The Fall of Wang Feng
"Urk...!"
Wang Feng staggers back, his abdomen pierced by sharp fangs.
Clutching his gut as blood streams down, he glares at Nix with fury.
Nix, now fully recovered, begins devouring the surviving hunters one by one.
Wang Feng spits up a gush of blood and twists his face in rage.
That idiot Yang Hong!
Not only had he died so pathetically, but he'd handed over the precious elixir to this monster. That stung the most.
Yang Hong's idiotic death had let a nearly defeated foe slip away.
No—worse, it had put Wang Feng himself in mortal danger.
You moron. If you were gonna die, at least do it cleanly...! Why interfere now of all times!
The pierced wound throbs as if tearing apart.
A quick glance reveals the gash had turned a sickly purple in moments.
Poison.
He'd known its viciousness throughout the fight.
No ordinary antidote will work on this.
The antidotes he had could only delay it at best.
Nothing short of an elixir would neutralize it.
I can get an elixir anywhere once I escape this place.
He doesn't care about the dishonor of fleeing from an enemy.
As long as he lives, he can handle the rest later.
The one who survives to the end is the winner. No matter what they say, I'll be the victor—Wang Feng.
Carefully gripping his abdominal wound, Wang Feng locks eyes with Nix, who has finished feeding and now stares silently.
Wang Feng grimaces at the creature's gaze, which feels almost leisurely.
If I escape this unscathed, I'll devise proper countermeasures against you. That's when you'll die, monster.
So the immediate problem: how to escape?
Even if he fled, this thing wouldn't let him go easily.
How could he slip away unharmed?
Yang Hoon, Nam Hoon—you useless fools. Absent at the crucial moment. Next time, I'll pick more competent subordinates.
Wang Feng clicks his tongue briefly and shifts his body subtly.
Suppressing the bleeding and poison with mana, he focuses every muscle and nerve solely on escape.
No matter how skilled the foe, how could it catch him if he was dead set on running?
Wang Feng's form vanishes in an instant.
"Hiss—"
Nix had anticipated this.
He knew Wang Feng would choose flight over continuing the fight.
Having read the move in advance, Nix's ninth head moves quietly.
"Shaa—!!!"
Wang Feng scowls as the ninth head blocks his path, as if it had known all along.
Gritting through the stabbing pain, he thrusts his spear.
Even in his wounded state, the spear tip remains deadly sharp.
"Out of my way!"
Bang—!
Wang Feng's spear slices through empty air.
The ninth head dodges effortlessly and opens its massive maw.
As it lunges to swallow him whole, Wang Feng swings his spear again.
This time, not to kill, but purely to aid his escape.
Whoosh—
Leaving the ninth head that dodged repeatedly behind, Wang Feng launches himself forward.
A bolt of lightning crashes down from above his head.
"So you won't let me go that easily?!"
Boom!
Magic barrages pour relentlessly toward Wang Feng as he bats away the lightning.
Freezing ice shards, blazing fireballs, razor-sharp wind blades, blinding flashes.
Facing the onslaught of every type of spell, Wang Feng lets out a small groan.
"Urgh... You monster! I am Wang Feng! This much won't...!"
Bang—!
A crimson aura spear forms in a blink.
Smaller and weaker than before, but still enough to block the magical barrage.
Wang Feng swings it wildly.
"You leeches! Get off me now!"
Deflecting the spells and cleaving through blocking heads, Wang Feng presses forward.
Each time, fresh blood spurts from his gut wound, and his face grows ever paler.
"I am Wang Feng! Greatest under heaven! Divine Spear! The strongest hunter, Wang Feng—!!!"
A lion's roar erupts.
Wang Feng pierces the fifth head blocking him and drops to one knee with a thud.
The fifth head's wound, predictably, heals in moments.
"Urgh...!"
"Hiss—"
Nix's heads gather around Wang Feng, who leans on his spear, kneeling.
Surrounded on all sides with no escape, Wang Feng grinds his teeth.
"Useless bastards! If those guys had held out just a bit longer, I wouldn't be suffering this humiliation...!"
Even to the very end, Wang Feng curses his dead subordinates.
Watching him silently, Nix clicks his tongue inwardly.
Compared to Charlotte... No, even comparing him to her is an insult.
His raw power was indeed SS-rank worthy, but everything else was disappointing.
His bold and ruthless moments mid-fight were noteworthy, but even including those, the negatives outweighed.
Especially his final display—it erased any lingering desire to even converse.
No point dragging this out. Time to end it.
Outwardly unscathed and tireless, Nix's body was actually near its limit.
He'd poured out all his recovered mana to block the escape, and his mental strength was critically low.
Only skills like Limit Break kept him standing; otherwise, he'd have collapsed long ago.
Still, the death of one who dominated an era deserves a clean end.
Nix quietly opens his maw.
The moment he lunges to swallow Wang Feng— a sudden presence halts him.
"Heh... You've come! Of course! The continent's hunters wouldn't abandon Wang Feng!"
New presences from afar.
Undoubtedly hunters—and not a few, but dozens, hundreds.
Nix scowls, having nearly devoured Wang Feng.
Reinforcements? I thought no one would back that fool... Were they watching?
Something clicks.
Hunters with tracking skills aside, outside the labyrinth, modern tech could be leveraged freely.
...Still manageable. Kill Wang Feng, and escape is easy.
Though the gathered numbers suggested escaping unscathed might be tough.
"Haha! Come on, hurry! Rush in and save Wang Feng...!"
As Nix ponders his next escape, someone lands lightly in the clearing with Nix and Wang Feng.
Nine lush tails sway gently. Gleaming white fur. Clear blue eyes.
[You look quite worn out, my dear?]
Nix chuckles involuntarily at the soft voice.
"Kumiho...? How is a kumiho here...?"
Wang Feng, failing to process, coughs up more blood.
Snow glances at him and continues.
[You haven't finished it yet? Hm. Need my help?]
[No. I was just about to... But what's with those?]
Nix glances at the hunters gathered to one side.
Hunters staring blankly into space, minds lost, like puppets.
Snow chuckles lightly at their doll-like state.
[Got a bit carried away in the fight. Made some puppets that obey well, like you suggested.]
[...A bit?]
Nix looks—easily hundreds of them.
[Hehe. I said I got carried away. A little too much, perhaps.]
Snow sits lightly, tails swishing.
[They've lost their egos. Half-beings that only follow orders.]
She nods lightly.
Hunters begin marching at her glance.
Nix asks quietly.
[What now?]
[To escape cleanly, we need a distraction. Made them cause a scene on their own.]
[Not keeping any?]
[These half-things don't satisfy. One was decent, but sadly broken.]
Snow tsks regretfully, then glances over.
Wang Feng, fully poisoned, body turned blue-purple.
[That's the Wang Feng? Far less impressive than rumored.]
[Everyone's end looks like that.]
Nix moves at last.
As Nix's face nears, Wang Feng snarls.
"You damned monster... Daring to look down on me?! You dare!"
Cough—
Blood spews as trembling hands raise his spear.
He stands shakily, assuming stance.
"I am Wang Feng... Wang Feng—!!"
Spear thrust with remaining strength.
No aura, power far diminished—but his form straight as ever.
Wang Feng's final thrust taps Nix's scales lightly.
[A clean death as final courtesy.]
"...What?"
Ignoring Wang Feng's stupefied face, Nix swallows him whole.
After Charlotte, another of earth's three remaining SS-rank hunters was gone.
* * *
No Gwan-sik sighs at the blaring news alerts.
"Incredible. Who'd think that bastard would go down like this. In his own backyard, no less..."
Hwang Seok-ho, watching beside him, speaks cautiously as No Gwan-sik tsks.
"...Isn't this a big deal?"
"What is?"
"Wang Feng's dead. Personality aside, he was key global hunter power. Second since Charlotte. Objectively, that's halving our top strength compared to before..."
"Tsk tsk. Such narrow thinking. It's not that big a deal. Don't worry."
No Gwan-sik cuts him off.
"Pardon? Not big? An SS-rank died."
"Seok-ho. Everyone dies eventually."
"......"
"And the world keeps turning."
Hwang Seok-ho clamps his mouth shut at the flat tone.
"When Seong Jae-myeong died, half said Korea was doomed. Some even said the world. But reality? A bit of decline, but we're fine."
No Gwan-sik crosses arms, glancing out the window.
"And France lately? They're doing just fine."
"...True."
No Gwan-sik adds as Hwang nods slowly.
"A few hunter deaths change nothing. Decades ago, no SS or even S-ranks, and the world spun fine. Some ripple, but no crisis."
"...Yes, you're right. I was short-sighted."
"That's why you're still green. Learn more."
No Gwan-sik sighs, propping his chin.
"So, any progress?"
"Yes. After Song Jae-ha's report, I investigated discreetly..."
"Anything?"
Hwang nods slowly.
"Not full identity, but something. Registered as 'Yu Jun-young', C-rank. Nothing on the woman."
"...Underworld types don't register properly. Useless info."
"Yes, digging deeper."
"Be careful. Song Jae-ha says SS-rank level."
Hwang smiles faintly at the low voice.
"Even so, real SS-rank? Two of them? Absurd."
"...Song Jae-ha doesn't lie needlessly. Better safe."
"...Yes, I'll proceed cautiously."
"Good. Don't rile them. SS or not, they're that strong."
"...The ones who ended an underworld war in one night."
No Gwan-sik nods slowly.
"Investigate carefully. Take a big team."
"Need to?"
"More men means if trouble hits, one escapes to report."
"......"
Hwang grimaces subtly and leaves.
No Gwan-sik watches him go, then turns back to the TV.
News still buzzes about Wang Feng's death.
"SS-rank dies, new ones emerge. Two at once. Like a scripted play."
He mutters softly, then stands abruptly.
"Whatever. First SS-ranks in Korea in over a decade. Must recruit them, by any means."
Not yet confirmed SS-rank, but his veteran instincts said so.
Prep while Seok-ho investigates.
Beyond recruitment, to collar them required serious preparation.
No Gwan-sik's eyes gleam as he gazes out the window.