A person sounded bewildered, “Ten? Twenty? I don’t know, but I’m sure there were a lot.”
“Who the f.u.c.k were they?” another snapped.
A third remarked, “Jin-Hee is missing.”
“Did she get caught?”
“...”
“First of all, we should tell Od..!”
Seong-Il abruptly stopped talking and pushed the young man to the side as raiders were rus.h.i.+ng out of the boundary through the darkness. The number of enemies quickly increased, and they streamed in without any hesitation. The raiders began jumping onto Seong-Il and the others, who had just fled from the boundary, like monsters chasing after human flesh. Before he could truly react, a flame ball had suddenly appeared in front of him and was flying toward his nose.
Bang! Pshhhhh-
It hit Seong-Il in the face, and sparks splattered in all directions. When the notification message popped up in front of him, his head was bent backward due to the shock. However, he immediately regained his balance and tried to grasp the situation properly. Flamboyant magic spells and weapons were crisscrossing through the air, and the people who were smacked by them collapsed on the ground in the blink of an eye.
Seong-Il had totally forgotten Odin’s warning to stay calm under any circ.u.mstances. He immediately sprinted forward, and the first target he swung his weapon at was a middle-aged man who had made eye contact with him. His attack was not only fast but also powerful enough to cause a shockwave as he had jumped in the air and struck down with all his might.
Smack!
The middle-aged man felt like he saw a brief flash for a second, and he immediately lost control of his limbs. By the time he got some of his senses back, he was already kneeling down and had his head down dizzy. Seong-Il hit the back of the guy’s head once again. Blood spattered over Seong-Il’s face. Then, he looked around, and there were so many people he needed to help. He couldn’t identify the number of raiders quickly, and those who had escaped from the boundary were quickly engaged violently.
“f.u.c.k! You motherf.u.c.kers!”
Seong-Il ran toward the side where a village man and an attacker were fighting with knives. He quickly smashed the marauder’s head with his blunt weapon and shouted, “Bring Odin!”
“What about you?”
“Don’t mind me, just bring him!”
***
The guy was brawny. Although he only had one arm, his quick and powerful attacks plowed through the group members. Even right now, one out of the three people surrounding him had just collapsed after getting his face crushed! The healer was using his skill on the unfortunate fellow, but he must have died instantly as soon as the blunt weapon smacked him since he wasn’t moving at all.
Takeru speedily ordered everyone to focus on knocking down that tough man instead of chasing the fugitives running into the village. As soon as he gave the commands, the group members surrounded the man. It was like when they dealt with the boss monster. They pushed the man into the center while maintaining their distance. They had no other choice as the man was as overwhelming as a wild, rampaging ox. Every time he leaped and b.u.mped into the formation, the tankers had to step back from their group.
The man yelled with a feverish face, “You guys shouldn’t have f.u.c.king intruded on our stage!”
The formation would have been destroyed already if there had been no healers or buffers in the back line. Takeru was astonished but still wasn’t convinced that the man was all that.
He is more powerful than me, and I even monopolized the entire village’s supplies.
After all, claiming that he had killed the boss monster alone was an absurd lie, but it was true that he was strong enough to cite such an a.n.a.logy. The man’s ability had greatly exceeded the average level, and the protective barrier on his chest had to have been a product of an extraordinary item. It had to be the chest armor that was defending him from all kinds of magic and physical skills. That was one of the reasons why Takeru had been reluctant to attack him personally. However, his eyes were filled with greed when he saw it.
Seok-Ju said from behind him, “Your skill has been charged.”
If his skill missed the target while forming a siege, the consequences would be disastrous as that would give the man a chance. The man couldn’t get through the wall of tankers for now, but he would hit them like a crazy bull the moment he escaped. More than six people had already had their skulls smashed in by the man’s blunt weapon. The damage had occurred before the siege was created, and one of the people who had fallen had been Takeru’s favorite. That was why they had to tie up the feet of that frantic bull.
“Get ready,” Takeru said while wiping the blood from his dagger onto his pants.
Swoos.h.!.+
The energy containing the Restraint effect soared under the man’s feet. The group members’ charged skills would pour down on the man as soon as Takeru said one word.
However, Takeru frowned as the guy was thrusting his weapon into the s.h.i.+eld of tankers. Those who had been defending themselves against the man shook their heads. The same thing had happened before during the battle with the boss monster. They had looked at him in the same way, silently telling him that this man couldn’t be restrained.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“You f.u.c.king a.s.sholes!! Is this all you have?” the man raised his voice. One of the tankers who had been hit by the man’s powerful attack was lying on the ground.
How much can he do…?
His Strength had to have been unbelievably strong as he was destroying all the buffs and defensive items the tankers had. Furthermore, it looked like his Health was giving him infinite stamina. In addition, his Speed was incredibly fast, and the man’s Sense was clearly very high too.
Takeru suddenly smiled.
If he is that strong… Keukeukeuk…
This village must have been dominated by a powerful leader like himself. That meant the villagers would become helpless as soon as he cut off and paraded that guy’s severed head around.
I will be able to secure more supplies and people after this battle. This is easier than going through crowds of monsters. Good.
Takeru made a decision. The damage would be immense, but he couldn’t put off time anymore. He thought that he needed to decapitate the village leader before the rest of his people arrived! Also, it wasn’t efficient to keep his tankers circling around one man.
Takeru gave a signal, and the long-distance dealers behind the tankers looked at him in bewilderment. There was no guarantee that all their skills would hit the mark since the man was not only powerful but also fast. Skills that failed to hit the guy would end up blasting the tankers in their group instead.
However, Takeru never changed his orders, and everyone knew what would happen to those who violated his commands. Therefore, the bombardment started. Flames, ice and dark skills stretched out toward the men from all directions. The man was the same. Whenever he was struck, he flinched and swung the blunt weapon with a more outraged expression. The magic projectiles that the man avoided directly hit tankers, but most of them accurately slammed into him. The man’s s.h.i.+eld faded and eventually vanished.
The actual hunt starts now.
Takeru jumped up from the ground and walked over to the tankers who had collapsed due to getting demolished by the spells from their fellow group members. He raised his Agility by two cla.s.ses with the help of his insignias and items. Within a short period of time, his Agility had been upgraded to C-cla.s.s, so Takeru aimed at the man’s large back. He was using a dagger that exerted a freezing effect when it was stabbed into someone.
Sheeek-
Takeru sensed his success. Although the second layer of the barrier was a problem, he thought he could destroy it with his attack. It was when Takeru’s dagger hit the s.h.i.+eld surrounding the man’s back.
[You have caused severe physical damage to the target.]
[* Please upgrade the cla.s.s of your Night Eyes in order to see how much damage has been done.]
Takeru was close to bursting out into curses as there was still one more layer of the s.h.i.+eld left.
Is he a boss monster?
When Takeru stepped back to leave the follow-up attack to his group members, a large figure chased after him and grabbed onto his ankle. Then, he was instantly struck to the ground.
Slam!
Takeru couldn’t see for a moment due to the excruciating pain that blossomed the back of his head. Dust flew up wildly.
“You sly b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You are the leader, aren’t you?” A heavy and vexed voice growled while he tried to shake off whatever was holding his ankle.
“Ugh…” Takeru groaned.
His ankle bone was being smashed to pieces. Although he had just used a Strength-type insignia, he couldn’t get out of the person’s grasp. His opponent was far superior. He recognized that the man had been fiendishly strong when he first smacked the tankers, but when he was the one actually receiving the brunt of it, he realized that he had underestimated his opponent’s overwhelming might.
“What is the point of jumping into me with some Strength? Look at you. All you are doing is wriggling like a caterpillar.”
Takeru’s healers were healing him with all their power, but his bones broke immediately after the pieces were stuck together. The man started using Takeru as a subst.i.tute weapon as he had abandoned his original club earlier for the chase. The man brandished Takeru and struck his group members who were trying to approach him.
Swing- Bam!
“Aaaargh!”
Takeru’s world became reversed when the man swung him from top to bottom, and his world swiftly spinned when the man swung him from left to right. The blistering wind dug into every hole in his face, including his eyes, ears and nose. Takeru knew he was getting hit by something strongly, but he couldn’t afford to realize that he had become a replacement for the man’s blunt weapon. The man was like a bull without any reins. He swung Takeru recklessly and smashed the tankers who had surrounded him. Blood splattered from tankers whose buffs had been turned off and combined with Takeru’s.
Meanwhile, Seok-Ju was shocked as their leader looked miserable and helpless. He had looked up to Takeru since the first day after entering the Stage of Advent… The cruelest man in the world was being treated in a more brutal way.
Seok-Ju decided to abandon Takeru as he felt like it was impossible for his former leader to get out of his current situation. Therefore, he turned his head toward the back and ran toward the boundary where he had come from.
“...”
Since when did they start doing that?
Seok-Ju was overwhelmed by the sight as he couldn’t recognize it earlier. The other villagers were blocking the boundary where they had come in.
We are surrounded.
Seok-Ju wasn’t the only one who realized this; all the other members also discovered this new situation. Finally, the man dashed out of the now-ruined tanker formation. He found the guy who had first thrown the flame ball at him, then swung Takeru at his face. When the two faces collided, a scream broke out. Then, it soon turned into a groan.
“Ugh… Ugh…”
It was from Takeru, and the one who had collided with him had already ricocheted off into the air. The bull-like man threw Takeru to the ground. The battle was over as the intruders started kneeling and raising their arms above their heads to show their surrender.
The man turned Takeru over with his foot and snarled at his miserable face. “Look at those tattoos on you. Did you even graduate high school? Who are you, jacka.s.s?”
“P…please… help… save... me… Odin…”
“Huh? I’m not Odin.”
Takeru could barely keep his head up, but when he heard the man’s astonis.h.i.+ng reply, his swollen eyes opened wide.