Chapter 148: The Rescue (2)

Being forced to watch someone's torture from beginning to end is horrifying in itself. However, when the torturer is someone one met less than an hour ago, that fear becomes immediate and deeply instinctive.

That would typically be the case, but in this instance, none of the dwarves were afraid of Kim Ki-Rok. Instead, they displayed nothing but admiration for him, even after he revealed the cruelty hidden beneath his genteel exterior.

"Are we going to start now, sir?" a dwarf eagerly asked him.

Kim Ki-Rok nodded. "That's right. It will only last for the next thirty minutes, but I've erected a soundproof field to cover our movements. That unnamed Black Wizard even modified the spell to prevent any mana from leaking out. That means you can safely begin your preparations."

As soon as Kim Ki-Rok gave his permission, the dwarves' eyes lit up in excitement as they quickly downed the potions they had been holding.

They began laughing like madmen as the potions restored their depleted stamina and mana.

"

Guhahahaha...!

"

"

Hehehehe...!

"

While the dwarves finished their preparations, Kim Ki-Rok walked over to the hole that connected the prison to the secret passage.

After over a decade of misery under the Black Wizards, the dwarves felt grim satisfaction watching Kim Ki-Rok torment the captured Black Wizard. The Hunters, however, were different. From experience in previous Attempts, Kim Ki-Rok knew that the best option was to sneak into the mine alone and torture this Black Wizard in private.

"Everyone, you can come up now," Kim Ki-Rok called down into a hole.

These Hunters had been squatting in the secret passage, waiting for the signal. As they quickly climbed up and emerged into the mine, each of them flinched at the sight of the crowd. Instead of the stereotypical short, stocky, and muscular dwarves of their imaginations, these dwarves looked shrunken and gaunt.

The Hunters immediately understood why. After being captured by the Black Wizards and forced to live as slaves for so many years, it made sense that the dwarves would look this way. So, none of the Hunters were foolish enough to voice their surprise at seeing the dwarves in such a poor state.

After watching the Hunters quietly head toward the entrance of the mine, Kim Ki-Rok turned back to face the dwarves once more. While handing them the potions he had brought along in his subspace pocket, he also gave them instructions on what to do next. On top of that, he lent them an artifact with the special ability to enhance their health regeneration.

After confirming that the dwarves' bodies had recovered to some extent, Kim Ki-Rok began pulling bottles of liquid out of his subspace pocket and handing them out.

"What is this, sir?" an old dwarf asked, confused.

"It's soup," Kim Ki-Rok replied. "I'm afraid I can't give you anything else to eat, since it would be very difficult to digest solids in your condition."

"Ah!" The old dwarf gratefully bowed his head and brought the bottle to his mouth.

At this small act of kindness, many dwarves began freely shedding tears or struggled to hold them back. Kim Ki-Rok looked away, pretending not to notice this display of emotion.

After they finished drinking the soup Kim Ki-Rok had given them, the now healthier dwarves stood and looked back at their fellow members who would stay behind. There were three hundred dwarves who had survived their enslavement by the Black Wizards, seventy-five of whom were capable of fighting the Black Wizards alongside the Hunters. The rest were women, children, and elderly of the clan who would remain deep inside the mines. They were the future the dwarven warriors had to protect, even at the cost of their own lives.

Kim Ki-Rok spoke on behalf of the warrior dwarves, who didn't seem to know what to say to those staying behind. "We'll be back soon."

"Yes, please take care." The dwarves who remained behind bid farewell to the brave warriors.

"We will," Kim Ki-Rok replied casually as he turned and strode toward the entrance of the mine, briskly waving his hand to signal the others to quickly follow. "Now, let's head out there and make some noise."

The Hunters and all the dwarves still capable of fighting quickly formed up behind him. As they stepped out of the mine entrance, Kim Ki-Rok reached into his subspace pocket once more. The surrounding Hunters watched him pull out a strangely long item, their eyes widening as realization set in.

"

Gasp!

"

"What the fuck?!"

Kim Ki-Rok understood their surprise; it wasn't every day that someone randomly pulled an RPG from out of their pocket. He held it out to Jang Baek-San, who had been following directly behind him.

"Here you go, Baek-San-hyungnim," Kim Ki-Rok offered politely.

"Hm? You have one for me too?" Jang Baek-San asked in surprise.

"The more hands, the lighter the work."

Jang Baek-San nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I'm sure the Black Wizards will have wrapped themselves in layers of defensive spells, so just one RPG probably won't be very effective."

"No, I'm sure it'll have some effect," Kim Ki-Rok corrected him. "I got help from the elves to inscribe the RPGs with magic circles to enhance their firepower. Oh, and each of the rockets is also inscribed with magic circles, so they should be doubly effective."

"Oh,

haha,

how amazing..." Though Jang Baek-San was still dumbfounded by Kim Ki-Rok's level of preparedness, he skillfully handled the RPG, holding it ready in his hands.

Kim Ki-Rok turned to the other Hunters and announced, "I've got some more for everyone who can use it."

Among the Hunters who had previously served time in their country's military, all those who had experience with firing RPGs stepped forward and received one.

"Then the next step is..." Kim Ki-Rok muttered to himself as he looked down at the village from the hill where the mine was located.

He saw alarmed Black Wizards rushing out of buildings, having detected the unexpected presence of pure mana in a village that should have been completely saturated with Demon Realm mana. The traces of pure mana weren't just coming from the mine entrance, but also the northwest side of the village. It was clear the Black Wizards were panicked by the sudden changes in their situation.

Having confirmed that the rearguard had begun their attack, Kim Ki-Rok crouched into a firing stance and aimed his RPG down at the village.

He reminded the others, "Now then, just like we discussed before leaving the mine..."

All the Hunters who had accepted RPGs moved to their positions and prepared to fire. Then, just like Kim Ki-Rok instructed as they were leaving the mine, they began their mission by creating as much chaos as possible.

"Alright, alright, alright! Let's get things started with a bang!" Kim Ki-Rok shouted, pulling the trigger.

Rockets rained down on the center of the village from a distant hill, slamming into the black shield cast by the Black Wizards. A massive explosion followed on impact, and the Hunters below who recognized the artillery stood in stunned silence.

"Woah, that's insane!"

"They actually brought

those

along?"

"Those are RPGs, right?"

"They sure look like it."

"Now that I think about it, didn't someone use one during the defense of the World Tree?"

"Yep, someone definitely did back then."

"Our Guildmaster really likes them because of how loud and powerful they are."

"Sure, that makes sense. But how did he even get his hands on them?"

Unlike in the United States, it was impossible to legally obtain firearms in South Korea. Even in America, legally acquiring such heavy weaponry would be nearly impossible outside the military. Despite such incredulity, the DG Guild members remained calm.

"Since it's the Guildmaster, I'm sure he found a way to get them," one of them said.

"No, no, no... are you really just going to brush that off like it's nothing?"

"More importantly, how did they even manage to break through the shield?"

The question of how Kim Ki-Rok had acquired RPGs was quickly dropped in favor of a more pressing issue.

Yoo Seh-Eun simply answered, "He told us he was going to take his RPGs to the elves to see if they could help enhance them, just in case he got the chance to use them in an assault like this."

The Hunters were visibly flustered by this. It meant both the RPGs and their rockets had been inscribed with magic circles. They were all shocked that the elves had agreed to do such painstaking and labor-intensive work for Kim Ki-Rok.

"What the heck. And we can't even complain, since they're working so well," one of the Hunters grumbled.

With each explosion, cracks spread further across the black shield. The Black Wizards scrambled to repair it, but with dozens of rockets raining down at once, the shield was being destroyed faster than it could be restored. Meanwhile, the Hunters pushed forward, dealing with any skeletons that got in their way.

Nam Dong-Wook, who was flying above while scanning their surroundings, suddenly shouted, "Hey, they've started moving!"

At his warning, the other members of the Five Siblings of Mapogu, along with Lee Ji-Yeon and the high-ranking Fire Elemental she had summoned, all raised their heads to look into the distance.

The skeletons had begun running in a single direction, racing to meet a procession of Black Wizards now on the move, escorted by knights in black armor.

***

Dozens of skeletons blocked his path, but Lee Chil-Sung didn't slow down. Instead, he sped up his charge, slipping through the rain of incoming attacks. If a strike was too difficult to dodge, he deflected it with his sword. When even that wasn't enough, he leaped into the air and used an artifact enchanted with a shield spell to create a foothold in midair, allowing him to continue evading. After breaking through the crowd of skeletons, the Black Wizards came into view. They were panicked, yet trying to maintain a show of confidence.

With a grunt, Lee Chil-Sung twisted his body and landed on a foothold he had created in midair. The foothold had deliberately been created at an angle, rather than parallel to the ground, so that he could better aim his body at his target. Mustering up his strength, he kicked off the foothold hard enough that the shield spell shattered beneath his feet.

Seeing Lee Chil-Sung flying at him like an arrow, a Black Wizard hastily cast a defensive spell, "Shield!"

The barrier shattered instantly on impact, unable to withstand even a single blow. Panicked, the Black Wizard immediately tried to cast a teleportation spell. "B-blin—"

However, it was too late.

With a single strike, Lee Chil-Sung shattered the shield and closed the distance. His next blow pierced the left side of the Black Wizard's torso. He paused, watching as the young man struggled to speak through the pain. The Black Wizard looked barely older than his mid-twenties. For someone who had exuded such confidence while commanding an army of skeletons, his death was surprisingly pitiful.

"What was it you said again?" Lee Chil-Sung muttered.

As he had broken through the army of skeletons, Lee Chil-Sung overheard the Black Wizard speaking in what had almost sounded like a leisurely tone.

"'Oh good, I was just getting bored,'" he repeated mockingly.

The Black Wizard, having already taken his last breath, was unable to respond to his quip.

"Well..." Lee Chil-Sung muttered as he took a step back and yanked his sword free with a loud squelch.

Turning slightly to avoid the blood gushing from the wound, he swung his sword through the air to shake off the blood clinging to the blade.

"It's not like I don't understand his reaction, but still..."

In truth, Lee Chil-Sung knew it shouldn't have been that easy. He had simply been lucky, catching his opponent off guard by hiding the artifact, which could only be used once he revealed his mana. The timing had been perfect, and there was no way the Black Wizard could have anticipated the strike.

He had also received blessings from the World Tree, which not only enhanced his stats but also weakened mana from the Demon Realm. Lee Chil-Sung wondered how the encounter might have gone under different circumstances. What if he had been forced to activate his artifact too early? What if the World Tree's blessings hadn't been strong enough?

"I probably would've had to put my life on the line," he admitted to himself.

After a few more moments staring down at the lifeless Black Wizard, Lee Chil-Sung steadied his breathing and turned his attention elsewhere. The group of skeletons that had been under the Black Wizard's control were now shambling toward him. Though they had lost their master, their undead instincts drove them to target the nearest pure source of mana.

"Hmmm." Lee Chil-Sung eyed them with interest.

If he pushed himself past his limits, he could still handle the skeletons—aimless without their master—but he wasn't about to waste his strength before the real battle began. Once word spread, the Black Wizards would descend on the village, and they'd have to hold out until the Continental Alliance arrived. Before that, they had to rescue the dwarves, reclaim the village, and survive long enough for reinforcements to reach them.

Kicking off the ground, Lee Chil-Sung spun around and dashed through the crowd of skeletons closing in from all directions.

***

With a loud boom, dozens of skeletons were destroyed by the combined attacks of the foreign Hunters.

"They're quite strong," Seo Lee-Ha remarked in surprise, her head the only part of her body visible above the shadows in which she was submerged.

These foreign Hunters were stronger than she had expected, comparable to South Korea's own S-Class and A-Class Hunters.

"I thought our country might've had a bit of a lead, but now..." she muttered.

Thanks to Kim Ki-Rok and his Discernment Skill, South Korea's S-Class and A-Class Hunters had been able to receive additional rewards on top of the standard ones for clearing Gates. That advantage had led her to believe South Korea's elite Hunters would be stronger than their foreign counterparts.

"But that doesn't seem to be the case," Seo Lee-Ha admitted to herself. "They're about the same."

The foreign S-Class and A-Class Hunters wielded similarly exceptional firepower, almost as if they had also been receiving help from Kim Ki-Rok and his Discernment. Of course, a careful observer could still notice subtle differences. Foreign Hunters wearing rabbit accessories such as rings, necklaces, or earrings, were clearly stronger than their peers.

Seo Lee-Ha watched blankly as these Rabbit Hunters obliterated dozens of undead with a single use of their skills.

"But why rabbits?" she quietly mumbled, sinking back into the shadows and moving on.