Feeding the Teeth
The reversed combat power felt clearer than the energy I'd sensed at the church. When I first discovered it, I had to get close before the crystal's presence registered, but now the barrier seemed fainter—clear enough to detect even from this distance. Of course, that was only by my standards. Other hunters could walk right past the building and sense nothing at all, not the monsters or anything else. Still, the fact that they were flaunting their presence instead of hiding it more cleverly left me with an uneasy feeling.
'...A trap?'
It was only natural to suspect as much. The invitation was blatant. Had they already noticed me? I couldn't be sure yet. I didn't think there was any device underground beyond my detection, but the moment I attacked, there was more than enough chance the information would reach whoever set this up. What if they were waiting nearby? Hmm—assumptions upon assumptions. It could go on forever.
"Ilwol? Should I request support from Miss Joo or Miss Arin?"
"Clack-clack—"
"Right... too dangerous?"
I nodded.
"Then what about the other places?"
Support... would that even help? The monster called Teeth was that troublesome stealth-type. Bringing in people with half-baked skills would only create unexpected casualties. While I was lost in thought, Yeonhee had already contacted the Special Division under the Management Agency. But—
Beep— Beep— Beep—
—Due to high call volume, your connection is delayed......
"They're not picking up... Why advertise that we can call anytime?"
'Figures.'
Even the Special Division staff were ultimately civil servants. There were standby personnel outside working hours, but their numbers were limited. Ironically, incidents tended to spike at night or dawn. So of course the line wouldn't connect easily. And they couldn't just increase night staff either. The world was falling apart, but that was beside the point. If even the underpaid civil servants couldn't maintain work-life balance, who would want the job?
In the end, we had to handle it ourselves. We could have waited for another day, but with no idea what those things were planning, there was no reason to give them time.
'There is a way to subdue them.'
It was simple if I recalled our first encounter. They loved swallowing their opponents' heads whole with those gaping mouths. Seven out of ten times, that was how they finished things. That habit wouldn't be easy to break. I relayed my thoughts through Ran. We needed bait.
Yeonhee nodded.
"I was thinking the same thing... that might be our only option. And it's a tactic we'll have to get used to anyway..."
'Oh...? That's surprisingly forward-thinking.'
Honestly, the Yeonhee from my previous life would have made that choice without blinking, so it wasn't surprising. But after seeing how affectionately she treated her summons lately, her reaction caught me off guard.
"I'll do it. I have to. If it's something we can handle... We confirmed last time that we can transfer bombs to them, right?"
I nodded, then explained again through Ran. I'd already figured out back at home that I could hand my bombs over to the summons. The problem was that the summons couldn't detonate them themselves—but if they got swallowed, the bombs would go off on their own.
After hearing my explanation, Yeonhee ran several simulations to avoid mistakes. The plan was to summon them and immediately order them to charge the monsters with bombs. For someone like Yeonhee, it wasn't difficult.
I pulled out the blanket I'd prepared for camping and wrapped it in my senses and mana. Then, after Yeonhee summoned two Lizardmen, I covered them with the blanket to block outside view and explained their new mission.
Even though they were summons, ordering them to charge into certain death was absurd, so I worried they might dislike it. Instead, the two Lizardmen seemed overjoyed at the novel role of suicide bombers. Numbers 2 and 3—who had always been stuck carrying Jeombaki or Dakdaki on provocation duty—looked especially satisfied.
'Try it and see. I can't feel pain as a skeleton, but you two... it's going to hurt quite a bit.'
Anyway, the Lizardmen who had clearly understood the mission were unsummoned again. I picked up Yeonhee and carefully moved down to the building's basement.
Whoosh—
Since I was floating with the Rune of Levitation, the monsters wouldn't be able to sense me with their five senses. When I reached the bottom of the basement, I saw two familiar-shaped monsters standing dumbly around a crystal that was floating slightly in the air. Seeing them for the second time, their appearance became clear. A werewolf's body with long, curved blade-like claws, a dog-like face with a protruding snout, and a snake's tail. But the most striking features were the pointed ears unique to elves and the odd eyes that held both amber and green.
'Still experimental subjects, huh...'
Monsters created by that archmage Falkai, as the System had explained. While they were out in the open like this, I needed to deal them serious damage.
Enemies hit by the bomb enter paralysis for 0.12 seconds.
Enemies hit by the bomb have movement speed reduced by 15% for 10 seconds.
Bomb Attack Power +19
A Skull Bomb processed from the skull of an Orc Intermediate Warrior I'd obtained during boss fights over the past few days. It had slightly higher attack power than the bomb I'd used against Tania. It would give me a bit more strength.
Because we were underground, I couldn't detonate a large number of bombs like during the 'Abandoned School' boss fight. After activating Contaminated Breath and Depressed Sneaky Drain, I nodded at Yeonhee. She immediately began chanting the summoning spell. Seven portals appeared at once, and I'd already handed her four bombs.
"Chyahak?!"
The two monsters reacted immediately to the sudden appearance of multiple portals. I threw two bombs at each of them. Boom—! Crash—! The Skull Bombs struck their faces dead-on.
"Purrrk— Kweeeek—!"
'......?'
I'd only expected them to be a distraction, but the monsters took surprisingly heavy damage. What? These weren't lower-tier than the previous one, were they?
Behind me, Lizardmen 2 and 3—newly summoned—each held the strongest bombs I'd given Yeonhee in their mouths and charged forward.
"Puheung—!"
The two Lizardmen running with bombs in their mouths had faces flushed bright green with excitement. Even knowing they were charging to their deaths, there was no trace of fear—worthy of being compared to the combat race known as orcs.
The two 'Teeth' monsters, who had been widening the distance left and right after my opening attack, immediately swallowed the heads of the approaching Lizardmen without hesitation. Their mouths were still remarkably elastic. Swallowing those long Lizardmen heads in one bite... I'd worried they might notice something strange and retreat, but it worked out. It was fortunate they still had low intelligence.
'This time it'll taste even better!'
After the monsters tore into the Lizardmen's heads, bright orange light leaked from their eyes and noses, followed immediately by an explosion.
Kwaaang! Boom!
'Hmm...? Why is that so weak?'
Strangely, the power of this explosion was much weaker than the bombs I'd thrown earlier—less than half the destructive force. Why? Because I wasn't controlling them directly? I couldn't be sure, but that was the feeling. Damn it. Even ready-made bombs were picky about their owner!
"Kwehhehehek...!"
The monsters were thrown over ten meters into the basement wall by the blast, but only suffered injuries where their snouts and parts of their faces were blown off. It was fatal damage, sure, but far from the combat-incapacitating injury I'd hoped for.
"Number 1, Number 2, Chehwa, Nepy—take the smaller one! The rest, guard around me!"
Yeonhee was wrapped in the cloak infused with my mana and senses, so her presence would remain faint until that energy faded. That made it harder for the monsters to target her, but just in case, I positioned the summons in a defensive formation. Among them, Lizardmen 4 and 5 took over provocation duty, drawing the attention of the two Teeth monsters. The Iron Beetle 'Dakdaki' and the Screaming Mushroom 'Jeombaki'—their usefulness was truly beyond words. Thanks to them, Lizardman 1 and Deonni 1 and 2 could stick close to the shorter Teeth monster.
"Kwoooooar!!"
—Warrior's Howl boosts the strength of nearby allies!
—Strength +3
The two Deonni let out Warrior's Howl in unison. As they began pummeling the monster's abdomen with punches and the real battle began—
Flame Slash
Swish—!
I had already driven my dagger into the neck of the other monster that had been blown away by the bomb. The creature seemed more startled by my sudden appearance than by the attack itself.
Why? Did you think you were the only one who could use stealth?
Clang—!
'As expected, one hit won't kill it.'
Even though I'd pierced its neck with Flame Slash and Pierce, the monster swung its long blade-like claws in counterattack. Slash— The impact sent me flying back several meters.
"Grrrr..."
The monster rose from where it had fallen, ignoring the dark red blood gushing from its neck, and charged at me on all fours like a mad dog. The effect of Depressed didn't seem as strong as I'd hoped. Did it have high resistance to status ailments? Maybe because it was a hybrid mixed with elves or basilisks, which had strong resistance to magic and status effects.
'Fast, as expected.'
But I hadn't been idle either. I easily dodged its linearly thrust claws by jumping in place, then spat acid at its face.
"......!"
The monster flinched and dodged the acid, but that broke the flow of its attack. I regained the initiative.
Whoosh— Boom! Bang-bang-bang!!
'Wow! The Fireball's power...?!'
It was clearly stronger than before. There had been that trend lately, but today's increase was exceptional. Why? If there was any recent change in me... Right.
'Is it because of that connection with Iris-something in that space-like place?'
Whatever the reason, the battle became much easier. Perhaps because it had taken heavy damage, the monster showed great wariness toward the power of Fireballs and bombs. I kept firing skills around it to prevent it from looking elsewhere. It seemed unable to focus amid the barrage of flames surrounding it. With its physical specs, the best choice would have been to push through despite some damage, but its flustered state suggested it might lack combat experience.
I alternated between bombs, Fireballs, and acid. Whenever the monster showed an opening, I used Flame Slash to whittle down its health. There were moments when its erratic movements caught me off guard, but thanks to Ran attached to my shoulder casting Accelerate, I never took a single hit.
And not even a few minutes later—
Kwaaaang——!
I shoved a bomb into the mouth of the monster that had lost its balance and fallen, then blew its head off, finishing one of them.