Chapter 182

“No way!”

It happened while I was sitting down for a short break.

From a distance, Kwon Soye let out a shriek.

“Oh, my god. Isn’t that Thunderstrike? I’m sure I saw her on TV!”

It seemed she’d spotted the people walking in from the entrance.

Three hunters were heading our way.

Capu, the Guide.

Maximilian, Absolute Unrivaled.

And Thunderstrike Floa.

I’d already heard through the chat that they’d joined Dmir’s Workshop.

‘Unexpected.’

Especially Floa.

I’d been planning to use her like a wish voucher when I needed to.

So it was strange that she’d come on her own to help.

“Uwaah, I’m a huge fan of Thunderstrike.”

Kwon Soye was surprisingly restless.

The Druid.

A guardian of the forest, one who wields sorcery born from the life that grows from the earth.

“My gosh… to think the support coming was Thunderstrike.”

I’d already explained everything to her and Im Sujin.

About the existence of 「Gotham」.

And how dangerous and vicious they were.

I told them they were free to head back, but they stubbornly refused.

They said it was an opportunity, and they wanted experience.

“You bastard!”

Bzzzt!

The moment Floa spotted me, she shot forward with explosive momentum, electricity crackling around her.

“Long time no see?”

As if venting the frustration she’d bottled up during the trial—

For never getting to land a hit on me directly—

She swung a fist at terrifying speed.

I frowned slightly.

“That’s a rough welcome.”

Floa.

The only person I speak to casually.

Even this side of her felt familiar now.

Whoosh!

I slammed the Godslayer staff into the ground.

At the same time—

Th-th-thud!

Four skeletons burst up from below.

“Sunny, Eldrin, Kayden, Dana.”

Given the situation, I called Eldrin as well.

Because I hate losing to her, too.

“Hyaah! This is great!”

As the distance to Floa closed, I transformed my weapon into a spear.

At the same time—

Boom!

Kayden slammed [Behemoth’s Bone Shield] into the ground.

Dana positioned herself behind it.

Tap! Tap-tap!

Eldrin and Sunny sprinted out to either side.

And I—

Swish.

Melted into the shadows.

“What?!”

Now, only Kayden’s shield stood in front of Floa.

To either side of her—panicking, unable to slow down—

Whoosh!

Sunny’s [Solar Chain Strike] and—

Ratatat!

Eldrin’s [Advanced Rapid Fire] poured down.

“Uh, uh, uh? Wait a minute?!”

Sorry, but these aren’t your average skeletons.

They’re all absolute beings who conquered the final bosses of other worlds.

And now they can use up to fifty percent of their power.

Is that all?

They’re made of dragon bone, so they’re ridiculously tough.

However—

“No need to stop. She won’t die from that, so just strike.”

“As you command, my lord.”

Whooosh! Whoosh!

Sunny drove his spear into Floa with all his might.

KRAAANG!

Floa crashed into Kayden’s shield at full speed.

It was like watching an electric monster body-slam a wall.

“Hng?”

Kayden let out a strained sound as if he were barely holding on.

Dana immediately poured healing over him.

“Hey, hey, hey, this is cheating… it’s a gang-up!”

“Then who told you to charge in so recklessly?”

Swish!

My spear appeared behind her, aimed precisely at the nape of her neck.

‘Is this 2:0?’

She probably could’ve fought longer if she wanted to.

But neither she nor I bothered.

Just like I didn’t use Dana’s three-second invincibility skill [Radiance] or the skeletons’ various buff skills because I didn’t want to waste the cooldowns—

She wasn’t revealing all her power either.

It was a light greeting, and nothing more.

“……Crazy!”

Kwon Soye, watching the whole thing, looked horrified.

“Wow, all of this in five seconds. Is this what a battle in the celestial realm is like?”

Still, it was a relief she reacted like that.

Because right next to her, Im Sujin was tense, swallowing hard.

Not just Im Sujin—Maxi was startled too, his sword half-drawn.

Ki Soyul had her dagger out completely, murderous aura pouring off her.

Flustered, I wrapped things up quickly.

“Hey, hey. You’re scaring people.”

Swish.

I scolded Floa as I withdrew my spear.

“Ahaha, sorry. I got too excited because I was so happy to see you.”

Floa, as if she’d finally come to her senses, pulled the discharging electricity back into her body with a sharp crackle.

Whew.

What is with her?

Every time I see her, she’s like an electric eel.

“But please understand. When else would I get to attack you? You’ll probably skyrocket to the heavens soon enough. Hahaha!”

Floa laughed heartily, scratching her head.

“Hoo…”

I let out a sigh and gathered the hunters in one place.

Since there were people meeting for the first time, we should do introductions properly.

—

[Space Mage: Hey, team leader?]

[Space Mage: Can I bring the Idam family too?]

[Space Mage: There are rankers, and lots of other useful hunters. They’ll help in the war.]

[Skeleton King: Who am I to stop you? Everyone must be overflowing with grudges of their own. Bring everyone who wants to come.]

Starting with Floa, Capu, and Maxi, rankers began to gather one by one.

“I’m here. Thankfully, the Japanese association let me go without any problems.”

Myoi Hana arrived first.

“Hey, Hoon! I’m here too! Those wicked people—let’s teach them a lesson!”

Not long after, Olena Zelenska arrived.

It looked like she’d run into Zhang Wei at the airport on the way, because the two walked in together, chatting amicably.

Whoosh!

Zhang Wei lowered his spear.

“……This incident cannot be simply overlooked.”

He hadn’t changed.

The spear blade he held low glinted menacingly, as if demanding the villains be dragged out immediately.

“A mafia that overthrew a nation. My spear is crying out.”

His eyes, too, brimmed with killing intent.

And then, the last to arrive—

“Waaaaah!”

“Waaaah!”

A tremendous roar rose from the distance.

A sound that could only come from thousands of people shouting at once.

‘They’re here.’

The citizens who’d suffered through their nation being overthrown.

Those who’d had no choice but to join the mafia just to survive.

Russian hunters surged forward like a massive tidal wave.

Whoosh!

And next to me—

Using spatial magic, Vladimir Rodygin appeared in a flicker.

“Hey, team leader…”

Relief, gratitude, and pain were all mixed on his face as he looked at me.

I shook my head.

“If you’re going to say thank you, don’t bother. I’ll collect on all the help you get later.”

Just looking at his expression told me how hard things were right now.

There was no need to hear unnecessary words from someone like him.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Behind Vladimir, three figures appeared.

One was plump and sturdy, and the other two—blond and silver-haired—looked like brothers.

‘Those are them.’

The brothers Vladimir had described.

The ones he said might be traitors.

“Greetings, hyung-nim!”

“It is an honor to meet hyung-nim’s friend!”

Well, well.

I swallowed down the laugh rising in my throat.

‘Vladimir must be having a really hard time.’

Maybe it was because I’d gained experience myself.

Just looking at them, I could clearly see what they were thinking.

‘All three of them.’

The anxiety in their eyes.

The stench of betrayal.

Was it thanks to my sensory training?

The training where I fought with my five senses restricted?

Had it gotten easier to grasp someone’s emotions?

There’s a saying, isn’t there?

That experienced adults can tell just by looking.

That was exactly how it felt.

So why hadn’t Vladimir noticed?

‘He probably did.’

He likely had an inkling.

He just didn’t want to believe it.

Like how it’s hard to accept that a beloved lover is cheating.

“You people…”

It seemed Zhang Wei couldn’t let it slide.

Whoosh!

He leveled his menacing spear at them.

“You deliberately took part in a mass slaughter, didn’t you?”

“……!”

Flinch!

Vladimir’s shoulders trembled.

“Wh-what is that?”

“What are you talking about?!”

“Wh-what are you saying all of a sudden to people you just met? Us, in a mass slaughter?! Out of nowhere?”

As expected, the three of them denied it fiercely.

“Denial…”

Zhang Wei’s eyes narrowed.

“For spies, your acting is quite amateurish.”

“……”

Thud.

That was when Vladimir quietly stepped toward Zhang Wei.

His back to the three figures.

His tightly shut eyes trembled, as if he were enduring an emotional storm.

As expected.

Had he already anticipated it?

“H-hyung-nim?”

“Why are you reacting like that?”

“Spies? What does that mean? Besides, with our abilities, how—how is a mass slaughter even plausible?!”

Hic.

One of them hiccupped.

“Hup!”

Another sucked in a breath and held it.

Why?

Because they’d realized it.

Thousands of Idam members were staring at them now.

“Hic! Wh-what… so many hunters?”

“We really don’t know anything. We really don’t know why this is happening.”

They kept denying it, but—

Whoosh!

Zhang Wei didn’t stop.

If anything, as he looked at the thousands surrounding them, he began selecting people one by one with his spear.

“You. You. And you.”

Like he was picking fish at a seafood market.

Indeed.

Are all of them spies?

The ones singled out looked around, faces full of confusion over why they’d been chosen.

‘Hmm.’

At this point, even I was curious.

I could sense something off about those three through instinct and experience, sure.

But how was he so confidently picking out others from the crowd?

Wasn’t Zhang Wei’s skill originally something that revealed motive when someone had “killed”?

Could it trigger just from selling information?

[Judgment Spear: Come to think of it, there is something I haven’t mentioned either.]

[Judgment Spear: Just as Capu did, I too have raised my [Eyes of Judgment] (SS-rank) skill by one level.]

[Judgment Spear: Originally, it was an ability to see how many people someone had killed, and for what reason.]

[Judgment Spear: Now, even if they haven’t killed, I can grasp their involvement, or even their intent.]

[Judgment Spear: It is a very satisfying skill.]

‘Crazy.’

What kind of skill is that?

That’s basically a skill for nipping crime in the bud.

And on top of that—

‘He burned an SS-rank gift box on just [Eyes of Judgment]?’

A choice I could never imagine making.

Is Zhang Wei truly a man obsessed with judgment?

[Water Witch: Crazy……]

[Absolute Unrivaled: You… you really upgraded that? Is judging villains more important to you than your ranking?]

[Spring Apostle: Wow, that’s beyond imagination, isn’t it?]

[Water Witch: I guess I can’t even think bad thoughts in front of Judgment Spear now. Don’t tell me you can read minds or something?]

[Judgment Spear: Unfortunately, it is not like that.]

Hey.

What’s so unfortunate about that?

Anyway, thanks to Zhang Wei’s eccentric personality, the situation moved fast.

One, two, three…

……

Twenty, thirty, forty.

Zhang Wei silently pointed out target after target with his spear.

“N-no…”

“Crazy…?!”

The faces of those selected turned deathly pale.

Why?

Because they knew.

Because he was pointing them out that accurately.

That alone became proof.

Most people might not realize it, but among a crowd that large, there had to be spies who recognized one another.

The members of Idam, sensing what was happening, began herding them into the center.

“……You were a traitor too?”

“These… sons of bitches. As if being villains wasn’t enough, now you’re trying to torment citizens who are just struggling to survive?”

“You insect-like bastards! That must be why you follow the Insect King, Andrey, right?”

The space quickly filled with malice.

A total of fifty hunters were gathered in the center.

‘Fifty out of thousands…’

Is that a small number, or a large one?

[Space Mage: Thank you, Judgment Spear.]

At that moment, Vladimir—who’d been standing there in silence, eyes closed—opened them.

[Space Mage: I’ll handle it from here.]

Grind!

The sound of teeth grinding rang out clearly.

[Space Mage: Before we fight for real, we need to take care of the insects.]