61 – 13 – Master of the Ruins – 1

“Why didn’t you accept the magic shotgun?”

It was a plain completely clear of the fog surrounding the village, on the path heading toward the mountain.

Hervunt smacked his lips with a very regretful expression as he spoke.

“That was an incredibly excellent item, though. Moreover, it was a triple-barrel.”

“They might have a need for it in the village. Besides, I don’t really like shooting.”

“So you do have experience shooting, then? You are a truly mysterious person.”

Ah, guns were not such a common item in most worlds!

Gi-jun was flustered for a moment, but thanks to the mask he was wearing, he was able to hide his flustered expression and somehow pass it off as nothing.

At that moment, Hervunt asked again.

“Are you perhaps bad at shooting?”

“Ha.”

Gi-jun could not help but snort at those words.

Although he did not have very good memories of his military service, his shooting skill, which had yielded a perfect score whenever he shot, was still a point of pride.

Thinking back now, that too might have hinted at Gi-jun’s innate ‘Dexterity’.

Every time that topic came up, Brother Su had stubbornly insisted that he too was a marksman who hit all targets, but no matter how one looked at it, that was a lie.

It had also been fun to see Shin, who had yet to serve in the military, looking sulky because he was not included in the conversation.

And what about Min-i, who had clapped her hands and called it cool without even knowing what a marksman was?

And how was Ji-hye again…?

“Jun?”

“Ah. …It’s nothing.”

Gi-jun, who was reminiscing about his past party members who now felt so distant, snapped back to reality as he faced Hervunt, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“Hervunt, you look like you have done some shooting yourself. With a gun, not a crossbow.”

“Of course. My crossbow is a great piece of equipment, but Vladimir was really… Ah, that is the name of my pistol.”

At that moment, Gi-jun intuitively realized that he had chosen the wrong topic.

A guy who named his own pistol was definitely dangerous!

“It was an item coveted by everyone. Weight, grip, performance, rate of fire, durability. Everything was perfect. With him by my side, there was no monster I couldn’t bring down.”

“I-is that so. But what about now…?”

“Now, I can no longer use him. …Because I have lost the right to handle him.”

As Hervunt spoke with a bitter smile, Armillca, who was listening from behind, scoffed at him.

“You could have just said it broke and you threw it away.”

“Vladimir does not die.”

“R-right…”

Even Armillca did not dare to argue further with Hervunt, who replied with a straight face.

How long had they walked since then? It was just as Lucy was about to pester Gi-jun, saying she wanted to eat lunch.

Hervunt, who was walking a few steps ahead of the party, stopped in his tracks and spoke.

“It seems we are entering their territory. I see traces. If all goes well, it might be sooner than—Jun.”

“Prepare for battle.”

When Hervunt, who had noticed something amiss mid-report, warned in a sharp voice, Gi-jun immediately declared so that everyone could hear.

In untied the thick steel staff he was carrying on his back and brought it in front of him, and Armillca also placed her hand on her scabbard.

Just as Laura hid behind In, Gi-jun raised his shield.

—Boom!

Something that had flown like a cannonball from over there struck the shield, causing a terrible roar.

“What is it?!”

“A Moon-Welcoming Stone.”

Catching the object that bounced off the shield with skill, Gi-jun confirmed the identity of the thrown item and smirked.

“Could they have thought we were runaways holding out without turning into werewolves?”

“So they threw the Moon-Welcoming Stone to force a transformation…?”

“They’re coming.”

Beside Armillca, who asked back in disbelief, Hervunt spoke briefly as he fired bolts in rapid succession, before immediately sinking into the shadows.

It was immediately after that that the sound of barking cries was heard.

—Awooooo!

Along with the howling of a wild beast that instilled the fear of being prey in humans.

“Are they the ones who have turned into beasts?”

Although they were not surrounded because Hervunt had noticed them quickly, seeing more than thirty appear the moment they spotted one made them worse than cockroaches.

Furthermore, judging by the power behind the throw just now, their grade seemed to be Rare as well…

In other words, they were a field of experience points.

“Ha! I will go first!”

“Wait—”

Armillca drew her sharply whetted saber, and before Gi-jun could even stop her, she accelerated on the spot and charged head-on into the pack of wolves.

“Heee—yaaa!”

The beasts were caught off guard by her flash-like leap.

The blade, which had slashed the belly of the lead beast and emerged stained with thick color, raced through the air in its master’s hand, drawing dozens of red lines.

Although they were stronger on average compared to the intelligent ones they had fought yesterday, their movements were somewhat sluggish, so they could not avoid the blade she swung lightly; once their vitals were slashed, rotten blood poured from that spot, quickly leading to their death.

Hervunt was already slipping in and out of the shadows, pouring silver-plated bolts from all directions to bring down the rushing wolves and disrupt their formation…

Suddenly, Gi-jun thought.

“Maybe a tank is not needed in this party.”

“We simply haven’t met a strong enemy that requires a tank yet. Go on ahead; I will protect Laura.”

“If you get hurt by any chance, I will heal you right away!”

“In that case—Ur!”

—Kyeet!

Ultimately, Gi-jun also charged, holding two shields, one in each hand.

In a corner of his vision, he saw a pack of wolves racing toward them while drawing a large circle in the distance.

“Flash Throw!”

Were they aiming for Laura and In? He threw two shields containing both flame and light in succession toward them.

The two shields, fired while drawing red lines, ground down the rushing wolf pack from head to tail, crossed in midair, and returned to Gi-jun.

“Ha!”

Gi-jun, who caught them, smiled and charged as he faced the wolves pouncing from all directions with their aggro focused on him without him even needing to use provocation.

Since this expedition already had a lot of things to think about and was complicated, he felt rather good at this moment when he only needed to run wild with all his might against mindless enemies.

‘But wait.’

Clashing head-on with the wolves, who should have had no intelligence whatsoever, a thought suddenly occurred to Gi-jun.

‘How did creatures without intelligence handle the Moon-Welcoming Stone?’

The moment he realized this, Gi-jun’s senses synchronized with Lucy’s, and his vast spiritual power converted into spirit power through Lucy, spreading at the speed of light.

—Contractor!

“Tch—!”

He immediately turned around and threw his shield.

Just as In, seeing the shield flying in their direction, widened his eyes and blocked Laura, the shield passed by his waist and lodged itself in the head of a hairy monster that surged up from behind him.

—Keehaaaak!

A werewolf had actually dug a tunnel and approached stealthily!

To In, who was marveling even more at Gi-jun’s senses that had accurately detected and stopped the enemy’s surprise attack than the fact that intelligent werewolves were controlling the beastified ones, Gi-jun’s sharp voice flew in.

“In, block them properly! They are targeting Laura!”

“I-I understand!”

—Awooooo!

In frantically swung his staff, protecting Laura from the werewolves popping out of the tunnel one after another.

Meanwhile, Gi-jun chuckled as he watched the wolves trying to surround him, and slightly bent his knees while holding the King of the Well to cover his chest.

The next moment, he kicked off the ground and charged forward with power!

“Everyone, get lost—!”

—Kyeeeeek!

The flames that bloomed and wrapped around his entire body from his rapid charge trailed long behind him, drawing a red straight line.

Everything blocking the path of that line was sent flying, and before long, he reached a distance close enough for the werewolves surrounding Laura and In to feel the heat.

“Keup!”

—Kyek!

Discovering the werewolf lying on the ground with the shield he had thrown earlier embedded in its forehead, he approached right in front of the creature, crushed its head himself to kill it completely, and finished his preparations for a full-scale battle by picking up the shield and casting Moonlight Blood Fangs.

And.

“Come at me, all of you—!”

—Ur, time your flame-spitting more perfectly!

—Kyeheeet!

Gi-jun’s entire body flashed intensely with light and flame, gifting the werewolves a fierce rage that made it impossible for them not to pounce!

—Kraaaaaak!

—That bastard!

“Come at me, you puppies who don’t even look in the mirror—!”

—Awooooo!

―The level of the [Luminescent Provocation (U)] skill has increased to 3!

It was a provocation so intense that even his allies, In and Laura, were momentarily incapacitated.

Regardless of whether they possessed reason or not, every single werewolf in the area began to flock toward Gi-jun!

—Awooooo!

—I’ll kill you!

—Kill that guy first…!

“Jun-nim!”

“In, focus your attacks on the ones distracted by me!”

“I-I understand!”

Even in a situation where he was surrounded on all sides, Gi-jun skillfully wielded his two shields enveloped in fierce flames, parrying all incoming attacks from the werewolves and even launching counterattacks.

Because he was swinging the two shields at a speed fast enough to leave afterimages while moving as if drawing a circle on the spot, anyone could tell that two giant fangs of light had sprouted from his hands even if Gi-jun did not bother to state the name of the technique.

Laura, who was watching with the intention of healing him immediately if he sustained even a slight injury, was amazed by Gi-jun’s movements, which completely overwhelmed the enemies in a one-against-many combat, let alone showing any wounds.

“Jun-nim… so cool…!”

Of course, because Gi-jun was flashing in real-time even at this moment to draw aggro from all directions, he was not cool at all when viewed objectively, but partly because he had saved her from danger, rose-colored glasses were completely covering Laura’s eyes.

“Keup! Kuha—! This doesn’t even feel like fighting!”

—Thud! Crack!

In also played an active role, frantically smashing the backs of the heads of the werewolves crowding toward Gi-jun with his steel staff, but the provocation ability was so powerful that the creatures died while staring only at Gi-jun, not even knowing who had attacked them until their dying breath.

“Ah, my Laura is in danger!”

“A diversionary attack… how absurd…!”

Armillca and Hervunt, who realized the situation in the rear late due to their own hectic battles, were also dumbfounded and broke through the werewolves’ encirclement.

Of course, by the time they killed the wolves tailing them and joined the others, Gi-jun’s shield and In’s steel staff had already smashed the heads of almost all the werewolves.

―Having reached level 26, Strength (U) increased by 1, Dexterity (L) by 1, and Endurance (U) by 1!

―Having reached level 26, Strength (U) increased by 1, Dexterity (L) by 1, and Endurance (U) by 1!

Although the enemies were all of Rare grade, perhaps because the experience points accumulated so far were sufficient, Gi-jun’s level finally rose by one.

Since the nature of the battle was what it was, the increased stats were also of the physical type, but since the growth of his Light Mana and Spiritual Power was already fast, it could be said that he grew in a balanced manner.

‘Good. As expected of the Unique grade, I can feel the difference even if a stat increases by just 1.’

His strength was greater than before, his bones and muscles were sturdier, and his senses were sharper.

As he smiled, realizing once again that he was growing rapidly by himself after coming over to the continent of Leta, Hervunt, who had returned after retrieving the silver bolts embedded in the werewolves’ heads with gloves on his hands, narrowed his eyes at him.

“Did you perhaps level up?”

“My experience points had accumulated.”

“Amazing. Congratulations.”

“Congratulations, Leader.”

“Congratulations, Jun-nim!”

“Congratulations.”

When the party members began to clap in unison, Gi-jun felt a slight nostalgia as he recalled the tutorial days, but he soon felt burdened and made them stop.

“Because the higher your level becomes, the harder it is to level up even once. Especially for a powerhouse like Jun.”

They seemed to be mistaken, but strictly speaking, Gi-jun was of a low level.

Gi-jun spoke, resolving anew never to show any signs of having leveled up in the future.

“As you all saw, they are commanding other werewolves. Moreover, the critical part is that they have already realized we have a priest and have begun targeting her intensively.”

“I was confident that we had killed every single werewolf we encountered on the way to the village with Gin, so how has the information leaked already?”

Seeing Hervunt speak with his eyes flashing sharply, Armillca said mockingly.

“That wolf boy was already a center of attention anyway. Maybe they were watching from outside your range of perception—”

“Observing our party from outside my sensory range? That is a bit hard for me to accept.”

Ignoring the bickering between Armillca and Hervunt, which made him wonder if they were actually growing close, Gi-jun declared.

“From now on, Hervunt will pull out of direct combat and focus only on scouting. We will form a formation centered around Laura and move quickly to our destination.”

“Looking at the current situation, they seem determined to target her, so of course we should do that to protect Laura! I agree!”

“Understood.”

“Mmh.”

Having changed their formation, the Jahil party began to move forward at a speed almost close to running.

Gi-jun’s judgment that they were targeting Laura was not wrong, as subsequent attacks flying toward Laura from a distance occurred in succession, and there were also quite a few creatures approaching by digging tunnels just like before.

Of course, Hervunt intercepted most of them, and Gi-jun blocked all of those that he missed.

“Even your senses are excellent.”

“As long as it is within the reach of my shield.”

“Ah, Laura! Are you okay? You’re not hurt? Do you want some chocolate?”

“I’m not hurt, I’m fine… Is everyone okay? Does anyone need healing?”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“Urrrgh…! At this rate, I should rather fight too!”

Around the time Laura grew depressed with the thought that she was only a burden to the party and was not performing her role as a priest, the group finally reached the foot of the mountain.

“We have waited long, humans.”

There, they encountered hundreds of werewolves lying in ambush.