I was Mistaken for a Noble Hunter Chapter 91

Purification (11)

 

Ding!

 

[A mission has been assigned.]

[Mission: You have arrived near a castle where evil dark mages are conducting a ritual. Break through the minions guarding them, enter the castle, and stop the ritual.]

[If you succeed in stopping the ritual and annihilate the dark mages, the mission is a success.]

[If you fail to stop the ritual, a new enemy will appear and a new mission will be given.]

 

This was the mission message that appeared before Hong Dasom and Ryusei when they entered the gate.

“……”

“……”

The two, who had been full of confidence, stiffened slightly as soon as they saw the mission message.

The mission was long and complicated.

It wasn’t something you would normally see in a C-rank gate.

In the first place, even having missions appear in a C-rank gate was rare… so in cases like this, it meant they were seriously unlucky.

“Still, let’s think of it positively. The longer and harder the mission, the better the rewards tend to be.”

In gates ranked B- or higher, mission-type dungeons appeared often, and the harder the mission, the greater the reward.

There were even cases where, after barely clearing a mission, an elixir that could cure all illnesses was obtained.

Since this was a C-rank gate, it wouldn’t be that extreme, but it was still something to look forward to.

“Yes. Let’s do our best.”

Ryusei nodded.

With Hong Dasom speaking like that, he couldn’t act weak when he was much bigger than her.

Besides, men tend to want to perform better in front of women they like.

“Graaah!”

“Kyaaah!”

The two pushed through zombies, ghouls, and various skeleton-type undead, heading toward the castle where the ritual was taking place.

The process wasn’t very difficult.

They weren’t at a level where a C-rank gate would trouble them.

They quickly broke through and entered the castle where the dark mages resided.

The same applied inside.

The direct subordinates of the dark mages conducting the ritual were quite strong, but they couldn’t stop the combination of Ryusei and Hong Dasom.

Ryusei, a power-type fighter who crushed enemies head-on like a tank.

Hong Dasom, who could wield various wind-related magic from the back.

The synergy between the two was excellent.

Hong Dasom’s ability wasn’t a specific technique; it was ‘wind’ itself.

She could create walls of wind to gather enemies in one place, or generate strong gusts to slow them down or disrupt their vision.

With just that kind of support, Ryusei would slaughter the enemies.

“You dare interfere with the ritual! I’ll offer you as sacrifices as well!”

Even when they faced the dark mages directly, it was the same.

Their magic was quite tricky, but Hong Dasom could handle interference, and in those openings, Ryusei picked them off one by one.

However, at the very end, a mistake occurred.

“Such interference… but even if it costs my life, I will complete the ritual!”

One of the dark mages completed the ritual at the cost of his own life.

The last dark mage severed his own life and threw himself into the magic circle.

As a result, the magic circle on the ground glowed, and the head of a massive monster emerged.

Ding!

 

[The ritual has succeeded]

[An ancient undead is revived]

[A new mission is assigned]

[Mission: Defeat the ancient undead.]

[If you fail to defeat it within 5 days, the mission will automatically fail.]

 

The resurrection of the ancient undead.

Even at this point, Hong Dasom and Ryusei weren’t too worried.

“The mission changed inside the gate… have you ever heard of something like this, Hunter Ryusei?”

“Not at our level.”

“Right? This isn’t an ordinary gate.”

Now they understood why the previous team had failed.

It was a mission too difficult for a typical C-rank hunter party.

Still, the two were confident.

Ancient undead or not, they thought they would take it down quickly.

But five minutes after clashing with it, that thought completely vanished.

“GROOOOAAAR!!”

They said it had been revived through a ritual, and its strength was no joke.

It was strong enough that even Ryusei couldn’t handle it, and tough enough that Hong Dasom’s magic had no effect.

It was simply powerful and durable.

If it at least had a weakness, it would be one thing… but it was a monster with no clear way to deal with it.

The battle with it caused the castle to collapse in places, and Hong Dasom and Ryusei hid within the ruins as a makeshift shelter.

They occasionally went out to fight the ancient undead, but kept failing.

And just like that, two days passed.

 

***

 

It was a gate where the undead appeared.

The moment he realized that, Kang Ian almost cheered.

‘Wow. I’ve really been doing good deeds lately… heaven is helping me. How did I end up in a gate like this?’

Saint Bruta’s Glove Replica.

The white glove on his hand still had a few days of duration left.

With it, the power of any undead he faced would be cut in half.

In extreme terms, he might even be able to fight an A-rank undead.

‘…No, maybe not that much.’

He had heard that monsters in A-rank gates were disasters in themselves.

Anyway, as he thought that, another thought came to mind.

‘Did I shop for nothing?’

Not knowing how difficult the gate would be, he had gone all out on purchases.

He had spent nearly all of his 30,000 evil souls and close to 3,000 nobility points.

As a result, Kang Ian’s equipment had changed quite a bit.

First of all, his weapon was different.

He used to mainly wield a mace, but now he held a longsword.

 

[Shazard’s Longsword]

[A longsword used by ‘Shazard,’ the captain of the knight order of the Hovan Kingdom. It was crafted by the kingdom’s greatest blacksmith, and Shazard defeated many powerful enemies with it during his lifetime.]

[Automatically repairs itself when damaged.]

[When using skills with this item, required mana is reduced by half.]

[Required evil souls: 15,000.]

 

A 15,000 evil soul item!

Just thinking about buying it made his hands tremble.

He had hesitated multiple times.

Was it really right to buy this?

Compared to the mace he used before, it wasn’t necessarily better.

The “Frost Strike Mace” had incredible cost-efficiency.

It increased strength by 1.5 times and dealt frost damage on hit, yet it was much cheaper than this sword.

So why did he choose this?

Because Kang Ian had also acquired a new skill.

 

[Skill Book: Sword Aura]

[Consumes mana to unleash a powerful blade aura.]

[However, since it is not a technique developed through personal training, mana consumption is extremely high.]

[Required nobility: 2,900.]

 

Sword Aura.

Yes… that technique where light bursts from the blade and cuts down enemies.

Its attack power was absurdly amplified, and in Devil Lord 3, well-developed characters could even use sword aura indefinitely in the late game.

However, using it as a one-time skill like this consumed enormous mana.

That was why Kang Ian chose Shazard’s Longsword.

If mana consumption were halved, he could use sword aura twice as long.

‘Unless I learn a special technique, this is the best way to increase attack power right now.’

Special techniques.

For example, there were advanced secret sword arts of Valhalla.

By leveling up and continuously completing quests, one could become a high-ranking knight, and from then on, it would be possible to learn special techniques using nobility.

Each class had something like this, and when learned through that route, the mana consumption of sword aura dropped drastically.

But that wasn’t something Kang Ian could do right now.

Still, since he was about to be promoted to a B-rank hunter, he wanted stronger attack power… so he bought this skill.

In the short term, it was also the fastest way to grow stronger.

With the remaining 15,000 evil souls, he bought a set item.

 

[Starlight Helmet]

[Starlight Boots]

[Starlight Greaves]

[Starlight Shoulder Guards]

 

They were called the Starlight Set.

The set effect slightly increased the power of skills that generated light.

Since sword aura was also a kind of light, it benefited from this effect.

A full sword aura-focused build!

‘My defense is sufficient now, so it’s time to increase my offense.’

He had secured durability; now it was time to sharpen his edge.

After seeing Lim Gayeon, he was tempted by ranged skills, but investing in a new ranged skill now wouldn’t be very efficient.

Unless nobility started raining from the sky, this was the right path for now.

Still, he felt a bit regretful since this was an undead dungeon.

‘If I’d known, I should’ve cleared this dungeon first before shopping.’

No matter how strong the undead, with Saint Bruta’s Gloves, he wouldn’t lose.

He could have gathered more evil souls and nobility, and maybe even experimented with new builds.

It was a shame, but there was no turning back time.

At that moment…

Ding!

 

[A mission has been assigned]

[Mission: You have arrived near a castle where evil dark mages are conducting a ritual. Break through the minions guarding them, enter the castle, and stop the ritual.]

[Mission failed]

[An ancient undead is revived]

[A new mission has been assigned]

[Mission: Defeat the ancient undead.]

[If you fail to defeat it within 5 days, the mission will automatically fail.]

 

The mission messages appeared before Kang Ian.

Since even the past logs appeared together, he quickly grasped the situation.

‘Looks like they failed to stop the ritual.’

The ancient undead must have been revived, and since it hadn’t been cleared yet, they were likely stuck because of it.

‘It’s already been two days, and the quest hasn’t failed yet… they must be hiding somewhere. I should hurry and help them.’

Kang Ian quickly started moving.

Thud!

Ding!

 

[You have slain evil]

[Evil soul +16]

…

 

Of course, he didn’t let a single undead he encountered along the way go.

He needed to refill his empty stock of evil souls.

 

***

 

The mission said they had five days to defeat the ancient undead.

But Hong Dasom and Ryusei were in a hurry.

If there were even a glimmer of hope, it would be one thing… but right now, there was none.

Just as the past two days had flown by, the remaining three days would pass just as quickly.

If they only had three days left to live, even superhuman hunters couldn’t help but grow anxious and desperate.

“Today, I’ll reveal myself completely and lure it. When that happens, stab its weak point from behind.”

“Th-That’s too dangerous!”

“Even if it is, we have no choice. Normal methods don’t work.”

Hong Dasom insisted firmly.

The ancient undead was over 5 meters tall, making it difficult to attack its head.

Even for the undead, the head was most likely the weak point.

They needed to pierce that head, but Hong Dasom’s magic couldn’t deal enough damage.

Ryusei, who had stronger attack power, had to do it… But even that wasn’t easy.

Perhaps even as an undead, it was aware of its weak point… it never lowered its head.

Ryusei had to jump up from the ground to reach it, but the monster would swat him away like a fly with its monstrous strength.

So today’s plan was for Hong Dasom to act as bait.

As an undead, it had a deep hatred for the living.

If it saw Hong Dasom directly, it might forget to guard its weak point and expose an opening.

Then Ryusei, hidden, would strike at that moment.

‘Damn it… I should’ve trained harder…!’

Ryusei swallowed his anger.

If he had just been a little stronger, this wouldn’t be happening…

Regret flashed through his mind.

When Kang Hoopung and Kang Ian suggested adding another weight plate, he should’ve stepped up and said they should add two!

But regret was useless now.

Since they couldn’t think of a better plan, the two moved.

“If it gets too dangerous, you must run.”

“Don’t worry.”

Hong Dasom walked forward with a hardened expression.

Ryusei hid himself and moved to the opposite side.

Soon after, the ancient undead spotted Hong Dasom.

“GROOOOAAAR!!”

As planned, it charged toward her.

The ground shook with heavy thuds.

Normally, she would have already used wind to escape, but Hong Dasom stood her ground.

‘Just a little more… just a little more…’

Seeing the massive undead beast charging at her, fear and survival instincts surged from deep within… but she endured.

And at that moment, Ryusei leapt out.

“Die!”

Shouting, he swung his greatsword.

Thud!

But even with Ryusei’s strength, the blade failed to fully pierce the creature’s skull and stopped midway.

Hong Dasom, who had been the bait, was grabbed by the monster’s hand.

“Kyaaaak!”

Her body was being crushed as she screamed.

“!”

It was at that moment…

Kang Ian arrived at the scene.

Hong Dasom was captured, and Ryusei was in shock.

Gripping his longsword, Kang Ian kicked off the ground and shot forward.

As the sword swung like lightning, a blue aura burst forth.

Slash!

The ancient undead’s wrist was completely severed.