Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 72

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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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72
After hearing the Azure Dragon Guild Master’s confession, I belatedly sent scouts to the Cheongryong Guild Training Facility.
“We found him.”
A blonde man with fine hair, short stature, and a square-jawed face appeared on the screen—captured by the hunter scout’s telephoto camera. His appearance matched exactly what Sono Rim had described.
“…So he hasn’t moved from there?”
“I’m not certain of his intentions, but given how arrogant he is by nature, it wouldn’t be surprising if he simply didn’t flee.”
Sono Rim added.
“That works in our favor. Let’s move.”
Hunter Jung Min-gi rose from his seat and took the lead. Behind him came the hunters and the government’s Anti-Hunter Special Forces.
Military vehicles and helicopters encircled the Training Facility from a distance. Fortunately, the area wasn’t densely populated, making evacuation orders easy to implement. Even as they formed a circular perimeter, Franklin remained motionless.
“No movement at all?”
“He’s simply sitting and conversing with the Azure Dragon Guild members.”
“What about the conversation?”
“It’s unclear, but he appears to be asking about Earth’s current situation.”
“No need to wait any longer.”
The Anti-Hunter Special Forces produced a large-caliber rifle. With a barrel alone measuring 1.5 meters and a total length exceeding 2 meters, it resembled a cannon more than a gun. Jae-in had developed it during her research at Rigen, using specially crafted ammunition carved from magical stones with incantations inscribed upon them.
“We’ve already verified its power. It’s incomparably more potent than conventional sniper rifles.”
The Anti-Hunter Special Forces commander, with his short-cropped hair and beret, spoke with confidence.
“We’ve tested it, but it didn’t quite reach the destructive output of a First-Tier attack…”
“Are you testing the product with your own body?”
Hunter Jung Min-gi’s expression grew weary.
“That’s the only way to be certain.”
I’d fired it at myself during the development phase. The fact that D-rank or E-rank hunters could easily fire First-Tier-level attacks with a gun held significant implications. Each shot was prohibitively expensive, but a surprise attack on a B-rank or A-rank hunter would certainly prove effective. However, against an S-rank—and according to Sono Rim, one of the upper echelon among S-rank hunters—would it even work?
“Ahem. There’s a difference between preparing a direct defense and being caught off-guard. Let’s attempt it.”
The Anti-Hunter Special Forces commander pressed forward. The hunters would likely need to engage anyway, so there was no harm in trying first.
The sniper took position. Everyone held their breath so as not to disturb the sniper’s concentration.
Boom!
The specialized magical stone bullet for Anti-Hunters left the barrel and flew forward, followed by a shockwave and deafening roar.
The man, having sensed it, slowly turned his gaze toward us in that fraction of a second. And he smiled.
The bullet struck his head directly. The impact sound upon contact differed from the initial discharge.
Dust rose slightly, but we could already tell he was unharmed. He slowly turned his head back against the bullet’s force, swept his gleaming blonde hair behind his head, and turned his body toward us.
Then, pointing at us with his index finger, he said something briefly.
Two kilometers away. I could see him, but the other hunters watched through telescopes. I wondered what Franklin could possibly accomplish, but upon hearing his words, the Azure Dragon Guild members rushed at him like a pack of dogs.
Though perhaps not the strongest, they were numerous—befitting a guild with the largest membership. And every single one had Devil’s Tears attached to their necks, faces, or heads.
“Don’t close in—suppress them! Try not to kill them if possible!”
If they got too close and detonated, we’d be caught in the explosion. Yet stopping hunters charging with their lives on the line without inflicting wounds proved difficult.
“Get back!”
“Damn it! I don’t want to die!”
The defensive and offensive sides clashed. Fortunately, our hunters’ levels were far superior, so we subdued them one by one without dealing fatal wounds.
Then Franklin snapped his fingers.
Boom!
The Devil’s Tears of the two hunters pinned to the ground erupted in a massive explosion.
“Gahhh!”
Despite maintaining some distance, the hunters were sent flying backward by the blast. I couldn’t suppress the pack of hunters rushing toward me while keeping them at bay.
And above the corpses of the Azure Dragon Guild members killed by the explosion and the hunters caught in it, new Devil’s Tears materialized.
“That… didn’t happen at the Awakener Management Bureau, did it?”
“When someone dies from Franklin’s attack while he’s nearby, their soul is stolen by him.”
Sono Rim answered my question.
“So… you’re saying that’s infinite?”
One exploded, and two or three more appeared.
Even now, Azure Dragon Guild members were dying and exploding at the front, and hunters who got too close were caught in the explosions, replenishing Franklin’s Devil’s Tears.
But we couldn’t just snipe all the hunters the government was holding hostage.
“Brother…”
“Damn it… there’s no other way.”
As I nodded, Bae Na-young stepped forward and extended her staff, releasing a black wave that spread across the battlefield.
The charging Azure Dragon Guild hunters collapsed and fell unconscious one after another.
“What… what is that?”
The captain asked.
“I put them to sleep. Isn’t this better?”
This was the S-rank skill Mind Control that I’d learned after studying magic knowledge under Sono Rim recently. Blind and Nightmare were skills that interfered with the mind. The difference was just in direction. As my understanding of magic deepened, Bae Na-young could now interfere with her targets’ minds in whatever way she wanted, and now she could even put them to sleep at will.
Now Bae Na-young’s skill window no longer contained Blind and Nightmare skills—Mind Control had taken their place.
Like the existing curses, the Mind Control skill became more difficult the higher the target’s level or intelligence stat, the greater their numbers, or the more the command went against their will. In other words, it would be difficult to make all those Azure Dragon Guild members risk their lives to attack Franklin, but putting them to sleep was easy. Plus, the Azure Dragon Guild members’ average strength being low helped considerably.
“Well done.”
I lightly patted Bae Na-young’s shoulder.
I wish I’d used it from the start, but I wanted to keep this skill hidden as much as possible. Right now only putting people to sleep was known, but anyone perceptive could deduce that she could manipulate people’s minds. If that became known, there was no way people would view Bae Na-young, whose job was Witch, in a favorable light.
“That’s right—only hunters can catch hunters.”
Jung Min-gi drew his sword.
“Only those who can completely avoid those tears or survive even if they explode should come with us. Everyone else, fall back further.”
At Jung Min-gi’s words, the hunters retreated en masse. If strong hunters were captured and followed Franklin’s orders, it would only cause more headaches. And if they were strong hunters, Bae Na-young’s Mind Control might not work on them either.
Once all the A-rank hunters fell back, only I, Jung Min-gi, Sono Rim, Blitz, and Bae Na-young remained. The S-rank hunter support from abroad couldn’t make it in time.
“Bae Na-young, you fall back too.”
“But my curse might work on him, right?”
“I understand Bae Na-young’s attack power, but can you evade his attacks?”
Sono Rim asked.
“…Be careful.”
Bae Na-young reluctantly fell back. I, Jung Min-gi, Sono Rim, and Blitz charged forward, weaving between the fallen Azure Dragon Guild hunters scattered across the ground.
As we approached, Franklin swept his hand through the air like conducting music, and Devil’s Tears bulged into existence. As he continued waving his hand, the already-manifested Devil’s Tears stretched out and split into two, then three. And as they kept splitting repeatedly, they multiplied exponentially.
“Uh… isn’t that cheating?”
“Tell me about it…”
The sheer number made it impossible to disagree with Jung Min-gi’s assessment.
“So many of them…. Each and every one of Franklin’s Devil’s Tear was forged by sacrificing the powerless as offerings.”
Sono Rim ground his teeth. The man was far more deranged than expected. To think his power’s source was human sacrifice—and there were already a thousand of those spheres visible.
“Sono Rim, is there a way to break through that?”
“My apologies. All I know is that we must penetrate the Devil’s Tear and attack him directly.”
“Is that so? Let me try….”
Jung Min-gi moved slowly to the side, then drew his arm back before unleashing it forward in a single fluid motion.
A flash blade.
He had found a minute gap among the countless spheres and pierced through it.
But one of the Devil’s Tears intercepted the blade’s trajectory and detonated.
“Tch…. It reacted to that speed?”
“It won’t be easy. The Devil’s Tear itself is a fearsome technique, but Franklin has likely reinforced his own body using sacrifices as well.”
“The stench of orcs has reached Earth itself. How did it cross over from the Western Continent in the first place?”
Franklin looked at Sono Rim and spoke. His arrogant voice and expression dripped with contempt.
“I borrowed the power of a great one.”
“Ah, that great one who abandoned all life on Tellus?”
“You couldn’t possibly comprehend that one’s profound intentions. I came here under their command to close the Bridge Gate.”
“Heh, so our purposes align after all.”
“Don’t lump me together with a murderer like you. We came to negotiate. But you—how did you arrive? Did you find some magical artifact Helen left behind?”
“Helen? No, I made an offering to a demon and asked for their aid. Dimensional travel is hardly difficult for demons, after all.”
“A demon…. That would be you, wouldn’t it? How many did you kill to pay such a price?”
“Who knows…. Thousands? Tens of thousands? What does it matter? You Western Continent vermin breed like cockroaches no matter how many we exterminate. Culling your numbers will only make Tellus more pleasant.”
At these senseless words, Sono Rim’s face twisted with rage.
“Compose yourself. This is not an opponent we can defeat through recklessness alone.”
Blitz steadied Sono Rim.
“A direct charge from all sides will yield no victory. Let us divide into four directions, disperse the Devil’s Tears, and then strike.”
Blitz transformed into his werewolf form. So he truly possessed excellent regeneration—his true nature was not human but a wolf beastman. Lustrous silver-white fur enveloped his entire body.
The transformed—or rather, untransformed—Blitz towered a full head taller than the ordinary werewolves we’d encountered at the Gate. And his blue eyes gleamed with clarity, far different from the murky gaze of monster werewolves.
“I shall take the right flank.”
Blitz moved to the right while Sono Rim took the left, and Jung Min-gi held the center position.
I circled around and positioned myself at the rear. Franklin remained motionless, simply watching. He seemed to be enjoying whatever desperate struggle we would attempt.
“Are you ready? I’ve grown tired of waiting.”
As Blitz spread both hands wide, twenty-centimeter claws of aura materialized at the tips of his ten fingers.
“A wolf and an orc. Interesting—Blitz and Sono Rim of Malbokia? The ones who constantly interfere with the Empire’s affairs. The very ones who fled with your tails between your legs whenever I appeared. What audacity brings you here today?”
“Even if I fall here, I will avenge my brothers.”
Blitz charged first, and simultaneously Jung Min-gi unleashed a barrage of flash blades. I rushed in from the right while Sono Rim poured blue flames from his staff.
Deeming Jung Min-gi the greatest threat, Franklin fixed his gaze upon him and snapped his fingers.
Devil’s Tears shot toward all four of us from the four directions of attack, as if possessed of sight, and detonated. Blitz and I were unable to push through the explosions and were sent flying backward; Sono Rim’s flames were scattered by the blast. Jung Min-gi’s flash blade destroyed one Devil’s Tear, but it didn’t reach Franklin.
“So we must neutralize every single one of these cursed attacks?”
From the collision just moments ago, only about ten of the countless spheres floating in the sky had detonated. Meanwhile, a single direct hit from one could render us incapacitated.
“This will be a long day indeed.”
Jung Min-gi unleashed a barrage of slashes, bursting through Devil’s Tears and seizing every opening. Franklin was no longer content to remain passive. Dozens of Devil’s Tears surged toward us as if possessed by their own malevolent will.

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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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