Hunt for the Horns

"Hey. Min-chul~~ we have to wake up"

Shaking me, she wakes me up from my sleep and I realize that the right cheek is wet again...what the hell? Did I drool? Shouldn't it only be a straight line? Well, it doesn't really concern me since it doesn't seems like I was harmed or poisoned.

"Ughh...huh? Oh. Sorry"

After yawning and stretching, I crack my bones the move the curtains to see that the soldiers are already setting up our camp for the night. Taking a step out and helping Hana down, I start helping with the trivia tasks such as moving firewood and lighting some bonfires to cook the packed food we brought along.

After setting up my tent, Anna, followed by an unexpected Hana, came in and said they needed to sleep in the same tent as me. When asked why, they said that the heroes ran out of tents and they needed one tent to have 3 people.

'Hmmm...sureeee. But why are all the girls around me so ambiguous and indirect?! Why can they just tell me what they want from me instead of playing this stupid game? If it's pipe you want! Then it's pipe I shall lay! Obviously, not here right now. And while a threesome may sound fun, it would complicate our relationships'

"Are you sure?"

"Uhuh uhuh!" "Yup!"

Nodding my head, I set up the sleeping arrangements. Despite how simple this should be, considering both these girls like me, it is a matter of who I favor more. Well, the simple solution is to make me sleep in the middle; my worst sleeping position but it will have to do for now.

"Good night girls"

"Night night" "sleep tight"

Closing my eyes, I start feeling a pair of eyes staring at me from behind...Hana? Why the hell is she so intense? As if she is staring katanas into the back of my head, she continues staring for the next 5 minutes.

"Night night, Min-chul"

'...huh?'

I can't just brush this weird-ass behavior from her. Especially since this is the first time she has acted this weird but right now, I have no choice and need to sleep. I can't be making decisions while sleep deprived.

'Oh! I forgot something...goodnight, Michael'

[hehehe, you remembered. Night, Min-chul]

....

....

"...ding ding ding!!!! Get up! Get up! Raid! It's a raid!"

Looking around, I notice that Anna and Hana are both immediately up after hearing the bell. Hearing the word "raid" really scared me. Not the fact that I can't repel one, it's the fact that I need to hide my strength during this time. I have no measure on how powerful fyr mages like me are.

This is the worst possible thing to happen right now.

After strapping my boots and wearing my cloak, I grab my staff then follow to where the rest of the mage are. As I'm running, a pouch comes flying at me with intense speed and me being a fyr mage, lights it up to explode mid-air.

While running, multiple other pouches come flying at soldiers, tents and carriages. This is an intelligent species that is raiding us, that I know.

They are able to coordinate their pouch throwing attack to throw in the same timespan and they are very quiet; meaning some form of visual communication at the least and control of mana at the most.

As we follow the soldiers rushing out of the gates, the front most soldiers drop to the ground as arrows pierce their heads and chest, killing them instantly. Viscous brain matter and viscera falls to the floor, making a reflective surface of bloody puddles.

However, this doesn't deter the other soldiers; they have seen much worse. Continuing their charge, the 2nd row turned 1st row and the row behind them fall into 6 meter deep pits filled with crushed mana crystals and sharpened logs cut into pikes. Most them are impaled and the rest are either stuck under the impaled, have a broken leg or have no leverage to get out.

Seeing a pouch fly into the hole, most soldiers know whats about to happen; about 4 soldiers kill themselves before the pouch blows up. The rest are incinerated, completely burnt and dead.

The soldiers take more heed from now one, keeping their heads on a swivel. Well, I know that there are 3 watching us from the left, 5 on the right and at least 4 up in the trees. We have literally no chance if the soldiers don't notice this...I need to seem helpful somehow.

"Show yourselves, you bastard!!!"

"Fucking cowards!!! Where are you! Fight me like a man!"

"Is that the best you can do?!?!"

Yelling profanities and insults, the soldiers test their luck to see if one of the raiders gets provoked...which they don't. So the possibility that they aren't human grows bigger and bigger, that's good. So killing them won't make me look like a murderer but a hero protecting the camp.

Some of the archers start firing out into the trees to test their luck and...oh! They actually hit one! After hearing that yelp of pain for a moment, the soldiers rush into that area, leaving only 10 soldiers guarding the mages...utterly dumb.

Immediately after I think that, all 10 soldiers guarding us are killed from either a broken neck or a slit neck. Most of the heroes around me are shaking in their boots scared. They, being battle hardened from all the sieges they've been through, start reacting despite their scared appearance. They have seen bloodshed but no so close to them. They are mages, after all.

Meanwhile, the fighting heroes over at the south entrance finished quickly and are coming over the help us out... hmmm, maybe this can be to my advantage... yes.

Aiming at spell at the right place and time, it's aimed at one of the raiders in front of us. Seeing their numbers dwindling, they decided they should show themselves since hiding without a fight will be for naught.

Shoot the spell, a fighter hero jumps in front of me since a poisoned dart is coming my way. In turn, she also saved that raider from my fireball. We both better thank her, eh? Screaming and wailing in pain while rolling on the floor, I wait for about 3 seconds to let the burn injuries set before putting her out.

Some heroes that saw the scene were slack jawed. Not at me severely injuring another hero but at her unlucky timing. The way it was it was to them, I was just casting my spell, when she jumped in front of my for no apparent reason.

Continuing on, we eventually repel the raiders and bury the bodies. 134 soldiers dead, 1 hero severely injured and not able to serve. Being carried back to the nearest medical center in Gwanya, it will be another 2 weeks before they are back to the medical center where they will either he experimented on or healed.

'This is good. One down means that the demon king will be split 10 ways instead of 11'

Obviously, there is the problem of the demon king being stronger than us combined but I doubt it especially after Michael told me how powerful demons used to be. If they were really that big and that strong with Michael ruling them, I have nothing to fear. And plus, I'm immortal; I just don't want to die. It's a pain, honestly.

#002, Wera Lane, Whittaker Village, Gwanya

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Taking a sip of her tea, Rosé Danlia, the CEO of the Danlia Corporation, crosses her legs and gives a gentle smile, one that would make her look like she isn't harmful at all when in fact, she didn't just get there with inheritance. She grew the company and manipulated the board to give herself a 56% controlling vote.

In front of her however is a man far greater than she will ever be. He is greater than her father, her father's mother and so on. Without him, everyone would live in a world of insecurity, needing various locks on their doors, walls at least 2 meters thick and bars on the windows.

This man is the best businessman ever to exist in Calko's known history.

"So...is there anything, uncle?"

"About your chosen hero...you do realize who he is to Aria, yes?"

"Yup"

"So you picked him because..."

"Because auntie Aria looked really happy with him. And plus, he is a powerful mage"

"!...What the hell...a mage too? What kind of bullshit..."

"It is unbelievable but trust me. He was very strong"

Putting a finger on his chin while thinking, he sips from his own tea and looks to the sky, surrounded by his luxurious cobble and marble-like materials that make up his 30,000,000 gold mansion not including the furniture and value of land. With all these combined, the price would easily go past 100,000,000 gold.

"So...tell me when he is to be sent to Aria"

'Shit...'

Rosé knows this is a test; he has been doing this to her father and now to her. He only does this to see the capability of the CEO's and chairmen around him but for Rosé, it's him challenging her political and business know-how.

"We plan to send him back 1 week after Aria gets the message of his survival"

"Oh? So you'll send her the warning while this Min-chul fella is on his way?"

"That is the plan"

"Hmmm...seems fine by me. Go along now"

'Tch! Fucking old man...'

With his words, it may sound like a harmless sentence to anyone but to Rosé, this is his admitting that he still sees her as a green bellied CEO, a CEO who inherited everything from her daddy. And constantly, she is reminded time and time and time again about how her daddy got Aria to be queen, how he controlled over 40% of Destinasia's food supply and how her daddy set up 50 new stores in a month and they all made profits.

It pisses her off and she has been treated like this by the man she just met and some other people. She is now around 30 yet they call her kiddie or child. She has grown the business of the Danlias but not to the extent of her father...yet.

'Motherfucking old men...let us see who will emerge from the hunt for the horns...Min-chul, don't disappoint me and...make lots and lots of money along with me'

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(A.N) Puwaahahhhhhh! It's morning and...I was writing all night. Hope you enjoyed this new chapter and...see ya! Peace ✌️!