Chapter 64

WHOOOOSH!

The dozens of Contaminated Lancers attacked at once.

“Krrrik! Attack! We outnumber them!”

“Do not let those who dared betray the queen live!”

The first lancers Suho had killed had underestimated him and let their guard down, but things were entirely different now.

[Shadow Lancer]

Normal Grade

The black lancers had been reborn as Shadow Lancers. Five creatures identical to themselves except in color had sided with Suho. They could hardly afford to let their guard down.

“Struggle all you like.”

Standing at the center of his soldiers, Suho's eyes gleamed fiercely.

“I'll have you betraying your queen soon enough.”

[Krrrik!]

The black lancers, now serving a new king, crossed their paired lances and sprang forward.

WHOOSH! CRASH!

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Suho's army clashed with the Contaminated Lancers at the end of the labyrinth. Their incredible speed sent terrifying shock waves bursting in every direction. Horrific, near-identical shrieks rang through the air.

Caught in the aftermath, countless thorn walls collapsed and rose again, while fresh thorny vines continually encircled Suho's army. The clash between creatures of similar strength was indescribably brutal and desperate.

“Krrrrk...!”

[Krriiiik!]

Born solely to attack, the lancers had never possessed any concept of defense. They were a lance—no, a pair of lances, mercilessly piercing and slaughtering their enemies. They were weapons that killed if they were faster than their opponents and lost their lives the instant they fell behind.

But now, things were different.

Having evolved into an extreme form devoted solely to attack, the lancers became complete only upon joining Suho.

More precisely, they had become inexhaustible lances that could be restored no matter how often they broke. As long as Suho's mana sustained them, they were immortal weapons that could not die even when killed!

SHWAAAAH!

Black shadows filled the holes pierced by lances, and severed heads drifted back like smoke to reattach themselves. The longer the battle continued, the more horrified the Contaminated Lancers became.

“Wh-what is this...!”

The Contaminated Hornets roaming Times Square Field relayed everything the hunters entering this place said and did to the lancers through their close-knit network of signals. Thanks to that, the lancers had learned about Suho in advance.

Or rather, they had thought they understood him.

He controlled somewhat unusual summons and had a fair amount of skill, but he was still a rookie who had awakened less than a month ago. They had expected an unforeseen situation to quickly expose the limits of his inexperience and cost him his head.

But...

That was how it was supposed to go...

“Krrrik!”

All day long, Suho had been hearing that he was a rookie who had awakened less than a month ago. Yet he had actually experienced more real combat than anyone, and as a result, he knew all too well how to use his skills most efficiently.

His strategy was exceedingly simple.

Focus fire. No exceptions.

'Gang up on one.'

First, all five charged a single enemy and drove their lances into it.

THUNK-THUNK-THUNK!

Naturally, Suho's lancers could not escape unscathed from an attack that abandoned all defense. But what they gained in return was considerable.

[You have defeated a Contaminated Lancer.]

“Arise.”

SHWAAAAH!

[Shadow Extraction successful.]

A sixth soldier was born and rose before Suho.

“Now six.”

Now numbering six, the shadow soldiers found fresh prey and launched another coordinated attack.

“Krrrik...!”

[You have defeated a Contaminated Lancer.]

[Shadow Extraction successful.]

Another joined them.

“Seven.”

Then another.

“Eight.”

[You have defeated a Contaminated Lancer.]

[Shadow Extraction successful.]

[You have defeated a Contaminated Lancer.]

[Shadow Extraction successful.]

...

“Krrik! S-stop getting back up!”

Suho smirked.

As he added them one by one, the number of Shadow Lancers under his command had soon reached...

“Fifteen.”

“Krrrik?!”

The lancers looked around in alarm. The black lancers surrounding them now equaled their own numbers.

The largest and strongest knight, who led the Contaminated Lancers, glared at Suho and ground its teeth.

“Krrik! What a strange skill you use.”

But its words carried a slightly different meaning now.

“To command insects so easily... Have you come for the relic too?”

“Relic?”

“Krrrik! You vile creature! How dare you play dumb!”

“...?”

Suho was genuinely bewildered.

'A relic? What relic? Oh, don't tell me...'

A name he had heard from Beru suddenly came to mind.

Querehsha, Queen of Insects and Monarch of Plagues.

“Could it be Querehsha's relic?”

“Krrrik! You even know that name! You really did come knowing everything! Do you want to become a queen bee too?!”

“No, why would I want to be a queen...?”

He had only made a wild guess, so the accusation felt a little unfair. Besides, a queen? Surely he was obviously male.

Still, if they insisted on jumping to conclusions, that only made them easier to exploit.

“Queen or whatever, let's say you're right. Where is Querehsha's relic? Does your queen have it?”

“Krrrik! Of course she does! What a ridiculous question! Who but our queen would dare carry on Querehsha's will?!”

[Well, aren't you devoted.]

Beru snickered.

As was probably true of most insects, bees and ants had much in common. Their societies were built around a queen, for one. And they had loyal workers who gathered food at her command, willing even to die for her.

But a queen meant something a little different to Beru. Though born of an ant queen, he had been born a king, not a worker. He was not one of the lowly workers loyal to her, but the true king of the ants, capable of surpassing the queen and standing supreme in his own right.

Even if he now served Sung Jinwoo, a far greater and more exalted king, Beru remained keenly aware that he was the king of the ants. Naturally, worker bees serving a mere queen bee seemed insignificant to him...

Was that why?

Barely the size of a palm, Beru had been floating idly in the air since before the battle began, doing nothing but watching. Yet not one of the Contaminated Lancers dared approach him, defenseless and feeble as he was. Their insect survival instincts warned them that something ominous would happen if they provoked him.

[Young Monarch.]

As Beru approached Suho, every lancer suddenly flinched and froze in place. He had been twitching his antennae for some time, eavesdropping on the hornets flying nearby.

[It seems the hunters on the other side are in danger.]

Suho could currently extract a maximum of twenty soldiers. Half of them had been guarding the hunters. But as he extracted new soldiers here, the number of Shadow Mummies over there had been dwindling accordingly, one by one.

And that was not the only problem.

HISSSSS.

Suho, too, had noticed it a little while ago. A cloudy green mist had begun seeping from the thorny vines forming this intricate labyrinth. The paralytic poison in their thorns was merging with the blue mist that permeated the field and spreading throughout Times Square.

He inhaled.

Eventually, as Suho breathed it in, the green mist began poisoning him as well.

DING!

At that moment, system messages appeared before him.

[A harmful substance has been detected.]

[Detoxification will begin through the effect of 'Blessing: Health and Longevity.']

[3, 2, 1... Detoxification complete.]

“Works well.”

He practically owed Grand Shaman Kandiaru a moment of silent thanks. Unlike him, however, the other hunters would find this poisonous mist deadly.

'I'll have to stop by there before going to the queen bee.'

Fortunately, the shop window sold gas masks too. They were nothing special as items went, so they were cheap. As for gold, he could simply sell the magic beast corpses littering the place.

“Krrrik?!”

The lancers were deeply shaken to see Suho still moving as though nothing had happened despite inhaling the poisonous mist.

“Just what are you...!”

With certainty in their eyes, the lancers leveled their weapons at him.

“What is your connection to Querehsha, the Monarch of Plagues?!”

'I don't even know her...'

How awkward.

Regardless of Suho's intentions, the misunderstanding only deepened. You should never judge people by their appearance, but these creatures had hardly looked intelligent to begin with.

No, they weren't even people anymore.

Then Beru cunningly chose to fan the flames of their misunderstanding.

[Kihahaha! And what if he does have a connection?! None of your deadly poisons can harm our Young Monarch!]

“Y-Young Monarch?!”

“Don't tell me... you've obtained another relic!”

They had considered the possibility that other relics existed besides the one their queen had obtained. But how could a mere human have acquired a relic of the Monarch of Plagues?

And yet... the human before them was already defying everything they knew.

A rookie who had awakened only a month ago?

Impossible!

If that were true, a C-rank—and a summoner at that—could never have beaten them so one-sidedly.

The answer, then, was simple. He had been concealing his identity and power from the start.

Having reached that mistaken conclusion, the lancers glared fiercely at Suho. At the same time, resolve written across their faces, they began gathering every ounce of their strength throughout their bodies.

“Krrrik!”

“If that's how it is...”

“We'll do whatever it takes to stop you, even if it costs us our lives...!”

If this human possessed another relic, they had to kill him here, no matter what. Left alive, he would become a major obstacle to their queen's ambition to become a Monarch.

“You! And the hunters who came with you!”

“You will all die!”

WHOOOOOSH!

Their murderous intent was so intense it stung the skin. The lancers hurled themselves into a desperate, all-or-nothing attack on Suho.

And then...

BOOOOOM!

“...!”

The lancers' eyes widened. Beyond the poisonous mist so thick they could not see, their lance tips, driven forward with all their might, had struck a solid barrier and stopped.

'What...!'

That was their last thought before their consciousness abruptly cut out.

* * *

Meanwhile, the hunters who had entered with Suho were in dire straits.

“Cough, cough.”

“I'm losing feeling in my body...”

There was no way to escape the poisonous mist. Had they known it existed here, they would at least have brought gas masks. They had miscalculated everything. Having three B-rank hunters with them in a C-rank dungeon had made them far too complacent.

“Just hold on a little longer! We've already contacted the guild!”

That was when reinforcements from the Baekho Guild arrived at Times Square Field.

“... So this is the place.”

Surveying the situation inside, Baek Miho furrowed her brow, her expression grave.