Solo Resurrection

Chapter 133

Those Annoying Guys (4)

“Haa, haa…”

Kang Hyeon panted heavily, his body in tatters.

-You’re tougher than a troll. How are you still alive?

“Ask your ancestors when you die.”

Even on the brink of death, Kang Hyeon’s mouth was still alive.

-It’s been a while since I felt this urge to research. I’ll specially grant you grace instead of killing you. Aren’t you curious how that recovery ability of yours will work as an undead?

“I’m not particularly interested. I hate skeletons.”

-How fascinating. Even in my world, humans like you were rare. Throughout all of history, I mean.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s my first time seeing a skeleton that talks so much too.”

They seemed to be exchanging verbal jabs, but in reality, each had their own intentions.

‘My body has almost recovered.’

‘My magic power has returned to some extent.’

Kang Hyeon needed time to heal the wounds inflicted by the enemy, and Bano Kulsa needed time to replenish the magic he had excessively used and to calm his magic circuits.

Both were somewhat aware of this fact, which allowed for this temporary ceasefire.

“Phew, I feel a bit better now. How’s your finger?”

Having finally finished recovering, Kang Hyeon sneered while looking at Bano Kulsa’s hand.

Just before the massive explosion, Kang Hyeon had rushed through the enemy’s magic and bitten off three of his fingers.

As a result, Bano’s left hand was currently in a rather empty state.

-You mean this? It’s not a problem.

As Bano raised his left hand, the severed fingers began to regenerate quickly.

-You don’t think you’ve dealt any real damage with something like this, do you?

“You’re so great, you bastard.”

Kang Hyeon had thought it would be difficult to win from the start, but it was even harder than expected.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

His physical fatigue was continuously accumulating, and less than half of his magic power remained.

In contrast, the enemy was undead and didn’t tire.

Moreover, it seemed he was quickly recovering his magic power through some method.

‘In the end, is dragging out time all I can do…’

Shin Tae-gil would surely have recognized the gravity of the situation by now.

Even if he died here, Shin Tae-gil would handle things well.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve died.’

He hadn’t died since the fight with Bandarenko, so it had been about 7 months since his last death.

At this point, he wasn’t afraid of death, but he couldn’t shake off his worries.

‘It’ll be impossible to prevent casualties completely.’

Perhaps even now, someone caught up in this battle had died or been injured.

Magic was raging all around, making it difficult to even sense who was where.

‘Whatever. Since when did I start caring about such things?’

He wasn’t a hero.

He was even less of a saint.

He had just come this far fighting to survive and protect what was his.

Reminding himself of this fact after a long time, Kang Hyeon gripped Bilgein’s longsword tightly.

‘Hey. Even if I use Berserker now, I won’t be able to catch that guy, right?’

Kang Hyeon asked Veil in his mind.

-Impossible. At his level, he’d immediately figure out the nature of the ability and put all his effort into escaping. By then, 5 minutes would pass, and all that would be left for you, drained of power, is death.

Kang Hyeon thought the same.

Berserker is undoubtedly a powerful ability that could be called a final trump card.

But its duration is only 5 minutes.

Even during those 5 minutes, one has to fight in an unsound state of mind, and when the time is up, they become completely powerless.

Most monsters that charge recklessly could be dealt with within 5 minutes, but it’s not easy against an intelligent enemy.

‘For now, I need to find out more about his abilities, even if just a little.’

Berserker was truly a last resort.

As there was still some leeway, Kang Hyeon decided to observe the situation a bit more.

That way, when he comes back after dying, the chances of winning the next battle would be slightly higher.

-If you’re done recovering, shall we start playing again?

Bano was now enjoying this fight.

It was understandable in a way, as it was the first proper fight he had in decades.

Kang Hyeon was aware of this too.

‘If I could just somehow approach him while he’s off guard…’

The enemy was flying in the sky.

From that state, he could freely attack and defend.

It was an inherently disadvantageous fight for Kang Hyeon, who needed to have both feet on the ground to use his power.

‘How can I approach him? Just one hit. If I could land just one hit…’

***

Ippotranslation

***

The group was watching the battle from the rooftop of a nearby building.

“How does it look?”

“Kang Hyeon is struggling.”

Shin Seong-a answered Yoon Na-rae’s question with a worried face.

“The immediate task is to bring him down to the ground. As long as he keeps floating in the air, we can’t land a proper attack.”

“But brother has ranged attacks too, right?”

An Yu-seong objected, but Shin Seong-a shook her head.

“Most attacks are being blocked by his shield. It seems he’s using shield magic of extremely high intensity.”

“So unless brother gets close and attacks directly, there’s no answer…”

“Yes. We could wait for the enemy’s magic to run out, but it seems unreasonable for Kang Hyeon to hold out until then.”

Bano’s characteristics were troublesome for the group as well.

For those who mainly relied on speed and skill, Bano’s attack style of firing magic from within a sturdy barrier was quite unfavorable in terms of compatibility.

“Yoon Na-rae. What do you think we should do?”

“Wait a moment. I’m thinking.”

“We need to move before Kang Hyeon gets more exhausted.”

At Shin Seong-a’s words, Yoon Na-rae nodded as if she had made a decision.

“Let’s go with the Moth Operation.”

“The Moth Operation…?”

“Wasn’t that just a joke?”

Shin Seong-a and An Yu-seong furrowed their brows, looking unconvinced.

“Do we have any other options in this situation? I’ll explain the plan first, then you can decide whether to follow it or not.”

“Hmm, but even if that works properly, Kang Hyeon’s life…”

“He’ll die anyway if we leave him like this! We’re risking our lives here, so shouldn’t the guild master risk at least one of his?”

“Sigh, alright. Let’s hear it out first.”

***

Ippotranslation

***

“Just wait until I catch you, you’re dead!”

-You still have energy to shout?

“I’ve got plenty of strength left to smash your head in. Want to come and check?”

As his magical power was nearly depleted, his recovery started to slow down.

‘Damn, should I use Berserker now?’

-Using that won’t suddenly make you fly. Instead, it might be better to keep that secret in this life and hide an ace up your sleeve.

Veil’s words were harsh, but they were right.

Showing a trump card unnecessarily and failing would only make the enemy more vigilant.

If he couldn’t kill them anyway, he thought it wouldn’t be so bad to die while hiding his strength.

“Argh! This is so frustrating!”

The mental stress was more painful to Kang Hyeon than the wounds all over his body.

“Kang Hyeon!”

That’s when it happened.

A familiar voice was heard from behind.

“What? Why did you come here!?”

Shin Seong-a shouldn’t be here right now.

Even if the whole group came, it would only increase the number of victims to be killed by that guy.

“I told you to go!”

Kang Hyeon shouted angrily, genuinely upset.

Shin Seong-a shook her head with a serious expression.

“How could a guild member leave the guild master behind?”

“So, you want us all to die together?”

“It’s the moth operation.”

“What…?”

Kang Hyeon was taken aback by the mention of the moth operation.

‘That wasn’t a joke?’

After Yoon Na-rae learned Meteor.

There was something the group used to joke about.

-The guild master comes back to life even if he dies, right?

-So?

-If an incredibly strong enemy appears, how about I use Meteor and the guild master tightly hugs them and jumps into it?

-Are you crazy? Are you telling me to die?

At that time, Kang Hyeon thought it was just a joke.

-Why not!? You’ll come back to life anyway. If we kill the enemy, isn’t that a happy ending? Let’s call this the moth operation.

-That’s not an operation, it’s bullshit. And are you subtly speaking informally to me?

-Aaah! He’s hitting me again. Hit me again!

Finishing his brief reminiscence, Kang Hyeon shook his head.

“How can we catch that thing!?”

“We’ll create an opportunity.”

With those words, Shin Seong-a started running.

Shin Seong-a moved in all directions, shooting arrows to distract Bano Kulsa’s attention.

-The worthless ones have increased. But insects are just insects, even in groups.

Bano sneered as he watched the incoming arrows.

“Haaah!”

-This is starting to get a bit boring now.

An Yu-seong swung his mace from behind, but it was helplessly blocked by Bano’s magic shield.

-In the end, humans were just humans after all.

It was when Bano thought he should end the battle now.

-Hmm, what’s this?

An enormous mass of magical power was pouring down from the sky.

‘To notice this only now… I was a bit careless.’

With the magical power vibrating around and these guys interfering, it took a bit longer to notice.

‘But nothing changes.’

But that’s all.

Bano wasn’t dull or stupid enough to be hit by such a slow attack.

“Bro! Run!”

At that moment, Kang Hyeon, who had been keeping both feet on the ground until now, suddenly started running through the air.

-What is this…!

Basically, magic that moves through the air is slow.

It’s incomparable to ability users running on the ground.

But Kang Hyeon was running through the air at the same speed as on the ground, no, even faster.

-Magic shield!?

Bano quickly figured out the method.

Magic shields were being created at a precarious speed under Kang Hyeon’s feet.

Shields generated under his feet matching his running speed.

That magic was flowing from the man who had swung the mace earlier.

‘He’s a dangerous one.’

Although the magic itself was insignificant, the delicacy of the control was extraordinary.

A level of technique that even he would find hard to claim possible.

Bano Kulsa vowed to eliminate An Yu-seong as he looked at him.

-The fun ends now.

Bano Kulsa dodged and shot a restraining spell at Kang Hyeon.

-Kwagwagwang!

Kang Hyeon didn’t dodge but took the magic head-on and rushed towards Bano.

“Die!”

Kang Hyeon jumped right in front of Bano and created Filthian’s hammer.

And at the moment the hammer was swung, he explosively increased its weight and size to amplify its power.

-Chaeng!

The shield that received the tremendous impact shattered in an instant.

Following that, Bano Kulsa, who was directly hit by the hammer, quickly fell to the ground.

-Kung!

His hands that blocked the hammer were crushed, and the bones throughout his body resonated with the impact.

-Not bad, but nothing changes.

Bano Kulsa wasn’t flustered at all.

Because the shield had absorbed most of the impact, he hadn’t taken much damage despite appearances.

This level of injury could be recovered with just a bit of time.

-Hmm!?

At that moment, Kang Hyeon, who had somehow approached, swung the hammer again.

Bano Kulsa deployed his shield again.

‘Rather, he’s giving me distance. Foolish guy.’

Kang Hyeon can’t kill him in one go.

If this attack makes him fly away, it will effectively allow him to safely escape from here.

‘Killing two birds with one stone.’

By enduring a little damage, he could avoid the powerful magic falling from the sky and have a chance to get away from Kang Hyeon.

‘Is this what they call turning a crisis into an opportunity here?’

It was when Bano was smiling at that thought.

“It’s a fake, you bastard!”

Kang Hyeon, who was swinging the hammer, suddenly changed his posture and launched an upward kick.

Kang Hyeon poured all the strength he had into that one strike.

-Kwaaaang!

The asphalt that Kang Hyeon was standing on shattered from the impact, and Bano quickly shot up into the air.

-What a useless act.

It was when Bano was about to regain his balance and counterattack.

‘This is…’

A chilling sensation.

Bano quickly turned around.

There was an enormous burning boulder falling.

‘To fall for such a shallow trick…’

It was close, but there was still time to dodge.

Just as Bano was about to quickly avoid it, someone blocked his path.

It was Kang Hyeon, who had chased after Bano using An Yu-seong’s magic shield.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Although he didn’t have the power to kill Bano in one shot, it was enough to prevent him from escaping.

-Get out of the way! Are you planning to die here together?

“Yeah, that’s the plan.”

A broad smile spread across Kang Hyeon’s face.

‘I’ve been had…’

At the same time, the Meteor crashed down.