A-Rank Dungeon Raid (4)
Meanwhile, the night grew deeper.
Yeon Soso could not sleep. Miasma saturated the dungeon in every direction, and camping inside it was uncomfortable enough on its own — but that was not why she lay awake. An A-Rank hunter like her would hardly lose sleep over a mere dungeon night. The reason she could not rest was a single person.
Minsu. I hope he's all right.
Flame's raid members were currently on a short break. The others were one thing, but with Father Stefano — their priest — sitting out the raid to supervise the interns, a high-rank dungeon clear was out of the question. Yuri had given them a few days of rest.
Soso had insisted on accompanying the interns on this field assignment anyway. Of course it was because she was worried about Minsu.
He's using fire spells now. The backlash from that won't be small.
Yeon Moon-woo, her great-uncle, had refused to say a word about Minsu's condition. But judging by the old man's reaction, a single secret technique was not going to restore Minsu's body to normal.
His meridians had been boiling that badly...
Which was why, the night before he received the technique, Soso had personally soothed those meridians herself. She wanted to be of help to him.
And now he's not just operating — he's stepping in as a damage dealer himself.
Today's performance had been spectacular, of course. Father Stefano had been left speechless by Minsu's fire magic.
"He was C-Rank awakened, was he not? And yet he took down that many undead... Good heavens."
Rosary in hand, the priest had made the sign of the cross, startled. Then Soso had watched joy bloom across his face. A man who harbored such vicious hatred for monsters and villains — Minsu's explosive fire magic had clearly delighted him.
"Hah. That's beyond anything I expected. They say fire mages who can produce Blue Flame operate on an entirely different level... Even at Manseong, I never saw anyone use fire magic at that caliber."
Team Leader Seo Duho had been no different. A capable man who had held a key post even in Manseong's famous intelligence division, he had naturally collaborated countless times with that guild's elite raid teams.
"Raw power? I've seen fire mages who output more than that. What matters is that Minsu's awakening rank is only C. It means that even with a small amount of mana, the way he utilizes it is extraordinarily sophisticated."
That genuine astonishment had made Soso feel good for no particular reason. As a close friend of Minsu's, she knew well how he had stayed up night after night working to produce that Blue Flame. It was that Blue Flame that had helped her awaken the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
That's the Minsu I knew from Eins, all right.
But Soso was anxious. He had used such a powerful fire spell — and the meridians, the Mana Roads she had personally examined, were nowhere near a condition that could properly handle that magic.
"If you're that worried, why not sneak over and look in on him yourself?"
Soso flinched. Just as the Blood Demon said, she had been wrestling with this the entire time. She was desperately worried about Minsu's condition.
And lately even more so. Ever since they had gone to Hong Kong together, she had become far more conscious of him. It felt as though her feelings had grown. And as those feelings grew, Arin — who was always hovering around Minsu — had started to bother her.
"I can't. I only came today to supervise the interns. Directly intervening would violate intern program rules."
"All the more reason to go, then. Should his condition be so poor he cannot continue the next clear, it would be right for you to stop him yourself."
"Th-that's..."
Given Minsu's personality, he would never abandon a job midway even if his body was falling apart. And he had even made a bet with the interns from the other conglomerate guilds.
"That is precisely my meaning. Do you not understand?"
Soso understood the Blood Demon's intent a beat too late. Find an excuse and go see him. At that, she could not hold out any longer.
"You're right. This is part of my duty as supervisor and person in charge."
Soso rose carefully. For someone trained in martial arts — the highest-level martial arts, no less — slipping away from Team Leader Seo and Father Stefano to visit the interns was nothing. It was a far cry from the Heavenly Demon's principle of always carrying oneself with pride. But Soso could not endure it.
I'll just go for a moment.
The spot where she had been camping was not far from Minsu. She arrived quickly. Outside, Jang Donghyuk was standing watch. Careful not to be spotted by him, she approached a window of the ruined building. The structure was already crumbling, so she could see inside through the frame.
The dungeon night was pitch-black, but the Young Heavenly Demon's eyes could see the interior clearly. A pale green light happened to be glowing within, making it even easier.
What is that light?
In that instant, Soso's heart plummeted. The pale green light was divine power. And of course, the one producing it was Seong Arin.
W-what is she doing?
She was straddling a man's body. A familiar silhouette. Of course the man was Minsu. And in that moment, Soso desperately clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the scream that nearly escaped.
The two of them, bodies pressed together, were kissing.
At the sound of Arin calling me, I lay on my back and spoke.
"It's pretty late. Why aren't you sleeping? You're on next watch."
"My husband hasn't come home from work. A good wife should stay up and wait, shouldn't she? Shame the location's like this, so I couldn't wash up and wait for you properly."
"Don't say weird things."
Arin sidled closer. Over my face as I lay in the sleeping bag, I saw hers — pink bob and all. Despite the playful words, her expression had turned serious.
"I couldn't cast the MCI purification holy spell on you earlier today, sunbae."
"You know I'm not affected by mental contamination, so... What are you doing?!"
Arin suddenly climbed on top of me.
"What's wrong, sunbae?"
At my flustered protest, she asked back shamelessly.
"Don't tell me you're thinking something dirty? Typical pervert."
"You're the one trying to do something weird..."
"It's not like that! Sunbae, your Mana Roads and mana heart aren't normal right now, are they? I know you pushed yourself pretty hard using fire magic today."
Ignoring my attempt to push her off, she placed her hands on my body.
"So I'll cast a holy spell. The pain should ease quite a bit."
"Even so, you don't have to do it in this position..."
"We're both fully clothed, so what's the problem? We're not doing anything dirty. As long as you don't think weird thoughts, there's no issue, right?"
She said it so shamelessly I had nothing to reply with. Then Arin began stroking my body with gentle hands.
Pale green divine power began to spread through my entire body. The position was a little embarrassing, but with our bodies pressed this close, the divine power seemed to transmit more directly. And just as Arin had said, the mana energy that had been burning inside me like residual heat — that searing pain — began to slowly fade.
I thought about cracking a joke to ease the awkwardness, but Arin's expression was intensely serious. So I stayed silent and let the divine power heal me. My whole body was growing languid.
And yet... it feels so comfortable...
That familiarity of Arin, who had nursed me for the past two years. That warmth. I suddenly found myself thinking of the Sacred Vow that had allowed Arin — who had not been a nun — to use divine power.
Arin never told me what that vow actually said...
What was certain was that the vow was definitely related to me. In fact, Arin's divine power was extraordinarily compatible with me, just like this.
I was about to ask about the vow again without thinking when I suddenly felt a strange sensation on my cheek.
Rain?
The ruined building we had entered was dilapidated enough that rain would leak in, but it was not raining outside. In that instant, I understood why.
Arin was crying silently.
"Arin?"
She was definitely crying. I thought I might have been mistaken, but then she opened her mouth, and her voice was terribly hoarse. There was no doubt.
"...Sunbae. Can't you just... not be a hunter? Live an ordinary life? Every time you use mana like this, it hurts so much..."
I could not easily answer that. Arin had actually said this to me many times already. Professor Seong Chaerin would never have told Arin about my condition — but with her high divine power, she might have guessed. That I was not normal. That the more I used mana, the more my body would break down.
She's used this much divine power on me so often, after all.
The highest-tier healing spells of the clergy let the caster synesthetically feel the target's emotions and pain.
I wiped Arin's tears with my thumb and answered.
"You know I can't do that."
"Si-woo oppa and Min-ah unnie dying wasn't your fault! So you don't have to drive yourself this hard and wreck your body!"
Saying that, Arin draped herself over my upper body. Her frame shook. She kept crying.
"Sunbae. I like you. So please don't do this kind of work. Can't we just live an ordinary, happy life together? I'll take revenge for those two. Please, just stop this hunter work!"
Her voice was quiet so Donghyuk would not hear, but it was close to a scream.
"I'm sorry, Arin."
But even this conversation was not the first. Arin had already conveyed her feelings to me countless times. And I had always refused. Until I erased Red Lake from this world, I could not accept anyone's heart. And even after every rejection, Arin had always remained by my side.
Instead of an answer, Arin's stifled sobs continued. I silently patted her back.
The two of us held each other like that for a long time. After a little more time passed, a calmer Arin spoke to me.
"...Sunbae. I'll always be by your side. Even if you push me away."
"Yeah. I won't stop you from that."
Then she fell silent again, before speaking in a serious voice.
"And I'll never let you be lonely. If something happens to you... if something happens to you, I'll also... mmph?!"
I did not want to hear what came next. The thing she had said so many times — that if I died, she would follow me in death.
So I stopped the words that were about to follow. I pressed my lips to hers.
The kiss that came after. The two of us, with our soft lips and tongues touching, spoke in place of words. And that was all I could give her.
The next day, dawn broke in the dungeon.
There was no way to get proper sleep in a dungeon to begin with, but my condition was excellent.
Thanks to Arin, maybe.
The mana backlash I had been unable to settle on my own had now subsided. With the boss fight ahead, I felt like I could use some fairly powerful fire magic in this state.
Donghyuk called out in high spirits.
"Then let's hurry it up! If we want first place, we gotta take down the boss fast, yeah?"
Then he looked at me and Arin.
"What's wrong, Arin? You not feeling well?"
"N-no, I'm fine, mister!"
Arin was keeping an awkward distance from me. Normally she clung to me to the point of being annoying, so it was natural for him to find it strange. She could not even meet my eyes.
Because of last night, huh.
Now that I was up and thinking about it, I felt a little embarrassed myself, so I pretended not to notice her reaction. And the party reached the threshold of the boss room far faster than expected.
Along the way I had no choice but to use fire magic a few times against the monsters we encountered. But thanks to the holy spell Arin had cast last night, my condition was actually much better than yesterday. Right before we entered, Arin used a holy spell once more.
"Everyone okay at this level?"
I checked both of their MCI. Both were around 50. Their Limit Lines were high, so entering the boss room like this would not be a problem.
When I nodded, Donghyuk said energetically,
"Then let's hurry in and take down the boss! Before those other guild brats come in and try to steal the credit..."
"No. Let's wait a little longer."
"Huh? Wouldn't it be better to go in and clear it fast? It's an A-Rank dungeon — who knows how long it'll take..."
"We need to wait. I have a reason."
I briefly conveyed my thinking to Donghyuk.
And one hour later, the party that entered the boss room succeeded in hunting the boss. Immediately after, the interns from the other guilds who entered the boss room late shouted at us.
"Th-those guys already killed the boss!"