Chapter 228 – Melee (3)

Olivier sent a message to Seo Hyun-ji and Kim Tae-yang.

An S-ranker from the Shinhwa Guild would soon arrive to subdue them.

Fights between Hunters were common, especially in dungeons or Gates where there were no cameras or external recordings.

But no matter how controlled the situation was, it was rare for Hunters to fight so openly in the middle of a city.

Seo Hyun-ji and Kim Tae-yang had attacked the guards, so they would at least face a fine.

When Kim Tae-yang heard the situation, he came to help without a second thought.

It was surprising, coming from someone who usually harbored a grudge from Hyunbin’s training and vowed revenge as if it were a deep-seated hatred.

Seo Hyun-ji’s case was understandable. She had feelings for Hyunbin, which made such a sacrifice possible.

But what about herself?

In her past life and now in her reincarnated one, she had betrayed the lord she served and was standing here. Was it really just because she felt sorry for the Hero?

“What do you mean, ‘what’? You’re just in heat.”

“I am not!”

“Hmph, all succubi are the same.”

“What are you talking about?”

Olivier grumbled at the Vice-Demon King Dalton, who resided in her shadow.

She had been stunned when she met the Vice-Demon King right after leaving the house.

But surprisingly, his reason for coming was simple.

“I’m gonna be the one to kick that Hero bastard’s ass in a one-on-one fight.”

“Yes, of course.”

The Vice-Demon King did not share the Demon King’s intentions. It was a truly unexpected decision.

“You think I’m gonna lose to that Hero bastard?”

“Of course not. You’re Dalton, the King of Shadows. No way.”

“Hahaha. I’ll watch our surroundings. You can search without worry.”

Playing along and stroking his ego a bit, the Vice-Demon King’s mood began to lift.

A simplicity that seemed inversely proportional to his immense power. But because of that, he hadn’t become the Hero’s enemy.

‘It can’t be just this.’

Even if all the Hunters in this country came at him, it would be difficult to stop the Hero.

After all, both Dantalian’s demon army and Gamigin’s undead legion had been utterly annihilated.

But that was in the context of a war.

Subduing people without killing them is quite a difficult task.

‘But the Hero can do it.’

It was possible for the Hero.

And there was no way the Demon King didn’t know that.

Yet, he had gone ahead with this plan, even to the point of openly making an enemy of the Hero.

The reason he’d planned this in advance couldn’t just be for revenge against the Hero.

The false articles and evidence being pushed by the media right now were nothing more than a smokescreen. The truth could be revealed at any moment.

The reason for making such a big scene despite that was simple.

He truly wanted the Hero to commit a crime.

Of course, even if the Hero went along quietly, the media could be manipulated to keep him detained.

-Tell them to bring a demon army if they want to catch me.

“What a jerk.”

Olivier felt reassured hearing the Hero’s confident voice.

But his words could very well become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Because Im Jae-joon had joined hands with the Demon King of the East.

“But.”

She had wanted to ask at least once. He hadn’t said much even when she told him the Demon King had betrayed him.

“Do you trust me?”

The subordinate of a traitorous Demon King.

That was Olivier’s position right now.

And yet, he didn’t harbor any suspicion toward her.

-You? I don’t.

Olivier’s lips froze for a moment at the Hero’s words.

-But I trust my own choices.

An arrogant and confident answer to the very end. Olivier let out a dry laugh.

The media was simultaneously releasing nothing but negative articles about the Hero.

There’s an old saying: if three people tell the same lie, it becomes the truth.

No matter how absurd something sounds, if three, then five people say the same thing, a lie can become the truth.

He couldn’t get caught, and he couldn’t fight. That left only one path.

“I’ll secure an escape route now.”

She would use Kim Tae-yang and Seo Hyun-ji to draw the S-ranker’s attention. And in another direction, she’d have the three foreign brothers cause a ruckus.

Their actions were unreliable, but they were skilled knights, so most Hunters would be no match for them.

Creating a gap in the formation designed to capture a single person.

For now, the best course of action was to avoid the place where the enemy had set a trap.

-No.

Olivier blinked at the Hero’s reply.

-I’m not running.

“If someone gets killed or hurt in a fight, public opinion could get even worse. So for now, we should escape and buy some time…”

It was at that moment.

Olivier sensed a vast amount of mana.

A force that had suddenly entered her mana detection range.

It wasn’t the aura of a typical Hunter. It was an aura that exuded a sinister chill.

“Hero, enemies are coming.”

It wasn’t just the guards in front of them.

She visualized the approaching mana to re-scan it and confirmed their identity.

Unidentified soldiers in combat gear, wearing helmets that hid their faces.

As she spoke, Olivier furrowed her brow.

“It’s Chimera PMC.”

-Yeah.

***

The special forces team had been reluctant to arrest Lee Hyunbin from the start.

In any other country, a Hunter like Lee Hyunbin would be enjoying incredible benefits and receiving everyone’s respect.

In fact, the former rank 1, who had been South Korea’s first S-Rank, had renounced his Korean citizenship and naturalized elsewhere.

Moreover, Lee Hyunbin was someone the United States and China were desperate to recruit.

Yet, Lee Hyunbin had remained in Korea.

The media was blatantly criticizing Lee Hyunbin, but people didn’t believe it blindly.

Because their target was Lee Hyunbin.

The special forces team here was no different.

If Lee Hyunbin were truly a Villain, they would have died dozens of times over by now.

Even if they were just warning shots, they had fired live ammunition at him.

Yet, far from attacking, Lee Hyunbin was merely disabling their weapons by bending the barrels of their guns.

He could escape if he wanted to. But while refusing to accompany them voluntarily, he wasn’t moving from this spot.

The special forces team couldn’t understand his actions.

*Screeeech!*

A vehicle suddenly entered the operation zone.

Soon, people in unfamiliar military uniforms got out of the car.

Black uniforms that looked like they wouldn’t show bloodstains.

Helmets that concealed their faces.

“Chimera?”

The special forces commander was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the Union’s PMC.

He hadn’t been told they would be participating in this operation.

“What’s your reason for being in another’s operation zone? All of you, stand back…”

The commander, mid-sentence, gasped.

“Hello there, gentlemen.”

A middle-aged English gentleman walked out from among the Chimera PMC.

The commander recognized who he was. It was impossible to work in this field and not know him.

Global Rank 7.

He was Oliver Howard of Union Hunters, also known by the nickname “Magi.”

“Well then, goodbye everyone.”

“…!”

Rank 7 Oliver smiled gently and snapped his fingers in the air.

“This is an active operation zone! Outsiders must…!”

As the commander spoke, the Chimera PMC members aimed their rifles.

It was a clear act of hostility.

The special forces team reflexively raised their weapons. But their gun barrels were already bent into ridiculous shapes by Lee Hyunbin.

*Rat-tat-tat-tat!*

Bullets from Chimera flew in from all directions.

It was unbelievable.

To open fire on another country’s military, in that country.

And not just in any country, but in Korea, which was renowned for its public safety.

“…!”

The special forces members saw that their bodies were unharmed.

They had thought it was the end. But a shield of blue light had appeared before them, deflecting all the bullets.

It was the specialty of the Paladin, Seol Ji-hoon.

“A shield of light.”

Looking at the shield of light that spread out in all directions, the English gentleman stroked his mustache.

It was quite an excellent defensive technique.

“But defense is for the weak, in the first place.”

He raised his hand.

An orb reminiscent of a small black hole formed and began to grow larger.

As the expanding sphere spread out in all directions, the surroundings were instantly plunged into pitch-black night.

“Even with a good skill, it’s useless if you don’t know how to use it properly.”

The English gentleman’s sneer could be heard.

The Chimera members had already put on night-vision goggles.

In contrast, the soldiers on this side had no guns and could see nothing.

Seol Ji-hoon waited for a moment with the shield of light spread around them.

Of all things, he was stuck protecting people.

“Try to keep blocking with that fancy shield of yours.”

The sound of the English gentleman, Oliver, laughing could be heard.

Seol Ji-hoon twisted his lips in disbelief.

Normally, this would be a hopeless situation, but given who he was with, it didn’t feel like a crisis.

“Turn on the lights.”

Oliver turned his head at the voice that suddenly came from behind him.

*Crack!*

He felt a massive amount of damage that ridiculously shattered his HP Shield.

He had clearly been hit by a low kick.

But his body had spun a half-turn on the spot.

***

The age of awakening had arrived.

Just as every person has a different personality and behaves differently, the catalyst for awakening and the abilities themselves were incredibly diverse.

Some who gained power went berserk overnight, while others coolly calculated what they should do next.

The man nicknamed Magi was one of the latter.

Immensely curious, he tested and experimented to find out what kind of power he possessed.

“This is revolutionary.”

That was how he assessed his power.

It wasn’t a feeling of overconfidence. It was purely the result of a calm analysis.

He had become a mage-type awakened.

But he wasn’t some ridiculous user who shot fireballs and ice bolts like in a game.

He could use all of what were commonly called the six great elements in the age of awakening.

Fire, water, wind, earth, light, and darkness.

That wasn’t all.

Thanks to his repeated research, he could even combine these six elements to create new formulas.

The combinations of magic that could be created by mixing the six elements were truly endless. Among them were some with unimaginable power.

It was like a puzzle that needed to be solved endlessly. For him, it was the ultimate toy.

Before long, he had become an incredibly famous awakened, and the strongest man on earth, Ian Kruger, had come to recruit him personally.

The moment he first met him, Magi, Oliver, felt it.

That there were people you could never defeat.

That was the feeling he got from meeting the strongest man on earth.

Oliver was intrigued.

He was just starting to get bored of creating new combinations.

He began to research magic that could stand against Ian Kruger, using the various combinations he had created so far.

He realized that an HP Shield alone wasn’t enough to face a monster like Ian.

No matter how much an HP Shield cushioned the blow, if the damage was too great, the damage taken would also be immense.

Using powerful magic inevitably required a long casting time.

If the shield broke during that time, the magic would naturally fail.

‘A technique that would never lose to a physical-type.’

The only way to strengthen an HP Shield was with holy power. Of course, he couldn’t use holy power.

So, he chose another method.

A skill that made his MP, his mana, get consumed before his HP.

The so-called Mana Shield.

He placed a double shield on his body.

Physical-type awakened had high HP Shields, but non-physical types had higher MP.

For Oliver, who had focused his research on mana, his MP was like a spring that replenished itself endlessly.

He had even equipped himself with a skill that regenerated spent MP in an instant.

In other words, he could withstand even a missile strike.

He had participated in the monster hunt in Korea to test it.

And now he was on the ground.

“I was waiting for you to show up.”

Global Rank 7. The great Magi, Oliver, looked up at the bear-like man staring down at him.

He had definitely covered the area in darkness. But this man had somehow gotten close without him noticing.

The most incomprehensible thing was his mana.

‘My mana was consumed this much?’

A large chunk of his mana had evaporated from that single blow from Hyunbin.

For a moment, he felt a chill run down his spine.

The pressure he felt now was incomparable to that of the strongest man on earth. No, it felt even stronger.

“I said, turn on the lights.”