An Unintended Final Blow

I wasn't really trying to land the final blow.

"What the...?! The monster reacted! Call for backup, now!"

Park Yong-hwan fired a signal flare into the sky as he watched the beast, which had been provoked by Hyun Jung-gil's presence. At the same time, the support hunters began unloading every skill they had onto Jo Giman and Hyun Jung-gil. The overwhelming aura the two radiated after receiving every possible buff made even Kang Yeonsu shake her head in disbelief.

"Hmph! They insisted on doing it themselves, so let's see how well they manage."

"Huu— Yes."

Kang Yeonsu, drained from her earlier one-on-one fight, took position at the front and acted as a living shield for the other hunters. Moments later, Jo Giman's Heavenly Thunder Field bloomed across the sky, radiating blinding light.

[GRROOOOAN?!]

The monster sensed something catastrophic coming and thrashed wildly, trying to escape. But when it saw Hyun Jung-gil standing directly in its path with his blade drawn, it seemed to accept its fate and stopped moving.

KR-R-R-R-RUMBLE——!!

Countless crimson lightning bolts began raining down from the distant sky, all converging on a single point. Each bolt carried destructive power rivaling an S-rank hunter's ultimate technique. Over a thousand lightning strikes, each as thick as an ogre's torso, descended like the hand of a demon god reaching for the beast. The ferocious lightning immediately began tearing the black monster apart.

KR-R-R-RUMBLE——!! KRAAANG!

[......!!]

The successive explosions were so deafening it felt like the world itself was being flipped upside down and shattered. The monster couldn't even let out a proper scream of agony; it could only twitch and react to each falling strike.

Its body, already riddled with bite marks from Kim Sun-min's ability, had been shaped into the perfect conductor for lightning. As time passed, its outer shell split and tore open. Thick smoke billowed upward as the creature began to shrink.

The aftershock from the mana-laden lightning was so severe that hunters standing outside the S-rank protection barriers clutched their chests and collapsed.

"Uweeegh...!"

"S-Save me...!"

But the remaining hunters didn't even spare their fallen comrades a glance. They were too stunned by Jo Giman's overwhelming combat prowess, mouths opening and closing wordlessly.

I, too, didn't dare move a muscle. My mind was completely occupied with trying to measure the extent of Jo Giman's power.

'So that's the Heavenly Thunder Field...? It's far stronger than what I remembered. Has his growth accelerated too?'

Feeling my enemy's strength firsthand left me with complicated emotions, but Hyun Jung-gil's next movement left no room for further thought.

Shhhk—

'Whoa......'

His draw was fluid like water yet hard as steel, light as the wind yet heavy as a boulder.

─────────

I was aware that he had drawn his blade, yet I could neither see nor feel the moment itself. Then, a single, perfectly straight line was carved across the monster's body, which had shrunk to one-fifth its original size.

[GRROOOO—?]

It was a slash so fast that even the monster couldn't comprehend what had just happened.

CR-CR-CR-CRACK—!

[?!]

The creature's body began splitting cleanly down the middle. But that wasn't the end.

Hyun Jung-gil's shout came out as if perfectly timed with Jo Giman. At the same moment, his body trembled minutely from side to side as countless sword waves poured forth, slicing through the bisected monster as if mincing it. The number of cuts was impossible to count. The beast's body was shredded in midair before it could even fall, vanishing completely in a massive explosion.

The sword had drawn an exquisitely beautiful line. Some of the watching swordsmen were moved to tears.

But I was shocked for an entirely different reason.

'Huh?! Flame Explosion triggered automatically?'

The final explosion had definitely been my skill. Since my first master, Hyun Jung-gil, was delivering the finishing blow, I hadn't wanted to steal his thunder and had stayed quiet. There hadn't been any ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠surge of black flames into the sky, but it was unmistakably Flame Explosion. The message that soon appeared in my mind confirmed it.

'Whoa... just how far is this going?'

Even though it was a powerful monster, landing a single Flame Explosion had raised my level by a full six stages.

'Haha... what is this...'

The gap between me and the monster must have been so vast that this kind of reward became possible. I scratched my head in bewilderment. But the rewards weren't over yet.

'......?!'

Instead of stealing a skill, Thievery had swiped something else. I didn't know what "possibility" the Queen Slime possessed, but it clearly shared common ground with Essence Devour in terms of consuming others.

'It changed from small minion to large! And the minion's abilities don't reset?!'

Plus, "consume" had changed to "absorb." It seemed like a small difference, but for me—who often struggled with consumption—it was a massive improvement.

'Ughhh!! Talk about a lucky break!'

Of course, I wasn't the only one receiving rewards. Many who had fought the monster must have gained appropriate compensation.

'This is why people risk their lives to jump in.'

I desperately wanted to summon my lovely subordinate Gori right away, but with so many eyes watching, I had no choice but to hold back.

'Even if that tiny thing gets bigger, how much bigger could it get? Still, its stats must have definitely risen, right?'

Even without a heart, I felt something pounding wildly in my chest. While I was still trying to collect myself, Yeonhee tapped my shoulder and brought me back to reality.

"Wow— Ilwol, did you see that? Master Jung-gil's body shook for a second and then the monster just went poof and vanished!"

"Clack clack clack!!"

Back in the real world, I set my rewards aside for later and stared at Hyun Jung-gil's back.

'...... Is that seriously a human...?'

Well, they were called Transcendents. It made sense to think they had already stepped beyond the realm of humanity. Suddenly, I thought of my orb master who had once been a hero from another world. After hearing my description of Hyun Jung-gil, he had said it was impressive that a swordsman of such caliber existed in this world and that he would like to see him someday. From his tone, it sounded like my master had stood at an even higher realm while alive.

'A human can become stronger than that? How is that even possible?'

It was something my current level of understanding simply couldn't grasp. Anyway, at that level of power, even the most outrageous monster would die a hundred times over. That was what I was thinking when the sky suddenly burned red and a massive fireball came crashing down.

'What the hell is that? Don't tell me that's Meteor...?! You crazy bastard, Jo Giman! The monster's already dead!'

"Whaaaaat?! T-That thing!"

"Everyone, dodge!!"

"R-Raise the barrier...!"

The fireball that had started small grew enormous. By the time it hit the ground, it was large enough to swallow not only where the monster had been but Hyun Jung-gil's position as well.

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG———!!

"Kyaaaaaack—!"

"Kyaang!"

I wrapped my cloak around Yeonhee and Arin, pulling them into my embrace. Geomryong covered us with his wings, and Kang Yeonsu cast a mana barrier over him.

'Damn it— that son of a bitch!'

Watching Geomryong's wings slowly melt away, I cursed inwardly. Wanting to completely finish off an unknown monster was basic behavior for a hunter, but this was clearly excessive, and I couldn't help but swear.

Sizzle—

Where the monster had stood, a massive crater formed and the earth boiled. Thick smoke swallowed the entire area.

'Oh?! Smoke! But what's that stone-like thing underground?'

A few meters below where the monster had died, there was something that looked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like a long stone. Massive mana was still swirling around it, so I couldn't sense it clearly, but since I detected no life response from the stone, my attention was quickly stolen by the rising smoke.

Taking advantage of the obscured vision, I began sucking all the smoke generated by the monster's death into my subspace.

'Open— Subspace!'

Thanks to my efforts(?), the smoke thinned out quickly. Once it cleared, Hyun Jung-gil reappeared in the air and gave Jo Giman a nod of understanding.

'Whoa— he's just letting it slide? Is he a living Buddha?'

Jo Giman also bowed his head unusually politely toward Hyun Jung-gil. The hunters who had nearly been injured by the high-level ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magic had no choice but to swallow their rising anger at the sight.

"......"

"We almost died, but if they're acting like that, I can't even complain."

"Well, I guess there must have been a reason to use Meteor..."

The hunters tried hard to understand, assuming there must have been something they didn't know. However, the reaction from Kang Yeonsu and a few other top-tier hunters was different.

"Ugh! Couldn't you have pinpointed it a little better? Meteor? That's way too much!"

Kang Yeonsu's eyes were sharp, as if she might fly over and punch Jo Giman in the face at any moment. Jo Giman casually brushed dust off his clothes and answered indifferently.

"I simply wanted to make sure it was finished."

"There are so many other spells that can detonate in a localized area... Ha—! Forget it."

Kang Yeonsu knew full well that Jo Giman was an attention-seeker who enjoyed being in the spotlight, so she didn't bother saying more. Besides, he had accomplished what she herself had failed to do. From her perspective, she couldn't press him any further.

In any case, both the beginning and end of the battle had been dominated by Jo Giman's flashy performance. The people erupted into unified cheers for him.

'That last attack was clearly a waste of mana... There's no way they don't all realize that, right?'

When I looked closer at the hunters' faces, unable to understand, I spotted several who were aggressively stepping forward, clapping and inciting the crowd. They were probably spies Jo Giman had planted here and there long ago. With just a few of them, shifting the atmosphere in his favor was child's play.

And from my past life, I already knew how these ridiculous acts could exert surprising power outside of actual combat.

'So this is how terrifying mob psychology can be.'