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Chapter 261: Peace

“Set off the firecracker lures! 3, 2, 1!”

Firecrackers shot up from the defensive barrier. Mana-infused light flashed with loud cracks, but the monster only glanced at them without turning away. An SS-rank monster, the Venomous Blue Snake. With its powerful poison, this creature posed a greater threat to the city than any other. If its poison seeped into the ground near a shelter, it would be nearly impossible to block, even with the protective barrier in place. The shelters could defend against poison only up to A-rank at best.

Finally, Sollemnis’ S-rank Guards stood firm against the monster. The snake’s green eyes widened, and its long tongue flicked out. The confrontation was short-lived.

In an instant, the snake lunged forward, smashing through the road. Venom sprayed out, causing the Guards to scatter like a flock of startled birds, dodging its attack. Skill-charged blows rained down on the monster, but none were fatal. Still, they were enough to irritate it.

- Sssst!

Among the Guards, the snake’s gaze locked onto a man who had torn off several of its scales. Gritting his teeth, Sollemnis’ S-rank Guard began sprinting toward the city’s outskirts.

“I’ve got its attention! Cover me!”

Support skills enveloped the fleeing Guard. Gunfire slowed the snake’s advance, followed by the detonation of bombs. The monster continued to weave through the destruction, swiftly heading toward its target.

Hunting SS-rank monsters was challenging now without Sigma. While not impossible, their best strategy—luring them away from the city—demanded significant manpower and resources.

With a resounding crash, the snake twisted upward, its powerful body coiling back before leaping forward like a spring.

- Kirr.

It soared through the air like an arrow, leaping over the Guard’s head and blocking his escape. Before the Guard could change direction, the snake coiled around him like a wall.

“Damn!”

Encircled by its sturdy scales, with a venomous head poised above, escape seemed impossible. The S-rank Guard activated his futile defense skills, bracing for the end when—

- Kiiik!

The monster let out a piercing shriek. Then came the sickening sound of flesh and bone being crushed. The S-rank Guard lifted his head. In his vision, he saw a red-furred monster with the snake’s head firmly in its jaws.

“…Wh-What?”

The beast, adorned with a golden horn and a flowing mane, crushed the snake’s neck beneath its forepaw, releasing a low growl. Venom splattered in all directions, but it was engulfed by the flames encircling the new monster, unable to touch a single hair on its body.

Soon, the snake’s thrashing ceased. In the ensuing silence, the scarlet monster gazed down at the S-rank Guard. Though fire was known to be stronger than poison, it had dispatched an SS-rank monster in the blink of an eye. Of course, it was also an SS-rank monster.

Should he run away? No, could he run away? As the Guard hesitated, the creature emitted a soft krrng.

“…Huh.”

In an instant, its massive form shrank. Triangular ears perked up, and a thick tail wagged gently. The S-rank Guard blinked at the creature, now the size of a medium dog. Unconsciously, the thought ‘it looks cute’ crossed his mind.

- Kkiang.

No, it was definitely cute. The monster padded up to the Guard and looked up at him with golden eyes, the tip of its nose twitching slightly.

“Get away!”

As other Guards approached, weapons in hand, the man quickly raised his hands.

“Stop! It’s not hostile! There’s no need to provoke it!”

“What? It’s a monster!”

“Does that make any sense?”

Monsters typically displayed hostility toward humans. While tamed monsters were an exception, those ranked B and above were virtually impossible to tame. Yet here was an SS-rank monster that didn’t attack people?

“But look at it, it’s calm, see?”

The monster was merely sniffing around, seemingly searching for something, with no intention of attacking. The other Guards, still cautious, watched the creature with intrigue.

“Well… it’s lightening our load.”

“Right? It took down the monster we barely managed to lure away in no time.”

“If Sigma were here, he would have dealt with it just as quickly.”

A heavy silence fell momentarily. Amidst the subdued atmosphere, one Guard spoke up.

“This monster has golden eyes too.”

“…Oh, it does.”

Under the familiar gaze, the expressions of the Sollemnis Guards grew even more troubled. Just then, the creature leaped over the fallen snake’s body. It moved toward the Sollemnis Defense Agency.

“Shouldn’t we stop it?”

“There’s no way to stop it, though…”

Worrying over their next move, the Guards followed the creature. Awaiting them at the Defense Agency were other Guards who had heard the news. They too looked taken aback by the sight of the small, adorable monster. Unbothered, the creature continued forward. With light steps, as if on a casual stroll, it entered the Defense Agency with an ease that suggested it had belonged there for ages.

“What the hell is up with that monster?”

“Is it alright to leave it like this…?”

In a state of indecision, the Guards trailed behind the creature without hastily intervening. The monster ventured deeper into the building, wandering down a corridor before entering a room. After a brief exploration, it emerged and made its way to the elevator leading to the Mana Mall. It jumped up and pressed the button, but operating it without a keycard was impossible.

- Kkeuang.

The creature looked back at the Sollemnis Guards, urging them with a cry. As if entranced, a Guard opened the elevator door, and the monster, descending to the Mana Hall, circled around it once before returning. After stopping by the armory, the creature finally arrived at Sigma’s office.

- Keuheung.

With a forepaw touching Han Yoojin’s belongings still resting on the desk, the monster shook its head slightly and turned away. No Guards dared to stop it now. Though unspoken, they all shared the same thoughts.

With its thick tail wagging, the creature headed for the rooftop. The Guards, realizing the monster’s destination, wore melancholy expressions. Once it reached the rooftop, the creature moved forward without hesitation. Sensing it was about to leave, the Guards exchanged glances. Then, one of them spoke up.

“Goodbye!”

The creature tilted its head, looking back at them. In unison, the other Guards offered their farewells.

“Thank you for everything!”

“Don’t worry about the rest! Even if we’re lacking, we’ll do our best!”

“Please take care!”

Fwip, small wings sprouted from the monster’s back. Feathered wings like red half-moons flapped, and it quickly took off. As it drifted away in a flash without a single lingering attachment, the Sollemnis Guards watched absently without turning their eyes away.

It might just have been an unusual monster. That was probably more likely. But it felt like somewhere inside, part of them was at peace now.

They’d exchanged their final farewells. Even just that much was enough.

“Let’s go clean up. We need to neutralize the poison.”

“Thanks to him, it’ll be quiet for a while.”

“Still, don’t get careless. We should prepare for next time.”

Sollemnis’ Guards left the rooftop with lightened steps.

The Horned Flame Lion—strictly speaking, he was a slightly different species, but still—the Horned Flame Lion Peace swiftly cut through the sky. The spot Peace had been dropped in was far south of here. Having entered the body of a flame-attribute monster there, he’d wandered for a few days, hunting down all the monsters that he saw.

Then he finally stumbled across traces of Han Yoojin, but he’d already left this place. Studying the situation with his tracking skill, Peace immediately followed his dad’s trail. The place where the Horned Flame Lion landed after a long flight was none other than the devastated Akates Defense Agency.

“Uaagh! A monster!”

A manager who was inspecting the machinery around the Mana Hall screamed in fright when they saw Peace. Guards came running in an instant saw the small animal and scratched the back of their heads.

“…Is this really a monster?”

“Isn’t this a fox? Like the ones that died out in the past.”

“Its snout is short, isn’t it?”

The S-rank and lower Guards couldn’t identify the juvenile-transformed SS-rank monster with his power hidden. Peace ignored their talking and roamed slowly around the Mana Hall. His tracking skill conveyed faintly what had happened here.

- Keuhang!

Peace barked discontentedly. The Guards just stared blankly at Peace, who was wandering around without showing any sign of attacking people, wondering if he really was a fox.

“That’s not a fox.”

“Gnosi-nim, is it alright for you to be up already?”

The A-rank Guard Gnosi waved a hand, saying he was fine.

“I don’t know what that is, but it’s completely different from the foxes I’ve seen.”

“So you’ve seen foxes, then.”

“When I was young, yes.”

Now finding wild animals other than birds or small animals that hid underground was difficult. Vitera approached Gnosi’s side as he watched the Mana Hall. Gnosi glanced over at her.

“You said Alpha left with Han Yoojin-ssi?”

“Yes. We wanted him to stay, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving Han Yoojin-ssi’s side.”

Gnosi smoothed down his right arm. After a brief silence, he opened his mouth.

“Do you really think- it wasn’t brainwashing or anything of the sort?”

“I don’t think anything like that would even work on the Alpha I saw. Above all, Han Yoojin-ssi genuinely cares very much about Alpha. It’s easy to tell by looking at them even just for a moment how much they cherish each other.”

Gnosi fell silent once more. He’d already heard similar things from others several times. He exhaled a long sigh.

Apparently Han Yoojin, who had a high-level stealth skill, had heard rumors about the treatment of Akates Guards and infiltrated Akates City a year ago to confirm the facts. At that time, he came across Alpha, who his stealth skill didn’t work against, and as they secretly grew close, he was caught trying to get Alpha out. Akates and Alpha’s handlers tried to take advantage of Han Yoojin, and to break free, Han Yoojin faked his death and escaped.

After that, Alpha went on a rampage, and Han Yoojin went to Sollemnis to seek Sigma’s cooperation, then returned to Akates and did what he did here—that was Han Yoojin’s excuse and explanation. It wasn’t without its doubtful points, but it was a plausible story.

“…It isn’t something I can interfere with regardless.”

He’d had to bear with it for a long time because he hadn’t had the strength. But now, when a C-rank Guard had won back Alpha’s freedom for him, that was just an excuse created by his own weakness. He wished he hadn’t taken such a long, roundabout path, even if it had risked his life.

“Why are you making that face? It wouldn’t have been easy for Han Yoojin-ssi to rescue Alpha without us. It definitely can’t be said that what we spent so long building up didn’t help. Someday we would’ve succeeded on our own, I’m certain of it.”

This had just made things a little faster. But Gnosi’s expression was still somber. It was right then.

- Krr.

The little animal that was wandering around harmlessly suddenly bared its teeth ferociously. Flames rose over its scarlet fur.

“A monster!”

“Careful!”

Just as they thought that still, because it was so small, its rank must be low, the Horned Flame Lion kicked off the ground. The one it lunged toward so fast that it couldn’t be tracked with the eye was none other than Gnosi.

“Gnosi!”

“Ghg, move!”

It was a monster ranked at least S, perhaps higher. Peace’s forepaws pressed down on the chest of Gnosi, who’d fallen to the ground, forced down by the terrifying force of his little body. Flames burned through his clothes and turned his skin red.

- Kyaang!

Looking down frostily at the man he’d suppressed, Peace raised one forepaw. He sensed vaguely that while this human had hurt Han Yoojin, not only Han Yoojin but even Han Yoohyun hadn’t killed this man. So, presuming there was some reason for that, Peace swung his forepaw lightly.

With a smack, a long scratch was left on Gnosi’s cheek. Gnosi’s eyes widened. Crimson flames heated the blood like they were digging inside.

Peace barked a rebuke one more time, then spread his wings. Gnosi’s eyes lifted, blankly watching the small flame-cloaked monster flying away. A potion splashed over his head.

“Are you alright?”

Gnosi raised a hand and smoothed it over the cut on his cheek. Vitera helped him stand, spraying the potion over the burns on his body as well.

“That monster just now, I think it was about SS-rank, but for some reason it just left. Although that’s a relief.”

“…Right.”

Amidst the buzz of people, the duo watched the monster, which had already become a small dot.

“Will he come back someday?”

“Excuse me? Ah, Alpha? Umm, this is still his birthplace. He won’t have many good memories, but maybe he’ll come once or so. This skill might have a recovery-suppressing effect, there’s burn scars left. Let’s go to the healers.”

“No, it’s alright.”

Burn scars… that wasn’t bad. Even though they were from a different flame.

“We’ll have to keep busy if we’re to rebuild by then. We should do what we can.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!”

Saying that it was fortunate the Mana Hall had calmed down too, Vitera smiled.

Peace’s wings beat without rest. As he cut through the sky swiftly with flames fluttering around him from the added dashing skill, strangely enough, no monsters attacked him. The monsters that were supposed to be scattered around outside cities had almost entirely vanished. Thanks to that, he flew without stopping and made it to Lancea even before sunset.

“Look at that!”

One of Lancea’s Guards, preparing for the night, shouted and pointed to Peace.

“Isn’t that the monster that showed up at Sollemnis?”

“I think so.”

Lancea’s Guards, who’d just heard the news through inter-city correspondence, waved their arms over their heads.

“Come here, little guy!”

“They said you caught an SS-rank monster? We’ll be good to you, won’t you come to unni!”

“We don’t discriminate against monsters, even. If you’re looking for a job, you’re welcome!”

Peace circled slowly through the air as the Lancea Guards sweet-talked him. There was only a slight trace of Han Yoojin here. Peace gazed towards the distant north. He didn’t want to go to cold places or ones with lots of water, but he had to go.

At the sight of the little monster flapping his wings and heading north, the Lancea Guards couldn’t suppress their disappointment.

“It’s going north, too, huh.”

“Is Lambda-nim doing well?”

“If you happen to see her, say hello to her for us!”

“Lambda-nim, it didn’t come down, so we couldn’t grab it!”

With hands waving in farewell behind him, Peace flew off again. The air grew colder little by little and fluttering snowflakes brushed past his fur. He kept flying for however much longer, when finally, the northern city was reflected in his golden eyes.

- Kkyaang!

He wouldn’t be too late this time. Flapping his wings even more energetically, Peace entered the sky over Drosia City.