Chapter 4: Autumn (1)
Yu Ji-tae gazed at the sagging Red Dragon.
Its condition was far from good. Torn skin and exposed scales from the aftermath of Hyun-hyun, lacerations scattered across its body. The cuts on its forehead, cheeks, and neck were shallow, but the wound stretching from its chest to its shoulder was quite deep. Moreover, recovery was hindered by the opponent's mana pressing down on it.
A total defeat.
The Red Dragon would be considerably shocked.
Just like in previous rounds.
However, it had avoided a future in which it would lose its wings and arms.
One factor that would have hastened the apocalypse had disappeared.
"Who… are you?"
Javier, who had been silent with his mouth agape, frowned and slowly approached.
"I asked, who are you! What's your relationship with that monster girl?"
"…I suppose… a guardian?"
Ji-tae spoke with deliberate slowness.
"Guardian? Did you just say 'guardian'? Doesn't look like blood-related."
"Things happened that way. It's complicated, so I can't explain everything. How about just letting it slide?"
"This isn't something to let slide. That monster girl has gone too far."
The time-returner was not pleased with this situation.
By chance, this guy had broken the Red Dragon's pride and, ultimately, would become the target the Red Dragon aimed for.
So he couldn't be killed.
"This child won't appear here again. Is that still not enough?"
"This area falls under SAN's jurisdiction. As of now, in my role as SAN's investigator, I will arrest you, who claims to be her guardian, and the monster girl."
"You're as stubborn as a mule."
"Surrender. If you comply, you'll keep all your limbs intact."
He glanced at the sky for a moment.
What was about to happen would not please him.
At that instant, Ji-tae's body blurred. Javier tensed, gripping his sword. Just as he felt he might have lost sight of the man, a massive impact struck his chest.
His body was shoved uncontrollably.
Gritting his teeth, Javier lifted the Sword of Ra to counterattack.
Kang!
But the sword stopped midair.
'This…'
Javier couldn't believe his eyes.
The Sword of Ra, brimming with solar energy, a weapon capable of tearing through an S-class monster's carapace and shattering its skull, was now stopped in midair as if hitting an invisible barrier. Like pressing a wooden practice sword against a rock.
An invisible sword was caught in the man's hand.
When he swung the invisible sword, the Sword of Ra was deflected and flew from his hand.
A flurry of harsh kicks followed. Javier, kicked to the ground, tried to rise, but the man stomped on his chest.
Javier could not move an inch.
"…! What the hell…!"
Created with supreme strength and having fought countless rankers, Javier had never felt so powerless. Time had made him almost unbeatable, yet not once in all his past victories had he felt this helpless.
It was as if gravity had multiplied by tens of thousands. His heart pounded as though it had been bombarded.
Javier met the time-returner's gaze.
In an instant, his breath caught.
The blurred man's eyes sharpened into an unnerving clarity.
A gaze that stiffened the body on its own, like that of a beast.
The beast slowly spoke.
"Listen carefully."
Ji-tae tightened his grip on the empty air.
No hilt, no blade, yet he held a tangible cold weapon.
"Formless Sword (SS)"
It was a will to kill.
"Today is the worst day of your life."
The shapeless killing intent cut through the air like a blade, reaching Javier's eyes.
"You, while recklessly exercising investigative authority, happened to encounter an unknown monster."
And he began to slice at Javier's eyeballs.
"…Unable to react in time, you lost your eye…"
The murderous intent that slashed one eye now moved toward the other, smashing his nose along the way.
"…The monster escaped, leaving you unable to see or feel anything."
Finally, the other eye was ruined.
Yet despite the excruciating pain, the ranker did not speak.
He could say nothing.
"Understand?"
Fear sealed his lips.
***
Javier had lost his eyes, but they could be healed.
SAN had exceptional healing superhumans.
But the fear implanted in his mind could not be erased.
In this way, fear is highly efficient.
Ji-tae picked up the Red Dragon and entered the spring subspace.
There, Spring used the healing magic of the great nature to restore the Red Dragon. As Javier's ominous mana dissipated, the wounds began to heal rapidly.
During this, the Red Dragon faintly opened its eyes. While its body recovered quickly, its mana-drenched mind would take longer to heal.
"Red, don't force your eyes open."
"…."
The Red Dragon's mismatched, blurry eyes shifted from Spring to Ji-tae, back to Spring, then slowly closed again.
A sigh escaped along with a mutter.
"Damn it…"
It was a weak curse, almost devoid of strength.
Anyway, Ji-tae decided it was time to speak.
"From now on, you'll live in my house with me. And remain under my protection."
"…."
"When you regain your senses, we'll discuss it again, but for now, just know this. You have no choice. Think of it as confinement if you like. However, you will have enough freedom for your needs, and if there's something you desire, I will support you in any way."
"…."
"From now on, your name is Summer. Remember it."
The Red Dragon did not respond.
It summoned what little strength it had, turned its body, and lay silently, showing its back. Its back seemed surprisingly small.
Soon, its small shoulders began to tremble slightly. Was it crying in frustration at its futile defeat?
The time-returner pretended not to see.
By the time Summer's wounds healed, Spring withdrew her hand and looked at Ji-tae.
"Seems to be done. Should recover quickly."
"Good work."
"You worked hard too, sir."
"Next step, you know?"
"Yes. Leave it to me."
Spring nodded, recalling the plan.
Anyway, this troublesome situation had come to an end. Ji-tae closed his eyes and placed his fingers on his temple.
"Announcing the conclusion of the situation, my lord."
He transmitted the memory to his main body far away.
***
Memories flooded his mind. Ji-tae closed his eyes briefly and quickly reviewed them.
It seemed his clone had gone through quite an ordeal. After all, bringing a lunatic from the desert while battling sandstorms isn't easy.
Seeing the task was troublesome, he had sent the clone in the first place.
"Eh? What's wrong, sir?"
While his eyes were closed, a girl looked at him and asked.
Bright yellow hair, like a chick's feathers. A giggling face.
If Spring appeared to be in her late teens, this one seemed a few years younger. Her face held a beauty hardly human.
She was the Gold Dragon.
After sending his clone to the Red Dragon, Ji-tae had headed to the Amazon rainforest and sought this baby dragon, who didn't even know how to hide its presence.
Surprisingly, she was very happy to see him. "You smell familiar." Likely, the scent was from Spring.
"Why, why? What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Just give me that back now that you're done."
"Huh? Already?"
Her golden eyes rolled around.
In her hands was Ji-tae's latest smartwatch.
When they had briefly met and talked, the Gold Dragon had been fascinated. Ji-tae had handed it over from his wrist.
"Can't I play with it a bit more?"
"No."
"Waah. It's so amazing! The screen floats in the air…"
Even having lived in human society, she was amazed at such technology. Perhaps because it was the latest model.
"Hand it over."
"Eeh…"
She extended the hand holding the watch very slowly. Very, very slowly. And her golden eyes watched him carefully.
Even if Ji-tae took it, she wouldn't let go.
Even when he gently tugged, she resisted, with her tiny, insignificant strength.
"Do you like it that much?"
"Yes. Totally, totally!"
Ji-tae relaxed his hand.
"Wow, thank you, sir!"
In fact, he had brought it to ease her mood or lower her suspicion.
Recalling previous rounds' Gold Dragons, they always held something to eat in their hands. So Ji-tae had bought some bread and cookies from a bakery.
Yet, it seemed unnecessary this time.
"Wow… can such a tiny one do this…?" She began taking pictures while fiddling with the watch.
Click!
The holographic display showed the creature's face.
Every photo it took looked like a masterpiece, no matter how casually snapped.
"Wow, mister! The quality is amazing!"
That's because it was expensive.
The little one's eyes sparkled as it started snapping photos left and right.
Click! A tree.
Click! A mushroom.
Click! A passing snake.
Click! Even a drab returning warrior.
Then, upon seeing Yu Ji-tae's face, the chick let out a bright, tinkling laugh, like glass marbles rolling.
He recalled previous cycles for a moment.
Out of six lives, it had been a celebrity three times.
The Gold lineage naturally loved attention. On the Ascalifa continent, they were even revered as guardian spirits of kingdoms. It could be said it had simply followed a path suited to its nature.
But conversely, it was also the one who had caused the most apocalypses so far.
Attention and love from others were dazzling, yet venomous.
A question suddenly occurred to him.
"You."
"Yes?"
"Why are you here?"
Its golden eyes widened.
"Huh?"
"If you came for fun, you should live among people. Here, it's only beasts and insects."
"Uh, uh-uh? How did you know?"
The little one jumped in surprise.
"I heard it from the Green Dragon."
"Ah…"
The chick sniffed Yu Ji-tae's hand and then clapped its little hands together.
"No wonder!"
"So why are you here?"
"Well… actually, I did try living among people once. But… um, it was kind of scary. Back then, I did something called V-Logs… ah, some company? A contract? I had that, but earning money was hard, and… um…"
The chick rambled incoherently. It seemed to have a reason, but he couldn't quite make sense of it.
"Got it."
"Anyway, that's how it ended. I was a bit scared…"
"Yeah. It's okay."
The lively atmosphere quieted a bit. This wasn't exactly the situation he wanted.
So Yu Ji-tae snapped his fingers and submerged into the inner space.
From the darkness, dozens of arms sprang out and stopped in front of him.
Then, in unison, they bowed their wrists.
"Shallowest Depth of the Abyss (S)"
A massive inner space capable of swallowing a city was now being used like Yu Ji-tae's backpack.
"Bring me some bread."
One of the arms nodded, then returned into the darkness with a small bag of bread.
Back in reality, Yu Ji-tae pulled the bag from thin air. A sweet aroma quickly spread, and the yellow eyes that had been looking at the camera were drawn to his hand.
"Smells good."
"A gift."
"Wow, really? What kind of bread is it?"
He wasn't entirely sure himself. He had asked the bakery for bread that a child would like. One thing he did remember: macarons were especially expensive.
The Gold Dragon ate the bread, cookies, and macarons Yu Ji-tae gave.
"Mm… mmm…" With every bite, it stomped its feet in delight. Sweet treats were definitely the best for children.
The bag was emptied in an instant.
"Thank you, mister. It was the most delicious ever."
Seeing it look at the empty bag with sad eyes, the time-traveling Yu Ji-tae spoke up.
"Instead of just hanging around here, why not come with me?"
"Huh?"
"I'll buy you more bread."
The Gold Dragon hesitated.
"Uh… well… that sounds nice…"
"But…"
"My mom said to be careful of strangers…"
Seeing it wary, Yu Ji-tae added a condition.
"I'll buy you macarons too."
The chick's eyes widened.