With this much merit, he definitely qualified to be made into a Chosen One.

  ‘But…… I should still give my due diligence. Then…… should I give him a final test?’


  Sungjin intentionally sat down on a log and began to converse with him.

  “So, how did you manage to get this far? Is this the first time you faced a troll?”


  “Ah, so what happened is……”


  Sungjin was catching up with Baltren after their long separation. His plan was to hold some idle talk for a while and then activate ‘Eye of Jeremiah’ without him noticing. It wouldn’t last very long, but it should allow Sungjin to check his sincerity.

  “For me, the Magician’s Tower was particularly difficult. Of course, all raids were hard as well……”


  Sungjin waited for the right timing to touch his earring.

  *

  While Sungjin was pleasantly exchanging words with Baltren, Franz was busy dodging Illich’s Axe.

  “Woosh”


  The Axe reached close to his face. And then the ethereal blue blade cut his lip. Franz who was breathing out from his mouth found his lips were suddenly frozen together. He swung his sword menacingly-

  ‘Woosh’
-

  to push Illich away. And only after 2~3 seconds-

  “Haa!”
-

  did his lips unfreeze on their own accord.

  ‘Incorporeal freezing Blades……’


  Franz couldn’t really complain since he too used a sword imbued with the power of lightning, but this chapter just happened to be taking place in a Frost Plain. His sword lost its power when it came in contact with water or snow, whereas, Illich’s axe seemed to get stronger over time.

  ‘Damn it……’


  Franz swore as he fixed his grip on his two-handed sword. He couldn’t feel his left leg any longer. Earlier when he deflected the axe while he was down, the weapon had hit his leg before he knew it.

  ‘Is it frostbite?’


  Franz thought as Illich began to walk sideways while keeping his narrowed eyes on Franz like some sort of predator. He walked around in clockwise direction with Franz in the middle. Franz was forced to turn to meet him.

  ‘Why is he doing this?’


  Even when he fought Kei

  ‘This is his the way he fights’


  Franz was able to somewhat guess what Kei was doing (only that he was physically unable to keep up). But, he could not read into what this cold man was thinking or how he was going to attack next. It was then, Illich suddenly changed directions and began walking the other way.

  ‘Damn it, what is he up to?’


  Franz thought, but then Illich suddenly charged towards him. Franz quickly swung the sword in his hands. One advantage of his sword over Illich’s axe was reach.

  Being able to hit first was a major advantage. Franz aimed for Illich’s body and launched a horizontal swipe. But Illich lowered his body to the point that he dove to the ground.

  “Woo~sh”


  Franz’s swing went wide. For a moment, he thought.

  ‘Oh no’


  But then Illich’s Axe also did not connect.

  ‘Woosh~’


  Franz who quickly corrected his posture stared at Illich.

  ‘What happened?’


  He had shown a fatal opening, but Illich did not strike him. Illich would never have permitted such a mistake to happen in ordinary circumstances. But regardless, it was an opportunity for Franz. Franz readied to strike Illich who was still on the ground, but his left feet would not budge.

  ‘What?’


  Once Franz looked down at his feet, he realized that Illich had not made a mistake. His axe, or more specifically, the ethereal blue blade had not missed but had struck his left thigh a second time.

  His leg was already numb, so he didn’t notice when it paralyzed. When Illich had walked clockwise and then counter clockwise, he must have been checking to see if his leg was fine or not.

  Franz was unsure as to what to do, so he dragged his unmoving leg as he backed off. Meanwhile, Illich stood up from where he lay.

  Franz began to fear for his life. Illich was a master of combat and mind games. Franz had certainly felt fear when facing Master Hunter Kei, but that fear was derived from the absolute difference in strength. The fear he felt from Illich was akin to what a viewer of Science Fiction movie might feel on seeing mindless, heartless war machines coming to end humanity.

  He couldn’t help but feel compelled to ask Master Hunter Kei for assistance. Franz was a man with a strong sense of pride, but the current flow of combat had removed his inhibition. He thought to himself as he watched Illich approach him.

  ‘I will lose at this rate. He will kill me without even batting an eye.’


  *

  “So you’ve never trolled before?”


  “Of course.”


  Baltren’s thoughts flowed into Sungjin.

  ‘What a strange thing to ask’


  “I wish for all the hunters to work together and end this raid once and for all. Of course, I understand that there are trolls all over the place……”


  ‘I don’t know why he’s asking me this…… but I’ll give him a proper answer. This man might have the potential to save humanity, so I need to do whatever I can to assist him.’


  Sungjin who heard Baltren’s thoughts suddenly said out of the blue

  “Baltren you passed.”


  “Eh? Passed?”


  “Yes, Passed.”


  “What did I pass?”


  Sungjin took the Holy water of Baptism out of his vest and showed it to him.

  “You’ll find out shortly.”


  “Excuse me?”


  “You believe in me, right?”


  “Yes…… of course.”


  “Then please allow me.”


  And in a similar fashion as he had done to the other ‘Chosen Ones’, he baptised Baltren. After that he gave a brief primer on the functions of the ‘Chosen One’ title.

  “My goodness, 20% of your stats is granted as bonus stats to me?”


  “Yes. And……”


  But then the Operator interrupted him with an alarm.

  [10 minutes have passed since entering this Dimension.]

  Sungjin stopped himself short there. He still had one more Trollseeker Marble left to use. Sungjin said to Baltren.

  “If you open your status window now, you will understand. The title is already active at half capacity. The rest of the details, I will meet with you at dinner time and tell you then. I have somewhere I need to be.”


  “Ah…… ok.”


  Leaving the confused Baltren behind,

  “Pursuit of Justice”


  Sungjin transferred dimensions once more.

  Sorry about the delay in releases this week.

  We are stacked with work which is why the releases will be erratic for this week. Please give us some time as we sort a few things in our lives. Schedule should go back to normal from next week.