Chapter 22
The capital’s Monster Hunter had died a gruesome death, his upper and lower body severed.
The moment I and the three ruffians realized the situation at the same time.
Thud.
That thing landed in front of us.
A grotesque creature with a pitch-black body and red eyes dotting its entire form. In its hands were gripped two long, sword-like weapons.
Within its third eye.
A black flame blazed fiercely.
It burned as if it were about to engulf and incinerate us at any moment.
The three of them moved simultaneously.
My foot also stretched forward.
I instinctively knew that if we didn’t stop this bastard in this instant, we would lose our lives.
But the one who made the soundest decision among us was Eledra.
His battle axe wasn’t aimed at the monster, but at the ground.
The power contained within his tensed, fully-powered muscles was channeled into the entire battle axe.
CRAAAAAAAASH!
With a deafening noise, the floor shattered and smoke erupted.
“RUN, EVERYONE, NOOOOOOW!”
At Eledra’s desperate cry, we all turned on our heels.
Then, we sprinted away from that spot with all our might.
“You idiots! What were we going to do by fighting that thing?!”
Eledra shouted as we ran like mad through the city streets.
He was right. We had been about to fight with the sole intention of killing the monster.
“If we had thought about running away first, it would have targeted us.”
Ban’s words weren’t wrong either.
If we had made a single misstep there, that bastard would have come to kill us.
“Damn it, why did something like that have to show up?”
Jeina shivered as if she had goosebumps.
Even they had never seen a monster like that emerge from a large-scale monster.
I couldn’t join their conversation.
The Third Eye can see more.
And right now, the Third Eye was looking behind us.
It was the humanoid monster we had encountered moments ago.
It was devouring the capital Monster Hunter it had just cut in half.
The bastard didn’t particularly focus its gaze on us.
It seemed more preoccupied with its meal.
At that moment, the size of the flames it possessed grew larger than before.
Could it be that thing can also consume flames?
Like the Third Eye attached to me?
‘No, it’s different somehow.’
This was just an intuition, but I felt something strangely different.
However, the ominous feeling was certain.
“Let’s go to Crevan. I think we need to leave here immediately.”
“Yeah, I agree!”
Eledra, acting like a true team leader, made a swift decision.
If we stayed here any longer, that monster would kill the other Hunters too.
I didn’t care about the capital’s Hunters, but the Lauren Hunters couldn’t die.
“Ban, find Crevan!”
“Got it.”
Ban immediately leaped onto a building to search for Crevan.
With light, bounding steps, he jumped high and far.
Proof of his light body.
“Kiiiiiek!”
“Giiiiiek!”
In the meantime, monsters came pouring out in front of us.
Eledra and Jeina raised their weapons, and I also stretched my hand forward.
We slaughtered the monsters as we ran at full speed.
Meanwhile, several more meteor-like objects appeared in the sky.
They were undoubtedly more Hunters from the capital.
They were probably going to fight that thing.
To avoid getting caught up in it unnecessarily, we had to get away.
“Tch!”
Just then, Eledra got a wound on his leg.
It was a mistake born from haste as small monsters swarmed in.
The wound wasn’t deep.
But bleeding weakens a person.
“Hey, tattooed pig, get your head straight!”
“Don’t worry, it’s just a scratch!”
“Who said I was worried!”
But Eledra paid no mind, swinging his battle axe with a whoosh-whoosh.
His speed had slowed slightly, but his strength was unchanged.
Rumble…!
However, the situation seemed unfavorable.
A medium-sized monster, drawn by the commotion, smashed through a building and appeared.
“I’ll go!”
Without hesitation, I was the first to run towards it.
“Junior!”
Eledra called out, but I was the only one who could stop that medium-sized monster now.
I leaned my body far forward, my shield held out front.
The medium-sized monster resembled a tiger.
However, it had four pairs of legs and a tail shaped like a snake.
I tilted my body, scooped up a stone from the ground, and hurled it at the bastard.
It destroyed the incoming stone with its tail and looked my way.
Its gaze was fixed on me.
As soon as I saw it, I turned my body and ran; it immediately followed.
Where I headed was an alley.
A narrow path created by walls built from stacked stone.
As I ran that way, the monster chased without hesitation.
Like a cat, it slithered through easily as long as its head could fit.
But because the path was narrow, it couldn’t pick up speed.
Conversely, since I had enough space, I could accelerate steadily.
‘Now.’
Soon after, the moment I turned a corner, I stepped on a box stacked on the ground and used it to launch myself upward.
I used grooves in the walls to climb higher and grabbed onto a clothesline.
The clothesline was sturdy enough to withstand my weight.
Using it as a support, I swung myself around once.
Thump!
Just then, the medium-sized monster slammed its body into the corner as it appeared.
The bastard was large, but since it only looked forward, its field of vision was narrow.
So, it couldn’t notice me, who had already climbed up to the clothesline.
This was my chance.
I let go of the clothesline and powerfully kicked off the adjacent wall.
My body, plummeting with force, landed directly onto the medium-sized monster’s back.
Thud!
Feeling the weight, the medium-sized monster jerked its head up.
But my hands had already tightly gripped its furry hide.
Its snake-like tail rose into the air.
It intended to bite me off its back.
But the moment I got on top, victory and defeat were already decided.
Instant Death Magic
I gripped its flame with all my might.
As I did, the tiger monster’s body stiffened, its fur standing on end.
Disappear.
The flame was extinguished in an instant.
Snuffing out a flame of this size was no longer difficult.
Thud—
The medium-sized monster’s head hit the ground, and its breath ceased.
I caught my breath briefly and exited the alley.
Small monsters chased me intermittently, but I dealt with them quickly.
In the distance, I could see the three ruffians.
Just as I was about to rejoin them.
A chill!
I felt an intense gaze.
It was the same kind of gaze as that humanoid monster from earlier, the one that had killed the capital Hunter.
This feeling wasn’t good.
I had a feeling that if I followed the ruffians like this, that monster would appear.
“Junior! I found Crevan. Come quickly!”
I heard Eledra shouting.
His voice carried the confidence that I would deal with the medium-sized monster and return.
Even though we had only known each other for a day, they trusted me.
It was trust not just as a fellow disciple from the same school, but as a fellow Monster Hunter.
So…
“Go on ahead!”
I didn’t want to see them die.
“What are you saying, Junior! Junior!”
Eledra cried out, but I was already running.
I had to get as far away from the ruffians as possible.
With that single thought, I ran through the gaps between buildings.
The gaze of the humanoid monster was still on me.
Had it already taken out the capital Hunters who appeared a while ago too?
I was seriously unlucky.
Just as I was running desperately.
The Third Eye flashed.
I caught sight of a black flame burning fiercely beyond a building.
Instinct screamed at me.
Duck.
I hurled my body towards the ground with all my strength.
Whoosh!
In that instant, something passed right over my head.
CRRRRRRRRUUUUUMBLE!
Simultaneously, the buildings on both sides of me were sliced in half and collapsed.
That was exactly where my head had been.
A chilling sensation crept up from my stomach, leaving a tingling numbness.
If I had reacted even a little later, my head would have been completely blown off.
But there was no time to hesitate.
I got up from the ground and sprinted, dodging the black flame.
But that didn’t last long either.
Rrrrrrrumble—
A sound echoed from beneath the stone floor.
The Third Eye caught the black flame moving underground.
Damn it.
The moment I kicked off the ground, the stone floor was severed, and a black blade shot up.
There it was—the humanoid monster I had seen earlier.
The bastard tilted its head this way and that as it slowly rose from the ground.
Then, it stared at me intently with its numerous eyes.
I steadied my breathing and raised my arm forward.
The black flames blazing fiercely within its eyes were clearly visible.
“Hey, why are you chasing me?”
I tried asking a question as a test, but no answer came.
Instead, it tilted its head for a moment and then slowly raised its sword.
A clear intention to fight.
I could roughly guess why it was chasing me.
The Third Eye embedded in my arm, and Instant Death Magic.
Just as I could see its flames, it must have felt something through me.
Could I take it down?
A drop of cold sweat trickled down my forehead.
It was fast and powerful.
The cutting power of its sword, which had sliced the capital Hunter in two in an instant, was abnormal.
Moreover, when it cut the stone building, something like a shockwave or slash was emitted.
There was a chance I wouldn’t even be able to get close to it.
But I had to do it.
If I didn’t, death was the only outcome.
The moment I made my decision, I stomped hard on the ground.
The opportunity would come only once.
I would grab its flame and extinguish it.
As I was about to move in that gap.
I sensed something strange behind me.
Acting purely on instinct.
The moment I pulled Obel’s shield up to cover my body.
KRAAAAAAAAAASH!
Together with something that flew in from behind, my body crashed through several walls.
An excruciating pain, enough to cloud my mind, surged through me.
It was because a force strong enough to send me tumbling through walls had struck my body.
Somehow regaining my senses and lifting my head, I saw Obel’s shield.
Obel’s shield was gruesomely pierced.
If it had gone just a little further, my heart would have been impaled.
Obel’s shield was ruined, but without it, I would have died.
‘Obel.’
I never thought I’d owe that guy my life.
Just as I was trying to endure the pain and get up.
“Ghk!?”
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my arm.
An intense pain, piercing enough to bore through my head.
The source of the pain was the Third Eye.
My body froze for a moment due to the sudden agony.
Thud—
At the same time, I sensed the monster’s presence in the distance.
It wouldn’t miss this opening.
The distance between me and it closed in an instant.
Its sword blade rose towards me, and my vision grew dizzy.
Why now, of all times!
I felt like screaming, but it was too late.
Even though I twisted my body desperately, the monster’s sword was faster.
Its sword was going to cut my neck.
The moment I realized this.
Swoosh!
The monster’s sword stopped right in front of my neck.
Or perhaps, was it slightly too late?
Blood was beading up drop by drop on my neck where the tip of the sword touched.
Drip… drip…
Blood droplets slowly fell along my neck.
If it had continued straight, my neck would have been severed.
Cold sweat beaded heavily on my forehead.
The monster didn’t advance the sword any further, simply staring at me with its myriad eyes.
Then, it withdrew its sword and suddenly dug into the ground, disappearing.
“Haaah, haaah…”
I slumped to the ground, gasping for breath.
A moment ago, I had truly almost died.
Hastily looking at my arm, the eye engraved on it was closed.
What was that just now, with the sudden pain too?
I had no idea.
Wheeeeeee!
At that moment, I heard the sound of wind whistling in the sky.
Thud—
Immediately after, accompanied by a gust of wind, someone landed.
There stood a man with squinted eyes, gripping a long staff.
Bald head, long robe… this attire… a wizard.
The skin visible through the robe was peculiarly replaced with metal.
He was an extraordinary wizard.
Had a wizard been summoned since all the capital Hunters were killed?
He glanced at me, then raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, wasn’t there something here until just a moment ago?”
For a wizard, his tone was polite.
At least he was one of the moderate faction.
“Ah, yes. There was something like a black, humanoid monster.”
“Hmm, so it ran away sensing me? That bastard’s got good instincts.”
This wizard knew something.
But he seemed about to leave, as if he had already done what he came for.
“Um, Elder. I’m sorry to bother you, but could you perhaps tell me just a little about what that red-eyed monster is?”
The humanoid monster had targeted me.
And it might target me again.
If I wanted to live, I needed to know something.
Just then, the wizard’s body froze stiff.
He slowly turned back to face me, furrowing his brow.
“You…”
Had I said something wrong?
As I hurriedly tried to apologize, the wizard was suddenly standing in front of me.
“So you’re a Seer, huh?”
With those final words, my field of vision flipped in an instant.
Startled by the wind hitting my face, I looked up and saw the city of Zepran spread out below.
In other words, I was flying through the sky.
“Uh, Elder?”
“I have some questions too, so just come along quietly. If you fall, only you’ll suffer the consequences.”
Suddenly, I saw three large-scale monsters smashed into ruins within Zepran city.
They were pinned beneath massive rocks.
I didn’t need to think hard about whose doing that was.
“Y-yes.”
I didn’t know what was going on, but for now, it was best to behave.
If I fell, I’d die a pointless death.
