119 – 119. Wilhelm(1)
It is a desolate landscape.
The forest beyond the gate was desolate. When Ahn Soo-ho arrived earlier, there were at least some dead grass, but now it is literally a winter forest. There were only bare branches and snow that was piled up.
-Jerebuck. That buck that buck
The hunters advanced along the road in the middle of the forest. There was no need to worry about getting lost. It was the only visible path, and the other world beyond the eroded dungeon gate was only about 1 km in size.
A chill that penetrates to the bone. When someone exhaled, a white cloud of breath rose above their heads. The look on his face between the breaths was clear that he was nervous.
It took me a few minutes to walk into the forest while holding my breath.
“Stop.”
Ahyeon Seol said so when she found a white altar that appeared before long and a knight in white armor kneeling in front of it.
‘I can’t see the other knights. Is Wilhelm alone? No. Maybe he’s hiding somewhere…….’
Ahyeon Seol looked around the hunters who came with her. Seol Ah-hyun is the leader of the raiding party. Hunters waited silently for her instructions.
“…… The guerrillas stand by and guard this spot. Only the task force to fight Wilhelm is moving forward-“
Seol Ah-hyun’s expression hardens. In an instant, her red eyes became clear again, and then she pushed her body back.
-Pabababababak!
Immediately, dozens of arrows were pierced at the spot. The moment when the hunters were surprised by the arrows stuck as if they were drawing a long line on the ground.
-The captain is soothing the master’s soul. I will kill anyone who gets in my way.
A graceful voice came from above. When the hunters raised their heads, a knight wearing a green cloak was aiming a bow at the top of a bare winter tree.
– Whirik.
The green knight threw himself down the tree. The body that fell quickly landed lightly on the ground. Hunters could guess the skill of the knight from the movement that didn’t even raise a bit of dust.
“… ….”
At Seol Ah-hyeon’s glance, the guerrilla group except for the task force formed in perfect order. Despite the knight’s warning, they casually crossed the line of arrows drawn on the ground. Through the helmet worn by the green knight, a gasp of anger leaked out.
-You guys really wanted to throw their lives away…… !
The green knight put an arrow on the string. A fresh green energy lingers at the tip of the arrowhead. The guerrilla hunters surround it in a semicircle.
However, even then, Wilhelm was silently bowing his head toward the altar. The moment he tried to give an attack order to the hunters in the aggressor, being wary of his movements.
– Ain. Back off.
A profound voice resounded throughout the winter forest, and Wilhelm finally stood up.
– Hui oh oh oh.
The wind blew. The chill that came along with the wind penetrated the hunters’ bones. Slowly turning his head, Wilhelm sighed as he looked around at the scoundrels who had invaded his master’s tomb.
-How can you expect such courtesy from intruders who know neither honor nor trust? The master’s spirit, whose rest was disturbed, is honored by taking their blood and flesh…….
Wilhelm’s words stopped. The gaze, which stood tall, turned to Ahn Su-ho, who was sandwiched between the hunters.
– Flinch!
At that moment, Ahn Soo-ho felt as if thousands of thorns were piercing his flesh. A pair of blue eyes burned through the slits of Wilhelm’s helmet.
-Hoo.
-Jajeok! What a bummer!
As he took a step, the ground quickly froze on his feet. Even the snow, which is wrapped in light clothes, hardens, and the wind that blows makes it even more numb.
-Where did you come from here? Cowardly thief Fugitive without honor Foolish puppet of an abominable god…… .
A voice filled with anger and even a sense of joy that I don’t know why.
At those words, some hunters turned their attention to Ahn Su-ho. However, Ahn Soo-ho stared at Wilhelm without saying a word and only tightened his grip on the hand holding his sword.
“As in the original plan, the task force will deal with Wilhelm, and the guerrillas will deal with that green knight. If the green knight is defeated, move away from Wilhelm’s attack range except for those who can attack at long range.”
Along with Seol Ah-hyun’s instructions, the hunters belonging to the task force each took out their weapons. Wilhelm and Ain also lowered their stance at the ferocious momentum that seemed like they would attack at any moment.
-Leonhardt’s last sword. Wilhelm von Bernstein, leader of the Frost Knights.
-The leader of the Frost Knights scouts and the first lieutenant. Ein Dietrich.
Two voices overlap. An anachronistic self-introduction that seems to have jumped out of medieval romance literature.
However, a look of nervousness was evident on the faces of the hunters who faced the two.
That’s true, Ain Dietrich is like that, but Wilhelm is the master of Overrank dungeons. Because it was a monster in the form of a human who put an S-class superman who had rushed into the advance team into a critical condition of unconsciousness.
– Raise your sword. Intruders.
A chill swelled around Wilhelm. Small pieces of ice gathered from all directions gathered in his hand and soon created a single sword.
A death sentence that is pronounced softly.
In the next moment, the seven members of the task force kicked their feet at once.
-Kiiiii!
There was a flash of light from Ain’s arrow. The target the tip of the arrow aims for is the lead. Seol Ah-hyun’s eyebrows running in front.
“Where is this bastard!”
“Your opponent is us!!”
However, before the arrows flew, the hunters of the guerrilla group attacked Ain. The hunters of the ‘Brave Men’ guild, who ran out with great vigor, wield their weapons bravely, worthy of their name.
-Keep…… !
In the end, Ain had no choice but to revise his goal. As she let go of her string, her single arrow split into dozens of arrows aimed at her ranger. As if crossing the arrows, the hunters of the task force pass Ain and arrive at Wilhelm.
-Captain!
-Leave it to me.
Wilhelm jumped forward as if guarding the altar. As soon as he swings his sword, a huge iceberg rises along the ground and attacks the hunters who are running.
That moment.
-Roaring!
Yeom Emperor Park Chul. A black flame rose from his hand and hit the iceberg. The rising ice melts at once and thick steam spreads in all directions.
“Park Cheol Hunter!”
“Cancer!”
At Seol Ah-hyeon’s cry, Park Cheol jumped off the ground. He clenched his right fist tightly and hit the ground hard as he fell.
“Hell’s Flare!!”
-Quarrr!!!
At that moment, the earth shook with a roar, and huge pillars of fire rose from all directions. Its shape seemed to imprison Wilhelm and the task force in a circle.
-Roaring!
Fire blazed in all directions, expelling intense heat. The chill that filled the forest with the heat disappeared without a trace. Park Cheol smiled triumphantly at Wilhelm, who looked around.
“hehehehe. Look! This heat hell! It would be difficult to use your ice ability if the surroundings were so hot, right?”
“Geeek… ….”
Jin So-wol was disgusted at that exhilarating cry.
“Mr. Cheol. I said please don’t tell me that weird technical name. Hell’s Flare or Hellfire, aren’t you ashamed of your age?”
“Ha ha ha ha! What do you not know! It’s been said that when you use a really strong skill, you have to shout out the name of the skill! That’s why it looks so damn strong! Isn’t that right, Oh Ji-hoon!”
“Don’t treat me the same as you.”
Oh Ji-hoon shook his head and said. He wipes the sweat from his forehead as the heat hits him.
– Hui oh oh oh.
At that time, a chill began to swarm around his body. However, unlike Wilhelm’s frost magic, it was a pleasant coolness that only blocked the heat of the flame. Oh Ji-hoon said, turning his head slightly.
“Thank you. Student.”
“Say something.”
As Midsummer stretched out his hands, the rest of the people’s bodies also began to feel cool. It was a technology that stood out for its fine control in midsummer, blocking heat by cooling only the surrounding air without freezing the body itself.
It creates hot flames all around to weaken Wilhelm’s frost magic, while minimizing allies’ damage caused by the heat with his midsummer’s freezing ability.
This was the first strategy Ahn Soo-ho proposed regarding the war against Wilhelm. Seeing the hunters triumphantly pulling out their weapons, Wilhelm smiled softly.
-That sounds interesting.
It’s fun. True to his words, Wilhelm actually felt fun from them for the first time in a while. Although trespassing on his lord’s tomb was unpleasant, the strong aura felt in each of them made Wilhelm’s heart beat faster as a warrior than as a knight.
-Did you think you could stop the power of the spirits with just a little fire?
– Card deed!
With those words, dozens of blades made of ice floated behind Wilhelm’s back. Park Cheol, who was elated at the sight, asked Ahn Su-ho while sweating.
“Hey buddy. What happened to that? I guess my fire isn’t working?”
“There is an effect. That’s what made me weak.”
“Huh… ….”
Park Cheol with a vain face. He swung the sword Wilhelm was holding at him like a baton. Then, dozens of ice blades aimed at him at once.
That moment.
-Kooung!
Oh Ji-hoon put the huge greatsword slung on his back into the ground. A sword close to a club, 2 meters long and 60 cm wide.
Its identity was the artifact ‘Hydra’s Tusk’ found in an S-class dungeon in the past. Just like its name, a thin line was drawn on the blade in an instant, and the huge greatsword was divided into nine large and small swords. Soon, the swords rise in the air without a sound.
“Ahhhhh!”
Oh Ji-hoon waved his hand with a spirit like a raging wave. Then, the nine swords started running through the air all at once.
Aiming at the dozens of ice blades flying towards them.
-Pacang! Kang! Cagan! Kagagagagagagang!
The shrieking sound of crushing reverberates everywhere. As if an invisible hand wielded it directly, the nine swords that bent the trajectory freely knocked down all the ice blades that flew by.
“Oh Ji-hoon, your skills are still the same.”
“Huh. Even if you don’t shout out the name of the technique, the strong are strong.”
The dragon slayer Oh Ji-hoon. The possessed psychic ability is ‘metal manipulation’, an S-class psychic power that is only 5 in Korea.
If the material is metal, regardless of whether it is iron, aluminum, or tungsten, it has the strongest control system ability to handle it as if it were its own limbs.
The tusk of the hydra, which cut off all the cutting ice blades, took the form of a greatsword again. Jihoon Oh casually raised the large sword with one hand and aimed it at Wilhelm.
“It is now.”
At Jihoon Oh’s low words, Sowol Jin and Ahyeon Seol rushed at Wilhelm. Jin So-wol attacks Wilhelm with a long spear and Seol Ah-hyun with a dark-colored gauntlet.
At that charge, Wilhelm lowered his stance and tried to swing his sword.
However.
-Chuck!
-…… ?!
Wilhelm, who was about to swing his sword, suddenly stopped moving. The feeling of being held by an invisible hand.
-This is…….
Wilhelm raised his head. That gaze instinctively goes to Oh Ji-hoon. An elderly man pointing a greatsword at himself.
“You look pretty good.”
As already explained, his psychic ability is metal manipulation.
The strongest control-type ability that can control anything made of metal, even monsters that appear in dungeons.
“Haaah!”
“Huh!”
Seol Ah-hyun and Jin So-wol’s attacks are sucked in from the left and right of the frozen Wilhelm. Wilhelm’s body still creaked and did not move.
However.
-Card de de de de de de de deux!
The next moment, the two of them had no choice but to jump out in front of dozens of ice picks rising from the ground. The ice picks that began to rise filled the area around Wilhelm by ten meters without slowing down.
-Clap. Crunchy!
Inside it, Wilhelm’s body begins to move slowly. With his body creaking, swinging his arms or folding his legs, as if he were trying something.
– Hmm. Is that so?
Soon Wilhelm took a deep breath and slammed his foot on the ground.
-Coooooung!
“Keugh?!”
At that moment, a tingling pain ran through Oh Ji-hoon’s arm. Recoil when using the ability excessively. He groaned and grabbed his right shoulder as he was aiming the sword.
-I see. If I move with this much power, can I get rid of it? I understand.
‘Couldn’t it have been that he threw it away by force?’
I understand how much force I can move. Oh Ji-hoon couldn’t help but feel that one word from Wilhelm so creepy. He tried to manipulate Wilhelm again, but Wilhelm felt only slight resistance and moved as usual.
-…… That’s annoying.
-Tooquaang!
As Wilhelm spurred his ground, ice shards scattered in all directions. He quickly closed the distance towards Oh Ji-hoon and raised the frost sword he was holding from the bottom to the top.
-Kaang!
However, the blow was blocked by the blue gauntlet. At that moment, Wilhelm’s eyes trembled.
-Georg…… ?
It was his subordinate Georg who stopped Wilhelm’s attack. To be precise, it looked like a corpse that Oh Ji-hoon had knocked down and brought only the armor of the torso.
Wilhelm’s fist trembled at the sight of that horror.
-You dare…… !
Wilhelm vomited fiery anger at the sight of him insulting the body of his subordinate. With his left hand, he removed Georg’s armor and slammed down his frost sword.
-Kaga gaga river!
However, this time it was blocked by the tusks of the hydra that Oh Ji-hoon was holding. The huge greatsword itself was equivalent to a decent shield. Cooong. Oh Ji-hoon, who got down on one knee and struggled to block the blow, laughed bitterly.
– Kwak!
The headless Georg’s armor hugged Wilhelm’s waist. The moment Wilhelm was taken aback by those two arms that tightened. Oh Ji-hoon’s urgent cry bursts out.
“Fortress Yuyiyin!”
-…… !!
At that moment, Wilhelm sensed a huge mass of flesh approaching from behind.
He hung Georg and reversed his body. The frost sword in his right hand roared with intense cold, preparing to unleash a massive ice slash.
-Tooquaang!
However, the enemy’s fists were faster than that. A huge fist was thrust into his chest, and Wilhelm’s body flew helplessly through the air and landed on the ground.
-Quad de de de de de de deuc!!!
The frozen ground turns over and his body is half embedded in the ground. Immediately straightening his posture, he glared at the enemy who attacked him.
“Kurrr… ….”
The growl of the beast echoes through the forest.
The one who attacked Wilhelm was Seong Eugene, a member of the task force. However, there was nothing left of him as a gentlemanly young man.
A height that has grown to more than 2 meters.
Complete muscles all over the body and black hair covering them.
The muzzle protruded from the road, sharp teeth gleamed, and the eyes were stained mad red.
Seong Yu-jin, a mad dog.
That psychic power is a class A transforming psychic power, ‘monsterization.’
In exchange for self-restraint, he turned into a werewolf boasting powerful physical abilities, and his physical abilities were the strongest among domestic superhumans recognized by others. Even the half-human, half-dragon Gae So-yeon would give up in front of Seong Yu-jin.
The secret to his power lies in the two penalties of his psychic powers. One is that in a werewolf state, self-control is lost and becomes a ferocious personality. And another one was that you can only draw 100% strength if you gather your strength without activating your usual abilities.
For this reason, Seong Yu-jin has not activated her ability once since deciding to participate in the attack on Wilhelm. Where is that? He didn’t even go into battle if he was able to accumulate strength as much as possible. It was for that reason that the 3rd team to which he belonged engaged in the battle of Jin So-wol Bay when they were exploring the labyrinth.
As a result, Seong Yu-jin was able to pour all of her accumulated strength into dealing with Wilhelm.
– Iron Greok.
As I said earlier, its power was not scary even for the strongest dragons.
-… ….
Wilhelm silently touched his chest. The dented armor was caused by Seong Yu-jin’s blow earlier.
-Aoooool!!
Seong Yu-jin raised his head toward the sky and roared. Seol Ah-hyun and Jin So-wol gathered around him and aimed their weapons.
-… ….
Wilhelm silently looked at the hunters who were aiming at him.
A middle-aged man wielding scorching flames who casually offset his own frost magic.
A man in armor who controlled a huge greatsword freely and blocked his own movements even for a moment with an unknown force.
Not to mention the Werewolf who had just given him a powerful blow, and judging from the momentum that the two women standing on his left and right had emanated from him, it was clear that they were reversible warriors.
The red-haired woman behind them seemed to have the same ability to deal with cold as herself. Her rich magical aura that emanated from her was comparable to that of her court mage he had met earlier.
Add to that. Even a man from another world who had previously humiliated himself and fled.
-Khehehe.
A low laugh escapes through Wilhelm’s helmet. Laughter as a warrior, not as a knight.
-…… Elijah Leonhard, my eternal lord. Forgive my shameful servant, who takes a warrior’s pleasure in fighting the nefarious invaders.
They say they are perfect partners to be sincere. Wilhelm, seeking forgiveness from his own master, exclaimed, raising himself proudly.
-Come. Warriors of the heathen no… ….
A blue aura started gushing out of his armor. It is the power of the Frost Spirit itself that he possesses. It was an extreme cold that was condensed to the point where it could be seen.
In that cold storm. The light in Wilhelm’s eyes, seen through the gap, fluctuated as if he was happy.
-…… Let me go.