Chapter 118

It was a scene reminiscent of a meteor strike.

With a massive explosion, cracks began to spread rapidly in all directions from the spot where the Earth Dragon had emerged.

The surrounding soil and trees were all sucked into the empty space where the Earth Dragon had been coiled.

“Johan! It doesn’t seem to have a lock on you yet, so try jogging slowly. But don’t leave the Gray Forest. If it senses another vibration, it might head that way.”

Johan began to circle the pit with large, steady strides.

“Kaiel, please wait for my signal!”

Kaiel, who had been watching the boss, gave a wry smile. It seemed his grim fighting spirit as a warlock had been awakened.

“It looks like something I’d like to dissect. Can I not attack now?”

“No! If you do, the boss’s attention will shift from Johan to you!”

“A shame.”

“You need to attack if it shows any sign of changing direction or trying to hide underground!”

“I will.”

Kaiel replied calmly, though his eyes gleamed with a cruel light. It was just like him to control his emotions, no matter how excited he was.

Yulia, who was flying around me while controlling a small chimera, shot her hand up.

“Guild Leader! What about me? What should I do?”

I pointed to a blue flag waving in the distance. It was a marker indicating the imperial hunting grounds.

“See that flag over there?”

Yulia narrowed her eyes, as if her vision was poor.

“Um, I think I see it…”

“Go over there.”

“…But that’s so far away.”

“That’s why I’m telling you to go.”

“…I have bad eyes. I won’t be able to see well from that far away.”

“It’s better than staying close and getting eaten by the boss.”

“I can just get out of the way if it gets dangerous…”

“Yulia.”

“Hmph! You’re so mean! Telling me not to watch you fight! How could you be so cruel to me?”

I tossed an item I had exchanged for in advance from the Shop to the whining Yulia.

“Catch.”

Yulia, who had been pretending to cry while rubbing her eyes, caught the item in surprise and asked.

“W-What is this?”

“A telescope. It’ll magnify whatever you want to see.”

“The Shop had something like this? I thought it only had ultimate skills and modifiers…”

“The only thing the Shop doesn’t have are healing items. Now hurry up and take it.”

“I didn’t know you’d go this far for me, Guild Leader.”

“I’m giving it to you because saving you would be a pain. So just listen to me.”

“Okay… Pfft!”

Why is she laughing? I was just advising her not to get in the way since she’s weak.

“Oh, and that’s 50,000 points. Pay me back when this is over.”

“I’ll give you double! Our Guild Leader is the best!”

Once I finally got the meddlesome Yulia out of the way, the situation was more or less under control.

As I was watching to make sure Yulia was heading toward the flag, I heard Alex’s voice from behind me.

“Astell, I think the boss has detected the paladin. Should I attack?”

Just as Alex said, the Earth Dragon was turning its head in the direction Johan was running.

“Just a little longer. Let’s attack after it starts to seriously pursue him.”

I watched the beast without letting my guard down. Since it relied solely on vibrations, it was slow to detect the bait.

Alex rested his chin on his hand and marveled.

“Incredible. For something that big, it barely makes a sound when it moves.”

“That’s because it moves by folding and unfolding the wrinkles on its skin. No footsteps means its presence is faint.”

“It’d be hard to sense it without seeing it… One wrong move and you could get eaten without even knowing it was there. Good thing it’s not fast.”

“Listen closely. It’s not completely silent. If you listen carefully, you can hear the rustle of grass and the occasional snap of a tree branch.”

“You think you could hear that while running for your life?”

“Yeah. You can’t?”

“…”

In my past life, I fought this beast by calculating its distance based on the sounds of nature.

There were times my concentration wavered and I was nearly eaten, but in the end, I managed to kill it. It took about eight hours.

Which meant being the bait should be a piece of cake for Johan.

‘A Hunter ranked 4th in the world can’t handle that much? It’s not like he’s fighting it alone like I did; he has four companions… Huh?’

For a moment, a scene flashed through my mind.

‘Was someone with me back then? Was it Shinwoo?’

No, it wasn’t Shinwoo. I can’t remember his face, but he was a tall man with impressively long, white hands.

“Are you dead?”

I tilted my head, then pushed the thought away.

‘This is no time for that. I need to focus.’

“Listen up. That thing’s core is hidden inside its organs. The problem is, it’s all just a mass of fat. Most attacks won’t even reach it, and any wound it takes will regenerate in an instant.”

“Then how do we kill it?”

“We have to attack without giving it time to regenerate. It’ll be a pain if we drag this out and it escapes underground. It’s skilled at hiding its presence.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“How in the world do you know all that?”

I flinched.

“…I, uh, asked the Constellations. How else would I know?”

“Huh, that’s strange. They never tell me anything… Are they playing favorites with the Rank 1?”

“If you’re jealous, become Rank 1 yourself.”

“I’m good.”

Alex replied nonchalantly. I’d expected him to snap back, asking if I was mocking him.

“What’s gotten into you? Don’t you want to be Rank 1?”

“I’d like to try. But if I became Rank 1, that would mean you’d be pushed out of first place. I’m not too fond of that idea.”

“What’s not to like?”

“You’re already rumored to be crazy. You need to at least be Rank 1 so people don’t look down on you. That way, you can live well even without Father and me.”

Unbelievably, beneath his indifferent words, I could feel deep concern and affection.

And even a resolve to face the worst. Strangely, the bridge of my nose tingled.

“Why wouldn’t you be here? Don’t you trust me?”

“It’s not that, but… the plan might not go as expected.”

“If that happens, I’ll kill the Emperor with my own hands.”

Alex, horrified, covered my mouth with his pot-lid-sized hand.

“Are you crazy? The Imperial Palace is right there!”

“So stop with the useless thoughts and think about getting married. It’s about time you continued the family line.”

“…Who would marry me? My reputation as a total scoundrel is already set in stone.”

Among the nobles of his age, Alex was the only one who wasn’t engaged. And he was the Young Duke, no less.

I clicked my tongue.

“Should’ve fooled around less, then.”

“I thought I was going to die soon back then… I regret it now. I should have lived more earnestly.”

I gave Alex’s slumped shoulders a firm pat.

“It’s fine. Marriage isn’t the only way to continue the family line. If it’s too much, just keep living like you are now. You think I can’t take care of you?”

“…”

After a moment of stunned silence, Alex let out a soft laugh.

“I think we’ve really changed.”

“Hm? How so?”

“Think about it. Could you ever have imagined us having a normal conversation like this?”

“We talked before. Though it was mostly one-sided verbal abuse… Well, if you miss those days, we can go back to that.”

“Who said I miss them? Absolutely not!”

Alex snapped for no reason. If he hated it, he hated it, but I didn’t understand why his eyes were getting moist and his ears were turning red.

“Alright, now focus. I told you to save up points, right? How much do you have?”

“Not much. 6.7 million points.”

“What? You were broke just a month ago… How did you get that much?”

“It was easy. The Constellations just shower you with points for eating well.”

So that’s why he’d been eating more. He even went to Jean for desserts he never used to ask for.

‘Still, I can’t believe he saved up that much in such a short time.’

It feels like the Constellations have gotten more generous with their sponsorships. Except for the ones in my room.

‘So mukbang really is the answer.’

I thought I ate pretty well. I guess I need to eat even more than this.

Alright, once this Gate is cleared, I’ll have to give it a serious try.

“Let’s buy an ultimate skill with that. Wait a second.”

I entered the Shop.

A black background filled with text as small as sesame seeds. My stomach began to churn.

‘It’s been a while, this feeling.’

This time, I didn’t have to suffer through it.

Because among the ultimate skills I bought but never used in my past life, there was one that would be perfect for Alex.

‘I’m not sure if this is the right name… Search, Hunyuan Thunder Blade.’

The letters all flew up and formed a single sentence.

<High-Grade Ultimate Skill — Hunyuan Thunder Blade (混元霹靂釖)>: 5,000,000 Points

‘This is it!’