Kwah-jak─ Puh-geok─!
“It’s over, it’s over!!”
“Phew… These beetles are really tough.”
“Furthermore, they have a high resistance to ice attacks, so annoying! These fat pigs!”
Since Minescarabe and Frizkana were in a conflict over habitats, their resistance to ice attacks was high.
Soon to meet Frizkana, who would make her abilities almost useless, Noh Ha-yoon already wore a face full of irritation.
“Are we going to teleport right away?”
“Clap, clap, clap.”
“But can’t Il-wol use his ability to already know the situation at Ilseom’s main base? What’s it like now?”
‘Hmm…’
From the place where the Sword Dragon had dropped us off, this mountain was completely in my range, so I was aware of all situations.
‘I guess I should tell them now. I’m a bit worried about Ah-rin’s reaction, though.’
Yeon-hee slowly began to relay the information I had provided.
“So… there’s a large-scale battle happening near the summit where the Ilseom Guild’s main base is.”
“Whoa… I thought so?”
“So, what happened?”
Ah-rin still seemed to have nostalgia for the Ilseom Guild and was especially interested.
“Well, the Ilseom Guild hunters and hunters from the association who arrived early are holding them off.”
“Is it a tough situation?”
“Yeah… It seems that way. There are quite a few injuries… It sounds like their formation is slowly being pushed back, and they might reach the building we fought in within an hour.”
“Sounds like a lot of injuries… But it’s not the worst! If it’s an hour, the best forces could join in, and reinforcements like us will keep coming!”
“Y-Yeah.”
I was worried that Ah-rin, who had a special connection with the Ilseom Guild members, might get too excited, but fortunately, she calmly assessed the situation.
‘Then we can just go back as originally planned.’
I dodged the monster-like otherworlders leading thousands of monsters and swung wide to the right.
And for an hour, we headed toward the battlefield, exterminating a swarm of Blood Mosquitos and an unknown species of carnivorous plants.
“What the heck is this gigantic plant? It’s so annoying, these weaklings can’t even be classified as monsters.”
“Most of them react reflexively. It seems they aren’t classified as monsters since they don’t have free will. But we need to be careful. They seem poisonous, so we have to avoid them.”
“Right!”
A little later.
We arrived at the main base of the Ilseom Guild, now engaging in chaos, witnessing a scene hardly seen in our world.
“Shhh—shh.”
Yeon-hee warned her summoned creatures to make no sound, and the ogres were moving slowly as if in slow motion, taking care not to upset her.
“What a mess… Do we have room to step in?”
Bwaaang──!!
Boom boom boom──!!
Explosions erupted from all directions, filling the spaces with the roars and screams of hunters and monsters.
“I’ll hold back this turn and get in.”
With big skills continuously being poured out, it wasn’t easy to jump in right away, so we decided to observe for a moment.
‘… It seems all the elite hunters are participating. Those guys are also here.’
The Ilseom Guild hunters who had battled our party before were continuing their fight energetically.
Among them were Kim Gunseob, who had dominated Noh Ha-yoon, Park Chan-hee, who had been defeated by me, Kwon Hyun-a, and the hunter named Do-yeon, who guided us down the mountain after our duel.
“Huh? That jerk?!”
Seeing Kim Gunseob, Noh Ha-yoon seemed ready to pounce.
Joo-ah, next to her, quickly stopped her, but the memory of her previous defeat sparked a desire to seize this chance.
“This isn’t the time, Hayoon. Are you planning to stab someone in the back who’s fighting a monster?”
“Ughh…”
“Ah, Hunter Shin Young-ah has arrived too!”
“Uh? That’s Hwa-ryeon and Shin Hee-won!”
“What? Hwa-ryeon?! That girl didn’t answer my calls and shows up here. Just wait and see later.”
Noh Ha-yoon seemed to want to unleash her pent-up anger on Hwa-ryeon over Kim Gunseob.
Thinking back, the last time they had a bet on who could take down more Creeper Guards, Noh Ha-yoon had overwhelmingly won, but I never heard what happened afterwards.
“Park Jin-gon and Ko Hyuk are here too?! Aren’t those two on probation due to the Evolved Creature incident?”
“I believe being on probation includes responding to all association support requests. In other words, they’re being kept busy.”
“I see.”
I also noticed Eun Hyeon-sook, whom I had seen in the ‘Living Statue of Strength’ dungeon, and Hwang Bo-jin-hwan from the Dwarf Guild I had met during the guild competition.
‘It’s nice to see familiar faces, but they all seem to be struggling because of that guy.’
The appearance of the otherworlders was indeed bizarre.
Overall, they looked like us, but their jaws were excessively developed, giving their faces a triangular shape, and their lower jaws had prominent fangs like orcs, adding a very strong impression.
Additionally, they had dark blue hair and irises, stood three meters tall, and all wore translucent water-like armor. That armor must have been the ‘Blizzard Guard’ the spirits had manifested.
‘With hands and feet abnormally large, itmust be difficult to disturb their balance.’
But the most peculiar thing was the moving bugs hanging from their ears.
‘That wriggling thing in their ear is that. It’s disgusting.’
A small worm-like creature was flitting in and out of their ear canals, and that was the spirit known as ‘Crystalride’ that Ah-rin had mentioned.
‘The appearance doesn’t match the name at all. Should we think of it like the Leech of heaven?’
It was a spirit that could control and parasitize its host’s body, feeling quite different from the spirits I knew, but whatever the case was, it didn’t matter much.
‘Let’s get going. The strongest guys don’t seem to be making a move yet.’
The so-called Asymbiotic Species of otherworlders.
Among them, there was one particularly small fellow, who astonishingly was the strongest enemy among the thousands of monsters and otherworlders.
With razor-sharp claws on both hands, their relatively small stature made them look quite nimble.
“It looks like the monsters and the Asymbiotic Species have a partnership.”
“Right. The monsters seem to be backing up the Asymbiotic Species. So, it’s survival of the fittest for us in that case?”
“It seems like controlling the monsters is the spirit’s power. Anyway, let’s get started.”
“Yeah, let’s go!!”
“Sword Dragon──!!”
Flap─
A huge shadow cast from the sky, and the pitch-black breath spewed forth from the Shadow Drake surged towards the gathering of the Asymbiotic Species.
Kwa-kwak-kwak-kwak───!
-······?!!
The increasingly powerful breath of the Sword Dragon sent the Asymbiotic Species and hidden dungeon monsters scattering in panic.
“Protect those teammates capable of ranged attacks!!”
“Gruaaaaa!!”
Following Yeon-hee’s command, the ogres didn’t charge forward but solidified their formation, slowly advancing instead.
Seven Dire Wolves positioned among the ogres struck down lightning, signaling the true start of the battle.
Rumble-! Crackle──!!
‘The lightning attack of the Red-haired Dire Wolf is incredibly powerful. It truly embodies the qualities of an S-rank Monster.’
Only one hunter had joined, yet he displayed such overwhelming power to change the winds of battle entirely.
– Oooooo!! It’s Lee Yeon-hee!
– You guys… have come…
‘It’s been a while, Shin Young-ah. You looked a bit better when we were together, but your condition seems strange again.’
– Hmph!! You show up late and act all high and mighty!!
– With those guys here, maybe I can finally get some breathing room… Hah…
– I’m confident I won’t lose this time!
‘Long time no see, Ilseom clowns.’
Most greeted us warmly, but not everyone felt the same.
“Ugh… Noh Ha-yoon?!”
“Hey hey!! Hwa-ryeon!! If you don’t honor our pledge, I’ll pray to the God of Pledges!!”
On seeing Noh Ha-yoon, Hwa-ryeon looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment. I still don’t understand why she keeps making bets.
“Tch, the filthy ones have come. We’ll continue as we were!!”
Moreover, Park Jin-gon openly rejected us.
It seemed he was trying to downplay Ko Hyuk’s Evolved Creature incident by participating in dungeon break support, something he usually wouldn’t do.
That would be fine, but it felt unnecessary to speak like that considering he held a high position in the same guild as us.
And for some reason, the elite hunters of the Ilseom Guild were also watching us with displeased expressions.
Of course, it was just momentary due to the fierce battle, but my instincts can’t be fooled.
It could be because they lost to us last time or because they gave us a bad evaluation related to the Great Beast hunt, but I had no way of knowing.
‘It’s completely hostile.’
Nevertheless, the battlefield we were heading toward was closer to a flat area with a gentle slope.
There was enough space for ogres and alpha-level summoned creatures to move around, but the problem was the thousands of monsters rushing up from below.
‘They’re still crawling out of the Gate. Kilbard’s resource acquisition is definitely secure.’
Monsters surrounded the elliptical front line formed by the hunters.
It was crucial for the tanks to hold their line in situations like this, but it seemed the Ilseom knights struggled with that role.
– Alright! Everyone, let’s pull back the line a bit──!!
– Regain your breath──!!
Yeon-hee’s summoned creatures stepped forward, naturally passing the baton.
And.
Kuuuuuuuuuuuuung───!!
[······.]
A colossal golem named ‘Castle’ was summoned, blocking one wing of the front line.
-······?!!
-······!!
The otherworlders who had been pressing down on the hunters instinctively began to retreat at the appearance of ‘Castle,’ the ‘Sword Dragon,’ and the ogre squad.
‘Castle, I’ll leave this to you.’
The artifact I had recently acquired, named ‘Silver Shakiras,’ gained from the hidden space of the Werewolf.
This gigantic slab would become a great asset to the weary hunters.
[······?]
Castle tilted its head slightly at the sight of the artifact, but once I placed it against its chest, it attached naturally as if it were one.
Patang──!
[······?!!]
‘Ha ha, wonderful. Wearing that silver plate on your chest makes you look pretty impressive, Castle!’
Bam bam-!
Castle seemed to like the artifact and responded by bumping its fists together.
-······!!!
‘Here they come again.’
The monsters and Asymbiotic Species, who had stepped back momentarily in the face of Castle’s dominance, regained their resolve and charged forward again, spurred on by their bellowing cries from behind.
But I didn’t engage them and rose into the air while in stealth, beginning to gather magic.
‘Hoo─ This is a perfect picture with monstrosities clustering.’
[Meteor]
Goooooooon─
A staggering 2,500 magic power was packed.
My maximum finishing move would soon reveal itself from the sky.
Fwhoosh─
Flarr─
Over fifty magic-charged meteors plummeted toward the ground at terrifying speed.
All creatures in the area looked up at the enormous shadow cast by the falling meteors.
– W-What is that?!!
– Meteor! It’s a Meteor!! An S-rank Fire Sorcerer has come to help!!
– How many fire sorcerers capable of casting Meteor are there in our country? Who the heck could it be?
‘Die──!!’
I’m convinced I could wipe out over a thousand monsters and otherworlders, opening up the front line for us.
But then.
‘Hm?!’
Something human-shaped shot up toward the sky faster than the descending meteors, extending its arms toward the heavens.
[Swoooosh… Kyaaaaaahhh───!!]
A mysterious being opened its mouth wide, and dozens of cold orbs burst forth from within.
Each one struck the plummeting meteors, and at that moment, a blue barrier covered the meteors, significantly reducing the flame energy contained within!
‘W-What the hell?! This makes no sense!’
Even that incredible ability of the being struggled to withstand the meteor’s power.
Boom boom boom──!!
The meteors impacted the enemy line, creating a series of cataclysmic explosions.
‘This… Damn it. The explosions are weak?!’
The greatest strength of Meteor is the speed of its fall combined with the massive mass, creating sheer obliteration across the area, but its flame energy had been completely drained.
But even the meteor alone had terrifying destructive power, ensuring the enemy line was significantly shattered.
– Wh-What in the world…?!
– Unbelievable… Is this the might of top-tier magic?
– No… It seems the power is lower than the Meteor I heard about. It appears to be an unfinished spell?
– Wh-What does it matter? It’s our chance to turn the tables!! Everyone, let’s press on!!
– Charge──!!
‘At least I’m glad experienced hunters are around.’
The hunters took advantage of the opening I had created and managed to advance the previously stalled front line significantly.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
