Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: Lizardman Shaman
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*Crack—* *Crunch—* *Snap!*
From a distance, it was nothing more than a series of exhilarating impact sounds.
"Is that... a human?"
"I have no idea..."
Yeon-hee and Su-chan exchanged bewildered glances.
He'd left the perfectly fine mace behind and stepped forward with a pickaxe of all things, but who knew it was such a merciless slaughter weapon?
Just imagining that pickaxe brutally piercing heads, torsos, and vital points sent shivers down their spines.
But that's exactly what was unfolding before their eyes.
"Eek!"
"Shut up!"
*Thud—*
One precise strike per enemy.
The pickaxe swung in all directions.
Left to right, right to left, top to bottom, even bottom to top.
When swung with the sharp blade, it invariably tore massive holes in the Lizardmen's bodies without fail. When swung with the hook-like opposite side, they flew off as if struck by a greatsword.
In that narrow passage, over twenty Lizardmen had already lost their lives to Jeong-hyeon.
At first, they'd thought he was hopelessly surrounded and doomed to die. But now, the Lizardmen couldn't handle a single Jeong-hyeon, their momentum clearly broken.
"Two coming!"
Of course, no matter how dazzling—no, blinding—Jeong-hyeon's performance was, he couldn't block every Lizardman.
Some completely ignored him and charged straight for the sanctuary.
As few as one, as many as four.
Even so, compared to their original numbers, it was nothing. And none of them even reached the entrance.
"I'll intercept them!"
With Ji-hee's shout,
*Whoosh—*
Two fireballs flew toward the Lizardmen.
'No surprise there...'
'One shot each, right?'
Su-chan and Yeon-hee nodded, confirming each other's predictions.
And their expectations were spot on.
The fireballs, flying at high speed, didn't just pierce the Lizardmen's chests—they flew all the way to Jeong-hyeon, killing two more before finally vanishing.
"Thanks!"
Jeong-hyeon's grateful reply came back after confirming it.
Even knowing Lizardmen were weak to fire attributes, this was overkill.
It was the first time he'd seen fireballs penetrate targets without exploding on impact.
Just how hot did they have to be for that?
'There really are so many cheaters in this world.'
Hunting with two S-Ranks made it impossible to tell if this was a level 5 mission gate or a level 2 normal gate.
The other party members weren't slouches either—no one who'd be overlooked anywhere.
To Jeong-hyeon, who was A-Rank level 3 and B-Rank level 4, they might not seem impressive, but they were talents any party or even guild would eagerly recruit.
Their skills were solid proof of that.
In any case, the current situation felt utterly awkward to them.
Meanwhile, the Lizardmen, once thought to be overwhelmingly numerous, were reduced to scattered corpses everywhere, with only one left alive.
"You're the last one?"
Drenched in Lizardman blood, Jeong-hyeon gripped his pickaxe and approached the final Lizardman.
"Hiss—"
The Lizardmen had charged with berserk eyes at first, but now that things had come to this, it seemed they'd come to their senses. This one hesitated and backed away.
But Jeong-hyeon wasn't about to let it go.
*Crack—*
With a simple swing, he crushed the Lizardman's head, then returned to the party.
"G-Good work!"
"Yeah, everyone did great."
The party members' greetings were as sharp as ever—sharper, even.
Jeong-hyeon wiped the blood from his face with his hand and replied.
"We seem to have blocked the first wave pretty easily?"
"Guess that's what having two S-Ranks does."
It might sound boastful, but it was the truth.
Against fifty Lizardmen, they had zero casualties or even fatigue.
He wasn't sure about Jeong-hyeon or Ji-hee, who'd fought directly, but their expressions suggested they were relaxed too.
Of course, that didn't mean they could let their guard down.
"Everyone, help me gather the corpses."
"The corpses?"
The party members echoed in confusion.
But in a situation like this, it was standard procedure.
"Yeah. The entrance is too wide to narrow down, and it's hard for me to fight with them in the way."
"Ah, got it."
Once Jeong-hyeon explained, they immediately started moving the bodies without complaint.
They'd done something similar in the 'Dragon's Grave.'
Same reason then and now.
They needed to build barricades to narrow the wide entrance while giving Jeong-hyeon, who needed room to maneuver, more space.
It also served to clear the battlefield for the next fight.
It was unlikely anyone would trip over scattered bodies or get hurt by dropped weapons in puddles, but reducing variables never hurt.
"How are you holding up, Ji-hee?"
"Much better than before."
He checked on Ji-hee's condition periodically.
This was her first real combat since taking the trait stabilizer.
She'd experimented with her trait plenty before, but this was her first actual hunt inside a gate.
Fortunately, her complexion was fine, and it didn't seem too burdensome.
'At this rate, we can really put it to proper use now?'
Even at Spirit Lake, though he hadn't said it aloud, it had felt hopeless.
The destructive power was outstanding, but needing mandatory rest after each hunt was a huge penalty.
They'd need to watch her a bit more until clearing the mission, but so far, it was excellent.
Moreover, the power to not just pierce one monster but kill others behind it—that was S-Rank territory, no question.
"The team leader said you got some hint about using magic—what was it?"
"Uh... well..."
As they moved the bodies, Jeong-hyeon asked Ji-hee.
She blushed slightly and answered cautiously.
"Just command it."
"?"
The response was absurd.
Just command it?
'Is she measuring me as an S-Rank?'
The thought flashed through his mind.
Of course, Ji-hee knew he was S-Rank too, so she had no such intent—not even a speck.
Anyway, with only puzzlement on Jeong-hyeon's face, Ji-hee blushed deeper and mumbled.
"...It's true."
"I-I see..."
If she insisted that much, it must really work just by commanding.
He didn't know what she was commanding, but with a trait named 「Fire Lord,」 it wasn't that strange.
He could accept that much, but resentment toward S-Ranks bubbled up in Jeong-hyeon again.
'EX isn't the top—S-Rank really is the pinnacle.'
Just command it, and you get fireballs with that much destructive power.
Sure, there were limits, but those would skyrocket with levels anyway.
Meanwhile, him?
What good was a flashy EX-Rank if it relied on luck from start to finish?
'Ugh, if only 「Trait Shop」 gave me the traits I wanted when I asked.'
Shouldn't EX-Rank be at least that good?
What shop in the world ignores customer requests and stocks randomly?
At this rate, 「Trait Roulette」 would be a better name.
The more he learned about Ji-hee's trait, the more he disliked his own.
Meanwhile, the other party members watched Jeong-hyeon chat briefly with Ji-hee, then clam up with a grim aura.
"His temper's really foul..."
"Would Dan Jong-woo put up with that from just anyone?"
Their misunderstandings about him were piling up.
Up to this point, the raid seemed to be progressing smoothly.
But before they could even properly clear the Lizardman corpses...
'Already?'
The second attack began.
"Everyone back to positions!"
"Second wave already?"
"Seems like it."
It was unusually early.
And the numbers were at least as many as the first wave, if not more.
Following Jeong-hyeon's orders, the party hurriedly returned to their spots and prepared for battle.
"Hiss!"
The Lizardmen swarmed with far more speed than before.
'They weren't this fast earlier.'
Something had changed—he didn't know what.
Jeong-hyeon narrowed his eyes, scanning the incoming Lizardmen.
They looked like the same lizards, but there was a noticeable difference.
Unlike before, white pigment was smeared around both eyes.
And white pigment on Lizardmen immediately evoked one monster.
"Shaman's here! Everyone, be careful!"
Lizardman Shamans—higher-tier kin to regular Lizardmen.
One of the rare monsters that used shamanism.
They mainly buffed fellow Lizardmen but could curse enemies depending on the situation.
They always lurked in the rear, making them quite annoying.
'A Shaman already? What'll they do later?'
Buffed Lizardmen were leagues above unbuffed ones.
The sudden speed boost was likely the buff's effect.
"Ji-hee, cover me as much as possible!"
"Got it!"
Jeong-hyeon issued fresh orders to Ji-hee.
With a Shaman confirmed, tanking the assault solo like before wasn't ideal.
He enchanted the pickaxe with magic again and plunged into the Lizardman horde.
"Kirrrk!"
*Swish—*
Their movements were markedly different now.
The lead one's axe swung swiftly at Jeong-hyeon's head.
But they were still far from matching him.
His body slid like flowing water, dodging the axe.
Circling to the Lizardman's flank, he smashed its spine with the blunt end of the pickaxe haft.
*Crack—*
The gruesome sound echoed briefly.
'Definitely feels great as an artifact.'
He'd noticed it during the first fight, but the blade and haft were forged as one piece.
Once enchanted, the magic morphed at his will afterward.
Blade or haft, blunt or sharp—whatever he wanted.
This high degree of freedom might be the pickaxe's signature ability.
This time, he'd optimized for maximum impact with a short strike, and it worked perfectly.
Its spine shattered instantly; the Lizardman twitched in the muck a few times before going still.
*Swish—*
Meanwhile, two spears thrust at Jeong-hyeon.
"Where?"
He grabbed one mid-thrust by the tip and flicked it aside.
The other, he smashed sideways with the haft.
Not aimed precisely at the blade, but against an artifact, the wooden haft was paper-thin.
*Crack—*
When two hafts clashed, the wood splintered like taffy.
Instead of retrieving the pickaxe, Jeong-hyeon swung again at the Lizardman left holding the broken spear haft.
"Hii—"
It gaped its jaws to bite momentarily defenseless, but that gap sealed its fate.
'Leave the last one for now.'
Reducing numbers was nice, but something more urgent demanded attention.
The spared Lizardman didn't pursue; it glanced back and bolted for the sanctuary.
Instinct to protect it, or awareness that backtracking would trip up allies—who knew.
*Crack—* *Crack—*
In that instant, Jeong-hyeon turned two more Lizardmen into corpses, slicing through their ranks sharply.
What he sought was one thing only.
'Where are you, Shaman?'
The Shaman hiding behind the horde.