SMH 170

Chapter 53 – Otherworld Entity (3)

TL: Boko

“Lightning Storm!”

Idun swung his staff and a storm of lightning was
unleashed in front of him. The swarming enemies were exposed to an electric
shock.

The enemy forces couldn’t withstand the electrical
shock and ‘exploded’. Red blood spewed up into the sky like a fountain and then
fell like rain.

“Idun! You’re alive!”

A Hunter wearing priest vestments approached Idun
and said. His name was Baker, and was an S-rank Healer Hunter that was a part
of the Alpha headquarters.

Unlike Sung Joon, Baker was a normal Healer, so his
combat abilities were equivalent to a top B-rank Hunter.

“I haven’t been injured, but I’ve used up too
much mana.”

“Me too. There are so many people injured, so
at this rate, I’ll run out of mana.”

The enemy’s offense was formidable. The two didn’t
know, but the coming enemy forces had more than employed Hunters in their
midst; some of the Empire’s elites were mixed in as well.

Fighting them wasn’t easy, as they possessed Hunter
rank combat abilities.

“Where are all these armed troops coming from?”
Baker said.

He thought the conferment ceremonial hall’s security
and inspections had been perfect. Idun opened his mouth with a grave
expression.

“I think we have a traitor on the inside.”

Idun thought similarly to Sung Joon. There was no
way they’d get through the strict inspection without someone on the inside
helping them.

“It seems that way.”

“It’s definitely a high-rank official,”
Idun said.

The conferment ceremony was an important event
attended by the president himself. But the fact that all this had happened
signified that a high-rank official was involved.

It was important find the perpetrator, but they
couldn’t right now, as they were in the middle of a battle. Plus, it wasn’t
something that Idun or Baker could do anything about either.

‘The CIA or the Central Hunter Bureau will take care
of it,’ Idun thought. He felt five presences rapidly approaching.

“Above!”

The S-rank Combat Hunter with them (Idun and Baker)
sensed the enemy presence first and leapt into the air.

“Ugh!”

“Ah!”

The moment he leapt into the air, the two masked
assailants screamed in agony, spewed blood, and fell to the ground.

However, the S-rank Hunter hadn’t gone unscathed. One
of the assailants’ final strike managed to sever the S-rank Hunter’s right
sword arm.

“S-Shit!”

“Endure it!”

The S-rank Healer cursed. Idun began casting to back
him up, but three assailants attacked the S-rank Combat Hunter simultaneously.

Ultimately, the S-rank Hunter’s head rolled onto the
floor as his body spurted blood like a fountain.

‘They’re at least S-rank…!’

He had seen them exchange several attacks
instantaneously. Idun was able to estimate the three remaining assailants’
skill level.

‘We’re not in a good spot…’

Idun was in a tough spot, as he was a Mage Hunter
against three skilled S-rank attackers, who specialized in close combat.

Baker was also an S-rank Hunter, but his combat abilities
were poor, as he was a Healer. He was different from Sung Joon. Sung Joon was
special.

“L-Lightning Shock!”

Once they gave the signal, the three assailants
rushed over to Idun and Baker.

Idun was so flustered that he countered with such a
common spell. Even so, it seemed like he had a plan in place, as he modified
the electric attack so that it would defend him instead; the electricity circled
around him like a shield. However, it didn’t change that it was still an
average, run of the mill spell.

Idun saw the assailants’ black clothes protecting
them from the electricity, so they must be superb items.  

They swung their blades at Idun and Baker, but
then…

“Acceleration.”

“Ugh!”

By the time they heard his voice, the dagger had
already lodged into an assailant’s chest.

“Return.”

Once the dagger disappeared from their chest, it spurted
blood like a fountain. He might’ve pierced their heart, as the attacker bled
excessively.

“He’s strong! Retreat!”

The team leader ordered for their retreat without
signaling them and then left.  The other
attacked looked sharply at them but retreated as well.

They had been so close to stealing the ‘Righteous
Shield’, but someone had intervened at the last second, so they felt unsettled.

“Mr. Kang Sung Joon?”

It was a familiar voice. Idun turned his head
towards the direction of the voice. Sung Joon was indeed there.

He hadn’t come with any other reinforcements, but
Sung Joon’s presence alone caused the morale of Righteous Shield’s guards to
skyrocket.

“Healing Spray.”

Sung Joon healed the injured in Baker’s stead. Baker
was almost out of mana, as there had been so many he needed to heal from the
intense battle.

“I’ve been healed!”

“T-Thank you!”

Those healed picked up their weapons. The assailants
didn’t move while the guards were reorganizing themselves. He wondered why, but
then he saw more troops joining up with them. They must have been waiting for
reinforcements.

Sung Joon surveyed his surroundings. The conferment
ceremonial hall had become a battlefield where it rained bullets. It was so
chaotic that he couldn’t hope for reinforcements, but he remained relaxed.

“I’m sure that they’re the Ghost Squad of the Empire’s
Special Forces. The two in front are first class assassins, while the
reinforcing troops are second class assassins,” Rishubalt reported.

First class assassins were skilled, S-rank foes. They
were trained in assassin techniques, and even S-rank Hunters trained in
assassination would have difficult facing them.

The Ghost Squad’s assassination techniques were on
another level compared to the techniques used on Earth. Rishubalt had been a
part of the Knight Brigade, but he knew all of the Empire’s martial arts and assassination
techniques.

“You must have already figured that out, my
lord,” Rishubalt said, and Sung Joon slightly nodded his head.  

Sung Joon was like Rishubalt. No, he was even more
monstrous than him. He not only knew about all of the Empire’s martial arts and
assassination techniques, but had also learned and had a high level of competence
in both.

“Mr. Idun. Could you please cover me?”
Sung Joon requested.

The other Central Hunter Bureau members were
exhausted, so they had to focus on protecting the ‘Righteous Shield’. Compared
to them, Idun seemed to be in good condition. If he aided him with his magic,
then Sung Joon could get through the assassins without using much mana.

“I’ll do my best.”

“I’m going,” Sung Joon said, and unleashed
his Illusionary Sword.

The Illusionary Sword was normally a single target
ability, but it could be adapted to attack multiple targets in front of him. He’d
recently sorted through his memories and learned how to adapt the Illusionary
Sword for this purpose.

“Ugh!”

While the Illusionary Sword had more range, its power
was weakened considerably. There was no helping it. The first class assassins
groaned and either blocked or avoided the swords. On the other hand, two of the
second class assassins behind them had their arms and legs severed, causing
them to fall to the floor.

“Lightning Spear!”

Idun cast ‘Lightning Spear’, which could be raised
to the level of high-rank magic depending on the user. A second class assassin
tried attacking Sung Joon from above, but the lightning spear pierced his stomach.
At the same time, the current exploded and the second class assassin’s body
burst.

‘An opening!’

Sung Joon broke through their formation and ended up
in the center of the assassins. Then, he calmly used one of his sword
techniques.

“Tempest Sword.”

More than two hundred sword winds raged like a true
tempest, killing the remaining thirteen second class assassins. Now, only the
two first class assassins remained. It seemed like one of them had been
injured, as the assassins’ leg dripped blood.

“Wow!”

“He’s amazing!”

“I’m alive because of you!”

Idun and his comrades, who were protecting the
‘Righteous Shield’, cheered. Whereas, the first class assassins stiffened
behind their masks.

‘That’s definitely the Knight Brigade’s
swordsmanship.’

‘He’s at least as strong as one of the top one
hundred members of the Knight Brigade.’

The first class assassins looked at him
complicatedly. They were both thinking the same thing.

‘We’re no match for him.’

A member of the Knight Brigade within the top one
hundred was equivalent to an SS-rank Hunter on Earth.

There was no way two first class assassins, who were
considered high tier S-rank, could beat him. What’s worse, he seemed incredibly
adept at assassination, contrasting with his high quantity of mana.

‘Damn it!’ the Team Leader cursed, but nothing would
change. He couldn’t even hope for reinforcements, as he didn’t feel any of his
allies’ mana nearby.

“Are you the Ghost Squad of the Empire’s
Special Forces?”

“H-How do you…?”

When Sung Joon spoke in the otherworld language, the
team leader couldn’t help but be flustered. Unlike the otherworld language, the
existence of the Ghost Squad hadn’t been revealed to the people of Earth.

So they couldn’t help but feel intensely anxious at
his mentioning of the ‘Ghost Squad’.

The Empire had been concerned that the news would
cause chaos, so only a portion of the Empire knew that an individual using
Roukel’s swordsmanship had shown up. So, the assassin team leader could only
assume the worst and thought that the U.S. had learned a lot about the ‘Empire’.

‘This is enough.’

Momentary unrest would cause one to lower their
guard. In that brief moment that the assassin leader felt anxious, Sung Joon used
his high-speed movement and lunged with his sword.

“Ugh!”

His thrust pierced through, and the assassin weakly
fell to the ground.

“You bastard!”

By the time the other first class assassin threw his
dagger, Sung Joon had already withdrawn his sword. He quickly swung his sword
and deflected the dagger.

The first class assassin gripped his dagger and was
about to use high-speed movement, but by then, Sung Joon was already behidn
him.

Swish.

He couldn’t even scream. The assassin’s severed head
rolled onto the floor.

“Is it over?” one of the Hunters asked. He
hoped it was over already, but unfortunately, it was still too early for that.

Sung Joon sensed several presences rapidly
approaching him, Baker, and Idun.

“They’re coming!” Idun raised his staff
and warned.

“Fly!”

He ascended into the air and swung his staff. Then, a
lightning storm struck in all four directions. The covertly approaching
assassins’ stealth was released.

‘He has good senses,’ Sung Joon acknowledged.

Casting a wide area spell to forcefully remove the
stealth of several enemies was a tactic that the Empire often used. The
reinforcements were weak, but they had numbers.

“There are two first class assassins, nine
second class assassins, and sixty-seven third class assassin,” Rishubalt reported
precisely.

Sung Joon turned his head to relay this information
to Idun, but Idun was already using magic to estimate the number of enemy
troops. Once he was finished, he held up his radio.

Kwang!
Kwang! Kwang!

The bombardment began.

“The National Guard’s artillery battalion has
formed a battle line! We’ll get artillery support now!”

Idun explained the situation. While the National
Guard’s artillery battalion was bombarding them, a formation of attack
helicopters flew over and shot air-to-ground missiles and their machine guns.

Contrary to monsters, the assassins didn’t possess the
mana skin that rendered modern weaponry ineffective, but they still couldn’t be
taken lightly.

Kwang!
Kwang!

The daggers they threw were clad in aura, and they
were more effective than any armor-piercing bomb.

Of the five attack helicopters, three of them plunged
to the ground. Seeing that, Sung Joon quietly raised his sword, ‘Roel’. He
infused mana into it and said.

“Dragon Fear.”