Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Clash of S-Rank Hunters
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Jo Won-cheol's laughter grated severely on Kang Jun-tae's nerves.
To erase the irritating noise right in front of him, Kang Jun-tae gripped the handle of his iron flail tightly with both hands.
Jo Won-cheol couldn't possibly miss that ominous vibe.
'Is he pretty pissed off now?'
With a shout, Kang Jun-tae swung the flail with all his might.
Jo Won-cheol hastily retreated, dodging the direct hit, but he couldn't avoid the shockwave that spread out after it smashed into the floor.
"Urk!"
The collapse that started from the floor soon shattered the pillars supporting the building.
Unable to withstand the full force of an S-rank Hunter, the structure came crashing down.
"You crazy bastard!"
Han Young-seok escaped out the window before getting buried in the concrete.
The Hunters who couldn't evade in time shared the building's fate as it collapsed.
Even as a considerable number of people were buried alive, Kang Jun-tae and Jo Won-cheol were too engrossed in their fight to notice.
Kang Jun-tae burst through the pile of concrete and chased Jo Won-cheol, who had dodged, out into the street.
The moment he pinpointed Jo Won-cheol's position, Kang Jun-tae swung his flail down once more.
Seeing the street shatter from the impact, Jo Won-cheol was stunned.
"You brute... You really planning to go all out, life on the line against me?"
"Why ask something so obvious? You started this mess intending the same thing from the get-go."
As Kang Jun-tae said, if it was just kid's play, they never would've kicked off this war in the first place.
Jo Won-cheol, struck right in the gut, let out a light chuckle.
"The one I wanted to kill was that Seo Sang-ho punk."
Fighting Kang Jun-tae wasn't part of the plan.
But with Titan's new guild master being Kang Jun-tae, he couldn't just let it slide.
"Well... Killing Titan's guild master is still on the table anyway, so no big deal?"
"I don't like how you're talking like you've already won."
"Kukuku, like I'd lose to a guy who only knows brute force."
Jo Won-cheol's words pricked at Kang Jun-tae's pride.
Kang Jun-tae twitched the muscles around his eyebrows, clearly showing his displeasure.
"Let's see how long you can keep dodging."
"What's to see? Just lop off your limbs, and it's over."
Jo Won-cheol pulled a pair of gauntlets from his inventory.
The razor-sharp fingertips suggested they weren't made for defense.
With the gauntlets equipped, Jo Won-cheol casually swung his left hand.
Sensing the ominous energy from the whip-like slash of his hand blade, Kang Jun-tae twisted his body immediately.
A breeze grazed his cheek by a hair's breadth.
A thin cut on his skin oozed a bit of blood.
"How's that? Scared yet?"
"It's barely a razor shave. No need to flinch."
Though he said that, Kang Jun-tae realized this was no opponent to take lightly.
Jo Won-cheol had always been top-tier in speed.
His attack power was somewhat lacking, but he'd overcome that flaw with custom-made items.
'That must be the unique item made from an S-rank monster.'
Jo Won-cheol was someone who'd caught both speed and offense.
His equal standing with Altron before the incident was proof enough of his skill.
The more Kang Jun-tae recalled these facts, the more his heart raced.
Unlike Jo Won-cheol, he'd honed only raw power relentlessly.
He wanted to test right now how his single-minded path stacked up against Jo Won-cheol's.
Kang Jun-tae took a deep breath and hoisted the flail overhead.
Not just his arms, but his entire body's muscles powered the swing.
"Smash!"
Activating the skill, the flail plummeted twice as fast as a normal swing.
Upon hitting the ground, it pulverized the surrounding area, triggering a massive earthquake.
'This level of power from a basic skill?'
Balancing on the shaking ground, Jo Won-cheol was inwardly impressed.
What Kang Jun-tae used was a staple skill for Hunters wielding striking weapons—likely the weakest in his arsenal.
Even Jo Won-cheol, who rarely got surprised, had to admit it this time.
"I thought you were just some musclehead..."
He spotted Kang Jun-tae charging during the unstable footing.
The floor smash was meant to prevent Jo Won-cheol from building speed.
Quick judgment that acknowledged his weakness and the enemy's strength without hesitation.
"Right, you're an S-rank Hunter too, huh?"
Jo Won-cheol dropped all underestimation and thrust his hand blade with full seriousness.
His spear-like hand shot forward, grazing Kang Jun-tae's side by a fraction.
It was a straightforward attack without tricks, easy to read.
But that was Jo Won-cheol's intent.
From the start, he'd aimed for Kang Jun-tae to turn and expose an opening.
Passing by with his swinging arm, Jo Won-cheol escaped the unstable footing.
"You rat bastard...!"
Seeing Jo Won-cheol land safely across the street, Kang Jun-tae's irritation exploded.
"Smash!"
He channeled his surging frustration into the flail and hammered the ground where Jo Won-cheol stood again.
Each time, Jo Won-cheol dodged to safer spots instead of taking it head-on.
Kang Jun-tae's repeated destruction soon reduced an entire street to rubble.
But he didn't care one bit.
No matter what was around, his mind was fixed solely on beating Jo Won-cheol.
Jo Won-cheol didn't care what got caught in the crossfire either.
With attacks that meant death on a single graze raining down, he had no spare thoughts for bystanders.
On top of that, Jo Won-cheol wasn't just evading.
To halt Kang Jun-tae's relentless advance, he fired sharp wind blades from his hand as counterattacks.
As time passed, the street became unrecognizable, shattered and sliced apart.
This disaster wouldn't end until one fell, but as equal S-rank Hunters, no end was in sight.
In the end, it wasn't either man's will that halted Kang Jun-tae and Jo Won-cheol.
A golden beam suddenly plummeted from the sky, slicing between the two as they clashed.
"What the hell?!"
"Grk!"
The light that landed between them was no ordinary glow.
Kang Jun-tae's forearm, just barely touched, was already covered in bloodstains.
"Which bastard's this?!"
Someone had definitely intervened, but neither Jo Won-cheol nor Kang Jun-tae could guess who.
They'd never heard or seen a Hunter who attacked with beams of light.
"It's me, you fucker."
Along with a familiar line, the figure who appeared was unfamiliar to Jo Won-cheol but well-known to Kang Jun-tae.
"Where'd the coward who ran away slink off to, crawling back now?"
"Coward? You poisoned a guy and stormed his house to wreak havoc, and you're calling me the coward?"
Kang Jin-hyuk let out a deflated laugh, exasperated.
Kang Jun-tae couldn't muster a retort to the spot-on words.
It was indeed their side that poisoned Seo Sang-ho out of fear of a fair fight.
From that position, they had no ground to complain about smoke bombs and evasion.
Moreover, Kang Jin-hyuk wasn't even an S-rank like them—he was a C-rank Hunter.
Kang Jun-tae's stance was like an adult man whining at an elementary kid for running instead of fighting.
"From now on, I'll deliver your punishment, so take it sweetly."
Kang Jin-hyuk strolled across the wrecked road with his baseball bat slung over his shoulder.
Kang Jun-tae couldn't comprehend how Kang Jin-hyuk dared act this way in front of him and Jo Won-cheol.
"You wanna die?"
Sure, Kang Jin-hyuk had lightning powers, but that was just for escaping danger on the fly.
It wasn't something to proudly whip out against full-force S-rank Hunters.
Kang Jun-tae had experienced it once and was gradually learning countermeasures.
If Kang Jin-hyuk was banking solely on lightning to act this cocky, Kang Jun-tae was confident he could end him in under a minute.
"Hold up, you arrogant punk. I'll deal with him quick and be right back."
Hearing Kang Jun-tae, Jo Won-cheol shrugged.
"Do whatever."
He figured it'd take less than three minutes to crush some no-name Hunter.
The distraction was annoying him anyway.
"You two can come at me together, y'know?"
Jo Won-cheol doubted his own ears for a second.
Altron's guild master spouting that here was ridiculous enough.
But from some nobody he'd never seen? Unbelievable.
"You really that suicidal? Guess insurance doesn't pay for straight suicides, so you came here instead."
That had to be it to make any sense of the words and attitude.
"Don't get too cocky. You won't die pretty."
Jo Won-cheol kindly advised that he should at least leave a corpse.
But the response was a small sneer.
Kang Jin-hyuk's mocking laugh made veins bulge on Jo Won-cheol's forehead.
Jo Won-cheol could dish out mockery but never take it.
" Laughing?"
Before Kang Jun-tae could stop him, Jo Won-cheol swung his arm first.
Seeing the wind from his hand blade slice the ground as it advanced, Kang Jun-tae inwardly gave up.
There was old bad blood, and he'd wanted to kill him personally.
But picturing Kang Jin-hyuk taking it head-on, all he could imagine was minced meat.
Kang Jun-tae's sigh of regret was drowned out by the immediate impact sound.
"Huh?"
With a bang, what exploded was the wind Jo Won-cheol had unleashed.
The technique that sliced concrete like tofu was blocked by a single finger.
Kang Jin-hyuk flicked it like a penalty-game snap, creating a small shock that scattered the wind everywhere.
"...What the hell are you?"
Jo Won-cheol instantly shifted to a serious stance.
The strange pattern floating above his forehead and the golden aura enveloping Kang Jin-hyuk exuded extraordinary presence.
"......"
Kang Jun-tae, having fought Kang Jin-hyuk recently, was even more flustered.
He'd shown promise, but compared to an S-rank like himself, he was just a fledgling.
For such a Hunter to change like this in no time didn't add up.
What method had sparked this explosive growth?
Pondering that, Kang Jun-tae recalled what Han Young-seok had told him.
"No way... You ate Alraune's Return Pill?!"
Hearing Kang Jun-tae, it was Jo Won-cheol whose eyes widened.
"What? Return Pill?!"
Jo Won-cheol knew from Jeong Dae-yoon's report that the assassin raiding their guild facilities had consumed a Return Pill.
"No way that guy took the Return Pill?!"
"Y-Yeah. Titan's exec said the evidence points to it."
Overwhelmed by Jo Won-cheol's excessive fury, Kang Jun-tae blurted it out.
Jo Won-cheol ground his teeth in rage.
"That motherfucker lied to me...?"
He wanted to kill that Jeong Dae-yoon for the false report too, but right now, he burned to tear apart the one who'd stolen the pill.
Feeling Jo Won-cheol's intense glare, Kang Jin-hyuk smirked and rummaged in his inventory.
He pulled out a small, transparent vial.
Inside was a single Return Pill, plainly visible.
"Looking for this Return Pill?"
"You... you bastard! Hand it over right now!"
"Why should I? It's mine now."
Seeing Kang Jin-hyuk store the pill back in his inventory, Jo Won-cheol's patience snapped.
Eyes blazing to reclaim the elixir he'd painstakingly made, he charged.