Seo Yakrin only circled high above, drawing wide arcs, making no move to attack. Watching the enormous right pupil—bigger than Yohan’s head—shift its gaze, Yohan realized she was wary of Hyunmook. Yet her other left eye rolled, fixed obsessively on Yoon Seungryong.
“Hey! Old hag! Co here! Let’s fight fair and square—four against one!”
Seungryong hurled the taunt, and though it sounded cheap, the situation was anything but. The aura radiating from Seo Yakrin was overwhelmingly threatening. Her mobility as a flying enemy covered a vast range that dwarfed their own. Seungryong knew this, so he scread louder, dragging her attention.
“Oh! What’s this? Scared? You’re scared, huh? Acting tough all the ti, and this is all Seo Yakrin amounts to? Got a lot weaker since last ti, didn’t you?”
Even in her deeply contaminated state, she understood him. Enraged, she finally tightened her circling arc, stretching her long neck toward Seungryong and glaring. Just as Joo Hoyoung, under Hyunmook’s scolding, had stubbornly tried to protect his obsession, Seo Yakrin feared Hyunmook but could not shake her obsession with Seungryong.
She flapped her wings from the sky’s heights, lowering altitude—and at that instant, Hyunmook, who had been staring at her in silence, unleashed lightning.
Crash! Thunder exploded as searing black lightning burst from Hyunmook’s body, lashing her wings and fra. Enormous feathers scattered into the reed sea. Wounded yet still flying, Seo Yakrin shrieked in pain. From the reed sea below, countless hidden birds erupted upward, a cloud of bones and hide swirling around her like a black storm.
The lightning hamred down, striking not only her but the swarming birds. Charred carcasses fell in droves. A faint red gleam flickered in Hyunmook’s pupils, and his strikes grew fiercer. Bolts slipped through the flocks, cracking into her wounded, twisted wing again and again.
Aaaaagh! The monstrous bird scread.
As her altitude dropped further, Hoyoung, who had been holding his bow taut all this ti, let fly. The ice arrow cut through the reeds and pierced the weakened wing.
Even as Yohan gaped at the incredible shot, more arrows followed in rapid succession. After taking two more, Seo Yakrin veered, trying to dodge. Her right eye glared toward the attack’s source, only to flip white with pain—the result of Hyunmook’s lightning tearing into her wing.
The long, sharp ice arrow that skewered her wing protruded like a lightning rod. The swarming bone-birds could only shield her so much. By the ti she tried to flee, it was too late. With one wing ruined, she could no longer fly.
With a final shriek, the colossal bird crashed into the reed sea, snapping stalks like straw before slamming into the sodden ground with a resounding thud.
“She finally fell!”
Seungryong jumped down eagerly from the ice pillar. Hyunmook dropped from the reed bundle, checking Yohan’s safety first. At that mont, a chilling killing intent swept over them. Hoyoung hastily braced thick reeds to form an ice wall, and not a mont too soon—waves rippled from where Seo Yakrin had landed.
The Sunrise Team’s third damage dealer—Seo Yakrin. Her main ability: telekinesis.
The attack surged like a tidal wave. From her core, golden shockwaves blasted outward, crushing reeds flat for ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) kiloters, leaving behind a vast open clearing beneath the crimson sky. The force cracked Hoyoung’s wall, hard as stone. Pulling his hand back, Hoyoung whistled.
“Boss fight, phase two?”
At his words, Seo Yakrin raised her head from the ground. Grrrrk... Her breath rumbled with fury as her absurdly long neck stretched forward, crimson-shot eyes glaring. Terrified, Yohan swallowed audibly.
“Scatter!”
At Hyunmook’s sharp command, they bolted in all directions. As planned, Yohan and Hoyoung dove into the reeds, while Hyunmook and Seungryong sprinted into the open to draw her attention. Sparks crackled around Hyunmook as he charged, but Yakrin’s gaze swung instantly to Seungryong. With pounding steps, she lunged.
“Goddammit! He’s the one who hit you—why the hell are you after ?!”
Fleeing and cursing, Seungryong unleashed his toxic miasma. Yellow fus rolled thick along the ground, suffocating. Even in madness, Yakrin knew how deadly Seungryong’s poison was—she hesitated. Seungryong stoked her rage further.
Rotten, stinking clumps of sludge materialized midair and splattered across her face. They caused little real harm but were pure humiliation. Her eyes bulged in fury, and she plunged into the choking yellow haze.
Poison ate into her feathers, but blinded by rage she slashed wildly, wings beating to scatter the mist. As the fog billowed upward, Hyunmook struck—not at her, but at the thickest patch of fus.
BOOOOOM!
The blast ripped the sky apart. The poisonous fog ignited, and blazing fire engulfed Seo Yakrin, consuming her whole.
Aaaaaaaargh!
Panicked, she flapped, trying to rise, only to crash again as dozens of Hoyoung’s arrows pierced her wings. He had prepared them beforehand, tipped with Seungryong’s paralytic venom.
The mangled giant thrashed harder, raging at everything indiscriminately. In her blind frenzy, she beca easier prey for Hyunmook and Seungryong.
Thud! Slam! Slash! Like butchers, the two steadily hacked away at her enormous fra. The sound of tearing flesh and snapping sinew made Yohan shudder. When she was utterly restrained, Yohan would purify her, restoring her—such was the plan.
But then, at the peak of her fury, Seo Yakrin began to speak clearly.
Get out of my sight! Die! I’ll snap your neck and drive your head into the dirt! I’ll crush and tear you to PIECES!
Her shrieks were filled with anguish and rage. At first Yohan thought she was cursing Seungryong. But no—the words were ant for Hyunmook.
Why did you save ?!
Dark tears, like blood, stread from her bulging eyes as she howled, voice torn with hatred.
Why did you let live in this hell?!
The man who had never once given up on protecting his teammates in the Abyss listened in silence, his face unreadable. He accepted her twisted fury as if long accustod to it, and Yohan’s heart ached at the sight.
Unable to harm Hyunmook under the crushing weight of fear and power, Yakrin’s fury twisted once more. Whipping her long neck, she bit into herself savagely. Feathers flew, flesh tore, blood sprayed. Yohan squeezed his eyes shut.
He wanted desperately to purify her—so that both Hyunmook and Yakrin could be freed from their tornt. As her savage roars weakened, Yohan suddenly felt a chill. He snapped his head up.
“Hoyoung, don’t you... feel sothing’s wrong?”
“What do you an?”
Hoyoung, still aiming at Yakrin, looked puzzled. Yohan scanned their surroundings again, shivers crawling his spine.
“It feels like... Bumram is coming.”
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