Ch.3535. Mountain Lord Appears

In an instant, countless hunters were cut down and weapons destroyed, but Seo-rin Choi’s mind remained calm, cool, and simultaneously swift as she analyzed the situation.

She tracked its movements and observed the creature’s body meticulously. As a result, Seo-rin confirmed that something was attached to its back.

‘That’s…’

It resembled a reflex-enhancing implant typically inserted into a human spine, but showed significant differences in its composition.

On its back, a structure resembling an insect’s exoskeleton and flesh was not merely attached but implanted along the lower brain and spinal cord, partially glowing like LEDs.

Moreover, these luminous parts were arranged at regular intervals along the spine, with specific sections turning on and off repeatedly according to Mountain King’s movements.

It appeared as if that biological component on its back was controlling Mountain King.

“…No way.”

Having reached this conclusion, it was as good as confirmed no matter how much she wanted to deny it.

Mountain King had somehow been hunted by the Hive Mind ‘Bomb Spider,’ and was now being controlled through that implanted biological organ.

‘Impossible… Mountain King being controlled?!’

For Seo-rin, who had lost her lover and comrades fighting Mountain King in the past, this was an incomprehensible situation, but her experience and hunter’s instinct pointed to only one conclusion.

“F-fuck…”

“W-w-why is that thing here?!”

While she stared blankly at the creature, the other hunters fell into panic at the appearance of Mountain King, the Korean Peninsula’s strongest monster.

Previously, when Mountain King still remained in South Korea, nine high-rank hunters including Seo-rin had attempted to hunt it—the results were devastating.

They succeeded in driving Mountain King north and inflicting serious injuries—broken fangs and torn belly skin—but at the cost of only three survivors out of the nine high-rank hunters.

Even then, the other two besides Seo-rin retired due to permanent injuries, making Mountain King nothing short of a catastrophe for hunters.

And now, this very creature had appeared right before their eyes.

In front of a group of hunters who were completely unprepared.

—Slash!

In that brief moment, Mountain King swung its claws again, cutting an 8-meter Giant Armor into pieces.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

Screams erupted at the shocking sight of a heavy-armored Giant Armor, known for its durability and equipped with a psychic barrier, being dismembered in one strike.

Even hunters at full strength couldn’t handle a monster of this level, let alone hunters already depleted from battles on their way here.

So naturally, their choice was retreat.

“Fall back! Fall back!”

The moment the hunters’ leader—Seo-rin—shouted this, the hunters began retreating rapidly using every method available to them.

Of course, even one person successfully escaping alive would be a miracle, as evading Mountain King’s pursuit was impossible for ordinary mid-rank hunters.

“…Huff.”

Therefore, Seo-rin decided to face Mountain King and buy time for the hunters to escape, rather than fleeing herself.

Even for her, surviving against Mountain King would be impossible, but she could at least stall for time to save at least one of the other hunters.

“I’ll buy time. Everyone, escape.”

After delivering this final message, which also served as her last words, Seo-rin cut communications and pointed her twin greatswords at Mountain King.

Woong…

As she channeled psychic energy into the top-tier weapons made from Mountain King’s broken fangs, the blades glowed blue and began vibrating minutely but rapidly.

Grrrrrrrrrr…

Noticing that the swords were made from its own broken parts, Mountain King growled softly while remaining highly alert—

—KRRAAAAAAAANG!!!

“Hup!”

Suddenly, with unnatural abruptness, it changed its stance, roaring and charging toward Seo-rin.

※ ※ ※

Mountain King’s strategy was extremely simple.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

It enveloped its entire body in massive force fields generated from dozens of biological cores, while rapidly swinging its front paws with their sharp claws similarly coated in force fields as it advanced.

Though extremely simple, the only way to counter this was equally straightforward: superior physical abilities and firepower capable of penetrating its force fields and hide.

And now, Seo-rin was countering it with a remarkably similar method.

“—Hup!”

KWAAAANG!

After infusing her sword made from Mountain King’s broken fang with so much psychic energy that the blade appeared to be made of blue light, she expelled vast amounts of psychic energy like a booster to match its speed.

As an A-rank emission-type psychic user specialized in dealing damage, she could somehow face Mountain King, but her limitations were clear.

She could narrow the overwhelming gap between human and monster by insanely consuming psychic energy, but this also meant she had no way to fight back once her psychic energy was depleted.

KWANG—THUD!

“Kuk…!”

Even with somehow overcoming this difference, she was clearly at a disadvantage.

The fang sword could cut Mountain King’s hide and inflict wounds, and her speed matched Mountain King’s, but that was the limit.

Whoosh—ZING!

“…Kuk!”

The difference in strength was enormous—her body shook just from the air pressure created by Mountain King’s swinging paws, and the ground trembled whenever Mountain King moved slightly, showing the severe weight difference.

“No other choice!”

CLANG!

Therefore, she decided to use a bold move to buy even a little more time.

[Armor purge. Switching to high-mobility mode.]

Since she would die if hit anyway, she detached the heaviest armor from her 2-meter Giant Armor, leaving only the body enhancement functions to counter Mountain King.

Whoosh—BOOM!

“Ha—ah—ah!”

CLANG!

After removing her armor, Seo-rin could maneuver her more agile body to better counter Mountain King.

She had already discarded one of her two greatswords, and instead used that hand for telekinesis and psychic constructs as she fought Mountain King.

Using psychic constructs as shields, telekinesis to enhance her movement speed, and her remaining greatsword to deliver powerful slashes that left wounds on Mountain King’s skin.

As she continued fighting and gradually learned Mountain King’s attack patterns, Seo-rin began to think she might be able to handle it.

She still had over half her psychic energy remaining, and Mountain King wasn’t showing the overwhelming combat power it had in the past.

Just as she gained confidence and moved boldly to inflict a fatal wound on Mountain King—

《—KRYAAAAAAAA!!!!!!》

Suddenly, Mountain King opened its mouth and roared, turning the roar into a physical sound wave that swept away everything in front of it.

“—Kugh!”

Despite desperately throwing herself aside, Seo-rin was caught in the sound wave and hurled backward, flying hundreds of meters before crashing into a cliff.

“Gu, guuuuuuu… cough, cough!”

Barely extracting her body from the cliff, she let out a pained groan while forcing her trembling body to move, glaring at Mountain King ahead.

More precisely, at Mountain King who had its mouth wide open, releasing sound waves similar to before.

“Ah—”

Mountain King attacked Seo-rin, who had barely gotten to her feet, by spewing dozens of sound waves like shells from its mouth.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The shells sent her body flying far away before she could even deploy a barrier, her bones crushed as she fluttered through the air like a paper doll.

It was a miracle she was still breathing after such injuries, but… remarkably, her consciousness remained faintly intact despite her condition.

“…”

Unable to do anything due to the terrible pain and her body’s state, Seo-rin barely kept her eyes open, but even that was becoming difficult as her consciousness began to fade.

“…Ah.”

And just before her consciousness completely slipped away, the last thing she witnessed was—dozens of milky-white tentacles extending toward her body.

※ ※ ※

Rewinding time slightly, to southern North Hamgyong Province. Somewhere in the Taebaek Mountains.

Surrounding the area were trees dozens of meters tall, grown under the influence of monsters, and the same applied to the mountain itself.

On one side of this mountain—which had grown dozens of meters taller than its original height due to accumulated bones, corpses, and other inedible things—was a cave so massive it looked as if a part of the mountain had been carved out.

And the identity of the beast living inside that cave was—naturally, Mountain King.

The ruler of the Taebaek Mountains and, although now pushed back by the Pyongyang Hive Mind, still the second strongest monster on the Korean Peninsula.

Gyaoooooo…

Mountain King had been sleeping deeply for two weeks to conserve energy, but it was time to wake up and have a meal.

Grrrrrrrr.

Lightly growling to clear its stiff throat, Mountain King began chewing on the monster meat placed beside it while loosening its rigid body—

KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGANG—!!!!

…?????

As if to welcome Mountain King, a tremendous explosion suddenly echoed in its ears, and the cave that served as its den began to shake.