Frank swung his sword urgently and retreated.
He didn’t even have time to look down.
A burning sensation stung his flank; his opponent’s blade must have grazed him.
Honestly, he was just grateful his guts weren’t spilling out.
At the very least, he could still fight.
“You bastard!” the blonde female knight holding the sword screamed fiercely as she lunged at him.
She was fuming.
In a fair fight, she could have taken his head in two or three exchanges.
However, that damn Mage kept interfering with her movements.
Even just now, she couldn’t swing her sword properly because a Lightning Spear had come flying her way.
‘That bastard is next.’
The female knight added Kang Hye-seong, who was firing Magic from a distance, to her kill list.
He was casting interference spells with such exquisite timing that they never hit his allies, which was beyond irritating.
‘What is Osel doing?’
The male knight, Osel, had run toward the other Mage.
Normally, he should have finished the fight and returned by now.
But for some reason, there was no word from him.
She parried Frank’s sword lightly and shot a quick glance behind her.
She had that much composure.
But then.
‘…!?’
She saw a bolt of lightning strike Osel as he leaped into the air, and a Mana Blade flying from behind to sever his neck.
‘Why? How on earth…!?’
Her eyes widened.
She couldn’t believe it.
With his level of skill and the Anti-magic Seal on his armor, how could he be decapitated by a mere 3rd Circle Mage? And in a one-on-one fight?
This inexplicable situation sparked a chilling fear within her.
The realization that she too could die began to creep in.
She hurriedly surged her Aura and turned her gaze back to Frank.
Golden Aura streamed from her sword in threads.
“Get out of my way… Move!” she screamed, charging at Frank.
Her plan was to cut through Frank in a single strike and run straight for the Portal.
“…Dig.”
An incantation drifted faintly from the distance.
At the same moment, her foot sank into the ground.
She stumbled for a second but regained her balance with her supreme reflexes.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Frank’s sword swung down, seizing the opening, and she hurriedly parried the attack.
Her posture was nearly broken, but she was skilled enough to block an attack of Frank’s caliber.
“Hold.”
The incantation was heard from a closer distance this time.
Feeling the Magic constricting her entire body, she activated the Anti-magic Seal.
Light erupted from her armor, nullifying the spell.
Meanwhile, wind gathered violently beside her.
Kang Hye-seong’s Air Hammer was activating.
She sliced through the airflow with a single strike and took a step toward Frank.
However, Frank was already backing away because he had seen Kim Song-cheol’s hand signal.
The moment a slight gap opened between Frank and the female knight, the opening was filled.
“Thunder Strike.”
Lightning crashed down into that gap.
The Anti-magic Seal glowed once more.
‘I-I have to run.’
She had to get away from the Mage who killed Osel, right now.
Ignoring even Frank, she took a few steps, but…
“Stone Missile, Bind, Mana Blade, Bind, Air Hammer, Stone Missile, Stone Missile, Thunder Strike.”
Magic poured out from behind her like a torrential rain.
Unless she wanted her back to become a honeycomb, she had no choice but to turn around.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
From the moment she turned, she swung her sword at maximum speed.
This was beyond the range of what the Anti-magic Seal could endure.
As she swung her sword with all her might, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
‘When… does this end…?’
It didn’t end.
‘It’s not ending…?’
It didn’t end.
This was why Osel had looked for an opening even at the cost of his own thigh.
But that was only possible in a one-on-one situation.
“Ugh!”
Her struggle ended when Kang Hye-seong’s Magic Missile flew in and struck her temple with a ‘thud!’ Thanks to her helmet, her head only tilted slightly, but Kim Song-cheol’s spells pierced through that gap one by one.
Soon, her guard broke, and she was pelted by every spell.
Boom-boom-boom!
She was sent flying back like a kite with a broken string and rolled across the ground.
The front of her armor was already a mess.
Having been struck by lightning several times, smoke rose from her body.
“What are you…?”
Frank asked, looking at Kim Song-cheol.
He had said it would be interesting to watch Kim Song-cheol use Magic, but this was beyond just being interesting.
“That woman is still alive. Aren’t you going to take your revenge?”
At Kim Song-cheol’s words, Frank finally came to his senses.
He looked toward the fallen female knight and then shook his head.
“No… this is enough. Returning the Points would be complicated… You guys handle it.”
Frank sat down heavily and took off his shirt.
Blood was gushing from the sword wound on his side.
Just in time, Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su’s battle ended as well.
It was thanks to Kang Hye-seong, who had a spare hand, providing support.
Kim Song-cheol pulled out some bandages and waved his hand slightly.
A Mana Blade formed over the woman’s head and severed her neck like a guillotine.
“Stay still.”
Kim Song-cheol sprayed a hemostatic agent on Frank’s side and wrapped it with bandages.
It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it was better to provide first aid.
“But… aren’t you a 3rd Circle Mage?”
Frank asked, grimacing.
The pain was finally catching up to him.
“And?”
“No, to call you a 3rd Circle Mage…”
How should he put it?
It would be accurate to say he had ‘power to spare.’
Kim Song-cheol was using 3rd Circle Magic, but he had power overflowing.
Not just in casting speed, but in destructive power as well; he was on a different level from other 3rd Circle Mages.
Just like a high-ranking Mage.
“I don’t have much to say about that.”
Saying anything would just be bragging. Kim Song-cheol tied the knot on the bandage and stood up.
He turned his head toward a certain direction because he heard Fern’s voice.
[Thank you, Mister. I knew you could do it.]
“Don’t mention it. It was a fair trade.”
[Then we’ll be going now. They say a man who lost his comrades might hate us. I pray that the blessing of the Spirits will be with you.]
“Fern?”
There was no answer.
The Wind Path that had been transmitting the voice unraveled into a gentle breeze.
“…Quite thorough.”
Judging by the Ranger’s personality, it was highly likely that Fern had insisted on the farewell.
After finishing the battle, Team 24C helped Frank recover the bodies of the US Team.
One of the three bodies was missing its Combat Uniform.
Frank, weeping with an expressionless face, took off his own Combat Uniform jacket and put it on the body.
When Kang Hye-seong approached and patted him on the back, Frank finally wailed.
It was much later when the Swordsmen shouldered the bodies and set out to find the Portal.
The Portal was at the northern edge.
Normally, they would have said something the moment they found the Portal, but not today.
Even the playful Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su remained silent.
Frank personally pushed his comrades into the Portal and finally turned to Kim Song-cheol.
“Thanks to you, I got my revenge. Now I’ll have something to say to my team members’ families. Thank you.”
But Kim Song-cheol shook his head.
“The situation simply allowed for it. If things hadn’t gone well, it never would have happened.”
“Heh, right. You have a duty to protect your own team too. Then, let’s meet again. Preferably on Earth.”
Feeling a bit better, Frank left with a small smile and entered the Portal.
“Phew, he’s finally gone. Big Brother, how many Points did we gather?”
Lee Yong-chan asked the moment Frank disappeared.
He had wanted to do the tallying for a while, but he couldn’t even bring it up because Frank was listening.
The Points Team 24C gathered certainly included those of Frank’s team members.
“I have about 40,000 for now.”
“I have about the same.”
Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su had a combined total of 80,000 Points.
Even with just the two of them, they had already far exceeded the average Point acquisition for an E-rank.
This was because normally, one person would gather around 10,000 to 20,000.
“I have 70,000,” Kang Hye-seong revealed his Points. When you kill a Hunter, you receive all their held Points in addition to the kill Points. It seemed the Mage Kang Hye-seong killed had quite a few Points.
Only Kim Song-cheol was left. Everyone’s eyes turned to him.
“I have 220,000,” Kim Song-cheol said calmly, but the other team members were floored.
The kill Points from two powerful knights and the Points they had gathered had all gone to Kim Song-cheol.
They had expected it to be high, but it was much more than they thought.
In the end, the total was 370,000.
They had gathered 370,000 Points in an E-Rank Dungeon—a place where you could barely reach 100,000 no matter how many Monsters you hunted.
It was truly a record-breaking achievement.
***
Frank returned to the United States and reported what had happened in the Dungeon.
Unlike usual, the report was long.
Not only were there three casualties, but he was the sole survivor.
Furthermore, he had recovered the bodies.
All of these were unusual circumstances.
Usually, all four would vanish, or if they survived, at least two would barely escape with their lives.
Frank’s report was drafted into a formal document and continued to climb up the chain of command.
The destination of that report was James Whitmore, the Director of the Federal Hunter Management Bureau.
“Kim Soul-chaeng?”
Sitting in his spacious office reading the report, James tried pronouncing the Asian name.
“Kim Soul-chaeng…?”
He scratched his white hair and tilted his head.
It was a name he felt like he had heard somewhere.
According to the testimony of Francis Bennett, or Frank, this Kim Soul-chaeng possessed overwhelming Magic skills and was someone who would make the Republic of Korea greater than a second United Kingdom.
As he read that far, Kim Song-cheol’s identity came to mind.
“Ha, Kim Song-cheol!”
He didn’t become the Director of the Hunter Management Bureau for nothing.
If the pronunciation had been even slightly similar, he would have remembered it instantly, but it had been delayed because the name had been distorted through another person.
But at the same time, a question arose.
‘That bastard Colt definitely said he was stupid.’
Colt Vangard, Jester. It was James who had sent him to Kim Song-cheol.
To be precise, Colt had heard about it somewhere and said he would go himself, so James sent him, thinking it was a stroke of luck.
After meeting Kim Song-cheol, Colt had reported to James: ‘It’s true that he’s friendly, but he just has good performance for now.
He’s not very smart, so he’s not suited for high-level Magic.’
However, reading Frank’s report, these were not things a stupid person could do.
Putting everything else aside, how could a stupid person show such casting speed?
One had to process an immense amount of Formula calculations, which was not something someone with a poor brain could achieve.
James immediately stood up and pointed at his red-haired female secretary.
“Send a DM to Colt Vangard. Tell him his salary is being raised and to come here right now.”
A DM was the best way to reach Colt Vangard.
There was no point in calling him; he wouldn’t even answer.
Sure enough, not even a few minutes later, a Magic Circle appeared on the office floor, and Colt Vangard appeared in a flash of light.
He was wearing a bathrobe with wet hair.
“For real?”
Colt Vangard asked, waving his phone with an expectant look.
He was checking the truth of the salary increase news sent via DM.
“Depending on your answer.”
James calmly crossed his arms and sat on the edge of his desk.
Of course, he had no intention of raising his salary.
He’d sooner cut it.
But he had to hear the answer.
He had to know why Colt had lied.