Based purely on the number of allowed attacks, Ah-rin had overwhelmingly dominated the battle.
However, unlike Rakan, who had sustained no critical injuries, Ah-rin lay on the floor, her body slashed and blood gushing from various wounds.
“Irmana’s water and a potion!”
“Ugh, Unnie Eun-young!”
We had healing items at our disposal. Once we activated Ah-rin’s body with Ham Eun-young’s skill, her recovery progressed rapidly.
Barely regaining her senses, Ah-rin caught her breath and splashed some water on her face.
“Hah—so damn strong… I’ll take a short break and give it another go.”
“Hey, hey, you don’t have to push yourself too hard.”
Joo-ah spoke with concern, but Ah-rin stubbornly declared she’d continue the challenge.
“I feel like… I might see something. Just a little more.”
“Isn’t that just wishful thinking?”
“Maybe… but it feels like something is about to happen—”
‘······.’
For now, Ah-rin’s retry could wait, and the next turn was Noh Ha-yoon’s.
As Rakan was infused with magic power by Yeon-hee, his previously depleted health was largely restored.
I wondered if summoning a new one would be worthwhile, but according to Yeon-hee, there was a strange disconnection when a summoned creature was dismissed and then re-summoned.
‘When you dismiss and call back a summoned creature in this world, there is a time lag for each summoning.’
Considering the growth of summoned creatures, it was better to maintain the summoning if possible.
Rakan, licking its tongue towards Noh Ha-yoon, seemed quite intent.
Many human-type monsters target female hunters as sexual objects, but Werewolves were different. They were said to love only one female of their own kind, so the drooling creature before us was likely driven purely by its instinct for slaughter.
That was dangerous in its own right, but given that Ah-rin was in such a state after an intense duel, it didn’t seem like we had to worry too much; after all, it was attacking while avoiding vital spots.
“Come on in, puppy.”
“Kuh?!”
When Noh Ha-yoon provocatively beckoned to Rakan with a finger, it clashed its fists together before charging at her.
Crash—!
However, the [Ice Field] that was already prepared covered Rakan’s path, forcing it to leap into the air to slow down.
“Ice Spear!”
“Ugh!”
Rakan twisted its body in mid-air like a circus performer, dodging the hurled spear of ice.
Noh Ha-yoon’s eyebrows twitched momentarily, but she fired off successive Ice Spears, erecting ice walls one by one to hinder Rakan’s movements.
Nonetheless, Rakan confidently weaved around the walls, actually closing the distance.
‘What are you thinking? If you keep doing that, you’ll quickly run out of space.’
Eventually, Rakan reached a close distance, and its fist landed a powerful blow to Noh Ha-yoon’s abdomen.
Thud─!
“Kree?!”
But Noh Ha-yoon’s body had transformed into something ice-like and, suddenly, she moved to the opposite side, showing off a fresh smile.
“Oh ho ho ho! Is that all you’ve got?!”
“Ugh!!”
Rakan shook its head violently, seemingly confused about what had just occurred.
Enraged, it charged at Noh Ha-yoon again, but this time, Noh Ha-yoon transformed into ice again and blocked the attack, then swiftly relocated to the opposite side.
‘Wow… using ice to create both clones and illusions simultaneously? She had this planned out since first using the skill.’
Since I was focused, I could at least make sense of the flow, but to others, it probably looked like Noh Ha-yoon had just moved suddenly.
As time passed, the ice clones distorted, their mouths opening slightly and creating heavy resonances, and Rakan, sensing the unusual atmosphere, charged at Noh Ha-yoon once more.
Thud—! Bang! Bang!
However, Rakan’s attacks repeatedly struck the ice form of Noh Ha-yoon, each resulting in nothing more.
After a few more exchanges, when the number of ice clones doubled, the overlapping resonances echoed chaotically from the ice in front—disturbing Rakan at the center.
“Kkeh… Ugh…”
A sticky blood began to pour from Rakan’s ears, its movements slowly becoming sluggish until, ultimately, it collapsed and started rolling on the ground.
Considering how it usually tolerated ordinary pain, this must’ve been extraordinary suffering to make it act like that.
“Hah—hah—this is the magic called [Icicle Symphony]. You little pup! Haha!”
Noh Ha-yoon seemed very satisfied with her newly showcased magic, her eyes sparkling as she raised her hand towards us.
“Ooh… Amazing, impressive! Is this some kind of family secret? Defeating Rakan…”
“Whatever it is, Miss Ha-yoon really is a genius.”
“I can’t even begin to understand how she structured the flow of magic.”
A unique magic that created multiple ice clones and used the sounds they emitted to trap and ultimately overpower the enemy. Hiding behind the scattered ice fragments was also impressive.
‘Is it almost like a finishing move? But the conditions are a bit strict.’
That magic required first taking an opponent’s attack.
The key would be to imbue the ice clones with vibrations matching the attacker’s magic wave.
‘For enemies like me who have good sensitivity, it might not work well. Plus, it won’t have much effect on hunters focused on ranged attacks.’
But against most other enemies, it should have a significant impact; thus, it was a very valuable ability based on the opponent.
“Ugh… I need to take a break. Wake me up when it’s my turn—”
Mumbling that, Ha-yoon collapsed onto the ground, quickly falling asleep.
‘Is once her limit? She seemed pretty confident, though maybe she has other traps up her sleeve.’
I instructed Lizardman 1 to bring Ha-yoon over, and I focused on the third turn.
“Please take it easy. You know I’m the weakest, right?”
Starting with a flair for the dramatic, Bae Joo-ah fixed her glasses just as the duel began.
As soon as it started, she unleashed every spell she could use.
Though Rakan had been healed by Yeon-hee’s magic, his fatigue from the two prior battles made his reactions slightly slow, giving Joo-ah the upper hand.
First, she cornered Rakan with a rock barrier.
Bang! Bang!
Each time it smashed through the annoying rocks, she added more barriers, which was also quite impressive.
Continuing to create barriers, she pressed Rakan relentlessly, surrounding it completely from all sides.
‘Oooh… if she continues to pile on like that, and uses Rock Sphere to keep hitting it?’
However, after pressing Rakan for over five minutes, Joo-ah seemed unable to cast any more spells.
“I-I can’t… use any attack spells…!”
She wanted to use her recently manifested [Boulder Slam] or [Rock Sphere] on the trapped Rakan, but all Joo-ah could do was keep it contained.
The anxiety that if she attempted anything else, Rakan would break free and tear her apart held her back.
“Ugh─ W-wait!”
In the end, Joo-ah threw up and collapsed on the ground.
The time she managed to keep Rakan trapped was an impressive nine minutes.
It might seem like a mere nine minutes, but it was monumental to prevent someone significantly stronger from doing anything for that long.
‘She’s definitely a character with lots of tactical advantages. But it’ll be tough for her to handle on her own.’
As Joo-ah trembled, expelling the contents of her stomach, Lizardman 1, even without orders, carefully picked her up and brought her to me.
“Clap, clap…”
“I know I’m pushing it too—ugh—”
Now, it seemed she could read my intentions, and she waved her hands as if to tell me to stop nagging her.
Joo-ah, who had fallen into a state of mana exhaustion, likely needed time to recover.
“But it was helpful. How much time do we have left until the contest with Ilseom?”
“If it exceeds 15 minutes, it’s a draw.”
“Hehe… so it at least means we can draw.”
“You barely managed to survive ten minutes.”
“This is my first time using magic this way; I’m not efficient yet. Next time, I think I’ll be able to control it better.”
“You’ll be useless over there too, right?”
“I don’t care, something will work out.”
Joo-ah and Ha-yoon lay side by side, debating how to improve.
‘Well, they’ll grow through these experiences.’
“Umm… do I really have to go out?”
Ham Eun-young approached, asking if she really needed to participate.
‘Still, she should try. Experience is experience.’
“Yes… I will control Rakan well, so how about you give it a shot for some practice?”
Eventually, Ham Eun-young timidly stepped forward, though she was completely out of her element in these one-on-one duels.
“I-I’ll try… heehee… hic!”
Everyone looked at Eun-young anxiously as she suddenly started hiccupping.
‘What’s her goal in being a hunter?’
She definitely seemed to enjoy showcasing her abilities in the dungeon, but that was only because she was with a stable party.
Surely, she must’ve faced numerous difficulties before; still, she likely had reasons to keep pushing forward.
‘Whether it’s for her grandmother or that cat, I hope she has something she’s striving for.’
Joo-ah, staring at Eun-young, spoke up.
“She’s a perfect support type, but what could she possibly do? That wolf is pretty much amped up because of me, so it could be dangerous.”
As Joo-ah pointed out, Rakan was far more excited now than in their previous training session.
Even though Yeon-hee was infusing it with magic to calm it down, it wasn’t settling easily.
‘If it comes to it, I’ll have to step in.’
The moment Eun-young positioned herself, Rakan proclaimed its intention to attack, and having been confined behind the rock barrier for some time, its movements were extremely aggressive.
Kraaaah!
It opened its jaws wide and aimed for Ham Eun-young’s left arm.
“Kyaah—no!”
Ham Eun-young squeezed her eyes tightly shut and screamed.
‘She’s just closing her eyes… she needs to think about dodging, even if she has to throw her body.’
I sensed the surge of energy surrounding her right as Rakan swung its fist, and I had to stop.
“Oh, oh no!”
“Danger—”
Just as Rakan’s fist descended toward Eun-young’s arm, a massive shockwave erupted from her shoulder, sending Rakan flying far away.
“─?!”
Kwaaaaah──!
Soaring high into the sky, Rakan continued to ascend until it was nothing more than a dot, and the cat that had been perched on Eun-young’s shoulder released successive shockwaves of magic towards Rakan.
(How dare you…!)
Zhaaaang─ zhaaaang─!
Hit repeatedly by the shockwaves, Rakan momentarily lost consciousness in mid-air, falling dozens of meters straight down, its thick neck bending at a grotesque angle upon impact.
Thud-!
“Kreeeeek…!”
“Oh my! Rakan! Are you okay?”
‘It survived. Why isn’t it dead…?’
Most monsters would have perished on the spot, but Rakan’s tenacity reminded me of a cockroach.
“Ugh… Kuhuh!”
Despite receiving such a tremendous blow, Rakan shook its head from side to side and got back on its feet.
Wha-woosh— whump—
“Ugh… are you seriously re-aligning your neck with your hand?”
“Wow— it didn’t even bend 90 degrees!”
Rakan, performing a chilling display of forcibly correcting its neck, took a few steps before collapsing to the ground and summoning was released.
‘It just had to fall like that… but it still has its pride.’
With Rakan gone, our attention shifted naturally to the cat resting on Eun-young’s shoulder, who was grooming its whiskers as if nothing had happened.
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