Read Novel Full Chapter 421: Hunter’s Game
Chapter 421: Chapter 421: Hunter’s Game
Chapter 421 – Hunter’s Game
[FOCUS!]
The Hellhound’s flaming hot body appeared in front of Emrys in a heartbeat. Its huge body made of black fire gave the dreadful impression that the world around had darkened, burned by the very flames.
Its red eyes were filled with wrath and killing intent, and before even Naia could shout at Emrys, the beast’s left arm whipped out straight at him, its claws so long and sharp that the air sounded like it was being torn open.
All of this happened in less than 1 second. The speed was monumental, far beyond that of a Third rank.
And yet, Emrys had been following the whole sequence with lazy, uninspired eyes. He sent Naia away from the shockwave with a burst of wind, his sword appeared in his right hand, blocking the attack just in time.
Intense shockwaves exploded from the point of impact like a whirlwind, as Naia was hurled backward like a kicked ball. She landed softly on a pillar of ice thanks to the wind of Emrys, then slipped down on the ground.
Without missing a beat, her heart beating at her throat, she snapped her head upward to see an intense pillar of black fire where Emrys and the monster were.
"Em—!" She tried to speak but fell into silence as her throat was slowly being frozen by the ice around.
That was only when Naia noticed the abnormal cold temperatures did not even drop a single bit despite the searing black fire of the god, the eater of men, the one who ripped her family away from her.
And that same god was about to kill her—!
"Why focus? I do not need to focus when dealing with...hm...oh, a Third rank monster?" Emrys’s voice echoed as the black fire died down completely.
There, heart pounding, Naia saw Emrys casually blocking the still burning claws of the god with a sword wrapped by a black cloth.
No power was emitting from him, and it felt like he had stopped the attack purely with his physical strength.
Her eyes widened, unable to fathom what she was witnessing.
It was true that she had felt that Emrys was abnormally strong for someone at only second rank...but this much?
"Since when does a Third Rank play god?" Emrys asked, tilting his head as he stared at the Hellhound’s ugly face, genuinely confused by its audacity.
"I am not a Third Rank!" The monster roared, its jaws opening wide as a blast of fire erupted from its mouth, bright and searing.
At the same time, its other hand shot toward Emrys’s arm, claws reaching to rip it off.
But the monster was far too slow.
Emrys’s mind was powered by lightning, and his entire body carried the power of the storm.
The blast of fire disappeared beneath a surge of water before it could even touch him. Emrys sidestepped the reaching claws at the same time, wind gathering around his free hand and sharpening into a blade.
He swung upward. The wind blade tore through the monster’s wrist.
Its severed hand flew through the air, blood raining down behind it.
The Hellhound let out a sharp cry, its eyes bulging, but Emrys was already moving, using his Skill, Lightning Body.
Rather than transforming his entire body, he transformed only his hand and slammed his palm against the Hellhound while it was still trying to stop the bleeding.
Lightning erupted from his palm, and the electrical current tore through the monster from the inside, coursing through flesh, organs, and bone.
A roar of pain and fury ripped from the Hellhound’s throat with enough force to produce a shockwave.
Emrys felt the wind within that shockwave...
...and took it.
The air twisted under his control, splitting into dozens of wind blades around the monster. His Will — Killing Will — flowed into each of them.
At the same time, Emrys threw his sword upward. Wind caught the weapon, sending it spinning high above him, then it fell.
Emrys caught it on the descent, turned with its momentum, added his own, and brought the sword crashing down upon the Hellhound’s head.
BOOM!
The monster was hurled backward, its enormous body becoming a blur of black beneath the white canopy.
Then finally the wind blades fell. One after another, they pierced the Hellhound in mid-flight before driving it violently into the ground and pinning it there.
The monster bellowed. Blood poured from the wounds covering its body, spreading beneath it until the icy ground was painted black.
Emrys looked at the scene without much emotion, as if he was not the one who did this. His body flickered and disappeared, leaving behind crackling lightning.
He grasped Naia, who was actually suffering from the cold, and helped her by shrouding her with his power of storm.
All this time the woman was looking at him, shocked to the core. Emrys didn’t even break a sweat to neutralize this...god...this monster.
She looked at him, thinking that maybe this was the normal level of strength for a second rank being.
But then why did this monster, supposedly at such a high rank, look so...weak?
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!" The monster screamed, blood gushing out, looking at Naia with hatred where it was pinned down, "What kind of human have you brought into this sacred place of worship! How did you dare!"
The scream was so loud that Naia shivered, afraid, taking a slow step back.
"Why is this weak guy so loud? And since when can a Third rank monster speak?" Emrys whispered, sighing.
The monster was not done yet. And as it spoke, the wind blades of Emrys were being burned away.
"I have forbidden you and all the tribes to meet people from Death’s Gate! I have forbidden you, for your own good! For your own good!" Slowly, it was getting up, shaking, "I ordered you to follow me and to worship the god, The Master of Slaves! The Master of Lands! The Creator of Ice and Ancient History! All for your own good! And you dare to bring a human in this sacred home?! YOU HAVE BROUGHT THE ENEMY!"
The more it spoke, the more afraid Naia was getting. Her eyes were tearing up, and she was slowly kneeling down in fear and respect that had been ingrained into her since she was born.
The fear and respect for the god.
And even if it didn’t look like one, Naia couldn’t stop her body from submitting, for that was all she had been taught: to submit.
"I..I am...I...ah...." She couldn’t even speak properly.
However, before her knees touched the ground, Emrys caught her, looking at her with a frown,
"Why are you kneeling for this weak monster? Are you okay in your head?" He said, not understanding why she was so afraid, "I am here." He said, pushing her back up, "Why are you afraid?"
[This is a Fourth rank monster of the Fire Path, Emrys.] Artemis said, informing him.
’Doesn’t feel like it.’ He said, making Naia fully stand.
[It’s a wounded beast. I am sure that the sacrifices of these halflings were made to restore its power back. And it is quite close.]
’It doesn’t matter.’ Emrys said, standing in front of Naia, not activating any of his power.
Yet despite that, the monster didn’t attack foolishly like before anymore. There was something about Emrys that unsettled it deeply.
"We still have a deal, haven’t we?" Emrys said to Naia, his eyes still on the monster, "if I defeat this monster, you will go with me?"
"In...in Death’s Gate?"
"If that’s how you call the Kingdom, then yes."
"Will I be fine?" Naia asked nervously, looking at the god who was gritting its teeth at her, making her flinch. Still, Emrys’s power gave her a bit of courage as she spoke, "I am a First rank being and...not human. I am weak and...uh...I am useless."
"No beautiful woman is useless." Emrys replied instantly with a smirk, "what if you are First rank? You can just rank up. It’s not that hard, you know. And about being nonhuman...that makes you interesting."
[That’s not how I taught you to Hunt, Emrys. Focus. The monster is getting restless and about to attack.]
That was true. The black fire burning alongside its body was getting hotter and hotter, and it was obviously preparing an attack at the level of an Ultimate or even more.
Emrys noticed all that and yet didn’t stop the monster. He just stood there, waiting for the answer of Naia; an answer that came soon after:
"I have no one waiting for me and I don’t want to go back." She said, clenching her fists tightly to give herself some needed courage, "so yes. I...will come with you."
"Perfect. Then shall we end this farce? I have so many things to show you back in the Kingdom." He said, storing away his sword.
He didn’t need his sword for such a weak monster.
The monster finally managed to escape the wind blades that were pinning it down, its body more and more enflamed by fire.
"I will kill you and kill all the tribes! I will kill them all! And it will be because of you, traitor!" It screamed out, then activated its Phantasm, the whole surrounding slowly going red, fire appearing from the ground, as a small domain began to form:
"Being of Hell!"
At the same time, Emrys activated the Blessing of Artemis, his words booming and even overwhelming those of the monster:
"Artemis’s Blessing, First Form..."
The surrounding shook as if reality itself had been struck by a mighty punch. The Hellhound found itself frozen in place, its power suppressed so heavily that its black fire was snuffed out like a candle under a storm.
"...The Hunter’s Game."
An authority settled down on the icy world, and everything began to change, like a god had whispered "Be!"
And it was.
Lush green grass erupted from the ground all over, soft and peaceful. Spectral deer spawned around the domain, drinking peacefully or eating.
Naia gasped.
It was not over yet.
Afterward, golden roots as golden as the color of the sun followed out from the ice underneath, and wrapped around the Hellhound tightly.
It tried to speak, to scream out for whatever reason, but the roots dug deep into its throat, sealing away any kind of words.
Then the roots tangled together around the monster, then rose high in the sky like a golden pillar.
The Phantasm the monster had used was broken down by the power and aura of the Blessing, the backlash causing blood to splutter out of its orifices.
Emrys was still on the ground. But now in his hand was a large golden bow, rippling with power that caused the very surrounding air to wobble and crumple like a shriveled piece of paper.
At his right side stood a golden deer reaching his waist; the deer’s eyes reflecting the image of a beautiful woman sitting beside a river with a bow on her lap.
Naia was completely in awe. And she became even more so when Emrys raised his bow towards the monster hanging in the pillar.
"The Hunter’s Game is simple, beast." Emrys said, voice not like a human. But something more.
Lightning, water, wind...all of them rushed and fused into a perfect storm of power and shaped itself into an arrow, the sharp tip pointing towards the target.
"You just need to pray that I miss my shot." He continued with a smile. "If I miss, I become the target. But if I don’t miss..."
The arrow began to swirl upon itself, increasing the lethality, the world around warping around it.
"...well, why don’t we find out?"
Emrys fired.
The arrow left the bowstring with a sound akin to an exploding bomb, and that was when Naia realized that the god she had been worshipping through fear was not a god...
BOOOOMMMM!
...But a simple prey in front of a Hunter.
—End of Chapter 421—