I was Mistaken for a Noble Hunter Chapter 80

Fame (17)

 

The Undead Giant Crab.

A monster you could encounter if you ventured out toward the sea from the Land of the Dead.

“Everyone, stay sharp! If we make even a slight mistake, that thing could turn the tables on us!”

Team leader Jonathan shouted.

If this had been on land, he wouldn’t have even said something like that.

If he pushed himself a bit, he could probably take it down alone.

However, because they were at sea, they were at a severe disadvantage.

On a boat with limited space to evade and extremely poor mobility.

Thud!

At that moment, Kang Ian kicked off the ground and leapt high.

The Undead Giant Crab had already approached near the boat, and in an instant, Kang Ian rose near its head.

BANG!

“??”

With a single blow from Kang Ian’s mace, the crab’s head shell caved in, and the creature staggered.

Jonathan’s eyes widened.

That single strike had left it reeling, unable to regain its senses.

‘What kind of strength is that…?’

He had fought an Undead Giant Crab before, though it had been some time ago.

It was definitely not something that could be handled so easily.

Even he wasn’t confident he could do that much with a single hit.

“Everyone, attack! Hunter Kang Ian has created an opening!”

Surprised or not, Jonathan quickly gave orders.

The Delta team members immediately focused and fired off their skills.

Kang Ian didn’t stay idle either.

CRASH CRASH CRASH!

His shield flew continuously around the Giant Crab, striking it repeatedly.

Even at a glance, it was clear the damage was immense.

The other hunters were impressed.

‘That’s totally like Captain!’

It reminded them of a movie hero who wielded a shield.

After that, the Delta team members fully joined the battle.

Crackle!

BOOM!

Flames burst, lightning struck, blades of wind flew…

The Behemoth Guild members were more than capable of handling a raid even on a boat.

‘They all have at least one ranged skill.’

This was where the strength of American hunters showed.

As members of a major guild, they were provided with expensive skill stones, allowing them to become well-rounded hunters capable of both ranged and melee combat.

‘I should buy a ranged skill too…’

Just fighting by throwing his shield didn’t feel quite right.

 

If he needed defense, wouldn’t his offensive ability be completely sealed?

He felt a bit bitter, thinking his contribution was lacking.

If the other hunters knew what Kang Ian was thinking, they would have wanted to punch him.

Kyaaaah!

The Undead Giant Crab let out a shriek.

The raid progressed smoothly.

Jonathan tilted his head.

‘Something’s off. It’s not supposed to be this weak…’

It was a B-rank monster.

But not all B-rank monsters were the same.

Large monsters like this tended to have greater durability and strength than others of the same rank due to their size.

Which meant the battle should have taken quite a long time…

Yet it was far too easy.

Jonathan and the Delta team didn’t know, but it was because of Kang Ian’s Gloves of Saint Burta.

An item imbued with the power to reduce the strength of undead by 50%.

Until now, they had been hunting separately, so they hadn’t felt the effect… but now they were.

Even a B-rank monster became nothing special if its power was halved.

Eventually, the creature couldn’t endure any longer and was left in a battered state.

Ezra grinned.

“This… maybe we were too scared just because it’s the sea? We can take them down easily.”

“Stay focused! That kind of thinking is when things become the most dangerous!”

Jonathan shouted sharply.

Accidents really do happen when you let your guard down.

But his warning came a bit too late.

Ezra had already relaxed slightly, thinking the raid was basically over… and that created an opening.

Splash!

Through that gap, the Undead Giant Crab retreated and dove straight into the sea.

“W-What?”

“The monster… ran away?”

The crab fled.

The hunters stared in disbelief as it moved beneath the surface.

Normally, monsters didn’t run… they harbored hostility toward humans.

Running only happened when they were extremely frightened.

But that thing was undead.

It was already dead… what was there for it to fear?

‘Is it because of this?’

Kang Ian glanced at the gloves on his hands and guessed the reason.

When it reached near-death, it must have felt rejection and fear toward the holy power and chose to flee.

Of course, he couldn’t just let it go.

It was a B-rank monster.

Who knew how many Evil Souls it would yield?

No way he’d let a nearly defeated enemy escape.

“I’ll be right back.”

Tap!

Kang Ian stepped off the side of the boat and dove into the sea in an instant.

“H-Huh? Kang Ian Hunter?”

Jonathan called out in surprise, but Kang Ian was already underwater.

“That’s dangerous!”

Jonathan’s expression hardened.

Fighting on a boat was already risky… underwater was even worse.

This could truly turn into a disaster.

Yet at the same time, he felt a chill watching Kang Ian.

‘What kind of determination is that…?’

Despite his gentle appearance, his tenacity toward monsters was incredible.

For a hunter, that kind of mindset was often more important than ability.

‘His ability is one thing, but that attitude… someone like him should be in our guild…’

Jonathan… and all the Delta team members, felt it.

They watched the water with worried expressions.

“Team leader! Should we go rescue him?”

“If we rush in recklessly, we’ll be in danger too. Let’s… wait a bit. He might realize it’s too much and come back.”

“How long do we wait?”

“…Five minutes. If he doesn’t come up after five minutes, we go in.”

“Understood.”

They nodded with firm expressions.

 

***

 

Contrary to Jonathan’s thoughts, Kang Ian hadn’t jumped in recklessly.

Splash—!

He was moving rapidly underwater while holding onto his shield.

The skill Floating Shield he had learned was surprisingly useful, so he had spent additional Nobility to upgrade it to an intermediate level.

 

[Skill: Floating Shield – Intermediate Enhancement]

[Effect: Improves the shield’s ability and efficiency. It now moves farther and faster.]

 

Because of that, he had once wondered…

Could he ride the shield?

If possible, he could fly around while attacking, which would be incredibly useful.

But unfortunately, it had failed.

The shield couldn’t support a person’s full body weight.

‘But underwater, it works.’

Thanks to buoyancy, his weight was reduced.

Enough for the shield to carry him.

Kang Ian clung to the shield and sped through the water.

Flattening his body to reduce resistance, he gradually closed the distance with the Undead Giant Crab.

Fortunately, it wasn’t very fast.

Its body was already battered and full of wounds.

Kang Ian soon latched onto its back and swung his mace.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The water reduced the force of each strike, but he made up for it with repeated blows.

The creature struggled in pain but couldn’t shake him off.

Its emotions were clear.

Fear. Panic.

It was never expected to be chased this far.

Already heavily injured, it soon went limp.

Ding!

 

[You have slain evil.]

[Evil Soul +411]

[Level Up!]

 

‘411 points?’

Kang Ian was startled.

As expected of a B-rank monster.

It gave more than he anticipated.

If one monster gave this much, what would happen if he grew stronger and entered a B-rank gate filled with them?

On top of that, he leveled up.

Each level increased his base physical abilities.

And since he had received a bonus at level 10, it was likely something awaited at level 20 too.

All in all, a very satisfying battle.

With a slight grin, Kang Ian shifted his gaze.

Not upward.

But deeper into the sea.

Beep beep beep

The wave detector he pulled out pointed in that direction.

He had wondered how to explain things to the Delta team, but entering the water like this turned out to be fortunate.

‘I might as well find the source of the evil while I’m here.’

His lung capacity wasn’t an issue yet.

As a superhuman hunter, he could hold his breath for dozens of minutes.

Looking around, there were no monsters nearby.

He knew underwater combat was dangerous, so if anything appeared, he planned to retreat immediately.

Ready to grab his shield and escape at any moment, he cautiously moved toward the direction indicated by the detector.

Since he was riding the shield, movement and direction changes were easy.

He reached his destination quickly.

Beep! Beep!

The detector’s signal intensified.

He was close.

In front of him was a massive rock, and embedded in its surface was something like a black stone.

‘This is it.’

He was certain.

It was the same source of evil he had seen before.

As he approached to destroy it, black mist began to spread.

Just like last time.

The moment he made contact, a powerful thought flooded his mind.

Hatred. Killing intent. Malice. Rage.

A concentration of negative emotions surged in, making his head spin.

He remembered the Skeleton Tiger he had fought with Kang Hoopung’s group at the Yebong Mountain danger zone.

Back then, he thought it was the monster’s ability…

But now, it seemed different.

It was likely the source of evil itself, emitting this in response to danger.

Even a hunter with strong mental fortitude would struggle to stay sane under such overwhelming death energy.

CRACK!

But protected by Valhalla’s power, Kang Ian crushed it without hesitation.

Ding!

 

[You have destroyed the source of evil.]

[Evil Soul +450]

[Nobility +450]

 

Even more than last time.

‘Today’s harvest is pretty great.’

The Evil Souls alone matched that of a B-rank monster…

But the truly important reward was Nobility.

Something extremely hard to obtain.

And he had gained it in such a large amount!

A satisfying result.

With a grin, Kang Ian began to swim upward.

Splash!

Splash!

At that moment, several people jumped into the water above and began descending.

‘Huh!?’

It was the Delta team.

When Kang Ian hadn’t resurfaced after five minutes, they had come to rescue him.

But there was a problem.

The area was still thick with the death energy released by the destroyed source of evil.

If a bit more time had passed, it would have dispersed…

But they came into contact with it before that.

“Ghk”

“Ugh”

Their eyes rolled back, and they lost consciousness, going limp.

Kang Ian was shocked.

‘Why did they come down here…!?’

They should have just stayed on the boat!

But shocked or not, he couldn’t leave them like that.

Splash!

Kang Ian quickly swam through the water using his shield and began rescuing the team members one by one.