Chapter 148: What We Can Do (6)

After my one-sided proclamation ended, we left the café and jumped on Lotte's back. When I first tamed her, she refused to let others ride on her, but after getting used to the guild members and getting more familiar with me, she allowed this much.

"I will go too. It looks like the Guardian headquarter won't approve of you, but I want to see with my own eyes the skills you are so confident of."

A young woman popped out from the crowd and asked to join us. She was another one of Korea's S rankers... But, of course, I couldn't remember her name. Feeling her glare, I nodded.

"Sure. You can follow us if you can."

"Huh?"

"Our Lotte won't let non-guild members ride her, you see."

[If you asked me to let that whore ride on me, I would have eaten her whole.]

Lotte muttered. I scratched her neck to calm her down and shouted.

"Let's go!'

"W-Wait! Yeon Hwawoo-ssi, Yeon Hwawoo-ssi!"

Lotte flapped her wings. Not even the S rankers could resist the wind pressure. Lotte kicked off the ground and leaped up. The concrete ground crumbled, but Lotte was already flying.

"Wait, Yeon Hwawoo-ssi! I said, take me with you!"

"My god."

She was a wind ability user!? That S ranker flew slightly slower than Lotte as she shouted at the top of her lungs. Plene, who was still stuck to my back, complained.

"I don't like that woman's voice."

"Now women are going after him even though he's wearing a mask. What do we do about this man? Should we just wrap his head around with a boxing tape?"

"That's it!"

"Don't turn me into a mummy!"

[I'm going to go faster.]

"Sure, Lotte."

[Mm.]

When Lotte raised her speed, the woman fell behind for a moment, but soon, she sped up and continued to follow us. Looking at her, I realized she was holding the hands of the other two S rankers. I could see Woo Youngha's pale face clearly, as she grabbed him by his neck like she would to a cat. Seeing me show interest in the rankers, Hwaya introduced them.

"They're all in Guardian, which is why A+ rank is the highest in Korea's Freedom Wing."

"You really know everything, Hwaya."

"N-Not everything. I just know what I have to... You need to know your enemy so you can prepare for them."

"Enemy, huh... It sure is getting crazy, damn it."

"Humans biggest enemy is themselves, Kang Shin. You should have felt it in Britain. If you think everyone will come to your side after listening to you, you'll only be badly hurt."

Walker said with a snort. Seeing him crossing his arms and gazing at the clouds, I felt that he looked a bit lonely. Then, I considered why he said that. Was he... worrying about me?

I muttered.

"... Are you actually a good guy?"

"That's disgusting. Screw off."

I was certain Walker was changing. Perhaps one day, quicker than I would have thought, the contract might become unnecessary.

"The important thing is that we're doing the right thing, son. Event Raids that break out when you least expect it, and Field Dungeons that resets a few months after being cleared. Didn't you experience them both with your own body? Event Dungeons cause too much harm. No matter how big the potential gain is, our work must continue."

"Of course, father. I won't hesitate. I already made up my mind a month ago. Plus, I knew from the very beginning that what we were doing was right."

I lightly smiled and retorted. I wasn't troubled about that at all. What I did today... although I couldn't be sure, I felt like it would go the way I wanted.

Our first target was the S+ rank Event Dungeon. Coincidentally, it appeared in Yeungdeungpo. I was surprised Hwaya lasted until today with how stressed out she must have been.

"Really, I'm going to have to tell Mom to move. Shin, is there a house up for sale near yours?"

"Sorry, but my mother will jump for joy, so please don't."

This time, the Event Dungeon appeared in the middle of a park. The park, of course, became off limits, and countless Guardian forces were protecting it. It was to prevent meaningless deaths.

"It's Dragon Knight!"

"His wyvern sure is huge!"

"I-Is he really trying to enter this gate? Isn't he crazy?"

Lotte flapped her wings midair and glared at the gate. Frightened by Lotte, they panicked.

"Do not enter! This place is under Guardian's jurisdiction and is not open to the public! If you want to enter, you must form a party and get approved by the government!"

"I see!"

I politely responded to the voice coming from below.

"But I don't care!"

Lotte immediately charged into the gate.

[You entered the S+ rank Event Dungeon, Forest of Rage.]

"It's another forest."

"Don't tell me there are more spiders...?"

"So this place is..."

"We came in..."

Eh? I turned around at the unfamiliar voices. Lo and behold, Korea's three S rankers were there! I didn't think they'd really follow us into the gate!

"I can't believe you went ahead without caring about us... It was hard catching up to you!"

"Uh... Good job, but you know this place is an S+ ranked dungeon, right?"

"Ah, now that you mention it!"

There were no S+ rank Awakened in Korea. These three were all S rank Awakened. I wondered what gave them the confidence to march into this dungeon. At that moment, a roar rang out across the entire dungeon.

[Kuaaaaaang!]

The S rankers became stiff. For the record, Walker also went stiff.

"Damn it, if I die here, I'll reveal your evil deeds in my will, Kuuk!"

"You won't die, so don't worry, Walker."

I grinned and took out my spear. Although Yeon Hwawoo was known to use his fists, he was just revealed to be the same person as Dragon Knight, who already fought against the drake with a spear. As such, it didn't matter even if I used a spear.

Spinning the spear in my hand, I dispersed my mana into the surroundings. Then, I stopped not long after.

"I found it."

At the same time, a great breaking sound rang out from the forest.

[Hero! I can feel the Hero's presence!]

"Everyone, get down and prepare. 11 o'clock, 5 meters tall. It's charging straight at us. It looks like a close-ranged type, but a part of its body has mana clumped together, so it might be hiding a trump card."

I concisely explained the information I gathered from mana detection, then began circulating Peruta Circuit. Ludia spread her arms out and cast Blessing on the party members. In an instant, the whirlpool around my spear became stronger.

With a boom, the trees in front of us fell and it made its appearance. As I said before, it was 5 meters tall. Although it was shaped like a human, its skin was green and unnaturally muscular, while it had only one eye.

"Cyclops!"

[Hero, I will have the Herooo, kyakuk!]

The Gluttony Spear I threw out easily turned the cyclops' head to dust. I hadn't even used Heroic Strike, so it really died in vain. I retrieved the Gluttony Spear by pulling on its mana and spoke to my companions.

"I'll support you guys from above. They shouldn't be that hard from what I see."

"Not that hard!? They weaken others by casting the fear status effect!"

"Honestly, you should block something like fearing."

"Y-You...!"

Leaving the raging Walker be, I ordered Plene."

"When the cyclopes appear, sing your weakening song, okay?"

"Un, okay! The song where we all have fun together, right!?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Wait, Dragon Knight! What should we do?"

She's asking me? What a smart woman!

"I won't tell you to fight, but since you decided to observe us, do it while you run away."

"Y-You want us to run?"

"Lotte, let's go!"

With just me on her back, Lotte flew up. Although the rankers probably wanted to ride on Lotte, I didn't even turn around as I flew forward. If I could fly in the dungeon, I was clearly better off fighting on Lotte. If I got into a serious fight on Lotte, not only would they vomit and get motion sickness, but they would also get thrown off.

[What will you do, Hero?]

"My guild members are strong. They should be able to take on two of them at once."

[Then we should find groups of three or more.]

"Exactly."

Lotte raised her flying speed. This dungeon was contained the one-eyed giants, cyclopes. Befitting the title of S+ rank, they had powerful strength, resistance against mana, and ability to weaken magic and aura. However, Mad Typhoon was greatly effective against such special traits.

The endlessly spinning whirlpool of aura broke down their resistance and dealt special blows that were impossible to regenerate from. Peruta, who created this, was indeed worthy of being called a god.

[Kuaaaaang!]

"Gale Track!"

[Kraaaaaaa!]

Lotte roared and charged. No matter how big the cyclopes were, Dark Wing Lotte was the biggest and strongest of all wyverns. Not even the cyclopes could block her charge. Imbued with a gale, the Gluttony Spear pierced through the cyclopes. The trees in Lotte's path all fell and marked our track.

"Lotte, go there, where five of the mare gathered! I'm using the final blow!"

[Understood, Hero!]

After sending twenty cyclopes flying, a strong wind energy gathered around the Gluttony Spear, which had been strengthened by 140%. Even as Lotte charged forward, the energy flowing in from all sides transferred to the whirlpool of aura. The whirlpool almost looked like it was enveloping both Lotte and me.

"Peika!"

[Yeah!]

Looking at the cyclopes that got up from their rest and prepared to throw trees at us, I shouted my elemental's name. Peika instantly gathered golden lightning to the tip of my spear. It was a Thunder Bomb, which had all of her power concentrated.

"Thunder Tempest!"

Unable to hold in my excitement, I shouted out the skill name. Immediately afterwards, I strongly clashed with the group of cyclopes. The force of the whirlpool mixed with the lightning and a violent explosion broke out.

[Kiaaaaa...!] [It was... the Hero...!]

The cyclopes standing in the front instantly died, and the ones behind them were also swept away by the explosion. Although the ground tremored loudly from their collapse, they were like music to my ears.

I had become strong. Even an S+ rank dungeon was a playground for me. Delighted, I made a big smile, when suddenly...

"What are we supposed to do if you kill them all? We're practically just spectators!"

Hwaya's voice rang out from far away. When I turned around, there were cyclopes in the path Lotte and I crossed. After using Gale Track, I had killed all the cyclopes I could see, so I forgot to leave some for the others.

[S-Sorry. I went a bit too wild.] [No, you did well. It's better the more overwhelming you appear to them. You were cool.] [Scary basta... Kuuk!]

Contrary to what she just shouted, Hwaya had a very satisfied tone in the guild communication channel. Although I hadn't planned on it, I had ended up showing the S rankers an effective show of force.

Of course, not all cyclopes were dead. Other than the five cyclopes that ate the brunt of my final blow, others were collapsed on the ground with their limbs or chunks of their bodies torn apart. I then traced Gale Track's path and took care of the cyclopes left alive.

"D-Dragon Knight..."

"He killed these monstrous creatures in one blow..."

"Kuk."

After joining the others, I couldn't help but laugh, seeing the three rankers' change in expression. Although they were the only ones with that expression, once we finished cleaning up Korea's dungeons...

[Kuaaaa!] [Kill the Heroooo!]

Because of the ruckus I caused, more and more cyclopes were gathering. I spun my spear around again as I turned around.

"Alright, let's finish within 3 hours. I want to get rid of the other three before the day breaks."

"Taking care of Korea in just one night. ...That sounds fun!"

Father grinned.

"Damn, you know, I have to guard your sister tomorrow, too..."

"Do your best, Walker!"

"You devil! Kuaak!"

Walker screamed. Startled, the S rankers backed off from Walker.

I slightly pitied Walker, but only just a little.