The Korean team had entered the boss room, also known as ‘the queen’s chamber’. It took them 15 minutes to get here.
‘If we consider the fact that we’ll need roughly the same amount of time to get out of here….’
They still had around 30 minutes of wiggle room. Assuming that they should be able to shorten their return trip because they were already familiar with the path now, the remaining time was on the ‘more than enough’ side.
‘Very good.’
Having confirmed the time with his wristwatch, Ma Dong Wook raised his head. Everything was going according to plan. What remained now was how should they go about bookending this operation.
Baek Yoonho used his ‘Eyes of the Beast‘ to see through the darkness and accurately assessed the number of enemies present.
“The queen is at the rearmost location. There are eight guards in front of the target.”
The queen’s guards were incomparably stronger than the regular ants. It’d be too tough for one Tanker to take on the attacks of the queen and its guard monsters. From here onwards, Ma Dong Wook needed another person to act as a secondary Tanker.
He looked to his side.
“Hunter Park.”
“What?”
“Can you take on the guard duty while I tend to the queen?”
“Okay.”
Jongryeo’s reply was short and simple.
He have some experience serving as the main Tanker during his raids in past. So, performing the role of a sub-tanker was easier than drinking cold soup for him.
Ma Dong Wook shifted his gaze to the rest of the team. Every single member present here was a top specialist in hunting down monsters. Going through detailed explanations was a waste of time for them.
“Let’s go.”
As soon as Ma Dong Wook turned toward the ants, Choi Jong-In created a massive ball of light and floated it up to the highest point in the boss room. That brightly illuminated the entirety of the chamber.
“Heok.”
The cameraman spat out a quiet gasp at the sheer size of the light sphere. He quickly began whispering towards a small mic located near his lips.
“As an A-rank Hunter, I’ve participated in quite a few raids before, but it’s my first time seeing such a huge ‘Light’ magic like that. As expected of Korea’s best Mage-type Hunter!”
His voice entered the mic and got transmitted to the viewers throughout the entire country.
Not too long ago, he heard that the live broadcast he was filming had shot past the audience rating of 80%.
Feeling overly motivated now, the cameraman tried to step forward in order to capture even better footage, but then, Min Byung-Gyu standing next to him at the back of the group hurriedly yanked him back by his shoulder.
“Keok?!”
At this absolute strength, the cameraman couldn’t offer any resistance and spun around to face Min Byung-Gyu. His shoulder hurt so much that his mouth bobbed up and down all by itself.
‘How can a Healer be this strong?’
There was no time to get shocked, though. The cameraman was now facing Min Byung-Gyu who carried a completely different expression to when he was busy cracking jokes during the ride in the helicopter.
“This here is a boss room of an S-rank dungeon. No one here is responsible for your life, except yourself.”
Hearing Min Byung-Gyu’s anger-infused voice, the cameraman could only continue to nod his head, unable to form an intelligible reply.
“If you understand, then stay at the back. The real thing is about to get started.”
The overflowing energy of an S-rank Hunter – even a Healer, who was supposed to be the physically weakest out of all the Hunter types, still could display an aura that easily overwhelmed an A-rank Hunter. That was the difference between an S-rank and an A-rank.
Such monstrous beings were uniting together to start an intense battle, so what could a measly little A-rank cameraman even achieve here?
The cameraman felt his own powerlessness for the first time since becoming a Hunter and hurriedly stood behind Min Byung-Gyu.
Sure enough….
“Here they come.”
A giant ant discovered the Hunters’ presence and shifted its six legs to slowly approach where they were.
“So, that’s the queen….”
Baek Yoonho nervously swallowed his saliva.
…
The taut, nervous tension was also writ large on the faces of other Hunters.
The absolutely commanding presence of the ant queen!
These men had become the very first humans to witness the outer appearance of the ant queen, having sneaked past the wall of hundreds, thousands of ants to get here.
‘Today, we shall end the lifeline of these damnable ants for good.’
Baek Yoonho’s heart trembled as he thought about bringing that massive creature down. But, if they were to do that, then first of all….
Baek Yoonho’s glare that had been fixed on the ant queen now shifted lower to the ground.
‘We need to….’
Eight ants walking in front of the ant queen – they had to get rid of the guards first.
“Ha-ahp!”
As if he had read the minds of his fellow raid members, the main Tanker of the team, Ma Dong Wook, rushed forward to the frontline. A thick vein protruded out of his neck as he shouted out.
“You damn ants, come and get some!”
His impressive roar!
The ants’ sights had degenerated now, but in return, their sense of hearing had become even more developed, so they immediately bared their fangs and claws before pouncing on Ma Dong Wook’s position.
He quickly looked behind him.
“Hunter Park! Now!”
Jongryeo had been running behind Ma Dong Wook while maintaining a certain distance and when he heard his call, he quickly summoned ‘Mistsplitter Reforged’. Grabbing the hilt in a reverse grip with both hands, he stabbed the ground.
Skill, [Tremor of Provocation] – activated!
Khwack!!
With the sword stabbing the ground serving as the epicenter, magic energy radiated out in circular waves. The ant guards aiming at Ma Dong Wook suddenly all changed their directions and jumped at Jongryeo instead as if they had been entranced by something powerful.
“Now!”
Ma Dong Wook inwardly fist-pumped the air as the monsters ran past him and towards Jongryeo. Jongryeo was successful in attracting the aggro of the ant guards.
Next up, it was his turn.
Ma Dong Wook quickly stepped in between Jongryeo and the giant ant queen trying to shuffle towards him.
“You’re mine.”
The ant queen must’ve been displeased by an enemy blocking its way because it began bellowing out a high-pitched scream.
Kiiiieeeehhhk!!
Any old Tanker would have been suppressed by the sheer pressure and cover their ears from that horrifying screech, but such a trick wouldn’t work against Korea’s best Tanker, Ma Dong Wook.
“Hap-!!”
He instead activated his skill, ‘Battle Cry of Provocation’.
Unlike Jongryeo’s, who activated an AOE aggro skill. Ma Dong Wook activated one that only worked against a single target.
The ant queen stopped screeching out and glared at Ma Dong Wook now. He had successfully attracted its aggro.
‘Yes!!’
And now, his role was to endure the boss’s attacks until his colleagues managed to kill off the ant guards and come to his aid. And that would be the role he felt most confident of performing in this world.
Ma Dong Wook lifted that heavy, large shield right up below his chin, the light of grim determination burning in his eyes. As he always had done, he began praying deep in his heart.
‘Please grant me the power to protect myself and my colleagues today.’
Kwa-ka-boom!!
Just then, a huge explosion resounded out from behind him, signaling the beginning of the raid of the ant queen, where countless lives were at stake.
Ma Dong Wook spurred his teammates on.
“We’re almost there!! Let us just push a little bit harder, everyone!”
Just as his words implied, the ant queen was truly on its last legs. All they needed was a little more push, and that would be it.
There were hundreds of arrows stuck tightly together on the head of the queen fired by Lim Tae-Gyu, and the creature resembled a hedgehog as a result.
Pi-ooong!
Kwa-jeeck!
Yet another arrow flew and struck the queen in the face. The creature screeched out as if it was in great pain and shook its head.
Kieeehhk!!
The queen quickly recovered its bearings and began spewing out poisonous acidic liquid throughout the boss room.
Splash-!!
It was such a wide-scale attack that several Hunters failed to escape in time. Their skins began burning up into black charcoal, but their wounds were restored in full by Min Byung-Gyu’s healing magic.
Kiieeehk!!
The queen was further enraged by the fact that its acid attack wasn’t effective, and bit down on Ma Dong Woo in front of the group with its large, saw-like fangs.
Kwack!!!
However, Ma Dong Wook activated the ‘Advanced Fortification’ skill to defend his entire body and managed to endure the queen’s attack.
One side of the ant’s jaw was blocked off by the shield, while the other side, with his left hand. While Ma Dong Wook was buying more time in this fashion, a huge pillar of flames exploded out from the side of the ant queen.
Kwa-ka-ka-boom!!
It was Choi Jong-In’s magic doing its thing.
Kiiehk!!
The queen staggered and failed to balance itself. Baek Yoonho in his beast form seized upon this chance and jumped up very quickly to rip out the queen’s left fang with his bare hand/paw.
Kwajeeck!!
Deftly landing back on the ground, Baek Yoonho breathed heavily as certainty grew larger in his heart.
‘The queen’s finished.’
His extensive hunting experience told him so. This would be the moment when they finally kill the leader of an army of monsters that dyed this land black with the blood of their victims.
Just a little bit more, and it’d be done. When he thought like that, a certain powerful emotion welled up from deep inside his heart.
but then, the queen suddenly raised its head high up in the air. And….
Kyaaaaaaaaahhh-!!
A screech that was so loud that it almost ruptured the Hunters’ eardrums reverberated throughout the entire ant tunnel. Baek Yoonho’s eyes shook hard.
‘What was that?! A roar of anger? Its death throes?’
No, it felt different from those. That screech sounded like a pleading call towards someone, something, which was still far away.
‘It’s calling for something?!’
When his thought process reached there, he felt an unexplainable chill run down his spine.
“We need to stop that thing!!”
Before Baek Yooho could take another step forward, Jongryeo jumped up rather gracefully and swung down the sword he held firmly with both hands.
Slice!
The queen’s head fell down to the ground first before he could land back on his feet.
Thud!!
The cameraman had been holding his breath as he bore witness to this battle of the S-rank creatures. And finally, he was able to raise both of his arms up high in elation as tears formed in his eyes.
This was the moment when the curtains closed on the horrifying battle that lasted for 4 years.
“Pant, pant….”
The heavily panting Ma Dong Wook raised his thumb up towards his teammates.
Jongryeo also sighed out in relief.
Choi Jong-In grinned as he adjusted his glasses, while Lim Tae-Gyu punched the air. Everyone was expressing their delight over the victory in their own way.
Only Baek Yoonho among them was shuddering from this ominous and unexplainable chill taking root within the corner of his heart.
“Hyung, we just became the seventh raid team in the entire world to successfully clear an S-rank Gate, so why do you look like….”
“Hold on.”
It was then. Ma Dong Wook, who had been in communication with the command center, suddenly formed an enraged expression.
There was no time for them to relax like this. He quickly called out to his teammates taking a short break nearby.
“The Japanese have withdrawn already, and the remaining ants are heading this way! We need to escape from here, right now!”
“What?!”
“But, don’t we still have some time left?!”
“20 S-rank Hunters couldn’t even hold out for 30 minutes, never mind one hour?!”
When his teammates grew visibly flustered, Ma Dong Wook spoke in a complicated voice.
“I don’t know the details, but…. The Association is trying to find out what’s going on, but the Japanese have one-sidedly cut off the communication.”
“Those stinking sons of bitch…!”
Choi Jong-In spat out some choice words in disgust.
If it were the Japanese Hunters down here and not the Koreans, would they have given up this early and withdraw? No matter what, though – one had to be alive first in order to get angry later.
To prevent unrest from breaking out among his teammates, Ma Dong Wook did his best to suppress his own feelings. With a calm face, he hurried with their escape from this place.
“Everyone, hurry!”
The members of the Korean raid team hurriedly ran towards the exit of the queen’s chamber.
However, the one running in the lead, Baek Yoonho, stopped in his tracks first.
“Ah…..”
“Hyung?”
Min Byung-Gyu running right behind had to stop there, and as a chain reaction, everyone else came to a stop as well. Wordlessly rooted to the spot, Baek Yoonho’s gaze was fixed in one direction as his entire body began trembling noticeably.
“This, this can’t be….”
This couldn’t be happening.
No, such a thing shouldn’t even happen in the first place.
As he watched a shadow approach them, he recalled the tall, humanoid-shaped eggshell back in the nursery area.
‘This… you’re telling me that this is the power possessed by a single monster?’
Baek Yoonho’s complexion paled instantly.
Other Hunters feeling puzzled finally sensed something was wrong and quickly took a step back from the exit.
“What’s this?”
“Did the ants return here already??”
As the Hunters began falling into a confused state….
From the far side of the ant tunnel draped in darkness, a single-winged ant was slowly walking towards the Korean Hunters.
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