The Monster's True Nature

Battles between awakened beings of similar caliber were known to favor those with body reinforcement abilities. Whether they were long-range dealers, debuffers, or mages—it didn't matter. Facing a hunter who had poured everything into tempering the very source of their power, their physical body, was an incredibly difficult task. That was precisely why Kang Yeonsu was regarded as one of the strongest in the country.

The fact that such a hunter had been defeated in mere minutes was both shocking and terrifying. Yet Kang Yeonsu struggled back to her feet, walked straight up to the monster that was striking ridiculous poses and cackling, and faced it head-on with dignity. She raised her hand and made a quick hand signal.

I saw it and nodded without thinking. 'Right. We're not here to play sports, are we?'

There was no need to seek some romantic ideal of one-on-one dominance against a monster. At her signal, hundreds of hunters simultaneously cast their support skills on Kang Yeonsu.

She was probably seeing those messages flashing in her head over and over. Just like how there was a limit to how many times the orc racial skill Warrior's Howl could stack, there was a clear ceiling to how many support skills a single hunter could receive.

Yet even after taking in hundreds of support skills, Kang Yeonsu's body was still blazing with light. That meant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she hadn't reached her limit yet—an utterly absurd fact.

Kang Yeonsu had first tried fighting the monster with nothing but her own power. The moment she judged it insufficient, she immediately accepted help from the other hunters.

Dumping hundreds of support skills onto a single person was uncharted territory even for the hunters. While it wasn't entirely unprecedented, there had been cases where it caused severe side effects. That was why Park Yonghwan had given the signal—just in case Kang Yeonsu ended up losing.

Urk—!

'Hmm... is that too much?'

Black blood burst from Yeonsu's mouth. Park Yonghwan watched and hurriedly wiped his face with dry hands.

[Gaaaa...? Kiki-kik!!]

The moment Kang Yeonsu absorbed that unknown power and returned far stronger than before, the black monster curled its lips again and began flicking its long tongue around.

'Definitely... its destructive instinct has dulled. What a strange one.'

Monsters were usually known as slaughter machines that indiscriminately massacred living beings and destroyed everything in sight. But this one felt very far from that. If anything, it reminded me more of a spoiled child with too much power it couldn't control.

'Well... when you think about it, it's basically a newborn.'

I checked once more the Flame Mark floating above its head and the one still attached to the giant monster's main body.

'So if you mark the main body, the offspring it spawns come out with the marks already stacked. That's an unexpected harvest.'

It was a hidden mechanic that might prove useful when we eventually faced the Devouring Creeper.

"Huuuuh───"

The black monster stood with its arms crossed, patiently waiting for Kang Yeonsu to finish gathering her strength.

'Quite the polite fellow. My thanks.'

The moment I glanced away, Kang Yeonsu's figure vanished.

'?!'

Even with my highly condensed senses, I nearly missed her movement. Her presence briefly flickered behind the black monster.

Bang—!

B-b-b-boom!

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaaang——!!

The scale of the battle between Kang Yeonsu and the black monster had expanded dramatically from before. The watching hunters unconsciously began backing away.

Every time the two clashed, the ground twisted and cracks spread across the barrier far in the distance.

'Kang Yeonsu...'

She wasn't quite on Yeonhee's level, but she was still an incredibly alien hunter. Unlike others, she grew stronger by gradually deleting the skills she had manifested early on. Now nearly complete, she fought without using any skills at all—purely with her mana-reinforced physical body.

[Heeheehee— Kyahahak—!]

'It's getting excited.'

The black monster couldn't hold back its frivolous laughter as its excitement continued to rise. But the situation had clearly changed from the first round. Kang Yeonsu, who had been on the defensive, had long since switched to offense, and the monster's laughter was gradually dying down.

After a fierce exchange, Kang Yeonsu landed a meaningful blow right to its face.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa——

The black monster, struck squarely in the face by her counter, was driven deep into the ground. It lay there trembling for a long time without getting up.

'...... Not enough.'

Kang Yeonsu'sDivine Beast Transformation was incredibly powerful, but it wasn't a form she could maintain all day. They needed a quick finish.

Yet despite the heavy injury, the monster lightly leaped back to the surface, tilted its head side to side, and pulled its lips into a wide grin.

[Puhaha— Gaaaaal—]

It muttered something toward Kang Yeonsu, but there was no way to understand what it meant.

'Still, that monster's lost a lot of strength.'

While keeping an eye on the monster, I also continued watching the slime-shaped main body. After producing the smaller one, it showed no biological response at all, as if it had gone into hibernation.

'...... If I land twenty more hits. I could kill it.'

Even if it had the ability to receive and store skills, if I unleashed five consecutive Flame Explosions and summoned that enormous unknown entity, victory would be certain. No—I would definitely be able to kill it.

After staring at each other for a moment, Kang Yeonsu and the black monster took a step toward one another, then clasped both hands and began a contest of raw strength.

The watching hunters nodded and chatted casually, but the twenty or so top-tier powerhouses among them were already preparing to intervene the moment the contest of strength ended.

'The moment that power struggle ends—that's when we strike.'

They were all thinking the same thing. And so was I.

Guguguguguguk——!

Thud—!

[Gaaaaak!]

"Waaaah!! It knelt to Sister Yeonsu!"

The instant Yeonhee shouted in excitement, the superhumans who had been waiting for their chance vanished. Twenty flashes of light erupted at once.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaang——!!

The superhumans who had swiftly delivered critical blows to the monster were greatly shaken by the sudden explosion at such an unexpected moment. They had been watching every skill activation, so they should have identified who cast what.

'Is there a long-range mage among the hunters who didn't step forward?'

That's probably what they were thinking. And they were right. But since they hadn't sensed any presence at all, they only rolled their eyes warily.

'For you guys, that level of destructive power shouldn't be all that surprising. Aren't you overreacting?'

It wasn't something the one who had secretly slipped in a skill should say, but compared to the skills they had unleashed, my attack had been truly insignificant.

'Heh heh... I only helped a little and my level went up by three. This is a total jackpot.'

It seemed that landing a hit on an opponent with such a massive gap in power had been evaluated very highly.

I maintained my greatly expanded sensory range for a moment, then invested my stat points into Strength, Agility, and Wisdom.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Tingle—

Rising three levels at once made the increase in power feel vivid. A smile naturally spread across my face.

The hunters stared up at the pillar of black flames still soaring into the sky. Kang Yeonsu, having created distance from the monster with the explosion, immediately canceled her Divine Beast Transformation without even checking the creature's condition.

[Grrrrrrrr——]

The black monster, which had been emitting its characteristic growl, stood tall even as its entire body burned fiercely in flames. It grinned at Kang Yeonsu, then its body began splitting into hundreds of pieces.

Crash—!

Its body, shattered into hundreds of fragments, was swallowed by the flames and transformed into a massive amount of smoke that shot high into the sky.

'Huh?! That!'

I instinctively flew toward the smoke, opened my subspace, and sucked every last wisp of it inside.

Whooooosh——

Things that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couldn't be put into subspace weren't limited to living creatures. Solid objects fixed to the ground and even gaseous substances like smoke were normally impossible to store.

'But I can do all of it.'

It was something I had tested the dawn after receiving the possibility from Ran. That's why I had charged in without hesitation. After sucking in all the smoke, I returned to Yeonhee's side and played innocent.

"Puhuhuhu... Hehe—"

Kang Yeonsu, who had just released her Divine Beast Transformation and was regaining her senses, saw me and burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha— That's hilarious. What the hell is that guy."

When Kang Yeonsu suddenly started laughing like a madwoman, the people around her looked bewildered. Yeonhee carefully smiled along with her.

"Vice Guild Leader, can you keep going?"

Park Yonghwan, who had become the de facto leader of this subjugation, asked worriedly as Kang Yeonsu lay sprawled on the ground. She shrugged as if it were nothing and smiled.

"By the way, that drake and the friend controlling the armor—you brought them, right?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Haha, no, it's just impressive. While everyone else was busy running away, they stayed behind. And they even collected that unidentified smoke. Judging by the direction the smoke from the dead black monster was heading, it looked like it was trying to return to the main body. That was very fortunate."

"Ah... Y-yes! Our Yeonhee's summons have a rather unique subspace!"

"I see. A Unique Class Summoner... How interesting. Anyway, we need to think about the next plan, but the problem is the barrier—"

"What?! The barrier is blocked?"

It seemed Yeonsu had only just learned that the barrier was compromised. The S-rank hunter who had led the barrier installation was nowhere to be seen—apparently having already left the area.

"Sssip... There's no way that person would make a mistake, right?"

There was only one person who could be suspected, but upon checking, the S-rank barrier specialist had an excellent reputation. Since the barrier master was missing, they decided to set aside their suspicions for now and focus on solving the immediate problem.

The top-tier hunters including Park Yonghwan gathered once more, while the other hunters formed small groups of three to five and began strategy meetings.

'Whew— Good thing no one said anything.'

I had stolen the smoke without much thought, but in a way, it could also be considered part of the reward for killing the monster. Thanks to Park Yonghwan's comment, it ended up being spun as if we had prevented the monster's power from recovering.

'Well, that wasn't entirely untrue. Anyone could see that smoke contained an enormous amount of mana.'

I'd have to look for it again once I entered the Dark Space later.