Ch.78Monster (4)

The situation was obvious to anyone looking.

I was at a disadvantage. I was still the one being hunted.

Though I had killed many, the hunters still outnumbered me.

Moreover, they had come fully prepared to face a monster like me.

With their battle experience, they were cornering me while minimizing their casualties.

This was my first time experiencing something like this. The feeling of being hunted was vividly etched into my mind.

Was Isla okay? What about Lorian and the old man?

Were they all still alive?

These desperate thoughts were interrupted by the killing intent flying toward me.

Clang!

I deflected an incoming arrow. The crossbow bolt glanced off my swinging blade. Beyond that bolt hanging in the air, countless arrows were flying toward me.

I didn’t try to dodge their trajectory. It would be impossible anyway. Even with 20 Agility, I wasn’t at the level where I could see and dodge arrows.

So I tried to track their paths as best I could and swung my sword. I spread my legs slightly and extended my inverted blade from bottom to top.

Mid-extension, I flipped the blade back to its original position.

The arrows were pushed away with a series of clangs. Still, I couldn’t block them all. The arrows I missed tore through my regenerating armor.

This was what they had been aiming for. I clicked my tongue and pushed my body backward. Soon after, boom.

The arrows embedded in the ground exploded. The explosion and fragments that bloomed from their white-hot tips had enough power to tear apart even a homunculus’s body.

With my blood essence and armor in poor condition, getting hit would be the end. No matter where I was hit on my upper body, my neck would be severed along with it.

Knowing this, I gasped for breath.

The feeling of being slowly whittled away.

But I couldn’t act rashly. If I made a mistake, I would die right there.

My body might not tire, and debuffs might not affect me, but my mind was different.

My mind wasn’t a perfect fortress. I knew that more clearly now. My mind was incredibly fragile.

Just like any human’s.

I faced another hunter who charged at me along with flying arrows.

He swung his axe widely from outside the arrow trajectory. The weapon traced a full moon shape as it rushed toward me.

I sharply deflected it, gripping my sword with both hands and creating distance.

With the sound of the shapeshifter hunter’s inhaled breath, axe strikes aimed at my entire body flew at me.

An axe swing surging from bottom to top. I tilted my head back slightly to avoid it, then it flipped and came crashing down from above.

I caught the downward axe with the flat of my blade and deflected it sideways, then swung my fist, but the hunter unhesitatingly dropped his axe and drew two daggers while dodging my punch.

Then, stab, stab stab.

Holes were punctured in my arm. He did it knowing it would be meaningless. A woman’s face, similar to Isla’s yet different, tried to kill me with an emotionless expression.

I had already forcibly created an opening. I swung my punctured arm to try to kill the woman, and the hunter leaned backward to counter.

A perfect dodge. A technique only possible for the flexible snow leopard shapeshifters.

However.

“I’ve seen it three times.”

Her face hardened at my muttered words. Without retracting my swung fist, I stomped my foot.

Boom, the ground shook as I lowered my stance and swung my head.

An attack heavier than any blunt weapon on this land drove the shapeshifter’s body into the ground.

Thud, the ground resonated as the hunter’s eyes rolled back. I raised my leg high to stomp on her, but—

Whiiing, BOOM!

An arrow of light suddenly struck my side and pushed me away.

An incredibly heavy blow. My arm, which had blocked it, felt momentarily numb despite my immunity to debuffs.

And in the place I had been pushed from, a hunter was waiting.

With a roar, the snow leopard human swung both arms.

Slash slash slash slash!

Claws shredded my body. Before the pain could sink in, I leaped forward to confront them.

Slash, the resistance felt through my hand. At the faint end of that feeling, two severed arms.

I charged shoulder-first into the shapeshifter with the severed arms.

BOOM!

The shapeshifter retreated, and arrows flew between us like something filling the space, but—

Crunch!

I firmly pressed my right foot into the ground and extended Star Blade behind me like wings.

[Explosive Leap]

The world stretched out. Following where my sword pointed, a red trajectory extended and severed a neck.

Before the severed head could hit the ground, more hunters were rushing toward me.

So many. Daggers, axes, curved swords, and mandos.

All weapons that could also serve as tools. Because they were hunters. I took a deep breath and gripped my sword firmly.

Whiiiiiz!

I tilted my head back to avoid the first arrow flying at me. As the glancing arrow exploded and made me stagger, a hunter with an axe approached, exploiting the opening.

The hunter, whose limbs had already transformed into a mix of snow leopard and human, swung his axe, leaving a white trajectory.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. A series of strikes targeting my head, eyes, and neck in succession. As I dodged and pulled my body back, my back touched a tree.

Sensing an opportunity, the axe moved greatly, and I placed my foot against the tree.

[Explosive Leap]

And, boom.

The hunter who collided with my shoulder spat blood. Before he could fall, I grabbed his ankle and used the momentum pushing my body to spin around.

Crack!

I struck down a dagger-wielding hunter who was trying to rush in next, but—

CRUNCH!

Suddenly my breath was cut off. Something bit my neck.

A snow leopard. A huge snow leopard. Beyond the “partial transformation” granted to shapeshifters, this was an “ideal transformation.”

A technique to transform into an idealized form of a beast.

Using such a transformation, the hunter-turned-giant snow leopard was tearing at my neck.

It had been hanging from a tree before dropping down on me. I was going to die. Blood flowed from my mouth, and my neck vertebrae were mangled.

If I moved carelessly, my neck would break by my own force. Like an insect.

I staggered with the giant snow leopard hanging on my back, then—

Stab!

I coated my raised hand edge with blood essence and stabbed it into the snow leopard’s belly.

I suddenly remembered something: dogs and cats don’t expose their bellies to protect their internal organs, and when they do, it’s a sign of loyalty.

So I struck directly at the internal organs. I gritted my teeth and added the Iron Man effect to my blood essence.

The Iron Man effect: shotgun blast from armor explosion.

With a muffled ripping sound, the belly skin tore, and internal organs and blood splattered everywhere.

The shapeshifter went limp. I had nearly had my neck severed. As I steadied my mangled neck vertebrae, I saw countless arrows rushing toward my head, as if they had been waiting for this moment.

Among them was an arrow made of light.

The same blow that had pushed me back earlier. If it hit me now, my neck would be severed. I desperately threw myself behind a tree, which exploded with a bang when the arrows hit it, causing it to tilt.

To avoid being crushed, I crawled and rolled on the ground, arrows piercing my legs.

I barely managed to hide behind the tree, but there was no time to rest.

Click.

A faint noise by my ear. I hastily tilted my head, and something protruded from my shoulder.

An arrow.

BOOM!

The arrow exploded. My sword-wielding arm was severed, and I quickly rolled on the ground and kicked the tree.

The already precarious tree tilted. A hunter who couldn’t dodge in time fell with an exhausted look.

I grabbed the falling hunter’s head and smashed it into the ground, silencing him.

I leaned against the tree that had broken and stuck in the ground.

I exhaled a labored breath and covered my severed shoulder.

A temporary calm descended. Tension hung in the air during this mutual peace granted for regrouping.

I remembered a game I had played once.

A highly militaristic FPS game made in Russia.

I had said, “Why play this when we’re all going to the military anyway?”

I should have played it more seriously. I thought as I slowly removed my hand from my regenerating shoulder.

The situation wasn’t much different from what I had experienced there. Knowing each other’s positions, knowing each other, unable to make a move easily.

A situation where everyone is on edge, waiting to end it the moment a slight opening appears.

Regrouping was a secondary concern. Drink healing potions, drink buff potions, check scrolls or weapons, and gather people.

Meanwhile, all I had was regeneration. Drawing this out would definitely be disadvantageous.

Is there something? Is there some way to turn this situation around?

I directed my senses outward to scan the surroundings, and that’s why I noticed it first.

Ha, a laugh escaped me.

“Hey.”

No answer came. I knew they were listening anyway.

“You know what? I’m a monster.”

Still quiet. But it doesn’t matter. I know they’re focused.

Approaching presences. Hunters spreading out to target me.

Feeling them, I said:

“But I’m also human at the same time.”

“…?”

The hunters paused with puzzled expressions. It wasn’t difficult to understand, but they didn’t comprehend.

The situation was too abrupt.

Perhaps because of that, they soon noticed the situation.

The price for spending too much manpower and time trying to catch just me had arrived.

“Counterattack!”

With that shout, the presences turned away. Exactly the brief opening I had been aiming for.

BOOM!

The tree stuck in the ground flew up from my kick, and two hunters who had been approaching me flinched and lowered their stances.

A bad move. I had already closed in and swung my hand.

With a crunch, one hunter lost his head, while another immediately aimed and fired a crossbow at me.

But I had already read it. Using the momentum from my punch, I lowered my body. With my waist naturally turning, I extended my leg.

Though it was a lightly extended foot, its power was not light.

Crack!

Another one died with the sound of flesh and bone being crushed. Through the falling tree and scattered sawdust, I saw:

Lorian fighting with a red armor covering his entire body, wielding a beheading sword.

The Mourner, facing the hunters with experienced yet powerful, direct movements, wreaking havoc in enemy lines.

And Isla, who caught a flying spear in mid-air, spun her body, and threw it back.

After throwing the spear, Isla’s eyes met mine.

Her expression changed. Her usual expressionlessness mixed with relief, joy, sorrow, and a desire to explain.

Well, her appearance was similar to those around her.

Clearly, she and these people were connected.

But that wasn’t something to question right now.

I trust Isla.

I trust the woman who honestly asked if she could continue to like me, and who said she would continue to love me even if she had fallen in love with me to the point of brainwashing.

What kind of man would I be if I couldn’t trust the woman who likes me?

I smiled at her and ran forward.

BOOM!

Dirt scattered, and my heavy body stretched the world out before gliding over it.

The battlefield was suddenly close. Among the scattered and clustered enemies, I found the being I had been searching for.

A hunter holding a bow made of blue light, looking at me.

A man strangely resembling Isla. He quickly aimed his bow at me and nocked an arrow.

The hunters were certainly strong.

Their teamwork was excellent, and their skills were experienced, which gave me a headache.

But that doesn’t mean they didn’t have a focal point. All that teamwork doesn’t function without a center.

So I approached that man.

The hunter who had been observing the situation from a safe distance.

The hunter who had been periodically attacking with powerful means.

As my leap ended, I turned and hid behind a tree.

Boom, crash!

The light arrow that flew in struck and destroyed the ground and the tree.

But I moved quickly from tree to tree. The strength of 22 gave me excellent mobility.

However, even that became impossible when I reached a section.

An open space without a single tree. That’s probably why that hunter had positioned himself there.

He knew it, and I knew it. As our eyes met, he quickly nocked three arrows to his bowstring.

Arrows blazing with light, truly light arrows.

The rushing arrows were fast. And strong. Even I would be momentarily incapacitated if hit.

But that was what I had been aiming for.

He was focusing on me, intending to fire shots that would be impossible to dodge the moment I approached.

An intense focus where nothing else entered his vision besides me.

His blue-gray eyes were fixed on me, and nothing else entered them.

He follows. His dynamic vision is excellent.

That’s why it works. With certainty, I pressed my foot firmly against the ground.

[Explosive Leap]

The power gathered in my muscles exploded with a crunch.

My body flew faster than the arrows. At the same time, the hunter leader shot arrows toward that trajectory.

Arrows flying through the air, illuminating it with light.

With my acceleration added, if I’m hit, there won’t be bones left to gather.

So I dodge. My acceleration hasn’t fully taken effect yet.

I planted my left foot into the ground.

My body, which should have shot forward with acceleration, slid. I turned with my left foot as the axis.

At the end, I release. The moment I pull out the planted foot.

BOOM!

My body moved in a gentle curve.

Dust rose, and the world blurred with reduced acceleration.

In that blur, I saw the hunter leader’s face. A startled, frozen expression.

He had lost track of my movement. Because he had concentrated, focused all his energy to respond to even my smallest signals.

That’s why he missed.

Just as when I had my neck severed by Lorian.

Blood Knight Vision.

Moonlight Shadow.

I was suddenly at the hunter leader’s side, my fist clenched.

His eyes turned to me. Surprise and admiration. Was he of a spirited personality like Isla? I suppressed the rising question with my fist.

CRASH!

My accelerated fist embedded itself in his face.

He withstood it by transforming below his neck. But his body tilted, and his eyes rolled back momentarily.

Despite the instantaneous transformation, he was on the verge of losing consciousness. Had he barely held on?

Impressive, but too late.

I opened my swung fist and grabbed the hunter’s collar.

I don’t know judo. I have no technique. I never learned.

Then what remains is strength.

Gritting my teeth, I twisted my body and put strength into my arm.

I raised my right arm high. I turned my body as if shouldering him.

What I performed was an extremely barbaric shoulder throw.

Whoosh, his legs were lifted high and crossed the air, and—

BOOM!

The hunter leader soared from the ground only to crash headfirst back into it.