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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 64
Crackle. Crackle!
The fragments that poured out from the Walking Octopus's mouth were caught in the Distortion Wave and burned in mid-air.
Having lost all kinetic energy and mana, the fragments became mere biological matter and fell to the ground.
"I blocked it...!"
Baekya lowered his arms, which he had stretched out in front of him as if opening a double door.
His fingernails were torn, and blood was flowing freely.
It was the result of forcibly manipulating mana in a new way.
Ryu Haneul saw this and raised his voice.
"Senior...?!"
"Get a grip! Do you want to get hit by that octopus again? Did your intelligence regress along with your return?"
Choi Gimin dashed out like a bullet.
Bang!
A full-powered leap of an A-rank Hunter.
The ground deeply caved in, and Choi Gimin's shadow soared into the sky like a cannonball.
The night sky was dim, with clouds obscuring the moon.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!"
The Hunter, without even a weapon, flashed his vertically slitted eyes.
"Eat this!"
It was difficult to completely solidify them because of the high mana within their bodies.
But Choi Gimin had no intention of completely solidifying them in the first place.
【Partial Petrification】
Crackle. Crackle!
White light flashed repeatedly from his eyes like a camera flash.
"...?!"
The two Walking Octopuses, bathed in the light, staggered, unable to move their legs.
They couldn't hit anything with their mouths that couldn't adjust their firing angle.
"Khahahaha!"
Choi Gimin burst into rough laughter and clenched his fists tightly.
Tsssss!
Bronze scales rose and covered his fists like gauntlets.
Choi Gimin struck the Walking Octopus's leg with all his might.
Thwack!
Even the thinnest part of the leg was as thick as a large tree.
With a single blow, the leg was half destroyed.
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
Korea's number one rascal unleashed a barrage of punches.
Crack!
Finally, one leg was completely severed.
"Hurry up!"
Choi Gimin looked back.
Baekya, Ryu Haneul, and Fengyun were running towards him.
Just then, the Walking Octopus prepared another attack.
"...Wait, shit!"
Under its belly, the mouth attached in the center of its eight legs gaped open.
A mental wave, indiscriminate in its target, unique to high-ranking monsters, erupted like thunder.
[ "---, ---!"]
It was an attack that didn't need to adjust its firing angle.
Choi Gimin imagined himself being blown away, blood gushing from his ears.
'Huh?'
But he didn't hear even a ringing in his ears, let alone feel any pain.
"Get a grip! What are you blabbering about? Do you think everyone here is a regressor!"
Ryu Haneul, who had rushed over like lightning, was blocking his front.
Hum! Hum! Hum!
The halo of Heaven and Earth pulsated, and his black hair fluttered faintly.
"Haa!"
Ryu Haneul took a deep breath and clenched both fists, holding them to his sides.
【Lion's Roar】
["Go!"]
The roar that erupted clashed with the Walking Octopus's mental wave.
The grayish-white wave and the blackish-purple wave resonated, swirling violently, and then subsided simultaneously.
"Hurry up and do something! You, your title is the Sun of Humanity, isn't it? Those bastards will keep coming!"
"Calm down. I'm fine."
"Who was worried about you? I was worried about myself. My curse won't be lifted unless you're okay, will it?"
Fengyun summoned gears larger than the ship's steering wheel, one in each hand, and fought the Aquatics.
When the gears, sparking with yellow lightning and swirling with white air currents, cut through them...
Screech!
The wounds were torn open dozens of times larger, bursting the Aquatics' bodies.
If his fingertip grazed them, their shoulder would be ripped off; if their belly was pierced, their body would be split in two.
This was the effect of the special skill 'Adjuster's Terminal' on living beings.
Protected by Fengyun, Baekya raised his longsword.
Thud.
"That's what you were worried about."
Blood was still flowing from his fingertips, but his eyes were filled with a sun-like heat.
The red-hot blade glowed once more.
Hum!
Normally, the light of the Radiant Sword would struggle to spread in all directions, but this time, the light only gathered at a single point.
Hum!
Baekya swung down his '22nd Century Katana.'
【Solar Sword Radiance: Noon】
Tsskaaaaaaaaack—!
A yellow beam of light shot out like a heat ray.
It was a rough, thick line, as if drawn with a brush.
The barehanded 'Incineration Ray' or 'Diffuse Reflection' were suitable for taking down dozens of weak monsters.
This 'Noon' was perfect for taking down one strong monster.
Sword energy and Radiant Sword had the disadvantage of having a shorter range than the heat ray, but their power was incomparable.
"Ha."
Baekya exhaled deeply and spun his longsword, shaking it off.
"Got it."
'Noon' sliced one of the Walking Octopuses in half, from head to crotch.
As if that wasn't enough, it cut down another large Aquatic that had just emerged from the sea before finally stopping.
The soil and rocks melted by the heat of the Radiant Sword flowed like magma.
Fengyun looked back and forth between his two gears and Baekya's longsword.
"Isn't this a weapon issue?"
"No."
"Then why do you get to use Radiant Sword like that, while I have to cut down each one individually?"
"Don't ask me that."
"Why do you get to use Radiant Sword, and I have to..."
Baekya shrugged and ran towards the second Walking Octopus.
The moonlight, just emerging from between the clouds, brightly illuminated half of his face.
"Because I'm Baekya. Baekya, chosen by the Constellation that shines even in the daytime. I can help you become like me, but you can't become me."
Fengyun stared at his backlit figure for a moment and then nodded.
"Alright, alright, I get it. Let's just get rid of them all first."
* * *
The lighthouse keeper of Sinpo City was a relatively high-ranking position.
He assisted in the docking of multinational smuggling vessels from China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea.
'Did you receive the radio transmission? You can proceed to Dock 4.'
If the coast guard from any of those countries came, he had to discreetly notice and inform his boss.
'Boss, the guys on the ship that just came in... Judging by their accents, they seem to be Japanese Coast Guard.'
He also had to be wary of sea monsters roaming the ocean.
'Emergency! Emergency! It's the Soaring Dragon!'
That's why the lighthouse keeper position was generally filled by a magic-user type Hunter.
Because magic users could see beyond the horizon from where they were sitting with spells like 'Clairvoyance' or 'Eye of Heaven.'
Anyway, the lighthouse keeper of Sinpo City has been having a terrible time lately.
A Gate of an unknown rank had opened on the island right in front of him, completely eroding it.
'They say that in South Korea, Aitel tells you the Gate rank and the monster types, but why does the notification window here only show question marks?'
The lighthouse keeper didn't have to go and fight the monsters himself.
But with that terrible demonic energy wafting from right under his nose, it was driving him crazy as a magic user sensitive to mana.
"Achoo! Achoo!"
The lighthouse keeper sneezed all day long like a person with pollen allergies in spring.
If it were just sneezing, he could somehow endure it, but with his eyes itching as well, it was truly driving him mad.
'Boss! Please do something about that! I'm dying.'
'A hundred of our sons died there. If we lose more men, won't the Chinese guys raid this place? Wait.'
'How long do I have to wait?'
'Fengyun will be here from Busan soon. I asked him, so just be patient, okay?'
'That, if we ask that girl who visited you guys a while ago...'
'Don't even mention that girl!'
After being severely scolded, he had been waiting only for Fengyun.
"Achoo! Achoo!"
One night, as he continued sneezing as usual...
Bang! Boom!
An explosion occurred on the island.
[Boss! What's going on?]
A radio transmission came from his underlings at the harbor, and the lighthouse keeper immediately cast a spell.
"Hold on, I'll let you know right away!"
【Eye of Heaven】
The lighthouse keeper closed one eye, and that eye appeared and disappeared like a phantom in the cloudy sky.
The scenery of the island came into the lighthouse keeper's view.
'What's that?'
He saw one white ring halo and three heteromorphic halos.
"Senior, I'll block them!"
"No! You go find the core here! The core!"
The Hunter with the white ring halo had just blocked the Walking Octopus's dark shrapnel bombardment with a red wave.
Meanwhile, the Hunter with the purple halo dashed towards the center of the darkened island.
Thwack!
'Is that kid a magic user too? Judging by his clothes, he looks like a martial artist?'
His speed was so fast that he moved from the edge of the island to the center in the few dozen seconds that his vision was lagging due to the demonic energy.
The one with the yellow gear halo among the four was Fengyun.
'He's here!'
The one with the green halo was that gangster.
'That Choi Gimin bastard... Damn. The guys are going to have a hard time again.'
He couldn't tell who the one with the white ring halo was.
'That guy is really handsome.'
He looked definitely familiar, but he couldn't remember.
The strangest thing was that those three powerful Hunters were following the orders of the guy with the ring halo.
"Senior, I think I found it! No, I found it!"
"These bastards are swarming! Block them! Petrification! Petrification!"
"Shit! I'm not some miracle worker!"
"Are they going to charge? Are they going to flank? Choose! I'll follow closely!"
Even Fengyun, the lord of the Black Sea, was like that.
'Who the hell is that guy?'
The lighthouse keeper zoomed in on him a little more.
Suddenly, the man lifted his head.
His blazing eyes seemed to pierce through even the lighthouse keeper's soul.
'He noticed? That's impossible!'
Flustered, the lighthouse keeper zoomed out again.
The man seemed to be deep in thought, glancing at the lighthouse keeper's 'eye' before smiling and turning his head.
He ran towards the young Hunter with the purple halo.
'He's crazy.'
The lighthouse keeper couldn't control his pounding heart.
That smile was like a candle, revealing its presence alone in the warm darkness.
It was impossible to look away, and before he knew it, his eyes were following him.
The lighthouse keeper watched as the Hunter with the white ring halo dashed across the demonic island.
"Senior, over there!"
The Hunter with the purple halo pointed to a coral tree growing in a deep bay on the island.
Coral, which usually grew underwater, had emerged from the water and grown like a massive tree.
Unlike the beautiful image that usually came to mind when one thought of 'coral,' this bluish coral tree was only emitting a jet-black demonic energy.
"Breakthrough!"
The Hunter with the white ring halo dashed forward like the wind.
"Kieeeeek!"
All the Aquatics on the island swarmed like cockroaches, trying to protect the coral tree.
Land octopuses, sea maggots, shark merfolk...
"How dare you!"
"You stinking things!"
Fengyun unleashed his gear attacks, and Choi Gimin's eyes flashed with petrifying power.
The monsters, momentarily petrified by Choi Gimin's gaze, were cut and exploded by Fengyun's gears.
The Hunter with the purple halo leaped higher than the tallest tree on the island.
Thud!
From that position, he kicked off his own feet and jumped once more.
Thwack!
"Go!"
The Hunter with the purple halo fell towards the ground like a meteor.
Boom!
An immense shockwave spread out.
The Aquatics, struck by the purple wave, rolled on the ground.
The Hunter with the white ring halo dashed through the path created like the wind.
The lighthouse keeper didn't know who he was.
But he hoped he would succeed, and...
'Please.'
He also knew, with an indescribable sixth sense, that he would succeed.
'Go.'
The Hunter with the white halo raised not the longsword in his right hand, but his empty left hand towards the sky.
"Ha!"
White flames erupted from his hand.
Fwoosh!
For a moment, the lighthouse keeper's vision was dyed white.
Bang!
"Ugh!"
A thunderous roar resounded.
The lighthouse keeper fell from his chair and rolled on the floor.
He heard murmurs from everywhere.
Embarrassed, the lighthouse keeper immediately jumped to his feet and tried to cast a spell again to check the situation.
"...Ah."
There was no need to cast a spell.
He could see it with his naked eyes.
Rumble. Rumble...!
A white sphere was swelling from the bay of the demonic island.
Large enough to engulf the entire island.
* * *
On the deck of the yacht.
"Senior, what's this?"
"This. You want it?"
I handed Ryu Haneul a coral branch, about the length of a forearm, that looked like deer antlers.
【Coral Branch (Legendary)】
【Grants tremendous regenerative power with the coral's resilience. Instantly heals all curses and injuries.】
Ryu Haneul read the Aitel description and then shook his head triumphantly.
"I'll just take your kind intentions. As an S+ rank, I can't receive a gift from an A-rank."
I noticed that behind that expression was the thought, 'Please keep it, senior, and use it when you're hurt.'
"Alright."
"Huh? Aren't you going to offer it again?"
"There are some opportunities in life that never come again! I'm learning another lesson today."
As we were having such a trivial conversation...
Thump.
Fengyun approached us.
"It's done. They say we can enter the port. Now we just have to go and get the Irregular Polyhedron."
Finally.
I clenched my fists in excitement.
"And they say they're giving us something else for closing the Gate. We'll see when we get there."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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