Chapter 25
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Divide and Conquer (1)
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A sheer, impossibly steep cliff.
Below it—a drop that would claim any human climber's life—Giant Hounds carrying the hunters leaped upward.
“Uwaaaack!”
“Uwaaaaa!”
A chorus of screams erupted from the hunters clinging to the Giant Hounds' backs.
Even after reaching the top, the shock lingered for some soldiers, who kept screaming.
“G-Get a grip! We're up, we're up!”
Han Si-yeon shouted in a trembling voice.
Only when his direct superior yelled did the screaming soldier snap out of it and clamp his mouth shut.
Meanwhile, Kang Sa-hu inspected the three trolls the Giant Hounds had brought in their jaws.
“Mr. Kang Sa-hu? Why haven't you killed them yet?”
Han Si-yeon asked in horror, but Kang Sa-hu replied nonchalantly.
“To gather intel.”
“...I-Intel?”
As she blinked in confusion, he turned as if to say seeing was believing, displaying the trolls' conditions and beginning his explanation.
“As you can see, these things fully regenerate even if you break their bones or tear their muscles—in less than a minute.”
He demonstrated on a troll pinned like it was undergoing Joseon-era five-ox dismemberment, its limbs and head held fast in the Giant Hounds' jaws, while casting various spells.
In an instant, bones pierced skin, flesh burst open, neck vertebrae snapped—the troll mangled in every gruesome way imaginable.
But the troll's agonized screams lasted only a moment.
Like a video playing in reverse, it regained its form, and the witnesses' faces filled with horror.
“So that's why... To kill them, we probably need to decapitate or destroy the heart.”
With a mental command, one Giant Hound tore into a troll's chest.
Even immobilized, its tough hide and muscles made it take time for the Giant Hound to bite through.
Finally, it ripped out the heart with its teeth and gulped it down.
“Kwaaaack!”
The troll thrashed in scream as its heart was torn free, then slumped lifelessly.
Kang Sa-hu sent another command, and the Giant Hounds swarmed the corpse, devouring it.
He continued, scanning the speechless group.
“Fighting these in a group is suicide. We have to spread them out and take them down one by one.”
“...I agree completely.”
Han Si-yeon nodded gravely.
The others hadn't spoken, but their faces had paled at the trolls' recovery and strength.
“If even the party leader struggles this much... the other hunters...”
Lee Yu-rim murmured quietly as she listened, prompting Kang Ji-ye to yelp in realization.
“R-Right! Oppa! The other hunters!”
“Yeah. They're in danger. We need to rescue them fast.”
The gate had ambushed them right on entry, revealing the trolls' terrifying physical prowess—the hunt's difficulty was hellish from the start.
“Then, Hunter Kang Sa-hu, do you have a plan for picking them off individually?”
“Yes. Riding these guys should make it possible.”
Kang Sa-hu stroked a Giant Hound's head as he answered Han Si-yeon.
Seeing the ferocious beast close its eyes contentedly and wag its tail under his touch, she broke into a cold sweat.
“Oh yeah, Oppa! How'd these become Devourers? Did you turn them during those three days in the F-rank gate last time?”
Kang Ji-ye asked, stroking the scruff of a Giant Hound she disliked, and Kang Sa-hu nodded.
“Devourers...?”
Lee Yu-rim asked curiously, and Kang Ji-ye nodded back.
“Yeah. Devourers—or Po-sik-gwi—are the pinnacle of summons that live by consuming other creatures' flesh, blood, and bones. Sis, you know ghouls?”
At the mention of a famous fantasy monster, Lee Yu-rim nodded blankly.
Kang Ji-ye nodded in response and continued.
“Ghouls keep rotting no matter how much flesh they eat or blood they suck. They're high-ranking among Devourers, but still leagues below true Devourers. That's how hard they are to make.”
Realizing she sounded like she was bragging about her brother with all eyes on her, Kang Ji-ye wrapped up.
The info was dense, but with hunters needing rescue from trolls, they buried their questions deep.
“So, do you have a plan in mind? We'll follow Hunter Kang Sa-hu's strategy.”
Any viable plan would rely on his Giant Hounds anyway, so Han Si-yeon pledged her obedience first.
Kang Sa-hu nodded and outlined his strategy.
“First off, I have 30 Giant Hounds total. And as you saw, they can scale cliffs.”
Normally, Giant Hounds couldn't climb cliffs.
These could thanks to three nonstop days in the F-rank gate turning them into Devourers, then feeding them Forest Lizards to gain muscle-and-bone reconfiguration.
Skipping the details, Kang Sa-hu pressed on.
“With cliff-scaling, this terrain favors us. We'll hunt pursuers, or drag trolls one by one. Process them to thin their numbers.”
No one objected.
The explanation was clear, leaving no room for questions, so they nodded silently.
“Any questions or objections?”
Seeing no raised hands, he nodded.
“Then we'll execute now.”
“These crazy bastards! What the hell are these bodies made of?!”
A top guild hunter despaired, watching his ultimate skill heal instantly on a troll.
An A-rank Awakener who'd gained three skills hunting gates, yet even perfect hits only briefly pained the trolls before bones realigned and muscles regrew.
Worse, they seemed to adapt to pain—no more flinching after enduring attacks—plunging the hunters into despair.
“C-rank, my ass! Is this really C-rank?! This skill took down an E-rank gate boss!”
A terrified, unhinged hunter screamed in shock as his trump card fizzled uselessly.
But his doubt was reasonable.
E-rank bosses were min E to max C-rank monsters, so a C-rank skill should work on C-rank trolls.
And it did—collapsing arms, crushing legs, lethal to C-ranks.
The issue: the trolls' insane recovery and adaptation.
Other monsters would writhe in agony from mangled limbs till death.
But trolls regrew from skin to bone, and adapted to any pain within recovery range—synergy from hell.
Plus, these weren't C-rank—they were B-rank.
Ignorant, the hunter could only scream his helplessness.
Meanwhile, the approaching troll grinned and swung its club.
Splat!
“Kyaaaack!”
The struck hunter flew like baggage, smashing into a wall.
Such force cracked the wall, stones tumbling down.
“No! Where's the front line?! Block properly?!”
“How do you block this?! Attack team, hit harder! They're swarming!”
The holy knight frontliner, shield and mace in hand, barely blocked a troll's attack and spat blood.
He'd perfectly shielded the axe, but the shock rattled his guts.
“Kuh, kuhek! Uuek!”
Kneeling and retching, he saw the troll's hand rise again before he recovered.
Death flashed in his mind.
Damn it! Mom! Dad!
Huddled on his knee, shield over head, tears of terror streamed—no shame registered.
Woof woof!
As death loomed and he trembled, barking echoed.
A dog? Now?
The clear bark neared, then a troll screamed.
Peeking past his shield, he gaped.
Five massive dogs—source unknown—bit and pinned the thrashing troll.
As he stared blankly, Kang Ji-ye on one dog's back yelled.
“What are you doing?! Get back!”
Startled, he tried rising—agony shot from his ankle.
“M-My, my foot...!”
Glancing down, despair hit.
In the chaos, he'd ignored the pain—now he saw his ankle bone protruding through skin.
“A-Agh. I can't walk...!”
Assessing, Kang Ji-ye leaped off the Giant Hound and rushed to him.
A deep breath, eyes wide, mana surged—activating her skill.
Hand of Healing
Restores wounds and bones.
Placing her glowing hand on his ankle, the bone realigned, flesh regrew.
Soon movable, he marveled—but Kang Ji-ye had already turned away.
“Ho-myeong oppa! Over there, that way!”
She pointed at a troll charging other hunters; Kim Ho-myeong jumped off his Giant Hound, shield up, blocking its path.
The troll snorted derisively at the shielding man, then charged shoulder-first to smash through.
“Hup!”
Thud!
Shield met troll.
Expecting the shield to fly, the troll startled as it bounced off instead.
Kim Ho-myeong, using Weight Proportion, followed with his new Shock Reflection, shoving the shield forward.
Weight Proportion + Shock Reflection
Blocks and reflects impact based on mass differential.
Boom!
“Kreaaack!”
Its full-force impact rebounded, launching the troll back.
Seeing two allies repelled instantly, other trolls panicked and targeted the Giant Hounds.
But charging boldly, they halted as the sky darkened under swift storm clouds.
“Tr, Trkadu? Keruta!”
Black darkness blanketed the heavens; inexplicable terror crawled up their spines to their brains.
Searching the fear's source, their eyes locked on a figure atop a Giant Hound on the cliff—staring down impassively.
Left eye glowing blue.
Right eye green.
Kang Sa-hu regarded them coldly.
“Kr, krwack!”
The trolls tried roaring to loosen stiffened muscles.
Or thought they did.
Screams burst instead.
As Kang Sa-hu mouthed his spell amid the trolls drowning in fear, he cast it with their cries.
"Soul Annihilation."
⟨ 혼멸 (Soul Extinction) ⟩
“......!”
The spell tore the souls of fear-stricken trolls to shreds.
Like a child ripping paper in a tantrum—wild, random—their souls shredded, jaws agape, chattering.
The soul linked spirit and mind—unrelated to flesh, irreparable.
Thud!
The soul-shredded troll collapsed limply.
Breathing, seeing, but soulless—brain-dead.
In an instant, Kang Sa-hu's magic felled alive the seven trolls crumbling the top guild.