Episode 10
Great Horned Hyenas live and hunt in packs.
The pack leader is a female, much larger and stronger than the males. It even has a mane around its neck like a lion.
A monster whose height from foreleg to shoulder alone exceeds two meters, and whose length from head to tail reaches five meters.
They live in packs ranging from several dozen to hundreds. And a considerable number among them are offspring born to the leader female.
It is a matriarchal bloodline society.
Naturally, all Great Horned Hyenas absolutely obeyed the leader female’s commands.
Great Horned Hyenas are nocturnal.
Having tried to survive in the scorching desert, they naturally came to move at night.
Kuwaaaaa!
The Great Horned Hyenas charged with terrifying momentum.
As expected of beasts that hunt in massive packs, they knew no fear and had no caution.
Because in the face of such overwhelming numbers, ordinary demonic beasts or even Awakened ones would be swept away in an instant.
Most of the Great Horned Hyenas targeted the bulky Deiodeun, but some rushed at Jeon.
“Damn it!”
Jeon hastily unleashed Sand Blaster.
Shuuuk!
The sand shot out at high pressure pulverized the lead Great Horned Hyena’s head. Even though a companion died right before their eyes, the Great Horned Hyenas paid it no mind.
“Hyah!”
Jeon fired Sand Blasters in rapid succession.
The power of Sand Blaster was tremendous.
Each shot reliably took down one beast.
The problem was that there were too many Great Horned Hyenas to kill them one by one like that.
He couldn’t escape this crisis by killing them individually.
Jeon fired Sand Blaster while thinking desperately.
‘One isn’t enough. I need to fire at least five at once. That’s the only way to barely hold the line.’
The problem was mana.
He had to fire many Sand Blasters while efficiently managing his mana.
‘Can I do it?’
No, it was something he absolutely had to do.
He had no time to worry or hesitate.
Jeon swung his hand.
Then, five streams of sand rose from the desert and flew toward the Great Horned Hyenas.
Crack!
Accompanied by screams, five Great Horned Hyenas rolled across the ground.
All of them had coin-sized holes pierced through their heads.
He had split one Sand Blaster into five.
It was to manage his mana.
Instead, to maximize their power, he condensed the five divided Sand Blasters into thin streams.
That’s why the Great Horned Hyenas’ heads weren’t blown apart but had holes drilled through them.
The first time was difficult, but from the second onward, it became easy.
Because all he had to do was walk the path he had already carved.
Shwick!
Sand Blasters fired in succession.
Five Sand Blasters at once pierced holes through the heads of five Great Horned Hyenas.
It seemed he could barely hold out.
Only then did he have the leisure to look at Deiodeun.
Jeon turned his head toward Deiodeun and his eyes went wide.
“Crazy!”
“Heh heh heh! More, more….”
Deiodeun was swinging Crayon with a maddened laugh. Over a hundred Great Horned Hyenas already lay dead around him.
He wasn’t using special skills like Jeon.
He was simply swinging Crayon, and swinging it again.
Each time, three or four Great Horned Hyenas were cut down.
Blood splattered and chunks of flesh flew through the air.
The already red sand of the desert was dyed crimson with blood.
Kwak!
Occasionally, a Great Horned Hyena succeeded in biting Deiodeun’s forearm or calf. But their fangs couldn’t pierce Deiodeun’s flesh.
Deiodeun’s body was harder than steel.
Instead, the Great Horned Hyenas’ teeth shattered.
“Heh heh! That tickles.”
Deiodeun grabbed the head of the Great Horned Hyena biting his thigh with his hand. And he squeezed tightly.
Crunch!
The hard skull of the Great Horned Hyena crumbled like a cracker.
He threw the Great Horned Hyena in his hand at the other Great Horned Hyenas.
Smaack!
Thud!
The Great Horned Hyenas tangled together and rolled across the ground.
Legs bent unnaturally, stomachs burst, and entrails spilled out.
Deiodeun slaughtered the Great Horned Hyenas with frenzy.
Not a single Great Horned Hyena dared to stand against Deiodeun.
With the situation turning like this, the leader female who had only been watching stepped forward.
A blue aura surrounded the leader female’s entire body.
It meant she possessed magic-type abilities of at least B-rank or higher.
Zzzzt!
Sparks erupted from the horn on the leader female’s head.
It seemed she knew how to use lightning magic even among magic-types.
Flash!
In an instant, lightning fired from her horn.
The lightning that tore through space arrived before Deiodeun in an instant.
“Heh heh!”
Deiodeun swatted his hand as if snatching a fly and caught the lightning.
The lightning that had been brightening the night sky vanished in his palm.
Only then did an intense sense of crisis engulf the leader female.
She realized this being was on a completely different level from any opponent they had ever hunted.
Woooo!
The leader female roared and issued the command to retreat.
Nothing was more foolish than lashing out against an existence they couldn’t handle.
Half the pack had already been wiped out.
If any more died, she couldn’t guarantee the pack’s survival.
The leader female’s judgment was very sound.
The problem was that Deiodeun had no intention of letting the Great Horned Hyena pack go.
“Die, all of you!”
Shwiiing!
Deiodeun threw Crayon.
Crayon spun at terrifying speed, slicing through everything in its path.
The mournful screams of the Great Horned Hyenas echoed across the night sky.
Jeon froze at the horrific sight. But Deiodeun’s butchery was not yet over.
Pat!
Deiodeun kicked off the desert and soared into the air.
Crayon, which had slaughtered countless Great Horned Hyenas, flew back to Deiodeun.
Deiodeun, grabbing Crayon, plummeted straight down toward the leader female.
Deiodeun falling like a meteor.
His might was as tremendous as a meteor striking the earth.
Kwaa-kwang!
Kuwaaeeek!
Along with the leader female’s desperate scream, a swathe of sand exploded outward.
A moment later, the sand that had surged like waves settled, revealing the scene.
The leader female was crushed beyond recognition. The only thing intact was the large horn attached to her head.
Deiodeun stood atop the leader female’s corpse.
Despite having fought such a fierce battle, not a trace of fatigue showed on Deiodeun’s face.
Instead, he smiled as if refreshed.
That appearance simply didn’t look human.
Jeon was frozen stiff.
He didn’t dare let out a loud breath.
He was overwhelmed by Deiodeun’s might.
‘Is he really human? It doesn’t seem like he’s using any special skills.’
Upon awakening, one obtains a unique skill.
An Awakened one displays their greatest power precisely when unleashing their unique skill.
Naturally, unleashing skills against a powerful demonic beast like the leader female would be more effective.
But Deiodeun completely denied such common sense.
He had crushed the leader female to death using only his body’s strength without using any skills.
Jeon shuddered.
He couldn’t believe a human could be this strong.
No Awakened one in Neo Seoul would be able to display such power with only their body’s strength.
It was then.
Deiodeun turned his head and looked at Jeon.
“Heh heh! You managed to survive.”
“….”
Jeon couldn’t bring himself to answer and only nodded.
Deiodeun smirked and collected the leader female’s horn.
“Great Horned Hyena horns are tough and useful. Since it even has lightning properties, if crafted well, it’ll make a fine weapon.”
He looked at the horn for a moment, then reached into the air. The horn in his hand vanished as if by magic.
‘Subspace? Is he not a combat-type but a magic-type?’
Jeon was shocked.
Everything Deiodeun had shown until now was a combat-type fighting style. Yet he was using subspace, something only a very small number of magic-type Awakened ones could use.
It felt like his common sense was being completely overturned.
On the other hand, he was puzzled.
Whether Deiodeun, who already possessed a weapon called Crayon, needed another weapon. But he didn’t dare ask.
Deiodeun put away Crayon and instead drew a small sword.
He tossed Jeon a dagger and spoke.
“From now on, procure your own food.”
“Huh?”
“Most of the Great Horned Hyena’s muscles are toxic. The only exception is the flank meat. This part is non-toxic and decent enough to dry and eat.”
Ssk ssk!
He skillfully carved out a portion of the Great Horned Hyena’s flank.
The quantity wasn’t much. It was barely the size of an adult’s palm.
Jeon watched the part he was cutting closely and followed suit.
Based on experience, he knew Deiodeun wouldn’t explain any further. He had no choice but to imitate him.
He realized that the jerky he had been eating all this time had actually been demonic beast meat.
‘So this is how he hunts demonic beasts to make jerky.’
He didn’t particularly feel any aversion.
He had grown up in the slums where food was scarce.
He would eat anything edible without discrimination. That was more advantageous for survival.
Jeon nimbly followed Deiodeun’s example.
Deiodeun only cut enough meat for a few days.
Because he could just hunt again when he ran out.
Jeon was different.
Because he wasn’t as strong as Deiodeun, he had to prepare thoroughly.
It was better to secure as much meat as possible.
Jeon secured nearly thirty pieces of meat.
He wanted to cut more but stopped because he had nowhere to store them.
Jeon took off his outer garment, wrapped the meat in it, made it into a bundle, and hoisted it onto his back.
“Keuh! You’re using your head pretty well.”
Deiodeun smirked.
Still, he was using his head fairly well for someone who’d only been put through the wringer for a couple of days. But he still had a long way to go.
To become truly useful, he would have to be put through the wringer for much longer.
And very cruelly at that.
Deiodeun spoke.
“If you’ve packed everything, let’s go. Before others smell the blood and come….”
It wasn’t because he was afraid of them.
He was leaving because it was a hassle.
Jeon nodded and followed behind Deiodeun.
He too no longer wanted to linger in this place reeking of blood.
The sun was already rising.
The tragedy revealed under the sunlight was even more gruesome.
Carrion birds that had already caught the scent of corpses were circling the sky. And more demonic beasts would gather to enjoy the feast.
That was the law of the desert.
The strong devour the weak, and the dead become food for other beasts.
No existence could escape this law.
Following Deiodeun around, Jeon was internalizing such laws of the desert one by one.
As always, Deiodeun walked ahead without giving Jeon so much as a glance.
Jeon used Sand Steps to catch up to him.
He thought it would be difficult to use Sand Steps because he had consumed a lot of mana during the night.
But surprisingly, it wasn’t very difficult.
More mana remained than expected, and manipulating it was much smoother.
‘It’s because of last night’s battle.’
The experience of fighting with a life-or-death resolve combined with mana manipulation pushed to its limit had clearly brought about a leap in development.
‘I’ve grown stronger. I’ll grow even stronger in the future.’
Jeon looked at the retreating figure of Deiodeun walking ahead.
He couldn’t know what reason Deiodeun had for dragging him along. But one thing was certain.
If he just followed him, he would surely grow stronger.
If he survived, that is.
Jeon diligently followed him.