The Hunter Who Does Not Age Is So Strong
Chapter 48

Chen Hua-lin (2)

Bang-bang!

Kim Bongpal flew through the air. There was nothing he could do to avoid this attack that threatened to break the entire space around him. It might have been easy for a master who had risen to Transcendence to walk across the air, but it was still impossible for him.

‘Fuck.’

But now it was possible.

‘Is that how she does it?’

Chen Hua-lin ran toward Kim Bongpal, stepping through empty air. Kim Bongpal captured the flow of energy in her legs. Of course, just because he saw it didn’t mean he could fully imitate it immediately. Without knowing the proper way, he was just guessing and following along.

Tap!

Kim Bongpal’s body soared as mana wrapped around his feet. It wasn’t quite the same as the technique Chen Hua-lin presented. When it came to sophistication, Chen Hua-lin was several levels higher. However.

Squeeze!

It was enough to dodge her next attacks. The space squeezed, and there was an unpleasant sound as the next attack flew in, aiming to bisect Kim Bongpal at the waist.

Tap!

Kim Bongpal stepped into the air and dug inward. His Trail Force collided with Chen Hua-lin’s Demonic Energy, causing the space to fluctuate for a moment. He has pushed back once again, but his resistance was stronger than before.

Bang!

Kim Bongpal swung his sword again and slashed the energy away.

Crush!

The black energy scattered.

“Hoo.”

Chen Hua-lin let out her admiration. She’d heard such a sound before when she beheaded her father and again when she defeated the Leader of the Evil Alliance. Both opponents at the time said that Chen Hua-lin’s talent in martial arts was too unreasonable.

But look at that. Wasn’t this really unreasonable?

Bang-bang-!

Of course, the gap between the two was huge. The result remained the same even if Kim Bongpal was developing before her. Chen Hua-lin was far ahead, to the extent that it was impossible to catch up even with Kim Bongpal’s phenomenal development speed.

In other words, Chen Hua-lin could kill Kim Bongpal within seconds if she decided to, but she didn’t.

Kim Bongpal knew it just as well as she did, which was why his face was locked into a grimace. He asked himself why. This foe was overwhelming, yet she hadn’t killed him. What was the reason?

The answer to that question became clearer as they continued to clash.

Bang!

A huge force of condensed Demonic Energy struck Kim Bongpal and eclipsed the world around him. Kim Bongpal concentrated his energy to counterattack, focusing it on his outstretched sword, which kept crashing into the space being swallowed.

Kim Bongpal tasted blood as he clenched his teeth.

Baaang!

Chen Hua-lin’s attack failed to overwhelm Kim Bongpal, but her intentions became clear. Even though she could neutralize him immediately, she wouldn’t do it. Instead, she raised the level of her attack one step at a time as if to check how far Kim Bongpal could go.

He didn’t know what Chen Hua-lin thought of it, but Kim Bongpal felt she was making fun of him.

‘This fucking bitch.’

Baang!

A strong sense of defeat and helplessness overwhelmed him. When was the last time he felt something like this?

Kim Bongpal couldn’t remember as he moved to meet his opponent’s next wave that crossed, shook, and crushed the space it passed. To prevent it from destroying him, Kim Bongpal also had to swallow the space in front of him.

“Fuck.”

Come to think of it, Kim Bongpal had never suffered as a weak man since he picked up a sword. When dealing with monsters, not with Hunters who were drunk with power. Kim Bongpal had always been the strong one.

Of course, there were a few times that he’d struggled with power. There were times when his colleagues died, and he remained alone in a monster’s colony, dealing with thousands of them alone. But in the end, Kim Bongpal survived, and because he survived, he was strong.

This time again…he thought he’d survive, but.

Bang!

He would not survive as the strong.

“That’s nice!”

Chen Hua-lin’s hand, filled with dark energy, was close to Kim Bongpal’s arm. He swung to push her away, but the tip of his sword trembled. It wasn’t because he was exhausted.

Chen Hua-lin’s hand reaches in, intentionally scattering the energy around his sword. Kim Bongpal clenched his teeth in preparation for the shock to come.

‘It feels like shit. Fuck.’

He didn’t expect defeat to feel this bad. Was it because he lost to a woman?

No, it wasn’t. Well, that might be one of the reasons, but it wasn’t the main reason. The real reason why Kim Bongpal felt like shit right now was…

This was his first taste of defeat, and his ego wouldn’t allow it.

He saw the hand approaching, avoiding his sword and his opponent’s face beyond that. He didn’t like the smile plastered on it.

‘Surely….’

It was a face he wanted to slap. With that thought in mind, Kim Bongpal let go of his sword – it couldn’t move fast enough to deflect. Therefore, Kim Bongpal instead flexed his back and twisted his hips. Then, stepping forward into her guard, he swung his fist. Chen Hua-lin lightly raised her other hand as if she was expecting it all along.

But then.

“…!”

Chen Hua-lin’s expression changed. The attack she’d been showing, making it impossible for one to block by scattering and pushing the very concept of space, was now used against her.

In the end, Chen Hua-lin tried to stop him, but she couldn’t. Kim Bongpal slipped past her hand and stretched out his fist. But the moment he was about to collide-

Baaang!

He thought he’d gone deaf.

‘What the fuck….’

Kim Bongpal’s body was thrown backward by the explosion created by Chen Hua-lin’s energy. The pain wasn’t much, but his mind started to blur. Through half-closed eyes, he could see his opponent’s face and the place his fist should’ve struck. There was something like a shield, but it wasn’t the self-defense force like earlier.

It wasn’t a shield she created intentionally.

“Ugh.”

Chen Hua-lin looked almost embarrassed.

‘…Spirit?’

Its transparent appearance brought the word spirit to mind.

‘…That’s a foul.’

He wanted to shout, but the words wouldn’t leave him.

That was the last thing Kim Bongpal remembered before slipping away.

* * *

Light returned to Kim Bongpal’s eyes. His body…felt strangely refreshed without any sign of injury.

Kim Bongpal sat up and looked around blankly. After a while of staring…

“Fuck.”

That one word perfectly explained his current feelings.

How long was he out? And where was this? It clearly wasn’t the same shrine they were fighting in, but a fairly large bedroom. He couldn’t see anyone, but he could feel energy approaching as he searched for answers.

Kim Bongpal glared at the door.

“…?”

Kim Bongpal watched with confusion as the door swung open and the Young Divine Lady entered. The size of the energy he felt was closer to the Divine Lady than her, but he was mistaken?

“You’re up.”

The Young Divine Lady lowered her head slightly. Kim Bongpal didn’t respond. In fact, he didn’t even acknowledge her presence.

“Your companions are eating right now. I told them you would wake up soon, but Lady Maya said she had to eat on time….”

Kim Bongpal turned around and found his sword right next to where he was lying. He picked it up and tied it back around his waist.

“The Divine Lady left this for you as a keepsake.”

But he couldn’t help but react to the explanation that followed.

“Ha? Keepsake?”

“Yes. Divine Lady…she went to God’s side after she met you, Mr. Kim Bongpal.”

His anger, which was already about to explode, rose again. Instead of feeling defeated, that just made him feel like a dick.

Fuck this. She was acting on her own, and now she was dead?

“How about the Celestial Demon?”

“Celestial Demon returned to the Cult to announce the Divine Lady’s last words.”

She went to the Cult? Kim Bongpal smirked at the Young Divine Lady. Since he was now in their territory, the Cult she was talking about was probably the one in their own world.

Kim Bongpal’s gaze turned to the Young Divine Lady’s hands. She was holding a book, and at a glance, he marked it as a technique book, an exclusive one of the Celestial Demon Cult. Kim Bongpal’s translation artifact was interpreted as the Celestial Demon God Technique.

Kim Bongpal closed his eyes and thought while soothing his anger. His rage started to die down…or actually, it just moved to a new target from the Celestial Demon to the now dead Divine Lady.

The Divine Lady called him here, saying that God wanted his presence. Because of that, he fought the Celestial Demon and was defeated…and then she died, leaving him this as a keepsake. Then the Celestial Demon also left for Moorim.

The purpose behind each step in this process was unknown, but none of them was done according to Kim Bongpal’s will.

What did she want? For him to learn the Celestial Demon God Technique and defeat the Celestial Demon with it? For him to raid Moorim? Or something else?

Whatever it was, he didn’t want to abide by it.

“Then this is mine, right?”

“Yes. Originally, only Celestial Demon and Young Celestial Demon could read it, but Mr. Kim Bongpal has the approval of the Divine Lady.”

Kim Bongpal roughly grabbed the book from her hands.

Celestial Demon God Technique? Kim Bongpal didn’t know much about Moorim or other martial arts, but it was easy to guess that this was great. In fact, he could tell it clearly just by looking at the Celestial Demon’s strength.

“That’s good. It’s mine, so I can handle this as I please.”

Kim Bongpal raised his energy. There were a few tricks he learned in the last battle that seemed useful, like that one that crushed space.

“M-Mr. Kim Bongpal!”

Young Divine Lady cried out, her eyes widening. However, Kim Bongpal boosted his mana without paying her any attention.

Squeeze!

The space in Kim Bongpal’s hand was crushed with an unpleasant sound.

Squeeze! Squeeze!

Kim Bongpal continued to crush the space to make sure it was destroyed. Then, his expression improved now that his anger had released a bit, and he turned to the Young Divine Lady.

“Seo Hayeon…you know her, right? Where is she?”

The Young Divine Lady seemed astonished by his actions and remained unresponsive for a moment. However, before long, she reluctantly responded to Kim Bongpal’s steady gaze.

“…She is here with your companions.”

That was the best thing he’d heard all day.

Kim Bongpal stepped out the door. He had no intention of remaining in this damn Celestial Demon Cult any longer.