I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 204

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Chapter 204.
I dismissed Onyx’s remark without a second thought.
It was routine for him to interject with commentary from the sidelines.
“Let’s move to the side.”
Instead, I immediately shifted my position.
To clearly identify the target, this vantage point simply wouldn’t suffice.
Leveraging my speed, I traversed to another Hill in an instant and drew upon my power once more.
Crackle—!
Lightning struck decisively into the heart of the enemy formation.
After repeating this process two more times, the enemy finally caught on.
―There! Over there!
―He’s attacking from above!
I observed the enemy soldiers pointing directly at me and felt the corners of my mouth rise.
I could have easily concealed myself further, but I was deliberately exposing my position.
At this point, the enemy commander wouldn’t remain idle.
As expected.
Once the enemy forces confirmed my location, they began launching attacks toward me.
Whoosh—!
I evaded the barrage of attacks by pushing off the ground, and in doing so, I confirmed what I sought.
‘Those three, then.’
I had just identified who was issuing commands before the counterattack.
I still couldn’t determine which of the three was Vagadur, but three would be sufficient.
‘I’ll simply eliminate all three.’
And if Vagadur wasn’t among them?
‘Then he’ll reveal himself eventually.’
Given that they were issuing orders to the other soldiers, they had to be at least mid-level commanders. Would they truly stand by and watch their forces annihilated?
With that thought, I targeted the one closest to my position first.
Crackle—!
My method of attack remained unchanged.
Simply condensing lightning and hurling it forth.
As the lightning hurtled toward me, a particularly massive Demon with two heads reacted immediately.
Boom—!
He raised a shield as enormous as his own frame and blocked the assault.
Though his body trembled from the impact, suggesting some damage, for an ordinary Demon to withstand an attack that would reduce most to ash upon contact was remarkable.
“Is that all you have—!”
The creature, harboring similar thoughts, bellowed with a sneer across his face.
He was likely attempting to bolster the morale of his soldiers as well.
But he failed to achieve his desired effect.
Crackle—!
I unleashed a relentless barrage of lightning in succession.
When successive attacks that were already difficult to block came flying at him, he couldn’t even utter a sound and had to hide his body behind his shield.
After blocking attacks roughly three times in this manner.
Boom―!
He fell backward. And seizing that very opening, lightning struck down once more.
Crash!
I was certain his life had been extinguished. It wasn’t an attack that could be endured defenseless.
The area around where he fell was utterly devastated.
The troops stationed nearby couldn’t withstand the cascading lightning and were literally reduced to ash.
In any case, having swiftly eliminated one of the commander candidates, I clicked my tongue.
“So it wasn’t him.”
There was no way someone bearing the grandiose title of one of the Four Heavenly Kings would die so pathetically.
Moreover, despite one of the commanders being killed, the morale of the other soldiers wasn’t as shaken as expected.
‘Was he deliberately used as bait?’
Seeing that he had the most conspicuous appearance among the three, a strong suspicion took root.
“Kill him―!”
In the midst of this, some of the enemy forces reached my immediate vicinity.
If I so desired, I could easily evade them and continue my assault.
But instead, I simply flicked my hand lightly.
Whoosh!
Bone fragments then rained from the empty air, swiftly transforming into undead.
The enemies appeared startled by the nearly hundred troops that suddenly materialized.
“Hold the line.”
“Yes!”
Meanwhile, the undead I summoned charged at the enemies without the slightest hesitation.
Though the numerical disparity was considerable, there was no need for concern.
After all, I had no intention of prolonging this battle.
Rumble!
I no longer bothered concealing my power, gathered my strength, and hurled lightning directly at the next candidate.
But this time, the enemy didn’t yield so readily.
Upon seeing the lightning descend, he evaded the attack.
Considering how swift my lightning was, his reaction speed was quite exceptional.
Bang!
The problem was that I had anticipated even that.
Lightning struck precisely at the location where he had evaded.
Though it didn’t land perfectly, it was enough to electrocute him and momentarily immobilize him.
Boom!
Lightning crashed down upon that helpless form once more.
No matter how swift one’s reflexes, evading successive attacks while already electrocuted was no simple feat.
He began to be pushed back helplessly.
But then, a variable intervened.
Kwaaaaaaang―!
The last candidate I had marked rushed forward, kicking off the ground with tremendous force and closing the distance to Jung Han-sung in a single breath.
Unlike the other candidates, this one wasn’t particularly large in stature, nor did it possess any striking physical features.
The only thing worth noting was the horn protruding from its head.
Everything else was indistinguishable from the rabble scattered about the area.
“Are you Vagadur?”
Yet Jung Han-sung posed the question to the Demon. And the Demon answered with composure.
“That’s right.”
“Why didn’t you stay hidden?”
“A misunderstanding. I never intended to hide from the start. If you wanted to see me, you should have just asked.”
At those words, Jung Han-sung’s expression shifted to one of genuine realization.
“There was such a method. I’ll keep that in mind next time.”
With that, he immediately circulated his mana throughout his entire body and pushed off the ground.
“Assuming there is a next time.”
The distance between them narrowed in the blink of an eye.
Yet as he approached, Jung Han-sung noticed that Vagadur’s eyes were tracking him with perfect precision.
In response, Jung Han-sung reflexively swung his blade.
Claaaaaang!
Immediately after, sword met sword in mid-air, producing a sharp, piercing sound.
Jung Han-sung’s lips curved upward at the faster-than-expected reaction.
“So the title of Four Heavenly Kings wasn’t given without reason.”
“Your attack patterns are simply too predictable. And that title was given by you humans, not by us.”
Even as they conversed, neither was merely playing around.
They continued to move, probing for openings in the other’s defense without committing to further strikes.
Yet this time, Jung Han-sung refrained from attacking recklessly.
‘The skill level is higher than I anticipated.’
It wasn’t simply a matter of physical durability or abundant mana reserves.
What impressed Jung Han-sung was Vagadur’s swordsmanship.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve faced an opponent with so few openings.’
For those versed in the blade, merely observing an opponent’s stance reveals much about their level.
And when swords were crossed, one could discern even more.
Vagadur’s posture was remarkably solid, yet simultaneously fluid.
The moment Jung Han-sung attempted a hasty attack, the Demon would exploit the opening as if waiting for precisely that moment.
Beyond the evident mastery of swordsmanship, there was no reason to believe his physical capabilities were lacking.
Demons were inherently more durable and stronger than humans, after all.
So what was the solution?
‘What will you do?’
Jung Han-sung observed his opponent’s reactions while his mind raced. And it seemed the Demon was doing the same.
As the tedious standoff continued, Jung Han-sung’s undead engaged the Demons in fierce combat.
Yet neither of them paid any attention to that battlefield.
In this moment, we saw only each other.
As the standoff stretched on endlessly,
Crack—!
A stone suddenly flew through the air from somewhere.
It had been kicked loose by a Demon who was retreating from the battle nearby.
The stone itself simply fell between us, rolled a few times, and came to rest.
But the moment it stopped, we both saw something and nearly simultaneously rushed toward each other.
Clang—!
Blade met blade once more.
Our strength was evenly matched. As if magnetized, our swords locked perfectly in the middle.
Clang-clang-clang!
But even that standoff was brief. I angled my blade to slip past his and closed the distance, swinging my elbow.
Thud!
Vagadur flicked his shoulder to slip past the elbow while simultaneously driving his knee upward.
Whoosh!
I twisted to the side as if I’d anticipated it and swung my blade.
Clang!
This time Vagadur parried by striking upward from below, deflecting the attack.
All of this took barely a second.
And in that single second, we both deliberated fiercely and made our decision swiftly.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
Rather than retreat, we would continue the assault.
We swung our blades relentlessly, kicked, threw punches and elbows without pause.
To the casual observer, it appeared to be a flurry of light attacks, but the power contained within each strike was devastatingly lethal.
Both of us were dancing across the line between life and death dozens of times per second.
Clang-clang-clang!
I read the flow. And following that flow, I swing my blade.
Normally, while there are times when the flow is difficult to read, a blade swung after reading it rarely misses.
Whoooosh!
But this time is different.
My blade, swung to follow the flow, cuts through empty air.
The reason is simple. The flow twisted at the last moment.
Did it twist for no reason? Of course not. Someone intervened in that flow.
I could easily deduce the reason. My opponent could read the flow as well.
Surprising, but not shocking.
Hadn’t Arthur told me this from the very beginning when he first taught me about the flow?
That it was nothing special, not a technique unique to me.
That it was merely a realm one encounters in some form after learning the blade and continuing forward.
So Vagadur, whether in a similar form or not, must have already stepped into that same realm.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
Thus, their blades never found flesh—only the endless percussion of steel meeting steel, or the whisper of edges cleaving empty air.
Remarkable. To encounter a swordmaster of such comparable mastery.
I had fought in tense battles before. I had known disadvantage. Recently, I had even tasted the bitter edge of mortal peril.
Yet never had I engaged in a duel so evenly matched in pure swordsmanship alone.
Part of me yearned to prolong this exchange. With each crossing of blades, new horizons of technique seemed to unfold before me.
But nothing endures forever.
Clang!
It began with the subtlest of misalignments.
My blade grazed past Vagadur’s collar.
In that same instant, Vagadur’s sword whispered past the crown of my head—though only because I permitted it.
Screech!
The momentum began to tilt inexorably in my favor.
Attacks that had moments before sailed harmlessly through the void now began to brush perilously close to their mark.
Blades that clashed in mid-air shifted fractionally, tilting toward one side.
The accumulated imbalance compounded with each exchange.
Crash!
Then came the decisive misalignment.
Vagadur’s blade was wrenched violently aside, and his neck lay exposed and undefended.
I caught the flicker of dismay that crossed his eyes—a moment I did not miss.
Without hesitation, I drove my blade toward that vulnerable throat.
Thrust!
And the steel pierced clean through.
A victory beyond question. Or so I believed.
Whoooosh—!
Until black liquid came pouring from the punctured wound.

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