Chapter 35 : Fanatic Hunt (4)

“O usurpers blinded by greed.”

“U-Usurpers…?”

At the heavy voice resounding through the space, a hunter expressed their doubt.

“Ignore it. That’s like a manual too.”

If they had entered the Theme Stage without Do Yoon’s intervention, and if they didn’t please the fanatics while helping them.

It was said that Vernard Neigrim, their leader and High Priest, would personally step forward and utter those lines to drive away the hunters.

In other words, it meant they had now reached a point of no return.

“Leave our Vessel and depart this place, even now. If you do, I will not ask about your sins.”

“Heung heung!”

Even at the threat to leave her behind, the Vessel, the young Jinjo, did not waver and snorted roughly.

Other hunters might, but Do Yoon would never abandon her.

She and Do Yoon were already connected by a bond like family.

It was a ‘mystery’ due to Wine-jwa’s intervention, but the important thing was that both Eira and Do Yoon were sufficiently satisfied with

their relationship.

“Are you the leader of the fanatics?”

“How dare you call the group I belong to fanatics. Do you wish to die?”

“Kidnapping and torturing an innocent child, if that’s not a fanatic, I can’t explain it.”

“It is all a trivial sacrifice for the greater good.”

At those words, Do Yoon glanced at Eira, who was tightly gripping his hand.

An unusual sound came from her molars; it seemed the leader of those fanatics was very much not to her liking.

“Oppa-ya, Do Yoon oppa-ya.”

“Yeah.”

“Me.”

However, what filled her eyes was not just malicious feelings towards them.

“Did I really do wrong…?”

It started as a game, and she had already massacred dozens of fanatics.

As her head cooled from the immediate, refreshing revenge, Eira found herself with room to think.

Truly, about whether she, who was committing such acts, was indeed a monster.

“No.”

Do Yoon met Eira’s sad gaze.

“You’re doing well.”

“….!”

However, such guilt vanished as if washed away by Do Yoon’s single affirmation.

Life returned to her gloomy face, and her cheeks flushed as she heard the answer she had secretly longed for.

You can do whatever you want.

It wasn’t wrong.

The result of facing the answer she had desperately longed for in a long hell.

Eira smiled brightly and hugged Do Yoon tightly.

“He’s mad.”

And Vernard Neigrim, who was watching him, felt a strange sense of disconnect at the unbelievable situation.

‘Th-That b*stard is receiving help from the Object…!’

When he first received the report, he dismissed it as mere coincidence.

He was sure it wasn’t a relationship where they complemented each other, but a one-sided relationship due to Jinjo’s coercion.

He was convinced that Jinjo, whose personality had been destroyed after long experiments, would only show such behavioral patterns.

“Do you even know what you are doing?”

“Ugh, I’m sick of it.”

“…What?”

Do Yoon had heard those words to the point of exhaustion.

Somehow, every time they saw him with the Object, they said the same things.

“Is that also some kind of fixed line?”

“Insolent…!”

Only then, belatedly realizing the true meaning of the words, the High Priest became enraged and drew out his mana.

-Pit.

Blood-red lightning-shaped mana flowed along the ground, revealing its presence.

“…Do Yoon.”

Beyond Do Yoon’s back, who was holding the Object’s hand tightly.

Turning his head at the voice that called him with concern, he saw the skinny hunter he had seen before.

“Why?”

“That b*stard is dangerous. While coordinating with other hunters…”

“I know. I have to avoid close combat openly from the start.”

Eira would handle the power-versus-power confrontation.

He just needed to support Eira’s combat as he always had.

If a dangerous attack occasionally came from a blind spot, he just needed to step in and protect Eira then.

“Tell the other hunters in advance too.”

“…Understood.”

This was to prevent unnecessary deaths, just in case.

Hunters were creatures easily blinded by immediate rewards, and as such, their leashes needed to be held tight.

-Seuseut.

The place where Do Yoon and the hunters were gathered.

‘Seven.’

Only about that many were holding their ground on site.

The rest would be hunting the fanatics scattered outside.

“I’ll say it again.”

Looking at the group of fanatics gathering behind the High Priest, Do Yoon warned them one last time.

“Absolutely do not step forward. We will deal with the High Priest ourselves. The rest of you only deal with the ordinary priests.”

“….”

No answer came back.

‘Dark-hearted b*stards.’

Knowing the meaning behind that silence, Do Yoon swallowed the sigh that was about to escape and gripped the handle of his curved sword tightly.

“Grant those foolish usurpers a gruesome death.”

“Only the righteous truth shall prevail!”

As the High Priest commanded, the priests accepted his will and simultaneously assumed combat stances.

“They’re coming.”

With Do Yoon’s short signal as the end, the hunters entered the battlefield, no one waiting for another.

“Catch and slaughter them all!”

“If we catch these b*stards, there’s a reward! That Hidden Piece!”

“If I return from here, with her…”

“Hey, hey! Shut that b*stard’s mouth. Where is he raising a flag…”

“Heehee.”

With Eira’s innocent laughter as the last, Do Yoon’s camp and the priests’ group began to clash.

-Pajijijik!!

“It’s magic! Block it!”

[Barrier (D)]

As the priests’ blood-red mana surged, the hunter side quickly deployed defensive magic.

As the two magics clashed violently in mid-air, dust rose, momentarily obscuring their vision.

“Where! Where is it!”

“You foolish b*stard! Such powerful magic all of a sudden…!”

If there was a mistake on the priests’ side, it was that they hadn’t received professional training in combat systems.

Because they were specialized in simply overwhelming opponents with sheer mana–

They had remarkably little experience fighting against forces of similar scale.

-Saaaa…

They tried to secure their vision through the gaps in the thick dust, but it wasn’t easy to penetrate with normal vision.

-Chijik.

And through it, the result they themselves had cultivated glowed red, eerily revealing its presence.

“Fools.”

Behind the cute contempt, chain-like mana was shot out.

A priest, instantly pierced through the heart, vomited blood and was dragged away in an instant.

“Wh-What!”

“It’s Jinjo! It’s Jinjo’s mana! Prepare for an attack!”

A priest, recognizing the attacker, spat and urged caution, but there wasn’t much they could do.

“I-I can’t see anything because my vision is blocked…!”

“Rein was just dragged away! We need assistance! We need support….!”

“Don’t waver! If the front line breaks now, everyone dies! Don’t run away!”

The terrified priests haphazardly shot mana in all directions, but it only served to reveal their positions.

“This is fun.”

A fanatic whose ankle was caught let out a shrill scream, then disappeared as if shot into the air by the red chains.

“What, is this…”

“Get a grip.”

The skinny hunter poked his head out next to the dumbfounded hunter.

“There’s a bundle of experience points for each of those b*stards’ necks. Don’t miss out and do your best.”

That was all he had to say.

The skinny hunter gathered strength in his legs and then charged towards the priests like a chaebol diving into a pile of money.

Watching that, Lakia Vels, her black hair flying, looked at the axe in her hand.

She had no intention of denying it now.

She just wanted to gauge the limits of that man who was rampaging with the Object in front.

‘…What on earth.’

Due to the swung curved sword, a fanatic clutched their neck and collapsed.

Even though one might falter in a chaotic situation, Do Yoon attacked relentlessly, as if he had all possible scenarios in his head.

His beast-like gaze was fixed on only one target.

“You rat-like b*stard!”

The High Priest, who had been having a headache because of Do Yoon blocking attacks through the gaps in the priests’ formation.

After glancing there, Lakia Vels also began to swing her axe and slaughter other priests.

Although she had been spending gloomy times being blocked by Do Yoon, her martial prowess among hunters was not lacking.

-Hwoong!

“Get lost.”

A giant axe was swung with a cool voice.

Destructive strength hidden by a slender physique was swung towards the sacrifice in the form of a disaster.

-Kujik!

A lump of flesh that had been human-shaped flew through the air.

Lakia Vels also continued to draw up her mana and began to stir up the battlefield.

‘To that man.’

She unconsciously chased the back of the man she had lost to.

‘Even if it’s just to that man.’

If she couldn’t achieve results on the stage, she had to leave some results somehow.

‘Maknae. If you find a decent man there, you should at least kidnap him, okay?’

‘Our world only has weaklings~’

Lakia Vels.

A hunter from a world where, unusually, women possessed superior hunter qualities.

And her position in that world was the chieftain’s daughter.

She had a duty to secure good seeds.

‘It’s clear.’

That man definitely possessed a sure seed to entrust the future to.