Ch.9633. Expansion of Flame’s Influence (3)

Hunters surrounded the alley. There were quite a few hunters from Dead Arms.

But when my name was mentioned among them, they started murmuring anxiously.

“Wasn’t Min-soo supposed to be at another dungeon?”

“Damn it. Why of all times is that guy here now…”

Tension filled their expressions. I had frequently participated in clearing dungeons that had recently appeared in Busan.

As a result, my name seemed to be well-known not only among pro-Flame guilds led by Red Breakers but also among anti-Flame guilds.

‘I did participate in several resistance battles after all.’

Fire spells based on explosions naturally leave a strong impression.

Moreover, those guys from Dead Arms and their allied guilds had suffered greatly when they underestimated me as a mage and challenged me head-on.

And I always make sure to thoroughly deal with anyone who attacks me. That subconsciously created wariness and fear increases the chances of victory in the next battle.

“That bastard… he’s an A-rank hunter and stronger than we thought. Damn it. He’s the last person I wanted to run into…”

“Shit. I should have worn fire-resistant armor! They say once his flames catch you, they won’t go out until you’re severely injured!”

“Even Brother Taehyun, who’s an A-rank hunter, was defeated by that bastard. For a mage, he fights unusually well. And he’s incredibly cruel… Damn it! Why did he have to show up today of all days…”

Just like their current reactions, some were already scared even though the battle hadn’t started yet.

And what confused them even more was that we had deliberately spread false information that Soso and I would be elsewhere today.

‘They probably don’t know that Red Breakers has a double agent.’

So despite their numerical advantage and successful encirclement, they hesitated when they saw Soso and me.

But soon, a hunter who appeared to be an executive shouted:

“Don’t be scared, you idiots! Those guys just came out after clearing an A+ rank dungeon! But we’re in full gear with perfect condition! We have the advantage! Take them all down! Kill them if you have to!”

As the executive said, they were already menacing with their equipment.

Full armor even though this wasn’t a dungeon raid. And while they didn’t seem to be of particularly high rank, they clearly had Ancient Gear.

Proper equipment can raise a hunter’s rank by at least one level. The presence of Ancient Gear alone makes at least half a rank difference.

‘Of course, to contract with high-rank gear, the contractor’s own abilities are important.’

Still, I couldn’t underestimate the guys in front of me. Beside me, Pyo Seong-hoon’s expression was serious.

“I expected an ambush, but this many means they really intended to trap us. Bastards.”

They began to rush at our group. Then the Dead Arms executive shouted:

“Everyone, charge after taking that! And that woman and the mage are dangerous! They’ll be harmful to Dead Arms if left alive! We must kill them!”

At his words, the hunters popped something like pills into their mouths.

CRASH-BANG-BOOM-

The sound of vicious weapons clashing echoed throughout the alley.

“You two, please fall back! We’ll hold them off!”

Pyo Seong-hoon was concerned for Soso and me. And above all, I’m a mage. If caught at close range, I’m at a severe disadvantage against melee fighters.

“Don’t worry! We’ll fight together!”

But Pyo Seong-hoon and his guild members had no time to worry about me. Our group was immediately engaged in battle while surrounded.

I instantly became Dead Arms’ target.

“Three of you go after Min-soo! That way we can reduce his fire magic effectiveness! This is a residential alley after all!”

The executive was right. The alley where the battle was taking place is narrow. And while it’s in a slum area where buildings look like ruins, people still live here.

‘If I carelessly throw fire spells, I could catch both allies and civilians in them.’

Those guys who are rampaging to kill all of us wouldn’t care about civilian casualties in the slums.

But Flame and Red Breakers’ position is exactly the opposite. If Flame is to completely control Busan in the future, its image is also important.

‘I need to end this battle without civilian casualties. And I can’t openly kill people like those bastards.’

That means my movements are restricted. And our numbers, including Soso and me, were six. Their numbers exceeded twenty.

In other words, we were at an overwhelming disadvantage.

‘The four Red Breakers members are elite members of the guild. Pyo Seong-hoon and his guild members can’t die.’

Simultaneously, three hunters wielding hunter swords quickly surrounded me. Red auras formed on their blades.

‘So they’ve mastered Magong.’

Magong, a special mana acceleration technique originating from Muguk. It’s a dangerous acceleration method that affects the user’s mind and limits, one that shouldn’t be used.

In exchange, users can quickly reach the level of Aura Sword, which has powerful destructive properties.

Also, those who have mastered Magong can temporarily overload their bodies to momentarily increase their awakening rank.

It’s like temporarily overclocking a CPU. Of course, the negative effects on body and mind are incomparably worse than overheating computer parts.

‘They’re mentally unstable thugs to begin with, so they probably don’t care about that.’

And I’m concerned about whatever they just put in their mouths. It felt different from typical Magong.

An ominous energy, like touching a demon’s magical energy. I felt the foreboding of facing not ordinary hunters but villains.

Perhaps because of this, their momentum was fierce.

The chaotic sword techniques of Magong-trained dark faction swordsmen, pursuing only power. This makes their attacks much harder to predict and block.

“Let’s take this bastard’s head off first!”

So when surrounded by three of them like this, as a mage, I should have been prepared to have my limbs severed or my head cut off.

They all swung their hunter swords at me at once.

***

CLANG-

Sparks flew from the blade. I deflected one guy’s sword with Wind Cutter. Their momentum was fierce, but unfortunately, they failed to cut me down.

“Damn! Lucky bastard.”

One of them exploded in frustration at seeing me unharmed.

But despite his words, there was no composure in his expression. Not only had I blocked his attack, but I had also easily avoided the slashes from the other two.

‘It was tricky with no rules, but not impossible to dodge.’

With Hong-ok’s second seal released, not only my mana but also my physical reaction speed had increased significantly.

As an S-rank gear substitutes for my mana heart, my senses have become much more acute than those of ordinary awakened ones. I was experiencing that effect properly.

And I blocked the thrust of the guy in front of me by holding Wind Cutter in reverse.

“How can a mage move like that… Damn. It wasn’t just fire spells! That bastard Min-soo or whatever is dangerous! We need to take his head off quickly!”

The honest reaction came from the guy behind.

Since I had only used magic since coming to Busan, these guys had no way of knowing I was confident in close combat.

‘They probably thought I was a one-trick fire spell user.’

But now I’m facing three swordsmen, so they can’t help but be surprised. However, I couldn’t afford to be too relaxed.

I already knew Dead Arms’ strength. Even their executives were just A-rank hunters from a small guild.

But right now, even these small fry facing me had explosive power equivalent to A-rank hunters.

‘Is it because of that suspicious drug they took right before the battle?’

With no time to think, they generated even more intense auras on their swords. Being auras, their cutting power was certain.

No matter how much weight training I’d done, there was no way my body would remain intact if hit by those swords.

‘Even a graze means death.’

If I lost concentration even for a moment, I would be the one to fall.

My armor was also set up for responsiveness and mobility. I had no armor that could withstand their sword strikes.

‘I need to focus.’

I made my body lighter with Wind Cutter and continuously avoided their attacks.

“Be careful! Let me…”

Seeing me surrounded, Soso called out. She had already neutralized more than three hunters but was soon surrounded by others. There was nothing to be done about our overwhelming numerical disadvantage.

“Don’t worry about me and help our allies! This is nothing!”

The rest of our companions were in the same situation, being pushed back. At my words, Soso joined up with Pyo Seong-hoon instead of coming to me.

‘Well done. That’s the priority.’

Soso and I had been on missions together recently.

Rather than letting emotions affect the battle, it was time for her to trust in my abilities that she had witnessed firsthand. Fortunately, Soso understood this.

“You bastard! Just dodging around like a rat!”

The three continued their sword attacks without pause.

Having been caught at close range by swordsmen, I was desperately avoiding their strikes.

At a glance, I seemed completely on the defensive. But it was the attackers who were becoming desperate. They hadn’t landed a single effective hit on me despite the 3-to-1 situation.

“Damn mage…!! Kill… I’ll kill you!!”

“We need to kill him quickly! His fire spells are dangerous. We must kill him before he can cast them! Absolutely!!”

Their eyes were turning increasingly red. At the same time, their killing intent changed. Like demonic energy, a disgusting smell rose around them.

My instincts warned me that these guys were dangerous now. The aura they emitted was too strong to dismiss them as small fry.

‘That drug they took might have some connection to demons. I need to hurry.’

Then I shouldn’t drag this out any longer. I was comfortably avoiding their attacks for now, but I didn’t want any additional variables.

SWOOSH-

Once again, a crude aura was swung at me. A slash aimed directly at my chest. Despite its power, its speed had been slow enough for me to dodge well until now.

But I felt that speed had at least doubled from before.

‘But I can still dodge it.’

Wind Cutter had already been released to its second form. With Wind Cutter’s agility enhancement, I quickly moved to the attacker’s side with its auxiliary effect.

Simultaneously spotting an opening, I swung my fist holding Wind Cutter in reverse.

BOOM-CRASH-

With the sound of an explosion, his body was immediately engulfed in flames.

***

The battle in the alley was over.

Despite the overwhelming disadvantage, they hadn’t expected Soso and me to be there.

And the Red Breakers guild members, who had maintained their strength, were top-tier hunters in Busan. Dead Arms was caught off guard.

In the end, when they failed to neutralize Soso and me, they retreated.

“As expected of those dirty bastards. Running away without fighting to the end. Tsk. We should chase them down and kill them all…”

Pyo Seong-hoon shouted. But I stopped him.

“There’s no need to chase them. We’ve achieved all our objectives.”

At my words, Pyo Seong-hoon looked around. The alley showed traces of battle, but there was no damage to residential buildings.

“Fortunately, our side is intact.”

As Pyo Seong-hoon said, none in our group had serious injuries. On the other hand, Dead Arms had suffered severe casualties. That’s why they chose to retreat despite their numerical advantage.

Then, Pyo Seong-hoon bowed to Soso and me.

“Thanks to you two, our side suffered no casualties. You’re truly amazing.”

Soso awkwardly accepted his thanks. I was also a bit embarrassed by his sincere gratitude.

“I already knew about the young guild master’s combat skills, but Deputy Director, your fighting method is impressive every time I see it. Those Dead Arms cowards turned pale when they saw your attack…”

As Pyo Seong-hoon said, I had neutralized all three who surrounded me in close combat. Since they were heavily armored, they probably didn’t die.

All three had been defeated by my flame spell and were now lying on the ground with full-body burns. All three had fallen victim to my newly created Resonance Compression Blue Flame.

During these three months in Busan, I had focused on the new combat magic theory I received from the Secretary-General and produced results.

Specifically, I succeeded in maximizing the resonance rate between my blue flame and Wind Cutter’s wind spell.

‘It’s still a spell that needs improvement, but its practical effectiveness has been proven.’

But I put aside thoughts of that spell for now and focused on the current situation.

The battle just now was the prelude to the full-scale conflict to come.

And I needed to quickly interrogate the fallen enemies about the suspicious drug Dead Arms had used today.

I said to Pyo Seong-hoon:

“Now we have justification. Since Dead Arms ambushed us, we can’t just sit still.”

Pyo Seong-hoon replied:

“Busan will become even more chaotic from now on.”

“Yes. And from now on, the only guilds that can make noise in Busan will be Flame and Red Breakers.”

Pyo Seong-hoon looked at me. I continued:

“Because we’re going to make it that way.”

He nodded at me, seemingly surprised.

“If you say so, Deputy Director. I’ll believe and follow you.”

And three days later, Yuri came down from Seoul.