Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Bug Hunt (5)
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Gunter scanned the squad leaders gathered in the center of the clearing and let out a hollow laugh.
‘Including me, only thirteen?’
It hadn’t been long since the quest began, yet out of twenty-five squads, only thirteen remained.
And all of them had been wiped out by a single person: Yuri Holland.
It was absurd.
The silver lining was that the survivors included most of the top performers.
They were mostly latecomers who hadn’t been cut early, exuding a completely different aura from the frontrunners who had fallen first.
They felt like handpicked elites.
Gunter’s gaze shifted to one side.
There sat a rat-faced man with his arms crossed.
Gunter stared intently into Schlemann Hans’s beady eyes.
‘Maybe this was his plan all along.’
Throw weak squads as bait to gauge strength while preserving the real power.
One thing didn’t add up, though.
‘He preserved too much. He should’ve taken the chance to thin out the other strong squads that might become enemies later.’
Once Yuri Holland was dealt with, all these squads would turn on each other.
A simple hint to fall back would’ve let them erode the others’ forces easily.
Just as they’d done to his own group.
But Schlemann Hans hadn’t.
The only ones he’d signaled to pull back—aside from the riffraff—were his own Squad 7.
‘Is he that confident he can win once our squad and Squad 1 are gone?’
As Gunter stared at Schlemann, trying to read his intentions.
“So, what’s the plan now?”
Clarice asked him directly.
As if on cue, everyone else’s eyes turned to Schlemann too.
Schlemann shrugged under the collective scrutiny.
“Before we get into that… let’s be honest about what we have to admit.”
“Like what?”
“That Yuri Holland is strong.”
Half the group nodded in agreement.
The other half still looked skeptical.
They grasped the situation so far, but couldn’t fully buy that Yuri Holland had single-handedly annihilated eleven squads.
Schlemann caught their doubtful glances.
He laid it out: Yuri was the Black Dragon Overlord and had taken fifteen steps in the Hundred Paces Ritual.
Those who already knew shot him surprised looks—they hadn’t expected him to reveal it himself.
The rest gasped in shock, murmuring among themselves.
Schlemann addressed them.
“I’ll say it again: Yuri Holland is strong. So let’s make the most of why we’re all here.”
“What advantage?”
“Our numbers. No one can fend off ten hands with one. Yuri might be strong, but he can’t handle all ninety of us.”
“Have you forgotten dozens have already dropped trying?”
“Hah, those guys are nothing like us. Honestly, I could take one of those eliminated squads solo right now. Am I the only one thinking that? Give us time, and you all could pull off what Yuri did. Right?”
As he spoke, Schlemann subtly scanned the squad leaders.
None ranked outside the top twenty.
They’d all claimed their spots by quietly showcasing their skills.
So they nodded along, more or less agreeing.
“Honestly… yeah, I think we could.”
“Me too.”
They were confident they could wipe a mediocre squad if Yuri tried picking them off one by one.
As most nodded, Schlemann smirked.
‘Of course, none of us could wipe this many squads that fast like Yuri.’
The key was instilling confidence that they could do what he did.
Acknowledge Yuri as a formidable foe, but remind them they could match him.
That was Schlemann’s goal right now.
‘Can’t have these guys I’ve gathered playing it safe.’
Sure enough, one squad leader—buoyed by the confidence—spoke up boldly.
“So what’s your plan? You proposed the alliance and steered us here. Spit it out. You didn’t engineer this without a thought.”
“Of course I have one.”
“What is it?”
“They’re trying to pick us off piecemeal, so we go with a rotation.”
“Rotation?”
“No matter how strong Yuri is, he’s human… he’ll tire eventually.”
Schlemann’s lip curled as he said it.
* * *
Yuri darted freely between the trees.
His already nimble movements had grown even lighter thanks to the progress in his Cloud Steps from this mechanism breakthrough quest.
Gliding through the forest like a ghost, Yuri soon reached a narrow rock crevice near the old tiger territory.
He slipped through without hesitation.
The low ceiling forced him to duck, and a solid wall blocked his path.
Yuri spoke up.
“It’s me.”
A voice replied instantly from the other side.
“Who’re you?”
It sounded pained, no matter how you sliced it.
Yuri grimaced slightly at the playful tone.
“It’s me. Quit messing around and open up.”
“So who is it? Password!”
“…No dessert for you from now on.”
Chaos erupted on the other side.
“Hurry, open it up!”
Rumble.
The “wall” slid aside.
A 1.5-meter entrance appeared.
Beyond it stood Arin, bow lowered, arrow nocked. A spacious area stretched behind her.
Wide enough for ten grown men to lie down comfortably, yet completely enclosed.
It could pass for a common cave, but this was the best hideout Yuri had found.
What made it top-tier was the massive boulder inside.
“Ungh…”
Even Poppi, who wasn’t weak, grunted like he was straining on the toilet to shove it.
Rumble.
The boulder rolled back, sealing the entrance perfectly.
A fully enclosed space.
With a boulder too big to fit through the entrance sitting smack in the middle?
No way this formed naturally.
‘Ventilation in a sealed cave? Someone built this for sure.’
Yuri didn’t know who, but he was grateful.
Entering the cave, Yuri surveyed it with fresh eyes.
‘Never thought I’d actually use this place.’
He’d found it late in the hide-gathering quest.
He’d told Arin and Poppi: if the tiger hunt failed, take the hides here and hide until he escaped Hell Camp.
Guard the hides here until he got out.
That was the “tiger hunt failure protocol.”
But the hunt succeeded on the first try, so this was their first time using it.
Yuri moved to the center and unpacked the armbands from his pouch.
Arin whistled at the eleven bands he dumped out.
“We didn’t need to do anything? You handled it all solo?”
Yuri shook his head slightly.
“Won’t be that easy from here.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Looks like they’ve got a smart one. They’re already banding together.”
“What? Then what do we do? Plan was to lure them deep and pick ’em off.”
“What else? If they clump up, we break ’em up.”
“You can do that?”
Arin tilted her head, and Yuri chuckled.
“I told you, we’ve got two advantages.”
“Yeah. First is we know this forest best. What’s the second?”
“Second: everyone else is the enemy.”
“…How’s that good? Sounds bad!”
“Why bad? It’s perfect. No friend-or-foe checks—just drop anyone who shows. They’ve gotta ID every ally from enemy.”
“They only see us as enemies anyway.”
“For now. But will that last?”
A glint of madness flickered in Yuri’s eyes.
“The scariest enemies always come from inside.”
* * *
Dozens moved through the forest.
They wore armbands of different numbers, all mixed: 9, 10, 22, 23.
Schlemann’s strategy had four squads form each unit.
[From now, split the remaining thirteen squads into three platoons. Two platoons base here and rest; one enters the forest to engage Yuri’s Squad 1. Rotate every eight hours.]
Even Yuri couldn’t devour multiple squads at once.
[A three-man squad like theirs can’t ignore our constant pressure. Fatigue will build.]
The platoons could rotate rest, so time favored them.
It was a solid plan; the other leaders agreed.
Eight hours ago.
The first platoon returned empty-handed.
Now the second—Squads 9, 10, 22, 23—pushed in.
Crunch crunch.
The platoon stayed vigilant.
Maybe from the intel on Yuri the leaders shared.
Tension rippled through them.
But as time passed, it eased.
After about an hour.
No sign of Yuri despite wandering.
They loosened up.
Mutterings rose.
“Yuri Holland? Big deal. He only looks tough ’cause he hit weaklings. Look—he’s scared, hiding.”
“Isn’t this overkill?”
“Yeah, chasing three people like this?”
Initial fear from the wiped squads faded with relaxation.
Another half hour passed.
“Ugh… I’m falling back. Gotta piss bad.”
“Go quick.”
“Be right there. Don’t worry.”
A boy in the middle told his squadmate and peeled off.
The platoon kept moving.
Moments later.
Rustle.
He slipped into bushes, away from the group, to relieve himself.
Shiver.
He finished, shook off, and hiked up his pants.
Rushing to catch up—
Whoosh.
Wind and a black shadow dropped from above.
“……?!”
He whipped his head up in panic.
Golden eyes met his.
Black hair, golden eyes.
He realized who attacked.
‘Yuri Holland!’
Shocked, he opened his mouth to yell—
A pale, solid fist was already incoming.
Thwack.
* * *
Thwack.
Gilbert Becker instinctively raised his arm against Yuri Holland’s strike.
Stinging pain shot up his forearm.
But he blocked it and backpedaled, shouting.
“You bastard, cheap ambush!”
Yuri’s face flickered with surprise—his sure hit blocked.
Gilbert drew his sword, scanning for help, but the forest was silent.
The platoon had moved on.
He gripped his hilt tight.
‘Damn, gotta handle this myself!’
He knew the story.
Squads wiped by Yuri alone.
Rumors swirled: Yuri might be the strongest of the 50th Cohort.
But Gilbert didn’t run.
‘Yuri Holland, no matter how strong—no stronger than me, a Cradle Rider! I won’t flee!’
Clang!
Sword forward, he yelled.
“Come on! I’m Gilbert Becker!”
Yuri swung in response.
Gilbert read the trajectory crystal clear.
Clang.
He parried easily.
Yuri’s follow-ups came.
Clang-clang-boom!
Swords clashed and parted in bursts of noise.
After a few exchanges.
Gilbert sensed something off.
‘What? Why’s he… so weak?’
Yuri’s swings were oddly slow.
The power behind them feeble.
Gilbert eyed Yuri’s face.
Sweat beading on his brow.
Lips gritted.
Veins bulging at his temples.
Yuri was giving his all.
Then it hit Gilbert.
‘It’s not that Yuri’s weak. It’s that I’m…’
Boom!
Sparks flew as swords met.
This time, Yuri’s flew back.
His arm trembled; Gilbert still brimmed with strength.
Fire lit Gilbert’s eyes.
‘…I’m stronger!’
Boom!
Yuri staggered blocking Gilbert’s next swing.
Gilbert thrilled.
‘Three months in the Cradle… I’ve grown strong!’
Yuri looked shocked, like he’d never dreamed of losing.
Gilbert grinned, unleashing a flurry.
Boom boom boom.
Each swing boomed; Yuri retreated with a desperate face.
Gilbert laughed brightly.
Clang-boom!
“Haha! You’re supposed to be strong? Strongest in the 50th? Then….”
Boom!
“Why so weak!”
The maybe-strongest Yuri flailed, unable to block properly.
Gilbert roared with laughter, swinging freely.
“Entertain me more, Yuri Holland! Hahaha!”
* * *
Arin crouched by the sprawled boy’s head.
She waved excitedly.
“YuriYuri, come here!”
“What?”
“This guy’s smiling.”
“Huh?”
Sure enough, the boy Yuri had knocked out was grinning.
Yuri didn’t know his name—Gilbert—but something amused him.
Heh heh.
One eye swollen black, yet grinning ear to ear, pathetically.
Yuri grumbled.
“Leave him. Good dream, probably.”
He turned to Arin.
“Lines memorized?”
“Of course!”
Arin nodded eagerly, confidently.
Yuri’s lips curled into a sly smile.