S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 112

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 112. An Old Grudge (3)
A hotpot restaurant bustling with customers.
A man and woman sat across from each other—he in a blue changpao, she in a crimson chipao.
Striking beauty, striking attire.
It was a combination that naturally drew every eye.
Yet the diners at the neighboring tables didn’t turn their heads once. The passing staff paid them no mind either.
As if the two simply didn’t exist.
“Why do Koreans do everything so well, even hotpot? It’s delicious. Tastes like home,” the man in the blue changpao said in Mandarin, and the woman replied in Korean.
The woman spoke in Korean.
“Ignorant fool.”
“Why? Don’t tell me hotpot is originally Korean, like kimchi?”
Silence drifted between them for a moment.
“Wait—what country is hotpot even from?”
“Stop talking.”
The woman in the chipao took a sip of tea.
She rinsed away the grease from her mouth and gazed out the window at the building beyond.
The Hwarang Department Store’s Hongdae branch loomed plainly in view.
“What a waste.”
“What is? That Korean man seemed to interest you quite a bit. His name was… Kim Jiwoo, wasn’t it?”
“I don’t care about some incomplete Mana Construct. I meant it’s a shame about that building getting demolished.”
“True. A department store of that caliber isn’t common even in our great country.”
A whisper of motion.
The woman raised her hand. The staff member approaching wore a butterfly brooch on their chest.
The man’s belt bore the same motif, as did the woman’s earrings.
“Another order, then?”
To the masked staff member’s question, the woman in the chipao waved her hand.
“Give me a status report. Sending two Dungeon Psychos consecutively is quite a risk.”
“The assassination failed, but we ensured the Mana Construct encountered them. Those three might as well be dead.”
The woman picked up an oiled wooden skewer and pointed it at the staff member.
It was merely a skewer smeared with broth, but in her hand, it became a weapon.
“You said the same thing at the zoo.”
“A Hunter named Un-myo was an unexpected variable. That Hunter knew how to counter a Dungeon Psycho.”
“You calculated the odds properly this time?”
“Yes. We equipped them with Unique-grade Attribute Resistance gear. Even rare Inferno Element equipment.”
The woman in the chipao lowered the skewer.
But the man in the changpao seemed displeased, crossing his arms.
“What I don’t understand is why those specific people. If you want to break Korea’s momentum, wouldn’t Cheon Ihwa be a better target?”
“Our ability to predict Cheon Ihwa’s movements is limited. More importantly, right now Arc Management has far greater influence than she does.”
“Arc Management?”
“Didn’t we run into them when we crossed over to Korea?”
The man looked off into the distance as he spoke.
“…but they’re just a fledgling small business, aren’t they?”
“Not an ordinary one. They’re attempting to revolutionize Korea. We came here to stop that.”
“So that’s why I had no interest. I have no feelings, you see. Doing what the higher-ups order isn’t my style.”
“You should take more interest.”
“Why? Did the brass threaten to suspend my wings? Is that what we muscle do—just follow orders?”
“Watch your tongue. The higher-ups have started paying attention.”
He flinched.
Beads of sweat formed on his brow—sweat that never appeared no matter how spicy the broth he consumed.
“The brass is really interested in this tiny country? Not Shin-Japan or Russia?”
“Now you’re interested?”
He scratched the back of his head with an awkward laugh.
“So we just need to lop off the heads of everyone at Arc whatever, don’t we? In that building.”
The staff member exhaled deeply, and the atmosphere chilled.
“We are not a group that kills indiscriminately.”
The staff member’s gaze turned toward the Hwarang Department Store beyond the window.
“Consume the dreams. That is the mission of Butterfly Dream.”
* * *
Choi Gang-im watched Kim Yeoul’s expression.
No matter how much of a Dungeon Psycho the opponent was, she couldn’t simply attack an ally’s acquaintance.
‘She must be suffering too.’
As expected, Kim Yeoul called out to Kim Jiwoo.
“Fireball.”
“…?!”
Enhanced by Chae Mujin’s Attribute Buff and the Five Elements Rampage, the Fireball erupted with tremendous force.
The moisture in the surrounding vegetation evaporated instantly, and the scorched earth began bubbling and boiling from the heat.
Boom!
Kim Jiwoo took the blast head-on without dodging.
His whole body blazed, yet he didn’t cry out once.
As if the human form were merely a shell, his true form emerged.
A Mana Blade.
The weapon’s red blade was embedded with a grotesque eye.
Un-myo cried out urgently.
“It wasn’t a Mana Construct—it’s a Mana Artifact! Everyone focus!”
Kim Yeoul didn’t know what a construct-type Mana Artifact was, but she understood the command. Hardening her gaze, she locked her eyes on the great sword.
“Gasp!”
The sword vanished, and Choi Gang-im stood where it had been. Where Choi Gang-im had stood, now lay the blade.
Instinctively, Kim Yeoul hurled a Fireball, and Un-myo’s revolver blazed simultaneously.
But the barrel wasn’t aimed at the enemy.
‘Why is she—why Choi Gang-im?!’
Kim Yeoul desperately reached out to save Choi Gang-im.
Choi Gang-im reached back toward Kim Yeoul, but in that same instant, a sharp pain lanced through her forearm.
‘What…?’
Before she could process it, a massive tempest erupted.
Whoooosh!
Un-myo’s storm shell engulfed both Kim Yeoul and Choi Gang-im, flinging them roughly aside.
Kim Yeoul quickly regained her footing, but a long gash ran down her forearm.
‘When did I get hit?’
She’d been attacked without realizing it.
Worse, the violet wound spread with each passing moment, draining her life force as it expanded.
Then Un-myo shouted.
“Kim Yeoul, why did you suddenly attack your own team and rush at the enemy?”
“What do you mean—”
Kim Yeoul’s eyes widened as she looked around.
Choi Gang-im held a charred shield. Burns marked her skin.
“No, no—I wasn’t aiming at you—I swear I wasn’t—!”
One sentence was enough. Un-myo understood instantly.
“It’s an illusion. Don’t look at that Mana Blade’s eye!”
Kim Yeoul dropped her gaze immediately, but then a troubling thought struck her.
‘If I can’t see, how am I supposed to fight?’
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
The Mana Blade had unleashed a blade wind.
Not knowing who it targeted, Kim Yeoul threw herself aside.
But the wind was aimed at Un-myo and Choi Gang-im.
A sharp metallic screech and a dull crack erupted in sequence. Choi Gang-im blocking the blow.
Clang! Clang!
Un-myo’s revolver erupted. Incandescent rounds screamed toward the Mana Blade.
Ping! Whine!
The Mana Blade deflected them with ease—at angles no human could achieve.
The Mana Blade drifted through empty air like a second shield, independent of any wielder.
Only because Choi Gang-im possessed a shield built on the same principle could they mount any defense; otherwise, they would have fallen long ago. The Mana Blade’s movements were nimble and unpredictable.
And if even a single strike grazed them, they would instantly be poisoned by its dark Mana.
Un-myo gritted her teeth.
The only thing that worked was the storm shell, but it couldn’t distinguish ally from enemy, and it dealt no direct damage.
‘This is the worst matchup. We need a mage’s firepower…’
Un-myo glanced sideways at Kim Yeoul, then grimaced and swapped her revolver for a dagger.
Rather than risk entrusting precision and control to this novice mage, it would be far more effective to close in and trade blows directly.
“Fireball.”
Kim Yeoul conjured another Fireball.
Un-myo’s heart sank. If this hit the tank, their precarious balance would collapse in an instant.
Then Kim Yeoul clenched her fist in the air. The basketball-sized flame shrank steadily, until it compressed to the size of a baseball.
“That’s—!”
Un-myo couldn’t help but stare.
She hadn’t simply trimmed away part of the flame. The Fireball’s density had increased dramatically, launching now with a speed incomparable to before.
The Mana Blade sensed it and moved to intercept, abandoning Choi Gang-im.
Crash!
It couldn’t block it.
Upon contact, the Mana Blade’s edge shrieked like a living thing.
The red blade glowed molten in an instant—hot enough to melt, it seemed.
Boom!
The Fireball detonated like fireworks, dissipating.
Acrid smoke and sparks obscured their vision.
“Damn!”
Un-myo’s frustrated groan.
Just a bit more power, and they might have shattered the Mana Blade in one strike.
A flash.
The Mana Blade’s eye turned toward Kim Yeoul, and it wrapped itself in dark Mana.
Roar!
The Mana Blade, armored in corrupting dark Mana, bore down on Kim Yeoul like a thunderbolt.
Kim Yeoul stood motionless.
Choi Gang-im threw her shield first, barring the path.
Clang!
The Mana Blade shattered the shields with deafening clangors, crashing through Un-myo’s storm shell as if it weren’t there.
The red blade drove forward with undiminished momentum, its wind-shredded speed still lethal as it pierced straight through Kim Yeoul’s heart with a chilling shriek.
Flare!
But it was only an illusion of flame.
Engulfed in fire, the Mana Blade screamed silently.
Kim Yeoul, now standing atop the water tank, called out.
“My Manager taught me—when your opponent prepares something, prepare the same.”
She raised her staff, and nine flaming spheres materialized in the sky.
This was no mere simultaneous barrage of ordinary fireballs.
A new skill, refined entirely from applications of existing magic.
“Nine Suns Falling Fire.”
Nine suns exploded at once, immolating the world.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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