Father’s Ordeal

Ma Hana murmured, “Meow…” She frowned, pinched her nose, and stared at the swarming black beings approaching.

“Meow, there are so many.”

Ma Hana sighed and lowered the monocular, watching the small, writhing black creatures—each crawling silhouette a monster.

Yu Seha stood beside her, quickly scanning and analyzing every moving thing.

‘Deathworm, Zigbarak, Gravekeeper Cleaner, Flash Golem, etc…’

They were all undead, ranks B to A at minimum. Though invisible to the eye, a massive magical power pulsed from them—the modulation of aura and geysering energies—leaving no doubt an S-rank field boss prowled nearby.

‘The difficulty isn’t a joke…’

Even the Gosra-level fighters Yu Seha had trained couldn’t guarantee victory here.

It was literally a government-abandoned dark zone—and worse, the undead dominated it.

In such barren land with no easy prey, being undead was an obvious survival advantage.

Yu Seha nodded. Moving overland looked risky. He glanced up at the storm-choked sky and wondered if flight might be possible.

‘The best would be to fly… but…’

Carrying Peng Jin-ah and flying wasn’t hard, but it didn’t seem like a good option.

―Kugugugu!!!

Beneath the pitch-black storm clouds, bone-only birds appeared—thigh-sized B-rank monsters called <Deadbirds>.

They swarmed annoyingly—and they weren’t the only threat.

“M-muaa? Seha, can you see that?”

“Yeah, I can see it.”

Ma Hana pointed. Something huge floated above the <Deadbirds>.

A skull nearly fifteen meters across, a spine like a rattling snake. At first glance it looked like a dragon, but it was a horrifying undead: an A-rank <Skeleton Dragon Ghost>.

Three dungeon-boss-caliber creatures circled, a sight that explained why this place was called a demon realm.

Yu Seha decided quickly.

‘It’s best to use the currents like Su Ok-bin noona told me.’

There were monsters in the sea too, but compared to these abominations they almost seemed cute. As he prepared to move, a twinge: Ma Hana pricked up her ears and raised her shield.

“Meow, Seha!”

“Yeah, coming.”

Twenty flying <Deadbirds> circled, then dove—the two who had stepped out of the barrier had been marked as prey.

“Meow!”

Ma Hana ran forward. A sleek armor cloaked in black fur formed automatically—a derivative of <Kalas Shieldsmanship>. She donned [The Wolf-Spirit King’s Devotion].

She lifted her shield and slammed it into the ground; a dome-shaped shockwave surged upward.

With a boom, five approaching <Deadbirds> were crushed where they fell. The explosion triggered a chain reaction and, in an instant, all twenty were dealt with.

It was undoubtedly an advanced form of [Shield Push]—a Hero skill, [Tower Break].

“Oh, Peng Jin-ah, you’ve learned a new skill!”

“Mwang~”

Ma Hana beamed at Yu Seha’s praise, but the shockwave had likely drawn aggro. The three <Skeleton Dragon Ghosts> that had been watching twisted and began to descend.

Within the skulls’ eye sockets, dozens of centipedes clustered, forming pupil-like shapes. Ma Hana shivered.

“M-meow, that’s gross…”

Yu Seha smiled, placed his hand on Ma Hana’s head, and pulled her back.

“Now leave it to me.”

Red mana rippled across his body as he completed Dragonization, like Junayang.

Golden scales began pushing through between the red ones—evidence the Death-Guardian Yellow, the Kirin, had activated.

He raised his hand; his arm transformed into a long-range, battery-like sniper barrel.

‘Battery Emperor Kramer’—an A-rank sniping-type dungeon boss from the special dungeon <Uncomprehending Death>—specializes in compressing mana into lethal, firearmless shots. It was one of the beasts he had taken down at the Academy.

Kraajik-!

Yu Seha planted the tail that had grown behind him into the ground to steady his torso, gripped the barrel with his left hand, and aimed.

Whether the aim would be precise or not…

‘…Well, if I fire roughly they’ll all die anyway.’

An engine-like hum and sacred power coalesced in his arm. The ammunition skill was [Encroaching Wave of Light], taught to him by the Saintesses.

Thud!

A sphere of light launched and locked into the centers of the three <Skeleton Dragon Ghosts>.

Kugugugu-!!!!

It unfolded like another sun rising beneath the sun.

“Muaa…”

Ma Hana gaped as the sky, once crawling with undead, seemed to have been cleansed.

Her eyes sparkled, and she flashed a meow-like smile at Yu Seha.

“As expected, Seha… you’re really amazing.”

“Thanks. Now, let’s use this gap to go to the sea.”

“Mua? Not going to the sky?”

“It looks clear now, but swarms will come back and fill the place soon. I cleared them to get rid of trackers. Let’s slip away to the sea in this gap.”

With that, Yu Seha twisted and sprinted to the shore, diving in at once.

Splash-!

A tall pillar of water shot up and a long tail thrashed—the emergence of a <Sea Dragon>.

Whoosh-!

An especially gentle-eyed, cute sea dragon about eight meters long surfaced. The moment their eyes met, Ma Hana knew the sea dragon adored Yu Seha.

“Mua, it’s so cute!”

Without hesitation, Ma Hana dug in and leapt, landing atop the sea dragon’s bowed head.

She lowered her shield and activated a protective barrier from <Kalas Shieldsmanship>. Yu Seha’s voice echoed in her head.

―Alright, we’re off. Hold tight, okay?

“Muaa~”

The two crossed the sea and swiftly headed for their destination.

Three hours later, they landed and ran toward the destination marked on the map.

Along the way they encountered undead and rival factions; swarms of insect-type monsters tried to ambush them but couldn’t slow them down.

The area they reached was swampy and forested, like a jungle.

Ma Hana scanned the map and nodded with a muah-muah.

“Seha, it’s down here.”

“Hmm…”

Yu Seha knelt and pressed his hand to the ground. Even beyond his Transcendent senses, he felt a high-energy reaction through his fingertips—undeniable evidence of a <Trial>.

“Meowi, I think this is the place.”

“Mua, what should we do? It’s underground? Do we have to dig?”

“Leave it to me.”

Yu Seha clenched his fist as Ma Hana stepped back. He raised it proudly to the sky.

Crack!

His arm swelled like a giant in less than a second—dragon scales and flames engulfed it. It was the dragon’s foreleg that had instantly shattered Ju Ye-young’s ultimate skill <Destruction Island Arm> during their spar. He intended to strike the ground.

At that moment, a clear voice echoed, as if warning them not to.

“If you do that, everything below will be ruined, little sibling.”

“…Huh?”

“Mua?”

Ma Hana and Yu Seha turned. A woman in casual clothes with a jungle hat tipped back stood there—a beauty with long red hair and sun-kissed brown skin.

There was no mistaking her.

“…Oh? Hyeja noona?”

“Hey, long time no see. Se-ha, little sibling.”

The woman raised her hand and smiled warmly. Im Hye-ja. It was a pleasant reunion after quite some time.