The Hunter Who Does Not Age Is So Strong
Chapter 41

Sword Phantom (2)

Xi Wu-han, the Captain of the Shadowless Squad, felt that the atmosphere in the room had changed with his answer. A werewolf was giggling by the door, and another man from Moorim watched on bewildered. And their Savior, Kim Bongpal.

“Sword Phantom? I’ve heard of him, too. But will a dirty-tempered person with the word Phantom in his nickname come with you obediently?”

He smiled strangely. It was a bit creepy, but Xi Wu-han felt the need to answer.

“Since Shadowless Squad has become like this, it would be impossible, but….”

With that, he sighed and looked around. There were three members of the Shadowless Squad left, including Xi Wu-han. The other two, however, were unconscious. Besides, there was a problem even if they returned to their senses. The Monstrous Immortal’s evil energy didn’t just make them feel uncomfortable, and there was wickedness that penetrated inside and shook their energy circulation.

Because of that, the Captain of Shadowless Squad suffered great damage that would require time to recover from, and his colleagues were the same.

“We were supposed to drag him out even if we had to use force.”

“Oh. By force, and it’s indeed a good idea.”

“…?”

Xi Wu-han was bewildered by Kim Bongpal’s reaction. No, precisely by the fist he raised. It contained a force that Xi Wu-han couldn’t have easily prevented, even if he had not been as injured as he is now.

“I also like dealing with things using force. You said you were looking for the Sword Phantom, didn’t you? Did you not know his name?

“…?”

An ominous feeling flashed through Xi Wu-han’s mind. At that moment, the information he knew about Sword Phantom returned to him. A man with black hair looked like he was in his twenties and didn’t speak the language of Moorim…huh?

“That’s his name, you know? The one you said was a great name earlier. Kim. Bong. Pal.”

Xi Wu-han blinked a few times. He understood why things were going this way now.

“Well, shall we start talking again?”

Kim Bongpal said so as he waved his fist. Xi Wu-han’s expression quickly hardened. If that hit him in his current state, he would definitely die. However, a thought came to his mind before his fear of death…

‘No, did she send us to deal with a Transcendent?’

…Did the Shadowless Squad do something to offend the Divine Lady?

* * *

In the middle of a dark cave sat an old, wounded monster.

-You look terrible.

A voice echoed through the cave, but it didn’t come out of the Monstrous Immortal’s mouth.

“…Shut up. I’m not in the mood to deal with you right now.”

-Haha. This is awesome. The one-armed Monstrous Immortal, huh? And you were beaten by Maya, not by anyone else?

The Monstrous Immortal gritted his teeth. However, the voice’s owner showed no fear of him. After all, their level wasn’t too far behind even compared to the Monstrous Immortal.

-Maya? Maya the Sorcerer? Did she regain her power?

-Oh. If she had regained her lost power, it was great for the Monstrous Immortal to lose only one of his arms and run away.

-Monstrous Immortal. I can give you the arm of my Chimera if you like. How does that sound?

-Who is Maya?

-Fufu. Once upon a time, there was a supernatural being that made a name for herself. I heard she had fallen to the ground, but I guess that’s not the case.

More voices intervened, and a hectic conversation ensued. Some were showing respect to the Monstrous Immortal while others were not.

-Or how about my Divine Power? Give me a few Magic Tools, and I’ll make your arm grow back.

-Hey, didn’t you hear? Don’t you know that the Monstrous Immortal learned black magic?

-Haah. I can’t believe another unfortunate soul fell to such a disgusting power.

And then.

-…Oh. Maya? What a nostalgic name.

A woman’s voice cut them all off.

It couldn’t be helped. Scherazard was especially powerful in her own world and this place, where all the famous people from the Shire gathered. The queen of vampires had truly reached transcendence, unlike the half-Transcendent Monstrous Immortal.

-What? Scherazard, are you still alive? But how did Maya regain her powers? Has it been that long?

-Who knows? Maya must have swallowed another’s power like Scherazard did. Haha.

Of course, some of them didn’t feel uncomfortable with Scherazard. They were a group of strong people. While not divided between justice and evil, in the end, they were a group with a similar essence. That was also why Monstrous Immortal decided to join them when he discovered their existence.

Originally started in Lupaine, they’d been expanding their reach recently to people from Moorim with similar tendencies. That was how he was recruited.

-Oh my. I can’t believe you’d say something that shallow. It is so uncivilized.

Scherazard said. She was one of the leading figures in this group.

-Let’s talk about Maya separately with the Monstrous Immortal later. How about returning to the main topic of today’s meeting?

-Great. I’m a busy person, unlike you, morons. Let’s talk about it quickly.

-Fufu. I agree.

Then there was a brief silence, and Scherazard continued.

-I’m calling you today because of some pretty interesting news. Except for the monsters originally here, there are only two kinds of Otherworlder in the Shire, and no, there ‘were’ only two.

-What?

-Huh?

-Yes, that’s right. New Otherworlders have appeared, and I hear they are made up of only human beings…that’s it. New prey. Oh, maybe not for some people?

When Scherazard finished speaking, various reactions arose. Some were excited, and others were disappointed. In the case of the Monstrous Immortal, his eyes were shining with joy.

Maya’s Supernatural Force tormented Monstrous Immortal for hours, even after he retreated. Because of that, he missed his chance to use his regeneration. To recover the missing arm, he needed some lifeblood. More than a few dozen, perhaps as many as a hundred normal people. He was thinking about where to get it, but a new kind of Otherworlder just appeared like this.

‘Neither Moorim nor Lupaine?’

Besides, they came with a pretty familiar description. Didn’t the Monstrous Immortal know that kind of guy?

* * *

“You tell me to believe your words?”

“…I’ve told you the truth!”

Kim Bongpal looked at Xi Wu-han as he answered with exasperation.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t trust him. Xi Wu-han had answered all the questions so far with great sincerity. Through cross-validation of the information he obtained from Young-no, Kim Bongpal noticed that most of the answers were consistent with what he already knew. Looking at it, he didn’t seem to have any intention of lying.

Anyway, what Kim Bongpal confirmed was like this: first, most of the captured Earthlings were incorporated as members of the Celestial Demon Cult, and it was said that many of them were showing signs of adapting. Of course, such things weren’t particularly important information to Kim Bongpal, and he was just asking to confirm the truth of one answer.

In the end, only one piece of information that Kim Bongpal wanted to get from Xi Wu-han.

Seo Hayeon. Why was she in the Celestial Demon’s abode? But he hadn’t even heard of her name. That being said, he did have some information about the Celestial Demon’s abode. According to him, access to her abode wasn’t permitted to most cult members. Aside from herself and her aide, the White-Haired Sword Phantom, only one other type of person was allowed inside.

A disciple of the Celestial Demon.

“…Ha?”

Kim Bongpal’s frowned. He was a little, no, very irritated right now. Things were going weird in a way he didn’t like, though it wasn’t bad that Seo Hayeon’s safety was confirmed once again.

However, the likeliest conclusion was that Seo Ha-yeon became the Celestial Demon’s disciple. That was really annoying.

“Disciple? Did that kid become a disciple of the Celestial Demon?”

“Savior! Even though you’re our benefactor, such blasphemous remarks about the Celestial Demon are ignorant…!”

Slap-!

“You shut up.”

When Xi Wu-han said something, Kim Bongpal could not stand his rising irritation and smacked his head. However, he didn’t hit him with mana in his fist like he threatened. But Xi Wu-han couldn’t raise his inner Qigong due to his injuries.

Besides, Kim Bongpal’s fist wasn’t ordinary, and that alone was enough to knock Xi Wu-han out.

“Wow. That’s a superb strike, Brother!”

Warg said so from behind, but Kim Bongpal ignored him. He wasn’t in the mood to joke around with Warg now.

“…”

For Kim Bongpal, this was a feeling he couldn’t understand. Why was he annoyed when he heard that Seo Hayeon became the Celestial Demon’s disciple? Was it because the kid he taught became someone else’s disciple? That could be a part of the reason. Or was it because he didn’t like the Celestial Demon Cult that kidnapped Seo Hayeon as they pleased? That was also part of the reason.

Kim Bongpal pondered for a moment, and he soon concluded.

‘It doesn’t matter why. What’s important is that I’m annoyed about it.’

In the first place, there was no particular reason behind him coming to the Shire to replace Seo Hayeon after six years away from each other. Kim Bongpal just wanted to, so he just did.

Besides, their relationship was a bit strange. Seo Hayeon called him uncle, but they weren’t blood-related. And while he taught her how to fight, that didn’t mean they were master and disciple. Their relationship wasn’t easily defined in just a few words. Kim Bongpal didn’t really like that ambiguous relationship, so he spent six years like that.

Come to think of it, Kim Bongpal didn’t expect much from Seo Hayeon. He only taught her how to fight because he didn’t want her to die fighting monsters like the other idiot hunters. She might’ve grown into a top hunter, but he didn’t really want that. He just hoped she wouldn’t die like her foolish dad. Thinking about it, Kim Bongpal’s only wish for Seo Hayeon was still that.

So Seo Hayeon didn’t die but rather became a disciple of the Celestial Demon. The latter was still a speculation, but anyway. Even so, Kim Bongpal didn’t like the idea of her becoming someone else’s disciple, and he just didn’t like it, and that was enough.

This was why Kim Bongpal had to go to the Celestial Demon Cult, knock down their leader, and bring Seo Hayeon back. However, the only question was whether he could defeat the Celestial Demon.

He wasn’t afraid to die and would not be the current Kim Bongpal if he were afraid of such things. But he was afraid to lose.

That sounded a bit funny. However, it was also natural to think about what kind of person Kim Bongpal was.

Kim Bongpal didn’t know much about Celestial Demon. It was just that she was from Moorim, had reached transcendence long ago, and was said to be powerful. But it wasn’t that she was the Celestial Demon or a great warrior from Moorim that made him afraid.

It was just the fact that the Celestial Demon was a woman that made him afraid to lose.

‘Fuck. There’s nothing more shameful than being beaten by a woman and losing.’

It was a sexist and outdated idea, but Kim Bongpal was born in that old era.

“Hey, Warp.”

“…”

Warg did not answer because he didn’t know that was the name Kim Bongpal used for him. At that, Tearing Wind Sword slapped Warg and said:

“Young Brother, Sword Phantom is calling for you.”

Warg frowned at Tearing Wind Sword, who naturally called him a younger brother. But Warg quickly wiped away his frown and answered Kim Bongpal.

“Yes! Brother!”

“Have you ever seen that Celestial Demon girl?”

“…C-Celestial Demon? I’ve seen her before, but it was 10 years ago.”

“Is that so? Is there anyone around you who saw her recently?”

“Hmm…there is. My father visited the Celestial Demon Cult a few years ago and asked her for a duel.”

“Did he win?”

“No. He lost.”

“Really? That’s good.”

Kim Bongpal had realized something in recent weeks.

Practice? Training? It was pretty helpful. The two weeks he spent with Tearing Wind Sword certainly made him stronger. But thinking about the battle with the Monstrous Immortal…

“This duel or whatever it is, can I do that too?”

As expected, an actual battle was the best experience.