Out of the collection team’s eyeshot, Si-woo sat with his back against the cavern wall while Hae-in laid with her head on his chest.
She fiddled with a bone talisman in her hand as she chatted with him.
“So, this thing can help people tame monsters?” she asked, turning her head up to look at him.
“Hm.” “So, that’s what you were doing with the troll tamer.” “Yes, Hae-in, I am not sadistic,” Si-woo chuckled.
She shrugged before handing the talisman back to him.
“I have about twenty of them.
I’ll get them embroidered and give some to you,” Si-woo whispered to her before placing the talisman in his pocket.
“You just gave me one today.” she mentioned, her hand moving to the gold necklace hanging from her neck.
“I’ll have one made as a bracelet for you then.” “That is not what I meant,” Hae-in sighed.
She pushed herself off him and turned slightly to look at him.
“You should keep them for yourself.
You know even S-rank awakened tamers can only tame five A-rank beasts at most.” “Your point being?” “You can be the most powerful S-rank hunter with twenty A-rank magic beasts under you.
And I am pretty sure these things can tame S-rank beasts, which could maybe get you on equal footing with national ranks.
Who gives away that kind of power?” “Hae-in, I am already stronger than the national ranks.
And in time, you will be too,” Si-woo shrugged.
‘And with my familiars, I won’t need to tame magic beasts since I am sure none can match their power.’ he thought.
He did not say it out loud because Hae-in did not know about the familiars yet.
“How do you know that?” she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Si-woo sighed and leaned in toward her.
“Because I do.
Just trust me,” he said sincerely.
Hae-in only sighed at that before leaning back down and resting herself on his chest.
“What?
You believed me just like that?” Si-woo asked in amusement.
“Yes, because…” she started in a whisper.
She paused and held him tighter.
“I’ve fallen in love with you.
Crazy, huh?
With how recently we met.” She completed her sentence and buried her face deeper into his chest as if she were scared.
Si-woo’s surprise did not last long.
A gentle smile appeared on his face as he wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back soothingly.
“Hae-in, I promise you I will always be the crazier one between us two.
After all, I fell in love with you long ago,” Si-woo said gently.
Hae-in flinched and looked up at him in a start.
Her surprise gave way to happiness in mere moments.
She wrapped her arms around his neck with a jerk and crashed her lips into his.
Si-woo chuckled between kisses and held her waist with one hand while he stroked her back with the other.
“Tonight,” Hae-in started after she broke the kiss.
“You and I are going on a date,” she declared, placing a finger on his chest with authority.
“As my lady commands,” Si-woo grinned.
Both their inhibitions were gone after they had declared their feelings to each other.
They spent their time talking intimately in a secluded corner of the cavern while keeping their senses alert for any trouble.
The collection and mining teams finished their work in three hours.
After they left, the two separated and regrouped with the rest of the party to fight the boss.
“Stay alert, everyone.
This one is powerful and even a moment of carelessness can cost a life.” Hae-in prepped her party.
She received determined looks from all of them.
Internally, she was sighing.
The A-ranks and B-ranks in front of her were disciplined and some of the best within their ranks, but they would not be able to do much against the boss.
And she was not one to use anyone as a distraction to have an easier time.
‘I will just have to finish it quickly.’ she thought with determination.
Her gaze involuntarily drifted to Si-woo.
She gave him a smile before turning around and entering the boss room.
What greeted them inside was a dark creature of corruption and malice.
Every part of the creature’s body was meant to be used as a weapon, from its fearsome claws to its tattered wings, its spear-like tail, and a maw filled with poison.
Under the creature was a horse.
It was a dark, beautiful horse with red veins running through its body, eyes burning with red flames, and eight legs steady beneath it.
“Beautiful beast, eh?” the pit fiend in front of her said conversationally.
She only answered by unsheathing both her swords.
A ripple of surprise passed through her party behind her as they heard the monster speaking Korean.
“I conquered this one for glory.
Though she has now become a necessity,” the demon caressed the horse beneath it roughly, as he gestured to his tattered wings.
Its movement suddenly stopped and its fingers twitched.
It had been talking to distract the hunters so it could ready a powerful spell and kill all of them in one fell swoop.
A metallic ringing sound rang out.
“I saw,” Hae-in spoke.
She was no longer in front of the fiend, she was beside it.
Her sword had carved through the demon’s claw, interrupting its spell and using the moment to her own advantage.
Her other sword slashed sideways as well.
Hot blood sprayed, but the fiend and the mount vanished and reappeared a few meters away from her.
The demon had a bleeding gash on its shoulder and a snarl on its face.
“I missed,” Hae-in whispered before flickering back toward the demon again.
Another metallic sound rang out as her sword was parried by a mace this time.
She thrusted with her other sword, but the demon teleported a short distance again.
She effortlessly cut the incoming fireball in half with her sword and flickered back to the demon.
The talisman on her neck glowed as lightning enforced her body, allowing her to use her full speed and helping her turn at such high velocities.
She had the clear upper hand in terms of strength, but the demon was somehow evading through short-distance teleportation.
She simply increased her speed.
An aura of light covered her as she moved throughout the cave at speeds that did not even leave a blur in the perception of the rest of her party, except for Si-woo.
All throughout the boss room, the sound of metal clashing and spells being cut in half rang out as the two combatants fought.
“How are we supposed to do anything here?” the A-rank tank of the party asked himself in despair.
He was not even able to perceive the two.
His eyes widened when he saw the head of a spiked mace inches from his skull, only to be stopped by the pale hand of Si-woo.
Hae-in took that opportunity to attack, swinging her sword and forming a deep, sizzling gash on the demon’s side.
The demon teleported back, clutching its side and glaring at Si-woo for stopping its attack.
It was not given a second to speak as Hae-in appeared in front of it again, giving it another cut on its thigh.
“You guys should wait outside,” Si-woo gently said to the party members.
They did as they were told silently, seeming ashamed.
“Well done, Hae-in.
Let’s get you on a more even footing now, shall we?” Si-woo said out loud.
The next moment, he was in front of the demon, gripping its head and yanking it down from the horse in one violent motion.
The demon scrambled on the ground and crawled back with wary eyes.
“Wait, wait, wait.
I can be more valuable to you alive,” it spoke, holding its hands in front of its chest with palms out.
Its short-distance teleportation ability came from the horse, and it was intelligent enough to realize it was completely outmatched at the moment without it.
“I doubt you have been valuable to anyone in your entire existence,” Hae-in scoffed.
She was about to finish the demon off when Si-woo stopped her by placing his hand on her shoulder.
“Continue,” he told the demon.
Hae-in paused, though she remained ready and prepped to kill the creature.
“Thank you,” the demon said to Si-woo with growling confidence.
“One wish.
Anything you want.
I have the power to grant it.” it added quickly.
___ A/n: This demon is based on pit fiends from DND.
___ Now the demon was smirking.
“If you had the power to do anything you want, why don’t you just kill us with it?” Hae-in asked.
“Good question.
You see, I cannot use this power for myself,” the demon shrugged.
Hae-in turned her head toward Si-woo and raised an eyebrow.
“This is clearly bullshit,” she said, pointing to the figure of the demon.
“That it is, babe,” Si-woo agreed.
“It can use the spell on itself, but there is always a consequence.
So, it uses mortals as a proxy, granting them the use of a wish and making the consequences work in its favor,” he added.
He stepped in front of the demon before leaning in.
“So, demon, what do you want in exchange for granting our wish?” “I just wish to be out of your hair.
I grant you the wish and I can go back to Hell where I belong,” the demon answered with a mock bow in its still seated position.
“See?” Si-woo turned to Hae-in, pointing his finger at the demon.
“He is stuck here as well.
He grants you your wish, and he goes home as a consequence of the wish.” Si-woo dismantled the demon’s plan right in front of him.
“Let’s just kill him and get it over with then,” Hae-in suggested.
The demon still looked unfazed, its eyes fixed on Si-woo.
“Still, I’m curious.
What would you have wished for?” Si-woo asked.
Hae-in could sense he was planning something, so she just gave him a deadpan look.
Si-woo’s lips thinned.
He walked up to her and leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“Just trust me,” he urged, pulling back and looking into her eyes reassuringly.
Hae-in looked back to see the eight-legged horse had been lying on the ground ever since Si-woo forced the demon to dismount.
“You can keep the horse.
It’s a void horse.
Very rare, very powerful.” the demon spoke with a sly smile and a raised eyebrow, having noticed her look.
“Oh, thanks for the offer.
And in exchange, she will not kill you,” Si-woo butted in, stopping Hae-in from killing the demon.
“That’s no—” “Yeah, yeah.
So, deal?” Si-woo interrupted the demon.
A growl escaped its lips and it clicked its tongue before nodding.
Si-woo turned to Hae-in, who was still reluctant because she could smell something wrong with the deal.
It felt like the demon was still getting what it wanted.
Si-woo held her hands and spoke gently “Tell him to purify and remove the corruption he has on the horse.
I’ll do the rest.” Hae-in did as he said, and the wish was made.
Black ooze dripped from the horse as the red veins on its body receded and its red eyes turned to a gentle blue.
“I presume you will be killing me now?” the demon asked Si-woo with a toothy smile.
They had made the deal that Hae-in would not be able to kill him, but Si-woo was never included in the deal.
The demon tilted its head, offering its neck to Si-woo to be cut down.
Hae-in looked at Si-woo.
“I have a feeling.
He wants you to kill him,” she whispered urgently.
Si-woo nodded and pointed at the wounds Hae-in’s sword had made on the demon.
“You see there?
They are still not healing.” The wounds were still sizzling.
“Demons are beings of magic.
If killed normally, they reform back in Hell.
But your sword is infused with the light and purification element.
If you kill him, it is permanent,” Si-woo continued.
“So it wants you to kill it so it and it will just reform back in Hell.” Hae-in completed his thought.
Si-woo nodded.
“What it doesn’t know is, my sword can do the same thing.” Si-woo grinned, and that got a reaction from the demon.
Its eyes widened and darted around before curses started escaping its lips, followed by desperate offers of power and riches.
Hae-in chuckled at the demon’s bribes.
“If only you were for sale, I’d be first in line.” she said, looking at Si-woo intently.
He just grinned and snapped his fingers.
The ground in front of the demon cracked, and a giant gauntleted hand shot out.
It gripped the demon by its head and dragged it down with it.
“I’m already yours, Hae-in.” Si-woo told her as he caressed her cheek with his thumb, completely ignoring what had just happened to the demon.
“Are we just going to ignore that?” Hae-in asked, pointing at the spot where the demon had just been.
A/n: Gimme your thoughts on the chapter.