Chapter 108: 10-Quad. Time to Hunt
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 108: 10-Quad. Time to Hunt
“They’re charging straight at us!”
The enemies had closed the distance, their silhouettes now visible through the dense trees and tangled underbrush.
Two scouts had spotted Seo-un’s party and were keeping a wary eye on them, while dozens of enemies swarmed close behind.
Two Sword Emperors led the charge alongside the knights, while a Martial Artist and the remaining two Sword Emperors guarded the mages in the rear. Their positioning was surprisingly solid.
Seo-un clicked his tongue as he watched them approach, noting they weren't rushing in recklessly like before.
“Tsk, they’ve got some skill.”
The fact that they didn't retreat even after coming into visual range—and remained cautious instead of overestimating themselves—made them a troublesome lot to handle.
-It looks like they aren't trying to surround us.
Li Min’s voice crackled through the team chat.
In a jungle where visibility was limited, being surrounded by an enemy with overwhelming numbers was a death sentence.
-They probably only have one Carmen’s Eye.
Seo-un’s guess was spot on. Lacking surveillance items in this unfamiliar terrain, the enemy couldn't afford to split their forces.
A heavy silence, like the calm before a storm, settled over the jungle as the two sides glared at each other. The forest was so still that not even the sound of an insect could be heard, as if the trees themselves anticipated the impending carnage.
Parel’s side broke the silence first.
-Charge!
With that shout, eleven knights leaped toward Seo-un’s formation alongside Parel. Beyond the knights tearing through the brush, support magic from the mages came screaming in.
-Rumble! Crash!
-Crack! Shatter!
The corners of Parel’s mouth twisted into a smirk the moment several layers of the enemy's barriers shattered.
While a Martial Artist capable of manifesting Hand Aura was a burden, it wasn't his first time facing one. He figured that with three Sword Emperors gathered, they could easily handle it. That was why he hadn't hesitated for a second when leading the vanguard.
It felt especially certain now, seeing the stiff, nervous expressions on the enemies right in front of him. He was used to seeing that fear in those who faced his charge—an expression he had seen countless times while sweeping through numerous battlefields.
Wait. Fear? Him?
By the time he felt a sense of dissonance—realizing that the enemy manifesting Hand Aura was looking at him with genuine tension—it was already too late to back off.
The moment he swung his blazing Aura Sword down toward the enemy commander, who was gritting his teeth and lunging forward, that dissonance became a brutal reality.
-Everyone, get ba—!
With a sensation like cutting through a cloud, the enemy commander vanished like a mirage. In that same instant, an intense light erupted from the center of the charging knights.
A blinding flash swallowed the vanguard, followed immediately by a thunderous roar.
-BOOM!
A high-pitched ringing echoed in Parel's ears, and intense pressure surged from all directions. The screams of his comrades sounded faint and surreal. A dull impact, as if he’d been struck by a sledgehammer, belatedly washed over his entire body.
-Parel!
The shout of a fellow knight sounded hazy, as if heard in a dream.
-Creeeeeak!
The strange sensation of time slowing down finally snapped back to reality. Parel, who had been slammed violently into the ground, lifted his head as a sharp, throbbing pain racked his body.
“Urgh!”
“Are you okay?!”
Only after seeing the knights scattered about, barely picking themselves up, did he finally grasp the situation.
“What kind of Mana Explosion was that…?”
“They didn't just use one or two Mana Explosion Scrolls. I don't know how many they hoarded… but it looks like they dumped them all at once.”
Behimore, a knight from the same order, pulled Parel up by the arm while keeping his sword drawn, warily scanning the surroundings. As expected of high-level knights, they had taken significant damage, but not a single player had died yet.
“I overlooked the fact that he could transform.”
Parel never imagined the enemy would transform into his own team members to lure them into a kill zone.
“Not all of them were fakes. I definitely saw some of them tearing scrolls to teleport away the moment the explosion went off.”
“It seems there’s a limit to the illusions he can create… Ugh.”
Parel’s face contorted as he clutched his throbbing head.
-Boom! Boom! Boom!
-Agh!
-Archer!
-His arrows are short! Don't leave any gaps in the shields and barriers!
Shaking his dizzy head, Parel turned his gaze to see arrows exploding upon impact, followed by even more projectiles flying in. As the arrows specifically targeted the mages, the knights, who had just regained their footing, quickly moved to surround them.
-Gi-chan. What’s your position?
-Fortunately, I’m not too far. I’m in Sector D.
-Good. Don't get too close; stay at the planned spot and be ready.
Seo-un could create three clones. He had created three and transformed them into himself, Nam Sa-gwang, and Jin Long, using them as bait along with the rest of the team.
This strategy was only possible thanks to the scrolls that allowed random teleportation within a two-kilometer radius. It was a dangerous plan where a single mistimed move could have put all five team members in jeopardy, but the team had followed without a word of complaint.
In fact, rather than worrying about the risk, they had performed brilliantly, their lips curling into smirks at the thought of the damage they could inflict. Gi-chan, in particular, had perfectly detonated the nine planted Mana Explosion Scrolls and evacuated the team without taking a scratch.
-Lingwei. How long until the Illusion Poison spreads?
-For a normal person, it’s instant. But for Martial Artists or those meathead knights, it’ll take seven or eight minutes at the shortest, and fifteen at the longest.
Seo-un fired his third arrow as he listened to her briefing.
-Clang! Whoosh!
As soon as the third Pyeonjeon left his bow and struck the enemy barrier, it created a powerful whirlwind that swept through the area. The fierce winds whipped grass, branches, and vines around, throwing the already chaotic battlefield into further disorder.
-There he is!
In the midst of the chaos, Tailmoor, a regular knight of Brussels who had been guarding the mages in the rear, pointed toward Seo-un.
Seo-un put his bow away as he watched the enemy point him out after slicing through the whirlwind with an Aura Sword.
“Good eyes.”
He had hoped to stall for more time and thin out the mages, but when the one mage he did kill was resurrected and his position was compromised, Seo-un clicked his tongue.
-I’m leading them away now.
After finishing his briefing, Seo-un dodged the incoming magic and sprinted through the complex jungle. The enraged enemies pursued him without looking back.
-Don't let that guy get away!
Parel knew Seo-un was the heart of the team. He forgot all about traps and shouted the order to give chase.
Naturally, since the Martial Artists and knights had superior mobility, they outpaced the mages and began to close in on Seo-un. Even so, the fact that a minimum number of people stayed behind to protect the lagging mages spoke to the caliber of their team.
“Dammit! If only we could use Air Boards!” one mage grumbled, but even those who had learned cheap Lightness Skills were pushing forward.
Because of the difference in their mobility, the formation naturally stretched out. At the moment their middle was exposed, Nam Sa-gwang, manifesting Hand Aura, dropped from the sky like a blade severing their waist.
-Parel!
Tailmoor, who had been looking after the lagging mages in that middle section, shouted a warning.
Nam Sa-gwang, leaping from a high tree while radiating a terrifying aura, ignored the knights and lunged straight for the mages.
-Slash! Slash!
After carving through two mages along with their shields in an instant, Nam Sa-gwang immediately took off in the opposite direction of Seo-un.
“Dammit!”
Parel, who had stopped in his tracks while watching Seo-un lead them on like a dangling carrot, spat out a curse. When he stopped, the entire procession naturally came to a halt.
By the time they reached the mages whose bodies had been sliced in half, the team members were on high alert, scanning their surroundings.
“Can we… save them?”
Tailmoor shook his head.
There were several conditions for resurrecting a dead teammate in a Squad Game. First, the time limit for resurrection. Second, the extent of the physical damage. And third, whether a finishing blow had been delivered.
With their waists severed and intestines spilled onto the ground, these teammates couldn't be saved even if they hadn't been finished off.
“We got too excited. Our formation was a mess,” Tailmoor muttered.
Parel nodded. “We have Carmen’s Eye, so let’s fix our formation before we pursue.”
Behimore approached and patted his shoulder. Parel nodded, his face twisted in a deep scowl.
“Jin Seo-un…!”
Grinding his teeth as he spat out the name, Parel maintained the formation and began to pursue Seo-un once more.
Sensing the presence accurately following him, Seo-un shook his head.
-Operation failed. It looks like Carmen’s Eye is still active.
-A pity.
Nam Sa-gwang gave a short response and ran toward the rendezvous point. Seo-un also pulled out two arrows lodged in his back and began to move quickly. The arrows had pierced through his Barrier of Protection while he was fleeing and were still stuck in his flesh.
-Ding! Breath of the Forest is now active.
Along with the notification, the blood from his throbbing wounds began to clot rapidly. With a wound of this level, there was no need to waste a Recovery Scroll.
-I’m all set, Hyung.
Gi-chan’s shout came through just in time, and Seo-un’s smile deepened.
As Seo-un came into view of the pursuing Parel, the knight raised his hand to halt his group. Having learned his lesson twice now, he was being cautious and scanning the area.
“What are you so scared of?”
Seo-un stopped as well, turning around to provoke Parel with a smile.
“You have no honor! To be this cowardly!” Behimore shouted from the side.
Seo-un looked at him with an incredulous expression. “You guys talk about honor while setting traps and pushing with numbers?”
“Hmph! That is battlefield strategy.”
“If you do it, it’s strategy, but if I do it, it’s cowardice? Did you take an arrow to the head?”
Instead of arguing, Behimore drew his sword. “Let’s end this here!”
“Suck it.”
As Seo-un turned his back and began to run again, Behimore’s face turned beet red.
“What does ‘suck it’ mean?” he asked his teammates, but no one answered. However, judging by how incredibly unpleasant he felt, he knew it wasn't a compliment.
“Don't get worked up. He’s a guy used to fighting dirty. If we let him lead us around, our losses will only grow,” Parel said, having regained his cool. Behimore took deep breaths to calm himself.
The tedious pursuit continued, and finally, Seo-un’s party revealed themselves.
“One of them is missing.”
Seeing the enemies gathered except for one Martial Artist, Parel raised his hand. The mages began to fire spells to break the Seo-un team’s barriers. Then came a barrage of arrows and magic. Seo-un’s team members mostly dodged and took cover, responding to the attacks.
“They aren't fakes! Go!”
With that shout, Parel led the knights once more and charged at Seo-un’s party.
-Waaaaaaaah!
As the knights charged with a war cry, blue smoke began to rise around them. It was the Erupting Poison prepared by Li Lingwei. Even as the blue poisonous mist, which caused previously injected toxins to flare up, began to crawl up from all sides, the knights charged toward Seo-un’s party like madmen.
-Thud!
-Rumble!
-Whoosh!
In the heat of the battle, where various spells were flying and tearing through the lush jungle to create a clearing, an anomaly began to occur. A knight began to attack the three Sword Emperors who had just engaged Nam Sa-gwang.
“What are you doing?!”
“Die! You monster!”
Behimore, having knocked out the knight who was attacking like a madman, looked around with a sense of unease. Only then did he notice the blue poisonous mist creeping up from all directions.
“Parel! Something’s wrong…”
He tried to brief Parel, who was locked in a fierce exchange with Seo-un, but Parel’s condition was also strange. With bloodshot eyes and drooling, he was clearly not in his right mind.
Seeing his state, Seo-un’s lips curled.
-Everyone, pull back!
The moment Seo-un gave the order through the team voice chat, ten knights, including Parel, began to run amok.
“Stop them! Don't pursue! Subduing the knights in bad condition comes first! Tailmoor, Jeras! Get Parel!”
“Agh!”
“What are you doing? We’re on the same side!”
By the time the hellish team-killing spree ended, four knights and three mages from Parel’s team were dead. And at that exact moment, the sun was setting with a red glow.
“Are you back to your senses?”
“W-what! What happened?”
“I don't know the details, but you were like a berserker. Whether it was magic, poison, or a drug… two mages died by your hand alone.”
“Ugh!”
Parel, clutching his splitting head, slumped down and punched the ground. “Jin Seo-un!!!”
“Parel, you have to admit it. We have no chance against him here. We have to withdraw now.”
“But!”
“Think rationally! There are still over 100 people left until the end.”
At Behimore’s words, Parel finally looked around. In the darkening jungle, illuminated by glowing spheres, his teammates were in a wretched state, clearly exhausted. They had spent nearly half a day planning and executing a strategy to crush the enemy, but the result was disastrous.
They had lost ten teammates and hadn't killed a single enemy.
After observing his team for a moment, Parel spoke as if he had made up his mind. “We’re retreating. Let’s get back to the ships quickly.”
Parel, hiding his contorted face by lowering his visor, stood up abruptly.
Who said you could go back?
Watching them from not too far away, Seo-un’s eyes sparkled.
-Agh!
While distracted by magic flying in front of him, a knight was torn apart along with his armor by Seo-un, who then vanished into the darkness.
“Dammit!”
That was already the third one. In less than thirty minutes since deciding to retreat, three people had been taken out.
“Can you save him?”
“It’s no use.”
Through the torn breastplate, the knight’s chest was wide open, revealing a hollow space where the heart had been.
“That miserable bastard!”
He was spitting out curses, but in reality, it was nothing more than a facade to hide his fear.
We’re the prey?!
He couldn't help but admit it. They weren't the hunters. They were prey that could only flee while being helplessly picked apart.
“I never imagined so many of them would have Cloaks of Stealth. Why don't we just stay on high alert here and hold out until sunrise?”
Parel shook his head at Jeras’s suggestion. “We’d just be attacked all night without knowing the enemy's location. Our chances are better if we pick up the pace and get back to the ships.”
Without time to even think about how things had gotten to this point, Parel began to increase his speed.
If only we had protected Carmen’s Eye!
-Agh!
“Over here!”
“He appeared here too!”
“Here! A mage has been poisoned!”
After a long, hellish night, only sixteen team members remained when they reached the shore. They were only able to save this many because the attacks had quieted down about thirty minutes before sunrise.
Watching the rising sun, Parel and his comrades felt wretched. Behimore patted the back of the scowling Parel, trying to comfort him.
“We just have to make sure everyone survives in our future plays. Fortunately, no squad was wiped out. We saved at least one person from each.”
Parel nodded and took a small boat that had washed up on the shore back to the ships they had anchored yesterday. They had been operating a total of eight ships, but in the end, they were split between two. The moment they slumped down on the deck…
Seo-un’s squad poured out from the cabin of the ship Parel and Behimore were on, ambushing them.
“Jin Seo-un!!!”
Parel belatedly drew his sword to block them, but it was impossible for just two Sword Emperors to handle Nam Sa-gwang and Seo-un. Comrades on the other ship were coming to help, but those hit by the initial surprise attack couldn't hold out until then.
Just as the other ship, which had been approaching, turned its bow to flee instead…
-Creeeeak! Crack!
Their ship began to break apart, exactly as Li Min, who had come to the shore in advance the previous evening, had planned. Thanks to the hull being damaged almost to the point of shattering, the enemy ship couldn't go far before slowing down and coming to a halt.
It didn't take long for Seo-un’s squad, having leaped onto that ship, to massacre the remaining enemies.
“Whew.”
“This is going to sink soon. We don't have time for that. Hurry up and farm.”
Seo-un urged Dump, who had slumped to the floor. After farming all the items, the party moved to a ship that had been left intact a bit further away. Only then did they sit on the deck and let out exhausted breaths.
“I’m beat,” Dump said as he sprawled out on the deck.
The hunt during the night had been anything but easy. There were several dangerous moments while drawing the enemy's attention, assassinating them, and fleeing.
Seo-un looked around at his exhausted teammates and spoke. “The ships they came in will be on other shores as well. Let’s just check those and call it a day.”
As he finished speaking, he patted Li Min’s shoulder. Li Min dragged his tired body to start the Carrack. Perhaps because the speed had been significantly enhanced, it wasn't much slower than a Caravel.
As the team members finished farming and destroying the remaining ships, Gi-chan’s eyes widened the moment they rounded the last corner of the island to find the final one.
“Hyung…!”
“Yeah.”
Watching the ship floating majestically in the distance, Seo-un and Gi-chan looked at each other and clenched their fists.