Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Enchant.

Simply put, it was the concept of granting magic to a Spirit Sword.

Usually, Mages, or Supporters with buff abilities, cast magic on the Spirit Swords of Damage Dealers or Tanks.

But I had not known that I could use cards to cast Enchant on my own and strengthen my Spirit Sword.

Whoooosh!

The [Butcher of Madness] shone with a sharpness that could not even be compared to before.

Seeing Ether burst out from it, I could tell its power without even checking.

It was strong.

It should be powerful enough to work against the Count as well.

‘Let us test it.’

Gripping the [Butcher of Madness], which had been strengthened by the [Luck] and [Full Moon] cards, I charged at the Count again.

“You lowly, insignificant things!”

“Ugh!”

When the Count shouted angrily and thrashed, Choi Yura was dragged along.

It seemed that the monstrous strength of the enraged Count was not something even Choi Yura, a 4-Star Hunter, could easily endure.

“The only price for invading a lord’s domain is death!”

The Count, enveloped in red Ether, pulled on Choi Yura’s iron chain.

“……!”

The moment Choi Yura was pulled toward the Count with a whoosh.

CRAAACK!

The Enchant had worked.

The [Butcher of Madness] split the Count’s shoulder.

“Kraaaagh!”

The Count screamed and swung his arm toward me.

WHOOSH!

‘If that hits me, I will die.’

It was an old and bony arm, but the power contained within it was tremendous.

As a 2-Star Hunter, I would suffer a fatal injury from just one gesture of the Count’s hand.

But it did not matter.

All I had to do was not get hit.

Clench!

Choi Yura gripped the iron chain again, and just in time, Captain Im’s group joined in and scattered the Count’s attention.

‘Now.’

Before the Count could release another shock wave, this moment, while his attention was divided, was the perfect opportunity.

‘I will end it in one strike.’

I concentrated all the Ether I had into the [Butcher of Madness] and slipped through the Count’s opening.

‘Now.’

From below to above.

The axe blade of the [Butcher of Madness] drew a diagonal line across the Count’s neck.

SLICE!

The Count’s head flew off.

SPURT!

Black dead blood burst out like a fountain.

Thud.

The Count’s head rolled across the floor.

[Count] has been defeated!

The [Cursed Citadel] dungeon has been cleared!

Ether has been absorbed!

A portal will be created!

When the Count died, a portal leading outside the dungeon was created.

“You truly worked hard!”

“You worked hard!”

Captain Im’s group ran over and spoke.

“Everyone worked hard.”

I also thanked Captain Im’s group, who had worked hard.

“You are pretty good.”

“You too.”

I grinned and replied to Choi Yura’s words.

“The promise…….”

“I will keep it as soon as the time comes. Wait a little.”

“All right.”

Perhaps because of what I had shown her, Choi Yura obediently nodded.

“Then let us take care of the injured, recover the bodies of the dead, and leave.”

“Yes, that is what I intend to do.”

Captain Im looked around and tightly shut his eyes as if the sight was miserable.

Nearly ten corpses of Boramae Clan members lay scattered here and there.

“Kuuuugh!”

“My arm, my arrrrm!”

There were also many people who had been seriously injured.

“What happened? Most of you are 1-Star or 2-Star Hunters. Why are you here?”

“Ugh!”

Choi Yura asked while wrapping a tourniquet around the thigh of a female Hunter whose leg had been half-severed.

For Hunters, tourniquets were essential equipment, so they usually carried two or three.

“Th-The Clan oppas…… uuuugh!”

Tight!

“Endure it. I have to tie it tightly so you do not die from excessive bleeding.”

“Sob, sob!”

“Do not look at your leg. Do not worry either. With proper treatment, an injury like this will heal quickly.”

“Th-Thank you, unnie.”

Like a professional Hunter, Choi Yura skillfully stopped the bleeding while even speaking to keep the female Hunter from losing consciousness.

On top of that, she also gave her a shot of morphine to ease her pain.

“So why are you all here? You still have to answer what I asked.”

“The Clan oppas said they would carry us…… that all we had to do was follow them…… sob!”

“…….”

Choi Yura tightly shut her eyes as if she understood exactly what had happened.

***

In truth, accidents like this were common.

They happened just when people were about to forget about them, so it was not particularly surprising.

Many people thought Clans made up of Awakened were some kind of incredible superpowered organization.

That was half right and half wrong.

That was only true of Clans that had ‘proper’ Hunters.

In the case of a Clan like the Boramae Clan, which only had numbers, it was called a Clan, but its nature was closer to a hobby club.

Because of that, all kinds of incidents often broke out, and this was exactly such a case.

Old-timers would bring rookies into high-rank dungeons under the pretext of carrying them, only for an accident to happen.

And in the overwhelming majority of cases, the people they tried to carry were clueless female rookie Hunters.

“What exactly did you trust in those pieces of trash that made you think you should receive a carry from them? Did you think those woman-crazed bastards could take responsibility for your life?”

“Sob, sob, sob.”

“Just looking at the equipment you are wearing, it seems like you do not even have the basics. You are an unregistered Awakened who has not even completed the Special Force Training Center, are you not?”

“Th-That is right.”

“Why did you not register? Why did you not sign a government contract either? If you wanted to work as a Hunter, you should at least have completed the Special Force Training Center’s training first.”

“Th-They said if I contracted with the government, my every move would be monitored…… and that if I did not obey the government, I could be killed without anyone knowing…… and that I would be worked like a slave until I eventually died, so the Clan oppas said…… the training was nothing special…… and that they would teach me…….”

“Are you seriously saying that right now?”

Watching from the side, Choi Yura looked like she was on the verge of exploding.

I was not much different.

‘Damn idiots. They really do every kind of thing.’

It could not be helped that rumors circulated claiming that if you signed with the Defense Strategy Department, you would be monitored, assassinated, and used.

Some parts of that were also true.

But saying that the Special Force Training Center’s training was nothing special was nonsense among nonsense.

They seemed to think that once someone awakened, they could slice through monsters overnight, but that was an enormous misconception.

No matter how talented an Awakened was, if they did not understand basic survival knowledge and tactics, they would simply be ground into a lump of meat.

It was the same principle as handing a rifle to a strong monkey and expecting it to be useful as a combatant.

Awakened also had to know how to fight, and they had to learn it.

That was why the [Special Force Training Center], commonly called the SFTC, existed.

At the Special Force Training Center, they taught the essential knowledge a Hunter had to know, including marksmanship, tactics, survival skills, weapon techniques, helicopter rappelling, motorcycle riding, land navigation, first aid, and so on.

Even that was criticized as superficial, because content that should have been learned over several years was taught in only three short months.

Of course, since humanity did not have time, intensive training over a short period was an unavoidable choice.

“Honestly. They think everyone who awakens is a Hunter. Tsk, tsk.”

A simple Awakened and a Hunter had to be strictly distinguished.

Not just anyone could be called a Hunter.

The title of Hunter was something only those who had received advanced training and possessed sufficient real combat experience could grasp.

“You, once you leave this place, do not even dream of acting as a Hunter. If you truly want to do it, sign a formal contract with the Defense Strategy Department and complete the Special Force Training Center’s training first. Think about it after that.”

“Yes, unnie…….”

“One more thing.”

Choi Yura added.

“From now on, do not entrust your life to idiots who call themselves Clan oppas or whatever. Your life is something you judge and take responsibility for yourself. Do you understand?”

“Yes…….”

“Lie down. Do not move under any circumstances. You, over there.”

Choi Yura pointed at one Clan member who looked half out of his mind.

“Even if you are a damn idiot, you should at least carry a stretcher, right?”

“W-Well, that is…….”

“I do not know why we saved a bastard like you. You deserve to die.”

Choi Yura hurled abuse at that Clan member and tossed out the portable stretcher that had been inside her backpack.

It was a portable stretcher made of high-strength plastic. Normally, it was rolled up and carried inside a bag, then taken out when needed. In the past, it had mainly been used by rescue workers or special forces personnel.

As active-duty soldiers, Captain Im’s group also examined the injured Boramae Clan members with practiced movements.

In the middle of that, one of Captain Im’s subordinates discovered something and pointed at it.

“There is something over there.”

A sphere was floating above the Count’s corpse.

A Rune.

Judging by the five sparkling Ether lights around it, it was an astounding 5-Star.

‘Jackpot!’

Even before confirming it with my eyes, I instinctively knew that the Rune was a highly valuable item.

The Count, the boss of this [Cursed Citadel], dropped a Rune at a very low probability.

I had never calculated it exactly, but it was a probability where even if you killed a thousand Counts, you might barely get one drop.

However, every Rune the Count dropped had excellent performance.

There were seventeen types that I knew of alone, and among the Runes that could be obtained from 3-Star to 4-Star dungeons, they were, without question, unrivaled.

‘Is it because of the Luck card’s effect?’

The 3-Star card [Luck] basically raised luck by 25%, so that was a sufficiently persuasive hypothesis.

‘Let us see what it is.’

As I walked toward the Rune as if bewitched, a group of Hunters blocked my path.

“Wait.”

A Hunter from the Boramae Clan spoke to me.

“Are you planning to monopolize the Rune?”

“……?”

“I am sorry, but our Boramae Clan also has a right to that Rune. Please step back.”

When was the last time I cleaned my ears……?

I began to doubt my own hearing.

Wondering whether I had really heard what I had just heard.

“Could you please say that again? My hearing is not very good.”

“I said our Clan also has a right to the Rune.”

“……?”

“Step back while I am still asking nicely.”

Click. Their muzzles pointed at me.