Chapter 805

A beast.

That was what Jin Taekyung looked like to everyone watching: fierce as a hungry tiger, majestic as a lion, swift as a leopard.

KRAAAAAASH!

Sand and earth swirled up around him. His figure seemed to ripple out of sight where he stood, then shot forward at terrifying speed.

Flamefire Path.

A single streak of flame crossed the space between them. He was faster than when he’d simply charged in headlong before, his movements incomparably more controlled.

Jin Taekyung felt he was beginning to understand, if only a little, the enlightenment the Fire King and the Slaughter Saint had reached over their lifetimes.

And how to bring down the enemies drawing closer by the second.

System

Lv. 130 Lycanthrope Champion

Lv. 140 Death Knight Legion Commander

Lv. 148 Manticore Lord

As the concentration of magical power had risen, so had these S-rank monsters’ levels.

But Level wasn’t an absolute measure of strength. An enemy with a lower Level might possess far greater qi, while one with a higher Level could be physically weaker.

Once opponents reached this tier, it ultimately came down to timing and matchup. Jin Taekyung had just turned the Level 140 Scorpion King into a roast with a surprise attack.

And there was only one way to size up an opponent’s strength and find out how well you matched up.

Fight them.

Whoosh.

Several dozen meters¹ vanished in an instant.

As Jin Taekyung charged straight at them, keeping his center of gravity low, three streaks of light fell toward him.

Shraaah!

The Death Knight’s sword. The Lycanthrope’s axe. And, last of all, the Manticore’s claws.

Dark crimson magical power, so dense it seemed to warp space, pierced Jin Taekyung’s body.

Or so the three S-rank monsters believed.

BOOM!

The earth flipped over with a deafening crash. Then a dark shadow fell overhead.

—…!

Their instincts awakened alongside the warning lights flashing in their minds.

These S-rank monsters were far too intelligent to dismiss as mere beasts. They understood at once what had happened, even as they struggled to accept what was right in front of them.

Power and qi greater than their own boiled inside that tiny, frail human body.

And then—

Heavenly Strike.

Jin Taekyung plunged toward the ground. Blue-white hellfire poured along White Flame’s spearhead and swept out in every direction.

Fwoosh—KRAAAAAASH!

Flames spread as wide as a Grand Mage’s Fire Wall spell, but burned hotter. They swallowed the front ranks of the monster army—horribly ravenous to behold, more ferocious than any beast.

—Aaaaaaagh!

—Kieeet!

Ding. Ding. Ding.

System alerts mingled with the dying screams of monsters.

But they weren’t all that awaited Jin Taekyung as he rose from the blackened ash.

“How. Dare. You!”

The Lycanthrope Champion.

Trapped beneath the curse of the eternal moon, the strongest of the half-human, half-beast monsters roared and swung its enormous axe.

Whoooom!

Dark crimson magical power stormed through the air, cleaving space and wiping away the wind.

Just as the axe was about to split the human before it in two, White Flame’s fire-wreathed spearhead flashed upward.

Clang!

A sharp ring sounded. The impossibly sturdy axe blade burst apart.

Crack—BOOM!

Hundreds of fragments rained down on the monsters rushing to save their commander.

Thud, thud, thud!

Screams rose with sprays of blood. Corpses piled atop corpses.

The Lycanthrope Champion stood frozen, bright yellow eyes wide. Jin Taekyung brought his spearhead down toward it without a moment’s hesitation.

Or he would have, if not for the whistling sounds rushing in from both sides.

Whoooosh!

Jin Taekyung bent backward with lightning speed. His hair touched the ground as two fierce gusts swept barely clear of his face.

Pip!

His skin split under the pressure, sending a sharp sting through him. That was nothing. If it was the price of dodging the attacks, he’d gotten off absurdly cheap.

I’ll pay them back with interest.

His body moved before the thought was complete. Straightening, he released the spear shaft and thrust out both palms.

Whoom—BOOM!

A shockwave and crash shook the ground.

But the sword and claws, shrouded in immense magical power, canceled out the force of his Flame Divine Palm. They didn’t stop there.

Shraaah!

The Death Knight Legion Commander brought its sword down like a streak of light.

—Grrraaaah!

The Lycanthrope charged with a roar. Beside it, the Manticore Lord lashed its iron-hard, spike-covered tail like a whip.

They’re working together? Monsters from different species?

Jin Taekyung’s eyes widened at the attacks converging from three directions. That brief hesitation left the slightest opening.

Fwoooosh! BOOM!

Three S-rank monsters. Together, they struck with more destructive force than he could withstand even with his Scorching Yang Qi pushed to its limit.

And the Manticore Lord was even stronger and more cunning than he’d expected.

Whoosh. Slice!

Hot. As if someone had seared his thigh with fire.

Before he could fully feel the pain, three more flashes burst into view one after another.

BOOM!

A crash like the sky splitting open sent him flying backward.

Jin Taekyung twisted in midair, regained his balance, and threw a punch the instant he landed.

Poom!

Heat erupted from his fist. The Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist swept forward, setting monsters ablaze. As they shrieked and burned, dark crimson magical power surged from among them.

Whoooosh.

Pressure bore down from every direction, snuffing out the flames in an instant.

The three S-rank monsters had cut down even their writhing subordinates without hesitation. They were about to charge Jin Taekyung again when a voice suddenly rang out.

“Good. That’s far enough.”

At the unmistakable sound of the Demon Realm language, they stopped in their tracks.

The Skeleton King grinned at them, then tossed a remark at Jin Taekyung.

“Madman.”

Jin Taekyung met his unfriendly look with a calm question.

“Why?”

“What am I supposed to do when you charge off alone like that? Weren’t we just saying we’d each take one?”

“I was testing them. Seeing which was strongest and which was weakest.”

The Skeleton King’s gaze dropped to Jin Taekyung’s thigh. It looked as though something had torn a chunk out of it, and blood covered the wound.

The Manticore Lord had struck there with the Fire Dragon Armor around Jin Taekyung’s upper body in mind. It was as clever as it was strong.

“Looks more like it tested your blood.”

“They’re stronger than I expected. One of them, especially, is practically a named monster even among the S-ranks.”

“Which one?”

“The one in the middle.”

“The Manticore? It does stand out, even at a glance.”

The Skeleton King glared at the Manticore Lord, his face hardening. His voice turned cold.

“So that’s the one that wounded you.”

“It’s not that bad. I’d be much better off taking the Manticore—”

“Fine. I’ll take the Death Knight.”

“…?”

“What’s with that unpleasant look?”

“No, I just thought this was where you’d say you were going to avenge your friend or something.”

The Skeleton King’s eyes widened.

“What the hell are you talking about? We’ve got a much better chance if the strongest fight the strongest.”

“…”

“Anyway, it’s settled. You take the Manticore. I’ll take the Death Knight. And that Lycanthrope over there…”

He trailed off, looked around, and blinked.

“Why is it just the two of us?”

Jin Taekyung, who had staunched the bleeding in his thigh, kindly explained.

“One bastard already ran off.”

“Huh?”

“Maybe he had a shred of conscience left, because he didn’t run away entirely. He’s back there in the front ranks.”

Far away, Yamamoto Genji had sidled up beside Choi Minwoo and put on a determined expression. The Skeleton King spotted him and muttered, “I’m going to kill that bastard.”

“Sure. But first, let’s finish this damn fight as quickly as we can.”

Jin Taekyung spat out bloody phlegm and lowered his spear.

Behind him, flying monsters were already shrieking amid bursts of explosions.

Magic Johnson can hold them off.

He could only trust him, just as Johnson and the others had trusted him.

Step. Thud.

The three S-rank monsters stepped forward, and the entire army moved with them.

No matter how many they killed, the wave of monsters never seemed to shrink. And the open desert all around them was the worst possible battlefield for humans.

“You know what I regret most since I became a monster?” the Skeleton King asked.

Jin Taekyung answered without hesitation. “Not getting to go clubbing.”

“Wrong. Getting mixed up with you.”

“Really? I’m the exact opposite.”

“What?”

“One of the best things I’ve ever done was get you out of that Gate.”

“…Damn it. Am I the only piece of trash here?”

“You already know. Why ask?”

The Skeleton King let out a quiet laugh and took a deep breath. Deathly energy flowed out instead of breath, raising the monsters strewn around them.

One thousand in all.

That was the most he could maintain while fighting and commanding them at the same time. Against the vast army drawing nearer and steadily gaining speed, it was a meager force.

“Can we… hold them all back?”

No.

Jin Taekyung swallowed the answer on the tip of his tongue.

Someone is going to die. No matter what.

That was battle. That was war. There was no way to save everyone.

He couldn’t promise they would all make it out alive. He could promise one thing: revenge.

“No matter how many of us die here today…”

Shing.

As his words trailed off, he leveled his gleaming spearhead at the monsters.

“Every last one of them dies by my hand.”

The Skeleton King’s eyes widened.

KRUNCH!

A wave of monsters beyond counting crashed over them.

…!

…!!

My ears rang. The movement of more than ten thousand monsters shook the ground, and their cries seemed to reach the ends of the earth and the sky above.

At the head of that army, right at its center, were the three of them.

Fwoosh. Slice!

Fire Dragon’s Single Tail.

A line of flame traced along the spearhead and cut through the air. Dozens of heads caught in its path, unable to dodge or block, rolled across the ground.

Splatter!

Blood sprayed a moment later. But the monsters that should have charged us with savage cries scattered instead, avoiding me and the Skeleton King.

Was it because of the martial prowess I’d shown? My Intimidation?

No. The monsters avoiding me to charge the Hunters weren’t afraid. They were obeying someone else.

The kind of obedience you saw only in trained elite troops.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me…!”

Crunch!

The Skeleton King blew apart an ogre’s head and shouted in anger.

Even with his undead army, the two of us couldn’t block every enemy’s path.

For every ten we killed, a hundred got through. For every hundred, a thousand monsters slipped past.

Our net was tightly woven, but far too small. And that was exactly what they intended.

“So it’s you. The human that person spoke of.”

The voice seemed to come from inside my head. Smooth and composed, like a nobleman’s, its tone betrayed a keen intelligence. Its words confirmed my suspicion.

“The Prophet. Where is he now?”

A mythical monster with the face and body of a tiger, the tusks of a boar, and the horns of a bull.

The Manticore Lord smiled.

“He is everywhere, and nowhere.”

“What the hell does that mean?” the Skeleton King asked.

“It means he’ll tell us if we beat the shit out of him.”

I brought my spearhead down toward the monster.

No—toward them.

Shwoosh!

The wind split apart.