Chapter 20: Chapter 19.2: Hunting the Spider (2)

When multiple factions want to attack a gate, they need to coordinate in advance.

Who should tackle the boss first, how to distribute the items that come out, etc… It’s hard not to have conflicts over everything, starting with the order, and these discussions often take days and days.

In that sense, this Cheongju Gate strategy is pretty straightforward.

There’s only one boss mob, a Yakt Spinner, and the only reward is the Wisdom Gem, which is a mining resource.

“We’ll hand over all the rewards to the Golden Lion Guild, and all we want is the Wisdom Gem.”

Hwang Yeonha was stunned by the words of Gil Tae-sung.

“That’s the key, and if you take it, we’ll have nothing to live on.”

It was an expected reaction but Gil Tae-sung smiled and said,

“I’ll give all the credit for defeating the boss to the Golden Lion Guild. In addition, I promise you a reward of 50 billion won if you hand over the gem safely.”

“”……!””

Huang Yeonha was stunned by the unexpected amount of money.

Fifty billion? A Legendary ranked weapon was about ten billion.

Even as a quasi-S-class, she had been saving up for a Legendary-class weapon, but 50 billion was enough to buy not only a weapon, but a full body set.

He’s willing to give that much money away?

‘Why would he do that?’

Huang Yeonha hesitated, unsure of what to say but,

“That’s a lot of money. Okay, we get the credit for defeating the boss and you keep the gem.”

“Hey, you can’t do that…!”

“My Sister~ We can’t understand it anyway, even the Pentagon couldn’t interpret it, so they gave it to the Tower. What’s the point for us to keep it?”

“…….”

Golden Chul wanted to hand it over because he didn’t know the value of the Wisdom Gem but because there’s no point in fighting over something he didn’t understand.

Golden Chul was known for his toughness and boldness on the battlefield, but he was surprisingly cautious.

“……60 billion. Oh, no, 55 billion. I’ll… demand that much.”

At that, Gil Tae-sung smiled broadly.

“Let’s just go with 60 billion.”

“Hmmm…!”

Hwang Yeon-ha regretted that she didn’t ask for 65 billion.

The agreement with the Golden Lion was over, and Gil Tae-sung was confident in the outcome of the raid.

“By the way, aren’t you going to negotiate with him separately?”

Golden Chul glanced toward the end of the dais, where Han Ha-ri, the Association’s A-rank Hunter, was pouring a cup of tea from a thermos.

“It’s called barley tea.”

Gil Tae-sung and Hwang Yeon-ha scratched their heads, but Leon gracefully lifted the cup to his lips.

“Hmm, not bad.”

“Come to think of it, you were the hunter sent by the association, and I was wondering what kind of person you were, since we needed to free up a seat…….”

Gil Tae-Sung didn’t consider the two of them to be a viable force.

There were 49 Black Mamba members, made of B-rank or higher raiders, including himself, and 49 Golden Lion members, one of the Ten Guilds while the Association sent 2 people.

Even if there was the A-rank Han Ha-ri, what could two people do?

“Since I don’t want to be the one to talk about it, I’ll make a proposal to the Association. Once we get our hands on the gem, we’ll pay the two of you 500 million regardless of your contribution. Not bad, right?”

“Fool!”

Ridicule flowed from Leon.

“What is so ridiculous?”

“Mage Gil, the Association sent him here and they’re using this year’s Rookie of the Year, Ms. Han Ha-ri, as his servant. Don’t you see the significance of that?”

“Are you saying he’s stronger than……A-rank hunters?”

At the very least, a semi-S-class. Maybe S-class. Of course, neither Gil- Tae-sung nor Golden Lion had ever heard of him.

But Golden Chul had an idea of his identity.

‘The black gate that recently disappeared, most likely a survivor from there.’

Usually, powerful people who suddenly appeared from nowhere without any connections were survivors.

Heavenly demons, killer stars, witches, adepts, and countless other named survivors had similar behavior to Leon.

‘It’s probably some kind of debut match organized by the Association, and they’re pushing him into the Red Gate for nothing.’

The Association was overconfident and Gil Tae-sung thought so too.

“Excuse me… Then we have a new proposal…”

“Same thing.”

The first words out of Leon’s mouth stopped Gil Tae-sung in his tracks.

“What…?”

Leon recognized the look on his face. He looked like Leon said something he didn’t deserve.

“You’re already talking about loot without even standing on the battlefield. Your eyes are full of greed.”

“Are you disrespecting the mages of the Magic Tower?”

“What honor has a spellcaster to disrespect?”

Gil Tae-sung was dumbfounded by the unexpected outburst.

“I don’t know how great a dance you loot-blinded bastards will put on, but…well, I’ll let you lead the way.”

It’s like a surrender, but in a very unpleasant way. He was dumbfounded.

“What, you’re letting us take the lead? So while we’re fighting to the death, you’re going to stand back and watch with your arms crossed?”

Because it was the first time he was yelled at in this world Leon brow narrowed.

“You tease with your tongue, woman.”

“What are you saying, boy, you want to challenge me to a fight?”

“You have no right to challenge this King.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

She was restrained by a golden iron grip on her shoulders from behind but her gaze was on Ha-ri, not Leon.

-Are you not going to take care of the survivors?

Ha-ri shook her head with a grim expression at Golden Chul gaze.

-I was going to try, but no…….

-Okay. He’s a fuck-my-way type.

“Okay, then, Your Majesty, you’re saying that we have first dibs on this place, right?”

Leon didn’t answer, but silently affirmed.

From what the surviving Hunters have been able to gather, it seems the boss was quite powerful, but whether or not it’s a warrior worthy of facing Leon it’s another matter.

It’s unlikely that anyone would have the honor and skill to take on Leon, who has regained some of his strength from spreading the faith of Demera.

“I… Your Majesty, are you all right?”

“What do you mean?”

“The goal of this raid is to spread Your Majesty’s fame…….”

Ha-ri had a point, if the Golden Lion or the Tower took down the Yakt Spinner, he wouldn’t fulfill his goal.

“No matter how important honor is, it’s not a good look for the Lionheart king to go first, pushing everyone else aside.”

This man is an oddball but Ha-ri had learned the true art of socializing by not letting it show.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

* * * *

“Just like I saw in the video… the weather sucks.”

Cheongju Gate is a city in the middle of a wilderness.

Random sandstorms blow in, and those who delay too long are quickly trapped in them. The unlucky raiders were faced with a sandstorm as soon as they entered the gate.

“Do not enter the city, the Yakt Spinner has a higher chance of appearing inside.”

Golden Lion had set up a base camp on the outskirts of the city, rather than “inside,” based on the information from the failed raids.

There are quite a few buildings on the outskirts of the city, so it’s not hard to set up a base camp.

“Your Majesty, we’ve set up camp over here!”

“Hmm.”

Inside the large building, Ha-ri sat down and opened her lunchbox.

“Your Majesty, I have prepared some scanty food – please eat!”

“Not enough to complain about on the battlefield.”

Ha-ri looked uneasy though she prepared the meal.

“How is it?”

“Hmm… I’m worried if it goes well, and I’m worried if it doesn’t.”

If it goes well, that’s the best thing that could happen to Leon and if it doesn’t work out, that’s the worst of it.

“Actually, it would be best if it worked out without your Majesty having to do anything.”

Even as she spoke, Ha-ri glanced at Leon and wondered if the anachronistic Lionheart king was going to tell them to stay out of the way so he would have a chance to make a name for himself.

“Yes, it’s for the best.”

“What?”

“If the Lionhearted King doesn’t do it himself, it means the job is lighter. What do you think is the role of a king in the Kingdom of Beasts?”

“Uhm… ruling… no?”

“That, of course. But that, too, can be filled by anyone. Unless, of course, they are flawed.”

The Lionheart King makes a statement that has no place in an absolute monarchy: that the work of a king can be replaced by anyone.

“Well, then… as the king of knights, taking the lead… ah.”

He had never taken the lead at the Hunan Plain Gate, nor at the Seoul Station Gate…nor at the current Cheongju Gate.

He continued to assert himself with his actions that the sword of the king would not be drawn in a petty battle.

“No way… The title of Lionheart King is…….”

“The last bastion.”

At those words, Ha-ri swallowed hard.

All this time, she and the Association had thought of Leon as a barbarian king from the Middle Ages, with the power of faith thrown in for good measure.

But if he’s telling the truth, Leon is more than just a ruler. Nor was he a hardened knight or general.

He is the last bastion of the Lionheart Kingdom. And when he stepped forward, it meant that the final weapon would be deployed.

“Do you understand? The very fact that the Lionheart King himself has to step forward is a disgrace to the knights and means that the situation is serious.”

As he spoke, he gave a rare sigh.

“It looks like this king will have to do the heavy lifting once again on your pathetic, weak behalf. I miss the glory of this king’s Knights.”

It was an eerie foreshadowing as if something big was about to happen and he would have to step in.

“But we have an S-class Hunter here, the Golden Lion Guild, and a Wizard from the Magic Tower.”

There was only one opponent and even if I was a killing machine with a terrible record, they should be able to handle the raid with an S-rank hunter and a mage…

“I’ll admit that hunters are a bit more powerful than normal humans.”

Leon snorted, sneering at the superhumans of modern Earth.

“But they don’t know about war. The outskirts have been safe so far, I’m sure, having only fought three battles.”

“What? What’s that…….?”

“You call yourselves raiders. You’re supposed to recognize patterns in monsters and counter them. How ridiculous.”

Ha-ri felt uneasy at Leon’s words.

“The long-lived learn to adapt to circumstances. There’s no pattern to it, and I think that Yakt Spinner is a born warrior.”

And then, as if on cue, the proof begins.

-Kaaaaaahhhh!

-What, what, this!

-It’s the enemy! He’s attacking──!

Screams echoed eerily in the sandstorm as Yakt Spinner attacked the camp.