The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C94
“That crazy bastard…”
Lee-han cursed under his breath.
“Let’s get out of here quickly.”
As expected, the wall was an illusion and we passed right through it. Antonio, who had been leisurely smoking a cigarette despite the commotion, waved his hand.
“Where should we go?”
Having no predetermined destination, I took out the compass. The compass was pointing east.
“Anywhere east…”
Before I could finish my request, the entire wall we had just passed through froze.
Crack!
And in an instant, the wall crumbled.
“Woo-hyun.”
With each step Seo-heon took towards us, an icy path formed. He was unable to control his emotions.
“If you wanted to go on a trip, you should have said so.”
His words, so out of place with the situation, sent chills down my spine.
He was acting even more insane than before I ran away.
“Do you realize what you’re doing, spouting nonsense like that? If the Fiesta guild raises an issue, this could escalate into a guild war.”
“If you come back now, we can brush this all under the rug.”
Seo-heon’s eyes glowed blue. It was a symptom that occurred when abilities first manifested, or when magical power exploded. It wasn’t a symptom that should happen to Seo-heon, who was skilled in using magic.
Moreover, those words… does he mean he’ll cause chaos if I don’t go back?
My hair stood on end. He was threatening me right now. Standing at the edge of a cliff, I could neither step forward nor back away.
It was then that Lee-han grabbed my shoulder and shook his head. He meant for me not to waver. Just that small encouragement gave strength to my legs.
Even if I fall off the cliff, I can’t go to Seo-heon now.
“I have no intention of going to you. If I had, I wouldn’t have run away in the first place. Stop wasting your energy and go back.”
I signaled to Antonio with my eyes. It was a signal to prepare for immediate teleportation, and he understood. The problem was that he wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“You think I’ll let you escape?”
Ice that started at Seo-heon’s feet spread across the ground, rushing towards me.
[A-rank skill, Rain of Fire is used. The blessing of flames imbues the rain you call forth.]
A downpour of fire, almost like a cloudburst, fell around me. Thanks to the skill, Seo-heon’s ice couldn’t reach within a 2-meter radius of Lee-han, myself, and Antonio.
“If Seo-heon gets serious, it will be difficult to stop him. Can we teleport immediately?”
“It takes about a minute to start up because I need to erase our traces.”
Antonio said with difficulty. If I only used defensive skills while in contact with Antonio, it would be impossible to stop Seo-heon, who was almost in a berserk state.
Should I try hugging Antonio and running away to gain some distance before attempting?
But glancing at Seo-heon, I realized how stupid that idea was. The very thought of trying to escape from Seo-heon in his half-crazed state seemed ridiculous. It might be possible if I fought with my life on the line, but that would not only harm the Fiesta guild, but there was a high chance I’d end up exhausted and captured in the end.
As I was caught in this dilemma, unable to move, Lee-han stepped in front of me and pushed me towards Antonio.
“Hyung. Just go.”
“Lee-han?”
“He’s already found out that I helped you escape, and you wanted to separate from me anyway. This is the right thing to do.”
Lee-han signaled Antonio to continue.
“You don’t have to do this. If you fight Kang Seo-heon now, you won’t come out unscathed. He’s not in his right mind right now.”
I didn’t want to involve Lee-han any further in our affairs. If I had my way, I would have wanted to send Lee-han with Antonio. But Lee-han’s attitude didn’t change.
“Even if you don’t go now, that guy’s rampage won’t stop. I’ll use a teleport item to escape after making sure you’ve gone, so trust me and go quickly.”
Lee-han took off the watch he was wearing and held it out to me.
“Take this. In return, give it back to me the next time we meet.”
The reason I accepted the watch, despite wanting to refuse, was simple. Lee-han’s trembling eyes were pleading with me not to die.
“Alright.”
Grasping the watch with shaking hands, I nodded once more to show I was making a promise.
“I’ll definitely return it.”
No matter when I die, I vowed to return this watch to Lee-han personally. It felt like the last duty I could fulfill for someone who cared for me so dearly.
“Woo-hyun.”
Seo-heon closed the distance in an instant.
[A-rank skill, Wind of Fire is used. The wind becomes a shield protecting allies at your request.]
I hastily created a shield, but it only stopped Seo-heon’s momentum for a moment. He froze even the flames with just a few waves of his hand.
Having heard my conversation with Lee-han, Seo-heon approached with an even more menacing aura. He now held a sword in his hand that wasn’t there before.
“Seo-heon.”
At my call, Seo-heon paused his steps for a moment. My vision wavered like waves crashing before my eyes, but not wanting to let tears fall, I looked at Seo-heon without closing my eyes. His eyes, filled with subtle expectation, choked me. Only after clearing my throat several times could I manage a hoarse voice.
“Let’s never see each other again.”
At that moment, Seo-heon’s expression was as if he had witnessed the end of the world. As I stared at him, transfixed, I closed my eyes upon seeing Lee-han rush towards Seo-heon. Strangely, no tears fell.
A massive ice pillar rushed towards me. But Seo-heon, perhaps surprised that I didn’t dodge, froze and couldn’t use more force. In that moment, Lee-han started defending using his black hole ability.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Seo-heon, gritting his teeth, reached out to grab me but was blocked by Lee-han’s ability.
[S-rank skill, Sword of Immortality is used. The S-rank item Excalibur has been summoned through skill linkage.]
Seo-heon tried to push Lee-han away by swinging his sword, and I countered with my summoned sword as a warning. He gave a twisted smile.
“Get out of my way!”
Lee-han, having caught his breath, created a massive black hole between us, and Seo-heon instinctively had to step back. As he made an “oops” expression, Lee-han advanced forward following Seo-heon.
“Teleporting in 5 seconds.”
As Antonio spoke, my vision distorted. Seo-heon tried to rush towards me, ignoring Lee-han who was attempting to attack. However, Lee-han’s momentum was not to be underestimated. He quickly caught up to Seo-heon by deleting space and stood blocking his path. I shouted loudly at Seo-heon who was trying to stab Lee-han with his sword.
“If you lay even a finger on Lee-han, don’t even think about seeing my corpse!”
After warning Seo-heon like that, I slowly shifted my gaze to look at Lee-han’s back.
“Baek Woo-hyun!”
Even hearing the desperate voice calling my name, I did not look back at Seo-heon.
***
“We’ve arrived. I brought us to Greece for now as an emergency measure, is that okay?”
Beads of sweat had formed on Antonio’s forehead. It was clear he had exerted himself to the maximum.
“Thank you.”
“This was the farthest distance I could teleport in one go. If you have somewhere you want to go, we can head there.”
A place I want to go. I had no such place, so I took out the compass. It was still pointing northeast. What’s in the east? Suddenly, a scene came to mind. It was the sunrise I had watched with Seo-heon not long ago. He had deliberately shown me the sunrise he couldn’t see when he was stranded in the mountains in the past. That filled my head.
“I want to go mountain climbing. I’d like to go to a very high mountain. Is there such a mountain in the east?”
“Like the Himalayas? I don’t know much about mountains.”
In ancient times maybe, but with the emergence of hunters, the Himalayas had become not too difficult to conquer. If one doesn’t use skills, there might be some sense of achievement, but still.
Even so, it’s vast, so it won’t be easy for Seo-heon to find me if I’m there.
It was an impulsive thought, but I increasingly felt like I had to do it.
“Yes. If it’s okay with you, Antonio, I’d like to go there.”
“No problem. But this time we’ll go in several jumps, so be prepared.”
Despite saying that, it didn’t take long to reach our destination. Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, I wondered if it was really that high. Antonio, seemingly tired from the commotion, took out a cigarette to catch his breath and glanced at me. Then again, he just held it in his mouth without lighting it. Judging by how he spoke abruptly, he seemed like someone who would act without caring about his surroundings, but he probably had clear lines he wouldn’t cross.
“Send the money to Halo. I’ll receive it from him or something.”
“Yes. I’ll make sure to transfer the money and definitely repay your kindness.”
“Just pay exactly what you owe. Don’t give any extra.”
Antonio said that as if trying to lighten my burden.
“Please tell the guild master to charge me if there was any damage from this incident.”
“Even if they make a claim, they’ll do it to the Ihwa guild, not to you. Don’t worry unnecessarily and just go on your way. Don’t look back.”
Antonio waved his hand, urging me to go quickly. Feeling like I shouldn’t deprive him of his smoking time by staying any longer, I nodded in understanding. As I moved away and looked back, he waved his hand as if saying goodbye.
I put on the mask I received from the Fiesta guild master. The mask moved a few times before perfectly adhering to my face. Checking in a mirror, I looked like someone who couldn’t easily be recognized as me.
“Now, let’s go.”