Chapter 281: Engagement (2)
“W-What the…?”
“Black magic?”
“Huh?”
In an instant, the three Hunters’ attention was completely drawn to the Corrupted Beast.
They had Ayane surrounded, and since she had slightly lowered her rifle, they felt confident enough to relax.
Of course, that’s assuming there were no uninvited guests present besides Ayane and the three of them.
When they saw the Corrupted Beast, they should have immediately noticed someone else’s presence.
At least the sharper magician flinched and backed off, but one of the swordsmen reacted too slowly.
“Gahk!”
The swordsman who had been part of the triangular formation around Ayane bent like a C-shape and was dragged backward.He had fallen victim to Kang-hoo’s Abduction.
‘I always feel this—using Abduction openly rarely works, but covertly? The hit rate skyrockets.’
Kang-hoo smiled as he watched the swordsman flailing pitifully in the air while being dragged in.
That’s the beauty of a skill.
Even a skill that doesn’t work well when anticipated becomes devastating if used in surprise.
【Sight Theft】
【Shallow Chaos】
【Hallucination】
Kang-hoo fired off all three mental disruption skills in succession at the swordsman flying in, completely unaware of what had grabbed him.
The Triple Combo of Mental Disruption.
A combo Kang-hoo himself had developed.
Just like Abduction, mental-type skills are most effective when the target is flustered, defenseless, or confused.
Especially like now—when the swordsman Hunter doesn’t even know who’s attacking him.
Meanwhile.
As the swordsman was dragged away, a gap opened up, and Ayane sprinted at full speed, immediately turning her muzzle.
It was too close and there wasn’t enough time to aim properly.
But it was more than enough to fire warning shots to keep the other two Hunters at bay.
Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out, and Ayane’s position became closer to Kang-hoo than to the enemies.
“Sh*t!”
Meanwhile, the swordsman Hunter, who’d been suddenly dragged toward Kang-hoo, cursed and swung his sword hard.
It was a desperate attempt to turn the tables—but his blade struck only the ground.
His sight had been stolen, his sense of direction distorted by Shallow Chaos, and topped off with hallucinations.
He probably thought he struck Kang-hoo’s position, but in reality, he was digging at empty space.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
Soon, the swordsman’s eyes turned bloodshot as Kang-hoo clutched his throat.
【Hatred – Amplifies the gauntlet’s grip strength using mana.】
This was because the Hatred effect of the Resentment Gauntlets had been activated.
The more mana he poured into the gauntlets, the more crushing their grip became around the swordsman’s neck.
The sudden choke left even a skilled Hunter unable to respond properly.
Not being able to breathe was one thing—blood not reaching his brain made it impossible to see clearly.
【Thorned Hell】
While holding the swordsman’s throat with one hand, Kang-hoo cast Thorned Hell with the other.
He held back from using the Great Beheading.
The swordsman’s breastplate looked more durable than expected.
And the remaining two Hunters were heading this way.
If he went in with the Great Beheading and failed to retreat in time, he might take the swordsman down but end up flanked by the others.
Judging by their scanned constellation info, they were probably around level 400—Kang-hoo wasn’t taking chances.
Securing Ayane’s safety came first. Killing them was second. He didn’t change his priorities.
Crackkk!
“Graaagh!”
The thorns of Thorned Hell shot up from the ground, piercing the dangling swordsman’s soles.
The thorns shattered his bones and tore straight through to the top of his feet.
【Flame of Death】
Kang-hoo activated the Flame of Death in the hand holding the swordsman.
The swordsman’s entire body was instantly engulfed in flames, as if being burned alive.
“Time to bail.”
That should be enough.
Even if he survived, he’d be half-dead. He wouldn’t last much longer.
【Annihilation】
Kang-hoo activated Annihilation, then retreated with the just-arrived Ayane.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Flames exploded, making the swordsman’s burning body twitch uncontrollably.
Just then.
【Lightning Dagger】
Just in case, Kang-hoo pulled a spare dagger from his coat and hurled it at the swordsman.
It wasn’t a calculated move—more of a test to see how the enemy might react.
Thunk!
“……!”
But it ended just like that.
The dagger pierced squarely through the center of his forehead—instantly fatal.
Kang-hoo knew he was dead the moment the constellation plunder message activated.
【Creation】
【A neutral-aligned constellation. Combines two skills into one. Success rate: 51%.】
‘This one’s basically a gambling constellation.’
Kang-hoo let out a hollow laugh.
So even constellations like this exist, huh?
For regular Hunters, this constellation is a huge burden—skills are simply too precious.
The full tooltip was active, but there was no time to read all that complex info now.
“Kang-hoo!”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, thanks to you. What the heck just…”
“We’ll talk later.”
Kang-hoo redirected Ayane’s attention before she burst into tears.
Step one of the plan—equalizing their numbers—was a success. But it was still two versus two.
It was doable now—not a victory, just the beginning.
Suddenly remembering a certain constellation, Kang-hoo checked it sideways.
【Heir of the Slain】
【You can learn one skill from a Hunter you’ve slain.
After learning, the constellation contract boosts Dark Energy by 25.】
It was a constellation stolen from a black mage of the Touishi Guild during the battle with Cha So-hyeok.
These three Hunters here…
One of them might have a usable skill.
If so, he definitely intended to take full advantage of that constellation’s power. After all, when it comes to skills, the more the better.
“Looks like things have simplified.”
“Sure does.”
The other side had an assassin and a sniper.
This side had a swordsman and a mage.
It was still a close-range damage dealer and a long-range damage dealer on both ends. At least it made it clear who to focus on.
At that moment—
The mage Hunter pointed directly at Kang-hoo and spoke.
“You. I don’t know who you are, but how about the third wheel just gets lost?”
“Kang-hoo. …He says he doesn’t know you?”
“Don’t emphasize it.”
Ayane giggled as she watched Kang-hoo get treated like some no-name by the mage.
It didn’t seem like the mage was pretending not to know him—he genuinely had no idea who Kang-hoo was.
But Kang-hoo caught the tremor in the mage’s voice.
He was trying to sound confident, but he couldn’t hide the subtle trembling that came with his breath.
And for good reason.
In the skirmish just now, the swordsman had been killed by Kang-hoo before he could even react.
If he’d managed to injure Kang-hoo or inflict a meaningful loss before dying, it might’ve been a worthy death.
But he died for nothing—a total waste.
And now, not only had reinforcements arrived, but this one was clearly high-level, so tension was unavoidable.
Kang-hoo replied.
“What if I don’t want to get lost?”
“Then you die.”
“Confident, are you?”
“You think we came here to kill her just to negotiate halfway and leave?”
“Looks like that plan already fell apart thanks to that guy, don’t you think?”
Kang-hoo gestured with his chin toward the dead swordsman’s body, then murmured to Ayane.
“Just focus on the mage. I’ll take the swordsman. Don’t worry about this side.”
“Got it.”
“Going into a hell where it’s obvious you’ll die, just because you think you’ll be a burden—that’s not normal. You’re far too valuable to die here.”
“……”
Ayane’s eyes trembled.
And then he added—
“If we make it out of this, I’ll spend my whole life repaying you for saving me.”
“Heh. Let’s talk after we make it through.”
Kang-hoo smirked.
It was too soon to feel optimistic.
Unlike the swordsman who had died earlier, the remaining two had solid stances and clearly superior constellations.
Their level had to be at least 400, no matter how conservatively estimated. Both were above Kang-hoo in terms of level.
The mage spoke.
“Guess words won’t do.”
“That’s enough chatter. Come on in. Or should I come to you?”
“This son of a—! Wipe him out, sh*t!”
Provoked by Kang-hoo, the mage exploded in anger. Having just lost an ally, his rage had spiked.
The mage began casting a spell immediately, while the swordsman gripped his greatsword and charged in.
Kang-hoo quickly reset the Corrupted Beast’s target: attack only the mage until it perishes.
Circling and diving repeatedly, it would relentlessly disrupt the mage’s focus and spellcasting.
While Ayane reloaded—
The mage’s flame attack arced toward her, taking advantage of the gap.
One blast didn’t seem enough, so he added several more fireballs in succession.
【Wall of Purity】
While keeping an eye on the charging swordsman, Kang-hoo erected a wall along the path of the incoming fireballs.
Then he pulled out another spare dagger and hurled it toward the swordsman using Lightning Dagger.
The goal wasn’t to injure or kill, just to break his momentum.
“Tch!”
The dagger came in at such a sharp angle, it couldn’t be ignored.
Clang!
The swordsman stopped and deflected the dagger.
Having witnessed his ally get a dagger lodged in his forehead and die, he had no choice but to react.
From Kang-hoo’s perspective, a light dagger throw meant to harass had just blunted the enemy’s advance.
Boom! Boom! Bang!
Meanwhile, the fireballs struck the Wall of Purity, pushing Kang-hoo back.
Its durability took a hit, but not enough to cause concern.
His body was only slightly pushed backward. Most likely, the mage hadn’t gone all out with the spell.
“……?”
A question mark formed in the mage’s eyes.
Even if it was just a suppressing skill, the attack had considerable power—and it was cast in rapid succession.
Knowing the enemy was an assassin and gunner combo, the mage had chosen the attack to exploit their likely weakness: defense.
But it had been blocked—completely.
This opponent was supposed to be an assassin, someone who would naturally neglect defense.
An assassin having such a high-tier defense skill wasn’t just overkill—it was outright absurd.
The mage’s thoughts grew confused.
The Hayabusa Guild had only learned Ayane had entered Germany right after she completed the immigration process.
If she didn’t take an alternate route from the airport, she would inevitably pass through the city.
So when they spotted her in the city while on an overseas mission, they targeted her on orders from the Hayabusa Guild.
It wasn’t strange that a mercenary had accepted a contract abroad, so her presence in Germany hadn’t raised suspicion.
They waited, and when they saw her again downtown, she had been alone—without a doubt.
No companions, and even when they deliberately revealed their presence, she’d fled alone.
Even when she reached the area near the hotel, she was still alone.
But then—
‘Sh*t, who the hell is that guy?’
The mage cursed under his breath. Some damn tricky assassin had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Like a prince on a white horse.
The sight was so nauseating, he could barely stand it.