Second Life of a Dragon Raising Hunter

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Chapter 350

In the middle of the vast field, a boy was walking. His appearance was peculiar. He was wrapped in what looked like rags, yet at the same time resembled precious clothing from ancient times; he had blood-red hair and a face so delicate it could be called a fair face.

It was strange not just that a boy who looked to be no more than a dozen years old was walking alone in such an open expanse, but there was something even stranger about it.

A seemingly powerless boy strolling around here should naturally be met by monsters. Monsters instinctively seek to kill unless facing a fairly strong opponent.

Yet, what was most bizarre was the complete absence of even the shadow of a monster in this wide and open field. The boy, who had been staring blankly at one side, suddenly smiled and spoke.

[What’s this? I can already smell something sweet?]

The boy’s thin voice echoed across the field. It became clear at last. It wasn’t that the monsters were absent; they had been hiding themselves.

At the boy’s voice, the earth trembled, and the sky began to howl. Rocks dug into the ground to conceal themselves, and even the monsters, crystallized as living corpses, hid their forms.

[Wonderful, you little brat who goes by something like Saturday. The fights lately have been rather bland, but this is quite the feast! I’d almost want to hire you as my personal chef.]

Each word radiated a tremendous killing intent. Rain began to pour down, and the ground shook violently.

Despite the immense killing intent that could shake heaven and earth, the content was almost mundane. It was as if the boy’s accumulated bloodlust was simply spilling out of him.

[Good! I’ll set a fork for you, seeing your dedication! My trash must have arrived first. I need to save something for myself, though.]

Muttering this, the boy skipped in the direction he was looking. With an appearance that seemed blissfully innocent, he ran with a smile that resembled a child excitedly racing toward their mother who had brought them something tasty.

While war might not concern the Demon King, the Demon King of Fire was deeply interested in it.

*

“Wow, what a feast, what a feast!”

It was easy to summarize the doctrine of the Violence Cult, which served the Demon King of Fire.

More violence, more fights offered to their Demon King. In other words, it was human sacrifice, a type of ritual. It’s a deal where you offer a greater fight to receive power from the Demon King.

Offering something in return for power was common in the Demon King Cults, but the Violence Cult held rituals much more frequently than others.

The reason was simple. The Demon King of Fire welcomed any sort of fight; he was omnivorous when it came to battles. From petty quarrels between humans to large-scale wars, he accepted it all without discrimination.

“Hey, over there’s the Demon King! Don’t you think we need to fight that guy!?”

The Great Warrior of the Violence Cult, the War Leader, shouted, and the accompanying cult members let out a war cry. Even the undead appeared to falter under the resounding cheers echoing across the battlefield.

The War Leader, known for symbolizing the cult’s violence, was a massive Orc.

His green skin glistened with tremendous muscles. His sharply grown fangs reminded one of a saber-toothed tiger, and the twin axes gripped in his giant hands were so enormous that even a sturdy adult man would struggle to lift one.

As such a man barreled forward on what looked like an enormous truck straight out of a movie, the only way to describe it was terrifying.

With every swing of the twin axes, powerful undead were smashed and split apart. Displaying the prowess befitting the Great Warrior who represented violence, the War Leader charged aggressively.

“Uhhahaha, come on, you bag of bones!! With only this much, even my dog would turn away from it!!”

Shouting that, the War Leader rampaged, his axes slicing through the battlefield when suddenly, out of nowhere, Death Knights leapt in to catch his axes.

With the axes firmly secured, a gigantic Flash Golem charged forward from the front.

However, the War Leader showed no signs of panic; instead, he burst into laughter.

“Oh ho! Are you suggesting a test of strength?!”

With a flex, the already muscular War Leader’s biceps swelled even larger.

“Uuhh!!”

As he shouted a battle cry, the Death Knight gripping the War Leader’s axe began to tremble uncontrollably. Then, soon after, its body began to lift off the ground.

The War Leader’s enormous strength was lifting the Death Knight along with the axe.

With both axes raised, the War Leader swung them toward the incoming Flash Golem like applauding.

Boom!! With an explosive sound, rotten blood from the Flash Golem splattered everywhere, and chunks of the burst Death Knight’s bones rained down like a storm.

Standing at the center of the explosion, covered in the Flash Golem’s putrid blood, the War Leader licked the blood off his face with a hungry gleam in his eyes.

“How disgustingly tasteless!!”

“Then what would taste good, Captain!!”

Behind him, a booming laugh echoed like a mockery. With that laughter, even the War Leader began to grin. Suddenly, he jerked his head around.

“…Hmm!!”

A clear and pure aura. Though different from their own, it was the kind of energy that would make the Violence Cult drool. Realizing this, the War Leader took a look at the cult members trailing behind him.

‘No one sensed it.’

As expected, my instincts are sharp. I can sense deliciousness faster than anyone else. The self-praising War Leader suddenly leaped into action.

“Khahaha!! The early bird gets the worm!!”

“No, is he really going again!?”

*

“Hey, a muscle beast is flying in!”

“Damn it.”

Just when I thought I’d escaped the Gloomy Monster, now it’s the War Leader flying in. Could it be that today is simply a day of misfortune?

It feels like things are going as I imagined yet totally different at the same time; I can’t think of a better expression other than ‘misfortune.’ Why would he come this way instead of just heading to the Demon King?

“Uhhahaha, not bad at all, you little brats!!”

The War Leader flew over with a Doppler effect and landed amidst a horde of undead with a massive explosion. Wow, I took a quick glance, and that muscle looks insane…

“Someone who fits you just showed up, you moron.”

“Surely that muscle is impressive. So, who is that Orc?”

“Great Warrior of the Violence Cult, the War Leader.”

“Oh, that dude is the famous one.”

The fame of the Violence Cult is immense. While the Demon King Cult tends to be obscure knowledge, the Violence Cult is notoriously known for causing chaos and commotion everywhere.

As such, it’s inevitable that the existence of the Great Warrior became well-known. Calling himself the War Leader and driving an enormous modified truck, he gained a kind of cult popularity.

“Still, he’s just outright crazy. It can’t be helped though.”

Since ancient times, crazy people are terrifying, but the scariest among them are those who are passionate about their beliefs, and Christopher fit that category perfectly.

He might seem a bit foolish, but considering the cultural differences stemming from the War Leader’s tribal origin, it could be understandable how he’d stick to the Demon King…

“But still, he remains a foe to humanity. Do you think you can fight that guy?”

“…Well, I’ve heard that he fought with my father once, and my father was flustered enough…”

“Really?”

Namgung Mu had fought against the War Leader before. Though not on the same level as Namgung Yang, Namgung Mu was also mentioned within the rankings of the martial artists. If he was flustered, then one could conclude that the War Leader is a tremendous powerhouse.

Well, it’s a given that a Great Warrior exists within the exceedingly deranged Violence Cult.

Christopher’s peculiar nature is bizarre enough that he’s strangely strong even within the frail Gloomy Cult.

“Then it seems I’ll have to coax and persuade him somehow.”

“…Do you think that’ll work?”

At Yeonwoo’s murmur, Namgung Seong looked at him like he was talking nonsense. It was awkward to look at him like that because the Orc is surprisingly not someone entirely unreasonable.

As the two engaged in discussion and began to gradually deal with the surrounding undead, a violent wind whipped up from where the War Leader had just landed. It was a frigid gale that felt like it would tear fabric apart on contact.

“Uraaaa!!”

“Ugh, too loud!”

“What a hell of a sound this guy makes.”

True to Namgung Seong’s impression, with a tremendous shout, the War Leader burst through the ranks of the undead. Covered in rotten blood, he emitted a rather disagreeable stench, yet Yeonwoo didn’t flinch.

“Hey, moron. Give me some room to talk to that guy.”

“Okay, if it seems like you’re about to fight, I’ll come.”

Having wrapped up his conversation with Namgung Seong, Yeonwoo spoke first as he approached the advancing War Leader.

“War Leader.”

“What is it, you little brats!! You know me! Good!! Let’s fight!!”

“As much as I’d like to do that, I can’t really…”

The War Leader frowned at Yeonwoo’s refusal. It’s hard to say if this was the right approach, but the War Leader wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. He wasn’t using that not-so-great brain for anything other than fighting.

Before the regression, one of the hunters I knew had spun tales about surviving after encountering the War Leader.

Yeonwoo paid close attention to that story. While it was easier to face monsters, fighting against a martial artist capable of rational thinking wasn’t Yeonwoo’s area of expertise.

He thought it was necessary to learn about monsters like the War Leader.

‘They say that he survived by informing powerful individuals of where strong foes were…’

But Yeonwoo felt he didn’t need that. The War Leader was currently chasing after him and Namgung Seong. In other words, from the War Leader’s perspective, they were “delicious-looking” opponents, strong enough to warrant attention comparable to a Demon King.

“Why would you want to discard one of us when you have two tasty options?”

“…What!?”

“Think about it. Not only do we have to face the Demon King, but we should also try to fight him. Would you really want to miss out on the chance to battle the Demon King directly?”

“Well, that’s true!! But how can I ensure you survive until then!?”

Is he worried about that? Yeonwoo replied with a bewildered expression.

“Then how about we go together and take down the Demon King first? We wouldn’t mind that at all.”

The War Leader looked troubled by Yeonwoo’s suggestion. But soon he shook his head.

“No!! The taste of fighting is only for me to savor!! If someone else joins in, the taste will diminish!! Fine, you brats wait here! I’ll go face the Demon King and come back!!”

With that, the War Leader shouted, then snorted as he gazed upon Toyo’s Demon King. In this way, if he’s led to a delicious fight, it’s generally quite effective to get him on board. I didn’t expect it to work so well, though…

Looking upon the War Leader as he rampaged, destroying undead indiscriminately, Yeonwoo called out to Namgung Seong.

“Now we just have to follow and threaten the Demon King, right?”

“…Can we really call that guy a Great Warrior of a cult?”

“He’s a Great Warrior, so it’s fine to be a fool. I wouldn’t even mind if he got a higher position. If a guy like that leads, it’ll be easy to deal with him.”

Well, conversely, that also means that being this foolish makes him strong enough to be regarded as a Great Warrior…

For just a brief moment, despite having only crossed paths, Yeonwoo wiped the sweat that soaked his palm on his pants.

(To be continued)