Chapter 35
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: King of Monsters
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The next day dawned.
Including Soma's party, four parties decided to watch the situation from the rocky mountain.
Jian's party left to join the 'Lava Stone Tyranno' raid.
Soma pondered for a moment whether to follow him. But...
'Something feels off.'
Something was holding him back from joining right away. It wouldn't be too late to decide after observing today's raid.
They secured food supplies from a spot not far from the rocky mountain and kept watch on the volcano.
Unlike usual, the central volcano was spewing black volcanic ash.
Gradually, other groups began to appear around them.
"Look at that. The murderers from the west."
Shade pointed to men in hoods emerging from a corner of the jungle.
"Rumor has it they gathered almost all the floatstone fragments with fewer than twenty people."
"Already?"
"Of course, some of them were taken in exchange for lives."
Led by them, hunters from the outer regions began to appear one by one.
"At least 150 confirmed. Looks like the guys from the north."
"Even the ones who fled to the safe, food-rich east seem to have banded together. Over 400, maybe? Looks temporary, though."
The groups noticed each other but no one moved.
They hadn't gathered to fight—they had come to quietly observe.
The crater, billowing thick smoke, trembled as it spewed flames.
[The uninhabited island's volcano erupts violently.]
[The island's monsters tremble in fear.]
Three hooked claws gripped the rim of the crater.
Followed by the rough, reptilian skin and eerie amber eyes gleaming.
Hunters with keen eyesight shuddered at the mere sight.
[The 'Lava Stone Tyrannosaurus' emerges from the crater!]
[Hunting continues until the boss monster's hunger is sated!]
Grrr...
White breath laced with hunger seeped from between stalactite-like teeth.
The island's worst monster descended the volcano with heavy steps.
'Refreshing.'
That was the first thought the monster had upon emerging.
When it first regained consciousness, the monster had been submerged in sticky lava.
Its body was soft, its mind foggy as if steeped in hot water for days.
As time passed, its skin toughened, and rock-hard plating grew on its head and back.
Along with that, its self-awareness sharpened bit by bit.
'I was born to be king.'
Staring only at the round sky from inside the crater, the monster passed the time.
In there, it recalled what it had to do—one, two tasks.
'Hunt.'
'Show the king's majesty and grow even stronger.'
A shadow flickered before its eyes.
Having never seen any creature before, the monster didn't know what it was.
It was simply consumed by the desire to devour it.
The monster's body grew larger, and the lava level swelled.
The once impossibly distant crater rim was suddenly right before it.
After a few futile swipes.
Finally, its stubby forelimbs caught the crater's edge.
The monster leaped out of the crater for the first time since birth.
Lava clinging to its body dripped and hardened black.
The world wasn't round.
Beyond the round sky and crimson lava.
Oceans and skies stretching everywhere, tangled primitive jungles, clear rivers crossing the island, white sandy beaches.
Taking it all in at once, the monster hesitated for a moment.
Nearly slipping back into the crater, it straightened up and surveyed its surroundings.
It was king.
A king exists to hunt.
Raaaaawr—
Letting out its majestic first roar, the monster charged down the mountainside without hesitation.
It scooped up a huge handful of the black-brown powder on the ground and crunched it.
Crunch crunch.
This wasn't food.
It bit down on a brown pillar rooted nearby, green branches and all, yanking it out whole.
Crunch crunch.
This didn't seem right either.
Then, a stimulating scent brushed its nostrils.
Whipping its head around, it saw unfamiliar yet familiar creatures wriggling.
The monster didn't know, but they were humans.
And they were the shadows that had always flickered before its eyes.
They were neatly chained up, perfect for a single bite.
"Hyaak! Save me!"
"Don't come! Get away!"
The monster bellowed in excitement.
Smashing through everything in its path, it charged and slammed its jaws down.
"Uwaaaah!"
The poor chained sacrifices vanished into the monster's maw.
Along with flashes and smoke bursting from its mouth.
Boom!
Kuoo!
Startled, the monster reared up, collapsing the ground beneath it.
Those neatly chained for easy eating were 'bait.'
The first-stage trap set by the southern megagroup to hunt the monster.
An 18-meter-deep pit.
Big enough to swallow one or two five- or six-story buildings—immense for a hastily dug trap.
Dozens of logs and potion bottles rained down from above.
"Dump everything—poison, acid, anything that deals damage!"
"We were gonna cover it with logs, but it's too big!?"
Meanwhile, the hunters maintaining 1 km distance closed in at once.
"First bombardment! Charge!"
As the monster entered their sights, prepared ranged skills lit up from their hands.
Eighty beams—from avatars to skill coins.
Given the 'Lava Stone' name, they meticulously avoided fire-attribute attacks.
First water, then lightning, wind, neutral, light-attribute strikes.
Next, earth-attribute avatars and vanguards tried to bury the pit and entomb the monster but...
The moment they laid eyes on the 'Lava Stone Tyrannosaurus,' they had to rethink.
'It's huge.'
They'd thought the pit was unnecessarily deep, but that was wishful thinking.
The snarling monster's scalp was still visible.
A normal adult Tyrannosaurus measured 13 meters from snout to tail—that was length. Head-to-ground height was about 5-6 meters.
But this one was easily three times that.
Kuuuwaaa!
Enraged by the stinging attacks, the monster kicked the pit wall.
The slope crumbled, and it seemed about to climb out.
"Damn it! Debuffs, now! Hand of the Evil Spirit!"
"Crawling Red Venom Serpent!"
"Buff the vanguards quick! We're starting a wheel formation around it soon!"
"Are the debuffs even landing? They're gone before they hit!"
Dark curses and colorful buffs poured in hastily.
'Something's gone wrong from the start.'
Jian, one of the vanguard leaders, chewed on his unease inwardly.
The Tyranno was bigger than expected.
He'd anticipated some margin of error, but not this much.
If they were to retreat without losses, now was the last chance. But no signal yet from their supreme commander.
Kuooooreee!
The pit collapsed in a rumble. The monster reemerged, stepping on the gentler debris.
"Bombardiers, fall back another 300 meters! Maintain spacing!"
"Vanguard teams 1 and 2, engage! Tanks, never take direct hits—lure it head-on, evade with whirl maneuvers! Meanwhile, dealers circle in formation, hit the rear and weak points!"
"You're insane—evade that and run a wheel? One lap around it feels like 100 meters!"
"If you don't wanna die, fight!"
Jian and his comrades' eyes turned skyward.
There, the 'supreme commander' floated leisurely on one wing.
"Run and you'll die by his hand! Only way is to kill the boss, grab items and coins!"
"Damn it!"
The tank spat phlegm and stood before the monster with the others.
Massive jaws like steel traps snapped shut. Tanks sweated coldly each time the huge maw passed by.
Dealers approaching from behind were sent flying with burst limbs from mere grazes of the whipping tail.
One hunter screamed, rubbing Flesh Mending Flower on his arm bent at an odd angle.
"Goddamn it! Recovery items or not, a graze leaves you combat-ineffective."
"What the hell's that supreme commander doing, the one who said he'd handle it somehow! How long do we hold!?"
Already 15 crushed or shredded by teeth.
No matter how they slashed its back, the head-to-back area plated in lava stone took almost no damage. Only the front and belly, lacking rock plating, showed signs.
"Daamn! We're at our limit! Everyone, run!"
Chetri, commanding the bombardment squad, yelled at the sky.
The calmly hovering supreme commander's hand now held three heads.
Hunters who had fled in panic first.
"Hold just until ten more die. You're doing well."
"You bastard! Hold till ten more die!"
"Son of a bitch! Go die!"
"We shouldn't have trusted that guy!"
Amid the barrage of curses, the 'monster' was annoyed.
Not content with provoking it with weird antics, they interrupted every time it tried to eat its fallen prey. Its mouth was full of their stinging lights.
Having been herded like prey recently, the 'monster' instinctively thought of a way to show the king's majesty.
The monster's belly swelled bizarrely.
"Vanguard leader Jian! Something's wrong!"
Jian knew it too.
It had crouched briefly, taking attacks as desired.
Some had eagerly closed in to slash, but backed off sensing the oddity as its body ballooned, veins bulging.
Kim Kwang-cheol beside Jian thought.
In games, when a boss suddenly stops attacking and gathers energy?
Answer: omnidirectional AoE.
"Shit! Breath! Scatter to the edges!"
"What edges here!?"
"If you don't wanna die, hide anywhere!"
Kuuuooooreee—!
Volcanic toxic gas-mixed flames erupted from the monster's maw.
The front instantly became an inferno.
Graaaaa
Not stopping there, it swung its head, incinerating a 180-degree swath in an instant with breath flames. Hunters who couldn't evade burned to death before using items.
"Breath!" "It's breath!"
Panic spread among distant watching hunters.
They'd only faced tutorial and first-floor monsters—no one had seen such a colossal beast.
Naturally, witnessing the giant monster staple 'breath' for the first time, most hunters couldn't suppress their chills—a sight from games and legends only.
"Run! Ruuun!"
Losing all command structure, the southern hunter group scattered as black bat wings glided overhead.
The supreme commander flying above them mouthed softly.
"You did well."
With one wing alone rocketing low, he dove under the breath-spewing monster's jaw.
[High-Speed Flight (C+) reaches max velocity!]
[Burning Right Wing (S-) consumes black mana!]
[Limited Skill: Sky-Severing Demon Wing (A+) activates! Wing slashing power +360%! Breakthrough impact +200%!]
[The power of the contract strengthens your body!]
"Burn to death in your own flames."
With those words, the razor-sharp wingtip sliced across the Tyrannosaurus's lower jaw.