Chapter 100: The Pied Piper (5)

Dangerous. The magical power I sense is not normal.

Hwaryeon faced the robot walking out of the darkness and shouted.

"What are you! You're not a Power Ranger! Why are you in a robot?"

Whirr-

The robot walked forward with a loud engine noise. It had a human-like form, but was a robot covered in machinery all over its body. It lit up red LEDs in its eyes and spoke to Hwaryeon in a mechanical voice.

"I should be the one asking questions, not you, kid."

"I'm not a kid!"

"You're noisy, just like a kid. More importantly, why aren't you asleep, kid?"

"Hmph, stating the obvious!"

Puff-

Hwaryeon raised her shoulders and declared confidently.

"Because unlike those stupid underlings, I'm super strong!"

Whoosh- Whoosh-

Hwaryeon swung her fists as if daring the robot to come at her. The robot responded in its eerie mechanical voice.

"To think there was a magically awakened one in that small kindergarten. It wouldn't be bad to catch you. And."

Clank-!

The robot drew a red magic sword and said.

"I really hate brats like you who don't understand the reality in front of them. If you had just lain still, I would have let you go easily."

Whoosh-!

With those words, the robot swung its magic sword. The magic sword left a huge gash where Hwaryeon had been standing in an instant.

"Phew, that was close! I almost got in big trouble!"

Glare-

Hwaryeon, who had dodged by a hair's breadth, looked at the robot. The robot met Hwaryeon's gaze with the same red eyes.

"How dare you copy my eyes! You're going to die today, you know!"

"Be a good test subject for our organization, kid."

Roar-!

Red Dragon Hwaryeon roared. At the same time, the robot started moving properly.

"Take this! Raaah-!"

The robot watched for an opening while avoiding the heat and fire filling the room. It muttered quietly as it looked at Hwaryeon.

"I thought it was just a kid. But it's not easy even wearing this gifted pile of scrap."

Robot.

The person inside reassessed their evaluation of Hwaryeon. It seemed it wouldn't be easy even while using a robot that had extracted high-purity magic from over 100 children.

"If I extract that tremendous magical power, I could become stronger with this robot too."

The human inside the robot could only lick their lips after seeing Hwaryeon's outstanding abilities.

***

While we were running around trying to find Hwaryeon, a crisis came upon us.

"Dad..."

"Father..."

"Uh..."

Drip-

Suryeon and Choryeon wiped away the sweat dripping down and asked me.

"Why is it so hot here...?"

"It's too hot, Father..."

That's right. Why is this corridor so hot?

It's abnormally hot for winter. I fanned the children with my hand.

"It feels like it's getting hotter as we go deeper... How is everyone? Can you handle it...?"

"If it gets any hotter, I think I'll have trouble..."

"Me too..."

The children didn't look good. Especially Choryeon, who's weak to heat.

"Woof woof..."

"Mangmung seems very hot too."

Pant pant-

Mangmung was panting to regulate his body temperature. How should I solve this situation?

As I was walking and thinking, a good idea came to mind.

"Lee Suryeon!"

"What, Dad..."

"Come here!"

Grab-!

I picked up Suryeon. And aiming at the corridor, I shouted.

"Suryeon-mon! Shoot water towards the corridor!"

"...I don't like this. But I'll do it specially because you're Dad."

Tsk-

Suryeon didn't like it, but she clicked her tongue and immediately started spitting out water.

"Blue Dragon Laser Beam."

Splash-!

Cold water gushing out endlessly towards the corridor. As the water cooled the heated walls, the temperature we felt on our skin naturally started to drop.

Drip drip-

I wiped the water dripping from Suryeon's mouth with my hand and said.

"Well done, Suryeon."

"...Put me down quickly."

Suryeon didn't seem to be in a good mood, so I quickly put Suryeon down on the floor. Then I took the lead walking down the corridor.

"Now I feel like I can live. Are Choryeon and Mangmung okay too?"

"Yes, Mangmung and I seem okay now too. It's cooler now!"

Choryeon said this and clung to my side. She seemed happy to be able to stick close now that it wasn't hot.

"I didn't lower the temperature for you to do that."

Glare-

When Suryeon glared sharply, Choryeon quickly hid behind me.

'These kids are busy fighting even in this situation.'

It feels like fighting has become normal for them now.

I sighed and strode forward. As I did, I felt the white smoke becoming faint.

"The smoke seems to be disappearing from here."

"That's right, Dad."

Just as we were feeling tense from the different atmosphere,

"Woof woof!"

"Mangmung!"

Mangmung suddenly jumped forward and started running down the corridor. We quickly followed after Mangmung. And there, we found kindergarten children lying in the corridor.

"What's this, why are all these kids gathered in a place like this?"

"They all seem to have lost consciousness, Father!"

Looking closely, they were all collapsed and unconscious. As I was looking at them lying unnaturally in the corridor, Mangmung tugged at my sleeve.

"Woof woof!"

"What is it, Mangmung?"

"Woof woof!"

"You want me to follow you?"

"Woof!"

I ran down the corridor following Mangmung as he said, and I found out why he had barked at me like that.

"Woof woof!"

"Hwaryeon!"

Beyond the iron door cut by something sharp, I saw Hwaryeon. She was battling with a machine that moved quickly.

Suryeon and Choryeon pointed at the machine and shouted.

"Is that... a Power Ranger robot...?"

"It's a Power Ranger robot, Father! I guess they really exist! But why is it fighting Hwaryeon?"

While it did look like a Power Ranger robot on the outside, that's not a Power Ranger robot.

That's...

"A Gundam."

"What's that, Dad?"

"We young dragons don't know about such things!"

"..."

I'm quite young, too.

Anyway. I felt a bit wronged, but I looked at Hwaryeon who was busy dodging the Gundam's attacks.

"It's hard to dodge! You tin can!"

"Stop running like a rat and die quickly!"

I couldn't just stand by and watch.

"How dare that bastard touch my daughter?"

Clench-

I clenched my fist and charged at the Gundam rushing towards Hwaryeon. And I struck it hard, like a younger cousin touching a Gundam on display during Chuseok.

"You bastard! How dare you touch my daughter!?"

"Dad!"

"Break!"

Crack-!

My fist went straight for its head. At the same time, a strange mechanical groan came from the Gundam.

"Ugh, ugh...!!"

Crash-!

The Gundam flew far after being hit in the head. My punch must have been quite effective. Cracks started forming on the Gundam's head, and it finally split in two.

"Ugh, ugh... Damn... Who are you...?"

At the same time, the face hidden behind the helmet was revealed. He looked like a scientist in his 60s with glasses and white hair. He glared at me as if to kill me and said.

"You damn bastard... Suddenly hitting my head...? Who the hell are you...? A hero...?"

I answered firmly to the guy rubbing his head.

"I'm Hwaryeon's dad."

"Dad...? Then are those two over there your daughters too...?"

"What if they are?"

Snicker-

He burst into laughter and said regretfully with greedy eyes.

"Your daughters would have been good material with their nice magic... What a shame..."

"..."

This bastard is beyond help.

I pushed Hwaryeon back and muttered quietly.

"Hwaryeon, go over there and stay with Suryeon and Choryeon."

"No! I want to fight too! He's my prey!"

"No."

Was I too firm?

Hwaryeon looked at my face in surprise. I gently patted Hwaryeon's head and said.

"Adults will handle adult matters. Hwaryeon, go rest over there. Understand?"

"...I understand for now!"

Nod-

Hwaryeon nodded slightly and scampered off to where Suryeon and Choryeon were. Only then did I look at the man wearing the Gundam without any distractions.

"The children outside too. You're behind all this, aren't you?"

"So what if I am...?"

"First, I'll beat you up."

And.

"Then I'll beat you up more for harassing my daughter."

"Is that so..."

Snicker-

The Gundam looked at me regretfully and said.

"I thought I could start over by using young ones... What a shame..."

There was no need to listen further. I clenched my fist and charged at him.

He tried hard to escape using the magic contained in the machine and attacked me with a sword, but it was just higher in power and speed.

They were all attacks I could handle.

'The magic contained in that machine must all be stolen from others.'

And my daughter's magic could have been taken by him too if we weren't careful.

'You decrepit trash. Trying to gain power by stealing even children's strength?'

With my head heated, I swung my fist at him to knock some proper sense into his head. But even as I was hitting him, I knew.

That the mind of a human who has grown so old can never change.

***

The dragons watched their father fighting and muttered.

"I wanted to fight too!"

"Why bother with the hassle of fighting, Hwaryeon? Just stay put."

"That's right! You left me behind! That's too much, Hwaryeon!"

"Woof woof-!"

Choryeon and Mangmung expressed their resentment towards Hwaryeon, but Hwaryeon just waved her hand dismissively.

"Well, these things happen!"

"That's not an excuse!"

"Shut up! Don't talk back to your older sister! Anyway!"

Huff-

Hwaryeon glanced at their father smashing the Gundam and carefully muttered.

"Isn't Dad scarier than we thought when he's angry?"

"...Yeah, he's usually gentle, but when he's angry, it's something else."

"Yes, Father seems quite scary when he's angry..."

"Woof woof..."

Whisper whisper-

The children muttered as they watched their father filled with rage, including comments about how scary he was.

"But Dad is definitely strong! Just a tiny bit weaker than me!"

"He's gentle usually, so we just need to make sure he doesn't get angry."

"That's right, Father is scary when angry...! But he's so dependable!"

And, including comments about how dependable he was.

Although the children found their father's angry appearance scary, they understood the feelings behind his actions.

They stared intently at their father's back as he fought hard for them, not realizing that their own eyes were shining as they watched.