Chapter 51

Chapter 51

The Weight of Death (2)

“Graaah!”

Sticky saliva dripped from the gaping maw.

The monster with fierce eyes looked ready to tear Kang Hyeon apart at any moment.

“Close your mouth. You’re spitting!”

-Whack!

Kang Hyeon struck upwards at the monster’s jaw and continued rushing forward.

“Huff, huff!”

The rough breathing of the ability users following Kang Hyeon could be heard.

They were out of breath but kept running without stopping.

“I can’t... Anymore... Ack!”

At that moment, a man tripped over a rock and tumbled to the ground.

“Get up! If you stop here, you’ll die!”

“Huff, huff!”

Han Si-hwan grabbed the man, but he could only gasp for air, without the strength to speak.

“Move, I said! Did you come all this way just to die!?”

“Kieeeek!”

The screams of the monsters approaching nearby could be heard.

“Aaargh!”

Finally, the man screamed and mustered his last bit of strength.

He had to move to survive.

Though he was exhausted to the point where taking even one step was difficult, stopping meant death.

“Everyone, get a grip!”

Kang Hyeon shouted loudly to encourage those following behind.

“Haa, how can he move like that?”

“He’s not human.”

In fact, the ones bearing the most burden among them were Kang Hyeon and Han Se-yeon at the front.

But the distance between them and those following behind was not narrowing, rather it was widening more and more.

“We’re almost there! We’ll reach the core soon!”

The magical waves emanating from the core were gradually getting closer.

Kang Hyepn shouted with all his might.

“Aaagh!”

Another person fell, hit by an arrow.

The group that had started with 50 people now had less than 40 remaining.

“Haaak!”

It was then.

The Benandis, who had only been hiding in the forest, finally revealed themselves.

“Did you finally decide to show yourselves?”

“Haak!”

“You must be starting to feel scared too.”

Kang Hyeon smiled with rage as he looked at them.

“I’ve been waiting for this, you bastards!”

A sword strike flew at incredible speed.

The Benandi hit by that sword was cut in half along with the bow it was holding.

“This is the final push! If we break through these guys, it’s over!”

“Aaaah! Push forward!”

The situation quickly devolved into a melee.

The group of Benandis desperately trying to protect the core.

The ability users fighting with all their might, thinking this was truly the end.

Various monsters following those ability users.

“Everyone, fire all the flares you have!”

At Kang Hyeon’s words, all the ability users fired their flare guns into the sky.

-Pop pop pop!

Kang Hyeon also fired his flare gun and then activated his skill.

“Now let’s really have some fun!”

[Roar of the Enraged Lion is activated]

Chaos.

The forest was in such a state of confusion that it was hard to distinguish friend from foe.

“Haaak!”

“Your breath stinks!”

-Whack!

Kang Hyeon struck the jaw of a Benandi shouting in front of him.

Its jaw shattered into dozens of pieces as it flew through the air.

‘As I thought, it wasn’t much.’

As expected, the combat ability of the Benandi’s true form wasn’t that strong.

In terms of pure physical strength, it seemed a bit weaker than an orc.

“Mr. Kang Hyeon.”

“What?!”

In the middle of the ongoing battle,

“Something seems strange.”

Shin Seong-a approached Kang Hyeon and spoke.

“I’m busy right now, later...”

“It looks like the forest is on fire.”

“What?!”

At the mention of fire, Kang Hyeon’s eyes widened.

His gaze quickly moved to where Shin Seong-a was pointing.

“Shit, what the hell is that...?”

An enormous blaze.

A fire that was spreading, engulfing the entire mountain range, was approaching.

Although there was still quite a distance, at this rate it would clearly cover this area before long.

“Where did that suddenly come from!?”

“We don’t have time. We need to reach the core as quickly as possible.”

Han Se-yeon, who had also seen the flames, shouted urgently.

“Damn it! We’re so close and now this shit happens!”

The core could now be felt just ahead.

The Benandis, also feeling the urgency, were charging recklessly without regard for anything else.

“Waaah!”

Just then, cheering could be heard from somewhere.

“It’s the Immortal Guild! The Immortal Guild is here!”

Ranked 2nd in South Korea, the Immortal Guild.

Led by Han Myeong-do, they emerged from the forest.

“Boys! I don’t know what’s going on, but for now, crush them!”

“Yes!”

The Immortal Guild members responded with shining eyes at Han Myeong-do’s words.

“We’ll greet each other properly later!”

Han Myeong-do waved and smiled as he saw Kang Hyeon and Han Se-yeon.

“It’s the Black Knights!”

“The Ability User union is here too!”

“Choi Dong-woo, it’s Choi Dong-woo!”

Immortal. Black Knights. Ability User Union.

Finally, all the raid parties except the Fire Dragon Guild had gathered.

Those who had been moving to escape the flames had come here after seeing the flares.

***

Ippotranslation

“How can we stop that?!”

“Destroy the core right now!”

“I don’t want to die like this...”

The situation was already exhausting.

And trying to block such an enormous army of monsters was a perfect suicide mission.

“If we destroy the core now, all those monsters will escape through the portal together!”

“...”

“What do you think will happen if that enormous number of monsters is unleashed into the city?”

The ability users’ momentum subsided a little at Han Se-yeon’s calm explanation.

“But we can’t all die here, can we?”

“We can hold them off.”

“...”

“They’re running away from the fire to survive. So we only need to endure for that brief moment when they pass through here.”

Despite Han Se-yeon’s words, the despair on people’s faces showed no signs of lifting.

“How can we possibly block that?!”

“That’s right. How many of us do you think will survive if we try to block that?!”

“Well...”

Honestly, Han Se-yeon knew too.

That they would struggle to withstand the monster army.

She and the Dangun Guild members could endure it sufficiently.

However, most of the people gathered here would be trampled and crushed to death under that monster army.

“See! I don’t want to die like this!”

The atmosphere seemed ready to explode at any moment.

Someone had to step up, but no one did.

Han Myeong-na and Choi Dong-woo were just keeping their mouths shut in a situation where no answer was in sight.

“Sigh...”

Kang Hyeon, who sighed, roughly ran his hand through his hair.

“Everyone shut up!”

At the sudden shout, everyone’s attention gathered.

“There’s a limit to whining. I’m sick of hearing all this chattering.”

“What?!”

People’s faces turned red and blue at Kang Hyeon’s words.

“I’ll block them.”

“What...?”

“I said I’ll block them.”

“...”

“So everyone shut up and step back.”

***

Ippotranslation

***

About 100 ability users were gathered around the core.

“Damn it... We’re all going to die. This is crazy!”

“How can we do this just by listening to that Kang Hyeon guy?!”

“We should destroy the core even now! Didn’t he say he’d block them anyway?”

The eyes of the people speaking were trembling ceaselessly with anxiety.

“Hey, mister over there. Be quiet, will you?”

The man’s head turned at the voice coming from beside him.

“What?!”

“I said be quiet.”

“...”

And he quickly fell silent at An Yu-seong’s fierce gaze.

“What are you going to do...”

Shin Seong-a looked at Kang Hyeon with a face full of worry.

“Kraaah!”

Kang Hyeon, standing alone in front of the enormous number of monsters, looked like he could be trampled at any moment.

***

Ippotranslation

***

“I can do it. Kang Hyeon. You can do it...”

Kang Hyeon kept repeating “I can do it” endlessly, like a habit he had developed sometime.

He didn’t care if he died.

But he absolutely couldn’t fail.

If he was breached, the 100 people behind him would be in danger, and if those 100 were breached, thousands and tens of thousands would be in danger.

“Hoo...”

Kang Hyeon, holding Ogre’s giant hammer in his hand, took a deep breath.

Currently, Kang Hyeon, who had monopolized all kinds of buffs, was in a state where his abilities were inflated by about 1.5 times.

On top of that, when he used ‘Giant’s Strength’ and ‘Wayne’s Secret Technique’, his body felt like it would burst from the overflowing power.

“Ugh...”

His body trembled from the power he couldn’t handle.

It was such intense pain that even Kang Hyeon, who was used to pain, let out a groan.

-Thud thud thud thud

“Kyaaah!”

The monsters were coming with tremendous momentum, shaking the ground.

The distance between them was now less than 100 meters.

“Come.”

The worst.

Everyone has their own idea of what’s worst.

The fall of honor.

Physical disability.

Death of family.

There might be various things, but what most people think of as the worst is set.

It’s their own death.

“Haa...”

But not for Kang Hyeon.

“I come back to life even if I die.”

Kang Hyeon, facing the monsters, grinned.

“So.”

-Thud thud thud...

“Rather than living shamefully, uncomfortably...”

-Thud thud thud thud thud!

“I’ll die with dignity.”

The monsters had come right up to his face.

Kang Hyeon, holding Bilgein’s longsword, used ‘Berserker’.

In an instant, all his stats shot up to 80, and he felt power as if he had become an omnipotent god.

“Uaaaah!”

No, the power was overflowing to the point where it felt like his entire body would burst at any moment.

“Shit! Good!”

His skin was wriggling as if bugs were crawling inside.

All the organs in his body were convulsing like mad beasts.

Kang Hyeon screamed at the sensation that surpassed the limit of pain a human could feel.

-Whoosh!

Ogre’s hammer, which he had been swinging with both hands with difficulty, now felt as light as a twig.

“Come on! You bastards!”

“Kyaaah!”

Finally, the horde of monsters clashed with Kang Hyeon.