The Fifth Flame Explosion

Huh? That's not what I had in mind. I reached out and gently patted Yeonhee's head a few times. She closed her eyes without realizing it, while the people around us watched with wide eyes, still finding our interaction strange.

Maybe I should use the oath even outside. It was convenient how the restrictions on my actions loosened a bit in front of others. Swish— swish— Yeonhee had thick hair. A full head of densely packed strands. Once I started touching it, it felt so pleasant that it was hard to stop.

Hmm... Something felt hot down below. Was I getting excited just from stroking her hair because I was a perverted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠skeleton? I didn't know. The fact that even in skeleton form my lust was rising made it clear I had gone mad.

[Cold Reason], what are you doing? Get to work.

...... [Cold Reason] activated with a slight delay, as if questioning whether it really needed to intervene over something this minor.

"I'll go!" No Hayun, who had been standing behind Yeonhee and staring blankly at us, suddenly shouted. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me, as if her competitive spirit against the monster had been ignited. "Let's go smash it! I'll freeze it, so you—"

"Clack clack."

But that wasn't an option. After Nar'gull and the Skeleton Knight had pinpointed our location at dawn, the number of monsters had surged dramatically. Pulling the strongest mage out of the defense in this situation would be tantamount to suicide.

"Tch... Fine... But once I rank up to C-grade, we party again! No, a few more times!"

I thought she'd throw a tantrum and insist on coming along. She's definitely gotten more docile than before... I couldn't figure out why she had become so well-behaved, but I wasn't particularly curious either. And her offer to stay and defend this place in exchange was actually beneficial for our party. We'd already teamed up twice; a few more times wouldn't be difficult. Given the unstable state of the dungeon right now, I was even wondering if we should be the ones requesting it.

Anyway, I only managed to leave after calming both Yeonhee and No Hayun. The party leaders gathered around Yeonhee and began discussing countermeasures for defending the main base. Leaving them behind, I ran forward without hesitation. Since the target was at the edge of my sensory range, even Ran couldn't come along. This would be a fight for me alone.

After organizing my thoughts like that and flying straight toward the target for a while, I unexpectedly encountered a party of nine people locked in battle with a massive giant skeleton. To be precise, they were being unilaterally attacked.

KWAAANG—!KWAAJIK!

A gigantic fist large enough to flatten an elephant with a single strike kept pounding down on them. That's seriously terrifying. Even with my increased defense, taking a direct hit from that would definitely break something. Looking at the party members, two were already down, with one healer trying to heal them. The remaining six were maintaining barriers. It was an unusual composition you didn't see often. There were three barrier mages and three regular mages. The two fallen ones appeared to be close-range fighters.

Ah... One of them probably won't make it. I could see one person's life force rapidly fading. Something was dripping from their head. At that rate, even Irmaana's water wouldn't be enough to save them. Still, just in case, I entrusted a brown bottle filled with water to my cute subordinate "Gori" and sent it flying toward them. Holding the bottle cap in its mouth, Gori wobbled through the air toward a rock jutting up beside their barrier. If the barrier dropped, it could deliver the bottle.

KWAKWANG— KWANG!

The monster's attacks were growing fiercer. The six of them were barely holding on by combining their defensive barriers and shields against those massive strikes, but it wouldn't last. Are you guys out of your minds? They couldn't bring themselves to abandon their injured comrade, but the rule in situations like this was to leave the wounded behind. I'd seen all kinds of strange people. But I'd heard that rare types like these needed to be protected.

Whoosh— With the second stage of my cloak active and [High-Speed Flight] engaged, I had tremendous acceleration. It wouldn't take more than a few seconds to close the distance to the monster. Let's throw everything I can at it.

"Clack clack clack!"

Whether it was because I'd resolved to fight alone or because I'd encountered hunters with rare camaraderie, my focus was at its peak. By the time the house-sized monster's head filled my vision, everything around me had already turned white.

[Fireball] [Skeleton Bomb] [Dagger Throw]

KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAAANG—!

The overlapping Fireballs and Skeleton Bombs detonated simultaneously on a single point atop the monster's head, creating a horrific explosion.

- BOOOREEEER—?!

Apparently it only felt like an itch. The creature merely scratched its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head with its hand. I could see its skull was somewhat dented, but I couldn't gauge how thick its head really was. Whoa— even condensed Fireballs only did that much?

But the attack wasn't entirely meaningless. I spotted a single point on its skull where cracks were beginning to form. As expected. There was no way Fireball would have no effect.

[Penetrate] [Savage Claws] [Depressed Sneaky Drain] [Flame Slash]

After loading every skill I could onto the club I'd received from Ttungi, I gripped it with both hands and brought it crashing down on the monster's crown.

KWAAAAAANG────!

- KRREEEAK—!

The truck-sized monster's head swayed violently, and its upper body dropped sharply downward. Head! Head! Head! Head!

KWANG KWANG KWANG KWANG!

I couldn't give it any breathing room. Even as the creature tried to shield its head, I'd already stacked five Flame Marks.

The hunters who had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠desperately maintaining their barriers looked up at me and said something, but I wanted to tell them to shut up and get out of the way instead of wasting time talking. When I fired a Fireball at the ground beside their barrier and gestured for them to leave, the hunters were startled and hurriedly picked up their fallen comrades before fleeing. Gori followed after them. It seemed to have received the command to deliver the bottle and was trying to hand it over personally. I wasn't sure if it would get caught and killed by those people.

HUUUUNG—

While I was briefly changing Gori's orders, the giant skeleton's fist slammed into my side. GRRRK—! I tried to dodge by quickly retreating, but a single punch sent me flying a long distance. Even while being sent flying, I didn't forget one thing.

[Flame Explosion]

GIEEEEEE— KWAAAAAAAANG──!

With a terrifying roar, jet-black flames erupted from the monster's crown. At the same time, the cracks on its head spread like a spiderweb, becoming clear fissures. But it still wasn't enough to subdue the creature. Damn! One hit isn't enough!

Flame Explosion boasted tremendous destructive power, but it had one drawback: its range was vertical. So against such a massive monster, there were limits unless I hit a vital point precisely. After being sent flying, I used [High-Speed Movement] in the opposite direction and flew back toward the monster. I'd thought its massive size would make it hard for it to see me, but it had clearly recognized me. Ignoring its burst head, it swung its arms at me and began spinning like a windmill. From a distance it would look ridiculous, but for me on the receiving end, it was deadly.

Whoa, hey! Take it easy!

The wind pressure and pressure were so intense that I wanted to beg like that. The creature had six arms and swung them relentlessly without any delay, making it difficult to dodge. [Stealth] I tried to hide and regroup, but the moment my form disappeared, light flashed from small gems embedded in its head that I hadn't noticed, revealing my stealth.

Damn! So it was mixed with Nar'gull's staff too!

There were four such gems. At that point, there was probably no cooldown. I hadn't even felt anything like a barrier, but perhaps when multiple gems clustered together, they gained the ability to disrupt perception?

KUUUUNG—!

Urgh! That's insanely heavy!

In the end, I took a direct hit from one of its punches. Its speed was much slower than mine, but when such attacks were swung with those enormous arms and fists, there was a limit to dodging.

CRACK—

I can see that from my status window too! I'd lost over 50 health in a single hit. Come to think of it, when was the last time I'd lost health? It seemed like the first time since being hit by Tania in her golden werewolf form.

Clatter clatter—

The sturdy bone armor on my chest shattered, revealing the crudely stuffed Big Boar hide inside. This was somehow embarrassing. It felt like I'd gone outside wearing only underwear. SHIIIK— SWEEEK—

But that one hit was the last allowance. As time passed, I'd grown somewhat accustomed to the windmill pattern, and I realized the monster's attacks followed a set pattern. Here it comes! After launching a condensed Fireball to fling one of its descending arms upward, I used high-speed flight to quickly close in. I rapidly slashed with my dagger using [Flame Slash], satisfying the conditions, then—

KWAAAAAAAANG─!

Explosion. Since the monster was guarding its head tightly, I blew off one of its troublesome arms with Flame Explosion. I'd only intended to take one, but the arm right next to it was also half-destroyed, leaving the monster with effectively only four arms. Phew— Now it's getting manageable. After gaining some leeway in dodging for a few minutes, I was able to detonate another arm with Flame Explosion. I wanted to target the legs first, but the ground was swarming with black undead waiting for me to land, so that seemed risky. And when the monster's arms were no longer a threat, I detonated Flame Explosion once more on its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cracked head.

- BWOOOOOORE...!

Had it sensed the threat of death? The undead clinging to its body began screaming. But then the giant skeleton suddenly changed direction and started running in the opposite direction. Huh? Running away at this timing? I stared blankly at its retreating figure for a moment before easily catching up with high-speed flight. Its skull had been blown open by the explosions, revealing a massive core inside that was beating like a damaged heart. I jumped straight into its head and stacked five more Flame Marks, then triggered Flame Explosion with the last of my squeezed-out mana.

KWANG─!

This was the fifth [Flame Explosion]. It was written that any being hit by five stacked Flame Explosions would definitely die. Wondering if something was different, I focused, but the ear-splitting roar was the same as before. However, the effect was completely different from the previous four explosions, dizzying my vision.

...... Something's awakening?

The pillar of flame that had looked so menacing only rose for a brief moment. From the tip of the flame pillar, lightning imbued with dazzling light spread as if tearing the world apart, and soon through the clouds split by that lightning, something enormous that was difficult to take in at a glance revealed itself. And it began to fall downward with its mouth wide open.

Huh? Huh huh...? AAAAAH—!

That mysterious existence swallowed the giant skeleton in one bite. There was no escaping it. The world had stopped, and only perception was possible. The only thing granted movement was that being in the sky.

KWAAJIK—!

I, who had been inside the giant skeleton's head, was swallowed along with it. In that instant, I felt goosebumps all over my body, and lightning struck my entire form thousands of times before I lost consciousness.