Chapter 59: To the Snowfield (4)
Swish-
Piercing through the rising snow mist, Sa-hyeok appeared.
With Hunter Kim Dong-su on one shoulder.
“Huuuh……”
Sa-hyeok exhaled deeply and lowered Hunter Kim Dong-su to the ground.
Blood was flowing from Dong-su’s shoulder and forearm.
The marks were where the Snow Black Eagle had gripped him with its talons.
It was a moderate injury, but thanks to his armor, it wasn’t any worse.
Without it, his bones would have been crushed or he would have been pierced through.
“Are you alright?”
“My wounds sting a bit. Are you alright, Hunter-nim Min?”
“No, I’m fine.”
During the spider dungeon, he had carried seven adults on his shoulders and fallen from the 10th floor of a building without a scratch.
This was nothing.
Meanwhile, Raid Leader Ui-jun and the other Hunters ran towards Sa-hyeok and Dong-su.
“Hunter-nim Min!”
“Mr. Dong-su!”
“Are you alright?!”
They couldn’t help but be worried.
What Sa-hyeok had shown them was practically a crazy stunt.
Jumping dozens of meters, snatching a grown man in mid-air, and landing back on the ground.
Moreover, Sa-hyeok was a mage.
Unlike martial artists, mages couldn’t enhance their physical bodies, so it was even more surprising.
“It’s alright. Don’t worry too much.”
The raid members applied potions to Dong-su’s bleeding shoulder and began treating him.
Then, Ui-jun spoke in a low voice.
“……I apologize, it was my oversight.”
“Yes?”
“It’s because I didn’t prepare for bird-type monsters at all. They rarely appear in snow-type dungeons, so I……”
“Well, there’s no need to blame yourself for what’s already happened. Let’s just do well from now on.”
Sa-hyeok raised his head and looked up at the sky.
They were still there, the Snow Black Eagles, circling above the raid party.
Dangerous elements that could swoop down and snatch away a raid member at any moment.
‘The best thing to do is just kill them all……’
Leaving them alone was like carrying a bomb on their heads during the raid.
However, he couldn’t think of a way to wipe them out from the high altitude they were flying at.
Just as his worries deepened, Sa-hyeok suddenly felt the sunlight stinging his eyes.
He instinctively raised his hand and blocked the sunlight with the edge of his hand.
The hand that was still wrapped in metallic bandages.
Twinkle-
Sa-hyeok’s hand, the smooth surface of the metallic bandages wrapped around it, reflected the sunlight and glittered.
And that glint caught the eye of a Snow Black Eagle soaring in the sky.
Like a crow that carries anything shiny to its nest, it reacted to the glint Sa-hyeok had created.
Instinctively, its beak pointed towards the ground.
Whoosh!
It began to dive towards Sa-hyeok at lightning speed.
Shriek!
A sharp whistling sound.
At that moment, Sa-hyeok sensed it.
The eagle was flying towards him.
‘Tsk……!’
Sa-hyeok quickly tried to draw the Mubuchamdo from his waist.
He intended to snipe the diving eagle in return.
Clang!
Clang!
The other Hunters, determined not to be caught off guard again, quickly drew their weapons or began casting spells.
But at that moment, a different strategy flashed through Sa-hyeok’s mind.
‘……It’s a waste to end it with just one.’
Sa-hyeok sheathed the Mubuchamdo he had drawn and shouted.
“Everyone, get away from me!”
“Huh?!”
“Even if I get taken, keep heading towards the destination!”
The raid members’ reactions were divided.
Half hesitated, and the other half unhesitatingly lowered their weapons.
Some thought Sa-hyeok’s order was crazy, while others trusted his skills and immediately followed his instructions.
The Raid Leader, Ui-jun, was among the latter.
‘……He must have a plan.’
Thinking so, Ui-jun quietly withdrew the flames he had conjured in his hand.
And-
Whoosh.
Sa-hyeok raised his right arm above his head.
Flash!
The polished surface of the metallic bandages wrapped around his arm reflected the light even brighter than before.
Shrieek!
The eagle’s diving speed increased dramatically.
‘Yes, here. Come quickly!’
The distance between Sa-hyeok and the eagle closed rapidly.
The Snow Black Eagle extended its hidden talons, and half of the raid members prepared to attack.
A tense situation, but one filled with hesitation.
At that moment.
“Everyone, get away from Hunter Min!!”
Ui-jun’s thunderous shout stopped all the raid members in their tracks.
When even the Raid Leader gave the same order, everyone began to follow it.
Just as everyone’s movements came to a sudden halt.
The Snow Black Eagle attacked Sa-hyeok.
Thud!
Whoosh!
A rising snowstorm, a raging gale.
After a while, the white snow mist slowly settled.
And Sa-hyeok was not there.
One of the raid members spoke.
“……What just happened?”
Ui-jun replied.
“The monster took Hunter Min.”
“That’s what I’m saying!! What is this……! No, he had a separate strategy, right?”
The raid members were restless.
It was understandable, as one of their strongest Hunters had practically chosen to commit suicide.
So they wanted it.
A clear explanation for the incomprehensible situation.
All eyes turned to the Raid Leader, Ui-jun.
Ui-jun opened his mouth.
“There is no strategy. Nothing was discussed beforehand.”
“What?! Then he just died for nothing?!”
“I don’t think Hunter Min is the type to willingly choose a meaningless death.”
“Just because of that……!”
“I agree with the Raid Leader.”
Dong-su interrupted.
“Even in the sudden situation where the Snow Black Eagle snatched me, Hunter-nim Min came up with a solution in an instant and saved me. I don’t think someone like that would be taken without a plan.”
“But……!”
“And if, by any chance, he did choose a meaningless death as you say, we should move forward as quickly as possible. Isn’t that right, Raid Leader-nim?”
At Dong-su’s question, Ui-jun silently nodded.
Just before being taken, Sa-hyeok had said.
Even if he gets taken, keep heading towards the destination.
Remembering those words, Ui-jun looked at the screen installed on the Silver Box.
The screen displayed the location of the wolf they had attached the tracker to earlier.
But-
“……It’s gone.”
The tracker’s signal suddenly disappeared at a certain point.
It meant that the wolf had exited the dungeon at that point.
That decided their next destination.
“Let’s move! Everyone, pack your things again!!”
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Whoosh!
Meanwhile, Sa-hyeok was being dragged into the sky, his arm clutched by the Snow Black Eagle.
Sa-hyeok looked up at the Snow Black Eagle.
He knew its size, but seeing it up close, its physique was truly enormous.
It felt like looking at a feathered pterosaur.
Moreover……
‘Ugh……!’
The ascending speed was truly terrifying.
If it weren’t for the training he received from the Monster Special Forces and under Ha Jeong-kwon, he would have lost consciousness from G-LOC long ago.
Sa-hyeok looked at his arm held by the Snow Black Eagle.
Thanks to activating the Iron Arms of the Bone King beforehand, there were no injuries.
‘It’s about time this guy drops me……’
Sa-hyeok’s thought was soon proven correct.
Upon reaching a certain altitude, the eagle released its grip on Sa-hyeok.
Whoosh-
Just as Sa-hyeok’s body began to fall.
Clatter!
The metallic bandages wrapped around the eagle’s ankle.
“Did you think I’d just fall quietly?”
Sa-hyeok pulled the metallic bandages tight.
The eagle’s body, mid-flight, swayed greatly.
But it didn’t just stay put.
It kicked with its other leg, the one not yet bound by the metallic bandages.
Swish!
A foot with talons as sharp as a knife.
But Sa-hyeok grabbed the toes with his other hand and blocked the attack, then-
Crack!
He drove his knee directly into the eagle’s knee joint.
“Kieeek!”
The eagle screamed in pain.
Sa-hyeok didn’t miss the opportunity and unfurled more bandages, wrapping them around the eagle’s neck.
Then, he took a shallow breath and counted in his mind.
“One, two……”
Three!
He pulled the metallic bandages forcefully and used the momentum to jump onto the eagle’s back in one swift motion.
Thud!
And Sa-hyeok succeeded in mounting the eagle’s back.
The Snow Black Eagle was bewildered.
No prey had ever climbed onto its back before.
And that wasn’t the end.
Clatter!
Sa-hyeok untied the metallic bandages from the eagle’s neck and legs and immediately tied them around its wings.
The eagle flapped its wings powerfully to shake off the bandages, but……
Slash!
The blade of the Mubuchamdo pierced the eagle faster.
Despite its powerful flight and attack abilities, the Snow Black Eagle’s defense was pathetic.
It was as if all its stats were focused on flight, leaving other aspects nerfed.
Just like that, Sa-hyeok quickly turned the eagle into a corpse.
“One down.”
At the same time, Sa-hyeok began controlling the eagle’s corpse by pulling and releasing the bandages tied to its wings.
First, he tried to glide slowly by pulling its wings as wide as possible.
Sa-hyeok decided to use the eagle as a living glider.
He carefully controlled the eagle’s body using telekinesis and metallic bandages.
Current altitude, approximately 300 meters.
A height that would make an ordinary person wet their pants, but Sa-hyeok was unfazed.
This was thanks to the three parachute training sessions he had undergone during his time with the Monster Special Forces.
Whoosh-
He successfully rode the air currents for a stable glide.
“……So this is what it feels like to fly in the sky.”
Flight with his bare body.
A different feeling from parachuting.
For a brief moment, Sa-hyeok enjoyed this unfamiliar sensation.
But he didn’t have time to relax for long.
Drip-
The blood of the eagle he was riding began to splatter in the air.
Following the swirling air currents, the scent of the Snow Black Eagle’s blood spread in all directions.
That was the beginning.
“Kiee……”
“Kiyaaaak!”
Other Snow Black Eagles, attracted by the scent of their kin’s blood, began to gather.
Hearing their cries, a smile appeared on Sa-hyeok’s lips.
“You’ve come, you bastards.”
Snow Black Eagles generally travel in flocks to some extent.
However, when hunting prey on the ground, they act individually, so their flocks are not visible from the ground.
But in the sky, it’s different.
They fly in flocks in the sky.
Combined with their sensitivity to the scent of blood……
“I can lure them all here.”
Luring them in from the sky and then wiping them out all at once.
That was Sa-hyeok’s strategy.
That was why he had intentionally allowed himself to be captured and brought up to this height.
Thump!
Sa-hyeok emitted a telekinetic wave at maximum output.
And he grasped the locations of all the Snow Black Eagles flying in from all directions.
Total number, eight.
And the closest one……
Shriek!
“Approximately 15 meters ahead.”
One eagle swooped towards Sa-hyeok at high speed, talons extended.
Sa-hyeok pulled the head of the eagle he was riding and positioned its body vertically to use as a shield.
Thud!
The talons of the attacking eagle struck the corpse, not Sa-hyeok.
Sa-hyeok didn’t miss the moment the eagle’s movement was halted.
Clatter!
Sa-hyeok wrapped metallic bandages around the neck of the attacking eagle and immediately jumped onto its back.
“Transfer.”
“Kieek!”
“Shut up.”
Slash!
Sa-hyeok plunged the Mubuchamdo into the eagle’s neck.
Blood gushed out like a fountain and scattered.
One down out of eight, leaving seven.
The Snow Black Eagles became even more agitated and started to attack.
The more they gathered, the more Sa-hyeok rejoiced.
The faster they gathered, the faster he could annihilate them.
Sa-hyeok pulled the wings of the newly mounted eagle and glided along the air currents.
The aerial battle had begun.
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Meanwhile, on the ground.
The raid members were moving towards the spot where the wolf’s location tracking had been lost.
Most of them had complicated feelings.
It was natural, considering that one of their raid members, one of their strongest, had been suddenly abducted (?).
Just as a sense of unease began to creep in.
“Huh? Something’s falling over there.”
They saw something falling from the distant sky.
“What is that?”
“Something’s falling towards us too!”
Whoosh!
Thud!
Everyone immediately went on alert.
But when they checked what had fallen from the sky……
“A monster corpse?”
“It’s a Snow Black Eagle corpse?!”
A corpse brutally mutilated all over.
Seeing the wounds, everyone immediately recognized them as Sa-hyeok’s handiwork.
“See? I told you he must have a plan.”
It was Hunter Kim Dong-su who spoke.
