When I Returned to Farming, National-level Big Juniors Flock - Chapter 41



Only Krnovel

41. Nutritious snacks for our children

Monsters are beings from another world that came through the gate.

Because it was impossible to travel to the other side of the Earth, knowledge of the world beyond was extremely limited.

However, it has long been known that monsters do not come from only one common world.

Monsters filled with murderous intent towards humans come from numerous dimensions.

However, monsters were not the only beings in the other world.

The ‘summoned beasts’ that hunters with summoning abilities make contracts with were also beings that came from another world.

Although there were many different types of summoned creatures, there were clear differences between them and monsters.

It means that they do not come through the gate directly, but appear in this world through the hunter’s magic power.

And it is friendly to humans and lends them strength through contracts.

Of course, this was because the trade relationship was established due to their need to consume magic power, but at least they did not try to wipe out humans like monsters.

They can be said to be sufficiently friendly beings.

The category of such summons also includes ‘spirits’.

Only Oh Hyeon-seong, who was born with a special constitution, could communicate with them and make a contract, but he met all the conditions to be included in the category.

However, spirits were quite different from normal summons.

They are soul-eating beings.

Unlike summoned creatures who lend their power in exchange for the Hunter’s magic, spirits manifest in this world in exchange for the power of their souls.

This was also the reason why Oh Hyeonseong accumulated magical power in the form of a circulating ring, rather than in a spherical form like regular hunters.

His magical power was derived from the power of the soul.

His special constitution, ‘spirit affinity’, which only one person in the world has, was to change the source of magical power.

It is about accumulating magical power by consuming the souls of monsters, and then allocating some of the accumulated magical power to establish a contract with a spirit.

Tsk tsk tsk!

“Phew.”

Pure white smoke flowed out from Oh Hyeonseong’s mouth.

His complexion noticeably improved as he absorbed the souls of all the giant beetles that had fallen around him.

There was no sign of fatigue anywhere.

“I haven’t had anything since I defeated Grim Hell last time, but thanks to you, I’ve taken ten tonics. It was unexpected.”

Absorbing only the souls of normal monsters is meaningless.

However, thanks to the guy producing a lot of boss-level monsters, I was able to absorb a huge amount of souls.

His body had not absorbed any soul for five whole years.

Since he had been in a complete state of fasting, except for the time he had absorbed latent monsters since being discharged, his body accepted the newly absorbed large amount of souls even more intensely.

The magical ring in his dantian was shaking violently, reacting to the waves of abundant magical power he had not experienced in a long time.

“It’s ugly to see you so arrogant. Whether your magic power recovers or not, nothing will change…”

“Just get out of there.”

Kwajijijik!

Large pinpricks of cold air shot up and poked through the darkness.

The cold air that had rushed in so fast that there was no room to physically escape was enough to pierce the bastard’s form as well.

But I couldn’t actually reach him.

It penetrated the smoke-like shape without causing any damage.

But the moment Oh Hyun-seong grabbed my hand tightly.

The spikes that had shot up exploded at once, creating a storm of cold air.

Passssss.

“Ugh!”

Bartola pulled out.

The guy I saw after a long time looked exactly the same as before.

A humanoid monster with a black shape and four red eyes.

The body of the guy with the black shadow rippling around takes on a physical body the moment it leaves the darkness.

It means that physical impact works.

Bam!

Oh Hyeon-seong, who had approached in an instant, punched the bastard in the face.

The guy who was thrown crashed into a wall coated with ice.

“First of all, this is my fault for making things so difficult.”

The ceiling and walls were already covered in ice that he had spread out, a move he had made in advance to prevent the guy from escaping by casting darkness.

It is a simple but effective method that Oh Hyeon-seong can do because he knows how to cast darkness.

“Kuaaaah!”

Bartola roared in anger.

The shadowed body of the creature shook and black blades rose up.

A guy who glares at Oh Hyeon-seong with murderous eyes.

He hated being physically hit.

This was especially true for humans, who were considered an inferior species.

“I’ll kill you!”

Bartola rushed in in an instant and swung his blade.

Whether it’s a hunter or a monster, the blade is threatening as it can cleanly cut through flesh and bone with just a touch.

Oh Hyeon-seong drew his sword and parried or deflected the attack.

At the same time, I aimed for the bastard while using my spirit magic with Albert.

But, as expected, it wasn’t easy.

The distance has been freely expanded or narrowed at a much faster rate than that.

He continued to pressure Oh Hyeon-seong by dodging the pouring spirit attacks here and there.

Kwak!

“Big…!”

A long scar developed on his side.

Fortunately, it wasn’t deep, but the situation wasn’t good.

“You idiot! Do you think you can beat me in that state?”

Bartola has been persistently targeting my left leg since a while ago.

While living a life of farming, Oh Hyeon-seong’s legs recovered enough to be able to fight fiercely.

But even so, it is not completely cured, so it is inevitable that it will sag compared to the condition of the rest of the body.

Since Bartola’s specialty was digging into human weaknesses, he figured out his weakness right away and targeted it with an annoying persistence.

“The one who was once my greatest rival is now so ugly… It’s a shame to see him like this!”

Thud!

Oh Hyeon-seong, who was in a defensive position, was continuously pushed back.

Then, he ended up hitting the wall of ice he had created.

“Whew, but I think I pulled it off pretty well.”

“Is that all you have left behind as a will?”

“No, it’s a commemorative comment.”

“What nonsense…”

“Why don’t you look back?”

The core of the gate located at the end of the passage.

It was the power source that supported this gate, showing the action of enormous energy.

However, standing above it was a lower-level fire spirit whose presence was so small that I had not noticed it.

Boom boom!

And he said it in a very innocent way.

“Yeah… you bastard!”

“There’s no reason to leave the core of the gate you set as bait alone.”

Bartola thought his power was limited to one spirit.

That is actually true.

Because by their standards, the power of the lower spirits was completely meaningless.

But that was only by their standards, at least it was enough to destroy the core of an undefended gate.

“Blow it.”

“no!”

Kwaaaaang!

A burst of flames erupted from the fire spirit, which was filled with magical power, engulfing the core.

The core was destroyed in an instant, and the gate began to collapse.

Of course, the destruction of the core did not dramatically annihilate the monsters inside it.

It will take time for complete collapse.

Hunters, like monsters, will be wiped out if they fail to exit the gate within that time.

The only difference was that monsters could not come out of gates that had not yet reached the eruption stage, while hunters could.

“Ghhhhhhhhh!”

Bartola screamed in pain.

The shadows surrounding the bastard were shaking violently.

The guy tampered with the gate’s core in order to take control of the entire gate.

The problem is that the side effect is that the core is suddenly destroyed and loses control in an instant, so the backlash and aftershocks are all directed at him.

“It must have been a pain that felt like your whole body was falling apart.”

Oh Hyun-seong approached the fallen Bartola step by step.

No matter how strong the enemy is, if they fall into a trap like this and reveal their vulnerability, they can be easily defeated.

Since he had no time to waste, he immediately raised his sword and tried to cut off the bastard’s breath in one go.

But at that moment.

Kwaaaaang!

With a huge wave bursting out.

A massive eruption of the gate occurred.

***

Thud thud thud!

“Ugh… Ugh!”

“It’s a corpse?”

In front of the waiting Management Bureau Hunters, a huge number of beetle corpses suddenly poured out from nowhere.

It seemed as if the corpses inside had erupted, and it was surprising who could have dealt with this number of monsters.

“Vice President…!”

“Yeah, I’m watching.”

Han Su-yeon nodded.

Even before entering stage 4, the gate suddenly went wild and a large-scale eruption occurred.

Instead of the usual eruption coming from the gate entrance, monsters suddenly poured out from all around.

Because of this, a much wider area than expected was affected by the eruption.

There were many living beetles as well as dead ones.

However, damage was prevented thanks to evacuating all civilians and establishing a control zone in advance.

‘But… monsters aren’t the problem.’

The center where the entrance to the gate was located.

A black fog suddenly appeared and surrounded the center in the shape of a dome, and the hunters’ gaze was stolen by the ominous appearance at first glance.

I could feel a tremendous amount of energy surging out there.

But the one who was most surprised by that sight was Han Su-yeon.

‘That’s definitely… why is that guy who should have died in the past suddenly here?’

– Deputy Director! It looks like the gate boss has come out too! We need to go in right now…!

“Don’t come near!”

Han Su-yeon spoke urgently to the radio.

“Concentrate on the beetles in front of you right now! We’re focusing on intercepting the monsters that are pouring out. Above all, that… is not the opponent you should stand in front of.”

***

“Could you have done something like this?”

Oh Hyun-seong groaned and got up from his staggering seat.

The ability to blow everything out of an already collapsing gate.

This was beyond what he could have expected.

“Ugh!”

Bartola, crawling on the floor, groaned as if in pain.

But even in the midst of all that, there was no sign of death.

As expected, he’s not the type of guy who’ll die easily.

Oh Hyeon-seong’s head also started to bang because he was thrown back so suddenly, but he picked up his sword and strode towards the guy.

Bartola is the queen’s child.

That guy was a being of such a high level that he could even reduce the boss monsters of S-rank gates to nothing, and he possessed a soul of such a high level.

In a word, it will be incredibly delicious.

“You fool. Are you going to step into the mud again? After losing all the spirits and ruining yourself?”

Oh Hyeon-seong stopped dead in his tracks at Bartola’s words as he stood up from the ground.

“Have you read my mind?”

“Kuhaha, even if you step into an endless fight, you will only meet the same destruction. Humans are destined to eventually wear out and break down. You get caught up in a fight that no one will understand.”

Bartola staggered and muttered.

It’s to somehow create a crack in him.

It was certainly a statement that might have shaken things up a little if it had been me.

But now he wasn’t even a little shaken.

“Whether you know it or not, it’s not a part-time job.”

“Are you going to repeat this meaningless fight?”

“No, if it means anything, that’s enough.”

It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t worn down by the long fight.

The patriotism for one’s country and the cause of serving the people that a heroic hunter should have have already lost their power and shined.

He will no longer be worthy of being called a legend or a hero.

But that didn’t really matter.

The reason he came here and took up the sword was for extremely personal reasons.

“I just fight because I have a home to return to. I will kill anyone who interferes with my daily life. So…”

Oh Hyeon-seong raised his sword toward the guy.

“You die again too.”

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