Chapter 34 - Moving Warp Gate (2)
TL: Boko
Editor: Frost
"I believe it's a large sized S-rank monster. I'll temporarily call it the 'Winter Monarch'," Cha Hyun said, and Sung Joon grimaced. He recollected taking down the large sized S-rank monster, the Hatchling[1].
'If that's the Boss, there should be a lot of minions…'
A Raid Boss would always move around with monsters which acted as its minions. While Sung Joon faced the Winter Monarch, his teammates would have to take on the minions, so it was difficult to hope for much.
It was the first time he'd seen the Winter Monarch. Therefore, he couldn't exactly ascertain its tier. He had experience facing the Hatchling, which was considered a high tier S-rank large sized monster, but it'd be rough if the Winter Monarch was a top tier S-rank monster.
"Are we the closest to it right now?" Sung Joon asked.
Cha Hyun checked his radar and replied, "Alpha Team One is coming over here, but they're slow. It seems like it'd be difficult to expect their immediate aid."
"Let's go."
A part of him was a bit uneasy taking down the Boss, which was an S-rank large size monster, and its minions with just his Alpha Two Team, but Sung Joon had no choice; he had to order the attack.
That was his best choice right now, and he didn't really have any other options. At this very moment, the Winter Monarch was moving southward.
"The group of monsters is coming. There're about a hundred of them."
It was a size similar to what they had fought just a little while ago, but Shin Chul's voice had considerably stiffened; Sung Joon didn't miss that fact.
"Is there a problem?"
"There are two S-rank monsters mixed in. Aside from them, there are two rank monsters as well; the rest are low ranked Orcs."
The Orc Blademasters were low tier S-rank monsters, but they couldn't be ignored. If there were only one of them, he would be able to casually face it, but there were two.
'I'll kill one of them quickly with my Illusionary Sword, and then I'll take on the other one.'
Sung Joon formulated his plan. The mana consumption of the Illusionary Sword was large, but it was an effective killing blow.
"We're going, keep your eyes peeled on your surroundings," Sung Joon ordered, and the assault team began to advance forward. As soon as they began to close the distance and close in on the Winter Monarch, they felt a clear killing intent and saw the group of Orcs.
"You can't advance any further."
The Orc Blademaster eloquently spoke in the other world language. Sung Joon smirked.
"Then I just have to kill you all. Isn't that right?"
Sung Joon also replied eloquently in the other world language. His team members were shocked at his use of the other world language. A mastery of the other world language required a tremendous amount of study.
"So you're fluent in the other world language, Human. But that changes nothing."
"Let me ask you something. Are you part of the Allied Species?"
"How can a human from another world know about the alliance…"
Sung Joon smirked. The Orc Blademaster didn't acknowledge him, but his reaction was the same as acknowledging him.
'I still don't have enough information, but with this, I'm sure that the Empire isn't the only one involved with the dungeon and Raids; the Allied Species is involved as well.'
It was at the moment that his assumption had been confirmed.
"It seems like further talk is unnecessary," Rishubalt said. Sung Joon agreed, raising his sword, Roel, and opened his mouth.
"We're attacking. I'll take care of one of the Orc Blademasters."
"Then, I'll take care of other one," Jang Hoon said whilst raising his greatsword.
"You can't by yourself."
The likelihood of an rank Hunter defeating an S-rank monster alone wasn't very high.
"Please don't worry. I'm not going alone!"
There were three other rank Hunters beside Jang Hoon. Seeing that, Sung Joon smiled. If there were four rank Hunters, including Jang Hoon, facing an S-rank monster, they could win.
"I'll make the first move."
The Orc Blademaster moved first. It brandished its long sword and instantly closed the distance. The other Orc Blademaster did the same.
The rank Hunters were the first to do battle.
"AH!"
Someone spewed blood and collapsed, but Sung Joon didn't have the time to worry about them. That's because the Orc Blademaster was right in front of him.
"Ha!" the Orc Blademaster cried, and swung his sword. Its aura clad sword was quick and precise, aiming directly at Sung Joon's vital point.
The speed of its blade was rather quick, but as his synchronization increased, he could draw upon more and more of his plentiful combat experience; by just seeing the Orc Blademaster's preliminary move, he was able to predict the flow of his sword and was able to respond appropriately.
"To think you blocked this!"
Their aura's clashed and shards of mana scattered. It seemed as though the Orc Blademaster couldn't believe that its attack had been blocked.
"Illusionary Sword."
Sung Joon didn't give it any time. He went straight into the Illusionary Sword.
"T-This is…!"
The Orc Blademaster seemed to have recognized the 'Illusionary Sword', but he wasn't able to finish. That's because the thirty-one illusionary blades rushed towards him.
'I can't dodge these!'
The Orc Blademaster's intuition told him. He abandoned any thoughts of defense and readied himself to attack. He sharply thrust his sword at Sung Joon's neck.
'Is he trying to take me down with him?'
Unfortunately, Sung Joon took a defensive stance as he unleashed his Illusionary Sword. Even while being ruthlessly stabbed and slashed by the illusionary blades, the Orc Blademaster resolutely lunged at Sung Joon, but Sung Joon's sword was already raised, and blocked it.
"Cough!"
As soon as its final attack was blocked, the Orc Blademaster spurted blood and fell. The lacerations inflicted by the thirty one illusionary blades was so horrific that it was difficult to even look at its defeated form.
Sung Joon immediately turned towards the other remaining Orc Blademaster. While he was facing the Orc Blademaster he just felled, two rank Hunters had likewise fallen.
Jang Hoon and another rank Hunter were injured.
"We're alright over here! Please take care of Jang Hoon!"
He heard Shin Chul yell. His teammates were fighting against the group of Orcs, but since most of their fighting strength came from the Orc Blademasters, the group of Orcs weren't very powerful.
"We can take care of them quickly!"
Sung Joon moved in order to aid Jang Hoon.
"Heal!"
At the same time, he used his Heal and treated the wounded Hunters. Fortunately, there weren't any that had died.
"Please get back!"
"Ugh! I'm sorry!"
Sung Joon intervened and simultaneously, Jang Hoon and the other rank Hunter hurriedly retreated; and Sung Joon confronted the heavily armored Orc Blademaster.
It recognized that its fellow Orc Blademaster had been defeated, and opened its mouth with an extremely stiff expression.
"Impressive."
"Team Leader! That asshole's sword is like lightning![2] It's extremely fast!" Jang Hoon yelled from behind him. Knowing at least one of his opponent's special characteristics was a big help. Sung Joon just dashed towards the Orc Blademaster, rather than respond.
He didn't have much time. Looking ahead, the group of monsters led by the Orc Blademasters was meant to buy time for the Winter Monarch to move south.
He would hunt them down, and then prevent the Winter Monarch from advancing south.
"Gale Sword!"
He instantly closed the distance, simultaneously unleashing sword winds upon the Orc Blademaster. The sword winds attacked the Orc Blademaster, but it wasn't flustered.
"Sword Wind!" it briefly yelled, and swung its sword several times in the air. They weren't aura slashes, but his sword produced ten sharp sword winds.
The sword winds produced by his Gale Sword, and the Orc Blademaster's sword winds clashed. However, Sung Joon's attack wasn't finished.
"Urgh!"
But when he thought his thrust was successful, Sung Joon felt a cold killing intent; he urgently halted his attack, and retreated.
Something sharp passed by the space he had occupied just a few moments ago, and a thin red line appeared on his neck, trickling blood.
'An ambush?'
If he hadn't detected the suspicious presence and had plowed through just a little more, he would've sustained a severe wound on his neck.
"To think you detected my presence… Impressive."
The man who spoke eloquently in the other world language was dressed in black clothes and wore a mask that hid his face.
"A person?"
"No. It's probably a humanoid monster."
An rank Hunter was flustered at the appearance of the masked man, but Sung Joon was different.
'The Empire. And they sent a stealth user that even I couldn't easily detect at that…'
Sung Joon's eyes gleamed. He looked straight at the masked man, and opened his mouth.
"The Empire's Special Forces, huh. You're part of the Ghost Squad, aren't you?"
"How do you…"
The masked man's eyes shook as Sung Joon saw through his identity. Just by seeing that, Sung Joon could tell that he was severely taken aback.
He couldn't help but be flustered. Because the Empire and the Allied Species hadn't expected that anyone on Earth would be able to recognize them.
"Are you a first class assassin?"
"You! How do you know that!?"
As soon as he spoke the words 'first class assassin', the masked man yelled in agitation. Within the Empire, there were several who knew about the Ghost Squad, but structure of the assassins was top secret, so the public didn't know about it.
"Are you an insider!? If that's the case, then I'll capture you and send you to the Executive Squad."
"That won't happen," Sung Joon replied and raised his synchronization rate.
"Synchronization rate is at 41%!"
There was no need to raise it a lot. It was only a 1% increase, but several things changed. Sung Joon moved so quickly that the masked man and the Orc Blademaster couldn't track him.
"Since you're all going to die by my hand."
Sung Joon swung his sword. He expected that they wouldn't be able to react, but the Orc Blademaster stood before the masked man, and blocked his sword.
While he did so, the masked man used his stealth. However, that was a mistake.
"There you are!"
Sung Joon's thrown dagger lodged into something midair.
"Ugh!"
The veil of stealth dissipated, and the masked man's form was revealed.
"H-How…"
"An assassin must always kill their opponent in a single strike. If they don't, they die."
Sung Joon used to be a knight, but he received specialized assassination training from the Brigade, and excelled in assassination there as well. He, who felled the assassin in a single blow, used his 'full strength' against the Orc Blademaster.
The Orc Blademaster swung its sword lightning fast at Sung Joon, and the sword strikes poured out like a storm, but he calmly blocked them all, and moved to the Orc Blademaster's rear.
"W-When did you…"
Sung Joon didn't answer him, and instead swung his sword, beheading the Orc Blademaster. It had happened instantly. The severed head rolled onto the floor, and Sung Joon sported a cold expression.
At some point, his teammates had finished their battle with the Orcs and were watching Sung Joon's battle. However, the only thing they were able to see was something radiating like a flash and simultaneously, the Orc Blademaster's head falling to the floor.
"Ooh!"
"As expected of an S-rank Hunter!"
Everyone cheered. Aside from the rank Hunters, they couldn't see what had just happened, but what was important was that Sung Joon was victorious.
After Sung Joon 'absorbed' their mana, he turned his attention to the powerful mana he sensed, the Winter Monarch. 'It' was continuously moving south.
And simultaneously, he detected the presence of monsters. Shin Chul likewise sensed the movement of monsters as well, approached Sung Joon with a grave expression, and opened his mouth.
"The monsters are advancing."
"There seems to be at least three hundred of them. Am I wrong?"
"Well… you might be. There seems to be at least five hundred or more monsters coming this way," Shin Chul replied, and Sung Joon sighed. The battle wasn't over yet.
[1] Chapter 81
[2] It's an uncommon Korean word that denotes an extremely high level of swordsmanship. Doesn't translate well into English. It basically means that when it swings its sword, it doesn't make a sound and the sword seems to move slowly while it's actually moving extremely fast.
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