Chapter 168
Chapter 168
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: Breaching Shizhou
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The hunters were throwing everything they had at Shizhou. With Korea in dire peril, no one had the luxury to fuss over who racked up the kills or squabble over bragging rights.
They had to drive the enemy back—and fast. Every hunter on the scene knew it.
"Raaargh!"
Jang Tae-seok roared, gripping a pair of tonfa the size of small cars in his massive hands. His hulking muscles rippled like coiled steel cables, the kind no ordinary blade could hope to dent.
Jang Tae-seok, No. 2 on Hope's List—his tonfa were legendary.
Truth be told, the pair he wielded weren't tonfa at all. Rocket engines suited them better.
Powered by immense mana, these tonfa-shaped thrusters unleashed staggering thrust, accelerating to Mach 20 in just three seconds.
The tonfa themselves were freakish enough, but Jang Tae-seok bearing that insane speed with his bare body? He was no normal human. A living missile, through and through.
Right now, he rocketed around like one, blasting everything in sight to rubble. High overhead, Choi Yeoreum's colossal sun scorched the earth below.
Seong Si-hoon's levitated boulders—dozens of tons apiece—hurtled toward Shizhou's walls.
Every swing of the greatsword in Lee Se-eun's hands detonated like a bomb, carving massive gashes into the ground. Hunters everywhere unleashed every trick in their arsenal.
But the undead clinging to them were the immortal legion's elite. They wouldn't shake loose easily.
The clash between the immortal legion and the hunters had ground into a deadlock, dragging on without end. Everyone knew letting it stay that way spelled disaster.
—Yoo Chan-seok Hunter is en route back. ETA: moments.
Lee Se-eun swung her greatsword at the corpse in front of her, her face twisted in disbelief at Major General Woo Il-seop's transmission.
"What the hell? Is his body made of steel or something?"
After all that hell, he was coming back? Most hunters would've collapsed into a hospital bed and passed out cold.
Even with repeated teleports, he'd soloed 100,000 foes. No one would've blamed him for sitting this one out.
—Hey, folks! Your neighborhood hero's back!
Yoo Chan-seok's voice boomed through their earpieces. Moments later, a man hurtling at breakneck speed screeched to a halt right in front of Lee Se-eun.
"Long time no see. No candy for me today?"
Lee Se-eun shot back.
"I'd give you an apartment-sized one if I could find it."
Yoo Chan-seok grinned.
"We need to breach the gates. This stalemate's no good for us."
Before reinforcements arrived, they had to punch through. Lee Se-eun nodded at his words.
"Too tough for your powers?"
Yoo Chan-seok nodded.
"The gates' mana resistance is insane."
To deploy his Paradox Flame, he'd have to burn through the mana barrier first. Scorching the durability after that? It'd take ages.
"But I hear you're a pro at smashing stuff too, sis."
Lee Se-eun nodded.
"Cover me, and I'll smash those gates to bits."
"Deal."
Roles set, Lee Se-eun and Yoo Chan-seok charged the gates. They smashed through interceptors and reached the target. Lee Se-eun wasted no time, hammering away at destruction.
Each strike exploded, crumpling sections of the gate like an aluminum can. She kept summoning fresh greatswords from her ring, slamming and detonating them in a relentless barrage.
The blasts dwarfed dynamite. Skilled foes might've dodged, but...
This was a gate. All it could do was eat the punishment.
"You guys asleep or what? Feels like me and Lee Se-eun Hunter are the only ones fighting."
Yoo Chan-seok didn't forget the taunt. Hunters listening on the comms channel bristled—mostly those like Jang Tae-seok, Seong Si-hoon, and Choi Yeoreum, convinced they weren't far behind.
With Yoo Chan-seok joining the fray, momentum had swung to the hunters anyway. His jab was just the spark to make them fight harder, risk more.
"Damn it, push!"
Jang Tae-seok rocketed skyward on his tonfa thrusters, then plummeted like a meteor. Arrows and spells rained on him, slowing his fall a bit, but...
The impact still gouged a massive crater.
"Well, tough body, simple mind,"
Yoo Chan-seok recalled their earlier clash in the command center. With a build like that, brains weren't needed.
"Nice! It's down!"
Lee Se-eun finally obliterated the gate. Top hunters surged forward in her wake.
Two more breaches, and the path to the target structure would open.
The enemy's resistance was fierce, but the fall of the first wall proved the tide had turned decisively.
Climbing over enemy and allied corpses alike, we finally reached the towering spire we'd targeted. It stabbed skyward like a needle.
"Figured I'd see this place again so soon."
Lee Se-eun beside me replied.
"Got a way to bring it down?"
I shook my head. No time to topple something this size—and the fallout would hit our hunters too.
"Magic circle up top."
Neutralize that, and we're golden. The tower was sturdy, but the circle was the real prize. Recreating it'd demand mountains of materials and months.
"Even if Shizhou falls back to the immortal legion, wrecking that circle means three months minimum to rebuild."
And if they retook it, no more surprise raids. Shizhou flipping was proof they were teleporting in.
Three months? Korea could prep a proper welcome party.
"Plus, those walls the immortal legion built around Shizhou are solid."
Three layers deep. Gates rebuildable easy enough. Perfect forward base.
The immortal legion was abandoning the fortress, retreating. Hunters pursued, thinning their numbers where they could.
I trashed the rooftop circle, then surveyed the scene. The legion had taken heavy losses, ceding key outposts.
"Now for the real deal."
Just Beijing left. Nanning to Shizhou was a haul, but Shizhou to Beijing? A straight shot.
Shanghai secured too—harbor resupply on lock.
"Am I jumping the gun worrying about gimmicks already?"
Lee Se-eun shook her head.
"Already am."
Gonsalok's gimmicks.
Impossible not to. One of the worst Grade 1 Erosion Cores among the Great Eight. No clue what horrors awaited.
Fail to clear it, and all this was for nothing. We were crossing China for that one shot.
"At least Seoul's heroics mean failure won't doom us."
I nodded faintly at Lee Se-eun's words. We'd saved Korea from the brink. No backlash even if Gonsalok fell through.
One-time get-out-of-jail-free card.
"Focus on the job. Heading back now?"
Lee Se-eun shook her head.
"Not back—splitting into three again. We ditched the tributary route to get here."
Shizhou crisis changed plans. Main force to Jining City; us via Langya to Weifang, same as before.
Her tributary group to Fuyang, then north to Beijing.
"Immortal legion'll block us at Beijing for sure."
Their losses were brutal. No point spreading thin en route—better mass up and defend the prize.
Lee Se-eun nodded.
"Once we hit Beijing, it's like other Erosion Core ops."
Hunters clear surrounding monsters, open path to core. Elites enter, nuke the nucleus.
Only so many could handle core interiors. And after this grind? No one's bailing from fear.
"Succeed, and we'll get statues or monuments."
I burst out laughing at Lee Se-eun.
"What's that matter? Zero gain for us."
Unless they charged tourists. She replied.
"Korea's safe for good. First Great Eight downed."
I knew. Talk tough, but a monument? Huge honor.
People would flock. President Jo Won-hoon? Gut punch.
Not the script he wanted. Still, he'd wrung China dry already.
As we took in the view from the top, radio chatter confirmed cleanup complete.
—Hunters are pumped over today's wins. Rest day's mandatory anyway—suggestion to distribute ample supplies and crack open some drinks.
I shot back at Major General Woo Il-seop.
"Ridiculous. Fine for chow, but booze? We didn't win the war."
Whoever said that to my face? I'd tie 'em up and cane their ass raw.
Moderation, people. Victory high's fair, but drinks? Hard no.
"Any hunter who suffered more than me? Drink up."
None such. Woo Il-seop couldn't stop boozers himself—passing the buck to me.
—Will relay Yoo Chan-seok Hunter's stance to the others.
Spot on. Soldiers were beat too. Grunts by trade, now babysitting hunters on top? Double duty.
"And treat the embedded troops right."
We risked necks, but those soldiers? Betting lives.
Immortal legion sneezes, they're gone. Still, mission on.