Chapter 44: Chapter 43

Ring!

[You have learned 'Skill: Grassland Wind'.]

Swoosh!

Suho crossed the hunters as if he had wings.

The wind blew violently along the trail, spurring his movement.

[Movement speed temporarily increases by 30%.]

[Attack speed temporarily increases by 30%.]

Slash!

"Aaaah!"

Blood splattered in the blowing wind.

Screams erupted everywhere.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch giggles revealing his teeth.]

A 50 to 1 battle?

Outnumbered?

That didn't matter.

There was still darkness.

"Beru!"

[Young Master!]

Beru immediately jumped when Suho called him.

With his short but strong nails, he mercilessly cut the fireballs floating like balloons in the air.

Pop! Boom!

The fireballs exploded and their visions went dark again.

"Shit! Fire some lights on again!"

The hunters gritted their teeth and recreated the fireballs, but each time, Beru's nails continued to put out the fire.

Pop! Pop!

Constantly flickering field of vision.

Every time that happened, screams erupted from everywhere.

"Ack! My leg...!"

"That way!"

"Watch out...!"

Each time the light flickered, Suho's position changed.

There were always new casualties.

And when a healer jumped in to save them...

[Krrrkk!]

Swoosh-!

"...?!"

Black spider web fell over the healer's head and wrapped his body as he got snatched away.

"Hey, watch out for spider w...!"

Arachne's huge claws were mercilessly thrust down at the hunter who was there.

"Ack...!"

Blood poured in from the hunter's mouth.

It was a terrible death, like a scene from a horror movie.

[Twelve.]

Beru's antennae were counting the number of enemies he had slain.

Outnumbered?

That didn't matter.

After all, everyone dies.

"Kyah!"

[Thirteen.]

No matter how strong they were, if their heart was stabbed, they would die.

"Ack!"

[Fourteen.]

One died when his throat was cut off.

Also, if one's defense skill was strong, he could kill the others first.

If they counterattack using a skill, he can stab them in the back.

"Aaah! Run away!"

"We have to get out of here...!"

[Fifteen.]

This place was already Suho's hunting ground.

The terrifying fear of losing their lives was eating away the spirits of the guild members.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, is proud of Pontifex Suho's majesty.]

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, advises you to pay attention to mana management, as mana is continuously consumed in the 'blessed' state.]

"..."

The only thing the association hunter who was watching that terrible scene in prison could do was...

"Close your eyes."

He could just block the eyes and ears of the kindergartener he was holding.

'How...'

To the association hunters, Suho's unstoppable slaughtering of enemies felt very foreign.

No matter how much they deserved to be killed, it seemed like Suho couldn't feel any mercy in his hands.

In fact, all hunters were familiar with the smell of blood on others. It could tell how used they were to killing people.

A hunter's job is no different from a butcher.

But, still...

Aren't they human after all?

"Not having any hesitation in killing people."

"Just why..."

"No. It must be because of the Beast Transformation skill."

Han Jaehyuk, who was listening to the murmurings of his subordinates, said with conviction.

"Eh? Is it because of that?"

"Yeah. The Beast Transformation skill is a great skill that greatly increases physical abilities, but at the same time, it is a very difficult skill to handle as it maximizes ferocity and makes it impossible to maintain rationality. That's why incidents caused by beast hunters often happen. Am I wrong?"

"Ahhh."

Only then did the association hunters nod in agreement.

[No, idiots.]

Beru, who had been overhearing their conversation from afar, chuckled.

[Young Master is familiar with death from the very beginning. Ever since he was a baby.]

Death is the primal fear of all living beings.

However, to Suho, who had been able to freely come and go in the world of death since he was a baby, death was just a natural phenomenon that was always by his side.

After all, even the nannies who raised Suho when he was a newborn baby are soldiers of death.

Suho had the experience of repeating his own death countless times.

A test that his father, Sung Jinwoo, had Suho repeat so that he could properly control the power of the Shadow Monarch and use it according to the situation.

As Suho repeated death over and over again in his dreams, he was no longer afraid of death.

Beyond overcoming fear, he reached the point of dealing with death as an experience and a means.

[Like His Majesty does.]

Beru muttered with a satisfied smile on his lips.

* * *

'What the hell is this?!'

Kwak Dooyoung, a B-Class hunter who arrived at the laboratory late, could not keep his mouth shut at the horrors taking place inside the building.

'Does this make sense?'

There was only one intruder.

The mana he felt was only a C-Class or B-Class at most.

However, if the intruder's skill was that great, he was most likely neither of the two.

'Could it be an acceleration skill that speeds up movement?'

'If so, shouldn't the dealers focus on shooting while the tankers in front do their best?'

'A giant spider was summoned?'

Although it was somewhat unusual, it was at best a C-Class monster.

Reaper Guild's 2nd raid unit was at a level where stable raids were possible.

But, why? How?

"How could this amount of people be working on that one guy?!"

Kwak Dooyoung eventually joined the battle.

"Giant's Armor!"

Swoosh!

Magical armor wrapped around his body as he jumped high.

He doubled in size and weight in an instant.

The entire container building shook with the impact of his massive body armed with Giant Armor.

"Hunter Kwak Dooyoung?!"

The hunters who were fighting Suho looked back at him with admiration.

Kwak Dooyoung was one of the first-class tankers of the Reaper Guild.

It was thanks to that gigantic skill that he, who was only a B-Class hunter, was able to secure a first-team position in a large guild representing Korea.

A huge armor over 3 meters in size and combat power that comes from its overwhelming heaviness.

His other skills are combined there.

No one had any doubts about the fact that Kwak Dooyoung was a first-class tanker of the Reaper Guild.

"Get out of the way!"

Rush Skill.

The assault captain's skill, which covered his whole body with a shield and pierced the front road like a cannonball, was cast.

Baaam!

"What?!"

"Hunter Kwak Dooyoung! Wait...!"

Bang!

"Aaaah!"

Rush!

Kwak Dooyoung's huge body rushed forward like a rhinoceros.

The subordinates who stumbled on the road in front of him bounced out in all directions, but he ignored them all.

Some sacrifice must be made.

'My goal is!'

Suho lightly dodged his charge.

However, Suho was not what he was aiming for in the first place but the prison that was located right behind Suho!

Thud!

"Hehe. Got it!"

"...!"

A gigantic hand finally gripped the bars of the prison.

At that moment, Kwak Dooyoung smiled meaningfully and yelled out loud as if he wanted Suho to hear it.

"You bastard! Stop right there! Before I crush these hostages in prison!"

Crack!

His tremendous strength made the prison's iron bars begin to crack like candy.

"Everyone, gather around me!"

Han Jaehyuk, who was with the hostages in the prison, was frightened and used his Iron Wall skill.

Seeing that, Kwak Dooyoung laughed saying it was ridiculous.

"Ha, you want to withstand my strength? You're just a C-Class tanker!"

"Keuuugh!"

A clash of strength and power.

Han Jaehyuk's were bloodshot while enduring the opponent's power.

The gap between C-Class tankers and B-Class tankers was very evident.

Han Jaehyuk was somehow enduring it but his knees were shaking as if they were going to give in at any moment.

"What are the two of you doing?"

It was an odd expression coming from Suho.

But that's just how tankers were.

The higher their defense, the more overconfident they get.

In addition, Kwak Dooyoung's height and size doubled, so his arrogance was indescribable.

Swish!

At that moment, the wind of the grassland suddenly blows at Kwak Dooyoung.

"... Oh!"

He was startled.

Someone suddenly grabbed his hair and tilted his head back.

Then, there was Suho, who was riding on his shoulder, grinning.

"You think you're the only strong one here? I can even do this."

Swoosh!

Black energy wrapped around Suho's fist as he held Kwak Dooyoung's hair in his left hand and raised his right hand.

[Use 'Skill: Strike'.]

"Look."

Suho sighed and slapped Kwak Dooyoung down on the head with his huge fist.

Blag-!

"Acckk...!"

With a tremendous roar, the giant vomited blood from his mouth and fell forward.

Suho didn't dare to put his guards down.

He had no intention of misjudging that this one shot would pierce the defense of a B-Class tanker.

Slash!

Immediately, two twin swords appeared in Suho's hands.

He mercilessly swung his sword at the defenseless back of Kwak Dooyoung, who was lying flat on the floor.

[Use 'Skill: Blade Storm'.]

Slash!

"...!"

That was the decisive blow.

The light disappeared from Kwak Dooyoung's eyes, and his swollen body began to shrink.

Clank!

Weapons finally fell from the hands of all the remaining villains in the building.

Guild members raised their hands with pale faces as if they had no will to resist.

"Ha, I surrender..."

[Kehehe. Now?]

Beru knew better than anyone the dangers that ensued when he showed mercy to these guys.

Slash!

Beru's claws cut through their Achilles tendons.

"Ack!"

"Ahhh!"

"I already surrendered, but why...!"

[The only true form of surrender is death.]

He laughed and mocked them as they rolled on the floor grabbing their ankles.

[Or, completely destroy their offensive power so they'd be of no use.]

Beru approached them again with an evil smile and gave them a 'heal'.

It is a feeble heal that doesn't consume much mana.

Swoosh!

He was very kind (?) to put their broken Achilles tendons together.

Very meticulously.

[Now, even if you go to another healer, your legs will never be cured. Well, I guess I could cut off the whole ankle and regenerate it.]

"..."

Seeing the fist-sized little demon laughing and mocking them, the guild members trembled.

Right then.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Numerous messages arrived in front of Suho.

[You have completed 'Quest: Rescue'.]

[Number rescued: 10]

[Your level increased!]

[The level of 'Skill: Double Swords' increased!]

[The level of 'Skill: Blade Storm' increased!]

[The quest completion reward has arrived.]

[Do you want to check the reward?]

( Y / N )

But then.

Suddenly, something caught Suho's gaze as he was looking down.

A light the size of a coin was shining on the dead body of Kwak Dooyoung.

Suho's eyes widened.

'No way...?'

The kind of light coming from the monsters holding the mana stones was now emerging from Kwak Dooyoung's corpse.