Chapter 246: The Path to the Heart (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 246: The Path to the Heart (3)
The Kraken's clone is comparable to an S-rank, but it falls short of the worst disaster I've ever seen, Leviathan.
Despite that, the reason I felt an inescapable sense of death from it was simple.
I'm just too weak right now.
Thanks to all of Ju-yeon's buffs, I'm performing above A-rank, but that's nowhere near enough.
The gap between A-rank and S-rank is enormous.
“I can only buy a little time, so run in the opposite direction.”
That was all I could do right now.
The only problem was…
“No.”
In a critical situation where every second counted, Ju-yeon chose that moment to be stubborn.
Scowling, I glared at her and spoke harshly.
“You know what will happen if you die, Professor.”
Her eyes wavered slightly.
Han Ju-yeon's life was as good as the lives of everyone who entered this place.
The moment she dies, all the buffs cast on the S-rank Hunters, including me, will disappear.
Even the barrier protecting us from the falling acid.
In the worst-case scenario, it means we could all die.
I thought that a smart woman like Ju-yeon would understand what I was saying and accept it.
And yet.
“…I still refuse.”
Her response, which sounded more like a childish complaint, disappointed and confused me.
She was, after all, a veteran. One who had roamed all over the United States, a country several times larger than South Korea.
I couldn't believe that she was throwing a tantrum like a child in such a critical situation.
Of course, I understood to some extent.
I'm a junior teammate of Seo-yeon, and also a student at Korea University where she's temporarily working, so she must feel some sense of duty.
The problem was, the situation was far too dire for her to be caught up in that sense of duty.
“Professor. This isn't the time to be emotional.”
Hiding my boiling frustration, I tried to reason with her in a calm, quiet voice.
At that, the light of refusal in Ju-yeon's eyes grew even more fierce.
“…I've lived my whole life being level-headed.”
Her contorted face held an unidentifiable, stinging pain.
“Back then, I had no choice, so I could somehow manage it… but not now.”
Words I couldn't quite understand poured out of her.
This isn't the time for this…
“Professor, what are you—”
“That's why.”
She cut me off and took a step forward.
Now even closer, her face was filled with resolve.
With a determined expression that looked like nothing could break it, she continued.
“This time, I won't let them take you away. Even if it kills me… Never.”
Every single word she uttered, clear and distinct, lodged itself in my chest.
It felt like an indelible brand had been seared into me, making my insides feel hot and suffocated.
How on earth can I get her out of here?
Just as I was thinking that…
The Kraken's clone, which had been standing still with a creaking sound, finally began to move.
I immediately spun around, putting Ju-yeon behind me, and faced the creature.
With no skin, its shoulder muscles, clearly visible to the naked eye, twitched.
At the same time, the experience I'd accumulated over tens of thousands of battles manifested as an ability close to foresight.
Its left arm swung in an instant, leaving an afterimage.
A speed that was hard to follow even with my eyes.
However.
「Aegis.」
The solid shield I created just in time successfully blocked the creature's attack path.
I didn't block it after seeing it. I predicted its path from the subtle movements that telegraphed the attack and placed the shield there. Fortunately, I was right.
If I had hesitated for even a moment, I would have been sent flying and slammed into the flesh wall full of mucus.
Of course, just because I blocked the attack didn't mean everything was fine.
“Kugh…!”
The shock traveled through the shield I'd formed close to my body, making my entire frame scream in protest.
There was no way I could block an attack from a creature that wielded power on par with an S-rank—no, even greater than Kim Tae-yang's—without taking any damage.
A white light shot into my aching arm and shoulder.
Ju-yeon's healing.
I thought it was a waste of mana… but we were long past the point where she would listen to me.
“Hoo.”
That made it even more frustrating. I had no idea how long I'd have to hold out until the S-ranks came to help.
What was even more grim in this bleak situation was that I couldn't even guess how many more of its attacks I could block.
I folded away those thoughts and buried them deep in my chest.
The only concerns left in my mind were where the next attack would come from and how I would block it.
Just as I confirmed the movement of its muscles again and was gathering my mana…
A brilliant white light erupted from behind me, enveloping a three-meter radius in a sphere.
Then came the incantation.
「Severance」
“……”
Severance. She used Severance.
That Severance, one of the ultimate skills that healers with healing and buffing aptitudes can use.
The ultimate protection magic that literally severs the space around the caster, nullifying all enemy attacks.
“…Professor.”
First, because she had used Severance, a skill only a handful of the world's best healers could cast. And second, because she had used a massive amount of mana when we needed to conserve every drop.
As I turned to face her, my expression filled with shock…
“Do-jin.”
She placed a hand on my shoulder, her expression dead serious, and continued.
“From now on, I need you to answer my questions honestly.”
Questions?
What on earth did she want to ask that she'd use Severance just to create an opening?
Just as I was wondering, she parted her lips.
“In your current state, how much stronger would you need to be to face that monster?”
It was a truly difficult question.
While I wondered why she was asking such a thing, my mind worked coolly, trying to accurately calculate the gap between me and the creature.
After all, she'd gone so far as to use Severance to ask it.
Considering its swift movements from before and the dense concentration of mana filling the area…
“To hold my ground, I think I'd need to be twice as strong.”
“…And to win?”
“Not quite three times… about 2.5 times stronger.”
“I see.”
She approached with a bitter smile.
Standing so close that another step—no, even half a step—would bring our bodies together, she spoke.
“Then let's just get you strong enough to hold on.”
I was about to voice my confusion at her incomprehensible words, but…
“Hahp…”
“Mmph…!”
She closed the distance smoothly, wrapped an arm around my neck to pull me tight, and sealed my lips with her own.
A soft, moist sensation.
A languid, floral scent wafting from her entire body.
The gentle heat radiating from her flushed face and the hot breath tickling the skin around my lips began to push away the thoughts of death that had filled my mind.
* * *
At the end of the path she had taken alone, Han Ju-hee came face to face with a named monster.
‘Guardian of the Third Heart’.
A being whose name alone provoked many thoughts.
As she unleashed surging flames at the monster—a crude imitation of an armored knight formed from densely compressed flesh—her mind raced.
‘If this is the Third Heart… does that mean there are at least three hearts?’
This was information that hadn't been in the Association's database on the Kraken before she came here.
However, a fragment of something she'd skimmed in a book as a child came to mind.
Octopuses, small octopuses, and squid. Three mollusks with similar appearances that possessed a total of three hearts.
‘Yes, that was it.’ Wasn't it one systemic heart to supply blood to the whole body, and two hearts that helped supply blood to the gills and legs?
‘Which means…’
『It's me. I've run into a named monster. Its name is 'Guardian of the First Heart'... Yikes!』
『Namgung Hyeok, engaging the named monster 'Guardian of the Second Heart'.』
“……”
Just as she suspected. The voices of the two who had taken different paths echoed faintly from the speaker on her badge.
Her first thought was one of relief.
‘It was a good thing I left Ju-yeon and that man in the hall.’
The named monster before her was on par with an S-rank.
What would have happened if she had led the two with the lowest combat power down the wrong path?
But that relief was fleeting.
‘It's too early to relax.’
The three of them had each encountered a Guardian of the Heart. A named monster, not the boss.
In other words, a heart was beating somewhere they hadn't yet reached, or on a path they had already passed.
‘If I assume that's the case… the probability is highest that it's in the hall.’
Unlike the path they'd taken, which was a single wide passage, the hall was large enough to hold over a hundred people.
If a heart was hidden somewhere in here, there could be no better place for it.
Just as a seed of anxiety began to sprout and stir in her chest…
『…The boss, 'Kraken's Clone,' has appeared in the hall. Estimated rank… S or higher. Requesting quick rendezvous after finishing your battles.』
The absolute worst-case scenario she had imagined was being relayed through her badge.
“Ah…!”
Its name was even ‘Kraken's Clone.’ And on top of that, the shocking report that it was S-rank or higher.
Han Ju-hee narrowed her eyes, chewing on her lower lip.
‘The two of them can't hold out on their own.’
Kim Do-jin's combat power, even enhanced by Han Ju-yeon's buffs, was, to be objective, around A-rank.
He possessed a level of strength rarely seen in someone in their early twenties, but against the Kraken's clone?
No, he definitely wouldn't be able to hold on. This was a clone of a disaster-class monster, after all.
‘No matter how much Ju-yeon helps him… he won't last long.’
The fear that she might lose her sister filled her entire being.
‘I have to get there and help, fast.’
As if responding to that emotion, the mana lying dormant within her began to boil.
Seething, like water in a kettle reaching its boiling point.
She hated unnecessary waste.
That's why, when hunting monsters with magic, she would gauge her opponent's strength with a simple attack and then use only the appropriate amount of mana.
‘There's no time.’
But this was an exception.
She didn't want to lose her precious sister.
And… she didn't want to lose Kim Do-jin, either.
The emotions that the man named Kim Do-jin evoked in Han Ju-hee were incredibly strange.
‘He gets on my nerves.’
She didn't dislike him, but she didn't like him either.
Whether in a good way or a bad way, he was constantly on her mind.
She couldn't figure out why, but a few days ago, she finally realized.
‘He resembles him.’
Kim Do-jin was so much like her husband. Not just the good parts, but even the bad.
That was why he'd been so distracting, making her feelings waver between good and bad.
“Hah.”
And that's why she didn't want him to die, either. Strictly speaking, he was a completely different person, but… she had a feeling it would give her bad dreams.
Flames radiating a heat that seemed capable of burning away even a soul without a trace gathered behind her, forming a single, massive sphere.
The sphere, created by concentrating ninety percent of her body's mana, shrank at her gesture until it was no bigger than an apple.
Seeing this, her brow furrowed slightly.
‘This is still my limit, I see.’
She had thought she would have progressed further with the time that had passed, but the fact that she was still in the same place soured her mood.
And as it happened, there was a target right in front of her to take her frustration out on.
“…Let's end this.”
「Hellfire.」
The essence of flame magic, born from years of research after she reached S-rank—and an unfinished masterpiece.
With a light flick of her index finger, the fist-sized sphere shot forward ferociously and embedded itself in the creature's chest.
But that was only the beginning.
Kugugugu…!
The flame, compressed to its limit, violently consumed the surrounding oxygen and set off a chain reaction of explosions.
KWAAAAA-!
Kkigigik…!
Kkik!
A single scream came from within the flames.
But it didn't last long.
Because the flames clinging to its body had devoured it, leaving not even the slightest trace behind.
As if devouring the named monster wasn't enough, the flames continued to burn, nibbling away at the Kraken's flesh. Watching the unending fire, she turned away indifferently.
“Hah…”
As she took a light breath, her mana began to replenish slowly.
It was a minuscule amount compared to what she'd spent, but it was better than nothing.
She retraced her steps, her pace and breathing quick.
Soon, the wide hall came into view at the end of the path.
“Ugh…!”
A violent presence exuding immense mana was stirring there.
Her urgent gaze scanned the hall as she finally reached the end of the path.
She tried to enter at once to check on her sister and Kim Do-jin, but—
Thud-
She couldn't step into the hall. An invisible, transparent wall was blocking the entrance.
She gathered all her remaining mana and cast a spell, but—
Poof-!
It was useless.
Even after the blazing flames exploded, the transparent wall remained completely unchanged.
‘Destruction is impossible. In that case…’
The only remaining method was to dispel the wall, which she presumed was made of mana.
The only problem was that it would take some time…
Pressing both hands against the transparent wall, she moved closer and hurriedly peered inside the hall.
And she finally found them.
A hazy, milky-white barrier had been erected in one corner.
Inside it stood Han Ju-yeon and Kim Do-jin, facing each other.
‘What are those two doing…’
Just as the question formed in her mind…
An absurd scene unfolded before her eyes.
“……!”
Han Ju-yeon and Kim Do-jin were tangled together inside the barrier, sharing a deep kiss.
It was as if they were drawn to each other, forgetting the crisis surrounding them, yet at the same time, it looked as if they were leaving one last mark on each other before being crushed and erased by that very crisis.
It was that poignant, and that passionate.
So much so that it made even the person watching feel hot.
And for some reason she couldn't understand…
Watching the two of them made Han Ju-hee's heart sink.