118. Unexpected Enemies

‘Shit. What the hell is that?’

What they saw was so terrifying that it felt unrealistic. Hunters who had lost their lives were wrapped in large tentacles. They looked like insects caught in a web.

Ko Byeong-gap examined the situation more closely. There were no other monsters except for that huge tree made up of bodies of monsters. However, the problem was the bizarre tree itself, which was a fusion of thousands of monsters at the very least, and it was obviously alive.

Its eyes blinked constantly, and its limbs would occasionally swing rigidly. The monster that covered the top like a leaf was like an earthworm that formed a colony.

Ko Byeong-gap had never even heard that such a thing existed. No, that weird thing shouldn’t exist in the world.

“I… Those people. Not all of them are dead, are they?”

Jeong Seon-kyung’s voice trembled precariously. Even Ko Byeong-gap, who had gone through a lot, found the bizarre tree quite shocking.

“They’re alive.”

Han Chang-hoon replied in a determined tone. Although he usually looked relaxed, he seemed very cold-hearted that time.

“Don’t lose hope. You can tell. They’re still alive. If we can detach their bodies, we can save them.”

“Then let’s go now! Let’s go and get them all.”

“No, stay where you are.”

Shim Seung-seop quietly stopped Jeong Seon-kyung.

“There are 17 S-class hunters there. If they can’t deal with that monster, we’ll suffer the same fate.”

“But we can’t just watch.”

After thinking for a few seconds with his mouth shut, Shim Seung-seop spoke.

“Hide your presence as much as possible and stay here.”

He got up, and the other three looked up at him with blank eyes.

“Let me get his attention. I can expect two responses. Either I attract it, or it doesn’t respond. In the former case, keep hiding. There’s no need to get caught up in it. If it’s the latter, we can approach and save the people.”

“You’re saying you’re going to be the scapegoat?”

“I can’t just watch like you said.”

“Hey, hey. Wait!”

Shim Seung-seop leaped even before they could get him. Jeong Seon-kyung tried to follow him in a hurry, but Ko Byeong-gap stopped her.

“Let go! If it goes wrong, he could die alone!”

“Then what? Do you want to die together?”

“What? Hey, hey, you…”

“Somebody has to do it anyway. Seung-seop came forward when both unnie and I couldn’t, and he said there’s no need to be swept to death together. If things go wrong, wouldn’t it be right for the three of us to put our heads together and find the next solution?”

Jeong Seon-kyung chewed on her lips instead of answering. Around that time, Shim Seung-seop was already working. He widened his distance from them and headed to the left of the tree. Standing in place, he began to release Karma. Soon, a vast current gathered in his palm.

As if a telephone pole was laid horizontally, a huge spear of electric current flashed into life.

Hiss!

With a high-pitched sound that dug into their ears, the spear of electric current stretched out. It struck the tree stump without mercy. Crimson pieces of meat were scattered all over the place. Black blood poured out like a fountain from the missing part, and then, there was silence.

Neither Ko Byeong-gap nor Shim Seung-seop looked at the tree without even breathing. At that moment, it was as if time had stopped.

“Oh… Doesn’t it seem like nothing’s going on?”

“I suppose so. That’s fortunate.”

“Phew… I thought I was going to lose my liver.”

The tree showed no reaction even though it was attacked. In other words, the latter happened in the two cases Shim Seung-seop suggested.

Shim Seung-seop, who was far away, looked back at the party. He raised his hands above his head and made a circle.

Jeong Seon-kyung jumped to her feet.

“Okay! Let’s go save the people!”

“Let’s do it. But even if we save them, we can’t get out right now, so what do we do?”

“We’ll be able to get out.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I’ll explain that to you later. First, we rescue people.”

“Oh, I see.”

Ko Byeong-gap’s group rejoined Shim Seung-seop. They approached the tree without losing sight of their vigilance.

Up close, the tree was much more bizarre than it was from a distance. The monsters that made up the trunk blindly floundered their limbs. They didn’t know how many limbs they had. Thousands of them were making such silly movements as if they were about to explode.

“Oh, that’s disgusting… Hey, Byeong-gap, what are you doing?”

Jeong Seon-kyung frowned and looked at Ko Byeong-gap. He stood at the base of the tree and stroked it.

“Grrr…”

Among the monsters that became part of the tree were Goblins. He somehow tried to cut out only the Goblins, but it didn’t work. There was something invisible that stopped him. In other words, the inside of the tree was already entangled with all kinds of monsters.

Ko Byeong-gap felt angry and emotional when he saw the Goblins.

“I’m sorry. I can’t save you with my powers.”

“Byeong-gap, what are you doing?”

“… Nothing.”

“Come on, let’s get the people out of here.”

The four of them climbed up the tree, which was the monster’s arms and legs, and it was a bit of a struggle in a different sense. The group began to rescue the people step by step. All those caught in the tentacles were unconscious, so they had to be moved one by one carefully. More and more were being piled up every minute.

While the three of them carried the people, Han Chang-hoon treated them with all his heart and soul. A lot of people had already died. It was usually the case for hunters that were below A-class. Their lives were drained from them and dried up, so their bodies crumbled with just a touch.

About an hour later, they successfully saved the hunters. It was around that time that Han Chang-hoon expressed discomfort.

“I’m… I’m going crazy.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve cured their wounds, but for these people, wounds aren’t the problem. Their vitality itself has become so low that they’re almost like old people on their deathbed. They’ll probably stay unconscious for a while.”

“So what happens then?”

“In fact, they’re all top hunters, so they can recover by eating well and sleeping well. The problem is that their conditions aren’t right. Right now, we only have enough food for two meals.”

“Hmm.”

Ko Byeong-gap thought as he smoothed his chin. Meanwhile, Jeong Seon-kyung spoke.

“Then, let’s move people before it’s too late.”

“Where?”

“The first place we came in. I heard there’s a way for us to get out, right, Ko Byeong-gap?”

“Uh. I can guess something. I’m not sure.”

“… You should have told us if you had one.”

Shim Seung-seop said. It wasn’t a sarcastic tone, so Ko Byeong-gap answered indifferently.

“I just remembered.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it then.”

Shim Seung-seop nodded his head and looked at the people lying around.

“But how do we move all these people? I’m sure 150 people are lying here, and I don’t think they’ll wake up for a while.”

“Ha… It’s going to take a long time. Don’t you think we should do it quickly?”

“That’s not wrong, either. But I have an idea?”

“What?”

“I think it’s kind of a hidden world. Once you step in, you can’t go back, so it’s close to a dungeon. So, there must be boss monsters.”

He reached out his hand and pointed to the tree.

“Why don’t we break it down? If we do well, I think we’ll be able to escape without much trouble.”

“Oh!”

Jeong Seon-kyung even flicked her fingers in admiration.

“That’s a good one. It looks like it.”

“Right. If this is a dungeon, there’s a boss, and there should be nothing else. We should be able to escape.”

“Hmm.”

Unlike the two in favor, Ko Byeong-gap was skeptical. It was certainly a possible hypothesis. However, he was concerned that it might be like pulling nose hairs out of a sleeping lion.

“I’m a little worried. Do we need to provoke that for nothing?”

“Provoke? Well, as you can see, it hasn’t responded to our actions.”

“That’s right, Byeong-gap. It didn’t budge when we cut off its tentacles and pulled the people out. So, what do you suggest?”

“That’s true, but…”

“It takes too much time to get the people to the wall. It would take two days to go back and forth. It’ll take ten days at the very least to move all these people. Can we last ten days without food?”

Shim Seung-seop’s comments were reasonable. However, Ko Byeong-gap could shorten the whole process to one day. It was simple. He could just send all the fallen hunters to Ashvilam.

However, that would risk Ashvilam and the Goblins. And in that case, more than a hundred people would find out his secret. There was no need to hide it, but he didn’t want to reveal it on purpose.

“Alright. We don’t seem to have a choice.”

Eventually, Ko Byeong-gap decided to follow their opinion. As Shim Seung-seop said, if things go well, everything would be comfortable.

“Then there’s nothing left for us to do, so let’s do it right away.”

“Yeah.”

The four of them stood side by side, facing the tree. It wasn’t long before explosive energy began to fluctuate all over the place; it was to be expected as there were 3 S-class hunters. Ko Byeong-gap also had enough aura to keep up with them.

First, Shim Seung-seop swung his hand in the air. In an instant, his Karma produced an ultra-high voltage attack and swallowed the whole tree.

Pajik! Chang!

A tremendous thunderstorm struck, and the terrible stench of burning flesh spread all over. After the electrical storm hit, Ko Byeong-gap and Jeong Seon-kyung jumped up. Han Chang-hoon gave the two the highest buffs.

‘Is this what a buff is? My body is full of energy.’

Ko Byeong-gap fired five slashes in full strength. The slashes hit the same spot without any error. A wide and deep slash formed in the area he hit directly.

“Ahhh!”

Subsequently, Jeong Seon-kyung threw out her ax at an angle. Her huge ax hit exactly where Ko Byeong-gap attacked. They hoped the attacks would split the tree in half…

Kang!

‘Oh?’

The crackling sound rang out. It was hard to believe that they hit its flesh. Jeong Seon-kyung recoiled with her ax and retreated, holding her arm.

“Ugh!”

“What? Are you okay?”

“Something solid is in there…”

It was that moment…

Kwajik! Hiss!

The giant tree split vertically, and it revealed what was inside. It was like seeds that had been wrapped in pulp had been revealed. Also, the seed’s equivalent was something that had never been revealed to the world before.

The moment it was revealed, everyone was horrified, including Ko Byeong-gap. Their instincts sent the same message without a hitch. That was dangerous. Too dangerous.

“Well, that’s…”

A giant wrapped in platinum-colored sheet metal armor. The figure was truly beautiful. It wasn’t enough to attach any rhetoric that existed in this world.

Its wide helmet was hollowed with iron bars, and a bright glow poured out from the inside. It was sacred and beautiful, but Ko Byeong-gap felt terrible. He was repulsed to the point of nausea.

He was aware of its existence. There was no way he wouldn’t know.

“Al… Al-Sharon. It’s… The seventh Holy Warrior… I’m sure he’s dead. So, how?”

Its identity was one of God’s messengers who wiped out the legions that had disappeared from this very plain.