Chapter 36
Episode 4: Fate Ride the Wind (11)
“……!”
Gang Cheolman’s pupils widened.
He had known for some time that there was something inside the glass.
He had sensed some mana and thought it was a monster, but it was not.
A person.
Just as Han Sangwoo had said, there was a person, blue as if dead, inside the transparent liquid in the glass.
One person in each container.
Dozens of people were lined up in the corridor, but the number of people was not the only problem.
From infants to the elderly.
Luminous had imprisoned people of all ages.
“These insane bastards…!! What on earth have they done…!!”
Gang Cheolman ran out into the long corridor to confirm the atrocity.
He hoped desperately that it was a model in some kind of unbelievable fantasy, but the reality was only confirming it as the truth.
Below the glass, the personal details of the victims were listed.
They had lost even their names and were floating in the transparent tubes.
Han Sangwoo followed Gang Cheolman and confirmed the atrocity.
“It seems like they kidnapped people and performed experiments on them here. Seeing that there are hunters, it seems likely that the attacks by Lee Kyujin and Kang Dusik on me and the public servant hunters from the Hunter Bureau were because of this.”
Han Sangwoo calmly analyzed the situation.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t angry like Gang Cheolman, but thanks to his lord’s trait, Calm, reason came before emotion.
At this, Gang Cheolman also calmed his eyes and looked around again.
“Now that I hear it, it makes sense. I was wondering how those Luminous bastards got stronger after drinking potions, and it seems they extracted mana from the victims here.”
“Looking at the shape of the machinery and the previous context, that seems to be the case. It seems difficult for these people to survive…”
“Unfortunately… it does seem that way. I feel a slight amount of mana from some of them, but judging from their appearance, it seems they are already dead.”
The victims floated in a standing position, submerged in the transparent liquid within the glass.
Also, most of their bodies were decayed and damaged, making it difficult to consider them alive.
Han Sangwoo frowned and spoke.
“It’s horrible. To experiment with others to gain strength, to betray humanity to such an extent.”
“That’s why Luminous is wanted all over the world. These guys… they don’t know what good is. The only way to minimize the damage is to deal with them quickly.”
“Yes, I think so too. I now understand why you want to pursue Luminous to the end. Let’s go and clear them out.”
Han Sangwoo agreed with Gang Cheolman and walked forward down the corridor.
But Luminous was far more vicious than the two had thought.
As the two entered the middle of the corridor,
Bang-! Crash-! Splaash-!!
“Ugh…!”
The glass tubes full of liquid shattered, and the test subjects inside attacked Han Sangwoo and Gang Cheolman.
This was clearly a trap.
Han Sangwoo raised his volcanic sword and shield and spoke.
“They must have been waiting for us.”
“Damn bastards…!”
Gang Cheolman also gritted his teeth, took up his greatsword, and took a stance.
[Suffering Test Subject (E)]
[Suffering Test Subject (D)]
[Suffering Test Subject (D)]
[…….]
[Suffering Test Subject (F)]
From F to D rank.
There were dozens of monsters, but their ranks were not high.
Moreover, their combat power was not strong.
Most of them were so damaged or decayed like zombies that they could not even walk properly, let alone fight.
Scarecrows.
Even though they had become monsters, if Han Sangwoo and Gang Cheolman swung their swords once, the test subjects would surely fall like leaves in the wind.
But the two could not bring themselves to swing their swords. They only defended with the broad sides of the volcanic shield and the greatsword.
These were not like Lee Kyujin or Hwang Daegun, who became monsters out of greed, but innocent victims sacrificed in experiments.
However,
They could not just defend forever.
“Shoot!!”
“Yes!!”
At the end of the corridor where the glass was lined up, the Luminous hunters who had fled appeared and fired arrows, daggers, and skills wildly.
Whoosh-! Boom boom-! Kaboom-!!
A chain of explosions occurred in the long hallway.
Their equipment and the test subjects were also damaged, but the Luminous hunters did not care.
Their only goal was to kill Han Sangwoo and Gang Cheolman.
“Those crazy bastards…!”
Gang Cheolman, gripping his greatsword with both hands, jumped forward, stepping on the heads and shoulders of the test subjects.
Enraged by Luminous’s behavior of exploiting innocent victims to the end.
Though his vision was obscured by flames and smoke, SS-rank hunter Gang Cheolman pushed through with his body.
“You bastards…!!”
Whooong-!! Splaash-!!
[Meteor Slash]
As Gang Cheolman broke through the explosion and swung his greatsword, a white sword energy flew along the sword wind.
The rapidly descending sword energy, like a falling meteor, destroyed the Luminous hunters’ skills, arrows, and daggers as it surged towards the enemies.
If it continued forward, it would inflict massive damage.
However,
Thud-! Fwoosh-!!
Gang Cheolman’s skill disappeared before reaching the Luminous hunters.
Before [Meteor Slash] could reach, Assistant Team Leader Min Sua advanced with her staff and cast a protective shield.
The aura was shattered and disappeared upon colliding with the transparent shield.
Min Sua smirked at Gang Cheolman with one corner of her mouth lifted.
“What, isn’t an SS-rank hunter not that special?”
“Well, they say the first flash is like the end. Let’s see if you can block the second or third ones too.”
Taaat-!
Gang Cheolman also lifted one corner of his mouth as he landed on the ground and charged forward again.
His long-range attack was blocked, so he intended to approach and cut them down with his greatsword.
As Kang Cheolman was getting closer to the Luminous hunters,
“Guild master, wait…!”
Han Sangwoo called out to Gang Cheolman from behind.
A desperate voice.
However, Gang Cheolman, already accelerating, could not stop.
As a result,
Bang-! Bang-! Babababang-!!
He was swept up in the traps that exploded beneath him.
The floor exploded from where Gang Cheolman had been running to where the Luminous hunters had set up, creating a dark abyss.
A bottomless pit whose depth could not be determined, where nothing could be seen but darkness.
Fortunately, Gang Cheolman managed to push off the ground just before the explosion and grabbed onto a pipe on the ceiling.
But it was only a temporary solution.
“Oh dear. It seems there won’t be a second chance; what should we do? Everyone, shoot!”
“Yes! Understood!”
At Min Sua’s command, the Luminous hunters started firing daggers and skills again.
And then,
Kaboom-!!
‘Damn…!’
Gang Cheolman fell again.
The Luminous hunters had not targeted him but instead attacked the ceiling where the pipe was attached.
With no ground to stand on or skills to fly through the air, Gang Cheolman had no choice but to fall freely.
Fortunately, he did not fall into the trap.
“Hold on a moment!”
Zap-! Splaash-!!
Han Sangwoo, who had been behind in the corridor, took down the test subjects and used instant summoning to pull Gang Cheolman with [Pulling You In].
“Hah! Thank you, Hunter Han Sangwoo!”
In a situation where his body was wrapped with an aura whip, Gang Cheolman grasped the situation and turned his head to thank Han Sangwoo.
But at that moment, as Han Sangwoo was pulling Gang Cheolman,
“Bingo.”
Luminous triggered another trap.
Boom-! Kabooboobooboom-!!
“……!”
This time, they exploded the floor beneath Han Sangwoo.
Instead of activating all the traps from the beginning, they had planned to trigger an additional trap when one person rescued the other, trapping them both.
Of course, they did not catch both birds with one stone.
Whoooosh-!!
The aura whip from [Pulling You In] threw Gang Cheolman toward the entrance of the corridor with stairs.
However, focused on the rescue, Han Sangwoo could not dodge in time and was caught in the explosion.
“Damn!”
“H-Hunter Han Sangwoo…!!”
“Ugh….”
Han Sangwoo’s body fell into the deep darkness with the test subjects.
Gang Cheolman ran to the edge of the corridor, which had become a cliff, right after landing on the ground, but he could not rescue Han Sangwoo.
Thud-!
Right after Han Sangwoo fell, a large metal plate flew over and blocked the abyss.
“Dammit…!”
[Continuous Meteor Slash]
Gang Cheolman unleashed several [Meteor Slashes] towards the Luminous hunters and jumped down to land on the metal plate and descend into the abyss.
From sensing the terrain below with mana, he judged that it was deep but still survivable.
However, Gang Cheolman’s plan went awry.
Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!!
Two, three, four.
Ironically, even though he was about to willingly fall into the abyss, several more metal plates flew over and blocked it.
In the blink of an eye, the abyss was completely sealed.
“Oops. No entry.”
Min Sua waved her hand and sneered at Gang Cheolman.
Then the Luminous hunters also withdrew their auras and daggers and began to withdraw.
Realizing the situation was unfavorable, they had decided to retreat.
“You bastards…!!”
Gang Cheolman gritted his teeth and pounded on the metal plate with his greatsword to catch the Luminous hunters.
But by then, the Luminous hunters were already gone.
Only the darkness and the remaining damaged test subjects were left.
It was a hopeless situation, and Gang Cheolman, at a loss for what to do, trembled all over and leaned on his greatsword.
Bang-! Crash-! Crunch-!!
Gang Cheolman tore up the floor, wall, and ceiling in anger.
Finally, when the ground shook, the structure tilted, and he stopped.
“Ugh…!”
Pah-!
Gang Cheolman raised his head and looked at the sealed abyss.
Realizing that more traps might be hidden inside, he reluctantly retreated and sent a mana message to the Hunter Bureau and his guild.
But the outcome was unknown.
Because the one who had to deal with it first had already fallen into the abyss.
However, Han Sangwoo, who fell into the abyss, was calm.
First, he looked at the back of his right hand.
Swaaa-.
The protective shield made by the Spirit King was still intact.
Fortunately, he seemed to have landed well.
This shield could only block one attack from an SS-rank hunter or a monster.
Even though Han Sangwoo had fallen and crashed through several walls, it was maintained without any problems.
Moreover, his trait, Calm, prevented him from being nervous even when he did not know the exact situation.
“I hope nothing has gone wrong with Gang Cheolman.”
Thinking that Gang Cheolman was more worried about him than he was, Han Sangwoo lowered his stance and began to move cautiously.
Fortunately, the spirit was summoned and could provide some light.
“Are you going to proceed?”
The Spirit of Flame asked if he was going to follow the Luminous members with a faint flicker.
Han Sangwoo answered briefly while keeping his eyes on his surroundings.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Please be careful.”
“Yes, I will.”
The only people who had entered the research facility were himself and Gang Cheolman.
Therefore, if he did not proceed quickly, the Luminous hunters who had retreated earlier would either flee or set up another trap.
He could not let that happen.
Taking one step, then two steps forward, he proceeded quickly.
Then,
“……!”
Han Sangwoo stopped in place.
He could not see or hear it, but he felt someone’s presence.
Although this place was dark and had an unpleasant smell, he sensed someone ahead.
Therefore, Han Sangwoo lowered his stance even more and prepared to take out his sword at any moment.
“Excuse me, please save me…….”
“!”
An unexpected request for help came from beyond the darkness.
