Does Spring Come Even for a Dying Esper

“Grrrk!”

A Lycan Sloth with its chest blown open fell to the ground with a short scream. Lucas, who had already killed countless monsters, calmly surveyed his surroundings. Corpses littered the area everywhere.

One might have winced at the stench of blood rising from flesh splattered on the walls and blood soaking the floor, but he moved forward without any particular reaction. The constant splashing sound echoed as blood pools had formed in various places.

“There doesn’t seem to be any more around here.”

“It looks like only the boss room is left.”

Lucas’s gaze turned to Iberis at the sound of conversation from ahead. Although it was a cave with almost no light, Lucas easily found his target. Then, coating his eyes with mana, he examined Iberis’s complexion and the movement of mana within his body.

He seems fine for now.

Lucas inwardly felt relieved, not detecting any signs of mana overflow. Then he looked at Iberis with fresh eyes. The rift, which was in the process of turning into a dungeon, was dark and humid, making the werewolves inside stronger than those outside despite it not being night. Yet, there was no problem with the operation. It was thanks to Iberis.

‘Everyone, hold your breath for a moment. Just in case… If you’re not confident, wear a mask.’

Immediately after entering the rift, Iberis used the mana floating in the air to assassinate the Lycan Sloths and wolves all at once. He utilized the fact that all monsters breathe and live. The monsters with frozen hearts collapsed without even knowing why they were dying.

Lucas genuinely admired Iberis’s mana control ability. He had thought Iberis only used methods of slaughter with overwhelming destructive power, but to think such delicate operation was possible… Honestly, he was quite surprised.

Only then did he realize that Iberis’s skills had deteriorated from his former state due to chronic lack of guiding. When he recalled the combat videos of Iberis shown by the Intelligence Department before his official assignment, it became clear.

Although his style had changed to finish as quickly as possible from a certain point, originally Iberis knew how to use his abilities in various ways. When he was used by Livio to assassinate several people in the past, it was probably in this manner, right? Since freezing the heart would be detected during an autopsy, he likely gave just a tiny shock to stop it. To make it look like sudden death or a disease like a heart attack.

“Any injured?”

Lucas snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Iberis’s voice penetrating his ears. His superior, who extremely disliked anyone getting hurt, was immediately checking on the injured as soon as the surroundings were somewhat cleared.

“A total of five. We’ve taken immediate action, so it’s not serious.”

“Have the injured rest here waiting. Leave a few people to protect them.”

“Yes, Major.”

Iberis, after giving instructions to Brenda, looked around as if searching for something. Then, upon spotting Lucas, he made eye contact.

“Luke.”

“…Yes.”

Lucas hesitated at Iberis’s familiar way of addressing him, but then approached nonchalantly. Come to think of it, Iberis actually didn’t call him ‘Luke’ when they were alone, preferring ‘Captain’ instead. Conversely, he tended to use his name in front of others. It seemed to be for the purpose of showing their closeness to prevent others from messing with Lucas carelessly. While grateful for this consideration, it also subtly irked him.

It felt like they were pretending to be close when they actually weren’t. Still, since Iberis no longer used formal speech when they were alone, Lucas decided to let it slide for now.

“We’re going to deal with the boss now. You stay here…”

“I’ll go with you, Major.”

Lucas interrupted Iberis, expressing his intention to accompany him.

“The boss is different from regular monsters. It’s incredibly dangerous.”

“I know.”

“What do you know? I’m telling you I can’t protect you if something goes wrong.”

“I can protect myself. I’ve been thinking, aren’t you underestimating me too much? I often participated in rift operations when I was at the central headquarters.”

“…Alright. Do as you please then.”

Iberis, unable to break Lucas’s stubbornness, let out a small sigh. He had hoped otherwise, but it turned out as expected.

“We’re entering the boss room now. Everyone, stay sharp.”

Iberis lightly stretched his neck left and right as he stared at the place where intense energy was emanating. The boss room of a rift referred to the space where the core was located. Although the exact principle wasn’t clear, the core was an object with the power to create dimensional distortion phenomena. Perhaps for this reason, whenever a rift occurred, the strongest monster always guarded the core.

People conveniently called the monster guarding the rift core the ‘boss’ and the place where it resided the ‘boss room’. Since the dimensional distortion phenomenon would disappear and the rift could be closed only by destroying the core, the boss was an entity that had to be subjugated.

“Grrrr…”

“It’s the King.”

Iberis, who entered the boss room first, calmly observed the Lycan Sloth King making threatening noises at the intruders. The King, boasting a body several times larger than other werewolves, stood with its back to the core. Dozens of Black Wolves and White Wolves could be seen around it.

“Clear out the wolves.”

“Yes, Major.”

After assigning Brenda to deal with the wolves, Iberis approached the king of the werewolves. Killing intent flashed in the boss’s eyes as it recognized the enemy. At that moment, Iberis and the King clashed.

Boom! Kwoong!

Iberis created an ice wall to block the charging Lycan Sloth King. The boss then roared fiercely and swung its long claws. Each time they clashed, a loud noise echoed and the air shook.

“Huff.”

Bang bang! Iberis took a deep breath, drew the mana gun from his waist, and fired repeatedly, aiming for the Lycan Sloth King’s feet. While the boss hesitated, he safely widened the distance and immediately unleashed an ice storm.

“Grawrr!”

The Lycan Sloth King, slashed to pieces by the ice storm rising from the ground, fell to its knees with a roar. Not missing this opportunity, Iberis extended his hand towards the boss. Instantly, mana gathered into one, forming a giant ice spear.

“Kuh!”

Crack! The sharp ice spear pierced straight through the Lycan Sloth King’s chest. And in an instant, it froze its body. The boss died with its eyes wide open, not even properly recognizing what had happened to it.

Thud.

It’s over. Iberis landed on the ground and steadied his ragged breathing. He looked down at his trembling hand and pressed his lips together. Clearly, using his ability and handling mana had become easier than before.

But any more would be too much. Iberis felt the after-effects starting to rise and put strength into his toes. He couldn’t show weakness here.

“Good work, sir.”

Brenda, who had cleared out the wolves in the meantime, approached with a bright expression. Having been with Iberis for a long time, she immediately noticed that his condition had improved from before.

“Break the core and call the rift closure team…”

“Grawrrrr!”

Just as Iberis was giving Brenda the order to destroy the core, an enraged roar was heard from behind. He turned his head reflexively and his eyes widened at the sight of a large werewolf charging while howling fiercely.

“W-What?”

“There’s another boss!”

“No, that’s a Lycan Sloth Queen!”

Someone who recognized the identity of the suddenly appearing werewolf shouted urgently. Lycan Sloth Queen, not a boss but a werewolf equal to one. Occasionally, kings and queens appeared together like this, but it was too sudden. The unit members fell into confusion at the appearance of another boss-level monster out of nowhere.

“Dodge!”

Iberis shouted hurriedly while drawing up mana. At that moment, something hot welled up inside him. Blood. Feeling the fishy liquid spreading in his mouth, he gritted his teeth.

In an instant, something white blocked Iberis’s front, creating a vast golden barrier. It was Lucas. He moved faster than Iberis could to block the Lycan Sloth Queen.

Kwang…!

“Gack!”

The Lycan Sloth Queen, colliding with the mana defense wall Lucas created, screamed in pain. The werewolf who had lost its mate desperately raised its claws and swung wildly.

Clang, clang clang!

A piercing metallic sound rang out as the mana barrier and claws collided. Lucas maintained the defense wall calmly, unshaken by the Lycan Sloth Queen’s attacks.

“What…”

“What is that…”

“Snap out of it!”

The unit members, who had been dazed by the sudden situation, snapped back to reality at the sharp shout. Lucas had turned his head and was glaring at them as if they were pathetic.

“What are you doing standing there like idiots! Attack now!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

At Lucas’s command, the unit members moved in unison. Click, they loaded their mana guns and quickly surrounded the Lycan Sloth Queen. Then they fired all at once.