Extra Story (3)
The combat support group was setting up a command post and a.s.sisting with the operations away from the gate.
Rommel went up to them. The combat support troops knew Choi Hansung and welcomed him.
“Are you Rommel-nim? Why are you here…?”
“I was pa.s.sing by and decided to stop.”
“I see. It is Rommel-nim.”
They thought Rommel came here because of his sense of commitment. Rommel shrugged.
“Who is here?”
‘Teams ‘Har Magic Bullet’ and ‘Goguryeo.’ Hunters Kim Hyungchul and Park Kiyoon are the main ones.”
“The rating?”
“Ogre grade…”
“How many?”
“One.”
“One ogre grade?”
“Yes, yes. The gate suddenly expanded…”
“Those people aren’t a match for it.”
“In the meantime, they have grown a lot so it is possible.”
“You should’ve contacted me or the ‘White Knight’ side.”
“It wasn’t necessary…”
He could guess why.
Monster hunting was their mission, but at the same time, it was a job that gave them monetary benefits. They were rewarded tremendously for every monster they hunted depending on the grade. In particular, the security-conscious US started recruiting random hunters. Therefore, the various governments had to promise to pay as much as the US to stop them from leaving.
A ogre-grade was one of the top ratings. They wouldn’t want to lose their rewards to Choi Hansung.
He sighed, “I will go and see.”
“Well…”
“I will only fight if it is dangerous. You can leave me name off. This is a matter of the people’s safety.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Choi Hansung sighed. The moment he turned around. The support staff were surprised. There were people standing behind him. A government official looked at Choi Hansung.
“They are…”
It was the first time seeing them. One of them was small, one had long ears and one of them was huge and covered in a hood. They looked like unique hunters.
“Fufufu… this is a good situation I guess dot.”
Tiyo laughed.
“It is a situation where the greedy endanger the weak.”
“Hey, I’ll take care of this.”
“Umm…”
Then Tashaquil spoke.
“Looking at the energy of the enemy… I think we should go and help. They will be wiped out if we leave it.”
Tashaquil was recognized as the strongest shaman in Elder Lord. There was no doubt about his reading.
“We should hurry.”
“I understand.”
Choi Hansung replied respectfully, causing the government official’s expression to change. This must be a famous hunter team from abroad.
“We will enter in our van.”
“Ah, yes.”
In the first place, it was a van borrowed from a combat support team. It was created to safely enter battle. They headed towards the gate. It was in the centre of downtown. The road was lined with clothing stores, restaurants and bars. Unlike normal, there were no people around.
A creature covered with slime were aiming at magicians and archers.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“Kyaaack!”
The monsters weren’t stupid. They were clever. They had something called intelligence. Choi Hansung dealt with them many times, so he clearly understood it. That’s why they were scarier.
The Gramas thought to first take care of the ranged strikers hiding in the rear. It was an excellent judgment, and a moment of crisis for the hunters. The hunters in the rear were about to be swept away.
At that moment.
“The earth is a cradle. The earth is a tomb. Both the living and the dead are under the sky!”
A magnificent voice was heard. Just before the Gramas. .h.i.t the hunters, the ground rose. A tsunami of asphalt and concrete aimed at the Gramas. The Gramas couldn’t run anywhere and was struck.
“Keooo…keook…!
“That ugly moaning, I will cut it off.”
Tashaquil waved his staff and smiled. Choi Hansungs expression brightened. That’s right. The Gramas was ogre-grade. It was only ogre-grade. The users in Elder Lord had trouble with gores, but Crockta’s group were legendary people who fought against the G.o.ds. They would be able to fight dragon-grade monsters like Jung Ian.
Choi Hansung shouted.
“I am Choi Hansung. I will support you.”
The expressions of the hunters changed. There was a mixture of happiness and shame. Then the hunters gazed behind Choi Hansung. They wondered who he came with. They weren’t the hunters normally in Rommel’s team.
“I will finish this dot.”
It was Tiyo. He had been chewing on tobacco in his mouth.
“…”
A little man suddenly appeared. At first glance, he seemed shabby. Plus, he had bare hands with no weapons. Moreover, he was by himself. What could he do alone against a monster like the Gramas? The hunters’ eyes filled with doubt.
Tiyo wasn’t fazed.
“I have been enlightened by all the hardships I experienced coming here dot.”
Tiyo blew out tobacco smoke and pulled something out. It was a stick. It emitted light and then started to change into a new form. This was General, the weapon he was proud of! Tiyo had spend a long time exploring its ultimate form, and this paid off.
The final form of General was decided. The shape was soon revealed. In the midst of the tobacco smoke. It was two pistols. Tiyo slowly twisted his wrists. He pointed the two pistols at an angle.
“Die dot!”
Then he walked forward, firing magic bullets. It was a leisurely walk. At this moment, the hunters looking at him seemed to hear background music from far away. The solitary melody that stimulated them was overlaid over the sound of the gunshots. The hunters were sad. That person holding the guns, how much pain and separation did he experience? He was a man destined for solitude.
“Yun Fat hyung…?” (TL: They are talking about Chow Yun Fat, famous Hong Kong action movie star)
Someone muttered with doubts in his eyes. Tiyo’s bullets showed no mercy.
Taang!Taang!Taang!Taang!
“Keooook! Keooook!”
The Gramas wasn’t able to endure the attacks. Tiyo neared the Gramas and looked down at it with cold eyes, shooting it a few more times to confirm its death.
“……!”
Overwhelming force! The hunters realized it. This small man was actually a hero. They didn’t know Tiyo’s true colours. Tiyo blew the smoke coming from the pistols and put them away. Then Choi Hansung handed something to Tiyo.
“What is this dot…?”
“I thought it would fit Tiyo-nim… so I unconsciously brought it.”
It was sungla.s.ses. Choi Hansung used them when driving.
“I don’t know what it is, but I like it dot.”
Tiyo nodded and put them on. The moment the Rayban sungla.s.ses were placed on Tiyo’s face. His coolness was complete.
***
Recapturing Benghazi wasn’t an easy operation. A serious lair was already in progress. A lair meant a realm of monsters. Even after the gate closed, the monsters would breed and increase their numbers by themselves.
Monsters and plants attacked the hunters from the very entrance of the city.
“Everybody come along slowly. I will open the way.”
Ian took the lead in order to reduce fatalities. He opened the way and removed the monsters. Then the hunters secured the safe area and recaptured it as a human zone. The hunters were basically just infantry occupying the land. Ian was the strategic weapon that struck the enemies.
“Be careful.”
Ogre-grade monsters poured out from the beginning.
The hunters didn’t panic. Libya was thoroughly prepared for the restoration of Benghazi, so the distribution of monsters was already known. Beyond the ogre-grade monsters, there would be cyclops-grade. Then in the centre, there was the dragon-grade ‘Parthenon.’
The ogre-grade monsters were just the beginning.
“That is Raven.”
The hunters were able to witness a wonderful sight. It was a new level of fighting that completely overturned all the aspects of fighting that they knew. Seeing it, they realized it was something they couldn’t learn.
Hit.
Kill.
That was all. It was a tedious repet.i.tion of actions. Avoid the enemy’s attack and behead them. Notice the surprise attack and kill them. If they didn’t come, he would go ahead and kill them. He took their lives in one stroke. It resembled the mechanical knife of a chef cutting ingredients. And that meant…
“They aren’t his opponents.”
The ogre-grade monsters weren’t good ingredients. The hunters’ task was to aim arrows at the monsters who fled, as well as finishing off the monsters who lost their composure.
“Raven is Crockta?”
“Really?”
“I thought everyone knew.”
“Shut up and kill the monsters.”
“Do you want to ask me later?”
The best hunters had gathered from all over the world. They worked together to eliminate the ogre-grade monsters who had lost their fighting spirit.
“From here, follow at a distance.”
“Yes!”
They soon reached the location of the lair. The city had now changed to the climate of their world. Vines ran through buildings and extended their tentacles. The ground was melted. The whole land was like a swamp that held onto their feet.
It was an unstable place that they absolutely didn’t want to fight in. However, humanity had to reclaim this city. It wasn’t defending against a siege. They had to go into the enemy’s home ground. All humans had witnessed through Australia what would happen if they left a lair alone. They had to fire a large number of atomic bombs to destroy the place that had once been Sydney.
“…Wait.”
“Huh?”
The moment Ian spoke, something popped out from the ground.
“W-What?”
“A black worm. Be on the defensive. I will go.”
A black worm was a cyclops-grade monster. It was an underground creature only found in the ground of the lairs. They hid under the soil and when they sensed vibrations, they suddenly popped out and attacked the enemies. They were difficult to face. Their destructive power was rated about a cyclops-grade.
“Back off!”
However, the hunters gathered here weren’t ordinary. Just before the black worm’s attack hit the side of the hunter’s formation, walls of lightning appeared in the air and blocked the attack. The black worm struck the wall and was electrocuted.
It was magic.
“Nice!”
It was rare to be able to cast magic so quickly. In North Africa, there was a magician who was a top ranker during Elder Lord and he seemed to have come. Ian immediately faced the black worm. The black worm was trying to hide under the earth again. Shortly before it vanished, Ian’s hands grabbed its tail.
“……!”
The black worm wriggled. Ian didn’t budge. He gave strength to his hands and slowly started to lift it. An incredible strength! He had a human body. At the same time, the strength of Orc Warrior Crockta was fully preserved.
The Peerless Mountain Seizing Strength meant he didn’t miss the black worm. Within a short period of time, the black worm was wriggling on the ground with its tail caught. Then Ian cut apart the black worm with his greatsword. It was a simple and ignorant fighting method that didn’t suit his slender body.
“He truly is Crockta.”
“It seems true. It is the same as the videos.”
“I returned thanks to Crockta…”
“It is the same for all hunters.”
“I want his signature.”
The hunters muttered. This was Orc Warrior Crockta, who once fascinated the world. Ian made a signal while covered in the fluids of the black worm.
Go ahead.
The hunters followed him. Unseen creatures appeared. Some people died. However, there were enough personnel to replace the injured. After going through the cyclops-grade monsters, they arrived at a dark cave.
It wasn’t part of the original terrain. Originally, this was Benghazi’s City Hall building. Then it became contaminated and had taken this shape. They entered and found two bright lights shining in the darkness.
The dragon-grade Parthenon. It raised its body.
The sun was covered.