Christmas Eve (2)
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Eventually, Seung-ho remembered that he hadn’t eaten lunch yet, so he took Miae with him and ate.
It wasn’t until 3 o’clock that the guild leader Choi Young-ho arrived. He was already fully equipped.
He took off his helmet and held it by his waist as he looked at Seung-ho apologetically.
“Forgive me for being late. Shall we go in now? And, if a reporter asks, could I speak to them as we have discussed?”
“Yes, please. Let’s go.”
Seung-ho quickly put on his equipment with Miae’s help. Once Seung-ho’s face was already fully covered by his helmet, Young-ho opened the car door and went out.
Iris Guild members were scattered all over the street from their vans to the gate. When they saw Young-ho, they immediately gathered.
The reporters immediately closed in when they saw Young-ho’s face.
“Chief Choi Young-ho, is it true that this Level 3 gate will be under the sole jurisdiction of the Iris Guild?”
“Yes. Once we subdued this high-class gate, the Iris Guild will again be recognized globally.”
Reporter’s faces brightened up at his majestic answer as he continued walking.
“Since the Level 3 gate occurred in a city center, the damage could be catastrophic if you fail. Are you certain about your success? Or just confident?”
“I’m certain.”
“It sounds like Iris Guild won’t fail, right?”
“Absolutely.” Young-ho turned to his men. “Come in now!”
Seung-ho pressed his helmet down on his head as he tried to be unnoticed. He entered the gate quickly, blending in with the others.
Immediately, his view of dense city buildings was replaced by the fresh green of nature.
It was dawn beyond the gate. The sky was lighting up, and under it was a verdant forest and a majestic mountain. The mountain was steep but had gentle slopes from the bottom.
Seung-ho knew as soon as he stepped in. There was only one type of high-class monster that lives in a mountain.
“Garuda.”
It was a top-class monster whose name was derived from an Indian myth.
It had large, strong wings capable of flying smoothly despite its huge, 3-m frame. With its enormous body comes massive claws whose physical ability didn’t require mana to crush its target.
Also, it had the ability to shoot a magical sound wave from its beak. The sound wave is so powerful that no one could endure it except a Class AA hunter.
What’s more troublesome is that Garudas come in flocks.
However, if the gate gauge only reached 150,000, there would not have been many Garudas here.
Seung-ho took off his cumbersome armor as other guild members passed through the gate one by one.
Young-ho approached him.
“Is it a bird-type monster?”
“I think so. I’ll check.”
“Are you going alone?”
“It’s faster if I do. Have them find a suitable place to fight.”
Young-ho nodded and began to control the personnel.
Seung-ho left his armor on the ground and began to approach the mountain.
Soon, beyond a large rock, he saw dry dung and some feathers.
Seung-ho returned to the group and told him what he had seen.
“If it’s a bird, our guys have some experience with them, so we should be good,” Young-ho said confidently.
Seung-ho nodded, then he heard a whistle.
One of the guild members found a suitable spot and signaled to them. They moved towards the sound.
The place they found was a space made up of shallow basins near the mountain’s edge.
Seung-ho shook his head.
In facing a general air monster, wide-open areas such as this must be avoided.
Especially with dealing with a Garuda, it’s best if its sound wave could be broken by trees and other obstacles.
Young-ho however, didn’t seem to mind.
“The expected monster is a bird-type! A bird-type!
“Okay, Chief!”
The guild members formed twelve sets of six people each, all moving in unison with Young-ho’s instructions.
Seung-ho tried to say something but was distracted by a sound approaching from above them.
“Kyaaah kyaaah!”
He counted eleven Garudas circling the air.
“They’re coming soon! Ready! Ready! Wait!”
“Waiting!”
One of the Garudas was slowly descending.
“If it comes down a little more, let’s say hello to it!” Young-ho yelled, emboldening his group.
The guild members loaded their bows.
Firearms, grenades, and air guns didn’t prove effective against monsters.
Gunpowder couldn’t seem to do the trick, and air guns were incredibly weak.
However, crossbows and bows didn’t lose their piercing ability; hence hunters opted to us it beyond the gates.
In a few moments, the Garuda entered the range of the bows.
“Shoot!”
Arrows went flying in unison.
Seung-ho observed the guild members. Not one of the arrowheads had magical power imbued on them.
The Garuda dodged the arrows effortlessly despite its size.
Then, at approximately 230 meters above the guild members, the Garuda fired a sound wave.
The groups immediately responded by coming together and raising their shields as one.
With their stability, they were able to stop the blast. However, some of the group members seemed to lose their positions afterward.
“A little more! A little more! Now!”
At Young-ho’s command, some of the guild members shot their arrows once more, as their colleagues continued to shield them.
The Garuda tried to evade the volley, but some arrows struck its body.
It appeared that the damage wasn’t that great, but the arrows possibly hit nerve endings, causing the Garuda to crash to the ground.
At once, the guild members launched onto it, hacking it with swords from all directions.
In the midst of the crisis, some Garudas tried to descend but was fend off by the continuously incoming arrows.
In the meantime, the Garuda on the ground was getting cleaned up.
Young-ho turned his head toward Seung-ho.
“We fight like this. Please tell us if we have something to improve after this mission is over.”
Seung-ho nodded. “Okay, then.”
Suddenly, he filled his legs with mana, jumped into the air, and caught a Garuda with a magical bomb explosion.
The Garuda was in shock and tried to shoot a sound wave, but Seung-ho grabbed its beak, forcing it close.
As the Garuda was injured by the blast, it fell to the ground helplessly, with Seung-ho holding on to its beak.
Once on the ground, Seung-ho quickly crushed its legs and stepped on its neck.
The other Garudas in the flock hurriedly flew away, towards the mountain.
Seung-ho watched them as he stepped on the neck of the fallen Garuda, who was struggling weakly underneath him.
Then, he turned to Young-ho, whose mouth was wide open in surprise.
Seung-ho shrugged.
“I fight like this.”