Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: Confrontation with the Ming Army General
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[170]
“Whoa, what the hell is that?”
“I-Is that the power of SS-class?”
Not a single thing remained in the wake of the massive wave of light that swept through. Only a single golden knight, descended from the heavens, stood tall with his lance raised, his back turned to them.
Though he was just one human, on this battlefield right now, he was no different from a god.
And once more, his lance gleamed with light as he swung it toward the death spirits that had yet to lose their momentum.
“Heavens! Behold my sword that has reached the supreme… This strike shall prove that I am the star standing upon this land…! Overlord Heavenly Sword Style, Chapter 1—Earth Star Flash!”
Another wave of light came crashing down.
The Japanese hunters and Defense Force soldiers, who had been dealing with the remaining spectral soldiers amid the light of salvation, were once again stunned to see the overwhelming skill that had saved them unleash itself anew.
SS-class hunters weren’t common, but on a global scale, a few more existed here and there, so they knew of them in theory. But witnessing it firsthand was a whole new shock.
“Whoa, I’m speechless. All those spectral soldiers just got wiped out.”
“No wonder they invest so much in raising S-class hunters…”
“…That’s why they get paid the big bucks.”
“Anyway, we survived. Haa… But… isn’t that guy Korean? So if we end up hostile with Korea later, we’ll have to fight him?”
They were relieved by the arrival of a powerful ally, but the fact that he was Korean was enough to plant fresh seeds of anxiety and fear in their minds.
He was from the neighboring country, and with their historically bad relations, he could become a potential enemy. That was why the Japanese hunters and Defense Forces watched him with trembling gazes.
“Huh? He stopped all of a sudden?”
Yoo Seongwon, having expended his mana on that massive skill, waited for the enemies to approach again. But aside from the spectral soldiers, the spectral warriors and spectral cavalry no longer advanced. They simply stood in place, glaring at him.
There were still tens of thousands of spectral soldiers left, so stalling like this wasn’t a bad option. Yoo Seongwon waited just like that.
[Impressive indeed. Our Ming Army legion possesses particularly strong resistance to holy power… To think you wielded the strength to pierce through it and annihilate them.]
At that moment, a figure emerged from amid the horde of spectral soldiers—a warrior astride a massive undead warhorse, his tone laced with admiration.
He resembled the Dark Army Great General in appearance, but he was overall cloaked in pure white light. The banner on his back boldly proclaimed “Ming Army,” making it easy to identify him as the Ming Army Great General.
“It’s all thanks to this weapon.”
[…Przewalski’s Lance. So you’re the human who defeated its wielder?]
“You know it?”
[We can’t cross the sea, but those guys came here once. Probably to scout each other out, given our similar goals.]
The constellation Slaughter King had to endlessly fight humans to devour their flesh, while the constellation Sixty-Six Celestial Demons aimed to conquer this planet through eternal war against all life.
As such, they could potentially ally if certain lines were agreed upon, but if alliances between constellations were that easy, humanity would have been wiped out long ago.
[They demanded absurd terms, so negotiations fell through, but anyway… So, is that horse-headed bastard dead?]
“Nah, he lost to me and fled into a core dungeon. So you came for a match? Ming Army Great General?”
But the distance between their territories made that unlikely, and the Ming Army Great General didn’t draw his weapon. He simply stood on his undead mount with arms crossed, gazing at Yoo Seongwon.
It was a clear sign he had no intention of fighting.
[No, we are warriors of ‘war.’ In war, the only thing of value is victory. There’s no need to fight a battle we’d lose.]
“Then why don’t you just head back? What are you doing here?”
[Because we need to keep you pinned down, obviously. If I leave, won’t you head to another front? So we just standoff like this.]
Yoo Seongwon couldn’t help but think this was a different breed of annoyance from the other enemies as he watched the Ming Army Great General answer matter-of-factly.
The monsters he’d faced so far had mostly just charged in blindly or retreated when they sensed defeat. This type was a first.
“…What if we come at you?”
[Then we’d just run hard. You gonna chase? I’m confident I can make it to the core dungeon from here.]
“Wow, sneaky.”
[I’ll take that as a compliment. Our constellation Lord desires ‘victory’ in war. And we rack our brains to meet those expectations. The Dark Army Great General got done in because he tangled with his nemesis, but this is our true way of fighting.]
“…Whatever. Doesn’t matter to me. I’ve got my ways. Gaulf, Seom-myeol, Krokbane, Akaron and I will hold here. You three support the defenses at the Nagoya base. Akaron, keep watch from the skies for any funny business around the area.”
Yoo Seongwon immediately summoned the knights waiting in the Knight Order’s sanctuary and dispatched them to their respective zones.
He didn’t just send them off blindly either—he positioned Akaron in the air for surveillance to cover any potential eventualities.
“This should block off that side perfectly… the Earth Army’s position.”
[…Those knights—are they apostles like us? But I don’t sense our constellation Lord’s presence from you.]
“Hey, some awakeners are just like that.”
Yoo Seongwon shrugged it off, but he was well aware that he himself was an oddity.
He just chose not to dwell on it. If he were something special, there’d surely be some special mission attached—something undoubtedly difficult and annoying for an ordinary human.
[???]
[1/???]
Ignoring the inexplicable status window that popped up before his eyes once more, Yoo Seongwon continued the bizarre standoff with the Ming Army Great General.
The outcome of this battle hinged on how many of the S-class hunters out on the extermination teams the rescue squads could save, so all he could do was wait.
***
Fujiwhara was losing his mind as he desperately crashed through the dense thickets of mountains and forests in escape.
The guys he’d been moving with had long since been tossed as bait to the spectral soldiers, leaving him alone. And yet, the situation hadn’t improved one bit.
“Huff… huff…”
He ran for all he was worth to flee, but he was exhausted beyond measure.
He was a rear-line support specialist who handled talismans and spells to begin with, and as a precious S-class hunter, he was always protected in a solid formation—or the first to retreat if things went south—so he almost never had to escape on his own.
As such, darting through the woods solo was utterly unfamiliar.
“Wh-where the hell is this? Which way to the sea… or Nagoya?”
To survive, he had to reach the sea or Nagoya. He’d gotten his bearings by the stars, heading north, but traversing a treacherous forest at human speed was no easy feat.
“Damn it! Even my own guildmates ditched me to save their skins…! Begone, evil spirit! Soul-Exterminating Charm!”
Kieeeek!
“Huff… huff… Damn it! Why is this forest so hard to get through!”
After blasting the pursuing spectral soldier with a spell, Fujiwhara wiped his sweat and lamented the rugged woodland path.
He wanted to use short-range teleportation spells to cover ground faster, but the spectral soldiers swarmed relentlessly, giving him no opening. Riding them down was his best bet.
Even as an S-class, he was far faster than a normal human, but the sheer enemy numbers were the problem.
“Damn! Damn! Damn! Haa… haa… gulp gulp… haaa! Damn it!”
If he’d run in a straight line the whole way, he’d have arrived ages ago.
The issue was that good paths always had spectral warriors or spectral generals—monsters that took time to handle solo.
Detouring around them endlessly just burned time.
“If only some of those guys I came with were here… Damn it! No, even if one had sacrificed back on the transport! Shit!”
Crash!
Fujiwhara hurled the empty potion bottle he’d been chugging and pressed on.
He had to keep moving to stand a chance.
And since the Japanese government wouldn’t just let an S-class like him die, he clung to hope as he alternated between evasion and combat.
“Huff… huff! Oh…!”
Was that a glimmer of hope at last?
Far off in the sky, a familiar flying craft whooshed by.
It was a transport used by the Japanese government.
Yes! No nation would abandon an S-class hunter like that. Convinced, Fujiwhara whipped out a talisman and fired a signal flare skyward.
“Please! Please! Look! You idiots!”
Pewooong! Boom!
A brilliant firework-like burst lit up the sky. Impossible to miss amid any mana detection or search operation.
But to his dismay, the transport ignored the signal and flew on.
Thinking maybe they hadn’t seen him, Fujiwhara fired another. Still, the transport showed no reaction and kept going.
“What the hell? What the hell! I’m here! It’s me, Fujiwhara! Right here! You damn bastards! Don’t go! Don’t gooo!”
Thud…
Finally, the transport vanished from sight.
They must have seen it—twice, no less. Ignoring it was as good as intentional.
Meanwhile, inside the transport, a few personnel were discussing it.
“Is it really okay to just leave like this? We saw the signal twice…”
“Do you know how many people died because of that asshole? Treating the special task force like tools… Even if he makes it back alive, he won’t apologize properly or compensate those kids or the troops. At best, he’ll mouth some regrets.”
“Hah, but still, he’s S-class…”
“S-class gotta act like S-class. Not trash like him. If it were Nameless-san or some other moderate, maybe. But those Kawasaki Guild bastards or the Yasuda Guild ones—they didn’t give a damn while we were bleeding out on the front lines. Ignore it and fly on. And you all didn’t see that signal, got it?”
“Yes, sir. Let’s check the other areas.”
And so, the special task force hunters erased all memory and record of Fujiwhara, moving on to rescue other S-class hunters elsewhere.
The rift between guilds and the special task force ran deeper than the government realized, finally erupting in this moment.
In the end, the task force rescued five guild-affiliated hunters who were relatively moderate, along with other hunters and troops—abandoning the remaining four S-class hunters entirely before returning to base.
“Is this… really okay? What if they come back alive?”
“Then I’ll take the fall and go to jail myself. I’m S-class too… Heh, you think they’d kill me? A country that pads its numbers by turning kids into hunters? I’ll just say I blackmailed you all for organizational reasons. Done.”
The task force search leader reassured his subordinates like that.
With that, the search op concluded. The four S-class hunters left in the forest never made it back, and no word of them ever came.