Chapter 154 – Main Camp [Missing Hunter]

“Guh…!”

George Goldenhil stared in disbelief at the longsword blade that had pierced through his chest.

His gaze alternated between the blade and Siguk, who was looking at him with trembling eyes.

“Your Life Force stat is high, as expected of an A-Rank. But…”

Shhk-!

The longsword was pulled straight out of George Goldenhil’s body.

He had already taken massive damage from that single blow, losing half his Life Force.

‘Poisoned…’

Moreover, George Goldenhil could feel chunks of his remaining Life Force, 10% at a time, continuously disappearing.

George Goldenhil frantically reached out toward Siguk.

Even if Siguk was his target to kill, he was the only one who could save him right now.

Thud.

His knees buckled. Naturally, his upper body pitched forward, and his nose slammed into a pile of earth that smelled of the cold scent of death.

It wasn’t his will.

The weakening of bodily functions from the poison naturally forced him into that posture.

George Goldenhil barely managed to lift his head and look up at Siguk.

“…!”

And he could see it.

Siguk’s face, looking down at him with an expression of pure delight.

“Y-you… d-damn…”

George Goldenhil breathed his last right then.

After briefly looking down at the corpse, Siguk turned his gaze to the pale-faced man, his face still beaming with a smile.

“Not shaken at all even though your comrade died.”

At the man’s words, Siguk grinned, showing his gums.

“Enjoying this situation?”

The man adjusted his grip on his sword.

Siguk also assumed a fighting stance, holding his sword in a reverse grip, and spoke.

“Enjoying it?”

Feeling the immense Mana flowing from Siguk, the man also raised his own Mana to its peak.

“Of course I’m enjoying it. Thanks to this, my Familiar is going to get stronger. And… who knows, maybe you could become fertilizer for my Familiar too? Rudolf Krauf.”

At Siguk’s words, the man, Rudolf Krauf, made an interested expression.

“There are still people who remember me? That fool of a Mage didn’t seem to know at all.”

“There are ways to know everything.”

Siguk immediately charged at Rudolf Krauf.

Rudolf Krauf also swiftly closed the distance toward Siguk in a straight line.

Rudolf Krauf.

A German B-Rank Hunter, the founder and first Master of the Lindenbaum Guild, the world’s first Corporate Guild.

He became famous for being the first to discover the commercial value of Dungeons, making the so-called ‘El Dorado Statement’—an innovative figure who, in a way, brought even greater change to the world transformed after 2020.

Of course, he didn’t view the world solely through a commercial lens.

He also frequently made public statements advocating for Hunters’ rights.

『Hunters’ Raid activities are not motivated solely by commercial purposes. Through these activities, they clearly have the righteous goal of preemptively preventing Dungeon Breaks and, furthermore, contributing to the peace and safety of all humanity. From that perspective, the unjust regulations currently imposed on Hunters must be revoked.』

However, while his statements gained popularity among Hunters, they provoked strong backlash from individual national governments composed of non-Awakened.

The German government, the European Union Council, and even the United Nations Security Council issued stern verbal warnings to him.

Instead, he accelerated efforts to launch a transnational organization to promote Hunter rights, joining hands with Li Cheng, a Chinese Hunter and hero of the Battle of Beijing.

Finally, the International Superhuman Association declared him and Li Cheng Villains.

Li Cheng was arrested by Chinese authorities and executed, while Rudolf Krauf, after a desperate flight, sought refuge with Ululu Tumbebe, an A-Rank Necromancer who controlled the entire Democratic Republic of the Congo at the time.

Since then, no news of him had been heard.

Only someone like Siguk had heard dubious rumors through Ivan Ivanov that his figure had been spotted in Africa.

That Rudolf Krauf was now crossing swords with Siguk.

After the first clash, 30 exchanges of offense and defense occurred in an instant, and Siguk and Rudolf Krauf retreated almost simultaneously, maintaining a distance of about 10 meters between them.

“Impressive. Truly the power of an A-Rank Hunter.”

Rudolf Krauf spoke with feigned admiration.

“You’re impressive too. I clearly knew you as a B-Rank, but you’ve somehow become an A-Rank and can fight me on equal footing.”

“Do you have a Detector Skill or something?”

“I have something better. And common sense would suggest that if you can fight an A-Rank equally, you’d normally be considered an A-Rank, right?”

“That’s true too.”

“You talk too much.”

Siguk charged at Rudolf Krauf again.

Rudolf Krauf stood his ground, waiting for Siguk to come.

Soon, Siguk rushed at him, and his sword stabbed toward Rudolf Krauf’s neck, heart, solar plexus, and abdomen 20 times in an instant.

Rudolf Krauf simply stood there, blocking or deflecting Siguk’s attacks with his sword, not moving an inch.

After unleashing about ten more attacks, Siguk retreated again.

“Did Ululu Tumbebe enhance you?”

In response to Siguk’s question, Rudolf Krauf only grinned, giving no particular answer.

“Well, I’ll find out soon enough.”

Siguk took his stance again.

At that moment, Rudolf Krauf drove his sword into the ground.

Soon, a powerful storm of Mana began to swirl around him.

The Skeleton Knight, which had been quietly watching their fight, soon entered the Mana storm.

“Resorting to Summoning Magic because you’re at a disadvantage?”

Rudolf Krauf remained unresponsive to Siguk’s sarcasm.

A moment later, the Mana storm disappeared, and 15 more Undead monsters of the same type as the Skeleton Knight appeared, forming a barrier between Siguk and Rudolf Krauf.

Looking at the total of 16 Skeleton Knights, Siguk smiled a sinister smile.

“Do you know which of the teachings the Demon King gave me I liked the most?”

Pulling the sword from the ground and resting it on his shoulder, Rudolf Krauf spoke.

“Whatever you do, always secure numerical superiority.”

In response, Siguk answered with a sneer.

He looked at Rudolf Krauf beyond the Skeleton Knights and spoke.

“Do you know what I’ve learned in life?”

A sinister smile hung on Siguk’s lips.

“Quality over quantity.”

At that moment, blood-red, smoke-like Mana began to gather above Siguk’s head.

The instant he sensed that Mana, Rudolf Krauf immediately grasped that something disastrous was happening.

“Attack.”

Rudolf Krauf commanded the Skeleton Knights.

The Skeleton Knights immediately rushed at Siguk.

Whoosh-!

The Skeleton Knights, charging toward Siguk at high speed, were suddenly blocked by a wall of flames that appeared before him.

“Kieeeek-!”

Faced with a fiery wall of such high temperature it could melt even bone, the Skeleton Knights momentarily forgot what they should do.

And at that moment, Siguk leaped over the wall of flames and the Skeleton Knights, landing in front of Rudolf Krauf.

Rudolf Krauf hurriedly raised his sword.

But Siguk’s speed in slashing his blade across Rudolf Krauf’s face was faster than his speed in raising the sword.

“Graaah-!”

Rudolf Krauf belatedly pulled his body back, but couldn’t prevent a diagonal slash from his left cheek to his right cheekbone.

Rudolf Krauf looked at Siguk with furious eyes.

At that moment, an event occurring behind Siguk caught his sight.

“Wh-what is that…?”

A being about 3 meters tall, one that could only be described as a demon, was flapping large wings and incapacitating the Skeleton Knights one by one with magic and fists.

“That’s my Familiar. Greetings… you can give them to him after you get absorbed.”

Thud-!

Right then, Siguk plunged his sword into Rudolf Krauf’s neck.

Instantly, his Life Force dropped to about one-third.

Thud-! Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!

In that state, Siguk stabbed his sword into Rudolf Krauf’s chest four more times.

“Guh…k…”

The missing Hunter’s Life Force hit zero, and he breathed his last.

As he died, the enhanced Skeleton Knights following him all turned into corpses as well.

And simultaneously, an earthquake shook the entire dense forest, and the whole forest began to sink into the ground.

“Damn it!”

While Siguk was panicking, his Familiar, having received his intent, quickly grabbed the corpses of George Goldenhil and Rudolf Krauf in both hands and floated into the air.

• I believe Master can escape on his own.

Looking at the Familiar floating in the air, absorbing George Goldenhil and Rudolf Krauf, Siguk grinned.

He stepped on a tree being sucked into the ground, leaped into the air, and grabbed the Familiar’s foot with his hand.

Simultaneously, he used his Atomization Skill to conceal both himself and the Familiar.

The earthquake lasted for about 30 minutes, sinking the entire Likasi Fortress, including the forest, into the ground.

During that time, the Familiar absorbed both George Goldenhil and Rudolf Krauf, its now-enhanced aura pleasing Siguk’s heart.

“Wh-what?! What’s happening? What’s going on?!”

Watching Likasi Fortress begin to collapse into the ground along with the earthquake, all members of the 2nd Corps stood with their mouths agape.

“Th-this Siguk Hunter…”

Liu Yaofang muttered emptily with a dazed expression, looking at the crumbling fortress and the forest being sucked into the ground.

“Scout unit! Scout unit! Go find out what’s happening!”

“Mobile Unit! Contact the Mobile Unit! Tell them to dispatch personnel here immediately!”

“Damn it! What on earth is happening?!”

The Hunters spat out dozens of statements in bewildered voices.

But not a single one of them thought to approach the collapsing fortress site.

No matter how much superhuman power Hunters possessed, before the immense workings of nature, they were merely weak creatures.

The earthquake continued like that for 30 minutes, and by the time it finally ended, what they saw was the western African sky, gradually clearing of black Mana and glowing red with the evening sunset, and the ruined Likasi Fortress.

With the forest that had encircled the fortress almost entirely sucked into the ground, only a few hundred trees remained, half-exposed above ground, withering and drying up.

Beyond where the forest had been, the wreckage of numerous Undead hordes lay piled high on the ground like a garbage dump, revealing a hideous sight.

“Res-rescue…! We must rescue them! The entire Special Operations Unit…”

Just as Liu Yaofang was about to shout for a rescue, the figure of a person rising from among the dried-up trees flickered in his vision.

Liu Yaofang immediately floated into the air and swiftly flew there.

As the distance gradually closed, he could identify who the person was, standing imposingly atop a withered, twisted tree.

‘Lee Siguk Hunter!’

A bright smile spread across his face.

He flew straight to Siguk and landed before him.

“Special Operations Unit Captain!”

Siguk looked at Liu Yaofang, who was calling him happily, with a puzzled expression.

Liu Yaofang approached Siguk, smiled, and took his hand.

“It’s a relief. You’re alive.”

Siguk quickly pulled his hand away.

“Yes, I survived.”

“That’s a relief. If Lee Siguk Hunter had died, my coming here would have been for nothing. Hahaha.”

Having roughly discerned the reason for Liu Yaofang’s warm welcome, Siguk smiled coldly.

“Is it appropriate for the 2nd Corps Commander to come here for such personal reasons?”

“Ah…”

Finally realizing his mistake, Liu Yaofang scratched his head.

“Special Operations Unit. All members deceased, excluding myself.”

At Siguk’s words, Liu Yaofang’s expression instantly hardened.

Because he knew what the death of the entire Special Operations Unit meant.

“Th-then… Hunter George Goldenhil… is dead?”

Siguk nodded.

“I’ll give a detailed report back at the barracks.”

Siguk began to walk away.

Stunned by the fact that the first A-Rank Hunter casualty had occurred in the 2nd Corps he led, Liu Yaofang stood there for a while with a dazed expression, silently gazing at the sunken Likasi Fortress.