Roy glanced around.
Once he reached Hunter Level 300, his eyesight improved far beyond that of a normal person—he could focus on objects hundreds of meters away and see them as clearly as if they were right before his eyes.
But right now, unless something was extremely close, everything was shrouded in a grayish fog, making it impossible to see properly.
“Pii…” (I can feel magic through the fog, Contractee…)
Ris fluttered his wings weakly and spoke. Roy’s expression turned serious.
When he checked on the spirits, all of them seemed drained of energy compared to before entering the Dungeon.
The energy inside the Dungeon clashed with that of the spirits.
“Hmm—.” (It’s better to avoid contact for now.)
Solum stretched and shifted back into his original size.
Recently, Solum preferred moving around in the form of a tiny baby leopard rather than his massive true form.
It was because humans always approached him, calling him cute, and that wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
“Let’s hide over there first. Ris, please.”
Roy pointed toward a nearby rocky mountain.
Being the last to enter the Dungeon actually put him at a disadvantage.
The mission was to steal the Gem Brooches attached to each other’s bodies, so those who entered earlier had the upper hand in setting traps and defenses.
“Pii.” (Leave it to me, Contractee.)
Ris regained some energy and manipulated the wind. Roy and the crew filming him nearby were enveloped in the swirling breeze.
Just as Ris was moving in the direction Roy pointed toward—
Biiing—
A sharp sword energy charged at Roy from below, accompanied by a piercing sound.
“Piiit!” (How dare you!)
Usually calm and laid-back, Ris reacted sharply to protect Roy’s safety.
He let out a piercing cry and diverted the incoming sword energy in another direction.
Ssshk—
The redirected sword energy slashed a clear line across a nearby rock.
The dust kicked up as the massive rock slid down the edge of an endless cliff.
“Who was that?”
The fact that sword energy had been launched meant the attacker was a swordsman.
It wasn’t Lee Doha.
Though he could release sword energy, the attack just now felt much rougher and more brutal than anything Lee Doha would do.
‘And he wouldn’t attack so mercilessly without reason.’
Even in a mission, Lee Doha wouldn’t resort to a sneak attack like this.
“Kim Jaewoo, then.”
Only Lee Doha or Kim Jaewoo could match the skill to send chills down Roy’s spine like that.
Both were S-rank Hunters.
If it wasn’t Lee Doha, then Kim Jaewoo had to be the culprit.
“..Hello, participant Hwang Roy.”
Just as Roy expected, Kim Jaewoo emerged through the thick fog.
The entire area was filled with dense mist and rocks.
Currently, Roy was floating midair, carried by Ris’s wind as he moved.
Kim Jaewoo, who couldn’t fly, appeared from behind a boulder the size of a house.
His thick, wavy brown hair was tossed roughly by the wind blowing through the canyon.
It was then that his chocolate-colored eyes began to lose focus.
“Pii—.” (That guy’s eyes are strange again.)
Roy and Kim Jaewoo were familiar with each other, having undertaken the same mission before.
In fact, it was harder not to know each other among the remaining participants.
Ris fluttered his wings, recalling Kim Jaewoo’s insane behavior from before.
His eyes always seemed glazed and distorted whenever he looked at Ris, as if intoxicated on poison—a truly perverse expression.
“You’re evasive, but I can’t underestimate your skills.”
However, unlike usual, Kim Jaewoo quickly returned to his usual expression and pointed the tip of his sword at Roy.
The murderous intent radiating from him prickled all over Roy’s body.
“I’ve wanted to face you properly at least once.”
Roy’s sharp gaze landed on Kim Jaewoo’s sword.
It was hard to even call it a sword.
While its shape resembled a blade, the material was wood. Moreover, the wooden blade was covered in jagged thorns.
‘That sword is also a Legendary Weapon.’
Earth had no power to precisely foresee the future.
Because of that, no one knew exactly who would make it into the final eight.
But since S-rank Hunters had a high chance, Earth had arranged for Kim Jaewoo, Min Junyoung, and Song Doyoon to each obtain a Legendary Weapon.
‘This just got troublesome.’
Kuurung—
Kim Jaewoo lightly twirled his wrist holding the sword, then swung it like a kick.
The blade carried the power of a storm.
A tremendous force condensed in the sword energy struck with a thunderous roar, unlike anything before.
“Por!” (With an attack like this?!)
Aqua stepped forward.
She stood her ground before the tearing sword energy without a hint of fear.
Wrapped in a blue glow, Aqua transformed into an adult woman’s figure and stretched her right hand forward.
Kaga-gak—
The sword energy, which looked ready to slice Roy in half, clashed with the ice shield and made a scraping sound.
“Por— …!” (Human, you have quite the strength…!)
Though Aqua was the King of Water Spirits, since being summoned to this world, her powers were affected by Roy’s level.
Roy and Kim Jaewoo were on equal footing in Hunter Level.
Because Kim Jaewoo was using all his strength, Aqua couldn’t easily negate the attack.
“Piiiik!” (I’ll help!)
Flames burst like a sudden downpour over the ice shield.
Ordinary ice would have melted instantly upon contact with fire, but Aqua’s ice was crafted by the Spirit King.
If it were normal fire, the flames would have sublimated into ice crystals.
“Porur!” (Ber! Harder!)
As the Kings of Water and Fire combined their power, the ice’s surface became smooth like a third substance—neither ice nor fire.
Kagagagak—
Kim Jaewoo’s sword energy still tried to pierce the ice shield, but over time, the ice wasn’t scratched away; instead, the sword energy shrank.
By the time the sword energy disappeared completely, Kim Jaewoo spoke.
“You really are strong.”
His eyes widened as he looked at Roy.
His expression smiled, but his momentum was different.
Rather, like Ber’s flames, his power seemed to burn hotter as time passed.
“Thinking of coming down here?”
Roy was still floating in midair.
This meant Kim Jaewoo’s only option was long-range attacks like the sword energy he had used so far.
Since Kim Jaewoo realized how strong Roy was, he wanted to face him up close.
He coveted Roy’s Gem Brooch far more than the others’.
His usually concealed competitiveness now boiled within him, overflowing in his gaze toward Roy.
“If I come down, it’ll only be an advantage to you. Do you think I’m stupid enough to do that?”
Roy gently stroked the heads of Aqua and Ber, who had worked hard, then looked down at Kim Jaewoo.
They were teammates while completing the mission together, but now they were almost enemies—with considerable power at that.
“Besides, now it’s your turn to block.”
Roy had taken two attacks from Kim Jaewoo already.
He wasn’t the type to just take hits without fighting back.
“Piiiik!” (Taste some heat!)
Ber, who was in tune with Roy’s mind, took the front line.
Instead of returning to his original size, he enhanced only his abilities.
Ber’s true form was overwhelming enough to draw the attention of all onlookers.
Kim Jaewoo had even approached Roy to launch a sneak attack.
Drawing attention now was no good.
Under these rules, it was better to move stealthily and strike quickly to steal the brooch.
“Ugh…”
Red flower petal-like flames rained down on Kim Jaewoo like arrows.
There was nowhere to dodge.
The flames reached his face the moment Ber flapped his wings.
Kim Jaewoo desperately stepped back and swung his sword, spreading a wide sword energy to form a shield.
“You’ll end up grilled.”
Unlike when he was attacked, Roy raised the corners of his mouth leisurely and crossed his arms.
Swoosh—
Ris moved to intercept a piercing projectile flying from behind.
Puh—
Something that looked like a ball of air burst in midair.
The explosion sounded hollow, as if only air was inside, but Roy felt his head spin.
‘This feeling…’
It was a sensation he had experienced before.
Along with severe dizziness, a burning sensation crept from his nose.
“Por!” (It’s poison!)
When Hunters awaken, monsters with lower levels rarely affect them with poison.
Roy was Level 300 now, and no monsters here exceeded that.
In other words—
‘It’s Song Doyoon.’
Only one participant had poison strong enough to affect Roy.
‘But why is he doing this?’
Roy didn’t have a close relationship with Song Doyoon.
They had once done a mission involving shooting water guns at each other’s bodies, and Roy was tired of how obsessively Song Doyoon had chased him.
‘I hope it’s not the same this time…’
His intuition was bad.
If Song Doyoon had marked him as a target, there was a strong possibility he would relentlessly chase Roy while ignoring others.
“Por!” (Drink this quickly!)
Aqua created a small droplet the size of a bead near Roy’s lips.
As the King of Water Spirits, though she mostly used water offensively recently, the water she controlled had basic healing properties.
Roy parted his lips, and the droplet vanished down his throat.
A refreshing scent filled his mouth, and the dizziness clouding his vision slowly began to clear.
“Hah. A critical strike attempt!”
Just as Roy predicted, Song Doyoon appeared from behind.
Last time he had dazzling scarlet hair, but today he roughly swept back his hair, which looked like molten silver.
The cloak under his silver hair gleamed with an unusually deep black.
‘That cloak is also legendary.’
Roy’s Hunter class was rare, but Song Doyoon was no less so. He was also an S-rank Poison Master.
‘I heard he can carry hundreds of poisons inside him.’
Maybe even thousands.
“Song Doyoon, how about heading somewhere else? I came here first.”
As Roy dispelled the poison and considered how to attack Song Doyoon, an unexpected development occurred.
Kim Jaewoo, who had blocked all of Ber’s attacks, showed hostility toward Song Doyoon.
‘What is going on now?’
Roy had expected to be outnumbered in a 2-on-1 fight. In truth, he was more accustomed to battling multiple opponents than one-on-one.
So he wasn’t overly concerned about facing two at once.
But Kim Jaewoo seemed to think differently.
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