Chapter 102
The army of werewolves led by Razaka was on a completely different level compared to the monsters hunted earlier.
Having endured countless battles over a long period of war, the werewolves emanated fierce gazes and sharp auras that could only be described as the privilege of predators.
Normally, just facing them would be enough to make one feel intimidated unknowingly.
However, there was not a trace of fear in the eyes of the hunters who confronted them.
No, rather, smiles played on their lips.
"Once we clear these out, it's over."
"What do you think? Wouldn't you say we've opened up the path sufficiently?"
With Oh Kyung-hyun's question, a gust of wind swirled as Lee Sung-jun's figure appeared.
"Good work. From now on, I'll join the battle as well."
As Lee Sung-jun, who had drawn a smile on his lips, was lightly stretching his body, it happened.
Kugugung-!
The gray wave-like army of werewolves shook the ground as they closed the distance with the hunters in an instant.
"Here they come!!"
The moment Lee Ye-rin, who had shouted out, tightly gripped her staff.
A hexagram magic circle was drawn on the ground where there had been nothing, and a massive storm of flames arose.
Kwagwang-!
It was the manifestation of Hell Dust, the SS-rank skill representing Lee Ye-rin.
The army of werewolves that had been charging with a fierce momentum was instantly engulfed in the fiery storm, causing great confusion.
"Everyone, let's rampage!"
"Waaah-!"
At Oh Kyung-hyun's shout, the hunters let out cheers as they drew their weapons and charged toward the werewolves.
There was no way the werewolves, caught in the chaotic situation, could respond properly.
Under the hunters' onslaught, the werewolves who had been radiating murderous intent now cowered, and the front line began to be pushed back.
Looking at just the immediate situation, it seemed like victory could be grasped even without joining the battle, but he had no intention of just standing by.
Lee Sung-jun's gaze turned toward the rear of the werewolf army, focusing on the being emanating a powerful aura.
"I guess I'll start my part as well."
Lee Sung-jun fixed his gaze and stepped on the ground without hesitation.
Tadak-
Lee Sung-jun's form shot forward, passing by the werewolves and quickly closing the distance with the king.
As if not allowing approach, the werewolves moved urgently to block the path.
"Grrrr-"
A strong sense of duty was reflected in the eyes of the werewolves as they let out low growls.
'So they intend to block no matter what.'
If he put his mind to it, dealing with a few werewolves wouldn't be too difficult, but he had no intention of getting held up here before an important battle.
"Come forth."
Woong-!
With a short resonant sound, Hyeokcheonman, which had appeared in midair, charged toward the werewolves blocking the front.
Seogek-!
Every time the red dagger was swung, werewolves were pushed back, opening up the blocked path.
Lee Sung-jun, with a hardened expression, ran toward the king through the opened path.
"Graaah-!"
As the distance grew closer, werewolves rushed in frantically to block the way, but Lee Sung-jun scoffed.
'Wind-Wrapped Sprint.'
Wrapped in wind, Lee Sung-jun passed through the gaps between the werewolves and penetrated inside.
At the same time, a silver sphere that had flown from afar shot toward Lee Sung-jun's brow like a sharp spear.
"Ki energy...?"
It wasn't a refined, clean force, but the pure condensation of ki could be called ki energy without question.
In this current battlefield, there was only one being besides himself, Lee Sung-jun, who could handle such power.
The king of monsters.
'Razaka.'
As that name flashed through his mind, Lee Sung-jun immediately stretched out his right hand and caught the oncoming silver sphere.
However, the sphere grasped in his hand couldn't be considered an attack method of werewolves.
'A spider web?'
It was a situation that could have been quite perplexing, but there was not a hint of hesitation in Lee Sung-jun's subsequent actions.
Lee Sung-jun pulled on the spider web grasped in his hand with all his might.
Huung-!
With a loud whoosh of wind, a large figure rose into the sky and flew toward Lee Sung-jun.
In the end, Lee Sung-jun had succeeded in reaching the king of monsters as he had intended.
But the emotion reflected on Lee Sung-jun's face was not joy or pleasure, but bewilderment.
"What's this?"
The aura felt was certainly that of a monster strong enough to be called a king.
However, the name floating above its head was not 'Razaka'.
"Lyudmila."
Although covered in gray fur like Razaka, with eight legs and a somewhat round body, its appearance could never be mistaken for a werewolf.
Naturally, Lee Sung-jun's expression hardened.
'What's going on?'
There was no reason for Lyudmila, known as the king of Great Spiders, to be with the werewolves.
For a moment, numerous hypotheses arose, threatening to confuse his mind.
However, the vast experience and memories accumulated as a blood demon and demon god quickly organized the situation.
'Come to think of it, it was strange from the beginning.'
Lee Sung-jun, who let out a self-mocking smile, narrowed his eyes as he traced back his memories.
Thanks to the previous situations clearing his vision, things that had not been visible before began to come into view.
'How foolish.'
Caught up in the anticipation of a fierce battle with Razaka, the king of werewolves, he hadn't thought to look around.
He understood all the situations - how the werewolf army could advance southward faster than expected, and why the werewolves had tried so desperately to block his approach.
'It was all a screen to conceal the truth.'
The situation unfolding now was entirely Razaka's deception and strategy.
'Razaka... a more intelligent monster than I thought.'
A king of monsters capable of leading an army - if left alive, there's no telling what trouble they might cause someday.
He needed to eliminate them thoroughly to avoid leaving any future problems.
Lee Sung-jun furrowed his brow and quickly set his mind in motion.
'Where could Razaka be now... No, what is Razaka's true objective?'
Without any substantial information, it wasn't easy to come to a conclusion.
Of course, he didn't show any signs of impatience.
At times like this, it's important to act calmly.
'...Let's start by looking around slowly.'
According to the report provided earlier by the Association, Razaka had waged war against Lyudmila.
'If so, there must be traces left somewhere.'
Lee Sung-jun quickly shifted his gaze to examine Lyudmila's body.
'There are many wounds all over the body.'
Whether the battle with Razaka had been quite arduous, Lyudmila's body was covered in large and small wounds, with red blood soaking the thick skin and fur.
While it could be dismissed as mere injuries, to Lee Sung-jun, a blood demon who deals with blood, it was providing a significant clue.
'The blood is mixed.'
As a blood demon par excellence, priding himself on his ability to handle blood and blood energy better than anyone else, his senses couldn't be deceived.
The red blood staining the gray fur all over was not all Lyudmila's.
Blood with the scent of what is commonly called a beast, a wolf, was present in various places.
'...I'm not sure of the exact circumstances, but thanks to this, I should be able to find Razaka's location more easily than I thought.'
Most of the martial arts used by blood demons possessed destructive and powerful effects.
In other words, not all martial arts focused solely on destructive power.
Like the Death Sentence Blood Glory used earlier, there were martial arts among blood demon techniques that specialized in tracking and searching.
'Blood Trace Tracking Pulse.'
As the name suggests, Blood Trace Tracking Pulse had the ability to track the owner of blood.
While the ability itself might seem simple, its utility was truly excellent.
'Especially in situations like now where we need to track an enemy, it can be called the best martial art.'
Of course, Lyudmila wouldn't simply hand over Razaka's blood.
"Kieeek-!"
Lyudmila, letting out a strange cry, leaped high into the sky and tried to shoot a web-like spider silk towards Lee Sung-jun.
It was more of an action to bind his feet rather than attack.
Sensing an instinctive threat from the aura flowing from Lee Sung-jun's body, it was trying to avoid combat altogether.
It was truly an excellent judgment, but neither the situation nor the opponent was favorable.
Right now, Lyudmila was in a state where its entire body was covered in blood, unable to avoid Lee Sung-jun's attacks that manipulate blood energy.
"Die."
As Lee Sung-jun spoke coldly, his eyes began to turn a seductive red color.
Then, the red blood flowing from various parts of Lyudmila's body rose into the air, following Lee Sung-jun's will.
'Myriad Blood Demon Sea, Asura's Brutal Slaughter.'
As one of the representative martial arts of blood demons that slaughter using blood and blood energy was unleashed, the droplets of blood that had risen into the air began to transform into sharp blades.
"Kieeek?!"
Lyudmila, eyes wide open at the sudden appearance of the red blades, tried to quickly find an escape route, but it was already too late.
The blood demon's execution had already begun.
Seogek-!
The blades floating in the air drew red trajectories as they slashed all over Lyudmila's body.
The first strike might not have dealt a significant blow.
However, the blood that gushed from where the blades cut created more blades, continuously increasing their number.
"Kieeek!"
Lyudmila, now desperate, frantically rolled its eyes, struggling to find a way out.
Seogek- Seogek- Seogek-
But the Asura's Brutal Slaughter, which had now become dozens of blades, was mercilessly cutting into Lyudmila's flesh.
The body that had been harder than steel was being torn and cut.
The eight legs it once had were now all gone.
The same went for the body that had been covered in majestic gray fur.
All had lost their form and were being cut away.
"Kieeek-!"
As Lyudmila let out a pain-filled scream, its body split into dozens of pieces and fell to the ground, causing a rain of blood to pour from the sky.
Kung-! Kung-!
Following this, the loud thuds of Lyudmila's flesh, now reduced to chunks of meat, falling to the ground drew the attention of the entire area.
"Wh-what is this...?"
"Good heavens."
As the battle with the werewolves had continued, they hadn't seen the exact fight.
But the result was crystal clear.
Hunter Lee Sung-jun's victory.
Moreover, he hadn't even suffered a small scratch - it was an absolutely overwhelming victory.
The hunters were dumbfounded at the sight that was hard to believe even with their own eyes, but as all the hunters assigned to the subjugation team were quite renowned, their shock didn't last long.
"Hunter Lee Sung-jun has taken down the king!"
"Push them back!"
Unlike the hunters whose morale had skyrocketed, the werewolves' pupils shook violently, terrified by Lyudmila's death.
"Grrrr..."
The hunters' morale was soaring to the heavens, in perfect contrast to the werewolves' army whose morale had hit rock bottom.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the tide of battle had already turned.
The only variable would be the appearance of an overwhelmingly strong being to change the course of the war, but there were no more monsters with the aura of a king in the vicinity.
There was not even a hint of a variable.
'...I guess there's no need to pay attention to this side anymore.'
It was at that moment when Lee Sung-jun turned his gaze and stretched his hand towards Lyudmila.
Hwiik-
Some of the red bloodstains on Lyudmila's dismembered body were drawn into Lee Sung-jun's hand.
He had taken Razaka's blood to use as a medium for Blood Trace Tracking Pulse.
Having achieved all that could be called his objectives, there was no reason to remain here any longer.
Lee Sung-jun immediately set off towards the location of the subjugation headquarters, where the military demarcation line used to be in the past.