His stats were clearly superior. His practical combat experience was not lacking either. No—Cho Hwawoon had faced a more diverse range of S-Rank Hunters than Han Yuhyun, so he had far more accumulated data. However, although the grade of his weapon was lower, it was one of the highest-grade S-Rank swords from China, and with its skill added, it was enough to hold its own.

SCRAPE–

The red blade slid along the black one. The moment their blades brushed past each other’s bodies, Cho Hwawoon’s kick flew out. Since his speed was also superior, Han Yuhyun shouldn’t have been able to dodge at such close range. But Han Yuhyun predicted the attack and, with the acceleration ability of his attire, lightly deflected the strike aimed at his knee. At the same time, dark blue flames spread out beneath Cho Hwawoon’s feet like spilled ink.

“You don’t want to end up like your brother, do you?”

Cho Hwawoon stepped on the flames that spread wide across the floor like a thick carpet. Thanks to the high-rank flame resistance item he wore, such a small fire didn’t even tickle him. It felt like walking on a lawn with unusually colored grass, fluttering in the wind.

“It was around here.”

Cho Hwawoon’s toe lightly tapped the ground. The debris of the collapsed and flame-engulfed building crumbled away beneath his foot.

“He took quite a tumble.”

He wasn’t usually the type to make small talk. But right now, Cho Hwawoon couldn’t contain his own temper without sneering.

An F-Rank, captured from a small country of all things. It was possible for him not to be broken. But what bothered him the most was that gaze—the one that didn’t treat S-Rank Hunters as anything special. Cho Hwawoon had received special treatment his entire life, from birth until now. They say all humans are equal, but reality was different.

He couldn’t understand how he could be the same as those weak and powerless things. With the appearance of the Awakened, Cho Hwawoon’s suspicion became certainty. How could anyone dare call an F-Rank and an S-Rank the same species? It was only natural for the inferior to bow before the superior. It was like a law of nature. No matter how bold a rabbit might be, it must tremble before a tiger.

And yet, an F-Rank—not even a mid-rank, let alone a high-rank. He looked at Cho Hwawoon not as a strong person far above him, but as a common bastard who just threw his weight around with violence. He got annoyed, telling him to leave him alone. As if he had encountered some neighborhood thug who couldn’t even be considered an armed robber.

“With his other leg injured, he couldn’t even stand up properly.”

BANG–!

It was a clash of blades not even a finger’s width thick. And yet, a roar like an explosion spread out around them. Beneath the two men’s feet, the debris creaked and settled. A wide pit, nearly a meter deep, formed as if a supporting pillar had broken.

“He crawled on the floor.”

Cho Hwawoon laughed. Despite being cloaked in dark blue flames, Han Yuhyun’s expression was as cold as ice. But unlike before, he was clearly glaring at his enemy. Cho Hwawoon’s forearms tensed. The ground beneath Han Yuhyun’s feet sank a little deeper.

Han Yujin, soaring on a golden dragon. In the end, he had escaped, but if Cho Hwawoon captured this guy and threw him at his feet, Han Yujin would come crawling back on his own.

KANG! Cho Hwawoon struck Han Yuhyun’s sword with his own, taking a step back. Then he immediately used the Tilted Scales skill—a skill that momentarily channeled half of his total stats into a single stat.

Enormous power flooded into Cho Hwawoon’s sword strike. Han Yuhyun instinctively dodged. Just by brushing past his shoulder, his attire and even the clothes underneath tore, and blood burst out.

BOOM–!

The area where the sword strike landed caved in. Not a small part, but a vast crater formed. It was as if a giant meteorite had fallen. Chunks of concrete crumbled like grains of sand, and steel bars crumpled and scattered like fallen leaves caught in a gust of wind.

The red sword, buried in the ground, was pulled out in an instant and cut through the air again. Although the building had collapsed, the piled-up debris meant the location was originally about three stories high. But now it had been lowered to almost the first floor. Around the deep pit, the debris surrounded it like the walls of a colosseum. The dark blue flames still spread wide, eerily illuminating the space.

“Which one was it?”

Han Yuhyun landed on a diagonally cut wall. The hem of his attire tangled and fluttered in the swirl of willow leaves. Cho Hwawoon, who understood the short question, answered.

“The right one.”

A spear made of magic materialized in Cho Hwawoon’s hand. He threw the spear with a wide rotation of his body and simultaneously kicked the wall Han Yuhyun had landed on. RUMBLE! The wall collapsed, and the black chain-sword bent long. It didn’t stop at deflecting the spear, but snaked down to Cho Hwawoon below like a venomous serpent.

“But you—”

THUD! Cho Hwawoon roughly deflected the chain-sword and rushed toward Han Yuhyun.

“It’s impossible for you to repay it.”

He had made quite a name for himself in Japan, but he was still from a small country, facing a small country opponent. Even if you added up all the S-Rank Hunters in Korea and Japan, it wouldn’t even be half of China’s. For him to have only this much power—in the end, he was a frog in a well.

Han Yuhyun ducked his upper body, avoiding the ominously flying blade. He planted one foot firmly and spun his body low, adding rotational force to swing the chain-sword. Cho Hwawoon caught the chain-sword, which was trying to bite into his waist with a sharp whistle of wind, with his gauntleted hand. A white line was drawn on the black scales of the SS-Rank gauntlet, but that was all. Even the small scratch was quickly repaired thanks to its high defense effect against blades.

Cho Hwawoon tried to pull the chain-sword and snatch it away, but—

“Hut!”

The moment he pulled, the Sword of the Corrupting Sovereign heated up red-hot, as if in refusal. Cho Hwawoon quickly let go and stepped back from the heat that could melt even the gauntlet.

“The weapon, at least, is quite good.”

Han Yuhyun raised his eyebrows slightly. His opponent was practically decked out in SS-Rank items, except for his weapon. And yet, Han Yuhyun still hadn’t used the Melted Last Door. Instead—

Blue Willow Leaves whipped around fiercely. They poured down, almost covering the space between Han Yuhyun and Cho Hwawoon. Cho Hwawoon’s lips twisted at the trivial trick that obscured his vision. He felt ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ a presence rushing toward him. And it was even a straightforward, direct charge.

Was it a lack of experience, or did he have another trick up his sleeve? But Han Yuhyun’s stats were clearly weaker than Cho Hwawoon’s. In a frontal attack, there was no reason for him to be pushed back.

Flutter—the blue willow leaves scattered sporadically, and Han Yuhyun reached right in front of Cho Hwawoon. Cho Hwawoon’s sword was raised. If they collided like this, the damage to Han Yuhyun would surely be great. Right then—

Crisp.

With a faint sound, Han Yuhyun’s Adam’s apple bobbed. And his form disappeared.

“……?”

Cho Hwawoon’s eyes widened. No, he hadn’t disappeared—he had shrunk. Han Yuhyun, reduced to a tenth of his size, passed Cho Hwawoon’s sword strike, which didn’t even need to be dodged, and jumped up, stepping on the willow leaves. The length of a willow leaf was about ten centimeters. A couple of them bunched together were enough to hide Han Yuhyun’s form. And as he had shrunk, his presence had also weakened.

In an instant, Han Yuhyun, who had passed over Cho Hwawoon’s shoulder and landed behind him, returned to his original size. Toward Cho Hwawoon’s defenseless right leg, the black blade bared its fangs.

“…Keuk!”

Cho Hwawoon tried to dodge urgently, but it was already too late. Even with high agility stats, it was an attack that was hard to escape unless it was teleportation-level. Slice.

That short opening cost Cho Hwawoon his leg. Gritting his teeth against the extreme pain, Cho Hwawoon kicked off the ground with his left foot. He jumped back in an instant and took out a spear from his inventory, using it as a cane to stand.

“Teleportation—humans can’t use it…!”

Teleportation was simply moving quickly. For an object the size of an adult man, it would be difficult for an S-Rank not to notice a movement that passed behind them, even if it was teleportation. But there was clearly no such large presence.

Han Yuhyun stomped on the severed leg, watching Cho Hwawoon take out a potion and raise his guard.

“Only this much.”

Flames shot up, and Cho Hwawoon’s right leg—the part below the knee—turned to ash. If the severed part was completely lost, it couldn’t be restored even with a top-grade potion. He would have to use an elixir or find a healer capable of body regeneration.

“To lay a hand on my brother.”

It was a voice of cold disbelief. A faint sweetness lingered in Han Yuhyun’s mouth. The method he had just used was taught to him by Han Yujin. When Yuhyun had been impressed by his ability to escape the opponent’s perception for a moment using a Mini-Mini Cookie, Yujin had told him to try it too, giving him a cookie. He had said it would be even better if used with Blue Willow Leaves.

Cho Hwawoon’s eyes blazed fiercely. He took out a wire and tied the spear firmly to his thigh. He didn’t know what had happened, but even if it was teleportation, it wasn’t a method that could be used consecutively. He must have used it now because it had a cooldown time after a short, one-time use.

The advantage in stats was still the same. If he couldn’t use the same trick again, the chances of victory were still high. Since his own mobility had decreased, he would close the distance in an instant and catch him. Cho Hwawoon poured the Tilted Scales skill into his agility stat. His other stats dropped as his agility rose frighteningly.

Cho Hwawoon’s left foot kicked off the ground strongly. The moment he approached Han Yuhyun, almost at the speed of teleportation—

“What–!”

Cho Hwawoon’s body couldn’t stand properly and tilted sharply. The shaft of the spear that had replaced his right leg was already half burnt away. A lizard was clinging to the half-remaining spear shaft, then slithered into the flames covering the floor.

To Cho Hwawoon, who had lost his balance and whose stats other than agility had dropped, Han Yuhyun’s fist drove into his solar plexus.

“Keok!”

Cho Hwawoon’s body lifted into the air from the powerful uppercut. Consecutively, Han Yuhyun’s knee stabbed into Cho Hwawoon’s side. With a crack, the sound of bones breaking echoed, and the chain-sword followed the body that was sent flying sideways. SWISH—with a rough sound, Cho Hwawoon’s left arm flew through the air.

Retracting the extended chain-sword, Han Yuhyun looked down with a cold gaze at where Cho Hwawoon was falling.

Clatter!

The flames that had been swaying like grass shot up and became weaponized. Cho Hwawoon, who had noticed too late the blades and spear tips protruding from them, desperately twisted his body. He barely avoided a fatal wound, but his remaining limbs were pierced.

“Keuheuk!”

The weaponized flames disappeared, and Cho Hwawoon vomited blood and rolled on the ground. Han Yuhyun’s toe kicked the fallen red sword aside and stopped right in front of Cho Hwawoon.

“Tricks—cough—quite a few……”

“You’re just high in stats. You can never beat my brother.”

Cho Hwawoon laughed at the cold voice.

“The breeder—do you think Han Yujin thinks so? I didn’t just break his leg. I stomped on it several times. So he would never forget.”

Han Yuhyun raised his head. A golden dragon was approaching him. His eyes curved into a round shape, and a bright smile spread across his lips.

“It’s a gift.”

“…What?”

“This is my gift for my brother.”

That’s why he didn’t kill him. To leave him in Han Yujin’s hands.

“My brother will think of you and think, ‘my little brother prepared this for me.’”

“That, that’s……”

He would smile, pleased. Han Yujin prioritized Han Yuhyun in everything. So it wouldn’t be difficult to cover up a memory of something like this. Cho Hwawoon vomited blood again. A gift. To an F-Rank?

“I—an F-Rank Awakened’s……”

Cho Hwawoon shouted for him to kill him with his own hands, but it didn’t reach Han Yuhyun’s ears. The hunt was over. Instead of killing the prey, he would offer it as a gift to his brother.

As if he had already forgotten about Cho Hwawoon’s existence, Han Yuhyun watched the approaching golden light with a joyous gaze. He waited for the only being he loved to descend, hug him, and praise him.

It was then.

RUMBLE–!

The ground shook. It trembled faintly once, then again, bigger, and even bigger. A strange energy spread out, and the golden dragon faltered in mid-air. The long, spread-out wings disappeared, and its size shrank as it turned into a human.

“Hyung–!”

Han Yujin, who was riding on the dragon’s back, fell. Han Yuhyun’s state was not normal either. His whole body felt strangely heavy, and his strength drained away. His flames also quickly died down.

And yet, he somehow ran. He stretched out his arms toward Han Yujin, who had fallen from Noah and was plummeting. The moment his hands barely touched his brother’s body, he pulled him into a tight embrace and rolled on the ground to absorb the shock of the fall.

“Hyung! Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine—hey! You, your shoulder! What about Mr. Noah?”

“He’s an S-Rank. My shoulder is fine too.”

Han Yujin’s eyebrows furrowed as if to scold his younger brother who had answered that he was obviously fine, but his expression soon softened and he smiled affectionately. But that was also brief, and Han Yujin’s face hardened again.

“But… what on earth is this?”

An unknown power was swirling thickly in all directions.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep