Chapter 171 - Chapter 171 (1/2)

The Giant monster was flung away and violently rolled on the ground, before bouncing back up again with a spring-like movement that didn't really suit its large frame.

"Gururuk."

The Giant monster didn't immediately counterattack, instead opting to bare its fangs as it remained prone on the ground. Meanwhile, the giant Naga responsible for flinging it away stood before the growling monster.

It was none other than 'Jima', previously the boss-level monster of the Naga species that were inducted into the Shadow Army not too long ago.

Jima reached his right hand out next to him. When he did, a black spear slowly rose up from the shadow on the ground.

Grab!

Jima powerfully grasped the spear and aimed the weapon at his front. One could sense his unbreakable will to not let anything pass by him.

"Uh....? Uh.....??"

The young soldier from the JSDF couldn't quite figure out whether the spectacle unfolding before his eyes was a dream or reality.

To think, a monster was protecting him from another monster right now.

He thought he'd end up inside the Giant monster's mouth for sure. But, having taken a look at the wide, imposing back of the other monster, he felt several powerful emotions welling up from deep within his heart.

"Just what is going on here..."

Could they survive?

Could they survive against the Giant monster?

Not just the young soldier, but the old couple and the patients, too?

The soldier's thoughts reached this point, and suddenly, all the built-up tension left him and tears rushed up to his eyes.

"Use this."

Someone pushed forward a colourful handkerchief towards the young soldier. He turned his head to the side to take a look.

A youth who looked to be way younger than the soldier pointed at the handkerchief with his chin and nodded his head afterwards.

Since this youth didn't speak in Japanese, the soldier didn't understand him, but it wasn't all that hard to figure out what he wanted to say in the first place.

'Is he Korean?'

The young soldier wiped the streaming tears away with the offered handkerchief and asked his questions.

"By the way.... just who are you? Wait, why are you even here?"

The Korean youth silently shook his head before raising his thumb up high.

"Good."

"Excuse me?"

"Very Good."

"T-thank.... you, I guess?"

While the young soldier dazedly expressed his gratitude, another man who seemed to be the comrade of this Korean youth appeared from behind him.

Even though this soldier didn't know a whole lot about Hunters, he saw all the blood splatters on this man's clothing and realised that he was now looking at a powerful being who existed on another realm altogether from everyone else.

"This might get dangerous."

Jin-Woo had taken a look inside the rural clinic before showing up here, and he told Yu Jin-Ho while pointing behind him.

"Looks like we'll have change locations. We're too close."

Yu Jin-Ho had witnessed the battle against the Giants a few times by now so he figured out what Jin-Woo was saying almost immediately.

"I'll be on standby over here, hyung-nim."

"Right."

Jin-Woo looked at the young soldier next and saw his scared eyes.

He walked past the soldier and lightly patted the scared, tearful Japanese man on the shoulder. The gesture meant to say that the soldier had done excellent work.

What he did, standing off against a monster all by himself with just a single rifle, was not something any regular person could even try to imitate.

Jin-Woo had entered many dungeons as a rank E himself so he knew better than anyone just how courageous this soldier had been.

The young JSDF soldier looked at the back of Jin-Woo walking by and let out a gasp of admiration.

"Ah."

That weightiness brushing past his shoulder, and that warmth from his hand. Just a single touch, and the terror he felt forcing him to get ready for his demise completely washed away.

A powerful sense of relief rushed out from the deepest part of his heart.

It was then, the young soldier recalled the story of two Koreans roaming around in his country while subjugating the Giants.

He recalled the name of one of the two. The name of the Hunter who also subjugated rank S monsters almost all by himself in South Korea, was.....

'Seong Jin-Woo.... Hunter Seong Jin-Woo....'

It had to be. That man had to be him.

Ba-dump!

The soldier's heart began pounding hard after running into a person he only heard about in passing. He quickly questioned the Korean youth still standing next to him.

"Is he that person? The rank S Hunter from South Korea??"

Yu Jin-Ho nodded his head and provided his answer.

"Good."

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo walked over to where the two monsters were in a violent melee. His forehead was creasing up.

"Kiiaaaahhk-!!"

The Giant dug deep into Jima's front in the blink of an eye and proceeded to powerfully rip into the Naga's shoulder.

He used to be a boss-level monster of a rank A dungeon. Even if his attention had been diverted a bit in order to protect the humans behind him, he should still be a much more powerful being than other, regular Shadow Soldiers.

To think, he was being suppressed by a regular monster that wasn't even on the same 'boss-level' as he used to be. This situation easily demonstrated how strong these Giant-type monsters were.

Besides all that, Jin-Woo never enjoyed the sight of his soldiers getting beaten down like this at all. His expression hardened as he bent his knees. An unbelievable amount of strength filled up his thighs and shins.

Crack, crack....

The asphalt below that was supporting his legs began splitting as cracks ran underneath his feet.

Ka-boom!

Jin-Woo exploded up from the ground and shot right towards the Giant's face in an instant. In that short moment, the monster's darting eyes discovered him flying straight at it.

A glint of understanding filled the flying human's eyes.

'As I thought, these guys aren't your average monsters at all.'

Jin-Woo's fist slammed into the forehead of the Giant. However, the damage dealt was less than he had expected. The monster pulled its head back just before the hit landed to minimise the impact as much as it could, that was why.

The monster possessed a massive frame, as well as surprisingly agile movements. From the perspectives of the Hunters who had to face off against these b*stards, those two aspects alone would have been enough to give them a sense of helplessness.

The thing was, though, that only applied to regular Hunters.

Jin-Woo immediately summoned a 'Demon King's Shortsword' in the air. And then, he extended his other free hand not holding anything towards the Giant's face.

'Ruler's Authority!'

An invisible hand yanked at the Giant's face with irresistible force. The distance between Jin-Woo and the monster rapidly closed up.

"Kureuk??"

The monster didn't expect the airborne opponent to immediately start attacking again, and it began thrashing about in a panicked frenzy, but in the end, it was all for naught.

Jin-Woo flew in front of the Giant's nose in an instant and activated his skill.

"Violent Slash."

Dududududududu!!

Rapid-fire attacks so fast that they left behind a series of afterimages turned the Giant's face into a complete mess.

"Kuwaaaak!!"

Boom!!

The monster covered its face and rolled around on the ground. It lost its eyesight from that attack and wildly thrashed about in unbridled pain.

Tap.

After lightly landing back on the ground, Jin-Woo looked on and sensed that this hunt was drawing to a close.

'It's done.'

But then, the Giant sensed Jin-Woo's approach; its shoulders flinched greatly before it began running away in haste, without even bothering to look behind it.

'It can also sense the presence of others?'

The more Jin-Woo fought these things, the more surprised he got.

He was speaking from his observations, and it said that these Giant-type monsters were like specialised weapon systems that happened to possess large biological bodies.

The Giant quickly distanced itself. Of course, he wasn't planning on letting it go.

'Quicksilver.'

Jin-Woo's frame slid forward like a bolt of lightning.

The Giant monster ran with all its might on all fours, but rather than the distance increasing, it rapidly shrank, instead.

The monster felt terror. It sensed a bone-chilling aura emanating right behind its back.

The Giant creature belatedly realised that it could never escape no matter how much it struggled. So, it came to an abrupt stop, spun around, and tried to pounce on its enemy, but...

'…...??'

The presence of the human that had been closing in at a scary velocity suddenly vanished. And then....

'….!!'

The presence reappeared behind the creature.

Even though its eyes were not working anymore, the Giant reflexively turned its head around.

That made it easier for him to slice up the monster, however.

Jin-Woo jumped up straight and powerfully swung down the 'Demon King's Shortsword'.

Swish-!!

The blade overflowing with the magical energy oozing out from the 'Black Heart' vertically split the face of the Giant monster in one slice.

Slice!

"Gu-urk...."

Like a tree that got hacked by an axe, the monster slowly tipped over backwards, not even able to scream out properly.

THUD!!

With that, the third Giant was successfully hunted down.

Jin-Woo cleanly landed back on the ground and let out a light sigh filled with lingering emotions of victory from his lips.

"Fuu..."

"Hyung-nim!!"

Yu Jin-Ho had been standing far, far back while waiting for the battle to finish. Once it was safe, he hurriedly ran over and presented the lid of the thermos containing refreshingly cool tea.

Jin-Woo grinned brightly and accepted the lid.

"Thank you."

The tea in the lid slid down his throat while issuing the familiar gulping noises.

'Mm?'

He sensed a presence and looked behind him, only to find Jima and his slumped shoulders approaching him. The Shadow Soldier was evidently depressed from losing the one on one fight earlier.

'You fought well, regardless. Get some rest.'

Jin-Woo encouraged his underling and had it return. Jima returned to being a shadow and got absorbed back below Jin-Woo's feet.

Yu Jin-Ho stared at that process before raising his voice.

"Hyung-nim?"

Jin-Woo returned the empty lid and replied.

"Yeah?"