Chapter 204: Chapter 204

“What the hell are you talking about? I’ll protest to the US government!”

“Feel free to do so.”

Pan Wugang’s face turned red at Choi Yeonseung’s words.

To be honest, Pan Wugang realized it too. When a hunter reached the position of A-grade hunter, protesting against their orders to their government was pointless. It might have been different if Choi Yeonseung had been from a small African country that owed a lot to China, but he was a hunter who worked in the United States.

Even if China protested vehemently, the US government would just say, ‘Whatever, protest all you want’, and there wasn’t much that China could do. The United States had many ways of dealing a heavy blow to China, while the latter couldn’t really do the same.

“Just ignore it...”

“Pan Wugang, we could get in a lot of trouble if we ignore his order.”

“Would Hunter Choi Yeonseung really use force?”

“You don’t know that, do you?”

Pan Wugang decided to disobey the order and move ahead, but the other Chinese hunters didn’t follow suit. Ignoring an A-grade hunter’s order was absolutely terrifying.

“It’s an order. Get moving!”

Swish!

It was Choi Yeonseung who moved instead of talking. The moment Choi Yeonseung moved his hand, Pan Wugang jumped with fright and threw himself out of the way.

Bam!

“Oh.”

Choi Yeonseung stared at him in surprise. He didn’t expect Pan Wugan to react that fast.

‘He must’ve trained quite a lot to be able to react to that.’

The skills used by famous hunters were bound to be widely known and analyzed. This was especially true in the modern era, where technology had evolved tremendously. No matter the place or the technique, everything was caught on video. Given the unprecedented way?in which he had made his first public appearance, Choi Yeonseung’s martial arts skills had been observed and analyzed quite a lot.

‘That is finger energy!’

Pan Wugang stood up while feeling his entire body shaking. The jewelry on his ankle had lost its shine and its power. It was an artifact with Gaia's Curtain, the fourth circle defense magic, built in it! The fact that all its power was depleted after only one shot was ridiculous.

“I see you have good reflexes. Keep dodging it.”

Choi Yeonseung kept snapping his fingers without moving his body. Every time he did so, a terrifying finger energy flew out towards Pan Wugang’s body.

“Kuack!”

Pan Wugang was able to block the next few shots by casting magic, but his limitations soon became apparent. The defense magic disappeared and Origin of the Celestial Finger dealt a heavy blow. The Chinese hunters were terrified when they saw Pan Wugang rolling around. They really hadn’t expected Choi Yeonseung to use force like that.

‘Do I have to fight an A-grade hunter here?’

‘Dammit...’

“As expected of Hunter Choi Yeonseung! I’ve always believed in you!”

“This is why you accepted their proposal!”

The Mount Hua Sect hunters shouted with great joy. They had wondered why he accepted the proposal of the Chinese government. It was actually to take them to a remote place like this and kill them all! After all, he was a Korean hunter and he was very good at fighting Chinese hunters.

“... That’s not the case.”

Choi Yeonseung was taken aback by the reaction of the Mount Hua Sect hunters.

“Huh? That’s not the case?”

“If I was going to kill them, I would’ve done it sooner. Why kill them in such a complicated manner?”

“......”

“......”

The Chinese hunters listening from the front had a hint of confusion on their faces. Weren’t they supposed to be glad that he wasn’t trying to kill them?

“T-Then what is it?”

“...As I said before, stop and come this way.”

“Is that the reason why you’ve made such a big fuss?”

“Yes. I’ve caused this uproar because of one thing. Do you want me to continue?”

Choi Yeonseung blatantly revealed his killing intent and the Chinese hunters flinched.

‘What should I do?’

‘Wouldn’t it be better to move first?’

Pan Wugang was clearly confused. The Chinese hunters looked at each other and tried to move. Despite the fact that they had just been scolded by Choi Yeonseung, the best course of action was to listen to him and start moving. However, the monster attacked before they could do that.

-■■■■■■■■!

‘Isn’t that a man-eating tree?’

Choi Yeonseung was shocked by the monster’s sudden attack. Obviously, before they went in...

-The monsters found in this dungeon are said to be from the beast race. There are supposedly monsters like war wolves and fire gorillas inside.

-Have you found that out by yourself?

-No, I got this information from the elves. Shouldn’t it be accurate since it’s from them?

-... Aren’t you just great?

-No need to praise me. It’s just natural.

...That was the conversation he had with Pan Wugang. Of course, Choi Yeonseung didn’t think that those monsters would be the only ones to appear in the dungeon. If that had been the case, the elves would’ve cleared it themselves. However, it was a man-eating tree.

‘They are tough ones.’

By Earth’s standards, the man-eating tree was a monster that could be killed by hunters ranging from B- grade to B+ grade. However, depending on the location and the overall situation, the man-eating tree could become tricky even for an A-grade hunter. It was the same situation right now.

With the sound of flesh being stabbed, several Chinese hunters in front were pierced by the branches that had sprung up. They didn’t pierce any vital points, but they deliberately hit the legs or shoulders.

"Kuaaaak!"

At that moment, the man-eating tree started absorbing the magic power from the Chinese hunters, while suppressing their movements. The monster was able to use Energy Drain similarly to the nightmare demons. It wasn’t as fast and powerful as the nightmare demons, but it was enough to absorb it slowly.

The hunters caught by the branches were having difficulties fighting back. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“How dare you!”

Enraged, the other hunters immediately used magic to counterattack. They ignited their swords and began cutting off the branches.

‘They combined martial arts and magic!’

They cast ‘Fire Sword Summoning’ on the sword and launched an attack using martial arts and swordsmanship. The technique wasn’t perfect, but it was still amazing to see something like this. They cut off the branches that were stretching out, but the man-eating tree wasn’t fazed. Tentacle-like branches started to spring up from beneath the ground.

“It... It seems to be quite powerful.”

“This is gonna be a problem.”

The Mount Hua Sect hunters spoke in weary voices. Usually, man-eating trees would attack from underground several times before revealing their bodies. They were always hungry and were quick to devour their victims. However, these branches were terribly slow at absorbing magic power, even by man-eating tree standards. Because of that, the hunters had a chance.

The man-eating tree couldn’t be damaged no matter how many times the branches it extended were cut down, but it could be easily defeated with an attack on its trunk. However, this man-eating tree was unusually patient. More than a few minutes had passed and it still hadn’t emerged from underground.

The Chinese hunters were trying to dodge the branches but they were visibly getting tired.

“Should we just leave them?”

At Louis Wang’s words, the other hunters were startled and reprimanded him… Actually, they didn’t...

“That’s a good idea.

“It’ll kill them all and then come out to eat.”

At that moment, the Mount Hua Sect hunters realized why the elves had wanted the Chinese hunters to go ahead. No matter what, the man-eating tree would emerge after the Chinese hunters died, and then Choi Yeonseung could kill it.

“We can’t just let them die... I’ll save them.”

Choi Yeonseung ran forward after fully grasping the situation.

The Mount Hua Sect hunters were taken by surprise and shouted, “You can’t charge now!”

“Start attacking once it comes out. Let’s see how you fight.”

Choi Yeonseung disappeared after saying that. He used Origin of the Celestial Step.

Bam!

Choi Yeonseung fired Origin of the Celestial Fist at the branches, then grabbed the injured hunters and threw them aside.

“You’re not dead yet.”

“...?!”

Once Choi Yeonseung came, the Chinese hunters who were fighting were actually more surprised than the man-eating tree itself.

‘Why is he here?’

‘Is he crazy?’

Of course, they didn’t express their astonishment because he was too busy fighting the man-eating tree, but their facial expressions were saying enough.

‘Hmm. They make me not want to save them.’

Of course, it made sense for them to be surprised like this. The Chinese hunters wouldn’t have come to help if Choi Yeonseung had been in such danger. They would have made excuses like ‘Hunters die all the time…’ or ‘We shouldn’t put our lives in danger just to try to save other hunters.’

But that was it...

Choi Yeonseung smashed the ground with Origin of the Celestial Fist. With a deafening boom, the solid ground of the Abyss started to crumble to pieces. The hunters screamed in fear and tried to flee from the center of destruction. The man-eating tree was even more shocked. It was moving using the thick and hard ground as a shield, but a shockwave came right through it. The man-eating tree staggered out, unable to extend its tentacles.

The hideously twisted figure of a giant tree loomed before the hunters.

“Attack!”

The Mount Hua Sect hunters charged even faster than Choi Yeonseung. When hiding underground, the man-eating tree was as scary as an A-grade monster. However, there was nothing to fear once it came out to the surface. A massive torso and slow movements. The hunters were no longer that scared of the dozens of tentacles that stretched out because they could now predict their movements.

“Spread the formation!”

Iris shouted sharply. It was wise to start with the formation first instead of jumping right in. They took position and initiated the formation. This led to the Mount Hua Sect hunters to have an even more powerful momentum.

“......!”

The fallen Chinese hunters were dumbfounded by the power shown by their former colleagues. Choi Yeonseung was an A-grade hunter, so it wouldn’t be surprising for him to exert such power, but they hadn’t expected it from the Mount Hua Sect hunters at all.

“Step aside! Don’t get in the way!”

One of the Mount Hua Sect hunters kicked a fallen Chinese hunter. He flew far away and rolled over due to the internal energy that was in the kick.

“This is crazy...”

“Who told you to get in the way? Get lost!”

“You son of a aaaack!”

There were few things as infuriating for the Chinese hunters as being disregarded like that by those they were trying to disregard. The Mount Hua Sect hunters quickly attacked and accumulated damage.

-■■■■!

The man-eating tree came to its senses and desperately tried to escape, but the Mount Hua Sect had already formed a solid siege. If it moved to one side, they would swiftly surround it and attack again. They continued to strike the hard trunk with palm energy and fist energy. Eventually, it cracked and blood started to flow.

“It’s going on a rampage. Be careful!”

There were no monsters that just died peacefully. The man-eating tree realized that it was at a disadvantage and went berserk. Dozens of tree branches under the monster started to shake and they were about to shoot out in all directions.

‘How are they going to avoid it?’

Choi Yeonseung looked at the hunters nervously. He would have just hit or dodged all the branches, but it was unlikely that the Mount Hua Sect hunters could do that. Even if they somehow managed to survive, they would probably get injured severely.

The answer came immediately.

The Mount Hua Sect hunters used their footwork and suddenly gained distance.

“......???”

Then the man-eating tree immediately switched targets. It finally came to its senses and targeted the Chinese hunters who were recovering.

“This bullsh...”

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Before they could swear, the man-eating tree attacked in a frenzied manner. The Chinese hunters tried to squeeze out magic power they didn’t have and barely managed to raise their defenses.

“How wonderful! I believed in you!’

The Mount Hua Sect hunters rejoiced, but Choi Yeonseung was dumbfounded. They avoided the attacks like that because they didn’t care if people were behind them or not. The Chinese hunters also knew this and cursed them. Of course, none of the Mount Hua Sect hunters cared.

“Amazing! Did you prepare it in advance?”

“I learned it from watching Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”

“...No. When did I ever fight like that??”

Choi Yeonseung suddenly felt it was unfair. Had he ever fought like that?