Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: The Lizardman Warlord
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"What the hell is so big?"
Yeon-hee stuck out her tongue as she gazed at Ashurek, the warrior chief who had fully revealed himself.
He was roughly two meters tall.
Even a regular Lizardman Warrior was two handspans taller than Jeong-hyeon when you included their armor, but this guy was on another level entirely.
The muscles visible between his light yet tough leather armor hinted at his insane strength and reflexes.
And his body was covered in deep, small scars.
'This guy's a total monster...'
Even Jeong-hyeon thought that upon seeing him, so it went without saying for the others.
On top of that, Ashurek wielded a claymore nearly as tall as Jeong-hyeon himself with one hand.
Jeong-hyeon was glad he'd decided to take the first attack instead of putting Su-chan up front.
No tank could have survived a strike from that massive greatsword unscathed.
"Urgh-"
As soon as he felt his body recover somewhat, Jeong-hyeon sprang to his feet.
If Ashurek had followed up immediately, he'd have had to dodge without a second thought, recovery be damned. But luckily, the monster just stood there, motionless, showing no real aggression.
'Should I grab the mace now?'
Jeong-hyeon's mace was still back at the sanctuary.
He pondered for a moment but soon shook his head.
The pickaxe felt surprisingly comfortable in his grip.
He'd fought exclusively with it so far—switching to the mace now might lead to an unexpected mistake.
Besides, the mace was a weapon focused on offense.
The pickaxe seemed better suited for defense.
It was ridiculous to even think that while holding a pickaxe, of course.
"Everyone, focus! Su-chan and Yeon-hee, hold position until I say otherwise!"
Jeong-hyeon shouted to his party members without taking his eyes off the warrior chief.
No one in the party could stand up to this thing head-on.
He wasn't a dedicated tank, but Jeong-hyeon had no choice but to hold the front line as best he could.
'What the hell is he doing?'
Meanwhile, after sending Jeong-hyeon flying, Ashurek had lowered his greatsword lightly and was scanning the surroundings.
It almost looked like he was piecing together the final moments of the Lizardman Warriors, who had been crushed and mangled beyond recognition.
For some reason, it put Jeong-hyeon in a bad mood.
But whatever he was doing, the fact that he was buying them time was something to be grateful for.
He yelled at Ji-hee.
"Ji-hee! Hit him once!"
"Got it!"
Right now, the only way to attack from range was Ji-hee's magic.
Ji-hee closed her eyes briefly and conjured her signature clean fireball.
It didn't look all that impressive at first glance, but it was a spell far removed from a standard fireball.
Her fireball could take out two Warriors in one shot—it lived up to the name "Ruler of Flames" and made the perfect opening salvo.
Whoosh—
The fiercely burning fireball streaked toward Ashurek like an arrow.
He stared at the incoming flames with chilling calm.
As if to say it was nowhere near enough to burn him.
And then a change came over his body.
"!"
"What was that just now—!"
It wasn't something they'd never seen before.
In fact, it was familiar to the party.
But seeing that phenomenon on a Lizardman—no, on the warrior chief himself—was shocking.
Sizzle—
A watery glow enveloped Ashurek just as Ji-hee's fireball collided with it and fizzled out.
Of course, her attack wasn't entirely ineffective.
The spot where the fireball hit directly had burned through his armor, leaving blackened flesh and the acrid smell of charred meat wafting around.
But considering her fireball could pierce a Warrior's thick plate armor and kill the next one behind it, this wasn't a weak attack—it was that his raw durability was absurd.
On top of that, hadn't he countered it by cloaking himself in water affinity, just like a Hunter resisting magic?
Meanwhile, Jeong-hyeon was just as surprised, but unlike the others, he didn't panic.
'So that's what "power of nature" meant—Magic Enchantment.'
After seeing a mantis use magic, he wasn't about to be shocked by a lizard with Magic Enchantment.
Better to use that time thinking of ways to take the bastard down.
If anything, it was a relief that it was Magic Enchantment.
It boosted offense and defense, but it didn't introduce some wildly unpredictable new variable on its own.
'First, I need to gauge its level.'
Plus, no trait was as dependent on the user's talent as Magic Enchantment.
"Ji-hee!"
"Y-Yes!"
Jeong-hyeon called out to her again.
She responded in a tense voice.
'Well, she probably hasn't had her spells blocked often.'
Ji-hee was an S-Rank Hunter, one of the absolute best.
And due to her personality, she'd only hunted monsters far weaker than herself until now.
From her perspective, even simple spells dropped monsters like flies—so facing something this tough was bound to rattle her.
And that was exactly what made these Mission Gates so special.
"Try something other than fire. Lightning!"
Worried she'd hesitate on which element to pick, he specified one.
He sensed mana gathering from Ji-hee's direction.
It wasn't on the level of her fire magic, but she'd said she could cast other elements at near A-Rank potential.
The Association would have trained her thoroughly in them too.
"Call Thunder!"
True to expectations, a high-level spell emerged.
Boom—
Almost simultaneously with her shout, the gathered mana shot into the sky and struck down as a bolt of lightning.
It was an upgrade to the Tower Attack Lightning that Sang-su had used against the Rock Spider boss.
From the moment Ji-hee's spell activated, Jeong-hyeon narrowed his eyes, watching Ashurek closely.
To see how he'd respond.
As her mana surged skyward, Ashurek glanced up.
When the lightning came crashing down, he cloaked himself in earth affinity to ground the electric spell.
Seeing that, Jeong-hyeon smiled faintly.
"Yeah, if you couldn't handle that much, I'd be disappointed."
He'd wondered if the water counter to fire was coincidence.
Even a Lizardman could figure out water beats fire from observing nature.
But lightning and earth? That was different.
This attack confirmed it.
The bastard knew elemental matchups properly.
And his reaction speed to back it up was impressive too.
So the myths about wielding nature's power weren't empty words.
Jeong-hyeon slung his pickaxe over his shoulder and taunted.
"Hey, quit posing and come at me already?"
"......?"
In this atmosphere, it was practically a bombshell.
Anyone could see the hulking warrior chief had the edge over Jeong-hyeon and the party.
They should be stalling for time, not telling him to drop the act.
But Jeong-hyeon ignored his party members' stares and taunted again, brimming with confidence.
"A lizard posing is still just a posing lizard. Let's get this started quick."
"H-Hunter Jeong Jeong-hyeon!"
From behind, Su-chan—who was trembling, clutching his shield—called out desperately.
Every taunt made his heart clench and release repeatedly.
How was this guy missing the word "fear" from his dictionary?
Well, that's why he'd done that horrific thing to Section Chief Dan Jong-woo—but Dan and a Lizardman warrior chief weren't even in the same weight class.
"......"
Meanwhile, Ashurek seemed to be staring toward Jeong-hyeon—or not—gazing off somewhere.
As his repeated taunts failed to shift that gaze, Jeong-hyeon bit his lip.
He knew exactly who the monster was looking at.
'Tch.'
It was Ji-hee.
Her two attacks must have hit hard, even if he'd countered with elements outwardly unscathed.
S-Rank mana didn't just vanish.
Of course, looking didn't mean he'd attack her first—but the odds were high.
Jeong-hyeon had to draw his attention first.
'No choice but to go all-in.'
Whoosh—
"What the—now what's that?!"
Jeong-hyeon wrapped his pickaxe in fire magic.
Shocked voices rose from the party behind him.
A Lizardman warrior chief with Magic Enchantment was shocking enough.
But their party leader—clearly agility-focused—was suddenly using it too?
Their eyes naturally turned to Ji-hee.
Asking if she'd cast it on him.
Ji-hee shook her head, as if they'd gotten the wrong idea.
"Ha, seriously."
"Feels like this isn't our place..."
That meant the party leader had enchanted it himself.
How?
But honestly, in this absurd situation, who cared who enchanted what.
It was just one more impossible thing piling up.
Unlike the stunned party members, Ji-hee took Jeong-hyeon's Magic Enchantment in stride.
'He's been using it all along.'
She'd sensed his mana when he'd used neutral Magic Enchantment before.
She didn't know how he juggled multiple traits like that, but he had his ways.
It was Jeong-hyeon, after all.
Only after Jeong-hyeon's pickaxe blazed spectacularly did Ashurek finally turn to him.
Jeong-hyeon grinned and taunted once more.
"How's this? Matches yours, right? I can use that nature power crap too. It's not a big deal, dude."
'Ha, is there even a point keep saying stuff he can't understand?'
Outwardly, he was gleefully needling the enemy, but inwardly, he was conflicted.
Lizardmen couldn't understand human speech, obviously.
With the party's poor impression of him already, was this reckless taunting okay?
Even if it pulled aggro off Ji-hee, they wouldn't get it.
Luckily, showing he could use Magic Enchantment too had drawn eyes—but he regretted not just leading with a silent demo.
Clack—
Finally, after standing still forever, Ashurek moved noticeably.
First motion: swinging his lowered greatsword back while turning toward Jeong-hyeon.
Second motion—
Swoosh—
He launched straight at Jeong-hyeon.
'You bastard!'
He'd pulled out all the stops to grab attention, but this fast?!
The whistling of the air was like a dagger flying from that massive frame.
The attack range visible to Jeong-hyeon engulfed his entire body with room to spare.
He desperately flung himself right, escaping the red trajectory.
Whoosh—
With a deadly whoosh, the enormous claymore swept through where he'd stood.
The shockwave made pooled water on the ground not just tremble but spray up high.
Rolling once and rising, Jeong-hyeon watched, a cold sweat trickling down his back.
'This is bullshit!'