Chapter 22 : Iron blood Rabbit (3)

The air cracked like thunder.

From the sky, streaking down like a falling star, Ye‑Rin leapt off the dragon's back. The beast hovered above—its three reptilian heads surveying the chaos below with cold detachment, wings casting a shadow long as a city block.

Ye‑Rin twisted midair, axe raised behind her shoulder, her figure thunderous from the lightning streaking across her armor. Dragon she rode, was barely larger than a motorcycle, it's body a blur of rage and thunder. The dragon's bond coursed through her veins—amplifying her strength, sharpening her senses, pushing her far beyond the boundaries of Level 15.

She didn't scream.

She didn't need to.

BOOM.

Her axe landed clean, biting into the rabbit's shoulder joint with a sickening crunch. Sparks flew. Oil sprayed. The beast's entire left arm snapped, torn off in one clean arc. The rabbit's massive frame stumbled back, its metal plating split open, black fluid spurting from the socket.

The impact rang across the block. Broken glass showered the ground like falling stars.

The rabbit roared—a distorted, guttural machine-screech echoing with pain and defiance. Despite the wound, it lurched forward, its remaining claw swinging upward in pure instinct. Ye‑Rin tried to dodge, but the rabbit's sudden desperation caught her off guard.

WHAM.

Its fist slammed into her ribs with the force of a car crash. Her body flew backward, flipping twice in the air before slamming into a concrete pillar. The wall cracked. Dust erupted around her.

"Ye‑Rin!" Seo‑Yeon shouted from below.

Across from us, the dragon remained still.

It perched atop the twin towers like a living monument, claws gripping the crumbling edges of the rooftops. The three-headed beast watched the battlefield with calm indifference, tails coiled neatly beneath its wings.

Seo-yeon, groaning from the debris, looked up toward it—rage in her voice, desperation in her breath.

"Do something! Help us!"

The dragon's central head tilted. A deep voice echoed—not from its mouth, but inside their minds, ancient and unimpressed.

"She is bonded. You are more than enough for this trash. I do not sully my claws on nameless monsters."

Seo-yeon clenched her jaw.

The dragon's wings curled tighter, returning to stillness.

Rabbit fell to one knee, plating melting, oil steaming. Then—eyes flared red once more. It staggered back. A command. Something in its cold, optical lens recognized Ye‑Rin's power—or feared it.

It turned its attention. Not on her—but on Mother, still laying beside Seo-yeon, grasping for air.

Recovery was gradual; its mind recalibrated. Despite loss of sensors, it clenched what energy remained, and lunged.

No!"I barked, summoning my last of strength. I plowed forward, tail lashing, claws bared, launching myself into the fray before the dust could settle.

My first strike was powerful—fist smashing into rabbit's jaw. Second hit—straight to the ribs. Fast strikes, aim-true, raw force.

Despite everything, the rabbit's eyes flared—detonation warning. Without warning, it shifted stance and swung a brutal arm. I twisted, felt ribs scream, tail snapped across his face.

Seo‑Yeon*followed up. She ripped off a car door with effortless telekinetic pull and hucked it at the rabbit. Deafening clang—metal met flesh. The rabbit crashed into a concrete pillar, stunned.

Mother, still laying down, Icy mist flickered on her arms edge as she cast the Curse of Senseless. Tendrils of darkness curled into the rabbit's sensors. Its bulk wavered, reflexes dulled, senses slipping away.

Ye-Rin, came out from the rubble.She sprinted forward, legs pumping. Her arm guards glowed crimson—thin rings of heat encircling her wrists. As she ran, heat shimmered around her limbs.

Her bracelets had activated.

Each step burned hotter. Faster. Her attack speed increased, the bond with the dragon sharpening her coordination like a blade.

She closed the distance in seconds, swinging the flat of her axe low—aiming not to kill, but to knock it off course.

CLANG!

The rabbit's foot slammed into the wedge she hurled earlier—metal bracing the debris like a trap. It staggered, just enough.

Ye‑Rin followed through.

Faster.

Stronger.

She hammered the rabbit with a whirlwind of blows, axe dancing in controlled, furious arcs. Her footwork never faltered. One strike to the hip. Another to the throat. A rapid spin and two consecutive slashes down the chest.

The rabbit reeled. Sparks flew from every joint. Its body wasn't healing.

The damage was permanent now.

It snapped its head toward Mi‑Sun again. Hoping to level up.

The mother was still on the ground, wheezing—barely able to lift her hand.

The rabbit's optic flashed red.

It crouched, coiling for one final lunge—

Ye‑Rin screamed.

"No you don't!"

She threw her axe forward—not as a weapon, but as bait.

The rabbit's eye flicked.

Too late.

Ye‑Rin's boot collided with its face—a flying kick that echoed like thunder. The force of the impact sent the rabbit skidding backward across the ruined street, metal scraping against stone.

Ye‑Rin landed on her knees.

Without wasting a breath, she picked the car door from the side that Seo-yeon previously strike with and flung it with both hands.

WHANG!

The door hit the rabbit like a battering ram—metal against metal. The monster flipped once, then hit the ground hard.

Ye‑Rin walked forward slowly, breath heaving.

Behind her, the dragon growled, low and proud.

She lifted her axe from the ground.

She tightened her grip.

The rabbit began to rise again—stubborn, twitching, bleeding from every joint. Its legs were wobbling. Its optic was cracked.

Ye‑Rin didn't care.

This was the moment. She looks towards Seo-yeon as if giving her the signal.

She planted her boots. Raised her axe.

And leapt. Seo-yeon used her telekinetic abilities to further rise the distance if that jump.

The world tilted.

Time slowed.

Wind roared past her ears as she soared, hair whipping behind her. Every breath. Every heartbeat. Every ache in her bruised ribs was silenced by that singular focus.

She came down like a comet.

"yeet—"*she whispered.

"AND SMASH!"

CRACK!

Her axe hit the dead center of the rabbit's skull, splitting it clean in two.

The street ruptured beneath them. Dust shot upward. Cracks spider-webbed across the asphalt. The shockwave sent shattered concrete and oil spraying in every direction.

The rabbit didn't scream.

It just stopped.

It's optic flickered once.

Then it went dark.

Chime.

[ You have defeated The boss Monster of 44200–44499.Buk-gu,Ulson,South-korea. Earth]

[Mission 001 : Survive the Golden Hell.]

[Complete]

[Major contributors from this district]

1) Shin Ye-Rin

2) Shin Ye-jun

3) Park Seo-yeon

4) Shin Mi-sun

5) Seong In-Ji

6) Kim Song woo

7) Helena Carter

8) Young Da-e

9) Lee Min-ho

.....

[ Party leveled up]

[ Shin Ye-Rin, Shin Ye-jun, shin Mi-sun leveled up to 17]

[Park seo-yeon levels UpTo 15]

[ Seong in-ji levels UpTo 14]

For several seconds, no one moved.

Then the system message echoed in their ears.

Ye‑Rin collapsed to one knee.

The wind slowed. The sky, still red with sunset, burned gently overhead. Smoke curled into the clouds.

I staggered toward her, one hand on my bruised ribs. I let go of my beastification form. Junior fells down in my arms as soon as my beastification ended. Burning hard from today's long beastification period.

I gave her a crooked grin.

"Took you long enough,"I said, voice raspy but light.

Ye‑Rin snorted. "Was trying to make an entrance."

"You did."I nodded at the crater where the rabbit's remains still sizzled. "Ten outta ten. Would smash again."

She rolled her eyes and leaned against a cracked pillar, finally letting herself exhale.

Seo‑Yeon floated down, her expression unreadable. A strand of hair was stuck to her cheek, slick with sweat. She looked between the two of them, then at Mi‑Sun, who was just barely sitting upright against the wall.

"Is she okay?" Ye‑Rin asked softly, gesturing towards her mother.

"She will be," Seo‑Yeon said. "Barely. But she's breathing."

I knelt beside my mother, brushing dust from her shoulder. Her hand twitched, reaching for his, and he held it gently.

There was a pause.

A deep, mutual silence where the world seemed to breathe again.

They had done it.

Together.

The rabbit was dead.

And the night was theirs.

[Scene Shift: The Moon]

Far beyond Earth's broken skyline...

Above the atmosphere. Past the layers of cloud and ash. On the pale, scarred surface of the moon—something watched.

A dome of obsidian sat embedded in the lunar soil, silent and vast.

Inside…

Countless eyeballs—some mechanical, some organic—blinded and turned, each tethered to a long bundle of nerves or wires, like twisted antennae. They blinked in slow synchronization, unblinking lids closing with sickening wet sounds.

All of them stared at glowing screens.

Thousands of them.

Each screen displayed a different scene—cities burning, forests crawling with monsters, survivors fighting and dying.

And in one particular feed…

A replay looped of Ye‑Rin's final strike—her axe slicing down, the rabbit's skull cracking open, the kill confirmed.

A long pause.

The eyes twitched.

And then slowly, all the screens began to shift—to mission: 002 preparations.

Creatures beyond imagination flickered on screen. New players. New anomalies.

New threats.

The moon watched.

And waited.