Whoooosh.
Cold night wind swept over Choi Minwoo. He brushed back his windblown hair and looked down at the canyon rushing closer.
There it is.
The spearhead’s cold gleam was unmistakable even in the deep darkness.
Choi had collected countless fine weapons and artifacts over the years, but the strength and sharpness of the spear named White Flame still amazed him.
Though not as much as its owner.
He thought of Jin Taekyung.
When they first met, Choi could never have imagined that the young man his age who’d joined a raid as a porter would stand above every Hunter in the world less than a year later.
But Jin Taekyung had made the unimaginable real.
He had prevented countless disasters and grown astonishingly through every ordeal. The boldness and courage he showed in a crisis kept surpassing even Choi’s expectations—and Choi had watched him more closely than anyone.
Just like today.
I could tell something was different from usual…but Mr. Jin keeps getting another step ahead of us.
When the Skeleton King’s undead relayed what was happening, Choi had felt surprised and a little hurt. Before long, though, those feelings had turned to joy.
Jin had solved a problem no one else could. That was proof he’d grown yet again.
With him, we can win.
Jin Taekyung was the commander in chief leading them all, the general directing the battle, and the vanguard who charged toward the enemy ahead of everyone else.
How could Choi not trust him? How could he not love him?
No matter how many obstacles and dangers lay along Jin’s path, that would never change.
There are a lot of them.
Choi gazed down calmly.
Hundreds of meters1 below, a black mass of enemies poured into the canyon like a wave.
Too many to count.
Their footsteps shook the earth, and their shouts rang out from every direction.
“Allahu Akbar!”2
“Brothers and sisters, charge! To the promised land!”
“God’s salvation awaits us!”
The fanatics who’d hidden from the eyes of the world were crying out. Ironically, those calling for God’s salvation held weapons that brought blood and death.
They’re not people like us. They’re just enemies we have to bring down.
Choi repeated the thought to himself like a vow. No—every Hunter looking down at them felt the same way.
They’d already seen it. They’d learned it the hard way.
Humans could be more good—or more evil—than any other living creature. Monsters weren’t the only things that threatened this world.
Before Demon King Asmodeus descended, those who had brought about countless wars and deaths had been human, too. Humanity had suffered at their hands and learned a lesson it must never forget.
There are monsters with red blood, too.
And the Hunters gathered here existed for one reason. Their sole duty was to hunt those monsters.
Shing.
Blades appeared here and there, their edges glinting coldly.
The Hunters were visibly more exhausted than usual after their battle against the monster horde, but the determination in their eyes was stronger than ever.
Fwoooosh!
The wind grew fiercer. Hearts pounded faster.
Dozens of eagles and griffins angled their enormous wings and plunged toward the ground.
The fanatics’ shouts, distant as an echo a moment ago, now thundered in everyone’s ears.
“Fight to the last! Don’t fall back!”
Choi swallowed. The wind stung his skin. The fanatics surged into the canyon, radiating a madness that seemed almost tangible.
A towering Grand Mage and the Skeleton King, with hundreds of undead at his command, stood in their way. Not one of the fanatics was afraid.
To them, this was a holy war. Even if they died, they would stand beside God as holy martyrs.
These warriors of God had already experienced the miracle of awakening. They kicked off their camels and shot forward at blinding speed.
Three hundred meters.3 One hundred.4 Fifty.5
The distance vanished.
And then…
Impact.
Boom! Kaa-boooom!
“Graaagh!”
Flames devoured the darkness.
The vanguard took a direct hit from Magic Johnson’s attack magic and went up in flames, screaming. Other fanatics instantly filled the gap left by the dead and charged the undead without hesitation.
Crunch, craaack!
The canyon wasn’t absurdly narrow, but it wasn’t wide, either. Yet the fanatics the Doppelganger had cultivated over many years broke through the undead battle line at once.
In their hearts and minds, they might already have been monsters. But they were fundamentally different from actual monsters.
They were as strong and clever as any Hunter. Above all, they had two excellent commanders.
“Fallen demons! Wipe them all out!”
“Inshallah.”6
One man rampaged at the front, shouting roughly. An old man watched the battlefield with a composed expression from the rear.
The two stood out even amid the chaos. The moment Choi spotted them, he instinctively grasped how powerful they were.
S-rank Hunters—or should I call them fanatics?
They were beyond what he could handle now.
Strangely, he wasn’t afraid.
The next moment, the old man looked up, and their eyes met. Choi’s resolve didn’t waver.
Shhk. Slice!
The strike came like a flash of light.
A streak of aura shot from the old man’s waist and cleanly severed the neck of Choi’s griffin. The huge flying monster went limp and tipped to one side.
Fwoosh. Rattle!
The wind turned violent, and Choi was thrown about.
But he didn’t panic. Their dive had become a fall, yet for some reason, he found himself smiling.
The screams of the other Hunters clinging to the griffin’s spine didn’t matter. Neither did the way they stared at him as though he’d lost his mind.
I don’t regret any of the choices I’ve made. I’ll just fight as hard as I can.
His mind was calm. The sword in his hand felt as light as a feather. Today, he felt he could do anything.
The ground rushed closer, and the shout of a fanatic he didn’t know struck his ears.
“For the great God, for the Prophet!”
Choi laughed aloud. Then he spoke.
“For our Alliance Leader.”
His voice was low but powerful. It was the signal.
Papat!
Choi Minwoo—and all the Hunters—kicked off the body of the griffin plummeting straight toward the ground and soared away.
Tap.
Choi landed first. The sword in his hand blurred.
Whoosh! Chaaash!
A sharp wind rose from the blade, slicing through the limbs of fanatics rushing him from every side.
A streak of light shot between the bodies collapsing in sprays of blood.
Whoosh—bang!
Choi raised his sword in time to block it, but that was all he could do.
The force drove him back several steps. A low voice reached his ears.
“I thought I recognized that face. Now I know—you’re Sky’s blood.”
The Arab man approached with a sword wrapped in aura, his eyes full of menace.
Amid the chaos, Choi spoke in his heart to someone he couldn’t see.
I don’t know how long I—or we—can hold out.
But he knew one thing better than anyone.
He had to fight. He couldn’t fall before the enemy did.
Even if that enemy was far stronger than him.
Swish.
Choi pointed his sword at the man. The Hero’s Sword, imbued with brilliant aura, shone brightly.
The eight hundred or so Hunters who’d dropped from the sky gathered around its light as it spread through the darkness.
“Damn heretics. I’ll send you all to hell.”
The man vanished from sight, a vicious smile on his face. A sword strike flashed out at the same instant and grazed Choi’s neck as he instinctively ducked.
The Skeleton King, who’d been holding off the fanatics swarming from all sides, shot toward the man.
Boom!
Countless roars and screams swept through the canyon. The ground heaved, and the solid bedrock split apart.
The bloodshed and shock of a battle unlike any the canyon had seen in centuries reached the cliffs on either side—even the canyon’s center, dozens of meters7 beyond its entrance.
And those tiny cracks helped, if only a little, to free someone who should never have escaped.
Thud-thud. Bang!
A bone shard as long as a spear and thicker than one blasted outward. At the same time, new flesh and blood welled up from the severed ends of countless shattered limbs.
Slide. Crack.
Recovery so fast it was impossible to believe, even seeing it firsthand.
No—Regeneration.
The Doppelganger completed its one hundred and forty-fifth resurrection and grinned, baring bloodstained teeth.
“Oh. We’re only getting started, and you’re tired already?”
Thwack!
A streak of light pierced the space between its eyes instead of answering. The young man holding the spear moved his dry, cracked lips.
“No. I think I’ve got a little more in me now.”
And at that moment—
Ding.
System
Lv. 78 Brody Woods defeated!
Gained a tiny amount of EXP!
Level Up!
The effects of leveling up fill you with healing power!
Special Debuff: Broken Body rejects the healing power!
Status Effect: Fatigue removed!
Status Effect: Muscle Pain removed!
Status Effect: Internal Energy Depletion…
…
…
A bell rang out clearly, audible to one person alone.
Right after reaching the Supreme Peak realm, I’d joined the ranks of the superhuman. No one could deny that.
But even superhumans were still human.
They felt pain when they were hurt, tensed up when they faced someone strong, and eventually grew tired if they kept moving.
I was one of them.
Except for one thing.
Ding.
As System messages appeared one after another, my fading vision cleared.
I felt the fatigue melt away and my internal energy return. I muttered a name.
“Brody Woods. Brody Woods…”
A name I had to remember for the rest of my life. Brody was a hero who’d saved me when I was nearing my limit.
The same went for every one of those victims who’d died twice.
With that in mind…
“Die.”
Slice.
The Doppelganger was staggering to its feet when my spearhead swept through it. Its upper body slid away at an angle.
And at the same time, the sight I’d grown sick of seeing played out before my eyes once again.
Slither.
Blood and flesh welled up at a terrifying speed. The Doppelganger rose whole, looking more relaxed than ever.
“That’s enough. You must be close to your limit by now.”
“Nope. I’m doing fine.”
Thrust!
“You can’t have much left. No need to bluff.”
“I told you, I’m fine.”
Thud, splatter!
“This really is the last—”
“Hey.”
Slice!
Resurrected yet again, the Doppelganger muttered, “What kind of fucking bastard are you…?”
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