But just as Ito began to hesitate, that was when Zhen sat up and scooped a handful of water with both his palms.
This made the Eastern Hunter squint, waiting for the Northern Hunter to drink it.
He studied the water carefully, its refreshing appearance now holding his full attention. And his sense of smell didn't miss the scent either.
Ito unconsciously swallowed his own saliva.
He's been inspecting this water for so long.
Zhen spread the water over his face instead of drinking it.
Is the water poisoned? This is infuriating! I've crawled this far. But the worst part is, I have to wait for him to explain again!
The black eyes glanced at the man beside him, who had been silent all this time.
"Are you dying? Why don't you drink this?"
Zhen turned to wipe his neck, casting a pitying look at the Eastern Hunter.
"Do you think I'm stupid? The water's poisoned, right?" Ito lay back, his body too weak.
Hearing this, Zhen smiled bitterly. He purposely drank the water from his palms several times, glancing at the Eastern Hunter, who soon followed his cue.
"This is the most refreshing water I've ever tasted!" A smile blossomed on Ito's lips.
He washed his face and wiped the dirt from his body, never forgetting to do so.
"Everything feels so amazing when you earn it with blood and sweat."
Ito fell silent for a few seconds, contemplating his words, and sighed deeply. He observed the Northern Hunter carefully wiping his sword with great precision and caution.
The Northern Hunter's build looked more like that of a war general than a hunter barely in his teens. Ito also wondered why his face was always hidden.
Maybe he has a scar, how sad…
Shrugging, Ito felt a bit of sympathy.
But then, a moment of suspicion arose as he saw him sit, as if waiting for someone to arrive, and suddenly move closer to him. Ito's fleeting thoughts of beauty were shattered in an instant.
"Aren't you preparing?" asked the Northern Hunter.
Ito blinked repeatedly, his brows furrowed in confusion at the sudden question.
"What do you mean by that?"
Zhen became indifferent, then stood up from his seat. He fixed a sharp gaze on Ito. "The Sword Monster will be here soon."
"Oh, I figured as much. I suspected it might be any moment now. And haven't we become a team? Why do you keep leaving me behind, Northern Hunter?"
The question seemed to fall on deaf ears as Zhen sprinted toward a large rock, about 100 meters away. He glanced at Ito briefly, flashing that sharp, curved smile.
I'll enjoy your fight, Eastern Hunter.
Ito, however, could sense the hidden meaning in the curve of his smile. His brows furrowed as his mind was overwhelmed with pressure.
Damn it! My thoughts are all tangled up!
Amidst his inner turmoil, Ito felt the black sand beneath his feet tremble slightly.
And then… what they'd been waiting for emerged.
A towering humanoid figure, its body covered in broken shards of swords, its face little more than a cracked helm with hollow gaps in its chest, glowing with a blue flame-like light.
Seventeen massive blades were tightly gripped in its terrifying hands, the sword tips embedded in the sand. The blades didn't appear to be ordinary steel.
The shadows of Sorti Sortex's swords flickered and vanished around the desert, prompting the Eastern Hunter to chant the Broukirakh spell repeatedly.
[Target Detected! Sorti Sortex has appeared in the Sul'Har Wastes!]
"I'll defeat you!"
The sword monster growled at the words that came from his mouth, and in a flash, it spun its seventeen arms, chasing after Ito's body.
Despite his stomach still growling, the Eastern Hunter swiftly dodged the lethal strikes of the Sword Monster's arms.
He bent his knees, his body darting to the side, narrowly avoiding Sorti's vertical slash, which, if it connected, would have torn his legs to shreds.
Sorti's other arms kept slashing the sand, sending up black dust, obscuring Ito's vision.
But no worries. The Eastern Hunter was skilled at predicting his opponent's moves when cornered, able to sense an incoming attack and shift the enemy's tactics.
From behind the black sand mist, Ito twisted his wrist and unleashed a punch layered with Broukirakh magic, striking the side of Sorti.
But the sword monster's body only shuddered briefly.
"Crazy, this... feels like hitting an iron mountain!" Ito rolled to dodge the counterattack from Sorti's sword.
It was Sorti who seemed to have adapted to the remnants of the Eastern Hunter's magic. The monster's slashes grew faster, its movements nearly grazing Ito's ankles.
And the seventeen spinning swords almost struck his waist. In that split second, he barely managed to create a thin magical shield in the air, but the shield shattered immediately, causing toxic sand to strike his skin.
The sand, now tainted by Sorti's iron blades, began to burn his skin, blistering slowly, then rotting if not washed away by desert water afterward.
"Aghhh!" Ito spat blood, the taste of metal flooding his mouth.
[Warning: Body energy is rapidly declining!]
From a distance, Zhen still watched the tiresome chase, wasting his time standing by the large rock.
He's skilled enough to use both martial arts and magic, without even needing a sword.
His gaze was sharp, calculating every movement.
He was waiting, allowing the Eastern Hunter to keep resisting, all the while measuring Sorti's movements, calculating the gaps between every swing of the seventeen swords.
But then, his hand suddenly trembled—perhaps because his spell wasn't stable. Ito was cornered.
He must be suffering badly from hunger! The footsteps of someone moved quickly and silently toward the Sword Monster.
Sorti's next slash would surely slice the Eastern Hunter into seventeen pieces, but wait—
A black blade suddenly appeared, stopping the attack.
Jouhen no Kage, the Northern Hunter's sword, shimmered faintly with wild swirling soul energy.
Zhen finally moved.
"Enough playing around," his voice was low.
Sorti roared, its metal body spinning, launching a series of crisscrossing slashes.
Each swing of its sword left a trail of steel in the air, like thousands of illusionary blades falling from the sky.
But the blade of Jouhen no Kage deflected each strike—not with sheer force, but with perfect precision. It was as though it knew where Sorti's sword would land, a fraction of a second before it happened.
Zhen's steps were light, barely leaving a mark on the toxic sand.
The monster's shadow multiplied, as if ten Sorti Sortex were dancing around the Northern Hunter.
The monster went wild, its fury erupting in chaos. The broken swords embedded in its body detached, floating in the air and spiraling in every direction.
A rain of blades sought to pierce and unsettle the Northern Hunter's defense. They flew fast, embedding themselves, creating layered mirages.
Zhen understood the Sword Monster's ego. He spun his sword in a perfect circle, soul energy extending from its blade, forming a black shield that consumed the false illusions one by one, then reversed their course.
At this point, Ito could only cover his face with his arm.
"I... can't even see the end of it anymore."
Sorti swung several of its arms simultaneously, slashing at Zhen from above and below, left and right.
Zhen quickly found an idea—he leaped toward Sorti Sortex's blind spot.
In an instant, he was above the sword monster's head.
He dove. His blade pierced Sorti's blue core. A scream echoed, like a thousand swords crying out at once.
Sorti struggled to resist, but Zhen twisted his sword inside, creating a spiral of soul energy that shattered the metal network from within.
Sorti's sword arms fell, severed, breaking into shards.
Then, with one final swing, Zhen drew his blade to the side.
Sorti's body split diagonally.
Metal fragments flew into the air, disintegrating into black dust, which was quickly swallowed by the desert sand.
"Damn bastard!!! Sword Monster coward!!!"
Not long after, Zhen drove his sword into the sand and turned to face the Eastern Hunter.
"Are you hungry? Don't even think about hunting again until your stomach is full."
Ito grunted, attempting to rise, but he collapsed back onto the ground. "You say that now, after I almost became part of his scrap metal?"
[ Mission Complete! ]
[ Target: Sorti Sortex – Destroyed ]
[ Reward: 100,000 Goldi ]
[ Reward Owner: Northern Hunter ]
The system's voice rang out, piercing Ito's ears.
Ito clicked his tongue, glaring at the golden illusionary chest spinning in the air.
"I knew it... straight into your wallet."
Zhen cleaned his sword of the battle's remnants, then spoke briefly without turning his head:
"Take it. It's yours."
Ito froze, blinking in disbelief, trying to make sure his ears weren't deceiving him.
"...Take?"