Leveling Up Alone

Meanwhile, Tayarana, Mujahid, and Mariam had no idea how they were supposed to react to the conversation between Han-Yeol and Stewart.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Tayarana initially thought she could finally brag about receiving a new class from Ra and becoming a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter to Han-Yeol, but it turned out that whatever she wanted to say completely disappeared after hearing Han-Yeol’s bickering with the strange man beside him.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask that she completely forgot about her awakening as a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter, and it was the same for the other two as well.

The trio let out a sigh while watching Han-Yeol continuously bicker with the man who came with him.

“Huh? Why the long faces?” Han-Yeol asked.

“I believe it is because you are quite frustrating to watch, Han-Yeol-nim. I mean, that is how I feel right now,” Steward replied with a shrug.

“What did you say?!”

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

“Shut it, punk!”

Han-Yeol continued to bicker with the strange man, and the Egyptian trio instinctively knew things would be quite rowdy from now on.

***

Some time passed, and the bickering between the two slowly died down.

Stewart looked into the distance somewhere and said, “Hmm… It looks like you still have some work to do, Han-Yeol-nim.”

“Huh? What work?”

“There is a large group attacking a smaller group twelve kilometers east of us, and I believe one of the groups consists of subordinates of that human called Woo Han-Jong, while the others are your subordinates.”

“Oh right, I completely forgot about them…”

A lot of things have happened so far.

Han-Yeol stirred up a nationwide protest against the government and was only a few steps away from occupying the Blue House, but the First Hunter, Woo Han-Jong, suddenly appeared and ruined his plans.

Then, they ended up dueling inside an illusion barrier, and Han-Yeol almost died if it was not for Astaroth making an appearance.

After that, he barely managed to win against Woo Han-Jong, only to have him stolen from right under his nose by the madman, Dr. Santinora, who thoroughly toyed with him before disappearing along with Woo Han-Jong.

Fortunately, it all worked out in the end, as he managed to enter into a contract with two powerful rulers of the demon world.

“What did you say?!”

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

“Shut up, you little brat!”

“…”

Han-Yeol smirked and flashed a haughty look as he said, “Know your place, little kid.”

“…”

Stewart trembled in anger. He wanted to swiftly deal with this annoying human taking a jab at his insecurity, but he was forced to swallow his anger as Lucifer personally commanded him to assist this annoying human.

The Egyptians whispered among themselves while watching the spectacle between Han-Yeol and the stranger.

“Don’t you think hyung-nim has become… younger?”

“Yeah, younger in the sense that he has become childish and immature.”

Then, Mariam suddenly added, “He is just like you, Prince Mujahid.”

“You’re so mean!”

Mariam was still as cold as ever to Mujahid.

***

The small group of Hunters refused to surrender while their former comrades were trying to siege the building in hopes of being pardoned for joining the protest.

However, Seung-Beom had created a barrier that encircled the entire structure. He was someone strong enough to become an executive at a prestigious guild if he chose to.

Thus, the barrier stood strong without showing any signs of cracking, even though more than two hundred Hunters were attacking it simultaneously.

One of the Hunters used his most powerful attack skill called Rolling Fireball. The skill required a long casting time and moved far too slowly to be used against other Hunters, but it was extremely effective as a finisher against still-standing targets such as monsters restrained by crowd control skills.

The Hunter expected he would have a field day with the barrier, but he soon realized he was mistaken, as the barrier did not even form any cracks despite the fact that he used Rolling Fireball ten times.

“Damn it… Why the hell is that thing so sturdy?”

“Can that thing even be destroyed?”

“Damn it!”

Meanwhile, Woo Han-Jong’s retainers were slowly starting to get bored.

The Hunter asked one of the individuals who stirred up this entire situation, “Hey, don’t you think we should be wrapping this up already?”

“Nope… Things are about to become interesting…” he muttered in response.

He went closer to get a better listen. “Hmm? What did you say?”

Then, he felt something cold pierce through his skin, and his entire abdomen started warming up.

He looked down and saw a shamshir stabbed in his abdomen.

These two were not on great terms, but their relationship was not so bad that they would resort to stabbing each other. In fact, they trained under the same master, Woo Han-Jong, so there was at least a sense of camaraderie between them.

“W-Why…?” he groaned while holding the wound that was profusely bleeding.

“H-Hey!”

“What the hell are you doing?!”

The other retainers of Woo Han-Jong noticed the commotion and rushed over.

“Damn it! I think this blade is laced with poison!”

The perpetrator who stabbed his comrade grinned and said, “There’s one thing I love in this world.”

“…!”

Then, everyone froze after they noticed something was different about the perpetrator who had betrayed his own comrade.

“Y-You…!”

The perpetrator was wearing a clown mask.

“W-Who are—!”

The Hunter tried to retaliate, but the clown was a step ahead of him. He twisted the shamshir and pulled it out in one swift motion, effectively ending the Hunter’s life.

Woo Han-Jong’s retainers quickly surrounded the clown while he was busy squirming and rubbing his hands on his face. This was a formation Woo Han-Jong had personally developed for them when they were up against a single powerful enemy, and even a Master Rank Hunter would struggle against this formation.

“I have no idea who you are, but a life for a life! You will pay with your life for killing one of our comrades!”

The one hundred retainers started channeling their mana in preparation to attack the clown.

The leader of the retainers growled in response, “What did you just say?”

“Attack!”

The retainers rushed at the clown as soon as the order was given.

Then, the clown smirked and said, “Alright, everyone~ Say cheese~”

***

Han-Yeol, Tayarana, Mujahid, Mariam, and Stewart took their sweet time heading east toward the Blue House as the situation did not seem to be that dire.

However, they soon realized that was not the case at all by the time they reached their destination.

The stench of blood reeked in the air as signs of destruction and thick black smoke could be seen everywhere.

“W-What in the world happened here…?” Han-Yeol muttered in disbelief. He expected Woo Han-Jong’s people and the Hunters to clash, and it was highly likely that the Hunters were going to surrender once the battle shifted against their favor.

Han-Yeol was initially planning to appear at the last minute and save the Hunters, but the scene that greeted him was not what he was expecting.

He investigated the scene and came to the conclusion that this destruction was not caused by two large groups clashing. Being able to tell these kinds of things was not that difficult for him, thanks to his experience living as Harkan.

Then, he sensed that everyone was dead except for one—no, it was two.

“I believe that fellow is the one responsible for this, Han-Yeol-nim,” Stewart said while pointing in one direction.

Han-Yeol looked where he was pointing and was shocked. “What?! Y-You are!”

“You’re that clown!”

“It is an honor to be recognized by you, Lee Han-Yeol-nim!”

The clown was drenched in blood, and yet he did not seem to be bothered by it as he gave an exaggerated greeting.

Then, Han-Yeol noticed that the clown was stepping on someone who was still alive.

The survivor was one of the Hunters who defected to Woo Han-Jong’s side the moment he was offered the opportunity to be fully pardoned for joining the protest.

“Ah, it is extremely rude of me to say this, but may you please give me a moment, Han-Yeol-nim? I have to wrap this up real quick,” the clown said.

The clown stepped on the Hunter’s back and started to use his shamshir like a saw as he sawed off his victim’s head.

Then, he picked up the head and raised it in front of his face.

He flinched and pretended to be surprised before throwing the head aside as if it were a toy he had grown bored of.