Chapter 32: Boss Monster.
Chapter 32: Boss Monster.
The boss monster charged with its grotesque jaws spread wide as if to devour me, and I aimed my left arm at its upper body. I could fire a total of three bolts in rapid succession. Each bolt was now coated in keen magic powerful enough to pierce ordinary steel.
I aimed and fired.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
With a far sharper crack than before, the bolts tore through the air. Though they left the crossbow an instant apart, all three flew straight toward the exact center of the creature’s brow. However…
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The bolts struck with loud metallic clangs and fell uselessly to the ground. They had failed to penetrate the boss monster’s hide. That did not mean they had no effect. Apparently feeling the magical shockwave driven through its exterior, the creature flinched and drew in on itself.
Even though I had used only a small amount of magic, its hide alone had endured force twice that of an ordinary bolt. I wanted to know what was wrong with the angels’ brains for putting a creature like this in the Rite of Passage, but at least I seemed to have achieved my immediate goal. I had successfully halted the beast after it had steadily accelerated in pursuit.
The boss monster’s body coiled even tighter, as if dazed from the impact’s aftereffects. I decided to give Seraph a piece of my mind about this later. For now, I immediately turned and started to follow the others.
Looking ahead, I saw the group running hard. Judging by the remaining distance, they would enter the 100-meter zone soon. At this rate, it might be a close call for me, but the kids would definitely be safe.
As I broke into a sprint, something felt wrong. It had not suffered a serious injury, and it had already had enough time to recover from the shock, yet I could not hear it running. The heavy thuds were gone. The creature’s hunched posture brought to mind the Mangki that had leaped at me during yesterday’s battle. The instant I thought, No way…, wind roared upward behind me.
Whoooosh!
My fear proved correct. The boss monster was cunning and calculating. It understood that at this rate it would not catch a single one of us. It had not hunched over because of the impact of my bolts; it had been preparing for a tremendous leap.
A massive shadow fell over me and the surrounding clearing. The boss monster was looking past me at the group running ahead. Ahn Hyun was in front, with Kim Hanbyul and Lee Yoojung close behind. Ahn Sol was running as hard as she could, but her low base Stamina had left her some distance behind. The other three might have been safe, but Ahn Sol was within dangerous reach.
Before I even had a chance to shout a warning, the boss monster, which had been soaring through the air in a long arc, landed with all its might right behind Ahn Hyun’s group. A tremendous sound erupted, shaking the ground and making the very earth tremble. The vibration was so powerful that even Ahn Hyun, who was running at the front, staggered. Seeing that, my mind went blank, washed completely white.
And in that instant, a message appeared before my eyes.
『Latent Ability Mind’s Eye (Stillness) (Rank: A Plus) activates. The mind’s eye looks beyond a target’s outward appearance and into their inner self. It is the ability to contemplate oneself and observe or sense all things, as well as phenomena that produce a similar effect. A mind disciplined to the extreme can remain composed even under mental-corruption magic of Rank S or lower.』
…
…….
……….
“Hoo…”
My heated mind cooled in an instant. Cold reason filled the thoughts that had just been blank and white. My narrow perspective broadened, and I began to see things that had been invisible before.
And then, I laughed. I couldn't help but laugh.
What in the world had I been worrying about? This situation was nothing. I had endured harsher moments, more painful moments, and more perilous moments many times before.
I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t scared. I wouldn’t overreach. I would always draw a line at what I could do and give everything I had within it. Those were the words I had lived by during my first run through the Hall Plain.
Half-baked strength meant nothing in the Hall Plain. I had watched people reveal extraordinary talent and ability only to die before either could fully bloom, and I had sworn never to expose my true self. I had lived so thoroughly in the shadows that no one knew I was a Sword Master whose Magic Power stat was only 48. Over ten years in the Hall Plain, that caution had hardened into an obsession.
Of course, I still believed I should hide myself whenever it was necessary. But if I did nothing else, I would be no different from my former self. The same method could only produce the same result.
When I failed to protect my older brother, when I lost the Clan Lord I had trusted, followed, and loved right before my eyes, I was filled with regret. I didn't want to repeat that path, and hadn't I returned to change that fate? I wanted to be different now.
In an instant, I analyzed the entire battlefield and calculated the optimal course of action. I measured the exact amount of magic I needed, drew it out, and sought the most efficient solution. I no longer intended to conceal myself to a suffocating degree. If it was necessary, I would act. Being discovered might cause trouble, but the answer was simple: I just had to avoid getting caught. Now I possessed both the ability and the confidence to do that.
I completed the analysis in less than a second. I located Ahn Sol and confirmed that she was alive. My first task was to draw the boss monster’s aggro. Its massive body already concealed me from the others’ line of sight. I drew out a great deal of magic and packed enough power into the bolts to pierce its hide. There was no longer any need to pretend I was aiming; I fired immediately.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
Startled by the intense killing intent behind it, the creature flinched and turned its head. The bolts were already racing toward it at a speed in another league from before. Before it could react, all three buried themselves in the boss monster’s chest. But I was not finished.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The magic-saturated bolts burst through its hide with explosions like bombs. The effect was immediate.
Kuaaaaaaaah!
Hurts, doesn’t it? It should. As the boss monster screamed in pain, I sprinted forward. Through my Third Eye, I saw Ahn Hyun, Kim Hanbyul, and Lee Yoojung still running despite their unsteady steps. They apparently had not noticed that Ahn Sol had fallen behind. Good. This might actually work better for me…
Wait. Ahn Hyun had stopped.
“Sol-ah! Sol-ah! Sol-ah, answer me!”
Ahn Hyun’s desperate calls told me he had finally realized Ahn Sol was missing. Idiot. I accelerated even further, closing the distance in an instant. The howling boss monster saw me approaching and raised its massive right hand high overhead. Its entire arm trembled with rage.
I had intentionally weakened the blow so it wouldn't die, but the ungrateful beast didn't know that. Of course, it had no way of knowing my thoughts as it swung its hand down at me without hesitation. The flashing claws on its fingers slashed menacingly towards me like a well-honed reaper's scythe. The sight would make an ordinary person's knees buckle, but to my eyes, the speed was slow enough to make me yawn.
Maintaining my acceleration, I kicked off the ground with one foot, quickly bent my lower body, and tilted myself parallel to the ground. Its claws grazed past my face, and a few strands of my hair were cut, fluttering into the air. But I had successfully evaded the boss monster's attack and slipped inside its guard. It was a clean slide. And in that direction, I saw Ahn Sol, coughing with both hands on the ground.
“Cough! Cough!”
The air was thick with dust, likely kicked up by the monster’s landing. In the past, I might have tried to comfort and reassure Ahn Sol, but now I had neither the time nor the inclination. I quickly helped her up and swept her into my arms in a princess carry. She looked startled, as if she hadn't expected me to come, then opened her mouth, her voice trembling.
“S-Soohyun-oppa…?”
“Be quiet. Let’s get away from this thing first.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I fired the three bolts I had loaded while running back over my shoulder. Without waiting to see the result, I charged through the cloud of dust. The creature’s mournful scream rang out again, so one of the bolts must have struck another painful spot.
Ahn Sol’s expression was quite a sight. Tears beaded in her eyes as she looked up at me as though I were her savior. Ahn Hyun had just broken away from Lee Yoojung and Kim Hanbyul to run back for her, but when he saw me emerge through the dust, his jaw dropped.
The funny thing was the rapid series of changes in Ahn Hyun's expression as he looked at me. First, a blank face, then a relieved one, and finally, a tearful one. Seeing another guy do that made my stomach turn.
At this rate, the siblings looked ready to burst into tears together. What a ridiculous fuss. I kept running.
Just then, I saw Kim Hanbyul shouting something at me with an urgent voice. A chill ran down my spine. As expected, the monster had no intention of letting us go peacefully. The boss monster's tail whipped through the air like a supple lash, aiming to strike my back. If that writhing, whipping tail hit us, I might be fine, but Ahn Sol wouldn't be able to withstand the shock passing through my body.
I suddenly felt the urge to kill this thing. If I took down a Hall Plain boss monster that no one had ever defeated, it might be recognized as an achievement, and there might be some kind of reward. And even setting that aside, as a User, I wanted to defeat a boss monster. If so, I needed to separate myself from Ahn Hyun and the others for a moment. I decided to take the attack head-on.
The monster’s tail slammed into my back. With a dull thud, a massive impact drove through me. It did not hurt, but the blow would still hurl my body away; that much force could not simply vanish.
I raised my magic and accepted the impact that had entered my body. The underlying principle came from Four Ounces Deflect a Thousand Pounds, but I had adapted it into a technique for controlling and distributing force within myself. It was normally used to soften an otherwise unbearable impact by spreading it through the entire body, though I had employed it this way before.
I transferred just enough of the impact for Ahn Sol to bear and threw her forward, sending her flying. Then, I directed the remaining force as much as possible to the side and rolled my body hard. Just before we were both sent flying, I whispered softly in Ahn Sol's ear.
“The moment you get up, run to the Warp Gate.”
Before Ahn Sol could answer, the impact hurled us apart. I went left, while she flew toward the others. Perhaps Ahn Sol’s supposedly useless(?) Luck stat had chosen that moment to activate, because she landed squarely in Ahn Hyun’s arms.
I, too, hit the ground and rolled, but I had to get back up immediately. The boss monster was clearly on a different level from the other monsters in the Rite of Passage. As if it recognized me as a threat, it didn't pause to savor its hit but immediately leaped in my direction. It was radiating a thick killing intent from its entire body; it seemed I had definitely drawn its aggro.
KABOOOM!
With a report like cannon fire, the ground shook violently once again. I had dodged, of course, but even my body was tossed about by the tremor. Apparently enraged that it had missed me, the creature repeatedly stamped down on the places where I stood.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Hup. Hup. Hup. Hup.
There we go.
“Oppaaaaa!”
“Hyuuuuung!”
Whaaaat? I wanted to answer, but I barely managed to keep my mouth shut to preserve my image as the quiet, dependable Oppa. Normally I would have waved and smiled to show I was fine, but this was not the time. I waved for them to run, yet the group refused to move. In the end, I had to shout at the top of my lungs again.
“Hurry up and ruuun! You idiots! Run for the Warp Gaaate!”
My words caused a brief commotion, and then I saw Ahn Hyun forcibly dragging a resisting Kim Hanbyul away. Look at this guy. When Ahn Sol was caught, he shook everyone off and tried to run back, but now he isn’t even pretending. Just as I was about to click my tongue, I leaped quickly to the side. The creature’s foot had come crashing down again.
It irritated me to do nothing but dodge a creature that would not last a single punch against me, but I held back for the moment. Since I had decided to kill it, I planned to beat the hell out of it as soon as the others were gone. Dust was already rising around us again from the creature’s indiscriminate stomping.
To secure a clear line of sight, I erased my presence with magic and slipped behind the monster. In an instant, my presence vanished. Lacking eyes, the boss monster's head swiveled around frantically, desperately trying to find me. I watched its tic-like jerky movements with a bored expression before turning my head.
Fortunately, Ahn Hyun had managed to drag Kim Hanbyul along, and all four of them seemed to have just reached the Warp Gate. Ahn Hyun's hair was a mess, which suggested she'd been flailing her arms around quite a bit. Honestly, the sight was pretty funny.
As the group arrived, the Warp Gate began to activate. A translucent barrier formed around them, and the blue magic sphere in the center began to vibrate. It seemed the transfer to the Summoning Room had begun. Soon after, seeing the faint blue energy enveloping their bodies, I let out a sigh of relief. For the most part, my job was done.
Now, all that was left was…
As the dust began to settle, I quickly dropped flat onto the dirt. I expected another lecture later about why I had not hurried to the Warp Gate. Kim Hanbyul was formidable when she pressed an issue, so I intended to create an excuse: the tail’s impact had been so severe that I could not get back up at the time.
The dust soon settled completely, revealing the group, now glowing with a deeper shade of blue. Just like when they were transported from the Preparation Room, their bodies were slowly fading, starting from their feet. Lying on the ground, I raised my upper body slightly and waved at them. It had no other meaning; it was just a signal, a sort of 'goodbye, see you later'.
But then… Ahn Hyun suddenly wiped his eyes with one hand, and Lee Yoojung sank down and burst into tears. It was a little strange to watch her sit when her feet had already disappeared. Kim Hanbyul covered her face with both hands, her shoulders shaking, while Ahn Sol waved frantically toward me as tears streamed down her cheeks.
W-What? I never meant to make them cry…