad via instinct.
“Hiss—”
Dodging Nix's seventh head, Leysia retreated.
Her arrow followed.
Once it would've burst the head; now, its evolved durability held.
A deep gash, but the head charged relentlessly.
“Leysia!”
“We'll help!”
Two hunters rushed to aid, wounded and weary but unyielding.
They knew who mattered most now.
And their own slim survival odds.
“Shaaah—!!!”
The sixth head gaped at them.
Black darkness engulfed them.
Potent dark magic. They dodged, but Nix pressed.
Left and right heads snatched them.
Crunch—
Flesh and bone crunched vividly.
Leysia landed lightly, nocking an arrow amid fury.
Thwip—
The fifth head's Magic Eye blocked it.
Another arrow, delayed, met the eighth's Magic Eye.
Again.
Hard-won openings wasted every time.
Had Nix learned their tactics, as they had his?
Her face twisted at his growing menace.
“Hiss—”
Crack—
Another hunter fell in moments.
Leysia gripped her beloved bow tighter at Nix casually devouring fresh prey.
This won't end.
At range, maybe—but close quarters? Hopeless.
Wounds regenerated instantly; mana refilled by eating hunters.
Impregnable.
Beyond absurd—unfair.
Her scowl deepened.
Standard subjugation won't work.
Norm for high-ranks: elites plus masses to overwhelm. Not here.
Mid-tiers just feed it.
Other hunters? Walking lunches to Nix.
Need elite few only.
SA-rank minimum, all.
Uncertain still, but viable challenge.
Planning mentally, she wryly smiled.
No guarantee we'll escape now, yet here I am...
Occupational hazard.
Dodging merciless assaults, she leaped.
Nix's nine heads pursued doggedly.
Ignoring others, fixated on her.
No other survivors could harm it.
Firing occasional arrows while evading, her foot suddenly slipped on ice.
Ice here?!
Stabilizing, she reflexively looked.
“Hiss—”
The left head leered unpleasantly.
Forgot!
Knew it used water magic, but rarely—and battle intensity erased it.
Her lapse proved fatal.
“Shaaah—”
Off-balance, heads lunged.
Hunters tried blocking, but couldn't halt the charge.
Ignoring the fallen, the central head gaped wide to devour her.
Facing imminent death, Leysia didn't yield.
Unsteady, she raised her bow.
Die fighting... at least land one!
Hunter's duty to the end.
And...
Thud—
A heavy impact; the central head flew off.
“How dare you shove that filthy maw at our Leysia hunter?!”
Kwon Je-na, who'd punched it away, grinned at stunned Leysia.
“You okay?”
“Kwon Je-na...? Why didn't you retreat...?”
“Don't worry about the others. Left it to Myung-ho... my boyfriend.”
“...‘Boyfriend’? No, why are you here? Why?!”
Frowning slightly, Kwon Je-na declared boldly.
“We're friends, right? Can't lose a new friend this quick.”
“...Thank you.”
“Save it for outside.”
“...Okay.”
Leysia nodded calmly, rising.
Kwon Je-na healed her glancing wounds instantly—even deep ones.
“Impressive healing.”
“I'm a healer at heart. Damage and heals both top-tier.”
Grinning, she turned.
The other eight heads glared, shaking off the blow.
She met their murderous stares defiantly.
“I'll take the front.”
“...Sure? Never heard you had tank skills...”
“Speak casually. I will too.”
“...Fine. Got tank skills, Jena?”
“Nope. None.”
“...Then how?”
To her puzzled gaze, Kwon Je-na quietly raised a thumb.
“Got something I excel at. Trust me.”
“...Okay. Front's yours.”
Leysia nodded, stepping back.
Kwon Je-na advanced instead.
The regenerated central head eyed her coldly.
“My defense sucks, but healing? Top-notch. Heard you regenerate too? Let's see.”
Crack—
She rolled her shoulders, striding forward boldly.