Chapter 299: Outland (5)

In a misty forest deep in the night, a hot pursuit was ongoing.

"Huff, huff."

Gilberto Green's ponytail swung as he ran. He took out a syringe from his vest and injected it into his arm, but he was still frowning.

'...I'm already at my last potion.'

Funnily enough, what was running through his veins right now were potions rather than blood. He had injected too many potions into himself today.

'Right now, there are five of them chasing behind me.'

And that was after he had taken out the majority of them. In the beginning, there had been a whopping thirty fiends after him.

'They're coming at me recklessly. They probably think that they can kill me easily if they just close the distance, as I'm a sniper.'

The most infuriating part was that they were correct. After all, his specialty was sniping from so far away that he wouldn't normally be visible.

"...!" Just then, something caught his eye, and he suddenly slipped to the ground. As a flickering lance made of flames grazed by him, he pulled the trigger with a bang.

"Ack!" With a final cry, the body of a mage hiding in the trees fell down.

"Huff, huff..." Breathing harshly, Gilberto sneered at himself.

'I did so much stamina training so that I wouldn't hold back my comrades...'

But after twenty-six years, all his efforts had fizzled away, and he had to start his journey all over again. With that in mind, he had a newfound admiration for Seo Jun-Ho.

"This won't do." Gilberto made a decision. Even if he kept running, there was no way he would be able to shake them off. With that said, he still couldn't take out four fiends in his current state, as he was exhausted.

'I'll use my trump card.' Gilberto's eyes flashed, and he put away his sniper rifle into his Inventory before pulling out a white revolver.

'I really didn't want to use this if I didn't have to...'

He let out a deep sigh.

Gilberto stood up when he sensed his enemies approaching him from all four directions.

"Are you tired of running now?"

"You son of a bitch. You really made us work." The fiends had no reason to censor themselves after Gilberto had put them through such trouble.

"...You all speak so rudely. I'm glad Arthur doesn't have people like you around him."

"What are you saying?"

As they teemed with bloodlust, the fiends quickly scanned the area.

'He looks like an idiot, but he's one of the famous 5 Heroes.'

'He was waiting for us here...'

'Did he lay a trap nearby?'

Instead of rushing in, they waited for something. A moment later, one of them spoke.

"I'm done checking. There aren't any traps," the fiend announced.

Only then did the fiends smile wickedly.

"Geez. So you're saying he actually stopped because he ran out of stamina?"

"I was nervous for no reason. I thought he had set up some huge trap or something."

"What did I say? He's the only one of the 5 Heroes with a well-known weakness."

Gilberto's weakness: if his location was discovered and he had to switch into close combat, his fighting prowess would be greatly decreased.

'Well, it's good for me if you let your guard down.'

Gilberto laughed as the fiends taunted him.

"...Hey, why's the bastard laughing?"

"I'm really pissed. Let's just kill him."

The attacks flew toward him all at once. Gilberto swiftly rolled away and hid behind a tree. "The world has become so cruel. I can't even laugh in peace anymore."

He pulled out something from his breast pocket.

'Badge.'

Needless to say, he hadn't been carrying it around merely to show it off. He pressed the button in the middle of the badge and threw it.

Click! Bababam!

The Badge shattered into hundreds of pieces, which were suspended in the air.

"Haaa... Haaa..." Gilberto forcibly evened his breathing and darted out from behind the tree. He took the hits he could handle instead of dodging them.

"Keuk!"

Something dug into his shoulder, and his ankle was cut so deep the bone was visible. However, he didn't even pay attention to the dagger lodged in his side and pressing on his lungs.

'Concentrate. Concentrate, Gilberto Green.'

He raised his left arm, using it to block a spear. His face contorted with pain, but even then, he didn't close his eyes. After all, a sniper's eyes were their life.

'The Repeating Covenant Revolver.' That was the name of the gun in his hand. It was actually a Unique-grade gun, and Seo Jun-Ho had bought it for around seven billion won and had given it to him as a gift.

'This gun drains the user's magic power, mental energy, and willpower to create a bullet.'

Every time it made contact with an inanimate object instead of a living creature, it would ricochet in the opposite direction. And whenever that happened, the bullet's destructive power, penetrative force, and speed would increase exactly twofold.

'Two years.'

After Seo Jun-Ho gave him this gun, Gilberto spent two years devoting at least twelve hours of his day practicing with it. It was because of the great effort he had put in that he could make such a presumptuous assumption.

'Other than me, there is no one else in the world who can use this bad-tempered gun.'

Seo Jun-Ho with his Weapon Mastery (S), even said that he couldn't use the weapon while he was exhausted. Such was the level of this revolver.

There was only one reason why Gilberto had decided to tame the weapon, endure many sleepless nights, and spill tears of exertion.

It was for a situation like this; he had to be prepared for a situation where he couldn't snipe his enemies down.

'I want to tell something to my past self...'

It had been a while since he paid attention to the physical pain. His eyes were fixed on the hundreds of shards floating in the air, sparkling like stars. What he had to do right now was to make the stars converge toward a single path.

'I want to tell myself that the effort I had put in wasn't in vain, even 26 years later.'

The pure white bullet shone. Every time the ball of light ricocheted off of one of the hundreds of shards, it grew more and more ferocious.

"What the hell is he aiming..." A fiend started, watching the bullet of light fly randomly.

However, before he could finish his sentence, his body exploded. It was a very grotesque scene, especially considering that he was merely struck with a bullet the size of a fingernail.

"Even though using it is tedious, it sure lives up to its name."

The Repeating Covenant Revolver's bullet grew stronger with every ricochet, and it had always vowed to bring him a solid victory.

Like right now...

Babababam!

Light. It was light.

Gilberto didn't get to see how his bullet took the fiends out. All he could do was make a guess by looking at their shredded corpses.

"Really, it's a damn fast bullet..." he muttered as his body gave out.

He leaned against a tree. "Huff, huff..."

He had lost too much blood. And he had no more potions left.

'But a potion... There is one right there...'

Gilberto's eyes started to droop. With great effort, he reached for the potion bottle attached to a dead fiend's belt.

However, his hand couldn't reach the distant bottle.

"...Hm."

As his consciousness slowly began to slip, he heard a familiar, haughty voice.

"I think I should be allowed to ask for ten."

***

If you asked veteran Players if they would rather hunt a fiend, a Player, or a monster, ten out of ten times, they would choose to hunt a monster. Fighting a person was just that physically and mentally exhausting.

However, fiends were different. They much preferred hunting Players over monsters. Once they had gotten a taste of it, they would never be satisfied, so they make it their life's pursuit.

'Yes, I'm definitely the hunter...I have to be...'

Guladin's pupils dilated. He was watching a scene he hadn't pictured at all.

"W-wind...!"

Crack!

The wind elemental's neck broke. His subordinate could summon a gale that could shake a wide area if they concentrated, but they died in vain without being able to summon so much as a breeze.

'No...No...'

Guladin shook his head in disbelief; he couldn't believe this reality.

This was wrong—completely wrong. Ever since he became a fiend, and especially after becoming the Gluttony Squadron Leader, he had never experienced such a battle. He was always tucked away as their commander, near his strong subordinates.

"Where is Guladin?" Seo Jun-Ho asked as he took hold of the fiend's throat. His face was cold.

"Guh....keok..."

Even after breaking out of the Heaven's Net and coming all the way to where Guladin was supposed to be, Seo Jun-Ho still couldn't see the latter.

When the fiend didn't answer, an icicle formed in the air and stabbed through the fiend's thigh.

"I asked you where Guladin is."

"Kuh...ugh...I-I am Guladin," the fiend said, cackling.

Of course, he was neither Guladin nor did he say this out of loyalty. Mind Knot had merely forced him to answer like this.

"...Is that so?"

Crunch!

There was a disgusting sound, like stepping on a cicada. The fiend's face was caved in, and he died on the spot.

Unlike the fiend's crushed face, Seo Jun-Ho's face was clean, without a single blemish. With an indifferent expression, he wiped the blood on his hand onto the dead fiend's clothing.

'...Fuck.'

Guladin swallowed a harsh curse. The Gluttony Squadron members that made up the Heaven's Net were certainly weak. They only became stronger because the Chef often gave his dishes to anyone with potential. Still, they were mere expendable tools.

However, the fiends around here were different.

'They're strong, even amongst the honor guard of other Squadrons...'

There had been thirty of them. And thirty members of his honor guard couldn't kill just a single Player. If it were a close call, Guladin wouldn't have witnessed what he had just seen; however, they had been completely crushed.

'It's a good thing I'm still hidden.' Guladin let out a sigh of relief and glared fiercely at Jun-Ho. 'He's a monster wearing a human's face.'

He judged Seo Jun-Ho like so. Actually, Seo Jun-Ho had killed an unexpected a hundred and fifty fiends while trying to break out of the Heaven's Net. High levels, decent equipment, and diverse skills... He had put them all to shame, and he wasn't even breathing hard.

'It can't just end like this...'

Guladin wanted to just stay here as quiet as a mouse until the storm passed.

'...The Chef won't forgive me if I do that.'

Guladin looked like he wanted to cry. He knew very well that if the Chef marked him, he would meet a fate far worse than death.

'I have to kill him no matter what. Only then will it have been worth it.'

His hands grew clammy around his spear, and he felt a chill on the back of his neck. To be honest, he was scared, but it wasn't like he had no confidence.

'The Chef has bestowed me with many skills.'

Chameleon's Skin (A) was a skill that allowed him to hide by blending into his surroundings. Seo Jun-Ho still hadn't found him thanks to this skill.

'And he should be thinking that Guladin is already dead...'

In addition, he had probably let his guard down already, as the battle had just ended.

'Slowly. If I'm impatient, I'll ruin it.' Guladin slowly approached Seo Jun-Ho. Midnight Visitor (A) silenced his footsteps. 'Everything is in place.'

His eyes weren't red at the moment. With this monstrous bastard as his opponent, Guladin was sure that Seo Jun-Ho would instantly notice him if he mustered his demonic energy.

'No matter how strong he is, he's still human—a human.'

He was outstanding, but he wouldn't be on the level of a Heaven. Guladin heard that even the Heavenly Demon died when his heart was pierced. And he had revered the Heavenly Demon as a god. As such, it was only natural that a mere human would die if their head or heart were pierced.

'And you're no exception...'

Guladin aimed his spear at the back of Seo Jun-Ho's head like a poisonous snake.

'Quick and concise.' He ran a simulation several times in his head. The moment he struck out with his spear, he would infuse it with demonic energy. At the same time, another one of his skills, Quicken (A), would quadruple the speed of his weapon.

He was sure of the outcome, so there was no need to hesitate. Guladin's spear shot out.

"...?!"

Crackle!

A wall of ice shot up from the ground, blocking his attack.

"Dammit all!" he cursed. Seo Jun-Ho's reaction speed was inhuman. Unless Seo Jun-Ho had been bracing himself for a surprise attack, it had to be impossible for him to react that fast.

"That was pretty good, Guladin."

When the wall cracked, the fiend could finally see Seo Jun-Ho's cold face.

"You hid your demonic energy, made no sound, carefully aimed for my head, and you even used your subordinate as a decoy. You did great."

"H-how did you..." Guladin trembled. He had no idea that Seo Jun-Ho had used Confession of the Dead to read the memories of the dead fiends he had encountered.

"You only made one mistake today."

"...And what was it?" Guladin choked, instinctively knowing that he was about to die.

"You didn't run away after seeing me."

"Shit, you...!"

Crack!

Before he could finish his resentful curse, an icicle pierced his heart.