LRIC Chapter 76

Ryu Ja-yeong was a B-rank hunter.

As a member of the Knight Guild, she was one of its core figures, but in this expedition, she was merely a low-ranking member.

Not only were there numerous distinguished A-ranks, even among fellow B-ranks, many were stronger than her.

Still, it was fine.

Just participating in this expedition was enough to promote the Knight Guild’s name. Furthermore, if the expedition achieved great results,

The Knight Guild could greatly benefit just from the scraps falling their way.

With such thoughts, she had joined the expedition.

At first, it was good. Even when fierce monsters appeared, they were no match for the expedition.

Oh Tae-jin took the lead while Shin Yoo-sung supported from the rear.

The lineup couldn’t be better. No A-rank dungeon raid party could be stopped with these two present.

But this place was different.

“Gurkar!”

“Kashu! Keragh!”

The horde of orcs that suddenly blocked their path.

They weren’t ordinary orcs. Their bodies were covered in muscle instead of fat, menacing tusks protruded… And strange tattoos adorned their brown skin.

‘Each one is at least B-rank…’

That was the result of engaging them.

And that was for the ones with one or two tattoos; the occasional ones with three tattoos gave even A-rank hunters a hard time.

Hundreds of such orcs had formed a huge wall, obstructing their path.

Whoosh-

“Kuk!”

Ryu Ja-yeong hurriedly ducked.

Seeing the orc’s weapon pass over her head, she broke out in a cold sweat. Quickly examining its body,

‘Phew.’

Fortunately, it only had one tattoo.

If it had three, she would have to flee immediately; with two, she would need to request support. But with one, she could somehow manage alone.

She thrust her spear, and the orc swung its glaive to block.

At that moment, her eyes shone, and mana crackled as it flowed into the spear.

“Haaah!”

The spear, enveloped in solid mana, pierced through the glaive. Not stopping there, it skewered straight through the orc’s chest.

The orc collapsed, shuddering.

Pulling her spear from its body, she regulated her breathing. The situation was still unfavorable, but at least she was helpful. She could do something.

As a slight sense of relief washed over her from that fact,

“Kerku.”

In the distance, amidst the orc horde, an orc holding a staff rose to its feet.

Its stature was smaller than the other orcs, but it was riding a palanquin, so its appearance was clearly visible even from here.

It spun its staff in the air, and soon, a huge fireball began forming there.

The faces of Ryu Ja-yeong and her nearby comrades all turned deathly pale.

“B-Block it!”

“How are we supposed to block that!”

The fireball, appearing more terrifying than a missile in this moment, flew toward them in an arc. It was a precise strike aimed at the main force.

“Captain!”

People’s gazes naturally turned to Shin Yoo-sung. His formerly neat appearance was gone, replaced by heavy dark circles under his eyes.

He hurriedly extended his hand, creating a barrier in the air. But it was too thin. Compared to the barriers he usually deployed, it looked much thinner and weaker.

“He blocked it!”

Someone shouted upon seeing it barely blocked, but…

Crack! Crackle!

As expected, it soon shattered like a glass window, and the flames began invading.

“Kuh!”

Shin Yoo-sung gritted his teeth. He gathered his dwindling mana and infused it into the barrier, but to no avail.

However, he couldn’t just meekly take it like this.

He swung his trembling arm outward.

The barrier in the air twisted, causing the launched fireball to veer off course.

Kaboom!

Fortunately, a direct hit was avoided, but the fire engulfed the forest behind the expedition.

Crackle!

The flames, not ordinary ones, rapidly spread.

“Retreat! We’re retreating!”

Shin Yoo-sung swiftly issued the command. But their escape route was already more than half occupied by the fire.

“Ah.”

Ryu Ja-yeong’s mouth fell open.

Behind them, flames raged like the fires of hell. In front, the orcs pressed in, seizing the opportunity.

Was it possible to retreat safely in this situation?

Thanks to Shin Yoo-sung’s dedicated efforts, there had been no casualties so far, but it seemed that was the limit. As the earlier barrier showed, Shin Yoo-sung had already reached his limit.

And if someone died,

“Mom…”

The low-ranking B-ranks like herself would probably be the first to fall.

On the battlefield filled with spurting blood, screams, and war cries, she had a premonition of death.

With trembling eyes, she absently raised her head.

Thanks to that, she was the first to see it.

“…Huh?”

A light like the sun blanketing the sky.

***

“This is…”

The light envelops the battlefield. Vitality flows through fatigued bodies, and minor wounds left unhealed to conserve mana all begin to mend.

Even the hellish inferno that seemed ready to engulf them at any moment shrank back before this light. As if facing a sanctuary that must not be trespassed.

“What is it?”

“Did hunter Shin Yoo-sung do something?”

People murmured at the sudden phenomenon. They turned to Shin Yoo-sung with puzzled faces.

But Shin Yoo-sung himself was blankly staring at the sky.

He had seen this light before.

He could never forget it even if he tried. This energy that strangely stirred his heart. The little child and her father he had coincidentally seen at the Association building in the past.

“Father?”

That father was falling from the air. Holding someone by his side.

‘No way.’

Shin Yoo-sung shook his head. Why on earth was that person here? Was he seeing things due to fatigue?

But it was too real to be a hallucination. Thanks to this light, far from being tired, his mind had never been clearer.

In a situation where he absolutely couldn’t see it as a hallucination,

“Are you all right?”

Do-joon, who had landed on the ground, spoke to him.

“Ah, yes.”

Shin Yoo-sung absently answered while looking at Do-joon. Soon, his gaze shifted to Do-joon’s side.

There stood a beautiful woman Do-joon had carried.

But beyond her beauty, there was something else that surprised Shin Yoo-sung.

The current light.

This woman was emitting the light that had driven him crazy at the Association, the light Do-joon’s daughter had unleashed.

“The person next to you is…”

Shin Yoo-sung gulped and asked.

Do-joon shook his head at him.

“Let’s save the introductions for later. First, please explain about those creatures.”

Only then did Shin Yoo-sung snap to attention.

Right, of course. The battle with the orcs wasn’t over yet.

He quickly explained about the orcs they had been fighting.

“They’re orcs. As you can see, they’re not ordinary ones.”

“I can tell.”

Do-joon narrowed his eyes, observing the tattoos etched on their bodies.

“The more tattoos they have, the stronger the individual. Up to two is around B-rank, and from three onward, they’re A-rank monster level.”

Tattoos, huh.

Did those tattoos serve some special function? As Do-joon pondered for a moment,

“They’re the Baku Tribe.”

Someone interjected from the side.

It was Elayna, who had caught up to Do-joon at some point.

“Baku Tribe?”

Do-joon wasn’t surprised that she had followed right behind him. He was more intrigued by the term ‘Baku Tribe’ Elayna had mentioned.

Shin Yoo-sung also listened attentively to Elayna’s words rather than questioning her identity first.

“They’re the ones who hunt monsters in the neutral zone. A warrior tribe centered around a leader called a shaman.”

“If it’s a shaman…”

“The one who cast the fire, I presume.”

Shin Yoo-sung gritted his teeth.

The orc shaman. The commander-like fellow always in the center of the horde, under the protection of the other orcs.

Thanks to the fire it cast, their major offensives had been rendered futile more times than he could say. Even today, the situation had become quite dire.

“But it’s strange.”

“Strange?”

“The Baku Tribe lives in the northern part of the neutral zone. Why are they here in the south?”

Elayna tilted her head. But neither Do-joon nor Shin Yoo-sung could possibly know the answer to that.

“Moreover, I saw the shaman casting fire on the way here, and that’s odd too. Originally, shamans can’t cast such large fires.”

“What do you mean?”

“A shaman’s ability is at most lighting a campfire. Definitely not enough to cause such a huge wildfire.”

The Baku Tribe lacks the intelligence to light fires on their own. The reason shamans are revered among them is precisely due to this fire-lighting ability.

However, that ability is limited to igniting small flames, not hurling house-sized fireballs.

Elayna furrowed her brow at the unprecedented abnormality.

Hearing her words, something came to Do-joon’s mind.

‘South, and fire.’

The two keywords Elayna pointed out as ‘strange’.

Weren’t these two keywords, south and fire, related to his goal as well?

“Didn’t you say the Fire Lord’s territory is in the south?”

“That’s right. But why… Ah.”

Only then did Elayna also notice something off. However, she didn’t relax her furrowed expression.

Although it roughly fit, it didn’t lead to certainty.

“…It’s most likely just a coincidence.”

“Why?”

“The Fire Lord has been inactive for over 300 years. Why would he suddenly start moving now of all times?”

Do-joon didn’t hastily refute her words. She probably knew more about the stem’s affairs than him.

But one thing he could be sure of was,

“We’ll find out once we catch them.”

This could potentially be a clue of some sort.

Do-joon took out his spear and enveloped his body in mana. Despite the scorching flames beside him, not a single drop of sweat formed on his body. He had Flame Resistance and the mana of the ice element, after all.

“Please wait!”

Shin Yoo-sung shouted, seeing him take a firm battle stance.

“You can’t do it alone. We also tried multiple times to break through the orcs and take out the shaman, but we failed every time.”

Shin Yoo-sung tried to stop Do-joon. Until now, they had continuously attempted to behead the shaman, who seemed to be the commander of the orcs, even in today’s battle.

They had sent hunters with excellent penetrative power, centered around Oh Tae-jin, but not once had they succeeded.

Breaking through the monster horde that included B-ranks and even A-ranks was by no means an easy task.

“Moreover, the ones near the shaman all have three tattoos each. Charging in there is futile. Everyone’s exhausted today, so let’s retreat and devise our next plan.”

That was a rational choice.

Do-joon couldn’t possibly have come all the way here with just 3 people, so he must have more companions.

That meant their forces were being replenished, and they even had someone capable of area-of-effect healing that could cover the battlefield.

With this, they could do it.

If they temporarily withdrew, recovered their strength, and then attacked, victory was certain. There was no need to be hasty.

However,

“No.”

Do-joon shook his head.

There was a risk of the shaman escaping. They had to capture it for sure while they could.

From the expedition’s perspective, it might be fine whether the shaman escaped or not as long as they could defeat the orc bastards, but Do-joon’s stance was different.

In a situation where the shaman might hold a clue about the Fire Lord, he couldn’t afford to be complacent.

“Sivellin, I’ll leave things here to you.”

At his words, Sivellin nodded with a firm expression. Soon, she clasped her hands and moved her lips.

Immediately after, a halo of light wrapped around Do-joon’s body, and vitality overflowed within him.

She had cast a blessing on him, similar to when he fought Eldora.

“Father!”

Shin Yoo-sung grabbed his arm.

He knew Do-joon’s skills were good. He had also seen the video of him slaying the elf.

But even so, his skills were at most upper A-rank level. Being upper rank among A-ranks meant he was extremely strong, but this task was reckless.

Even Oh Tae-jin, the strongest among A-ranks, had failed to penetrate the orc’s wall and reach the shaman.

“You mustn’t go.”

Shin Yoo-sung tried to stop him.

Do-joon removed his hand grasping his arm and spoke.

“It’s fine.”

Then, mana began swirling around him.

The cold mana from the ice-attributed core. It whirled around Do-joon.

“This is…”

Shin Yoo-sung involuntarily took a step back.

The magical power currently emanating from Do-joon’s body wasn’t something even he could take lightly.

‘I knew he had slain the elf.’

The difference between seeing it on video and witnessing it in person was unbelievable.

Back then, he had thought Do-joon was at most A-rank level, but the current Do-joon was beyond that.

‘Was what he showed in the video not his full potential?’

No, that was his full potential back then.

But there was a huge difference between the current Do-joon and the Do-joon from that time in every aspect. Especially the sparring with Cheonseong had made him grow in various ways.

Shin Yoo-sung, who never imagined he would grow this much in such a short period.

To him, Do-joon said,

“I’m confident I can break through.”

The wind began enveloping him.