Chapter 158 A Blue Fog (2)
‘It’s like a dungeon break.’
Some parts of a dungeon had been leaked like this by monsters a few times. However, there were no news articles about a dungeon break or anything else. The internet said that due to a clash between high-class hunters, regional citizens should evacuate, and that entry will be restricted.
‘I can’t see what happened.’
I could find the way since I had a navigating device and could see in front of me thanks to the headlights. It was the victory of contemporary technology that I could find the right path even if I could not see any signs. So, I make a left turn here.
-Shh!
Velare let out a wary sound, and I also felt that a human shape with heat had suddenly approached us. The car was grabbed with a crushing sound, and the wheels scratched the asphalt with loud noises. A large-sized car was stopped like a toy car for children.
The door ripped open before I could understand the situation, and a large hand suddenly reached in, grabbed my shoulder, and threw me out!
“Ugh!”
-Shh!
I rolled on the floor until I hit a tree. It hurt, and Velare had also been bounced out and quickly crawled at me with dissatisfied sniffs. I could not see who it was due to the heavy fog but could guess who he was.
“You can’t throw me out like that since someone as weak as me would step towards the afterlife if I hit somewhere long, Department Head Song.”
“You would use a damage nullifying item the moment you entered a dangerous area.”
He knew me well. Taewon Song showed himself from the fog, and he did not look happy. It was inevitable.
“You also managed to come here despite the fog.”
“You were the only one coming with the car sounds.”
He held out his hand, and I stood up with his help. Velare, please do not bite him even if I know that you are angry. Please refrain.
“You should have stopped me with words.”
“You would have not stopped.”
He did know me well, and I would have just increased my speed more.
“Have you understood the situation?”
“Not yet. The information is secret even I did.”
Taewon Song looked at the murky fog.
“Since Mr. Yoojin Han is here, it seems that the Haeyeon Guild Leader is involved in this incident.”
“My brother is a victim. He would have been dragged in.”
“You seem certain without seeing for yourself.”
“Yoohyun does not have a weird ability like this, and a hunter who can cause this kind of widespread phenomenon does not exist at present.”
Therefore, I searched for the car as I told him that we should go to where Yoohyun was said to be, and I saw the car in a very bad condition. Would the engine work after being stopped like that, even excepting the ripped door? Well, even if the car worked…
“….Umm…will you run carrying me? Going in a straight path like that with you will be much faster.”
“You should return now, as the car would still move.”
“However, it will be difficult for you to search since the fog’s like this, and you don’t know the exact address.”
I spoke as I turned on the map application on my cell phone.
“How about carrying with you human navigation?”
Taewon Song sighed and reached out when I added that it would be better than letting me wander about since I would not return obediently.
Taewon Song really ran like he flew, and he actually jumped over buildings as he went straight down the path I pointed. He would load weight before jumping and control it in the air. I saw a brimming fog below my feet. I felt heat above my head when we almost arrived at our destination.
“Head Song!”
While the fog made it impossible to see who it was, Taewon Song also felt the ambush, and he dropped down when I thought that it would be difficult to avoid the attack since we were in mid-air. He increased the weight load so we would fall.
Something clawed sharply at the fog above our heads, and I saw some gold scales and the size of the heated shape.
“Mr. Noah?”
It was Noah’s dragon form, but why was he attacking us? Did he think that Taewon Song held me by force?
Taewon Song’s feet touched the rooftop of a building, and he raised his gaze to the sky as he placed me down. However, the fog was still deep, and I hurriedly used my skill to share Velare’s heat senses with him.
“Mr. Noah must be mistaken.”
“I hope so. Please detoxicate me since I’ll try to subdue him.”
Taewon Song took out wire ropes from the inventory and grabbed them with both hands, and they were not your normal wire ropes. The fog swung with the heated shape’s movements, and the dragon’s wings beat to push and pull in the fog until it rose up.
-Grrr!
With a low growl, the golden dragon came through the fog and came down towards Taewon Song. Poison wrapped around his body, and I could see his teeth and claws. Taewon Song still held the wire and accepted Noah’s charge. The wire scratched the golden scales with loud screeches and wrapped around Noah, and Taewon Song twisted his thick arm around Noah’s neck as he moved a step sideways. At the same time, Noah’s claws scratched at Taewon Song’s side, and the floor cracked because it could not sustain their weight and fell down. I hung at the railings lest I also fell and used my teacher’s skill to Noah. While there was a slight resistance, thanks to the Lauchitas’s nemesis effect, I could convey Noah’s movements to Taewon Song without many difficulties. However, why was Noah resisting? Was there a problem? Noah was attacking Taewon Song and even resisted my skill.
-Gahh!
Noah had fallen to the first floor after breaking through multiple ceilings and writhed to push away Taewon Song, who was pressing him down. Taewon Song had tied the dragon and added weight load so Noah could not move. However, Taewon Song would be paralyzed if I left the situation to him since the poison was spreading. The looting skill’s range was too narrow to completely nullify the poison.
“Well, here goes.”
There was only one thing to do, and I held Velare in my arms with a sigh and jumped down the hole.
“Damn, that hurt.”
While I had no major injuries, there were bruises and scratches here and there. I hurriedly stood up and approached Taewon Song.
Noah revealed his teeth as I came closer, and he growled as his nostrils flared. It seemed that he could not speak, and I spoke to Noah as I detoxified Taewon Song.
“Mr. Noah, can’t you recognize me? I’m Yoojin Han.”
-Grrr.
The tail hit the floor and widely swung at us, and Taewon Song pushed it aside with only one arm.
“You can speak in that form, so please form words like you’re using a skill.”
-Let go of me!
So, he can speak, which meant that he still had some reason left. Not recognizing me and forgetting how to speak in dragon form meant that he had lost his recent memories.
“We’re not enemies, and are not here to hurt you. We’re only holding you down so you won’t be hurt.”
Pale gray eyes blinked as they looked at me, and while Noah still growled, he stopped flailing.
“Won’t you return to human form first?”
Noah glanced at Taewon Song and nodded. The wire ropes unwrapped, and Noah stepped back to become human. His shoulders shrank, and he looked at us alternately.
“Mr. Noah, don’t you remember me?”
“……”
“My stats are F, and I’m much weaker than you.”
So, please calm down. I was slowly approaching him as I spoke.
“You’re in Korea. Do you remember coming here? You helped me out a lot.”
Was it poison, a curse, or other mental skills? I thought of Diarma’s successor, who had looked like a jellyfish. It had been a strange creature that had fluttered with crazily vibrant colors, and while outer looks and skills did not always match each other, it seemed that the jellyfish would have hallucination skills and poison.
‘If the fog had erased memories, there’s even a higher possibility that it is poisonous.’
The reason that Taewon Song and I were fine was probably the poison resistance skill then, or maybe the fog’s effect had weakened due to its spread.
“Korea…I think my sister spoke about it.”
It seemed that Noah had most of his memories due to high poison resistance, and I spoke as gently as I could as I approached Noah.
“She would have told me to meet me, Yoojin Han. There was a monster you would have to entrust to a monster breeder. Do you remember Velare? It is this jewel snake.”
-Shh.
I went even closer as I showed him Velare, and my poison resistance skill should affect him about now. I stared at Noah’s eyes and used my teacher’s skill with more force since it might be a mental skill issue. I tried to deliver the memories I had of Noah.
“You had come to entrust Velare to me, and…”
“…Ugh.”
Noah’s brow furrowed, and his hand grabbed my shoulder. I felt his nails pierce my skin until there was blood as he growled out moans, and I stopped Taewon Song with a hand as he tried to move in reflex.
“Similar to my sister…”
The hand that grabbed my shoulder tightened its grip as he remembered that incident, and thanks to that, the damage nullification kicked in, so my shoulder was not ripped out.
“Do you remember?”
“Yes. Oh, Mr. Yoojin. I…ah!”
Noah let me go in surprise at seeing my shoulder, and he used a healing skill on me with a pale face.
“I’m so sorry!”
“It’s all right. Can you tell me what happened?”
Noah nodded and told us about what had gone down with Seokwon Choi.
“A fog came out from Seokwon Choi’s fallen body, and while the Haeyeon Guild Leader and I immediately stepped back, the fog spread more quickly. It had been much thicker than now, and my sight blurred for a minute. I think the Haeyeon Guild Leader attacked me. I don’t remember clearly, but I ran away while I healed my wounds.”
So Yoohyun attacked Noah. It seemed that Yoohyun thought him dangerous at seeing him in part beast form without remembering who Noah was.
“I was surprised and was wandering in the fog when I attacked you two. I think I was targeting Mr. Yoojin Han and had gone after Mr. Taewon Song since he was the more threatening one.”
“Would the fog that made you lose your memory some kind of poison?”
“It was mainly poison, and I felt like it was a hallucination. Especially when it got me at first.”
We had been lucky that I had been able to bring back his memories with my skill, and I spoke to Taewon Song as I turned around to stare at him.
“Since Yoohyun does not have any poison resistance skills, there is a possibility that he lost more memories than Mr. Noah. However, he would remember Department Head Song and me. Mr. Noah, please stay as it’s dangerous for you, and Mr. Taewon Song, please wait for now. I’ll try to talk to him first.”
If Yoohyun did not lose all of his memories, he would remember me. I had been next to him since he had been a baby with unfocused eyes.
Taewon Song contacted the Hunter Association and the Awakened Management Office for confirmation. The answer was that multiple people had memory trouble despite a fast evacuation after the fog spread out. Since only recent memories were lost, they seemed to think it only a mental shock due to the sudden incident.
I went out of the building straight to where Yoohyun was, and while I had been worried that he may have moved, fortunately, I felt fire from Seokwon Choi’s private house.
A long-tailed flame pushed away from the fog, and Yoohyun Hand stood between crumbled buildings. He raised his brow at seeing us.
“Yoohyun.”
I called him with a slight shake as I stepped forward. He had some of his memories, right? Yoohyun slowly opened his mouth.
“Hyung.”
He remembered me, and that was a relief, but his voice and expression were freezing. It was both strange and familiar, and Yoohyun spoke to me in a rigid voice.
“I told you not to come near me.”
I remembered that I blocked his number after hearing him say that on the phone. I fisted my hands at the memory.