Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Dungeon Black Hole (3)
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The tunnel leading into the passage lived up to the grand reputation of an ant colony, stretching long and deep, with paths more labyrinthine than any ordinary maze.
"Item: Returning Turtle Export."
Right before setting off, I pulled an item shaped like a turtle from my inventory. As an E-rank high-grade item, it cost me an export slot, but I didn't mind. It had a glowing reputation as a cost-effective tool that even low-rank hunters loved for delving into labyrinth-style dungeons or the Abyss.
Just once, if you imprint a desired location into it, no matter what happens, it stretches its head back to that spot. In other words, no matter where I wandered, I'd never lose my way home.
After imprinting the cavern, I tucked the turtle into the front pocket of my hospital gown. Sword in hand, I pressed forward without a second thought.
-Kikigik?!
How far had I gone? After passing two forks and three slippery chute-like drops, a Giant Ant finally revealed itself ahead. It was a scout, just like the ones from the first wave.
My judgment was swift. I'd already mastered the most effective tactic against them from the previous fight, so I went straight for it.
-Kikigigik!!
Roaring wildly, it charged with its jaws snapping in a frenzy of threats. I slipped past with a casual slide, then swung my blade at their sole weak point.
Six precise strikes. As I slid out from underneath, its legs buckled, and it collapsed.
Its neck let out what seemed like a pitiful wail, as if sensing its own end. I severed it clean and bolted from the spot.
Ants never communicate with cries like that. Especially not with intruders—they spray warning pheromones from their entire bodies instead.
This Giant Ant had no doubt used the noise to throw me off while blanketing the whole colony in pheromones.
'Now it really begins.'
I had two goals. First, figure out why these ants were after the queen's egg they should revere like the sky itself. Second, identify whoever was commanding them now.
They'd surely detected the rat sneaking into their nest by now. Security would ramp up tight.
'Might as well grind some levels while I'm at it.'
And sure enough, not even thirty seconds after I killed it, the patter of Giant Ants charging from every direction echoed around me.
I hurriedly tipped a Sensory Expansion Potion down my throat and scanned for an escape with my sharpened senses.
'Five at once is my limit.'
And even that was pushing it. For safety, three was the sweet spot.
No matter how perfectly I executed my strategy, these were terrifying [Unique-E+] monsters.
Letting even one hit land meant game over. Their overwhelming bulk and the insane strength inherent to ants were beyond anything I could block.
With my enhanced senses, I tallied the Giant Ants swarming from all six passages and hurled myself into the third.
The only one with just four. The rest were eight to ten strong, barreling toward me like mad.
Calmly, I awakened the sun's mana from within. My Frostfire Sword drank it in deeply.
'No room for error.'
Even if these ant tunnels were massive, they weren't wide enough for two Giant Ants abreast. They were charging single file, straight at me.
'Theoretically, that means one at a time.'
Of course, real fights rarely followed theory to the letter. But at least I wouldn't face two head-on at once.
The moment my boosted senses locked onto them, my feet blurred faster. I ducked low, rounded the corner, and slashed clean through the first one's legs.
This wasn't some half-measure joint slice to cripple it. My power plus its momentum sheared off three left legs entirely.
-Kikigigik!!!
I vaulted the tumbling one, sliding under the next.
It spotted me instantly—ants boasted a full 360-degree field of vision, after all—and with agility belying its bulk, it leaped back, dodging my blade.
To be precise, my joint-targeted strike hit shell instead. No real damage. A clean miss.
'Damn!'
No time to curse my luck. The other three had clocked the enemy ahead and turned hostile.
And they were smart about it. The first one ate a sneak attack around the corner; they saw me target legs and immediately guarded theirs.
Just as expected—they were elites, a cut above scouts. The letter grade said it all; their level was in another league.
Tougher shells, more power, bigger bodies. They'd adapted their tactics too.
"Damn it. This is gonna be rough."
No helping it. Taking on three in this state was suicide. I played one of my trump cards: Equivalent Exchange. My Infinite stat spiked to its limit, and the Heart of the Giant God's effect maxed my Sun stat too.
"Huu...!"
That rush of fulfillment washed over me as the Giant Ants struck first. Clever bastards—they knew their size made the tight space a disadvantage and pincered me perfectly from front and back, above and below.
Dodge up? The front one's jaws bisect me. Down? The rear slams my skull into the wall.
'No winning a straight fight.'
Even juiced by Equivalent Exchange, shrugging off [D-]-rank foes effortlessly demanded myth-class stats at least [F+].
One way out.
"Pride's Wing!"
I poured everything into finishing yesterday's unfinished technique. One holy wing unfurled, and power exploded from me.
-Kikigik!!!
-Kkekgek!!!
Attacks rained from above and below, brimming with killing intent. Utterly unavoidable.
But with cool-headed calm suppressing my fear, I timed their approach and lifted my body just slightly.
-Kikik!
As if to say dream on, jaws with crushing force surged to pulverize me.
But I kept my wits. Floating wasn't for evasion.
I laid my airborne body flat and spun.
'Deflect... the attack!'
A buffed Infinite stat would grant me the talent to perfect it.
Ten Thousand Miles transformed into a single blade, wedged against the lower jaw surging up. Frostfire met the upper crashing down.
Then, I rotated.
In less than three seconds, I chained it all. The rank-transcending Infinite stat delivered flawless deflection success.
My spin warped their trajectories—from me to each other.
Their strikes followed my blades. Destination: each other's necks!
Ant jaws packing devastating power, amplified by my deflection strength, shattered their own vaunted shells and lodged deep.
Kwaduduk!
A gruesome crunch, and those two elites perished without a clue what hit them.
Rank:UniqueGrade:SS+LV:1
"The soft conquers the hard."
Ability:
- Can [Guide] all attacks below a certain level.
-LV5 Unlock
The awakening etched something beyond that perfect deflection into my body.
A martial art that hijacks enemy attacks with my breath, redirecting them at will—that was Softness Conquers Hardness.
A grin spread across my face as I read the description. Guide all attacks. Yes—from mere deflection to true redirection wherever I pleased.
I guided the jaws of the last charging Giant Ant straight into the ground with my blade.
Kwaang!
A massive boom. It died in baffled confusion, and only then did a full smile bloom on my face.
"Nice. Real nice."
I finished off the first one too—the one that watched its comrades fall.
+ Spare Points +1
My second level-up since entering the dungeon. I dumped the spare point into Infinite and sank to the ground right there.
One HP potion from inventory between my lips, I felt the buffs evaporate, leaving exhaustion in their wake.
'Time remaining...'
Over fourteen hours until the next wave. Factoring return time, I needed to head back in ten, leaving me four hours. Plenty of leeway. I rose slowly and resumed the hunt for foes and intel.