Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Draycas Defeated
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#22
‘Acceleration!’
Seo Woojin instinctively activated the skill.
His sword swung at twice the speed.
Clang-!
The black sword blocked Draycas’s fangs.
But the events had unfolded so suddenly that his stance was unstable.
“Urk!”
Both feet lifted off the ground.
He couldn’t withstand Draycas’s power.
“Got him!”
Fortunately, the soldiers behind him caught Seo Woojin safely.
‘Damn it.’
He hadn’t expected the beast to jump into the fray so abruptly.
He’d been on guard even during the battle, but in that instant when all his focus poured into his sword, he’d forgotten.
Draycas hadn’t missed that opening and charged in.
‘For that massive bulk...’
A surprise attack from such a huge creature.
It was the moment Jo Han’s words about its cunning proved true.
“A-are you okay?”
One of the soldiers who’d supported Seo Woojin’s back asked.
“I’m fine.”
He’d been startled, no doubt.
And he’d taken a real hit, that much was true.
But he wasn’t injured.
Thanks to ‘Acceleration,’ he’d blocked the fangs just in time.
Seo Woojin kept his eyes fixed on Draycas while checking his body.
‘Body’s fine. Mana’s the issue, as expected.’
Activating the skill on the spur of the moment had drained a huge chunk of mana.
He bit his lip at how much less he had than planned.
‘At this rate, I can’t hold it off.’
The soldiers were fighting well.
Under Jo Han’s command, they focused on defense, steadily whittling down the monsters one by one.
But there were limits.
‘Still too many.’
He’d planned to reduce their numbers as much as possible before Draycas intervened again...
Now that seemed impossible.
Seo Woojin thanked the soldiers who’d caught him and stepped forward again.
A few monsters charged, but the black sword tore them apart before they could get close.
Grrrrr-
Draycas growled low at Seo Woojin.
It was filled with killing intent and menace.
In the past, he might have succumbed to fear and collapsed...
“Stinks, so shut your mouth.”
But he was no longer the old Seo Woojin.
* * *
Ban Slane raced forward literally flying.
His movements were so light that even trampling the heavily fallen snow left no footprints.
But contrary to his movements, Ban Slane’s heart was heavy.
Awoooo-!
Then, a pack of snouls appeared before him.
These must be the ones the messenger soldier had run into.
Around a hundred in number.
Even skilled knights would struggle against them...
“Out of my way.”
For Ban Slane, a single sword stroke sufficed.
Craaaack-!
The snouls in front split in half, spewing blood.
In an instant, a red river formed on the pristine white ground.
Yet not a single drop stained Ban Slane’s clothes.
He’d left the spot long ago.
‘Please, let me not be too late...’
Ban Slane pressed on with an anxious expression.
Straight toward where Seo Woojin was.
* * *
‘What now?’
Reducing the monster numbers was over.
‘If only I’d had a little more time.’
Then the soldiers alone could have held them off after thinning the herd enough.
But with Draycas stepping in again, that was impossible.
Only one option left.
‘Kill Draycas.’
Kill it before the soldiers got trampled, then help them.
No other way.
“Might be for the best.”
He still had some mana left.
He’d used a lot with that last ‘Acceleration,’ but it was still manageable.
Better to face Draycas now while he had strength.
No, it was better.
“Hey, come at me.”
Seo Woojin flicked his sword.
A blatant provocation.
From Draycas’s perspective, a puny insect daring to taunt it would be absurd.
But it didn’t act rashly.
That little bug had blocked its attacks twice now.
The last one was a precise strike exploiting an opening.
And he’d blocked it effortlessly.
Draycas instinctively realized Seo Woojin was no pushover.
Step by step-
Seo Woojin saw it backing away slowly.
Planning to retreat and wait for another chance.
“Not a chance!”
Naturally, Seo Woojin wasn’t about to let that happen.
Acceleration.
Mana drained again, and his movements sped up.
He appeared before Draycas in an instant and brought his sword down.
Slash-!
He’d even used ‘Aura’ in that moment, the blue destructive energy bursting one of Draycas’s eyes.
Raaaaagh-!
A scream of agony echoed.
It hadn’t expected Seo Woojin to move so fast, so its response was late, costing it an eye...
But Seo Woojin’s expression wasn’t bright.
He wasn’t satisfied, even after taking one eye in a single blow.
‘Tch.’
Truth be told, he’d aimed not for the eye, but the forehead.
The forehead was a weak point for most monsters.
Draycas was no exception.
But it had noticed and turned its head.
It lost an eyeball as a result, but that was far better than a pierced forehead.
The enraged Draycas’s forepaw came crashing down at Seo Woojin.
Intending to crush him with sheer weight.
Yet Seo Woojin had no thought of dodging.
‘Acceleration’ would let him slip out easily, but soldiers were behind him.
‘If I dodge, they all die.’
That was the last thing he wanted.
And he did have a way to block the attack...
“‘Power Strike.’”
Seo Woojin’s sword rose from below upward.
It traced a beautiful arc.
And then.
Boom-!
Draycas’s descending forepaw exploded.
The ‘Power Strike,’ compressing mana and detonating on impact, was tremendously powerful.
Having suddenly lost another foreleg, Draycas screamed again and retreated.
Blood rained down, soaking Seo Woojin’s head.
‘Hmm...’
Not good.
He’d blocked the attack and dealt significant damage.
But Seo Woojin felt his mana rapidly depleting.
‘Once? No, maybe twice?’
With what remained, he could use one or two more skills, then it was over.
After that, only his body and sword.
‘The original plan’s down the drain.’
‘Rampage’ and ‘Aura’ together would have held Draycas off easily.
Might even have won.
The synergy between those skills was that potent.
But the monster horde had interrupted, wasting the chance.
He regretted it deeply.
“Still not too late.”
One last time.
If he scraped every last drop of mana, he could land one more solid hit.
Seo Woojin chased the retreating Draycas, wrapping his sword in ‘Aura.’
At the same time, he activated ‘Rampage.’
Fwoooosh-!
The surging destructive energy exploded into frenzy.
It grew several times larger than before, overwhelming the surroundings.
And it wasn’t just bigger.
‘Rampage’ literally sent mana into overdrive, maximizing the user’s abilities.
Of course, there’d be backlash...
“But now’s not the time to worry about that.”
He swung the sword.
The massively enlarged ‘Aura’—big enough to sever Draycas’s huge neck in one go—sliced through space.
Urgency flashed in the beast’s remaining eye.
Instinct screaming danger.
It reared back to dodge, but Seo Woojin’s sword was faster.
Shiiiing-!
The last foreleg flew off.
Feeling its life threatened, Draycas ordered the monsters to kill Seo Woojin.
But they melted just nearing his sword.
Low-tier monsters couldn’t withstand ‘Aura’s’ destructive power.
Thanks to that, Seo Woojin swung again unhindered.
From the high sky to the white earth.
A flawless, clean slash descended on Draycas’s head.
Roooooooar-!
Draycas roared in desperation, but it was too late.
With one eye gone and both forelegs severed, evasion was impossible.
The massive sword carved a red line from Draycas’s head to its groin.
Silence fell.
No more monster howls.
No soldier shouts.
All stared at Seo Woojin and the bisected Draycas, mute.
Then, bright light erupted.
* * *
The familiar black space reappeared.
Having been through it several times, Seo Woojin calmly surveyed his surroundings.
“Leveled up, huh?”
Good.
Leveling up meant Draycas was dead.
His body and mana would restore to perfect condition, so the remaining monsters would be easy.
“Haha...”
Seo Woojin laughed in the darkness.
He’d soloed that terrifying Draycas.
He’d known he’d grown stronger, but never felt it this viscerally.
“Beating that monster.”
Now he could confidently say he wasn’t under Testron or Gerald anymore.
Though still far from Ban Slane.
“And now level 10.”
Level 10 held special meaning for heroes.
It was when they could choose a job.
He’d heard most heroes who went elsewhere already had theirs.
He was the slowest, the one who missed the bus.
“They all got jobs matching their aptitudes, right?”
With a hundred people, you’d expect a few outliers...
Seo Woojin felt a twinge of unease.
What if Demon King was really his job?
The thought was dizzying.
“But no way to know yet.”
Reassuring himself as he looked around, text appeared before him.
[Level 10 Achieved.]
[Job Granted.]