6. Dungeon Agales
Thud!
The two massive stone giants crashed down from the ceiling, shaking the floor. They immediately shed the stone fragments that had encased their bodies, transforming into those familiar monsters—Agales.
The moment they landed, the gaze of the rotating old men fixed on Ian, who was staggering and drenched in cold sweat. The two elders immediately emitted bizarre, incomprehensible sounds from their mouths and pointed at Ian.
At that signal, the crocodiles surged forward at blinding speed. Simultaneously, the two hawks perched on their shoulders launched into the sky.
Creeeeak…!
————!!!!!
With a deafening roar, the crocodiles' gaping maws opened wide, drool dripping in thick strands. The grayish flesh lining their throats and the pitch-black depths were grotesquely unsettling.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The crocodiles charged with short, incredibly rapid strides.
Cheong-ah and Bella, realizing the beasts were targeting Ian, immediately rushed to his sides, blocking the path of the oncoming Agales.
“How dare you...!”
“Shut your filthy traps, you bastards!”
The two women swung their swords at the crocodiles' jaws. Cheong-ah's blade sliced vertically from below, cleaving the crocodile's mouth apart, while Bella's greatsword, gripped in both hands, smashed down from above, pulverizing it.
————!!!!!
An agonized screech echoed out.
But the crocodiles weren't the only ones gunning for Ian.
Screeeeech————!!!!!
The two hawks that had taken flight earlier dove at him talons-first. Bella noticed and yanked her greatsword free from the crocodile's skull, spinning around.
“Shit! Ian!”
By then, Cheong-ah had already anticipated it. With swift movements, she positioned herself in front of Ian, intercepting the incoming hawks.
“You're too slow, Bella.”
The two hawks rode the wind straight at her. Cheong-ah gently closed her eyes.
She felt the air around her with her skin. Her senses sharpened from the vibrations stirred by the hawks' wings. The wind whistled in her ears.
Centered in her dantian, a blue aura rippled outward, spreading slowly. It flowed up her arms and into her sword.
Crackle.
Her blade glowed with sword energy, blue lightning sparking from the tip.
Cheong-ah moved slowly—yet at the same time, blindingly fast. In a motion Ian couldn't even comprehend, she swung.
The sword energy undulated and bent with her movement. Her blade drew a single stroke through empty air.
A trail of blue lightning lingered in the void. The moment the hawks touched it, their bodies shredded into dozens of pieces.
Chunks of flesh rained down amid sprays of blood, splattering Ian and Cheong-ah from head to toe.
Ian wrinkled his nose at the metallic stench of blood mixed with the faint musty odor from the hawk meat.
At his grumbled complaint, Cheong-ah lowered her gaze.
“Ugh. Thanks for the save, Cheong-ah, but this is a bit much.”
“I'm sorry, my lord. I didn't think of that.”
“Goddamn it...! Hey, if you've got time to chat, help me out first?!”
Bella's shout drew their attention. She was single-handedly parrying and deflecting the punches from two Agales.
No wonder it felt like such heavy impacts... Ian muttered to himself before urging Cheong-ah to assist her.
“Nngh, shit. Cheong-ah, help her out first.”
“Yes, I'll be right back.”
As she replied, Cheong-ah dashed over and leaped, swinging her sword. In an instant, the upper bodies of the two Agales were bisected along a diagonal line, the severed parts tumbling to the floor and crumbling to dust.
Bella, thinking the fight was over, wiped the blood-mixed sweat from her forehead and murmured,
“...Is that it?”
But her careless words acted like a resurrection spell—the ceiling cracked open once more.
Three new Agales descended.
Ian smacked his forehead watching them drop.
“Bella, you jinx...!”
§
The battle raged on fiercely. Three, then four. Five, six...
Up to six, they could still manage with some grim humor. They were tired, but holding on.
But as the numbers surpassed seven, the mood grew heavy. Seven, eight, nine. Ten, eleven.
Now it was a mental endurance test they could barely withstand.
The Agales charged at me relentlessly. Cheong-ah and Bella blocked them, protecting me.
Each one was weaker than either woman. But like trying to fend off two hands with one, twelve Agales now overwhelmed just the two of them.
They could still cope because the beasts prioritized me, allowing Cheong-ah and Bella to ignore some attacks. They timed their strikes when the enemies lunged blindly at me, taking out two at a time easily.
The problem was dealing with the rest afterward.
“Haaa...”
“Huff... Fuck, this is brutal.”
Cheong-ah sighed wearily. Bella spat curses laced with frustration.
My buffs were still holding strong, so they hadn't hit physical limits—just mental exhaustion. As long as their bodies were enhanced, they wouldn't tire.
But I had to bear it all.
Kneeling between them, one knee on the ground, I was barely hanging on. The nonstop agony was pushing me to the brink.
My heart pounded like it was beating 200 times a minute, my left chest aching fiercely. Not literally, of course...
Noticing my state, Cheong-ah had switched to dodging and parrying every attack. Bella followed suit as best she could, but her aggressive style made perfect evasion impossible.
The constant strain on my body showed. Bella looked guilt-ridden, blaming herself.
“...Hey, Ian, you okay?”
I looked up at her worried question. My face was soaked in sweat; the earlier hawk blood had long been washed away by it.
I forced a grin at her, trying to play it cool.
“I'm fine. This is nothing.”
“Sorry. I suck at dodging. If I could evade like Cheong-ah...”
The usually confident Bella looked deflated. I clenched my teeth, swallowing groans, and stood.
“Nngh... Bullshit.”
“Hey, hey! Why stand? Sit back down. You're hurting, right?”
I patted my back, pretending it didn't throb.
“Nah, my back hurts from sitting too long. My back. See?”
“...R-Really?”
“Yeah. Look, I'm fine as hell.”
I stretched my arms skyward. Bella freaked.
“Stop, don't! Okay, okay, you're fine! Just quit it.”
“Told you not to worry.”
I hopped in place, stretched—biting back the pain, curling my lips into a casual smile.
I patted her shoulder.
“See? Now fight without fretting.”
I tried to look unflappable, but she probably saw through it. Her face twisted in guilt, eyes nearly tearing up.
But voicing it would disrespect me. Knowing that, she averted her gaze and nodded.
“...Got it.”
The fight resumed. The twelve Agales had swelled to nearly twenty. Bella's sturdy greatsword was shattered in half long ago. Cheong-ah, soaked in blood, had nearly dropped hers and tied it to her hand with a torn hem from her skirt.
How long will these damn Agales keep spawning?
I dazedly looked up at the ceiling.
Then—zap—a sharp pain hit, and a system window appeared before my eyes.
• Impact
• Magic: Fire
• Holy Magic
• Curse Immunity
• Magic: Water Immunity
• Instant Death Immunity
• Slash Resistance
Why'd it pop up when I looked at the ceiling? No way...
A hypothesis flashed through my mind. I quickly looked down, keeping Conductor's Eye active, scanning the surrounding Agales.
No reaction this time.
The ceiling... it's Agales?
I had to tell Cheong-ah and Bella quick... But they were locked in combat with the spawned ones, and even if they tried, reaching that high was impossible.
What now? I recalled the magic tools I'd brought.
Agales' weakness: fire. It specified magic fire, but regular flames should work, right? If I could blanket the ceiling in fire...
“One way to do it.”
I dropped my bag and pulled out the essentials: oil, flint and steel, coordinate plate, two scrolls.
Glancing at the still-fighting duo—only Bella could hurl the coordinate plate that high.
I made a torch first, jamming the oil flask securely at my waist.
Ready. I shouted, even if it'd interrupt them a bit.
“Bella...!”
“...What?!”
Pain was mine to bear anyway.
“F-Fuck...! What the hell is this?!”
“This—hurl it up top!”
I chucked the coordinate plate at her. She didn't know what it was but swung as ordered.
She took a punch from an Agales mid-swing—agony lanced through me, but whatever.
Clang!
The plate shot toward the ceiling with a sharp ring. Before it hit, I tore a scroll.
The portal spat me out at the dungeon entrance. I immediately tore the second one.
Hummm—!
Another portal. Stepping through dropped me near the lofty ceiling.
I yanked the oil flask free and doused the ceiling.
Thud—Splash!
Oil coated it thickly. Some splashed on me too, but screw it.
I hurled the torch.
“Hot damn, burn baby burn!”
Whoosh!
The ceiling ignited spectacularly.
Burns great. The flames leaped to me too.
“Guhhh...!”
Hot. Painful. Agony plus gravity pulled me plummeting.
That instant—
—Groooooaaarrrrrr……………!!!!!!!!
A monstrous groan shook the ceiling like a 7.0 earthquake. The Agales below fighting Cheong-ah and Bella screamed too.
—Graaaaaahhh!
—Kreeeeek—!
They burned away to nothing.
Cheong-ah and Bella, stunned by the suddenly combusting foes, backed up and looked up.
Their eyes widened in shock.
“M-My lord...!”
“Ian!”
I heard their voices as darkness slowly claimed me.