Chapter 181: Chapter 181

‘Amazing!’

Was this the power of an A-grade hunter? Even dozens of magic from countless hunters couldn’t bring down the fortress’ shield, yet Choi Yeonseung easily pierced through it with a single strike of sword energy.

Martial artists often said things like, ‘Oh, if only I could use sword energy, I would be able to ignore all magicians!’

Martial arts at a low level simply raised their physical ability. However, once they had reached a high enough level, they would be able to start performing all sorts of tricks by handling the accumulated internal energy as if it was their own limbs.

Among them, sword energy was the most destructive one. It was like the crystallization of pure internal energy.

“Uh... W-wait.”

“?”

“Why are you entering the fortress?” the hunters asked, finding his plan strange. Right now, hunters from each expedition were engaging in a fierce battle. Shouldn’t they help the hunters? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“You’re here to conquer this fortress, aren’t you?”

“That’s true, but the other hunters...”

“Don’t worry. They’ll be fine.”

Choi Yeonseung just kept moving onward. If they were bad enough to send other people out as bait, then they should be able to handle being the bait themselves!

***

-The fortress has fallen!

-The humans have taken over the fortress!

Amid the battle, the orcs looked up at the sudden news, clearly taken aback. All the flags bearing the emblem of the constellation were lowered, and a human being they had never seen before stood on top of the fortress.

-Never mind that! Didn’t I say that the master has given a revelation? Kill everyone here, then we’ll get the fortress back!

-But what being deprived of the fortress now is a mistake? Master will be disappointed in us!

-Was it the master’s will to have the fortress taken away?

The orcs’ burning passion cooled down. The orcs, who had been pushing fiercely, were frightened when they saw that the fortress had fallen. And their hesitation made the hunters dealing with them feel relieved.

“Gather over here! Get into formation again!”

“Hunters who are B-grade or higher, go deeper inside! Don’t think about running away! We have to fight together!”

“You are talking nonsense. You set aside people without telling us! You tried to use us as decoys!”

Some of the hunters angrily complained, upon belatedly realizing the truth. They normally would’ve been suppressed with force already, but this wasn’t possible since they were surrounded by orcs on all sides.

“It’s all a misunderstanding. I couldn’t disclose it because it was confidential.”

“Don’t be fooled, everyone! Grant belongs to the household of the Iron-Blooded General Who Shakes the Battlefield! You know how ruthless the household members of that constellation are!”

Certainly, in situations like this, the name of the constellation he followed also had a great influence. Most of the hunters knew what type of constellation the general constellation was, so they started to cast suspicious glances over.

-Will he use us as cannon fodder next time?

-This bastard. I already found it suspicious that he kept saying he would give orders...

-Damn. This wouldn’t have happened if our Chinese expedition team had taken the lead!

As the turmoil spread throughout the expedition, Joseph realized things could get dangerous if he didn’t suppress this with force. If he didn’t calm things down by threatening them here, the hunters who stood on his side could break away.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

The moment Joseph revealed his killing intent, the hunters questioning him backed away out of fear. A-grade hunters could exude extraordinary killing intent.

“Stop right there, Joseph,” Yugen Nacht said.

“......!”

A B+ hunter from Germany, Yugen Nacht was almost the size of an orc glared at Joseph. Joseph was an A-grade hunter, so he normally couldn’t be intimidated by such threats, but the current situation dictated otherwise. Yugen Nacht’s older brother, Ben Nacht, was standing with him. He was the A-grade hunter leading the German hunters!

Several other A-grade hunters also glared at him as if they didn’t want to watch Joseph go on a rampage, so Joseph had no choice but to back off. He couldn’t fight against all the A and B-grade hunters here.

“?”

At that moment, a paper bird flew in from the distance, clearly sent through summoning magic.

-Those who want to live, hurry up and enter the fortress. Those who want to live, hurry up and enter the fortress.

“......”

“......”

The cheeky words from the paper bird made the hunters speechless. When did they take over the fortress?

***

“Ahh, so you have this type of magic. That’s good to know.”

Clearly impressed, Choi Yeonseung looked at Hunter Jeong?Wuguk.

[Paper Bird Control.]

The magic itself was 2nd-circle magic. It didn’t cost much magic power, but it was quite difficult to use. The user who summoned the paper bird would share its senses while it was flying. Used to walking on two legs, hunters had a hard time getting accustomed to the paper bird’s senses and flight.

Piloting magic was just as difficult as flying magic. In addition, flying magic had a tremendous advantage in dungeons or raids if mastered well, while this piloting magic had little advantage. It could have been a lot useful in the past when technology was insufficient, but advanced technology had made it easy to communicate these days.

Nevertheless, Choi Yeonseung welcomed it. In the past, first-generation hunters used this type of magic to talk in the dungeons whenever they did raids.

“This…?isn’t?really a big deal. To be honest, I received a lot of criticism when I started learning this.”

“Any magic you study will be useful someday. Don’t worry too much about it.”

As Choi Yeonseung expected, the orcs slowed down as if they lost their strength when the fortress was captured. They were a simple race. The fact that someone had taken the fortress was enough to demoralize them.

“Why are the hunters outside coming here... ”

“I can’t let them die. Wait. Did you want them to die?”

Choi Yeonseung looked at Kwon?Yeongseung?with a surprised expression. Kwon Yeongseung was embarrassed.

“What are you talking about?!”

“Why? A lot of people say that hunters are garbage.”

Hunters’ personalities were basically a mess. Hence, when watching overseas hunters, more than just a person or two said things like, ‘I want everyone else to be searched except for me’ or ‘that XXX will be searched the next time I see them.’

Of course, Kwon Yeongseung, who had a good and exemplary image, couldn’t relate to this story.

“If we leave them outside, they will scatter and fight among themselves while running away. If they are kept inside the fortress, they will stand together. Fighting inside the fortress will also give us lots of advantages...”

“Ah. That is how it is.”

Kwon Yeongseung was a bit impressed.

Choi Yeonseung’s reason was quite logical and smart. What made it more impressive was that he made this decision amid a confusing and sudden situation. Was this because of experience?

“As expected, you are experienced.”

“... Did you just call me old?”

“Huh? No, that’s… Um... That’s not necessarily what I meant, but I could be implying that a little bit...”

Kwon Yeongseung was bad at lying. He had always been a good hunter, so he didn’t have to hide his inner feelings and lie. Moreover, Choi Yeonseung was a first-generation hunter. He was indeed old.

“Hmm. I see.”

Next to him, Elisabeth raised a hand to her neck and drew her hand across her neck. Seeing this, Kwon Yeongseung suddenly started to feel anxious.

Did he say something wrong?

***

“This is a headache.”

“Why?”

“Those guys got in here first,” Ben Nacht told his brother Yugen.

In situations like this, priority was normally given to the first hunters to occupy a building. Even if they had raided the fortress together, the right to it belonged to Choi Yeonseung’s expedition team since they were the ones to capture it.

“Still, he won’t ask us for too much. Brother, can’t you see many people are here?”

“Things in the world don’t work logically,” Ben admonished his brother.

There were many hunters still outside. Thinking about what would happen later, nothing good could come from being too fierce here. However, that was what ordinary, low-level hunters thought. Those who had reached A-grade or higher had nothing to regret in the world. They could spit in front of the prime minister of another country and safely return to their own country.

The people and hunters of that country would curse them, but so what? They could just do raids with the few hunters on their side anyway. In other words...

Since the fortress had been occupied first, it meant the opponent’s right to be arrogant had already been booked. It could be different if it was a low-grade hunter, but Choi Yeonseung was an A-grade hunter...

“Is everyone inside?”

“Yes. You occupied the fortress while we were fighting,” Yugen said with hostility.

Before Choi Yeonseung could even answer, Antony snorted, “If you find it so unfair, then why didn’t you take it first? Those who lack skills are still alive and whining!”

“Schneider, you bastard...”

Yugen turned red, seemingly well aware of Antony’s personality. Antony was a huge bastard, so it was really bad to meet him in such a situation.

“Blaming someone for your stupid plans is so disgusting—”

“Stop it,” Choi Yeonseung interrupted Antony. If left alone, he would pull all the aggro himself.

Ben stopped his brother as well. There was no need to get so worked up. After all, Choi Yeonseung was the one in a position of power. Rather, they should negotiate with Choi Yeonseung to put themselves in a good position as well.

“So what should we do, Choi Yeonseung? We will cooperate.”

“Ah... Do I have to give you an order? I’ll assign you an area of the fortress. Just go and guard it.”

“... Is that all?”

Ben was slightly taken aback. It was much simpler than he thought.

“What else do you want me to say?”

Whittaker whispered from next to him, “I think it would be good to recruit healers and tankers from each expedition and place more on our side.”

“Are you saying to let them fend for themselves?”

“No... That’s not... I’m just saying they can survive with their skills.”

Choi Yeonseung made Whittaker shut up, then continued, “Just take care of your designated area. Don’t touch the rest.”

“......!!”

The hunters murmured among themselves. Choi Yeonseung was more generous than they expected. At the very least, they thought he would transfer over healers or?tankers?or ask for supplies.

“Is that really all?” Sophie Lambert, a B+ hunter from France, asked in disbelief. On the contrary, it was hard to believe that he was giving safety away so freely.

However, Choi Yeonseung just nodded and replied, “Yes. It doesn’t really matter anyway.”

“?”

“Look outside. The orcs are all coming here.”

“......!!”

It was only then that hunters snapped back to reality and climbed onto the walls of the fortress to check. Orcs were covering the horizon of the Abyss and rushing their way. They seemed to be full of fighting spirit, almost as if they had recovered from the chaos earlier.

“How… could they have so many?”

They didn’t seem to be just taking a fortress back. It seemed all the orcs in this realm were coming.

“Let's fight together to survive. Ah, right. Don’t put low-level hunters in front just because you are in a hurry. If I ever catch you doing that, I will throw you all out of the fortress.”

“......”

Choi Yeonseung’s manner of speaking didn’t change, but he sounded serious.

The hunters, who had been standing still, couldn’t help but gulp.