Episode 256 – Hunt (2)
Twuung!
A massive arrow surged forward, bursting with blue light.
The arrow, imbued with the effects of Bloodsucking Ring and Pierce, was released at full power. As it rushed toward Kamel’s widened pupils, dyeing them blue—
“Step back!”
Lyon stepped in front, blocking it with his frost blade.
Ka-ka-ka-ka-kakang—!
Sparks flew as the sword and arrow collided.
Lyon clenched his teeth, trying to push the arrow away slowly, but the terrible penetrating force behind it made it impossible to deflect even slightly.
If the direction veered by even a little, his lord would be in danger.
As a life-or-death struggle unfolded, Kamel ignored the collision before him and glared fiercely at the man who had loosed the arrow.
“When did it start?”
To Kamel’s question, Arthur slowly clenched his fist and took a stance.
A faint golden light gently enveloped his entire body.
Divine Hunter's Awakening.
Reto’s Spirit Technique.
Quanru's Form.
Seeing Arthur bathed in golden light, Kamel let out a low groan.
It was a presence he had never felt before.
Overwhelming.
So this was his true form.
A form he had never once anticipated.
Had he ever been deceived this perfectly?
Kamel couldn’t accept it.
“When! When did it start?!”
“From the beginning.”
Arthur replied calmly, and Kamel grabbed his chest.
His cold heart was out of control.
Humiliation, defeat, and shame.
How much had that man laughed at him, being so aware of who he was while watching Kamel delude himself?
His heart felt like it would explode.
Where had it gone wrong?
[I greet the face of the Savior!]
That was what Arthur had said to him during their first meeting.
A throwaway assassin, like a mayfly, bowing his head with a Boom, a suicide bug planted in his heart.
The assassin’s sudden change of heart, when he should have made a suicide attack, had been the first unpredictable deviation since Kamel’s regression.
Then came the ensuing changes.
The internal strife between the chimeras and Beneta failed. Lochter Felice couldn’t be brought down.
Unable to protect Wailing Hill and the Blyer Mines, his power had dwindled as Beneta formed a blood pact with other races, Hunt rose up, and the Anti-Kamel Coalition was established.
All of it had begun with Arthur.
He could have stopped it all early on.
A simple gesture would’ve been enough.
[I was sent by ‘him’.]
Clench!
Kamel bit his lip.
Blood dripped, but he didn’t feel any pain.
The man had lived, proving his worth as a messenger of “him.”
If only he had killed him back then…
He had used “him” as a decoy.
That man knew far too much about Kamel.
Because he overthought it, he had fallen for the “him” trap.
“You’re not some mere assassin. Who are you, really? Are you someone who also returned to the past, like me?!”
“Think of it like this—you're first round, I’m second.”
“What? What are you saying…?!”
“When you go to hell, ask the demons the rest.”
Kachang!
“Taah!”
As Lyon deflected the arrow and charged forward, I signaled quickly.
Lochter and Karl dashed past me from both sides and clashed with Lyon.
Kkwaaang—!!!
“Lochter, you bastard!”
“I won’t be caught off guard like before, Lyon.”
Lochter parried Lyon’s strikes using Belin and Reyna, retreating, while Karl created distance and kept Lyon in check with his dagger.
In the midst of this—
“Kugh, Khuugh!”
“B-behind! Protect the lord!”
Just as Fenry emerged from the shadows to strike at Kamel’s back, the royal guard hurled themselves in front of him.
A sharp Claw pierced through the guard’s chest.
As she cursed and retrieved her weapon from his body, Rengua pulled Kamel back and snapped his fingers quickly.
Boom! Boom-boom!
“Kh! These insane bastards!”
The royal guards clinging to Fenry and those around her exploded in a chain reaction, sending her skidding across the ground.
She staggered to her feet, wiping the blood-covered face and laughing bitterly.
They hadn’t hesitated to turn themselves into curse bombs to protect Kamel.
Just what was that man?
They were truly relentless monsters.
“Eliminate the shadows!”
At Rengua’s command, the shamans chanted spells, spreading red veins across the ground.
While the focus was drawn to Fenry’s shadows, Kamel looked up at the sky, his face contorting.
He shattered every orb in his hand.
Layer after layer of massive barriers formed around Kamel for protection.
Ka-ka-ka-kakang—!
Yine
Daggers bounced off the shield, sparking violently.
Starting with Elton’s Flame Sword, the specters attempted a stealthy ambush, but blocked by the shield, they retreated without hesitation.
The chain of attacks was frighteningly efficient.
The enemy's coordination was too good.
Rengua gritted his teeth and frantically scanned the area.
They needed Lyon.
Kkang! Kkaang!
There was Lochter, clashing against the terrifying frost blade.
He was barely holding on, gritting his teeth, using dual blades to defend against the relentless strikes.
Even though Lyon was pushing with power at its peak, Karl Bastain's interference disrupted the flow, making it hard to finish the fight.
This is bad.
Cold sweat dripped from Rengua’s forehead.
Behind him was Fenry Chaser.
Above the forest, specters loomed.
In front, Alex, a natural enemy to black sorcery, stood bathed in golden light.
“We can’t hold them.”
Just a little more delay here, and it's over.
Realizing this, Lyon pushed Lochter back and shouted urgently.
“Rengua! Get the lord out of here!”
Rengua, gripping the Dagger of the Dead, stabbed it into the back of the royal guard protecting Kamel.
“Kuk!”
The guard’s eyes briefly turned red, and after dropping his head for a moment, he lifted it blankly, then carried Kamel on his back.
“I’ll stop them somehow. Go.”
Kamel bit down hard.
Both Rengua and Lyon were telling him to escape alone.
They were saying they couldn’t last long.
A wave of helplessness came crashing down.
If only he had power.
Kamel looked up at the sky.
The Forest of Ghosts.
So dark and heavy.
He had never wanted to die under a sky like this, but his fate was steadily leading him toward death.
Was it truly an unavoidable death?
As the power struggles in Tobaron continued, his Soul-Piercing Insight had consistently foretold a bleak future.
He had just refused to accept it.
Kamel had been preparing for death for a long time.
“Rengua.”
He brought the frenzy-driven royal guard under his command and controlled him as he looked at Rengua.
He had dug three tunnels. Two were blocked.
Only one remained.
The scenario where he lost everything and died.
“If I die, move according to the third plan.”
“…But, my lord!”
“All preparations are complete. My fate is now in your hands. And…”
Kamel turned to watch Lyon, throwing his whole body to buy time, and murmured quietly.
“Well done, Lyon.”
The long and arduous road ahead.
Lyon would no longer be able to walk that path with them.
Because he had no place in the third plan.
Rengua nodded, picked up the Dagger of the Dead, and began pouring its power into Lyon.
“Kuaaaaahhh!”
Lyon’s eyes glowed with blue ghostly light.
His frost blade unleashed an immense aura, sweeping across the battlefield. Lochter could no longer endure and triggered a counter.
Kuuuuuuuuuuung!!!!!
The frost storm collided with red energy, forcing both knights apart.
Lochter, his entire body turned white, coughed blood and dropped to his knees.
Right now, Lyon was a monster.
He was impenetrable.
Lyon’s frost storm raged in all directions, isolating everyone.
Fenry was pinned down, and the specters curled in on themselves, resisting the icy aura.
At the center of the storm—the eye—Kamel’s group stood in formation.
Defensive lines tightly drawn, protecting Kamel.
At the forefront stood Rengua, gripping twin daggers with an expression that refused to yield.
But only briefly. Rengua’s fierce eyes began to waver.
No…
Rengua frantically scanned the surroundings, his heart sinking.
Alex Marcia.
He was nowhere in sight.
“No… no…”
Just as the enemies couldn’t enter Lyon’s frost storm, Rengua couldn’t escape it either.
With eyes filled with despair, he turned toward one direction.
Where his lord had secretly withdrawn using a ritual.
And beyond the forest—he saw a faint golden light trailing away.
The enemy had noticed Kamel’s movement.
He couldn’t be caught.
Rengua twisted his face in anguish and howled.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
Even as Lochter and Karl faced off with Lyon, coughing blood…
Even as Fenry was caught in explosions, soaked in blood…
Even as the specters were torn apart by Rengua’s black sorcery…
I stood still.
Watching only one person.
Kamel Blazer, the Butcher.
A villain protagonist of Chapter 1, but the most influential force in this entire novel as a regressor.
Because of him, the witches were destroyed, Hell Grime fell into chaos, and even in death, he triggered Demtor’s downfall.
An enemy you must never lower your guard against—even in the moment of apparent victory.
I didn’t make a move first.
I waited, observed, and waited for him to move.
And then—
Sssssssss—
He vanished behind Rengua’s back.
Kamel was finally on the move.
It didn’t matter where he ran.
Divine Hunter.
Once the target was locked, they could never escape my eyes.
I opened my Divine Eye.
“Got you.”
The moment I locked onto the direction, I released the power I had crouched down and stored.
Burst Strike.
KWAHHHHHHHHHH—!
My body disappeared like a mirage.
There—approaching fast.
Kamel, being carried by the royal guard.
“No!!!!!!!!!!”
Rengua’s scream pierced through the forest as Kamel turned in response.
Our eyes met.
His twisted face came into full view.
And my gaze swallowed his figure whole, as I reached striking distance.
“You—!”
“Die.”
Just as Kamel opened his mouth to shout something, I thrust forward Quanru’s fist.
A golden fist, imbued with piercing force.
The royal guard twisted his body, trying to shield him. But this was the end.
Puuhk—!
My fist pierced through the guard’s chest and burst through Kamel’s abdomen.
“Ku, kuhlugh!”
Coughing blood, Kamel looked up at my face. Crimson blood streamed endlessly from between his clenched teeth.
“A… Aas…”
Just as he tried to say something, I turned my head sharply.
A blazing red aura surged behind Kamel like a thunderbolt.
The owner of Divine Power.
[Gram Seraphim.]
Puuhk!
A delicate hand pierced the guard’s neck from behind.
The guard collapsed, headless, and Kamel hung limp, his chest run through by her hand.
His blood sprayed like a mist, pouring into her body.