Translated by Demonic Dog
Read it only at utoon.net
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92 – 18 – You and I, Us – 1
The flight of the griffin, which was not shackled by a UFO-like weight, was incredibly fast, and its descent was chillingly intense.
—Piyoooooooo!
He felt a trace of light, which rose from within the body of the griffin descending almost vertically with its wings folded tight, blending into its mana.
That light had originally originated from Gi-jun.
Perhaps because of that, Gi-jun, feeling a strange sense of unity with the descending griffin, instinctively cast Adamant.
Then, to his surprise, Adamant was applied to the griffin’s body just as if it were applied to a part of his own body or equipment.
―You successfully flew as if you were one with the griffin, and finally succeeded in applying your own skill. Having gained an overwhelming realization in Riding, the level of your [Riding (R)] skill has reached 35!
―You successfully flew as if you were one with the griffin, and finally succeeded in applying your own skill. Having gained an overwhelming realization in Riding, the level of your [Riding (R)] skill has reached 35!
―Pii?!
The griffin also seemed a bit surprised, as if it had felt it—but it soon responded to his expectations by increasing its speed even further.
At the landing point, his companions, excluding Lora, were fighting with the alliance members.
Because they were surrounded by so many people, Gin and Unica focused on protecting Ji-hye, the magician, leaving them unable to move properly.
“It’s a griffin!”
“A griffin?! Who would ride a griffin in this situation…?!”
“A-A Flame Human! The Flame Human Jun is riding it!”
“What nonsense.”
—Boom!
Unlike when it had spread its wings and landed in front of Gi-jun earlier, it crashed straight into the ground.
An earthquake even larger than the one caused by the giant ogre in the ruins shook the area, and those with insufficient levels even lost their balance and fell to the ground.
“Are you okay, Miss Ji-hye?!”
“I’m fine, but that……”
“Jun-nim!”
The alliance members scattered in all directions in astonishment, and his party, who were able to catch their breath thanks to that, also widened their eyes, but they soon realized that the one who appeared riding on the back of the griffin was Gi-jun.
“Oppa!”
“You’re here!”
“I’ve finished everything perfectly.”
Although it was annoying to explain in detail right now what he had finished.
Gi-jun got down from the griffin’s back and checked its condition, but thanks to Adamant, the griffin was perfectly fine without a single scratch.
He stroked its head and asked his party.
“Where is the entrance?”
“It’s over there. Miss Lora succeeded in entering first, but they are desperately blocking it…”
“Is that so?”
The place Unica pointed to looked like the entrance of a huge warehouse, and although it was hard to tell because hundreds of alliance members, mostly humans, were desperately blocking it, there seemed to be a path leading underground.
Gi-jun glanced around at the alliance members who had retreated in surprise at the griffin’s descent but were now creeping back to tighten the encirclement, and then his eyes gleamed as he looked back at those blocking the warehouse entrance.
“It will be dangerous for you if you stay there.”
“It’s useless to threaten us!”
“We hired a country bumpkin for a high price, and he stabs us in the back! You will pay the price for looking down on Cor!”
“Fine, I warned you.”
Gi-jun threw two shields at the same time.
Just as the first shield flew rapidly and seemed to bounce off all the alliance members in its path, the shield following behind suddenly blasted a strong wind, striking the leading shield directly.
Surprisingly, the shield pushed by the wind accelerated even further—and finally reached the humans guarding the front of the warehouse.
“Ur.”
—Keeeeee!
The King of the Well had two options to blast wind.
One was to fire compressed wind in a certain direction to deal a heavy blow.
The other was to blow wind in all directions centering around the shield, pushing away many enemies at once.
And the moment the King of the Well blew wind in all directions, Ur infused it with his power, causing flames to flare up.
The fire, meeting the strong wind, quickly gained momentum and swept through the area, becoming a blazing fire tornado.
“Aaargh!”
“It’s too bright! They clearly said he wasn’t a Flame Human, so why is it like this—!”
The humans—no, vampires—caught in the spirit’s flames let out painful screams as they burned, quickly turning into ashes.
Some of them boldly tried to escape by turning into mist, bats, or wolves, but as Ur poured in his full strength, the flames spread and swallowed them all up without leaving any gap for escape.
“Are you guys vampires, too?”
No one answered Gi-jun’s low murmur.
It was a bold method of testing whether they were vampires by setting them on fire first, and since the vampires had indeed revealed their true identities, no one could question him.
“Otherwise, everyone get out of the way.”
It was a declaration that if they did not move, they would all be treated as vampires and burned at the stake.
The other alliance members, who were not human, hesitated but stepped back, while the goblins and humans directly connected to the underground hideout, knowing it would be the end if they backed down now, tried to convince the other members that they could not retreat like this—
“You idiots, vampires just came out!”
“Do you guys really want to destroy the alliance!”
“If you want to die, die by yourselves!”
The Orcs and beastmen, who belonged to the five pillars composing the alliance, actively stepped forward to restrain them.
Sure enough, the thoughts Gi-jun had been harboring since before turned out to be completely correct.
Perhaps the Orcs and beastmen had noticed that the humans and goblins were up to something suspicious, but since they couldn’t take the lead in splitting the alliance, he suspected they had been waiting for the right time to utilize an external force.
To put it nicely, they were trying to protect the alliance by minimizing confusion, but to put it harshly, it was a pathetic behavior of shifting the burden to others despite knowing there was a problem.
In any case, it was helpful for now, so he left it alone.
What was important right now was not the alliance that had split into a mess, but the safety of his precious companions.
“Ji-hye, you could have cleared a path with your magic.”
“But if a large number of people died from my magic, it would be a major incident, a war! If that happens, it’s not just me who gets in danger…”
As Gi-jun, having secured the way into the underground hideout, spoke quietly while leading the way, Ji-hye retorted with a pout.
It was a fully understandable statement, but Gi-jun shook his head and declared firmly.
“Don’t worry about things like that in the future.”
“Yes?”
“I will take responsibility for everything, so if you think it’s necessary for the party, don’t hesitate to just do it.”
“…What on earth happened to this oppa?”
Such thoughts of Ji-hye’s vanished cleanly as she watched Gi-jun suddenly slam his shield into the warehouse floor to widen the entrance leading underground.
She didn’t know how he had changed like that, but since his current appearance was much cooler, she decided to consider it fine.
* * *
How long had they been continuing this hopeless battle?
Although they had succeeded in reducing the number of vampires to some extent, both Scintilla and Lora were on the verge of collapsing.
“Whew, whew…”
“Just a little more, Scintilla… hold on just a little longer…!”
If not for the fierce practical sparring with Jun that lasted for two weeks, the battle would have ended long ago.
Jun, who had held out like an iron wall even while facing all the party members, and attacked like a ghost whenever a gap opened up.
Through repetitive sparring with him, they had become able to maintain focus even during long battles, and Lora, who had only recently started handling a sword, was especially able to erase many of her openings.
Nevertheless, against a large number of vampires, especially those mostly consisting of elites, this was their limit.
“Persistent, especially you… Why was there no information about you until now?”
Christian, who was facing the two of them, was also wearing a no less frustrated expression.
A regeneration ability similar to that of a high vampire, the ability to rot the blood of those cut by the sword, and on top of that, a powerful force of light.
If Lora had been just a little more familiar with the combat style of vampires, or if her level had been higher.
The two might have broken through the encirclement and escaped long ago.
“I’m glad we can catch her now. She is truly the adversary of vampires, isn’t she?”
“I wonder what that woman’s blood tastes like.”
“You’ll surely burn to death while sucking her blood, you crazy bastard.”
“But if you overcome it, you’ll be able to grow even further, I guarantee it.”
Feeling that they had seized the upper hand, even the vampires who had been acting passively began to actively close the encirclement while chuckling.
Scintilla conjured flames as if to scatter those bastards, but the sparks flowing through her heavily constricted blood vessels while her entire body was already freezing over were merely at the level of a candle.
Because she had actively fought alongside Lora in a situation where even focusing solely on defense was dangerous, her condition deteriorated, and it would not be surprising if she froze and suffered frostbite right this moment.
Rodim, the Red Flame Beast, had already lost the strength to maintain its form and was unable to move a muscle as it was even pouring the mana composing itself into Scintilla’s body.
“You stay still. I can do it on my own… ugh.”
Lora was in no better situation.
She had succeeded in burning a few vampires with Ishtar’s holy power and rotting the blood of a few others by swinging the Decayed Moon—but that ability came with a fairly large price.
Specifically, consuming her own blood.
If there had been a gap, she would have taken out chocolate to eat, but there was no way she could afford such luxury while fighting surrounded on all sides.
Moreover, for Lora, whose only close combat experience was sparring with Gi-jun, a sudden melee with lives on the line was too heavy a burden.
She had ended up mentally exhausted even before she could draw out all of her high physical stats and the power of her noble lineage.
“You should step back… If someone has to die, it should be me…!”
Scintilla grit her teeth and hid Lora behind her back.
Lora grew suddenly terrified by the sight of Scintilla, whose entire body had already turned hard and cold like a block of ice.
She was trying to produce flames somehow, but her body grew colder in real-time whenever she did.
She was truly trying to die right now.
“No, Scintilla—”
“Shall we end this now?”
When Christian, who had stayed back until the end, gestured to the vampires, they charged at the two of them all at once.
Right at that moment, a shield flew from the air, spinning like a boomerang and pushing them back forcefully.
Lora’s eyes widened as she recognized its identity.
“Jun-nim!”
—Piyoooooooo!
—Keeeeee!
Next, as if competing, the griffin and a giant fire cat dashed forward and rammed into the vampires, completely scattering the encirclement.
Gi-jun, who was riding on Ur’s back, immediately stood up, kicked off its back, and rushed toward Christian.
Christian, recognizing him, glared with wide eyes and shouted.
“How did you finish the faction war and get here already—?!”
“They were all weak.”
Gi-jun, replying briefly, thrust out the shining fang.
Christian swung his sword to deflect it, but.
That was indeed a fatal miscalculation, and.
It was also the last action he could actively take.
“Kuhak?!”
The blood-colored fang, which did not lose its power even after cutting Christian’s sword to pieces in an instant, plunged straight into his chest with a squelch.
Perhaps because he was wearing several support spells and defensive gear, there was a fair amount of resistance in the middle—but the greatest advantage of a Legendary-grade skill was that it significantly weakened all types of abilities that fell short of that grade.
The result of that was a breakthrough power and attack power that could not be imagined just by looking at him holding a shield.
Whatever regrets the bastard had, it was already too late.
“You, made a mistake…”
“The mistake was made by you guys. No, by the ogres.”
When Gi-jun spoke those words, Christian’s pupils trembled as if he instinctively realized what had happened in the faction war.
His lips quivered as he tried to say something, but.
Gi-jun did not listen to him and killed him by twisting the fang embedded in his chest hard.
He had no time to listen to the words of a dirty traitor bastard.
―You have successfully killed the civilization representative. You have obtained 630,000 Leta points! Updating civilization information.
―You have successfully killed the civilization representative. You have obtained 630,000 Leta points! Updating civilization information.
Indeed.
After coming to Leta for about a month, the points Gi-jun had gathered through all kinds of activities—such as hunting divine beasts and stopping overflows—amounted to less than 200,000, yet he had earned three times that amount in a single breath.
Furthermore, Christian honestly was not even that strong, but if it was to this extent, it was understandable why people were bent on finding and killing civilization representatives.
But apart from obtaining a massive harvest, Gi-jun’s mood was extremely foul.
‘To think the first civilization representative I killed was a human.’
It was something he had been prepared for from the moment he learned the truth about the alliance, but.
Still, at first, he had been quite surprised and impressed that humans were a recognized pillar of the alliance even in Cor…
“J-Jun…”
“Jun-nim…!”
“Ah.”
At the voice of his companion calling him, Gi-jun came to his senses.
Yes, what was important right now was his companions.
He had no room to spare thoughts for a guy who had tried to sell out even his fellow humans to vampires.
“You both worked hard. The others came with me too, so now you’re safe…”
Gi-jun, who was about to turn to Scintilla and Lora to reply, lost his words as he looked at Scintilla, whose entire body was freezing, and Lora, who had grown gaunt in a short time.
“Scintilla… I will melt it for you right away. And Lora.”
After pondering for a moment, Gi-jun recalled what Scintilla had said before and spoke cautiously.
“If you need blood, I can…”
“No, no! I’m fine now!”
Lora, who stopped Gi-jun in fright as he was willing to offer his own neck, pulled out chocolate from her bosom and began to tear it open and eat.
Gi-jun, realizing that it belonged to Carmilla, tried not to show his surprise on his face.
Relieved to see color return to Lora’s cheeks, which showed it was certainly effective, Gi-jun nodded as he watched his companions, as well as Ur and the griffin, push back the vampires splendidly, and approached Scintilla.
“Jun…”
“Stay still.”
“Why… me?”
Gi-jun did not answer and first melted the ice clinging to her entire body.
However, the problem was not the exterior, but the interior.
Her internal organs were on the verge of freezing completely, whatever they had done to her.
Was she caught in a magic trap?
It was similar to what Gi-jun had suffered from Tolchi before, but the method was much more advanced.
Ha, letting out a snort, just as he grasped Scintilla’s hand and was about to inject heat.
“We’re not even… of the same race…”
“I told you so many times that I wasn’t, and you only realize it now.”
“Let me… die…”
Gi-jun frowned at the nonsense he could not just let slide.
When he raised his head to look at her, Scintilla looked back at him quietly and continued speaking with difficulty.
“I will continue… to be targeted. You too… will be in danger.”
“So that’s what you were worried about.”
“I would rather… die like this. I have nothing left. I am… an existence without any positive meaning.”
Gi-jun gripped Scintilla’s hand tightly.
The heat injected into her interior slowly began to melt the chill that had encroached upon her entire body.
If Ur’s grade had remained Rare, it might have been a bit difficult, but that was not the case now.
Finding the source of the chill rooted deep inside Scintilla’s body, he burned it away as he spoke.
“Stop talking nonsense and live.”
“Jun…”
“You might think you’ve lived long enough, but…”
Recalling what had happened not long ago, Gi-jun frowned deeply and added.
“It’s a huge nuisance to me when someone I got close to dies on their own accord.”
“…Heh.”
At that moment, Scintilla laughed.
As he looked at her with a face wondering if this woman had finally gone mad, she spoke with a faint smile on her lips.
“You too, look at someone else through me.”
“…There was someone similar, indeed.”
Even now, there were times he recalled Ruthven.
He was a guy who got along quite well with him, and was also a reliable companion.
Putting other things aside, hunting the divine beast at that time would have been impossible without him.
He sometimes thought about whether there had been a way for Ruthven to survive.
Seeing the corners of Gi-jun’s mouth tremble slightly, Scintilla apologized honestly.
“Sorry.”
“Still, you are you.”
Calming his slightly shaken mind, Gi-jun continued in a quiet voice.
“It’s not because of anything else—I just want you to live. Because you are my companion. Do I really have to explain this step-by-step right now?”
“…I see. Lora too.”
The gazes of the two clashed.
They were clearly looking at each other.
Scintilla replied quietly.
“I too… am looking at you now.”
“Yeah.”
“I can see… the Jun who is not a Flame Human.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“But am I still your companion…?”
“Seriously, do you have a disease that kills you if you don’t talk nonsense?”
That was what he wanted to ask.
Gi-jun completely melted all the chill that had encroached upon her body, and asked as he looked straight at her face, which had regained its vitality.
“Even if I’m not a Flame Human, even if our races are different, am I still your companion?”
“I… wish it were so.”
“Okay.”
Finally, a smile hung on Gi-jun’s lips.
He let go of her hand for a moment, then gripped it tightly again, shaking it up and down as if shaking hands while he spoke.
“Then we’re still in the same party. I’ll be in your care, Tilla.”
“Ah…!”
Scintilla—no, Tilla’s eyes opened wide in surprise.
Although she did not answer anything.
She put strength into the hand held by Gi-jun and squeezed it back.