Rain and the Fox (6)

In a very narrow corner of the battlefield, both blue and red rain fell. It resulted from the collision of two terrible energies, one of explosive cold and one of destructive flame. Tsukuyo finally laughed as she was hit by the rainwater that had lost all its power.

“This dimensional quest is a great success. I feel a bit bad for Anvil, but he is also a pleasure.”

-The administrator disagrees with this fox.

The ticking voice seemed to ring directly in her ear. Tsukuyo smiled cheerfully at it.

“Are you going to discuss the value of life sacrificed here? That’s a joke, right?”

-I’ve no intention of remembering every single life that blooms and dies of the hundreds of billions a day. The administrator wanted to discuss his delicate heart that would’ve been hurt by this incident.

“Ah, of course.”

Tsukuyo spread the iron fan and swung it, blowing away the rain, trying to get her body wet. It fell over her sharp node and slid past her greedy lips. The water droplets flowed along her neckline and chin, then was swept away by the wind created by the fan and evaporated from the air.

“Oops, any debt is a little bit bad… it is a decision of love between Anvil and me.”

-Fox!

“Noisy too. Are you asking me for an answer?”

-The price of indiscriminately swearing at the administrator is quite high.

“Tsu, stupid.”

She stroked the slightly damaged fan with sorrowful eyes.

“Anvil is a strong person. At first, I wondered whether stirring up his essence had undermined him, but now I can be sure. Rather, because he was reborn into a new shape, he could acquire all the qualifications and support the world… Ah, Anvil, my Anvil…”

-I don’t intend to fit into that world. Fox, the dimensional quest has been completed, so make sure to go back to the dark and damp world that fits your heart.

“Ha.”

Tsukuyo laughed at the administrator’s message.

“It’s not over yet. Dimensional quests are finished until you get the Magi out of this zone, as the power of mankind still cannot handle those demons.”

-But as much as he can…

“Anvil will be busy refining my fan. Didn’t he make that promise himself? Anvil is so kind…”

-Mad fox.

The administrator stopped sending messages as if realizing the conversation was pointless. Under the silence that arrived again, Tsukuyo smiled while looking at the blade of the fragmented lava greatsword where she left.

“I’m glad I have a gift for Anvil. If possible, I wanted to make her kneel myself… Anyway, I defeated her.”

Picking up the blade and cradling it in her arms, she recalled what had happened a while ago. It was quite a pleasant variable. Whether Anvil was interested or not, that girl dared to intervene in the battle. What was even more surprising was that she survived despite such a cute charge.

‘It was the power of Anvil.’

That girl should’ve been destroyed in the aftermath of the shock. The dazzling light that had surrounded the two beings should have killed her had it not been for the power she received from Anvil. Surprisingly, that girl had acquired part of her qualifications at that moment and achieved her goal. By breaking through the core of the magical storm, she saved the superhumans who were close by.

‘That child… Maybe she will join the Hero Universe. This is a world where Anvil’s hand has been directly involved, so there are more candidates.’

Had it been left as it was, she would’ve been torn apart by ‘her’ sword, but instead, Tsukuyo used that gap to attack her without hesitation. She never meant to rescue that girl. It wasn’t even to escape his anger. It was just because, at that moment, she saw her chance. The blow convinced her of her defeat, and she withdrew, leaving behind a fragment that couldn’t be recovered due to her quick retreat. What Tsukuyo picked up was that fragment.

“Now, then the barrier.”

Temporary barriers were placed around the land that was deeply colored with magic. Of course, there were still many monsters left, but she didn’t want to deal with them. That’s what the humans had to deal with, and in the first place, ‘Eunah’ used her power already to decrease their numbers significantly.

“Because that child is also really temperamental.”

Still in the middle of the battlefield, Tsukuyo sighed as she glared at the sight of Eunah wielding her magical power.

“That’s why she’s still far, far away.”

***

There were two things that Zeus was mistaken about. The first was the idea that they had an equal business relationship with Jormungand. Jormungand only thought they were doing an interesting experiment, looked into it a little, and decided to throw them a small fragment of power. They had no intention of dealing with them regularly or protecting them.

The second is that they would be able to easily deal with the superhumans on Earth with their own strength. Of course, magi was a terrifying power that could produce a more destructive power than magic, but there were many abilities on Earth that had the upper hand. And the representative of them was Kang Shin-hyuk.

“What is this…? What happened?”

Jinseok Lee muttered blankly, forgetting himself for a moment. Kang Shin-hyuk replied briefly as he looked around.

“I shot a bullet that would chase their energy.”

Just a while ago, when he drank that Transcendent potion meaninglessly, the secret bullet he had made was a powerful weapon that would convert energy into light and use Phoibos’s power to chase evil. It was a bullet of light that would cleanly burn the soul of all evil energy as long as it persisted. Had it not been possible to defeat the last monster with the thunder dragon, this bullet was his back-up plan. However, since he hadn’t ended it then, he was able to use it on Zeus.

‘I think it’s a bit wasteful to use on these guys.’

-They had the means to move through space in collaboration with Jormungand. It’s a big profit to get them all before they could run away.

The administrator was right. The gate around them was begging to collapse as its core had been lost.

“They’re all dead, but I have to be sure, so collect their bodies.”

Kang Shin-hyuk’s calm voice could be heard by all the mercenaries who were trembling near him.

“Oh, I see!”

“Move right now! Heal the wounded!”

“Collect the evidence that Zeus has conspired with Jormungand!”

“Now they are at an end!”

In the process of resisting Zeus, Jinseok Lee and the others had been forced to show their abilities, and the surviving members of the Gunners naturally moved around them. Although they had suffered terrible damage from Zeus, once their wounds healed, they would soar higher with those three promising talents.

-That is also done, member.

Once the corpses were all collected and dragged out of the gate, the administrator sent such a message. Kang Shin-hyuk confirmed the bodies of Kang-yul Lee and Yoo Jun-man, then tore off their armor.

“Is Tsukuyo safe?”

-All are fine.”

“All?”

-Yes, everything is fine.

There was no hesitation in the message. Kang Shin-hyuk remembered the sword he had seen briefly before being teleported away, and he was filled with a desire to ask the administrator, but eventually, he pushed it down. It’s not like he cared about Tsukuyo.

“Tsukuyo tricked me.”

-That’s right. She’s a very disgusting fox. It would be best not to see each other again.

“But without her, everything would’ve been a mess. I know she made the best choice.”

-No! No! Absolutely not! Administrator guarantee!

“I have to pay her appropriately. Since I have a girlfriend, I can’t do anything intense… With Claire’s permission, a hug should be okay.”

-Hugging…?! How about no! 1,000,000HP bonus!

“Well, don’t bet on it.”

However, he was a little afraid that Tsukuyo would be too happy about it.

“Huh…?”

Something cold tapped his forehead. Looking up, he saw raindrops falling down. Extremely harmless water droplets full of vitality that seemed to restore the body. The raindrops were bringing life back to the base camp.

“The sky is clear, so this’ll be considered a fox rain.”

Yes, the sky was clear. Until a while ago, it was covered with dark magic and monsters, turning it black. It was a little ridiculous that it was clear now. Somehow, as it seemed that the fuss was over, Kang Shin-hyuk had a strange feeling.

‘The conquest of Africa was too early.’

-But this countercurrent consumed the energy of Africa considerably. It became what the fox wanted.

‘Okay. Humanity has earned probation.’

Would humans know that there was someone who fought against the entity of Jormungand? No, it would be better if they didn’t.

“It turns out, administrator, that there is a saying that a fox will marry when it rains with a clear sky.”

-No, love, love, love, love, love, love!

Someday, everyone would know. Until then, it would be okay to be fooled by this clear sky for a while.

That was how the short but long expedition to Africa ended.