When the dwarf prepared for battle, three hunters, hiding outside the building, quickly rushed in to surround her.
It was clear to anyone that Kang Yeon-su was the one in danger, but she calmly manifested her magic, creating a protective veil that surrounded the area.
This was to prevent damage to other buildings during the fight, and it meant that despite consuming such immense magic power, she could still handle them, causing the dwarf to finally become tense.
‘Six S-rank hunters and one A-rank… But there’s something off about that A-rank hunter.’
Why was she focusing more on the A-rank hunter than the S-rank hunters? Was it because he was a hard-to-see foreigner? That couldn’t be the only reason.
‘That hunter has something.’
I spread the word ‘A’ in the air with a fireball, and she smiled at me, giving a small nod. Of course, Yeon-su must have felt it too.
Doubts began to creep up on me, and as I scratched my chin, Yeon-hee muttered anxiously.
“What do we do… Is there anything we can do?”
But as she voiced her concern, Kang Yeon-su appeared to be enjoying the moment, completely unbothered.
To Yeon-hee, it must have looked like Yeon-su had fallen into a trap, but our interfering might complicate things further.
“Ugh… Should I summon the Sword Dragon in advance?”
‘……’
I wanted to tell Yeon-hee to just relax and watch, but I didn’t want to lessen her tension unnecessarily. I just held her close from behind to keep her there.
‘If the Drake goes over there, it’ll just melt away. It’s not like it’s any different.’
I patted Yeon-hee’s head and signaled to just wait and watch.
Seeing my calm demeanor made Yeon-hee tilt her head, shifting her gaze back to Kang Yeon-su.
‘If there’s anyone among our country’s hunters with at least a 0.1% chance of capturing Jo Gi-man, it would be Kang Yeon-su. Just watch.’
“……”
“Haha, she’s quite the imposing figure. Even surrounded like this, she doesn’t show a hint of panic.”
“Hff, hff…”
“Mm?!”
The dwarf, along with other hidden companions, sensed something change in Kang Yeon-su’s condition.
‘Her face?’
Kang Yeon-su’s face turned completely red, and at some point, her eyes disappeared, leaving behind only her wide, grinning mouth pointing skyward.
“Uh… Um, sis?”
Yeon-hee trembled in fear as she watched, while the dwarf shouted the attack signal, pointing at Kang Yeon-su.
“Seize her!!”
‘Seize… her?’
It wasn’t easy to capture someone even if there was a substantial power gap, which left me wondering.
Right after the dwarf’s attack signal, darkness fell as if covered by a giant hand.
Soon after, a massive hammer, like a mountain, fell to strike Kang Yeon-su.
She was a ‘dreaming’ type hunter, fighting against the enemy by materializing her magic in various forms.
She was a rare genius who had risen to S-rank among those who often lived lost in their fantasies.
As she evaded the hammer, she displayed incredible flexibility, changing the form of her magic, surprising us by how she managed to do it.
Bam──!!
However, Kang Yeon-su showed an incredible feat, casually catching the pursuing hammer with one hand.
Feigning to be attacked, pretending to be pushed back, and drawing the enemy in to deliver a devastating blow were Kang Yeon-su’s specialties, and she executed that strategy flawlessly.
“······?!”
The dreaming hunter gasped in shock while continuing his attacks in succession.
Simultaneously, hundreds of high-density magic missiles flew from all directions, aimed at Kang Yeon-su.
Even those without talent were known to manage magic missiles, which fell into the category of the lowest-tier magic.
But the sharpness of those missiles felt unusually extraordinary, as Kang Yeon-su dodged them, carefully eliminating one trajectory after another.
‘I can’t see her hands…’
I could hardly follow her movements; I could only vaguely guess through my senses.
It looked like she had already stepped beyond the realm of humans into the divine.
The magic missiles relentlessly pursued her, and the moment there was the slightest opening, the materialized magic attacks came in forms of swords, spears, and arrows.
‘Did she just do something?!’
Moreover, the peculiar energy of that A-rank hunter that seemed unsettling had exploded.
Kablam──!
At the same time, sharp-toothed plants grew from Kang Yeon-su’s body to wrap around her.
“······?!”
For the first time, Kang Yeon-su, who hadn’t been fazed by the enormous hammer or the intense magic of the missiles, showed hints of confusion.
‘Plant binding technique! When did she plant those?!’
Eventually, Kang Yeon-su was bound right in place.
And finally, the powerful single-target attack from the dwarf struck Kang Yeon-su’s abdomen.
Bam────!!
“Ugh-!”
Kang Yeon-su’s body bent like a bow, soaring up into the sky, and thereafter, the dwarf unleashed relentless strikes on her face and abdomen.
‘Of course, like what Yeon-su has, their physical enhancement is extraordinary. It really comes down to luck.’
The collaboration of the four happened in the blink of an eye, and Yeon-hee was so taken aback at seeing Kang Yeon-su getting beaten that she couldn’t help but gasp in shock.
“No!!”
Yeon-hee, cradled in my arms, jolted violently.
It seemed she was concentrating magic in her hands, ready to summon the Sword Dragon at any moment.
‘Yeon-hee, watch closely. That’s the pinnacle of a physical enhancement hunter.’
“…… Kiki-kikik—”
Kang Yeon-su, having been pummeled with hundreds of blows, spat out blood but let out a chilling laugh.
“Don’t laugh! You monstrous girl!!”
The dwarf shuddered at her sarcastic mood, about to launch another barrage when her body swelled up once again, and a massive horn sprouted from her forehead.
Now, she had completely lost her human form, leaving only a fearsome appearance.
“Uh… Is this your true form?”
The dwarf momentarily wore a blank expression before gathering himself and delivered a powerful blow to Kang Yeon-su, who had transformed into the figure of a hellish gatekeeper.
A tremendous amount of magic was focused at a single point just by looking at her.
But.
Pwoosh—
“Mm?!”
His fist only left a small dent on Kang Yeon-su’s face in her divine state and couldn’t inflict any damage at all.
“Hwoooooooh───!!”
Kang Yeon-su roared as if to tear apart eardrums, striking the dwarf’s face while simultaneously retaliating against the S-rank hunter who had just materialized the hammer and the sorcerer who had displayed the perfect form of magic missiles.
And then, she followed up and dealt a blow to the A-rank hunter, who had shown the incredible power to bind her.
While she looked like she was just standing still, her strikes hit with speed and destructive force that transcended perception.
Bam─! Bam─! Boom!! Kaboom──!
The hunters, one after another, were smashed down onto the rooftop, crashing into the ground.
Their limbs twisted uncontrollably, suffering lethal damage that shattered their bones.
“……”
It really was just a single blow.
And with that, Kang Yeon-su appeared to have completed her task, beginning to return her transformed body back to its original state.
“Uh…”
Yeon-hee rubbed her eyes, unable to comprehend the suddenly cleared battlefield.
‘Haha… That’s insane. To take out an S-rank hunter in one go? And to hit four of them simultaneously? What kind of monster is she?’
I almost thought that when Kang Yeon-su came to rescue me, she might not have even fallen to Jo Gi-man.
An S-rank hunter.
But the ranking system that was established was meant to manage hunters efficiently. It wasn’t exactly precise in determining combat power.
As I looked at Kang Yeon-su, I realized that it hit the nail on the head.
The gap between them was just too vast to be categorized as the same rank.
We were momentarily speechless at her overwhelming power, one that even the earliest Awakened Ones would concede.
“……”
“……”
What was astonishing was that there were no casualties among the hunters, including the dwarf who had been slammed down to the underground floor by Kang Yeon-su.
Sure, they were badly injured, but perhaps being thrashed about by someone as strong as Kang Yeon-su might have given them a chance to bloom their potential.
That meant Kang Yeon-su had shown mercy.
Of course, capturing these guys for interrogation would be the best course of action, but this didn’t seem like the right time for that.
‘Maybe I should sneak in a bomb or something.’
It seemed to me that I’d feel more at ease if I killed them, but it was a bit tricky to recklessly touch those she had spared.
As I pondered how to kill them without Kang Yeon-su noticing, I felt her body, which had been boiling like lava, rapidly cool down, steaming heavily as she slowly turned her head to meet our gaze from atop the opposite building.
“That’s right, sis! You’re amazing!! Wow—!!”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!”
I cheered along with Yeon-hee, but I couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.
‘Is this really the end?’
But no matter how much I scanned the area with my sensory powers, I couldn’t find any other risks.
‘No, there must be something—’
Crackling—
“Kuhahaha—! Wow, this is truly amazing.”
‘Has he recovered already?’
The dwarf, who had been buried deep below, broke through the wreckage and revealed his upper body. He was in such a state that it was hard to understand how he could even move.
“Huff, huff… as expected. It’s not easy. Kang Yeon-su, you truly live up to your reputation.”
Despite having his armor half-broken and his eyes nearly popped out from the pressure of Kang Yeon-su’s hit, the dwarf calmly continued the conversation.
Seeing him like that, Yeon-hee couldn’t stop her applause and drew closer to me.
“Take care of your eyeballs before you speak, senior.”
“Cough, cough… Damn it. After all the strength I’ve amassed over my lifetime, to fall like this to a mere rookie in their thirties… It’s infuriating… I should have accepted that person’s proposal…”
The dwarf mumbled with a mournful air and suddenly burst into laughter while spitting blood.
“But you wouldn’t have known that this was also part of our plan.”
“What? What nonsense—”
Chills ran down my spine──
‘What is it?!’
When the dwarf was mumbling some incomprehensible words, the most unpleasant and sticky sensation pierced through my body.
Thanks to the scenarios I had replayed in my head, I reacted faster than anyone else.
‘Yeon-su?!’
Instinctively feeling dark hands approaching her, I unleashed all the skills I could activate simultaneously, bursting forth like never before.
‘Yeon-su cannot come to harm here! I won’t let her die before my eyes, especially now that Yeon-hee has just brightened up!’
How was it possible to move at such speed? Though I found it unfathomable, I was fueled solely by the will to protect Yeon-hee’s spirit and to repay the connection I alone remembered from the past.
In moments of extreme focus.
The world turned completely white, and all unnecessary elements disappeared, leaving only Yeon-hee, Kang Yeon-su, and me in the realm of martial prowess.
In that space, I caught Kang Yeon-su’s gaze precisely.
For some reason, it felt like time itself had slowed around her.
‘Did they do something? Yeon-su is responding slowly!’
“······?!”
At the moment our eyes crossed as a flicker of light returned to her eyes, a sharp, thin line shot through from behind her, aiming directly at her.
‘Magic?!’
It wasn’t an attack by sword.
It was an extremely thin blade of magic.
That magic, which could slice through even Kang Yeon-su’s seemingly indestructible body, contained something monstrous.
[Arcane Deflection]
Wham──!
‘Gah!!’
Fortunately, I arrived just in time, barely managing to redirect the trajectory of the blade that was about to slice Kang Yeon-su’s neck.
As a result, my arms bent back with a violent force, perhaps leading them to explode, but that I was able to block it felt miraculous.
The real problem was that despite being in a life-threatening situation, Kang Yeon-su remained utterly serene.
‘What are you doing!!’
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