The Hidden Ritual
"Going far out doesn't guarantee a big haul. From what I saw on the community boards... hmm... there are already tons of people saying they just hunt near the entrance."
People's thoughts are all pretty much the same.
Crunch, crack—
"Aww, our Wangwang, you're eating so well, hehe. You dig tunnels well and even make magic stones. You're so cute."
Woof— Wang!!
Wangwang, who had been scratching at the studio floor to show off after hearing that, suddenly flopped down and started straining his rear again.
Whine—
Roll, roll— thud—
Then he spat out four magic stones, two of which were lesser-grade.
"Ooh~! Wangwang, you're amazing! So cute."
Huff, huff— whine...
Looking a bit exhausted, Wangwang panted before his summoning was released.
His magic stone output keeps going up.
"Whoa! You overdid it a bit. You didn't have to go that far..."
Despite her words, she was carefully wiping the stones with tissue, her lips curled up in a wide smile.
"These stones Wangwang makes are higher quality, so they fetch a better price, right?"
What? Really?
"They say the mana concentration inside is higher. Lesser ones go for twenty thousand won each. I was shocked."
He's a walking lucky charm. He poops them out once every two days, which means he's bringing in about thirty thousand won a day? It's a shame we couldn't pull more Mole Crickets from the gray summoning book.
Plus, there were the occasional magic stones the kobolds handed over. It was like having unlimited power.
"Ugh— I'm sleepy."
After chatting away with one of each type of summon out, her mana ran dry and she headed into her room.
The next day.
Summoned in front of the Fire Ape Dungeon entrance, I stretched my arms behind me as I took in the sight of far fewer hunters than usual. The gathered hunters formed small teams and set off, while we veered slightly right, entered the forest, then turned sharply right again.
"Huh? Ilwol, that's the way back to the entrance."
Even Yeonhee, who had no sense of direction, noticed how sharply I'd turned. I raised a finger to my lips.
(Shh— shhh—)
She hunched her shoulders and followed. After another minute of walking, we stopped in front of an ordinary tree.
(There's something here too, isn't there?)
Yeonhee looked up at me with sparkling eyes and whispered. I nodded lightly, spread my senses to confirm no other hunters were nearby, then began digging at a spot on the ground with my dagger. Yeonhee summoned Wangwang, and the two of them started digging together. Before long, a wooden door revealed itself.
(Whoa, it's really a door······.)
I immediately pushed the door open and descended. Once Yeonhee followed, I closed it behind us.
There's some kind of membrane at the entrance... a barrier?
Fwoosh—
I pulled a torch from my inventory. A passage wide enough for three people stretched ahead.
There's really all kinds of things in this world.
We moved forward cautiously. A Lizardman carrying an Iron Beetle in its arms took the lead. After walking straight for about five minutes, we heard voices and quickly hid.
(Haa··· haa···)
Yeonhee's breathing grew rough from tension. I raised an arm to signal her to stay put, then slipped into stealth and entered a fairly spacious chamber.
Inside were about ten blue-eyed cultists preparing for a ritual—the same ones I'd seen before.
"Hurry up! The Bureau caved to complaints and reopened the dungeon, but word is they're still roaming around with detection-type hunters."
"We put up a barrier that only hunters with high Perception can find, didn't we?"
"Don't get careless! Not all hunters with high Perception are from the early days."
"How many of those people even exist..."
Overly cautious bastard.
The cultists were busily placing Fire Ape, goblin, and slime cores on a wide platform—along with things that shouldn't have been there.
Shit······.
Several cleanly shaved human heads had been placed among the offerings. A few days ago, over ten people reported missing among the casualties still hadn't had their bodies recovered. These had to be them.
Come to think of it, a lot of the other bodies were missing their heads too... These trash?!
Heat surged through me. I wanted to rush out and slaughter them right then, but—
Composure activated.
My head cooled instantly, and I reassessed the situation. They had already begun the ritual.
Eleven in total. All E-grade, one near the peak of E-grade. Take that one out first and the rest are nothing. I should lay some groundwork first.
Contaminated Breath
The chamber was fairly large, so spreading the Contaminated Breath I'd obtained from the Ent would take some time. It wouldn't help much, but it was better than nothing.
Mana: 52/58
Poison would make them notice something's wrong too quickly. I'll set it to paralysis only.
After using Stealth and Contaminated Breath twice, consuming 6 mana, I slipped back to Yeonhee and relayed the situation using the finger signals we'd practiced in the studio.
(One eye... eleven people? One of them is pretty strong······ Got it. We just need to subdue them, right?)
I shook my head firmly and drew a finger across my throat.
We have to kill them for certain.
Yeonhee understood and pressed her lips into a thin line.
(Let's go.)
Nod—
She carefully peeked into the chamber, then began chanting. As long as she had line of sight, she could summon from up to ten meters away.
"Ugh— why does my body suddenly feel like this..."
"Huh? You too? Mine feels weird too... my muscles are stiff... hiss..."
"Quit whining just because you moved a few corpses."
Aside from the strongest one kneeling and muttering, the rest didn't seem to be participating in the ritual. I needed to strike before the status messages appeared for those affected by Contaminated Breath. Sensing the summoning portal open, I activated Stealth and dashed toward the strongest cultist's flank, unleashing every skill combo I could.
Reckless Charge
I charged straight at the one who looked like the leader.
Dagger Throw / Flame Bullet ×10
I hurled the Flame Bullets I'd stored above his head.
Acid Spray
Timing it perfectly, I sprayed acid across his face.
Hisss—
Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!
As the explosion forced him to clutch his face and hunch over, I slammed my shoulder into his torso.
Urghhh—!!
Crash!
The leader crashed into the offering platform, scattering the still-bloody sacrifices everywhere. I leaped into the air and drove my dagger into his throat.
Heavy Blow
Thud—!
Mana: 47/58
The empowered stab pierced straight through his neck and into the floor.
Gurgh!!
Crunch, crack—!!
I twisted the dagger lodged in his neck. Blood sprayed like a fountain.
Whoosh—!!
Then—
Thud—!!
A shadow sharpened like a blade shot from his cloak and pierced my armor.
Tsk— That bastard's cloak actually works?!
HP: 55/57
It struck my torso and hit bone, but with my current defense at 22, I only took 2 damage.
— Defeated a powerful enemy!
— Experience has greatly increased!
— You have eliminated a sinister group threatening the world's safety!
— Achievement [Summoner's Assistant] has been activated.
— Random stat increased.
— Acquired Lesser Mana Rune.
— Level up! Please choose three stats to increase.
Huh? Why did this guy give +2? Because he was stronger?
"Aaaagh!! Wh-what the hell are these things!!"
The blue-eyed cultists fell into chaos as Lizardmen, kobolds, and arrows suddenly appeared behind them. In hunter-versus-monster fights, whoever lands the first strike usually decides the outcome—and hunters usually hold that advantage thanks to their enhanced senses. These cultists, used to that dynamic, were caught completely off guard. The Lizardmen's raw physical power and ferocious attacks left them helpless.
Crunch—!
Aaaagh!
Thud!
Gurgh!
But when thorny shadows erupted from their cloaks and struck back at the summons, they regained some composure and began counterattacking.
"F-Fireball!"
Surprisingly, one of them was a mage.
Whoosh— Boom!
The hastily cast apple-sized fireball sailed over the Lizardmen's heads and exploded harmlessly on the floor. As he raised his hands to cast again—
"Shit! Fi-Fire—"
Thud—!
"Kuaaagh!!"
Yeonhee's arrow struck the mage squarely in the eye.
Only one mage.
The rest were melee types. Once the cloaks' shadow attacks triggered and entered cooldown, the cultists were overwhelmed by my and the Lizardmen's charge.