Take China's Hand
“Why not come out instead of skulking about?”
Wow.
They attacked first, and now they were ignoring us on top of it.
What a pack of rotten bastards.
“H-hyung?”
“Everyone, fall back behind me.”
Whoever they were, they had shattered Ingrid’s shield in a single strike while completely concealing their presence. The support team stood no chance against power like that.
“Are you unharmed?”
“They weren’t aiming at me, so yeah.”
The Armed Zombie Strengthened Soldiers formed ranks. The uncustomized minions. I called out Zaug as well, the one inhabiting an Armed Zombie Warrior.
“Thief. Guard your lord even if it costs you your life.”
“If so much as a single hair on Master’s head is harmed, I won’t let you hear the end of it.”
“Hiiieeeek!”
Whiiish!
The instant Zaug recoiled in terror, a volley of daggers came flying. Their blades had been painted pitch-black, nearly invisible in the gloom. Without Heavenly Martial Body, I never would have even registered them coming.
Clang!
Three daggers caught on the arc of a longsword and went spinning away. The rest of the volley clattered harmlessly off the Armed Zombie Warrior’s armor.
“The terrain favors the ambushers.”
Half-collapsed buildings everywhere. The Fallen were close-combat types, so they could be suppressed easily enough. The ambushers were another story. Look at them, peeking out from between the ruins and testing us with daggers. You call that tactics? Well… yeah, actually, that was exactly what it was.
“Ingrid.”
“Leave it to me.”
Signature Formula — Solar Eclipse
Lightning × 3
Wind Bomb × 3
Modification — Unbind
KRAKAKAKOW!
Blue lightning shattered into countless tiny fragments and fanned out in every direction. The killing power was almost nonexistent. The range, however, was staggering—lightning shards blanketed a full third of the Nest of the Fallen gate.
Tick! Tiktiktik!
Wherever static discharge crackled, people flickered into view one by one.
“You scattered lightning to search for them.”
“Figuring out the enemy’s numbers comes first, right?”
“A sound judgment.”
“My lords! There’s rather a lot of them, isn’t there?”
Ten in total. Every inch of skin was wrapped in black cloth. Gender, age—any feature that might identify them had been meticulously concealed.
“Six men. Four women.”
How could she even tell?
“One cannot fully hide the distinctive lines of the body. Not unless one wears full plate mail that smooths every curve.”
Sir Isra added that last part like an afterthought. Honestly, the fact that she could clock it at a glance was the more impressive part.
“Hunter Park Minho. We have a proposal for you.”
“Take the hand of the People’s Republic of China.”
“Do so, and we will spare your life.”
The voice was androgynous, reverberating as if several people were speaking in sequence.
They just kept coming with this stuff.
My answer was already decided.
“Eat this.”
I extended a carefully presented middle finger.
What?
China?
Not content with getting caught tailing us, they were escalating to a full ambush now?
“I’d rather die. Why the hell would I go with you?”
“He refuses the cup of honor and chooses the cup of punishment.”
“You have no choice.”
“Die, or throw yourself into the embrace of a great nation.”
Guess my sincerity had been a little lacking. I brought my idle left hand forward and stood the third finger straight up as well. Dual swords, dual pistols, and dual middle fingers—truly, the eternal truths of this world.
“Limbs can go. Just keep them breathing.”
“By your will.”
The Chinese hunters, black-clad and masked, sprang into action.
Pat! Pat!
The Chinese hunters vaulted across the ruins, closing the distance. Those in the rear drew magic staves.
Bless
Lesser Strength
Resist Up
Stacked buffs made the ambushers’ movements even sharper.
Crack! Crackle!
They flinched at the lightning mana still lingering in the air, yet maintained unnatural speed, weaving in jagged zigzags. Their agile footwork left almost no opening to attack.
“They’re not C-class hunter level!”
“Hyung! These guys are weird!”
The support team screamed.
“Individually, their specs sit a little below a knight of the order.”
The reinforced Armed Zombie Warriors were B-class hunter grade. “A little below” meant stronger than a maxed C-class, and just a shade weaker than a true B-class hunter.
“No need to keep them breathing.”
“I’ll wipe them out at full power.”
Signature Formula — Solar Eclipse
Fireball × 4
Wind Bomb × 3
Modification — Unbind
The same modified formula as the lightning scatter. The result was entirely different. Rather than spreading wide the way a single bolt of lightning had, the explosive force within a fixed radius was maximized.
KWOOOOM!
Mana Release
Bowling Bash
Shhhraaak!
From the heart of the blast, a streak of vivid blue light surged upward. For a single instant mana was shoved left and right, and a Chinese hunter burst free of the explosion.
“A technique that dropped a C-class boss monster in one hit!”
Don’t be so shocked. More important than that—
The real problem was that they were using Mana Release.
The signature technique of B-class warriors. The fact that they had mastered a skill that required genuine insight was proof the Chinese hunters were B-class or higher. Just as Sir Isra used Mana Release to bridge the gap in her specs, these ones were using it to move beyond what their raw stats should allow.
“Witch Corps. Keep them from closing in.”
Lightning
Wind Cutter
Grease
Blue lightning crashed down. Invisible blades howled through the air. The friction coefficient of the ground under their feet dropped to zero. The Skeleton Mages’ spells landed exactly where they needed to—and then:
Ring of Protection — Built-in Skill: Reinforce Armor
Necklace of Resistance — Built-in Skill: Interference Nullification
Green radiance flared. The lightning died. Friction returned to normal.
Clang!
The Wind Cutters were canceled out by thrown daggers.
“Do not think such trifles can bind the feet of Turang.”
Turang?
First time hearing the name. They’d already blown their affiliation, so maybe they no longer cared. Still didn’t sit right with me.
“Fireball.”
I hadn’t been sitting around sucking my thumb either. With Heavenly Martial Body I predicted the Chinese hunters’ movements, and with Origin of Magic I adjusted the trajectory—just as Ingrid had—and lobbed a fireball at the perfect angle.
KWAANG!
The fireball detonated right in front of the Chinese hunters’ formation.
“Hmph. Just what you’d expect from a steamed-bun peasant.”
“Where exactly were you aiming?”
Don’t worry about it. It landed exactly where I wanted.
Physical Enhancement → Mana Release
Imperial Sword Style — Modified Isra Form
Third Form — Full Moon
A blade flashed out of the black smoke. The ambusher who had been sneering whipped his sword up in a frantic block.
Clang!
Sparks sprayed in every direction.
“Fighting with one’s mouth is an unseemly habit.”
“You’re not even strong enough!”
Even with a peerless technique that carried the insight of ascension, her specs still fell short of the Armed Zombie Strengthened Soldiers—she couldn’t cut him down. On the contrary, the moment the blades met, Sir Isra was forced back a half-step.
“Do you truly believe that?”
Sir Isra leaned her lower body back as if yielding ground. Ingrid’s face lit up with a bright smile.
“Pretty angle.”
Signature Formula — Solar Eclipse
Lightning × 4
Wind Cutter × 3
Modification — Sever
Blades dyed electric blue and charged with lightning came screaming in.
Mana Reinforcement
Bowling Bash
Chasing Sir Isra forced him into an awkward change of stance. He batted the blue blades aside with the chain-impact technique Bowling Bash—but
Seogeogeok—
one arm dropped to the floor.
“Not even a scream. They appear to have received considerable training.”
Sir Isra stepped back. Two-tenths of a second later, a spear of flame punched into the spot she had just vacated. It was the same magic the Fallen Spirit Medium had used, only superior in both destructive power and accuracy.
“Force the breakthrough.”
The Chinese hunter who had lost his arm glared at me with bloodshot eyes. Being popular was exhausting. One of them was pinned down by Sir Isra, but the remaining five combat-class hunters had already closed to the Armed Zombie Warrior line.
“Draco.”
“Krrrr!”
Like dogs off the leash, both Dracos charged in with pure joy.
Mana Release
Spike Thrust
Mana-reinforced spikes drove into Draco’s shoulders.
“Krrrrrrr!”
The moment Draco growled low and started to open its jaws, the Chinese hunter yanked his weapon free and rapidly opened distance again.
Of course. They’d already gathered intel on me.
Fine. The information they collected is probably due for an update.
Dead Doping
Imperial Axe Style
Whoooom!
Doped strength erupted all at once. A bone axe heaved high overhead came crashing down—axe work refined from the Imperial Sword Style. With the passive skill Brute Strength layered under Heavenly Martial Body correction, the strike was clean enough to belong to a master.
Needle Burst
Blade met axe edge. The one driven back was the Armed Zombie Warrior—the product of a mana burst stacked with a skill.
Crrrack—
In exchange, the Chinese hunter’s arm broke. Cheap, compared to the price of a life.
Bone that had jutted through flesh slid smoothly back into place.
Look at that healing speed.
“Haaah!”
“Guuuuuuh!”
The Armed Zombie Warriors, who had been holding a defensive stance, advanced in lockstep.
“This humble one shall protect the Great Lord!”
Is that what you call protecting? Sure looked like he was hanging back and playing it safe. Probably just my imagination.
Clang! Claclclang!
The Chinese hunters pressed without pause, scattering blue particles with every strike. Specs a shade short of B-class? Mana Release didn’t merely close the gap—it overtook it. The Armed Zombie Strengthened Soldiers weathered the storm with their trademark durability, and skills like Dead Doping kept stacking damage through latent power explosions. But then:
Cure
Great Heal
Supporters in the rear patched injuries almost as fast as they appeared. The only wound that stuck was the arm Sir Isra had severed. The Chinese hunter missing that arm prowled the battlefield halfheartedly, lobbing daggers, his gaze fixed on me the entire time. The second I showed an opening, he’d come for my throat like a knife.
“Krrrrr!”
Both Dracos kicked off a wall and leapt. Their speed and agility didn’t yield an inch to the Chinese hunters’. Their three-dimensional movement was almost identical to their original model, the ghoul. Just as they tried to race past the assault toward the rear—
Ice Wall
“Kkyaeng!”
They slammed headfirst into an ice wall that erupted from the ground.
KRAK!
A Mana Release–enhanced blow cracked the sturdy armor.
Built-in Skill: Heal
Wooooom!
The armor was part of the undead body. Infuse it with vitality and it mended in moments.
Stored Vitality — 82%
Already burned through nearly a fifth of it. Felt like pouring water into a bottomless jar.
“I’ll save the vitality. Better to heal you, Sir.”
“No. Do not.”
Sir Isra shook her head.
“Holding the front line is more important.”
“My lord’s safety is paramount. Pour your strength into healing the knights.”
Right. If I went down, it was over immediately. Even in a war of attrition we were the ones at a disadvantage. A Necrosmith couldn’t instantly replenish undead. The Ring of Life would go dead the moment its stored vitality ran dry. And somehow I doubted the Chinese hunters’ mana would bottom out before then.
“Steamed-bun peasant. Allow us to correct that mouth of yours.”
They’d roughly sized up our situation too.
Wait.
Something about my two subordinates’ remarks sparked a single idea.
If I played it this way… I might be able to create a variable.