Chapter 249: The Path to the Heart (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 249: The Path to the Heart (6)
The clone writhed in agony, spewing blue blood from its pierced heart.
Meanwhile, a sharp criticism came from behind me.
『Hmph… I came because the vessel was rather to my liking, but the soul inside is barely an improvement over that vermin.』
“…”
Listen to the nerve of this bastard.
Just as I was about to fire back, god or whatever he was…
[A critical error has occurred.]
The message window turned red again.
[Authorizing system intervention to resolve the error.]
[Reverse-summoning the otherworldly god that descended through an abnormal route.]
The immense presence I felt behind me began to fade rapidly.
『You, human.』
The being called out to me.
After forcing its way into my magic through that ‘descent’ or whatever, it hadn't even glanced my way. Why now, at the very end?
『At a suitable time, fashion this body for me once more. Make it stronger and more majestic than it is now.』
Aha.
So that’s what this was about?
I smiled and raised my middle finger at the entity.
I don’t know if it’s an otherworldly god or just a plain old moron.
I had no idea if it would even recognize this finger as an insult, but whatever.
Summon you again?
“Fuck off.”
Next time, I’m making Thor.
『You insolent…!』
A furious voice echoed for a moment, but that was all.
Its presence had already faded so much that there was nothing it could do to me.
It could only be returned to its original place by the system.
[The otherworldly god has been reverse-summoned.]
[System intervention has ceased.]
[In the future, please conduct any descents through the proper procedures after offering a suitable sacrifice.]
The message window, once red, returned to its usual blue and fell silent.
It seemed the commotion was finally over.
Ju-yeon, who the god had briefly interfered with… seemed to be fine.
I could tell from the way she waved her hand with a bewildered expression, signaling she was okay.
Relieved, I turned back around.
The Kraken clone was glaring at me, its two remaining hearts pumping furiously as if to compensate for the destroyed one, spilling blue blood.
To be precise, it was staring at the magic construct still behind me: Zeus.
It seemed to be on high alert after being hit once.
I calmly assessed the situation.
“Back to square one… no, I think I have the advantage.”
I recalled the notification messages that had been hidden by the red window.
[The duration of Sacrifice of Purity has ended.]
[Your stats will return to normal.]
My body, which had moved exactly as I'd willed just moments ago, now felt as heavy as if it were shackled.
I'd lost half my strength… no, more than that.
Still, I didn't feel like I was in any particular danger.
The clone's power had also dropped significantly after losing one of its hearts so futilely.
Plus… the magic construct, Zeus, was still maintaining its form beside me.
Its mana had been greatly depleted from using its power without my command, but since I'd poured so much mana into it to begin with, its remaining power was still considerable.
As I had Zeus confront the clone, the voices of Kim Tae-yang and Namgung Hyeok came through my badge, which had been silent for a while.
『First Guardian of the Heart is toast.』
『Second Guardian of the Heart has been repelled.』
As the two victory reports came in one after another, a change occurred in the Kraken clone.
The protective barrier surrounding its two remaining hearts vanished without a trace—a small but significant change.
“Aha…?”
Now I understood.
You could only destroy the clone's hearts after killing the Guardians of the Heart that the S-rank Hunters were facing.
That meant the third heart, the one Han Ju-hee faced, must have been destroyed long ago. What was she doing all this time…?
“…There she is.”
I caught sight of Han Ju-hee at the edge of my vision as I glanced over.
She had her hand on the transparent wall blocking the entrance to the hall, muttering something.
It looked like she was trying to analyze the mana array to disable the barrier.
“I don't think that'll work.”
Although it was made of mana, that wall wasn't formed by simple magic or anything like it.
It's hard to explain in detail… but it felt like some kind of principle I'd never seen before was at play.
Just as we had to defeat the Guardians to remove the barriers protecting the hearts, there must be a way to disable that wall somewhere in here.
For example.
“By defeating the clone.”
It didn't matter if I was wrong. Defeating the enemy before me would solve everything anyway.
“Kggagagagak!”
Lasers of black mana shot out from the tips of its sharp tentacles.
Pew! Pew!
Unlike the breath attack from before, these were fast and sharp.
In an instant, the dozens of lasers that reached me were blocked by the magic construct, Zeus.
CRACKLE!
As it swung the spear in its hand horizontally, small lightning bolts struck down upon the straight-flying lasers, neutralizing them.
“Hah… nice.”
It defended without even waiting for a command. Looks aside, I really liked its abilities.
For a moment, I even thought it wouldn't be so bad to summon it again.
“…Though I'd definitely have to change its form.”
A massive roar of displaced air swept through the hall.
I issued a command to the construct standing reliably in front of me.
“Those hearts. Pierce them.”
Before I could even finish speaking, Zeus charged forward, leaving only an afterimage, and swung its spear with a tremendous roar.
KWWAAAAARRR!
Lightning generated along the path of the horizontal slash struck the clone's two remaining, healthy hearts directly.
A lung-wrenching scream followed.
“KYAAAAAAAK!”
I didn't have time to listen.
Even if the construct was mostly powered by its own mana, just maintaining it was rapidly draining my mental stamina.
With my previous stats, maybe, but in my current state, enduring this level of fatigue was impossible.
“Now, finish it.”
At the short command, Zeus embraced the clone's writhing body.
“K-gik!?”
The startled creature struggled to push Zeus away, but it was useless.
Rumble! CRACK!
The sound of lightning striking right in front of me echoed several times.
Each time, Zeus's body, still holding the clone, swelled and its form began to distort.
BOOOOM—!
The unstable mana within its body poured into the clone it held, erupting in a brilliant flash of light.
“Ugh.”
BEEEEEEEP—
I closed my eyes against the blinding light and deafening noise.
After a moment, when the ringing in my ears subsided, I opened my eyes. Both Zeus and the clone, which had been struggling in its embrace, were gone.
All that remained where they had been was a wide, black scorch mark.
“…Is it over?”
The unpleasant pulsing that had filled the air slowly subsided and then fell silent.
The moment the clone vanished without a trace, it seemed the Kraken's life had also ended.
Just as I thought I could finally relax…
“Do-jin!”
Hearing an anxious voice from behind, I turned to see Ju-yeon, who had run up and thrown her arms around me in a tight hug.
“Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“Uh… no, I'm not really hurt.”
This is why I love magic.
Normally, fighting an opponent like this at close range would inevitably result in scrapes and bruises, but with magic, you can end a battle without a single injury.
By the way, the feeling of her chest is starting to make another part of me uncomfortable.
“Um… maybe you could let go.”
“Ah, ah…! S-sorry.”
Ju-yeon quickly pulled away, her face blushing.
Seeing her shy, flustered expression, I realized the way I saw her had changed.
Just a day ago—no, just a little while ago—she was just a cute junior, no matter what she did.
But the fiery brand left on my lips and chest kept making me see her as a woman.
Just as I was starting to feel a great sense of confusion from simply facing her…
“Ju-yeon, are you okay?”
Han Ju-hee, who had entered the hall at some point, walked over quickly and asked.
“I'm fine, thanks to Do-jin protecting me. What about you?”
“…I'm fine, too.”
After confirming her sister's safety, her gaze turned to me.
“Thank you for protecting Ju-yeon. Are you… hurt anywhere?”
“No. I'm fine as well, thanks to your protection.”
It wasn't a lie. Without Ju-yeon's buffs, I would have been dead long ago.
“…That's a relief.”
Her tone was relieved. But despite her words, her gaze toward me wasn't exactly friendly.
It was also strange how she subtly shifted to block Ju-yeon from my line of sight.
It was like… she was extremely wary of me?
Just as I was about to ask why her attitude had suddenly changed…
“Whoa~ We just took down one Named Monster and the whole situation's already over? Isn't this a total win!”
“As expected of the Scarlet Witch… We encountered the Named Monsters at the same time, yet she's already defeated the boss. I still have a long way to go…”
The two S-rank Hunters, having returned after defeating the Guardians of the Heart, interrupted, and I lost my chance to ask.
From the way they were talking, they seemed to be firmly convinced that Han Ju-hee was the one who defeated the boss.
Well, it was only natural. Who would believe that a mere B-rank Hunter had defeated the clone of a Disaster-grade monster?
“No, the one who defeated the boss was…”
“Just a moment.”
I cut Han Ju-hee off as she was about to correct them.
I didn't feel like rambling on about it right now. My body was reaching its limit.
“Shouldn't we check the rewards first? I think we can talk after we leave.”
After the clone died, a new path had opened up where a wall of flesh had been.
It must be the path to the Safety Room.
When I pointed to it, she understood my meaning and nodded.
“Let's do that.”
“The reward from a dungeon inside a Disaster-grade monster… I'm really curious what we'll get.”
“Since this is an unprecedented case, I'm looking forward to it as well.”
Kim Tae-yang and Namgung Hyeok chattered in excited tones.
I agreed with them.
A dungeon located inside a Disaster-grade monster. What kind of reward would come from the world's first-ever dungeon of its kind?
With fluttering hearts, we walked to the end of the path, where a huge door stood.
Creeeak—
As we pushed it wide open, a familiar interior was revealed.
A statue that inspired a sense of reverence just by looking at it.
Opposite it was a large chest, elegantly decorated with a golden border.
“Alright, let's wrap this up. I'll go first, okay?”
As Kim Tae-yang knelt on one knee before the statue, a pure white light emanated from it, gently enveloped his body, and then faded.
When he stood up, his eyes were wide with shock.
“Whoa~! No way! My stats went up when they wouldn't budge even after clearing dozens of dungeons?!”
“…Is that true?”
“If you don't believe me, try it yourself, hey!”
“Ahem… Then I shall go second.”
Namgung Hyeok knelt, his actions not quite matching his dignified tone.
When he rose, his expression wasn't much different from Kim Tae-yang's.
“It's true.”
It seemed he too had achieved an increase in his stagnant stats.
I could understand their excitement. For an S-rank, raising a single stat point was harder than dying.
Of course, the payoff was just as sweet.
“Now it's your turn.”
After the S-rank Hunters had received their rewards, it was finally my turn.
As I knelt and closed my eyes, my heart swelled with anticipation.
If this was a dungeon where even S-rank Hunters got stat increases, how much would I get?
The moment I opened my eyes, smiling pleasantly in the warm halo of light enveloping my body…
[You have successfully cleared the dungeon.]
[Stat rewards will be given based on your actions.]
[Strength has increased by 5.]
[Stamina has increased by 3.]
[Agility has increased by 8.]
[Mana has increased by 11.]
I'd hit the jackpot.