A S-Class Hunter With Great Agility - Chapter 177

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 177: Sin (2)

The blood flowing down his face was hot. Hong I-jo gasped for breath.

‘It hurts…’

However, this kind of pain was familiar. The pain of flesh being torn, bound, and kicked had been something he’d experienced frequently since childhood.

‘It’s okay.’

There were still many things to do. He still hadn’t found the children who had just left the church.

When he saw the children again, he had things to say to them. Though he wasn’t sure if his mouth could form proper sentences in the first place.

‘So this much is…’

It really was okay. Even if someone found out about the sin he had committed.

“Hong I-jo! Can you hear me?”

Even if they blamed him for that reason. It couldn’t be helped. Because that sin was indeed his.

But I… the me back then, if I hadn’t committed that sin, I wouldn’t have been able to survive.

He hoped they would at least understand this one thing.

* * *

I suddenly recalled one fact. Hong I-jo’s Four Pillars reading.

Four Pillars / Calamity Kill

Calamity Kill.

Threaten and kill.

The most ominous of all evil stars, meaning one would have everything taken away by great threats.

‘What the hell is all this…’

With such a fate, what kind of path had he walked?

But the confusion was only momentary.

‘I need to treat him right away.’

If time was delayed any further like this, he might go completely blind.

I untied the blood cord from my waist and tied it around Hong I-jo’s wrist. This should help preserve his stamina a bit more.

“Good grief, where else would you find someone getting hurt by their own skill? Hey, are you really okay?”

Lee Cheong-ryu clicked his tongue and approached. Soon he took something out of his gate and threw it to Hong I-jo.

“Drink this. It’s an A-grade recovery potion. With this, you won’t lose your sight immediately. Though it’ll be nowhere near enough for complete recovery.”

Hong I-jo calmly received the potion and drank it.

Swoosh!

The Bishop’s attack came flying. I gritted my teeth.

“That bastard.”

The cluster of light he shot flickered in front of Hong I-jo’s eyes. Hong I-jo spread his red wings like a defensive barrier and blocked the attack.

“…I’m fine.”

Feathers scattered. Hong I-jo faced his opponent with one eye, keeping the other eye that wouldn’t open yet closed.

“Haha. You still think of fighting in that state? But you won’t have time to worry about this…”

“Shut up.”

I shouted at the Bishop.

Though Hong I-jo had unexpectedly gotten injured, the Bishop was still a rat trapped in poison. Now that we knew S-rank abilities worked on the Bishop.

The guy probably knew that fact too.

“Black chains, capture.”

Hong I-jo extended his chains. However, it wasn’t as perfect an attack as before.

Distance control would be difficult with only one eye.

“Kuk!”

Nevertheless, the chains firmly caught the Bishop. Unable to move, he gave a twisted smile.

“Annoying… Such a damn annoying power! Reaching the soul. That’s impossible!”

I gripped the Spirit General Sword and rushed at my opponent.

Clang!

The sharp sword blade was swung toward the Bishop. However, the Bishop had somehow escaped the chains and caught my sword with his hand.

At the same time, Lee Cheong-ryu opened a gate above the Bishop’s head. Several steel reinforcements appeared from the gate.

Those steel bars poured down as if to pierce through the Bishop.

Thunk—

And several of them actually pierced through the Bishop’s body.

Blood leaked out, and the guy coughed up blood-mixed spit. I muttered.

“…You were so confident.”

It was a combined attack by S-ranks. Neither the speed nor the power lacked in any way.

“Kekuk. Is that so? Is it a bit funny that I was confident yet ended up like this?”

The silver-haired bishop mocked himself. But before long, he hung his head and began to chuckle.

“Ah, by the way, even when I speak with concern, you don’t listen to me. I clearly said you wouldn’t have time to worry about this… Hahaha!”

“…?”

Crackle.

I heard the sound of a radio in my ear. I brought my hand to the communication device plugged into my ear.

‘…Come to think of it, what about Sister Yu-kyung’s side?’

There had been no word from earlier. I hadn’t been able to pay attention while engaging in battle.

[…Here, shit, how the hell are these things, …Lee Cheong-ryu, can you hear me?!]

The radio transmission came through intermittently with breaks.

[Damn it… This fucking, they were onto us… attacking here… two bishops…]

What?

After hearing the transmission, I made eye contact with Lee Cheong-ryu. He too seemed to grasp the situation as his expression hardened.

The bishop muttered.

“Did you think we wouldn’t prepare anything? You should have thought about why I came here alone, leaving the other bishops behind!”

Damn it. I bit my lip. Had bishops gone to where Yu-kyung, Heo Gil, and Yeon Na-yeon were too?

I quickly racked my brain.

‘There’s no time to be frustrated or surprised. Don’t worry either. There are three S-ranks where the two bishops headed. Our combat strength is better here but… Sister Yu-kyung is over there, so it’ll be fine.’

Besides, they had the talismans I gave them. If they used those, nothing major would happen.

Boom, crash!

Explosive sounds came through the radio one after another. It seemed the battle had already begun.

[Don’t worry about here! Damn it! Heo Gil, send the puppets this way—]

Sure enough, Yu-kyung reassured us.

It seemed the Strange People Cult intended to shake our mentals by attacking both sides, but it was unfortunate for them that it didn’t work.

‘But… damn it. This means we can’t request support.’

I glared at the silver-haired bishop. This must have been one of the things they were aiming for. Making it so we couldn’t help each other.

Swoosh, bang!

At that moment, a mass of light thrown by the bishop flew toward me.

Despite having his body pierced by steel reinforcement and being bound by iron chains, he unleashed attacks of tremendous power as if nothing was wrong.

“Ugh!”

Light exploded from all directions. I barely dodged, but the bishop continued attacking steadily without showing any signs of fatigue.

Clatter—

Hong I-jo wrapped the iron chains around. The intertwined chains transformed like a lump of metal.

He coordinated with Lee Cheong-ryu’s gate and struck down that metal mass toward the bishop.

“Whale Wave!”

The White Dragon King’s wave also played its part. Due to his injured eyes, Hong I-jo’s attacks lacked accuracy. My wave supported that.

But that was all.

The bishop still wasn’t tired.

“Hahahaha!”

…How the hell?

We had two S-ranks whose abilities now worked, plus I had summoned the Dragon King God. It was an incomprehensible situation.

“Don’t you think it’s somewhat contradictory? You say I’m a soul, that I’m already dead, yet you’re trying to kill me!”

The silver-haired bishop sneered.

“How do you plan to kill someone who’s already dead? Come on, keep attacking. Try to wound me, make me bleed! Do you think my life will be in any danger?”

Lee Cheong-ryu stroked his chin.

“Oh… this is…”

A spirit body.

The fact that the bishop was a spirit body didn’t simply mean that hunters’ powers wouldn’t work on him.

It meant he couldn’t be killed. By human power, no matter what we did.

He shouted consecutively.

“Even if you were to capture me, even if I were locked in that rotten prison and received the punishment you desire. Your country will fall faster. We don’t age or die!”

“…”

“This was a fight with a predetermined outcome from the start… You should have realized that fact first. Haha, hahahaha!”

No physical restraints were possible. Imprisonment would be useless, death sentences would be meaningless.

Because they were ghosts without bodies.

…Of course, there was a fact he overlooked.

My gaze looking at the bishop was steady. What did it matter if he was a soul that didn’t age or die? All ghosts in the world were like that.

I left the panting bishop behind and turned to look at Lee Cheong-ryu.

“Lee Cheong-ryu.”

“?”

“That favor I asked of you last time. Now seems like the right time to execute it.”

The favor I had hinted at during our last meeting. Something I’d been planning ever since I formed the hypothesis that the Bishop was a soul entity.

“First, go to a nearby hospital or find a healer you know and get Hong I-jo recovered. Then come to where I am.”

“What? What are you planning? Will you be okay without us?”

“Yes. There’s some preliminary work that needs to be done. I think it would be more helpful if both you and Hong I-jo recover your full strength first.”

Hong I-jo’s eye injury was more critical than expected. Lee Cheong-ryu was also preoccupied with the believers who hadn’t been evacuated yet.

Since the Bishop was wounded, I could hold out alone for a while even without Hong I-jo and Lee Cheong-ryu.

For the next phase, it was right to split up here for a moment.

“I’m not telling you not to come because I’ll handle it alone. That crazy bastard—I can’t do it by myself. But I have a plan. Trust me and go take care of things.”

“Hmm… Right. I was worried about that guy anyway. Even if it’s his own skill, he took a direct hit from an S-rank. I can’t just leave him to become one-eyed.”

Lee Cheong-ryu accepted.

“I’ll send him off, guide all the believers here to another location, then quickly follow.”

“Yes.”

Whooom—

Soon he opened a deep blue gate. Then he grabbed Hong I-jo and shoved him inside.

“…?!”

A struggle of strength ensued, but Lee Cheong-ryu forcibly pushed him through.

Hong I-jo would be delivered to a hospital or some healer. I hoped he could receive treatment safely.

“The thing you asked for, here!”

Snap.

He flicked his finger. Between me and the Bishop, a blue gate just big enough for two people was created.

“Be careful.”

With those final words, Lee Cheong-ryu left with Hong I-jo.

“Where are you going!”

The Bishop shot a cluster of light to interfere with their movement, but the S-rank Lee Cheong-ryu’s speed was faster.

The last thing the Bishop saw was his wave goodbye.

‘They’re gone.’

I took a deep breath. Then I asked the Silver-Haired Bishop.

“Let me ask you one thing. How are you so confident that you won’t die?”

He looked like he didn’t understand the intent of my words. I asked again.

“Don’t know? You always act like you know me so well. But this… just how much do you know and how much don’t you know…”

Now that unknowability was getting on my nerves. …But today would be the last of it too.

I quickly lunged forward.

Grab.

Then I seized the Bishop by the collar. The blood-covered Bishop frowned.

“My word! You underestimated me too much. Did you really think you could handle me alone?”

He put strength into trying to remove my hand. It was tremendous force. But…

“I’ve grown quite a bit during this time too.”

The Dragon King God’s stats were different from the divine spirits I’d summoned so far. The enhanced strength made the Bishop unable to budge.

| Do you wish to go to the Vast Ocean? |

Swoosh.

I felt like I was being sucked somewhere, and the scenery changed in an instant.

* * *

[Special Advantage activated!]

A cheerful notification sound rang out as the status window appeared.

[Special Advantage]

— The power left behind by many wounds and unending resistance.

Carrying the will of ancient spirits, it doubles all of the user’s ability stats.

This effect only applies while staying in the corresponding country.

An Awakened Athlete Gymnasium in Japan.

Clink.

I pointed the Spirit General Sword at the Silver-Haired Bishop. The jingling sound of bells rang out.

“Souls don’t die. Instead, they get annihilated.”

By a shaman who catches evil spirits.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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