Ch.217217. The Great Hunter’s Worst Weapon: Skill Sealing

What do hunters fear the most?

Monsters?

Other hunters?

While there are various answers, what hunters find most troublesome and fear the most is running out of mana.

What makes a hunter a hunter?

It’s the ability to use powers that border on the supernatural.

Of course, high stats also contribute to making hunters superhuman, but having high stats alone doesn’t enable hunters to hunt monsters or subdue other hunters.

To ordinary people, anyone with roughly A-rank stats might appear superhuman, far stronger than national athletes.

But that’s all relative.

The difference between A-rank and S-rank can’t simply be overcome with stats alone.

In my case, with SSS-rank stats, my physical endurance allows me to regenerate like an ogre, instantly healing most wounds.

But other hunters don’t have that luxury.

That’s why mana is essential.

Only when hunters have mana to support their stats and skills can they truly exert power befitting their rank.

Why do mages inspire envy among many hunters?

Most mages invest almost everything into magical power, leaving many with physical stats barely above ordinary humans.

Take Kellin, for example—despite his immense wealth, his strength/agility/endurance are mostly C to B-rank.

This isn’t because he neglected them; stats are just difficult to improve without direct point investment.

That’s why items that permanently increase stats sell for ridiculous prices like 7 trillion.

Yet if you ask who the world’s number one hunter is, people will name Kellin, America’s SS-rank number one.

Though subjective opinions might not give him 100% consensus.

That’s how a mage can become the top hunter.

So ultimately, hunters exist because of mana, and they need mana to exert their full power as ability users.

Without mana, until it recovers, they become little more than ordinary people with slightly higher stats.

“Even an SSS+ rank ability user can’t use skills without mana.”

Murad Ampole mocked me with a relaxed smile.

Despite their headquarters being raided and many members killed, did he think the 600-second seal gave them enough time to counterattack?

“I have a proposal for you.”

Murad Ampole suggested with an intriguing expression and friendly tone.

“Why not join Dark Site? Together, you and I could make Dark Site fearless even against America. We could hunt SS-rank hunters and create a situation where America trembles in fear.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Regrettably, you’ll have to be punished for tarnishing Dark Site’s honor. Dark Site’s missions have never failed. Don’t forget that you’re also a target.”

“I’m curious about something. What brain-damaged fool dreamed of assassinating an SSS+ hunter for a few coins? Was it you?”

“…”

I acknowledge that someone of my caliber would be attractive to a terrorist organization.

Plus, he knows I can’t use skills right now.

600 seconds is quite long.

Ten minutes.

Dark Site’s main forces already surround me, ready to attack, and nearby members have gathered in full armor.

To escape, I’d need to use skills.

Of course, to be honest, Murad Ampole’s skill seal and other debuffs were completely useless against me.

The debuffs were slightly uncomfortable until I used purification.

But the skill seal was truly a worthless debuff against me.

I stayed quiet since it seemed to be Murad Ampole’s core skill.

For other hunters, it would be devastating.

That’s probably how this S-rank hunter became the leader of Dark Site, an organization that even houses SS-rank hunters.

Any hunter caught by this skill seal would be helpless.

Ten minutes is genuinely long.

Especially in battles between superhumans where every second counts, being unable to use skills for ten minutes is essentially a death sentence.

Though there are several loopholes.

First, since it only seals “mana” skills, a healer using divine power could remove the debuff.

Since the debuff seals skills below SS-rank, you’d need at least SS-rank purification to overcome it.

Also, SS+ rank skills or higher would still work, which is another weakness.

Unfortunately for him, both exceptions applied to me.

“If you join us, I’ll tell you who accepted the assassination request on you. I could even hand them over.”

He must really like me.

Perhaps my barging in and causing trouble made him think I’d be a suitable talent for Dark Site.

Since I didn’t come to make small talk or build relationships, I decided to end this pointless conversation.

The reason I hadn’t immediately beheaded Murad Ampole was to capture footage that, when edited, would create a documentary-like video to ensure that not just Dark Site, but various terrorist groups, other countries, or any hunter would never dare challenge me.

Time to show my disinterest in his offer through action.

“No thanks. It doesn’t matter who accepted it. The responsibility falls on Dark Site’s leader.”

I deliberately drew my Demon Light Sword for dramatic effect.

As if demonstrating an unbreakable will against any hardship or adversity.

“Foolish. Even an SSS+ hunter’s skills can’t be higher than SS+…”

“Do I need skills?”

I take a light step forward.

One step.

Before the hunters around Murad Ampole could react.

My body was already in front of him.

I pretended to be under the skill seal but actually used Leap.

I didn’t swing my sword prematurely.

Rather than killing him before he could react, I had a specific scene in mind.

“…!”

Murad Ampole is a debuffer.

Like Kellin, his abilities focus on magic with stats invested in magical power.

Naturally slow in reflexes, his eyes only now registered my sudden appearance before him.

I swing my sword, giving his brain time to process what’s happening.

I sense others rushing toward me through mana detection.

But I doubted any hunter could stop my attack from a distance faster than my SS- rank agility.

“AAAAARGH!”

My Demon Light Sword slices diagonally from his shoulder down to his groin.

The scene of his body splitting in half and collapsing to either side is brutal.

The reason he can still scream is because I used healing the moment I cut him.

Murad Ampole, once the leader of Dark Site.

The S-rank debuffer dies.

With his heart split in half, he couldn’t survive unless he were immortal rather than a debuffer.

It was just a temporary seal to give him a few seconds to scream.

Perhaps due to his intense will to live?

The two halves of his body twitch as if each possessed its own life.

For just a few seconds.

Then Murad Ampole’s body stiffened as if nothing had happened.

“…”

“…”

The hunters rushing toward me stopped, and silence fell.

They didn’t stop because they didn’t know they should attack me.

They experienced cognitive dissonance.

I supposedly couldn’t use skills.

Yet I cut down their leader as if I had.

Murad Ampole was dead.

The leader who had guided Dark Site for years.

The one with the skill seal ability, considered the worst weapon against hunters.

That skill seal was precisely why they could hunt America’s SS-rank hunters.

It’s also why America hesitated to send hunters to eliminate Dark Site.

But now he was dead.

The hunters could only think:

“Fuck. Did the debuff not work?”

“Fuck. Is he that fast even with the debuff?”

SSS+.

No one had properly considered the weight of that rank.

It was a rank that didn’t exist in this world.

But the moment they witnessed it directly.

It was normal to freeze in terror, regardless of what they were doing.

Of course.

I didn’t stop.

BOOM!!