NOVEL NEXT Chapter 118
Chapter 118
I moved in closer, but the inmates couldn’t easily rush in to attack.
They instinctively felt intimidated by Trital’s terrifying aura.
Hooong! Hwang!
Every time the Iron Club sliced through the air, cold sweat broke out on my forehead from the chilling sound.
Just a mere brush could break bones.
Si-hyun also didn’t charge at Trital but instead paused. It wasn’t because he was intimidated like the other inmates.
He was momentarily pondering where to strike for the most effective attack, waiting for the right opportunity.
Meanwhile, Cheol-hyung and Mujik were increasingly in peril.
Boom!
The Iron Club fell towards Mujik’s head like thunder.
“Ugh!”
Mujik swiftly rolled on the floor, barely dodging Trital’s attack.
It was a dangerous moment where a slight delay could have meant a shattered skull.
The fact that a peak-level expert like Mujik had to roll on the ground to escape signified the current dire situation.
“…Section Chief.”
Dong-il felt the worsening situation and called out Si-hyun.
So far, Si-hyun had been effectively leading the inmates in dealing with the crisis.
Dong-il hoped for him to do the same this time.
“Just a moment.”
Si-hyun replied calmly, not flustered even in this crisis.
He narrowed his eyes, focusing on Trital while continuously strategizing in his mind.
Where to aim?
The upper body seemed best to avoid for now.
Attacking the upper body would inevitably require a jump, risking the chance of being left vulnerable in mid-air.
Then, it had to be the lower body.
Si-hyun recalled the time he faced the Giant Monkey, which had a massive physique similar to the Monster Orc.
Back then, using the Restraint Technique to tie up its legs had effectively restricted its mobility.
However, he succeeded with the Restraint Technique back then because the Giant Monkey was dazed by the shout.
Based on past raid experiences, it wouldn’t have the same absolute effect on an orc, which was a humanoid, not an animal-type monster.
So, it was certain that the bastard wouldn’t sit still for those few seconds when he was going to use the Restraint Technique.
Currently, he was non-stop moving and exchanging blows.
‘Better to just fan out.’
Si-hyun made a mental decision.
He intended to strike its legs with the Guard Baton Technique to deliver a shock.
With incredibly rapid speed, even that bastard wouldn’t be able to dodge easily.
“Let’s go.”
Si-hyun opened his mouth again.
“Yes.”
Dong-il replied in a tense voice.
One wrong move could mean losing their lives.
There was no way not to feel nervous.
“Now.”
Si-hyun charged at Trital.
Dong-il hastily followed Si-hyun from behind.
“Damn it, do I die once or twice?!”
“Shit! Let’s just take it head-on!”
The other inmates saw Si-hyun charging at Trital first, and they began to move in sync.
Boom!
Suddenly, Trital stomped his foot heavily on the ground.
“Raaaah!”
Then he let out a huge, threatening roar.
The air vibrated as if it shivered.
The moment the roar stopped, Trital’s massive body crashed into the inmates like a storm.
“Uh, uh?”
One inmate widened his eyes in shock.
After just one stomp on the ground, that giant figure was suddenly right in front of him.
He had to find a way to avoid it, but his body went stiff in the face of such a sudden crisis.
Bang!
Trital kicked the inmate’s body with a foot as massive as a rock.
“Ugh!”
The inmate was flung back like a bullet, crashing to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
Crimson blood flowed from his mouth.
A healer rushed over, wide-eyed with concern.
“Get a grip and move!”
Si-hyun shouted.
In an instant, losing one ally made the morale plummet.
Boom!
Trital stomped on the ground again, launching his body forward.
Once more, he closed in on the inmates in no time.
“Huff!”
Even though he was trying to stay focused, it was difficult for a B-rank Hunter to react to such movements.
The inmate hastily tried to retreat, but a massive fist, as if it would obliterate anything in its path, bore down on his face.
Just as his head was about to be smashed—
“Shield!”
The wizard behind them hurriedly cast a spell that Mari had prepared.
Crash!
The shield couldn’t withstand even a single blow and shattered, but fortunately, the inmate managed to escape using the gap.
“Die, you bastard!”
Taking advantage of Trital pausing for a moment, the nearby inmate swung his weapon with Qi concentrated into it fiercely.
However, that seemingly fierce attack appeared trivial to Trital’s eyes, which seemed ready to yawn.
With remarkable ease, he reached out and grabbed the inmate’s arm, which was swinging the weapon.
“Ugh?!”
The inmate, aghast, struggled to break free.
But his caught arm was as immobile as if it were pinned under a heavy boulder.
“Let go, you bastard!”
“You little shit!”
In a panic, other nearby inmates rushed in to save him, but Trital’s Iron Club moved first.
Bang!
“….”
That inmate was crushed beyond recognition in a single blow.
In the horrifying scene where he couldn’t even open his eyes to see, the inmates were left speechless.
‘That bastard…’
Si-hyun, with his cold-bloodedness activated, remained calm and assessed the situation despite the gruesome sight.
He understood that Trital knew well how to deal with multiple opponents alone.
That was why he was abandoning Cheol-hyung and Mujik and attacking the weaker inmates first.
He was meticulously aiming to reduce their numbers.
For B-rank level, it was difficult to handle him.
Although weapons infused with Qi could inflict wounds on his skin, with this significant difference in speed, both attacking and defending were nearly impossible.
Surely, something had to be done about those legs.
Cool-headed thinking now left only Cheol-hyung, Mujik, and Si-hyun himself, when using the Guard Baton Technique, as likely people to land a hit.
However, Cheol-hyung and Mujik were within Trital’s vigilance.
Then—
‘I have to somehow handle this myself.’
Si-hyun glared at Trital with cold eyes.
Whack!
“Gah!”
In the meantime, Trital rendered another B-rank inmate incapacitated.
Avoiding Cheol-hyung and Mujik meticulously, he had solely been targeting B-rank inmates.
At this rate, the B-rank inmates would soon face complete annihilation.
“Come here! You pig bastard!”
Si-hyun yelled.
Whether Trital heard that or if it was just Si-hyun’s turn to be attacked, it happened that Trital’s body turned towards Si-hyun.
“Huff!”
Dong-il screamed in surprise at the enormous body of Trital that suddenly appeared.
“Just block once.”
“Yes, yes!”
The Iron Club fell towards them with thunderous speed.
Given the size of the Iron Club and that they were close together, it was a situation where both would get pulverized if it continued like this.
Even a slight delay would have changed everything.
Dong-il bit his lips to the point of bleeding and lifted his shield.
Naturally, he had poured all his energy into it.
Crash!
A tremendous clash echoed around.
Even with Qi infused, he felt the shield warp.
It was almost as if it would break and drown in the River Jordan.
Almost simultaneously with the attack being deflected, Si-hyun lunged towards Trital’s legs.
It was a short distance, and expecting the attack would be blocked, he was able to approach before Trital could react.
“Hey, you pig bastard! I’ll smash your leg bone!”
Si-hyun raised his voice, matched in volume by his mighty shout that rivaled Trital’s roar.
Hoping that even a moment’s surprise could shake him, he unleashed his attack.
In his hand, the Iron Guard Baton was tightly gripped.
With the sudden loud noise, Trital visibly flinched.
Without wasting a second, Si-hyun executed the Guard Baton Technique.
Whack! Whack! Whack! Bang!
Bang! Whack! Whack!
With speeds nearly impossible to see, the Guard Baton struck at Trital’s calves.
“Krack?!”
Trital was caught off-guard by the unexpectedly rapid attacks, taking hits before he could even react.
By the time he finally regained his senses and pulled back, his movements were slower than usual.
He was dragging his legs along.
There was an odd sense of discomfort.
It lay just as expected.
The Guard Baton Technique wasn’t just a speedy skill.
It also possessed tremendous destructive power.
If it didn’t, neither the Face-avoidance Technician nor the Orc would have sat there groaning in pain.
This attack had definitely landed its mark.
“Cheol-hyung! Mujik! Keep that bastard contained!”
Si-hyun quickly directed them.
Right now, Trital was bewildered from an unexpected blow.
It was essential to keep attacking in a frenzy during moments like this.
Cheol-hyung and Mujik instantly recognized that now was the time.
So before Si-hyun could even finish speaking, they had already launched their strikes toward Trital.
As expected, Trital couldn’t dodge like before.
His movements definitely seemed sluggish.
Bang! Crash!
Instead of dodging, Trital swung his weapon, meeting the attacks head-on.
There was no doubt that his legs were in pain.
“What are you doing? Let’s go!”
Si-hyun urged Dong-il.
“Huh? Yes, yes!”
Dong-il, lost in thought while holding his dented shield, hurriedly replied.
“I can block once more, right?”
“Yes… I-I think so.”
“Please.”
Si-hyun charged at Trital.
Dong-il scrambled to follow after him.
Having been firmly trapped by two A-rank Hunters in pain, it wasn’t challenging to approach Trital.
Taking advantage of the Iron Club lifting upwards, Si-hyun moved back around its legs just like before.
Once again, Si-hyun readied the Guard Baton Technique to strike at Trital.
Dong-il would defend against any sudden attacks.
Bang! Whack! Bang! Whack! Bang! Whack!
The Iron Guard Baton relentlessly began to pound Trital’s calves once more.
“Grrr!”
Trital moaned in agony, his expression twisting into pain, and he gripped the Iron Club with both hands before trying to hammer Si-hyun down with one fist.
“Ugh!”
Dong-il quickly raised his shield.
Bang! Crash! Crash!
Trital’s furious fists came crashing down three times, but Dong-il held firm with all his might.
In the meantime, Si-hyun continued to slam at Trital’s legs.
Whack! Bang! Bang! Whack! Whack! Bang!
“Ughhh!”
With the continuous strikes piling on, Trital began to stumble and wobble on his feet.
It seemed he was on the brink of losing balance and collapsing.
Cheol-hyung and Mujik wouldn’t let that opportunity slip away.
Swish!
Mujik’s spear lunged towards Trital’s forehead with incredible speed.
Whoosh!
Simultaneously, Cheol-hyung swung his longsword at Trital’s nape.
Under normal circumstances, Trital would have moved to evade those attacks, but right now, his legs stuck to the ground like he was staggered in a gale.
Crash!
Though miraculously, Mujik’s attack was deflected by the Iron Club, Cheol-hyung’s attack landed unhindered.
Slash!
“Gah!”
The longsword, infused with Sword Aura, severely sliced across Trital’s nape, and blood spewed like a fountain.
Even in that moment, Si-hyun didn’t stop hammering at Trital’s legs.
Boom!
Eventually, Trital dropped to one knee, succumbing to the pressure.
“Let’s finish this!”
Mujik shouted as he aimed his spear at Trital’s heart.
Cheol-hyung, with the momentum to slay even his half-sliced neck, swung his longsword down with ferocity.
In the midst of pain, simultaneous onslaughts struck their vital points like a thundering storm.
Trital swung the Iron Club over his head and tried to block frantically.
Clang!
The swung Iron Club managed to parry Cheol-hyung’s longsword.
However, Mujik’s spear pierced through Trital’s hand, embedding itself into his heart.
“Ugh…!”
The light faded rapidly from Trital’s eyes.
Crash!
And soon, his hefty body completely lost its strength, collapsing to the ground.
“Waahhhh!”
“We, we did it!”
Before Si-hyun and his party could even catch their breath after that bloody battle, a cheer erupted from the people behind them.
They had been anxiously watching, fearing that Si-hyun’s group might falter.
The defeat of Si-hyun and his group would spell their doom too.
“Ugh!”
“Ughhh!”
On the other hand, the Orcs growled with furious, piercing gazes.
They looked as if they would charge at the humans at any moment.
“Shut it.”
The voice of a man with ash-colored hair rang out loudly in their ears.
The Orcs fell silent as if a mouse had been caught.
The humans, startled by the sudden roaring sound, looked at the man in surprise.
“Ha… to die at the hands of mere humans, you’re pathetic. The Orc race has no worthy warriors left.”
The man clicked his tongue and continued speaking.
“This won’t do, no way. I, shall personally establish the king’s majesty.”
◈ ◈ ◈
“Can’t we go any faster?”
Nam Jin-yong, the warden of the Special Detention Center, asked anxiously.
Ever since hearing news that the main gate had been breached, he appeared restless, sighing and fidgeting.
Imagining the dreadful things that could happen to those inside the detention center had him troubled.
“We’re going as fast as we can.”
The hunter driving in front replied.
One could tell from the speedometer that it was indeed true.
The speedometer showed speeds exceeding 200 km/h.
Currently, the vehicle Nam was in raced ahead with sirens blaring.
The government had hastily closed off the roads, making such speeds possible.
After Nam’s vehicle, cars laden with hunters followed suit on the road.
“How long will it take at this speed, warden?”
The hunter sitting next to him queried.
“…Probably around 10 minutes.”
Nam answered heavily.
“10 minutes, huh.”
The hunter muttered.
Though he didn’t say it aloud, the hunter secretly believed that the likelihood of there being any survivors inside the detention center was nearly non-existent.
It was akin to leaving an unarmed civilian at the mercy of monsters.
It was effectively a sentence of unavoidable death.
“Please… may they be safe.”
Nam spoke under his breath, lowering his head.
◈ ◈ ◈
“AHHHH!”
A middle school-aged girl screamed.
With her shoes nowhere to be seen, she was sprinting barefoot, covered in dirt and mud.
Her face was flushed, and sweat poured down her face like rain.
Breathless, she gasped for air.
Despite that, she didn’t slow down.
It felt as if something was chasing her.
“Grrr.”
Soon, the identity of whatever was pursuing her became clear.
It appeared to be at least twice her size.
With a pig’s face showing sharp teeth.
Its mouth and body were drenched in red blood.
It looked like it had already committed a significant amount of slaughter.
“Ughhh….”
Even in a situation where her heart felt as though it might burst, the girl ran with all her might, but the distance was only narrowing.
Thud.
“AHHH!”
The girl emitted a high-pitched scream.
She had tripped over a stone.
Her face turned pale.
Tears started streaming down her eyes.
“Grrr.”
The Orc approached the girl, wearing a delighted expression.
With each step, the Orc grew closer.
The girl trembled, crying.
Just then.
“What in the world happened here? Why are monsters roaming about outside?”
A young woman’s voice rang out.
The Orc turned its gaze toward the source of the voice.
There stood a slender woman with cat-like eyes, appearing to be about 170 cm tall.
“Grrr!”
As the new prey appeared, the Orc’s grin widened.
Especially, the flesh of the human woman looked tender and delectable.
Finding another to start the hunt brought an overjoyed feeling.
“P-please save me!”
The girl pleaded with the woman with cat-like eyes.
She had already witnessed many people meet their demise at the hands of that monster.
People knew all too well that they couldn’t possibly stand against such a beast.
Yet, she had to plead.
Despite knowing that she would likely just be frightened and flee.
However, the girl’s expectations were dashed.
The woman with cat-like eyes boldly approached the Orc.
“How lucky you are, little miss.”
Lin Xue muttered.
Seeing her approach made the Orc wear a look of disbelief.
With her left hand, she waved lightly upward.
At that moment, countless spears of ice materialized in the air.
There seemed to be over 50 of them.
“Grrr?!”
The Orc’s eyes widened in shock.
Lin Xue scoffed and snapped her fingers.
The spears of ice rained down upon the Orc all at once.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh!
The Orc’s body was punctured by the more than 50 spears of ice, instantly turning into tattered rags.
“Ahh, I wasted energy on this piece of trash again.”
Lin Xue mumbled.
With just one spear, it would have sufficed to kill it; yet, she had unconsciously layered dozens of them out of habit.
Then she snapped her fingers again.
This time, thick shields began to envelop the girl in multiple layers.
Not just one layer, but dozens of them.
“This should be safe enough. I’m out of here, little miss.”
As soon as Lin Xue waved her hand, she vanished from sight.
The girl stood frozen, with a dazed expression, for a long time, still in the posture she had fallen into.