The Guide Raid (5)

I opened my eyes to a large cavity.
A place where crystals embedded everywhere sparkled, and baby slimes wriggled around.
A large crystal embedded in the ceiling of the cavity sparkled, emitting a brilliant light.
And in the center of it, a slime the size of a house was writhing, scattering a five-colored light.
And below it…
“Aaaargh! Aaaargh! Aaaargh!”
“Kyaaaak!”
“Constellation-nim. Constellation-nim. Constellation-nim.”
“Mommy, I’m scared. Mommy, I’m scared. Mommy, I’m scared.”
There were my contractors, fighting a life-and-death battle with exactly 28 Crow guild members.
I looked back at Yeon Taeseon.
Yeon Taeseon said with a slightly apologetic look.
“I forgot.”
I tore Yeon Taeseon’s hair out.
How! The boss! You were so focused on! You forgot! The mobs!
You didn’t even know they were going out of the passage?!
“Sorry, I said I’m sorry. I thought they would just be banging on the barrier that was surrounding the Crow Guild Leader…”
I looked at the Crow Guild Leader, who had been teleported to the boss room with us.
He was passed out, having wet himself ungracefully.
The completely shattered barrier of light showed how much we had struggled.
I looked at Yeon Taeseon again.
He avoided my gaze.
I tore at this good hair again.
“I was so full of the thought that I had to prevent you from getting hurt that I just…”
This guy’s hair roots are so strong that not a single hair came out.
Annoying!
Just then, a voice came from the side.
“Pion! No, Calamity-nim!”
“O Calamity!”
“Ugh, Pion-nim…! Please save the non-combatant…!”
It was a mess.
Sion was at the forefront, enduring the attacks of half of the Crow guild members, and Jiye was casting a wide-area attack magic with a barrier protecting Seona and Sanho.
Seona was sweating profusely and spamming healing.
And Sanho…
“Hwaaaaang…”
He was crying and physically crushing the guys who had been consumed by darkness with his second unique ability, ‘Divine Touch’.
For a non-combatant, he had the most number of neutralizations.
For a non-combatant…!
“Your contractors are also quite strange.”
“…”
I quietly deactivated the stigmas I had been using.
Since we had been moved to the boss room, Han Siyoon’s spatial control was lifted, and there was no reason to overexert myself by activating a stigma and sticking to Yeon Taeseon.
I, who had been floating behind Yeon Taeseon, landed on the floor again.
It was a bit awkward, but it was fine.

[The stigma ‘The Way of the Condemned’ is opened.]
A shining white line swayed in the air.
The shining lines hung on the necks of the Crow guild members who were fiercely attacking my contractors, like ropes.
When I pointed my finger upwards, a choking sound was heard from everywhere, and the surroundings became quiet.
The Crow guild members, who had fainted from the sudden pressure on their necks, collapsed with a thud.
Only then did my contractors, who were covered in various blood drops and sweat, collapse to the floor.
I went to Sion and asked.

[What happened?]
“While we were waiting for Calamity-nim, the strangely changed Crow guild members rushed out of the passage and attacked us.”

[Why didn’t you kill them?]
“I judged that there must be a reason why that arrogant guy and the Calamity didn’t kill them, so I went in the direction of subduing them as much as possible.”

[Good job.]
Why do you think I rushed into that darkness?
If others had killed the Crow guild members, everything would have been for naught.
Probably, as Han Siyoon had planned from the beginning, he would have fabricated it as ‘the Nate Guild killed the Crow guild members’.
No, it’s not even a fabrication.
Because that’s the truth.
I gently stroked the white hair of the seated Sion.
“…O Calamity.”

[Yes.]
“May I hug you?”
As soon as Sion’s words fell, Yeon Taeseon approached and subtly wrapped his arm around my waist.
It seemed very intentional, and Sion also glared at Yeon Taeseon as if he would kill him, but I decided to let Yeon Taeseon go.
“I think we should stop the chatter now.”
At Yeon Taeseon’s words, I lifted my head and looked up.
The others also caught their breath and followed my gaze.
On top of the boss monster, a giant crystal slime, was Han Siyoon, dripping black fluid from his body due to excessive interference from the Constellation.
Every time the fluid dripping from his body touched the crystal slime, it slowly dyed the slime black, as if mixing paint in water.
The baby slimes, like small pebbles, also seemed to be affected, and the ones that had been wriggling and moving flexibly gradually hardened like stones.

[The Constellation, ‘The Crow’s Ruins’, has made a forced contract.]
[Contract Target: Crystal Queen Slime]
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[The target has no ego.]
[Authority is transferred to the contractor Han Siyoon.]
Sion, who saw Han Siyoon, who was once his rival and now his enemy, froze.
“Brother…”

[Brother?]
“Ah, Han Siyoon is Sion’s half-brother.”

[Wow.]
I, who had learned the secret of his birth, which was suddenly revealed by Jiye and not by himself, could only show a reaction filled with various complicated emotions.
Is it okay to reveal it like that?
I couldn’t even imagine how it would feel for his brother to be in such a miserable state.
“That’s not my brother.”

[You just said brother.]
“Not anymore.”
…It seems he doesn’t have much thought.
No, that was a look of wanting to kill him.
‘Hmm.’
I decided to find out about the complicated sibling situation later.
It was polite to hear such family matters from the person himself.
Just then, Han Siyoon, who was almost a corpse, spread his arms.
“For the great Ruins…”
He fell backward, lost his human form, and seeped into the slime.
It was a loyalty no different from madness.

[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[The dungeon’s grade is rising…]
Padeudeuk, udeudeuk…
The crystals embedded everywhere took on a high concentration of mana and began to grow in an instant.
But their color gradually darkened.
The slimes, which had been sparkling transparently and emitting a prism of light, also did the same.
While maintaining their five colors, the inside gradually dyed black, and eventually, they began to sparkle black like black opals.
It looked quite beautiful, but I had a strong feeling that I shouldn’t touch it.
I turned my gaze from the surrounding scenery and looked at the boss monster.
My Sun’s Eye sparkled and did its job.

[S+: Black Crystal Queen Slime]
Clearly S-rank or higher.
But I wasn’t worried.
Because we were a fantastic party of two frontliners, one rear, and two supports.
Of course, that number included Yeon Taeseon.

[Yeon Taeseon, grade.]
“They said it’s S.”

[Of course, it would be.]
He’s a noble Regressor, so he wouldn’t have gotten A-rank.
And I’m his temporary contractor.
Then this was a party of three S-ranks and one Constellation.
There was no problem at all.
It was more than enough to raid.
Just then, a chime was felt in my head.

“Calamity.”
‘What is it.’

“If you get that slime’s core, something very good will happen.”
At those words, I used my Sun’s Eye a little more strongly.

[S+: Black Crystal Queen Slime]
[S+: Black Crystal Queen Slime]
[S+: Black Crystal Queen Slime]
…
[Name: Han Siyoon Lv.98]
Among the countless names of the boss monster that appeared, Han Siyoon’s name was visible.
He was still alive even after melting into the monster.

[Contractors, listen.]
For the first time in a while, I drew on the bravado I had shown as the White Magic Tower Head.
The good contractors quietly paid attention to the words flowing from my fingertips.

[First, getting hurt is allowed, but serious injuries are forbidden.]
“I’ll try.”

[Second, fight with all your might.]
“I will definitely kill him.”

[Third.]
I looked at the core, which was brilliantly embedded in the center of the boss monster slime.

[Don’t break that guy’s core, just pull it out.]
A clear life reaction was felt from that core.

[Han Siyoon is alive.]
The one who was most surprised by those words was Sion.
Sion, whose eyes had widened, seemed to have a wavering heart for a moment, but he soon returned to his usual firm gaze.
In fact, it was a natural story.
Because a Constellation who valued S-ranks so much wouldn’t give Han Siyoon as food for a mere A-rank dungeon boss.
He must be alive in some form.

I clapped my hands and deployed my last stigma.

[Stigma: Hate Spoken in Unison]
A blue star pattern appeared on the foreheads of the five contractors.
My last stigma.
When there is an existence that all contractors recognize as an enemy, the cooperation of the contractors participating in the battle increases dramatically.
Simply put, it was a teamwork boost.

[Go.]
As soon as my words fell, Yeon Taeseon and Han Sion rushed out.
Jiye cast a spell, Sanho assisted the frontliners with his new unique ability, and Seona efficiently distributed her healing skills.
Seeing that scene brought back a new wave of emotions.
“…”
Because a ‘stigma’ was created from the most intense memory left in a Constellation’s life.
I could tell.
The stigma, ‘Hate Spoken in Unison’, was based on the criticism I had heard before I died.
‘Kill her!’
I never thought those words would be this helpful.
‘Kill her!’
Even now, my hands are honestly trembling.
‘Kill her!’
It feels like a knife will fall on my neck at any moment.
But it was okay.
The fact that there were people who would cry for me even if I died was more encouraging than I thought.