Chapter 203: An Opportunity (1)

In every previous Attempt, the Hunters who had entered the central keep had been forced to face a group of mid-bosses. These included the Aberrant Humanoids and Aberrant Giants, and they always appeared before the Hunters could reach the First. The Hunters did not encounter these mid-bosses one by one on their way to the Gate Boss. Instead, every time they entered the keep, all the mid-bosses would be gathered together in a single location.

Given that, Kim Ki-Rok couldn't help but wonder why the mid-bosses were scattered throughout the keep in this Attempt. Lost in thought, he slowly turned his head. All around him, Hunters were locked in battle with humanoid and Animaloid monsters. Working in small parties of two or three, they gradually wore down their enemies, defeating them while keeping damage to their own groups to a minimum.

Kim Ki-Rok concluded that this was why the mid-bosses had been scattered throughout the keep instead of gathered in one place. Unlike previous Attempts, the Hunters were now well-equipped with Pastera weapons and no longer needed to avoid the mechanical monsters. This allowed them to confront the enemy head-on and defeat them with minimal losses.

Even when the mechanical monsters avoided direct confrontation, unwilling to face Hunters armed with Pastera, the raid team still inflicted damage using siege weapons, targeting enemies hiding throughout the city. However, their problems didn't end there.

Before this final operation, the Hunters had attacked and occupied the mines and mineral veins closest to the city, severely limiting the mechanical monsters' ability to replenish their forces. With each battle, their numbers dwindled. Even efforts to avoid direct combat failed, as constant bombardments continued to inflict damage. Cut off from their resources and unable to rebuild, the mechanical monsters were slowly being driven into a corner.

The second factor is the number of reinforcements we've brought this time around,

Kim Ki-Rok thought to himself.

In previous Attempts, only B-Class Hunters had been called in as reinforcements. However, in this Attempt, B-Class Hunters, C-Class Hunters, and even regular soldiers were empowered to participate in the Gate raid.

Normally, these B-Class Hunters, C-Class Hunters, and ordinary soldiers wouldn't have been able to withstand even a single attack from the mechanical monsters. However, for this Gate raid, they could operate the siege weapons in place of the A-Class Hunters and even use crossbows to support their allies from a distance.

During a Gate raid, the rear support team played a crucial role, harassing the enemy's flanks and escorting the wounded. That was why even A-Class Hunters were sometimes pulled from the front lines to assist. But now, with B- and C-Class Hunters and regular soldiers covering those responsibilities, the A-Class Hunters could be redeployed alongside the top Hunters at the front.

Kim Ki-Rok also identified a third reason for the changes in the mechanical monsters' behavior: the sheer number of people who had entered the keep this time. This was, in fact, a side effect of the second factor. With more support troops available, more personnel could be assigned to the assault team. As a result, significantly more Hunters from the top two classes had entered the keep compared to his previous Attempts.

Rather than gathering in one place and risking encirclement before the Hunters could break through the castle's defenses, the mid-bosses had scattered throughout the keep, forcing the Hunters to spread out as well. If the mid-bosses had all fought together, could they have defeated the invaders? Kim Ki-Rok believed the First had judged that outcome unlikely and deliberately ordered their dispersal.

A concentrated defense might have worked if the invaders were few or if the Aberrant Mechanical Monsters had remained hidden until the right moment. But with so many elite Hunters inside the keep this time, and with the mid-bosses already revealed and their strengths exposed, the First had no hidden advantage left. A pitched battle would only have ended in disaster.

Things would also be different if the First thought it could count on outside reinforcements.

If reinforcements from the city outside were able to enter the keep, then the mid-bosses would have a reason to gather in one location to wait for the Hunters. If the Humanoids and Animaloids throughout the city could reach the keep and attack from behind while the mid-bosses blocked the way forward, the Hunters might have suffered heavy losses.

But that won't be happening.

Regular soldiers and C-Class Hunters were now able to participate in the Gate raid, increasing the number of Hunters involved in the final stage of the operation—the battle in the city itself. As a result, the force assigned to Team Three, responsible for preventing mechanical monster reinforcements from entering the keep, had grown large enough to hold back the waves of humanoid and Animaloid units, even with most of the higher-ranking Hunters assigned to Teams One and Two.

Given the circumstances, scattering the mid-bosses throughout the keep was likely the First's only viable option. With so many Hunters entering, dispersing its forces may have been a last-ditch attempt to slow the enemy until reinforcements could arrive.

By doing so, the First presented its enemies with two choices.

If the Hunters stayed together and took down the mid-bosses one by one, the First could order its minions to keep moving, dragging the Hunters around and buying time for reinforcements. Even if some mid-bosses were caught, the First could always send in hidden soldiers from beneath the castle to ambush the Hunters while they were distracted.

Alternatively, if the Hunters prioritized capturing the "king," they'd have to split up to prevent mid-bosses from attacking from behind during the confrontation. The First understood that only the strongest Hunters would be assigned to take it down and was ready to destroy that team using the troops hidden below. Once the elites were eliminated, the rest could be wiped out.

"Have you finished your preparations?" Kim Ki-Rok asked Lee Ji-Yeon and Yoo Seh-Eun.

It had been exactly five minutes since the pair had arrived on the scene.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Once both nodded, Kim Ki-Rok turned and approached the doors to the final room.

***

We suffered a lot of losses because of those three hundred troops hidden beneath the keep,

Kim Ki-Rok recalled.

In his early Attempts to clear the Gate, when the first two teams infiltrated the keep to subdue the First, they had encountered the mid-bosses in the lobby on the third floor. After the initial shock of seeing the strange and unfamiliar Aberrant Mechanical Monsters, the leader of Team One ordered Team Two to hold them off while Team One advanced to confront the First.

Team Two had no reason to refuse. Their mission was to handle any mechanical monsters guarding the keep, aside from the First. These mid-bosses were nothing like the Animaloids and Humanoids they had expected, but following orders, Team Two immediately engaged them in battle.

As for the outcome of those early raids, Team One suffered heavy losses after being ambushed by mechanical monsters hidden beneath the keep. Team Two met a similar fate. With no experience fighting the Aberrant Mechanical Monsters, they were forced to sacrifice many Hunters just to bring them down.

"But this time..." Kim Ki-Rok quietly muttered to himself as he removed the plate of Pastera he had set up in front of the doors.

After Team One entered the final room and confronted the First, Kim Ki-Rok stayed behind and blocked the mechanical monsters hiding in the basement from entering the room. He continued to guard the door until the second team defeated the last of the mid-bosses and joined him.

Taking a deep breath, Kim Ki-Rok pulled the heavy set of doors open with a screech. As soon as the doors swung open, he saw the Hunters from the first team leaping from cable to cable as they attacked the First.

"Miss Seh-Eun, please support the Team Leader of Team One, Mr. Ishimura Ken. And Miss Ji-Yeon, please help out Mr. Man-Kook and Mr. Seh-Hyuk," Kim Ki-Rok requested politely.

The two women immediately burst into action. Lee Ji-Yeon dashed forward to help her fellow guild members, while Yoo Seh-Eun leaped into the air, landing on a cable near the Team Leader of Team One. Matching Ishimura's movements, Yoo Seh-Eun swung her sword at a cable that was attacking him, deflecting it to the side.

After realizing it was actually a Hunter from the second team who had come to help him, Ishimura Ken smiled in relief. He had been prepared to block the attack himself, but thankfully it hadn't been necessary. It seemed Team Two had defeated all the mid-bosses and arrived in time to lend their aid.

Seeing that Ishimura was now aware of the reinforcements, Kim Ki-Rok turned his attention to the First as he muttered, "Let's see now..."

It was an extremely large mechanical monster that could control thirty-five different cables at the same time. However, what truly made it dangerous was its ability to strategize and make decisions for itself.

Falling into a ready stance, Kim Ki-Rok bent his knees slightly as he voiced his thoughts aloud, "My normal methods won't work here."

His stats were lower than those of the S-Class Hunters. If he tried to use the same stable hunting methods as the Hunters from Team One, he wouldn't even be able to deal as much damage as they were already inflicting on the First. Thus, Kim Ki-Rok kept carefully examining the First for weaknesses.

By blocking the doors to the room, he had kept all three hundred of the First's hidden reinforcements from entering, and part of him wondered if the First now saw him as a threat. But knowing it was only a matter of time before Team Two defeated the mid-bosses and arrived to support him, Kim Ki-Rok hadn't pushed himself to the limit. Even so, he had fought three hundred mechanical monsters alone.

After staring at Yoo Seh-Eun for five seconds and Lee Ji-Yeon for another five, the First turned to look at Kim Ki-Rok. Its gaze rested on him longer than on the other two Hunters, lasting a full ten seconds. After that, the First turned its attention back to the S-Class Hunters who had already been in the room, having classified them as the more dangerous targets.

"As I thought..." Kim Ki-Rok breathed out with a small sigh of relief.

The First was cautious, but not overly so. If Kim Ki-Rok had taken on all the Aberrant Mechanical Monsters alone, then it might have viewed him as the greatest threat. But the three hundred he had faced were standard humanoid and Animaloid types, not the more dangerous variants.

Of course, if Kim Ki-Rok had been forced to use Guardian, that would have also caused the First to raise its guard. With the kind of power that this artifact bestowed upon its user, the First would surely have prioritized it as a threat. Fortunately, Kim Ki-Rok had managed to hold on without relying on it.

Above his head, Ishimura leaped off the cable he had been standing on. Yoo Seh-Eun also leaped off to follow him, ready to support at any moment.

Five cables shot up to block the path of Ishimura and Yoo Seh-Eun. Instead of dodging them to strike at the First's chest, they chose to cut through the cables, sacrificing their chance to land a direct hit. But in doing so, they created an opening for their comrades, who had been waiting for just such an opportunity.

Three S-Class Hunters launched their attack, leaping from their own cables. Armed with blunt weapons, they were forced to deflect the cables that rose to block their path.

"Five," Kim Ki-Rok calmly counted the number of cables the First had used to intercept their attack.

After confirming that the three S-Class Hunters had landed safely, Kim Ki-Rok turned to check on another group launching their own attack from the ground. Five more cables shot up to block Jeong Man-Kook, Kang Seh-Hyuk, Lee Ji-Yeon, and the two other S-Class Hunters with them.

"Ten," Kim Ki-Rok counted off before turning his head once more.

On the other side of the room, Ji Seok-Hyun was working with the other S-Class Hunters from Korea as they launched their attack on the First.

"Thirteen."

Adding the three cables tasked with holding the Korean Hunters at bay, Kim Ki-Rok continued to keep track of all the cables the First was using to block the Hunters' attacks. It still had twenty-two cables left, which he continued counting off as they were dealt by the various foreign S-Class Hunters.

"Seventeen."

The Americans were met with four cables.

"Twenty."

Three more intercepted the Russians.

"Twenty-three."

Another three tangled with the Chinese team.

After carefully counting all thirty-five cables, Kim Ki-Rok turned back to study the First. He had only one chance to take it down before it recognized him as a threat. If his attack failed, the First would raise its guard, making victory much harder. He also knew they had to be careful with the cables. Iif even one was destroyed or disabled, the First could immediately activate new ones to attack the Hunters.

Any Hunters who failed to block or dodge its attacks and were seriously injured had to fall back. The injuries weren't limited to the foreign Hunters; a few Korean S-Class Hunters were also forced to retreat and heal.

As they pulled healing potions from their subspace pockets and treated their wounds, they cast sidelong glances at Kim Ki-Rok. These weren't looks of annoyance at his inaction. On the contrary, given his major role throughout the raid, they were waiting for him to make his move.

"This is insane... This boss is way too difficult," one of the Koreans complained.

"Hey, if you have any spare potions, toss me one," another Korean Hunter called to a friend.

Kim Ki-Rok calmly ignored the background chatter.

Five minutes passed, then ten. As time went on, the teamwork between the Hunters from Team One and the newly arrived Team Two members became increasingly seamless as they worked together against the First.

Still, Kim Ki-Rok remained where he was, quietly studying his enemy.