Chapter 24
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Distorted Prophecy (2)
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The hunters who had entered the gate gathered in their respective guilds or with familiar allies and scanned their surroundings.
Kang Sa-hu stood with his own group as well, staying vigilant while frowning as he alternated between the pre-printed gate information and their current environment.
"Something's off."
"...Right? It's not just me misunderstanding, is it?"
Kim Ho-myeong let out a groan as he gazed at the towering cliffs rising high on both sides of where they stood.
They were so tall that even though light was filtering in, no direct rays reached their position.
The other hunters shared the same thought, and soon murmurs began to ripple through the group.
"What the hell? Was the gate we signed up for supposed to lead here?"
"No way. I definitely heard it was a grassland."
"Damn it, what is this?"
As the anxious murmurs amplified their unease,
a man clad in plate armor emblazoned with the characters for "Strongest" clapped his hands sharply—clap clap.
Naturally, all eyes turned to him, and he seized the attention to raise his voice.
"Everyone, stay calm. No need to panic. It's just a C-rank gate, right? And everyone here, including myself as an S-rank Awakener, is at least B-rank."
The restless murmurs gradually died down at his words.
Especially the part about it being a "C-rank gate" with "B-rank and higher hunters"—it reassured them that the gate was below their personal awakening ranks.
"Yeah! So what if it's a gate? It's only C-rank!"
"Our guild master is an S-rank hunter!"
"Woooah!"
The Strongest Guild hunters cheered in response, raising a shout.
Kang Sa-hu, who had been watching quietly, suddenly sensed something on his senses and whipped his head around.
"What's up, boss?"
Bae Deok-ho, who had been smirking at the Strongest Guild master Choi Kyung-min's speech, reacted to Kang Sa-hu's movement.
"Hold on a sec."
As he answered, green and blue glows began to flicker in Kang Sa-hu's eyes.
Bae Deok-ho flinched involuntarily at the sight and took a step back without thinking.
He knew Kang Sa-hu wouldn't harm him, but those eyes instinctively sent chills down his spine and shook his mind with fear.
"Boss...?"
Bae Deok-ho called out cautiously, but Kang Sa-hu scowled as he scanned the empty air with his glowing eyes.
As he turned his head to continue searching, his gaze suddenly locked onto one spot.
At the end of his line of sight was a cave hidden between the cliffs.
"...That."
As he focused on it and spoke, his group and Han Si-yeon, who was nearby, looked at him curiously.
Kang Ji-ye, seeing his eyes, startled and tried to speak, but Kang Sa-hu's shout came first.
"Enemies!"
Choi Kyung-min, who had been speaking nonstop with all eyes on him, and the hunters watching froze at the yell and turned to Kang Sa-hu.
Kang Sa-hu pointed at the spot he was staring at and shouted.
"Living creatures approaching from over there. Monsters, most likely."
The hunters' gazes focused where he pointed.
Those with hunting experience instantly gripped their weapons, swallowed hard, and prepared for combat at any moment.
But even as time passed, no monsters emerged from that direction.
The most impatient hunter turned to Kang Sa-hu with a scowl.
"Coming? What coming—"
Thud!
The moment he dropped his guard and turned his head, leaving himself briefly defenseless, a spear flew in and pierced him from shoulder to hip.
"Gaaahhh!"
His scream was the signal—spears and man-sized rocks rained down fiercely from the cliffs and hidden spots.
Kang Sa-hu, who had warned of the enemies' position before the attack and prepared his necromancer spell, finished his incantation, pulled out a soul core, and tossed it.
Skeletal Forest Lizards emerged.
At his gesture, the bones tangled crudely to form fabric, and bone frames rose at each corner, creating a tent made of bone.
"Mr. Bae Deok-ho!!"
"Got it!"
At Kang Sa-hu's call, Bae Deok-ho widened his eyes and nocked an arrow.
With a twang from his fingers, the arrow flew toward the cliff.
The other hunters counterattacking stared as if wondering what pointless act this was—but their expressions soon turned to shock.
Boom!
A single arrow embedded in the cliff, yet the surrounding area exploded entirely, crumbling the cliffside.
With no hunters below, Bae Deok-ho had freely unleashed his skill, [Exploding Arrow], and its power was tremendous.
Rumble rumble!
The rocky cliff left a crater behind as debris rained down.
And with it, three monsters tumbled down, got to their feet, and charged at the hunters.
"Th-they're here!"
"You monster bastards—!"
The hunters facing their attackers exploded in rage and struck back.
Fireballs and ice chunks flew; a swordsman sliced off a monster's limb.
Perhaps from the impact of the fall, the unidentified monsters didn't block or dodge—they took the hits head-on.
But astonishingly, despite all the attacks, the monsters' bodies remained intact, without cuts or blasts.
"Wh-what?!"
Stunned by the impossible scene, the hunters stared blankly at the monsters.
The monsters seemed equally baffled, examining their arms and bodies with dumbfounded expressions.
And then.
"Ku... Kuhaha—!"
"Woo brak ta!"
The monsters bellowed in booming voices and charged at the hunters.
Unlike their initial cautious wariness, these were ferocious attacks brimming with confidence.
"Over there too!"
To make matters worse, the other monsters who had only been throwing objects from the cliffs now descended upon seeing this.
Some, impatient with climbing, chose to leap down.
Yet astonishingly, even as they smashed into the ground with bones piercing skin, their bodies regenerated swiftly, restoring their original forms.
"Oppa..."
Kang Ji-ye grabbed Kang Sa-hu's sleeve with a frightened face.
Kang Sa-hu calmly assessed the situation to make a judgment.
Terrain blocked by cliffs, hard for group combat.
Monsters continually descending from above.
And hunters whose morale was crumbling.
The conditions for battle were far from ideal.
"Everyone, run—!"
At someone's shout, the hunters bolted in retreat as if they'd been waiting for it.
Watching them flee, Kang Sa-hu pulled out a soul core and summoned new monsters.
Woof woof!
"Kyaa!"
Lee Yu-rim screamed in shock as a massive dog, nearly 3 meters tall on all fours, suddenly appeared.
Han Si-yeon, who hadn't escaped yet, and the nineteen soldier hunters who had entered with her also recoiled in alarm, turning their weapons.
"My summon. Everyone, get on board for now."
"S-summon...? B-but last time I saw it, it didn't look like this...?"
Han Si-yeon gaped at the Giant Hound Kang Sa-hu had summoned.
Or rather, it no longer looked like a mere Giant Hound.
Its fur grew long like its massive build, its muzzle elongated like a wolf's, and its teeth jutted out sharply, each as thick as a person's leg.
It was no longer a dog or wolf—it was monstrous.
The people hesitated in shock, but Kang Sa-hu loaded his group onto the Giant Hound first, starting with Kang Ji-ye.
Its size allowed five people comfortably on one.
Confirming Han Si-yeon and the nineteen soldier hunters aboard, Kang Sa-hu gestured at the bone tent—it collapsed with a rumble.
The scattered bones flew at his command to the legs of those riding the Giant Hounds.
Before they could even be surprised, the bones connected beneath the Giant Hounds, soon wrapping around their bellies in a full loop.
"Hunter Kang Sa-hu! What's this?!"
"To keep you from falling off. Hold on tight."
Answering Second Lieutenant Han Si-yeon's question, Kang Sa-hu willed the command, and the Giant Hounds kicked off with their hind legs, surging forward.
Their leg strength was incredible—faces distorted by the wind, bodies thrown back—only then did the riders understand the bone restraints.
"Kutero! Bakraka tu!"
"Kuuooo—!"
The monsters chasing the fleeing hunters bellowed and pursued.
Over 2 meters tall and bulging with muscle—they seemed slow, but their speed was anything but.
Observing them closely, Kang Sa-hu spotted the names floating above their heads.
"Trolls...?"
These were completely different from the orcs listed in the gate data.
And with his elite hunters fleeing without landing a proper hit, Kang Sa-hu sensed something had gone gravely wrong.
"B-boss! Ahead, ahead!"
As Kang Sa-hu tried to grasp the situation, Bae Deok-ho yelled, pointing forward.
Ahead, trolls who had given up chasing the earlier hunters now poised to attack them.
"What do we do?! Should I shoot?!"
Bae Deok-ho, readying another [Exploding Arrow], shouted to Kang Sa-hu in front of him, but he shook his head.
"No. Better to capture those ones."
"...Huh?!"
Han Si-yeon, listening silently, gasped in shock.
But Kang Sa-hu ignored her, commanding the riderless Giant Hounds.
Receiving his will, they raced forward from behind, leaping at the weapon-wielding trolls in attack stance.
"Kuooaa—!"
Grrr!
A clash of power between troll and Giant Hound.
The Giant Hound lunged with jaws wide enough to swallow a troll whole—but incredibly, the troll withstood the bite force greater than its own size, straining its arms to hold.
It even braced stationary against the gale-force kickback, muscles bulging across its body.
"Kuh, kuka—a!"
Though smaller, the troll grinned savagely, veins bulging on its forehead, confident it could win in raw strength.
But that lasted only a moment—bewilderment crossed the trolls' faces at the sudden anomaly in their bodies.
Crack crack, rip!
Snap!
Bones rampaged inside, shredding muscle.
The trolls' immense regeneration tried to restore flesh and bone, but as their bodies crumbled faster, the Giant Hound's jaws began to close.
"Kuka—!"
With limbs shattering internally, the troll was finally clamped in the Giant Hound's maw.
Per Kang Sa-hu's willed command, it didn't swallow—instead, like a dog carrying a toy, the Giant Hounds pursued his group ahead with trolls in their teeth.
"Kruuk! Kuooo—!"
The trolls thrashed and screamed, firmly gripped by the Giant Hounds' fangs.
Hearing the cries, Kang Sa-hu knew they were signals calling allies to rescue them—but that was exactly what he wanted.
'Either way, we have to save the hunters.'
He wasn't so callous as to ignore whether the other gate participants lived or died.
'Our mobility gives us the overwhelming edge, so we're safe. Just enough to keep us out of danger.'
Kang Sa-hu gently stroked the head of his Giant Hound.
'Scatter the trolls and take them down one by one.'
Feeling his intent and touch, the Giant Hound wagged its tail happily as it ran.