Chapter 21
Section 3: An Inevitable battle (4)
The conversation ended with my response.
Instead, a dagger came flying.
At the end of the conversation, Lee Gyu-jin threw a dagger at me.
The blade was rapidly approaching.
But the dagger didn’t reach me.
Clang-!!
“I’ll assist you, mercenary!”
Ahn Jin-soo, the youngest of the trio of civil servant hunters, deflected the incoming dagger and moved to my side.
Although the support arrived at the right moment, I kept my eyes on Lee Gyu-jin as I responded.
“No, take your team members and retreat to the boss room entrance. You’ll only be a hindrance.”
I appreciated the help, but there was no other way.
Like Kang Doo-sik, Lee Gyu-jin was thoroughly exploiting our weaknesses. He was actively using the penalty of having to protect the injured.
Judging by the trajectory of the dagger he just threw, it seemed more like he was targeting Seo Chun-bok and Park Nam-il, who were kneeling and gasping for breath, rather than me.
If I had recklessly blocked it and lost my stance, he would have closed the distance and delivered a follow-up attack.
“Mercenary, are you sure you can handle this alone? If you fall, we’re as good as dead anyway, so we might as well fight together….”
“I can handle it alone, so don’t worry.”
Considering that I might need to take a mana potion, it was actually more convenient to fight alone.
“Understood, then please take care of things.”
Ahn Jin-soo maintained his attack stance as he retreated, supporting Seo Chun-bok and Park Nam-il.
Naturally, Lee Gyu-jin was furious.
“You can handle it alone? For a mere mercenary…!”
As his consecutive attacks failed, Lee Gyu-jin’s previously composed demeanor vanished, and he rushed at me.
Whoosh whoosh! Swish swish swish!
Daggers flew at me from all directions at high speed.
I blocked the onslaught of daggers with my volcanic sword and volcanic shield, but I couldn’t block all the attacks.
Thud-!!
“Ugh…!”
Toward the end of his attack, he added an unexpected move, kicking me in the abdomen instead of using a dagger, and I took the hit squarely.
Although I wasn’t physically hurt much, the place I ended up rolling to was right in front of the mid-boss monster guarding the lever.
“Roarrr!!”
“Damn…!”
I had no time to collect myself.
Following my tilting momentum, I kicked off the ground to dodge the mid-boss’s spear.
Seeing this, Lee Gyu-jin burst into loud laughter, finding it quite amusing.
“Ha ha ha! Serves you right! That’s what happens when you don’t know your place!”
The Jeering could be heard from afar.
Lee Gyu-jin did not launch any additional attacks. He merely watched the mid-boss’s attacks from a distance.
It seemed he was avoiding entering the area to prevent drawing aggro himself.
Moreover.
“Looks like you barely managed to beat Kang Doo-sik. Think you can handle the mid-boss on your own?”
He assumed I couldn’t defeat the mid-boss.
It was understandable.
Since entering the mid-boss’s area, I had only been dodging attacks without counterattacking.
To Lee Gyu-jin, it probably seemed like I was avoiding the fight because I couldn’t beat the mid-boss.
But from my perspective, this was a natural course of action.
My true goal wasn’t to defeat the mid-boss, the snowfield knight on horseback.
“Hup!”
Click-!
It was to pull the lever.
While dodging the mid-boss’s attacks, I reached the lever at the end of the crossroads and pulled it.
Getting kicked in the abdomen by Lee Gyu-jin was also intentional.
I blocked all the daggers coated with poison, which would have been dangerous if hit, and deliberately got kicked towards the direction of the mid-boss, naturally ending up near the lever.
If I had approached the mid-boss openly, Lee Gyu-jin would have noticed, and taking him down first would have taken too much time.
“…!”
Lee Gyu-jin seemed to realize my strategy at that moment, but it was already too late.
[Half Moon Slash]
[You have defeated the Snowfield Knight (C).]
After pulling the lever, I easily defeated the Snowfield Knight with a Half Moon Slash.
Thud-! Clang-!!
As I swung my sword, generating a long aura, the ice horse and the snowfield knight crumbled to the ground.
“You, you bastard… you went in there on purpose.”
“Well, something like that.”
-Lord, I have completed the task you assigned.
Just then, I heard Taeseng GilgeoI’s voice in my head.
He had completed the mission I had assigned him before coming here and reported it through Jinon.
Thus, I devised and executed the strategy to pull the lever.
Once the gate to the boss room opened, Taeseng GilgeoI could proceed to clear the dungeon.
However, time was quite tight.
Since I couldn’t drink a mana potion right now, I couldn’t keep Taeseng GilgeoI summoned for long.
I wanted to resummon Taeseng GilgeoI to quickly deal with Lee Gyu-jin, but it was more urgent to get Yoo Sang-jun out of the dungeon as soon as possible.
Additionally, I needed to defeat the boss monster before Ahn Jin-soo and the civil servant hunters arrived.
‘Taeseng GilgeoI, if the gate is open, go in and defeat the boss monster.’
“Yes, the gate just opened. I will follow your orders, my lord.”
I commanded Taeseng GilgeoI to clear the dungeon with my thoughts.
Of course, Lee Gyu-jin, who was unaware of this, just sneered.
“Heheheh! What do you hope to achieve by pulling that lever? Do you really think those civil servants can defeat the Frost Mage and escape the dungeon?”
“There’s no harm in having a backup plan. If Yoo Sang-jun and the civil servants manage to kill the boss monster and escape, you’ll be as good as dead.”
“Yoo Sang-jun? I thought he was dead since he didn’t come with us… Well, it doesn’t matter. There’s no way those D-ranks can defeat the Frost Mage.”
“You never know.”
Despite Lee Gyu-jin’s dismissive attitude, did he sense something from my confident demeanor?
Suddenly, he wiped the smile off his face, raised his dagger, and got into a stance.
“No matter how much you struggle, you won’t get out of here alive.”
“Yeah, you won’t, not me.”
Having achieved my goal, there was no need for further conversation.
Boom-! Clang!!
I launched myself off the ground and clashed with Lee Gyu-jin.
***
“Hmm, today I feel at ease.”
In the office of the Third Human Resources Division of the Hunter Bureau, Shin Dae-hoon leisurely sipped his coffee while clicking his mouse at his computer.
It had been a while since he felt this relaxed.
He had sent Han Sang-woo to a dangerous dungeon, but he wasn’t too worried.
Usually, he’d feel uneasy about the possibility of an accident, but after the overlapping dungeon incident, he was confident in their abilities. Moreover, the Ashin Guild accompanying them was reassuring.
Shin Dae-hoon was calmly handling his work when his phone suddenly rang.
Bzzz-!
‘Huh? Haven’t they started the raid yet?’
Seeing the caller ID, Shin Dae-hoon checked the time.
It was just past the scheduled raid start time.
It was too early to think they’d cleared the Ice Fortress, so he naturally assumed the raid was delayed.
He tilted his head in confusion as he answered the phone.
“Team Leader, haven’t you entered the dungeon yet…?”
-Director! The Ashin Guild, the Ashin Guild members attacked us!
“What…?”
An unexpected loud voice came from the other end of the phone.
‘What? What are they saying?’
For a moment, Shin Dae-hoon’s mind froze, unable to believe the voice that wasn’t Seo Chun-bok’s.
Then he realized it was Ahn Jin-soo speaking.
“-HR Director, this is Ahn Jin-soo. The Ashin Guild members we entered the dungeon with tried to kill us. Team Leader and Nam-il hyung are critically injured. I’m the only one who barely escaped and am using the team leader’s phone to contact you!”
“Hold on, Ahn Jin-soo. Are you saying you’re still in the dungeon? What about the others?”
Shin Dae-hoon, clutching his pounding heart, asked urgently after hearing Ahn Jin-soo’s explanation. If there were any fatalities, it would be truly irreparable.
“B-rank Lee Gyu-jin and C-rank Kang Doo-shik from the Ashin Guild attacked us. The mercenary subdued Kang Doo-shik by knocking him out and is currently confronting the B-rank. Meanwhile, the other C-rank, Yoo Sang-jun, is in a coma after being attacked by Kang Doo-shik. Additionally, Team Leader and Nam-il hyung are critically injured, and I’m the only one unharmed.”
“Y-You’re saying the mercenary is handling this alone!? Deputy Seo, send reinforcements to No. 223 Ice Fortress immediately. Now!”
“What? Oh, understood!”
Although the details were scarce, Seo Sang-jae, realizing the urgency, immediately followed the order.
Shin Dae-hoon, trying to calm his racing heart, reviewed the situation.
Another incident in the same dungeon, with hunters being attacked by two fellow hunters.
As his thoughts cleared, one group naturally came to mind.
‘Luminous.’
There was no concrete evidence, but it was a recent rumor circulating within various guilds.
The story was that Luminous was infiltrating guilds and indiscriminately killing other hunters.
Though it was difficult to be certain with just the current situation, he couldn’t help but think of it first.
“Director, I’ve requested support from all available personnel immediately.”
“Good. Since it’s an emergency, contact the Chief directly. I’ll try to reach the Ashin Guild Master.”
“Yes, understood, Director!”
Normally, reports are passed up the chain of command, but the situation was urgent.
In such cases, it was a special rule established by the Hunter Bureau after several tragedies, to contact the highest authority directly.
Shin Dae-hoon grabbed his coat and headed out of the office, dialing the Ashin Guild Secretariat.
“This is Shin Dae-hoon, Director of the Third Human Resources Division of the Hunter Bureau. Can I speak with Chairman Kang Cheol-man directly? It’s an emergency.”
