Chapter 163 – Great Plains of Barrastan (14)  

Sungjin was teleported to a new dimension along with a bright light. Far away, he could see Edward and Serin among the hunters. Sungjin rotated his wrists while holding two of his swords.

Moon Specter and Blood Vengeance cut through the air. Sungjin waited for the lights to disappear, like a sprinter at the start line waiting for the gun signal to begin.

And as soon as it disappeared, he ran towards Edward. When the hunters saw Sungjin charge towards them at high speeds, they were greatly shocked.

“W...what?”

While the hunters were still stunned and unable to react, Sungjin immediately targeted Edward. But, the only person who knew what was going on, Serin, tried to stop him.

“Please wait!”

She shouted. Sungjin ignored her and charged against Edward.

“Whoa...”

The other hunters didn’t know what was going on, but they moved out of the way first. Edward himself was also unaware that he had become a target. He backstepped because Sungjin was running aggressively in his direction. Sungjin used Besgoro to recite an incantation.

“Frost Bite!”

Edward’s feet became rooted. Sungjin planned on splitting him in half then and there. Edward must be eliminated, even if that means he must become a troll. But moments before Sungjin’s sword was about to reach his forehead.

“Bolt Charge!”

Someone had jumped in to knock Sungjin away. Sungjin had been too focused on Edward that he was caught off guard, but spinning mid-air, he landed on his feet and saw that the ‘Juggernaut’ was standing next to Edward with his shield like a personal guard.

‘It’s already after distribution. What a strong sense of camaraderie,’ Sungjin had thought.

Edward aimed a spell towards him.

“Glacial wall encase the enemy! Ice Cage”

Soon a tall wall of ice surrounds Sungjin.

“Back to formation!”

Thanks to the moment’s respite, the hunters reorganized themselves and decided to worry about the reasons later. It was an instinctual reaction to being attacked suddenly without knowing what Sungjin was doing. The barrier around Sungjin did not last long.

‘Pow!’

Two swords came through the wall of ice at the same time.

‘Creeeak~’

Then with an ominous noise, it cut a circular hole through the ice.

‘Boom’

The circular portion fell forward and landed on the ground. Sungjin himself walked out of the circular exit he had created. Before him was a line of hunters in battle formation. Tanks in the front, Damage Dealers in the second row, Magician Edward was naturally in the back; a textbook formation. Only Serin who knew Sungjin was hesitating standing off to the side. Sungjin addressed them.

“My target is the Magician in the back. If you do not stop me, I will not attack you. But if you get in my way, be prepared to die. Choose.”

The hunters turned to look at Edward. Edward looked just as confused as the rest of them. The hunters then briefly exchanged glances and turned back towards Sungjin. It seemed right to protect their comrade, but they didn’t understand why this was happening. It was then,

“What are you? Are you a troll?”

The Juggernaut who had saved Edward earlier walked forward and demanded.

“Why have you tried to attack us?”

Sungjin replied,

“I will repeat myself. My target is the Magician in the back. I don’t care about the rest of you.”

“Who cares about what you think. We are a team. If you wish to attack Mister Edward, you will have to face us all.”

Sungjin glared at him. And lifting up both his swords, he stated,

“Do whatever you want... everyone who stops me will die.”

The Juggernaut scoffed. He turned his head to look at his team as he said,

“Everyone? We’re ten people.”

The Juggernaut had spoken with confidence. They were a successful party that completed a 10 man raid perfectly. The opponent was only a single hunter. He was no boss nor hidden boss; simply another hunter.

He was certain that if they were to work together and fight, then they could definitely win. Especially because their team had the unbelievable Magician Edward and expert sniper Hassan. But then he noticed that Hassan was not in formation. It was as if Hassan didn’t think that this fight involved him. The Juggernaut did think something was strange, but he nevertheless returned his gaze and said,

“Do you really think you can face all ten of us?”

Sungjin crossed his blades as he said,

“Why don’t you try.”

The battle was imminent.

“Oppa! Please don’t do this!”

It was none other than Serin’s voice. All the hunters turn to look at Serin who was in the appearance of Hassan. The voice was that of a man, but the speech pattern was that of a woman. Noticing strange gazes upon her, she pulled the beard down as she said,

“Unequip.”

The skin on her face peeled off and Serin returned to her original appearance. All the hunters were shocked. Firstly, because a person they had believed to be a man all this time (even though the silhouette of the body had been quite feminine) turned out to be a woman. Secondly, because the woman was unbelievably beautiful. Serin put away the ‘Hassan’ mask she had purchased from the Raccoon Merchant and said,

“Oppa, please wait.”

But Sungjin was in no mood to listen.

“Stay aside. It’s dangerous.”

“I’ve had a chance to speak with him, and he’s a very reasonable person. If you just speak with him...”

Serin tried to calm the situation down, but Sungjin didn’t even want to listen.

“I know.”

He cut her off mid-sentence.

“I know that if you speak with him, he will seem alright. But there is something you do not know. Obey me and stay out of it.”

“No wait, Oppa.”

It was at this moment when Serin had Sungjin’s attention,

“Yaa!”

One of the hunters, ‘Master Chef’ appeared in the air behind Sungjin. He had a dagger in both hands. His assassination skill was so great that in the first guerrilla phase of this round, his contribution was on par with Serin and Edward. When Serin saw him appear, she shouted,

“No!”

But it was too late. He aimed for Sungjin’s neck and swung his daggers.

‘Stab’

His daggers ended up stabbing Sungjin. But even the ‘Master Chef’ who had launched the attack was shocked. The ‘Master Hunter’ had been facing away from him until a moment ago. But what he hit wasn’t his neck but his forearm.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. To him, it had appeared as if an arm grew where the neck had been a moment ago.

“Wha...”

While he was still reeling in surprise, Serin said to the ‘Master Chef’,

“Run Curtis! He’s not someone...”

But it was too late. Red aura enveloped his body. Sungjin did not hesitate in swinging his sword.

‘Spapat’

Along with the sound,

“Ack!”

A cross-shaped wound appeared on his body, spewing a stream of blood. Serin shouted at Sungjin once more.

“Oppa!”

For the first time, Sungjin spoke to her with anger.

“You... Do you intend to join the side of my enemy because you’ve been in a party with him just once?”

Serin wasn’t able to respond. It was then the Juggernaut readied his shield and mace.

“Uryah!”

He shouted and charged towards Sungjin. The other hunters hesitated for a moment more, but they followed Juggernaut’s lead to attack Sungjin. Most of them were probably thinking.

‘It’s 8 versus 1, how can we possibly lose?’

But their thoughts were ruthlessly shattered in just a few seconds. The Juggernaut at the front who had charged at Sungjin suddenly lost sight of him.

‘Where?’

And the moment he was thinking so, he saw the sky spinning. Sungjin had kicked his legs out from under him.

‘Bam’

He fell with a sound. He tried to get up quickly when

‘Clang!’ there was a loud sound.

When he looked up, his Mace was broken. The Master Hunter had tripped him and broken his mace with the sword at the same time. He stared at the Mace that was reduced to just the handle in disbelief.

‘No way, my Legendary mace...?’

But seeing the next few moments of the fight, this was nothing to be surprised about. The ‘Mountain’ who freely used a giant two-handed sword swung his weapon down towards the ‘Master Hunter’. The ‘Master Hunter’ didn’t even try to dodge it and blocked with his thin weapon instead.

The Mountain’s two-handed sword was more aptly described as a lump of steel than a sword; it was a gigantic and fearsome looking weapon. The Juggernaut expected the Master Hunter to become flattened by the weapon just like that.

‘Claaang!’

But, after a loud collision, the only thing that remained was the Master Hunter’s thin and red blade. The Mountain was so shocked that he couldn’t move. The Master hunter used that timing to kick the Mountain’s groin.

‘Splat’

Along with a strange sound, the Mountain fell while holding his crotch. The ‘Serial Killer’ and ‘Elite Samurai’ charged against him as well. They were the fastest members of the team who wielded a sword and an axe. The two of them attacked the Master Hunter faster than the other members could see with their eyes, but

‘Clang! Clang! Clang! Shing!’

After just a few hits, both of them dropped their precious weapons and moaned in pain.

“Ugh!”

“Ooh...”

They stepped back, holding the arms which held the weapons earlier. Blood dripped from each of their wrists. Now the only ones defending Edward was ‘Hawkeye’ with a crossbow and ‘Royal Guard’ with a spear. Things were getting dangerous.

Juggernaut abandoned his stump of a mace and picked up his shield to join the others when a powerful gust of wind materialized below the Master Hunter’s feet. Edward must have begun an incantation while the others were fighting.

“Cyclone!”

Master Hunter lost his balance due to the sudden wind. The cyclone grew in size until it flung him somewhere far away. Edward quickly said,

“Please gather here!”

The others were already used to following his commands. Edward quickly addressed the hunters who assembled next to him.

“What I’ve used just now is simply a control magic to throw him away. He will return for sure.”

The moment he finished, he followed up with a spell.

“Sprouting Lifeforce, to me. Rejuvenation”

With Edward at the epicenter, a bright green light radiated outward. The wounds they sustained from the Master Hunter were healed in moments. The now healed hunters all~

“Operator, potions!”

“Operator, what weapons do I have?”

~Called upon the Operator to rearm themselves and prepare. But then Edward shouted,

“Here he comes, he’s coming faster than expected.”

And just as he said, the Master Hunter who had been flung away by wind returned without a scratch and walked up to the Hunters. The Hunters reassumed their formation. Master Hunter Sungjin frowned as he addressed them.

“There’s eight of you. Even I cannot win ‘without accidentally killing you’. I will say this one last time. Everyone with the exception of Spell Master, get lost. Or you will die.”