Chapter 823

Clang. Clatter.

Countless weapons fell onto the blood-soaked ground. Thousands of fanatics sank to their knees like a wave.

The faint light of dawn from the east shone on the scene.

On the battlefield where victory had finally come.

And on the young man who had brought about that unbelievable victory.

Jin Taekyung.

The defeated did not dare raise their heads before him. The victors gazed at their young Alliance Leader with wonder in their eyes.

They had been outnumbered more than ten to one, facing fanatics who charged without fear of death.

The Hunters had been afraid.

Afraid they would never see their families again. Afraid that if they fell in this nameless canyon, an even greater calamity would swallow those who remained.

But their brief fear had been rendered meaningless. Jin Taekyung had ended this massive battle in an instant.

He had been overwhelming—and, in a way, divine.

Everyone who survived knew it.

Jin Taekyung hadn’t just cut through the enemy’s flesh and bone. He had broken the fanatics’ spirits and made them lay down their weapons of their own accord.

Like a scene from a myth.

If miracles exist… this must be what one looks like.

Magic Johnson suddenly felt something stir in his chest. The Grand Mage’s gaze, fixed on Jin Taekyung, trembled like ripples on a pond.

He reminds me of him. Astonishingly so.

Old memories rose like heat haze before his eyes.

Memories from more than thirty years ago. Yet every moment he had spent with him remained vivid.

The miracle Magic Johnson had witnessed with his own eyes—that great achievement—would be remembered as long as humanity endured.

And so would the young hero standing alone at the center of the now-quiet battlefield.

But Magic Johnson knew something else.

To gain anything in this world—even a miracle—one had to pay its price.

Equivalent exchange is the one unchanging law.

His gaze on Jin Taekyung deepened. Then dazzling light streamed from the tip of the staff he slowly raised.

Fwoooosh.

A flash heralding the end of the fierce battle drove back the darkness and lit the dawn.

The Hunters touched by its gentle warmth finally grasped what had seemed impossible to believe.

They had won.

Today, they had written a new line in history.

Clang-clang-clang!

Blades smeared with blood and flesh thrust toward the sky.

“Waaaaaaah!”

A tremendous roar shook the canyon.

It was joy at victory, mourning for fallen comrades, and reverence offered wholly to one man.

But most of them neither knew nor saw it.

The young hero’s eyes twitched as he stood amid the cheers pouring in from every direction. His fingers had turned white, gripping with all their strength the spear shaft that kept slipping from his hand.

…Fuck.

Jin Taekyung swallowed the curse and forced down the hot surge rising from deep in his chest.

His vision kept blurring. In his ringing ears, the Hunters’ cheers and the System notifications crowded together in a jumble.

System

• You have defeated Lv. 140 Hamid Shah Masoud!
• You have gained a substantial amount of EXP and Fame!
• Level Up!
• All status ailments have been removed as a Level Up effect!
• Some wounds have been healed as a Level Up effect!
• Special debuff Broken Body rejects the healing effect!
• Status ailment Mental Strength Depleted rejects the healing effect!
• Middle Dantian has reached its limit! Rest as soon as possible to recover your mental strength!

Jin Taekyung’s condition was exactly as the System had described.

His physical wounds and fatigue had recovered, but his Middle Dantian was beyond the System’s power to heal. The catastrophic force he had unleashed earlier could never have come cheaply.

Throb.

He had already wrung himself out to his limit—and beyond it. Even standing was a struggle.

Pain around his heart and mental exhaustion gnawed at him without pause, whispering:

The battle is over.

Your part is done. Rest now.

“Yeah. I’ve done enough.”

The hollow words fell from his lips.

Through his blurred vision, Jin Taekyung looked at the cheering Hunters.

He recognized faces from the battles they had fought together. There were gaps here and there, but he could tell that not many Hunters had died in this one.

If he hadn’t pushed his Middle Dantian beyond its limits, more than half the Hunters who had survived would probably be lying across the battlefield by now, growing cold.

That was no exaggeration.

He had brought a grueling battle to a swift victory and stopped more blood from being spilled.

He had brought a battle that would go down in history to an end, all on his own.

But…

It’s not over yet.

Jin Taekyung tightened his grip on the spear shaft. He forced his eyes open against their growing weight and looked west, where desert and wilderness stretched into the distance.

There’s still something I have to do.

The light had not gone out of his eyes as he stared at the endless horizon.

His gaze was already following someone who had vanished from sight.

The Doppelganger.

Even now, as dawn arrived, the western land where the Doppelganger had disappeared remained shrouded in darkness.

As though its shadow had fallen over it. As though it foretold the great war to come.

I have to go.

The thought was more than resolve. It was almost a duty.

He had to keep moving. He couldn’t stop here.

He had to pursue the Doppelganger far to the west and stop the calamity that would strike before long.

Step.

He moved forward as if entranced.

But his mental strength was spent. His body would no longer obey.

He staggered.

Walk forward.

His legs failed to receive that simple command in time and gave way. A wrenching pain gripped his chest, hampering body and mind alike.

Damn it.

He’d hit a wall on his second step.

As his vision slowly tilted, Jin Taekyung stifled a hollow laugh. Then, just as everything seemed to go dark—

Slide. Tap.

His forehead, pitching forward, touched something solid.

A hand reached out from behind and hauled his collapsing body upright. Two voices broke through the ringing in his ears.

“You did good, Jin.”

“Pull yourself together, human.”

Jin Taekyung blinked.

Now he knew whose hand was holding him up, and what the solid wall in front of him was.

Magic Johnson. And the Skeleton King.

They had come.

A human and a monster. No—his friends had come.

To help him.

Crack.

Through the distant pain, his blurred vision cleared again. Jin Taekyung swallowed the blood on his tongue and raised his head. Two welcome faces were waiting for him.

“Ha.”

At the laugh that escaped him, the Skeleton King turned to Magic Johnson with a stiff expression.

“Why’s that ugly bastard grinning like that? Has he finally lost his mind?”

“Quit saying stupid things and shut your mouth. Hey, Jin. Can you hear me?”

“Human. How many fingers am I holding up?”

Jin Taekyung answered weakly.

“I can hear you fine. And I can see your finger.”

“Tell me how many, you ugly, dim-witted bastard.”

“One. But if you don’t want me to break it, quit waving it around and lower it.”

The Skeleton King, who had been waggling his middle finger in front of Jin’s face, nodded.

“Good. You’re still sane.”

Jin Taekyung snorted, then broke into a cough.

“Team Leader Choi… cough, how is he?”

“He’s fine. A little injured, but fine.”

“Really? You’re sure?”

“Trust me. I’m not lying.”

Jin Taekyung let out a relieved sigh and straightened his back with effort.

He was still short of breath, his senses still dull. But he couldn’t stop here.

“Johnson.”

Sometimes a small gesture or a single word said everything.

Magic Johnson sensed what lay behind that brief call.

“No.”

“I have to go. You know that.”

“I do.”

Magic Johnson’s expression hardened.

“And I know you need to rest.”

The Grand Mage could see Jin Taekyung’s condition clearly. He was already at his limit, staying conscious through sheer force of will.

But recklessness belonged to the young.

It always had with the young man before him.

“Use Teleport magic.”

“Damn it, Jin. Are you crazy?”

“This isn’t a request.”

“Then as of this moment, I’m leaving the World Hunter Federation.”

“Then leave.”

Looking up at Magic Johnson, who was a head taller than him, Jin Taekyung continued:

“But until I accept your resignation, you’ll have to follow my orders.”

“……!”

“Come on, Johnson.”

Magic Johnson found himself at a loss for words.

The talk of resignations and orders was nothing more than a clumsy play on words. But there was nothing false about the resolve in Jin Taekyung’s eyes, or the sense of duty keeping his fading consciousness intact.

Damn it.

He couldn’t bring himself to meet those eyes. He was ashamed of himself for having to make this choice.

He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them and gritted his teeth.

“…This is insane. Teleporting with the magical power concentration this high is practically suicide.”

Jin Taekyung gave a faint smile.

“That takes me back.”

“What?”

“Sichuan, China. You said the same thing there. And we pulled it off just fine.”

“……!”

“Send me to the place the Prophet—no, the Doppelganger—told us about at the beginning.”

Magic Johnson’s pupils trembled as he looked at Jin Taekyung.

He had to stop him. He absolutely had to stop him.

But his damned Grand Mage’s mind was already calculating, already drawing a reasonable conclusion.

There’s a good chance it’ll work.

They had tried Teleport magic once before under a magical power concentration like this, during the battle against the Arch Lich.

It had been possible because Magic Johnson was among the finest mages alive—and because the person he was transporting was Jin Taekyung.

If it isn’t Teleport magic, if it isn’t Jin… no one else can stop the Doppelganger.

Jin Taekyung’s proposal was reckless, but the reality behind it could not be ignored.

A considerable amount of time had passed since the Doppelganger fled the battlefield. Catching up to it was almost impossible.

But if they used Teleport magic—

And if there was someone who could endure Teleport magic this dangerous, things would be different.

How cruel.

“Fuck.”

Magic Johnson muttered a curse weakly. Jin Taekyung was standing on his own now, without anyone’s help, looking straight at him.

And beside Jin stood someone who had volunteered to share the danger.

“I’m going with him. You stay and protect this place.”

The Skeleton King. Lord of the undead, who had overcome even death.

The moment Magic Johnson saw him, he knew he had nowhere left to retreat.

“Promise me one thing.”

Whummm.

The staff, filled with mana, trembled. Beyond the dazzling flash, his voice rang out faintly.

“Come back alive. No matter what.”

Fwoooosh.

An overwhelming flash of light swallowed the space around them.