Actually, Dad Was a Hero

Chapter 35: Veteran

Teano caught his breath and stretched his hand behind his back. Judging by the feeling at his fingertips, he had 12 arrows left.

‘. . .This won’t be easy. . . .’

Despite that thought, he pulled out an arrow and nocked it onto his bow.

He was going to do everything he could, no matter what.

‘I never thought someone this strong would still be around. . . .’

As he pulled the bowstring, his well-defined muscles bulged, and the blood-red tattoo engraved on his arm deepened in color.

Creak―.

The bowstring stretched taut, and the bow let out a low groan.

Teano narrowed his eyes, and the two figures shimmering near the distant horizon suddenly came into focus.

A man in grey armor and an undead in blue armor.

He bit his lip. If it weren’t for that undead with the shield, his task would have been much easier.

The man in grey armor was strong, but not strong enough to withstand the Manticore and his perfect coordinated attack.

But the sudden appearance of the knight in blue armor had complicated things.

‘Can’t complain.’

As a warrior who had roamed the battlefield for a long time, Teano knew well. That unexpected variables always interfered in actual combat.

And he also knew well that the ones who survive on the battlefield are not those who blame the variables, but those who overcome them.

Just as he was about to release the bowstring, he felt a chilling presence.

“Ugh―!”

Teano released the bowstring and leaped back. The next moment.

Bang!

Something whizzed past the space where his head had been just moments ago, striking the ground with a loud explosion.

“This is. . .!”

Whizz―!

Crack―

Teano’s arrow flew in the wrong direction, and the sound of gunfire, arriving later than the bullet, echoed faintly.

But Teano ignored all that and stared in the direction the bullet had come from.

His eyes narrowed to slits.

******

“Damn, he dodged it! What is that? A monster?”

Reaper clicked his tongue and shouted, and Imp calmly replied.

“It is a monster.”

“Keep shooting. We need to create an opening for Jin.”

Sandman calmly gave another order without a hint of panic.

“Yes, sir.”

Reaper brought his eye back to the scope.

But the ranger’s bow in the scope was aimed not at Jin Beom-Min, but at her.

“Huh?”

“Dodge!”

Imp threw away his telescope, grabbed Reaper, and rolled down the hill.

At the same time, the Ghost Squad members instinctively threw themselves to the ground.

Kaboom!

A huge explosion erupted where they had been just moments ago, an arrow embedded in the ground.

******

“There. . .!”

Kuen shouted, pointing at the trajectory of the arrow flying towards the hill.

“I see it!”

Jin Beom-Min quickly assessed the situation while slicing off another of the Manticore’s claws.

The sniper’s position revealed by the previous shot, the distance to the hill where the Ghost Squad had climbed. And the ranger’s firing speed and the power of the arrows.

He finished his analysis before the severed claw even hit the ground.

“Kuen!”

“Yeah. . .!”

“Protect them!”

Thud!

Jin Beom-Min said that and plunged his sword into the ground. Then he grabbed Kuen by the neck and groin and lifted him into the air.

“. . .What. . .? Wh, What is this. . .!”

“No time to explain!”

Jin Beom-Min spun in place, gathering his magic power. All his strength concentrated, his arm muscles bulging.

“W, Wait a minute. . .!”

“Heave-ho!”

He spun Kuen around like a shot putter and then hurled him towards the hill.

His strength, more than three times that of a human, was greatly amplified by magic, and Kuen didn’t weigh much since most of his flesh and organs had long since rotted away.

Still, it was quite a sight to see an undead in blue armor soaring through the air like a missile.

“Whoaah!”

Kuen cut through the air, flying hundreds of meters in an instant. His bare teeth chattered between his rotted lips.

But as the ground approached, Kuen quickly regained his composure and lowered his shield.

Thud! Screech!

Kuen landed on his shield, slid like a surfer, and then used the momentum to push off with his feet.

Thump, Thump, Thump!

Then he ran towards the hill at high speed. Thanks to Jin Beom-Min’s throw, he had saved hundreds of meters of distance and tens of seconds of time.

That should be enough time for the Ghost Squad to. . . dodge just three more arrows before he arrived.

If they could dodge them, that is.

Jin Beom-Min watched Kuen’s back as he ran without looking back, a satisfied smile on his face.

“Rooooar!”

The Manticore roared and charged at him from behind.

“Here, kitty, kitty.”

Jin Beom-Min pulled his sword from the ground and spoke leisurely.

“Now that I know where your master is. . . .”

Screech―

Crackle!

Blue magic power surged around his sword and then instantly exploded, transforming into writhing blue-white sparks.

“. . .I don’t need to hold back anymore.”

******

“Ugh. . .!”

“. . .Is everyone alright. . .?”

Sandman asked as he brushed away the thick dust. Judging from the low groans and replies coming from various directions, it seemed no one was seriously injured.

“Damn it! Is everyone okay?”

Reaper jumped to her feet, shouting at the top of her lungs.

“Reaper, I’m fine.”

“What?”

“I said I’m fine!”

“Huh?”

Imp, who had gotten up next to her, spat out sand from his mouth and said,

“I think your eardrums are blown.”

“What? Oh, for f*ck’s sake, my eardrums are blown! Argh!”

All Ghost Squad members were wearing noise-reducing headsets, but Reaper had temporarily removed her cumbersome headset for accurate shooting.

“Anyway, that’s incredible, with just one arrow. . . .”

“And those two who blocked it are just. . .!”

Imp and Sandman, who had said that much, exchanged surprised glances.

In the battle they had just witnessed, the ranger was. . . capable of firing arrows at a remarkably fast pace.

“Damn it, dodge again! Scatter!”

Wheeeeee―

The sound of a magic-infused arrow cutting through the air was heard once more.

******

“Oh. . .!”

Teano, who had just fired his third arrow, flinched and turned around.

His frowning eyes saw the massive body of the Manticore collapsing to the ground.

“H, How. . .! Could it be. . . Was he not using his full power until now. . .!”

Teano gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

Even with the Manticore’s cooperation, it wasn’t easy to bring him down. With the Manticore down, he had no chance of winning.

But he seemed to have made up his mind as he pulled out another arrow and nocked it onto his bow.

And then, he glanced back towards the hill.

Clang―!

A sharp metallic sound rang out from afar. Teano’s keen eyes saw the knight in blue armor deflecting his last arrow with his shield.

“Haha, this is completely over.”

Teano let out a hollow, defeated chuckle, then knelt on one knee and drew his bow.

Creak!

The bow trembled slightly and bent significantly as magic power concentrated on the arrow, a deep green energy clinging tightly to it.

“. . .Let’s see if you can withstand my strongest technique. . .!”

Whoosh―!

He released the bowstring, and with a roaring sound, the arrow shot out.

Flying straight at waist height as if defying gravity, the arrow collided with a blue-white flame a second later.

Keeeeeeeee―!

The arrow, colliding with Jin Beom-Min’s magic power that had transformed into powerful lightning, literally evaporated.

“Huh. . .!”

Teano let out a hollow laugh and threw his bow to the ground.

Then he drew the two curved swords from his waist.

Woooong―

A pair of curved swords, each with a large mantis meticulously engraved in red, glowed with a pale green magic power.

Clang, Clang, Clang―!

Jin Beom-Min, who had closed the distance in an instant, swung his sword.

Crackle―!

Once again, blue-white sparks tore through the air.

“Ugh. . .!”

Teano screamed in pain and stumbled back a few steps.

Both curved swords in his hands were broken in half.

“. . .Amazing, this power!”

He threw the now useless swords to the ground and exclaimed in admiration.

“Whew―.”

Jin Beom-Min let out a large breath as if relieved, stopped, and spoke in Dark Elf language.

“Surrender now.”

“. . .You can speak our language.”

“Of course.”

Despite being in a clearly disadvantageous situation, Teano continued speaking in a composed tone, not losing his composure.

“Surrender means you’ll let me live?”

“We have a lot of questions. Who you are, why you’re invading Earth. We have a lot to ask.”

“What?”

The dark elf with the grey-white hair had a genuinely surprised expression.

“You mean you don’t know what we’re looking for?”

“. . .Looking for. . .?”

“Hmm. . . .”

Teano brought his hand to his chin, lost in thought. Jin Beom-Min spoke again slowly, not letting his guard down.

“. . .We’ll talk later. For now, kneel and put your hands above your head.”

“. . .Well, I was thinking about surrendering. . . .”

He continued, his eyes still lost in thought.

“But after hearing you, I’ve changed my mind.”

“What?”

“You hid your power to pinpoint my location, didn’t you?”

“. . .That’s right.”

“Because you were afraid I’d run away if you went all out from the beginning?”

“You know well.”

“That means you know a lot about rangers. . . .”

Teano lowered his hand and smiled grimly.

“. . .Do the rangers you know expose their location without setting any traps?”

“Oh no. . . .”

Jin Beom-Min quickly moved his body, but Teano was faster. The moment he snapped his fingers, a small explosion erupted beneath Jin Beom-Min’s feet.

Bang―!

Whoosh―

Thick yellow smoke billowed up with the explosion.

“Cough, cough!”

Jin Beom-Min tried not to inhale the smoke and quickly moved out of the smoke-filled area.

But it was already too late.

Where Teano had been standing, there was only a smooth, mirror-like circle floating in the air.

“Damn it. . .! Did he escape. . .!”

Jin Beom-Min quickly ran towards the portal but stopped.

“Ugh. . .!”

He wanted to chase after him through the portal and drag him back.

But no one knew what was on the other side.

Moreover, based on what he had seen in Somalia, portals closed automatically after a certain amount of time.

He could impulsively enter the portal and never be able to return to Earth.

Even if Jin Beom-Min himself could somehow overcome the crisis, Earth would be defenseless against the monster invasion without him.

Besides, everything Jin Beom-Min had was now on Earth. Memories, job, home, and even family.

He couldn’t lose all that in a moment of impulse.

“. . .Damn it, that cunning old bastard.”

Jin Beom-Min spat out the words and turned around.

The dark elf he had encountered looked like a young man by human standards, but that wasn’t the case.

Like elves, dark elves hardly aged, and it was almost impossible to distinguish between a young dark elf and an old one.

But Jin Beom-Min could instinctively tell. That his opponent was a veteran who had gone through countless battles.

Otherwise, he couldn’t have escaped safely after being completely defeated by Jin Beom-Min.

“. . .It’s going to be more dangerous next time. . . .”

And veterans don’t forget defeat.

They constantly ruminate and analyze their losses to find a way to win.

The next encounter would likely be a much tougher fight.

Jin Beom-Min took a bitter step. It was time to go home.