Chapter 69: A-Rank Gate

“Look, I don’t know anything beyond that!”

Vasquez waved his hands as he answered my question.

Without a word, I pressed a Fireball against his forehead.

*Sizzle—*

The sound of flesh burning.

“Aaaagh! It’s the truth! I’m not lying! Believe me!”

Even a bastard as strong as an S-Rank Hunter can’t do a damn thing against hellfire, it seems.

‘If he’s talking that desperately, he’s probably not lying.’

I’ve threatened plenty of people with force before, so I can tell.

“Then next question. What were you trying to do here?”

“That’s…”

Vasquez trailed off at my question. I started to shove the Fireball at his forehead again.

“Fine! I said fine! I was chasing you. Forget getting the egg back—I just wanted to pay you back for that humiliation last time!”

‘…’

I withdrew the Fireball. Come to think of it, I did provoke the hell out of this bastard during our last fight. I could kind of understand holding a grudge and wanting revenge. Back in the day, before I became an S-Rank Hunter, plenty of guys tried to get back at me like that. After I became S-Rank, no one dared touch me, though.

“I’ve said everything I’m gonna say. So let me go like you promised!”

“…Why would I?”

“What?”

Vasquez’s eyes went wide.

“Why would I let you go? A murderer like you?”

I never had any intention of letting Vasquez go from the start. This bastard is a dangerous element. If I let him live and send him off, he’ll definitely come back and stab me in the back someday. I’ll take him to Hames, explain his ability, and make damn sure Hames understands he’s a threat. Then Hames will hand him over to the Association.

‘And I’ll get a reward too, heh heh.’

Honestly, that was the main point anyway.

Just like last time when I threw those Bandits to the Association and got a bounty, I plan to hand Vasquez over and collect. Get rid of a threat and get paid—kill two birds with one stone. Besides, I don’t want to dirty my own hands. This bastard needs to be punished by the law. I’m not a murderer.

“Fuck…”

Maybe he realized his future was hopeless, because Vasquez muttered with his head down.

“Begging for mercy won’t help. Be grateful you’re still alive.”

I said that calmly. In the old days, I’d have beaten him until he begged me to kill him… but I don’t feel like it now. Doing that would draw too much attention.

‘First, I need to rejoin Marcel.’

After that, I’ll have Marcel teleport this bastard to where Hames is, and it’s done.

I stared at Vasquez, who had his head lowered. But then…

‘Is this bastard… smiling?’

Right after I thought that.

*BOOM!!*

The massive snow mountain behind him suddenly collapsed.

“KUUUOOOOH!”

A roar followed, incomparably larger than any Snow Giant’s.

I turned my gaze toward the sound.

Breaking through the avalanche of the collapsing mountain, a white bear of overwhelming size revealed itself.

But it wasn’t an ordinary bear. For a bear, it walked on two legs, and its blood-red eyes were ominous. Since it appeared in an A-Rank Gate, it couldn’t be a normal Demon Beast.

I held out the Artifact in my hand toward the bear.

[ A-Rank Demon Beast, Tyrant (Boss) ]

After seeing the Artifact, I doubted my eyes for a moment.

‘A Boss?’

The Boss is wandering around outside the Boss Room. What the hell is this.

“Heh heh heh…”

A sinister laugh. Without a doubt, I lowered my head.

“What the—where’d he go?”

Vasquez, who should have been there, was gone.

I quickly scanned the area and spotted Vasquez already perched on top of the bear.

‘I let my guard down.’

He seemed to have lost his will to fight, so I didn’t feel the need to restrain him further, but I didn’t think he’d still try to resist.

“I was just pretending to be beaten, young lady.”

Vasquez said that with a triumphant look on his face. But his hands were still frozen.

“Hmph, I’ll just have my buddies undo this kind of magic.”

Vasquez said that, probably noticing I was staring at his frozen arm.

‘Buddies, huh. So that’s how it is.’

It seemed Karelin wasn’t the only one backing him. Just how many reliable comrades did he have? Vasquez’s face was brimming with confidence.

‘…’

I scanned my surroundings. There was still no sign of anyone nearby.

In that case.

‘I’ll deal with you myself.’

Of course, with as many participants as this Gate had, if I went wild, I might draw attention.

But.

‘How dare you look down on me?’

After getting beaten like that.

I couldn’t forgive the bastard who, after being no match for me, dismissed my magic as “this kind of magic.”

I studied the boss.

I had no idea why the boss was wandering outside the Boss Room. But I could make a rough guess. Vasquez must have pulled some trick. He’d probably used the ability he’d explained earlier. The power to dominate living creatures. Was it called the Dominator’s Thread?

If the bear hadn’t been dominated, it wouldn’t have let a human ride on its back. In other words, that bear was being controlled by Vasquez right now.

He could dominate not only Earth Dragons but also Snow Giants, fellow A-Rank Demon Beasts, and even an A-Rank Demon Beast boss without any restrictions. He could probably go beyond that. And on top of that, his personal combat ability was on par with an S-Rank.

He was definitely a troublesome enemy. But Vasquez had made one mistake.

That was showing all his cards in an A-Rank Gate.

If this had been an S-Rank Gate, he would have dominated an S-Rank Demon Beast. If he’d done that, he’d have been more than just annoying — he’d have been an opponent I couldn’t guarantee victory against.

Plus, one of Vasquez’s hands was sealed right now. His dominant hand, at that. If I were him, I would have run away, but he didn’t.

Considering he’d said he came to pay me back for the humiliation earlier, I guess his pride wouldn’t let him just run.

‘That’s your biggest mistake.’

You should have run when you had the chance.

I stretched both hands toward the boss.

Honestly, I didn’t need to use high-level magic against an A-Rank Demon Beast. What I’d used earlier was just because there were too many Snow Giants and I was too annoyed to deal with them one by one, so I wiped them all out at once.

And it was the same now. I planned to finish off Vasquez and the boss before anyone showed up. That way, I felt like I could completely break Vasquez’s spirit. If someone came and interfered in this fight, he probably wouldn’t admit defeat to me.

I’d always been like that. I’d overwhelmingly crushed anyone who challenged me. The ones I broke like that never dared to treat me carelessly again.

I intended to do the same to Vasquez. I’d crush him completely.

[ Superheat Element — Eternal Flame ]

Five magic circles appeared on both my palms.

My mana was infinite. More precisely, it recovered so fast it was close to infinite. No matter how much mana I used, it restored in an instant.

Eternal Flame consumed an extreme amount of mana while active. So much so that you could say it burned through mana. But if the rate of mana recovery could keep up, there was no problem spamming it as much as I wanted.

WHOOSH—!

A crimson blaze flared up. The rising flames shot straight toward the boss.

“Kyaaah!”

The boss roared at the flames. As expected of a Boss-Rank Demon Beast, its presence was impressive, but that wasn’t enough to cool the flames fueled by my rage.

Eternal Flame engulfed the Urs in an instant.

“W-What? What is this fire? It won’t go out?”

Of course, Vasquez wasn’t just sitting still. For a Bandit-type, could he actually use magic? He muttered something quietly and drew a magic circle. But did he really think that would work?

“Kuuugh!”

The ferocious roar turned into a scream. The fierce red eyes gradually lost their life, and the boss slammed its head into the snowy mountain. Its life was over.

“No way, this fast?!”

Vasquez, his face pale, muttered with the flames right in front of him. I withdrew the Eternal Flame. I had no intention of killing a person, even if I would a Demon Beast.

*Kuuuung—*

At that moment, a tremor began to shake the entire snowy mountain. With the boss dead, the dungeon would soon close.

And just as I expected, a large Gate — the exit leading outside — formed above the boss’s corpse.

The remaining Hunters? They’d get out on their own, I guess.

I turned my head back and stared at Vasquez. His face was completely blank, as if he hadn’t expected the Boss-Rank Demon Beast he’d dominated to die so pathetically.

Hmm, this time it was certain. The bastard had truly lost his will to fight.

“Wait here a moment.”

After saying that to Vasquez, I headed toward the boss’s corpse. I needed to grab the Magic Stone it had dropped. This… yeah, I could get Marcel to do it.

I immediately summoned Marcel through the Artifact.

[ Ms. Verdi?! Where are you right now? ]

Marcel spoke in a startled voice. I could roughly guess what expression he was making. Probably a face of utter shock.

“Mr. Marcel. Listen to me carefully from now on. Don’t worry about anything else and just run straight toward the Gate. There should be the corpse of the boss I took down there — please grab the Magic Stone. Then show it to Hames. That way, we’ll probably get the biggest share of the payout.”

[ Huh? Wait, I don’t understand… ]

Feeling a bit frustrated, I wanted to say there was no need to understand, just do as you’re told. But I held back.

“Trust me for now. I have something to take care of, so I’m hanging up.”

Instead, I softened it as much as possible and ended the call. If I’d had time to explain at length, I would have kindly told him why it had to be done. But right now, there was no time.

I turned back toward Vasquez. The bastard was still staring blankly at the ground.

It was clear he’d lost his will to fight, but unlike before, I didn’t let my guard down. That guy had acted the same way earlier and then tried to counterattack me.

I slowly approached, reaching out my hand to cast a binding spell.

“…So we meet again here.”

I turned my head at the voice coming from behind me.

There stood.

‘What the fuck, why are you showing up here?’

Kim Jihyeok, expressionless.