Chapter 190
“Kwaaah!”
The primitive breed correction had strengthened the Predator—**Rex**—as he roared.
Slurp, slurp.
One wide-open maw and a third of the troll’s body vanished.
“Ta-da. A magic that makes a troll’s body disappear.”
“Hyung. Does that come back?”
I shook my head at the question from Jeong-mi.
“Wrong. It’s a dissolving magic. Why would it come back?”
With nothing left from head to chest, the troll’s regeneration was useless.
Despite the expensive troll corpse, I generously offered it as feed to Rex.
[Devour—37 stacks]
Additional ability enhancement from Devour.
A granted ability I obtained while analyzing the variant ghoul.
“If I just feed anything and the stacks fill, how good would that be?”
Even after I strengthened Draco, the Devour stacks rose slowly.
Turns out you had to feed him monsters big enough to match his new size for the stacks to climb.
Satisfying a finicky subordinate was also work.
“Mr. Nam. Are trolls common around here?”
“Ah, yes. They are.”
“Great.”
This time I had to max out the Devour stacks.
Large monsters were rare in gates, so I couldn’t miss this chance.
“Still, it’s a shame.”
Slash!
Isra the knight cleaved the troll’s head from its body with a sweep of her sword.
The blood on the blade splattered across the ground with a wet sound.
Even the Devour-strengthened troll had to bow its head to the peerless swordsmanship.
“Better than a minotaur corpse.”
“Hyung. Should we collect the blood separately?”
“Later.”
I’d said it many times.
This Cross Gate run’s mission was escorting the two masters.
Collecting troll blood in one or two minutes was impossible.
Seong-su couldn’t hide her disappointed expression.
“I’ll let you collect it later.”
“R-really?”
“Use the support team’s income to collect the blood.”
“Thank you!”
The support team members’ faces brightened noticeably.
“Our lord is truly benevolent.”
“What benevolence is that?”
“He gave them their hearts by lavishing them with care.”
“The people who suffered to support us.”
I wanted to express my gratitude, but.
Perfect timing.
After checking the mine, I’d happily chop up a few trolls.
“Mr. Nam.”
“Y-yes?”
Chief Apprentice Nam Jinwoo answered a full beat late, his face blank.
This was the first time I’d seen him like this.
After all, in the Hanil Blacksmith he always looked so solid.
Of course.
When a craftsman who only swung hammers walked into a gate, he’d be tense.
“Are you all right?”
“Ah, um… yes. I’m fine.”
“How far to the destination?”
“That mountain over there.”
A modest mountain hung from the tip of his extended finger.
The distance looked to be about five kilometers.
“Want to speed up?”
“Monsters will appear more the deeper we go.”
“How many hours?”
“I’d estimate a full day.”
I nodded at Nam Jinwoo’s response.
A full day.
Round trip would be two days.
That meant mining time dropped sharply.
“Let’s try one hour.”
“Eh?”
Nam Jinwoo’s face flushed with shock.
“It’s worth a shot.”
Obviously stronger than normal monsters.
Diabolical Wolves and trolls.
Both felt real now after facing them in gates.
But.
Not to the point I couldn’t handle them.
“The two masters, you can’t stay here long.”
“……”
Nam Jinwoo’s gaze dropped.
The Hanil Blacksmith’s work schedule locked away for a whole year.
During the stay in the Cross Gate, we had to obtain as many minerals as possible.
“Please.”
The answer came from the silent Meister Han Yohan.
“Both of you wear the Gigant Armor.”
“Are we joining the fight too?”
“No. I’m worried you’ll fall behind and something bad happens.”
The two masters pulled out massive armors from the subspace.
The Gigant Armor.
The first time the integrated weapon crafted by our nation’s greatest master and alchemist appeared in real combat.
[Death Space]
Tiger 25.
A knight cavalry equipped with bones was summoned.
“Crush them all!”
“Grrrrr!”
The unified undead and reinforced zombies roared together.
Thud-thud-thud!
The Tigers charged forward with spears thrust out, roaring with fierce momentum.
“From now on, I’ll jump until the last moment I can hide.”
『Huh?』
Today I saw Nam Jinwoo’s blank face more than ever.
Quite a rare sight, it amused me, but I had no time to watch.
“I told you not to fall behind, right?”
『Good. I’ll go first.』
Meister Han Yohan followed the Tigers at a fast run.
The iron armor clanked.
Every step cracked the ground with a deep thud.
Despite the enormous weight, the enhanced strength and mana support made his movements look light.
『Ugh. Master! Take me with you!』
Nam Jinwoo chased after in a panic.
“We’re used to it.”
“How many times has the master broken the rules?”
“But don’t we have time to chat?”
At Jeong-mi’s words, the support team members started moving their legs busily too.
“My lord, lift me!”
“My, what a tough head. When are you going to spank me?”
“This is the best way to match speed.”
“But why is your face turning red?”
“Hmph. For my lord’s sake, humiliation is unavoidable.”
『Waaaah?』
“My lord. Don’t reveal your inner thoughts.”
[Knight. Pathetic.]
Isra’s face flushed bright red, all the way to a tomato.
I hope she doesn’t have an eye twitch.
“Everyone, stop joking.”
“Hmph. It’s not a joke.”
“As Isra said, that’s the best option.”
Even though my specs were only B-rank warrior hunter level.
I hadn’t learned dash or teleport, so I had to run on raw stats.
“Jeong-mi is being carried too.”
“Uuuuh… but, my lord.”
“You three enter the Death Space.”
After recalling the three members, I lifted Isra onto my back.
“As a knight, this is the greatest honor.”
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
“Hold the neck properly.”
Huh?
Hold the neck?
In other words.
Even a back hug?
“B-back, back, back hug?!”
“I said that. Why are you so surprised?”
“I gave it meaning, my lord!”
“Don’t waste time. Let’s go.”
The two masters and support team were ahead.
If we fell behind in a protective role, it would be useless.
“Hah. I understand. Then hold tight!”
BOOM!
As Isra kicked off the ground, the scenery around us changed completely.
Using the condensed mana on my sole to shoot out power.
Using that energy as propulsion to leap long distances in one go.
“I will cut down everything blocking my path!”
Hyung.
Is the tension a little too high today?
***
The Tigers, the Predator—Rex, and the reinforced Dracos following behind crushed the monsters easily.
Crack! Crack!
Even the Tigers’ charge sometimes got blocked.
“Grrrr!”
When the front was blocked, the Tiger that had learned Arcturus Spear Technique immediately twisted left or right to attack the side.
Even if some bone spears broke, the breakthrough power barely dropped.
“Kwaaah!”
The Predator—Rex stomped on the mangled monsters.
“Krrooorr!”
The reinforced Dracos swallowed the still-breathing enemies whole.
『Maintaining this speed is amazing!』
『Good. Let’s hurry.』
The eyes of the two masters widened.
So that’s what I was saying.
To get you to the destination as fast as possible.
Crack!
The Tiger whose bone spear broke was recalled into the Death Space.
I pulled out a spare spear from the Death Blacksmith and had it join the line.
[Death Space]
Variant troll corpses.
Variant diabolical wolf corpses.
Among them, I picked up occasional notable monster corpses too.
Especially with Rex.
Variant corpses were very helpful for improving undead specs, so I had to keep them.
Even though many of the Tigers’ weapons were broken.
Thanks to that, we circled five kilometers and reached the mountain foothills.
“It took about an hour?”
『59 minutes and 21 seconds.』
Meister Han Yohan slowly nodded his head.
『It’s true. The news version and the real thing are completely different.』
Even after that, Nam Jinwoo kept muttering “whoa, whoa, whoa” in amazement.
『Then let’s climb up.』
A small cave at the top of the mountain.
When I peeked inside, pickaxe marks covered the walls everywhere.
『My master and I will do the mining here.』
“How long will you stay?”
『One week.』
“You prepared plenty of food, right?”
『Yes. Thanks to Hunter Park, I have more time to mine mithril.』
Mithril.
A mineral worth tens of times the price of gold.
It doesn’t exist on Earth.
It’s found at very low probability in mountain-shaped gates.
Or it drops occasionally from boss monster loot.
『Harder than steel and has high mana conductivity.』
“You two are willing to risk your lives for this?”
『Chief. If you have time to talk, swing the pickaxe.』
Meister Han Yohan was already inside the cave, starting to mine.
“Do you need escorts even inside?”
『Yes. Monsters can appear while mining.』
The Gigant Armor made for the masters’ safety.
Ordinary monsters could be sent flying with one punch.
But.
It was better to swing the pickaxe one more time to crush a monster’s skull.
“Zaug.”
“Yes, my great lord.”
“Scout the area around the mountain foothills.”
“Understood.”
We had to stay here for a week.
If there were variants or unusual monsters near the cave, we’d hunt them.
Wouldn’t it be good to come back with something?
“Hyung. We’ll set up camp.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“It would have been nice to have a dimension barrier generator. Too bad.”
“It’s enormously expensive.”
If monsters regenerated, Isra would clean them up.
We wouldn’t get a relaxing time, but.
We could rotate and rest.
So I left the outside to Isra and the support team.
And followed the two masters into the cave.
***
[Stealthy Footsteps]
[Dark Stealth]
Zaug roamed around the mountain with light footsteps.
His body based on the Death Warrior.
With specs far better than when alive, hiding became even easier.
‘I need to check if there are ruins nearby.’
The dog doesn’t stop pooping.
Guaranteed independent action for Zaug.
He searched frantically for ruins or hidden places.
But then.
Crack!
‘Isn’t this a magic circle?’
Something artificial caught Zaug’s eye.
Something suspicious.
A strange smell.
‘I should investigate.’
This was all for my great lord.
After rationalizing, Zaug slowly stepped into the magic circle.