Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: How the Rank 1 Hero Protects the World
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Lee Seon’s pupils shook at the somewhat abrupt question.
“Huh? Oh, no?”
“Then we’re good.”
With those words, I wrapped my arm firmly around Lee Seon’s waist and hoisted him up.
“Ugh, ack! What are you doing?!”
Lee Seon, suddenly floating in midair, reflexively threw his arms around my neck.
Lee Seon was much taller than me, but fortunately, his build was slim enough to carry with one arm around the waist.
“H-Huh?”
The people near Lee Seon also looked at me in surprise. I couldn’t identify them precisely since I didn’t know their names, but from the situation, they were all Korean Hunters.
I shouted toward them.
“Hold on by yourselves for a bit. I’ll be right back!”
“Y-Yes, got it!”
I saw the man at the front stammer a reply and then cover his mouth. With Lee Seon in my arms, I leaped down from the base of the wall.
I thought he’d scream again on the way down, but unexpectedly, Lee Seon stayed calm.
The moment we plummeted toward the ground, Lee Seon patted my back lightly.
“You look healthy. That’s a relief, Ye-na-ssi.”
“Glad to see you safe too, Hunter Lee Seon. Though the situation isn’t great.”
I kicked off the ground just before impact using Nymph’s Wind and replied. Lee Seon yelped at the unfamiliar jolt.
“I can use Fly spells too, you know!”
“Don’t waste mana needlessly. You’ll need it. Hold on tight!”
“What are you planning? Ack!”
Lee Seon ducked his head like a turtle at the sight of a sword flying toward us from above.
“Someone jumped down from up there!”
“Beware!”
Because I’d leaped down so flashy, drawing all eyes, swords stabbed at us from every direction the moment we landed.
If only I had three arms. I swung my sword with my free right arm—the one not holding Lee Seon—to block the attacks.
Of course, I didn’t need to fend off all of them. I dodged only the unavoidable strikes and kicked off the ground again.
“Uwaaah!”
Lee Seon clung tighter to my neck in shock.
I asked him amid it all.
“But why didn’t you clear the moat first? Breaking through the clogged moat would make defending the walls much easier.”
“I was overwhelmed just preparing defenses against the catapults.”
Hearing that, I sighed while hovering in the air.
Quite some time had passed since Lee Seon entered the dungeon. Naturally, the sense of responsibility he felt would have grown proportionally.
“So, you were planning to abandon the raid at an opportune moment.”
Lee Seon clamped his mouth shut at my words.
Frankly, the battlefield situation made it obvious.
Assuming Lee Seon’s skill was on par with Lee Woo-yeon’s as a mage, he could have cleared the corpse-filled moat even while focusing on catapult defenses.
But he hadn’t because he placed greater weight on the failure of this dungeon raid.
Of course. From Lee Seon’s perspective, he needed to conserve mana for a last resort.
After all, he had people to protect.
“I’m not blaming you or anything.”
Truth be told, I would have done the same.
No, I am doing the same right now. Because I have a place I want to return to, I’m using these people.
“But I really want to clear this dungeon.”
That’s why I absolutely needed Lee Seon’s help right now.
The System had even displayed an error message, offering rewards for successfully raiding the dungeon. If I got those rewards, I could figure out what scheme the System had in mind with that message. For that reason alone, we had to succeed in this raid.
“Didn’t I help you yesterday? Time to repay that debt right now, Hunter Lee Seon.”
I could see Lee Seon’s pupils shaking at my words.
The moat was quite close now.
I found a suitable spot and landed on the ground.
While I swung my sword to clear the surroundings, Lee Seon brushed off the robe draped over his body.
“I did think I owed you.”
Lee Seon’s gaze quickly swept over the massive, elongated moat.
“You want me to clear that.”
“Yes.”
What I wanted from Lee Seon was a large-scale spell capable of wiping out all the corpses filling the moat.
Lee Seon let out a hollow laugh.
“You know what that means, right?”
“Yes.”
Lee Woo-yeon was swinging a sword directly amid enemy lines because his mana was depleted, so Lee Seon was likely in a similar state. And Lee Seon’s class was mage. Once mana ran out, he’d be defenseless until it recovered.
Even so, asking him to scrape together every last drop of mana for a large-scale spell was the same as telling him to entrust his life to me on this battlefield.
“Betting your life on a single favor? That’s some steep interest. Short repayment period too.”
“Harsh reality.”
“You really confident? Boss is SS-grade, enemies outnumber us several times over. We all die, and if Dungeon Break hits outside too, it’s game over.”
Lee Seon’s gaze on me was cold.
Yeah, the odds were obvious, and of course I wasn’t confident. But I flashed a confident smile.
Confidence or whatever, it didn’t matter. This was something I had to pull off.
“……Fine.”
After I answered silently, Lee Seon fell quiet for a moment before raising his wand.
A glossy black wand with a garnet-like magic stone embedded at the tip. Massive mana began gathering at its end.
Lee Seon sighed as he spoke.
“Feels like I got mixed up with some ruthless loan shark, but whatever. Let’s do it.”
The moment Lee Seon swung his wand, I swung my sword too.
“Captain! It’s the Knight Captain!”
“After that guy’s head!”
The enemies who hadn’t identified us as we plunged into their ranks suddenly recognized me in the torchlight and grasped the situation.
Facing the swords charging in deliberately, I shouted.
“I’ll cover you, so don’t worry about this side!”
Lee Seon didn’t reply. Casting magic required a certain amount of time, after all.
Especially large-scale spells.
I infused mana into my sword, extended the blade, and swung. Those sliced by the long blade fell, but more pressed in.
During the fierce struggle, I felt mana gathering around Lee Seon behind me.
No, what kind of spell is he preparing that requires this much? That’s what I was thinking when it happened.
“I proclaim that where I stand is the domain of my life.”
Everything froze with that cry.
Boom!
A massive tremor shook the ground.
The sudden earthquake toppled no small number of soldiers right there.
Enemies and allies alike halted in shock.
No, they had no choice but to stop.
“W-What?!”
“Earthquake?!”
“Get up, quick!”
In that chaos, I hurriedly turned to look at Lee Seon.
Lee Seon’s face was pale as he gripped his trembling wand. Classic mana depletion symptoms.
Blood even streamed from both nostrils.
“Hunter Lee Seon!”
I grabbed his waist again, preparing to leap away. But Lee Seon shook off my arm and shook his head.
“Not yet. The caster can’t move from position.”
The vibrations underfoot intensified.
I looked up at the wall with wide eyes. The soldiers and residents atop it were murmuring in surprise.
Just as I was about to speak to Lee Seon again.
Beyond the fields, something tumbled down from the distant mountain.
No, it wasn’t tumbling. The mountain peak itself was crumbling.
“It’s collapsing!”
“The mountain’s collapsing!”
Rumble!
Each time the mountain crumbled and crashed to the earth, enormous quakes reverberated. The epicenter was impossible to pinpoint.
As everyone panicked, Lee Seon slammed his staff into the ground once more.
“I bring judgment upon those who invade this domain.”
A cold wind blew. Something entirely different from the sticky night breeze thick with the stench of blood.
The air carried a salty tang.
Someone pointed shakily at the sky.
It was a horrifying sight.
A massive wave suddenly forming in the empty night sky—it instilled awe and revulsion simultaneously, even knowing it was magic.
I felt it too, so the enemies must have been beside themselves. Some even dropped their weapons and prostrated themselves.
“D-Divine punishment! It’s divine punishment!”
As someone cried that out, Lee Seon’s final incantation erupted.
“I fortify my domain.”
“Evade!”
Screams rang out everywhere, but no one could escape the tsunami crashing down from the heavens.
The airborne wave slammed into the ground just barely, and at the last possible moment, I grabbed Lee Seon and leaped into the air.
The wave swept past in an instant, surging over the moat and engulfing the enemies surrounding the wall.
Once the tsunami passed, not a soul remained in its path.
I landed with Lee Seon atop the ground where everything had been swept away.
The wave’s reach was precisely the stretch between the moat and the wall.
Clean water now rippled in the moat.
Enemies and allies alike who witnessed the bizarre scene beyond the moat stared in horror.
Lee Seon, who had unleashed that impossible magic, spat blood onto the ground with a pallid face.
“I’m gonna die.”
With that single weary mutter, Lee Seon rolled back his eyes and fainted. I caught his collapsing body.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected him to go this far.
“Damn…….”
A sigh escaped my lips. What a shame.
- Congratulations! You have met the boss monster raid conditions!
The very moment Lee Seon fainted, grandiose fanfare blared, and a golden all-announcement floated in the air.
He should have seen this too.
I quickly scanned the successive announcements.
- Top Contributor: Lee Pil-yeon
- Minions of the ‘Lord Corroded by Truth’ defeated: 39,101/36,746 achieved
- Boss monster has lost 30% or more of its minions!
- Defeating the ‘Lord Corroded by Truth’ is now possible.
- Dungeon clear conditions: Successfully defend until the eighth night arrives, or defeat the ‘Lord Corroded by Truth’ for dungeon clear judgment.
Hunter Lee Seon had done quite well, but ultimately, the top contributor was Lee Woo-yeon.
Of course. Lee Woo-yeon had fought at full throttle for five straight hours, determined to clear the dungeon from the start.
It was the natural outcome.
Anyway, this phase seems wrapped up.
I looked toward the enemy forces.
True, time remained until the sixth night ended, but that massive spell had crushed both enemies and allies alike with awe.
Proof was that even beyond the untouched moat, the enemies hadn’t advanced a single step.
With Lee Seon on my back, I climbed the wall. A few running leaps got me up easily.
The knights rushed to me first upon reaching the wall.
“Captain! Are you alright?!”
“This is insane…….”
“This guy’s really the mage Lord Castle trained? Man, why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
Damon cried out in indignation, only to get smacked by his fellow knights.
Everyone was dazed by the sudden shift.
Of course, the enemies must be even more stunned. Beyond the cleanly swept area, they had completely halted instead of advancing.
“H-Hear that? The retreat horn!”
“The enemies are actually withdrawing!”
“Well, yeah. After seeing a tsunami sweep people away right in front of them.”
The voice sounded gentle at first glance but grating up close.
Turning, sure enough, the expected man was flying in.
“Quite the flashy finish.”
Right on cue, the top contributor returned.
Lee Woo-yeon folded his wings and landed on the wall, smiling at me. Covered in blood, he didn’t shine like usual, but he was alive. That was a relief.
“Lord Castle!”
“The Lord Castle has returned!”
“Hooray, hooray! Long live Lord Castle!”
Cheers erupted from the crowd at Lee Woo-yeon’s—no, Lord Castle’s—return.
People couldn’t hide their tears gazing at Lee Woo-yeon, or rather, Lord Castle. Some alternated between me and Lord Castle, bursting into sobs.
In that atmosphere, Lee Woo-yeon reached into his bosom, donned a silver mask, and raised one hand to acknowledge the cheers.
Before the cheers died down, I approached Lord Castle. Lee Woo-yeon gazed at me through the mask.
What’s with that look?
His eyes twinkled with mischief.
Right, the ‘Lord Castle’ I’d seen was also a dead man. Like the knight captain I possessed, he vanished namelessly once Lee Woo-yeon possessed him.
All that remained here were their wishes.
Gazing at what someone had wanted to protect, I slowly drew my sword and held it vertically before my chest.
Elisa followed my lead, then Damon, then Miguel. The ghosts, known to me only through System messages, paid their respects to their lord alongside me.
Everyone, battered from battle and bloodied, looked up at their gore-covered lord.
Words not my own slipped from my mouth.
“My liege, we shall defend this castle even wagering our souls.”
I could have stopped my mouth with my own will.
After all, it was my will standing here.
This was ultimately just theater.
I knew that too.
Yet I lent my mouth to the knight captain’s will.
“Please, grant us permission to lay down our lives on this battlefield.”
And rightly so—the knight captain I possessed had come this far solely to say this one thing to his liege, whom he had resolved to die for.
He had resented and hated himself so deeply that even in death, he couldn’t forget.
This single phrase, these very emotions, had defied the laws of nature, binding his soul for ages.
What else could one call this but a miracle?
- You have acted splendidly as the character in question! Bonus added to achievement points upon dungeon clear.
Gazing at the rising message, I closed my eyes.
It was a deep night.
Aside from the people’s meager torches, nothing pierced the darkness—but it was enough.
At least for the nameless knight captain.
- The sixth night is in progress. 06:11:05
- Dawn phase will begin shortly.