Chapter 68

Alone Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 67

"Lee Min-sung, that bastard..."

No wonder the Death Guild hunters were only kidnapping and not killing them!

Im Tae-gyu was furious to the core.

Recalling Lee Min-sung's usual behavior, he realized what the guy was up to.

He had always been obsessed with gaining more influence within the Death Guild, even more than his friend and guild leader, himself!

'I don't know what kind of skill he bought with money, but did he really want to turn our people into this just to recruit them as his subordinates? What the hell are you... doing this for?'

Seeing the mutants who had lost their human appearance, Im Tae-gyu gritted his teeth and drew his bow.

Swish!

A blue current of energy formed a magical arrow on the S-rank weapon, the Death Bow.

One, two, three, four.

Swish!

Five magical arrows flew in different trajectories, piercing the bodies of the scattered mutants.

The mutants, who were once his guildmates but now turned into monsters, let out monstrous cries.

Im Tae-gyu felt their cries sounded like heart-wrenching sobs.

"Grghhh..."

But even with Im Tae-gyu's arrows embedded in their bodies, the mutants continued to move.

Their tenacious stamina made Im Tae-gyu's expression harden.

Perhaps because they were once high-level hunters, their physical abilities were considerable.

Moreover, they still wore the armor they had on when they were kidnapped, making it impossible to take them down with just a few arrows.

Im Tae-gyu gritted his teeth and looked at the intact guild members he had brought.

They hesitated to attack, seeing their former comrades, who they had laughed and joked with just a few days ago, now transformed into monsters.

Im Tae-gyu drew his bow again and shouted.

"Don't hesitate! Those mutants are not human! They are no longer the people we knew!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Since they are already in a state of zombification, hitting their hearts won't work! Aim for their legs to slow them down and cut off their limbs!"

"......!"

The Death Guild members clenched their teeth and raised their weapons at the cruel yet resolute command.

This ability to make cold, clear judgments in such a situation was what made Im Tae-gyu, an S-rank hunter, the leader of the Death Guild.

And with his thunderous roar, the Death Guild members snapped out of their shock and began to attack the mutants.

"Is this the Death Guild...?"

The association hunters, who were rescuing citizens, marveled at their performance.

Despite the numerous controversies surrounding them, including the recent vice president Risk, the Death Guild was still the Death Guild.

One of the top-tier guilds in Korea.

Their strength was most evident in such emergencies.

"Grghhh..."

But the problem was that the mutants were also members of the Death Guild.

Although they had lost their sanity and become monsters, the experience etched into their bodies remained.

"The mutants are scattering! Chase them!"

The mutants evaded the Death Guild's attacks and fled into the buildings.

As a result, the citizens inside the buildings became their victims.

"Ah!"

"Sa, save me...!"

The unexpected response from the mutants left the Death Guild members stunned.

"Stop them!"

"Prevent them from entering the buildings!"

In the end, they had to follow the screams of the citizens and scatter into the buildings.

It was a trap.

Woo!

"What, what is this?!"

"There are swarms of bees inside the building!"

The contaminated wasps, waiting for the hunters to enter, attacked them.

"Wasps?!"

"These are not ordinary bees! They are insect-type monsters!"

"Poison! Don't get stung by the bees!"

The situation became chaotic.

Chasing the mutants into the buildings.

Eliminating the swarms of bees.

Even the well-trained and disciplined Death Guild could not help but be flustered in such a situation.

Im Tae-gyu realized something.

Despite their monstrous appearance, the mutants were moving strategically.

This meant someone was controlling them from behind.

And he knew exactly who it was.

"Lee! Min! Sung!"

A magical roar erupted from Im Tae-gyu's mouth.

"Where are you! Where are you hiding!"

The resounding voice of the S-rank hunter shook the air like a shockwave, shattering the windows of the buildings.

"Cover your ears!"

The association hunters urgently shouted to the citizens they were rescuing.

At the center of the chaos, Im Tae-gyu raised his Death Bow and aimed at the sky.

Multiple Multi-Shot.

Swish!

Numerous magical arrows shot into the sky, forming a fountain-like parabola as they descended to the ground.

Some arrows pierced the heads of the mutants wandering the streets.

Others penetrated the broken windows, hitting the mutants attacking people inside.

Not a single arrow accidentally harmed a citizen.

"Good heavens..."

The impressive skill left the association hunter team leader Han Jae-hyuk speechless.

"If you had this, why didn't you use it earlier..."

Though he said this, such a skill left a significant gap.

Im Tae-gyu's restraint in using it was understandable.

But the effect was undeniable.

"Grghhh..."

The mutants, pierced by the arrows, could not even stand up, writhing on the ground.

The arrows had pinned their bodies to the ground, immobilizing them.

The Death Guild members rushed to the mutants and cut off their limbs.

Their former comrades, who had laughed and joked with them just a few days ago...

"I'm sorry, Jae-sub."

"Grghhh..."

They were eliminated.

At the same time, the association hunters sighed in relief.

Thanks to the Death Guild's efforts, the number of mutants was noticeably decreasing.

'Good. At this rate, we'll have this place under control soon.'

But then, it happened.

A sudden groan came from somewhere.

There, Im Tae-gyu, with a bewildered expression, looked down at the sword protruding from his stomach.

His mind reeled.

'Poison.'

But what shocked Im Tae-gyu more was the fact that he had been ambushed.

Who could sneak up on an S-rank hunter and get so close without being detected!

Turning around, Im Tae-gyu's mind went blank as he recognized the person who had stabbed him.

"Cough. Why, why are you...?"

It wasn't that the person had sneaked up on him.

From the beginning, 'he' had always been standing behind him.

As always.

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Secretary Oh..."

Secretary Oh, who had stabbed Im Tae-gyu, smiled awkwardly.

"It's too early. Vice President Lee Min-sung needs to cause more chaos."

* * *

Suhwo asked Arsha.

"You don't seem to care much about it?"

Despite Lee Min-sung imitating a queen bee and creating his own army, the real queen bee, Arsha, seemed unfazed.

"Hmm. I'm actually quite flustered. They are bees I've raised with great care, you know?"

"Then you should have sent the lancers to catch him as soon as he ran away."

"At first, I intended to. But no matter how many ordinary lancers I sent, they couldn't catch him."

The materials for the contaminated lancers were C-rank or lower hunters.

No matter how many of these bees swarmed, it was impossible for them to capture Lee Min-sung, an A-rank hunter.

Just as Suhwo had defeated them all and reached this place.

Arsha frowned delicately and crossed her legs, adjusting her posture.

"I'm also quite troubled. My original plan was to hide here quietly and succeed Queresh. So I lived very quietly."

"For someone who claims to be living quietly, you have a lot of lancers."

"This is actually a small number. I gathered them slowly to avoid being detected by the association. If I had decided to gather them quickly, I could have had a hundred times more."

"That's true."

Suhwo agreed with her.

It turned out that creating lancers was simple.

Just feed them royal jelly.

That was all.

So if the royal jelly was well (or poorly) received by the body, they became lancers; otherwise, they died.

"Actually, this is quite a labor-intensive process. First, I have to tame the bees on Earth one by one and infuse their stings with my royal jelly."

[That sounds more like a beekeeper than a queen bee.]

Berg mocked Arsha with a completely innocent expression.

Arsha looked a bit hurt.

"I had no choice. I lost all my bees when I crossed the dimensional rift, so I had to gather them one by one."

"You must have worked hard. I'm sorry. I killed all the lancers you worked so hard to gather today, and Lee Min-sung ran away."

"Your apology doesn't sound sincere at all..."

Suhwo's soulless apology left Arsha speechless.

Then she laughed and crossed her arms haughtily.

"Well, it's fine. Although Lee Min-sung, whom I raised with great effort, has become a disobedient bee and run away, his instincts will still work for me."

"For you?"

"Yes. He is still working hard to make me the queen of the insects, even if he doesn't realize it."

"..."

Arsha's words gave Suhwo a strange sense of déjà vu.

According to the briefing from the White Tiger Guild, the only thing Lee Min-sung had done in the past few days was to attack and kidnap hunters.

'If he kidnapped hunters to create his own army, why did he kill them?'

Ah.

'What if killing people was the goal itself?'

A sudden realization hit Suhwo.

He finally understood.

Succeeding a dead ruler.

Becoming a new ruler.

Hadn't he seen this process before?

[The Beast King, Fang Lord, laughs maniacally as he looks at his altar.]

As if in response to his realization, Rakkan sent a message.

Suhwo, who had lost all his foundations, glared at Arsha, who was sitting calmly.

"You need sacrifices."

Startled.

"Sacrifices for the dead Queresh, as many as possible."

"..."

Suhwo's expression hardened as he saw Arsha's reaction to his words.

"Lee Min-sung is out there, dancing with his sword for you. From the way he only kills hunters, it seems you need magical sacrifices?"

"..."

"Isn't it strange not to know? You did something similar to become the successor of Fang Lord, didn't you?"

Even if he was a priest rather than a successor, it didn't matter.

Suhwo shrugged and asked.

"But is it okay? The Death Guild is out for Lee Min-sung. If you stay quiet, you might be lumped in with him. Besides, to capture an A-rank hunter like Lee Min-sung, the S-rank guild leader will have to step in..."

He paused.

Suhwo stopped talking.

Arsha, who had been with Lee Min-sung for a long time, could not have been unaware of this fact.

That an S-rank hunter stepping in would capture Lee Min-sung instantly.

Yet, she was so calm?

"You planted a traitor next to the guild leader, didn't you? Like Lee Min-sung."

Startled.

As soon as Suhwo's words fell, the first real expression appeared on Arsha's face, which had been calm all along.