Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: Amethyst Ape Horde
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Dungeon. Beast Realm.
In dungeons where primate beasts appeared, purple rivers flowed.
Trees sprouted thickly along those rivers.
The trees, saturated with the purple river water, resembled the river itself, gradually darkening to pitch black toward the top.
Because of that, an ominous aura permeated the forest.
Deep within that forest.
Two figures were walking.
One was a half dark elf with a menacing, ugly face.
The other was a girl with five tails sprouting from her back.
"...Leyzon, do we really have to go this far?"
The girl asked Leyzon with a gloomy expression.
But Leyzon smiled calmly.
"Hanok, right now, you're manlier than anyone else."
"How can I look manly like this?"
"Only a man can pull off a dress like that."
Hanok made a tearful face.
Long black hair and pale skin.
From her slender wrists and ankles upward.
Hanok's appearance was that of a girl in the midst of puberty.
The one who had transformed Hanok into this girlish form was Haron.
Haron possessed a skill that allowed transformation into any form.
Even if scanned with detection skills, only Hanok's level would show.
Unlike with Syria, there was ample value in targeting her.
"They block women from entering, and Syria risks detection, so this was the only way."
"Leyzon, you could just do it yourself!"
"It wouldn't matter if I did, but..."
Leyzon spun the Staff of Abundance in his hand.
"Hanok, can you endure my Abyss bare-handed?"
"..."
Hanok fell silent.
Every time Leyzon unleashed Abyss, Hanok endured it with Rigidity [Special].
For Hanok, Haron was his sole lifeline.
"Besides, you need Haron around to stay safe."
The opponent was the one who had made a high-rank pioneer vanish.
Haron had contributed the most to boosting Hanok's capabilities.
Thus, Hanok's safety was a priority.
"In my case, with Syria here, I'm fine."
Syria would protect Leyzon above all else, no matter what happened.
But.
"Hanok, do you trust Syria?"
"...I'll do it."
Hanok held back tears and volunteered.
It was Hanok's best effort.
"Good. Since we're doing it, Hanok, let's go in bold."
"Y-Yes."
Just as Leyzon took a step forward with Hanok's weak reply.
Hanok's ears perked up.
At the same time, Syria's call rang out.
"Something huge is coming. A ton of them."
The moment Leyzon turned toward where Hanok was looking.
There, a massive horde of primate beasts was swarming.
It was a number far beyond what could normally gather.
Leading them, pioneers screamed as they fled.
Something had gone wrong inside.
"Hanok, experience is coming our way."
Leyzon spun his staff and turned his body.
"Yes."
Hanok's demeanor shifted in an instant as he gripped the [Silver Knight's Charge Lance].
Whatever the situation, experience points were to be claimed.
It was a massacre.
Upper dungeon, Beast Realm.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
There, a massive horde of primate beasts was charging.
Bodies like gorillas draped in purple manes.
Grade A phantasmal beasts.
Amethyst Great Apes.
That was the name derived from the gem embedded in their foreheads.
Grade A phantasmal beasts were among the weakest in dungeons.
However, this was an upper dungeon.
Even grade A phantasmal beasts became a different story when swarming in droves.
In such numbers, even high-rank pioneers could lose their lives if careless.
With their massive bulk trampling everything, there was no answer.
Thus, the pursued pioneers fled desperately.
But the pursuers' speed outpaced their own.
The distance to the Amethyst Great Apes was closing rapidly.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Damn it, we have to block them somehow! Or we're all dead!"
As they cried and desperately tried anything in a last-ditch effort, they spotted a girl.
Ears perked up, five tails fluttering.
She looked fragile to anyone who saw her.
"Get out of the way now!"
A pioneer yelled at the girl.
She seemed about to be trampled to death under the primate beasts' feet.
But the girl ignored their shouts.
Instead, she began pulling back the lance in her hand with all her might.
A massive silver lance glowing under the purple influence around them.
The lance was as large as the girl herself.
Soon, the pioneers sensed something ominous from the lance.
They felt enormous power concentrating into it all at once.
The source of that power was the girl herself.
As the pioneers slowly realized something was off.
The girl thrust her maximally drawn-back lance forward, stepping ahead.
Boom!
The ground trembled from the force of her stomp.
With tremendous leg strength, her body shot forward.
In an instant, she overtook the pioneers and reached the front of the primate beasts.
A wolf's form overlaid her body.
The moment the pioneers' eyes widened in shock.
The girl's lance had reached the primate beasts.
Kwaaaang!
The massive Amethyst Great Ape collided with the small girl and was flung back.
The pioneers gaped at the overwhelming power.
It was a force impossible from such a petite frame.
The girl didn't stop there.
Upon landing, she pulled the lance overhead and spun it.
With each rotation of the girl's lance, Amethyst Great Apes were torn apart.
"Grooo!"
At that moment, the Amethyst Great Apes all turned toward the girl.
Regardless of their tearing bodies, they tried to crush her with their massive frames.
The girl was instantly surrounded by the Amethyst Great Apes.
"Damn it, that's why we told you to move..."
The pioneers who saw it swallowed hard.
"This is our chance to run!"
"No better opportunity. She's done for anyway!"
But they were fleeing themselves.
There was no way to help the girl.
In the end, they abandoned her and bolted away.
As the pioneers vanished, the Amethyst Great Apes swarmed the girl even more.
By the time her figure was buried under them.
Whoosh―
A wind carrying pitch-black light suddenly blew in from somewhere.
The Amethyst Great Apes began sensing an unnatural current.
One by one, they raised their heads.
In their eyes, something pitch-black was visible, mixed in the wind and blowing toward them.
Splat!
At that instant, wounds appeared on their thick hides.
Simultaneously, blood spread from the severed flesh.
"Groo!?"
"Grooo!"
The Amethyst Great Apes cried out in surprise.
They hurriedly huddled together, curling up.
But that was the worst choice.
What they should have done was flee when the wind hit.
Slash! Thud!
Their balled-up bodies were shredded to pieces.
Even the sturdy bodies of high-durability Amethyst Great Apes couldn't withstand the wind.
The Amethyst Great Apes screamed.
Some rolled on the ground, flattened prone.
But the black wind showed no mercy.
It tore their bodies apart relentlessly, carving endless wounds.
Step―
Behind the writhing Amethyst Great Apes in agony, the sound of shoe heels echoed.
There stood a menacing-looking half dark elf.
He spun his staff.
The wind blooming around him extended without hesitation.
"Rampaging wildly, huh."
The dragon clan's unique skill, Dragon Scale [Special].
Fusion magic enhanced with attribute fusion [Special].
A blade wind infused with curse, darkness, and shadow.
Leyzon's raw output had long surpassed hero level.
Leyzon was a calamity in upper dungeons.
'This leaves no traces, just like poison.'
Moreover, with attribute fusion added, the power was assured.
Leyzon smirked smugly.
No skill matched him better than Attribute Fusion [Special].
And he wasn't alone here.
"Hanok."
The moment a gap opened as the Amethyst Great Apes' bodies were sliced by the black wind.
Hanok's eyes flashed from within the surrounded cluster.
Rotation was added to Hanok's lance.
The lance spiraled in rotation.
Rotation upon rotation stacked.
With each extension of the blade, Amethyst Great Apes were torn asunder.
Hanok's stats received buffs from his living armor, Haron.
This correction translated directly into stat increases for Hanok.
As a result, Hanok unleashed power beyond what a 10-Ascension pioneer could muster.
Plus, the recently acquired [Silver Knight's Charge Lance] and S-rank skills.
Not quite Leyzon's level, but Hanok far surpassed conventional high-rank pioneers.
Crack!
In the end, all the Amethyst Great Apes met their mass slaughter.
It was hard to believe they had threatened high-rank pioneers moments ago.
Leyzon stepped over the fragmented remains of the Amethyst Great Apes.
"Looks like you've fully mastered handling those skills now."
"Yes! Now I can swing them around freely!"
Hanok replied, wagging his five tails excitedly.
Leyzon looked pleased at Hanok's response.
'As expected, Hanok handles the gale build well.'
Dungeon Replay had several major builds.
The standard setups researched and perfected by veteran players.
One of them: the gale build.
Among warrior archetypes, it boasted the highest breakthrough power.
'Hanok has great flexibility, and as a Sword-Tooth Clan member, his combat sense is exceptional.'
The gale build's performance depended heavily on the user's proficiency.
'That's why only the most skilled players used it.'
Even Leyzon hadn't attempted raising a gale build character.
Leyzon was confident in sequentially stacking performance like with magic.
But physical playstyles like the gale build were his weakness.
'Even in my original world, I was born a natural mage type.'
Everyone has their aptitudes.
The key is recognizing them and utilizing them properly.
Hanok spun his lance with a twirl.
Flecks of flesh and blood flew off cleanly.
Useful for keeping the weapon spotless too.
"Hanok, let's collect the gems from these guys."
"Yes!"
Hanok scurried around eagerly gathering the gems.
The gems in the Amethyst Great Apes' heads were all magic stones.
'Gotta give them to Estelle.'
Sauryong, Estelle Aragon.
Estelle's evolution condition was magic stones.
Even Estelle had limits collecting them alone.
So Leyzon was gathering them for her next evolution.
'Evolve them all one by one.'
Undeads no longer leveled up Corruption easily.
So they needed to max out evolutions.
Preparation for that.
'Opportunities come to those who prepare diligently.'
Leyzon finished collecting the magic stones and stood.
"Now, shall we find out why the Amethyst Great Apes swarmed?"
Amethyst Great Apes didn't normally form packs.
They were solitary creatures.
"Ask the Amethyst Great Apes?"
As Hanok tilted his head, Leyzon smiled faintly.
What an innocent thing to say.
"We'll use you as bait and ask the ones who ran. Syria."
As expected of Syria.
Leyzon mounted the broom with Hanok.
Fierce winds began swirling around the broom.
Leyzon's eyes gleamed ferociously as he grinned.
He would collect the price for using her as bait.