Chapter 170: The Worst Possible Matchup
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 170: The Worst Possible Matchup
That alone was enough to render the S-rank hunter Arthur’s attacks completely useless.
The other Alterz hunters who witnessed this stared with wide, astonished eyes.
“Th-This can’t be!”
A flustered Arthur began to unleash a flurry of attacks on Ahyu.
With each strike, his blade failed to leave so much as a scratch on her body, swinging uselessly through the air.
A cold sweat began to form on Arthur’s brow.
He stared blankly at Ahyu, his face pale with shock, as if he were looking at something that should not exist in this world.
“Ten seconds.”
And just as Ahyu announced the time with an expression full of boredom, Arthur was sent flying into the air.
Crash, thud, thud, thwack!
After hitting the ground, Arthur tumbled several more times before finally coming to a stop.
“Gack, ugh, gurgle.”
He began to tremble, spitting up blood as if his internal organs had been damaged.
“I don’t know why such worthless things are making such a fuss. You’re even weaker than the Namgung I fought recently.”
Ahyu glanced at Arthur with a pathetic look, as if he wasn’t even worth fighting, then trotted over to me.
The expression on her face seemed to say, ‘I did good, right?’ so I decided to pat her on the head.
“Heehee.”
It was amazing how she, who had been the very picture of the Heavenly Demon just a moment ago, could become so gentle in front of me.
“You can go ahead and treat him.”
I gestured toward Arthur while speaking to Pentagon, who had been watching us cautiously.
Pentagon let out a sigh of relief and sent a healing-type hunter over to him.
He wasn't dead, so they should be able to save him somehow.
Though for the time being, he’d probably run away with his tail between his legs whenever he saw a returnee.
“My apologies. Arthur is new to the hunter world and doesn’t know any better. He was rude.”
“We were a bit harsh ourselves. I understand why he would be upset.”
As I said this, I wrapped an arm around Ahyu’s shoulder.
Knowing it was a sign of approval, Ahyu happily rubbed her cheek against my shoulder.
“Is your business here finished?”
“...Yes.”
Pentagon backed away, having clearly understood what it meant when we said we didn’t need support.
It was a relief that at least one person from Alterz was quick on the uptake and flexible.
“Well then, we’ll be on our way.”
As I started to walk, the three of them immediately followed.
The members of Alterz could only stare blankly after us.
Not all returnees were like us, of course.
Feeling a little sorry that they had the misfortune of running into us, we headed for the next floor.
*
After that, we continued to clear floor after floor.
Before we knew it, we had passed the 20th floor.
Looking up, I saw countless black buildings soaring into the sky.
The sky was dark.
Just a floor ago, there had been bright sunlight, but now it was night.
‘A person would go crazy in no time if they stayed here.’
There was a limit to how much a person could adapt to such constantly changing environments.
“Seol-hyang.”
Just then, Eunhyeon, who had been continuously using her detection ability, called for us to stop.
Sensing she had felt something, everyone turned to look at her. Eunhyeon was staring at a particular building.
“They’re over there.”
The moment I heard her words, Thunderbolt was in my hand.
“I’ll bring it down.”
Immediately, red sparks began to fly from Thunderbolt.
Having already loaded a Brain Thunder created with my severing technique, I pulled the trigger.
KRA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-BOOM!
A storm of red electricity flew out and struck the building.
At that moment, two figures shot out, piercing through the electric storm.
“I’ll take one of them.”
While I was loading the next Brain Thunder, Ahyu transformed into Cheon Hong-ryeon and leaped into the air.
Her skirt fluttering, Ahyu flew forward, a sword now in her hand.
As she clashed with one of the figures, the other one was flying toward us.
“To think it would come straight to us.”
In that instant, Seol-hyang, wearing black gloves, and Eunhyeon, with her nine tails unfurled, stood in front of me.
CLANG!
The pitch-black figure was blocked by an opaque barrier created by Eunhyeon.
Seeing this, Seol-hyang immediately thrust her arm forward, her fist wreathed in formless energy.
CRACK!
Seol-hyang’s fist collided with the pitch-black figure, and it rolled across the ground.
As Eunhyeon took out her spirit staff, I aimed Thunderbolt at the creature.
“...Bones?”
Seol-hyang flexed her hand, an odd expression on her face from the sensation of the impact.
Hearing her, I stared ahead as a gust of wind blew, shaking the dark figure.
In that moment, a pure white skeleton was revealed beneath the black silhouette.
It was a dimensional entity, though its form was slightly different from a human’s. It looked at us and clicked its teeth together.
“...A skeleton?”
They were a type of dimensional entity often found in fantasy dimensions, so I was puzzled.
The black silhouette once again overlaid the creature’s body.
“It’s likely from a ruined dimension, a world of the dead,” Baeksan said, having recognized it.
A ruined dimension.
Hearing those words, I understood what he meant.
“...Baeksan, if the Tower of Revelation disappears, does that mean...”
“I don’t know everything.”
It wasn’t as if Baeksan had observed every single dimension.
“However, of all the dimensions where the Tower of Revelation vanished, not a single one survived intact.”
The importance of the Tower of Revelation hit me all at once.
“Click-clack-”
The sound of teeth clicking came from the black figure again.
And I now understood what they wanted from the Tower of Revelation.
‘Do they want to save their own ruined dimension?’
I didn’t know if such a method was even possible.
But one thing was certain: they were our enemies.
I immediately fired the loaded Brain Thunder.
KRA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-BOOM!
A bolt of red lightning shot forward and engulfed the black figure.
The moment it saw my lightning, two pitch-black swords shot out from between the figure’s arms.
CRACK!
In that instant, my red lightning was split in two.
Seeing such a bizarre sight—lightning being cut—it seemed to possess some kind of special ability.
At that moment, Seol-hyang and Eunhyeon charged forward.
“Kang Ha-chan, you hold this thing’s weakness.”
I tossed Thunderbolt aside and gripped Bazra.
Just as Baeksan said, I held its weakness.
Crackle—
Red lightning sparked across my body.
I had been training relentlessly to improve my aura proficiency.
CRACK!
Simultaneously, just like with the Brain Thunder, I cleanly severed the aura enveloping my body in half.
‘Fifty percent.’
It wasn’t a perfect average output, but I had reached a level where I could cut my full output in half.
My physical abilities were rapidly amplified, and I immediately kicked off the ground.
Fzzt-zzzt!
With a burst of red sparks, my figure blurred.
Closing the distance in a single bound, I saw the black figure confronting Seol-hyang and Eunhyeon.
The moment it spotted me, it swung its sword, but that was a foolish move.
My arm was already extending toward its blade.
CRACK!
With a flash of sparks, my hand lightly touched the flat of its sword.
In that instant, a crack spread from the point of contact, and the creature’s blade shattered completely.
“Click-clack-”
A startled sound came from the black figure.
Even if it possessed intelligence, it was still a dimensional entity.
Against my ability, it was the worst possible matchup.
And so, after shattering its sword, I grabbed its head.
CRUNCH!
The black silhouette tore apart as a crack starting from its skull spread throughout its entire body.
KRA-JEE-JEE-JEE-JEE-JEE-JEE-JEE!
With that, the skeleton shattered into bony fragments that scattered across the ground.
As I let out a breath, the sound of something crashing down echoed from a distance.
I looked up to see that Ahyu had completely torn apart the other black figure and subdued it.
I had trusted Ahyu, which was why I had focused on defeating the other dimensional entity.
One was enough to get information about Heuksan.
“Ahyu.”
As I called out to her and approached, she looked over at me, her foot pressing down on the black figure.
“I don’t know if it’s possible to get any information out of this thing.”
Ahyu looked down at the black figure and asked, seeming as if it couldn’t even feel pain. I felt troubled as well.
The skeleton visible through the scattered black silhouette was clearly a dimensional entity.
The only difference was that it possessed intelligence.
‘They were probably waiting here to block any support coming from behind.’
We could handle this, but if it had been Alterz, they might have suffered heavy losses.
“Don’t worry. I can do it.”
Just then, Seol-hyang knelt before the skeleton Ahyu had subdued.
Then, her gloved hand began to draw something in the air.
As I watched with wide eyes, Seol-hyang clapped her hands together as if she were finished.
In that instant, a single, jade-colored star formed between her hands.
“Is that...”
“I borrowed a part of the Crown. With this, I can peek into its recent memories.”
With those words, Seol-hyang placed it on the black figure’s forehead.
“Of course, the target will be destroyed in the process.”
What a terrifying ability.
But unlike me, Eunhyeon and Ahyu seemed accustomed to it.
It meant she must have used it often in front of them.
The star disappeared into the skeleton’s head.
JOLT!
The skeleton gave a massive shudder.
It was as if all its memories were being sucked out.
As I watched in fascination, the star, now turned pitch-black, rose from the motionless skeleton’s forehead.
Seol-hyang took the star in her hand and clenched her fist around it.
She winced for a moment, then opened her eyes.
“Baeksan has already passed through. It seems the other two took the Castle Lord with them.”
“They didn’t catch Baeksan?”
“It seems they couldn’t.”
Well, Heuksan was only like that in front of Baeksan; she was powerful in her own right.
They wouldn’t have been able to catch her with enemies of this level.
“The problem is, these two are just minions. The real threats are almost certainly the two who went ahead.”
Hearing that, I looked at Seol-hyang.
“Can we catch up to them?”
“Yes, judging by their skill level, it shouldn’t be difficult. But there is one thing that bothers me.”
Seol-hyang frowned slightly and looked ahead.
“The part about their objective is completely obscured, as if hidden behind a veil.”
“So they’re involved too.”
It seemed this was also being concealed by the Tower of Revelation.
“Alright. Then let’s go find Baeksan first.”
At my words, everyone nodded.
At the same time, Ahyu’s camellia petals descended upon the skeleton’s body, and it disintegrated into dust.
Watching it disappear, we immediately began to move toward the next floor.