Chapter 245 - Lancea Lambda (2)

At the moment Yoohyun realized who Lambda was, he quickly swung the rifle, placed it over his shoulder, and fired. The bullets he fired without even properly aiming hit Sigma's chains with loud cracks.

He fired a series of magical bullets without waiting to charge them. Due to their speed, the force behind each one was relatively low, but still enough to keep him busy for a while. I didn't limit myself to just watching; I took a bomb from my inventory and tossed it lightly into the air. Without discussing it, Yoohyun spun in a semicircle and kicked the bomb, sending it flying.

The bomb shot off at a terrifying speed through the rain of bullets. And just before it reached the stretched chains, and...

Kwaaang!

A burst of light and smoke spilled from it. It was a bomb that emitted more toxic smoke than explosive force. He couldn't have avoided all the poisonous smoke that flooded his surroundings in a few moments, but even if he did, he'd probably be more worried about poisoning.

Meanwhile, the Guards who came with Lambda—with Moon Hyuna—moved.

- Kuuuu.

The armored scale monster, the last one left, must have sensed the impending crisis and swelled, growing. For something with such a heavy body, it moved considerably fast. The most worrisome of the three SS-rank monsters, with scales that didn't seem easy to penetrate, was hit by five motorcycles.

The engines roared loudly, and the bikes accelerated over the ruined terrain without hesitation. As they approached the monster, they simultaneously shot jet-black cables. The sturdy steel cables intertwined over the monster's body.

Kagagagak!

While the motorcycles agilely circled around the monster, the cables twisted and entangled, and in an instant, the armored body of the monster was firmly bound. The S-rank Guards holding the ends of the cables jumped off their bikes and braced their feet against the ground, clinging on.

- Kyaaoo!

The monster began to struggle, but not even its SS-rank statistics could overcome a force applied by several S-rank Guards at once. The S-rank Guards suppressed the monster's movements, moving in perfect synchronization as if they had gone through countless battles together before, and immediately after, Moon Hyuna moved.

Papapak, everything under the wheels of the giant motorcycle was crushed and sent flying. Approaching the monster, Moon Hyuna dismounted her motorcycle and leaped. Her body soared into the air. Hanging there in the air, she was the perfect target for an attack, but the monster couldn't move an inch at this moment. It struggled, trying to shoot things like spikes at Moon Hyuna, but the S-rank Guards immediately blocked its attacks.

The giant silver spear pointed downwards. Perhaps due to an ability, both the spear and Moon Hyuna's body were enveloped in a kind of white mist.

And so, she fell.

The air tore as a snow-white light fell sharply.

Kwagwagwang—!!

The scaled armor of the monster exploded like tofu under a hammer. Its body, the size of five or six large trucks together, was literally crushed against the ground. The S-rank Guards quickly retreated as shockwaves reached them.

The ground shook, and nearby buildings that were already half destroyed collapsed with a crash. Moon Hyuna descended slightly into the crater created by the crushing pressure.

'Ms. Hyuna is no joke.'

She had taken care of two SS-rank monsters in the blink of an eye. For a moment, there was silence all around, before the Akates Guards approached Moon Hyuna.

"You came so fast!"

"Oh, we had already left before you got in touch."

"Lucky. Help us subdue Alpha, please!"

Faced with the words of the Akates Guards, Moon Hyuna raised an eyebrow as if they were talking nonsense.

"Why should I do that?"

"...Yes?"

"I already refused. Didn't you hear?"

The Akates guards stared at her, sat on their motorcycles, and asked again.

"But right now, Alpha is fleeing right in front of you, isn't he? Sigma-nim is holding him back, but for the safety of Akates citizens—"

"That's utter nonsense. It's obvious those two are playing well, so what do you mean by the safety of the citizens? All right, guys!"

At Moon Hyuna's call, the Lancea S-rank Guards approached.

"Arrest these bastards from the Akates Defense Agency yourselves. It won't serve me to interfere. After all, this is your hometown."

"Yes!"

"Leave it to us!"

Four of the S-rank Guards, along with the A and B-rank Guards who disembarked from the Lancea helicopters, began to move in perfect order. They seemed to be the kids secretly taken out of Akates. The Akates guards, who had already consumed a lot of strength, were caught without much resistance. The helicopters were loaded with people again and headed to the Akates Defense Agency.

Watching the helicopters, the sound of their blades fading away, Yoohyun turned and approached Moon Hyuna.

"Aren't you going to keep fighting?"

Said Moon Hyuna, smiling. Like Yoohyun, she also looked slightly different. In particular, she had definitely become taller and bulkier. She was now almost 2 meters tall.

"Hunter Moon Hyuna, right?"

"Of course, young master. By the way, where is hyung-nim? If he ended up somewhere else, he'll be in danger."

"I'm here."

When I greeted from his pocket and spoke, Moon Hyuna's eyes widened.

"Oh, wow, how did you become so small? And cute."

She suddenly reached out a hand, and Yoohyun took a step back, avoiding it.

"He won't crumble if I touch him a bit. And he'd be safer with me. That guy over there won't back down. Isn't that why you came here? Young master?"

Yoohyun's expression turned grim. So he would have come here to entrust her with it? But it would be fine if he didn't.

“More than that, Hyuna-ssi, please help us catch that damn Sigma. Let’s finish this quickly.”

“Eh? Why? It’s been a while since Sung Hyunjae and you attempted it, hasn’t it, young master? These aren’t even our real bodies, so I thought we could fight in peace.”

“That’s not Sung Hyunjae.”

Stunned, Moon Hyuna looked between me and Sung Hyunjae, who was nearby.

“But is this copy-paste? It’s just the color of his hair that’s slightly different… Hm, I think that guy is a bit younger too, but are you sure it’s someone else? With that face?”

“For the moment. It’s someone else, yes, and he doesn’t have his memories. As soon as he saw me, that bastard kicked me in the stomach. And he grabbed me by the hair and almost dragged me to… Yoohyun?”

I heard the grinding sound of teeth. Oh man, I shouldn’t have said that. I let my guard down because I was in front of Hyuna-ssi. When I used to visit the breeding center, we had the habit of complaining together about other people, usually from the Association, so…

“Hyung, stay here.”

“Hey, Yoohyun! Wait! You’re not in good shape right now! At least take a potion with you!”

Yoohyun pulled me out and handed me over to Moon Hyuna. As I quickly took out a handful of mana potions, my brother grabbed them and immediately backed away. Seriously, catch him with Hyuna-ssi!

“Don’t worry! I brought healers with me.”

“Still, can you hit Sigma’s neck for me? That bastard tried to brand me forcibly.”

“Really? What’s been going on with you, Director Han-nim? You look exactly like that damn guy.”

I briefly explained to Moon Hyuna how I ended up like this. From the need to install the disks to the fact that Sung Hyunjae was somehow in the system.

“I see. I can guess where Yerim and Hunter Noah are, but I don’t know anything about Peace. For all we know, he might have been taken down.”

“…That can’t be.”

As we discussed the current situation, Yoohyun and Sigma faced off once again. Closing the gap in an instant, Yoohyun squeezed the trigger of his rifle right in Sigma’s face. It was a point-blank shot that no ordinary person could have dodged, but Sigma read Yoohyun’s movements in advance and not only dodged it but counterattacked.

Sigma’s body sparked with electricity. The light shone brightly not for the purpose of attacking but to obstruct his vision. The chains slithered across the ground, like snakes, aiming for his ankles, and at the same time, a gun that Sigma had drawn at some point pointed at Yoohyun’s side.

Bang! The gun went off. Yoohyun’s clothes tore, but there was no blood. As if friction had completely disappeared, Han Yoohyun’s feet slid over the chains aimed at his ankles and he turned with flexibility, dodging the shot.

“Is that one of Alpha’s abilities?”

Yoohyun didn’t have an evasion ability like that. In addition to that, the chains that chased Yoohyun in an attempt to wrap around him touched his ankles and slid or grazed, unable to hold on properly. It seemed like an ability that reduced friction in the area around his feet.

Han Yoohyun’s and Sigma’s positions reversed in an instant and, at the same time, they shot at each other. All of Yoohyun’s bullets were blocked by long chains. Sigma’s attacks also bounced off his sword, leaving small scratches.

Although flames and electricity occasionally mixed, both avoided using their long-range, mana-consuming abilities as much as possible. Not only Sigma but also Yoohyun needed to save their mana. I had given mana potions, but where would they find time to drink them during close combat?

Clang! He wielded his sword and the chains wrapped around its blade. Yoohyun swung the sword sharply and tightened the chains, binding it even more, while jumping into the air. Treading on the willow leaves he had spread in as narrow a place as possible, he threw the sword toward the ground, stabbing downward. The noisy chains fell to the ground with the sword, and pulling out a new long sword, Yoohyun shot at Sigma again.

His main weapon was tied to the sword, but Sigma didn’t panic. As the corners of his mouth curved upwards,

Ping!

The chains separated, the air rumbled, and they shot out like bullets toward Yoohyun. They flowed like reverse golden rain. In that difficult-to-dodge position, a scarlet snake flew in defense of Yoohyun.

“Krrk!”

Irin, wrapped in flames, received the chain rain on her body and then turned back into a lizard.

Meanwhile, the tip of Yoohyun’s sword stabbed toward Sigma’s chest. Sigma turned to avoid the sword, spinning a short blade over the palm of his hand. The dagger, with iron up to the hilt, flew toward Yoohyun without him making any movement to throw it himself.

Without preparatory turns, the attack was naturally difficult to predict. Instead of dodging or knocking down the dagger, Han Yoohyun pulled out a small flame in an instant and melted it in the instant before it touched his body. The molten metal splattered on him, but had little effect on Yoohyun.

But in the brief moment his eyes were on the dagger, Sigma closed in and kicked him.

“Ghk!”

The reconnected chains once again bound one of Han Yoohyun's arms. Irin agilely climbed to the center of the chains and bit them with her hot fangs, cutting them, but meanwhile, Sigma's violent attacks continued.

He fired a bullet even before withdrawing his foot, aimed at his chained arm, and this time there was definitely blood. Dark blue flames surged, but at the same time, a golden lightning spread towards them.

As he had Combat Prediction, melee combat with restricted use of abilities was a disadvantage, as expected. In addition to that, the difference in their stamina consumption was enormous.

"Hyuna-ssi! Are you really going to keep watching?"

At my urgent shout, Moon Hyuna shrugged.

"He's not that idiot Hyunjae, so. Should I hit him once for you?"

"Yes! Think of it as revenge for me! That bastard harassed me so much!"

Of course, I didn't tell her he had stolen from me. Honestly, that still wasn't enough to compensate me for the damage. Laughing out loud, Moon Hyuna rummaged through her inventory.

"...What's that?"

And she pulled out something like an anti-tank rocket launcher. No, it was much larger than a normal rocket launcher. It was more than twice the caliber.

"I wanted to use this once."

"W-Wait a minute. Isn't that dangerous?"

"Of course it's dangerous! Director Han-nim, hold on tight to my pocket."

Moon Hyuna stuffed me into the pocket of her jacket and aimed the rocket launcher at Yoohyun and Sigma. With a low sound that resonated in it, the rocket launcher began to absorb mana. And it kept going.

"...I think the charging time is too long, you're not trying to catch someone else's little brother, are you?"

"Don't worry. Young master's flame resistance is strong, you know!"

"No, even so—!"

That's not an ordinary object. It's dangerous.

"Hyuna-ssi, that thing is in the rank—!"

"SS! The highest of all!"

What? Then, if it were consuming that much mana... Hey! Moon Hyuna! There wasn't time to stop her, not that I could have anyway, but...

Guohhhhh—

The rocket launcher discharged with a wave of heavy energy. Although the user of the equipment was automatically protected, blazing light and heat erupted. Kwagwagwagwa, uprooting and sweeping everything around, the enormous burst of furious mana shot out.

With a deafening roar, making the air shimmer,

Kwaaaang!!!

A colossal firepower exploded. Damn it, Yoohyun!

"Oh God, my brother!"

"It's okay, it's okay!"

I realized he was okay because Master's skill was still connecting us, but—! This really was too much, you know!

"Yoohyun!"

The effective duration of the cookie was also almost depleted, so I jumped out of his pocket. When I tried to run directly to him, Moon Hyuna grabbed me.

"You'll hurt yourself. You said you were rank C? I'll go with you."

Meanwhile, the dust clouds from the explosion dispersed, revealing a huge crater. The pit was filled with melted footprints everywhere. Flames still surged, and the ground in the center bubbled. Yoohyun was relatively unscathed, but Sigma, weakened and lacking flame resistance, seemed to have taken considerable damage.

"Hey! Sigma! I'll give you a healer, so you should surrender quietly!"

At Moon Hyuna's shout, I saw Sigma shrug. He didn't respond, but his fighting spirit seemed to have diminished. As things stood, if he kept fighting, he had no chance of winning.

It seemed like Yoohyun wanted to break Sigma's neck, but for now, he stepped back, drank a mana potion, and watched as we approached. Moon Hyuna called someone and soon Lancea's helicopter appeared.