Tamamo-no-Mae:
Noble Phantasm: "O gods of Izumo! Let this be the proof of your purity, as this mirror becomes your sacred treasure—— Eightfold Blessings of Amaterasu! Or... You know, something like that!"
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Something special is going to be released today.
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Today's anime meme is here. [ ]
....
Jin walked past the noisy Hunters and got to the front, before reaching out with his hand.
'It's… been blocked off?'
The path had been blocked off by an invisible barrier.
He immediately recalled the instant dungeons. More specifically, the wall that demarcated the border between the instant dungeon and reality. But, he soon shook his head.
'No, this is different from that.'
He could detect a certain sense of 'artificiality' from this invisible wall. Seeing that there was a trace of magic energy mixed in, this barrier was the result of a magic spell cast by a monster with high intelligence.
It was then – Jin's head swivelled to his rear.
'....?'
As if it was waiting for this moment, horrendously powerful magic energy waves crashed into the group like a tsunami from the far end of the cavern.
This was from the boss of this dungeon?
The scale of the magic energy emission inside the dungeon was different altogether compared to the one felt outside the Gate.
Other Hunters also must've sensed that absurd amount of magic energy by now, because they began shivering as well.
"W-what the hell??"
"Why am I getting goosebumps, all of a sudden?!"
Watching the complexions of the Hunters get paler by the second.
The wall that wasn't there when they entered. And the boss that bared its fangs only after the barrier had been erected.
'He lay a trap and waits for Hunters to enter the dungeon'
And sure enough….
….From beyond the darkness of the dungeon's interior, the countless sounds of footsteps, far greater than before, reverberated loudly.
What happened next was a bit of a strange phenomenon.
As the footsteps from the other side of the cavern grew louder and closer, the Hunters were making less and less sound.
"Sohn Hyung…."
"…."
Soon, choking silence enveloped the group.
Jin's ears were perked up, though – seizing upon the opening created by his surroundings getting quieter, Jin began counting the numbers of the enemies via their footsteps and what his sense talking to him.
Step, step.
Thud, thud.
Thanks to his already-enhanced hearing, as well as high Perception Stat, he could separate out each of the footsteps to their original owners.
'….48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56
.. 78, 79, 80, 81 and 82'
There were a total of 82 different footsteps. The steps themselves sounded the same as those of the High Orc warriors.
Jin took a look around him.
'More than the original but who cares.'
'....'
With that thought Jin totally dismissed with extra number of monsters.
The nervous tension was clearly writ large on the faces of the Hunters. It seemed to him that they also had more or less figured out the size of the enemy from the resounding footsteps.
This raid team managed to eke out a victory against 22 High Orc warriors. But now, 82 of them are coming. That was over thrice as many.
'….There is no hope of victory here.'
The raid team members were thinking of roughly the same opinion.
Jin suddenly cast his glance down at his shadow. He momentarily thought that it was wavering ever so slightly just then.
Wuuuuu….
He even thought that his shadow soldiers were howling out, their desire to see blood intensifying. Jin raised his head back up again.
Thump, thump, thump!
His calm heart that stayed still until now began pounding harder. As he was excited to get new soldiers. As his army greatly lacks in numbers as he already could store more than 1000 soldiers and don't even start with how many he could call upon.
Yet his army number is yet to pass even 200. Yes he does thousands of corpses lying in his inventory but he was thinking of having more quality than quantity. As every soldier, uniqueness is a big part of having a strong army.
Quality beats quantity every time and this time the same.
Now the only difference was every org was unique in some form or fashion. As it's like some org's are brawls, some spear users, some swords, some hammers, some Axe, some Mercedes, and so on.
'Wait for it….'
….Now wasn't the right time yet.
Consoling himself as thus, Jin silently observed the front.
Eventually, the monsters revealed themselves. The countless marching High Orcs came to a halt just a little bit of distance away from the Hunters.
"Kurururu."
"Kuruk."
High Orcs growled as if they'd pounce at any given moment. No words could adequately describe the bloodthirsty aura emitted from over 82 High Orc warriors. The result of a battle was pretty obvious even without actually fighting them.
"This is crazy."
"How can this nonsensical crap be…."
"Euh…."
Hunters spat out long groans. They continued to retreat ever so slightly after feeling the enormous pressure, but too bad, their path was still blocked off.
So, what would they do now?
The Hunters were already ready for battle a while ago, but no one stepped forward yet and simply waited for Sohn Ki-Hoon's instructions.
Sohn Ki-Hoon's lips were shut tight in a straight line.
'God d*mn it….'
If only either Chairman Choi Jong-In or Hunter Cha Hae-In were here….
Sohn Ki-Hoon's expression crumpled unsightly.
Rank S Hunters all possessed incredible powers that could overturn any unfavourable situation. If either one of those two were here, these High Orcs would've been nothing at all.
'Just why, in a situation like this….'
Why weren't they here?
Sohn Ki-Hoon had fought alongside them all the time, so he could acutely sense his powerlessness right about now. The absence of a single rank S was a bone-chillingly painful thing, indeed.
Unfortunately, he couldn't continue to lament his misfortune forever. No, he had to make a decision here.
'Fighting here will definitely result in our death.'
However, with their path of retreat blocked off, he no longer had any choice in the matter.
The day he chose to become a Hunter, the day he stepped foot inside a dungeon for the first time ever, and the day he lost consciousness for the first time after getting heavily injured….
Didn't he already guess that a day like today would come sooner or later?
'Right. That did happen, didn't it?'
Having resolved himself to meet his maker, Sohn Ki-Hoon unsheathed his longsword.
Shurururng….
Sohn Ki-Hoon took a look at his comrades, and the Hunters nodded their heads as if they had been waiting for the signal.
Sohn Ki-Hoon's gaze shifted back to his front.
He then brought the shield right up till his chin and glared at the High Orcs, still not showing any signs of movements yet.
'So, did he finally make his choice, then?'
Jin also got ready to watch the show while still closing his eyes.
His wildly beating heart suddenly settled down completely as the battle drew near.
Thump, thump, thump….
Get rid of distracting thoughts, and control his breathing.
'…..Okay.'
When Jin reopened his eyes, a sharp gleaming light was now burning fiercely within them.
Gulp.
Hunters forcibly swallowed down their dried saliva; cold sweat soaked their foreheads. On the other hand, Jin was busy smacking his lips.
'How much experience points will these guys give me oncs it's all over? Let's hope it will be enough to level up?'
A thin smile of anticipation spread on his lips.
However, before anything could happen….
….One of the High Orcs stepped forward.
It roughly shoved aside other Orcs and emerged from the group, its wild beast-like eyes looking in the direction of the Hunters.
"Growl…."
This one possessed a far bigger physique than the others, and its fangs were noticeably longer as well as tattoos all over his body.
The High Orc opened its mouth.
"Kurerack tu sheena, wekudo araknaka."
The creature's voice sure sounded loud. The glare of the High Orc was fixed to the leader of the raid team, Sohn Ki-Hoon.
"Kurerack tu sheena, wekudo araknaka!!"
Rustle, rustle….
Hunters' gazes busily darted about.
"What the hell?"
"Is that thing trying to talk to us?"
"What is it saying?"
It was then.
The facial muscles of the High Orc began trembling. When that strange tremor subsided, a completely different voice from before came out from the monster's mouth.
"Humans….."
It was as if something else had borrowed the monster's mouth to speak.
"Oh, humans…."
When looking closer, that normal-looking Orc's eyes were now unfocused and blurry like those of a dead fish that died a long time ago.
"Heok!"
Hunters began freaking out as if the back of their heads were smacked out of nowhere.
An Orc just spoke the language of humans!
'How can an Orc speak Korean?!'
'Is this magic? Could it be??'
Hunters couldn't keep their mouths shut at this utterly unexpected situation. The 'leader' High Orc continued to speak.
"I am…. Karugalgan….. I…. want…. to…. meet…. humans…. Follow… this…. one."
A monster wished to speak to humans?
There never had been any reports of such a case before.
Facing this unprecedented event, not only Sohn Ki-Hoon but everyone in the raid team fell into a state of pure confusion besides some who even understood even the org before he got possessed.
"Ki-Hoon hyung, I hope you ain't listening to the words of a monster."
"Please, you gotta ignore it."
"Ki-Hoon-ah, it's a trap. Regardless of what happens, we gotta try to finish it here."
"But, still. If it's an Orc we can talk to, maybe we can…."
"Don't be an idiot. You've been inside so many dungeons already, so don't you know how they operate by now?"
In less than a second, their opinions had split up.
Sohn Ki-Hoon maintained his silence for a while, before answering the monster's words.
"….Karugalgan. Did you block the cavern?"
"That's right….. I am…. proud…. High Shaman…. of the Orcs…. My spells…. can't be…. broken…. by the strength of…. humans."
"Is there anyone stronger than you inside this cave?"
"Who…. dares to…. oppose…. me!!"
An incredibly loud roar exploded out from the High Orc and slammed into the eardrums of the Hunters. Almost everyone frowned deeply and covered their ears, but Sohn Ki-Hoon was simply nodding his head, still looking rather calm.
His expectation was on the money.
The existence speaking through that High Orc's mouth was, without a doubt, the boss of this dungeon. Since it couldn't escape from the boss room until the time of the dungeon break, it was summoning the Hunters to enter its lair instead.
'I don't know why it wants us there, but….'
When Sohn Ki-Hoon's answer didn't come right away, the leader High Orc raised its large axe above its head.
"Now, choose…. Die here….. at the…. hands… of my soldiers…. Or…. follow… my… soldiers…."
"We'll follow."
Sohn Ki-Hoon's immediate answer prompted the eyes of the Hunters to grow wider.
"Ki-Hoon hyung!!"
"Mister Ki-Hoon!"
Sohn Ki-Hoon interrupted his comrades trying to dissuade him and waited for the reaction of the High Orc.
"Then, come…. Human."
With the end of those words, the blurred eyes of the leader High Orc regained its original clarity. And that would be a wild beast-like glare of bloodlust. The creature spoke up again.
"Ashue tu reka."
With that one sentence, the High Orc warriors burning with fierce hostility withdrew as if it was all a lie. The leader High Orc waited without withdrawing, and beckoned to Sohn Ki-Hoon, telling him to follow.
"Let's get going as well."
Sohn Ki-Hoon was the first to start walking, and the hesitant Hunters began to follow after him one after the other.
'What is he thinking?'
There was little doubt that not only the boss but countless more High Orcs would be waiting for them inside the boss room. Meaning, their odds of victory would be even lower on that side.
So, it was hard to figure out what Sohn Ki-Hoon was thinking of when he chose to follow the monsters.
'Is he trying to negotiate with the boss? In order to get out of here alive?'
Although the odds of that succeeding was extremely low….
No.
Maybe, it was something else as no matter how simple humans are sometimes they just out thought even the smartest persons.
But again I doubt it
Just how long did they walk?
Sohn Ki-Hoon slowed down his walking speed gradually and had arrived at Jin's side. And then, he called out with a hushed voice.
"Hunter-nim."
"Yes?"
Jin continued looking at the front while answering him. Sohn Ki-Hoon, too, continued to stare at the backs of the High Orcs walking further up ahead.
"We… as soon as we meet the boss, we're going to attack right away. When that happens, regardless of whether our attack was successful or not, the b*stard should not be able to maintain the magic spell blocking the exit."
That made a certain amount of sense.
Unless it was some kind of hex-type magic, one had to keep one's focus in order to maintain a spell. Especially if one wanted to maintain high-class magic, an incredible mental focus was a necessity.
However, what about it?
Didn't matter whether they succeeded in killing the boss or managed to cancel the magic blocking the exit, they would still meet a dog's death right away inside the boss room after getting surrounded by the countless High Orcs anyway.
The odds of this raid team returning alive were still pathetically low..
Perhaps to answer Jin's curiosity, Sohn Ki-Hoon spoke with a grave expression on his face.
"While their attention is on us, Hunter-nim, please escape from the boss room. Once you get out of the dungeon, you must alert the main assault force."
By the time the assault team consisting of rank S Hunters arrive here, everything would be over for them. Sohn Ki-Hoon was getting ready to die.
"Are you thinking of dying alongside the boss?"