Episode 236 – It’s a Hunt (3)
A butterfly effect, all triggered by the existence of "."
That effect caused the unexpected growth of soone who hadn’t held much weight in the original novel.
“Didn’t expect him to show up.”
Rengua Field.
He had awakened as the Master of Divine Spirits, but he was soone I hadn’t paid much attention to.
Because until the production of the Red Knights in the middle of the story, he was never significantly trusted by Kal.
But in reverse, after the Red Knights were created, Rengua gained Kal’s deep trust.
That’s how powerful the synergy was between the Red Knights and Kal’s dominion-based subjugation abilities.
Even a regular knight, when handled by Kal, beca a difficult opponent—But a Red Knight was an undying knight.
It was expected that puppet crafting techniques would improve over ti,
But the pace had far surpassed my expectations.
‘Must be because he awakened as the Master of Divine Spirits.’
Dark sorcery could be countered with Sacred Power,
But puppet crafting was a whole different issue.
Rengua had beco just as dangerous as Kal.
Twuung!
I dashed across rooftops like I was flying from one to the next.
Scenes flew past my eyes as I ran toward the ruined outer wall, organizing my thoughts quickly.
Wiley’s position—confird.
The lord’s castle?
Lyon Martrein ca to mind, but considering the timing, I judged it unlikely that he had shown up yet.
‘Chances are, it’s Harkman’s group.’
Without that level of power, they wouldn’t be able to pressure Dorneth.
‘Then Rengua must be with Kal...’
Kal never moved alone.
If he had gauged Hunt’s forces, he wouldn’t have stayed in the castle.
If Kal wasn’t there, then neither was Rengua.
Which ant my priorities were clear:
‘Wiley and Harkman.’
This was an opportunity.
Both were threatening alone,
But with the forces gathered in Beneta, they were both beatable.
If we eliminated the key units and caught Kal’s trail, we would win this battle.
But for that, two conditions needed to be t:
One—this place must be secured without casualties.
Two—
‘We absolutely cannot lose track of Kal.’
We needed soone capable of tracking him, stopping him, and dealing with Rengua.
Fortunately, I had that person.
BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!
Far off in the distance, explosions echoed as buildings collapsed in succession.
Wiley burst from a cloud of rising dust and ambushed Fenry.
Sparks flew midair as the two clashed furiously.
Fenry’s speed was lightning-quick, but Wiley, with his Wind attribute, was no pushover.
Despite constant pressure from the Roses and beastkin with ranged attacks,
He didn’t falter. Instead, he pushed Fenry back and cleared the area around him.
KRAAAH—!
Every ti Wiley roared, the Roses and beastkin instinctively flinched as if strangled.
In that brief mont of stiffness, Wiley unleashed a flurry of Aura Swords in every direction.
The wind-enhanced aura was as fierce and sharp as a storm.
So fell in a spray of blood, others scrambled to safety under Fenry’s protection.
In that gap, Wiley turned toward the collapsed outer wall,
But Fenry used shadow sorcery to block his path again.
More ranged fire followed.
A tense standoff unfolded in front of the ruined wall.
“…Not good.”
Fenry couldn’t unleash her full strength against Wiley.
They were a poor matchup.
Fenry specialized in close combat with agility and sharpness.
Wiley was just as fast, and as a knight, he excelled in defense too.
On top of that, his trait manifestation gave him ranged wind attacks that drenched the field in blood.
Fenry had to watch over her subordinates and couldn’t focus purely on offense.
She could order them to fall back, But to catch Wiley’s swift movents, she needed their support.
‘If he reaches the ruined wall, it’ll be bad.’
Looking at the situation, Kal’s cavalry and the dwarven defenders were locked in a standoff at the breach.
If Wiley got behind the defenders and caused chaos, the balance would imdiately tip.
We had to stop him here—Before the main force arrived, we needed to prevent further damage.
We had to take Wiley down.
After observing the fight, I summoned the Blood-Drinking Ring.
Vwoooom!
The white bow darkened as it drank blood, turning a deep red.
I pulled the crimson string to full draw, gathering energy into the arrow.
At max output—
Hoo—
I let out a short breath, then hurled the arrow at Wiley like a javelin.
BOOM!
With a violent wind, the red arrow vanished like a beam of light.
I deactivated the Blood-Drinking Ring and slowly lowered my stance.
Watching the arrow fly, I counted the timing—then opened my eyes wide and whispered:
“Burst Strike.”
KWAANG—!
The rooftop exploded, debris raining down below.
My figure vanished like the wind from where I had stood.
The arrow I fired rushed toward , closing the distance fast.
A blinding burst.
“Ugh!”
I clenched my teeth and endured the pressure.
Grabbing my right wrist with my left hand, I clenched my fist tightly.
Like punching a machine, I twisted my waist, steadied my form, and focused on a new sense.
Thump—
My heartbeat.
I envisioned Retonicalus’ “ho,”And as the image materialized in my mind, golden currents stread from my body,
Coating my fist in a liquid glow.
Spectral Form.
The mont the Spectral Form I’d learned from Natasha activated, I opened my eyes wide and shouted:
“Fenry!!!!!!!”
At my cry, the shadow spirit Banri responded, And Fenry was pulled into the shadows in sync with Banri’s signal.
The red arrow, imbued with explosive force, pierced through where she had been and flew straight at Wiley.
Wiley hastily deflected it with his Aura Sword.
KRAAANG—!
“…Tch!”
The explosion shattered Wiley’s form, sending him crashing into the ground.
I sprinted toward him in a running leap.
Recalling the punching machine, I threw my fist.
“Die!”
As my golden fist slamd into his face, Wiley grimaced and barely managed to raise his sword to block.
A chilling green Aura Sword.
If it weren’t for the Spectral Form, my bare hand would’ve been sliced off—
BOOM—!
The mont fist and sword clashed, an explosion rang out as Wiley flew into a building wall.
CRUMBLE—!
The building swallowed him, collapsing into rubble.
I groaned and stepped back. Aftershocks from Burst Strike made it feel like every muscle had torn.
Blood dripped from my knuckles.
Proof that I had withstood the Aura Sword’s rebound.
The spectral energy on my fist dimd, then quickly refilled.
“It’s manageable.”
Natasha had been confident during training, But I had to see it with my own eyes.
Spectral Form can stand against an Aura Sword.
“Reto.”
[Don’t get your hopes up that he’s dead.]
“Damn it. Can I win?”
[It’s doable.]
“If this is a joke, I’ll kill you.”
[Throw everything you have at him. I’ll show you it’s no joke.]
If even that old fossil Reto was this confident, I didn’t need to doubt anymore.
“…What happened to you?”
When I turned, Fenry was standing beside with a stunned expression.
Guess it made sense—Wiley, who’d given her so much trouble, had been blown away in one hit.
“You’re all beat up—are you okay?”
“It’s just a scratch.”
“Says the guy bleeding everywhere.”
“Shut it.”
Fenry clicked her tongue and wiped away the blood.
She was bleeding heavily from her waist and thigh.
The blood wouldn’t stop flowing—probably due to Aura Sword wounds.
After a quick briefing on the situation, I tossed her a pouch of potions.
“I’ll handle things here. You go outside the city.”
“The hell are you saying?”
“Just listen. If we don’t catch Kal, this fight won’t end.”
Just then, the rubble began to tremble.
Wiley’s fierce killing intent leaked out.
Fenry hardened her expression and raised her Crow.
“Then let’s finish him together.”
“We’ll be too late. Besides, I’ll only get in the way.”
“…What?”
Quanru required spinning room.
Burst Strike’s fixed-movent direction could even harm allies.
Reto told to pour everything I had into this.
That ant I had to fight alone.
Kal had Rengua at his side. I needed Fenry healthy to take on the tracking.
“If you go down, we can’t follow him.”
“You think you can take that guy alone? That’s insane.”
“Do I look like the type to fight recklessly?”
“Not at all.”
“You saw . I can handle it. Trust . Have the rest support the defenders.”
Fenry looked at for a mont, then slung the pouch over her shoulder.
It worried her to leave during a crisis like this—But this was Arthur speaking. She couldn’t ignore it.
Didn’t Nella always say it?
“He’s the Guide of the Elves.”
If the Guide showed the path, she had to follow.
“If Beneta falls, I’ll tear all your teeth out too!”
“Then go recover your gold. Kal emptied your vault.”
“You fucking bastard!”
She now had one more strong reason to chase Kal.
Fenry twisted her face and asked one last ti.
“What exactly do I need to do?”
“Find Kal. Trip him up. Send the signal.”
“Can’t I just kill him?”
“That’d be perfect.”
“I’ll leave a mark. Follow it.”
“I’ll finish up here and join you with Hunt.”
Fenry sighed and turned around.
Her expression said, “Is this really okay?”
At her signal, the troops that had been restraining Wiley moved toward the ruined wall.
With reinforcents joining the deadlock, the defenders regained their montum.
“Guess you weren’t just out sightseeing after all.”
Her muttered words reached my ears as she disappeared.
I let out a dry laugh and stood before the rubble.
“Sightseeing? You have no idea the shit I’ve been through.”
The fight with Jack and Howell.
The battle at Blyer.
The journey through the Ordor Forest.
All the deadly real battles, all the near-death struggles—they’d beco the foundation of my rapid growth.
Now, I stood alone before a 5-star knight, ready for battle.
Crack crack—
Wiley slowly rose and looked around.
No Fenry.
No support.
He realized he was alone and looked at with a calm expression.
“You think you can stop ?”
“You let her go on purpose, didn’t you?”
“No reason to waste effort on soone that difficult.”
He had waited for Fenry to leave.
“Thanks for agreeing with my choice.”
“You fool. A 4-star trying to stop ?”
He instantly read my level.
His sword began to glow green, the Aura Sword extending as he walked toward .
The pressure of a 5-star knight crushed down on .
I summoned Spectral Form.
Burst Strike, Spectral Form, and Quanru.
All powerful, but still lacking to face a 5-star.
But Reto said I could do it.
[If it drags on, it’ll be your loss. Go full power from the start.]
Full power.
I pulled out my final trump card.
As my eyes locked onto Wiley—
Twitch—
He paused, sensing sothing eerie.
A blood-chilling killing intent he’d never felt before.
His muscles stiffened in tension.
At a re 4-star?
Slowly, his lips parted.
“I will hunt you.”
Ssssss—
Heavy air settled around us.
Wiley hardened his expression and readied himself.
As golden light began to envelop , the atmosphere changed—
In my hand,
A bow of radiant light had appeared.
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