LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 114 - Appearance of the Monster
Chapter 114: Appearance of the Monster
“Did its appearance change…?”
“It’s not just the appearance that changed.”
As those words were spoken.
Riverine, who had been in shock, quickly began to look around after feeling something clutching her ankle.
Soon, she and Ria were both utterly horrified.
“This is…!”
“Bones, bones!”
“Rise, Skeletons. It’s time to work.”
In that moment, the advantageous situation of a 2-on-1 fight vanished instantly.
Around them, a bizarre spectacle unfolded as the ceaseless screams of people echoed, and whether on asphalt roads or brick blocks, skeletal soldiers—skeletons—slowly began to emerge.
The numbers of skeletons steadily rose, quickly turning the surroundings into a sea of white.
“First Archer Unit, forward.”
Clatter!
As Yulian commanded, the skeletal archers, who had quickly donned armor and equipment over their dry bones, stood in formation in front of the two.
Then, as if drawing in the very air itself, they pulled back the heavy bowstrings.
“Fire!”
Following the commander’s shout, they launched a barrage of white flashes that easily pierced through the decks of the incoming tanks.
However…
“Automaton…”
“…!”
“Activate auto-defense mode!”
Not to be outdone, Riverine immediately used the magic thread looped around her fingers to activate the Automaton.
Clank. Clank!
The Automaton, standing in front of the rain of white arrows, extended its forearm shields wide to protect the two of them.
“Did… did that just block it?”
“Sis, you’re amazing, huh?!”
“Haha, of course! …I’d love to say that confidently, but I don’t think I can keep blocking them forever.”
The relentless white arrow rain shook the ground with its fierce intensity.
She had managed to block the first barrage, but Riverine instinctively knew that it wasn’t something she could keep fending off indefinitely.
She hoped for a quick resolution.
“In that case… Cavalry Unit, forward.”
Then, as they saw the skeleton cavalry mounted on bone horses charging toward them,
“Little Monster, I’ll clear the way.”
“…!”
“So in the meantime, you strike at the enemy. Think you can handle it?”
“Of course I can!”
For the first time, Riverine and Ria joined forces.
***
“What is that…?”
“Is there no strong opponent?! I came here to duel!”
“…Is he nuts?”
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Korean Hunter Association building.
There, a man with a bold appearance, sporting a mix of blonde and green hair, was loudly shouting, eagerly waiting for a fight.
“I hope the strongest one comes out! I want to experience the skill of this era’s humans!”
“Hey, you there, kid!”
“The Association is busy right now! You can’t be causing trouble here!”
“Hm? Are you my first opponents?”
Two Hunters, unable to bear it any longer, came out of the building, trying to chase Han Yujin away.
However, the next moment, they were unconscious, collapsed on the ground before they could even realize what had happened.
“This isn’t enough! I want a truly strong opponent to come out!”
“?!”
“What did that guy… what did he just do?”
The faces of the other Hunters who were watching the scene outside began to pale.
“Who the heck is that guy?”
“He attacked Hunters, so we have to arrest him no matter what!”
“Gather all the Hunter forces inside the building immediately…!”
“Move aside.”
But before the situation could escalate.
“You’re in the way.”
“Huh?”
“Who…?”
A blond-haired boy calmly walked out of the building, passing through the panicked adults.
“Oh? Are you my next opponent?”
“I remember seeing your appearance in a report before.”
“…?”
“You, aren’t you the prince who inherited the Han family name?”
“!!”
Even though that event was supposed to occur exactly 18 years from now.
This person before him was casually mentioning Han Yujin’s future identity.
Looking at the boy in front of him, Han Yujin, the 16th child of Han Shin-woo, the Imperial Prince, smiled as if he found the situation even more intriguing.
“Ah, I see. You must be the other ‘brother’ Lady Ria mentioned.”
“…Just leave me out of the family tree. Unfortunately, I don’t particularly want to join your family.”
“Haha. Sorry, but that’s not something I can decide. We received two orders from Lady Ria.”
“Two orders…?”
The first was, of course, to kidnap the now-deceased First Empress, Lady Sophia.
And the second was to retrieve the true Imperial Prince, born before Lady Sophia’s death, back to the Empire.
“You’ll have to come with me, brother.”
“Stop calling me brother. I’ve been an only child since the day I was born.”
“Cold, aren’t you? Well, you’ll get to know us better once we start living together.”
“Don’t spout nonsense!”
Yujin laughed leisurely.
In response, Han Jae-won immediately drew the Holy Sword Arondight from his back and charged at him.
Seeing the incredible speed, Yujin, who had been relaxed, widened his eyes in surprise.
“Oh…! You’re quite strong!”
However, as if it still wasn’t enough, he grabbed Jae-won by the head and tried to slam him into the ground.
Whoosh, whoosh.
“?!”
“Did you think that was my top speed?”
When the figure that had been in front of him suddenly leaped behind him, Yujin’s expression quickly…
**Clang!**
“?!”
“Hmph.”
It seemed like he was taken aback, but that wasn’t the case.
Han Jae-won stared in disbelief at what had just unfolded before his eyes.
It was understandable. He had clearly aimed his strike directly at Yujin’s neck.
But the sound that rang out was the clean, resonant clang you’d expect when striking metal.
“Are you a swordsman?”
“What the hell is this…?!”
“If you are, you won’t be able to defeat me.”
Han Jae-won looked closely at Yujin’s neck, where his sword had struck.
There, his skin had transformed as sharp as a blade.
And with that, Jae-won suddenly realized the horrifying truth about this ability, which he had seen somewhere before.
“You… Could it be that your mother is—!”
“Yes. My mother is the Fifth Empress of the Empire and the head of the research department, Lee Hee-jeong.”
With a swift motion, Yujin’s entire arm transformed into a blade, and he flung Han Jae-won backward.
It was a monstrous, national-disaster-class being capable of turning its entire body into a blade.
And the one who had been the first to be hunted down by him upon arriving in the past—the humanoid monster, Lee Hee-jeong.
Who would have thought he’d encounter the child of such a creature again?
“But… this doesn’t make any sense!”
“What do you mean, it doesn’t make sense? What doesn’t?”
“I already killed Lee Hee-jeong in the past! That means you shouldn’t even exist!”
“Aha, time trouble, is it? Is that what you’re talking about?”
The universe where Han Shin-woo existed was finite.
Even though he had killed Lee Hee-jeong in the past, here he was, faced with her future child, still very much alive. Jae-won couldn’t comprehend it and shouted in disbelief.
“That issue was resolved by His Majesty.”
“…What?”
“His Majesty is omniscient and omnipotent. Even though I momentarily felt my existence fading, it quickly returned to normal.”
“What on earth…?”
This wasn’t some mythical ‘legend’—was he implying that a person who no longer existed in the past could still be made to exist in the future?
It was impossible.
It was like hearing the words of a divine messenger.
But, even in his confusion, there was something he knew he had to do right now.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“…?”
“If you’ve come back to life, I’ll just cut you down again.”
“Kuhuh, indeed.”
If he revived ten times, he would kill him a hundred times; if he revived a hundred times, he would kill him a thousand times.
It made no difference.
For now, the only goal was to defeat the enemy before him.
Resolving himself, Han Jae-won readied his stance once again.
“Even if it’s a Holy Sword, my body, crafted through Mother’s experiments, cannot be cut by any mere sword.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“…So you’re challenging me, the Empire’s strongest sword and shield?”
“The Empire’s strongest, huh… Then it’s all the more worth cutting you down!”
If he could defeat a prince who wielded the Empire’s most powerful weapon, it would prove that he was stronger than any prince of the Empire.
“Come on, brother!”
“I told you, stop calling me brother!”
**Clang!!**
In the next moment, sparks flew fiercely between Yujin’s blade and Jae-won’s sword as they collided.
***
“Cavalry, charge!”
The skeletal cavalry mounted on bone horses began their charge towards Ria and Riverine.
Each time their hooves struck the ground, they shattered the asphalt roads, creating a scene reminiscent of an advancing army.
“Automaton, attack mode!”
With a flourish of Riverine’s hands, the Automaton immediately transformed its entire body into a shape akin to a sharp spear.
This form, purely offensive with no defenses, was an overbalanced shape and also the Automaton’s ultimate form.
“Pierce through them!”
“?!”
Stretching its elongated arms forward, the Automaton began to spin rapidly.
A magical wind started swirling around it, and it relentlessly charged into the front lines of the cavalry, mowing them down, regardless of the damage it sustained to its own body.
**Boom!**
Of course, the recoil rendered the Automaton itself irreparably damaged and no longer controllable.
“Kyokushin Karate…”
“…!”
“Straight punch.”
Hiding behind the now-destroyed Automaton, Ria had approached right in front of Yulian.
Having just broken through the skeleton army, she seized this chance to unleash her strongest strike…
**Wham!**
Or so she thought.
“What?!”
“Hoo…”
“That stance…!”
“Correct. This is the Kyokushin Karate triple-straight stance.”
Riverine had devised this plan, assuming that the main body controlling the summoned familiars would be weak.
Ria had also believed that her straight punch would bring an end to the situation.
But Yulian, who blocked the punch in the exact same Kyokushin Karate stance, was unfazed.
“I’ve admired you ever since I was a child.”
“…!”
“I secretly watched you practice this stance with His Majesty in the garden at dawn, and I taught myself by observing you.”
Ria’s full-power punch had been blocked.
Realizing this, she quickly tried to retreat and prepare her next move.
“I’m sorry, Lady Ria.”
But Yulian didn’t allow her to create distance. She struck Ria’s nape with the side of her hand.
While the impact didn’t knock her out, it drained Ria’s strength, causing her to collapse on the spot.
“Ugh…! My body!”
“Hoo. I’m sorry, but Lady Ria, you’ll have to stay captured until all this is over.”
“Damn it!”
Riverine, who had tried to help, was soon surrounded by the skeleton soldiers holding swords.
Without the Automaton, she wasn’t much of a threat.
Judging so, Yulian planned to knock Ria unconscious, place her in a safe container, and keep her there until everything was resolved.
But at that moment.
**”Kraaaaaa—!!”**
“!!”
“This is…”
“No way?!”
A black lightning bolt surged from the middle of the road where the skeleton army was gathered.
Simultaneously, an entity emerged, clad in pitch-black armor, a humanoid monster far surpassing Yulian.
“Grrrrr…!”
“Tch! It seems the most troublesome one has awakened.”
“Graaaa!”
For the first time, a cold sweat dripped down Yulian’s forehead as she faced Han Shin-woo, who had transformed into a monster.