SMH 165

Chapter 52 – Righteous Shield (2)

TL: Boko

Editor: Frost

“Orc Wyvern Riders in front!” someone yelled.

Orc Wyvern Riders were A-rank monsters and threw explosive javelins, so they posed a significant danger to helicopters.

Sung Joon moved towards the cockpit area and looked forward. There were more than 30 Orc Wyvern Riders flying towards them. They looked incredibly menacing.

He focused mana into his eyes, temporarily boosting his eyesight. The Wyvern Riders’ javelins hung off their saddles and he could see the explosive magic engraved upon them.

If even one of the helicopters was hit by one of those, then it would cause a chain reaction and all of them would explode.

“Please, don’t be so worried! Hunter Idun will take care of them!”

Although the helicopter formation had been destroyed, the First Officer didn’t give in to despair. After all, they had Idun with them, an S-rank Hunter noted for his potential.

Idun saw the incoming Wyvern Riders and flew in front of the Chinook helicopter. He looked as though he was a gatekeeper blocking all from getting to Sung Joon.

“My mission is to protect you, Mr. Kang Sung Joon, keeping you at full strength until you reach the warp gate. I’ll take care of this,” Idun said and raised his hands.

He gathered his mana and said ‘transform’ softly. Then, his ring emitted light and transformed into a staff. At the same time, he began casting a spell.

“Wind Cutter.”

Tens, no hundreds of wind blades covered the azure sky.

“He’s multi-casting. That’s not all; he cast fifteen Wind Cutters simultaneously,” Rishubalt said in awe.

Multi-casting was a higher level technique than Double-casting.

It was an extremely complex technique, so only those who were either talented or possessed incredible senses could perform it.

Of course, the number of spells a Mage could cast simultaneously depended entirely on how talented they were, and from Sung Joon’s point of view, it seemed like Idun was incredibly talented.

‘He seems more talented than Na Joon Yeol,’ Sung Joon thought.

While he briefly let his mind wander off, Idun’s Wind Cutters sliced the incoming Orc Wyvern Riders into pieces, spewing blood into the air.

“There are more coming this way!”

Idun was an extraordinary Mage Hunter, but there were too many of them.

There were dozens of Orc Wyvern Riders flying over to them, and at least a hundred monsters gathered on the ground.

“That’s close enough. I’ll go down now.”

“However… Hunter! We still have a long ways to go before we reach the warp gate. Plus, monsters have already captured this area!”

When Sung Joon said he’d leave, the Captain voiced his concerns. Since they were deep into enemy territory, they were surrounded by monsters.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll take it from here. Please return with the Special Task Force.”

Sung Joon ignored the Captain and jumped out of the helicopter. It was quite high, but since he was an SS-rank Hunter, he was able to safely land without any injury.

He expected the Special Task Force to retreat, but they followed suit and descended from the helicopter.

Once Idun was finished taking care of the last of the Orc Wyvern Riders, he descended and said.

“We can’t go back. Since we were ordered to support you, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”

Sung Joon shook his head. It would prove difficult to get through to him, and he didn’t want to waste time in the middle of enemy territory.

“Please don’t fall behind.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Idun replied confidently. Sung Joon merely nodded his head, and ran towards the powerful mana source he felt.

Idun and the Special Task Force followed him. A Supporter Hunter cast a Haste buff, allowing them to keep up with Sung Joon.

They were deep in enemy territory, but they didn’t encounter monsters for the first ten minutes, as Sung Joon actively avoided them.

But soon, the monsters began to surround them, and they were no longer able to avoid confrontation.

“There are sixteen Orc Blademasters and a Chieftain; there are at least three hundred monsters total!” Rishubalt hurriedly reported.

It wasn’t a small force, considering the fact that there were sixteen S-rank Orc Blademasters.

What’s worse, there was an SS-rank Orc Chieftain mixed in as well.

Considering what the Orc Chieftain did after coming out of the warp gate, he wasn’t the boss. If that’s the case, there was a high chance that the Orc Chieftain was a low tier SS-rank. Even so, it was still an SS-rank monster. He couldn’t afford to be careless.

“We’ll open a path for you!” Idun said.

He stood in front and swung his staff, casting a explosion of fire that devoured the Orcs.

“Ugh!”

Most of the Orcs were swept away by the flames, but the Orc Blademasters and the Chieftain swung their swords and exited the flames. Their skin had blackened a bit, but they hadn’t been burned at all.

“I’ll leave the Orc Blademasters to you. I’ll help you after I’m finished taking care of the Orc Chieftain.”

“I’ll do my best,” Idun replied anxiously.

Even though Sung Joon would take on the SS-rank Chieftain, he and the Special Task Force would have to deal with 16 S-rank Orc Blademasters. He was the only one amongst the Special Task Force that was S-rank.

“I’ll cut down their numbers.”

Sung Joon rushed forward and infused mana into Rishubalt.

“Die! You monster filth!”

Rishubalt, who now had a physical form, rushed forward and swung his sword. He had managed to ambush one of the Orc Blademasters.

“Ugh!”

The Orc Blademaster bled from his neck and fell. As he broke through their formation, Sung Joon swung his sword, killing three more Orc Blademasters.

He had gotten close to the Orc Chieftain instantaneously. The green skinned Orc Chieftain wielded two greatswords, one in each hand.

Once Sung Joon got close, the Orc Chieftain crossed his greatswords and enveloped them in a powerful aura. The aura was menacing, as though it could cut through anything.

“Welcome to Earth.”

“You can speak our language?”

The Orc Chieftain looked amazed, as Sung Joon could fluently speak their language, but it only lasted for an instant. He then swung his greatswords at Sung Joon.

He shot aura slashes at Sung Joon and simultaneously rushed forward like a bullet. If he avoided the aura slashes, then the Chieftain would aim for his vital areas. If he did the opposite, then he would be hit by the aura slashes. However, he had a way to block both.

‘The best defense is a good offense.’

He could use his ‘Dimension Slash’ to cut through both the aura and the Orc Chieftain. Sung Joon didn’t avoid it. On the contrary, he used his high-speed movement, instantaneously closed the distance, and unleashed a ‘Dimension Slash’.

“Huh?”

Dimension Slash, which could even cut through dimensions, cut through both the aura slashes and the Orc Chieftain’s greatswords and upper body.

“And goodbye.”

A red line formed upon the Orc Chieftain’s upper body  and widened. Then, he fell and rolled onto the floor. The lower body, which had lost its upper half, spurted blood akin to a fountain and helplessly fell to the floor.

“H-How can this be!? He killed the Orc Chieftain with a single blow?” a certain Special Task Force member said in shock.

They couldn’t see it, as the process was much too quick, but they knew exactly what had transpired. The SS-rank monster, the Orc Chieftain, had been killed in a single blow.

“Absorb.”

Sung Joon absorbed the mana and stamina from the Orc Chieftain’s body, but he wasn’t able to recover all the mana he’d spent on the ‘Dimension Slash’.

“Your synchronization rate has become 62%,” Rishubalt reported.

‘As I thought, Dimension Slash isn’t a technique I can use often…’

Dimension Slash expended more mana than the Illusionary Sword, so it couldn’t be used frivolously. He wanted to minimize the damage to Idun and the Special Task Force, so he was forced to use it, but he knew he’d have to use it sparingly.

“Ugh!”

“Cough!”

He heard screams of agony. Half of the twenty Special Task Force members were on the ground. It was obvious this would happen.

They were fighting against several elite enemies. There were ten S-rank Orc Blademasters left, so there was nothing else that needed to be said.

“Heal!”

Some of them were still alive. Sung Joon didn’t hesitate and used his mana to heal them.

Most of them were grievously injured, but with an SS-rank Healer Hunter’s overwhelming healing power, they were immediately healed.

A few of the collapsed Special Task Force members were completely healed and raised their weapons once more.

“I’ll help!”

Sung Joon used his high-speed movement. Its speed was akin to lightning.

“Ugh!”

“Ah!”

When Sung Joon swung his sword, an afterimage was left behind. And whenever he swung his sword, an Orc Blademaster would fall. In just five minutes, Sung Joon had annihilated the Orc Blademasters. Sung Joon turned his head towards Idun.

“Mr. Idun! Please use wide area magic!”

The remaining monsters were agitated, as the Orc Chieftain and the Blademasters were killed.

They could take care of all the monsters with a wide area spell. Since the warp gate was still a ways away, he needed to reserve his magic and stamina as best as he could.

“Blizzard!”

While Sung Joon and the rest of the Special Task Force fought, Idun finished casting his wide area spell.

The ice storm swept through the monsters. At least a hundred monsters were killed, with the remaining monsters panicked and ran away.

“Let’s move!” Sung Joon pressed.

It was regrettable that they couldn’t collect their fallen comrades’ bodies, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Idun knew that destroying the warp gate was their top priority, so he didn’t say anything.

Eventually, they arrived near the warp gate. The monsters setting up camp swarmed them to protect the warp gate.

“It’s the Blood Red Wind Tribe. My lord, you killed the previous chieftain, Baralrod, in the battle of the Ridonia Great Plains. It’s likely that Kalleak has assumed the position of chieftain.”

There was a flag attached to the gateway, signifying that they were a part of the Species Alliance, as well as being the main force of the ‘Orcs’, commanded by the Blood Red Wind Tribe Chieftain.  

“There are only thirteen of you fighting against us?” an Orc said strongly, wielding a glaive.

He had the tribe’s flag on his back, and as Rishubalt had expected, it was indeed Kalleak.

Kalleak was once a ‘Great Warrior’, but after the battle of the Ridonia Great Plains, he assumed the post of Chieftain following Baralrod’s death.

“Yeah, there are only thirteen of us, but it’s enough to crush you.”

“You know our language? I heard that some of you knew, but it’s strange meeting one of you in person.”

Kalleak smirked.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter. Since you’re going to die either way.”

“That’s enough.”

The moment Kalleak raised his glaive… a clear voice resounded out. Simultaneously, Sung Joon sensed an enormous flow of mana. Lightning descended from the sky.

An extremely large lightning bolt at that.