Chapter 20
The Randelloff Family (3)
A flock of red pterosaurs filled the sky.
Kiiiiieeeek──!!!!
Sasha stretched her hand toward the sky.
“Метель (Blizzard).”
Fwaaah──!!
A storm of cold burst forth, enveloping the pterosaurs.
Soon, the creatures lost their ability to fly and began to plummet.
“Nothing special.”
Sasha muttered calmly, but her expression was full of exhilaration.
‘No wonder she was frustrated. Even with that kind of ability, she probably hadn’t had a chance to really use it until now.’
Few can unleash such immense cold in all directions.
Until now, Sasha had used her icy barrier to control the environment to cover the family members.
That was why, in the previous life’s raid on the Rift, Sasha had not participated directly in combat.
She only supported the mission with her cold barrier; the actual assault was led by Hailhwan.
At that time, when Sehyun suggested they could just give her an artifact, Hailhwan replied:
Giving her a fire-resistance artifact comes after the raid is completed.
Huh? Why…?
We must leave her a debt. As a reward for handling what she couldn’t do herself.
At the time, that seemed correct.
Remember this: Our favor will become their shackle.
Looking back now, it was selfish and calculating.
Naturally.
Hailhwan was politically astute and, as Sehyun had seen for himself, someone who only thought of himself.
“Finish them all!!”
“Yes!! Boss!!”
Supporting Sasha’s movements, the family members acted with flawless coordination.
Ice arrows rained down on the pterosaurs immobilized by the icy barrier.
Sehyun said softly to Sasha:
“You could take them down alone if you wanted, huh?”
“Fighting alone is something that only happens in novels. To take on the boss, I have to save my strength.”
As she said, using all power at once leaves nothing for critical moments.
Then, of course, the raid could fail, and precious lives could be lost.
‘Sasha leading while others support would normally be the one-sided method.’
But somehow, the current battle was the opposite.
Sasha was assisting the hunting of the family members.
“Sasha’s true intention isn’t that,” Mardel added.
“The lady is conserving her strength for the family. Like a mother letting her child have the prey…”
“Sh-shut up! Be quiet!”
Thwack─!
Sasha, her face flushed, kicked Mardel.
Of course, the large Mardel didn’t budge, just smiled contentedly and continued.
“She wishes the family to grow together.”
“So, it’s not something one can do alone.”
“Exactly.”
Inha looked at Sasha, who had turned her gaze away.
From Inha’s expression, it seemed he had learned something.
Sehyun felt a surge of pride, having achieved one of his goals.
Even now, Inha was talented enough to soon reach a level others couldn’t rival.
But even then, in a raid, one must form a party with others.
At the current rate, he would be more of a hindrance than a help.
Strong people Sehyun knew all had their own positions in a party.
‘He’ll need to encounter more people and find his own way.’
Sehyun firmly believed this experience would be his first step.
Kiiiiieeeek─!!
“Yeah!! Got it!”
“Today’s the day! Raid!!”
After slaying the last pterosaur, the family members cheered triumphantly.
Sasha encouraged each of them in turn.
“Much better than in my previous life.”
Though they’d gain less, she felt proud seeing them solve problems themselves with Sehyun’s guidance.
“Hm?”
Among the fallen pterosaurs, shining Soul Stones caught her eye.
“What’s this?! A lucky break!”
Normally, small mobs don’t generate Soul Stones due to low stellar power.
But perhaps because the boss monster wasn’t ordinary, even the mobs had unusual stones.
Yet Sasha and the family seemed too caught up in their triumph to care about what lay at their feet.
Sehyun quickly gathered all the Soul Stones before anyone noticed.
“Hey, Nam Sehyun! Let’s go!”
“Ah, yes.”
By the time he responded, the group had moved far ahead.
And…
“Look at this. Busy as we are, and we forgot this?”
One of the cooler boxes the family had brought remained behind.
It was the spare they had prepared.
“Sigh, I’ll take care of it… huh?”
As he lifted the box, it felt unusually heavy.
Was it always this heavy?
“Sehyun!”
“Uh, coming.”
Ignoring the question, he quickly followed Inha’s urging.
Ssshhh──
“Wow… I can’t see a thing.”
As they walked, the fog grew thicker.
“Proof we’re near the lake.”
Sasha added calmly.
At the lakeside, once the Randelloff stronghold, stood the “Randelloff Tower.”
Beneath the lake resided the boss monster.
Approaching the lakeside, steam from the hot water filled the area.
The members began sweating again.
“So it’s not fog, but steam.”
The closer to the boss, the harsher the environment became.
Breathing was difficult in the hot steam.
Without the cool packs, approaching would have been impossible.
“Looks like it’s time for a change.”
Sehyun opened a spare box to distribute cool packs.
Snap─!
“Ahh!!”
Everyone turned at Sehyun’s scream.
A white-furred bear cub dangled from his hand.
“Ahh!! What is this! Let go, you brat!!!”
The cub’s teeth bit his arm, refusing to let go despite shaking.
“What’s all the commotion?”
Sasha approached.
Glancing at the cub dangling from Sehyun’s arm, she shrugged and turned away.
“It’s just a bear.”
The Randelloff members also seemed unconcerned.
“A bear, huh.”
“I thought the hot pack was broken.”
“Hey, little Oriental kid! Stop fussing and just give a hot pack!”
…They were all crazy.
Sehyun thought they’d been bitten by a street cat or something.
“W-wait! It’s a bear! A man-eating bear!!”
Sehyun waved his bitten arm in panic.
“Sehyun, wait.”
“I-Ihnha…! You be careful too… huh?”
Swoosh──
When Inha grabbed the cub by the scruff, it released Sehyun’s arm.
Holding it in his arms and petting it, the cub purred softly and calmed down as if a switch had been turned off.
“Pretty cute, right? Like a puppy.”
“Cute my foot! It bit my arm, this thing!”
Kiiing!
The startled cub bolted into the cooler box, hiding among the cool packs.
Inha pouted.
“You scared it, so it hid.”
“….”
…Was that my fault?
Better inside than out, at least it wouldn’t interfere.
Though being far away would be ideal.
Sehyun waved his hands in exasperation.
“…Get it yourselves. I’m not getting bitten.”
The members casually took cool packs and returned to the lakeside.
Meanwhile, Sasha rolled up her sleeves and dipped her hand into the lake.
Crackle──
The water froze around her hand.
Gritting her teeth, she growled:
“Come out quietly, you damn thing.”
And then…
Kyaaaah──!!!!
A thunderous roar echoed from the depths.
From the center of the lake, a massive column of water shot up.
Kwaaaah─!
The steam cleared briefly, revealing a colossal silhouette.
Several writhing tentacles, as if searching for prey, and the massive head controlling them all.
Rough, rock-like skin flowed with molten veins.
“Lava Kraken…!!!”
Krrwaaaah──!!!!
Sehyun muttered, while the Kraken’s roar split the air.
He knew its identity.
He had seen it in his previous life’s raid with Hailhwan.
But he had no intention of revealing the strategy.
Sehyun was only there to provide cool packs.
Moreover, helping them wouldn’t mean much unless they faced the boss themselves.
“Don’t be afraid! Follow my lead!”
“Yes, boss!”
Sasha stomped heavily.
Crackle-crackle-crackle──
The cold radiating from her froze the boiling lake instantly.
Sensing something wrong, the Kraken raised its tentacles.
Eight writhing tentacles were menacing.
Bang─!
One tentacle struck the frozen lake surface.
Crackle──
Normally, the ice would break, but somehow the tentacle itself began to freeze.
“I’ll freeze them all.”
“The boss has it! Rush!!”
“Press them!!”
Cheered on, the family members charged.
Melee fighters climbed the frozen tentacles to strike the body, while ranged attackers fired ice arrows at the core.
The family moved with practiced coordination.
If this continued, the raid would succeed without trouble.
“No need for us to step in.”
“Yeah.”
Sehyun checked his pocket watch.
The Kraken was increasingly on the defensive.
So far, just as Sehyun expected.
‘The real problem isn’t the Kraken itself.’
The challenge in the raid lay in the environment it controlled, making approach difficult.
Conversely, if one could withstand the environment, the strategy itself wasn’t hard.
‘That’s the power of an artifact.’
Sehyun looked at the cool pack in his hand.
A simple cool pack made what would otherwise require extra personnel possible.
‘Of course, it helps that we have the incredible material called the Heat Absorbing Stone.’
Waaah─!
The Kraken, overwhelmed, fled to the lake bottom, and the family cheered.
“Wait…”
Fled?
Sehyun recalled a warning from the previous raid:
Watch when the Kraken dives deep. That means it’s preparing the next attack.
A temporary retreat for a bigger advance.
“Sasha! It’s not over!!”
“What?”
Sasha frowned.
Kwaaaah─!!!!
The Kraken leapt from the lake, flying high into the sky.
Bang─!
Crack──!
Landing on the ground, it wrapped the tentacles around the tower behind the lake.
The tower, symbol of the family, collapsed.
“That bastard…!”
Enraged, Sasha and the family shouted.
Sehyun, relieved it wasn’t a counterattack, still frowned at the Kraken’s actions.
Among the rubble, it pulled something out.
Something caught in its tentacle shone brilliantly.
“Succession Stone…?!”
The Randelloff family’s ceremonial stone, passed down through generations, containing all the family’s stellar power.
Why would it take that…?
“Insane. No way…”
The Kraken swallowed the Succession Stone.
Krrwaaaaaah─!!!!!
It roared, unleashing immense stellar power.
Consuming a stone of stellar power grants immense strength.
But conflicting stellar powers can collide like stars, releasing deadly energy.
Usually, one cannot survive this backlash…
Gradually, the roar subsided.
Black tentacles writhed.
A state of pure chaotic neutrality—neither hot nor cold.
“…Chaotic Kraken.”
It had evolved into the ultimate monster that should not exist.
