Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Chasing the S-Rank Ma-in
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“Wha… Graaaah!”
‘Got him.’
I watched his right arm fly off while feeling the feedback through my sword.
It was an ambush, so I figured the Knight’s Grace penalty would kick in, but that didn’t matter.
My opponent was an S-rank Ma-in. Capturing him meant victory.
[There is no need to respect the honor of a coward who ambushed. Eliminate him as you would a beast and turn him into mere fodder.]
Ah, so after the first block, there’s no more interference.
Anyway, thanks to him shooting at me first, my skill—Myeong’s Knight Grandel’s Martial Talent (Unique)—had awakened.
I deflected the incoming arrow with my hand, then dashed straight toward where it came from. That caught him completely off guard from behind.
“Grrgh! Damn it! What the hell are you?”
‘Not answering questions, huh?’
I ignored his words and kept swinging my sword, pursuing him relentlessly.
Whether he really was that Ma-in could be confirmed later by checking the corpse.
For now, his outfit screamed Scavenger fashion at first glance, and the stench of sweat and blood wafting off him—no regular baths, apparently—made verification unnecessary.
‘Quick and clean. Killing him is the only way I stay safe.’
“Y-You bastard! Listen to me for a—”
“Die.”
Boom!
I swung with full force, but the guy dodged like a rat.
My stats were clearly higher… As expected of an S-rank Ma-in?
Unlike me, who’d reached this level in a flash, he was a veteran with over a decade of real combat experience. Plus, he had S-rank stats, so dodging made sense.
Either way, I couldn’t let him create distance. I had to chase him down and sever his head.
No matter what.
***
“You damn son of a bitch! No manners? Urgh!”
“…….”
Jeong Min-su groaned from the pain of his severed arm but kept fleeing and lashing out.
The golden knight who’d ambushed him said nothing, just pursued without mercy.
‘Who the hell is this guy? Keeping up with my agility means he’s at least S-rank stats! Where did a freak like this come from?’
Jeong Min-su had memorized all ten S-rank Hunters in Korea, but he’d never seen anyone in golden armor like this.
The relentless assault from this mad golden-armored figure, chasing him effortlessly even at full sprint—it was driving him insane.
‘Damn it! Me… dying in a place like this! Ugh!’
[C-Rank Boss Monster—Blood Squeezer has died.]
[B-Rank Boss Monster—Giant Butcher has died.]
‘How did things go so wrong?’
To top it off, two key boss monsters among his summoned beasts had fallen. One disaster after another.
Only the A-rank Boss Monster, Dragonkin Slaughterer, remained.
With an S-rank Hunter around, it was just a matter of time before they cleared it.
The points he’d spent summoning those bosses swirled in his mind, but now wasn’t the time to dwell.
‘Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! How did this happen? They hid an S-rank Hunter? Or did some guild keep one secret?’
“Hup!”
‘Damn! Too much blood loss—my head’s not clear. I have to shake him somehow… somehow!’
Chased without time to staunch the bleeding from his sliced arm, his vision blurred, concentration shattered.
Even so, dodging that damned golden knight’s attacks came from twenty years of Scavenger-turned-Ma-in survival instincts.
‘Something! There’s gotta be a way! The dungeon! Should I head into the dungeon? No! If he sticks this close, I might trap myself with nowhere to run. Damn it! Just some distance! Even a little would do—just open some space!’
‘Almost got him. My skills aren’t up to par? Or is he just that good at running?’
Yoo Seongwon noticed the enemy’s speed dropping from blood loss since he couldn’t widen the gap. He figured the fight would end soon.
Without his right arm, the guy couldn’t swing weapons freely. Watch the left-hand bowgun, and it was over.
“Haaah!”
‘I’ll show you why Ma-in are so tenacious! I’m not dying here!’
Entering an unavoidable trajectory, Jeong Min-su decided to use his trump card and activated it.
“Got you!”
“Blood Point Cluster!”
KABOOM!
Before my sword could reach him, an explosion erupted right in front of Yoo Seongwon.
The blast’s pressure slammed into him, but the Golden Guardian Beast Armor’s superior performance let him hold position with minimal damage. He immediately opened his minimap to check Jeong Min-su’s pre-marked location.
“…Tch!”
“You golden-armored bastard.”
‘Blown back by the explosion?’
“You made me blow twenty years’ worth of carefully saved points. Do you know how hard I worked to gather them? Do you, you bastard?”
Jeong Min-su now stood atop a tree about ten meters back.
The explosion hadn’t hurt Yoo Seongwon at all, but its recoil had propelled Jeong Min-su away, creating distance.
The cost? He’d burned through all his remaining Slaughter King blessing points.
The spell he’d cast—Blood Point Cluster—wasn’t really magic. It was the Slaughter King’s authority, consuming all remaining points to unleash a proportional explosion.
“Grrgh! Forcing me to use an elixir and a regeneration scroll! Total loss today—total loss! You damned golden armor, I’m furious now. I’ll drag your corpse back and make up for this.”
Potions and magic scrolls regenerated his severed arm like new as he fell, color returning to his face.
Seeing this, Yoo Seongwon realized his advantages had vanished, shocking him—but no fear or urge to retreat surfaced.
‘He’s talkative, which means he’s scared. Cowards, con artists, cult recruiters—they all run their mouths….’
Logically, falling back to join other Awakeners or guilds would be easier. But the enemy’s reaction showed aggression might expose weakness.
“…Here I go.”
‘Damn, it’s not working. That trick fools most guild grunts and newbies! What’s with this guy?’
Pressuring someone who’d lost their edge usually made them retreat under life-or-death pressure.
But Yoo Seongwon gripped his sword tighter and charged again without backing down.
‘With ten meters of distance now, it’s a different story.’
Shrrrk!
He wasn’t great at close range, but long-range combat? He’d trained it to perfection.
Jeong Min-su fired blood-red arrows in an instant, scattering remaining devil traps from his inventory while skillfully widening the gap bit by bit.
“Tch! Hmph!”
I batted away the arrows and sliced through the interfering devil traps, but each action let the distance grow—one step, two steps.
Even efficient moves took time when swinging and dodging.
‘I haven’t been an S-rank Ma-in long, and I dumped skills into summoning, but I’ve survived twenty years on this. You damned golden armor! If I get out alive, I’ll have my revenge!’
Yes, escape first. Offer the corpses in his inventory to the Slaughter King, regain points, boost specs, expand Blood Puppet, add combat skills—get stronger for real.
“…….”
‘Heh heh, finally giving up. Realized he can’t catch me.’
To catch up now, he’d need even higher stats—impossible. He’d figured that out.
Even if he pushed recklessly into deeper territory, the dungeon and swarming monsters would give Jeong Min-su the edge. Survival equaled victory.
Jeong Min-su smirked but watched Yoo Seongwon warily this time, careful not to repeat his mistake, as he fled.
***
Wow, is this an S-rank Ma-in’s prowess? His resourcefulness in a life-threatening spot was impressive, to say the least.
But all his cards were out in the open long ago.
Apostle authority aside, it was bowgun, traps, and monster summons to confuse or distract for sniping. Textbook Scavenger and Ma-in tactics—straight out of the Academia manual.
‘And I’ve prepared thoroughly for that playbook.’
I had four days before the expedition.
With my annoying SSS trait forcing pure melee, I’d anticipated Scavenger fights like this.
After hitting level 30 and getting skill points, I’d countered accordingly long ago.
[(Unique) The Lost Legacy of Overlord Knight ‘Yucheon’, Overlord Heavenly Sword Style]
In an era of great chaos, this sword technique cleaved the skies and shattered the earth. So brutal and destructive, the Overlord Knight used it to end the world’s turmoil—but deemed it unfit for posterity, passing it to no one. Its feats, ending epochs of chaos, remain in the constellations’ records.
[Overlord Heavenly Sword Style has fulfilled its purpose—Overlord Knight ‘Yucheon’.]
“Sip… Haaaa…….”
I didn’t know who Overlord Knight ‘Yucheon’ was. The name Overlord Heavenly Sword Style sounded ridiculously cheesy, and despite calling itself a sword style, it was some weird magic-like skill—not ideal. But it met my needs, so I learned it.
“O heavens! Behold my supreme sword that has reached the zenith. This strike shall prove I am the chosen one upon this land!”
And why spout this cringeworthy line? Isn’t this just a chant? Then it’s not swordsmanship—it’s magic. They say true mastery blurs the line between martial arts and magic, but this is excessive.
Despite my inner protests, solar-like qi gathered in my sword. When it peaked, I swung.
“Overlord Heavenly Sword Style —Earth Star Flash !”
The swing unleashed a wave of light explosion, sweeping my front. It perfectly engulfed the minimap blip—Jeong Min-su or whoever.
The aftermath turned the surroundings into a wasteland from shockwaves and pressure. Overwhelming power.
Worried it’d draw too much attention, I rushed toward Jeong Min-su’s position to finish it quickly.