Chapter 66: A-Rank Gate

A monster wrapped in white fur.

True to the snowy mountain backdrop, what appeared before our eyes was a Snow Giant.

“It’s not just one.”

Someone said it. And they were right. The number of red eyes moving in the darkness wasn’t just one or two.

‘That’s a hell of a lot.’

The Snow Giants moving all at once looked like a massive mountain shifting through the blizzard.

“Krrrrgh…!”

In their hands were giant clubs. If one of those thick arms swung a club and landed a direct hit, no matter how skilled the Hunter, their body wouldn’t come out unscathed.

“Everyone, form up!”

One of the Hunters shouted, and those with swords, blunt weapons, or martial arts training took the front line. Marcel and Lilian were among them.

Meanwhile, Hames was conferring with the other Hunters in the back, and for some reason, his posture reminded me of a commander.

‘Come to think of it…’

Even though he bickered with Glare, she followed his lead without much fuss, and judging by how the other guild members treated him, his position within the guild seemed high despite his flippant attitude. The way everyone obeyed his commands now proved it.

‘Guess he can get serious when he needs to.’

Speaking of which, I hadn’t seen any other high-ranking Crescent guild members besides Hames and Glare so far. Even now, looking around, the Hunters who weren’t mercenaries were all just regular guild members waiting for his orders.

“They’re coming!”

The Snow Giants began to charge.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Footsteps so heavy they shook the ground echoed in my ears. It was so loud I couldn’t hear a thing, even though people around me were shouting something.

In the midst of that noise—

“Mage types and archer types!”

“Fire!”

Hames’s shout dropped like a signal, and the mages and archer Hunters launched a barrage.

A kaleidoscope of light engulfed the charging Snow Giants. Sure enough, they were all High-Rank Hunters, and they put on quite a spectacle. The Snow Giants, being A-Rank Demon Beasts, seemed to withstand the attacks at first, but then they started dropping one by one. Though outnumbered, the Hunters managed to defend effectively.

Or so they thought. Until a massive boulder fell on their heads.

It was the moment confidence bloomed on the Hunters’ faces, believing they had successfully held the line.

A huge shadow fell over them.

CRASH!!

The boulder came down before anyone could dodge, crushing several Hunters…

“Are you okay?!”

Fortunately, they were almost crushed. Hames had saved them. The sound I’d heard was the sound of him cutting the boulder. I thought it was a falling noise, but it was actually a breaking sound. Lucky.

“Th-thank you.”

“I’ll block the stuff flyin’ at ya, so y’all keep shootin’!”

Hames shouted, and the ranged Hunters redoubled their attacks.

The Snow Giants didn’t just take it lying down. To counter the ranged Hunters, they kept picking up rocks, trees—anything they could throw—and hurling them.

While Hames and a few other Hunters blocked them one by one—

“Woooh!!”

The charging Snow Giants finally closed the distance.

“Let’s go!”

The melee Hunters drew their weapons and charged to meet the approaching Snow Giants.

With their massive frames and absurd durability, they began trading blows with the High-Rank Hunters.

“Kugh!”

Unlike the Hunters I’d seen in Low-Rank Gates, these were all seasoned veterans who could handle the Snow Giants flexibly.

While the melee Hunters dodged their attacks and bought time, the ranged Hunters in the back suppressed them with magic and arrows. Even if that didn’t kill them, it drew the Snow Giants’ attention and created openings.

Thunk!

In the brief opening that appeared, a Hunter didn’t miss the chance and drove his sword deep into the Snow Giant’s belly.

Watching them, I was impressed. Though Crescent Guild was small in number, their tight-knit teamwork let them handle the Snow Giants without much trouble.

The mercenaries were the same. They must have been carefully selected, because aside from Marcel, who was struggling, everyone else was handling things well.

In particular, Lilian was the second-in-command of the Royal Knights. Even against multiple Snow Giants, she wasn’t being pushed back—she was overwhelming them.

“Want to bet on who kills more?”

“Don’t regret it. You think I’d lose?”

Mercenaries usually moved around a lot, working with different people each time, but the way these guys talked to each other made it look like they’d known each other for ages. And it wasn’t just them—all the mercenaries except Marcel were like that.

‘Most High-Rank Hunters do know each other through one connection or another.’

The higher the rank, the fewer people there are, so it’s likely they’ve crossed paths at least once through mercenary work or Gates. And since there were even fewer now than when I knew them back in the day, even if they weren’t in the same guild, they must’ve grown attached to each other.

They were comrades who’d crossed the line between life and death together more than once.

‘Still, standing here doing nothing makes me feel a bit self-conscious.’

Right now, I’m a D-Rank Hunter and a Porter. Everyone knows that, so nobody’s paying attention to me in the back. They’re all busy fighting. And if I stepped in here, it’d probably look weird.

But this itch is damn hard to ignore.

‘Should I slip somewhere out of sight and cut loose for a bit?’

Nobody’s watching anyway, and everyone’s too busy fighting for their lives—sneaking off for a bit should be fine, right?

‘Still, I should tell Marcel.’

*Swoosh—*

After activating a top-tier stealth spell, I slipped through the chaos, weaving between the Hunters who had spread out across the front line.

*BOOM!*

When I finally reached the front, I could see the Hunters fighting even more fiercely than I’d seen from a distance. Some were injured, being supported by their comrades and receiving treatment.

‘Marcel… there he is.’

I spotted Marcel among them without much trouble.

*SWISH!*

Marcel dodged a Snow Giant’s fist, moved nimbly, and rode the momentum to slice through its neck.

“Hoo…”

Marcel wiped the Snow Giant blood off his face, exhaustion clear on his features.

“Mr. Marcel.”

I poked him in the back with my finger.

“Whoa, you scared me! M-Ms. Verdi?! How did you get here?”

Startled, Marcel nearly fell flat on his face. It was pretty funny, and I almost laughed.

“If you’re coming, at least tell me. You really scared me. Seriously…”

“Uh… sorry.”

Seeing Marcel’s genuinely sulky face, I quickly stifled my laugh. Well, this is a battlefield. To me, these Demon Beasts didn’t seem that dangerous, but considering Marcel was fighting for his life, my actions were pretty thoughtless.

“But why are you here… It’s not my place to say, but it’s dangerous here.”

Marcel got up and said with a serious expression. As he said, this was the very front of the front line. Right in front of us, Hunters were still fighting Snow Giants.

“I know that. But…”

I glanced around. For now, aside from Marcel, no one else looked worn out. But I couldn’t tell how long that would last. There were way too many Snow Giants compared to the number of Hunters. Even with Lilian here, if the others started getting pushed back, the number they’d have to handle would keep growing, and eventually even Lilian might get overwhelmed.

It didn’t look that way right now, but I could see it. I’d been paid under the table to work in the shadows plenty of times before, so this scene was familiar. Those clueless bastards probably thought they’d handled everything themselves, but really, it was all thanks to me stepping in.

“You looked like you were struggling. So I thought I’d help.”

“…What?”

“Just hold on a little longer. I’ll be back soon.”

I smiled at Marcel and cast the stealth spell again.

“Ms. Verdi? Ms. Verdi?”

When I disappeared, Marcel started calling for me desperately, like a kid looking for his parents. Then—

“Kuo!”

“Whoa!”

Startled by a Snow Giant’s sudden appearance, Marcel quickly got into a fighting stance.

‘He’ll be fine.’

Just in case, I granted Marcel a simple blessing. I’m not a priest, so I can’t cast buffs or anything, but I can put up something like a Mana Shield. Even if Marcel gets hit by those bastards, he won’t get hurt. It’ll just consume a tiny fraction of my endlessly replenishing mana.

‘Alright, time to get going.’

My destination was the mountain range the Snow Giants kept coming down from.

Wrapping myself in both stealth and speed, I sprinted straight toward the direction the Snow Giants were coming from.

Before long, a group of Snow Giants came into view. I first hid behind a snow-covered tree nearby.

I had Stealth active, so there was no risk of being spotted, but lately there’ve been a lot of bastards who can see through my Stealth, so this was just to prepare for the one-in-a-million chance.

‘There sure are a lot of them.’

It seemed like quite a few Snow Giants had already died at the Hunters’ hands, but looking from here, that felt like just a tiny fraction.

‘As expected from an A-Rank Gate, it’s not going to be easy.’

If this massive number of Snow Giants attacked the Hunters all at once, they’d be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

It’s not that I don’t trust the High-Rank Hunters, but even if nothing else, their stamina wouldn’t hold out.

‘And I can’t even see the Boss Room.’

Rather than dealing with all these one by one, it’d be way easier to just go to the Boss Room and take down the boss.

‘…Huh?’

I was in the middle of looking around to find the Boss Room.

At the edge of my vision, I spotted a familiar man.

That uncommon white hair, and those slit eyes I’ve been seeing so often lately it’s starting to piss me off. The Hunter whose name I didn’t know last time, the one who stole the egg and ambushed me.

‘Didn’t think I’d see that fucker here again.’

Vasquez. He was sitting on a Snow Giant’s shoulder.