Against the Clock: The Team Leader’s Pursuit of Glory

Igor noticed that Shimwol was trying to escape.

‘I’d run away too. Two S-ranks are impossible.’

Plus, she was injured. Giving up on the fight was the right decision.

Shimwol, pressed down by Igor's huge palm, summoned her dragon. But, she was no match for his strength. She condensed mana into a spear shaft, and a blade of mana bursted out from its tip.

Igor felt a burning sensation in his chest. At the same time, blood spurted from the back of his hand. He quickly withdrew his hand and checked the wound—it was a fairly large hole.

"Was it a mosquito, not a fly? I saw blood today."

"I’ll suck you dry. Come at me."

"Look at you. All talk even though you’ll be dead soon. Anyone can see that you won’t be able to get out of here alive today."

Igor laughed and took a step forward. With just one step, the place where Shimwol had been was reduced to scorched earth.

Shimwol climbed onto his giant foot. She tried to ascend the bridge as if rock climbing, but Igor kicked her away, forcing her to jump down. Even with preparation, it wouldn't have been easy to face a monster that far surpasses human limits, like David and Goliath or the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk.

The reason why the Tyrant was difficult to deal with was because of his Avatar's skills. It felt like fighting a large monster rather than a Hunter. If we were to list the types of monsters that Hunters find difficult to hunt in order, they would be as follows: human-type, beast-type, magic-type, flying-type, large-type, aquatic, and dragon-type.

Of course, it wasn't an absolute standard. There were monsters that were occasionally humanoids but couldn't be caught even if the entire top guild expedition team clung to them. This just held true generally.

In that respect, the Tyrant's trait could be said to be a cheat key.

‘This guy has a real headache of the form.’

The large-type and a humanoid—a form commonly referred to as a giant. It would have been difficult to hunt it without proper preparation.

"Hahaha! Try struggling a little more!"

Igor burst into laughter and kicked his feet and fists with excitement. 

Shimwol did not confront the attack head-on but instead used her movement skills appropriately to evade it.

‘I don't even have half my mana and stamina. Damn it. I got way too worked trying to catch Kamensky.’

Compared to her, Igor was fresh. He had a power that could not be ignored even without having to use skills, so even a barrage of normal attacks didn’t tire him.

‘But I'm faster. If I keep recovering my stamina in this way and run away with all my I got...’

A plan came to mind, but she couldn't put it into action. Because Kamensky, who had performed emergency aid just then joined the attack.

Shimwol dodged the scythe swinging at her neck and grew angry.

“You sly old man!!”

“Didn’t you say the loser’s an idiot?”

Shimwol had nothing more to say because he was repeating what she had said when the Yellow Dragon Guild expedition team had intervened earlier.

Igor shouted in Russian.

“Hey, you damned old man! She is my prey. Don’t even think about it. Get lost to your damn the frozen ground.”

“I had plans with her first. You leave.”

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“If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead. I don’t believe this.”

“You never know until the end.”

Although Kamensky and Igor were speaking in Russian and Shimwol couldn't understand what they were saying, she could tell just from the atmosphere what they were discussing.

“I can’t let my head fall into the hands of those ignorant Russians. Get a taste of this and go back to Siberia!”

【Metallic Dragon】

A dragon with swords instead of scales leapt out from the tip of Shimwol's nervously extended spear.

“Finally, we’re getting into it. Alright, alright.”

Igor laughed and threw himself at the dragon.

【Mountain Shield】

He clashed with the dragon sword, which transformed into a solid shield that could shatter anything reminiscent of a mountain range.

There was a loud noise accompanying the explosion. The Yellow Dragon Guild expeditionary force Hunters, who were retreating, covered their ears and crouched down. Then, the aftershock swept over them.

“Uaaaahh, Captain. If we stay here anymore, we're really going to die!”

Sirinnai screamed and slammed her hands into the ground. The other Hunters also planted their weapons in the ground to brace themselves against being blown away or grabbed whatever objects they could find nearby.

A few who couldn't hold out were blown away by the wind. Since they were all high-ranking, they wouldn't be seriously injured by simple impact, but the mana stream mixed with the storm was the problem. The mana that was roughly scattered by the wind tore into the Hunters skin.

“Hold on! You need to hold on, no matter what!”

This was the only command that Diniger could give.

After a while, the wind died down, as if the heavens had listened to his wishes. The scenery that emerged was indescribable. One side of the city had been completely wiped out.

And Shimwol was gone too.

“Tch. Sly bitch. Blowing up a big one and running away. Guess we both took one today, huh, old man… Old man?”

Igor looked for Kamensky, but he was nowhere to be found either. Soon, he realized that Kamensky had gone after Shimwol.

Igor concentrated his senses and soon saw two figures moving quickly to the west.

“These rascals! Are you trying to have fun without me?! No way!”

Igor shrank, releasing his Avatar state, and chased Shimwol.

After he disappeared, the Hunters who remained at the scene sighed in relief at having returned alive from the gates of the afterlife and plopped down.

“How many people were hit?” 

Sirinnai, who was nearby, answered Diniger's question, “Nine flew away, among them, seven of them died. Two are probably still alive.”

“Seven in one attack… and it wasn’t even a direct attack.”

It was mind-boggling. Top-ranking Hunters lost their lives simply because of the aftermath of the battle alone.

Diniger felt it clearly. The difference between them and an S-rank was not just a difference of one rank.

“We’re retreating. This isn’t our fight.”

“That’s what I told you before. If we get involved here, we’ll die.”

“If we disobey orders, we will still die.”

Sirinnai could no longer protest. No one here could bear ill feelings toward Diniger's words. As long as the safety of their family was in the hands of the Yellow Dragon Guild, they had no other choice.

“Still, we’ve done enough. After all, before the Tyrant butted in, we created an opening to help her capture the Reaper of the Frozen Land.”

“That was also just luck being our side. Because we could approach him when he was distracted by Shimwol.”

“No, I think differently. I think you guys were unlucky.”

The Hunters' bodies froze at the sudden cold voice. They barely turned their stiff necks toward the sound. There stood a person standing who shouldn't have been there.

“Tyrant……!”

Igor, who had gone after Shimwol, was standing there.

“I almost forgot.”

They could tell what he had forgotten without even asking. Killing intent exuded from Igor. He cracked his neck audibly, taking a step forward, and muttered, “Avatar.”

***

“Argh!”

“Ack!”

Screams echoed from all directions. Shouts erupted amidst the groans.

“Magic! One-shot magic!”

“Damn it! It’s  working!”

“Tank Jin! Push with your body! Push!”

“Fuck. I can’t stop it…”

Neither melee nor ranked attacks, magic, poison, nor any debuff skills were effective against the enemy.

“Where did this monster come from…?”

The main Hunters of the Yellow Dragon Guild, who had come south from Harbin, were already in despair at the high wall that blocked their path before even entering Jilin City.

“What is that guy? I can’t believe Russia was hiding this damn monster.”

“I don’t know who he is, but I know he’s S-rank. He’s not for us to fight..”

It was only natural for the Hunters to think this way. Their main enemies were the Russian Hunters. They could never have imagined that another force, or more precisely, South Korea—which had already been involved in the Demonic Realm incident—would interfere.

That was understandable, since South Korea never officially announced having an S-rank. The fact that Ju Se-ah was an S-rank was also a secret known only to the highest-ranking executives of the Yellow Dragon Guild and the allied guilds.

“Before, even for me, this number of Hunters would’ve been hard to deal with. But after I reached S-rank, I don't even feel anything fighting them.”

Ju Se-ah was wearing an armor coat without the guild logo. It had a hood and a mask to hide her identity. She resumed her attack, pulling the mask up to the bridge of her nose.

A tanker standing about 30 meters away hurriedly raised his shield. A heavy impact struck the shield handle. The next moment, the front of the shield was crushed, the handle bent, and his wrist and arm were broken.

“Argh!”

A bone protruded through his skin. It was a compound fracture. Then, his shoulder blade stuck out, and the shock was transmitted directly to his body, leaving him unable to react.

No one would have been this hurt even if a car traveling at 200 km/h had hit them. Maybe a dump truck weighing several dozen tons? No. It would still be less than this.

The tank flew through the air like a broken kite.

Ju Se-ah aimed for her next target. This time, it was a mage. The mage whose eyes met hers spasmodically fired a barrage of magic skills. The nearby debuff specialist supporters cast spells on her.

“Uh huh… I’m being dragged away.”

“Magic isn’t working on her? It’s like the witch….”

One of the Hunters suddenly thought of the most famous Hunter in Korea—known for strong magic resistance. Is that why he was called the mage killer? He recalled the Hunter’s name from a memory he had overheard.

“Ju Se-argh!”

Ju Se-ah pressed her foot on the head of the Hunter who had collapsed on the floor before he could even say her name. As his consciousness faded, she raised her index finger over her  mask.

‘Ssh.’.

The Hunter became sure that this S-rank was Ju Se-ah. But, his memory ended there. His guts were torn apart, and he kept spitting blood from his mouth. Just before his death, he opened his mouth to reveal the enemy’s identity to his comrades.

‘Ju Se-ah. Witch... This guy’s true identity is...’

In the end, the Hunter died, only able to make the sounds of wind leaking out of his mouth.

“There’s no hope for us. Everyone run!”

“Retreat! Retreat!”

“Scatter in all directions! If we stick together, we die!”

The battle ended shortly after. Of the 121 Hunters who had come down from Harbin to Jilin City, only 70 returned alive. Even among them, half were seriously injured. They’d need a year of rehabilitation before they could return to duty.

‘Guild Leader Kang said there was no need to kill everyone, so this should be enough. The news needs to be spread to the Yellow Dragon, too.'

Ju Se-ah didn't chase them. If she wanted to kill them, they wouldn't even be able to run away. Even if they had managed to escape by any chance, it was safe to say that no Hunter could escape her pursuit.

“I’m done here. I wonder if he caught Shimwol?”

Ju Se-ah looked south. The highlight of this plan.

‘Eliminate Shimwol.'

Although the board was shaken by Kamensky's intervention in the middle, Kang Mu-hyuk corrected it. The results would not change.

“Anyway, jeez, he’s a scary guy. It’s a good thing he’s not a Hunter.”

Ju Se-ah lowered her hood and headed towards Jilin City.

“So, I guess I should do my job to keep the scary guy from getting angry, right?”

***

Kang Mu-hyuk provided Sung Seonjae with the Mana Stone satellite phone, an invention from Warehouse C as well. Thanks to this, the Unified Strike Force was able to contact Kang Mu-hyuk even after entering the Demonic Realm.

"The more I look at it, the more amazing it seems. I can’t believe you can contact someone even in the Demonic realm where mana interference makes it impossible to communicate."

“I am receiving an investment share.”

"Even in this situation, I respect your ability to make business proposals. Let's talk about that later. So, what are we going to do? I thought you said there’d be no fighting."

“It’s nothing special. But it’s a top-tier mission in terms of priority.”

"What is the top-priority mission?"

“Securing a witness.”