Chapter 74

The effect of becoming a Pontifex of Querehsha was immediately apparent.

Not only is he immune to poison, but he is free to handle poison and could use it for attacks.

Also…

'To be able to deal with it freely… Does this mean that this is possible?'

Suho immediately reached out to Baek Miho and Lim Taegyu.

Swoosh!

[Use 'Blessing: Poison'.]

"…!"

Baek Miho and Lim Taegyu's eyes widened.

The poisonous mist sprayed by the bees began to melt away as soon as it touched the light emitted by Suho.

"Detoxification skill?!"

"Sung Suho, were you a healer, not a summoning hunter?"

Baek Miho looked confused even as she asked.

It was because each and every ability that Suho had shown so far had nothing to do with being a healer.

However, Lim Taegyu's eyes were hopeful.

"If that's the case, you should have done it sooner! Could you help me to detoxify the poison in my body?"

Lim Taegyu was unable to use his mana as he was suppressing the poison that Secretary Oh had infused into him earlier.

The healer of the Reaper Guild failed to detoxify it, but a healer with a special skill might be able to do so.

However…

Ring.

[It cannot be detoxified because it is poison that has not been ingested.]

"Hmm."

A failure.

Apparently, the poison Lim Taegyu was infused with was not Lee Minseong's royal jelly but Arsha's royal jelly.

'Could he have had Arsha's poison before coming here?'

It's too late to regret.

"Right now, it seems difficult to detoxify. Let's deal with them first."

Swoosh!

Arrows were flying from all directions at the same time.

Contaminated ghouls hiding everywhere suddenly jumped out and started attacking Suho and his company.

"I will take care of the ghouls!"

Baek Miho jumped forward and slammed her fist on the floor.

Grumble-!

Skill, 'Vibration of Provocation'.

A circular wave of magic power spread from her fist stuck on the floor.

As if possessed by something, the contaminated ghouls all turned around and attacked Baek Miho.

Baek Miho fought against them, exuding tremendous energy from her body.

Starting with that, Lim Taegyu also ran and engaged in a hand-to-hand fight beside her.

The problem was that he knew each and every one of the ghouls' faces.

They were the younger brothers who had followed him since the founding of the Reaper Guild.

To be in a position to kill them with his own hands…

"Lee Minseong! What the hell do you want?! After all this, what do you want!"

Lim Taegyu burst into anger and shouted at Lee Minseong, who was hiding somewhere.

[All I want is just… for everyone to just go back to their original places.]

Lee Minseong's voice echoed in all directions.

As if Lee Minseong was in all those bees.

"Lee Minseong!"

Lim Taegyu looked around with an angry expression and shouted.

"Where are you?! Don't be cowardly hiding, come out!"

That moment.

Wiiiiing-

[I…]

The bees that filled his field of vision began to form a human shape as they came together in a whirlwind.

[… never hid.]

Thud.

Lee Minseong turned into a human and landed on the ground.

The whole area became quiet as if time had stopped.

"Lee Minseong!"

Lee Minseong stared at Lim Taegyu with emotionless eyes.

"I'm in charge of that guy!"

Lim Taegyu gritted his teeth and attacked Lee Minseong.

Baek Miho, who was fighting with the ghouls, shouted urgently.

"It is dangerous to attack alone!"

Even so, Lim Taegyu did not stop.

Even if he didn't have any skills, he was confident that he could beat Lee Minseong with his force.

That confidence is rooted from their level difference.

The difference between S-Class and A-Class that Lee Minseong was so jealous of.

But…

[Arrogant bastard.]

Lee Minseong sneered and scattered again into numerous bees.

Swish!

Lim Taegyu's punch cut through the air in vain.

Lee Minseong came together in human form behind Lim Taegyu's back.

Swoosh-!

Lim Taegyu turned around and attacked Lee Minseong again with his great reflexes.

Then, Lee Minseong scattered again.

"You bastard!"

Swoosh-!

Things went on repeatedly.

When he suddenly came to his senses, dozens of Lee Minseong clones were standing around Lim Taegyu.

"What…?!"

Those 'Lee Minseong' attacked all at the same time.

Sharp spears extended from both of their hands, and their appearance gradually began to change into that of the queen bee's lancer.

Slash!

As the battle continued, Lee Minseong changed his appearance to queen bee's lancer. Lim Taegyu panicked and avoided the endless attacks.

[Fair enough.]

[Suppressing one's mana, but at this level.]

[A useless S-Class is still an S-Class.]

Lee Minseong's voice echoed from all sides, mocked Lim Taegyu and continued to play with him.

[Young Master.]

In the center of this terrible melee, Beru looked at Suho.

"That's right."

Suho, who was watching the situation, nodded.

Then he raised his head and muttered as he glared somewhere.

"It is all an illusion."

To be precise, it was all 'imitation'.

Lee Minseong, who was only a worker bee, did not have the ability to make a lancer like the queen bee Arsha.

If that was possible, the ghouls Baek Miho was dealing with would have been lancers, not ghouls in the first place.

In the end, it was clear that all of those ghouls were failed attempts by Lee Minseong to imitate the Queen Bee and make a lancer.

Those lancers that Lim Taegyu was dealing with must also be just an illusionary existence of bees.

"Beru, any information about the real Lee Minseong?"

[I'm sorry, but the bees are wandering around and disturbing my senses.]

Beru has been tracking the true location of Lee Minseong, constantly flicking his antennae.

"We should stop for a moment."

Suho raised his head and glared at the bees filling his field of vision.

Lick.

I've already got a taste of them.

'What kind of taste do these guys here have?'

Right before, he had been eating Querehsha's bugs non-stop, and now they all looked like delicacies.

Right then…

[The 'Title: Natural Enemy of Insects' buff effect is activated.]

…!

The bees that were wandering around were startled and buzzed loudly.

A tension from a natural enemy awakened their survival instinct.

[Title: Natural Enemy of Insects]

A title given to a predator of insects. Increases all stats by 40% when facing bug-type monsters.

Suho immediately crossed his twin swords.

Then, a tremendous amount of energy emerged from 'Rakan's Sword' he was holding in his right hand.

[Use 'Skill: Contempt for the Weak'.]

Swoosh!

…!

['Effect: Fear' is activated.]

[All stats of the targets are reduced by 50% for 1 minute.]

The debuff skill of 'Rakan's Sword' put opponents weaker than himself into a state of fear.

When the effect was combined with the 'Natural Enemy of Insects', a tremendous synergy was created.

Suho's twin swords created a strong wind.

[Use 'Skill: Blade Storm'.]

Swish-!

'It's stronger than usual.'

A whirlwind of great energy engulfed him so much that he could feel it himself.

Suho twisted his whole body and swung the two swords around like windmills.

SWIIISH!

A terribly violent typhoon caught the bees that filled their field of vision and engulfed them all at once.

Everything, including the lancers who surrounded and pressured Lim Taegyu.

[You have killed the contaminated wasp.]

[You have killed the contaminated wasp.]

[You have killed the contaminated wasp.]

[You have killed the contaminated wasp.]

…

Countless bees were crushed.

Messages were pouring in.

Along with that…

[The level of 'Skill: Blade Storm' increased.]

Suho became even stronger.

'Woah. How could he be this powerful?!'

Lim Taegyu, who hurriedly escaped thanks to the storm, looked back at Suho with a shocked expression.

'Wasn't he also a healer?'

Suho's current appearance was neither a summoning hunter nor a healer in any way.

What kind of summoning hunter and healer could use such powerful attack skills?!

Lim Taegyu felt that everything he knew about hunters was being shattered.

The reality was that the synergy between the title effect buff and the item buff boosted Suho's power, but Lim Taegyu, who was unaware of such a situation, could not help but be astonished.

"Lee Minseong? What happened to Lee Minseong?"

He suddenly came to his senses and hurriedly turned his gaze to the place where Lee Minseong was.

All those 'Lee Minseong' were caught in the storm and scattered.

In the place where the storm had passed, Beru shouted after breaking the momentary silence.

[I found him!]

As soon as Beru's words were finished, Suho's sword cut through the air as it protruded forward.

Crackle!

Then, the vacuum of nothingness was shattered…

Everything started to fall apart.

[Damn it. You found me well.]

From beyond that hidden space, ferocious eyes glared at Suho.

Through the cracks in the fragmented air, 'Lee Minseong' slowly walked out.

But his look…

[The Queen's Lancer]

'It doesn't say contaminated.'

Suho found it strange.

Was it because he was an A-Class hunter?

Unlike the 'contaminated lancers' he encountered so far, Lee Minseong was the first non-contaminated one to appear.

A humanoid soldier whose entire body is armed like armor.

He was exuding the most powerful aura among the lancers Suho had ever met.

"You said you weren't going to hide, but you were hiding?"

[Normally, it's out of character for the king to step out directly where his servants play.]

When Suho laughed at him, Minseong smiled as if he found it funny.

Those words were true.

'… Strong.'

Flutter.

From the moment he met him, Suho's senses stats were sending warnings like crazy.

'He's the strongest among the monsters I've met so far.'

But.

'… Compared to the dead monarchs, he was absurdly weak.'

Since Suho had already met Querehsha, the Queen of Insects, he wasn't discouraged by the overwhelming sense of intimidation emanating from Lee Minseong.

However, Baek Miho and Lim Taegyu were different.

"N-No way…"

"How did Minseong get this kind of power…"

He was the strongest soldier bee created by Queen Bee Arsha with great care.

The powerful aura felt from the Demonic Beast born for battle was giving them a terrible sense of despair.

In particular, to Baek Miho, who has developed a sense of wildness more than anyone else, Lee Minseong felt like an incredibly gigantic being.

However, what Lim Taegyu, an S-Class hunter, felt was humiliation.

"Ugh. If only I could use my mana…"

No matter how strong Lee Minseong became, he was confident that he could deal with him if he got his usual strength.

But that was impossible now.

Right then…

Suho spoke to them, who were completely frozen.

"Let's join forces."

"… What?"

"Huh?"

"What are you looking at? Will you run away then?"

Suho's words made them think if they should retreat and bring in fellow hunters.

"We're in a mess right now, so let's attack all at once instead of splitting the tanks and attackers."

Suho's strategy was simple.

"Since he hides well, let's rip his wings first so that he can't run away, and beat him altogether until he dies."

[Pft.]

Minseong laughed at Suho's words.

[Ridiculous. Are you saying you're going to deal with me on your own? Me, who will become the King of Insects?]

"Ah, the King of Insects?"

Suho also laughed at him genuinely.

Lick.

"Didn't taste very good though."

… Chills.

Why?

Minseong suddenly felt uncomfortable with Suho.

[Queen of Insects, Plague Monarch, shakes her head, saying that she has been caught by a terrible one.]

"I wonder what your poison would taste like?"