I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 216

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

#Chapter 216.
The moment Jung Han-sung collided with the Demon King inside the tent.
Outside, the world was far more peaceful than one might expect.
It couldn’t be otherwise—the tent spread across this area was inscribed with countless spells.
Among them were naturally spells that prevented sound and vibrations from leaking outward.
After all, this was for someone of considerable standing.
What happens if something goes wrong inside? Obviously, there were methods to send signals for precisely such situations.
“Hmm.”
The Demon King had already emitted such signals multiple times, but seeing no response from outside, he spoke to Jung Han-sung.
“Looks like you’ve set something up.”
Jung Han-sung didn’t bother answering, though the Demon King likely hadn’t expected one anyway. He would have already been certain.
Of course, I had done something.
The only reason I’d prevented him from taking other actions was my hesitation about whether he might gather his strength and shatter it.
Using hidden signal methods or simply escaping the tent was impossible.
I had installed barrier stones here.
Barrier stones fundamentally block external intrusion, but there exist barrier stones that work in reverse.
They’re typically used for ambushes. Exactly like now.
‘Still, I need to be cautious about spatial displacement.’
Long-distance instantaneous movement seemed impossible for now, but it appeared the barrier wasn’t entirely impenetrable either.
Rummmmmble—!
Thus, Jung Han-sung began drawing his power forth in earnest.
From the start, I had no intention of prolonging this battle.
Whiiiiine—!
Lightning crashed down, and fierce winds began swirling around us. I was even mobilizing Elemental power.
Naturally, my divine technique was already in operation. Beyond that, I was continuously employing hypnosis as well.
Crash—!
But unfortunately, the hypnosis had almost no effect on the Demon King.
I’d tried using it as a surprise during the collision, yet he didn’t even blink.
He likely possessed either strong resistance to mental interference or carried a defensive artifact.
[Anonymous Transcendent is feeling wounded pride]
[Anonymous Transcendent recommends a higher-tier Channel]
Lilith must have been watching this situation all along, because seeing hypnosis fail multiple times, she sent messages in rapid succession.
Honestly, it was distracting.
The messages appeared in the corner without obscuring my vision, but still.
‘Not interested.’
I’d only tried it because I had the ability—I had no intention of relying solely on hypnosis to slit the Demon King’s throat.
“Hgh.”
Jung Han-sung gathered mana and struck the ground.
Crash—!
Following the pattern I’d observed throughout, I aimed precisely at the opening, but his sword blocked it.
Had my opponent defended perfectly? No. The nail tip of someone who had remained flawless until now had shattered.
I had blocked the attack at an awkward angle.
The Demon King’s brow furrowed upon noticing this, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
Jung Han-sung continued swinging his blade without pause.
Sharp, ear-piercing sounds rang out in rapid succession.
Crackle!
Lightning surged into the gap where the Demon King’s nail had broken. Even the smallest opening was enough to exploit.
The Demon King didn’t seem to suffer pain from it, but his reaction slowed for an instant—enough for Jung Han-sung to slash across the back of his hand.
Shhhhwack!
But before I could press the advantage further, enormous wings suddenly unfurled, and a shadow lunged toward me.
Crack!
Jung Han-sung reflexively swung his blade and severed it.
The shadow-like thing tore apart almost pathetically against his sword. But in that brief moment, the Demon King created considerable distance.
“I see. You’re no trivial opponent.”
The Demon King seized that brief respite to finally speak, then lowered his body.
Shhhhwack!
The wings that had been piercing through his back fully unfurled.
Four wings they were, resembling those of a bat. You know the kind—the classic demonic wings everyone imagines.
They seemed clichéd, yet seeing a Demon with such wings felt oddly refreshing.
I had never encountered another winged Demon besides this one.
Of course, Jung Han-sung wasn’t merely observing.
Regardless of what he was attempting, there was no reason to stand idle while he transformed.
Boom!
But the moment I closed within a certain distance, a tremendous impact suddenly engulfed me.
Jung Han-sung easily identified its source.
The Demon King’s darkened arm.
No—it wasn’t merely darkened. Its thickness had increased several times over.
Not just his arm, but his entire body.
His overall size had nearly doubled.
“A second phase?”
Jung Han-sung muttered words the Demon King wouldn’t understand, then reset his stance.
One thing was certain: the Demon King had been holding back his strength.
The moment he transformed, his power surged several times greater.
Boom!
And with his transformation complete, the Demon King charged toward me with reckless aggression.
This too was different from before.
Until now, he had maintained a defensive stance while constantly creating distance. Now the roles reversed—he was the one attacking.
Clang, clang!
Jung Han-sung continued deflecting the Demon King’s brutal punches by the narrowest margins, reading the flow perfectly and timing each parry with precision.
Yet even as I deflected them flawlessly, my fists tingled from the impact.
Boom―!
Each collision between fist and blade sent shockwaves rippling through the air.
The tent trembled from the impact, and the barrier shrieked with a piercing whine.
Such devastating power would have shaken most warriors’ resolve, but Jung Han-sung remained unflinching.
Instead, he met his opponent’s reckless assault with overwhelming force of his own.
He didn’t retreat an inch, only accelerating his attack speed.
Clang―!
The collisions actually began to decrease.
Both combatants read each other’s movements with precision, constantly probing for openings while simultaneously deflecting incoming attacks with fluid grace.
‘What else is he concealing?’
As I parried his strikes and searched for vulnerabilities, my mind raced with questions.
This couldn’t be everything. I was certain he was holding something back, some hidden reserve of power.
But what that something was, I couldn’t yet discern.
‘Should I deliberately expose a weakness?’
I considered it briefly, then abandoned the idea.
Against an opponent of his caliber, deliberately opening myself up could result in catastrophic injury.
Whoooosh―!
Then, in that moment, he revealed yet another ability.
I evaded every attack while simultaneously carving wounds across his body, yet suddenly―
Some of the blood pooling on the ground lifted into the air, transforming into bullets that shot toward me.
Clang-clang-clang!
They all bounced off my armor without penetrating.
But the impact force was no trivial matter. If I were struck in a truly vulnerable spot, it could pierce through.
Any area left unprotected by my armor would be genuinely dangerous.
‘There’s almost no publicly known information about his abilities.’
The Demon King’s true combat capabilities remained shrouded in mystery.
Not because he avoided frontline combat or stayed hidden in the rear.
Simply because he’d rarely faced opponents worthy of his full strength.
Even the Allied Kingdoms’ combined forces had never engaged the Demon King in direct combat.
Whenever he took the field personally, they withdrew their forces instead.
Their objective was never to kill the Demon King, but to halt his army’s advance.
They’d retreated and regrouped repeatedly, stubbornly holding their ground.
“Hah.”
I decided to make my move first.
Boom!
I pushed off the ground and closed the distance again. Toward me came claws that had grown longer and sharper.
Normally, I would have cleanly blocked or evaded while counterattacking.
Whoosh!
But this time, I didn’t.
I deliberately exposed my shoulder to his attack, and in exchange, I successfully closed the gap between us.
It was not a tactic that could be employed repeatedly.
Yet now that Jung Han-sung—who had always pursued flawless evasion and defense—accepted damage and closed the distance, the Demon King failed to react in time.
Kwaaarrrrgh―!
Toward that Demon King, I unleashed a torrent of lightning as my first assault.
This was no longer the measured approach of wielding a blade with occasional restraining strikes interspersed.
I poured thirty percent of my remaining mana into that lightning strike alone.
The lightning burrowed deep into the countless wounds that had accumulated across the Demon King’s body throughout our battle.
The Demon King’s form stiffened for the briefest moment as the lightning coursed through him.
‘Arzka.’
Following that, I called upon Arzka while pouring forth both sacred power and mana.
At my summons after so long, Arzka devoured the mana and sacred power I offered without hesitation, converting it into raw strength.
A force that cleaves the very soul.
It passed straight through the Demon King’s raised arm as he attempted to block, tearing through his body.
“Kugh!”
The effect manifested instantly.
The Demon King’s eyes widened as though struck by an entirely unforeseen attack, and he staggered backward, blood spilling from his lips.
No matter how fortified the body, one cannot escape an assault directed at the soul itself.
The Demon King’s soul was formidable enough, yet it proved insufficient to resist the sacred power that pierced through it in that singular moment.
“What… sacred power…?”
The Demon King, belatedly sensing the force burrowing into his soul, turned toward me with a pallid expression.
He had anticipated a formidable opponent.
Word had reached the Demon King’s ears relatively early on that the cornered Allied Kingdoms were expending their reserves to summon something.
There was a reasonable probability that what they sought to call forth was what was commonly known as a ‘Hero.’
Yet even for a Demon King, the notion that Jung Han-sung would possess sacred power had never crossed his mind.
One could hardly fault the Demon King for this.
Who would have imagined that a mere mortal—not even a demigod—would harbor such sacred power?
Crash―!
Regardless, the balance of power shifted to one side in an instant.
Even the Demon King, who had not flinched at ordinary wounds, now―.
“Nngh.”
His body convulsed with profound agony.
Black essence flowed from his torso, burning away in the air.
This was no mere blood. His very essence seeped through the fissures of his wounded soul.
Of course, the Demon King was not one to cry surrender simply because he now felt pain.
Rather, he stripped away all traces of his former mirth and composure, launching himself forward with even greater ferocity.
Driven by a singular resolve: to fell Jung Han-sung before he himself fell.
Yet the scales had already tipped.
Crash!
My blade carved through the Demon King’s body once more.
This time it was not a blow to the soul, yet it sufficed to worsen his condition.
Battles, by their nature, can stretch on indefinitely—yet conversely, victory and defeat can be decided in a single instant.
This moment was no exception.
The Demon King’s defeat was sealed the instant he failed to counter Jung Han-sung’s hidden gambit.
“Kgh… you fools, summoning something so dangerous…”
The Demon King let out a hollow laugh, muttering to himself. Then he spoke to Jung Han-sung, who showed no inclination to engage him further.
Without so much as glancing at the blade hurtling toward his neck.
“Then, let us die together—”
Crack!
Jung Han-sung’s sword severed the Demon King’s neck. His head flew from his shoulders before he could finish his words.
Yet the means he had prepared were designed to be completed by his own death.
Sploooooosh—!
Black liquid suddenly erupted from the severed stump of the Demon King’s neck.
Pouring forth at a terrifying velocity.

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