Chapter 165: Living Armor Raid Party

The Third Gate Burning.

Just as the Second Gate Burning was stronger and more threatening than the first, the Third Gate Burning that broke out this time was even more intense and dangerous than the Second.

Even though the Hunters of Korea had grown stronger and were managing to hold the lines, it was still a fact that the monsters remained a formidable threat.

“Gate Break at Dobongsan! Estimated to be Rank 7! Requesting immediate support!”

All the Hunters of Korea moved wherever the Gates and monsters appeared.

There was no time to chase after profits.

With monsters rampaging on every side, you swung your sword not for the sake of protecting something, but just to survive.

Even in such chaos, there were particularly troublesome types of monsters.

“Rotten Wing!”

The first of these were monsters that were individually weak, but made up for their low rank with sheer numbers.

Rotten Wing.

Monsters resembling flies dyed the sky as they approached.

– Team 9 Leader, if Rotten Wing spreads, the damage will be massive.

– Please hold the line.

“Ugh? We have no mage here! I can’t handle that with my abilities!”

The Hunters holding this location numbered five, led by Team 9 Leader Jeon Ji-min of the Vulcanus Guild.

Truth be told, these five alone could take down most monsters without issue.

But this time was different.

The enemy’s numbers were simply overwhelming.

Even if they tried to fight, some would slip through.

Against this sort of foe, an area-of-effect mage was essential.

But Jeon Ji-min knew better than anyone that there was no mage on the field right now.

She knew it was too much, but determined to do something, she steadied “Deepsea Shackle,” the whip crafted by Vulcanus.

At her ear,

– Support has been dispatched.

“Support?”

Nam Bora’s voice followed.

Support?

Was there anyone who could come to help here?

This place was especially isolated from the city—on the way here, she hadn’t seen a single Hunter.

All Vulcanus Guild members were spread out, and Vulcanus Guild, in particular, was short on mages.

So what sort of support could possibly be coming?

Had Vulcanus perhaps sent some kind of area weapon as support?

Just as she was puzzled—

“Wuuung—.”

Sure enough.

The support Nam Bora mentioned was an item.

But, no matter how impressive the item Vulcanus sent was, it didn’t seem likely to help much in this situation.

Even if it was like those explosive arrows Vulcanus had showcased before, it would be hard to deal efficiently with such a swarm of flies.

Just as she was feeling disappointed—

“Huh?”

The item that finished transmitting was not an item.

Well, technically it was, but—

Unbelievable as it sounded, the item was moving on its own.

“Combat 4. Arrived on Master’s orders.”

“Combat 4?”

It was a being holding blue staff, clearly out of the ordinary.

The whole body was clad in white, frost-covered cloth and a robe.

Was it a Living Armor?

If she hadn’t known better, she would have been wary, but with the Vulcanus crest marked on all its gear, Jeon Ji-min could relax a little.

“Should I defeat the monsters?”

Combat 4 pointed at the approaching swarm of flies.

“Y-yeah.” Jeon Ji-min nodded reflexively.

At the same moment, Combat 4 began casting.

The staff in its hand glowed blue, and the surrounding temperature began to drop.

Mana from the air was absorbed into the staff, which was made from Longhaigui’s Orb, and as a pure white magic circle appeared at Combat 4’s feet—

All at once.

Snow began to fall from the sky.

White snowflakes fluttered gently down.

They looked utterly harmless and beautiful.

But the snowflakes fell precisely along the Rotten Wing’s flight path.

The moment a snowflake touched Rotten Wing’s body—

“Kwaaduduk—!”

Rotten Wings began to freeze.

They were fast and nimble, but not enough to dodge every snowflake falling from the sky.

To be honest, the snowflakes weren’t all that powerful.

The larger ones completely froze a Rotten Wing, but the smaller flakes merely froze one wing at most.

But even that was enough.

Rotten Wings with frozen wings plummeted from the sky.

All at once.

“Kwajik!”

The frozen bodies of Rotten Wings shattered and exploded as they hit the ground.

And the few that survived—

“Yahoo!”

Were swiftly swept away by the five centered around Jeon Ji-min.

The power had been reduced, but for such a wide area, to use this kind of magic—

What on earth was this thing?

It didn’t matter.

Jeon Ji-min simply cheered, swinging her whip joyfully in praise of Vulcanus.

“Long live Guild Master!”

And at other sites where Vulcanus’s assistants were transmitted, the situation was the same.

***

“Piiyoooo—!”

“You’re too high up!”

Far overhead, the Ice Roc flapped its icy wings, raining down sharp ice feathers below.

Vulcanus’s Support Team, made up of close-combat members, had gone out on support only to run into a sudden flying monster.

Just then, Combat 2 appeared beside them and drew a bowstring.

All at once.

“Pububuk!”

Each time Combat 2 fired, the Ice Rocs occupying the high sky began to fall.

The L-rank bow pierced through several Ice Rocs at a time as if shooting sunlight.

And elsewhere—

“I’ll hold this place.”

“Open fire!”

“Dududududu!”

Combat 5 appeared in front of Team 12, composed of ranged attackers, and raised its shield.

Already, the number of monsters had grown so much that their rate of dispatch was slowing.

But with Combat 5 blocking the front, the rear could continue attacking with much more ease.

“Dagadak dagadak!”

“Wow, what’s that?!”

“Cavalry? Was there a Ranker like that?”

“I see the Vulcanus crest, but did the Vulcanus Guild ever have members like that?”

“Who cares! As long as they fight well! Go for it!”

Cavalry composed of Combat 10 and Combat 11 galloped across the battlefield faster than anyone, cutting down monsters as they went.

Of course, Vulcanus had not only sent the Combat Team.

“Kwajik!”

“W-what? How did it smash a Golem in one blow…”

The Mining Team was putting on a tremendous display as well.

With a single swing of Mining 1’s pickaxe, the Golem’s outer shell shattered and the hidden core within was crushed in one hit.

“Kwak!”

With one swing of Logging Unit No. 1’s axe, the massive body of an Ent split apart.

“Seokduk!”

Textile Unit 1 fearlessly sliced through the fearsome flying Specters.

Skinning No. 1 was calmly dispatching ordinary monsters made of bone and hide.

Vulcanus’s assistants.

They were making a brilliant debut on the real battlefield.

Of course, they were powerful to begin with, but perhaps it was thanks to Nam Bora transmitting them to the battlefield best suited to each assistant’s unique abilities?

The strength the assistants displayed seemed just as formidable as any famous Ranker.

So it was only natural that the other Hunters were amazed.

Even the ordinary people remaining on-site, though not Hunters themselves, watched wide-eyed at the assistants’ performance.

In such circumstances—

“Team Leader!”

“Fall back!”

“What’s that…”

“Just fall back! Don’t get close!”

“We’ll maintain a standoff until we fully figure out its ability!”

There was one battlefield locked in the fiercest struggle.

Here were the strongest in Vulcanus Guild: Team 1 Leader Park Sang-hyun, considered the Guild’s ace, and the newly-formed Team 11 made up of Rankers.

Why were the strongest gathered here engaged in such a brutal fight?

It was simple.

Their opponent was—

[Jangsanbeom]

A Rank 9 boss monster.

Normally, Jangsanbeom was a cryptid said to appear in the mountains of Busan.

A monster with crimson skin, silky long fur, and the skeleton of a tiger.

Although it had a tiger’s frame, at a glance, it looked like a giant with extremely long fur pretending to be a four-legged beast.

This monster was physically powerful, but its greatest threat lay in its supernatural voice.

“Kyaaaaaa~!”

A shrill scream burst from Jangsanbeom’s mouth.

A piercing scream, unfitting for its appearance.

As that scream, reminiscent of a human’s, spread out—

“Guh!”

The Hunters’ bodies froze solid.

Jangsanbeom charged forward as they stood immobilized.

They managed to dodge its attack somehow, but that was not the extent of Jangsanbeom’s abilities.

“Awooo—.”

Jangsanbeom let out a wolf-like howl.

Its skeleton sharpened, and it began to move at tremendous speed.

The formation, so carefully arranged to counter Jangsanbeom’s strength, became useless in an instant.

By the time they barely managed to respond to its movements Jangsanbeom, roaring like a tiger, swept the ground with its thickened forearms.

“Kuwaaang!”

The defenses were pushed back, unable to cope with the sudden surge in power.

Jangsanbeom could mimic more than just animal cries.

“Swoooosh—!”

A sound like running water issued from its mouth.

At the same moment, water gushed out like a waterfall, soaking the ground.

Even this made movement awkward—

“Kwaaaarr—!!”

With a peal of thunder from Jangsanbeom’s mouth, electricity raced along the wet ground, electrocuting the Hunters.

It could also breathe fire, unleash wind, mimic birdsongs, and take flight with its long fur streaming behind it.

Jangsanbeom’s supernatural abilities were dazzlingly varied.

To make matters worse—

“Attacks aren’t working!”

“Damn it, because of that fur…”

The white fur covering Jangsanbeom’s whole body.

That fur had high magic resistance, and was so thick that even close combat attacks hardly penetrated.

Truly, a Rank 9 monster.

Incredibly powerful.

They were finally starting to analyze all its abilities and prepare a counterattack, but it wasn’t easy.

Still, they couldn’t just stand off forever.

Just as they resolved to break through and create an opening—

“Arrived at the site, by Master’s order.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“The Vice Guild Leader said support would come—maybe it’s that?”

“Living Armor…?”

Vulcanus’s assistants appeared beside them, too.

But, with a Rank 9 monster as their foe, could this really help?

The moment they wondered—

Combat 1 at the front dashed forward.

And since all the Hunters here were fighting a Rank 9 monster, most were Rankers who could sense the aura on Combat 1’s blade.

“Attack Aura!”

A sword aura clearer and sharper than any Ranker’s.

Combat 1 found a gap and swung its blade, filled with that aura, with all its might.

“Seogeok!”

It was a clean hit.

Jangsanbeom’s fur, known for resisting slashing and entangling attackers’ weapons, was sliced through.

And right after that the spear of Combat 3, following behind, pierced into Jangsanbeom’s flesh.

“Kkaaaaah!”

The next scream from Jangsanbeom was not a mimicry of anyone else’s voice, but its own real cry.

A true shriek rang out.

“Tteoong!”

The force of that scream sent Combat 1 and 3 flying.

But Vulcanus’s assistants had no such thing as “vitality.”

Though their armor was scratched, 1 and 3 rose without a hitch.

They may have been flung back, but the wounds the two assistants inflicted remained on Jangsanbeom’s body, and red blood flowed.

That blood breathed hope and courage into those fighting against Jangsanbeom.

“Charge!”