The Thunder Beast's Salvation
Rumble.
Clack-clack.
"You idiots, be careful when you're walking around on a mountain! Your comrades down below are going to get buried under a pile of dirt!"
Clack-clack.
At Canteas's scolding, the skeletons that had been dealing with monsters higher up the mountain scratched their heads. It wasn't as if any of them had done it on purpose. When you hunted monsters, dirt was bound to tumble down now and then.
"If you're finished up there, grab the monsters and come down."
Clack-clack.
The skeletons picked up the dead monster carcasses and toddled their way down the slope.
"Hmm. This area's clean now too. But where exactly are we?"
Canteas looked around. The monsters had been scattered so sparsely that by the time he finished clearing them out, he had drifted far too far from Pyongyang.
He tapped his phone and opened the map app. He wasn't a Hunter himself, but the Association President had issued him a Hunter-exclusive phone.
"Sinpyeong County, North Hwanghae Province? Ugh, we came way too far."
Confirming their location, Canteas scratched his head. This area was originally part of Do-ha's cleanup zone.
Flutter.
"Peep!"
"Hey, put that down! That's expensive!"
Yong-yong had been flying around with an A-rank mana stone clenched in his jaws, and Canteas snatched it away. When had the little brat even stolen that?
"Feels good to fly around after so long, doesn't it?"
"Peep."
Yong-yong shrugged his shoulders at Canteas's words. It was refreshing, sure — but sitting still hadn't exactly been unbearable either. Dragons were creatures that found comfort even in long periods of coiling up and resting. Staying indoors hadn't really been a problem.
"Peep."
"Fine, then. From now on, you stay in your room forever."
"Peep…"
Yong-yong's expression shifted to one that clearly said, Okay, that's going too far. Why was there never any middle ground with this guy?
"Anyway, where is Do-ha?"
Still talking with Yong-yong, Canteas started looking for Do-ha. Had he already finished this area and moved further north?
Flash!
"Huh?"
Just as Canteas was about to call Do-ha, a bolt of lightning flared in the distance, and he lifted his head. Lightning out of a clear sky, completely out of nowhere?
"Looks like it's raining over there."
Whoosh.
Seeing wind and rain thrashing a short distance away, Canteas turned to look behind him. The weather was strange. Dark clouds hung over just that one patch of land, as if someone had manufactured them on purpose. Naturally occurring rain clouds could form over a single region, of course — but the boundary of those distant clouds was far too unnaturally sharp.
Flash!
"Ah. That's Do-ha's energy."
"Peep!"
At the next flash of lightning, both Canteas and Yong-yong felt Do-ha's presence.
Flutter.
"Peep…"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Yong-yong narrowed his eyes and beat his wings furiously. Where before he had been lazily drifting along, now his wingbeats looked urgent.
"Peep."
"You want us to hurry?"
Canteas tilted his head at Yong-yong's words, then hurriedly gathered up the remaining mana stones scattered around them. The little guy had never said anything like this before. Something was off.
Thrust.
"Kyaaaa!"
"Damn…"
Do-ha drove his sword forward and let out a quiet sigh. In that split second, the Thunder Beast twisted its body, and the blade punched through just beside its heart. He had tried to send it off as painlessly as possible — but the creature had moved, and the damage was far worse than intended.
Blood streamed down.
"Why did you have to move…"
Watching the bleeding Thunder Beast, Do-ha exhaled. He hadn't wanted to cause it pain. This was a spirit beast that had meant something to him, and he had wanted to let it go cleanly.
I saw it twist its body…
If he had shifted his sword toward the heart in that moment, the Thunder Beast would have died in agony. As he had already decided, he had no intention of putting it through that.
"Kyaak… khak…"
The Thunder Beast crawled forward, blood pouring from its chest. It didn't get far before collapsing where it lay.
"Kyaaaak…"
"Haa. This feels awful."
Slowly, Do-ha walked toward the Thunder Beast as it lay gasping on the ground.
Then —
Whoosh.
Thud.
"You're here."
"Huh? Is that the Thunder Beast?"
Canteas, who had just flown in, recognized the creature collapsed at Do-ha's feet. From a distance it had looked like some kind of battle was underway — so he had been fighting a spirit beast?
"Ah… it's already been corrupted."
Looking at the Thunder Beast, Canteas shook his head with a pained expression. He had wondered why Do-ha would fight a spirit beast, but up close he could feel the malevolent energy and miasma pouring off it. This wasn't killing intent born of rage — it was toxic energy seeping out because of the corruption.
"If you'd left it like that, it would've turned into a yokai and come down into South Korea soon enough."
"That's why I was trying to send it off cleanly. And then this happened."
"If it's too hard for you, want me to finish it?"
Canteas looked at Do-ha's back. The moment he saw the Thunder Beast, he understood exactly how Do-ha must be feeling. After all, the very reason Do-ha had been able to create the Noeryeongsinbo — the Lightning Spirit Step — was because of this Thunder Beast.
Flap. Flap.
"Peep!"
"Hey, settle down."
Yong-yong, nestled in Canteas's arms, was thrashing wildly, and Canteas pressed a hand down on his head. The little dragon horsed around all the time, but he had never gone this far before. Why today of all days?
"Peep!"
"Huh? You want me to let go?"
"Peep! Peep!"
"Do-ha."
"?"
"Yong-yong says he can fix this."
"Fix it?"
"Peep!"
Flutter.
The moment Canteas released him, Yong-yong shot toward the Thunder Beast.
Thump.
He landed on the body of the Thunder Beast, whose breath was fading by the second, and placed his hands upon it.
"What is he trying to…"
And then —
Shwooooo!
Power surged from Yong-yong's body, and the malevolent energy and miasma that had soaked into the Thunder Beast began to be drawn out together. It looked as if something viscous had seized hold of the corruption and was yanking it free.
Shwaaaaak!
"What?!"
Canteas, watching, nearly jumped out of his skin. He had thought Yong-yong was trying to heal it — but the dragon was extracting the malevolent energy and miasma instead.
Whoosh.
After about a minute, the power radiating from Yong-yong's body gradually subsided. And from the Thunder Beast, no more malevolent energy or miasma could be felt. In their place, the innate spiritual presence of a true spirit beast began to flow once more.
Whoosh!
Thump.
Zaaaaang!
Seeing that, Do-ha didn't even have time to be astonished. He closed the distance in an instant and laid his hands on the Thunder Beast's body.
Great Heal
Glow. Glow.
As Do-ha cast Great Heal, the Thunder Beast's wounds began to close at remarkable speed. The extraction of the malevolent energy and miasma was astonishing — but any further delay and the creature would die. It had been dying from Do-ha's own attack in the first place.
Glow.
Green motes of light sank into the Thunder Beast's body.
Slowly.
"Peep!"
Flutter!
As the fully healed Thunder Beast rose to its feet, Yong-yong shot skyward in pure delight.
"?"
Unlike the soaring Yong-yong, the Thunder Beast looked around in complete confusion, with no idea what had happened.
"It probably feels like a veil just got pulled from in front of its eyes. It'll still be dizzy for a while."
Do-ha smirked as he watched the Thunder Beast glance about. After living with a mind corrupted by malevolent energy and miasma, it had finally returned to a clear state. Reality would be hard to process, and its vision would be spinning wildly.
"By the way — what is Yong-yong?"
"No idea."
Do-ha and Canteas both looked up at Yong-yong circling overhead. Neither of them had ever heard of a Black Dragon possessing that kind of ability. There had been other Black Dragons in Belhart besides Yong-yong, and even after speaking with them many times, none had ever mentioned a power like his. More than that — what he had just done wasn't even magic.
"Ah… watching this just makes me think of Selenia."
Canteas scratched his head.
Decades ago, Selenia had kept a spirit beast of her own — a Spirit Turtle. It was a massive turtle-shaped spirit beast that would eventually grow into a Xuanwu, the Black Tortoise. Just as an Imugi became a dragon, a Spirit Turtle became a Xuanwu.
The two of them had gotten along wonderfully, and the Spirit Turtle had always stayed by Selenia's side as her friend. Then the Demon King's army had invaded Alfheim. An attack the Demon King unleashed had been aimed at Selenia, and the Spirit Turtle had thrown itself in the way to protect her. What happened after that? Naturally, demonic energy seeped into the Spirit Turtle, and its transformation into a yokai began.
"Back then, Dimerof put the Spirit Turtle down in Selenia's place."
"I remember."
Do-ha nodded at Canteas's words. After the Spirit Turtle died, Selenia had cried for days on end — he still remembered it vividly.
"If Yong-yong had been there, the Spirit Turtle would have lived."
"Still, we need to figure out how Yong-yong is using that power…"
The egg Yong-yong had come from had been in New Age's Gwangmyeong branch. Inside a vault concealed by Veil magic, there had been a dragon egg and a Dragon Heart.
"I should ask Han Jeong-soo to look into who visited the Gwangmyeong branch."
Those items almost certainly hadn't belonged to the Gwangmyeong branch director. They were far too extravagant for someone who had only been SS-rank.
"Yong-yong, let's go."
"Peep!"
Whoosh!
Thump.
Yong-yong dove down and landed on the ground.
"Peep. Peep!"
"Khak?"
"Peep."
"Kyaaaa."
Slither.
Whatever Yong-yong said, the Thunder Beast also approached Canteas's side.
"What? Why are both of you coming to me?"
"Kyaaaa…"
The Thunder Beast glanced cautiously at Do-ha. Most of its memories from the period of corruption had vanished, but the terror of Do-ha was still branded into it. Getting any closer was simply too hard.
"Come on. Anyone watching would think I was the villain here."
Do-ha wore a faintly wounded expression. From his perspective, he had done everything he could with the Thunder Beast's well-being in mind.
"Keheheh! This is the difference between you and me!"
Canteas burst out laughing, thoroughly delighted. Hadn't people always said that animals flocked to the virtuous? Look at this — both a dragon and a spirit beast were sticking to him.
"See? You really are a madman."
"Canteas. Shut your mouth before I grind you into powder and scatter you across the nearest snowfield."
Faced with Do-ha's murderous expression, Canteas finally closed his mouth.
"Did you finish everything up through Pyongyang?"
"Yep. Wiped out every monster up to the locations you gave me."
"Then let's keep heading north."
"Okay."
At Do-ha's words, Canteas launched himself into the air. They had unexpectedly picked up a spirit beast as a traveling companion. Still — it didn't feel bad at all.
Thump!
Whoosh.
The Thunder Beast, keeping pace alongside them, gently took Canteas in its jaws and set him on its back.
"Hahaha! This is a whole new feeling. All right — let's go!"
Clench.
Crack-crack-CRACK!
BOOOOM!
As the Thunder Beast drew up its power, lightning formed around its legs, and it shot forward at tremendous speed.