Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Alraune's Powder Unleashed
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"Rescuing the hostages for real..."
Han Young-seok spotted the women fleeing beyond the barrier and wore a complicated expression.
He had heard from Lucia that Kang Jin-hyuk planned to extract the hostages, but he had been skeptical.
It didn't make sense for a mere C-rank Hunter to achieve that against Tyrant's hunters.
But denying it wouldn't change the reality that had unfolded.
Kang Jin-hyuk had delivered the results as promised, so now it was Titan's turn to fulfill their part.
Han Young-seok felt like a side character, leaving a bitter aftertaste.
"Not to my liking."
It wasn't the flow he wanted, but as the one commanding this operation, he couldn't just sit back with folded arms.
With a slight lift of his chin as the signal, Baek Jin-uk bellowed in a thunderous voice on his behalf.
"Prepare for battle!"
Titan's hunters formed ranks with resounding shouts of spirit.
Jeong Dae-yoon, who had been falling back with the hostages, saw this and rushed toward Han Young-seok.
Titan's hunters spotted Tyrant's emblem on him and blocked his path.
"Halt!"
"Who the hell are you?"
"Please step aside! I have urgent business with the man in charge here!"
Han Young-seok approached him with a puzzled look upon hearing Jeong Dae-yoon's plea.
"What business does a Tyrant hunter have with me?"
"I came to warn you of something important!"
"Warn me?"
"They have Alraune's powder! Taking it will make them more than twice as strong as other hunters!"
Han Young-seok's face drained of color at those words.
"Alraune's powder?!"
His face turned ashen as he bellowed himself.
"Mages! Unleash your skills right now!"
"Sir? But they're still out of range..."
"No backtalk! Do as I say!"
With repeated harsh commands raining down, the rear-guard hunters had no choice but to extend their hands and cast their skills.
"Fireball!"
"Lightning Chain!"
"Ice Spear!"
Countless fireballs, lightning bolts, and ice spears poured toward Tyrant's hunters who were still closing in.
Even witnessing the spectacular sight before him, Han Young-seok's expression didn't brighten.
"Could the human trafficking have been to raise an Alraune..."
As a Titan executive, Han Young-seok had access to various secrets and knew about Alraune as well.
If Tyrant's hunters truly had Alraune's powder.
He thought even 30 hunters might not be enough to handle them.
Han Young-seok inwardly cursed Seo Sang-ho overseas.
"Damn bastard! Keeping something this crucial from me!"
Once the barrage of mage skills ended, the thick dust cloud gradually thinned.
What came into view once visibility returned were Tyrant's hunters who had blocked all the bombardment with defensive skills.
They didn't miss the opening as Titan's hunters faltered in panic.
As if springs were attached to their legs, they closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
"You thought that puny attack would work on us?!"
Ha Jin-hwan, leading the charge, had drawn his sword at some point and struck at a Titan hunter guarding the front line.
The Titan hunter hastily cast a defensive skill, but it fell short against Ha Jin-hwan's enhanced stats.
The defensive skill shattered under the blade, and the sword sliced straight across the hunter's chest.
"Argh!"
Blood spurted like a fountain from the diagonal gash in his flesh.
Seeing their comrade's blood, Titan's hunters charged at Ha Jin-hwan in fury.
Even knowing it would break their formation, the revenge-driven hunters didn't stop.
Ha Jin-hwan swept his bloodshot gaze over them with disdain.
Gripping his sword, he spun his body once, simultaneously parrying attacks coming from all directions.
The storm-like sword winds sent Titan's hunters flying like paper dolls.
"Uwaaah!"
The carnage that unfolded in just 30 seconds was enough to imprint Ha Jin-hwan's power in their minds.
Having directly witnessed the power of Alraune's powder, Han Young-seok trembled like an aspen tree.
"So that's the power of Alraune's powder."
It wasn't fear making Han Young-seok shake.
The emotion in his eyes was admiration and greed.
With that power alone, Titan climbing to the top via a different path would be only a matter of time.
Resolved to win this battle and secure the Alraune Tyrant had hidden, Han Young-seok shouted.
"Baek Jin-woong! Don't hold back—kill them all!"
"Got it!"
Baek Jin-woong, hefting his signature massive axe, charged forward as if he'd been waiting.
"Out of my way! All of you, scram!"
At Baek Jin-woong's roar, the Tyrant hunters near Ha Jin-hwan scattered to create distance.
Staying close would only hinder him, not help.
Ha Jin-hwan smirked bitterly at the murderous aura rising from Baek Jin-woong's body.
"A berserker, huh. Quite the rare class stepping up."
"Your leisure ends here!"
As Baek Jin-woong activated his skills in earnest, his eyes turned blood-red.
His muscles throbbed and bulged massively, as if he'd undergone bulk-up.
Letting out a beastly roar, Baek Jin-woong swung his axe with all his might.
"Kraaaaaah!!"
Ha Jin-hwan raised his sword to gauge his opponent's power and block the axe.
The moment sword met axe, a metallic clang rang out as if to tear eardrums.
In the tense clash, Ha Jin-hwan was first to yield in strength.
"You're as strong as they say."
The berserker's trait was that their strength stat surged exponentially the more they lost reason.
Judging that even Alraune's powder-enhanced stats were being pushed back, Ha Jin-hwan figured Baek Jin-woong had little reason left.
"Come on, keep coming at me!"
Ha Jin-hwan wildly swung his sword to provoke him, ensuring Baek Jin-woong focused solely on him.
"Kraaaargh!!"
As Ha Jin-hwan intended, Baek Jin-woong gradually drifted away from the allied lines.
Tyrant's hunters seized the gap to charge at Titan.
With their greatest asset drawn away and formation broken, Titan couldn't possibly repel the assault.
As the distance closed, Tyrant's hunters targeted the most threatening mages first.
"N-No!"
If the mages got wiped out as they wanted here, it would be irreversible.
In a panic, Han Young-seok drew his weapon and entered the fray for the first time since becoming an executive.
The priority was halting Tyrant hunters' advance.
To buy even a moment to breathe, Han Young-seok chose the "Binding" skill.
"Binding!"
Invisible ropes bound Tyrant's hunters, sealing their movements.
Despite not fighting in ages, Han Young-seok proved his executive caliber by binding 10 hunters at once.
"Urk!"
"Damn it! What the hell is this!?"
Tyrant's hunters, if left bound, would be sitting ducks for the mages' skills.
Before it was too late, they strained with all their might to break free.
"He broke it with raw strength?"
Calming his startled heart, Han Young-seok tried to cast Binding again.
But Tyrant's hunters had no intention of falling for it twice.
The swiftest among Tyrant's hunters shot forward like a bullet, thrusting a dagger at Han Young-seok.
Seeing this, Han Young-seok canceled his ongoing Binding cast and erected a shield.
"Shield!"
The moment the dagger struck, cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier.
"Shield!"
Busy repairing the shield on the verge of breaking, Han Young-seok had no chance to cast Binding.
"Damn it! At this rate..."
Defeat at the hands of just 11 foes loomed vividly in Han Young-seok's mind.
He absolutely could not allow that.
For Titan's honor, at least.
For securing Tyrant's hidden Alraune, no matter what.
He had to turn this situation around somehow.
* * *
Lucia watched Titan struggling from atop a distant tree.
She could reverse the worsening tide if she helped, but she showed no such will.
"Running a bit late. Hope he's okay."
Lucia slipped a stick candy from her pocket into her mask.
Kang Jin-hyuk had asked her to buy time against the Alraune, so she planned to spectate until his signal.
"He didn't go in alone and get himself killed, did he?"
Lucia worried more about Kang Jin-hyuk inside the building than the collapsing Titan hunters before her eyes.
Though he'd spoken with full confidence in handling it solo.
With major factions involved, half-hearted resolve could lead to disaster.
"Hmm."
As time dragged, Lucia grew restless.
Alraune itself was an easy monster to handle, yet the silence meant he hadn't even touched it.
"If something goes wrong, it'll be a real mess..."
If Kang Jin-hyuk lost his life pointlessly.
Lucia wouldn't be able to return to the dungeon.
Only Kang Jin-hyuk could open the attic door to summon the dungeon entrance.
"Guess I should go help."
As mounting anxiety made Lucia move to descend the tree, a roar erupted from the building just in time.
"Screeeeech!"
The chilling shriek, like nails on a chalkboard, rooted her feet again.
She resettled on the branch with a faint smile.
"Took you long enough."
Relieved, Lucia spotted Tyrant's hunters paling.
They too had realized what happened in the building from Alraune's screech.
"Looks like I have work to do too."
Lucia loosed arrows in rapid succession at Ha Jin-hwan, who was trying to rush toward the building.
The three arrows, flying almost simultaneously, stabbed into the ground like a fence, blocking his path.
While Ha Jin-hwan hesitated, Baek Jin-woong's merciless axe targeted his head.
"Son of a bitch!"
Ha Jin-hwan lacked confidence in dodging both the arrows and the axe while running.
Unable to slack on either, he bellowed at his guildmates.
"Someone guard the flower—now!"
Hearing Ha Jin-hwan's shout, Han Young-seok saw this as the chance to reverse the tide.
"No chance in hell! Block Tyrant from reaching the building at all costs!"
Titan and Tyrant hunters clashed as they followed their commanders' orders.
Tyrant's hunters attacked wildly to break through to the building somehow.
But with Titan focusing purely on defense, they couldn't punch through easily.
"Screeech!!"
With Alraune's shrieks echoing nonstop and blockers refusing to yield.
Tyrant's hunters gradually lost their cool.
As emotions crept into their movements, gaps became glaring, and Titan exploited them.
The situation, favorable to Tyrant just five minutes ago, now began tilting toward Titan bit by bit.