#23 The Illusory Realm (幻界) (4)
#23 The Illusory Realm (幻界) (4)
The monsters that appeared grew stronger little by little, but none had truly troubled Wolf so far.
'I did want to get a look at it, though.'
Just as Baekrok clicked his tongue in regret, a roar of "Guoooooh!" echoed from the cave's far end.
'An orc.'
A versatile, reasonably powerful monster that showed up regardless of dungeon type. Baekrok thought that this time, surely, he would get a glimpse of Wolf's real skill.
"Should we keep our distance?"
When Wolf nodded, the fairy and the fairy dragon moved on top of Baekrok's head. Meanwhile, the orc raised a massive club, ready to smash Wolf with it.
"Guoooooh!"
Perhaps expecting him to dodge, the orc took another bold stride forward. The fairy, convinced Wolf wouldn't be able to evade this one, squeezed her eyes shut.
"Wolf!"
"Ho. Interesting."
Two utterly different reactions. When the fairy opened her eyes again, she was met with the orc's dumbfounded expression.
"Uh, uh?"
"Look over there."
"Huh? Eh? Ehhhh? Wow~!"
Where Baekrok had gestured, the remains of the club lay shattered into splinters.
"Amazing! Amazing!"
The fairy clapped her hands in admiration, and for some reason, the fairy dragon puffed out its chest.
"Hm."
Wolf's strength exceeded even what Baekrok had imagined. The orc, seemingly unable to contain its rage, charged in with a roar, but Wolf let every attack flow past him with ease.
'Not bad.'
Dodging at close range is never simple. Every one of Wolf's movements was steeped in the fierce conviction that 'I must not get hit.'
'Perhaps because of that, it's a touch excessive, though.'
There were moments he dodged with overly large motions, but his superb concentration more than compensated. Above all, his eye for reading the next move was exceptional.
'He's completely outclassing it.'
Wolf's front paw lacerated the orc's back. The orc twisted around to grab him, but no one was there anymore.
'He's fast.'
There is a vast difference between spinning one's body in place and circling the entire perimeter. Yet the orc hadn't even caught a glimpse of Wolf's tail.
"Hmm...."
To Baekrok, it looked as though Wolf was testing his own limits. As expected, before long, Wolf tore into the orc's nape.
"Grrr—"
With a snap, the orc's breath stopped, and Wolf set a paw on its torso.
'Devouring, as I thought. A skill rarely seen even among phantom beasts.'
Well, no—perhaps it was a skill one possessed precisely because one was a monster. Baekrok gave a composed nod.
"Well done."
"It was nothing."
A demeanor utterly devoid of the savagery from moments ago, as if he hadn't been affected at all. And the way he stole glances at the fairy seemed to ask, 'Do we need to shield her eyes?'
"A fairy is not a child. They are merely pure."
"......."
His nod suggested he more or less understood. Baekrok urged them on for the short stretch ahead.
"It seems we are not far from the cave's end now. Let us hurry."
***
"So, you idiot. You're saying you didn't catch it in the end?"
"...More than that, I'm just glad you woke up."
"Don't change the subject. It's not like you were going to die anyway. Shut up and spill the details."
'You were absolutely in a state to die, actually.'
The team leader briefly considered whether he should mention that Alpha (the Jirisan Warg) had let him go. He'd probably be unbearably humiliated if he heard that. Deciding to sit on it for now, he recounted a suitably edited version of the story.
"That monster was dealt with by Team 2's Leader."
"......."
Perhaps his pride was wounded, because his hand crumpled the bed sheet. A moment later, he fumed, asking where the hell that walking slab of muscle had been and what he'd been doing.
'If he hears he was taking a nap, he'll absolutely lose his mind.'
"Hoo. So, when can I get discharged?"
"What am I, a doctor? It'll probably be a while longer."
The fact that he was even awake already was remarkable. He needed more rest to recover.
"Fuck, my side's killing me..."
"They said the surgery was urgent. If you weren't a hunter, you'd most likely be dead."
At the mention of death, an awkward silence fell. After a brief stillness, the team leader parted his lips, then let his head drop.
"...I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"You ended up like this because I couldn't keep the aggro properly."
"You said it, not me. Gu Jin-ha, you absolute piece of shit. If you can't even do that one thing right, why don't you just crawl off and die?"
"......."
"...What, is that how you wanted me to say it?"
At the almost-glaring look, the team leader smiled bitterly.
"That's a bit harsh."
"I could say even harsher things, you know?"
Hong Yuri smirked. The team leader rubbed his face with his palm.
"...Thank you."
"Whatever. What about you?"
"Compared to you, I barely got scratched."
It was his Achilles tendon, which was relatively easy to treat. With potions and recovery, he was already at a point where he could walk around from that day on.
'Though my head is still pounding a bit.'
Mental exhaustion was unavoidable. Short of acquiring a skill like Mana Regeneration, it was practically a law of nature for hunters.
"Oh, right. Think of this as your last bit of rest. Once you're back, you're going to be ground into dust."
"Sick leave is my last rest? Bullshit. All because of that goddamn Wolf bastard... Ah, you should've caught it back then. You moron!"
"Sorry about that. ...Has it already gotten this late? Get plenty of rest. I'm heading out first."
"Hah. Look at you, acting all busy."
He wasn't acting busy—he genuinely was. The team leader opened the hospital room door, recalling the details he hadn't yet told Hong Yuri.
'About Alpha (the Jirisan Warg) talking. Or that the Fairy Dragon helped it.'
Should he tell him now? He glanced back and saw how poor Hong Yuri's complexion was. Even if he was putting up a decent front, he couldn't hide the exhaustion on his face. He'd find out soon enough anyway. For the sake of his long-suffering friend, he'd let him rest peacefully just a little while longer.
'...Tail Hair, was it.'
Daejeon. He said Daejeon, didn't he? He squeezed the car keys in his pocket tightly.
***
[Experience Points at maximum. Lv.17 -> Lv.18]
[Dark Vision (F) Lv.6 proficiency maxed out. Dark Vision (F) Lv.6 -> Dark Vision (F) Lv.7]
The moment I hit Level 18, Dark Vision also reached Level 7.
'Seems like the end isn't far off now.'
That was because, through my Detection, I could sense a fair number of presences gathered together in one spot.
'Well, it's not a labyrinth, after all.'
The Cobalt Dungeon had been a complex hybrid with a labyrinth, so the paths were convoluted and there was a separate boss room. This dungeon, however, seemed to be a pure cave type.
'Which means the boss might be mixed in with the other monsters.'
Each type had its pros and cons.
A labyrinth where the boss room seals shut and you can't leave until the boss is defeated. Or a cave where other monsters can appear alongside the boss.
'Right now, a cave would be better.'
In the worst-case scenario, I could at least run.
"Nervous?"
Baekrok asked, and I shook my head.
"No. Not really."
"Is that so? This dungeon... It is of a higher caliber than I anticipated."
"And?"
"I am saying it is fortunate you came. Had other phantom beasts been here, it might have been somewhat more dangerous."
Hadn't there been anything truly that dangerous so far? But perhaps Baekrok had sensed something.
'He had C-rank Mana Detection, didn't he?'
Maybe he'd already figured out what kind of monsters they were. Before long, we arrived at a somewhat broader plaza.
'...Hmm.'
The first thing that caught my eye was the one I presumed to be the boss.
[Cave Predator]
[Length 3.11m] [Height 1.67m] [Weight 230kg]
[STR 249] [AGI 420] [VIT 243] [MP 216]
[Skill List]
[Acceleration (D)] [Faint Regeneration (F)]
'Ah. I saw this one in the novel.'
Its general shape was that of a large bat, but it had a rather grotesque form. Its brain was exposed externally, and it possessed a frill similar to a ceratopsian dinosaur's, meant to shield its brain in emergencies.
'A flying boss monster?'
Agility 420. That was its one standout stat.
'The problem is there are other monsters here too.'
Alongside bats mutated by mana exposure, of course, there were ordinary bats as well.
'Seems the reason there are so many bats is because of the boss.'
Since the pack leader was a bat, they must have believed they'd be protected.
I glanced back for a moment. Baekrok was standing watch with the fairy and the fairy dragon. If he joined in, this would wrap up fast, but it seemed he had no intention of doing so.
'At least I won't have to worry about the rear.'
He'd protect the fairy and the fairy dragon at the very least. Inside the cave, their eyes seemed to have degenerated, but perhaps they detected my footsteps with their characteristic bat hearing, because they let out a boiling "Kyaaak—" shriek.
"Kieeeek!"
'I'll deal with the small ones first.'
It wasn't that they could actually do anything to me, but they were annoying.
As the bats flew at me, I stirred up a Gale. In response, the Cave Predator opened its mouth wide.
'Ultrasonic waves?'
It looked like its uvula was vibrating, but I heard no sound. Meaning the frequency was beyond my hearing range.
'......!'
Soon, the bats wheeled around and changed direction. A few that had entered the Gale's area of effect were gruesomely shredded, but there were only a few.
'It's commanding them?'
Following its orders, they aimed for the fairy dragon and the fairy this time, but it was a wasted effort.
'Idiot.'
The fairy jolted in alarm, but the bats collapsed with a series of thuds before they could even get close.
'Nothing to worry about there.'
Needless to say, that was Baekrok's doing. Once I confirmed the rear was secure, I charged at the Cave Predator.
"Kieeeeeek?"
A bat whose eyes had degenerated, relying entirely on its hearing. And every sound was being drowned out by the Gale's vicious wind noise.
'A good compatibility match.'
It could probably estimate my general location, but not knowing my exact position when I was this close was fatal. The creature immediately took to the air, but it couldn't fully escape the Gale's radius and tore holes in its wing membrane.
'Easier than I thought?'
It latched upside-down onto the cave ceiling. The fact that it showed no sign of descending meant it was trying to heal with its Faint Regeneration.
'Then I'll start with the ones on the ground.'
I hunted the bats one by one. With Baekrok blocking the entrance, they couldn't escape, and when only a few remained— I sensed a presence lunging into the Gale.
'Here he comes.'
The Cave Predator rushed at me, and I turned my head at the same moment. It seemed startled by my gaping jaws, but perhaps possessing Agility in the 400s wasn't just for show, as it barely managed to land.
'If it had come just one step closer, I'd have had it.'
Still, the Gale had ripped its wing membrane to shreds. It wouldn't be flying for a while with only Faint Regeneration.
'It's essentially over already.'
Its wing-fingers clawed at the ground. However high its Agility was, its physical structure meant it couldn't be inherently fast. Just as I thought that, it closed the distance in an instant.
'Right. It had Acceleration, didn't it?'
A creature making active use of its skills. It was hard to even track with my eyes, but I had no intention of dodging in the first place.
"Kieeek!"
It sank its teeth into my shoulder. It had probably been aiming for my nape, but the Gale muffled the sound and it misjudged. At the same time, I opened my own jaws and bit down. Its fangs failed to penetrate properly, but I tore off one of its wings.
[Hardening (D) Lv.5 proficiency maxed out. Hardening (D) Lv.5 -> Hardening (D) Lv.6]
'It's weak?'
A bit troublesome, certainly, but nowhere near as strong as Baekrok had worried. I spat out the severed wing and gauged the distance between us.
'It ran away in that short time, huh.'
Now it was a land creature, no longer a winged one. Resistance was futile.
'Underwhelming.'
It didn't take long before I had its throat in my grip. Its terror-stricken eyes trembled as it stared up at me.
Then— a stalactite crashed down with a thud!
"Kieeeeeeek!"
I'd nearly failed to dodge it because it wasn't in my field of vision. If I'd let my guard down for even a second, I would have been impaled.
'Who's there?'
A huge bat glided down from the ceiling, shielding the one whose wing I'd torn off.
[Pack Leader (Cave Predator)]
[Length 4.26m] [Height 2.04m] [Weight 374kg]
[STR 305] [AGI 469] [VIT 317] [MP 269]
[Skill List]
[Stealth (D)] [Weak Regeneration (E)]
'It wasn't the boss from the start?'
A Cave Predator superior in every aspect. The one I'd been fighting until now was a decoy— this one was the true pack leader. The one I'd fought so far was probably a female.
'So this is what Baekrok was worried about.'
Two of them. They had been gauging me the entire time. Watching me while hidden with Stealth— I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh, since that was normally my trick.
'Turned the tables on me, huh.'
It seemed Detection of the same rank couldn't penetrate Stealth. I'd nearly met an absurd end, skewered by a stalactite. The pack leader embraced the female briefly, and the two of them let out a high-pitched wail.
'Looks like they're going to fight together.'
The silver lining was that the female was grounded. I could believe the pack leader might manage it, but I didn't think F-rank Faint Regeneration could restore an entire wing. From behind, I heard the fairy making a fuss.
"W-Will Wolf be okay?"
"Who knows. We'll have to watch and see."
Baekrok's indifferent reply made the fairy's voice thicken with tears.
"Let's help Wolf! Okay? Help Wolf!"
My eyes met Baekrok's as the fairy pestered him. Seeing the look that asked, 'Do you need assistance?', I shook my head from side to side.
"He says he doesn't need it."
"Wolffff~!"
I left the whining fairy behind me.
I hadn't predicted there'd be two of them, but honestly, the situation wasn't that grim.
'You made a mistake.'
It should have come out before the female was defeated. It might think it had gauged me, but I hadn't been giving it my all either.
"Grrrrr—!"
Embers scattered within the Gale. As the black cinders swirled, the creatures flinched as if driven by pure animal instinct.
"Did he have a skill like that as well?"
At Baekrok's exclamation, the fairy stopped crying, and the fairy dragon puffed up with pride as if the feat were its own.
"Krrrrk!"
I charged at them. The terrified pack leader jumped into the air in alarm, and the female grabbed its ankle.
'Hm?'
The flawless tandem-assault I'd anticipated didn't happen. The male flapped its wings and, with over 300 Strength, soared high even while dragging the female latched onto its ankle.
"Kikikikit!"
"Kieeeek!"
The cave ceiling was indeed well over ten meters high. If they hung from it, they'd be hard to get to.
'That's why.'
That's why I'd dealt with the small bats first. But 'hard' didn't mean impossible. In other words, I had no reason to sit around twiddling my thumbs just because they could fly.
"Krrrrr!"
I used Elasticity to leap high into the air. The moment I shot up to their altitude in the blink of an eye, they screamed in shock. I bit the dangling female's ankle and wrenched my head.
"Ki, Kikikit?!"
Even throughout, the Gale and Embers kept lacerating and burning the female and male alike. The male thrashed.
'It's thinking of abandoning her.'
The female's fingers slipped from its leg. The female, left with nothing but empty air, shrieked mournfully at the male who had abandoned her.
"Kiyaaaaaak!"
The female crashed to the floor. Her ankle was already severed, and her one remaining wing was in no condition whatsoever to be used.
'She'll have a hard time moving at all now.'
The female lunged in a final desperate spurt using Acceleration. So fast, this time perhaps burning through all her mana, that my eyes could barely track her.
'You should've done that from the start.'
She opened her mouth and bit into me as if resigning herself to fate. This time, her fangs pierced through my Hardening, and she twisted as though to show me— right before my Tentacles pierced her through.
'I learned from The Budding Evil.'
In return, my tentacles weren't as tough and sturdy as its tendrils. The lacking qualities were supplemented by Hardening and mana.
"Kiiiiit..."
The Contact Intake of Evil Devouring— it seemed its maximum range applied even to the tentacles formed from my fur. Having devoured the female, I looked up at the male hanging upside-down from the ceiling.
"Ki, Kikikit...!"
The male trembled with a terrified expression. Its torn membrane seemed to have regenerated, but it showed no will to attack. Actually, from the moment it chose not to save the female, it had lost any chance of victory.
'Still not quite at Aranea's level, though.'
An even easier fight than I'd thought.
I used Elasticity to jump again. The male put up a desperate resistance a few times, swatting me away as I leaped, but on perhaps the third or fourth try, I managed to lash my tentacle around the wing of the upside-down bat.
"Kieeeek!?"
Surprisingly, it held on with pure strength. My weight was under 200kg, and considering it had lifted the female, it was likely bearable.
'...I didn't think this through.'
I could use Evil Devouring right here, but if I did, I'd only tear off its wing joint and fall again.
"Kieeeek!"
Its teeth chomped repeatedly into the tentacle. The Hardened tentacle was holding out, but getting severed was only a matter of time.
'Gale or Embers can't reach that far.'
I was dangling from a tentacle stretched several meters long. If I tried using Embers, the tentacle would snap before the fire could even reach it.
'In that case.'
I used Change to grant the tentacle more elasticity.
Feeling the drain on my mana, I used another tentacle to pull myself downward. The tentacle stretched taut from the force of pulling toward the ground, and just before its teeth could sever it, I released the tentacle anchoring me to the floor.
"——!"
The moment I was catapulted upward by the tremendous elastic force, it flapped its wings. I turned my Acceleration toward the fleeing flyer.
'—Ngh...!'
The circling male cried out in alarm. As the direction of my force abruptly shifted mid-air, I heard something pop inside my body, but there was no pain anyway, and Regeneration would fix it on its own. I charged the creature in a single burst, riding the Charge effect woven into the Gale.
"Kieeeek!"
The instant our bodies collided, I activated Hardening. Struck by a mass harder than steel weighing close to 150kg, it smashed into the wall instantly.
"......!"
Having suffered a secondary collision, the creature slid down the wall.
"Krrrr—"
Down below, I was already waiting.
"Kit, Kieeeek!"
The male screamed and thrashed. It flapped its wings desperately to escape, but the bones were snapped and broken from the impact. There was no way it could fly.
"——!"
A sound of such high frequency that it was barely audible even to my ears. That must have been its death cry.
[Cave Predator consumed. Experience Points and Satiety increase.]
[Experience Points at maximum. Lv.18 -> Lv.19]
A message announcing my level up— there were no monsters left in this dungeon anymore, except for me.