The Only Enhancer - Chapter 104

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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 104
104 – The Combat Method of an Enchantment Master? (2)
3.
Porthcurno, a city once renowned as a tourist destination in England.
It was a place where crowds gathered, famous for its beautiful beaches.
But that was no longer the case.
The rubble of collapsed buildings alone testified to the fact that a city had once existed here.
Concrete and steel reinforcements lay scattered and torn in every direction, and the debris alone suggested how many lives had been lost.
There were survivors.
But that meant nothing.
“…How ghastly.”
Richard Walker grimaced at the sight of the devastation.
He could not tell whether what he was witnessing was reality or hell itself.
Richard, England’s Level 6 hunter known as the Lion King, stood alongside the nation’s elite hunters, all of them facing the architect of this catastrophe.
Should one call it a humanoid lobster?
Or perhaps a human clad in armor forged from the shell of a crimson lobster?
Yet by the aura alone, one could discern the truth.
That arrogant warrior, casually seated atop the rubble of buildings and looking down upon them, was unmistakably a monster.
All who beheld it could not help but succumb to despair.
Only Richard among them retained any semblance of composure.
Could he truly be called Level 6?
Yet Richard had never felt such despair about being Level 6.
‘Damn it.’
A difference in caliber.
I was experiencing a gulf in power unlike anything I had felt before.
The despair I had felt when glimpsing Kraken from afar now manifested before me with far greater clarity and menace.
That creature in armor forged from crimson lobster shell could only be called a calamity.
Should it rampage, England would crumble at that very moment.
I and the elite hunters of England behind me would be powerless to stop it.
I felt it with bone-deep certainty.
As Richard wallowed in such despair.
The creature grasped a long crimson spear and shield that had been planted nearby and opened its mouth.
“At last you arrive.”
“…You were waiting for us.”
“Hmm, to be precise, I desire the information you possess, but it amounts to the same thing.”
“….”
An intelligent monster.
Despair deepened all the more.
From its humanoid form alone, I had dimly suspected as much, but for it to speak as well.
It was beyond belief.
The elite hunters gathered here were well aware that immeasurable power meant exactly that—beyond all measurement.
They had come prepared to face death itself.
And yet.
“H-how are we supposed to fight something like that?!”
“W-we’re all going to die.”
“There’s n-no way we can win.”
The words spilling from the mouths of England’s finest hunters—a nation that could claim to be a superpower.
But Richard, hailed as England’s strongest, could not bring himself to deny it.
Because he felt it too, the same crushing certainty.
That everyone here would perish today.
He even wondered why he had come at all.
And yet.
“…We must fight.”
Richard’s quiet words snapped everyone back to attention.
And they all understood the meaning hidden beneath those words.
Having come this far, they were as good as dead already.
So then.
They might as well struggle with everything they had.
Richard found himself thinking of a certain man.
‘…So it was Reinforce who defeated Kraken, despite the overwhelming pressure she radiates?’
And he did it alone, no less.
He couldn’t fathom how such a thing was even possible.
But right now, it was their greatest hope.
“Then I ask you all.”
With those words, the figure rose from his seat and spoke.
“Where is the one who killed Marcia?”
Roooooaaaaaarrrrr———!
“…!!!!”
“!!!!!”
“…!!!?”
Death itself descended upon them.
There was no other way to describe it.
The killing intent he unleashed froze everyone in place.
They couldn’t even breathe without his permission.
Unable to draw breath beneath such crushing oppression?
They had thought themselves capable of at least struggling against it.
But even that was beyond them now.
“My name is Ranit. Knight of the Deep. I ask again—where is the human who killed Marcia?”
As he eased his killing intent slightly, they gasped desperately for air.
That alone was enough to understand.
They were lesser than insects to that creature who called himself Ranit.
When terror and dread crashed down upon them.
Someone opened their mouth.
“I… I don’t… cough!”
He cried out what he thought was defiance, but the moment the words left his lips, his throat burst open.
It didn’t seem like Ranit had done anything visible.
No—I couldn’t even see exactly what he’d done.
Yet the Hunter who had been speaking found his throat pierced clean through, his head rolling across the floor in a grotesque heap.
Again, no one saw it.
Not the attack being launched, nor the impact itself.
“….”
“….”
“….”
The overwhelming display was absolute.
Everyone could only freeze in place.
Not a single person here had come without staking their life on this moment.
Yet he had snuffed them out with such casual ease.
Watch as he effortlessly crushed their resolve and convictions into nothing.
Had their willingness to face death to reach this point even mattered?
Was it all just a dog’s death?
Then.
“…Will you spare me if I talk?”
“C-Captain!?”
“R-Richard!”
“What are you doing!?”
Everyone glared at Richard while trembling, but.
None could bring themselves to stop him completely.
Everyone understood the courage it took for him to speak.
Watching Richard, Ranit let out a soft chuckle and spoke.
“I’ll spare whoever talks. I swear it on a knight’s honor.”
There was no trust to be found in that casual, laughing tone.
And he would only spare the one who spoke.
It was cowardly beyond measure.
Anyone could see he was trying to sow discord.
Of course, it was devastatingly effective.
The eyes of the elite Hunters from the great powers all wavered.
But Richard answered with unwavering resolve.
“…If you spare everyone, then I’ll tell you.”
“Spare everyone?”
Thump.
At those words, Richard’s abdomen burst open.
The trace of a massive circular spear piercing straight through.
From the penetrating wound, Richard coughed up blood.
Yet he did not fall, and spoke.
“…*cough*, if you kill me but spare everyone else, I will tell you.”
At those words filled with conviction, Ranit paused to stroke his chin.
“Hmm.”
Normally, this would not warrant a moment’s consideration.
Did Ranit perhaps take a liking to the light in Richard’s eyes?
He nodded readily with a broad smile.
In that moment, the other hunters too seemed to smile, thinking they had witnessed Richard’s noble pride.
Thud, pat-pat, pat-pat-pat.
The sound of something falling in unison.
*Whoooooosh!*
Splat, splat-splat-splat, *swooooosh*.
Like rain, something hot and crimson bloomed around them and fell.
Richard stared blankly at it, blinking.
Then he turned around.
The hundred or so elite hunters who had come with him were all standing there headless.
And soon, drained of strength, they collapsed like puppets with severed strings.
“Ah…. Ahhh….”
Staring blankly at the sight, Richard trembled as he turned his head back.
He had believed that because intelligence existed, negotiation would be possible.
He had harbored a sliver of hope when the creature responded, as if it understood what negotiation meant.
And as Richard turned his head.
“You please me. Speak the information. I shall spare you.”
“…Ah.”
There stood a demon, smiling.
Utter catastrophe and death itself stood there, smiling at him.
Richard wept tears of blood—whether his own or his comrades’, he could not tell.
That creature was a demon.
And he had tried to negotiate with a demon.
He had been a fool.
Had he charged forward instead, at least his death would have held some honor.
The blood of his comrades soaked the earth and cried out to the heavens.
Richard understood.
His own fate was no different.
“Now then, speak. Where is the human who killed Marcia?”
Even if he killed me, the creature would not obtain what it desired.
It was then that their eyes met with the demon’s.
“Hmm, I suppose I’ll need to traverse this entire island to find out?”
Whoooosh.
The biting sea breeze swept across Richard’s body.
His frame stiffened as if frozen solid.
Traverse the entire island?
All of England?
He knew it well.
How to drive humans to despair.
How to corrupt them utterly.
Truly, a demon incarnate.
“…Reinforce is currently in Germany.”
“Germany? Hmm. I caught the gist of it.”
This demon seemed to possess some sorcery that allowed him to discern locations merely from understanding intent.
Richard gazed upon that demon and closed his blood-soaked eyes.
Now he too would return to his comrades’ embrace.
It was then that the creature spoke.
“I keep my promises. I’ll let you live.”
The words came in a voice brimming with amusement.
Human pride and honor were mere playthings to him, toyed with and mocked.
If this was not a demon, then what could it possibly be!
Richard had borne dishonor for England’s sake, revealing to this demon the location of humanity’s hope itself.
Yet the creature toyed with it as if it were the most delightful jest, and Richard felt an indescribable fury surge within him.
“…You! You!!!”
“Kahahaha! I won’t crumple my face before Jerot!”
The creature laughed wildly, and Richard lunged toward it.
But he could not move an inch against its mana.
He kicked off the ground, desperately thrashing his feet to advance and strike the creature.
Yet only soil scattered—he could not move forward.
His shoe item shattered, his bare feet split and crushed, blood gushing forth, but still he did not stop, thrashing his feet yet unable to advance.
He swung his blade to tear through the creature’s mana barrier, but instead his teeth shattered and broke.
The despair of a Disaster Level 6 was laid bare, yet Richard continued to swing his sword madly even as his pierced abdomen spilled forth his organs.
When the blade snapped, he discarded it and clawed at the mana barrier with his bare hands.
Yet his fingers broke, bone jutting through, blood spraying forth, and still he thrashed about desperately.
But he could not advance.
Confronted with his own pathetic state, Richard let out a wail.
“Uuuaaaaahhhhh!”
The creature called Ranit paid no heed to that bestial cry and moved to depart.
But then.
“Hmm?”
Sensing something, it stopped in its tracks.
Richard howled, desperately attempting to strike at the creature.
Yet still, only his own body was being shredded.
Disaster Level 6?
I am Level 6 as well!
So why do I feel like nothing but vermin before it?
Why can I do nothing at all?!
I wanted to trample through my comrades’ blood and land even a single blow on this creature!
Why can’t I even move?!
Floundering in despair, the swamp of death was swallowing me whole.
Just as my last reserves of strength were fading away entirely.
Someone placed a hand upon my back, and then.
Thud!
Piercing through Ranit’s mana barrier, my desperate punch finally connected.
Though it dealt no damage whatsoever, it had made contact.
Only then could I feel someone behind me, and turning my head.
“Leave this to me now.”
Ma Hyun-seok stood before me, his expression as fierce as a malevolent spirit.
“Don’t think you’ll die peacefully.”
“Hoh? You’re the one? The one who killed Marcia?”

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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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