Chapter 18 – Greysoul Cemetery (4)

With Ribs and Pelvic bone at the center, the Skull, Scapula, Humerus, and Femur attached themselves to the existing skeletal structure.

Once the bones settled in their proper locations, smaller bones such as the fingers and toes came to attach themselves to existing pieces, soon forming the shape of a human.

Blue strands emerged from the skull and entangled the bones, and a staff emerged from the top of the altar and flew into its hands. The jaws began to move.

“…Come, those who are fated to die”

As soon as he spoke, Sungjin who had been waiting with his Katana drawn, charged at him.

Lich ‘Deathmond’ was a mage. To combat enemies who used magic, it was essential to attack them with all due haste before they could complete their incantations.

Seeing Sungjin move, the Lich lifted up his left hand and shouted

“Frozen wall, to me! Ice Shield!”

A blue crystal wall appeared in front of Sungjin. But Sungjin cut down the wall without hesitation.

The wall of ice split in half and fell apart. The Lich quickly tried to swing his right arm holding the staff but

“Kaan!”

Cain leaped up and bit the staff, holding on. Taking advantage of the opening created by Cain’s surprise attack, Sungjin quickly swung his blade.

Caught off guard, the Lich’s left arm was cut apart to pieces and sent flying.

“Gasp…”

The Lich floated up slightly and leaped back. Sungjin wanted to press in to continue the attack, but the Lich began chanting.

“Push away my enemies! Gust!”

The Lich’s short incantation was followed by a powerful gust of wind. There was no damage, but Sungjin who was in the air, was carried by the wind and pushed away from the Lich.

At the same time Sungjin landed on his feet, Hiro launched his attack on the Lich’s right arm.

“Ice Shield.”

The Lich summoned another Ice wall. Hiro tried to cut through the block of ice like Sungjin had before him.

With a crack, the Katana clashed with the wall, but the cut was too shallow. Hiro’s Katana stopped halfway through the ice.

“What?”

Hiro shouted out in surprise. The Lich took the time to cast another spell.

“Piercing spears of ice! Ice Lance!”

The Lich’s staff formed three icicles in the air around it. Once they took shape and solidified, the icicles flew towards Hiro who was still struggling to free his Katana from the Ice wall.

Hiro hastily pulled his Katana free from the wall and deflected the Icicles. He knocked one out of the air, and then another, and then…

“Kuo!”

Hiro didn’t manage to block the third icicle and was stabbed in the stomach, falling over.

But Hiro’s actions were not in vain. While he was dealing with the Boss’s magic attacks,

“Ho!”

Akanna appeared from the darkness and shattered the Lich’s right arm holding the staff. Upon losing both the arms,

“Gust!”

The Lich called forth his wind magic once more to push Akanna back.

“Defy Gravity! Flight!”

The Lich lifted up into the sky. And with the three hunters watching, the legs fell off from the hips and attached themselves to the elbows.

It was a strange sight to see; Arms replaced by legs, with feet where hands used to be. The staff flew up from the ground and placed itself between the toes.

“Cold which burns, Blade that severs! Scythe of Ice!”

Upon his incantations, a large blade formed on the tip of the staff; Like those of Grim Reaper.

“Grrrr…..”

Cain began to growl upon seeing the Lich’s Scythe.

‘2nd Phase…’

Sungjin fixed the grip on his Katana.

“Uho!”

Akanna turned his spear around and readied his combat stance. Hiro gulped down a potion as quickly as he could.

Once the Lich was done transforming, it returned to the ground. Sungjin, Akanna, and Hiro all charged at the Lich simultaneously.

The Lich moved back as it swung the Scythe. Due to the staff’s length, the length of its legs, and the length of the humerus, the reach of the Lich’s attack was enormous.

And because the Lich continuously swung his Scythe, no one, not even Sungjin could easily approach him. Taking advantage of the Hunters’ hesitation, the Lich recited an incantation.

“Spreading Death, Orb of Ice”

A small spherical orb appeared on the Lich’s hands and started floating towards the hunters. The orb was moving even slower than it looked.

It was doubtful whether it would hit anyone who was paying attention. Then, Sungjin recalled something from his past.

‘I’ve seen that before…’

And the moment he recalled just what it was, he shouted as he threw himself onto the floor.

“Get down!”

The orb exploded and scattered shrapnel everywhere. Sungjin braced himself. There was no way to avoid all the debris.

But, Sungjin felt no pain after the explosion. When he raised his head, he saw Cain standing over him bleeding; Shrapnels were embedded all over his body.

‘Whine’

Wrath took Sungjin’s heart, and he leaped to his feet infuriated. Hiro and Akanna both were hurt and couldn’t move properly. Sungjin charged at the Lich alone.

The Lich swung his Scythe like a whip, but Sungjin dodged every swing and moved closer to the Lich. Once Sungjin got close enough, the Lich hurriedly recited an incantation.

“Ice Shield”

But the ice wall could not hold up to Sungjin’s blade guided by anger. The wall crumbled away to nothing. In moments, Sungjin bisected the Lich’s arms (made of Leg bones).

“Gust!”

The Lich, who was now without arms or legs retreated after reciting the incantations. Just the skull and the torso left. Sungjin dashed forward to finish off the boss.

“Oryah!”

“Oh Ho!”

Behind Sungjin, Akanna and Hiro got up and also charged together. The Lich saw the three hunters and began an incantation.

“Cold which obstructs! Frostbite!”

Ice pillars emerged from the ground and froze the hunter’s feet to the ground. The Lich attempted to use the opportunity to shout an incantation, but

“Free Ark!”

The Shackle on Sungjin’s arm gave off a brilliant light, and the ice holding his feet gave away without resistance.

Freeing himself of the magical bindings, Sungjin sped towards the boss like a bullet. The Lich, who assumed the Frostbite would last a bit longer,

“Wind which freezes all, Ice which rips everything apart!”

Because of Sungjin who freed himself in an instant and had charged towards him, he wasn’t able to complete the spell.

“Blizzard Sto…”

Sungjin, in his extreme anger,  cut the Lich from the bottom up; Starting from the tailbone and reaching all the way to the jawbone. He cut the Lich apart in Half.

[Objective complete. Returning to Hunter’s Hall in 17 Minutes and 52 Seconds.]

The Cube announced victory, but Sungjin was not happy at all. He walked up to Cain, who was laying on the ground.

Cain was bleeding out and dying. Shortly after, he disappeared with a ‘bang’ and returned to the form of a wooden carving. Sungjin picked up the figurine.

“Thank you Cain… You worked hard.”

After a moment, Sungjin placed the figurine in his pocket.

*

[Objective complete. Returning to Hunter’s Hall in 17 Minutes and 52 Seconds.]

Once they heard the announcements, Henrik and Kultu came back to see the other three men.

“Good work, all of you… Though, are you alright?”

Henrik was right to be worried. Akanna and Hiro were dripping with blood. Shards of ice still pierced their skin in many places, and small and large cuts covered their bodies.

Only Kei was left devoid of cuts and bruises. Kei swung his katana few times and then turned to leave. But

“Kei…. No. Kei Sama.”

Hiro stopped Kei. Kei turned to see what Hiro wanted. Hiro got down to the ground and gave a deep bow on his hands and knees.

“I, Watanabe Hiroaki of 20 years of age, have been shown new heights of greatness. I wish to make you my sensei, so please accept me as your pupil.”

Kei looked uncomfortable… no, he looked alarmed.

“What are you talking about? We’re going our separate ways after this chapter…”

Hiro was insistent.

“Please accept me as your pupil anyway. You never know if we will meet each other again in another chapter.”

Kei returned his sword to the scabbard and replied.

“Even if you say that, there is no option other than to become stronger on your own.”

Even though the Chapter was completed safely, Kei looked distraught. Suddenly he called to the Operator.

“Operator, how much time left?”

[You will return to the Hunter’s Hall in 17 Minutes and 24 Seconds.]

After asking for the time, Kei turned to leave. Hiro, who had his forehead touching the ground, looked up and stood up to follow.

“Sensei, where are you going? I will go with you.”

The other two people, Henrik and Kultu, looked at each other. The Boss monster was killed, but there was bound to be more undead mobs remaining somewhere.

In other words, the safest place right now was standing close to Kei.

“…Let’s go too.”

The two men understood each other without communicating. They, too, followed Sungjin. Akanna briefly wiped the blood off of his face and followed behind the others.

The other hunters followed Kei like a Shadow. Hiro stayed close to Kei and continued to try and make conversation with him.

“Sensei, please give me one word of advice. How can I become powerful like you?”

Kei finally broke the silence and half-heartedly gave a response.

“Operator already said how. Increase your stats, get good items…. And stuff.”

He recited a textbook answer.

“Do you have no comment about my Kendo skills?”

Kei bit his lips for a moment and pondered, but he gave another half-hearted answer in the end.

“Just do a lot of fighting. Forget everything you learned at the Dojo.”

“Excuse me?”

Kei explained himself.

“We’re not fighting Humans. We fight monsters. Real combat experience here is more important.”

“Ah…  Thank you for your teachings Sensei.”

Kei shook his head at Hiro’s words. And along the way

“Sensei? Where are you headed to anyway? Don’t go too far. A Ghost appears somewhere ahead.”

At that moment,

“A ghost?”

Kei, who was responding in a half bored and half annoyed manner, changed his tone of voice. He stopped in his tracks and turned to interrogate Hiro.

“What ghost?”

Seeing Kei’s sudden spike in interest, Hiro excitedly explained what he knew.

“Well, You know, a female ghost like those you see in scary movies. With pale skin and blood dripping from the lips…”

Kei took hold of Hiro’s shoulders and spoke once more.

“Where did you see it?”

“Way over there~ It was flying around. Right before we saw the boss. You know, it’s pretty hard to tell where we were though…’

Kei glanced at Kultu and Henrik. The two men shook their heads. Kei returned his gaze to Hiro.

“That ghost… is it very noticeable?”

“Very. She wore a white dress and seemed to glow slightly. She should be visible from far away.”

Kei suddenly turned his head.

“Hidden…”

He muttered something under his breath and suddenly shouted

“Swift Paw”

His boots suddenly grew claws. And before the others recovered from the surprise, Kei began running away at an incredible speed.

No, it was beyond incredible. It was completely outside the boundary of human limitations.

Although Henrik and Kultu stared with their mouths open, Hiro yelled

“Sensei! Wait for me!”

Only Hiro chased after Kei in the darkness.