Chapter 42: Heracles. Pt. 3

If they were asked to state something good that had come from the midst of their misfortune, then it would be that hunting was more manageable at the gate.

“Whew.. Hunting seems easy, thanks to you, Mr. Lee.”

Naturally, it was due to Lee Jun-Kyeong’s skills, which seemed almost tailored to their environment. But, of course, this was only possible due to the uniqueness of the duo. The other Hunters were unable to leverage that unique advantage.

“It's another corpse..” Jeong In-Chang said while he stopped and stored the body of another Hunter. This wasn’t a corpse that had fallen in the Battle of Champions. Instead, a monster that haunted Catalyon Mountain had killed that Hunter. Its wounds were from a Catalyon lion. Their ferocious power was worthy of an A-Grade Gate, and the difficulty level of the raid had been raised even higher due to these monsters who rampantly attacked within the forest.

While Jeong In-Chang collected the bodies, Lee Jun-Kyeong used Hyeon-Mu to scout the surroundings.

- No other Hunters can be seen in the vicinity.

Hyeon-Mu’s usefulness was quite varied. While Hyeon-Mu’s abilities would reach a peak around bodies of water, it was still able to play a role even within the mountains.

Namely, the role of the scout.

"Keep looking around, and come back when it seems dangerous."

- I have received the order.

Hyeon-Mu floated into the air once more and began to rise into the sky. Lee Jun-Kyeong and Jeong In-Chang now had insurance against a surprise attack with the familiar scouting above them.

“Mr. Jeong, let’s go.”

“Please wait a moment.”

Jeong In-Chang clasped his hands in a short prayer in front of the gravestone he had made somewhere along the line and then nodded.

‘He really is..’

Lee Jun-Kyeong thought to himself that Jeong In-Chang really was an unusual person. To think he would gather the remains of the enemy, corpses of people that would have definitely been enemies if they had met, and bury them. Moreover, they were in a place where one could never know when the next monster or Hunter attack would be. However, Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t stop him.

“I’m done,” Jeong In-Chang said.

The reason why Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t stop him, even in this urgent situation, was because Jeong In-Chang did a necessary task while laying the corpses to rest. His hands were now full of the deceased's consumables and equipment.

“Here you go.”

“You really are a difficult person to understand.”

All of the possessions of the dead Hunter had been handed over. Since they were all well-known Hunters in their own right, they all had been armed with high-quality weapons that were either worth quite a bit or useful to the two of them.

Of course, they wouldn’t be able to claim ownership just by picking them up.

‘Rather than selling them on the black market, it’s better to return them.’

They could send them back to their organizations through Odin and receive a suitable reward.

‘The only things that would be useful are the consumables. Well, it’d probably be okay to use one of the armors we collected and swap it out with the one I’m currently wearing.’

“What are we doing now?” Jeong In-Chang asked. His body had completely recovered, and as if he had finally found his confidence, his expression wasn’t bad either. They had cleared their first task, to survive. Now, it was time to make a choice. Would they hunt the boss, or would they focus on the Battle of Champions? Of course, either decision would be immensely difficult.

Lee Jun-Kyeong replied, “The boss is going to be strong. It might be difficult for the two of us to handle by ourselves.”

“True.”

The mana they had felt at the top of the Catalyon Mountain was most likely emitting from the boss zone, and it was definitely not something normal.

‘Because it's the Catalyon Mountain..’

There wasn't much information about this gate, so they couldn’t act hastily.

"But that giant must be stronger, right?" Jeong In-Chang laughed in response while Lee Jun-Kyeong continued to ponder. Whether it was the boss or the giant, they were both strong. In fact, there was a chance that the boss might be easier to deal with than Demetrios.

“What is our next move? You have a plan, right?”

“Yes,” Lee Jun-Kyeong answered without hesitation.

"We will.."

Lee Jun-Kyeong smirked slyly in a very similar way to the giant.

"...be catching both.”

"..?"

Jeong In-Chang tilted his head with a confused expression, but Lee Jun-Kyeong just responded to him again, "Get ready."

Joeng In-Chang blinked. "Oh, okay. Is it a monster?"

Lee Jun-Kyeong had received a message from Hyeon-Mu. This wasn’t the first time that he had been informed of a monster attack by his familiar in advance. Since Jeong In-Chang thought it was a monster attack, he took a stance with his greatsword as he usually did

But then, Lee Jun-Kyeong's voice rang out, “It’s a Hunter.”

***

The Catalyon Mountain had been chosen for the Battle of Champions, but neither of them had fought a proper battle with another Hunter since they had arrived here. Instead, they had spent their time hunting monsters.

Of course, Lee Jun-Kyeong had used Hyeon-Mu to avoid Hunters deliberately.

“He’s coming.”

In response, Jeong In-Chang nodded and raised his sword. He couldn’t forget the stakes. The Battle of Champions was happening around them. This wasn’t an offensive raid to hunt monsters. Instead, they would have to fight amongst the Hunters and emerge victorious.

Finally..

Swish.

A sound began to emerge from the forest. They approached quite close and attempted to hide their presence, but had misjudged their ability to erase their presence fully. A sound emerged from the forest, and..

‘It’s the smell of mana.’

Before they knew it, the Hunters had approached even closer.

"Mr. Jeong!"

"Ha-a-ap!"

Jeong In-Chang swung his giant sword with a roar. He had seen it too. A few arrows flew toward them. The arrows flew quickly, as if they had been infused with mana, and collided with the greatsword wielded by Jeong In-Chang.

Tink Tink.

Arrows flew without pause, but this was only the beginning.

Crack!

With the sound of breaking branches, the Hunters finally appeared.

‘There’s three.’

Three Hunters appeared in front of them, but the Hunter that had just fired the arrows was still in the forest.

"Hyeon-Mu!" L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on N0vel--Biin.

- I have received the orders.

The Hunter in the forest was left to Hyeon-Mu, and Lee Jun-Kyeong and Jeong In-Chang faced the ones running toward them. The Hunters swung their swords without any warning.

Their movements were fast and precise. As Hunters who qualified to enter the Catalyon Gate, their skills were impossible to ignore.

Clang!

The sword of a Hunter whose face had been covered with a mask collided with Lee Jun-Kyeong’s round shield and spewed out flames. However, the Hunter who had attacked Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t panic and attacked again after turning to the side. It was clear that these Hunters had ample experience.

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong had no intention of just fending off the enemy’s blows. Then, when the Hunter shifted and attacked again, he astonishingly dashed into his enemy’s reach.

“...!”

The Hunter’s expression distorted.

Whoosh!

Then, an arrow came out of nowhere and brushed past Lee Jun-Kyeong’s cheek. Lee Jun-Kyeong was unable to continue with his attack, so he was forced to back up and widen the distance again.

"Are you okay?" Jeong In-Chang asked.

“It seems like I should be asking you instead, doesn’t it?”

Jeong In-Chang’s situation was even worse than Lee Jun-Kyeong's. As if they had thought that Jeong In-Chang was the more significant threat, there were two Hunters matched up against him. Jeong In-Chang was defending against their attacks successfully, but there was a problem.

‘He’s slow.’

The heft of Jeong In-Chang’s greatsword made it impossible to switch back and forth between attack and defense quickly.

“I’m fine! There’s no need to worry about me!”

Jeong In-Chang tried to reassure him, but the wounds on his body increased one by one.

‘We have to end this quickly.’

The longer it took for them to handle this, the worse it would get. Moreover, Lee Jun-Kyeong wasn’t able to use Reign of Fire, his strongest power. This was a forest, and their location would be exposed if the flames started to spread. Demetrios would see the fire and begin chasing after them.

They couldn’t reveal their location to him just yet.

“...!”

At Lee Jun-Kyeong’s sudden change, the expressions of the Hunters changed completely. They signaled each other, and soon after, one of the Hunters attacking Jeong In-Chang broke off and pincered Lee Jun-Kyeong along with the Hunter with the sword. They intuitively felt that the changes that had occurred to Lee Jun-Kyeong were dangerous.

They weren't wrong. Lee Jun-Kyeong had activated something.

'Mana Stream.'

It was a power that gradually developed as the mana available to utilize increased through his continuous training. He could use this power to amplify his physical abilities instantly. But, it was a forced use of an imperfect power, so it couldn’t be used for long periods of time, putting tremendous strain on his body.

However, it was the only power he could use at this moment.

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> smiles at you.]

Because that bastard wouldn’t support him properly, Lee Jun-Kyeong was limited in what he could use.

– The order has been fulfilled. Returning to master.

Just then, he heard Hyeon-Mu. It must have handled the enemy archer.

Lee Jun-Kyeong immediately moved his right arm and pierced forward with Muspel’s Spear.

Swish!

While the enemies had shifted into a defensive stance and aimed for the opening, it was too hard for them to avoid.

Puheok.

After all, Muspel’s Spear flew forward like the wind and pierced the thigh of one of the Hunters.

“...!:”

The remaining Hunter gave a war cry and ran toward Lee Jun-Kyeong.

Clang!

However, the sword didn’t have the chance to reach Lee Jun-Kyeong’s body. Lee Jun-Kyeong still had a round shield on his left arm, and he used it to attack rather than defending himself.

Eventually, the two Hunters fell.

“Keheuk..”

In addition, Jeong In-Chang had also handled his side. It was a battle that left much to be desired.

Lee Jun-Kyeong plunged the blade of Muspel’s Spear deeper into the Hunter’s thigh and interrogated them.

"Who are you?"

".."

However, they didn’t answer. When Lee Jun-Kyeong took off their masks, the faces that were revealed were strangely familiar.

‘It’s just some punks.’

They weren’t remarkable enough for Lee Jun-Kyeong to know their names. However, these Hunters were..

“These are the punks who screwed everything up.”

Jeong In-Chang asked, “Pardon? What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that these punks are the ones who had attacked Demetrios at the entrance of the gate.”

As if they had understood Lee Jun-Kyeong, their expressions hardened.

Then, in that instance, something began to approach them from the forest. Jeong In-Chang quickly raised his sword with a startled expression but was left laughing at the face of the opponent that had soon been revealed.

– I’ve returned.

Hyeon-Mu dragged the Hunter it had suppressed using a blue rope that seemed to have been made with water.

“What are you going to do?” Jeong In-Chang asked.

All of the Hunters who had tried to attack Lee Jun-Kyeong and his party, even the Hunter that Hyeon-Mu had gone to suppress and had brought back, had been taken down and tied up in one place.

"Hmm..”

Lee Jun-Kyeong thought about it for a moment.

‘He’s right. What should I do with them?’

It was implicitly permitted to kill other hunters during the Battle of Champions, and these were Hunters who had tried to kill them. They were also the culprits who had twisted the various events into a plan that didn’t match their goals.

Then, while he was thinking, one of them spoke to Lee Jun-Kyeong with a greasy smirk. "It would be better to let us live."

Lee Jun-Kyeong asked, “Why?”

“We are chasing your party right now.”

It seemed as though more of them had survived than he had initially thought. They were careless bastards, having survived and leaving only the other Hunters to die in a mess they had made.

“There are still Hunters that had the same goal as us that are still chasing you. You’ll only be able to increase your chances of surviving, even if only by a little, if you keep us alive.”

“Why are you chasing us?” he asked.

“...I can’t answer that.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong observed the guys for a moment with his arms crossed. He wondered why they would pursue him. Even if this was the Battle of Champions, they said that they were specifically chasing after his party.

Why?

After coming to a conclusion, Lee Jun-Kyeong looked down at them with a devilish smile.

“I’ll let you stay alive.”