Draco's Debut
The next day.
The moment morning came, I searched for gates on the Hunter App.
"You're not leaving it to President Baek?"
"Today's a day off."
Right. President Baek had insisted on guaranteeing a five-day workweek. Following yesterday, today was the last day the agency sign came down. I'd already blocked out the time for training and personal workshop research—but.
"I just built a new undead. How am I supposed to rest?"
My blood was up. A brand-new undead scraped together from dragon essence. I wanted to see Draco's power with my own two eyes, not through a status window. And the easiest way to check performance was, of course, live combat. That was why I'd been digging through the Hunter App since dawn.
"Tsk."
Why weren't there any C-class gates near my place? Within a thirty-minute public transit radius, I could still find a couple of D-class ones. C-class? Completely blank. Something like the Challenging Realm, which allowed repeat clears, or a fixed gate like the Underground Folk's Tunnel would have been perfect. Nowhere decent to go.
A few options popped up if I stretched it to within an hour—but.
[Reserved – Typhoon Guild]
[Reserved – Phoenix Guild]
······
Other guilds had already locked in raid reservations. I couldn't get in.
Ah. President Baek. I already miss you.
"Looks like we'll have to go a little farther."
"Yeah."
Tch. No choice, then. I zoomed the map out and searched a wider range.
"A wave type?"
"Monsters come pouring in on a set cycle."
The layout was similar to a corridor type—basically a straight line—but at regular intervals, monsters surged in trying to seize the 'strongpoints' inside the gate.
"If they take a strongpoint, they rally their forces there, then push on to the next one."
They keep advancing like that. The instant they reach the strongpoint by the gate entrance—
Boom.
"That's when the break happens."
"A monster wave in the truest sense, then."
"Another feature is that the numbers run several times higher than a normal gate."
Fail to take a strongpoint in time, and you have to fight the reinforced waves that follow. You needed both breakthrough power and stamina to clear one. Setting variants aside, wave types were said to be the hardest gates to conquer.
"I've only had a taste of them. Never properly cleared one."
Not like I could charge a strongpoint trusting a bunch of stiff zombies, after all.
"Courage and recklessness are different things. Thou knew the limits of thy power and made a brave choice."
"Heehee. This maiden trusts Master's judgment."
Hey. When you put it like that, it just sounds like I ran away scared!
"Going alone today, then?"
"Have to."
My support team friends deserved their days off guaranteed too. Honestly, I was dying to call them—but after what I'd discussed with President Baek, I held back. Ugh. Since when did I start hunting with a support team backing me up? People really do change in a week.
"Rrrgh. Let's get ready."
If I wanted those magic stones, I had to hustle.
About an hour and a half by public transit. I arrived at Uijeongbu Station.
"Speaking of the iron steed President Baek rides about upon…"
Why the sudden iron steed talk?
Ah.
"You mean his car."
"Indeed. Would it not be better if thou acquired a mount of thine own as well?"
"Don't even start. In the capital region, public transit is way better."
That was something you could only say if you'd never tasted Seoul rush hour. Try driving to Gangnam. Even at two in the afternoon, you'd get the full hellscape of traffic locked bumper to bumper. You know that horror of watching the navigation ETA climb in real time? How do I know without owning a car? Because I once took a taxi at that hour. The meter exploded. My wallet exploded. Ahh. Truly a magnificent experience.
And besides.
"I don't have a license."
What's the point of buying a car when I don't even know how to drive one?
"Hmmm. Should the chance arise, I should like to try piloting an iron steed myself…"
"Please bury that wish. Okay?"
An undead cruising around behind the wheel. I couldn't even guess how a patrol cop would react if they caught that.
"That way."
On the road toward the intercity bus terminal, nestled between alleys packed with old buildings, sat the gate. The Rift Authority staffer on standby lit up the moment he saw me.
"You're Hunter Park Minho, correct?"
"Ah. Yes."
"Good heavens. To think I'd meet the famous Guui-dong Necromancer in person. It's an honor!"
"Hahahaha! Another soul who knows proper courtesy stands before us."
"As it should be."
Sigh.
"I can enter the gate, right?"
"Yes. You can, however…"
"Is there a problem?"
"The Phoenix Guild launched their raid ten minutes ago."
Come to think of it, the special notes had said the Phoenix Guild previously held the bid on this gate. The break-risk classification had broken their monopoly, but they were still grinding away at clearing it.
"The interior is a straight line, so a clash is inevitable."
"Don't you worry. I'll thrash them all for you."
Yes. Yes. Truly reassuring. I'm overflowing with confidence.
"The exclusive raid rights were lifted, weren't they?"
"That's correct. Given the break-risk classification."
"Then I'm going in."
Phoenix Guild went in first? I'd come all this way. I wasn't turning around for a reason like that.
"Fortune favor you."
The Rift Authority staffer bowed with the greeting. I answered with a light nod of my own and stepped into the gate.
A dense forest. Broad leaves like a tropical rainforest drooped everywhere.
"Hold on just a little longer!"
"The second the wave ends, we counterattack!"
Clang!
Fwaaaahk!
Slash!
Thirty meters in from the gate entrance, the Phoenix Guild hunters who'd gone ahead were holding off a monster wave.
"Lizards? Or dragonkin?"
"Raptors. One of the primordial dragons."
"Hoooh. So they're from that side's world."
"I knew them only from texts and fossils. This is the first time I've seen one in the flesh."
Monsters from Dame Isra's world this time, then. Primordial species. To us, they were better known by another name: dinosaurs.
"Karururu!"
Dozens of raptors glared with narrowed eyes. A hunter's gaze, searching for any opening.
"Master. Shall I hit them with something big?"
"No. Wait."
The Phoenix Guild hunters had formed ranks and were handling it. Unless they asked for help, butting in would definitely cause talk later.
"They look capable of handling that much on their own."
As always, a pro at sizing things up. Ten versus sixty. At a glance the Phoenix hunters looked outmatched, but the reality was different. The only battlefield was a path cut through the dense forest. The raptor pack was struggling to leverage their numbers, forced to dig for openings in terrain that didn't favor them.
Leap Attack
A raptor from the rear vaulted more than five meters and cleared the tank line entirely. Being outside the range of the aggro-management skills worked against them.
Ice Smash
An ice hammer slammed into the raptor's flank with a heavy whump.
"Karuk!"
The raptor went flying right back the way it came.
"Flame attacks work great on raptors, so why—!"
"So we should just watch them fly at us? If you don't kill them in one shot, it's chaos on our side."
Raised voices cracked between tank and mage. Weak to flame attributes, huh. Useful intel acquired.
The raptors' terrifying breakthrough power kept the tank line on edge. If the approach hadn't been funneled, it would have been the Phoenix hunters getting hunted.
"They're stronger than dire wolves. Are these truly the same C-class?"
"The accepted rule is that primordial species rate half a rank higher."
So the raptors' specs were more like C+. Each one a little short of a boss monster, maybe. It was a wave type, so the numbers were already high—and on top of that, the specimens themselves were stronger than ordinary monsters. No wonder the Phoenix hunters were having a rough time.
"Karuru······."
Thuk!
The Phoenix hunters cut down the last raptor.
"Hah… hah…"
"Hoo… hah…"
Exhaustion was written all over them.
"When's the next wave?"
"Two hours."
"Holding this one took forty minutes."
"So we've got an hour twenty left."
"Even with rest and reorg, that's cutting it way too close."
The first strongpoint wasn't far. A hill about two hundred meters off. Dozens of raptors held the high ground, looking down on us.
"Prey stands before them, yet they do not come."
"I heard strongpoint defenders don't join the waves."
They just stand there blankly and only counterattack once hunters get close. So the Phoenix hunters at least had room to catch their breath.
"Can they do it?"
"Eight to two. Eight parts likely to fail."
Harsh. Good thing the Phoenix hunters couldn't hear that.
"And me?"
"Why ask what is already plain?"
"Offering victory to Master is our role, you know."
"A fine attitude, mage."
"You put your skills to work too. Don't put Master in danger."
Declaring victory before we'd even started. Yeah. This is exactly how my retainers ought to be.
I started to pass the resting Phoenix hunters when—
"Excuse me. Hunter."
"Yes?"
"This gate is currently being cleared by the Phoenix Guild."
The tank who'd raised his voice earlier pushed himself up and planted himself in front of me.
"I heard the monopoly was lifted."
"Primordial species are dangerous. If you charge in carelessly, your life will be at risk."
"If it looks like I'm going to die, I'll pull out."
A vein jumped on the tank's forehead. Pretty hot-blooded, this one.
"Wait—are you the Guui-dong Necromancer?"
One of the hunters called out.
"It really is him."
"What's he doing here?"
"Wasn't that guy D-class, though?"
"He bagged one ghoul and now he thinks he can walk into a C-class gate."
Oh-ho. The competitive edge felt even more naked than it had at the Hunter Market. The tank's expression shifted a fraction.
"Are you truly the Guui-dong Necromancer?"
"That nickname's a little much, but yeah, that's me."
"You seem confident in your skills. Then by all means, give it a try."
The tank slid aside.
Thud— thud—
I was walking slowly forward when he added one more line.
"If you get into trouble, we won't know a thing about it."
Is that so.
Kids?
"My lord. Summon me! I shall thrash them this instant."
"Shall we dispose of them, Master?"
Don't. Don't waste strength on the wrong people. Let's just deal with the raptors.
Death Space
Dame Isra and Ingrid. Five armed zombie warriors. One skeleton mage. And one unit of Draco appeared.
"Ingrid. Let's open with something big."
"As you command."
Unique Formula — Solar Eclipse
Flame Beat × 20
Wind Cutter × 10
Modification — Expand
A massive mass of flame took shape above Ingrid's head—several times larger than a fireball. Inside a membrane of wind unspooled from Wind Cutter, she spun Flame Beats to crank the fire-attribute destructive power to its peak. The sphere, built on nearly half her mana, streaked toward the strongpoint—and then.
KRAAAANG!
An explosion large enough to swallow the entire hill erupted.
"Huh?"
"Wha— whaaa?"
Startled voices from the Phoenix hunters behind me. Already that shocked? We're only getting started.
"Karurururu!"
The raptors, stung by the preemptive strike, came pouring down from the strongpoint.
"Draco. Show them your power."
"Grrrrr."
Draco's tightly shut jaws opened wide.