The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C61
$61
“Just wait a little, and I’ll apply a duplicate enhancement!”
Not long after Kim Juhee’s words, Excalibur’s blade shimmered as if coated, and the flames grew even stronger. The pressure on my hands also lessened considerably.
The question was whether I had the strength to block this until the end.
To add to my strength, Lee Seokju also set off bombs to restrict the Red Dragon’s movements. However, he was carefully controlling his power to avoid harming me, so he couldn’t use his full strength.
[Excalibur responds to the allied skill ‘Weapon Enhancement’. While under the blessing of this skill, the item exhibits S+ rank performance.]
I rolled my eyes to the new guidance window and looked at Kim Juhee. She had retreated quite far, sweating profusely and concentrating.
The higher the grade of an item, the more difficult it was to enhance it to a higher rank. Kim Juhee was also using her power without holding back.
This should do it.
With the Flame of Life skill still active, I converted some magical power into strength. The tail that had been maintaining a tense balance gradually pushed back.
Screech.
With the sound of tearing metal, the Red Dragon retreated its body.
“Seokju, step back about ten steps for a moment and prepare for the next attack, it will swing its foot in four seconds. Juhee, attack its fingers with the enhanced weapon. It’s a relatively weak spot.”
The second pattern was somewhat weaker, so if the two of them could buy even one turn, I would have time to regroup.
“Haa…”
The heat that couldn’t escape created a red path with a stinging pain. Lee Hye was casting heal from afar, but the recovery speed couldn’t keep up.
How long has it been since I felt pain from fire?
The fire that had become like a part of me since its manifestation was frightening again after a long time.
“Woo-hyun, switch! I can’t hold on for long.”
Kim Juhee, holding a huge shield, came forward and switched places with me. Lee Seokju, who had been standing one step back as instructed, created a path with bombs for me to safely retreat.
Although Kim Juhee usually handled attacks or support, this time she took up the shield to buy time as we had decided. It was quite a good judgment.
“Uuurgh!”
With a voice like a great general, she blocked the incoming claws here and there while shouting. Lee Seokju covered the spots she couldn’t block.
[A-rank skill, Rain of Fire and B-rank skill, Weapon Summoning are merged and used. The blessing of flames dwells in the weapons you bring down.]
The good thing about Halo’s vision sharing shone here as well. Since I could clearly see where the dragon’s hands would move, it was possible to accurately drop the weapons surrounded by fire at those locations.
Of course, there were more weapons that couldn’t overcome the dragon’s strength and flew away or couldn’t pierce the thick skin, but one or two managed to penetrate the scales and land effective hits.
It’s not bad for the first time merging two skills.
I made this assessment while cold sweat poured down my temples. Thinking that just using Rain of Fire alone wouldn’t even tickle the Red Dragon, I activated it on the spot along with a skill I didn’t use often, and the effect was quite good.
“Random enhancement incoming!”
Moreover, it paired well with Kim Juhee’s enhancement skill. Some weapons left wounds on the dragon’s feet that, while not fatal, would be difficult to recover from.
However, the problem was the last attack.
“The breath is coming. Can you buy a little more time?”
“Yes!”
“Leave it to us.”
I took out an ice pill from my inventory and ate it. Judging by his earlier reaction, it seems even Halo didn’t know about the Red Dragon’s appearance, so I’m not sure how he managed to pass over the item needed for this situation. There wasn’t time to think about that either.
[S-rank skill, Flame of Life has been enhanced. While the flame burns, you can exert all skills at 600%. As a skill penalty, your life force is reduced by 15 days.
*Warning: This skill is being overloaded.]
I ignored the warning and maintained the skill. This time, I needed to exert power equal to or greater than the breath.
“When I give the signal, both of you retreat as far as possible. The rear should also fall back completely.”
“But…!”
“It’s an order.”
I didn’t want to speak so extremely. But unlike me who had resistance to fire, their armor was their last line of defense. If my power gave way even a little, I didn’t want to imagine what would happen next.
“Woo-hyun! I’ve cast a magic buff on you!”
The magic buff Lee Hye used allowed the recipient to exert 110% of their power. However, as a healer, Lee Hye’s limited magic power should be used mostly for healing, and the buff skill itself wasn’t high, so it wasn’t efficient. That’s why we usually tried to refrain from using it, but right now, even this was desperately needed.
“Switching!”
At the moment the dragon raised its head to prepare its breath, I switched with Lee Seokju and Kim Juhee. Fire spewed from the dragon’s mouth. For a moment, the helplessness and fear as if a meteor was about to crush me made me realize that I was no different from a speck of dust on Earth.
“Hup!”
But no matter how small and insignificant an existence, one must do their best to live. Because the world I was living in at this moment wasn’t the vast universe, but just this much, right here where I was standing on the ground.
[A-rank skill, Song of Flames is enhanced. While the song continues, everything touched by your sword’s aura will be burned away.]
Fire of a scale I had never seen before spewed from Excalibur. Unlike the breath that was condensed to pierce through me, it spread widely, creating a wall of fire.
I can’t let even a speck leak through.
Due to the breath trying to break through the wall, fire scattered in all directions towards me. Despite eating the ice pill, it wasn’t enough to withstand the dragon, and flesh melted off here and there. If it weren’t for Lee Hye frantically casting heals on me, I would have collapsed long ago.
[S-rank skill, Flame of Life is continuously in use. You have 210 days of life force remaining.]
The status window glowed red and warned me. Would Seo-heon arrive before this life force runs out?
The pain that visited daily came regardless of time and place. I ignored the pain and used my power, but my body couldn’t be fooled, and my vision gradually blurred.
Woong.
“Haa, haa…”
If the breath hadn’t ended just then, it would have been difficult to manage.
How much time until the next attack…
“We’ve blocked the first attack!”
As I was counting time while hearing exclamations mixed with joy, I couldn’t see the vision.
[S-rank skill, Flame of Life is terminated.]
“Huh?”
The moment I briefly terminated the skill, a nosebleed gushed out wildly, and my vision blurred again.
“Woo-hyun. In front!”
I could hear the sound of wind being cut, but I couldn’t move my body.
My darkened vision showed no signs of returning, and my body, stiff as if sleep paralyzed, wouldn’t move as I willed. To make matters worse, the side effects of the ice pill had already hit, sending chills through my body.
No. I have to come to my senses.
Extreme measures were needed. I forcibly moved my one hand that could still move and grasped the blade of the sword. The pain starting from the deeply cut hand created tension in my body.
I can see.
Just as I thought my vision was vaguely returning, I saw the dragon’s claws right in front of me. It was when I thought it was too late.
Boom!
Just before the Red Dragon’s claws could dig into my flesh, a long ice wall extended from somewhere, splitting between me and the dragon. I reflexively retreated and looked for the starting point of the attack.
There stood a yaksha harboring cold anger. Seo-heon, who had covered the surroundings with ice, wore a hard expression devoid of any emotion.
The Red Dragon, seeing the suddenly appeared people, retreated its body and prepared for the next attack. The strange thing happened right after that. It suddenly started moving its head left and right, as if searching for something.
[The Red Dragon has caught the scent of the hatchling. The Red Dragon is looking for where its child is.]
Of course, the hatchling wasn’t here. Even if Team A had dealt with the hatchling and come, there’s no way its scent would still remain. As I was perplexed, Team A arrived on our side in one step, with the space narrowed by Lee Han’s skill.
“How did you deal with it and come back so quickly?”
The Red Dragon was too busy looking for the hatchling in confusion to pay attention to us. Thanks to this, we had time to assess the situation.
“Where are you hurt?”
Seo-heon asked while grabbing my forearm and looking it up and down. His grip was so strong, as if he was holding onto something that might disappear at any moment.
“No major injuries.”
With Seo-heon’s wide field of vision, he should have seen Kwon Ho-jun behind, but he said nothing. Instead, he briefly summarized and relayed the situation.
“The Red Dragon was using its subordinates to gather cores. To create a core for its child, the hatchling.”
The pieces of information came together. Monsters also had power relationships, and for an adult Red Dragon with many subordinates, its orders were absolute. An existence with the power to move cores containing life force.
“Wait… Why do you have a red aura mixed in? This is something only people who handle fire have.”
Now that I looked closely, there was a faint red light mixed in with the cold air surrounding Seo-heon. Seo-heon turned his head to the side as if he didn’t want to talk about it. Lee Han, who was listening, explained instead.
“This guy ate the hatchling’s core.”
What?
Team B, including myself, looked at Seo-heon with eyes filled with shock. Kim Juhee muttered softly, “Why do such a dangerous thing…” It wasn’t just her; everyone shared the sentiment.