Chapter 204
Chapter 204
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: Horizon of Promise, Now I Go to You (5)
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13.
Baaaaang─────!
A deafening roar echoed through the desolate Gangbuk-gu.
That sound came from none other than the crown of Gong Min-young's head.
“Ow……! Why the hell?! That shit hurts like a bitch!”
“Want another one?”
“Annyeong……!”
Gong Min-young bit her tongue cutely and giggled again.
What the hell was so funny…….
Her black hair, which had a healthy sheen when we first met, was now frozen stiff with blood and sweat, and her face was flushed red from the cold.
“So it was your first kiss, huh?”
Baaaaang─────!
I smacked the top of Gong Min-young's head again, then checked my palm, feeling the sensation lingering on my hand.
The sensation was vivid.
Before I died, I hadn't felt anything.
I'm alive…… and back……?
According to Gong Min-young, I had really died three days ago. And I'd been in this half-frozen river the whole time.
I couldn't believe it…… But the evidence wasn't just the sensation.
[《Holy Flame Succession》: Humanity value (77,700) increased.]
- Current humanity value: 99,446
[《Holy Flame Succession》: Succession progress improved (99.4%)]
- Combat memory synchronization. (99.4%)
- Physical ability synchronization. (99.4%)
- Now, only one final task remains until official succession.
Ha…….
A hollow laugh escaped me.
I was really…… right in the middle of an unbelievable miracle.
A miracle created by my predecessors.
I could feel the holy flame they had personally bestowed upon me…… blazing fiercely in my heart.
The flame they trusted me with and entrusted to me.
I won't let that devotion go to waste…… As I reaffirmed my resolve, Gong Min-young spoke up.
“Oppa. This is yours, right? I took it off in case you got cold.”
What Gong Min-young handed me was.
A waterlogged dark coat, [Shadow Exoskeleton Battle Cloak], and the pitifully shattered [Corroded Old Guardian's Armor].
- Subordinate equipment……?
I gazed for a moment at those pieces of gear.
My faithful companions through all the hunts I'd done so far.
- Do you have to rely on such petty tricks to that extent? Are you that weak?
Petty tricks……?
Annoyingly, Choi Shin-yul was right.
I shouldn't have relied on those 'visible' things either……
- This is the difference between the god you and I serve.
……The only thing I should trust and rely on is Berkenxia alone.
“Min-young.”
“Yeah?”
“You know where the others are right now, right? Can you guide me?”
I took the subordinate equipment from her, but didn't put it on. Both were in such bad shape I couldn't wear them anyway.
More than that.
I wouldn't need to wear them anymore.
Before leaving the graveyard, Tersia had given me something better. Gong Min-young smirked.
“If I say no……?”
A playful yet firm response. I read the worry hidden within Gong Min-young's words.
She was certain of it.
That I couldn't beat Choi Shin-yul…… I forced a smile and pleaded.
“Please.”
Gong Min-young flinched.
The smile on Gong Min-young's face as she looked at me lacked strength.
Just as I was about to plead again.
Gong Min-young playfully swept her hair up, then winked energetically as if nothing had happened.
“Got it, but in exchange…… kiss my cheek! Haha, just kidding, oppa! Don't hit me! Kidding! I'm kidding!”
14.
“Behave yourselves.”
Hwang Ga-in said while fanning her face seductively.
I could see it through the dispersing gun smoke.
The eye smile forming in those black-and-white eyes.
“They want to play with their toys. Isn't that good? As a mom, that puts my mind at ease.”
Just our gazes meeting sent a dizzying killing intent through my whole body…… My mouth went dry.
Was the rumor a lie……?
The overwhelming power and terror of Lead Hunter Hwang Ga-in. One of the famous rumors was this.
Hunting Disease Chief Do Su-jin.
Second Hunting Squad Leader Go Hoon.
She'd toyed with those two <Association> bigshots at the same time, they said?
Cold sweat beaded on my forehead.
That's when Lee Ha-ram stepped forward in fury.
“Shut that mouth─────!”
The moment his left foot hit the ground, he hurled a massive boomerang with all his might.
─────“Do you think we'll keep falling for your filthy tricks forever!”
Dark poison mist rose from the boomerang like fog, swirling…… and scattering along its flight path.
“[Dragon Blood Whip]───────!”
Unique skill, [Dragon Blood Whip].
The deadly venom of an alien serpent beast. A technique that coats a weapon with that venom to unleash a lethal poison attack.
“Poison rice is kinda bland anyway.”
No……?
Shin Tae-yeop's eyebrow twitched for a moment.
Hwang Ga-in snapped her fan open, and pure white demonic energy rose like heat haze from the fan's surface.
Wooooo───────!
The moment Hwang Ga-in swung the fan with full force.
──────Whooooosh!
The air twisted chaotically.
Suddenly, an updraft swirled like a tornado, deflecting the incoming boomerang's trajectory.
She completely…… dominated the wind?
Lee Ha-ram rolled desperately to the side.
The boomerang came whipping back viciously.
It slammed into the spot where its owner had stood moments ago, and began melting the ground with its poison.
“Dodged it? How about this?”
As if dancing with her fan.
Hwang Ga-in pulled her hand back sharply behind her with precise movements, gripping the fan.
In an instant, white light concentrated on the fan's surface.
A light that gleamed more sharply than any blade. The moment I thought that, Lee Ha-ram shouted urgently.
“Sickle Swallow, it's Sickle Swallow!”
“Sickle Swallow……?”
“Hwang Ga-in's main move! Scatter!”
A frantic, splitting voice.
That dangerous? Shin Tae-yeop decisively erased the attack spell equation he'd been calculating in his head.
Defense…… defense spell……!
In that instant, Hwang Ga-in swung the fan in a massive arc.
Blades shot out from the fan's surface.
An eerie wind sound that tore at the eardrums. The sharp edge of wind gleaming pure white.
Shhhhhhhhhh─────!
Over a dozen of those embodiments of slaughter spun rapidly as they flew in.
Crazy…… too fast……!
The moment Shin Tae-yeop doubted his eyes.
A boy leaped straight into the path of those blades.
Park Ji-won.
At the same time, he sliced vertically into the artery of his left arm with the tip of his triple dagger. His unique skill, the authority granted by the Star God, was unleashed.
《Blood Realm Replication》.
Blood exploded outward. It boiled and swelled for a moment, then molded into human form.
“Huh……?!”
Hwang Ga-in's eyebrow twitched.
And no wonder—the blood person that appeared before her looked exactly like Hwang Ga-in herself.
《Blood Realm Replication》.
Another hunter.
And their unique skill.
It replicates that power, if only for a moment, as a clone.
A power that had only been used as support during the subordinate hunting era had become Park Ji-won's main technique in this [Age of Predation].
“Blow her away just like she did……!”
The master's command.
Immediately, Hwang Ga-in's clone swung the fan twice as fast as the original had.
Fierce blood blades shot out.
Soon, in midair, the wind blades clashed with the blood blades.
───────Splatter-splatter-splatter-splat!
A squelching explosion as the blood burst.
Blood mist scattered thickly in all directions.
“You…… blocked it?!”
The moment Lee Ha-ram cried out in shock, Park Ji-won dropped to one knee as if collapsing.
“Huff…… haa…… ugh…….”
Already…… at his limit……?
Acute anemia. Park Ji-won's head rang dizzily.
《Blood Realm Replication》.
This technique demands blood equal to the replicated target's power. The anemia made sense. But.
The normal usage limit was twice.
And he'd only replicated once…… yet the technique and his body had both hit their limits……?
“Stop the bleeding! Hurry!”
“Shishishishi!”
Shin Tae-yeop dashed over to his side.
Proud of his brother yet firm as he patted his back, Park Ji-won wrapped his left arm tightly with bandages.
“You can't use that anymore, right?”
“……!”
“It's fine. We're going with [GodSpring Improv 12]. Get ready.”
Shin Tae-yeop winked as he charged forward.
GodSpring Improv 12……?
Oh, that one…… Park Ji-won pulled a neatly folded parchment from his coat pocket.
- [GodSpring Improv 12].
What was drawn on the parchment was.
A magic square where ten circles intersected in a gear-like pattern.
- This strategy? It's a sure-kill combo that only you and I can pull off!
The border of the magic square was densely packed with otherworldly numbers and letters.
- Let's practice before heading to Nowon-gu. We need to do it as much as possible.
It was the key to manifesting Shin Tae-yeop's strongest spell, he'd said.
Now, all I can do is……
Park Ji-won forced his unsteady body to stand.
Then he sliced into the vein of his right arm.
And with Shin Tae-yeop's battlefield at the center, he began drawing the magic square on the parchment with his blood.
15.
“You're all submitting reflection essays by tomorrow. Got it?”
Dame Teacher sighed.
Hwang Suk-gyu's cronies answered obediently, while Do Ye-jin kept her head held high.
“Yes.”
“Not loud enough?”
“Yessir~ Got it~!”
Hwang Suk-gyu replied half-heartedly, and the homeroom teacher gestured wearily with a defeated voice.
“You lot can go. Do Ye-jin. You stay.”
It was after school.
Do Ye-jin stared silently out the window.
Twilight bathed the school grounds.
The chatter of kids heading home mixed with the soccer team's shouts in a lively clamor.
“Ye-jin, did you really have to resort to violence again?”
As Hwang Suk-gyu's group opened the staff room door and left, the homeroom teacher sighed in frustration.
“That kid said he'd go to the hospital and call his parents. It would've blown up big time again.”
He didn't do it because he was afraid of getting caught extorting me, right?
Do Ye-jin almost snapped back but held her tongue.
She knew from experience.
In times like this, pretending to obey with yeses was the best move.
“Ye-jin…… You're a girl, but you have too much of a violent streak. You know that?”
“…….”
“So the teacher thought about it a bit.”
The homeroom teacher suddenly opened her desk drawer and handed something over.
[Digital Business Card Confirmation]
- Register contact info and personal details on your device?
Her Brainphone beeped as soon as she took it.
“What's this?”
“In my opinion, Ye-jin's violent tendencies…… stem from not having a mom.”
“……?!”
“It's probably because of that emotional wound.”
What bullshit.
What did you just say?
“So…… I think it would be good for you to get some counseling.”
What does not having a mom have to do with anything?
You know it too. Those guys started it, as always. Why does it always get pinned on me?
“She's a really famous person, apparently.”
Echoes of rage boiled hot in her chest.
“……If it doesn't work with your dad…… how about going with the teacher?”
But Do Ye-jin swallowed it all down, shouted sharply, and fled the staff room like she was escaping.
“No thanks!”
16.
“Amusing.”
Choi Shin-yul opened his mouth in the dignified tone of an Exalted One.
The air trembled at his words.
As if power itself was infused in the language.
“Are you lot, singing praises for that Kim Baek-jun…… oblivious even to why that arrogant fool died?”
Choi Shin-yul pointed a finger above his own head.
Floating in that empty space was.
The title bestowed only upon the pinnacle among hunters. Namely.
[Lead Hunter]
The [Lead Hunter] title was like walking the path of carnage. Kill the bearer, and you could seize the title.
“He came back to save worthless trash and met a dog's death.”
“……?!”
“For example…….”
Lee Seong-mi, a survivor of the Papal Assault, bit her lip and averted her gaze under Choi Shin-yul's stare.
“Shut that mouth─────!”
Seo Hwa-yoon bellowed and fired a shell like a cannonball, but……
────Swoooosh!
……Choi Shin-yul bisected it with laughable ease.
The severed shell fragments.
They rolled across the ground behind Choi Shin-yul before embedding somewhere and belching a roar.
“Alone, he might've escaped alive.”
Choi Shin-yul said, slowly yet solidly regathering his momentum.
“But he came back anyway.”
“…….”
“There's a limit to stupidity…… Wouldn't you say he was trash who didn't even know his own limits?”
“You bastard…… what did you just say?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong bristled in an instant, but Seo Hwa-yoon urgently held her back.
“It's a taunt, don't fall for it!”
I know it's a taunt.
But…… but still.
There's just one thing I absolutely can't let slide.
Insulting everything Kim Baek-jun has done.
Insulting every fight Kim Baek-jun has fought.
No matter who says it, I can never forgive that. I have no intention of forgiving it.
“Shut up and match my movements!”
I inhaled slowly.
And exhaled slowly once more.
“That bastard, I'm gonna rip that mouth off him!”