Chapter 414

Some faces are never a welcome sight, no matter how many times you see them. For me, Lee Jungryong and Wu Heixing fell squarely into that category.

Even so, I spoke first because Wu Heixing looked almost presentable today.

“Fancy seeing you here. I thought I’d never see you again.”

At my cheerful greeting, the battered Wu Heixing shot me a venomous glare.

“Shut up.”

“Oh…”

“Say one more word, and on my grandfather’s honor, I’ll tear you limb from limb.”

Is he some Chinese version of Kindaichi or something?¹ I could never understand why people like him treated their late grandfathers’ honor like a credit card.

I put on a serious face.

“Were you and your grandfather not on good terms?”

“What?”

“No, think about it. Why stake your grandfather’s honor on something impossible? You’d be much better off staking it on you getting torn limb from limb…”

“You fucking bastard!”

Wu Heixing sprang to his feet with an enraged shout, but Lee Jungryong raised a hand to stop him.

“That’s enough.”

“Mr. Lee! But this bastard…”

“Fighting among ourselves before the final battle will do us nothing but harm. Calm down.”

Crunch.

Wu Heixing ground his teeth as if he meant to break them, then glared at me.

“Understood. Since you insist, Mr. Lee, I’ll let it end here.”

“A wise decision.”

Was he really the type to back down so obediently?

As I studied Lee Jungryong’s gentle smile, I turned my head slightly.

A brief glance from Team Leader Choi told me plenty.

“What about you, Jin Taekyung?”

I looked away from Team Leader Choi and gave a casual shrug.

“When an elder speaks, you have to listen.”

“I didn’t know you cared about things like that.”

“You have to respect your elders, don’t you?”

At my calm, unruffled answer, Lee Jungryong gave a hearty laugh whose meaning I could not decipher. Wu Heixing glared at me as if he wanted to kill me all over again.

“Respect your elders? Spare me that ridiculous bullshit. Then what about me? I’m seven years older than you.”

“If you don’t want to write your will, start by making your eyes look nicer.”

“You turtle-dicked son of a…!”

“Quit your bullshit.”

Wu Heixing’s second outburst died in his throat.

I fixed him with a cold stare and continued.

“If you still have enough energy to lose your temper over something this trivial, go check on the friends you brought with you.”

“…!”

“They risked their lives to follow you this far. They’re not consumables you can use once and throw away.”

I made no attempt to hide my contempt.

Barely fifty Hunters remained around Wu Heixing.

According to the report from headquarters, his suicide squad had set out five hundred strong. Most of them must have died or fallen behind.

“Losses? Sure, that happens. We’re in the middle of a battle. But…”

Wu Heixing’s armor might have been drenched in blood, but it was otherwise completely intact. Even as his comrades died around him, he had fought while protecting himself.

“Got anything to say, you fucking idiot?”

A line from an old superhero movie I had watched as a kid came to mind.

With great power comes great responsibility.

And that didn’t apply only to people bitten by radioactive spiders.

If someone could produce an aura blade instead of spiderwebs—if he had used that power to amass tremendous wealth and fame and cover up the crimes he had committed—then he had to bear at least some responsibility.

That was what I believed.

“You might be S-rank, but you’re no Hunter. So from now on, when you introduce yourself, don’t call yourself one. Just say, ‘I’m Wu Heixing, the lucky S-rank.’ Got it?”

“…”

Wu Heixing’s clenched fists trembled, but Lee Jungryong answered in his place.

“He did his best.”

“Judging by his armor, I doubt it. He could wipe that down right now and list it on Junggonara as used equipment.”²

“Wearing sturdy, high-quality armor is hardly grounds for criticism.”

“I noticed this last time too, but you go out of your way to defend him. Does that bastard have some kind of dirt on you?”

“Everyone has weaknesses. I simply happen to be quite good at hiding mine.”

“You should have your computer checked. Who knows? Maybe Chinese hackers are sharing videos of the Vice Guild Master watching porn in a group chat.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

He really is a formidable opponent.

Lee Jungryong smiled without the slightest sign of agitation, but the man standing behind him reacted differently.

I waved at the man radiating a faint killing intent.

“Well, look who it is. Team Leader Seok. Isn’t that our Go Jun?”

Lee Jungryong’s Head of Security and Disciple.

I distinctly remembered beating him half to death before we left for China, but the man standing before me looked not only fine, but even more solid than before.

His gaze alone had grown deeper and more profound. I could tell at a glance that his abilities had advanced significantly.

And he’s learned some patience.

Go Jun was the most loyal of all the loyal hounds Lee Jungryong had raised.

In the past, he would have rushed at me without hesitation. But this time, he had gathered up his killing intent until not a trace remained and chosen silence instead of drawing his weapon.

Lee Jungryong regarded his Disciple with satisfaction before speaking.

“We’ve reached the Arch Lich’s doorstep. According to the coordinates, only twenty kilometers remain.”³

I swept back my blood-sticky hair.

“Probably the longest and fiercest twenty kilometers on Earth.”³

“Indeed. The Arch Lich has kept a considerable force in reserve.”

“How many?”

“An estimated fifty thousand.”

The moment those words left his mouth, a groan escaped from the members of the suicide squad who had been listening intently to our conversation.

The suicide squads led by Lee Jungryong, Wu Heixing, and me numbered only around five hundred in total.

The mere estimate was enough to fill them with despair. To reach the Arch Lich, we would have to break through an army a hundred times our size.

Perhaps that was why someone shouted in a frightened voice.

“We should retreat while we still can!”

As if a dam had burst, cries rose from the other Hunters.

“Fuck!”

“There are too many monsters!”

“We’ll all be wiped out if we keep this up!”

“I came here to defeat the Arch Lich, not to die a meaningless death!”

Even the roughly two hundred members of the Western Front’s suicide squad, who had made it this far with almost no losses, were no exception.

Yet amid the fear spreading like wildfire, two people remained unshaken.

Xiao Shen, who watched me with unwavering trust, and…

“There’s a possibility.”

Team Leader Choi had gone beyond simply trusting me. He had independently deduced one possible explanation for the situation. He continued in a calm voice.

“An estimated fifty thousand is far beyond the High Command’s prediction.”

“Then shouldn’t we obviously retreat?”

Team Leader Choi immediately shook his head at the shout from one of the suicide squad members.

“The number of monsters we faced was also lower than expected.”

“Huh?”

“There were certainly many of them, but the monster forces we encountered on the front lines were not as overwhelming as we anticipated.”

“Then…”

“The Arch Lich may have been guarding against precisely this situation. Rather than commit all its forces to the front lines, it kept an army of fifty thousand in reserve as a final move it could use under any circumstances.”

The faces of the Hunters watching Team Leader Choi stiffened—not because they fully understood what he meant, but because the ground beneath their feet had begun to shake with increasing force.

Grk. Gr-r-r-r-rk.

The rumbling could be felt from dozens of kilometers away.⁴ Everyone’s body trembled with it.

A ruined road stretched ahead, vast plains spreading out on either side. Beyond the dense fog filling the landscape, the roars and footsteps of tens of thousands of monsters merged into a faint, distant thunder.

“Grooooooar!”

“This is insane…”

“Run. We have to run. We can’t win this.”

People began to edge backward.

The only exception was the Ares Guild members, who stood firm without wavering. In front of them, Lee Jungryong watched Team Leader Choi with interest.

“So?”

Their gazes met. I saw Team Leader Choi’s grip tighten around Hero’s Soul.

“Although the High Command’s prediction was wrong, the front lines must have had forces to spare because the Arch Lich did not launch an all-out attack.”

“Even so, our forces were still insufficient compared to the enemy’s.”

“That is exactly why certain people were left behind—to make up the difference.”

Grk. Gr-r-r-rk.

The vibrations and roars grew stronger. Amid the anxious, agitated murmuring, Team Leader Choi’s mana-charged voice pierced everyone’s ears.

“Those capable of overturning the course of a battle in an instant. S-rank Hunters, each of whom is called a one-person army.”

At that exact moment—

Fwoooooosh!

A dazzling mass of light erupted above our heads.

Amid the brilliant radiance, the air split apart as if sliced by a razor-sharp sword. Three people descended through the opening, stepping on the empty air as though walking down a staircase.

“When I was a child, my great-grandmother would often sit me on her lap and tell me that royalty must fulfill the duties befitting their station. Commoners like you would not understand, of course.”

I let out a snort and bowed at the waist. He was usually annoying beyond belief, but this time I had no choice but to play along.

“His Highness Prince Felix.”

“It is pleasing to hear those words from your lips, Jin, Hunter of the Orient.”

At Prince Felix’s lofty, self-important manner, the beautiful woman beside him clicked her tongue.

“Can’t you do something about him? Gag him, at least.”

“I think we should indulge him today, big sis.”

“Oh my.”

Faye Chen’s eyes widened at my answer, then she broke into a bright smile.

“That’s nice to hear. Coming all this way was worth it after all. Don’t you agree?”

The last of the three laughed heartily at Faye Chen’s question.

“Does that mean I can expect something too? What do you think, Jin?”

“What, should I kiss you?”

“Oh, that wouldn’t be bad. But I’ll politely decline. I’m already married to my beloved Fred, and we have five adopted children.”

Fwoosh. Thump.

Magic Johnson glided down through the air and patted my shoulder with a palm as large as a pot lid.

“Jin, you brave little rascal. How did you ever think of attempting such a dangerous Teleport? I nearly gave up several times.”

“But you still did it, Johnson.”

“The odds were different. This time, there was only a ten percent chance of failure. You’re at least eighty percent braver than I am.”

Courage didn’t come in sizes.

Simply by risking death to come here, they had proved themselves worthy of being called the greatest Hunters in the world.

The people who had received these unexpected reinforcements stared at them with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“F-Faye Chen?”

“Prince Felix and Magic Johnson are here too!”

“They’re S-rank Hunters! S-rank Hunters came to help us!”

“I love you, Johnson! Fucking nice gay!”

But that wasn’t the end.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Another vibration came through the ground, different from the one we had felt moments earlier.

It heralded the arrival of an enormous army marching in step. Far away, countless figures emerged as a line of dots stretching across the distant horizon.

“Did you think we came charging in without a plan?”

Faye Chen grinned.

“Ten thousand troops from the Western and Eastern Fronts combined. That should at least buy enough time for you to escape.”

A dazed voice slipped from someone’s lips.

“Now we can survive…”

A voice answered him.

“No.”

Team Leader Choi raised Hero’s Soul high.

Even through the dense fog, its transparent blade shone beautifully.

“We’re going to win.”

I believed it too.