Chapter 208
Chapter 208
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 208
Chapter Title: The Flame's Hegemonic Path: Lead Hunter Takedown (3)
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5.
Kwaaaaaaaa─────!
Snap. The 50th blast of scorching heat erupted.
A thick, searing blast of hot wind. The stench of his own flesh cooking assaulted him.
─────Puuuurrrrrng!
Snap. The 51st blast of scorching heat erupted.
A flash so blinding it burned his eyes. Beyond the afterimage overwhelming his retinas, Hwang Ga-in's 《Frost Realm》 remained intact, glowing faintly blue.
Kwaaaaaaaa─────!
Snap.
With every flick of his finger, the black and white of the world inverted.
Snap, snap, snap.
Swirling black smoke.
And heavenly flames slicing through dimensions like dazzling blades.
Snap-snapsnap-snapsnap-snapsnap-snapsnap-snapsnap-snapsnap-snapsnap-snap.
Endless explosions of flame.
From that sightless void came the sound of slicing air, followed by a cold, sharp sensation grazing his thigh.
Hwang Ga-in's sickle kick……!
He tried to ignore it, but his knee buckled halfway from the pain.
It hurts…… damn it, he could feel it.
The sticky sensation of pants clinging to his skin, soaked in hot blood.
"It's not…… over yet───!"
Snap, snap-snap, snap-snap-snap, snap-snap-snap-snap.
He didn't stop the rampage of flames.
This was a fight to the death…… let's see who survives these thousand explosions.
"──────Uwaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Snap. Then, once more, a blade of wind pierced the firewall and charged in.
Puhak……………!
Snap. A cold gust tore deep into his left eye.
The limit.
Blood filled his mouth.
The terror of death loomed.
Snap. Blood sprayed from his mangled body, snap-snap, alien chill spreading through his wounds into every limb.
"Shishishishishishi───!"
Snap. Daddy's in danger.
Snap-snap-snap. From afar, Shyrak barked in that bright, tinkling voice.
"─────────Don't come!"
Snap-snap-snap. It's dangerous.
Whirrr……! Winds swirled in deadly arcs.
Skin, muscle, arteries, veins, marrow.
Those cold blades toyed with every inch of his body, chilling him to the bone.
Kwaaaaaaaa─────!
The 76th.
81st, 84th.
89th, 91st, 97th.
─────Hwarrrrrrrruk!
Snap. Thus, the flames' blade and the wind's flower bloomed and withered endlessly.
The limit…… this was truly the limit.
He lacked even the strength to flick his finger.
Sensation faded from his body, his tendons-severed legs long since collapsed into the snow.
That was when the tide turned.
At some point.
The 98th flaming slash split in two…… and from there, something lunged forward.
Hwang Ga-in………………!
Baring her teeth like a beast.
Her ironclad 《Frost Realm》 gone.
Yeah…… you're at your limit too? Now it's time to────
In that instant, his throat clogged with blood.
The tip of a wind spear from Hwang Ga-in's fan pierced near his heart……!
Arctic cold crashed over him in a super-interval.
His vision whitened, tinnitus rang in his ears, his jaw trembled uncontrollably.
"Shraaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkk!"
Ah…….
Damn…….
Now…… now that it's almost over…….
Probably.
He might have collapsed then.
Tumbled into the snow to meet a gruesome end.
No, he definitely should have.
But…… just as he was falling backward, it felt like someone grabbed both his wrists…… tap.
Gently yet firmly.
Resolutely yet tenderly.
Balerin……?
Of course, it was a hallucination.
Reality was this.
The cotton gloves on his hands. The ones with the magic circle Balerin had taught him.
In that moment.
The magic circle spun, rippling faintly in Shin Tae-yeop's mana core. At the same time, a subtle power settled over his body.
Could this be.
A recovery magic circle?
Faint as it was, it was enough strength to flick his finger.
Then……!
Shin Tae-yeop immediately looked up.
Toward reality: the Lead Hunter, Hwang Ga-in, drawing her smoke-sword from her shaman robe's sash and charging.
"Uwaaaaa────────!"
Hwang Ga-in was at her limit too.
Otherwise, with victory assured, no sorceress would attempt close combat.
"─────Aaaaaaaaah!"
In that fleeting instant.
As the smoke-sword's tip rushed toward his eyes.
Shiiiiiik───────!
Shin Tae-yeop flicked his 99th finger with the power his master left him.
────────────Snap.
Kwaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa……!
The blade of flame savagely tore and detonated the space right before his nose.
That overwhelming thermal output from the flames.
In a single instant, the air's moisture evaporated, and the swirling heatwave charred his facial skin and hair black.
The sword never reached Shin Tae-yeop.
It melted into molten metal just before contact.
"Haa…… haa…… haa…… haa……."
Burns……?
Blisters and bubbles throbbed, his face aching as if it would tear.
The bigger problem was…….
Damn it…… the smoke…… can't breathe…… like this, I'll…… suffocate──
"────Get down!"
Then, a massive boomerang pierced the smoke.
The gale from its spin scattered the smoke, easing his breath slightly.
Lee Ha-ram…….
Not from the enemy paradise, perhaps that's why. Already recovered enough to move……?
"Ah…… no…… my transcendence…… my transcendence…… no…… Sai…… Shin-yul……."
As the smoke began to clear.
What……? Shin Tae-yeop could scarcely believe his eyes and ears.
"All done watching? Get lost……! Get out! Don't look! Don't look!"
An unfamiliar voice rang out.
Followed by…… an unfamiliar someone. A pale lump writhing on the scorched ground.
What the hell…… is this……?
Her shaman robe reduced to ashes. The body revealed…… was grotesquely obese.
"You…… you're really Hwang Ga-in……?"
Shrouded in 'Stars' Healing,' it was hard to see clearly…… but it was definitely not that sensual figure that had captivated men's hearts.
"No…… no……! My transcendence…… my transcendence is fading……! No!"
"……."
"It was just one step away, three steps at most……! Ah…… fuck……!"
"What exactly was that transcendence of yours?"
He asked.
But the ugly truth was already plain.
Her peak beauty, no doubt.
Unbelievable. At least Jung Cheol and Liシャル had familial love as the root of their desires, wanting to save their families……
"You just wanted that kind of beauty, huh……?"
"That kind of beauty? You little shit…… what do you…… what the hell do you know, spouting off!"
This damned woman……
Shin Tae-yeop shoved backward with his hips while raising his left arm.
"You know? Without power…… without a pretty face, you get no respect…… that was the world!"
I'm.
Not a saint like Park Hyun-su.
"No, ha, hahaha, ahihihihihihi! Even dogs and cats got more respect than me!"
He still hadn't forgiven Jung Cheol, whom he'd once been so close to…… much less feel pity for this total stranger's villainy.
"The world was that fucked up, and you're saying it's my fault? Mine?"
Shin Tae-yeop silently pressed his thumb to his middle finger.
"You know what? What do you know, you little bastard! In that world, without power, money, or looks, how was I supposed to────!"
And.
He flicked that finger with all his might.
The next instant. The 100th slash of 《White Inferno Onslaught》 descended……
─────Kwarrrrrrr!
……and space incinerated in a blaze of brilliant light.
Nausea rose.
The fatty texture on his tongue.
When the smoke cleared, the ground where Hwang Ga-in had stood was gouged deep like a crater……
"Save the rest for the gates of hell."
……not a single chunk of charcoal remained. The long battle reached its conclusion.
But something was off.
Hwang Ga-in's seductive laughter kept echoing. Over and over. And over.
"Ha…… ahahaha, ahahahahaha…… hahaha……."
What sound was this?
It was disorienting. Hwang Ga-in should be dead.
"Hahaha…… ahihi…… ahihihahahahahahahahaha……."
No, wait.
This sobbing-like laughter…… it's my own laugh……?
Realizing that, chills wracked his body, and the laughter cut off.
Crazy, this is insane.
Such a…… twisted victory……
Unlike hunting subordinates.
No thrill of victory, just a sticky unease swirling in his mind……
As his body sprawled limp in the snow, the blood-glowing magic circle faded and vanished.
[Legendary Achievement Unlocked: The Hunter Who Hunted the Lead Hunter]
- Lead Hunter title reclaimed.
- Only one Lead Hunter may exist per paradise.
- You are now the Lead Hunter of [Star Pleasure Garden, Nowon-gu].
A lengthy info window unfolded before his eyes.
[The stars of outer space send their cheers to the hunter who hunted the Lead Hunter!]
- All physical stats +20.
- All physical stats +15.
- All physical stats +10.
As the explosions and info feast ended.
In the shrine's front yard—soon to be an execution ground—only heavy silence lingered.
"Shi…… Shi…… Shi……."
Only one sound.
Shyrak's mournful wail. Damn…… Shin Tae-yeop slammed his fist into the ground.
"Park Ji-won…… hey, Ji-won……."
He barely dragged himself up.
Then, with a body on the verge of collapse, he limped toward his comrades.
Park Ji-won lay cradled in Lee Ha-ram's lap.
No.
No…… no way…….
Park Ji-won's eyes…… stared vacantly into distant emptiness, utterly still.
"Ji-won…… bro's here……."
He somehow opened his mouth.
Clinging to hope that a miracle might happen, a surprise.
"You saw bro win cool, right……? All thanks to you……."
No answer came.
Snow fell on those eyes, but not a twitch stirred Park Ji-won's facial muscles.
"Hey…… Park Ji-won……?"
As Shin Tae-yeop staggered right up to her.
Finally, Lee Ha-ram shook his head quietly, sobbing.
"She's…… already gone……."
Silence again.
Shi…… Shi…… Shi…… Shyrak alone stretched its neck to the sky, wailing in a cracked voice.
Ji-won died……?
It took a long time to accept those words as reality.
In that instant.
Dizziness spun in his head.
His body thudded to its knees in the snow. He meant to embrace his brother's cooling corpse and wail.
No…….
He surely intended to.
But he couldn't.
Because of the smile on his dead brother's face right before him.
Sometime.
Once…… he'd seen that smile before.
When was it……?
Ah, right…… Balerin and Amber said it. They had that smile at the end…….
A wistful smile.
A smile entrusting everything and departing.
You idiot……
His heart ached as if torn apart.
He felt like he'd grab that corpse and sob right then…… Shin Tae-yeop gently closed Park Ji-won's eyes and turned away.
"Ha-ram, Shyrak."
That expression……
Dying with such a cool expression…… what am I supposed to do…….
"You two guard Ji-won. Don't let anyone touch her."
"Got it……."
Lee Ha-ram answered dazedly, then suddenly shouted.
"Wait……! Where are you going? Stop! What can you do in that state!"
Shin Tae-yeop didn't answer.
Instead, he jabbed a nebula potion into his thigh. Truth was…… he couldn't answer.
"Hey! Shin Tae-yeop! Stop!"
Because tears stung his blistered face. Because sobs leaked through his clenched teeth.
Park Ji-won believed in me……
That I'd beat Hwang Ga-in and bring back Do Ye-jin too……
So.
I have to…… live up to that trust until the very end……
Muttering inwardly.
Stifling his breath, weeping quietly.
Limping on a trembling body beyond its limits…… Shin Tae-yeop turned toward the shrine's interior.
It was cold.
Snow-wind seeping into his torn clothes and wounds, unbearably cold.
And yet.
Why did his soul feel even colder than his body?