Chapter 153 – Main Camp [Death Knight]

“Damn!”

George Goldenhil swore as he struck down a spider the size of a bus tire flying toward his face with his staff.

It wasn’t just George Goldenhil; the other three B-Rank Hunters from the Special Operations Unit felt the same.

“Mother F……!”

While George Goldenhil spat out a double curse, killing the giant insects flying toward him—creatures that had grotesquely evolved after being corrupted by Ululu Tumbebe’s Mana—Siguk, the Special Operations Unit Captain at the front, stood still, scanning the surroundings.

‘Hmm… This entire tree is filled with Mana… But there aren’t many creatures that could be called Monsters. Are they camouflaged?’

Siguk had already used his All-Seeing Eye Skill to scan the area from the main force. That’s why he had asked Liu Yaofang to use the Detectors for another round of scanning at close range.

‘Then what was the source of that massive Mana?’

Like the Detector Skill, the All-Seeing Eye Skill also had limitations based on distance.

Just as the Detectors couldn’t detect the thick Mana shrouding the entire forest from afar, Siguk couldn’t distinguish the true nature of the Mana blanketing the forest from a distance either.

‘Perhaps there’s something entirely different here than before.’

As he thought this, Siguk began to walk forward.

“Watch out!”

Suddenly, George Goldenhil shouted toward one of the B-Rank Hunters.

At the same time, Siguk sensed the approach of powerful Mana and turned around.

Crunch-!

Simultaneously, one of the B-Rank Hunters was sucked into the maw of a giant centipede that had burrowed up from the ground without even having time to scream.

Ssshk-!

At the same time, a Wind Blade thrown by George Goldenhil severed the centipede’s antennae as it tried to burrow back into the ground.

“Kiiieeeek!”

The centipede, its antennae cut off, shrieked and roared.

Thud-!

At the same time, a knife thrown by Siguk pierced straight through its head.

Thump-!

The centipede collapsed to the ground, causing a tremendous tremor.

Siguk walked over to the creature, pulled out his knife, roughly wiped the creature’s bodily fluids off on a tree, and let out a light sigh.

“Ber… Bern….”

The other two B-Rank Hunters, who had lost their comrade, stared blankly at the severed foot of their companion—who had been alive and complaining just moments ago—now protruding from the centipede’s maw.

“We’re moving.”

Siguk ordered the two B-Rank Hunters.

They turned their gaze toward him.

“B-but….”

“Shouldn’t we at least recover the body?”

In response to their protests, Siguk snorted.

“What are you going to do with the body? Bury it here?”

“Th-that’s….”

“This is a battlefield. We follow military discipline. We’re moving.”

At Siguk’s firm words, the two finally sealed their lips and followed him.

George Goldenhil frowned deeply as he stepped around the centipede, which was still dripping bodily fluids.

“Watch out!”

About ten minutes later, George Goldenhil shouted again.

This time, Siguk also moved swiftly.

Thud-!

“Kiiiek!”

Siguk’s knife flew straight between the antennae of a giant ant the size of a tank and embedded itself there.

Ssshk-!

At the same time, a Wind Blade thrown by George Goldenhil severed all six of the ant’s legs.

The ant collapsed to the ground, trembled a few times, and then died.

“Ugh….”

One of the B-Rank Hunters, who had narrowly escaped death thanks to Siguk and George Goldenhil, looked at the ant with a disgusted expression.

The other B-Rank Hunter helped him up.

“Stay thoroughly alert in your assigned areas.”

Siguk, pulling his knife from the ant’s head, warned the two and glanced subtly at George Goldenhil.

George Goldenhil gave him a slight nod, and Siguk offered a faint smile in return before leading the Special Operations Unit from the front again.

After that, the Special Operations Unit was attacked by giant insects several times.

Unlike the first attack, since they were prepared, no one died or was injured.

“Gurgle!”

Thump-!

When another giant hornet appeared and became a corpse, the B-Rank Hunters, who had been reduced to prey, asked Siguk and George Goldenhil.

“Wh-what are these? Are they Monsters?”

George Goldenhil couldn’t give a clear answer to that question.

“They’re not Monsters.”

The answer came from Siguk.

“Probably ordinary creatures that were corrupted by Ululu Tumbebe’s Mana and underwent abnormal Mutations.”

At Siguk’s words, George Goldenhil looked at him with an expression that said, ‘How do you know that?’ while the B-Rank Hunters stared at him with fear-filled expressions.

Meeting their gazes, Siguk spoke.

“Let’s go.”

The four of them moved again.

Using the All-Seeing Eye, they avoided all the trees that had turned into Monsters, so they advanced forward, forward, while being cautious of the insects.

“Just how far are we going?”

When Siguk had advanced for about two hours, one of the B-Rank Hunters asked him.

“Aren’t we going too deep? If creatures like the ones from earlier swarm out, we could all die.”

The other B-Rank Hunter also pleaded with Siguk as if arguing.

Siguk, who had been looking at them with a pitiful expression, turned to George Goldenhil and spoke.

“Hunter Goldenhil knows well, right? How far we’ve come now?”

At Siguk’s words, the two B-Rank Hunters looked at George Goldenhil.

George Goldenhil snorted nonchalantly and spoke.

“We’ve circled the entire forest once, haven’t we?”

“Correct.”

Siguk smiled coldly and looked back at the B-Rank Hunters.

“If we go deeper, we’ll only see more corpses like the ones we saw earlier. We’ll finish the reconnaissance soon and return to the main force, so no more complaints.”

The two Hunters said nothing and simply sealed their lips.

After that, the reconnaissance continued for about thirty minutes, and finally, the Special Operations Unit returned to the place where they had first entered.

“The entire forest being Undead… it was just insect attacks.”

George Goldenhil muttered his assessment as if talking to himself.

The other B-Rank Hunters also nodded, agreeing with his words.

Siguk said nothing and looked at the forest once more.

‘At this level, even if the Collective Combat Unit enters, there shouldn’t be a problem. If we just give appropriate warnings about the insects, they should be able to withstand the attacks from the trees that have become Monsters.’

As he thought this and was about to take a step, Siguk paused.

‘Huh?’

‘Hmm?’

Siguk and George Goldenhil almost simultaneously sensed the flow of massive Mana rapidly approaching from behind.

The two turned around at the same time and assumed combat stances.

The B-Rank Hunters, who didn’t understand what was happening, tilted their heads in confusion but soon sensed the massive Mana wave and also assumed combat stances.

‘This is….’

‘At least B-Rank or higher… no, perhaps….’

As Siguk and George Goldenhil remained tense, not letting their guard down against the approaching massive Mana—

“Kyaaaaaa-!”

With a chilling scream, a skeleton clad in full-body armor appeared before their eyes in an instant, spewing terrifying blue flames from its eyes.

“Gasp!”

Before the intense momentum of the Mana, the B-Rank Hunters staggered backward.

Siguk and George Goldenhil also tensed up, staring at the Undead Monster that had suddenly appeared.

‘A Skeleton Knight? No, how can a mere Skeleton Knight emit this level of Mana?’

Confirming with the All-Seeing Eye that the Undead Monster was a Skeleton Knight, Siguk couldn’t help but feel bewildered.

Unlike ordinary Skeleton Knights, which are C-Rank at best or B-Rank at most, the creature before him now was at the highest tier of B-Rank, just below A-Rank.

‘First, I need to sever all its joints and then retreat.’

Undead are only completely destroyed when their summoner is killed.

Even if attacked with a Healer’s Mana, which is the opposite of Undead, or completely frozen and shattered, it takes a long time, but as long as the summoner is alive, Undead will inevitably regenerate.

Unfortunately, there was no Healer or Frost-Type Mage in the current Special Operations Unit.

For Siguk, the best method was to sever all its joint areas and escape the forest.

Just as Siguk was about to formulate and execute that tactic—

Swish-!

In an instant, the Skeleton Knight vanished from Siguk and George Goldenhil’s sight.

It concealed not only its form but also its Mana, so for a while, the two had to look around with bewildered expressions.

‘Behind!’

Moments later, Siguk sensed the Skeleton Knight’s Mana behind him again.

Siguk and George Goldenhil turned around simultaneously.

Ssshk-! Ssshk-!

When they turned around, the Skeleton Knight had already sliced the necks of the two B-Rank Hunters.

‘Wh-what is this!’

Even Siguk was taken aback by the Skeleton Knight’s astonishing movements.

But the surprise was brief. As soon as the Skeleton Knight entered his sight, Siguk immediately launched himself.

His knife danced five times in the air, and along its trajectory, the Skeleton Knight’s arm joints, knee joints, and neck joint were all severed.

The Skeleton Knight collapsed and fell apart on the ground.

Siguk immediately gestured to George Goldenhil. Just as George Goldenhil nodded and was about to move—

“Kyaaaaaa-!”

The Skeleton Knight, which had been lying on the ground, instantly reattached its joint connections and rose from its spot.

It then flew straight toward George Goldenhil’s back, thrusting its sword.

“Fu…!”

Cursing mid-sentence, George Goldenhil fired an Energy Bolt straight at the Skeleton Knight’s face.

At the same time, four Wind Blades he created flew toward the Skeleton Knight’s joint areas.

With its skull shattered and joints severed again, the Skeleton Knight collapsed to the ground.

“Vicious regenerative ability. Let’s get out quickly.”

Just as Siguk said that to George Goldenhil—

Clap-! Clap-! Clap-!

The sound of applause struck their ears.

The two, who were about to move, stopped.

‘Approached without any presence?’

Siguk and George Goldenhil slowly turned around simultaneously, looking toward the source of the applause.

There stood a middle-aged man with pale, almost lifeless white skin, wearing thick warrior’s armor, clapping his hands.

“Kyaaaaaaa-!”

The Skeleton Knight, now revived, stood beside the man, staring at Siguk and George Goldenhil while emitting a chilling cry.

‘A Necromancer?’

George Goldenhil inferred the man’s identity within the bounds of common sense.

But Siguk couldn’t do that.

‘Th-this person….’

As Siguk, having discerned the man’s identity with the All-Seeing Eye, was in shock, the man stopped clapping and looked at the two.

“Interesting. Truly worthy of an A-Rank Hunter.”

The man spoke with a strong German accent in English. George Goldenhil addressed him.

“A Necromancer?”

The man gave no answer to his words.

The man glared at George Goldenhil for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Siguk.

“I’ve heard many rumors. That you are Hunter Lee Siguk.”

At the man’s words, Siguk replied in a tense voice.

“I’ve heard rumors too… but I never thought we’d meet like this….”

“Who wouldn’t think that?”

“But this way is troublesome, isn’t it?”

“Hahaha.”

Listening to Siguk and the man’s conversation, George Goldenhil grew slightly irritated and spoke to the man.

“We don’t have time to mingle with a Necromancer!”

Saying this, George Goldenhil simultaneously launched twelve Wind Blades and nine massive Energy Bolts toward the man.

In an instant, the A-Rank Hunter’s magic engulfed both the man and the Skeleton Knight in a thunderous explosion.

Due to the tremendous aftershock, both Siguk and George Goldenhil momentarily shielded their eyes with their arms.

‘Did it succeed?’

Since killing the Necromancer would also kill the Skeleton Knight, George Goldenhil’s choice was, in a way, rational.

The problem was that, depending on who the opponent was, that rational choice could sometimes become irrational.

“Your Attack Power is quite good, but I see no manners.”

“Gasp!”

Perfectly unharmed, the man slightly raised his sword and looked at George Goldenhil.

“To the rude, death must be given.”

At the same time, the man vanished from sight.

And he appeared behind George Goldenhil, piercing his heart straight through with his sword.