Chapter 206
Chapter 206
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: Flame's Path of Hegemony: Lead Hunter Strategy (1)
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1.
“Fall back!”
Shin Tae-yeop shouted to vanguard Yi Ha-ram while simultaneously completing a complex magic equation in his head.
《Flame Heaven Great Thunder Field》.
In an instant, an invisible brush drew a massive flame magic circle across the sky……
“First Thunder.”
……the moment Shin Tae-yeop chanted and input the coordinates into the equation, a bolt of flame lightning struck down from the magic circle at the specified point.
Kwarrrrrrrrrr──────!
A 7th-circle flame magic spell taught only at humanity’s premier magic academy on the Arcrad Continent, <Delraiten>.
──────Boom!
When mastered to the ultimate extreme.
It was the signature technique of flame magic, capable of unleashing up to ten consecutive bolts.
“Second Thunder.”
“Third Thunder.”
“Fourth Thunder.”
Flashes of flame that dyed the world in blood and scorching heat.
Explosive plumes of black smoke swirling wildly.
The earth gouged out deep like a massive crater.
“Huh…… hahaha…….”
He forcibly drew up more mana.
Just as beads of sweat formed on his forehead from the backlash……
What the hell.
……a deep sigh escaped Shin Tae-yeop’s lips.
“That all you got? Put some real effort into it.”
From within the smoke.
Hwang Ga-in, shielded by a bluish circular barrier, let out a scornful laugh.
“That little fireplay can’t even scratch my barrier, sis says.”
How the hell does a monster like this even exist……?
《Black Walk Magic Claw》.
《Flame Shape Swap》.
《Fire Wolf Acupoint Strike》.
He had used every flame magic spell hailed as the pinnacle of the art.
All at 100% mana output.
He had poured everything out with near-desperate resolve…… yet the situation was hopeless.
“Fifth Thunder……!”
The illusory flames didn’t even engulf Hwang Ga-in; they were extinguished by the steam from her barrier.
“Ahahaha…… weak, so weak! You can’t beat me with this!”
The decisive factor was an overwhelming mismatch in affinities.
“Sixth Thunder……!”
First.
Her backer—the existence of the Holy Apostle.
While Shin Tae-yeop relied on his own mana and mental strength, with fatigue steadily building……
“Getting hot, huh? You’re soaked in sweat. Come here. It’s super cool next to sis.”
Hwang Ga-in wouldn’t tire until she hit the limit of her unique skill.
“Seventh…… Seventh…… Damn it…… the calculations…….”
Second.
The advantage and flaw of flame magic.
The spells boasted one-shot lethality, but consumed massive mana and couldn’t sustain damage.
“So now───────”
Thus, in a situation like this.
When Hwang Ga-in finally dropped her barrier and went on the offensive, there was no room to counter.
───────“my turn!”
Hwang Ga-in grinned wickedly.
The moment she released her barrier, she swung her black-and-white fan in a seductive arc.
Shashashashashak─────!
An eerie whoosh that tore at the ears.
Even the scattering snow crystals were sliced razor-sharp as something hurtled toward them.
Sickle flocks.
The slashing winds transformed into pale blades, spinning like chakrams.
The magic calculations……
Damn it…… too late……!
The one who broke that crisis.
Was the baby dragon perched on Shin Tae-yeop’s shoulder, Shyrak.
────Shishishishishihi!
The chill blasting from that tiny maw.
[Flying Dragon, Seratega, casts Dragon Word: 《Frost Storm》!]
Still young, but a biological weapon created by the Black Sun Karenden. Its power far surpassed ordinary human sorcery.
───Whooooooo!
An icy storm swirled around Shin Tae-yeop, nullifying the incoming sickle flocks in a miracle.
“Shyrak, you…… I knew I could count on you, you little rascal……!”
“Shi!”
As Shin Tae-yeop exhaled in relief and gave a thumbs-up, Shyrak haughtily burped in response.
Still……
This isn’t good.
Only one thing left to rely on now.
The mythic-grade magic passed down from Amber…… [GodSpring Improv No. 12], activated by Ji-won.
“That baby dragon…… looking cuter by the second.”
“Shi……?”
“Won’t you give it to sis? I’ll make it quick and painless if you do.”
Not even sparing them……
As Shyrak frantically shook its head, Shin Tae-yeop gritted his teeth and flipped her the bird.
“Fuck off.”
It was right then.
Yi Ha-ram hurled her venom boomerang and charged at Hwang Ga-in.
“Such a leech of a bitch.”
Hwang Ga-in sighed in annoyance and immediately swung her fan to unleash sickle flocks, but……
───Thudthudthudthudthudthudthud!
……the wind blades merely batted aside the boomerang’s fierce trajectory.
“Hwang Ga-in────────!”
Yi Ha-ram drew her longsword from its sheath as she rushed in.
At the same time.
Hwang Ga-in drew her flexible sword, belted at her waist like a革帯 over her shaman robes.
《Frost Barrier》 was invincible.
Against magic attacks, that is. It had major limitations against physical ones.
──────Kaaaaang!
A chilling clash of metal rang out.
Well, well……? Hwang Ga-in suddenly found the girl glaring daggers at her familiar.
Where have I seen this bitch before?
Oh…… a memory flashed through her mind.
“You’re that Kim Su-cheol chick……? Or Park Su-cheol? Whatever, one of the lackeys from that neighborhood watch thing, right?”
“……!”
“Bingo! No way! You’re still alive?”
“………!”
“But you came for revenge on that pathetic loser? With that level of skill?”
“Shut up!”
Yi Ha-ram wrenched her sword free and slashed diagonally again.
“Wow, ahahahahaha!”
“Shut up! Shut up! I said shut the fuck up!”
“You’re so~ scary, girl.”
Did she think of her dead comrades?
Yi Ha-ram swung her blade as if drenched in grief and rage.
“Only you, Hwang Ga-in……!”
The girl sobbed and wailed.
“If only you hadn’t……!”
She slashed fiercely between her desperate cries.
“We could have…… we could have been like Seodaemun-gu……!”
But she couldn’t shake Hwang Ga-in’s momentum in the slightest.
The gap was enormous.
From combat experience to the physical stats boosted by level difference.
Even so……
Shin Tae-yeop couldn’t hide his shock watching it. Not getting pushed back in close quarters against a warrior-type hunter?
“Like Seodaemun-gu how?”
Hwang Ga-in, who’d been smirking.
The woman suddenly lit up, gently flicking her wrist holding the flexible sword.
“Living like a queen bee, seducing cocks with that dickless pretty face?”
The moment it clashed with the longsword.
A razor edge of wind coiled around the flexible blade’s tip, then whipped like a snake.
“Blame others much, you cunt?”
And with that.
It plunged deep into Yi Ha-ram’s side, gutting her innards.
“Wha……?”
How……?
By the time Yi Ha-ram thought that, hot blood was already gushing from her mouth.
“Stop!”
Shin Tae-yeop yelled desperately.
Yi Ha-ram collapsed into the snow like a puppet with cut strings.
“Without me, then what? What? Spit it out!”
Hwang Ga-in’s face hardened murderously.
She started kicking the girl’s gushing side and face.
“Born with a pretty face is your office? Your fucking job? Yeah, you bitch. Must’ve been your career!”
Thud…… thud……
Blood foam bursting from Yi Ha-ram’s mouth and side with every kick.
“Must’ve been nice, huh? Huh? Say it. I said say it!”
“Stop! Hwang Ga-in, stop it!”
“Pretty face and cocks lining up to rub their dicks on you, buying food, designer bags, rides!”
Hwang Ga-in’s beautiful features twisted hideously with incomprehensible madness.
“Loved that dogshit world, didn’t you? Happy, right? Was it good? Good, you cunt? Dickhead?”
“Stop it, I said!”
“Even after the world went to hell, you wanted to keep living like that? Too bad— that world’s gone now?”
Can’t use magic…… can’t cast magic.
She’d get caught in it too.
No, you idiot, just use the same trick you did to save Do Ye-jin earlier.
“I said stop, you crazy bitch─────!”
Shin Tae-yeop forcibly gathered the mana scattered throughout his body.
Magic.
A series of mathematical formulas rewrote the laws of the world.
Hum, hum, hum, hum───────!
Beneath Hwang Ga-in’s feet.
A magic circle seemed to draw itself, then dazzling light and smoke burst outward.
────Pssshhhhh!
Chills ran up Shin Tae-yeop’s spine right then.
“Don’t throw a tantrum.”
Hwang Ga-in turned to him with blazing eyes and muttered.
“I’ll make you just like her soon enough.”
Hwang Ga-in kicked Yi Ha-ram’s abdomen with all her might.
Her kick, amplified to extremes.
“Huhk……” With a crushed-lung gasp, the girl’s body folded, floated into the air, then tumbled disgracefully into the snow.
“Wha…… what……?!”
And right then.
She collided with someone. Park Ji-won, who’d been circling the battlefield outskirts, secretly drawing a magic circle.
She aimed right for Ji-won……?
The moment he glanced at Park Ji-won and Yi Ha-ram. The moment he lost sight of Hwang Ga-in in the smoke.
That moment led to defeat.
From the smoke, Hwang Ga-in raised her black-and-white fan high. Ultimate frost converged on the fan’s ribs.
Whooooooo……………
The air trembled with the sound of wind shredding……
Danger.
Something…… insanely dangerous.
Primal fear?
Cold sweat drenched Shin Tae-yeop. He hurriedly tried to stop it, but.
Kwarrrrrrrrrr─────!
But…… why?
It ended in futile thrashing.
The wave of flame was blocked by Hwang Ga-in’s barrier and fizzled.
“Did you think I only use wind?”
“……!”
“Idiot. For ice sorcery, I don’t even need to drop the barrier!”
Damn it……!
Gotta block it, gotta block it.
If I don’t…… Park Ji-won was fleeing while supporting Yi Ha-ram…… too late.
“Too late. Give up.”
That instant.
The storm’s airflow swirling on the fan scattered everywhere.
“《Thousand Ice Needle Flower Rain》──────!”
The chant fell.
The storm began freezing pale. Not wholly…… but into countless tiny snowflakes.
──────“Not too late!”
《Fire Dragon Eleven Gates》.
7th-circle flame magic. Mental arithmetic beyond human limits activated.
Thudthudthudthud───────!
The moment calculations finished.
Majestic, menacing pillars of flame erupted from the ground.
───────Roarrrrrr!
These eleven blazing gates effectively shielded the caster from threats.
But…… what? What the……?
A calculation error?
Or instinct prioritizing his own life?
Definitely.
He meant to give them seven, block with four……
What the hell.
When the magic deployed.
Seven flame gates unfolded before Shin Tae-yeop, only four for Park Ji-won and Yi Ha-ram.
“This…… crazy……………….”
A groan near a scream leaked from his throat.
Snap──────────
The moment Hwang Ga-in folded her fan.
The moment the snowflakes scattered, blanketing heaven and earth. Vision flashed white.
─────Pibibibibibibibing!
An ear-shattering roar.
A shockwave shaking the earth.
Even seven flame gates blazing ahead couldn’t fully protect sorcerer Shin Tae-yeop from the ferocious backlash.
Its power…… was absolute.
The seven gates of 《Fire Dragon Eleven Gates》 vanished entirely under that assault.
Four offered no chance.
The moment that grim realization hit, screams erupted from behind.
“Ah…… no……………….”
Not a death cry.
A scream from witnessing someone’s death throes.
It was Yi Ha-ram’s.
Which meant……
No, no way……
Denying the reality about to sear his retinas, he turned……
“Shyrak……?”
……impossible. Shin Tae-yeop crumpled to the ground.
He saw Park Ji-won.
Tried to protect Yi Ha-ram?
Kneeling between 《Thousand Ice Needle Flower Rain》 and Yi Ha-ram, tiny back blocking the way, arms spread wide.
“Hey…… Park Ji-won……?”
Park Ji-won.
The plucky boy who’d followed Shin Tae-yeop like an older brother since mid-Jongno District assault.
“……………….”
Ice needles buried deep in his body……
“Shishishishishi─────!”
……blood pouring from his entire form pooling at his feet. Shyrak flew over, barking madly.
“Oh my, dying in place of your girlfriend? Did that fox bitch snag that new guy from Seodaemun-gu?”
Hwang Ga-in cackled wildly at the sight.
“What’s this called……? Ketogenic mindset?”
“Titanic…….”
“Did he bet on Paradise’s healing? Too bad.”
“What……?”
“Those ice needles carry frost poison. Veins freeze solid, agonizing death. Ahahahahaha…….”
Frost poison……?
His vision went black.
I’ve experienced it. In that other world, it was called Iquila’s venom……
“Better to mercy-kill him now?”
“Shut…… up…….”
“Why? He’ll beg for death soon.”
Shut up.
Shin Tae-yeop forced his near-limit body to stand.
“How ‘bout it? Kill him with your own hands before he gets ugly?”
“…….”
“Sis can give you that much time.”
Shut up…… shut up……
In his head, complex 7th-circle equations swirled.
“Perfect! Cremate him while you kill him.”
“Shut that mouth────!”
That instant, a bizarre magic equation computed in Shin Tae-yeop’s mind.
“Hwang Ga-in, you…… I’ll never forgive you!”
The equation was different.
The solution was wrong.
“I’ll never………………!”
But astonishingly…… the equations, scrambled by intense emotion, were reborn as new magic.