150 – Abyss – 5

Up until now, Gi-jun’s species rank advancement had been a process of resembling light.

Although he had thought it would be nice if his next class or species also strengthened flames after contracting with Ur and manipulating flames, his direction of growth had already hardened too firmly for that—

This was because his achievements made up to the point of reaching transcendence were also deeply connected to light to the extent that no one could deny it.

His rank advancement this time made him a completely unique existence slightly faster than even Biche’s expectations.

‘This is…?’

When Gi-jun came to his senses, he realized that he was already buried in the middle of a cluster of light.

No, that was not the case.

He had become light itself.

If, by any chance, he failed to accept himself and could not establish his own existence here, he would scatter as he was and turn into a part of the light that made up the world.

Lucy, who was watching his growth, also realized this and urgently tried to intervene in the process.

—Contractor, are you okay? Do you know who you are? Should I help you?

‘No, Lucy. There is no need to worry.’

However, Gi-jun quickly recalled the fact that he was an entity that endlessly resembled light, but strictly possessed an independent ego, and was soon able to return to his original self.

Since he was someone who had resolved to live a life worthy of his name and to establish his own standards, it might have been even easier.

‘Actually, I had that feeling from before—but I really can’t be called human anymore.’

—Strictly speaking, you weren’t human from before anyway. Let go of your lingering regrets.

‘Yeah, I’ve discarded them now.’

Gi-jun examined himself deeply and acknowledged the realm he had achieved.

Perhaps because it was after dealing with the vampires who transformed at will, there was no aversion to it than he had thought.

At any rate, his outward appearance would not change much.

His magic power was the same, and he fully possessed his body.

It was just that the contents inside had completely changed.

The moment he became certain of that, his growth finally finished.

—You have transcended the limits of your species and become a Unique-grade [Lumen (lūmen)]! You have completely stepped out of the human realm and become a part of a great law, but for now, you are merely a small light that only illuminates what you wish to reveal.

—All stats have increased by 5, and Light Mana (L), Charm (L), and Spiritual Power (L) have increased by an additional 5!

—All skills have grown, and in particular, Lucy (L) has grown significantly, reaching Level 30!

—The surplus experience has been calculated, and your level has grown to 15. Strength (L) increased by 15, Dexterity (L) by 5, Endurance (L) by 17, Light Mana (L) by 3, and Spiritual Power (L) by 2.

—You have transcended the limits of your species and become a Unique-grade [Lumen (lūmen)]! You have completely stepped out of the human realm and become a part of a great law, but for now, you are merely a small light that only illuminates what you wish to reveal.

—All stats have increased by 5, and Light Mana (L), Charm (L), and Spiritual Power (L) have increased by an additional 5!

—All skills have grown, and in particular, Lucy (L) has grown significantly, reaching Level 30!

—The surplus experience has been calculated, and your level has grown to 15. Strength (L) increased by 15, Dexterity (L) by 5, Endurance (L) by 17, Light Mana (L) by 3, and Spiritual Power (L) by 2.

Even so, wasn’t it a bit strange to leave only ‘light’ when it was a species?

Wasn’t that just an attribute, not a species?

Although it was much better than “Light Human,” which could easily cause misunderstandings, Gi-jun, who had obtained a species name that he could not proudly go around revealing in front of others this time as well, thought so with a frown as soon as he checked the system messages.

However, since ‘Lumen’, which was also the name of the party he led, did not simply mean light or radiance but also meant brightness, life, and a leader—if one thought of it as containing various meanings, there was no reason he could not accept it as a species name.

Yes, it was better than a Light Human.

“O-Oppa!”

“Yeah. Why?”

When Gi-jun, who had checked all the messages, let out a faint sigh and raised his head, Ji-hye cried out with wide eyes.

“Oppa, do you know you just evolved like a Pokémon?! You became light itself and then turned back into a person!”

“Yeah, I think I have a rough idea of how I looked to others while my rank was advancing.”

When he reflected his face in the smooth surface of the shield, his impression had not changed much, but overall his face had become much brighter than before, and a faint glow could be seen radiating from his skin.

When he took off his mask and checked, a faint golden light was also swirling in both of his eyes—it seemed that even if he just went around without his mask now, no one would be able to call Gi-jun a human.

“……Ah.”

Patum, who had been silent, let out a low exclamation.

It was because the corpse of the evil dragon, which had been keeping its form clumsily until then, completely collapsed and vanished.

“Phew.”

Gi-jun, who jumped down from the corpse with Lora and landed on the ground, let out a sigh loaded with various meanings as he watched the final moments of the evil dragon scattering in vain.

Biche, who approached his side, chuckled and said,

“It was fortunate that we at least tore off the wings intact before it ended up like that, right?”

“I didn’t sigh because the dragon’s corpse became unusable, Biche.”

And it was not completely unusable either.

Had the Lord of Thorns’ last magic succeeded, it would be a different story, but because it was canceled midway, a small amount of materials that preserved the dragon’s power remained in that spot.

Although the famous Dragon Heart was out of the question from the start, a tiny amount of the hard parts of the body—the black scales and dragon bones—remained.

Because the evil dragon’s size was so gigantic, even a tiny amount amounted to nearly hundreds of kilograms.

No matter how small the contribution of Gi-jun and his party was estimated, they would be able to take at least half of that.

“Even that massive castle… has collapsed to the point where not a trace can be found now. There must have been quite a few precious treasures inside. We certainly defeated the evil dragon, but what is this feeling of emptiness?”

“Since all the holy relics that maintained this space have disappeared, Valahia will probably soon—collapse completely.”

Lora muttered in a voice that tried to appear calm, as if adding to Ji-hye’s words which showed deep regret.

Lora had come here harboring many emotions—hatred, vengeance, fear, self-denial… and had finally accepted herself as a vampire, which she had denied so much.

The emotions she must be feeling now would be far more complex than Gi-jun’s imagination.

Gi-jun, who was reaching out his hand to her in hopes of offering some comfort, however, soon realized that he had forgotten one important fact.

“What about the other expedition members?”

What about the two parties that drew aggro while dealing with the vampires outside the castle against their will?

Even before the group entered the castle, they had ended up in a position of dealing with a massive number of vampires in the middle of the city—and now, that city was half-destroyed.

With all the vampires dead as well, Gi-jun momentarily had a terrible thought about whether the expedition members could be safe, but—

“We are safe, nya—!”

Soon, the gallant voice of a Cait Sith was heard, reassuring him.

Boots, who was leading the Species Alliance party, approached the group along with the Golden Spider Clan, who had probably joined them halfway, and though none of them were unscathed, at least no one seemed to have died.

He was puzzled to see the leader of the Golden Spider Clan, who had been fooling around and wild just before being deployed to the mission, keeping his mouth shut quietly, but Boots gave the answer right away without him even having to ask.

“Whew—we managed to defeat the vampires somehow, but when the dragon and those giant octopus tentacles appeared in the sky, I thought we were really going to die this time, nya.”

As expected, had they fallen into a status condition after witnessing the battle between the evil dragon and Biche?

While Gi-jun was hastily healing the expedition members by borrowing Lucy’s power, Boots abruptly threw a question at him.

“So—Jun, did you become a Dragon Slayer, nya?”

When Gi-jun silently nodded to Boots, who had stabbed straight to the core, Boots nodded as if he had known it would turn out that way from the beginning.

“A dragon following a Divine Beast, this is news that will truly boil the continent of Leta for the first time in a while, nya. It would have been great if the expedition—all of them—were safe, nya, but…”

Fortunately, Gi-jun’s party was safe, but the knights led by Lectus and the Hero’s party led by Patum were all annihilated.

Defeating the Lord of Thorns was a great achievement, but the situation was not good enough to openly rejoice and run wild.

Boots, who had lost his words and was only smacking his lips at the sight of Patum, who had no intention of raising his head at all, and Lectus, who had lost an arm and was still unconscious until now… suddenly raised his head and shouted as if he had recalled something.

“Where is Nabinya, nya?!”

“Ah!”

How could this be, he had completely forgotten about Nabinya’s existence until now!

In any case, there was no reason to deploy her in the battle against the Lord of Thorns, and because the situation had turned so urgent…!

Gi-jun urgently looked back at Patum, to whom he had entrusted Nabinya, but Patum shook his head weakly and said,

“When we entered the room of the Lord of Thorns, she disappeared, saying she would join you.”

“It’s fortunate if she escaped safely…”

“If she hid herself, that’s fortunate, nya. Especially since Nabinya is a Cait Sith who received shoes, nya.”

Boots, letting out a sigh of relief, suddenly took off one of his boots and set it on the floor.

At the moment Gi-jun tilted his head, unable to understand the meaning of that behavior for a second,

Pop, a cute cat poked its head out from inside the boot.

The cat was holding a medal studded with jewels in its mouth.

“Nya!”

“Nabinya!”

“Captain!”

Nabinya, confirming that the one who called her was Boots, immediately pulled her body out of the boot and hugged him.

Hanging all over Nabinya’s body were gold necklaces, rings, earrings, and pouches filled with jewels.

“……Nabinya?”

“Ah, Master!”

Nabinya, who separated from Boots after their hug, saluted Gi-jun in a truly gallant manner and reported.

“This Nabinya has perfectly carried out the mission Master entrusted to me, nya.”

Gi-jun did not have the slightest clue what mission he had entrusted to her, but looking at the gold, silver, and treasures draped all over Nabinya’s body made such details feel trivial, so he gladly decided to accept Nabinya’s salute.

“Good work, Nabinya. Did you plunder a lot?”

“There was an extra-large sub-space pouch in their secret warehouse, nya. The castle suddenly collapsed midway, so I couldn’t pack everything—but I looted at least half of it, nya. Now we are all rich, nya!”

Nabinya reported while wearing a confident smile.

Not only Boots and Gi-jun, but all the surviving expedition members cheered at that report, hugging Nabinya and stroking her wildly.

While she purred and rejoiced, Gi-jun seriously contemplated whether he should raise her to be a master thief.

“Phew.”

Watching the expedition’s atmosphere brighten in an instant, Patum let out a very small chuckle, then turned to Gi-jun and said in a firm voice,

“Jun, may I ask you to take care of Lectus back to Gratia?”

“Patum?”

When Gi-jun spoke in a flustered voice at the atmosphere that felt as if Patum would leave this place right this instant, Patum shrugged his shoulders as if it were no big deal and said,

“I… think I should go back and rest a bit first. I’d like to leave the report to the King to you.”

“……Patum.”

“You must feel it too, but—I am a bit confused. Furthermore, no matter what anyone says, the one who achieved the greatest feat this time is you, Jun. I don’t feel like stepping in and dividing the honor in half.”

“If it weren’t for you, we could have never hunted the evil dragon.”

“Thank you for saying so. You will truly become a great Hero. No… is this not even a well-wish anymore?”

Patum approached with a truly exhausted and tired expression, tapped Gi-jun’s shoulder a couple of times, bowed politely to Biche in greeting, and then left the place.

He left while carrying the corpse of his partner—the wyvern—on his back.

—Grrrr…

Fortis, seeing the wyvern—which had competed with him in flight speed just a short while ago—dead and hanging limp on Patum’s back, quietly vibrated his throat to bid it farewell.

The beast soon tilted his head, headed toward the spot where the wyvern had fallen, and approached Gi-jun while holding something in his mouth.

It was a pure white piece of metal.

“This is…”

It was a fragment of the King of the Well.

Gi-jun naturally recalled what had happened earlier.

While confronting the evil dragon directly, his wyvern had nosedived.

It had even thrown itself right under Fortis, whom Gi-jun was riding, which made Biche suspect if they were trying to use them as a shield.

However, after that, the wyvern had soared while generating a massive wind—and Patum, who leaped out from within it, had cut off the evil dragon’s horn.

“……Was that so.”

It was not only Patum who had reached his limit.

The wyvern, which had neared its limit first while confronting the evil dragon right in front of its eyes, must have wandered to find a way to help its master, eventually taking a fragment of the King of the Well imbued with the dense energy of wind to attempt a final, desperate struggle.

Gi-jun quietly stared at the metal fragment that seemed dyed blue somewhere, then put it into his inventory.

Then, he turned to the group and said,

“Now, let us head back.”

* * *

[Ye-min (Leta): Oppa, that… things seem to have gone a bit too well.]

[Ye-min (Leta): For now, things have been cleaned up here somehow. Um… these people.]

[Ye-min (Leta): The notification said the Grand Quest ended, so you’re safe too, right, Oppa? Then let’s talk when we get back. I think we have quite a few things to discuss face-to-face, just the two of us.]

[Ye-min (Leta): Nothing happened over there, right? You aren’t hurt either, Oppa?]

[Ye-min (Leta): Nothing happened, right?]