I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 40

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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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#Episode 40.
Before entering the Basement earlier, I’d considered the possibilities.
Rather than relying solely on overwhelming numbers or a single powerful entity, the enemy would likely employ both tactics.
My prediction proved accurate.
“Impressive.”
I let out a final murmur of admiration as the undead revealed itself before me.
This undead was at least two heads taller than the ‘Murderer’ undead I’d faced on the previous floor.
That wasn’t all. Its frame was far more massive, and every inch of that enormous body was packed with muscle.
Normally, seeing such a muscular physique would inspire awe, but this creature transcended that—it was almost unsettling to behold.
It was as though violence itself had been given physical form.
“Advance―!”
Necromancer Burdkel’s command rang out as he pointed forward, and the undead arrayed on either side of him immediately kicked off the ground and charged toward me.
‘Their overall level is higher than what I faced on the way here.’
Most of the undead I’d encountered on my ascent had moved sluggishly.
It seemed Burdkel had withdrawn his more capable undead here before they suffered further losses, having witnessed my strength.
After all, being somewhat superior didn’t mean they could overwhelm me.
Boom, crash―!
Rather than waste them pointlessly, it made more sense to use them as support for that massive undead.
And Burdkel himself had issued commands to his undead before immediately beginning to chant a spell.
I’d prioritized learning undead creation spells above all else, but necromancers possessed numerous combat-oriented spells as well.
“Kuhuelt. From now on, focus your spells on enemies that approach me. The type of spell doesn’t matter.”
With that, I quickly issued my instructions and pushed off the ground myself.
There was no benefit to prolonging this battle.
My initial plan was to target Burdkel in the rear.
Whoosh!
But the undead wouldn’t allow it.
The moment I attempted to break through the undead in front of me, the massive undead closed in and swung its arm at me.
This creature wasn’t just large—its movements were remarkably agile.
Normally, with that much muscle mass, one would expect sluggish mobility.
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
“Grraaaagh!”
The other undead swarming in mindlessly was something I’d anticipated.
What truly irritated me was the massive undead’s combat approach.
―This one’s intelligence is far superior to the ones I faced before.
Just as Onyx had suggested, the massive undead’s movements were far from ordinary.
The creatures I’d faced previously, despite their formidable physical prowess, didn’t give the impression of ‘fighting well’ in any tactical sense.
They felt more like beasts than warriors.
But this one was different.
“Its movements are systematic.”
I muttered this observation while dodging the enemy’s incoming arm once more.
“It seems he either used a knight’s corpse or attached a soul to it.”
Onyx nodded in agreement with my assessment.
Crackle—!
Because of that, I immediately drew upon my full power.
The colossal undead thrust its fist toward me once more.
This time, instead of evading, I swung my blade to meet the attack head-on.
Clang!
My electrified sword slashed cleanly across the creature’s fist.
“Grrrraaaaahhh!!”
Since I’d deliberately angled the strike to avoid a deep wound, the cut itself wasn’t severe—yet the undead recoiled, writhing in agony.
Whether strong or weak, the fact that undead are vulnerable to holy power remained unchanged.
As other undead swarmed toward me, I cut them down while charging back toward Necromancer Burdkel.
My combat style was fundamentally about swift resolution—no prolonged engagements, just quick victories.
But then,
I felt a powerful surge of mana ripple outward—Necromancer Burdkel had completed his incantation.
The effect was immediate.
“Grraaaaaahhh!!”
A crimson glow flooded the eyes of every undead as they descended into frenzied madness, thrashing wildly.
From appearance alone, I could tell it was some form of berserk spell or something similar.
But that wasn’t even the end of what Necromancer Burdkel had prepared.
“Ahart! Take up the blade!”
Necromancer Burdkel stretched out his skeletal arm and shouted toward the colossal undead.
So the giant undead’s name was Ahart—but when I saw what “blade” meant, I grimaced.
Crunch!
Immediately after Necromancer Burdkel’s command, some of the undead suddenly converged into a single mass, fragmenting and reforming into a new shape.
Ahart seized it without hesitation.
As Necromancer Burdkel chanted once more, the remaining undead began clinging to Ahart’s body like armor being donned.
“There’s no dignity in this whatsoever,” Onyx remarked.
I deeply agreed with his assessment as I raised my blade. Immediately after, Ahart’s sword came crashing down.
Clang!
Again, I angled my blade at a precise angle, sliding it along Ahart’s weapon.
Since blade met blade, it felt like cutting through tough leather rather than something rigid—but that wasn’t the real issue.
Moments ago, Ahart had shrieked from a mere surface wound, yet now, despite being cut deeply, it was preparing its next attack without hesitation.
“So that’s what he was aiming for,” Onyx said.
He was right.
The blade was composed of undead and naturally vulnerable to holy power, but a blade was still just a blade.
Whether the blade felt pain or not was irrelevant to Ahart wielding it.
Likely, Necromancer Burdkel had adapted immediately upon seeing Ahart’s distress.
If the blade worked that way, then the undead clinging to its body like armor would serve the same purpose.
“Exhale.”
I lifted the corners of my mouth into a smile.
Objectively speaking, Ahart was quite a formidable undead.
By my assessment, he was clearly a superior version of the giants I’d faced before.
He was more durable, faster, and fought with greater skill than they did.
On top of that, the lesser undead around me were throwing themselves at me to restrict my movements even slightly, and Necromancer Burdkel stood firm behind them.
That’s why I laughed.
How could I not smile when facing an opponent worthy of my full strength?
Boom, boom—!
Ahart rushed toward me again and swung his blade.
And at that point, I stopped analyzing my enemy any further.
I’d gathered enough information.
Now all that remained was to unleash my full power.
Whoosh!
I hurled myself toward Burdkel’s position once more.
The undead around me, along with Ahart, immediately tried to block that direction.
But that was exactly what I intended.
The moment the undead’s attention focused on Burdkel, I pivoted sharply and swung my blade.
Crash-crash-crash!
The undead around me were swept away in droves by my strike. In an instant, a gap opened up around me.
Standing in the center of that void, I perceived the flow.
The flow connecting me to Ahart.
Whoosh—!
I pushed off the ground once more.
The undead threw themselves at me again to stop my advance, desperately trying to grab my ankles.
But I closed the distance to Ahart as if I could see through their movements.
“Grraaagh!”
Of course, Ahart wasn’t just watching passively either.
He swung his blade at me without regard for the damage to his other undead.
But that was a feint.
If I dodged to the side or upward to avoid the attack, he intended to seize that opening and launch his next strike.
Clang!
In that moment, I chose a third option.
I drove my blade into Ahart’s sword, then used the rebound to climb onto his arm.
And before long, another blade was in my hand.
I abandoned the embedded sword and immediately drew a fresh one from my inventory.
Before Ahart could react, I brought the blade down hard onto his arm.
Crack-crack-crack!
“Gaaaaaahhhhh!”
As electricity surged through his body via the deeply embedded blade, Ahart convulsed and screamed.
I didn’t stop there—I leaped high into the air to swing my blade down once more.
“Beheltura! Markel! Dahart!”
But at that moment, Necromancer Burdkel’s sharp voice pierced through the air.
I suddenly felt my body grow impossibly heavy, as though someone had seized my ankles and was dragging me downward.
On top of that, my vision darkened abruptly, and a mournful wail began echoing in my ears.
What was remarkable was that before coming here, I’d subscribed to a channel that heightened curse resistance.
In other words, Burdkel’s incantation had pierced through my elevated resistance and taken effect regardless.
Even for me, I couldn’t avoid losing my balance in that brief moment.
“Grraaah!”
And Ahart, freed from the pain, seized the opportunity and swung his blade without hesitation.
However, the variables on this battlefield weren’t limited to Burdkel alone.
Kuhuelt, who had been diligently preparing an incantation under my command, thrust his staff forward.
Crash!
Black thorny vines erupted from the ground, seizing one of Ahart’s ankles at a perfectly timed moment.
The trajectory of Ahart’s blade twisted slightly as a result.
Whoooosh!
I raised my sword to block the attack, feeling the blade pass mere inches above my head.
As my vision finally cleared and I confirmed what had happened, I let out a sharp laugh and shouted.
“Well done, Kuhuelt!”
―I could have blocked that myself!
Onyx grumbled about something, but I ignored him and raised my sword again.
Ahart, convinced he could finish me off, had swung with all his might and left himself completely exposed.
In battle, the tide can shift dramatically in an instant, even when things seem evenly matched.
This was precisely such a moment.
Crash!
My blade drove straight into Ahart’s chest.
I drew up my mana and transformed it into lightning on the spot.
Crackle!
A brilliant cyan light spread outward as lightning bolts cascaded from the blade in all directions.
Ahart was as sturdy as his massive frame suggested, but that simply meant I needed to pour more electricity into him.
“Grraaaaaaagh!”
Even as the sacred lightning tore through his body, he thrashed his arms, but it was nothing more than a final death spasm.
“Ugh….”
Finally, Ahart collapsed, smoke rising from his entire body.
I watched his massive frame slowly topple, then withdrew my blade and landed on the ground.
Boom!
Crash!
As Ahart fell, the undead beneath him were crushed, emitting horrible sounds.
But no one in this place paid attention to that.
I recovered my remaining blade and faced Burdkel with a sword in each hand.
Now only the common undead and Burdkel remained.
“Push forward!”
Of course, Necromancer Burdkel didn’t simply give up just because Ahart had fallen.
He chanted sinister incantations while relentlessly driving me back, and his undead formed walls with their own bodies to block my advance.
In the process, my body accumulated numerous wounds both large and small.
But in the end, he couldn’t stop me.
Thwack!
My blade pierced through his heart.
Necromancer Burdkel’s eyes widened as he trembled and spoke.
“This time, it ends here….”
“Huh?”
I was bewildered.
I’d severed his neck before he could finish whatever he was saying.
Thud—.
Necromancer Burdkel’s head floated briefly upward before dropping to the ground.
Almost simultaneously, the undead that had been lunging toward me collapsed to the floor with a dull thump and went limp.
They’d lost all their strength along with their master.
“Hmm.”
I pondered for a moment before dismissing it as nothing significant.
Enemies of this sort always tend to ramble on about something or other before they die, don’t they?
So when I saw the message appear and thought, ‘I should head back now….’
[You have completed the objective of Floor 28’s Hidden Floor ‘Burdkel’s Research Laboratory’.]
[You receive 20 intermediate mana stones as a reward.]
[You have achieved a hidden condition!]
[You obtain the key to a linked Hidden Floor as a reward!]
An unexpected message appeared.

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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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