Carthago's Righteous Shield
-Carthago's Righteous Shield protects you. As long as the great protection stands with you, nothing can threaten you.
-Sidenmiller's Valiant Sword stands with you. As long as righteous courage does not break, the blade will not shatter.
When he drew his mana up, the two blessings manifested.
Perhaps because he had trained in mana circulation without rest for days, his aura had become noticeably clearer.
“What the hell! He’s an aura user?”
The leader was stunned. He hurriedly opened the distance between them.
‘Judging by the color of his aura and the mana I can feel from it, he’s an aura user on a higher level than me, even though I’m a B-class Hunter.’
It had only been five seconds of creating distance, but the leader became certain that Hyun-jun’s aura reached a higher realm than his own. He sent a hand signal and called over a subordinate. One C-class Hunter joined them. Judging from the way he raised both hands, he seemed to be a magic-type Hunter, and a large amount of mana gathered around him.
“Fireball!”
A fireball the size of a human head shot toward Hyun-jun. It was a low-level spell, but if it landed squarely, even the current Hyun-jun would not escape serious injury. But...
‘I just have to not get hit.’
He raised his shield and blocked it. It was a perfect defense. The impact from the collision with the fireball was mostly absorbed by the Aura Shield.
‘That’s not the real move.’
His practical experience with his past lives warned him of danger. Just as expected, he felt a presence behind him. From the start, the fireball had been nothing more than a decoy. The real attack was the ambush from the rear. The moment he pivoted, he swung his sword at the same time.
Aura Blade and Aura Blade collided, scattering fragments of mana in all directions. Hyun-jun pressed the leader back with calm, forceful swordwork.
‘I-I’m being pushed back this badly...!’
The leader was shocked. He had thought his combat experience was more than enough, having worked in the enforcement division of the Echo Guild, infamous even within Bronze tier for its filth. But facing the Hunter before him, he realized he was nothing more than a puppy barking at a tiger.
“Fireball!”
With the activation chant, another fireball came flying in. Hyun-jun was occupied with the leader, so the magic-type Hunter thought his offensive spell would be difficult for him to defend against. That was a mistake. Sliding to the side and smoothly guiding the fireball away with his shield was so perfect it would have earned admiration from anyone who wasn’t an enemy.
“Surrender. You’ve lost.”
The leader stepped back as he spoke.
‘This shouldn’t be so quiet.’
The particular noise of the battlefield had gone still, and silence had settled over the area. Unease rising, he quickly swept his gaze around. The enforcement Hunters from the Wraith Guild, including Tae-min, were all collapsed and rolling on the ground.
Four of them weren’t moving at all, as if their breathing had already been cut off for good. By comparison, only three enforcement Hunters from the Echo Guild had gone down.
‘I left the surroundings too unchecked.’
It was an unavoidable outcome. From the beginning, the difference in strength had been too great.
“Surrender. We might even spare you.”
The leader said it like a sweet temptation. It was the moment Hyun-jun was about to open his mouth to survive. Cartago's face, Hashashin's face, and Sidenmiller's face flashed through his mind like a panorama. For a brief instant, fear lifted its head, but it soon scattered like smoke, and cold reason woke up in its place.
‘Might even spare me? They haven’t guaranteed anything.’
He raised his head. The leader stood before him. Hyun-jun returned a chilled look and lifted his sword.
‘I’m not running anymore.’
His gaze did not waver, and the sword he held aloft showed his will to fight. Seeing that, the leader sighed, shook his head, and raised his hand.
It was the signal to attack.
“Fireball!”
His sixth sense warned him of danger from all directions. Hyun-jun drew up his mana, maintained the blessings, and resisted with everything he had, but as time passed, more wounds opened across his body. The blood he shed formed a small pool beneath him.
“That bastard’s tired!”
“Keep attacking!”
The Echo Guild’s enforcement Hunters did not let up.
“Aaaagh!”
The sword that lashed out severed a Hunter’s throat.
“Grrrgh!”
That made three.
He had killed three already. But there were still four B-class Hunters left. There were too many.
“Cartago!”
Cartago remained silent.
“Hashashin!”
Hashashin did not answer.
“Sidenmilleeeer!”
No mana from Sidenmiller could be felt.
“What the hell is that bastard yelling about?”
“Dunno. He sounds insane.”
What reached him instead was ridicule.
“There’s no one coming to help you. That’s exactly why we chose this place for an unofficial guild war.”
At the leader’s words, Hyun-jun wiped the blood from his face and curled one corner of his mouth upward. Cartago, Hashashin, and even Sidenmiller had not responded, and when he finally whispered Dantzig’s name as well, it was useless. But he had no intention of giving up hope. There was still one left.
“Ripper!”
The moment he called that name, something dangerous that had been sleeping within him opened its eyes.
The murderous intent of Ripper, long asleep within the blood of slaughter, has awakened. A portion of his lethal killing intent is now released.
That voice rang out, and then...
Thoom!
Something was released. But it wasn’t mana. That much, he could tell without a doubt.
“Ghhk!”
“H-Haaah!”
The Echo Guild enforcement Hunters surrounding Hyun-jun staggered as if struck by a heavy shock. It didn’t look like they had suffered any external wounds.
‘Internal injuries?’
The thought did not linger. This was the perfect opening. He closed the distance to the nearest Hunter and thrust his sword forward.
“Guh, kuhk!”
Pressed down by killing intent, the B-class Hunter could not even mount a proper defense and was pierced through the heart by the sword. Only after he collapsed to the ground did the others barely recover the use of their bodies, but by then Hyun-jun had already moved behind another Hunter.
The sweet scent of blood excites Ripper. His awakened instinct has made you, for a brief moment, a slaughterer specialized in massacre.
The voice spoke again. And then the things that had never been visible before began to stand out clearly before his eyes. Several red dots appeared on the Hunter’s back. It did not take Hyun-jun long to realize that those red dots marked weak points. He drove his sword into the red dot at the center of the man’s back.
“W-whoa...! Gahhh!”
It was a single strike. The Hunter tried to move, to respond to the presence behind him, but he could not evade the sword Hyun-jun had thrust through him. His heart was pierced through his back. He vomited blood and collapsed powerlessly.
‘Two left.’
Hyun-jun’s eyes gleamed coldly. Only the leader and the B-class Hunter under him remained. If he dealt with those two, it would be over.
“Shit!”
The leader spat an oath and raised his sword. Two B-class Hunters had been taken out in an instant. It would have been stranger if curses hadn’t come flying out. The leader and his subordinate poured on their attacks, but they kept getting blocked by Hyun-jun’s shield.
‘What kind of shield technique is this...!’
‘I can’t find a single opening.’
The leader and the B-class combat Hunter were stunned. The blessings did not merely contain knowledge of shield techniques; Hyun-jun had been taught directly by Cartago, the one called the strongest of all shield techniques. This was not a defense that could be broken by two mere B-class Hunters.
“An opening.”
“Kraaaagh!”
With a cold voice, the sword thrust forward and pierced the B-class Hunter’s abdomen. His vital point had been drilled through in a single blow, but he displayed monstrous mental fortitude and grabbed the sword buried in his stomach.
“K-KRRAAAAGH!”
The moment he seized the Aura Blade, terrible pain erupted and red blood sprayed everywhere.
“Team Leader! Now!”
The leader, the man called Team Leader, closed in on Hyun-jun while swinging his greatsword. He had thought Hyun-jun’s offensive options were sealed, so he launched a bold attack, but unfortunately for him, not all of Hyun-jun’s attack options were sealed.
Bang!
The shield he swung in an instant smashed into the Team Leader’s face, and a thunderous detonation burst out. His skull shattered into a grotesque ruin. He did not even manage a scream before his breath was cut off.
“T-Team Leader!”
He had pinned his hopes on a final measure and steeled himself for a desperate gamble, but it had all collapsed. The face of the Hunter still gripping Hyun-jun’s sword went chalk-white.
‘No way Team Leader Joo Hyung-seok got taken out in one hit...’
It was hard to believe, but it was reality.
‘He’s definitely an A-class Hunter! Otherwise there’s no way Team Leader would have gone down that easily!’
He was certain that Hyun-jun was an A-class Hunter. In truth, Hyun-jun was still nothing more than a chick newly risen to C-class, but that was beside the point.
“K-Kuh...”
He tried to pull the sword out, but it was useless. Hyun-jun was not about to allow it. He drew a dagger instead, then drove it into the throat of the straining Hunter.
“Grrrgh...”
With a final choking sound, the Hunter’s body went limp.
‘Is that everything?’
Hyun-jun’s gaze swept quickly across the surroundings. Everyone except him was lying on the ground. Aside from irregular breaths, there was no movement, but he still could not relax.
‘I need to make sure they’re dead.’
For safety’s sake, too.
‘Just stab them in the throat.’
The dagger, drenched in blood, glinted eerily in the moonlight. If this had been the old him, it would have been unimaginable, but his emotions had been worn down by training in the dream world, and as he used the blessings of Hashashin and Ripper, their knowledge had seeped into him along with their ideologies and ways of thinking. That was why he could formulate such a cruel plan.
‘Don’t hesitate. They were trying to kill me anyway.’
His hand trembled slightly, but he shook his head, cast away the stray thoughts, and steadied himself. Once he had calmed his mind, he went through the downed Echo Guild enforcement Hunters one by one and cut off every last breath.
‘This’ll do.’
He picked up a greatsword from the leader’s body that looked to be C-class. It seemed to be in decent condition, so he planned to use it himself.
‘They’re all dead.’
Everyone was dead. He had killed them all with the dagger in his hand, yet he felt no guilt. He checked the Wraith Guild members for signs of life. If they had all died, the cleanup might have become a little troublesome, but thankfully Tae-min was still breathing. The others were not.
“Are you all right?”
“Kgh... Luckily, it’s not a fatal wound.”
Hyun-jun supported Tae-min as he groaned and struggled to his feet. Tae-min, despite the pain, quickly scanned the surroundings to assess the situation.
“Don’t worry. It’s over.”
“Did we... win?”
“Yes. I handled everything.”
“My God... I never imagined it would be like this.”
It was a sincere exclamation. Tae-min’s last memory had been of allies drawing their weapons to confront the Echo Guild’s enforcement Hunters, only to be cut down pointlessly.
‘There should have been at least six of them left...’
His memory wasn’t complete, but that was about right.
‘You’re telling me you beat more than six enforcement Hunters on your own... I never would have believed it, but Kang Hyun-jun really has this much power...’
His mind was in disarray, but one thing was clear: he needed to strengthen his connection with the C-class Hunter named Kang Hyun-jun even further. A strong Hunter was power. Tae-min resolved to do everything he could to become a close aide to Hyun-jun, who might very well become the center of that power.
“What do we do about cleanup?”
“I’ll handle that. Our guild has people who take care of this sort of thing.”
Tae-min took out his smartphone and sent a message somewhere.
“They’ll be here in thirty minutes. In the meantime, we’ll make sure the survivors are dealt with properly.”
“I already took care of them.”
“Ah... thank you. Normally that would have been my job, but... it’s better to be thorough with this kind of thing.”
At Tae-min’s words, Hyun-jun nodded.
“I see.”
“You don’t need to feel guilty, either. If we hadn’t finished them off completely, Kang Hyun-jun, you’d have been the one in danger.”
He wasn’t wrong. In the world of unofficial guild wars, if you didn’t kill, you were the one who died.
“Since the unofficial guild war is over, I’ll transfer the reward right away.”
The work had been faster than expected. Hyun-jun liked that. He gave his account number with a smile at the corner of his mouth.
“It’s been transferred. Please check it.”
“Understood.”
He checked his account, already resolving that from now on he would avoid dangerous unofficial guild wars and instead make money the normal way by clearing dungeons and joining raids.
Deposit: 150,000,000 won.
But that was far too much money to make that plan practical.