Lv.99 Princess of Dark Flames (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 4

“──Jun-ah. Lee Jun.”

Lee Jun, who had been sitting blankly in the airport lounge, turned his head.

His unfocused pupils looked hollow, as if completely emptied. Staring into his silver-toned eyes suddenly made them seem filled with thick fog.

Lee Jun’s mother looked at her son with mixed feelings, then patted his shoulder.

“Let’s go. It’s almost boarding time.”

“……Yes.”

Lee Jun walked through the airport with his mother. Beyond the window, the passenger plane bound for the United States came into view.

The moment he boarded that plane, returning to Korea wouldn’t be easy anymore. Thinking this made his steps feel even heavier.

“Oh dear, look at me—what gate was it again?”

His mother began rummaging through her handbag. Standing quietly beside her, Lee Jun suddenly lifted his head.

Gate.

The instant he saw that word, his heart sank heavily.

His previously empty eyes began to tremble violently. The shivering started from his shoulders and helplessly spread down to his fingertips and toes, until Lee Jun could no longer stand and collapsed onto the floor.

“That’s right—Gate 21. Luckily, it’s right ahead. ……Huh? Jun-ah?”

Spotting her son trembling like an aspen leaf, she gasped in alarm and grabbed his shoulders.

“Are you alright? Jun-ah, Baek Lee Jun!”

“……She’s here.”

A transparent glass bead dropped from Lee Jun’s eye.

“I left her behind.”

Again with that. Lee Jun’s mother let out a deep sigh.

Unlike Korea, which conscripted every Hunter whose innate ability had activated, the United States did not do so.

Moreover, Lee Jun’s father was a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel—more precisely, a colonel-elect, just about to be promoted—and had long since awakened as a Hunter.

She couldn’t help but feel resentful toward her son for stubbornly refusing to stay by such a father and insisting on remaining in Korea instead. She’d pretended not to notice how his ears turned bright red whenever she joked about him having a girl he liked. But then—

“Jun-ah……”

Ever since returning from that final gate, her son had been broken. He’d have seizures just from seeing a stray cat pass by, and lose his wits at the sight of anyone wearing Hunter military uniform.

He’d always been gentle-hearted to begin with. It wasn’t hard to understand—after all, his entire team had been wiped out right before his eyes during their mission.

If only she’d known it would turn out like this, she would have ignored his protests and taken him to America anyway. She was filled with belated regret.

She tightly embraced her son, who writhed in anxiety and guilt, and kissed his forehead, cold with sweat.

“Jun-ah, I’ll say it again—it wasn’t your fault. It was just an unavoidable accident.”

“Ha, but……”

“They say the Hunter system in America is more structured and safer than Korea’s. Let’s put your Hunter life on hold for now, rest properly for a few months, and then restart in the guild your father will soon establish. Understand? There, you won’t have to force yourself to do anything.”

She repeated the same words she’d said yesterday. Instead of answering, Lee Jun slowly lifted his head, his eyes glistening with moisture.

The yellow sign above him shone vividly, as if pulling him in—and blaming him. In his vision, blurred by spreading light, he thought he saw Eun Ha’s flame vanish helplessly.

‘Eun Ha.’

Until the elevator doors closed, Lee Jun couldn’t take his eyes off that spot.

Tap.

Cold.

Tap.

Something cold kept tapping his cheek.

He barely managed to lift his eyelids, which refused to obey his will. Realizing he’d lost consciousness, Eun Ha struggled to sit up.

“Ugh.”

And collapsed again.

His right shoulder throbbed—not just a dull ache, but as if his arm had been severed.

“…….”

Only then did Eun Ha remember he’d lost his right arm.

Naturally, even a Hunter’s self-healing couldn’t regenerate a completely severed limb. Fortunately, cauterizing it with fire had at least stopped the bleeding for now.

His burned skin stung, but this much should be manageable with a Hunter’s self-healing and the ointment from his emergency kit.

Scars would remain, but if he’d been the type to care about such things, he wouldn’t have blown off his own right arm along with that firebomb.

Eun Ha staggered to his feet. Surprisingly, walking felt better than expected—so much so that it seemed odd to attribute it solely to a Hunter’s healing.

Though the bleeding had stopped, he’d already lost a great deal of blood and suffered severe burns as well.

‘Considering all that, my condition seems way too good……’

As he stepped forward slowly, puzzled, something caught under his foot.

A black parasol.

Eun Ha blinked slowly.

[Congratulations! You have obtained the ‘Black Flame Princess’’s ‘Elegant Parasol’!]

If his memory served, that’s what the message window had said just before he passed out. After a brief hesitation, Eun Ha reached out and grasped it.

Whoosh.

Eun Ha’s face crumpled as he opened the parasol. A single sock from Lee Jun’s backpack would’ve been more useful.

“……What on earth am I supposed to do with this?”

Eun Ha clicked his tongue while examining the parasol. The name “Elegant Parasol” alone failed to inspire hope, and opening it didn’t change much.

The jet-black parasol was engraved with an excessive number of black rose patterns. The lace, curling tightly along the parasol’s shape, felt almost oppressive.

It was as if the phrase “beautiful trash” existed solely for this parasol.

‘……I should probably carry it for now. It is my first loot, after all.’

After defeating a monster, items occasionally dropped, albeit rarely. It was said that the higher the monster’s level and strength, the greater the drop chance and the better the quality of the item.

The mutated monster he’d just slain had been level 68. An item dropped by such a monster must surely be useful somewhere. It had to be—after all, it was the reward exchanged for his right arm.

On his way back to the hut, parasol in hand, Eun Ha kept recalling the massive elite monster whenever pain flared in his shoulder.

‘……It called it the first Named, right?’

The message had clearly stated, “First Named defeated.”

‘Then that means there are second and third Named monsters as well.’

And if there were second and third Named monsters, it was highly likely a final Named existed too.

‘Maybe defeating the final Named will let me escape this place.’

Though his hope was as small as a match flame, it was gradually growing clearer.

Soon, Eun Ha arrived at the hut.

His shoulder hurt terribly. He needed to get his kit out quickly. After glancing around, Eun Ha lifted the roof and vanished inside.

Ding.

Where she had disappeared, a small message window appeared.

[Mythical Beast ‘Wandering Cat of Darkness’ steps on your shadow.] [Golden eyes watch the hut attentively.]

This message window, appearing out of nowhere in an empty place, was different from the usual blue ones. Yet no one knew for whom or why it had appeared there.

Having lost his right arm, Eun Ha could only use flames with one hand—meaning his destructive power was halved.

Fortunately, the mutated monster hadn’t reappeared since. But no one knew how much longer he’d be trapped in this gate. He needed to compensate for his reduced combat ability.

Eun Ha stared blankly at the parasol he’d recently acquired. No matter how he thought about it, fighting with such a thing felt a bit uncertain.

Still…… it must be useful somewhere. It came from a Lv. 68 monster—it had to be.

After giving himself this almost self-hypnotic reassurance, Eun Ha lifted his head and glared at the monster opposite him.

[Lv. 30 ‘Black Tiger with Red Eyes’ is terrified.] [Lv. 30 ‘Black Tiger with Red Eyes’ uses skill: ▶ Final Retaliation] [Monster’s attack power greatly increases due to Rage/Confusion status.]

Dealing with a Lv. 30 monster was no longer difficult. It was the perfect opponent to test “this.”

The black tiger monster lunged right up to his face and opened its jaws wide, its sharp fangs gleaming as if to swallow him whole in one bite.

Eun Ha reflexively swung the parasol. He’d only meant to hit it like a club—

Kwooooom!

“……Huh?”

An absent-minded sound escaped his lips before he realized it. The monster that had just charged at him had vanished without a trace.

[Monster eliminated!]

Papapam—

Along with a cheerful BGM, the now-familiar message window appeared.

Eun Ha didn’t even glance at it, instead staring at the floor beneath his feet. Where the monster had been, only a patch of pitch-black ash remained.

“……”

Eun Ha slowly blinked, alternating his gaze between the ash and the parasol.

Apparently, this parasol wasn’t an ordinary item.

As time passed, that day’s suspicion gradually turned into certainty.

The parasol was sharper than any blade and sturdier than any blunt weapon. Its tip pierced through a monster’s thick hide in one strike, and with just a slightly stronger swing, the monster crumbled into dust, leaving no trace—just like last time.

‘So items dropped by Lv. 60+ monsters really are on another level.’

Eun Ha stared at the parasol in his hand. It was the moment he learned never to judge anything—person or object—by appearances alone. With this parasol, he might even stand a chance against the “Second Named.”

Eun Ha folded the parasol and approached the fallen monster. Without hesitation, he extended his left hand toward the creature, which growled pleadingly as if begging for its life.

Whoosh.

Crimson flames engulfed the monster with vigor.

‘Dinner’s sorted for tonight.’

Still, carrying meat this large in one go was impossible. He’d need to cut it into manageable pieces.

Just as Eun Ha drew his dagger from his waist—

Ding.

[Mythical Beast ‘Wandering Cat of Darkness’ gazes at you.] [Curious golden eyes sparkle like stars.]

Eun Ha froze in place, still holding the dagger.

Normally, Eun Ha’s message windows were blue. But the one before him now was larger than usual and shimmered in bright yellow.

‘……What is this?’

Perhaps because Eun Ha showed no reaction, another message window overlaid the first.

[Mythical Beast ‘Wandering Cat of Darkness’ flicks its whiskers and says, “What’s with that look? Haven’t you seen a Mythical Beast before?”]

Mythical Beast? A memory suddenly flashed through Eun Ha’s mind.

‘I’ve always wondered… Eun Ha, have you made a contract yet?’

‘No.’

‘Really? Why not? You’re incredibly strong—I assumed you’d already contracted one. Of the Twelve Mythical Beasts, a dragon would suit you best. It’s the strongest, after all.’

As Eun Ha recalled this old memory, another yellow message window popped up before his eyes.

Ding!

[Mythical Beast ‘Wandering Cat of Darkness’ proposes a contract with you. Do you accept?]