Chapter 36: 36

Swordmaster Healer – Episode 36

TL: Boko

Editor: Ren

Chapter 12 – Operation Downfall (2)

“Good work, Rishubalt.”

Rishubalt nodded. He had been eavesdropping on Yoo Jin’s and Joon Yong’s conversation.

Although he was a ghost who couldn’t exert his strength, when Sung Joon’s synchronization rate reached 10%, Rishubalt could move autonomously without being supplied with Sung Joon’s mana for a fixed amount of time.

Although he couldn’t act autonomously for long, it was long enough for him to scout.

“It was just something I ought to have done.”

Sung Joon could literally hear the happiness in his voice.

Whenever Sung Joon staked his life in a battle, Rishubalt had been tormented because he was a ghost. However, he couldn’t help but be happy since today, he had been helpful for the first time.

Sung Joon called Hyun Sung and relayed all the details.

“Shall I call for the Tactical Armed Forces? Since headquarters is moving actively, we should be able to mobilize more troops than before.”

Armed with personal firearms, body armor, and supporting arms, the Tactical Armed Forces was one of the few groups that could fight Hunters in modern times.

Of course, a Hunter’s physical abilities were far superior to theirs, so whenever the Tactical Armed Forces fought against Hunters, they would incur several casualties.

“I’d appreciate it if you send them. However, intervention is unnecessary. Please just surround them so that they can’t escape.”

It was the instinct of the a predator who didn’t want to lose his prey. If the Tactical Armed Forces intervened excessively, the Hunters that he could absorb mana from would go down. Also, even if Sung Joon wasn’t supported by the Tactical Armed Forces, he was confident that he could annihilate the Great Demon guild’s Executive Branch.

‘I’m confident that I can take on several of them.’

A few days passed. While they were readying their plans, the Great Demon guild’s Executive Branch had lost three more B-rank Hunters to Sung Joon.

Now there were only two A-rank Hunters and eight B-rank Hunters left.

“We have to carry out the plan now.”

It was to the point that Executive Branch Hunters’ corpses were now being delivered every day. The Great Demon guild’s Executive Branch Leader, Han Yoo Jin, realized that she couldn’t delay any longer.

“Carry out the plan.”

At her command, the Executive Branch moved.

Han Yoo Jin came forward herself. She was supposed to leave a minimum amount of Executive Branch members at the guild house but she mobilized everyone.

That night, as always, Sung Joon left his house to go ‘hunting’. The Executive Branch Hunter had waited for their target in front of his house for ten minutes before coming out.

Sung Joon followed behind them.

“You’re not going to use the stealth ability?” Rishubalt asked.

Sung Joon still wore the stealth item that the Hunter Bureau had lent him on his finger.

“I’m being followed. I’m going to act like I fell for their trap.”

Sung Joon smiled coldly. The Hunter kept following his target.

‘Have I been discovered?’

It seemed like he was being followed by two people. Although they were skilled at erasing their presences, Sung Joon wasn’t deceived. As his synchronization rate improved, his strengthened Presence Detection skill became so sharp that it could be compared to the level of a high A-rank Hunter.

‘They’re getting anxious,’ thought Sung Joon.

He arrived at the large park. The Hunter ahead of him was clearly anxious. Sung Joon thought it wouldn’t be long before the ‘trap’ was sprung.

“Rishuibalt, is this that spot that you had told me about?” he said softly, enough so that his tailers couldn’t hear him.

Rishubalt had, not long ago, eavesdropped on Yoo Jin and Joon Yong and had reported to Sung Joon what he had heard.

“It’s definitely in this area.”

“Can you scout out the area?”

“Of course,” said Rishubalt, with a bow.

Rishubalt scouted the area while Sung Joon messaged Hyun Sung about the current situation.

As Sung Joon finished his conversation, Rishubalt returned.

“The park’s vicinity is covered with Executive Branch Hunters. It seems that they’ve mobilized all the remaining members.”

“How far are they?”

“They’re quite close. If you move stealthily, it’ll be possible to take them down one by one,” Rishubalt reported.

Sung Joon nodded his head.

“Stealth,” Sung said, reciting the activation words.

The item activated and Sung Joon suddenly vanished, confusing his shadowers.

“Wait, where did he go?”

“I think he used a stealth item… Ugh!”

He was unable to finish his sentence. Something was piercing through his chest.

When Sung Joon collided with an object, the stealth effect would wear off. If Hyun Sung hadn’t thoroughly explained how to use the item to him, he wouldn’t have known that touching other objects would release his stealth ability.

His stealth was released and Sung Joon was revealed piercing the man’s chest. It was Sung Joon’s sword, Roel.

“It’s an emergency, an… Ugh!”

Sung Joon’s dagger pierced the Hunter’s throat before he could report the situation on his radio. When his synchronization rate reached 10%, he had unlocked another part of his memories and had become a killing machine.

His memories taught him exactly how to kill someone and removed his pointless guilt.

As he synchronized with his memories, the more he yearned for a revenge in blood.

“Magnificent consecutive strikes,” Rishubalt said admiringly.

As time passed, his lord more closely resembled his true self, the one he had served in the past.

Sung Joon ordered, “Lead me to the next one.”

“I understand.”

He activated his stealth item again. Then Rishubalt led Sung Joon to the closest Executive Branch Hunter, who was lying in ambush.

The Executive Branch Hunter had no idea and was hidden in the darkness, watching the battlefront closely. Sung Joon silenced the Hunter, putting his hand over his mouth, and pierced his throat.

“AH!”

His hand became bloodied. Since Sung Joon had touched the Hunter, his stealth had been released, but there was no one around to detect him.

‘There are four left,’ Sung Joon calculated.

Excluding the bait, he had killed the two tailers and another Hunter, so there were only four B-rank Hunters left.

“The enemy still hasn’t noticed,” Rishubalt reported.

It was only after Sung Joon had killed two more B-rank Hunters that Yoo Jin and Joon Yong noticed something was off and moved.

“Including the Hunters that had been following him, we’ve lost contact with several of the other Hunters,” realized Joon Yong.

“Think of them as all already dead,” Yoo Jin said, gritting her teeth.

‘Kang Sung Joon… So we’re dancing in the palm of his hand, huh…?

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Yoo Jin raised her staff and released a ray of light into the sky, illuminating the darkness.

It was the signal to gather.

“Executive Branch Leader…”

“We’re all that’s left.”

Only two B-rank Hunters had gathered. She had somewhat expected it but after she discovered that only two Hunters had survived, she felt despair set in.

The powerful Executive Branch, which had been four A-rank Hunters and twenty B-rank Hunters, had been reduced to two A-rank Hunters and two B-rank Hunters.

They could’ve threatened or killed anyone if they had wanted, but now that was all just past glory.

“There aren’t any reactions from my Searching Magic*. Although we set the trap, it seems like we’re the ones who got caught,” Yoo Jin said. (*Searching Magic probably has a similar effect to the earlier seen Detection Magic, but since Yoo Jin is an A-rank Mage, we can assume this spell has a higher efficacy.)

Joon Yong drew and raised his longsword, and observed his surroundings.

“If he touches something, the stealth effect will be released. You all know that, right? I’m saying that if your attack is successful, the stealth effect will be lifted. Everyone, focus.”

Yoo Jin and Joon Yong concentrated.

Even if Sung Joon used a stealth effect, he would leave behind a faint presence. Unfortunately, Sung Joon had unlocked part of his memories, the memories where he had traversed battlefields for dozens of years, and knew how to erase that faint presence that would be left behind.

“Shit!”

“I don’t feel his presence at all!”

The two B-rank Hunters trembled anxiously. Those two were much weaker than Yoo Jin and Joon Yong and their defense preparations were lacking, so they knew well that they would be the first ones targeted.

‘He used a stealth skill, but there’s no sign of him. Was he taught how to assassinate people, too…?’

He might even be more skilled than Yoo Sang Kyu. That’s how Joo Yong had appraised the invisible Sung Joon.

‘I should take down the A-ranks first,’ Sung Joon thought.

Meanwhile, Sung Joon hid in the darkness, not too far away from them, with his stealth active and watched them. Sung Joon started walking.

He started off slow but immediately increased his speed and closed the distance.

“Ugh!”

Sung Joon pierced Joon Yong’s abdomen with his blade. He had aimed for his heart but before he struck, Joon Yong had noticed him and stepped back, so he had no choice but to pierce his stomach.

Since he had ‘collided’ with another, his stealth effect wore off.

“He’s here!”

The Hunter beside Joon Yong aimed at Sung Joon’s throat with his spear. In order to deal with the incoming attack, Sung Joon tried to pull his sword out, but Joon Yong firmly grasped the sword in his stomach and refused to let go.

However, Sung Joon wasn’t flustered. Sung Joon avoided the blow, grabbed the spear’s handle, and pulled.

“Uh?”

The Executive Branch Hunter was pulled along with his spear and Sung Joon kicked him.

“Argh!”

The Hunter suffered a blow to his stomach and released his spear, moving a few steps back. Sung Joon spun the stolen spear once, aimed the spear, and stabbed him.

“AH!”

Then Sung Joon drew his dagger and struck Joon Yong’s neck. The aura-clad blade cut clean through and his head rolled lifelessly on the cold ground.

As soon as he died, Joo Yong released his grip on Sung Joon’s sword. Sung Joon seized that opportunity and pulled his sword out; then he severed the other Executive Branch Hunter’s arms and pierced his throat.

Although they had ample PvP experience, they couldn’t deal with Sung Joon’s high level of combat swordsmanship.

“AH!”

“Absorb!”

“Your synchronization rate is at 12%!”

Amidst the chaos, Sung Joon could clearly hear Rishubalt’s voice.

Now, only the Executive Branch Leader, Han Yoo Jin, remained. When he turned his body towards her, she had already finished casting and a powerful magic raged.

‘A Mage!’ realized Sung Joon.

She threw a huge fireball at Sung Joon. Although it was a critical situation, he calmly grasped at his memories and then he recalled it…

…The way to cut through magic.

It was called the Spell Breaking Sword, something he had recollected from the swamp-like depths of his memory. Sung Joon calmly raised his sword. He could see the flow of mana in the fireball.

Once again, his memory was triggered.

‘Disciple, you should be able to see the flow of mana with your own eyes now. When you activate your aura, follow that flow and cut through it; you too will be able to cut through magic.’

He heard Roukel instruct someone, but his voice sounded like an auditory hallucination.

Sung Joon raised his aura-clad sword to the sky and following the flow of mana, swung his sword.

“This, this can’t be possible!” Yoo Jin said, astonished.

If the fireball made contact, the blaze would contain more force than most bombs. But as soon as Sung Joon’s blade had made contact with the spell, the fireball split in two and disappeared harmlessly.

“Fire Cannon!” she chanted, finishing her spell, and her powerful spell scorched the entire area in front of her. However, Sung Joon wasn’t there.

“Where, where did you go!?” she screamed.

She looked around with anxious eyes but all she saw was the corpses of her dead subordinates. Sung Joon was nowhere in sight.

Sung Joon had reactivated his stealth effect and was watching Yoo Jin from the darkness.

A feeling of terror surged. Yoo Jin felt as if a sword that had been aimed at her neck was getting closer, making her feel anxious.

“Fire Wave!”

She swung her staff and spread flames in all directions, turning the park to ashes.

‘This is getting pretty dangerous…’

Sung Joon evaded the spell.

‘Well, it’s not that bad.’

Mage Hunters mostly used their Searching Magic or their Detection Magic, but it usually wasn’t at a high enough level to sniff out stealth users.

Normally, Yoo Jin’s Searching Magic could detect a faint presence, but against Sung Joon, who had completely erased that faint presence, using Searching Magic was pointless.

‘I don’t know. There’s no reaction from my magic,’she thought wildly.

Her eyes spun. She couldn’t find Sung Joon. If this kept going, she would run out of mana.

The anxious woman suddenly stopped her magic.

‘If I was Sung Joon… I would go for a frontal assault!’

Her dozens of years of PvP experience wasn’t for show. However, she didn’t realize that Sung Joon had a much vaster experience than her.

‘She thinks that I’m going to go for a head-on fight.’

Sung Joon smirked. Even so, she didn’t slack on her defense of her back or her side.

“I detect a magic trap. While she casted her offensive magic, she had cleverly installed a trap.”

Sung Joon couldn’t respond. If he spoke, the stealth effect would be released.

“She should just obediently stick her neck out and be beheaded. How dare she annoy my lord!” Rishubalt said, drawing his sword and swinging it in the air.

‘Fine. I’ll face your trap head on and break it apart!’ Sung Joon suddenly decided.

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