World-Saving is a Skill

Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Looking at the blazing black flame, Narsenti felt a hideous despair, as if it had been scraped up from the depths of an endless abyss.

Seeing the chains that coiled around that despair and held it in check, she felt grandeur and awe, and a fear that went beyond despair.

"I have to run."

A fact she had not felt in far too long flashed through Narsenti’s mind. When you meddle with another’s soul, if you do it wrong, you can be the one interfered with, your attempt can come to nothing, and you can suffer massive damage.

But this was not even damage.

She would die. She was going to die. If Narsenti had still had a body, she would surely have wet herself just now.

"I, I have lived for thousands of years."

Experience and memory were nourishment for the soul. The years you had lived tied directly to the soul’s strength. The soul of a low creature that could not even live a hundred years could not become like this.

"…!"

The chains that had been tightening around the black flame clanked and moved. The blood-red chains tangled together and became the leash for a beast.

The flame that took on the shape of a beast let out a chilling cry and writhed. Yet the chains didn't budge. They cinched the beast’s throat and, wriggling as if alive, yanked tight on the wolf’s neck.

The beast thrashed in resistance, then in the end moved where the leash pulled.

"That thing… you control that?! How is that possible!"

It was not simply tied down and restrained. Subduing a wild beast and training it were problems of a different order. In the first place, just holding something like that inside your own soul and suppressing it was absurd.

But those chains, that being’s soul, had gone beyond restraint and succeeded at training. The beast’s massive head, led by the leash, approached Narsenti.

"Go away, go away!"

The moment she tried to flee, fine red chains wrapped around Narsenti’s legs. They were the very chains that bound that beast of the end. There was no way Narsenti could escape these chains.

"Ah…"

And the black flame loomed right before her eyes. The black flame that shaped a wolf’s head was as large as a towering mountain.

The beast opened its jaws. The gaping maw was so deep it had no visible end. The beast bit down on Narsenti.

She could not resist in the least and was devoured. Only, befitting the name Banshee who had lived for long ages, she succeeded at exactly one act.

‘Undying Legion.’

At the very least, she succeeded in conveying to the Emperor of the Undying Legion that such a being existed. Under no circumstances should anyone confront this person’s soul head on.

If any being faced this shuddering soul, they would not endure even a split second. She had to warn them.

That was all.

Banshee Narsenti, the Banshee who had lived for thousands of years and the core of the grade 1 Erosion Core, Jaun Valley, met an end that didn't suit those splendid epithets.

It was a bland and powerless end.

* * *

My numb mind returned. The gigantic girl who had stood proudly at the waterfall clutched her head and screamed, and her form slowly faded.

I clicked my tongue and scratched my head.

"So that’s why, even your nonsense should have been done after you checked the person."

My soul crossed straight back from that side to Earth without the slightest damage.

If you stare directly at the soul of someone who had stopped the end of a world, it could not end well for you.

"It is like trying voice phishing on the Prosecutor General."

She picked the wrong person, and that was the price. Mental attacks didn't work on me. If you even tried to touch my soul directly and do something, you all meet an end like that.

Hunters who had been as dazed as I was, slowly came to their senses and stared at the fading image of the gigantic girl with cries of alarm.

"W-What is that."

In answer to Jung Oh-hoon, I replied simply.

"It is over. Let us get ready to go home."

That thing was dead.

"But we didn't do anything."

"It was self-destruction."

I answered Han Sang-ah and looked around. The beautiful inorganic garden carved from crystal began to crack and collapse.

The grade 1 Erosion Core, Jaun Valley, ended in a very bland way like this. For something that smashed Harbin, handled the Undying Legion, and attempted what it did, the end was very shabby.

"Still, it looks like the core of a grade 1 Erosion Core did try something."

There had been a slight movement of mana. I didn't know the details, but it seemed to have contacted somewhere. I had no way to block that.

Each Hunter received a box. It was the most decisive proof that we had succeeded in eliminating the Erosion Core. Once that was confirmed, the Hunters finally wiped away their confusion and cheered.

"Jackpot! I did nothing at all and the Erosion Core got wrecked huh?!"

Jung Oh-hoon shouted like that and quickly opened his box. My, he was excited. Thinking that, I opened my box as well.

"…A crystal?"

Inside the box lay a single transparent pink gem. The teardrop-shaped stone gave off a subtle light.

As I carefully picked it up and examined it, the fingertips that touched the gem blackened and began to decay. I quickly raised the Paradoxical Flame and burned away the toxicity of the substance that had burrowed into my finger.

"What is this. What kind of reward is this?"

Was it some kind of poison? If I had not reacted fast, it would have been dangerous. It had only touched me for a moment, yet my fingers were all tingling. It was the sort of item you could receive as a result of subjugating Jaun Valley.

I stared at the stone for a moment, then carefully closed the box. I felt I needed to have Choi Seung-gi check this gem.

"Besides, he said we needed a catalyst."

It might be that this gem could serve that role. Even if it was the Undying Legion, the one I had faced was only one among countless junior officers. On top of that, the spear I used was not something that had dropped from the reward of a high-grade Erosion Core.

To fuse the two spears, a special catalyst was required. A gem like this, gained from subjugating Jaun Valley, looked special enough.

"Ah, it looks like we are going back."

While I stood there holding the box and thinking, before we knew it, we had returned to the frozen lake.

"That makes two done."

I tossed the box once and caught it, and muttered like that.

"I, no, we are going to be rich!"

Jung Oh-hoon laughed, "Hahahahaha!" and shouted.

"Yeah, good for you."

I looked him up and down and then spoke through the in-ear.

"This is Yoo Chan-seok. As of this moment, the Erosion Core of the grade 1 Erosion Core, Jaun Valley, has been completely eliminated."

— Yes, confirmed. Thank you for your hard work, Hunter Yoo Chan-seok.

Without a word, Han Sang-ah examined the shoes she had received as a reward, turning them this way and that. They were dark black-purple flats with a sinister sheen.

I looked at her shoes too and let out an "Ah."

"They are Phantom Boots."

At my words, Han Sang-ah looked at me.

"What is that?"

It makes you temporarily become like a ghost. Judging by the mana lodged in them, about five seconds.

"That is perfect."

I didn't know the gem’s value yet, so I could not say for sure, but for now it seemed Han Sang-ah was the one who had benefited most from this elimination of an Erosion Core.

The advantage of becoming like a ghost temporarily was simple. While Phantom Boots was maintained, other people’s attacks were almost ineffective.

Of course, by the same token, while Phantom Boots was maintained, Han Sang-ah’s attacks were also almost ineffective.

"Five seconds in a fight is a very long time."

You maintained Phantom Boots while you prepared a single strike, and the moment Phantom Boots ended, you unleashed the prepared blow.

"You have to aim for one big hit anyway."

In Han Sang-ah’s case, her approach to combat itself was increasingly specialized for delivering a single blow that she took ample time to prepare.

Those shoes looked like something Han Sang-ah would probably have to go with for life.

"Either way, the companies that signed with us are going to be grinning ear to ear."

They had likely already been notified. The companies that invested in us would be ready to pop champagne.

We had stabilized Harbin and succeeded in eliminating Jaun Valley beneath it. I spoke to the Hunters over the in-ear at once.

"As we already notified, Hunters who participated in subjugating Jaun Valley have options."

They could just take the reward money and go back, or they could remain in Harbin and Changchun, contract with companies developing the region, and at the same time subjugate grade 2 and 3 Erosion Cores.

"Please make your decision on that within three days and convey your intentions through the operators."

The Seagull operators would then compile the Hunters’ intentions and provide materials to the companies that had invested, and they would bridge between companies and Hunters whose wishes matched.

We would not broker the deals for free, but in any case the brokerage costs would obviously be borne by the companies, not the Hunters, so for the Hunters it was practically free.

It was like how women entered clubs for free. The side that wanted it more paid, that was how the world worked.

"Good work!"

Adakawa Nanami ran over, gave me a quick hug, then grinned. She still wore her fluttering outfit as is.

"You will be even more popular when you return to Japan huh."

At my words, Adakawa Nanami nodded.

"I am the first Japanese Hunter to participate in subjugating a grade 1 Erosion Core after all!"

Of course, I was the one who delivered the finishing blow, but that didn't matter. If you participated in subjugating a grade 1 Erosion Core and it succeeded, you received a reward. And that reward generally boosted a Hunter’s skill dramatically.

Even for Han Sang-ah, being able to prepare a strike for five seconds would make it several times easier to face monsters.

Nanami had surely received some reward as well, and it would boost her abilities significantly.

"Everyone, thank you for your hard work."

I switched my in-ear to the all-channel, offered my thanks, and looked at Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon.

"Let’s go back to Korea."

We had no more business here. Others would take care of the rest. Developing land, contracting with Hunters, and protecting it were things companies did all the time.

We gathered our things, said our goodbyes to Adakawa Nanami, and headed straight for Korea. A few hours later, while we were on the helicopter back to Korea, my phone vibrated.

"What is this."

A message arrived from an unknown number. Not only to me, but the same message from the same number came to Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon.

[Hunter Yoo Chan-seok. We are the Wonder Club. We heard the news that the operation to eliminate Jaun Valley succeeded. First, we offer our congratulations.]

The content that began like that was simple when summarized.

"So we qualified to belong to the Wonder Club, and they will send invitations."

It was a kind of social club that only Hunters who had succeeded at subjugating a grade 1 Erosion Core could join.

Judging by the content, even Hunters ranked two through four on the Hope list belonged to this Wonder Club.

With a slightly dazed expression, Jung Oh-hoon spoke.

"My goodness, to think I would get contacted by the Wonder Club."

"They must be that impressive huh?"

At my words, Jung Oh-hoon nodded.

"They are. This is huge. All Hunters know those in that club push and pull for each other. It is like a guarantee of success."

Push and pull for each other huh. It seemed they didn't accept just anyone, even if you had succeeded at subjugating a grade 1 Erosion Core.

While the helicopter rattled and roared, I fell into thought.