Chapter 62
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Winner
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The host asked in surprise.
"Sh-shouldn't we stop her?"
"We should. The match is over. From this moment forward, we consider Yoon Ji-ae of the Yoon Family a terrorist."
Yoon Jeong-yeon halted the match.
The match was already decided, and the winner had been determined.
The moment the winner was set, Yoon Jeong-yeon was authorized to intervene.
"Clear out all the spectators. Including the reporters."
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
At her command, the audience hurriedly evacuated the arena.
All that remained was to warp the competitors back to reality.
Yoon Jeong-yeon cast the return spell once more.
"…!"
But no matter how many times she tried, they wouldn't return to reality.
A seal blocking the warp had been placed from inside.
The aura of malice was thick in the air.
"The warp isn't activating…"
"Th-then what do we do?"
The host asked in a panic.
But Yoon Jeong-yeon had no clever solution either.
The final option was to chant the spell that could dispel the barrier.
With her current power, it would take at least thirty minutes to break it.
In terms of magic, Yoon Ji-ae had the edge.
If she was dead set on it, Yoon Jeong-yeon was powerless.
She worried for the kids' safety.
"I-I've already contacted the military police."
"…It won't help."
It was all futile.
The military police had no one with magic stronger than Yoon Ji-ae's.
To stop her, they'd need several A-Rank Hunters at minimum.
'…Please be safe.'
She couldn't even see what was happening inside.
All she could do now was hurry to release the seal.
I'd figured it wouldn't end quietly, but I hadn't expected it to spiral into total disaster.
Shieeek-!
I dodged the incoming spear with just a tilt of my head.
"Not bad for a mere cadet."
The flaming spear embedded in the ground returned to Yoon Ji-ae's side.
No matter how many times I knocked it away, the Great Flame Dragon Spear circled its caster.
I wanted that spear.
'My spear skills outclass hers. But spear techniques alone won't beat Yoon Ji-ae.'
She was the former head of the Yoon Family and an ex-A-Rank Hunter.
I couldn't afford to let my guard down.
Switch Weapon: Sword → Spear
I transformed my weapon back into a spear.
"What an odd weapon you have there."
Yoon Ji-ae eyed my weapon with interest.
But that interest soon turned to killing intent.
The Great Flame Dragon Spear sliced through the air toward me.
Klang!
The Switch Weapon spear clashed with the Great Flame Dragon Spear.
It was flame, yet solid.
My steel-hard spear couldn't cut through the fire.
Whoosh-! Whish!
Her spear flew around her, pursuing its target without her even needing to hold it.
A chasing weapon.
The more I saw it, the more I coveted it.
Klang, klang!
I deflected each incoming spear while plotting my next move.
Her spear skills couldn't hit me anyway.
I blocked what I couldn't dodge and evaded the rest.
"Impressive. That golden aura—what is it? I've never seen its kind before."
"You don't need to know."
"Such insolence…"
Shoo! Shoo!
Yoon Ji-ae's sub-skills rained down mercilessly.
Handling the Great Flame Dragon Spear was one thing, but dealing with her sub-skills on top was tough even for me.
I countered with simultaneous spellcasting, firing off great fireballs.
"Pointless."
Boom, boom!
But my skills were easily blocked by her barrier.
Yoon Ji-ae pressed her relentless assault without pause.
Her obsession with claiming the high-grade mana repository was immense.
But my own obsession matched it.
I wanted it all.
The Great Flame Dragon Spear.
The high-grade mana repository.
Everything, to grow stronger.
I had my reasons for needing power.
I wasn't the kind of man to get stuck here.
Klang-!
I closed in and knocked away the Great Flame Dragon Spear.
The spear stabbed into the ground, scorching even the earth.
I immediately followed with a kick.
She raised her guard, but it was futile.
Thwack-!
"Guh, guaaak!"
Yoon Ji-ae flew back.
My kick hit like a dump truck.
And I was in Transcendent Awakening state right now.
She wiped blood from her lips and stood again.
"Do you even know who I am, you brat?"
"Don't know who you are, but you're definitely in my way."
I gripped my spear.
4-Star Spear Art: Reinhardt
A barbaric charge that utterly crushes the target.
The spear tip began to grow massive.
Her spear slammed into my Reinhardt.
Klang-!
In that instant, the Great Flame Dragon Spear started devouring my spear tip.
No 4-star spear art could stand against the Great Flame Dragon.
"Die! Die!"
Yoon Ji-ae's spear blade burned even fiercer.
'Damn it.'
I tried to pull my weapon back before the Switch Weapon disintegrated.
Then, something unbelievable happened.
Nom, nom!
The Switch Weapon was eating the flames.
Green mouths suddenly popped out, shredding and devouring the fire.
The sight shocked me and even Yoon Ji-ae.
Munch, munch!
The Switch Weapon's true form was the King Slime.
It matched the one I'd hunted.
The slime greedily consumed the flames.
Not satisfied with just the blade, it ate the shaft too before returning to my hand.
"Buuuurp-."
The slime belched flames contentedly and hopped onto my shoulder.
It seemed to recognize me as its master.
"Kyuruk, kyuruk."
The slime gazed at me, making strange noises.
Its sharp green eyes met mine.
"Kyuruk, kyuruk."
It was trying to say something.
But even as top of my class in writing, I couldn't understand slime language.
Yoon Ji-ae frowned at the sight.
"Carrying a monster around... You have no roots."
A slime was undeniably a monster.
No matter how weak, a monster was a monster.
The slime rubbed against my cheek affectionately.
"Kyuruk, kyuruk."
I had no idea how to process this.
Spilled water can't be gathered again.
I needed to focus on the fight.
"Switch Weapon. Sword."
The slime on my shoulder shifted into sword form.
Thankfully, the Switch Weapon's features remained intact.
I assumed a stance with the sword.
Now, I'd fight Yoon Ji-ae with killing intent.
Yoon Ji-ae immediately activated a skill.
"Hell Fire!"
⟨ Hell Fire ⟩
A massive fireball appeared.
Even from afar, I could tell how scorching it was.
Sweat beaded on my skin.
Roooar-!
Five Hell Fires hurtled toward me.
"Shield!"
"Kyuruk-?"
The sword-slime's eyes widened as it glanced at me, then leaped into the air.
Splooosh-! Boom boom!!
The slime spread wide, blocking all the Hell Fires in front.
'…Wow!'
I'd planned a simple shield to cover just me.
But the slime judged the position and skill on its own.
"Good job!"
"Kyuruk! Kyururu!"
Having blocked the Hell Fires, the Switch Weapon reverted to sword form.
Incoming ice spears followed.
Again, the Switch Weapon automatically defended, protecting its master.
Just standing there, the slime intercepted every projectile.
It was like having an auto-defense system grafted onto my body.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The tables had turned.
Her advantage in offense was being neutralized one by one.
As things deviated from plan, Yoon Ji-ae flew into a rage.
She screamed.
"Don't interfere with me! What right do you have? I'm just trying to revive the hero who'll save this world. Am I the villain? Tell me! Am I?!"
"…"
I didn't answer, so she wailed even louder.
"I have to save my sister… I need the mana repository for that. This is Yoon Family business. Please, just stay out of it."
"…"
I listened silently without responding.
Sure, Yoon Family matters—I'd normally steer clear.
That's my personality: I hate hassle, won't touch it without gain.
But not this time.
I wanted that high-grade mana repository too.
And more than that, I couldn't ignore a classmate suffering like that.
"Weapon, spear."
"Kyuruk!"
Roooar-!
But this spear wasn't the usual Switch Weapon form.
'…This is?'
A blazing spear.
"Kyuruk!"
The Great Flame Dragon Spear.
Yoon Ji-ae's weapon was now in my hand.
The slime had just stolen it.
'No way… Because I wanted it?'
It discerned its master's desire and acted.
A servant solely for its master.
Looking at the flaming spear, I smiled.
"Th-that's…! My spear!"
No matter how she called, it wouldn't respond.
Of course not.
Her spear was already in my grasp.
"…And you can back off now."
"What?"
The spear ignited the air with heat.
And not just that—the Great Flame Dragon's wings.
Red flame wings sprouted from my back.
Golden aura coiled around the fiery wings.
Thanks to my Transcendent Awakening, the 'Great Flame Dragon Spear' had evolved a step further.
It looked like the incarnation of the skies.
A true dragon knight.
I aimed the spear at Yoon Ji-ae.
"…I'll save Yoon Jeong-yeon."
Roooar-!
An ordinary person would burn alive just holding this spear.
But it blazed as if finally meeting its true master.
Flap-!
I spread the wings.
They felt as natural as my own body.
I was eager to test the new skills.
Flap-!
I took flight.
The wingbeats came instinctively, no learning required.
Flames trailed wherever I ascended.
I soared to a great height.
"Ah…!"
It was breathtakingly beautiful.
So this was what flying felt like.
The wind whipped my black hair.
The sky stretched endlessly.
But the ground had limits.
The spear tip locked onto Yoon Ji-ae below.
Flames ready to mercilessly devour her.
I tested with a basic technique.
Spear Art 2-Star.
Spear Throw.
I hurled it at Yoon Ji-ae with all my might.
Roooaaar-!
The spear plummeted, trailing massive flames.
Golden light gleamed around the blaze.
Target: Yoon Ji-ae.
No missing.
Boom-! Boomboom!
A deafening roar twisted space itself.
Flames poured from the rift.
'The space…!'
Yoon Jeong-yeon realized instantly.
Yoon Ji-ae's spell was breaking.
The caster's skill had been interrupted by an external shock.
She seized the chance.
Yoon Jeong-yeon activated the return warp immediately.
"Ugh…!"
Immense mana.
Not Yoon Ji-ae's level.
An attack spell from someone else.
Yoon Ah-young or Yoon Seo-hyun couldn't cast something this powerful.
Vicious mana.
Like a starving lion… the epitome of predation, ferocity, madness.
"Ah! Lady Yoon Jeong-yeon, look!"
Flash-! Flash-!
Seo-hyun and Ah-young warped back to the arena.
Flames leaking from the spatial tear threatened them.
Yoon Jeong-yeon desperately blocked the fire.
Roooar-!
This was the Yoon Family's top training ground, yet the illusion became reality, engulfing it.
Yoon Jeong-yeon was certain.
No human could survive inside that.
With Yoon Jeong-yeon's efforts, the training ground's flames began to subside.
"Hoo… hoo…"
Even for her, sustaining that mana was taxing.
"Ugh…"
Seo-hyun clutched her forehead and rose.
All wounds from the training ground were nullified.
She was unscathed.
Seo-hyun looked at Ah-young collapsed beside her.
"Unnie…"
Exhausted, she lay there.
The mental toll must have been severe.
Seo-hyun gently laid Ah-young's head on her lap.
And stroked her hair.
"Thank you, thank you…"
Seo-hyun repeated her endless gratitude to the unconscious Ah-young.
Yoon Jeong-yeon smiled faintly at the sight.
After ten years of strained emotions, they finally connected today.
Living such different lives, Ah-young might have been what kept Seo-hyun from total ruin.
No matter how bad their relationship, no matter how fate tore them apart, they were family.
Children who lost family found family in each other, sharing their pain.
Teaching one another familial love.
This was the family Yoon Ji-yeon had wanted.
A value she never wavered from.
Flash!
Someone else warped into the training ground.
Yoon Ji-ae.
Yoon Jeong-yeon was stunned.
"Mother…?"
"Ugh… ugh… ugh…"
Yoon Ji-ae clutched her head, thoroughly unhinged.
Terrified, she flinched at the slightest breeze.
"H-how…"
Yoon Jeong-yeon approached her.
Yoon Ji-ae shrieked.
"Gah, gaaa! Stay away, stay away… monster!"
The mental shock was immense.
Her mind broken, drool dripped from her mouth.
Yoon Jeong-yeon swallowed dryly at the unbelievable scene.
Flash!
Another appeared in the training ground.
Holding Yoon Ji-ae's weapon, the Great Flame Dragon Spear.
He smiled brightly at it.
It was Kang Tae-hyun.
(To be continued)