Chapter 103
Evolution Theory of the Hunter (ETH)
Volume 1 Chapter 102
The Chungho group had invaded the forested area by way of boats. This meant they would not have been able to bring over things like trucks with them.
The trucks we saw them riding around in were probably something they had stolen from other hunters as well. To the Chungho group, each truck they stole was probably treated very preciously – because it wasn’t a commodity they could just go out and buy like we were able to.
Whether by chance or by design, they took our truck and were probably going to use it to move their store of items.
Of course, this was only if they came out as the winners in the battle with Ezekiel.
"Wait. Do you hear that?"
Sooah said. At her words, everyone paused mid step and held their breaths.
Riding on the winds pa.s.sing through the forest were the faint sounds of people screaming, weapons clas.h.i.+ng, and things exploding.
"It sounds like a battle in earnest. Since we can hear them from here, we should be able to reach them in 10 minutes at the latest. And we don’t have any particular reason to hurry, so let’s just get there leisurely at this same pace."
We didn’t need to hurry towards a battle that wasn’t ours, so we just continued walking in the direction of the sounds.
I felt it was to our advantage to keep ourselves hidden and observe what was happening before we made our presence known – that way we could make an informed decision on which side to join.
If the Ezekiel were losing, we would join the Ezekiel side…and if the Chungho group were losing, we would join their side.
Why? Because evening out the battlefield would drag things out and give us the time we need to take all the items.
I’m sure Lieutenant Aram wouldn’t approve of this plan, but I couldn’t worry about her.
And it’s not as if I needed her permission for anything either.
The forest was a bloodbath. Heads that have lost their owners were rolling around on the ground as if they were rocks.
Waaaah!
Clas.h.!.+
"Euk."
Sooah put her fingers into her ears as she let out a moan. The explosions caused by the magicians were creating uncomfortable shockwaves..h.i.tting our eardrums.
The scene that unfolded before us was a shocking display of violence and full-fledged war between two sides with a total of 400 some hunters fighting for their lives.
I had a.s.sumed there wouldn’t be a clearing large enough for a real fight to take place.
I had a.s.sumed they would be fighting using the same tactics we saw earlier on the trail, and I had also a.s.sumed the fight would be dragged on for a long time.
I was wrong. They were all fighting – using up every free s.p.a.ce of clearing.
Clas.h.!.+
Stab!
"Keuuk!"
"Aaaahk!"
A hunter who had just been shot in the eye with an arrow fell down screaming.
Hunters were dropping like flies left and right.
So this is war.
Going in was suicide. We would die without because able to use our skills or equipment.
I mimed to my party members to stay hidden and remain as quiet as possible. But I could have saved myself the time. They all knew it was too dangerous to let our presence known.
We slowly moved in this manner, and it took us over a minute to move about 10 meters.
If we wanted to do anything, the number of hunters on the battlefield needed to reduce by at least ⅔.
Kim Soohan, Kim Jungjae, Lee Jonghan, Choi Hansun, Park Wooram, Jung Yoonjae, Suh Sunghan, Park Ilsoo, Liu Angjae, Soon Jeupung, Gga Ohoo, Yoobi, Lee Uhlyang, Gga Oh, Liu Jjangshyung, Ryi Pai.
I took inventory of the hunters’ names and skills as they died.
Most were level 1 and level 2. There were quite a few level 3 hunters as well and the hunters doing the most damage on the battlefield were level 4 and higher.
After we confirmed we were a safe distance away, we climbed up a tree that gave us a clear view and observed.
"That looks like the storage."
There was a roughly fas.h.i.+oned cabin in the distance. And next to it was our truck.
I felt like Kelby would be somewhere in that vicinity. But it was hard for us to get any closer at the moment.
If we didn’t want to make enemies of both the Ezekiel and Chungho group, we needed to wait it out.
"Whew….I thought I had seen it all but…"
Sohn Aram whispered. She was white as a sheet.
The battle only continued to build in ferocity as time pa.s.sed on.
Then a hunter from the Chungho group emerged from hiding.
Name: Wee Woongbi
Skill: 7 Stars Sword (6)
Additional Skill: Fugetsu island, can give damage over a large range.
Meteor attack, shower of swords.
Proficiency: 86
Equipment: Unmanned
"He looks strong."
Sooah whispered.
"He’s a level 6. Even if it were our party, we would have a hard time fighting against him if I weren’t here."
"To think that a level 6 hunter would be all the way out here…"
"If he were that skilled, wouldn’t he have been up in the north and not all the way out here? No, if he were that strong…why is he even risking his life in a place like this?"
Manager Kim puffed out in disbelief. But I disagreed.
If you are that strong, you start looking to become even stronger.
Unless you were incredibly old, there was almost no hunter who chose the path of a peaceful life after hitting level 6.
Wee Woongbi’s skill was a pa.s.sive skill that affected his handle of the sword.
But he also had two additional options to his skill, and they were both powerful options that optimized his fighting ability.
I had the feeling if they couldn’t block him, the Chungho group would be victorious.
"Haa!"
Wee Woongbi kicked the ground as he ran into the battlefield as he released his sword.
The blade’s ki flowed out of the sword like a thread. This was the 7 stars sword. You had but swing the sword to bring out the ki – which had the same deadly cutting ability as the actual blade itself.
If he were to use his two optional skills as well on top of the sword’s main skill, the Ezekiel team would be in big trouble.
What a ha.s.sle.
Now I knew I would have to intervene so that the Ezekiel team won’t be utterly slaughtered….was what I was thinking until another hunter appeared out of nowhere.
Name: Han Jungho
Skill: Eye of the wave (6)
Additional Skill: Invoking the Dragon
Proficiency: 77
Equipment: Black uniform (3, Increase proficiency by 10 points)
He had a skill called Invoking the Dragon. I had only heard of this – I’d never seen it in real life so I don’t know what it does.
All I knew was that it was a skill on the same level as the 7 Stars Sword. But Han Jungho was severely lacking in his equipment compared to Wee Woongbi.
I became really curious by now if he would win against the geared up Woongbi.
"I know I shouldn’t say something like this when it’s life and death…but I’m excited."
Sooah, who had been crouched right next to me whispered with a bright s.h.i.+ne in her eyes.
This girl was definitely a peculiar sort. To think something like this would excite her.
But if I were to consider the fact that she was being excited in a situation where she could fall into danger at any given moment, she was definitely a hunter through and through.
It might be that running into countless dangers again and again like a machine had numbed her to them and made her a true hunter.
"You grew a lot. It seems like only yesterday when you were crying and begging me to save your life."
"I’ll admit I cried, but I never asked you to save my life ok?"
"Is that so?"
"Um. I think?"
I thought about it for a second. It was true. Even when those lowlives had tried to rape her in the dungeon, she had only vowed vengeance while even in fear. She did not give in to the fear.
"Blue Dragon!"
It was then that a loud ringing sound reverberated throughout the entire forest.
At the same time a loud roar erupted, two streams of blue jettisoned from Han Jungho’s hands in the form of a dragon.
Wee Woongbi, standing opposite of Han Jungho, immediately drew his sword and leapt into the air. Now 4 meters high in the air, he struck down with his blade.
Though it looked like a simple blade, what it did was anything but simple. Hundreds of rays light shot out from the weapon. Meteor attack, each ray of light was led by what seemed like a star that hurtled down with destructive force.
"Waaaaa!"
"Run away! Avoid the light!"
"Ahhhhk!"
"s.h.i.+t! I can’t move!"
"Kyaa!"
The dozens of hunters who had been nearby were now immobilized by the tremendous energy released by Wee Woongbi and Han Jungho’s two attacks.
The body of the dragon had been split a dozen times over while the stars shattered into pieces as they met the ground.
The unlucky hunters who had been trapped among such power were immediately nothing but dust.
Amazing.
"Wow…."
Sooah whispered in awe.
"Truly amazing."
"Do you think you could have blocked it if it were you Sunbeh Oppa?"
"No. Evading is the only option."
Even if it were me, I wouldn’t have challenged something like that.
"Then I’ll block it and Sunbeh Oppa can hide behind me. How about that."
"I’m not trash. I wouldn’t ever cower behind another hunter no matter the power I’m up against. And if I had to block it, then I’m sure I’ll come up with something. The meteor shower…I can just block then one by one…While the blue dragon…I could probably aim for the origin point. It’s not impossible."
"See, I could do something like that too!"
"You can only do something like that if your reflexes and sight were at least at my level…oh…I guess you could do it too then."
I slowly finished after I saw her pointing to her neck and nodding silently with a huge smile. She had been pointing to the Redemption Necklace hanging around her neck.
The Redemption Necklace allowed her to become as strong as I grew. As long as she had that on, she would try her best to follow in my footsteps. It was too bad that she couldn’t think of battle strategy like this on her own.
I don’t know if these items were designed or made by someone in particular, but if they were, the person who designed that black choker was beyond a doubt a serious pervert.
It kept making me look at her in a weird way.
"It looks like a draw."
Thanks to Han Joonseok’s voice, I was finally able to rip my attention from Sooah’s neck. Her face had turned a light shade of pink.
Was I staring too intently?
"It would be beneficial to us if they kept at it in this way but…the atmosphere is starting to become weird."
Naturally, every other hunter had distanced themselves from the two stronger righters.
"If this keeps up, the outcome of the fight will be determined by which of the two wins."
"That’s not good…it’s better if they all just died…"
I shut up before finis.h.i.+ng my sentence. No matter what I felt, I shouldn’t say something so horrible as that.
"Mr. Han Joonseok?"
"Yes."
"Over there, can you shoot an arrow at that guy over there? Something really strong."
I said as I pointed to Wee Woongbi. His armor was weak. Though the Dragon Killer wouldn’t be sufficient enough to take him out, it would still deal a good amount of damage.