527

 [Chapter 144]

[Phoenix's Flame (3)]

He buys time for his party members to retreat.

And then he would face Kakgunbong for a while before retreating himself.

The most ideal countermeasure.

"─Cough...!"

But after exchanging blows several times,

Eunha withdrew his plan.

There would be no retreat.

In the end, it was just one of two options.

Shaaaak!!

Either he dies, or it dies.

The battle would surely continue until one side loses their life.

Eunha put strength into both hands holding two swords.

Moon Dance

He steps forward forcefully with his right front foot while bending his waist as much as possible.

Winter That Blooms Coldly shines and spits out a sword strike.

Then he steps diagonally with his left foot to avoid its attack.

He swings Winter That Creeps Like Snow with his left hand that was stretched behind his waist.

The sword that collides with its armor roars fiercely.

Unable to withstand the sword pressure, its arm goes down below its chest─

─Stab

Eunha seized that opening to thrust Winter That Blooms Coldly held in his right hand.

The sword digs into the armor.

Eunha pushed his body forward, putting strength into his feet that were stuck to the ground as if rooted.

One step forward.

Ubbo

A strange cry is heard from behind.

Though it was fixed in that spot, with just one step Eunha had ignored physical distance and passed by it.

As a result, the sword stuck in its body also instantly ignored physical distance and pierced through its back.

I can't end it like this.

I have to attack as much as I can.

But Moon Dance wasn't over yet.

Eunha used his back foot as an axis to half-rotate and swung Winter That Creeps Like Snow.

It hurriedly blocks the sword.

Then Winter That Blooms Coldly comes in and digs into its heart area.

Again it flinches and blocks the sword, and Winter That Blooms Coldly moves.

Like that, the situation of one side blocking a gap and the other side landing an attack continues without pause.

As long as that balance isn't broken─

─Moon Dance

The swords endlessly produce metallic sounds.

He drove it back, exquisitely mixing Ubbo and Moon Dance.

While Thousand Steps is merely shortening the distance towards the path one wants to advance,

Ubbo is magic that makes the visible distance centered on oneself useless.

He kept tricking it by suddenly appearing behind its back or on its sides with just one step.

The problem is─

─My mana is running out.

I can't last much longer like this...!

Including using Winter That Blooms Coldly's magic to drive away the students' fear,

Besides Moon Dance and Ubbo,

Eunha was using magic excessively to face Kakgunbong.

He was recovering internal mana by using mana drain occasionally, but the amount consumed was greater than the amount recovered.

So Eunha was feeling increasingly strained.

In contrast, it─

─Shaaaak!!

Other than not being able to respond to quick attacks, it had no particular injuries.

Even the wound from being pierced by the sword earlier was healing.

It's because of the dungeon's influence.

Damn it...

The dungeon is reacting.

Eunha clicked his tongue seeing mana visibly seeping into its skin even without straining his eyes.

The dungeon that exists for monsters was giving it strength.

Moreover─

─Pop pop pop!

The monster Eunha had to face wasn't just Kakgunbong.

The monsters under its command were also trying to target Eunha whenever they had a chance.

It was the same now.

Monsters that could shoot stingers were trying to snipe from a distance while those with sharp blades for hands rushed in.

Ubbo

Judging he could no longer push it back, Eunha used Ubbo to avoid.

But the monsters' attacks couldn't be stopped midway.

Shaaaak!!

The flying stingers hit Kakgunbong's armor.

Naturally, it ended up striking down the monsters rushing at itself.

Then it immediately used Ubbo to try to find Eunha who had disappeared.

Eunha, who had retreated to the rear─

─Virulent Venom

Eunha smiled.

Very exquisitely, subordinate monsters were gathered around Kakgunbong.

When he swung his blackened blade, sticky mana spread in all directions.

Gurgle!

Septic poison runs rampant.

In an instant, one individual soaked in poison goes berserk and scatters poison.

Poison begets poison.

An unstoppable death grows.

Even Kakgunbong was at a loss in this sudden situation.

However─

"─This sucks."

Eunha couldn't help but spit out a curse.

It had clearly been infected by the poison too.

But its poisoned state lasted only for a very brief moment.

Screech!!

Even if a lizard's poison and a bee's poison are different,

In the end, it too was a high-tier monster containing poison.

Just when it seemed the septic poison was working, it quickly showed signs of adapting.

Furthermore, when it lowered its hand raised to the sky towards him─

─Pop pop pop!

A spell formula composed of several layers.

By the time he recognized it, those spell formulas were surrounding him from all directions.

There's no gap to escape using Ubbo.

The spell formulas flash and energy that seems like it will burn the world pours down on him.

─Pride's Counterattack

Gift <Unknown >

☆

No matter how strong Noh Eunha was,

Logically, it was nearly impossible to take down a 4th tier monster alone.

Moreover, he was an Academy student.

Nevertheless, Mok Min-ho had no choice but to entrust it to Eunha and lead the party members in retreat.

Please, be safe...!

He could only pray.

He could only believe.

That just as Noh Eunha had always shown groundbreaking actions that broke common sense,

Eunha would show groundbreaking actions this time too.

Min-ho moved his feet that felt like they would turn back the moment he stopped.

He didn't want to make Noh Eunha's sacrifice in vain.

No matter how much stronger I become...

I'm still just baggage to that Noh Eunha guy.

The more he thought about it, the more powerless he felt.

No, guilt weighed on his shoulders.

And it seemed the same for his friends too.

"─Mok Min-ho." "Yeah..."

Kaede, who he couldn't remember having many conversations with, unusually spoke to him first.

Min-ho answered her call while cutting down monsters trying to block the path in front.

"Really... is it okay not to go back?"

"..." "Noh Eunha can't handle that monster alone. We should send some support even now..."

"It's too late to go back now. Above all, we'd just be in Eunha's way."

"..."

"You know that too."

"Yeah... I was short-sighted."

The same worry Min-ho himself had earlier.

He answered Kaede who had a grim expression.

She couldn't say anything.

She knew it too.

That they would only be a hindrance to Noh Eunha.

"It's frustrating..." "It is frustrating."

Kaede muttered bitterly.

He agreed with her mutter and closed his mouth.

It was frustrating and frustrating again.

The more frustrated he felt, the more strength he put into his sword and the more he spurred on his speed.

"─You sure have a lot to be frustrated about... What does that make me then?"

""..."

Just then,

Bae Su-bin, who had first unleashed magic on Kakgunbong, caught up to them.

Riding on the back of a swift hunter, she smiled weakly with a tired face.

"Look at me. A person who's collapsed like this after firing just a few spells... If you're frustrated over something like that, how much more frustrated do you think I am in this state?"

Move aside, she said.

Bae Su-bin growled briefly.

The student carrying her increased his speed even more.

Only then did Mok Min-ho and Kaede notice the monsters gathered ahead.

"─Instead of wasting time on that, think about what I can do in this situation. Don't mope around because we left Noh Eunha behind. Do you think that's what that Noh Eunha guy would want?" ""..."

"Put aside unproductive emotions and let's think productively about how to get out of here, is what I'm saying."

Bae Su-bin weakly shrugs her shoulders.

A spell formula was forming in front of her hand stretched out over the shoulder of the student carrying her.

Eventually, a spell formula appears in front.

Bae Su-bin grinned.

─Spark Shower

Gathering the strength she had just recovered,

She deployed a wide-area magic.

A pillar of fire rises in front.

The wasp-type monsters' formation crumbles as they panic.

"I've done my part... So now you do yours..."

Saying if she dies to pass on the position of Solo Village chief to Jin Pa-rang,

Bae Su-bin left a silly last will and lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, the students who had been consumed by guilt changed their expressions seeing Bae Su-bin's activity.

Vigor filled their eyes.

"─Kaede. I'll leave the rear to you."

"Got it."

Mok Min-ho and Kaede pulled themselves together and decided to do what they needed to do.

There weren't monsters only in front.

There were also monsters chasing the students from behind.

Kaede moved to the very back of the procession and nocked an arrow.

─Comet

When the monsters entered the ravine,

She released the bowstring.

The mana-infused arrow soars into the sky.

That arrow splits into multiple strands and falls into the ravine.

Boom boom!

The ravine crumbles.

Of course, the creatures flying below were buried under the pile of rocks.

She blocked the monsters' approach.

But they couldn't let their guard down.

Sure enough,

The monsters that had hesitated for a moment soon found a new path and gave chase.

She didn't panic and aimed her arrows at them.

Geyser

At the same time,

While Kaede exerted her strength at the rear, Mok Min-ho was exerting his strength at the front.

He left commanding the party members to students he worked well with.

He was dealing with the creatures that kept coming no matter how many he cut down.

And among those creatures─

─That's the one!

After slicing the waist of a 7th tier monster, he spotted a monster taking a stance up ahead.

Unlike the typical wasp-type monsters, it had a humanoid form. Its hands were stingers reminiscent of long spears.

It was the monster he had failed to cut and been defeated by before.

That one's the leader.

Just by looking,

Min-ho could tell it was commanding the nearby monsters.

In other words, if he took that one down first, confusion would arise in their chain of command and they would be paralyzed for a while.

Since he couldn't deal with all the monsters rushing in while leading the students who couldn't move,

Mok Min-ho immediately pushed himself upon spotting it.

Ranbō

It's not the time to worry about internal mana.

He lowered his stance and rushed in.

He passed by the annoying monsters using the narrow passage, jumping off the walls.

When he got close to it, he gripped his sword in an overhead position.

Whoosh!

Somehow it felt like he should.

A beam of light passed behind him as if covering him.

Mok Min-ho looked only at the creature targeting him, without turning back.

Can I do it?

When he first faced it,

He couldn't cut through its armor.

Min-ho recalled that time.

He quickly shook it off.

I can do it.

<Sword Empress> Hwang Jin-hee had said before.

That if he put his mind to it, there would be nothing in this world he couldn't cut.

So put belief in the sword and swing it, she said.

In truth, Mok Min-ho still didn't clearly understand the meaning of putting belief in the sword.

However─

─I do what I can do.

As always.

He does what he can do.

Mok Min-ho confirmed his resolve, and was certain he could cut down the creature now just a short distance away.

Strangely, he felt that way.

Gift <Severance Principle>

A feeling of the world flowing slowly.

It crosses its arms.

Mok Min-ho coated his sword with mana.

Thousands, no, perhaps tens of thousands of times.

He decided to take the stance he had practiced the longest.

Overhead strike.

─Iron Crasher

Mana flows along the blade.

The mana that started to take on a straight form suddenly contains a sharp edge.

It cuts the monster in half.

☆

The king thought endlessly.

Just what on earth was the being before his eyes?

Outside the standards.

It was something that couldn't be identified.

─Pride's Counterattack

From that moment on,

The world turned upside down.

When the world flashed for an instant,

The king was lying on the ground.

This is impossible.

This can't be happening.

A mere human.

The king raged at the human who had overwhelmed him for a moment.

But it wasn't just a moment.

Thud

Stab!

The king couldn't understand.

A situation he had never experienced before.

A human was overwhelming him.

Beyond overwhelming, he was getting stronger as time passed.

"This is really driving me crazy. If I'd known it would be like this, I should have brought potions, damn it..."

The sword flashes.

The moment he avoids that sword, another sword digs in from the opposite side.

The armor that hadn't been scratched by swords until just now.

Slash!

The armor is gradually breaking.

The king never imagined the armor that hadn't been broken by any monster until now would break like this.

He hurriedly repairs the armor.

Then the human also retreated.

Foolish one.

Does he think a human's recovery ability,

And his own recovery ability blessed by the dungeon are the same?

They're different, completely.

To defeat him, he shouldn't have retreated but kept pushing.

But because the human didn't do that, that would ultimately be his cause of death.

Just as the king thought that,

It was a complete misjudgment.

The human hadn't retreated to recover─

─Platinum Cross

He had been preparing to activate magic that takes a long time.

A platinum light flashed.

At the same time, the king instinctively twisted his body to the side.

─...

Something fell with a thud.

The king turned his head to the side.

An arm had fallen.

Seeing the arm falling to the floor, the king couldn't accept reality.

How on earth...

This is impossible.

This can't be happening!

The king screamed.

More than the pain of losing an arm, he screamed at facing a being stronger than himself.

He was the king.

There shouldn't be any being stronger than him.

How had he lived until now?

Survival of the fittest.

Kill the weak ones.

And winner takes all.

Only the strong survive.

Hadn't he lived such a life?

Hadn't he become the master of this dungeon because of that?

"Tch... I missed. Your instincts are terrifyingly quick."

The human's sword shines again.

It's dangerous.

The king, who had been caught by magic once, quickly called the monsters he controlled to stop him.

Monsters swarm in.

"...Ugh...!"

The light goes out.

The human couldn't move properly because of the swarming monsters.

The king seized this moment─

─More, more, more.

The king drove his tail into the ground.

He makes contact with the dungeon.

He asks for strength from the one who might be mother or father.

"Damn it...!"

The world turns red.

The dungeon responds.

Power is transmitted through the tail.

A new arm sprouts from the severed shoulder area.

Wounds are completely healed.

Overflowing with power, he makes one gesture─

─Crack

The wall splits.

Even the human who had overwhelmed him gaped at that sight.

The king grinned.

It wasn't just the king who received the dungeon's power.

Just as the king received power, the monsters below also received his power.

Rustle

The monsters mutated.

Also, new monsters were born in the dungeon.

All the monsters received the king's orders and rushed at the human.

Viru...

For an instant, a sword blade was seen among the monsters.

The king read the energy on the blade and blocked the sword strike with his body.

The king coughed up blood.

But the poison had no effect on the king, and his tattered body stuck back together.

Shaaaak!!

No matter how strong he was,

In the end, he was human.

The king burst into laughter watching the human swing his sword while surrounded by monsters.

Now the king just had to wait for him to get tired and take his life.

It seemed the human's stamina was showing signs of running out too.

And soon, when the human made a mistake for the first time─

─Now!

The king who had been waiting for an opportunity gave the signal.

The monsters began attacking the human without distinguishing friend from foe.

The king also deployed magic to blow away the space itself.

Boom boom boom!!

The sound of explosions.

Heat energy melting the area.

The king was certain the human surrounded by monsters had finally lost his life.

He was certain.

He was certain, but─

─Flare

For an instant, such a sound was heard.

He thought he had misheard.

But as if it wasn't a mishearing,

Flare flare

Flames bloomed from within the smoke.

No, the king belatedly realized.

He had thought the surroundings were hot because he had used magic just now.

That wasn't it.

When the king looked around, the whole world was already on fire.

The flames had started from far away so the king wouldn't notice.

And something drove that fire to the center and descended on the human.

That is...

A powerful aura.

And an instinctively ominous sensation.

The king whimpered lowly seeing the human rise from where the smoke had cleared.

On the other hand, the human was calmly accepting 'that' with a composed face.

"...When did the pass connect again?"

Peeeep!

The flames cried out.

No, it was a bird covered in flames.

No, it was a bird made of flames.

There was no way to express it.

The flames just cried like a bird.

"─Well, fine. Thanks for the help."

The man had flames draped on his shoulders.

And the flames had multiplied and were wrapping around the man like a cloak.