The S-Classes That I Raised - Chapter 677: The Old People (4)
“Ppiyak or anyone else, just one more time!”
Just once more from the point after Seong Hyunjae made his contract with Crescent! Even this Crescent wasn’t easy to reason with, but maybe I could get a hint on how to break the contract. The world around me collapsed, and Young Chaos’s figure vanished.
“Not yet, rookie!”
Just hold on a moment longer. Let me at least confirm Seong Hyunjae’s condition… As much as I wanted to go further into the future.
‘…No matter what I do here, nothing will change.’
Still, I wanted one more chance—just like Wildflower.
—Ppiyak!
Ppiyak flapped in my hand. It looked surprised, maybe embarrassed. In this formless space there came the sound of something cracking. Hmm… hopefully it wasn’t dangerous.
“There—ugh!”
The ground beneath me gave way. As I lurched forward, about to fall—
Cra-ack!
With a crashing noise—
“First-born!”
A familiar voice called out. Young Chaos, in his boy form, burst through a widening rift in the collapsing world. Stepping into the rift, he grew in an instant. His hand caught my falling body and set me onto an intact fragment of space.
“Elder?”
“I’m the only one tied to this place, I heard.”
“Oh, that was— ages ago.”
It must have been back when Crescent still treated him as a child. Before the rookie or even the Mermaid Queen existed.
“No constraints bind me here, so it makes sense. But you, first-born—what happened?”
Young Chaos clicked his tongue and looked down at me. I bowed my head and saw my shoes, still dusted with the soft fuzz of flowers.
“The scent of flowers.”
Chaos’s lips curved softly.
“A good companion, isn’t he?”
I stared up at his face, then nodded.
“Yes.”
Could I return now and meet him again? But the memories of the past I’d inhabited were broken, scattered, flowing far away. Unlike me looking back, Young Chaos showed no regret. He hadn’t forgotten—he kept enough affection for a single flower—but still.
Chaos leapt upward, carrying me in one arm. He stepped on shards of what once was the night sky, sweeping away collapsing space like a mountain goat bounding over a cliff. Loose sleeves pushed aside fragments as he vaulted higher.
“Elder! You must meet Crescent one more time!”
“I don’t know how.”
“What? Ugh!”
The sudden ascent cut off my breath. Every fragment fell away, and Chaos’s feet stood on pure emptiness. A starless void, like space itself. Just Ppiyak, Young Chaos, and me remained.
“He whined that if we left you safe and waited long enough, the rabbit would come find us.”
Chaos paused, still holding me, scanning the darkness. I saw only black—what did he see?
“He complained that he couldn’t locate you at all.”
“In other words, even you can’t do anything. You haven’t changed over all that time.”
“You insolent brat.”
“Were you lonely?”
Having left alone and driven away all other Transcendents, Young Chaos smiled and grabbed my ear. Wait a moment—hey—
“Argh! Why! Argh!”
Growing gentler with age, indeed! The Elder of old was more polite at least. My other ear, too—
“If you fall somewhere strange, shouldn’t you first think about returning?”
“Ouch! I didn’t ask for this—ow!”
“First-born, this wasn’t what you wanted, right?”
Well, I did come here deliberately when an error occurred—jumped into an unfamiliar world, yes.
“My ear’s coming off—argh!”
“Of course I was lonely.”
Still twisting my ears, Young Chaos answered.
“I was bored, sometimes listless. One day I even thought of trying to destroy the Origin.”
“Ow! Really, my ear—my ear!”
My ear was freed, only to have the other grabbed. Please help me.
“Even aside from success rates, if the Origin collapsed, I wouldn’t bear the consequences. I’m not very responsible, but I am somewhat.”
“My ear too—ow! Responsibility!”
“It’s good for you.”
Like an ear massage, maybe. Part scolding, part care.
“In life you’ll feel every emotion. The opposite—to feel nothing—would be the real problem.”
“Right now, I mean?”
“After all this fuss, you ask that? A stubborn calf—”
“I’m sorry!”
How old am I! Compared to the Elder, I’m an infant, but still. My other ear was finally released. Both ears tingled to the point of numbness. My whole body felt strangely refreshed, but it still hurt.
“Hm, the rookie’s late. Could you move around a bit?”
“What are you planning now?”
“Just sightseeing. It’s boring to stand here.”
“Even if you want to stay put—”
Suddenly Young Chaos leapt back. At the same instant—
Scrrr—!
Sharp claws gouged a long slash where we’d stood. Four blade-like claws—ten meters long—slammed into the darkness. Its white, furred paws had six toes, though two were missing.
—Mad Blade! So you were here!
A giant head erupted with a snarl. Its badger-like visage bore white, curled twin horns. Chaos, stepping back, cocked his head.
“Who is it?”
“Isn’t it the one the Elder cut off toes from?”
Seems likely.
“I’ve not sliced just one or two.”
The wind sharpened to a blade. Chaos rode the raging gale like a gentle breeze, vaulting upward along its currents. The roar, the rampaging wind, soaring claws and omnidirectional rain of blades—all those attacks that could shred even S-Rank Hunters to pieces in an instant—but his robes fluttered unscathed.
Not a single fold of cloth was cut; the wind drifted past into the mists of memory.
Smack—waves crashed. Young Chaos landed on sand.
“Well then.”
He clicked his tongue.
“You hooligan.”
A tiny, cute voice came. Turning, I saw a chubby child with goldfish–fin hair, eyes as blue as a cloudless sky glaring coldly at Young Chaos.
“…Elder.”
“Run.”
“I told you never to appear again!”
With a shout like a cannon blast, the ocean rose as a wall. Sand turned into blades. Rookie, I think they sent the wrong person!
“Have you been fighting constantly?”
Young Chaos sprinted forward, angling the blade’s edge deftly like stepping on stilts. His long hair whipped like a tail.
“I wasn’t exactly on bad terms with him.”
“You were totally bad terms!”
“Not back then. That’s why I’m fleeing.”
“What use is fighting against time that has already passed?”
The sword, sheath and all, cleaved the waves, scattering water droplets into a path. Ppiyak chirped in awe. The sea vanished and a sky so clear it was blue spun around us.
—As promised, I have departed!
A beautiful dragon with golden-feathered wings twisted its long neck and cried sadly.
—Twilight of the First Origin!
The dragon flew away, and Young Chaos had become a boy again. He glanced at his hand.
“All Transcendents born in the world of the First Origin were sent away. He’s one of them.”
“He seems gentle enough.”
“Gentle or not, he’s a Transcendent, and I don’t permit Transcendents to exist.”
Young Chaos had said that before a world was swallowed by the Origin after failing to clear its dungeon, he intervened directly to stop it. In doing so, the world’s protective barrier vanished, leaving it easy for Transcendents to intrude. But because Chaos was the only Transcendent in those First Origin worlds, even if the barrier fell it remained safe.
“So you were alone.”
“Not recently.”
By now, Seong Hyunjae would have contracted with Crescent, I thought. I scooped up Ppiyak and held it before my eyes.
“Ppiyak.”
—Ppiyaaw.
“Do you remember Crescent? Pink hair, eyes like the night. You hugged your father.”
—Ppiyak ppiyak.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s a secret, but I think Ppiyak has some ability—mostly «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» spatial. It moves through space well already. Let’s go see Crescent, okay?”
Elder’s lips are sealed, so it should be fine. He kept Seong Hyunjae’s matter secret too. Young Chaos frowned and looked at Ppiyak.
“He feels like a juvenile. Similar to me, maybe?”
“I don’t know. Suspicious, but no way to confirm. At least he hasn’t harmed me. Right, Ppiyak—do you like Daddy?”
—Ppiyak!
Ppiyak’s tiny downy wings fluttered hard. Still nothing happened. In that case—
“Elder!”
“I don’t know how.”
Young Chaos tied his obi around my waist and answered. It looked like a child-safety harness. The surrounding forest trembled.
“He must be going somewhere connected to us. Crescent! Crescent! Or Seong Hyunjae! Elder, please—erase your presence. Only Transcendents tied to you keep appearing; your presence is stronger than mine.”
This time, to someone related to me—Crescent or Seong Hyunjae, please! I refuse the rookie, the Mermaid Queen, or the King of the Harmless. I can’t stand that chatterbox.
The ground and sky inverted and collapsed into one, shrouded in darkness—then a silver plain appeared. Moonlight scattered all around. Young Chaos tugged the obi, bringing me closer.
“You made it.”
“Yujin.”
A voice echoed, still kind. The moonlight turned pale pink. Translucent light became hair, and moon-filled eyes shone upon me. Beneath flowing robe hems, through soft blades of grass—
“The child you mentioned, is that him?”
“Seong Hyunjae!”
A familiar face lay among the grass. His hair, paler than Sigma’s but darker than now, flowed like blades. Reflexively I moved to run, but the obi held me fast. I stepped toward Crescent and then toward Seong Hyunjae.
“I’m not of this place. Tell me—how do I break the contract? It has nothing to do with who you are now.”
“Simply kill me.”
…Simple, right.
“One could sever each bond, I suppose. Or perhaps the you I know might give up—though I doubt it. But no matter what method you choose—”
Crescent drifted back, gaze turning to Seong Hyunjae.
“That child will remain as he is: a moon filled by countless worlds.”
Her gentle voice continued.
“Yujin. The contract binds the moon, yet it also protects him.”
My heart pounded. Protect. Crescent hid Seong Hyunjae so other Transcendents would not notice him. Though his presence should stand out, he was regarded only as an S-Rank by nature. Young Chaos alone perceived the anomaly.
If that protection vanished, how many Transcendents would target a small moon near fullness?
“…Truly a filthy, troublesome human.”
Even escaping Crescent would be a problem. She scattered into moonlight above us. I knelt beside Seong Hyunjae, sleeping on the grass.
“Good grief. Living your own life is hard enough.”
“You—never giving up, first-born, that’s you. But you need not bear this burden.”
“True, but—hey, Seong Hyunjae.”
As if in answer, golden eyes opened. Goodness. I hoped he wasn’t really named Seong Hyunjae. His clothes were unfamiliar. Still groggy, he looked up at me.
“Uh… hello.”
He turned his gaze to the moonlit sky. His lips parted slowly.
“…I don’t recall, but—this place again.”
“You’ve been here before, I think.”
“And I probably shouldn’t be… here. E?”
“F. You’re still half-asleep if you confuse it.”
He blinked. A faint smile played on his lips. It must amuse him that an F-Rank wandered into Crescent’s domain.
“In this place……”
“Why are you here? I came to rescue you.”
His golden eyes deepened in that smile. He looked pleased—even now.
“It’s in the far future, but… well, hmm.”
No matter what I say here, the present cannot change. This Seong Hyunjae too will forget all this.
“My life and death were taken, but I will live again. I will meet a gentle death, and somehow I will survive.”
His eyes closed, as if too heavy to stay open. At the same time, Young Chaos tugged my robe.
“We’re here.”
Thud! Something pounded the space, then shattered with a crash—
“…!”
A gigantic flowered tentacle appeared. A horror-resistance message flashed. Ah, how creepy! Rookie!
‘A giant squid, squid legs, butter-grilled squid.’
Soon I’d hate squid too. This time, many flowered tendrils wrapped around from every direction as if determined not to let go. I wanted to scream. Flowers plus glittering roots made it even grosser! Crescent’s field vanished, replaced by writhing tentacles. I let out a sigh and squeezed my eyes shut. Something soft brushed my ear.
[You are □□□ love□ □□□□□.]
What? I opened my eyes to see pink moonlight scattering through the tentacles, Crescent’s voice. What had she just said…?
[Honeyyyy!]
With the rookie’s hearty shout, my body was whisked away.
“Brother!”
Yuhyun flung his arms around me, covered in petals and glitter.
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