Chapter 34
Episode 4: Fate Rides the Wind (9)
Craaaaash!!
A tremendous crash echoed through the mountains.
Given the sound alone, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the shockwave had caused severe injuries, but no casualties occurred.
This was because Han Sangwoo had blocked Monster Hwang Daegun’s attack with the [Lava Deployment] of his Volcano Shield.
But that wasn’t all.
“Haaa!!”
[Eruption]
Boom!!
“Grrraaah!!”
Han Sangwoo didn’t just stop at defence. After aiming a flame explosion at Monster Hwang Daegun with his sword tip, he and Kang Cheolman retreated to reposition.
Soon after, a word of thanks came.
“Thanks, Hunter Han Sangwoo. You saved my life.”
“Save the thanks for later and focus on the fight. It looks like all the Luminous hunters have fled because of that guy.”
Indeed, it was not the time for small talk.
“Grrraaah!!”
Han Sangwoo’s [Eruption] had hit Hwang Daegun’s face, breaking his mask and buying some time, but it was obvious he would attack again soon.
At that moment, Kang Cheolman, who had been closely watching Monster Hwang Daegun’s face, shouted.
“Now that I think about it, that guy was called the Butcher Hwang Daegun, right?”
“Do you know him?”
“He was famous. He massacred dozens of hunters from a newly formed guild to see if killing hunters would give experience points like monsters. He disappeared just before being expelled from the Hunter Agency and getting arrested, but it seems he joined Luminous.”
Up until now, his face had been hidden by the mask, but as soon as it broke, Kang Cheolman recognized him.
However, this information wasn’t very helpful in the current situation.
Han Sangwoo asked for additional information.
“Do you know any weaknesses he might have?”
“No, I never interacted with him that much. I just heard he’s more destructive than those of his rank.”
“It would have been nice to know his characteristics. That’s unfortunate.”
Watching Monster Hwang Daegun scream while clutching his face, Han Sangwoo spoke.
He was indeed strong.
In fact, it wasn’t just [Lava Deployment] that blocked Hwang Daegun’s attack; Han Sangwoo had also briefly summoned Taeseng GilgeoI and used the defensive skill [Triple Armour].
This was a game-changing defensive skill of a Guardian Knight that reduced damage taken by 75% for 30 seconds.
If Kang Cheolman hadn’t noticed it, Han Sangwoo would not have been able to block Hwang Daegun’s attack without [Triple Armour].
That’s how powerful an S-rank monster classified as such was.
While eyeing the bloodshot Hwang Daegun, Han Sangwoo asked,
“Guild Leader Kang Cheolman, can you defeat that guy?”
“Of course. But I’m low on mana right now. Do you have any mana potions?”
“You should’ve said so earlier. I’ll give you several.”
At that moment, the mystery of why an SS-rank hunter like Kang Cheolman almost lost to Hwang Daegun was solved.
Han Sangwoo pulled out mana potions from his pocket and threw them to Kang Cheolman. He had plenty of mana potions saved for [Character Summon], so giving a few wasn’t a problem.
But the moment Kang Cheolman received the potions,
“Grrraaa!!”
Monster Hwang Daegun, having regained his senses, swung his elongated greatsword between Han Sangwoo and Kang Cheolman.
Whooong! Crash!!
The speed was unbelievable for a monster of such a huge build.
Han Sangwoo and Kang Cheolman rolled in opposite directions to avoid the greatsword, but the mana potions were shattered in mid-air.
“Grrraaa!!”
“Damn it!”
“There’s no choice. Guild Leader, I’ll hold him off while you find a mana potion. If you search the pockets of the Luminous hunters, you should find at least one.”
They could no longer afford the luxury of leisure.
Hwang Daegun had recovered from the facial wound and was charging with his enlarged body.
“This way, Hwang Daegun!”
Han Sangwoo drew Monster Hwang Daegun’s attention and moved to the opposite side of Kang Cheolman.
It wouldn’t take long for Kang Cheolman to find a mana potion.
He judged that if he could hold out a bit longer, Kang Cheolman would recover his mana and easily take care of Hwang Daegun.
There was also a way for Han Sangwoo to handle it directly, but it seemed best not to use ‘sTaeseng GilgeoI skills.
If I summoned Taeseng GilgeoI with [Character Summon], Kang Cheolman might recognize it immediately.
Especially the attack skills.
The [Triple Armour] he used earlier didn’t stand out much, but flashy effects like [Pull] or [Holy Explosion] would be noticed by Kang Cheolman right away.
Like himself, Kang Cheolman was a veteran who ranked first with the Guardian Knight character.
Similarly, if a higher-ranking skill were used in front of Han Sangwoo, he’d recognize it instantly.
In any case, there was no need to go all out since his life wasn’t in immediate danger.
It wasn’t like there was a quest like the one with Lee Gyujin.
“Grrraaah!!”
Whooong! Boom!!
Han Sangwoo dodged to the side, evading Hwang Daegun’s enlarged greatsword.
Despite being classified as S-rank, Monster Hwang Daegun was manageable.
This was partly due to leveling up, but mostly thanks to Jejangyi.
[Character Summon: Jejangyi]
[When Jejangyi is summoned, the Blessing of the Little Blacksmith activates.]
[Passive Skill: Lv 2. Blessing of the Little Blacksmith – When Jejangyi is summoned, the stats of engraved items increase by 10%.]
[Character: Jejangyi uses the Courage of the Little Blacksmith.]
[Skill: Lv 1. Courage of the Little Blacksmith – Increases the user’s stats by 20% for 1 minute.]
As he dodged Hwang Daegun’s attack, a message appeared, showing that Jejangyi’s passive and buff skills, which increased the user’s abilities, were active.
Before attacking the Luminous hunters, he had summoned Jejangyi in the bushes and ordered him to use only the buff skills, which he was diligently doing.
Additionally, with the Luminous hunters gone, the risk of being discovered decreased, allowing Jejangyi to actively use the [Courage of the Little Blacksmith] instead of just the passive skill.
Looking at the distant bushes where Jejangyi was hiding, Han Sangwoo noticed the bushes rustling slightly.
As a result, not only did the stats of his Volcano Sword and Shield increase, but his overall stats also went up by 20%.
Even temporarily, Han Sangwoo had stats exceeding B-rank while fighting Luminous.
Although he couldn’t overpower S-rank Monster Hwang Daegun, he could hold his ground.
And Hwang Daegun’s characteristics weren’t particularly troublesome.
‘This guy must have gigantification as his trait.’
Hunters usually acquire skills aligned with one characteristic.
For example, if it’s water or fire, they gain skills related to that element as they level up.
While skills bound to items differ, a hunter’s characteristic remains unchanged.
Considering this, Hwang Daegun seemed to have traits that increased the size of his body or items.
‘That’s somewhat fortunate. Easier to deal with.’
Even Lee Gyujin, who hid in blind spots, was challenging to handle.
Although not easy, gigantification was relatively easier to manage compared to other abilities.
Despite the size being intimidating, the goal was to buy time, so evading was enough.
Whooong! Thud!!
“Slow.”
Han Sangwoo dodged Monster Hwang Daegun’s downward swing, smiling slightly.
But S-rank wasn’t to be taken lightly.
A variable occurred in the subsequent attack.
Hwang Daegun swung his greatsword again, but this time its size increased threefold.
‘What the…!’
There was no space to dodge in any direction.
Han Sangwoo quickly raised his Volcano Shield.
Boom!!
A stronger shockwave than before struck from above.
Although he blocked it, the problem was what came next.
The greatsword’s overwhelming power had half of Han Sangwoo’s thigh buried in the ground.
“Grrraaah!!”
With no place to escape, Hwang Daegun raised his greatsword again, but this time it was different.
The blade emitted an enormous amount of mana.
It was an overwhelming amount of mana Han Sangwoo had never seen before.
With such mana, the destructive power would be too much for the Volcano Shield to handle.
‘I have to stop him before he attacks.’
If he couldn’t block it, preventing the attack was the best option.
Han Sangwoo aimed his Volcano Sword at Hwang Daegun and fired [Eruption], but Hwang Daegun didn’t flinch.
The greatsword cut through
the flames and continued its descent.
Whooong!!
‘Should I summon Taeseng GilgeoI?’
As the greatsword approached, Han Sangwoo prepared for an emergency summon.
But it turned out to be unnecessary.
Just as he was about to summon Taeseng GilgeoI,
“Meteor Strike.”
Flash! Boom!!
A sudden flash caused Monster Hwang Daegun’s head and upper body to be completely blown away.
The reason became clear soon after.
[You have defeated Mad Butcher Hwang Daegun (S).]
“Sorry for being late, Hunter Han Sangwoo.”
After the massive explosion, Kang Cheolman landed in front of Han Sangwoo and extended his hand.
While Han Sangwoo bought time, Kang Cheolman found a mana potion, drank it, and unleashed a powerful skill on Monster Hwang Daegun.
Han Sangwoo took Kang Cheolman’s outstretched hand and grumbled as he got up.
“I thought you were making the mana potion yourself.”
“Thanks to you drawing aggro, I was able to take him down in one shot. You seem to have a knack for tanking. Would you consider joining our guild?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t stand anything slow.”
Han Sangwoo responded with a smile, half-jokingly, half-seriously to Kang Cheolman’s mixed offer.
Kang Cheolman burst out laughing and said,
“Haha, then we’ll have to do everything quickly to recruit you, Hunter Han Sangwoo. Alright, I’ll use this momentum to pursue the remaining Luminous hunters. What will you do, Hunter Han Sangwoo?”
“What? You’re going to pursue them right away? Are you serious?”
Han Sangwoo responded jokingly but was surprised by the unexpected conclusion.
He wondered if Kang Cheolman was still joking, but he wasn’t.
“Yes. I’ve already requested support, but it will take at least an hour for reinforcements to arrive. By then, it will be too late. Luminous will have erased all traces and disappeared. You don’t need to worry about tracking them. I attached a tracking device to one of them while fighting.”
Kang Cheolman pulled out his phone and showed it to Han Sangwoo.
Indeed, a red dot was moving on a map-like screen.
Kang Cheolman was serious about pursuing Luminous.
Han Sangwoo hesitated for a moment.
In fact, pursuing Luminous was good news.
As experienced, Luminous had a tendency to come for revenge if a comrade was attacked.
To sleep soundly in the future, it was better to chase them now and wipe them out.
And there was another reason to pursue Luminous.
Han Sangwoo glanced at the item in his hand.
[Fourth Key Fragment]
– [Grade: Common]
– [Description: This is the fourth key fragment.]
– [Effect: Collect all key fragments to receive a reward (2/5)]
The golden fragment fell in front of him immediately after Monster Hwang Daegun was defeated.
It seemed to be related to the item dropped by Lee Gyujin previously, and having more than two pieces, the [Effect] section had appeared.
And upon seeing this, Han Sangwoo quickly realized.
Luminous hadn’t come just for revenge but were after the fifth key fragment left by Lee Gyujin.
What reward was so valuable that so many Luminous hunters attacked him?
If they pursued them now, as Kang Cheolman suggested, they might find a clue.
The downside was stepping into the lion’s den, but the potential rewards could outweigh the risks if they succeeded.
Plus, there was the strong support of an SS-rank hunter.
“What will you do, Hunter Han Sangwoo? Will you come with me or stay here?”
Kang Cheolman looked at Han Sangwoo with eager eyes.
It was as if he was testing him, filled with anticipation, but the answer was clear, and Han Sangwoo knew it.
“Alright, let’s go right now.”
“Correct. As expected, you are wise.”
Han Sangwoo and Kang Cheolman began to pursue the Luminous hunters who had disappeared.
