Ch.209209. Melee (2)

“Tania, get ready!”

My heart pounds fiercely.

It wasn’t pounding from fear or terror. Of course not. How many creatures larger and more intimidating than this bastard have I faced? My heart wouldn’t race just because of something like this.

Right now, my heart was beating violently as it began circulating all my remaining mana throughout my body without reservation. No, it was squeezing out more mana than my body could normally handle, strengthening every part of me. I could almost hear the powerful pulsation in my ears.

‘There’s a bit of a hindrance in the back… but this should be enough.’

For a brief moment, I could move without major constraints, just like I used to.

No matter how much Sione had grown lately, she didn’t have the skills to face such a monster. And Diolia, who was protecting Sione, would inevitably be restricted in her actions.

With other Demonkin watching us all with sharp eyes right now, it would be difficult for them to intervene and provide support. Rather than joining in with half-hearted interference, it would be easier for them to escape with Sione.

To send them ahead first and somehow match up with the monster in front of me, I needed to push myself now.

‘Surely they wouldn’t abandon me.’

But even if I survive now, there would be quite a backlash…

Given what I’ve done so far, and with Sione here, they wouldn’t abandon me just because I’m a hindrance.

I erased my slight worry and observed my heightened body as the Demonkin woman kicked off the ground.

My forcibly awakened mind. The feeling of omnipotence from surpassing my limits, even if it was just a momentary dream.

At this level, even this weakened body should be able to move exactly as I think.

“And where do you think you’re running off to?”

The woman, wrapped in Magia and radiating the most ominous, maniacal gaze of anyone present, tried to bypass me to attack Sione and Diolia.

I immediately drew my sword from its sheath and traced a clean line where her neck would be.

“Where do you—!”

“…!”

The Demonkin, seemingly surprised that I could perfectly react to her speed, instantly planted her foot on the ground and twisted her forward trajectory.

“You damn bastard…!”

Yet even in that moment, this deranged woman naturally twisted her sword path to match her lowered posture, attempting to cut off my legs.

However, despite reading her intention, I didn’t think about defending or evading.

‘This is my chance.’

Most Hunters are psychopaths. And especially for high-ranking Hunters, the degree tends to get worse. Well, people who willingly crawl into dungeons teeming with enemies bent on killing them can’t possibly be in their right minds.

In that sense, I suppose I could be considered one of those who’s gone mad in my own way.

My original style was to fight recklessly without sparing my body. Even if one arm gets cut off, even if my whole body is engulfed in flames, even if I lose both legs—as long as I’m the one who survives in the end. I was someone who would gladly sacrifice my body to seize victory.

‘I’ll trade my legs for her neck.’

The thought of victory afterward stimulated me more intensely than any hesitation about bodily loss or pain. For someone who would naturally draw the bowstring and swing the sword with their life on the line, what else could they be but a psychopath?

The bastards who entered that cursed dungeon with me and got wiped out weren’t much different. Like those fools, if I could be certain that I could take her neck by sacrificing my legs, I would do so without hesitation—that was common sense to me.

Even if my legs were cut off, as long as it was a clean cut, they could be reattached through priests and potions in this world. For an attack I couldn’t avoid anyway, I intended to drive my sword into the neck of the figure before me, aiming to land one powerful blow.

“Park Shinwoo, you crazy bastard! There are no priests here to reattach your legs!”

KWANG—!

Tania’s unrestrained flames engulfed both me and the woman swinging her sword.

The woman retreated backward, and I didn’t lose my focus, heightening my senses even more to detect presences.

As if seeing an opportunity, a Demonkin threw himself into the explosive flames.

‘This is getting annoying.’

They were just watching from a distance until now, but now they think it’s okay to jump in after one little provocation.

Moreover, judging by the Demonkin’s stance, she was going to attack me again while I was distracted by the Demonkin behind me.

This situation was becoming quite displeasing.

‘Tania, I need something that can obstruct vision for a while. And something that can create a big explosion in an instant.’

—…You won’t have mana to spare. You might collapse coughing blood when this is over.

‘If I don’t do this now, my head’s going to fly off. I have to struggle.’

—Haah…

After giving Tania my next command,

I deliberately turned my back to the Demonkin who had approached right in front of me.

“You’re distracted! You damn—”

CHANG!

But the ring on my hand glowed with a bright light, faithfully performing its role as an artifact. The Demonkin’s blade struck empty air and bounced off.

Why would I be distracted? There’s always a reason for what I do.

“Kugh…!”

I immediately swung my sword to attack the arm holding the blade, and with my left hand, I twisted and grabbed his neck.

In that moment when my cold eyes reflected in his distorted pupils,

I twisted my body again and thrust forward the Demonkin whose throat I was gripping.

“…Tsk.”

The attack was neutralized, my left hand was free again, and a small opening appeared in the enemy.

“Orna!”

With the help of the small cotton ball, I enhanced my body to move even faster.

Then I thrust my sword toward the Demonkin’s heart.

CHANG!

But as if refusing to fall for such a shallow trick, she deflected my sword.

I closed the distance further, raised my sword, and aimed for her neck.

“Trying to compete in strength?”

“……”

“In the end, with a man’s body, it’ll be difficult. You’ve made a wrong choice.”

The woman, twisting up the corners of her mouth, pushed forward with rampaging Magia, forcing back my sword that was locked with hers, and bringing that cold blade toward my neck.

“Since I like you… this noona will take your neck—”

I changed the direction of force.

Pulling my body back, I quickly twisted my sword and upper body in the direction of the force being applied from my left to right.

With the balance of power disrupted, the Demonkin’s body tilted as she had put too much force into her sword following the slipping strike.

“…!”

Me with my sword raised ready to strike, and the Demonkin’s blade already swung down toward the ground.

Who was going to take whose neck?

Just as I was about to swing down my sword to cut the woman’s neck without hesitation,

PUCK—!

As if unable to stay still, the woman forcefully pushed me with her right shoulder.

“Damn bastard keeps…!”

With my posture disrupted and the Demonkin’s upward slash about to reach me,

I quietly murmured.

“Tania, the big one now.”

Tania was originally a top-tier spirit. As one who handled vast amounts of mana unlike regular high-tier spirits, she demonstrated incomparable skill.

As I felt mana rapidly draining from me, the calamity she created began to shoot toward the Demonkin’s back.

Compressed dragon’s breath. In this difficult situation to evade, how much would the Magia surrounding her protect her?

“Eek…!”

What was certain was that this move had become a strike that greatly disturbed her composure.

Now all I had to think about was how to block her upward slash that showed no signs of stopping.

‘To protect her body with flames… she’s concentrating Magia on her back—’

The Magia on her front facing me, and on her sword, had visibly thinned.

This was a golden opportunity. A chance to take her down for sure.

So I prepared to sacrifice my arm and infused my sword with killing intent.

Ignoring the sword strike coming for my right arm, I thrust my sword toward the Demonkin’s heart, but—

“Where do you think!”

KWANG!

The ring glowed.

But the Demonkin’s strike was stronger than what the ring could block.

KWANG!

The ring glowed once more and lost its effectiveness as an artifact.

CHANG!

Her sword strike, with its path twisted after two blocks, hit my sword.

But this was a relatively weak attack from an unstable posture. I corrected my sword path that had been deflected to the left and slashed downward.

“…!”

A slash that cut down her left arm.

The moment I completed the swift strike, I kicked off the ground.

Watching her severed arm fall, as I created distance between us,

THUMP! THUMP!

Trying hard to ignore my increasingly strained heart, I shouted.

“Tania, obscure vision now!”

The flowing dragon’s breath suddenly scattered. It spread in all directions, creating a barrier of fire that obscured vision, forming a forest. An environment perfect for a hunter to hide and hunt their prey.

‘…This is crucial now.’

I needed to stay focused on the situation.

Assessing the battle situation during this brief gap:

Friel and Airine were still fighting. Fortunately, Sione seemed to have been taken away by Diolia, as I couldn’t see them.

I needed to either hold out until Friel and Airine joined us, or before that, cut off that woman’s neck like I did her left arm.

“Focus, Park Shinwoo.”

I needed to move more like Park Shinwoo than Ray.

The artifacts Siabel had given me as gifts had all been used and lost their effectiveness…

From now on, it was a situation where I had to stake flesh, bone, and life.

WHISK!

I swung my sword to shake off the blood and sheathed it.

“An archer should act like an archer.”

Instead, I took an arrow from my quiver and began nocking it to the bowstring.

“Tania, provide cover, Orna, assist me from nearby.”

I officially began the hunt with the spirits.

I hid my form by moving along the rising, erratically moving pillars of fire.

If the Demonkin’s attention shifted to Tania for a moment,

DRRRK—!

I quickly threw my body, creating friction with the ground, and as soon as I got into position,

“Orna!”

—KYUNG!

I shot the bow with the spirit’s help.

One shot, two shots, three shots. Not enough. More, faster, stronger.

I moved all around. Whenever I saw an opening, I shot arrows and tightened the noose around the enemy’s neck.

‘Just a little more like this.’

The situation was good.

Since I would collapse if I fired one big shot right now, it was difficult to deliver a blow that could penetrate her defense.

But at this rate, I should be able to accumulate fatigue and wear her down.

That’s what I thought. That’s definitely what I thought, but—

“…It must have been fun hiding like a little rat, right?”

For a moment, the Demonkin stood still, receiving Tania’s attacks, and when she opened her eyes wide with madness,

In an instant, she closed the distance between us.

“I didn’t notice at first… but as you keep shooting these toys, your body’s timing gets off.”

My thoughts were shattered.

“Like your body can’t keep up with your consciousness.”

What was so funny even with her left arm cut off?

The woman, who started to snicker again like before, approached within arm’s reach the moment I revealed myself to shoot an arrow, reading my movements.

Just as her sword was about to reach my neck,

“Damn it…! This is something I hate because it hurts…!”

Tania, who had suddenly flown in front of me, threw herself forward.

The sword that pierced through Tania and emerged barely grazed above my neck.

The spirit’s form began to dissipate from the edges, a sign of reverse summoning.

Turning her head to look back at me, Tania glared at me fiercely with tears in her eyes and said,

“After I’ve gone this far for you, if you die again, you bastard…”

With those words, Tania turned her head again and slowly moved forward.

The expression of Tania reflected in the Demonkin’s pupils was emotionless yet cold.

She held the Demonkin’s cheeks with her small hands and whispered,

“…Normally, you’d be burned to death with just one gesture from me.”

Only then did Tania return to her usual playful expression and shouted,

“But this one’s going to sting a bit!”

KWAAAANG—!

With a fierce self-destruction.