Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 143: Twelve Zodiac Legion (1)

A monster horde in charge of defending the outskirts of their territory appeared right after the Horus raid party started mobilizing.

“Kireuk!”?

The first monsters were rabbits. Of course, they were not normal rabbits but monster rabbits the size of a calf. They possessed crimson-red eyes, sharp claws, and tough-looking muscles. In a single glance, it was obvious that they were monsters.

‘Tsk… Is it because the boss is the Bodhisattva? The monsters are Buddhists too…’?Han-Yeol clicked his tongue and grumbled after seeing the silhouette of the monsters with Demon Eyes and checking the image transmitted from Yoo-Bi’s drone.

There were twelve monster hordes, and each horde seemed to be representing a zodiac. The zodiacs here were the animals known as the Twelve Chinese Zodiacs.

However, the rabbit monsters in front of the Horus raid party were not the armored rabbit one would normally see at Buddhist temples, but rather, a ferocious monster that was the size of a calf. They were definitely not the zodiac gods that the Buddhists had portrayed.

“Kireuk!”

Dadadada!

The ten monster rabbits the Horus raid party had found let out a horrific shriek before charging toward them. The fact that they were charging at them so ferociously despite being quite a distance away proved that these monsters were highly aggressive.

[All forces! Prepare for combat!]

[Hap!]

Woooong!

The variety of Hunters from different ranks began to channel their mana, and the air around them became dense from the mana being channeled.

‘Hoo… Shall we go on a rampage?’?Han-Yeol thought as he took out his HSK-447P.

He was itching from excitement at the thought of being able to go all-out after a long time, and he took out a decent-sized mana stone from his belt pocket. Gripping the mana stone as hard as he could, he commanded, ‘Enhance!’

Cr… Crack!

The mana stone shattered the moment he used his skill, and his power was greatly enhanced by it. The skill was somewhat a disposal-type since it consumed a mana stone, but he could not help smirking whenever he felt just how much his power was being amplified by it.

Han-Yeol aimed his gun with the assistance of his Marksmanship skill. He used one of his old signature skills, ‘Mana Explosion.’

Shwooooong… Kaboooom!

The grenade empowered by Enhance flew in an arc before accurately landing on the monster rabbits and triggering a huge explosion. The explosion was so powerful that shockwaves shook the entire ground.

In fact, it was powerful enough to say that it had split heaven and earth apart. However, despite the flashiness of the skill…

‘Tsk… So you guys are trying to say that you’re different?’?Han-Yeol clicked his tongue after checking with Demon Eyes.

The monster rabbits stopped in their tracks due to the powerful explosion, but not even a single one of them died or were severely wounded from it.

Click… Clack!

However, Han-Yeol was not shaken by it. In fact, he nonchalantly reloaded another grenade and prepared to fire once again. He thought, ‘I just have to fire one more time.’

The effect of Enhance was still remaining. This second strike was probably not going to deal significant damage this time as well, but it was still better than nothing.

Just as Han-Yeol was about to shoot the second grenade, three of the Horus raid party Hunters suddenly approached him and said in unison, [We will help you.]

[Hmm? You guys will?]

[All of us possess mana amplification skills. We believe your attack will be far more powerful if we amplify your mana on top of your own amplification skill.]

[Oh~ That sounds like a good idea. Let’s give it a go.]

[Yes, sir!]

The three Hunters placed their hands on Han-Yeol’s back, and they channeled their mana into him.

[Power Up!]

[Mana Recharge!]

[Empower Mana!]

The three different skills basically did the same thing and only their names differed.

Han-Yeol could feel his mana being further amplified.

Wooooong!

‘I can clearly feel my mana becoming stronger!’?

Feeling impressed, he gathered his mana into his grenade launcher, and the sight of it was quite impressive. He then pulled the trigger.

Kwaaaang! Shwooooosh…! Chwwaaaaaaak!

‘Keuk!’

[Keuk!]

[What kind of recoil is this?!]

Han-Yeol seemed to have channeled too much mana into the grenade launcher. After he had pulled the trigger, all four of them were flung back by two meters.

However…

KWAAAAAAANG!

[T-That’s…amazing…]

[Can anything survive that kind of a powerful attack?]

All of the Horus raid party members had their mouths agape as they watched the powerful yet dazzling explosion of mana.

It was definitely not easy to deal this much damage in a single attack, and the fact that Han-Yeol was not even a Hunter specializing in explosion skills made it even more amazing.

‘This much is nothing but a greeting for him.’

‘I see this quite often, but I really can’t get used to this…’

‘It’s not even surprising anymore…’

They knew that this was not Han-Yeol’s full power. They knew very well from having hunted with him that he had more hidden up his sleeve than what the media was aware of.

“Kieeee…!”

The Horus raid party approached the crater Han-Yeol had created. Only one of the ten monster rabbits remained as the rest had been blown to smithereens, leaving only their mana stones behind.

The last remaining monster rabbit was missing an arm and it was profusely squirting out its blue blood. However, it showed no signs of backing down as it bared its fangs and claws at them. “Kiiiieeeek!”

However…

Bang!

Han-Yeol took out a pistol and shot a bullet right between the monster’s eyes, and the bullet exited through the back of its head.

Most people thought that Han-Yeol was a close-combat Hunter because he used a sword and a chain, but he was only using those weapons because he seldom had the chance to use a gun.

‘If Yoo-Bi manages to create an advanced gun, then I’ll ask her to prioritize arming me. I can just give her a monster pet in return anyway,’?Han-Yeol thought.

This was the reason why he was taking good care of Yoo-Bi. He was quite adept at handling old-fashioned weapons such as a sword or a chain, but he was quite good with firearms as well thanks to his Marksmanship and Homing Bullet. He was not using firearms only because he usually hunted solo and none of the firearms available in the market were as good as he needed them to be.

Needless to say, Yoo-Bi’s ability was like rain in a drought for him.

‘Hehehe…’?

While Han-Yeol was sheepishly laughing, the Horus raid party sprung into action.

[Porters, move swiftly and collect the mana stones. Don’t leave behind any of the intact remains of the monsters… No, just collect all of it. We don’t know what’s useful so we might as well take all of it. Work in pairs and don’t dilly-dally. Move!]

[Yes, ma’am!]

The Horus raid party could be considered a semi-government entity as they were getting almost unlimited support from the government. Their support crews, which were mostly Porters, were ten times the size of the Porters most Korean raid parties had.

A Korean raid party would normally have one group of Porters, and the Hunters would usually be held back since the Porters’ stamina would not be able to keep up with too quick a hunting pace. On the other hand, the Horus raid party had four groups of Porters, and each group was composed of at least double to triple the size of a Korean Porter group.

The system the Horus raid party employed was a three-shift rotation of the three groups, with the fourth group on standby in case anything happened.

This was the reason that the Hunters did not have to match their pace with the Porters’ stamina and could hunt to their heart’s content.

Whiiiing! Zhiiiing!

Han-Yeol sat atop a tree with a clear view of the horizon.

“Kyu!”

Seuk… Seuk… Seuk… Seuk…?

Han-Yeol patted the baby dragon sitting atop his head.

Mavros often hid at the backlines during battle and would show up as soon as the battle ended to nest on top of Han-Yeol’s head.

“Yeah, you will become strong like those monsters one day, so we will be having a lot of fun together at that time.”

“Kyu! Kyu!”?Mavros cried out in agreement.

‘The nearest group of rabbits from here would be…?Hmm…’?Han-Yeol scouted the horizon and checked the number of monster rabbits in the area. After discovering a group of monster rabbits, he groaned inwardly, ‘Ugh…’

The group this time was made up of thirty monster rabbits, and their numbers made the ten rabbits a while ago look like a tutorial stage. Not only that, each of the thirty monster rabbits also seemed to possess much denser mana than the ones a while ago. In short, they were stronger than the first group.

‘Ah… This is going to be a headache…’?he thought.

Whatever it might be, the Horus raid party had to eliminate all these zodiac monsters and make their way to the Thousand Armed Bodhisattva.

***

“Kieeeeeek!”

Sukeok!

Han-Yeol cut the neck of a monster rabbit pouncing at him. The monster’s blue blood spurted all over the place as its head rolled on the ground.

“Haa… Haa…?That’s the twelfth,” he muttered while trying to catch his breath.

The monster rabbits were much more stubborn than they looked. They did not operate within their boundaries, immediately swarming over if one of their own had been attacked. This was a problem, because the raid party had realized this a tad bit too late, and they were now stuck in a quagmire of death.

[How long until the next wave comes, Han-Yeol-nim?]

Mariam did not look into the minds of those superior to her, but she had no other choice this time as every second counted.

Wooooong!

[Just look for yourself.]

The skill that allowed Mariam to look into someone’s mind was not only limited to her looking; the other person, Han-Yeol in this case, could peek into her mind as well. The only time she would ever use this skill was only during critical moments when they did not have the luxury to speak.

Han-Yeol activated Demon Eyes, and Mariam got a firsthand view of what he was seeing.

[That is around five minutes from now. I noticed that there was a small gorge behind us. I will instruct the party to set up our defense over there and use the topography to our advantage.]

[Okay, give me ten Hunters. I’ll buy you time to set up defensive formations.]

[Thank you, Han-Yeol-nim.]

[No need to thank me.]

Mariam decided that it was going to be dangerous if they continued fighting in the forest. They had already fought against three groups of monster rabbits without much casualties, but she noticed that every battle was getting more and more difficult.

The Hunters were humans too, so they were bound to tire soon. There was definitely a need for Mariam to take preventative measures as insurance.

‘Also, these bastards are popping up from everywhere, so it’s getting difficult to protect the Porters,’?she thought.

There was only one entrance to the gorge she had seen a while ago, so it was going to be the optimal place for the Hunters to defend while protecting the Porters.

[We are retreating to the rear in five minutes. Our destination is the gorge behind us.]

[Ah…]

[Such a waste…]

The Porters did their best to collect the mana stones and monster corpses whenever they could, but the fighting was simply too fierce and fast-paced. In the end, they could only collect twenty percent of it. That was why the command to retreat was such a shame to both the Hunters and the Porters.

[Hurry up. Do you want to exchange your lives for some monster corpses?!]

Mariam’s next words encouraged the raid party to spring into action.

Han-Yeol stayed behind with the ten elite Hunters he had requested from Mariam to protect the raid party’s rear while they retreated.

[Tara?]

[There’s no way I can retreat when you signed up for the most dangerous mission. I am the Leader, after all.]

[I’m here to fight with you, hyung-nim!]

[I swear there’s no stopping you siblings…] Han-Yeol shook his head but conceded in the end.

Tayarana and Mujahid joined him at the rear, and the top three powerhouses of the raid party had now gathered in one place.

[Keep this in mind. We are only going to stall for thirty minutes before retreating ourselves. Don’t push yourselves too hard, and don’t try to go out of your way just to kill them. We’re here to stall. That’s all.]

[Sure.]

[Yes, hyung-nim!]

[You guys… Are you sure you understood me just now…?]

Han-Yeol was skeptical if they had even listened to him at all. Looking at the siblings, he felt like they were itching to fight like a pair of berserkers…