Chapter 239 – The Strongest Reinforcements (4)

“Legion!”

Danny McGuire summoned his third legion.

Each time a legion was annihilated, it was converted into immense power for him.

In return, however, summoning a legion left him with a deep sense of fatigue.

The mental toll for calling forth the ancient warriors was not insignificant.

In other words, the longer the battle dragged on, the more disadvantaged he would become.

‘Something’s wrong.’

Danny sensed something was off about the battlefield.

The fog had thickened before he’d realized it. The area where they were fighting was supposed to be beyond the fog’s reach.

“No way!”

He hadn’t noticed, caught up in the bloody battle.

The sounds of the fight between Ian Kruger and the 6-star boss, Fenrir, had vanished.

Belatedly, Danny roared like a thunderclap.

“All units, maintain Formation A! Do not leave your current posi—!”

Just as Danny shouted his urgent command.

Ian Kruger emerged from the thick fog.

Strolling out leisurely, Ian Kruger was completely unscathed.

“Ian Kruger… no way!”

“Is it true? Is it really him?!”

Seeing Ian’s return, the people forgot they were in the middle of a battle and stared, captivated.

But Danny felt a sense of foreboding.

A sickeningly dark, violet killing intent was rising from Ian’s entire body.

“Now, let’s get started.”

Ian Kruger spoke incomprehensible words.

At his words, unsettling laughter began to echo.

The ones laughing were Ian’s Royal Guard.

“Today, every Hunter here…”

Ian Kruger raised his greatsword, which radiated an ominous aura.

“Turn them into chunks of meat.”

Unbelievable words spilled from Ian Kruger’s mouth.

“Battle stations!”

Danny McGuire ground his teeth.

Just as I thought. This was bound to happen.

The man who would do anything to grow stronger, to satisfy his own greed, had quickly shown his true colors.

“They’re coming from behind!”

The Royal Guard had already begun to strike the Hunters from the rear.

Each time the Royal Guard, radiating the same violet aura as Ian Kruger, swung their blades and spears, the screams of Hunters caught unawares erupted.

“Henri, and Audrey. Follow me!”

Danny shouted to the two and raised his gladius.

The summoned legion would face the ogres at the front, while he would deal with the Royal Guard attacking from behind to maintain the formation.

Though the Hunters currently had superior numbers, they were surrounded from the front and back, forcing them to break through one side.

In that moment, Danny felt a thick killing intent right before his eyes.

*Shhhk!*

Danny barely managed to parry his opponent’s sword with his gladius.

“…!”

The one who had attacked him wasn’t a member of the Royal Guard.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Danny McGuire’s face was etched with fury.

The one who had attacked him was none other than a Hunter from Italy.

“I always hated how you walked around with your shoulders squared, just because you’re a Ranker.”

“You crazy bastard, in a situation like this…”

As he spoke, Danny quickly scanned his surroundings. His face filled with rage.

Chaos was erupting among the Hunters.

Among the allied Hunters, there were numerous traitors. They were supporting Ian’s Royal Guard, murdering their own comrades.

Only then did Danny McGuire realize.

Ian Kruger had arranged this gathering of Europe’s Hunters.

To slaughter them all.

“Kuaargh!”

“Jackson, you son of a bitch!”

Even the black Hunter, Jackson, who had been so hostile toward the Union, was betraying his allied comrades.

The French Ranker, Yann Michael, and the allied commander, Emily, were also under attack.

No, all the Hunters capable of commanding others were being ambushed and killed by the Royal Guard, one by one.

“A betrayal?”

“Not at all. We were never on your side to begin with.”

The treacherous Italian Hunter sneered and raised his spear.

At that moment, Fenrir revealed itself through the fog.

It was an incomprehensible situation.

Ian Kruger and his Union faction had betrayed them. And some from the alliance had joined them.

What was even more absurd was that Fenrir and the ogres weren’t attacking Ian.

In other words, they seemed to be on the same side.

It was, quite literally, the worst-case scenario.

At the sight of Fenrir suddenly appearing before them, every Hunter felt the presence of death.

Despair. That was the only thing filling their vision.

It stood tall, unmoving.

Even though it could have crushed the Hunters before it to death at any moment.

“Dan!”

Chaos upon chaos. On a battlefield where screams intersected with screams, the cry of a friend that should have been inaudible reached him.

Danny found himself surrounded and attacked by his treacherous comrades.

*Shwiik! Ssk!*

A burning pain seared his cheek. A sword that grazed perilously close to his neck sprayed blood into the air.

Deadly Blow.

As he dodged, Danny sliced the neck of the enemy charging at him from the front.

The critically wounded enemy collapsed, gurgling.

Suddenly, Danny felt his surroundings darken.

*Thud!*

A club, soaked in human blood and flesh, swung down toward him.

Danny narrowly avoided the attack.

The one who attacked from behind was an ogre.

The Royal Guard and an ogre. It was one disaster after another.

But the ridiculous thing was.

“What the hell are these bastards!”

The ogre and the Royal Guard didn’t attack each other.

No, they actually joined forces to attack Danny.

There was no time to think rationally. Cursing, Henri unleashed all his power to save his friend.

“Henri.”

Someone called his name.

Henri reflexively raised his guard.

*Paang!*

Sent flying by tremendous leg strength, Henri rolled across the ground several times, covered in dirt and dust.

Henri looked up, his face contorted in anger. His ambusher was humanity’s strongest, Ian Kruger.

“Where are you going? Why don’t you stay and play with me.”

“Ian Kruger…!”

“I’ve always wanted to try extracting your power.”

Muttering this, Ian, drenched head to toe in blood, burst into laughter.

*Ptui.*

Henri spat out blood. Then he got to his feet and circulated magic throughout his body.

“Come.”

“I was about to, you clam-head bastard.”

An overwhelmingly powerful aura emanated from him.

Henri knew he couldn’t win.

It was the same feeling that tugged at the back of his neck when he faced Hyunbin. But right now, he was the only one who could stand against Ian Kruger.

*Tat!*

Henri charged toward Ian.

Ian leisurely raised his greatsword.

*Pwak!*

Henri’s powerful flying kick shot toward Ian’s face.

*Kwang!*

Ian blocked Henri’s kick with his greatsword.

He didn’t budge an inch.

“Is this all you’ve got?”

Ian said, readjusting his grip on the greatsword.

*Bwoong!*

The massive sword swung in, so fast it was a blur.

Henri ducked to evade it.

*Ssk.*

He dodged. He definitely had, but the pressure from the sword wind sliced the front of his clothes, and a diagonal line of blood beaded on his chest.

“Doesn’t seem like you’re even worth extracting.”

Ian Kruger spoke those cryptic words and readjusted his grip on the greatsword.

The moment Henri thought he’d taken his stance, the greatsword was already swinging at his neck.

*Paang!*

Henri saw his HP shield shatter in a single blow.

The heavy attack almost made him lose consciousness for a moment.

Henri snapped to his senses. Right now, at this very moment, his friend and comrades were in danger.

“Oof!”

He heard Audrey let out a short scream.

“Where are you looking?”

The sensation of the sword energy radiating from Ian Kruger’s greatsword reached his waist.

In that fleeting moment, Henri thought of his family.

-Henri hyung. Pull your hips back more. Get lower.

In that instant, he remembered what Hyunbin had said.

-Your core axis should be like a tree taking root.

The kick Hyunbin had shown him during their practical sparring sessions.

He’d been hit by it countless times. He’d been knocked out, had his arm and ribs broken.

-Yeah, that’s it.

The moment he recalled Hyunbin’s praise, a picture-perfect high kick slammed into Ian Kruger’s face.

*Ppaak!*

For a moment, Ian Kruger couldn’t react.

A solid impact traveled up his foot. Before he could even register it, Henri was already spinning in the air, delivering a flurry of kicks.

*Paang!*

It was a spinning aerial kick, filled with magic. All of Henri’s power was behind it.

For the first time, Ian Kruger took half a step back.

In his vision, Henri’s spinning kick left afterimages.

Before he knew it, the impact reached his jaw.

A three-hit spinning kick combo landed perfectly.

It was a new skill created with Hyunbin’s help, the Phoenix Kick.

The name was childish, but Hyunbin had insisted on it, saying that techniques should sound grand.

The magical power radiating from Ian Kruger was no less imposing than that of Fenrir behind him.

Seeing Henri land a blow on such a man, Danny gave a bitter smile.

He was truly an amazing friend. Though not a Ranker, his strength was among the best in the world.

His eyes met Henri’s.

He could see the fury in his friend’s eyes.

Henri broke off his confrontation with Ian and was running this way.

“It’s already too late, my friend.”

He was a friend who lacked nothing, except for being bald.

He was caught in the brutish hands of an ogre.

He had dealt with the traitors who kept coming at him, but his strength gave out against the Royal Guard attacking in tandem with the ogre.

A tremendous grip crushed him, feeling as if it would make his body explode.

Danny clenched his jaw. He forced himself to hold back a scream.

In that moment, what reflected in his pupils was the cold blade of a Royal Guard member.

*Splurch—!*

A fountain of hot blood erupted.

The dark red blood that had floated in the air rained down on the trampled earth.

Seeing this, Henri sank to his knees and muttered weakly.

“You’re too late.”

As if in answer to his complaint, a man spoke.

“What are you talking about? Seems like perfect timing to me.”

A well-built Asian man flicked the blood of the Royal Guard and the ogre from his two-handed sword.

The sudden appearance of the powerfully built man. He confidently drew the attention of the entire battlefield.

Even Ian Kruger paused his fight and stood still.

“I’m here for the showdown, you son of a bitch.”

Ian Kruger bared his teeth and smiled.

“…!”

The European Hunters, fighting a bloody battle for survival, saw the ogres flinch and step back.

It was an unbelievable sight.

Because the word etched on the ogres’ faces was fear.

With the arrival of just one person, the atmosphere was changing.

A hesitating member of the Royal Guard reflexively attacked the Asian man passing by him.

*Pshk!*

He thought he had struck first, but the Royal Guard member saw his own body being split apart.

“Wow, it’s been a while. Hey, you don’t do that thing anymore?”

The Asian man taunted Fenrir—no, Quasar—with a smirk.

“You will not be able to change the future.”

Fenrir growled low.

One by one, the European Hunters recognized the Asian Hunter who had crashed the scene.

The only Hunter to have succeeded in hunting the first 6-star boss monster.

“Worry about your own future, you damn beast.”

Lee Hyunbin raised his two-handed sword.

Around him, a barrier of green hexa-tiles began to form.