Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 221
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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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221
“Mac, sir! It’s out!”
“Finally! What is it this time? A hand? A foot?”
“…Intestines.”
“Intestines?”
“Yes. Long intestines have been spotted flying through the sky.”
“Hmm…. Regardless, we just need to drop the essence.”
Mac led his team members into the hunt for the intestines.
“Damn, it’s huge!”
The hand had been quite large, but proportionally, the intestines were even bigger and longer. It matched the size of a massive building hundreds of stories tall lying on its side.
The intestines, whose skin appeared fragile, resisted by spewing intense flames in all directions. With such a massive creature belching fire, there was nowhere safe to hide.
“Target where I’m aiming! Concentrate the cold magic!”
A mage specializing in cold magic supported Mac from a distance.
“Bring in a fresh tank!”
Close-range Hunters carrying liquid nitrogen tanks on their backs sprayed the substance at the intestines.
“Ugh….”
A close-range Hunter who had only been cautious about the heat, but had been exposed to it for too long, collapsed with a yellowed face.
“It’s poison! Healer!”
“Damn it! Don’t spare the potions! Healers can drink all the mana potions they want!”
Despite the casualties, the US Military, having prepared thoroughly in advance, pressed the intestines into a corner.
As the US Military tightened their grip from all sides, the intestines coiled its long body into a spiral.
“Good! It’s weakening….”
The intestines began spinning ferociously in place.
Mars already endured relentless sandstorms mixed with stone fragments, but as the intestines rotated, a murderous tempest laden with heat and toxins engulfed Mac and his soldiers.
“Damn it! Retreat!”
Seeing his subordinates falter, Mac ordered a withdrawal and fell back, when a single stream of blue water pierced through the crimson sandstorm and impaled the intestines.
The intestines’ rotation slowed as its body was pierced, and the sandstorm weakened.
The ones who fired the blue water stream were Elf mages.
“This battlefield belongs to Wihol!”
Skalanis, favored by Phillarion, the king of the Elf Kingdom of Wihol, led her subordinates, flying through the sky and passing above the US Military.
They attacked the intestines with high-pressure water jets. Though called water streams, their power was potent enough to pierce steel, and they possessed an icy coldness that made them the perfect counter to fire-based opponents.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
While Mac’s attention was fixed on the sky, something approached from the ground, shaking the earth. It was an armored golem standing roughly five meters tall.
“If you can’t even withstand flames like these, get out of here right now!”
Gramadin, a Dwarf Warrior riding the armored golem, passed Mac. The thick armor embodied the pinnacle of Dwarf technology. To Gramadin, the flames spewed by the intestines felt merely lukewarm.
Behind him, Dwarf Warriors followed, bearing weapons and shields.
While Dwarves’ physical abilities and magic fell short of Elves, their superior equipment granted them formidable combat prowess acknowledged by both Earth and Tellus.
“Damn it! Everyone, charge!”
Mac, who had been retreating, changed direction and shouted to his comrades.
“B-but, sir, the flames….”
“The flames weakened?! Are we going to lose to the Dwarf Forces and Elves?!”
As Mac charged forward at the head, the remaining US Military Hunters squeezed their eyes shut and followed him.
A single US Military unit wouldn’t have been enough, but when the elite of two organizations with comparable abilities joined the fray, the tide of battle shifted dramatically.
“Hyah!!”
The massive iron-clad golem’s axe fell upon the weakened fire elemental’s flank, splitting it in two.
Even as it split, the relentless assault from the three factions hacked it into fragments until its form became unrecognizable.
The fire elemental, its movements completely halted, soon became a mass of crimson light and scattered.
And from its center fell a fire essence several times larger than those that typically dropped from limbs or extremities.
“Ooh….”
The iron-clad golem reached its hand toward the essence.
Splash!
A spear of blue water pierced between the golem’s hand and the essence.
“Keep your hairy hands away.”
“Pointy-ears. Did you go mad from too much magical research?”
“You latecomers should back off.”
Mac also drew closer to the essence.
“Hmph, when did you run away? I landed the finishing blow.”
“If I hadn’t pierced through the storm with water magic, you wouldn’t have been able to approach at all.”
The most skilled representatives of the three organizations stood around the essence, growling at each other.
“Why are you running your mouths when you’ve got good weapons in hand?”
Mac gripped his hammer shaft tightly and lowered his stance, displaying his will to fight.
“I like that.”
Gramadin sealed the golem’s chest and took a combat stance, while Skalanis also raised a blue aura and spread her momentum.
Yet none of them made the first move.
They had participated in Mars development with Rigen’s permission, and throwing the first punch at an ally would mean taking full responsibility later.
One wrong move and they could end up immortalized in the history books of Mars development.
‘If things go wrong, that damned Sam will pin it all on me anyway. But I can’t just let this go either.’
‘I can’t hand over the fire essence to fools who don’t understand its value. Let any of them come at me. I’ll crush them.’
‘I was going to present this to His Majesty Phillarion, so why aren’t these bastards attacking?’
The tension dragged on as they merely gauged each other’s reactions.
“Let’s go by Gate rules. I struck first, didn’t I? I’m taking it.”
Mac spoke first.
“Hmph, you couldn’t even approach the storm and you’re talking?”
Skalanis folded her arms and snorted dismissively.
“Tsk… that was our strategy. If we’d left it alone, we would’ve caught it.”
“Earthling, now you’ve got a lot to say for someone who wanted to fight.”
“You all have plenty on your shoulders, don’t you? How about this—should we call Rigen and ask them to mediate?”
Mac played his trump card. Somehow word had leaked, but if the Elves and Dwarf Forces didn’t agree, it was only a matter of time before this reached Rigen’s ears.
Since he’d already secured two essences anyway, Mac was gambling.
As Mac showed his nerve, the Elf clicked her tongue.
At that moment, an Elf mage approached from behind and whispered to Skalanis.
“So we’re agreeing that whoever strikes first gets the essence?”
“Of course.”
Mac readily agreed with Skalanis’s words.
“Who decided that?!”
Gramadin protested.
“It’s three against one—do you want to try?”
Now that Mac and Skalanis had allied, there was no way to win through words or strength.
“…Damn it all… Fine. First strike it is.”
The moment those words left his mouth, Skalanis and her Elf contingent bolted in one direction.
“Blast! They found something else! Chase them!”
The Dwarves followed the Elves, but Mac couldn’t pursue them. His priority was safely transporting the essence they’d already secured back to the base.
“You lot go after them and assess the situation! Move fast!”
From that day forward, a three-way battle for essences erupted.
Against the massive thighbone, the Elves struggled considerably. There was almost no fire to exploit, and the physically dense bone was no easy opponent for them to handle.
Since the Elves had struck first, Mac and Gramadin’s forces simply waited for them to be crushed, offering no assistance.
Yet despite the mounting casualties, the Elves refused to yield and pushed forward, ultimately shattering the thighbone and claiming the essence.
“Huff… Huff…”
The Elf mages and warriors, their mana depleted, lay scattered across the ground.
“Tsk, tsk… Those pointy-ears never condition their bodies, which is why they’re so fragile…”
“Don’t you know the body is the foundation of all things? Just using your head and being fast isn’t enough.”
Gramadin and Mac looked down at the battered Skalanis and wagged their tongues.
“S-shut… up…”
She lacked even the strength to retort, exhausted as she was.
When they later found a foot, the Dwarves claimed it first.
“Such a brute. Taking hits head-on like that.”
“Those dirt-touching furballs have no refinement.”
This time, Mac and Skalanis watched and mocked Gramadin.
Whenever one team fought, the other two would heckle from behind, loud enough for all to hear.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
Whenever scouts discovered a body part of the giant, they’d wait for all combat personnel to assemble—only to have the other two factions arrive in the meantime.
This forced them to attack with barely half their forces ready, making each battle far more difficult.
Yet the fire essence was worth every sacrifice. The three factions combed Mars like madmen, hunting for additional body parts.
And the US Military discovered a pattern.
“Commander, this is the layout of each body part’s discovery location connected together.”
In Sam’s command center, an operations officer projected a hologram.
It was as if the giant were buried beneath Mars, unable to even embrace the planet.
“Where’s the chest? There should be major organs there—heart, lungs, and such.”
“Based on our analysis so far, it’s here.”
At Sam’s words, the communications officer pointed to a location on the holographic map.
“Damn it….”
“What’s wrong?”
“Are your eyes just for decoration? Isn’t that directly above Rigen Base 1?”
“Ah.”
“Even if we’re lucky enough to find something here, fighting at close range will definitely expose us.”
“What if we try to lure them out?”
“Hmm…. Judging by how aggressively they attacked from the start, it might just work. Good. Select the fastest Hunters and send them to Mac’s unit.”
“Yes, sir!”
* * *
Mac and his unit lay in ambush far from Rigen Headquarters.
“Haven’t they been spotted yet?”
Mac, growing anxious, had already pestered the communications officer every minute.
“No, sir. Still no contact.”
The communications officer was irritated. But no matter how easygoing Mac was with his subordinates, the rank difference was too great to voice it, so he answered obediently.
At the same repetitive answer, Mac turned his head and saw the Elf in the distance also watching toward the Rigen base.
“We got them!”
A low voice rang out loudly from somewhere.
Mac turned toward the Elf, but from their expression, it was clear they didn’t know what was happening either.
Mac and Skalanis ran simultaneously toward the source of the sound.
“Ahahaha!”
A Dwarf rode a massive bullet-shaped item through the air, and behind it, a colossal red heart chased at a terrifying speed.
“…It’s huge!”
The heart was as large as intestines, and the power it radiated was twice as formidable.
The blood vessels of the giant red heart pulsed, sending out waves.
The waves struck all around as flames and shockwaves.
“… Charge!”
“What? Major Mac! The Dwarf struck first!”
The unit members, who had only been watching, couldn’t immediately understand why their commander was suddenly acting this way.
“That’s worth breaking the agreement over! I’ll take responsibility! Everyone, charge!”
Mac rushed forward swinging his hammer, and the US Military Hunters charged alongside him.
“You…. You! Treacherous humans! We’re coming too! For Wihol!”
The Elves, realizing the situation too late, rushed in as well.
“You shameless bastards! I was the one who pulled it first!”
“If you’re upset, try pushing us back with force!”
“We need to kill it first and take the essence!”
The three factions charged toward the heart, taking the flames and shockwaves head-on.
“This…. This is insane….”
To the supporting Hunter in the rear, they looked like moths diving into flames.
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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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