Finished in One Shot

Min Taesu's eyes rolled wildly in their sockets.

Bloodshot and gleaming, they looked ready to kill someone on the spot.

"We need to pick up the pace even more."

"Raid Leader. The mages in the rear are asking for time."

"Time? Where the hell do you think we have time for that?!"

Min Taesu seized the mage hunter who'd dared mention rest by the collar.

"Even at this very moment, Park Minho isn't stopping!"

"Ghk—"

"You sit in the back shooting magic in perfect safety, and you want time?"

The mage hunter's body lifted clean off the ground. The gap in strength was so vast that resistance was impossible.

The murderous intent in Min Taesu's eyes only grew thicker.

A D-class hunter dares look down on me?

Those two undead had hunted a swarm of Black Spiders right in front of everyone. He could admit they were strong beyond all common sense.

Even so.

They were still the thralls of a D-class necromancer. Their limits were clear.

Either he forced out some short-term burst of latent power, or they're consumables.

Summoner-type hunters sometimes punched above their rank. It was usually thanks to an exceptionally powerful summon.

But those undead had blown past even that conventional wisdom.

So Min Taesu's guess had its own logic behind it.

It was completely wrong, of course.

There's no telling how many consumables he's stocked.

Minho had shown no sign of draining himself while commanding the undead. A man who cleared gates with a single click of his thralls.

Which meant there was no time to catch their breath.

"Ghhk—"

The mage's eyes rolled back, showing white. A rough hand clamped onto Min Taesu's forearm.

Thud—

The mage's body, which had been dangling in midair, dropped back to the ground.

"Raid Leader. That was too much."

"Hey. Jang Minseok. You already forget what I said earlier?"

BOOM!

A frame nearly two meters tall went flying and slammed into the wall.

"Who the hell talks back to the Raid Leader?"

The armor crumpled inward. A fist loaded with mana punched straight through the reinforced plating and delivered the shock to the body underneath.

"Gahk!"

Jang Minseok spat a stream of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blood. Had he been a mage, the impact would have killed him instantly.

Min Taesu's face, twisted with irritation, eased just a fraction. Not out of pity or regret.

Useless bastard. Getting hurt this bad from that?

If one of their damage-tanks dropped out of the front line, the raid's pace would slow by that much.

"Give a potion to the idiot who got wrecked by a D-class. We move in five."

The Mir Guild raid hunters only nodded, watching Min Taesu's mood carefully.

Who does he think he is, acting like this.

We're the same C-class. Treating us like slaves is a bit much, isn't it?

A proper gate clear required careful management of stamina and mana. Even gates capped at ten people often took more than a day. A thirty-person entry limit? Standard practice was to budget two to three days for the clear. That was why Team 2 was waiting outside.

And yet they were charging forward with zero pacing?

Even for a contested clear, this is insane.

At this rate, the monsters won't be the ones getting hunted — we will.

Everyone's frustration had climbed to their throats, but no one dared mutiny. From the moment a Mir Guild raid was formed, absolute authority rested with the Raid Leader. Results and responsibility both belonged to him alone. Feedback came after the clear was done, and a poor evaluation could strip someone of the role — but in the field, the Raid Leader's word was law.

"Come on, people, put your backs into it. What, you only had thin porridge for breakfast?"

At Min Taesu's razor-edged voice, the raiders swallowed their complaints and focused on recovering. Otherwise they would never keep up with this murderous pace.

They ran for hours on end, mouths dry and bitter from the strain.

"Cavern spotted roughly a hundred and fifty meters ahead!"

A hunter with pathfinder-type abilities called out, face bright with relief.

"Ah."

"Finally."

The raiders' faces lit up as well. The end of hours of forced marching ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was finally in sight. Even Min Taesu's expression loosened with ease.

"See? You could do it."

"There's a human presence, though."

"W-what?!"

Damn it. That was impossible.

Min Taesu's mouth fell open. The guild's strategy team had assessed this gate as nearly impossible to clear in a single day. They had pushed through with barely any rest, accepting injuries along the way, and still raced all the way here. He had been certain they would leave Minho in the dust and claim an easy win.

"No!"

Eyes bloodshot once more, Min Taesu bellowed and sprinted ahead.

"Raid Leader! There are monsters up front!"

"You idiot! We're about to lose the boss and you want me to just stand here?!"

He was furious. Could they not even grasp the situation? Victory in a contested clear was decided by who took down the boss monster. His own side had pushed this hard — Minho's group couldn't possibly be in peak condition either. If they had already started the boss raid, it was only because they were terrified of losing it and had forced themselves forward.

Then we exploit the opening and kill the boss ourselves!

That they couldn't even come up with a solution this simple made him want to curse their stupidity, but he held it in. This was a time for action, not lectures. Once he snatched the boss, the raiders would understand his grand vision and applaud.

"Shiiisss!"

A swarm of Black Spiders blocked the path.

"Get lost!!"

He cleaved through a Black Spider in a single stroke and was about to charge into the cavern where the boss waited when—

Thuk!

A monster that hadn't died from the blow sank its fangs into the top of his foot. It had aimed for a relatively weak point. The magically reinforced boot tore ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠open, and venom seeped into his body.

"Get the hell off meeee!!!"

He flailed both arms wildly, batting the Black Spiders aside. Every swing of his sword sent blue energy scattering in all directions. Using Mana Release without any restraint, the waste was enormous. A mind warped by status ailments and jealousy could not make sound judgments.

Somehow, worming through every tiny gap, he forced his way past the monsters.

At last, the cavern at the end of the tunnel came into view. Ten more steps and the boss monster would be waiting.

I'll cut past those exhausted fools and take the boss down myself!

He couldn't even feel the pain from the wound on his foot anymore. He was driving himself forward, one hard stride at a time, when—

KRAAAAAAANG!

A sudden ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blast of scorching wind roared out from the end of the tunnel and sent Min Taesu tumbling across the ground.

"Gahk!"

Coughing dryly, Min Taesu pushed himself up. At the tunnel's end, waves of searing heat shimmered in the air.

Just what the hell was going on in there?!

In a panic, he staggered into the cavern.

Clang!

The ring of metal echoed from a side tunnel. I didn't deliberate long.

"Let's finish this in one shot."

Whoever cut the boss monster's throat won. I had no interest in bungling the raid and handing the credit to the Mir Guild.

【Scrolls. I think we should use them all.】

"Not much choice."

Fireball scrolls at about five million won a piece. It hurt, but with a time attack hanging over us, I decided to spend them without hesitation.

The silver lining was that the Black Spiders lingering inside the cavern weren't coming out first. That gave Ingrid plenty of time to prepare her magic.

Alright. Big one incoming.

KRAAAAAANG!

Crackkk!

I'd used the unleashed Wind Cutters to contain the blast radius, but the explosive force was so overwhelming that some of the shock still carried out into the tunnel beyond the cavern.

"Good thing this is a gate."

I'd said the same thing when we first entered, but watching an explosion shake the entire cavern brought the thought right back. Without that, the whole place would have collapsed and killed us all.

Whoa. Look at that sweet, sweet exp.

Blasting through a C-class gate had the experience flowing in at an entirely different rate. I'd barely been promoted a month and I was already lining up the qualifications for the next tier. My leveling speed was straight-up warp drive.

"Now this is hunting."

Ahh. So easy. So comfortable.

One spell and the boss monster was wiped out along with everything else. Contested gate clear: victory secured.

【I feel rather dizzy. Might I lean on you a moment, Master?】

【Witch. Do not try anything untoward.】

【Listen here, iron-skull. When you hit mana exhaustion, of course you don't have any strength left.】

I caught the swaying Ingrid lightly. Honestly, she was nothing but bones, so she really did weigh almost nothing.

【Begone! How dare you commit such shameless acts.】

【Ohoho. Then why don't you try butchering a whole swarm of monsters in one go yourself?】

【Krrrngh!】

Dame Isra ground her teeth in pure frustration. If she cracked a tooth doing that, it'd just mean more work for me — maybe ease up a little?

Even after the explosion died down, residual heat left the cavern sweltering. I looked around. In the center of the cavern lay a monster's corpse, alone and abandoned. Not a scrap of life remained in the Black Spider Mother, charred pitch-black.

"Kind of a shame."

The boss monster's body. Cooked well-done — useless as material for undead crafting. At least the loot drop was intact, so that was something.

A leather armor set, black as night. The item dropped by the Black Spider Mother.

【Oh! Splendid options indeed!】

"Is Silent Step really that good?"

【It lessens the chance of my lord being exposed to danger — the finest of abilities!】

【Used in the shadows, even enemies won't notice you easily.】

Ah. So that was why they were cheering.

"Tch."

I wasn't thrilled about the reason they liked it, but it was a solid item, no question. Hard as iron yet light, and it didn't snag on movement at all.

Vulnerable to fire attacks? You couldn't have everything. Just dodge the flames, right?

"Finished products don't drop often. Luck's on our side."

【Is this sword not a finished product as well?】

"That's because the boss monster was actually using it."

Unused gear dropping as a complete finished product was rare.

Eheheh. Yeah. Every now and then, fortune had to smile like this.

I hadn't gotten the boss's corpse, but scoring a finished suit of armor was more than enough.

"Alright, time to head ou—"

"PARK MINHOOOOO!!!!"

A roar thick with pure rage. At the same moment, I saw Min Taesu — hair wild, sword raised high — charging straight at us.