The S-Classes That I Raised - Chapter 717: Young Mirae (2)
The space convulsed once more with a deep creaking.
“Are you all right?”
“Thanks to Han Seol holding it together, I can endure it. It’s closer to a summoning than an invasion.”
“That’s a relief. You must stay healthy.”
No one had approached my room yet. Perhaps the Mer-Queen, like the King of Devourers, had no suitable subordinate to send. It was fortunate for me, but I could not let my guard down, for she would not withdraw willingly.
“All right, then.”
I strode toward the achievement reward. The spear, taller than I was, gleamed flawlessly from tip to pommel, as if carved from jade or pearl for a festival rather than forged for battle. Though much shorter than a jousting lance, it still bore a deadly elegance.
I grasped the shaft—surprisingly light. I could draw and wield it with one hand. Checking its status, an information window flickered into view.
[Three Kills of the Divine (神殺) – Undecided
A single shaft of pure white light to fell false gods.
Even in a child’s feeble hand, it pierces a transcendent.
※ Bound to Han Yujin]
A weapon designed to slay transcendent beings. I raised the white spear.
“False gods.”
The system, upon inspecting my achievement, had pronounced them thus. Not deities, but transcendent hunters who had wielded the world as if they were gods.
I studied the info window again. The power to kill transcendent beings—and the limit of three—troubled me. Perhaps the name commemorated my slaying of three transcendent foes, including Chatterbox. Or perhaps the spear could only destroy three transcendent beings before losing its potency.
Even the latter would suffice.
“Ready, partner?”
“If you call me that, I might cry.”
“Then cry. I do miss you.”
We were partners in this endeavor. Still, I felt a pang of guilt and added, “We’re not exactly friends yet, you know.”
“That wounds me deeply.”
What was he on about? He was always telling me I wasn’t Han Yujin. Yet here we were. Mana began to pool where the snake had fallen, so dense it seemed about to drip like liquid.
“…Grace, I’m counting on you.”
— Beep! —
My bluebird companion answered crisply, merging into the gem on my bracelet. The jewel glowed for a moment. Words alone would not end this; I returned the spear to my inventory and stepped forward. Thanks to Seol-i, the space had ballooned with mana.
Drip, thunk.
Raindrops fell from the dizzying heights of the ceiling. Wherever they struck, grass sprouted. Tender shoots and tiny puddles, stems thickening into branches and blossoms bursting in every color.
As if a god had descended, the broken marble floor vanished, replaced by a wild, rain-sodden meadow. Then—
Slither—
Gold-red scales rippled across the grass, the sinuous body of a crimson snake piled like a hill of jewels. Clink—metal ornaments chimed, distant as a mountain echo. I tilted my head back. There, amid the cliff-like slopes of his chest and belly, were the snake’s eyes. Each time the long earring brushing his shoulder swung, bells tolled with a deep resonance. His true size rivaled that of a grand temple.
Even the proudest S-Rank hunter would bow, yet I stared upward. A “Fear Resistance” message blinked, but I ignored it. Long, pillar-like claws brushed the storm cloud swirling around him, sending torrents of rain crashing down. I blinked, droplets on my brows dancing across my vision.
His voice thundered like a mountain’s echo.
There was a gleam of amusement in that tone.
Would I clutch the three rightful Shards ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) and stand my ground? Though I had slain his subordinate, the King of Devourers still harbored favor toward me. If I pledged to hand over the Shards, he would withdraw peacefully.
“I will not add words.”
Whatever excuse I might offer, the answer would be the same.
“Yes.”
This was the land where those I loved had lived and would live—and where I would also remain.
A peal of laughter shook the air. The Snake King laughed as if delighted.
His voice, charged with joy, tremored through me. I lowered my stance. In a single instant, all would end. Seong-hyeonje watched us, then inhaled deeply.
With generous arms outstretched, the King of Devourers leapt, springing off the ground to dizzying heights. Footsteps appeared beneath my feet—steps he formed for me. I climbed, leaping from tier to tier.
Up, up: the perspective of a transcendent. I ran as far as my legs could bear, stepping on the pillars he conjured, never falling.
The Snake King watched, laughing as though proud of the tiny thing ascending ever higher. But when at last our eyes met—
A merciless sentence. In a scale-covered hand appeared my curved sword, Shamsheer. Though I could flick it aside with a finger, he held it in respect for one who dared challenge overwhelming power.
The ruby-inlaid blade slashed toward me. Its force staggered me. Amid the storm of blinding magic, a new footing appeared like a leaf drifting in the wind—a stepping-stone to climb still higher.
Clang—!
The sword descended. Blue light flared beneath its red edge. For a moment, my defense nullified even a transcendent’s strike. The world’s hardest substance—the translucent bracelet—cracked. Simultaneously, I sprang from the last platform.
Above the transcendent’s gaze.
The white spear was in my hand. The venom-laced ruby blade arced toward me again. I drew back and thrust forward—an F-rank user’s D-rank Piercing skill.
Vvvrrr— The King’s blade halted mid-air, frozen as if time itself had stilled. White light enveloped his sword. Like countless snakes, the radiance snaked along the spear, across its wielder’s arm, and then his body. In an instant, the entire space turned pale.
Shaaaa—
Rain fell anew. Golden chains formed in midair, coiling around me to lower me safely to the ground. The wet earth splashed beneath my feet. Before me stood the King of Devourers, now reduced to twice human height, his form hazy in the downpour. Even the rain left his gold-tinted red hair damp. He brushed wet strands from cheek and brow as though marveling at the sensation.
“Amazing,” he said, gazing at the white spear. His look held no regret, despite his impending end.
“You appear oddly relieved.”
“Is there any cause not to be?”
His menace vanished; he smiled like a young man.
“I am a creature that claws for life. Yet I have lived so long—along a linear path without cycle.”
“Then….”
“It does not mean I wished to die. As long as there is a path, life walks it; and to perish thus is life, too.”
The King of Devourers reached toward me. Sssik—a quiet sound as the bracelets on my arm transformed into writhing snakes.
“I have fed and been fed upon to endure. I regret none of it, yet I wondered whether I myself have devoured even my own lineage.”
“Your lineage’s potential?”
“Yes. He who consumes all and shares nothing enjoys unending life.”
His talon tapped beneath a young snake’s jaw. His mana spread outward.
“From the rot and decay springs new growth.”
Power amassed across unfathomable eons, now dispersing as nourishment for his scattered descendants—into the seeds sown across the world, into the two young snakes before me.
Perhaps the King had awaited this moment, for he could not die nor allow himself to lose. Had he fallen to a stronger transcendent, he would not have been scattered thus but utterly consumed.
But I was no transcendent. Compared to them, I was but a mortal life, carrying children in my arms and pressing on.
“King of Devourers—.”
“My name is Rhanahi. In your world’s tongue, it means pomegranate seed. Born alone within an egg, I had none to name me, so I called myself thus after the fruit through which sunlight passes.”
“A lovely name.”
His form grew more translucent, the scenery behind him fading into view. Time was short.
“I feel some regret—after all your aid… another transcendent struck first to die yet left a curse behind.”
“A spiteful one.”
“There are many who curse as they perish.”
He laughed softly.
“Then I will bless you. You shall have countless children.”
“…Pardon?”
A blessing, yes—but still odd. “I already have too many.”
“Children will remember and love you, and one of them shall rise to the greatest heights cradled in your arms.”
“T-Thank you.”
His promise of my children’s greatness was welcome, though I was still trying to process it. The King’s presence faded. He glanced at his own vanishing form.
“The Source is not an infinite cradle of life.”
“The Source?”
“The Source creates worlds and consumes them again. Filial rebels call it blasphemy, but I do not. There can be no rebirth without sacrifice. Rabbits eat grass and foxes eat rabbits; the dead enrich the earth. Creation’s power springs only from consumption. Know this: recently, the Source’s power to create worlds has waned.”
If the Source’s power were finite, then one must harvest creation to replenish it.
“What the filial rebels do now is akin to killing every fox to protect rabbits. An overabundance of rabbits will desolate the land.”
“…Yet we cannot simply accept ruin.”
“Such is life. All live, some die, and all must die in time. The system at least provides better prey for the rabbits—gives them the strength to flee the fox.”
“The problem is excessive intervention.”
The King nodded.
“And worlds devoured by transcendent birth—transcendents never consumed worlds themselves. They grew within the faint possibility death itself fed.”
“Do you know of the Crescent?”
“I know little of that distant lore. What of it?”
“Yes. There are many transcendent allies under the Crescent Moon. One spear will not suffice.”
“I understand.”
I would exhaust my power before reaching the Crescent, let alone face many at once.
“But once, Rhanahi, you could not even face me.”
Rhanahi smiled in satisfaction.
“I wonder how far you shall reach. To save all worlds is near impossible. Yet new means to make the impossible possible must exist—like you before me.”
“Actually, I did not set out to save all worlds. I only had one person I wished to protect.”
One person. My world had been that small.
“No being is born great. Every journey begins as a seed.”
His voice faltered. His form nearly vanished as his remaining power gathered into a radiant mana stone.
“So I entrust you with my legacy—my child.”
“…Excuse me?”
My vision flared bright, then settled. In place of the King’s body lay not a mana shard but—
“Hey, over here!”
A gold-tinged red egg lay before me. He entrusted his child to me—for me to raise! And it was an egg! That egg had never hatched successfully before!
“What on earth—!”
“Congratulations. You have one more.”
Seong-hyeonje clapped lightly. So that was the reason for this blessing? I was doomed to be single forever! Still, I gathered the egg and tucked it into my pouch. At this rate, my children’s facility for awakened and other races would be packed solid.
I sighed heavily and faced Seong-hyeonje. The white spear was back in my hand. As the King said, I could not charge the Crescent yet. Instead—
“Are you ready?”
“I ought to be the one asking that.”
Seong-hyeonje summoned the system window. I assisted him. A vast screen appeared, woven with countless mana circuits in dizzying complexity.
“System Creator Authority: Authentication Requested.”
To the system’s deepest, most critical settings.
One cannot destroy the system itself—it was forged by transcendents and connected to the Source’s power. But perhaps a fragment…
Seong-hyeonje drew forth the system linked to our world—the gateway transcendents used to enter. I pulled the spear taut.
Crack-crack—
I thrust it home.
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