A S-Class Hunter With Great Agility - Chapter 32
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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 32: Fear and Complacency (3)
Crack.
The ground rose up in the exact direction my sword blade cut through the air. The floor of the decrepit castle shot up into the void.
Noble Foot.
A precious step.
The broken floor debris rushed toward the ceiling at high speed.
Treads.
Since you have stepped down.
First, I need to get that thing off. Bang, crash. The stone chunks that defied gravity began to collapse the old ceiling.
I leaped up toward the top in one bound.
Humble Ground.
On lowly earth.
Clatter, screech. The skeleton couldn’t withstand the consecutive flying attacks and slipped.
It grabbed onto a protruding part of the ceiling and barely hung on.
I should give it a fitting reward.
Grin. I raised the corners of my mouth and swung my sword.
Whoosh—!
The cleanly extended sword sliced through the skeleton’s wrist. The skeleton fell straight to the floor, and I landed as well.
“How does it feel to lose your wrist?”
I asked lightly, and the skeleton raised its arm. The place where its hand should have been attached was completely empty.
The skeleton stared at that sight for a moment, then turned its gaze back toward me.
Then, as if angry, it charged forward with its body leading.
Clang—!
Screech.
I quickly raised the Spirit General Sword to block the charge.
‘It must have planned to eliminate me, who looks the weakest, with the spiders, then finish off the rest itself.’
It was a strategy that used its head in its own way, but unfortunately it didn’t work.
| Is this that… monster…? |
“Yes. That’s right.”
| It smells like neither the living nor the dead… |
Well, it’s not human after all.
Monster.
Literally just a strange beast, nothing more.
I struck back hard against the skeleton that was pressing down on my sword. The skeleton was pushed back in a parabolic arc by that force.
It’s definitely strong. It felt like the most advanced monster I’d faced so far.
To think a skeleton without a single muscle is stronger than a massive orc.
I readjusted my grip on the Spirit General Sword and assessed my opponent.
“Noble Foot Treads Humble Ground.”
And again, I swung my sword. The ground responded to my command and the castle floor began to crumble.
Fragmented floor pieces began to float up around me one by one.
As I extended my sword toward the skeleton, those fragments shot through the air at high speed.
As if joyfully welcoming the opponent standing before them.
The arrangement of words was contradictory. The word “repay” was just a shell; the result was completely different.
‘It’s a skill befitting the Wronged King Spirit.’
He is a being that guards abandoned houses and tombs.
To the Wronged King Spirit, another’s footsteps were precious compared to the humble ground, but they were never welcome.
Crash.
Bang—!
The skeleton hastily raised its arms to block the attack. However, it couldn’t block all the hard fragments pouring down.
Eventually, the skeleton’s body was broken and riddled with holes everywhere.
“Lost some ribs. How does it feel?”
I asked mockingly. The skeleton, as if frustrated, spewed purple breath from its mouth once again.
‘Is this that Ancient Roar skill or whatever?’
I moved my chin slightly and created a large barrier in front of me. The floor fragments that had pierced the skeleton earlier now transformed into a defensive wall.
Whoooosh—
The skeleton’s attack unfortunately turned into a handful of ash and disappeared.
I cleared away the barrier I had made and now, to end the fight, I aimed my sword sharply.
But…
“…What?”
Where did it go?
I frowned. In that brief moment, the skeleton had vanished without a trace.
I quickly looked around, but there was nothing to be found.
“Sir, over there!”
At that moment, Baek Kyul grabbed the hem of my long robe and pulled me. When I turned my head in that direction, I could see something.
“…Ha.”
The skeleton had taken advantage of the moment my vision was blocked to flee. But it wasn’t alone.
It was carrying Kim Se-min on its back.
I bit my lip.
‘Wasn’t it trying to kill her?’
Unlike other monsters that were only focused on slaughtering the humans before their eyes, these things kept acting beyond expectations.
Not only did they use crude strategies in battle, but now they were even kidnapping.
I immediately took a stance to chase after it.
‘…Wait a moment.’
But… where to?
“…Baek Kyul. Hold on.”
I stopped my pursuit and lowered my sword.
“…? Why—”
“Where do you think that thing is heading right now?”
I know. Now that Kim Se-min has been kidnapped, rescuing her should be the top priority.
‘However, if my prediction is correct…’
If the destination it’s heading to matches my expectation.
It would be more efficient to target that place. I cooled my mind.
Baek Kyul soon seemed to realize something and muttered. He’s a smart kid.
“…The Boss Room?”
“That’s right.”
I nodded.
“I don’t know what it plans to do with Kim Se-min. But that’s probably likely. Even though it knows I can catch up quickly if it runs, it’s still doing this because it has something to rely on. It thinks there’s something at its destination that can face me. And that’s most likely the boss.”
“Then what do we do now? Can you track it?”
“Of course.”
What an obvious question.
I knelt down on one knee. Rolling up my sleeve, I placed my hand on the broken floor.
“Divine Spirit.”
| …The living are not welcome. |
The living are not welcome.
The Wronged King Spirit is a deity that guards places without life. To him, living beings were nothing but unwelcome guests.
Because of this, he was paradoxically more sensitive to life force than anyone else.
“All-Knowing Sacred Territory.”
Whoooosh—
Ancient energy began spreading out from beneath my palm.
The skill quickly pursued the skeleton, or more precisely, Kim Se-min’s life force.
I steadily watched the skeleton’s retreating figure, which had now become almost a dot in the distance.
* * *
Red blood dripped from the ceiling.
“Ugh…”
The hunters, bound all over their bodies and tied up in spider webs, let out pained breaths.
“Ha… Kuk.”
They were already exhausted. Their faces clearly showed their fatigue.
The middle-aged hunter looked down below with eyes that had given up on everything. How did it come to this?
‘Damn it…’
All the hunters who had entered this dungeon with him were in the same state. With faces full of pain.
Naturally, Park Ji-hwan wasn’t here.
Even if B-rank level monsters swarmed in groups, Park Ji-hwan was of the same rank. He had enough power not to be caught by them.
There was no telling where he was now. Whether he was still fighting, or had escaped.
‘The latter would be better.’
Since this wasn’t a guild raid, no reinforcements would come. In that case, it would be better if at least Park Ji-hwan escaped this place.
He could only hope that Park Ji-hwan would go out and leave some word to the outside world.
That would probably become his last will.
“Kuk….”
The strength drained from my hands. I’d been eating dungeon meals for 15 years now, but these damn dungeons never once flowed according to expectations.
Good grief….
‘A monster that drains mana.’
These spider webs had the power to steal mana from those caught in them. This was probably why they kept us alive instead of killing us.
We’d been completely had. If I’d known they were an intelligent group capable of setting such goals, I wouldn’t have let my guard down.
No, even then… it would’ve been the same.
“…Haa.”
This was the fate of an incompetent hunter.
Creak.
The closed door opened.
A vast basement where only torches burned red.
The monster that had embedded itself in the ceiling slowly opened the creaking door. From there, another sacrifice appeared.
Clatter clatter clatter.
A skeleton entered carrying someone on its back. Jet-black hair hung down long toward the floor. A dress that reached the knees. A youthful appearance.
The middle-aged hunter remembered the girl. She had definitely belonged to a different team.
‘Then that side too….’
If even that child had been dragged here. That team wouldn’t be safe either.
The girl was hung from the ceiling.
He sighed and closed his eyes.
Was it all wrong?
“….”
But always.
Even in a collapsed sky, there’s a hole to rise through.
Kwaaaaang—!
Startled.
He looked up in surprise at the thunderous sound. It was definitely the sound of something breaking. Sure enough….
Rumble rumble rumble.
The massive door of the basement began to collapse.
What the hell? Could it be the boss monster? Ah, maybe it’s coming to consume us now that it’s drained enough mana.
The middle-aged hunter began to resign himself.
“Excuse me! Are you alright?!”
Until he heard an urgent voice calling out.
* * *
The situation was like this.
I concentrated all my body’s senses into my fingertips, and as a result, I was able to track them even after Kim Se-min and the skeleton disappeared.
“Can you sense something?”
Baek Kyul urged me impatiently. I nodded.
“Yeah. But they’re still moving.”
“Haa….”
“Let’s take care of Nam Jae-yoon first.”
“Ah, right.”
Only then did Baek Kyul approach the collapsed Nam Jae-yoon. He seemed quite worried about Kim Se-min.
“Hey, you there.”
Baek Kyul shook Nam Jae-yoon like he was waking up a drunk.
However.
“….”
Nam Jae-yoon slowly opened his eyes. His expression was completely dazed.
Baek Kyul waved his hand over his face to check his consciousness. Then he pushed heal into his chest area.
“Get up quickly. This is a complete emergency.”
“….”
“…What’s wrong with you?”
“…Am I not dead?”
“Of course not.”
“…I really can’t anymore.”
“…?”
“I, I can’t do it anymore….”
Nam Jae-yoon’s expression darkened rapidly. Ah… it seemed like Nam Jae-yoon’s mind was shaken again by the recent attack.
‘…Underground?’
I tracked Kim Se-min’s whereabouts.
Good, I’ve pinpointed the coordinates. Now I just need to head in that direction.
I lifted my hands from the floor and walked toward Nam Jae-yoon.
Step, step.
“Nam Jae-yoon.”
I placed my hand on the shoulder of him who had completely collapsed and wasn’t showing any motivation at all.
“Are you okay?”
“No… No. Just now, the moment I was being attacked, all I could think was… that I might really die like this.”
“….”
“That I might really die like this…”
…That can’t happen. I can’t die here.
“When I get out.”
“….”
“There are people I need to see when I get out.”
“Nam Jae-yoon.”
I spoke calmly.
“We’ll be able to get out soon.”
“….”
“For sure.”
Because I’ll make it happen.
Nam Jae-yoon didn’t give any response. But there was no time to wait for him.
“You won’t die. We can get out. This is all I can say right now… but I mean it.”
“….”
“Let’s go.”
I tapped the floor with my foot.
In the lowest floor of this castle, underground.
I can feel Kim Se-min’s life force.
Nam Jae-yoon bit his lips as he looked at me.
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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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