#271. Disconcerting After So Long?
To any third-party observer, Joo Se-ah was unilaterally overwhelming the queen.
Her rock-solid body took hits without a scratch, and her plain punches alone could deliver devastating blows—every tank's dream physique.
Moreover, her swordsmanship had reached a transcendent realm. It was hard to compare against insect-type monsters, but the hunters gathered here were all from major guilds, each a force to be reckoned with. They couldn't tear their eyes away from her every slash and thrust.
'Is this what an S-rank is like? Even without commanding, even if we're not from the same guild. Just fighting alongside her feels this reliable.'
Taylor was basking in euphoria. It had been ages since he'd felt himself leveling up on a battlefield where one misstep meant death.
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Joo Se-ah, he felt a pang of regret at not being the one to take down the queen.
'I'll do what I can here. Keep the rest of the hornets from interfering with Guild Master Joo. Focus on that.'
Go Eul-ji had made the same resolve. Her job was to block the elite variants from reaching Joo Se-ah.
She was facing three at once. They seemed manageable when Joo Se-ah handled them, but up close, there was no room for error.
'What the hell? Why are these bastards so damn tough?'
Their bodies were armored, wounds healed instantly, and severed limbs regrew. They even devoured fallen hornet corpses with ravenous greed—it was nauseating.
'Healing factor for recovery, eating hornet bodies for nutrition. It's like fighting in a potion field.'
On top of that, Go Eul-ji was deploying barriers in sectors where the line was buckling, narrowing the battlefield.
She always acted like a brat, but as Han Byung-gu's granddaughter and a hero of the Great War, she had inherited raid experience from him and countless real battles from childhood. It let her grasp the raid's flow even in chaos.
Before, Joo Se-ah or Kang Moo-hyuk led the offense, and Lee Jin-joo commanded in the field—no need for her input. But now, lives hung on her decisions.
This wasn't a situation for her usual jokes and playful hunting. Just moments ago, a casualty occurred in a spot she covered a beat too late against the variants.
The pressure of lives in her hands made Go Eul-ji snap irritably.
"This fucking sucks!"
"Save the swearing for when you're focused."
The familiar voice from behind lit up her face.
"Uncle Deok-gu!"
"Uncle?"
"Whoa, Grandmaster?"
"What's a Grandmaster?"
"Master's master, so Grandmaster."
"Feeling better, huh? Spouting nonsense like that. You wanna handle those three solo?"
"No way. Take two."
"One."
"Eek?! Dumping two of those vicious bugs on a delicate beauty like me? You're not human, Grandmaster."
No Song-rin responded to her whining.
"Guess 'bishoujo' means 'Minotaur girl' these days?"
"What?! Don't you know 'beautiful mi'?"
"How's it written? Spell it."
"Well, the strokes go like... this, right?"
"That's 'rice mi.' Not calling yourself a rice lover, are ya?"
"Then this?"
"That's 'sky cheon.' Don't they teach hanja in school?"
"Hanja's been out of textbooks forever. Koreans use Hangul. King Sejong's rolling in his grave."
"Who said otherwise? Just fill that empty head with basics. Sigh, how do I even teach you?"
No Song-rin sighed deeply, recalling Joo Se-ah's "request" to tutor Go Eul-ji properly.
Go Eul-ji knelt dramatically, chastened by the common-sense lecture.
"To think I'd suffer this humiliation from Old Man No."
Jang Deok-gu bellowed at their pointless banter.
"Focus!"
The variants didn't dare attack amid the absurdity—Jang Deok-gu's presence pinned them. Just him standing there with weapons drew made them avert their gaze.
"Go Eul-ji Hunter, take one. We'll handle the rest."
Yoanna steadied the hunting ground's vibe. She planted her shield and flanked Go Eul-ji's right, No Song-rin beside her. 2v1 on one variant.
Now 1v1, Go Eul-ji chuckled lowly.
"Had fun ganging up? My turn now."
As relaxed as she was chatty, she slowly raised her hand.
Then the variant lunged from the floor.
"Hold up. My turn, I said."
Tenfold Chains
The skill's powerful binding on a single target wrapped the variant tight.
It couldn't escape the invisible ten chains easily.
'That's right! It doesn't break that easily! The guild master's the monster.'
Tenfold Chains dissolved against Joo Se-ah, but against monsters, it was potent.
Confirmed, Go Eul-ji chained her next skill seamlessly.
Cymbals
Clap!
Her palms collided, crushing the variant. It endured and regenerated, still bound. Go Eul-ji unleashed a barrage of claps.
A battle of endurance: the variant's durability and regen versus Go Eul-ji's stamina.
Contrary to appearances, Joo Se-ah hadn't finished the battered queen.
'Anywhere else is fine, but it guards vitals fiercely.'
Head and heart resisted normal attacks. Mana-infused slashes only scratched.
'Expected that much.'
With the staggering queen close, Joo Se-ah slammed Angervadil's blade upside-down into the ground.
She shouted toward the familiar presence of her longtime partner.
"Hunter Jang Deok-gu!"
No order given, no message skill—yet Jang Deok-gu knew what she wanted.
He unslung the broad black case from his back and tossed it. It had been cumbersome mid-fight.
Joo Se-ah shattered the incoming case without catching. A greatsword the size of a zweihander burst out.
Overlong blade that made her sway on swings, hilt too massive for two hands to cover fully.
Unique traits: eerie runes etched on the blade, glowing faintly.
Amid scattering case fragments, alphabetic shards flew past her eyes.
A.n.g.e.r.v.a.d.i.l.
'Angervadil.'
Click!
Joo Se-ah gripped it.
"Time to end this."
She poured mana freely into the hero's sword, Angervadil.
The blade overflowed, manifesting compressed sword aura atop it—extending 2m from the tip.
She charged, thrusting overhead. Pure mana pierced the queen's chest.
Splat!
A flank impact rocked her. She tumbled across the ground—rare pain after ages. Unfazed, she stabbed the sword down to halt her slide.
'Hurts? Disconcerting after so long.'
The real shock was whatever caused it. Even the queen's golden laser hadn't hurt. This meant something beyond the queen had appeared.
Staring at the figure emerging between the queen's legs, Joo Se-ah intuited.
"Stronger than 5th gen means 6th. You're the next queen, huh?"
The newcomer slightly over 2m—small for an egg-laying queen.
"Finally arrived..."
Ithaca Guild, at the hive's core, hid upon seeing the wrecked site—no orders needed.
Vice Master Powel cautiously reported to Guild Master Dolores.
"Looks like they started already?"
"Who doesn't know? It's obvious."
Dolores snapped irritably. Plan was to arrive first, snag the queen, bail. Forced to Plan B, but even that seemed doomed.
Plan B relied on the lead guild succeeding first—then backstab for their gains.
But the queen lived, 5th-gen hornets plentiful. The pioneers were struggling.
'What now? Raid harder than expected... Retreating wastes the expedition. Guild master's rep in the toilet.'
Raid failures were routine for guilds, no biggie—unless against rivals.
Ithaca was unique: no peaceful master successions in history.
Usually, new masters ousted predecessors or internal bloodbaths reshuffled power.
Dolores Scott had sent the prior master to hell, eliminated rivals, claimed Ithaca.
Despite bloody history, it endured as a major guild—a mystery.
In force-maintained groups, leader's prestige slipping sparked rebellion.
Ithaca masters always proved themselves to members.
'Too greedy? Damn, pissed at falling for that Kang Moo-hyuk...'
Unique loot drool-worthy for any hunter—not purely her fault.
But she owed accountability for starting it. For LA nightlife dominance.
"No one's chickening out after coming this far, right?"
"..."
"Stand by. Not over yet. If others wipe, we grab scraps."
Scraps inferior to uniques but valuable expedition gear—hunters got it.
Dolores's pragmatic grab satisfied Ithaca's expedition, eyes gleaming greedily.
She pitied leading such scum.
'They backed me ousting the old master, but pests. Clean house someday.'
For now, focus on prey.
Thomas shot skyward post-injection, failing to contain surging energy.
But the op wasn't scrapped. He channeled raw power into magic.
Wild wind stallion rampaged into a high-heat bird, plummeting.
Phoenix
A gate-nonexistent skill—Thomas's original.
'Amazing it's improvised magic. Talent to manifest imagination instantly... Never seen or heard such aptitude.'
Kang Moo-hyuk watched from a distant hill as the ground-melting firebird shrank to campfire size—then another plummeted.
At the spectacle, he pondered.
'What is mana addiction? How does suppressing symptoms yield such power?'
Unsolved mystery.
He craved deeper probe, but urgency lay elsewhere.
Not just him—Thomas felt the alienness too.
'Am I A-rank now? A+? No clue on limits. How? Eyes burn. Head aches. Lose focus once, might never return.'
He barely reined drifting consciousness.
Suppressing eye-blinding glow, he focused magic.
Deeper focus sank awareness further. Internalizing stabilized spells.
But Thomas was too deep to perceive externally.
He turned inward.
'If I master this fully, how far? Surpass limits to control? Maybe. S-ranks do the impossible. Conquer fear to wield it.'
Thomas decided to break limits.