Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Park Kang-hyuk VS Lucas Howard (2)
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“There’s a Rispien near Seoul. In other words, even you, Hunter, wouldn’t come out unscathed, so please refrain from causing any more of a commotion.”
Lucas’s eyes sharpened at Ho-seok’s words.
“You insolent punk... You think I’d fear something like Rispien?”
“Yes, Hunter Lucas Howard would surely manage somehow. But those around you...”
Lucas twitched his eyebrows and glanced at the Zeus Guild members standing nearby.
They were S-rank Hunters from Zeus Guild who had come to Korea for observation.
They wouldn’t survive a Rispien explosion.
“Insolent...”
“Park Kang-hyuk Hunter said he’ll head to the wasteland near Pyeonggang County in northern Gangwon Province by 10 a.m. tomorrow. A military aircraft will be waiting at the A Building helipad at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. Please rest easy today, and we’ll meet again tomorrow.”
Ho-seok looked at the association Hunters slumped on the floor.
“You all come back with me. Isn’t it time for the shift change?”
“Y-Yes... Understood.”
Lucas narrowed his eyes in silence until Ho-seok’s group left the bedroom.
The Zeus Guild members wore equally displeased expressions.
“This association president from such a puny country doesn’t know his place.”
“What a shitty mood. I heard the Korea Hunter Association president is S2-rank.”
“Aren’t the association presidents in neighboring China or Japan at least S1-rank?”
“Without Park Kang-hyuk and GH Guild, Korea only had three S1-rank Hunters.”
“Only?!”
“Without GH Guild’s otherworlders and Park Kang-hyuk... their level would’ve dropped even lower.”
Since Teynen Guild’s S-rank Hunters had gone missing en masse.
Lucas suppressed his rage and let out a hollow chuckle.
“Once I kill that fraudulent bastard...”
“Korea’s hunter world will take a massive nosedive. Plenty of Koreans will plunge into despair.”
“Sounds perfect.”
Lucas clenched his fist with a crunch.
“Tomorrow... I’ll snap his neck.”
“We’ll make sure the observing S-rank Hunters don’t interfere.”
Even if they killed Park Kang-hyuk, Korea couldn’t restrain Lucas.
They simply didn’t have the power.
Moments later, Korea Hunter Association Hunters stood guard in the corridor outside the room where Lucas was staying.
Time passed, and the day flew by in a flash.
Kang-hyuk boarded a military aircraft bound for the area near Pyeonggang County in northern Gangwon Province.
“...It really is a wasteland.”
Sitting across from Kang-hyuk was Lee Ho-seok, president of the Korea Hunter Association.
“It used to be a residential area for North Korean civilians. Satellite photos from a few years ago confirm it was farmland. But it turned to ruins at the hands of the beastmen...”
Kang-hyuk gazed out the window as he listened to Ho-seok.
“Mountains everywhere. Even if I fire off slashes recklessly...”
“Please hold back on that. Excessive environmental damage could affect global warming.”
“Given the opponent, I’ll have no choice but to go all out.”
“...”
Ho-seok gave a wry smile and nodded.
“Please show Hunter Lucas Howard the might of a National Power-level Hunter from Korea.”
Kang-hyuk met Ho-seok’s gaze and nodded.
“Yes, understood.”
The observing Hunters would watch the fight from helicopters in the sky.
The duel site itself would be broadcast worldwide via hundreds of drones.
Upon arrival, Zeus Guild Master Lucas Howard unleashed a massive wave of killing intent toward Park Kang-hyuk, who stood hundreds of meters away.
Kang-hyuk stood calmly in place, unflinching under the pressure.
“Insolent...”
Lucas drew the straight sword from his waist.
‘I’ll kill him.’
As Lucas’s eyes flashed, Kang-hyuk looked up at the drones.
“Quite the crowd. But...”
Kang-hyuk let out a soft chuckle amid Lucas’s unrelenting killing intent.
Compared to the Spirit God, it felt clearly inferior.
Still, it seemed on par with the dragon kings he’d felled in his past life.
Of course, excluding the Black Dragon King.
That one warranted comparison to the Spirit God.
Korean and English blared simultaneously from the drones.
Kang-hyuk and Lucas raised their right hands at the same time.
Kang-hyuk nodded once at the repeated warnings.
He had no intention of killing him anyway.
The guy’s mindset was grating, sure.
But for Earth’s sake, it was better to keep him alive.
America was already suffering massive losses from Lucas’s absence.
America’s collapse would throw the world into chaos.
Kang-hyuk eyed Lucas, who was radiating killing intent from hundreds of meters away.
Over two meters tall.
A body packed with muscle.
Golden hair and blue eyes.
“Looks pretty strong.”
Kang-hyuk slowly drew his sword.
All of Korea watched their monitors with bated breath.
With the blaring whistle, Lucas hurled himself at Kang-hyuk.
“Haaah!”
Kang-hyuk narrowed his eyes and dodged the sword strike.
BOOM!
Even several meters away from Lucas, the shockwave slammed into him.
Lucas’s eyes shook wildly.
He dodged my strike?
‘Poured most of his AP into agility?’
It didn’t matter either way.
He’d burn through his stamina soon enough moving like that.
Lucas spun around and swung his straight sword at Kang-hyuk again.
A massive whoosh of air followed as Lucas’s straight sword grazed past Kang-hyuk.
Each strike whipped up enormous gusts around them.
“You monkey bastard...! How long do you plan to keep running?!”
Kang-hyuk, fluent in English, scoffed at Lucas’s shout.
“World’s strongest, huh? Is this all it takes... to trash Korea’s hunter world?”
“You fraudulent bastard...!”
“That’s getting old too.”
Kang-hyuk shook his head in disgust.
“I’ll kill you!”
“Killing’s prohibited, remember?”
Even as Kang-hyuk spoke, Lucas glared at him with bloodshot eyes.
Bang!
Lucas kicked off the ground and charged at Kang-hyuk.
Kang-hyuk dodged the onslaught for dozens of seconds, a faint smile on his lips.
He’d surpassed the early stage of High Grand Master.
But full mastery? Not yet.
‘Not bad at all.’
His swordsmanship was impressive too.
If he weren’t so worked up, those openings would’ve been fewer.
Kang-hyuk stopped evading and parried Lucas’s strike.
“...?!”
Lucas’s eyes went wide.
‘He... blocked my sword?’
Kang-hyuk grinned.
“Not bad.”
“W-What...?”
Lucas’s face twisted at Kang-hyuk’s broken English.
Daring to judge him?
A fraud from some East Asian backwater?!
“Insolent bastard...!”
Lucas’s strikes rained down.
Their clashes whipped up massive gusts.
Lucas leaped back, then unleashed a slashing wave at Kang-hyuk.
“Die!”
Kang-hyuk countered with his own slashing wave.
BOOM!
The massive explosion in the wasteland rocked the drones and helicopters violently.
Lee Ho-seok, watching the scene, could barely contain his excitement.
He was holding his own against that Lucas.
And by a Korean Hunter, no less!
‘Was he hiding his power all this time?!’
Likewise, the black-haired man in his forties—Goguryeo Guild Master Woo Sung-hyun—felt goosebumps as he sensed Kang-hyuk’s mana.
‘How can a human emit such a dark aura...’
It was like the lord of demons, a demon king!
But knowing that demon king was an ally made Woo Sung-hyun swallow hard.
“Come to think of it, the Ryu Han Empire’s emperor wields demonic energy too, right?”
What a coincidence.
Woo Sung-hyun clenched his fist with a faint smile.
The Korean Peninsula’s future wouldn’t be bleak.
‘If Hunter Park Kang-hyuk wins this duel...!’
Korea’s standing would soar overnight.
Teynen Guild Master Lee Soo-jin harbored similar thoughts as she fiddled with the sword at her waist.
Was this really the same E-rank Hunter Park Kang-hyuk she’d met at the Gwanggyo Mountain Gate?
The guy who could barely summon a single skeleton, now trading blows evenly with the so-called world’s strongest, Lucas Howard?
‘...I need to get stronger than this.’
As Soo-jin steeled her resolve, Teynen’s S3-rank Hunter Lee Sung-ho could only tremble in terror.
“N-No... impossible.”
Lucas Howard.
America’s top Hunter and the world’s strongest!
How was anyone enduring against such a monster?!
No, it wasn’t just enduring.
He was overwhelming Lucas, seizing the advantage.
‘H-How does he have that kind of power...!’
Sung-ho gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at Park Kang-hyuk.
‘Die... die... just die!’
He cheered Lucas on fervently, praying for Kang-hyuk’s demise.
BOOM! Boom boom boom—!
Nearby mountains crumbled, redrawing the map with the devastation.
“Nature’s precious, right?”
Kang-hyuk’s casual remark made Lucas’s face flush even redder.
“Shut up!”
Lucas unleashed a frenzy of slashing waves, and Kang-hyuk sighed as he parried them.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!
Cataclysmic blasts erupted repeatedly between Kang-hyuk and Lucas.
“Raaaaargh!”
Lucas roared, pouring out his mana.
“Ugh...!”
It was unbelievable.
How was he blocking his attacks?
Lucas’s eyes began to waver.
“I... I’m Lucas Howard! The world’s strongest Hunter! Uwaaaah!”
Lucas’s straight sword hummed with intense vibration.
Kang-hyuk matched him with slightly weaker but far more numerous slashing waves, holding the balance.
Lucas had a hair’s breadth edge in raw power, but Kang-hyuk was demonstrating superiority in mana reserves.
‘Of course, he’ll have to pay for all his past crimes.’
The ceaseless clashes shook the earth, birthing colossal tornadoes around them.
The Hunters watching could only gape in horror.
“Th-This insane...”
“We’re pulling back!”
“We’ll crash at this rate!”
The pilots hurriedly retreated the helicopters.
Dozens of drones had already plummeted.
The rest fled the shockwaves as far back as possible.
The aftermath stretched several kilometers, triggering massive landslides.
Even Cheorwon, dozens of kilometers away, detected faint tremors.
“Th-This isn’t an earthquake?”
“TV says it’s an artificial phenomenon from the Hunters’ clash...”
“Insane...”
How could humans unleash a natural disaster?