Regurgitating Hatred (5)

“Support? What support? You’re definitely the association’s…”

“We can talk once this clears up.” Kang Shin-hyuk immediately joined the battle after calming the man and confirming he was uninjured. Now that their leader had been killed, the remaining wolves ran wild.

“Take a break, senior.”

“Yes, thank you.” Eleanor nodded softly at his words and sat down nearby. The battle was short, but the fatigue had built up already given the amount of power they had put into their assault. With his regeneration power, Kang Shin-hyuk could recover in a few seconds, but Eleanor needed a breather.

“I’ll join you.”

“No, it’ll be over soon, then I’ll take a break too…”

-Kyaaak!

The same was true of the man they had saved. As Kang Shin-hyuk told him to rest, a thorny wolf came to attack him. His agility exceeded the A-rank, but Shin-hyuk was aware that his defense was much weaker than that.

‘Although at least the elite monster has been taken care of.’ Kang Shin-hyuk was actually a bit glad to be face-to-face with a wolf-type monster that he had seen in his textbooks, given the odd monsters he had been fighting so far. He threw out a strand of the lightning thread, imbuing it with his Golden Dragon Fighting to pierce the wolf’s brow. The elite monsters had a different level of defense, so he hadn’t tried it, but it worked for these guys.

“This will be easy.”

“You pierced it with thread?” Kang Shin-hyuk ignored the onlookers and recovered his thread from the wolf. It was annoying that he couldn’t just outright use his automatic routing function in front of people.

‘Let’s deal with this quickly and move out of their sight.’ He began to spread his arms wide like a conductor. Ten strands of thread extended in all directions, flashing a pale gold as they cut through the wolves within his range.

“That’s eight.” He twisted his arms mischievously, causing the threads to flutter and rage. The sight was fantastic, like a wave of gold flowing over the ground, but the result was cruel. The wolves’ bodies were tossed into the air as blood flowed freely.

-Kyaaah!

A strand of thread carved its way through the body of a wolf who tried to attack him through the bloody mist. He barely noticed it as he ran forward, ignoring the pieces of wolves around him as he squeezed his fists and pulled them forward, causing the strands of thread to become taut and return into the gloves. Everything in their path was shredded.

-Bartender’s whisper: Looks like you’re done now. Leave the rest to that man, and let’s go.

Kang Shin-hyuk placed one of the intact wolves’ bodies in his inventory as Claire’s whisper came in. Looking up, she was waiting for them on her bike.

-Where to?

-Bartender’s whisper: Go straight; we’ll follow.

With a nod, he approached Eleanor. She was currently engrossed in admiring the smooth curves of the lance she wielded.

“How did you make such a weapon?”

“It’s thanks to its materials. Now let’s go.” There were monsters all around them. Kang Shin-hyuk carved a path through them with his threads. The man, Ace Brett, watched it with a frown as he could hardly believe his eyes.

“That thread…it seems to be stronger.” The effect of Claire’s potion and Lee Na-hee’s enchantment were also significant, but his trait was greatly enhancing the webs speed and power. Adding to his Golden Dragon Fighter’s ability to reinforce the power of his weapons and skills, it meant they could cut through monsters with ease. When it came to aggression, he felt that his Golden Dragon Fighter enhanced his weapons more than spiritual power. Spiritual power was a way to communicate with the source of an object, yet Golden Dragon Fighter was purely designed for combat, so it was only natural.

‘I can feel it flowing through me. It feels like it will actively help me overcome my body’s limitations…’ Probably, it felt similar to people who used magic to amplify their physical abilities directly. However, magic might feel inadequate compared to it.

“Oh, hey!”

“Let’s get back to work.” Kang Shin-hyuk responded to Ace Brett and flew away as Eleanor ran to catch up, her lance returning back to its normal size. Ace realized he couldn’t keep up and just watched them go.

‘Ha, damn it.’ He wasn’t sure how to accept the fact that this young man was already stronger than himself even though he had just debuted as a rookie of the association. He had no choice but to laugh. It wasn’t only that young man, but also that woman who had dealt the final blow.

‘She seemed young too…where did they come from? Is that urban legend that the association is working with the government to carry out an artificial superhuman project true?’ Once more, unfounded rumors began to emerge.

***

“Sister, come here!”

“Wow, the gates in the air have opened up quite a bit.” The bike team consisting of Claire and Lee Na-hee, were moving busily. That was because Claire had agreed to take on the air monsters at the urging of Shin Eunah over the phone.

-Woooooo

“It’s odd to listen to, but the effect is great.” Claire was using magic tools she had either purchased from the Hero Universe or created herself. A strange sound echoed out from the loudspeaker mounted on the back of her bike, attracting the monsters everywhere.

“Besides…this!” Lee Na-hee aimed the mana rifle she held in hand and laughed brightly as she fired it at the monsters flocking after them.

“Amazing! Did you make it yourself?!”

“I just modified it. It’s a delicate structure, though, so it was a lot of work.” Claire fought with a weapon that could utilize her unique mana control and alchemy. The main type of weapon among her arsenal was mana guns. By adding magic circles and high-quality materials to enhance their power, she had made a gun that could be handled by anyone capable of using magic. The price of it would be absurd if she tried to sell it. Lee Na-hee was an enchanter capable of creating artifacts, so she was capable of handling it as well.

“Could even my junior handle this?” Lee Na-hee muttered in amazement as she buffed the gun’s performance with her enchantment, firing it once more.

“It might be possible if I added some new innovations to it.” Claire nodded, looking back as she dodged the monsters. It would be possible to change it to handle spiritual power as well as magical power, though she couldn’t tell Lee Na-hee about spiritual power.

“Shin-hyuk is also good at shooting. Did you see it at the athletic meet?”

“Oh, I wasn’t interested in my junior back then.” Lee Na-hee fired off three rounds of magic at a nearby bat before turning to Claire.

“Did you know my junior back then?!”

“Uh, um, well….”

“How did you feel about him?”

“Well, that…” Claire paused before waving it off and pulling a weapon out of her inventory. It was a drone-type weapon equipped with a magic gun and grenade launcher that could only be controlled with her magic. It had quite a reputation among the superhumans and mercenaries that fought with guns.

“Wow, it’s the Alchemist combat drone I’ve dreamed about…”

“Ah, thank you. By the way, are you also interested in Shin-hyuk?”

“I think my grandfather wants to stick him with me.” Lee Na-hee shook her head.

“No, honestly, I’m also interested. It’s weird…sometimes it feels like he’s older…then sometimes he acts cute.”

“Right?”

“Hmm?” When Claire agreed immediately, Lee Na-hee raised an eyebrow at her. Claire immediately realized her mistake and hid her face.

Only

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

“Why?” One, two, three drones in total began to circle around the bike, firing magic bullets at the monsters around them. Lee Na-hee didn’t want to be their next target, so she quietly responded.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Alright.” Claire smiled, pulling out one more drone. It wasn’t equipped the same as the other ones, however.

“What is that one for?”

“To take pictures of the Death Puppeteer battling.”

“…”