Yuliena (2)
The scale of the fight was clearly growing larger.
As for Yuliena, the rightful master of a Heroic-grade dungeon, that much could be forgiven—but Kim Hyunsung’s current display of martial prowess was enough to leave anyone staring with their mouth hanging open.
I could even feel this room, the one we were standing in, slowly beginning to change shape under the force of their battle.
-Why don’t you move already?
BOOM!
KRADADADAK!
At a glance, it almost looked evenly matched. But in truth, this was a battle Kim Hyunsung had no choice but to take.
-The curse!
"Aaaagh!"
-Gedrick!
Unlike Kim Hyunsung, who could fight with complete sincerity, Yuliena was forced to battle while exposing a weakness named Gedrick.
I didn’t know exactly what Gedrick meant to her, but at the very least I’d confirmed that he was someone precious enough for her to throw her life into danger.
With someone that important being held hostage, it was only natural that she couldn’t show her true strength.
Every time I screamed or called out Yuliena’s name, I could see her wavering.
In fact, if I wanted to, I could probably have ended the fight much more easily than this.
The instant these monsters who had seized precious Gedrick started threatening her, it became painfully obvious that Yuliena would be unable to bring out her full power.
But the ones watching the aftermath of the battle seemed incapable of thinking that way.
'No.'
There was no need to go that far.
Right now, Kim Hyunsung was at the perfect moment to show the remaining members of Blue the meaning of overwhelming force.
His jaw clenched hard enough to whiten, and there was no doubt at all—this was his full, sincere effort.
Yuliena was that strong. The black tentacles coiling around her were reaching out in every direction, trying desperately to bind Kim Hyunsung down.
He dodged and severed them by the width of a hair, like some impossible acrobat, to the point where it almost seemed as though they had practiced together in advance.
Every time he swung his sword, tentacles were sheared off in great handfuls, and wherever Kim Hyunsung leapt away, attacks came crashing down without fail.
Of course, Yuliena was no pushover either.
I felt as though I were watching a battle between higher beings with my own eyes, right here in front of me.
Among the people I knew, perhaps only Cha Heera could put on a display like that.
Even Lee Sanghee, who could be considered the strongest person here, was staring at Kim Hyunsung as if she’d been spellbound.
Honestly, seeing how frantically Yuliena was fighting made me wonder whether there wasn’t some way to deal with her—but…
'Too dangerous.'
If I were exposed, that would be the end of it.
Not only me, but everyone around me would be hurt as well. I’ve never liked gambling.
This wasn’t the time to throw dice.
-Wait just a little longer, Gedrick. Just a little longer!
The situation unfolding before me was extremely satisfying, but there was one thing that left a bad taste in my mouth: somehow, the villain’s role had been assigned to people like us.
I could feel how desperate Yuliena was, despite her lack of eyes.
Her figure was so frantic that I found myself feeling uneasy on her behalf. A saintess desperately struggling to save Gedrick from the hands of evil.
Of course, I didn’t pity her.
Yuliena looked as though she’d been swallowed by madness. She was the master of a dungeon that had claimed countless victims, and our party had nearly died here as well.
There was probably no telling how many casualties she’d caused before anyone even knew this dungeon existed.
Considering that we were the ones who had broken into her domain first, she had no right to complain—but I still had no desire to wrestle with a monster who could trade blows with Kim Hyunsung.
-You annoying fly!
"……."
-Be swallowed by the darkness.
A dark inverted cross spread across the sky. It came crashing down toward Kim Hyunsung, but he merely swung his sword from where he stood.
BOOM!
CRACK!
KRADADAK!
'Strong.'
The sight of him cutting apart every black cross larger than his own body was enough to inspire genuine awe.
Before I realized it, my mouth had fallen open as I stared, dumbfounded.
-Be swallowed by the darkness!
CRACK! KWAANG!
'Huh….'
What caught me off guard most was Kim Hyunsung’s face.
The smile curving at the corner of his mouth made it look, to anyone watching, as if he were enjoying every second of this.
CRACK!
Maybe he was simply testing his own strength.
Of course, the gap in their specs couldn’t be ignored, and wounds were piling up on his body, but Kim Hyunsung looked almost satisfied with his current state.
'To think he can do that without even having average stats of 80 yet….'
-Why won’t you move already!? Come! Sword of curses!
Above the twisted face of the cursed saintess, a sword fell from the sky.
It wasn’t Kim Hyunsung’s sword.
'What kind of saintess is that?'
No, more importantly…
'What kind of fight is this?'
The battle those two were showing now deserved only one description: beyond the standard.
I didn’t especially like that phrase, but there wasn’t another word that could define this fight.
Yuliena had seemingly entered a second phase, drawing a sword and crashing into Kim Hyunsung once more.
Deciding that a direct contest was no longer in her favor, Kim Hyunsung began to redirect Yuliena’s attacks, and the shockwave from their clash poured straight back toward us.
Park Deokgu and Lee Sanghee were holding up shields and doing their best to protect this side, while defensive magic—not magic that supported Kim Hyunsung, but magic that protected us—kept layering over us one after another.
'Can he win?'
Even then, what worried me was the outcome. I was sure Kim Hyunsung would win, but as the wounds on his body kept increasing, I couldn’t help feeling a little anxious.
If he still looked like that even after we kept feeding him divine power, then there was a chance the worst-case scenario might really happen.
'Should I trust him?'
I didn’t think that was everything Kim Hyunsung had.
He was definitely hiding one or two things.
But the thought that he might be overestimating himself only made me feel more uneasy for some reason.
-Be crushed beneath the darkness!
Yuliena raised the sword in her hand, and Kim Hyunsung likewise focused his mana into his blade.
'Probably the end.'
I didn’t know much about swordsmanship, but there are moments when you can feel the atmosphere change. The instant the swords, each carrying all their power, were about to collide, I found myself shouting without even thinking.
"Yuliena!"
She turned her head toward the voice while still in the middle of her swing.
Kim Hyunsung let Yuliena’s sword, packed with immense force, slide past him.
The sword that condemned darkness cut through empty air.
By the time I’d focused enough to see what was happening, Kim Hyunsung’s blade had already pierced her abdomen.
-Ged…rick.
'That’s pretty trashy….'
I’d thought I’d seen plenty of trashy things so far, but this was the first time I’d felt this way toward a dungeon boss monster.
Maybe it was because I could see her reaching toward us after she collapsed.
-Gedrick…
Behind the image of her slowly scattering away, I saw the expedition members staring blankly at Kim Hyunsung.
As the bad feeling in my chest faded, an unknown energy spread in all directions.
I flinched for a moment, then felt my head clear.
After that, I was able to realize that the dungeon raid had ended successfully.
Heroic-grade Forced Quest completed.
Heroic-grade Quest — Yuliena defeated (1/1)
Reward: 4 random stat points awarded.
'It’s over.'
It was only natural that everyone rushed over to the guy lying half-collapsed and breathing hard.
Even then, loud, chaotic voices kept breaking out all around us.
"Hyunsung, are you all right?"
"H-How did you do that…?"
"Hyunsung!"
"Ah, I’m fine."
At first, most of the comments were about checking on Kim Hyunsung’s condition, but the murmuring kept growing louder and louder.
"Huh…."
"No way…."
"I thought it was supposed to be difficult, but this is a little shocking."
"It might have been a dungeon on the verge of promotion. Or perhaps it was originally stronger and had been downgraded. I’ve never seen a case like this before, so I’m not sure how to explain it."
"Whatever happened, it’s a blessing for the guild."
For a moment I had no idea what they were talking about, but when I looked at the sword stuck in the floor, I understood what they meant.
Legendary-grade
A weapon that continues to flash faintly with orange light.
'Huh….'
A dim orange glow kept flickering from it.
'Holy crap….'
Now I understood why Kim Hyunsung had wanted to come to this dungeon.
'Was this what he wanted?'
A Legendary-grade item.
Even across the entire continent, very few such weapons had been discovered.
There were only six confirmed Legendary-grade items in existence, and even if there were a few more actual users out there, the number still probably didn’t exceed ten.
And now a weapon that was rumored not even to drop in Legendary-grade dungeons had fallen right here, out of nowhere.
If Kim Hyunsung had known this was what he could gain from the dungeon, it made sense that he’d pushed himself so recklessly.
In the first place, the word legendary carried that kind of weight on this continent.
Legendary-grade dungeons, Legendary-grade classes, Legendary-grade items, Legendary-grade quests, Legendary-grade raid monsters.
Anyone living on this continent would dream of obtaining or discovering at least one of those in their lifetime. That was probably why the whole place had suddenly grown so noisy.
It wouldn’t have been strange at all for a dispute over ownership to break out.
But.
The owner had already been decided.
Everyone probably already knew, in their hearts, who should take this item.
I figured it wouldn’t hurt to quietly help things along, so I spoke up.
"I never imagined you’d be able to defeat Yuliena one-on-one."
"If you hadn’t been here, Mr. Kiyoung, I might have been the one taken down. I’m truly grateful."
Seeing the way he subtly emphasized how much of a role he’d played, it was clear he wanted that sword badly.
And that was only natural.
Just as I wanted a good alchemy kit, he would want a good sword.
There was no need to make a fuss about who the rightful owner was.
In the end, it was Kim Hyunsung who defeated Yuliena. Of course, it would be impossible to say he had no outside help, but from first to last, the one who faced her down was our beloved regressor.
I thought Lee Sanghee would also be fully aware of what she needed to say right now.
"F-First of all, I hereby declare the Heroic-grade dungeon Cursed Shrine cleared. Please secure the surrounding area and search for any other items or any bodies from another guild. Sweep the area in groups of three, and if you find anything unusual, report it immediately. Distribution will be handled after we return to the guild. Gahyeon, please head back to the guild at once and inform them of the expedition’s situation. And…."
"……."
"It’s still too early to speak definitively, but I believe you all understand who holds the ownership rights to the Sword of Condemning Curses. So if anyone should even try to… this Sword of Condemning Curses…."
The moment Lee Sanghee’s words trailed off—
WOOOONG…….
"Huh?"
WOOONG!
'What the hell.'
The sword that had been stuck in the ground on its own slowly began to rise into the air.
It was only natural that everyone would go on alert.
When everyone was at a loss, having never seen anything like this before, the Sword of Condemning Curses slowly moved toward us.
What was strange was that I couldn’t feel even a trace of hostility from it.
"Owner recognition?"
At the muttered guess, it became clear in an instant what was happening.
The sword, glowing faintly as it drifted closer, kept trembling as if it were looking at me.
'What is this…….'
I had no idea what was about to happen.
'Don’t do this.'
WOOONG!
'I’m not a swordsman, you bastard.'
Kim Hyunsung’s expression, utterly flustered, came into view.
'This isn’t right… damn it… this isn’t it. Hyunsung, trust me. This isn’t what I was trying to do.'