The Ghoul Champion's Roar
Once I relayed the enemies’ presence through Ran, my party members’ faces quickly turned serious. The cheerful atmosphere from just a minute ago had vanished. The reason they were frowning during only our second battle was, of course, the number of ghouls.
“If there are over a hundred… I heard a Ghoul Champion appears…”
There were cases where variants were guaranteed to spawn once certain conditions were met, and these ghouls fit the bill. A Ghoul Champion was a near sub-boss level monster. Even though it was much larger than a regular ghoul, it moved with surprising agility, making it highly dangerous. It would even flee if it sensed it was at a disadvantage.
“Any way to avoid them?”
A-rin, our party leader, asked whether we could go around them first. It showed her cautious nature, though she clearly had no intention of actually avoiding the fight. Still, as the leader, she needed to consider every possibility.
Ghouls usually waited underground before suddenly bursting out to strike hunters from behind, but that trick wouldn’t work on me. They were three hundred meters away, so there were plenty of routes to retreat, yet none of us considered anything other than a frontal assault. The decision, however, belonged to my companions. As a summon, all I could do was wait.
“Let’s fight them.”
The silence that lasted only a few seconds was broken by Yeonhee.
“It’s not like we’re getting ambushed. We’re the ones taking the initiative, so what’s the problem?”
She was right.
“Let’s do that.”
Yeom Tae-seok, who had been watching our exchange from a slight distance, gave a short reply, and the others nodded in agreement. Though the numbers were high, we would encounter groups of this size more frequently the closer we got to the exit. That was why No Hayun and Yeom Tae-seok had waited for our opinion without hesitation.
With our minds made up, we approached the ghouls while suppressing our presence as much as possible. If we had passed by without noticing, we might have been fooled, but upon closer inspection of the ground, we could see unnaturally concave spots scattered throughout. Of course, my senses revealed the ghouls waiting underground for us in perfect clarity.
‘If I dug underground and planted timed bombs beneath each of them, that would be pretty entertaining.’
Of course, it wasn’t the most efficient choice, but I entertained the thought for a moment—imagining myself calmly watching from above as the bombs detonated in perfect synchronization.
Skeleton Bomb
“Ho… So that’s it…”
Yeom Tae-seok’s mouth fell open in a perfect circle as he stared at the bomb I had produced, showing no signs of growing tired of my actions. This man reacted to everything I did.
Using Adhesion, I climbed a tree and leaped into the air. Far above, I could see the ceiling stretching endlessly high. What kind of world would unfold if someone reached that high? Yet no one had ever gone that far. No matter how high you climbed, the distance to the ceiling remained fixed, and no one knew why.
Whooooosh—
The bombs I dropped from the sky rained down by the dozens onto the ground where the ghouls were hiding.
BOOOOOOM—!!
“Kreeeeeeeek!!”
The ghouls that had been lying in wait for an ambush were instead ambushed themselves. They scrambled out of the ground in panic. What awaited them were my party members and the summons radiating a menacing aura.
Because they had been underground, the bombs hadn’t inflicted serious damage, but the ghouls had still lost a fair amount of health. In battle, seizing the initiative was crucial—whether you were a monster or a hunter. The ghouls started the fight already shaken, and they collapsed like deflated balloons under our assault.
But that only lasted a moment.
Kiiieeeek—!
A tremendous roar erupted from the other side, loud enough that my companions had to cover their ears. Thanks to that monster, the ghouls that had been thrown into chaos quickly regained their formation and entered a standoff with us.
“Tsk… So it was hiding deeper in the forest?”
‘It was waiting for an opportunity.’
I had known about its presence, but I had no intention of dealing with it myself. Like Yeom Tae-seok, I was focused on supporting Yeonhee. Fighting the champion and its horde would be valuable experience for her and the summons. Besides, no matter how strong the Ghoul Champion was, it was far beneath the level of Fang, so I felt no competitive urge. I also already knew that killing it wouldn’t yield any special rewards.
After briefly surveying the battlefield, Yeonhee made a bold move—she summoned every single one of the orcs she had newly acquired.
‘Can she even maintain that many? There are over forty of them…’
Even with the Mana Orb and artifacts, sustaining that many summons wouldn’t be easy. Lasting six or seven minutes would already be impressive. Yeonhee seemed to believe that would be enough time against the ghouls and champion, of whom over seventy percent were still alive.
‘It depends on how much I help.’
I was trying to support her growth, but I didn’t want to give the impression that I was holding back my strength. That would invert the master-servant relationship, and even Yeonhee would feel displeased.
‘I should just focus on stacking the quest.’
After landing, I began slitting the ghouls’ throats one by one with my dagger. Their blackened claws, sharp as they were, aimed for my vital points.
Whoosh—!
‘Whoa!’
With so many of them, dodging while staying in the center was difficult. I shifted toward the outer edge and resumed my work from there.
Defeat 10,000 enemies while stealthed using dagger-type weapons. (1001/10,000)
After running the Orc Dungeon for several days, I had finally reached four digits. Damn, this quest was seriously tedious. I planned to guide my party members to the cave around tomorrow or the day after. Once I confirmed that the small winged creatures living there counted toward the total, I could finally say goodbye to this wretched quest. Just a little longer.
After killing about twenty ghouls, I obtained one of their traits and one skill each.
Dead Claw — When attacking with a body part, inflicts paralysis on the target for 0.1 seconds on hit.
This was the ghouls’ most representative trait. It stiffened the body for only an instant, but in that brief moment, being surrounded could lead to disaster.
Trait Dead Claw has fused with trait Rough Claw.
‘Oh, just as expected.’
It was similar to the Rough Claw I had obtained from the Lesser Dire Wolf, so I had been anticipating this.
Savage Claw Lv.1
When attacking with a body part, inflicts [Bleed] and [Paralysis] with a 50% chance.
Bleed: Reduces maximum HP by 0.02% per second. Effect doubles during combat while bleeding.
Paralysis: Stiffens the body for 0.2 seconds.
‘Whoa—! This is way more efficient now!’
The status ailment activation rate had doubled from 25% to 50%. The values for Bleed and Paralysis had also doubled.
While I was nodding in satisfaction as I looked at the spikes growing from my body, I heard my companions’ shouts.
I decided to check the newly acquired skill later.
— They’re coming!
— Scatter!!
The ghouls, their backs hunched in a grotesque parody of human form, had mottled, multicolored skin and twitching spines protruding at odd angles. The sight was utterly repulsive. Especially the Ghoul Champion that had sent my party members recoiling in shock—it was three times the size of a regular ghoul and moved over 20% faster. On top of that, it could freely adjust the length of its claws, making it difficult to gauge distance.
Kiiieeeek—!
The champion charged on all fours, scattering my party members, then dashed straight toward the one it judged to be the weakest.
And according to the ghoul’s assessment, that person was none other than Ham Eun-yeong.
‘Wait, what? You’re just going to leave her alone?’
It was a clear mistake. There were two Lizardmen beside Eun-yeong, but they weren’t nearly enough. At the very least, Number One would have made a difference, but the problem was that the summons had been spread too thin across the battlefield. Of course, that was partly due to the sheer number of ghouls and the champion’s ferocious charge, but as the party leader, A-rin should have anticipated and prepared for that.
‘Without me, they’re still not ready…’
Just as I thought things were getting dangerous and launched myself toward Eun-yeong, a humanoid monster with two horns on its head burst out of her hand mirror. The creature opened its mouth wide and vomited something out, and in that instant, an invisible shockwave erupted like a waterfall.
— KRRRRAAAAAHH—!
The shockwave’s range and destructive power were immense. It sent the Ghoul Champion, twice the size of Lizardman Number One, flying dozens of meters in an instant.
BOOM—!
The shockwave itself didn’t seem to deal direct damage, but the champion that had been launched so far crashed headfirst into a massive boulder and couldn’t get up for a while.
Everyone on the battlefield—my companions, the summons, and even the ghouls—froze in place. The sight was that surreal.
“What the—?! What is that?!”
“Was that a defensive artifact?”
“Huh…? Those horns…?”
We were all shocked to witness Ham Eun-yeong’s hand mirror activate for the first time. So that was the level of monster it contained, the one that supposedly had its own ego?
“…It wasn’t that dangerous… I could have dodged it…”
Ham Eun-yeong muttered something toward the hand mirror. The monster, having heard her, instantly retreated back inside. Once inside, it glowed briefly, as if conveying some intention to her. Eun-yeong soon nodded and began singing her signature skill, Peace of Mind.
— Kiiieeeek!!
The ghouls that heard the song clutched their ears in agony. Combined with Yeom Tae-seok’s Aura of Devotion, the tide of battle—which had briefly stabilized—swung decisively in our favor.
“While the aura is active, you’re immune to paralysis!”
“Got it. Everyone, charge—!!”
At Yeonhee’s command, the summons surged forward like a wave, sweeping away the remaining enemies. Just as a wave leaves only fine sand in its wake, the ghouls would soon be reduced to scattered fragments of flesh on the ground.
“Krrgh—! Hrk—!”
The Ghoul Champion, having taken a heavy blow from Ham Eun-yeong’s artifact, staggered to its feet while gasping for breath and glanced around the battlefield. Was it looking for an escape route? But hovering above its head was Nepy, the Neos Harpy, already diving down with poison-coated claws. No Hayun and Yeom Tae-seok were also charging toward it with their shields raised. Even if that weren’t the case, Spotty the Screaming Mushroom and the other summons were ready to draw its attention at any moment. Yeonhee had her bow drawn, and Bae Jua was sealing off its retreat with rocks.
Watching my companions methodically corner the champion, I couldn’t hide my satisfaction.
‘At this rate… we should be fine.’
Making rapid progress was beneficial for me as well. It would allow us to enter the cave for the quest sooner. After all, we could only tackle that place once our party’s strength had stabilized. I could only hope they would grow quickly.