Chapter C.182: Father’s Love (3)

Gilberto's body, which had been dyed gray, returned to its original state.

"…Whew."

A spontaneous sigh came out of his weak body. He had killed two members of the Gluttony Squadron, but his situation wasn’t that good either. He was fighting with a body that had been asleep for 26 years.

'26 years is a long enough time for most machines and things to break down.’

He had even been trapped in an ice statue. Furthermore, it was not ordinary ice, but the ice of the Frost Queen—that was likely why a large portion of his physical condition was like this.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Gilberto closed his eyes for a moment. His closed eyes were throbbing as if they wanted to burst out of their sockets while his whole body was screaming at him.

'... Jun-Ho must have had a hard time, too.’

Seo Jun-Ho would have had the same experience. No, he must have felt more deprivation and pain than this, because his level had been reset. But he had eventually gotten through it. In addition to overcoming such a hurdle, he was even leading Gilberto and Skaya from the front as usual.

'But since I’m older, I can't whine, even if it's embarrassing…’

An old memory sprang to Gilberto’s mind. It was about his low days when he had only possessed several D-grade skills and was the so-called ‘waste collection box.’ It was Seo Jun-Ho who had discovered and trained him after discovering the potential in him when everyone else despised him.

'When this is over... It’s going to get busy.’

There had been times when he was weak, so he knew better than anyone else that you needed strong power to protect yourself and the people around you. Above all, the current fiends were different from the old fiends who simply fell after he fired bullets.

Click.

Taking the sniper rifle’s stand apart, he rose from his position and spoke, "Gilberto, changing point."

- Roger.

The voice of his reliable friend arrived in his ear.

***

"By now…” Jang Seon-Ho looked back, feeling the chilly early morning wind. "Your friend must be dead by now.”

"Uueup! Ueup!"

Blood mixed with saliva dripped from Arthur's mouth, which was biting down on the rope. His bruised, cold eyes were fierce, as if they would shoot lasers.

"The more I look at you, the lowlier you look."

Arthur kept barking, even though he had been told that biting dogs wouldn’t bark.

'Yeah, you go ahead and live like that for the rest of your life.’

Jang Seon-Ho laughed at him to his heart's content. He would reign over Players like Arthur forever. No matter how hard they tried, no matter how much they struggled, there was a difference in talent between him and them.

"But they're a little late..."

Suddenly realizing that a lot of time had passed, Jang Seon-Ho looked up at the sky. Unlike Earth of the 21st century, Frontier’s dawn was very dark. Especially in the mountains of Outland, far from the city center, you could even see the Milky Way.

"And it’s quiet...”

It was so quiet that it didn’t make sense.

Jang Seon-Ho frowned.

‘Why aren’t the owls crying?’

The owls that had been definitely crying a little while ago suddenly became silent. Feeling something strange, he raised his hand and stopped the fiends. At the same time, he spread the blood fog around. The maximum range of this skill was a radius of 200 meters.

‘There’s nothing?’

There were no strangers detected within his range.

"It's quiet."

"Yeah, even if there are dozens of fiends gathered here… It's too quiet."

Only then did the members of the Gluttony Squadron notice the unusual situation and started becoming alert one by one. Then, a scream broke out from behind the group.

"Oh, f**k, you scared me!"

"T-This bastard’s dead?”

"Hey! What's going on over there?!"

The Squadron members frowned and pushed through the fiends and moved toward the back. On the ground, there was a dead fiend with a large hole in his chest.

"What is this...”

Jang Seon-Ho immediately glared at the fiends around him.

"Turn yourself in. Who was it?"

"I-it wasn’t me."

"Me neither…”

The first thing he suspected was his ally, not his enemy—that was because he didn’t detect any enemies around him with his senses.

‘Is it perhaps someone with a stealth skill?’

No, that wouldn’t be it either. No matter how good the stealth was, you were bound to leave a scent and presence behind. It was difficult to say that there was coincidentally an existence that could avoid his senses here. Moreover, if the person was that good in the first place, there would be no reason for them to do assassinations like this.

“…”

“...”

Silence fell among the fiends. They were tense and were even holding in their breath.

Whiiing.

The sound of the cold wind was the only thing that lingered around them.

Drop!

Then, the second victim was revealed and it was even in front of Jang Seon-Ho.

'…So it was a sniper!'

He clearly saw a long, thick bullet smashing through the fiend’s head and coming out the back. He opened his mouth wide and commanded, "It's a long-distance ambush! Everyone, gather your magic and take cover!"

At the same time, dozens of fiends scattered. Hiding behind large trees or rocks, they feared the presence of an unknown enemy.

‘Where is he? How far is he sniping from?’

Jang Seon-Ho took out his armor from his inventory and protected himself with several layers of magic. Despite having the most experience, this was his first time dealing with this kind of enemy.

‘I've never experienced this kind of enemy while on my journey to level 115.’

Rather than afraid, he was nervous and excited. He moistened his lips several times with his tongue. The sniper had the ability to kill targets with such fun and grace! When he turned his head, he could see the frightened fiends.

‘Even the members of the Gluttony Squadron...’

Even the members, who averaged level 105, were nervous and had stiff expressions. It wasn't even his own skill, but Jang Seon-Ho was delighted at the sight of it.

‘A skill that makes even Squadron members tremble.’

Wasn't that simply the best? At that moment, Jang Seon-Ho became determined.

‘I'll kill and eat him.’

Licking his lips, Jang Seon-Ho looked forward again. He beckoned to a fiend hiding behind a tree whom he made eye contact with.

"You, go out to the side of the road.”

"Yes... Yes? Me?"

"Yeah, you."

The fiend looked at the mountain road with trembling eyes. Now that everyone was hiding, what did it mean to go out there? He was not a moron and so there was no way he didn’t know what Jang Seon-Ho meant.

"Excuse me... I'm sorry, but if I go out now, I could die...”

Pop!

A swirling bloody fog burst the fiend’s head in an instant.

"How dare you talk back to me, arrogant punk!” Jang Seon-Ho frowned and pointed at another fiend. "Hey, you! Go out to the side of the road. You can say no if you want."

"N-no. I'll go out!"

Even a fool could tell that refusing wasn’t allowed. The moment the fiend nodded and poked his head out from hiding behind the rock…

Baaang!

His body from the neck upward disappeared and what remained of his body staggered while spewing a fountain of blood.

"Hahaha! This is fun! It's so much fun!”

Looking at the falling body, Jang Seon-Ho burst into laughter and continued to point at the fiends.

"You, this time, go around to the left of that tree and go out to the side of the road."

"You, turn to the right of the rock if he dies."

Jang Seon-Ho pronounced the men dead with one finger. The fiends wanted to cry, but they couldn't refuse. The moment they refused, they knew that they would get killed by that devil.

'This is good fun.’

Jang Seon-Ho was enjoying the situation very much. He was presenting the fiends as sacrificial lambs to locate the sniper. This was like a 'game' for him.

'A fight of brains... I don't like it that much, but it's not bad to enjoy it sometimes.’

Nine fiends died in a row, and the remaining fiends were so nervous that they might be pointed out. However, Jang Seon-Ho had already located the sniper.

'Is he to the south? I don't know what kind of guy you are, but... you're definitely screwed.’

The moment he was about to kick off the floor and pop out…

"How are you feeling? You’re okay? That can't be true...”

"As he said, don't overdo it and take a rest. This noona will sweep them all up for you. Oh, were you an oppa? So what?"

One man and one woman walked into the encirclement of the men, having a normal conversation. The fiends exchanged glances.

‘What’s this? Who are they?’

‘Why are you thinking about it? Can't we just kill them?'

‘Oh... That's right.’

The first ones to come to their senses were the Squadron members of the Gluttony Squadron. The seven members sent signals to Jang Seon-Ho.

‘They came exactly from the direction where the sniper was.’

‘I think one of them is the sniper.’

‘If we cut off an arm and leg each then ask them, they'll probably spill.’

The members who held their heads out for a surprise attack ducked their heads back again at the speed of light. Jang Seon-Ho raised his shoulder with a frown.

'Why, what's going on?'

‘Shit! T-that bastard! Why is he wearing Specter’s mask?’

‘What's with the hair color of the person next to him?’

‘Isn't that the Archmage? It’s not, right? With my eyes, I can see at night as if it were day...’

Unsure about the situation, Jang Seon-Ho peeked out with his head. At the same time, his eyes widened.

‘Specter and the Archmage?’

He had a feeling that they were not pretending or were fake. Because he felt massive amounts of real aura from the two of them.

'I see. It makes sense if it’s Specter.'

He thought the sniper was Specter. He was once called the ‘Walking Armory,’ who knew how to handle all weapons at a high level.

The two people stopped walking and spoke, "Come out."

"The babies are cute. What are the grown-ups doing, hiding there?"

Jang Seon-Ho was the first to appear. Then, one by one, the fiends appeared and surrounded the two.

"Hahaha, I heard you came up to the 2nd floor. I didn't expect you to arrive so soon," Jang Seon-Ho said with a relaxed smile.

Strong in vanity and ostentatiousness, Jang Seon-Ho wanted to show others how he was not scared even against Specter.

"…You’re laughing?"

However, as soon as a cold voice came out from underneath Specter’s mask, Jang Seon-Ho's stiff expression became white, drained of blood.

‘...Just now, what was that?’

It was momentary, but he had felt a chill in his spine. It was like… like he was a herbivore making eye contact with an angry beast.

‘So this is Specter?’

Jang Seon-Ho gulped down his saliva. In fact, the biggest reason he had come out from behind cover was that he was confident.

‘The aura I feel from both of them is strong, but… It's not at my level.’

That was Jang Seon-Ho’s source of confidence. The two were definitely tigers commanding the mountain, but they were toothless tigers.

‘These are old tigers who rushed here to save Arthur.’

Moreover, didn’t Jang Seon-Ho even have a hostage here? Momentarily overwhelmed by Specter, he bit his lip in shame and said, “Anyway, I guess I should say it's an honor to meet you?”

"Don’t speak informally," Specter scolded.

As Specter casually moved his feet, darkness rose. Then, Jang Seon-Ho ordered the fiends with a very nervous look.

"B-bring that guy."

The big man, who had been carrying Arthur, dragged the latter over.

'…Right, I don't have to be scared. The initiative is on our side.’

Rather, it was a good thing. Didn't he kidnap Arthur to lure Specter and the Archmage?

'If I take care of this right, I’ll be rewarded by the Fiend Association.’

Even his leader wouldn’t be able to snatch a great achievement of this magnitude. In addition…

'If I could eat Specter…?’

If Jang Seon-Ho ate Specter with Perfect Person (A), even his dreaded leader wouldn’t be able to ignore him. What the Fiend Association wanted the most was Specter’s skill, the ‘Watchguard of Darkness.’ Jang Seon-Ho’s corners of his mouth went up as he received Arthur. He made a sword out of the bloody fog and placed it on Arthur's neck.

"To be honest, I don't understand. What did you put your trust in when you showed up in front of me? Do you still think you're the absolute beings of the past?"

"Ueup! Ueup!"

Arthur struggled in Jang Seon-Ho's arms. Arthur spoke with his eyes, saying that Specter should not be swayed by them because of him and that these guys were strong, so Specter should just run away.

"I know guys like you all too well," Specter slowly spoke. "There had been a lot of you in the past. You… you’re imagining the dreamy days that will unfold if you get rid of me... No, you're deluding yourself, aren't you?”

“…”

Jang Seon-Ho frowned because Specter had struck the nail on the head. He growled as he made the blood fog thicker.

"The 5 Heroes think of Arthur Green as their nephew. Is the rumor true? His still-frozen father would love to hear that.”

"…You, are you really confident? If you fail, there’s no going back."

Jang Seon-Ho smirked at Specter’s question.

"Crazy bastard. I've killed hundreds of people so far. I can kill this guy faster than you, no matter what.”

"If you're so confident, kill him right now. I don’t even want to look at him.”

“…”

Arthur, listening to the conversation between the two, closed his eyes. He didn't really blame his uncle and aunt. It was ridiculous that two people would risk their lives for him. It would be a great loss to mankind as well.

'But still... thank you for coming to save me.'

As he prepared himself for his final moments, the image of his father, who rarely appeared even in his dreams, showed up. He saw his father's image that had become somewhat hazy in his memory. His father always had a gruff expression, yet he had always been smiling brightly in front of him.

"…Do you really think I won’t kill him if you say so?!"

Arthur's thought was broken by Jang Seon-Ho's shouts. The latter’s dagger slightly dug into Arthur's neck as blood flowed out.

"It's you who's at a disadvantage right now! I have a hostage on my side! Get on your knees, now!"

"Hmm?" Specter spoke. "You’ve been quite loud for a while now. Who the hell are you talking to?"

"What the hell are you talking about… Of course, you...”

Had Specter become senile? Was Specter having a conversation with himself… The moment Jang Seon-Ho wriggled his eyebrows at the incomprehensible situation…

‘Huh?’

His body was pushed back as if he had been shoved by someone.

‘Oh shit, I can't let Arthur go...’

But Arthur's figure gradually faded away. It became so far that he wouldn’t be able to reach it even if he extended his arms out. Only then did Jang Seon-Ho notice something strange.

‘Why… is the sky in front of me?’

Wouldn’t this make it seem like he was lying on the floor? In his final moments, he glared at the stars in the night sky.

'No way... the sniper... Was it not Specter…?’

The moment he remembered that assumption, the final vestiges of his consciousness disappeared.

“…”

The fiends were silent at the death of a level 115 fiend of the Pride Squadron.

"If you were going to bite anyway, you should have done it quickly," Specter murmured as he made the darkness bloom around him. The answer came if you looked at the size of the darkness surrounding him. It seemed that the old adage was holding true—a barking dog never bites.

"Skaya, take care of Arthur."

The hostage had been released, so there was no reason for him to hold back any longer.