Chapter 35
Chapter 35
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: 3rd Floor's Ju Gonghyeok
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tsk, crack.
As the commander's shadow passed by, the monster's tough hide was thinly sliced and peeled away.
Flames from its breath poured out between its jaws with a whoosh, and its sharp black wings were soaked in blood.
A creepy cracking sound came from the Tyrannosaurus's lower jaw...
"Huh?"
And that was it.
From Turkey's Cappadocia. The commander, Oemer Ashiq—his right wing failed to fully cleave through the Tyrannosaurus's thick jawbone.
Grrr rumble.
The monster's pumpkin-orange eyes, having reined in its breath, turned toward the toothpick dangling from its jaw.
Its slit pupils, unique to reptiles, burned with a fury never seen before.
'Danger...!'
Sensing the dignity of life at the maw of death, the commander swiftly withdrew his wing.
But the monster's short forelimb had already grazed under its jaw, and Oemer's body was flung to the ground like a fly with a sharp crack!
His skull rattled and his guts twisted in an instant, but losing consciousness here meant certain death.
Biting his tongue to stay alert, Oemer spread his wings with all his might.
[Pouring remaining mana into High-Speed Flight (C+).]
[Full-throttle burst! Zero-to-hundred (60 mph) time reduced by 55%!]
Using the rebound's momentum, he vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye.
The monster's massive foot stomped down belatedly on the spot where Oemer had disappeared.
Roooaaar!
The monster unleashed a second breath, but Commander Oemer glided swiftly like a hornet, escaping the range.
The beast charging ahead with howls like a dog chasing a chicken soon lost track of him.
"It's over."
Someone muttered.
The sinister Western killers who had appeared so menacingly had long since vanished without a trace.
The weak Eastern alliance had scattered in all directions the moment the monster chased the commander toward them.
The ambitious Southern raiders, from their commander down to the grunts, had been smashed to pieces and retreated somewhere.
The king of the uninhabited island. The 'Lava Rock Tyrannosaurus' began its human hunt with a roar.
The monster thrust its snout mercilessly. Into the ground, into rock walls, sparing nothing as it sank its teeth in.
Under rotten stumps, underground, in caves. Humans hiding everywhere screamed from its maw amid the debris.
"It's monstrous. We should fall back farther from the boss mob. I can't stay here; it's too unnerving."
Shade said as he prepared to leave.
Soma grabbed Shade's shoulder.
"What's wrong?"
"Look over there."
Fearless hunters were approaching the massive monster.
And above them, a golden star hovered.
"That's...? Is that the angel's proxy?"
"Angel's proxy? What do you mean?"
"I picked it up from another landing site, but there's a hunter said to be the promised savior of the 3rd floor, chosen by an angel..."
Shade tilted his head, unable to recall.
"Definitely a Northeast Asian hunter named..."
The golden star in the air dove in a graceful arc.
Its target: the monster's snout.
"Nathaniel."
*'No! I hate weapons! They're sticky! The grinding when you stab deep is gross! Soft flesh tearing against my sharp body makes me want to die!'*
"Spirit Possession. Crescent Blade."
*'Kyaaaah! Nooo!'*
[Spirit Possession (A) activated. Target: 'Guillotine Crescent Blade.']
[The angel of salvation, Nathaniel, possesses the weapon.
Holy attribute attack power greatly increased. Drives away the impure.
For 20 minutes, Purification (A+) magic is imbued into the blade.]
"One-Two Slash Charge Form."
[One-Two Slash (C+) activated! Cutting power increased!]
[Slashing probability replaced by piercing probability!]
The golden meteor crashed onto the monster's lava-rock-like snout.
Spluuurt!
The monster couldn't comprehend what had just happened before its eyes.
The rocky hide on its nose shattered, carving out a massive crater. And jammed into that crater, the white crescent blade had pierced straight through its upper jaw.
It was something the monster had never imagined. Its eyes wide as saucers, it stared at the creature now perched on its snout and upper jaw.
"Hey there. Cretaceous buddy."
The affable Ju Gonghyeok greeted it like an annual event and yanked out the crescent blade.
The blade slid free with a sound of rending flesh.
*'I hate it... it's filthy now...'*
Ignoring the shuddering Nathaniel possessing the blade, Gonghyeok flashed a bright smile.
"I'll take one eye first."
The power of 'Sephirot' already coursed through his body.
White wings unfurled from his back as he accelerated forward.
The crescent blade traced an arc, diagonally slicing the pumpkin-orange eye in an instant.
Kraaack!
For the first time since emerging from the caldera, a scream of agony erupted.
The Tyrannosaurus's short arms couldn't even reach its jaw.
He could have kept slashing from atop its head, but Gonghyeok swiftly pulled back.
Red energy flowed over the monster's skin, radiating magma-like heat.
['Lava Rock Tyrannosaurus' is wounded and enraged.]
[Overflowing power spills from its skin. Transforming into 'Fierce Lava' form.]
Its entire body glowing red, the monster advanced.
Its maw bubbled with the familiar breath.
The monster, having gathered its breath to aim at the fly before it, sensed something off at its feet.
The foot it stepped forward sank deep.
"Make the swamp deeper!"
"Time your avatar to scoop out the dirt exactly when it steps!"
"The commander's calculation has the step coordinates at (7756.4451), (7350.4723)! Chain every tree!"
The monster's center of gravity lurched forward in that instant.
Gonghyeok snapped his fingers in sync.
"Holy Beast summon."
White magic circles formed on either side of the Tyrannosaurus.
"Th-that's...!"
The hunters gaped at the creatures emerging from the circles.
If their eyes weren't deceiving them, what stood there now was.
Uninhabited Island Dungeon 1, Saber Tiger Den boss. Rexmillodon.
Uninhabited Island Dungeon 4, Horned Dragon Forest boss. Hexaceratops.
Not their original colors, but pristine ivory-white bodies—the two boss monsters revealed themselves.
['Holy Rexmillodon' has been summoned. It obeys the summoner's command absolutely.]
['Holy Hexaceratops' has been summoned. It obeys the summoner's...]
[Sandalphon's 'Gigantification' authority manifests. Holy beasts' sizes increase 3-fold.]
[Authority overuse. Sandalphon's authority unusable for 24 hours.]
Kyarr!
Groooar!
The Hexaceratops charged with its massive bulk, slamming six horns into the monster's flank. The nimble Rexmillodon reared its eerie claws and pounced on the opposite side.
The tough hide crumbled like pie crust, and the Tyrannosaurus staggered back under sheer brute force.
A moment of confusion, followed swiftly by rage. The king's counterattack began.
It kicked the Rexmillodon's belly with agile feet and clamped its sharp teeth onto the Hexaceratops's lower back, yanking upward with all its might.
But the two beasts didn't yield, thrusting horns and claws in return.
"It's a full-on monster showdown."
"Is this even a fight we can join?"
The three monsters' melee brawl, with a golden flash darting between them.
The hunters were utterly exhausted by the spectacle.
This was a show of force.
At the very least, every hunter's mind now bore the indelible truth of who the island's strongest hunter and strongest monster were.
Kwa-drud-duk!
Finally, the Hexaceratops's spine shattered.
The king, having seized the quadruped giant in its jaws and flung it, gathered its breath for the finishing blow.
But... only smoke-like phlegm rose in its throat.
Kek, kek!
The scorching heat that had blazed across its skin had long since cooled.
The king instinctively felt a chill.
It had to return to the caldera. Otherwise, danger.
Boom boom boom boom!
The king turned its massive body and bounded up the central volcano.
The half-bisected Hexaceratops and the Rexmillodon missing its right forelimb couldn't pursue.
But the golden comet streaked through the air, swiftly aligning with the king's right side.
"You can't just leave like that. We haven't settled up for that other eye yet."
A sharp gleam flowed at the tip of the white crescent blade.
Holy-enhanced muscles and tendons stretched to their limits.
Dragon God Technique: Crescent Blade—Dragon Slayer Grid Slash.
The blade fearlessly carved across the eyeball. Dozens of cuts raced over it in a breath.
The pumpkin-orange pupil shredded into a checkerboard pattern.
Like bursting water droplets, the vivid sight resembled a yellow mango diced into squares.
Grooooaaaaar!
Blood and vitreous humor soon overflowed through the gaps, with tattered lens and tissues falling away.
"One's not enough."
*'Kyaaaah! Gross! Squishy! The feel on my face... kiiiiaaa—!'*
"Hahaha!"
Gonghyeok laughed gleefully—god knows why—and shredded the mangled eyeball again.
The monster shook its head wildly and flailed its forelimbs endlessly, but nothing touched its face.
The crescent blade spun like a gear, tracing countless circles.
Wracked with agony, the monster plunged into the caldera.
"I can't tell which one's the real monster anymore."
Shimdo, beside Soma, muttered.
One thing was certain: Ju Gonghyeok, who had lacerated the Tyrannosaurus's head and sent it scurrying back to the caldera, had imprinted an intense presence on every hunter.
The angel's armor gleamed with a subtle blue sheen.
A vivid golden halo and crisp white wings extending from his back.
Even the halo marking him as a saint shone. His figure was the epitome of a hero.
Undeniably, God's apostle.
"Spread the light. Wisp."
"Amplify the voice. Echo."
At the volcano's base, a few hunters summoned light and sonic avatars.
Hunters Gonghyeok had prepared in advance.
His massive image projected over the caldera.
Gonghyeok, overlooking the entire island, calmly spoke.
"Hunters. All hunters still alive on this island. We've been deceived."
Question marks popped up over the hunters' heads.
Deceived how?
"I've already cleared all six uninhabited island dungeons and completed the floatstone."
"What...!?"
"Crazy, that's like gathering one almost every day?"
"Some dungeons take three days just to walk across!"
Ignoring the spreading shock among the hunters, he continued.
"Behold this. This is the floatstone."
Not a fragment, but a completed cubic floatstone hovered above Gonghyeok's palm.
"And we have been tricked by the devils."
An info window appeared over the cube.
[3rd Floor Floatstone (Special)
Install in a completed ark to make the ship float in the air.
Personnel limit - 3]
"That's the completed floatstone..."
"But tricked how?"
"Ah!"
Many had been distracted by the floatstone and missed it, but most leaders with followers caught on.
Personnel limit: 3. The trap.
"A typical dungeon-clearing party numbers ten. On this island, factoring in foraging for food and water, securing shelter, it swells to fifteen."
"My God..."
"One party must battle the boss, risk death, evade killers, and spend ages clearing six dungeons to obtain this floatstone.
Yet even after all that hardship and fallen comrades, only three can survive from the party."
Gonghyeok spread his arms as if embracing the island.
"From the start, of the 3,000, fewer than 1,000 will reach the 4th floor alive."
"Damn it, we're flies no matter where we go."
They'd vaguely thought many would die on the 3rd floor too. But this concrete, hopeless survival cutoff unleashed a torrent of raw emotions.
"Everyone, the devils deceived us. They'll say they didn't lie. They just had no duty to explain."
"..."
"Our group numbers 150. After a week's toil, we have one floatstone, enough for three to ascend to the 4th floor.
If we keep grinding dungeons, maybe one every five days, or three days."
Stay on the 3rd floor longer, and the group could gather enough floatstones for everyone?
Such thoughts flashed through the hunters' minds.
"But will this island stay safe until then? The killers eyeing coins and items? The monsters growing stronger by the day?"
Those who can escape will flee—for rewards or survival.
The people bitterly reaffirmed that truth.
"In our group, several hunters have already poured everything into completing a floatstone. Asking over a hundred others to endure six months of this danger for them was tough.
Yet even so, we resolved not to abandon the other 147."
Gonghyeok clenched his fist.
"No... not just our 147. We resolved to save every hunter on this island."
"What the hell?"
"Look at these bleeding hearts."
Sneers mixed into the murmurs. Gonghyeok ignored them and shouted.
"This isn't empty talk. There was a solution on the 1st floor. On the 2nd floor too.
And by gathering clues from all six dungeons, we've finally found the 3rd floor's solution."
"Solution? You don't mean..."
Gonghyeok's finger pointed into the caldera.
"The 'Lava Rock Tyrannosaurus' that just fled carries a giant floatstone enough for 3,000 arks.
Gather materials and complete the ark—no one needs to die. Every hunter can reach the 4th floor."
"Of course...!"
"It's possible! Totally possible!"
Heat flared in the hunters' eyes.
"The devils want us killing each other.
Hoard the floatstone and run.
Kill for coins.
But we don't have to.
If we save each other's lives, isn't the reward far greater than killing?
Isn't that the right thing?"
Gonghyeok locked eyes with the hunters who had emerged.
"No food? No problem! Low stats? Fine! Join us in the north! We're fulfilling the Angel's Great Ark quest!
We'll save every hunter who wants to live!"
Cheers erupted sporadically from somewhere.
"We must all survive! Live to smash this damned Babel and mock the devils!
Come! To the north! Board! The great ark!
We'll live together!"
His passionate speech shook everyone. Behind Gonghyeok, a noble golden aura blazed alongside his halo and white wings.
"We... will not bow to the devils!"
[A 'Angel's Great Ark' quest has been generated under Hunter Ju Gonghyeok's leadership.]
[Accept? Y / N]
Waaaaah—!
Human cheers echoed across the island. Bursts of colorful flames lit the sky from ability use everywhere.
Fireworks from the excited crowd.
Thus, the savior Ju Gonghyeok was born here.
[Over a thousand hunters are captivated by Ju Gonghyeok.]
[New merit generated: 'Savior's Prestige (D)'.]
[Flaw 'Infamy Behind the Mask (-E)' advances one stage. (-D)]
At the uninhabited island's southern tip, in some nameless cave.
Only darkness and dank stench filled it, yet faint noise from outside seeped in.
A small shadow cautiously lifted its head.
"Oppa’s... voice?"
────────────────────────────────────