Chapter 49: Hope

Do-cheol managed to secure the path where the Three-tailed Sabertooths were blocking earlier. But, the other Sabertooths who were behind had caught up with them.

"Prepare for the fights!"

Krash--

Grrr, Rawr--

The hunters stopped running and got forced to fight back. Do-cheol felt doing a battle while running away was such a hassle for them.

"Magic of Fire, Flamestorm!"

A B-rank hunter slammed both his palms against the ground. And huge flames gushed out, stopping dozens of Sabertooths from advancing. The barren forest in front of him turned into a blaze of fire.

"Magic of Water, Aqua bullets!"

In another place, small water balls rained down on the Three-tailed Sabertooths, slowing the beast's movement speeds.

The other hunters couldn't idle either.

Every B-rank hunter was busy with a Sabertooth or more. On the other side, C-rank hunters needed a few of them to match a Sabertooth, while D-rank hunters required dozens to handle one of the beasts.

An E-rank hunter could only become a support for other hunters. Even the whole E-rank hunters jump at the Sabertooth. They still couldn't fight the beast toe to toe.

After a while, the seemingly balanced brawl didn't calm Do-cheol in the slightest. He worried so much about his teammates that it affected his own fight.

When the battle started, the hunters were probably evenly matched with the Three-tailed Sabertooths. However, as time passed, the overall strength of the hunters decreased drastically. Meanwhile, the beasts still maintained their good condition.

The Three-tailed Sabertooths Mana vitality didn't diminish in the slightest!

Do-cheol's heart shrank at the realization. The plan didn't work out as he had hoped. The difference in their strength was too apparent.

And Dong-hyun, as the supporting role, could only stare at how the other hunters clashed with the Three-tailed Sabertooths.

It had been a chaotic situation from the start.

As the lowest rank hunters, their presence became very insignificant in that case.

The most common textbook for Guilds and Hunters in the world when hunting in a dungeon was to separate dozens of beasts or creatures into smaller groups. Then fight them with overwhelmed numbers. With that, the chance of surviving and closing the Portal Gate rises to a 90% success rate.

However, upon seeing the battle before his eyes, different from usual, Dong-hyun got scared shitless!

Standing beside Dong-hyun, Yu-jin helplessly bit her lip because the battle was out of her reach. She tried beforehand to fight against a Sabertooth. But her attacks couldn't do anything at all.

Grrr, Rawr--

Suddenly the situation drastically changed. A Three-tailed Sabertooth escaped the hunters' defense and penetrated their formation.

One of the hunters shouted a warning to their teammates.

"Get down!"

Dong-hyun snapped out of daydream because of the alert. With how fast Sabertooth was moving, there was no way Dong-hyun could avoid it. He unconsciously moved his arms to cover the head out of fear while Yu-jin gritted her teeth to hold back her own fear and tried to fight back because she was standing in the same place as Dong-hyun.

"Magic of Fire, Phoenix wings!"

Flames rose across Yu-jin's two arms, forming the large, long wings of the phoenix. She wanted to block the attack from Sabertooth with it.

A hunter who gave them the warning earlier got dumbfounded by the actions of those low-rank hunters.

"Move! You can't fight it head-on! Da*n it!"

The hunter wanted to save Dong-hyun and Yu-jin but couldn't catch up because of the distance between him and the beast.

Grr, Ruaawr!

The Three-tailed Sabertooth roared.

Both Dong-hyun and Yu-jin could feel tremendous pressure from the roar. Especially Yu-jin, she knew her efforts wouldn't be enough to withstand the beast's attack.

Duag, Boom!

A simple flying kick landed on Sabertooth's body, and the beast was blown away and flung onto the ground.

"Pull yourselves together! We're on the battlefield!"

Dong-hyun and Yu-jin couldn't hear Ji-woo's words in amazement, seeing the fast and powerful Sabertooth got thrown away so easily. But, Yu-jin denied the strength he showed.

"I-Impossible!? How can you do that!? Luck!?"

Yu-jin couldn't understand how Ji-woo could kick Sabertooth that was clearly stronger than her, with ease.

Ji-woo didn't answer at all. He didn't have the luxury of talking to Yu-jin at that point. He was busy observing the brawl.

Meanwhile, Do-cheol in the Sacred Bull form holds the bite of Sabertooths on both of his forearms.

Haaa!!

Do-cheol threw the two Sabertooths away. Thanks to his armor's ability, he was able to hold Sabertooths' fangs with his arms.

Three Sabertooths were facing Do-cheol at this time, including the two he threw earlier. He had been using his full strength since the start of the battle. But none of the beasts have died yet.

Run? Could not!

Keep fighting? No hope!

What options did Do-cheol have? He could only submit to fate.

The previous B-rank hunter who used overwhelming fire to push back dozens of Sabertooths reached his limit.

"I can't hold it anymore!"

Grrr, Rawr--

Dozens of Sabertooths emerged from the flames, and their entire body gave off hot steam. The beasts didn't get hurt at all after being burned for quite a while.

The Sabertooths' durability was arguably due to the soft black and maroon color shade armor that the beasts wore. An artifact item capable of increasing the endurance of the wearer.

"Magic of Water, Chaos wave!"

Fpashh--

A stream of water came from behind that B-rank hunter. The beasts that were still hot immediately hardened in the cold water. It made the Sabertooths' movements stop after a few seconds of being splashed with the water.

The voices of other hunters came out from behind.

"Let's go to Do-cheol hyung~nim now! These things wouldn't last long enough. They will be able to break through later!"

Ji-woo, who oversaw the battle, also realized the toughness of the beasts came from the armor they wore. Soft black and maroon were the colors he was familiar with it.

Armoire Sphere!

It was not a surprise for Ji-woo if the dungeon creatures knew how to use their own Sphere.

'How much Mana does that armor have to be this sturdy?!'

Even Ji-woo, who was sensitive to Mana, didn't know the exact amount the armor had. It proved Sphere was such an extraordinary item against him.

The Armoire Sphere had similar attributes to the Obelisk Sphere. Only the method was different. And this one got sturdier with Mana while maintaining its weight.

It was the perfect material to get used for making armors or any other combat tool with its endurance-enhancing attributes. Then all artifacts wouldn't get damaged easily.

"Hyung! We can't last long if this continues. We need to find a way to separate ourselves from these beasts."

The B-rank hunter from before impatiently asked for a plan for the grim situation to the Team 3 leader. After the other two hunters arrived, the three of them with Do-cheol quickly knocked the beasts away for a moment. It gave them quite some time for a chat.

Do-cheol also wanted to get out of the battlefield. It was just that he currently had no solution to escape from the Sabertooth horde.

Suddenly, Ji-woo approached and spoke amidst the hopeless situation.

"I have a plan. No, this cannot be called a plan to be precise. It is only a temporary solution for all of us."

The three hunters were taken aback by Ji-woo's words. The mouths of the other two hunters twitched. The two of them were displeased with how Ji-woo was interfering with their affairs.

"Who are you? It is not a trivial matter. Get back to where you are!"

"You don't have to worry! We can take care of it."

However, in contrast to the two hunters, Do-cheol instead wanted to hear Ji-woo's advice with a bit of hope. It was because of his previous impression of Ji-woo when he got reprimanded about the beast's trap.

"No. Let's hear it out first. Now, whatever it is, it might become a help in a situation like this."

The other two hunters wanted to object but got stopped by Do-cheol. Since their team leader had already spoken, the two of them could only follow obediently.

Ji-woo then started giving directions on what they needed to do while convincing Do-cheol about the plan.

Persuading the team leader equaled having control over all hunters on Team 3. It was too much of a hassle if Ji-woo needed to convince each hunter one by one with that short amount of time. Especially with his personality, he definitely wouldn't do something like that even if the world was falling apart.

After hearing the arrangement, aside from Do-cheol, the other two hunters became speechless. They wanted to hit Ji-woo for acting arrogantly. But at the same time, they were relieved to have a little hope.

Do-cheol gasped as he stared at the young man in front of him in a leather outfit that resembled a military kevlar vest. He doubted the plan would succeed, but he was also worried about the condition of his team members if they didn't take that step.

"Sorry. I'm a selfish leader and easily agree with your dangerous plan. Thank you, Ji-woo~si. I hope you're alright and catch up with us later."

Do-cheol took a deep breath, suppressed his heartache, and decided to go with Ji-woo's intentions. He then left with the other hunter.

Ji-woo just nodded with his expressionless face. For him, whatever the team leader thought, it didn't matter. Because, in the end, he proposed the plan according to his convenience.

"You can hide now. And keep your distance so as not to be hurt by my strength."

"Alright. Hereafter you use the Magic spell. I will immediately take your spot."

Ji-woo and the B-rank hunter have started the plan against the Three-tailed Sabertooths.