“Thank goodness… If I hadn’t seen this and went home, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.”
Yeon-hee had an expression of both excitement and fear, as it was her first time seeing a monster.
Still, Yeon-hee seemed more excited, her eyes sparkling as she curiously watched the monster that was swelling and shrinking.
Seok Ryu-hwa briefly sized up Yeon-hee before moving to another spot.
In the end, only Yeon-hee and Ah-rin remained in a place crowded with S-rank Hunters and top A-rank Hunters aiming for S-rank.
“Aren’t we supposed to leave? It’s still okay now, but later it will be tough just holding our ground.”
“Hmm… Let’s hang in there. Il-wol is strongly insisting that we absolutely shouldn’t go, but this doesn’t happen very often, you know?”
“Eh? Really? Hmm… If it’s Il-wol’s opinion, maybe we should try to endure a bit longer.”
Eventually, we ended up watching from a little distance behind Kang Yeon-su as he tackled a monster of Great Beast level.
“If you feel like you can’t stay anymore, run quickly. I’ll put up a barrier.”
“Okay, got it.”
Yeon-su gently patted Yeon-hee’s head a few times, and briefly looked at Ah-rin, who was constantly touching her ears, with an intriguing gaze.
After spending a few hours together, Yeon-su learned that Ah-rin was from the Ilseom Guild but was currently independent.
‘Ah-rin is tempting, huh?’
Yeon-su would surely be able to see it right away. Ah-rin’s potential was considerable.
“The barrier is set up!! I reversed the design so that they can enter from the outside, but if a monster tries to escape from the inside, it will be stopped.”
“Great. Now we can fight freely.”
“However, we can’t block all the damage.”
“Well, we have to accept some damage given the situation.”
The barrier mages had erected a vast defensive line surrounding the monster over a radius of several kilometers.
‘Amazing… Is this the essence of barrier magic led by an S-rank Hunter?’
“Whoa- incredible…”
“So this is how it’s done. Feels like my mind is clearing.”
Just by watching the barrier set up, we had already gained considerable experience.
About 20 minutes passed after the barrier was set.
The light from the sky began to dim.
The number of gathering Hunters was now over a thousand.
Since it’s extremely rare for this many top-tier Hunters to gather, Yeon-hee and Ah-rin felt increasingly anxious.
“When the hell is the Transcendent who said they would come showing up?”
Just as all those gathered were starting to get tired of waiting, the monster moved before the awaited Transcendent did.
Chiiiiiing────
Its body, which looked pitch-black as if shrouded in darkness, began to brighten gradually, emitting a piercing sound.
– Ugh… My ears…!
– W-what is it planning?!
The creature, which had been limping like a slime, transformed into a perfect sphere, and small holes began to appear on its turquoise body.
It looked like the cannons of a concealed battleship were opening, and it was clearly a transformation for an attack.
“Damn it!! Plan B!!”
According to the plan set during the meeting, if the monster showed any signs of attacking before the ‘Transcendent’ arrived, we would take the initiative.
At Park Yong-hwan’s shout, the Hunters began to prepare their ultimate techniques in unison.
“Yes!! Finally, we can go for it!”
The Spearman Park Jin-gon took out his spear, which was much longer than his height, looking pleased.
“How many holes are there even…?”
Yeon-hee summoned her Sword Dragon, saying as if she couldn’t believe it.
Thousands of faintly glowing holes on the monster’s body had begun to gather enormous magic power.
With nearly a thousand Hunters preparing to unleash a coordinated attack before it could attack, they activated their skills simultaneously.
Bzzzz───
Like they were synchronized, a spectacular scene unfolded as skills were unleashed toward the monster.
Rumble──!!
The tremendous concentration of magic power created multiple lightning-fueled mana storms between the monster and the Hunters.
Soon, the skills of incredible destructive force began to hit its body.
I also condensed a Fireball to its limit and launched my skill, followed by the breath from Yeon-hee’s strongest summoned creature, the ‘Sword Dragon.’
Once in battle mode, Ah-rin’s expression changed as she infused her hidden dagger with magic and threw it with all her strength.
Thus, we slowly began to accumulate some experience of participating in a fight, however weak that was.
Boom────────!!!
“Ugh!!”
“Uwaaaah!!”
The bombardment of the Hunter Alliance continued without pause.
Even we, who were positioned furthest away among the Hunters, were blown away for a while by the aftermath.
Other Hunters likely hadn’t experienced this level of concentrated skill either, as many were caught up in the backlash and were blown away.
Fortunately, we were halted by the first barrier more than a few hundred meters away, but the incredible recoil was so strong that even my flying ability couldn’t dampen its effects.
Whoooooosh───
‘Yes! The monster is retracting the skills it was preparing! Is it having an effect?’
At the moment every long-range skill hit, the holes on the monster’s body vanished in an instant and an eerie silence filled the air.
In sync, the close-combat Hunters, including Kang Yeon-su, launched themselves at the creature.
We mounted the Sword Dragon and swiftly returned, just in time to witness Kang Yeon-su and Park Jin-gon strike with perfect timing.
While the other Hunters’ attack power was formidable, Kang Yeon-su’s swing while in ‘Divine Transformation’ was on a whole different level.
Thud──
The strike that had surpassed the one she dealt to Eom Sang-wook last week focused onto one point, and Kang Yeon-su’s fist hit the monster, causing the very fabric of space to warp momentarily.
[Huuuuuu······!]
The monster, which hadn’t reacted to any attacks up until now, let out a piercing scream of pain with just one punch from Kang Yeon-su.
Part of its body was penetrated and exploded from the impact, but it quickly started to heal.
‘Now’s the time!’
Until now, I hadn’t been able to find a way in due to the monster’s overwhelming aura.
Finally, a path to reach the monster became visible.
I had forewarned Yeon-hee and Ah-rin that there might be such a situation.
Quickly, I placed them on top of the Sword Dragon and flew toward the monster while in [Stealth].
As I arrived at the creature’s body, hundreds of Hunters were seen squishing it down.
‘Why isn’t it counterattacking? Wasn’t it planning something?’
I puzzled over the creature’s odd reaction but decided to throw four ‘bone daggers’ that I had pinched between my fingers while casting [Flame Cut].
Ting-ting-ting-!
The thrown bone daggers all ricocheted, but thanks to the trait [Penetration], they barely scratched the monster’s body.
However, the expected Flame Mark or paralysis and bleeding effects were completely absent.
‘The mark must have a low chance, but how high is its resistance for the other status effects to not take effect?’
Consequently, my focus heightened, and I was able to manifest my swordsmanship as taught by my Master.
Swooosh-!
One, two, three, four, and then five.
The swing of the Great Sword could only go up to five times.
The reason was that a small eye that had opened up at the spot I was cutting was staring directly at me.
Chill──
‘What the—?!’
I jumped back in shock and quickly moved as something dense shot out rapidly, almost grazing the spot where I had been and creating a massive, unmeasurable hole in the ground.
Thud-!
I managed to create distance of a hundred meters in an instant, landing on a building, but that moment I locked eyes with the creature rooted in my mind.
Chill- Chill-
‘Hah- Hah- Damn… That was crazy. I must have been a bit insane there. What experience could I possibly gain from such a mad monster?’
The spot where I had just stood was now a patch of deep darkness.
Surprisingly, the monster was not counterattacking any of the other Hunters, only focusing on Kang Yeon-su and a few other strong ones.
‘What is going on?’
Though Hunters were still attacking it, the creature appeared to look more satisfied the more it was hit, whenever it was hit by Kang Yeon-su and a few other elite attackers.
‘What is this?’
Feeling a strange chill, I quickly returned to Yeon-hee’s side and shouted out Ran’s name.
‘Ran!!’
I was going to immediately unleash [Flame Explosion], but sensing something off, I hesitated and felt a desperate urge to escape for now.
[Acceleration]
Ran’s body slimmed down, and a mystical sensation of infinitely expanding perception flooded my mind once again.
Before I could savor the thrill, I extended my hand toward Ah-rin.
“Whoa-?!”
Whoosh-
In an instant, Ah-rin vanished into Space, and checking just in case, I reached for Yeon-hee as well.
– You are a being of great potential.
– Cannot be a target of Space.
‘Tch!’
– Fwaaaaaaah!
As soon as Yeon-hee saw Ah-rin disappear into my Space, she commanded the Sword Dragon, and a black sphere of the Shadow Drake lengthened forward, starting to teleport as if it was using space bending.
The ‘Sword Dragon’ seemed to sense the crisis instinctively, as it began to move considerably faster than before. I could sense it was straining itself.
How many seconds passed with it moving at least double my maximum flying speed?
We reached the outskirts of the most distant barrier in no time, hoping to pass through it.
But—
Ripple─
‘?!’
“I-it’s blocked!! What’s going on? I’m sure Yeon-su said it was a reverse barrier!”
It’s likely that the stronger the being, the harder it would be to escape the barrier’s structure, but were we, as C-ranks, unable to escape?
I reached out to the quivering barrier and observed the flow of magic, soon realizing one thing.
‘This isn’t the structure that was originally installed. As time passes, the nature of the barrier changes. It feels like someone is messing with it.’
Could it be that there were some mages among the dozens who worked on the barrier that were in cahoots with the blue-eyed one?
‘Or perhaps the person who stood at the center of this barrier…’
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