With each second ticking down, Kang Sihyun tightened his grip on his staff and took in the Muam guild members.
"There's no time to go into detail, so I'll keep this brief. Don't act alone too much, and try to cooperate with the Muam guild members. It'll be more effective than trying to synchronize with us on the fly."
"We'll handle it ourselves."
Those arrogant bastards.
His well-intentioned advice was met with a cold response, prompting Sihyun to take a deep breath, his grip on the staff tightening.
This was not the time for squabbling with Muam.
[4, 3, 2, 1... The rift opens. Be ready.]
Boom!
The calm voice of the command team's staff contrasted sharply with the loud boom that emanated from the rift. Twisted and distorted, the rift spit out a large foot, wrapped in red leather.
"Grrrr."
The emerging Irregular snarled viciously, flames flickering at the corners of its mouth. Soon, dozens of lizards poured out of the rift.
"Looks like we're hunting walking lizards today."
Hamin, wielding swords in both hands, spoke mockingly as the ferocious vertical pupils turned towards him.
"RAAAH!"
The creature roared, a sound so loud it made them instinctively flinch, though it wasn't enough to stop their movements.
"Done spitting?"
After blocking the lizard's spit with his sword, Hamin shook off the blade and asked. The Irregular, not understanding human speech, took a posture to roar again.
Thud.
Hamin leaped from his spot.
The time it took for him to ascend and then descend upon the creature was brief.
From the tip to the blade, the 70cm sword pierced through the lizard's tough skin. Hamin then exerted force with his arm, veins bulging on his backhand.
Slick.
With the sound of slicing, one lizard's head fell to the ground, stirring up dust as it rolled. Indifferently observing the pathetic sight, Hamin lifted his gaze. He was now facing the remaining pack of Irregulars.
Keening.
His sword hummed with energy, slicing through the silence. The death of their comrade prompted a unified roar from all the lizards.
"RAAAH!"
While a single lizard's cry wasn't particularly threatening, the combined roar of seventy was deafening. The pack of Irregulars began to move. Sihyun, grimacing, charged towards the lizards with the Class A kids.
Their footsteps resounded together.
It was the signal for the beginning of a genuine battle.
Slick, slick.
"GRRRR!"
"RAAAH!"
The slashing of swords was followed by the cries of the Irregulars. Sihyun, while striking the approaching lizards with his staff, managed his mana to protect the fearless kids diving into the heart of the pack.
A sturdy barrier protected the three boys from Class A. Hamin, encouraged, swung his dual swords even more ferociously, and Seowoo dealt with the ones Hamin missed.
Haru moved stealthily among them, targeting isolated lizards or those sneaking up behind Hamin and Seowoo. Their movements were efficient and lacked nothing. Sihyun, observing Hamin and Seowoo, who had improved form after battling the Caris, couldn't help but smile.
Despite knowing he shouldn't, he felt a sense of leisure.
Having faced danger-class and catastrophe-class enemies, battling a sub-danger class felt too easy by comparison.
He was, after all, not alone but with the elite of Redem.
The assurance provided by battling alongside those he had coordinated with for so long was unparalleled. Hamin, Seowoo, and Haru in the thick of the battlefield proved this.
Seowoo, bypassing an opponent Hamin missed, was quickly dealt with by Haru, who stabbed its weak spot with a dagger. Seowoo, aware that one of Hamin or Haru would handle it, didn't mind his missed target.
And Haru, unexpectedly stepped on by Hamin, didn't react with surprise or discomfort.
He just frowned and muttered to be careful next time.
After all, these were kids who had faced life and death together multiple times. A call by name was enough to understand each other's demands, and a glance was enough to move in sync. The repeated rift support and the times spent sparring together at Choaegang High School had made their movements as one.
The trust they held for each other was clear, and Sihyun smiled at that realization.
However, the Muam guild members joining them from the opposite side disrupted this harmony.
Or should it even be called joining? Their sudden appearance and disruptive actions felt more like an intrusion. They were, after all, going against the flow created by Sihyun and the Class A kids.
Swoosh!
"
Excuse me."
Hamin's intended target was abruptly killed by one who appeared out of nowhere and then vanished.
"Over here!"
Shouting loudly, they drew unnecessary attention.
"That one's mine!"
They were competing rather than cooperating. The battlefield felt like a squabble among street thugs rather than a coordinated effort.
As the Class A kids lost their balance due to this interference, the Muam guild members took advantage of the situation to recklessly engage. There was no semblance of cooperation; it was as if they were betting on who could kill more Irregulars. The reckless swings of their swords endangered their own allies.
"Seowoo!"
When Seowoo got caught in a debuff area cast by a Muam buffer, Sihyun raised his voice. Confused at his name being called out, Seowoo quickly assessed the situation and moved out of the debuff zone.
"Grrrrk!"
Hands rising from the ground restrained the lizards and dragged them down. Had Sihyun not warned him, Seowoo might have ended up like those lizards, causing Sihyun to break out in a cold sweat.
The intervention of the Muam guild members certainly sped up the hunt.
However, the loss of stability made it significantly more dangerous.
"KROOOAH!"
One of the restrained lizards opened its mouth and shot out flames. Sihyun quickly sprayed blue water to block it, watching as the rest followed suit and began their simultaneous flame attacks. He raised his staff once more.
The Muam guild members hesitated in front of the flames. Now was the chance.
Continuing the battle this way, with the Muam guild members rampaging, would benefit no one. Sihyun stored his words for them as the battle ended, gathering mana at his fingertips.
His heart pounded, the core spun, and blood circulated quickly, drawing in massive amounts of mana. He looked back at the Class A kids, catching their eye.
Understanding his intent, they followed Sihyun as he charged towards the lizards.
"Wait, now is not the...!"
Until now, they had acted recklessly, but it seemed they had at least a shred of conscience. Seeing him charge into the flames, they tried to stop him, eliciting a scoff from Sihyun who swung his staff.
A gem of radiant color chimed briefly before spewing out a massive amount of water. Sihyun directed it at will.
Water poured down like a waterfall, then converged into a single mass before transforming into a tidal wave that crashed over the lizard pack. The sheer volume was overwhelming, extinguishing any sparks of fire and halting the Irregulars' attacks. The Class A kids seized the moment of surprise.
Daggers plunged into eyes, ears, and throats; long swords sliced through flesh, and sword qi cleanly severed the bodies of the lizardmen.
It was a battle like a tempest. Even a brief distraction meant witnessing another lizard fall. Their cries for survival echoed for a while.
A hellish scene reserved for the Irregulars unfolded, not a conventional hell of fiery heat but one drenched in endlessly cold water. The Muam guild members watched as if their souls had departed their bodies.
As the tumultuous tide ebbed and all the kids sheathed their swords, more than thirty restrained lizards had been annihilated.
Initially facing over seventy Irregulars, twenty were dealt with on each side before the remaining thirty were dispatched in just three minutes by the four of them, without sustaining any major injuries.
In such a battle, receiving injuries would only indicate a lapse in concentration. Had they fought among themselves, they could have finished unscathed, but unfortunately, a faint scratch appeared on Hamin's face.
It was caused by the sword qi of a Muam guild member brushing past, not by a lizard, but by Hamin.
This sort of reckless swordplay affected not just Hamin but also Haru, Seowoo, and even Sihyun, who was supporting them from the back.
They narrowly avoided injuries, but the Muam guild members seemed unconcerned, preoccupied only with their own swings. To an observer, it might have seemed like they were fighting alongside the enemy due to their lack of care and caution.
Swoosh!
Hamin and the kids shook off the water from their swords. The lizard blood washed away by Sihyun's water meant there was no need to clean their blades anew.
Thud, thud, their footsteps pressed down on the bodies of the sub-danger class. Sihyun, impassively viewing over seventy corpses, lifted his gaze to the Muam guild members.
His hair, slightly damp from his powers, was pushed back as he locked eyes with them. The guild members, having silenced themselves, seemed almost comical as they struggled to find words.
Tsk.
To think they still had something to say after such a battle. Sihyun had thought them heartless, but it turned out Muam was quite forgiving. Had this been Redem, with Hahyuk present, such conduct in battle would have led to immediate dismissal or days locked in training.
As Sihyun shook the dripping water from his hair and stopped in front of the representative of the Muam guild members who were attempting to speak, his icy gaze swept over each of them. Even Bandal, whom he had trusted, seemed to have succumbed to Muam's brutish ways of fighting, disappointing Sihyun. Bandal closed his eyes tightly in response to Sihyun's disapproving look.
"You..."
"I acknowledge Muam guild's prowess," Sihyun interjected, cutting off the Muam guild member. Their faces twisted in response, but Sihyun maintained his composure. The three boys rallied to his side in support, glancing briefly at them to wash away his annoyance, Sihyun continued in a low tone.
"However, I cannot, even out of courtesy, say that you've cooperated well."
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