Chapter 80
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Hell Count's Grand Mansion (1)
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-Kuuuwaaa-!
A monster called a gargoyle awoke and unleashed a loud, prolonged roar.
Kang Sa-hu could tell that the creature, twisting its demonic face and spreading its bat-like wings wide, was trying to instill fear in the enemy and disrupt their focus.
Unfortunately for the gargoyle, neither Kang Sa-hu nor the Hellhounds felt the slightest bit of terror at the sight.
Krrruuurrr!
On the contrary, the Hellhounds responded with bold roars of their own, brimming with battle lust.
Several Hellhounds used the mansion as a springboard to leap upward, closing in on the gargoyle and snapping their jaws wide open.
Kwaduk!
-Kuwa-!
-Krrruuung!
The Hellhounds sank their razor-sharp fangs into the gargoyle to tear it apart.
But the gargoyle's body was far tougher than imagined, allowing the teeth to penetrate only slightly without shredding it.
The gargoyle let out a bellow and hammered the Hellhound's head with its fists.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
-Krraang!
The Hellhound, struck repeatedly on the head, finally opened its jaws in agony and plummeted to the ground.
It deftly twisted its body mid-fall for a safe landing, but its massive frame staggered as its brain reeled from the blows.
"Tough one."
Kang Sa-hu summoned more Hellhounds.
Having called forth twenty out of his thirty, he issued a mental command, and they scattered in all directions.
-Kwooo!
The gargoyles emitted mechanical cries as they frantically tracked the Hellhounds darting about.
But judging the nimble pack too numerous and swift to follow,
they soon shook their heads sharply, abandoning the chase and switching tactics.
Flap-flap!
Flaaap-flaaap!
"...!"
The gargoyles beat their enormous wings, whipping up a fierce gale.
Trees bent like those shown on typhoon news reports, and Kang Sa-hu felt his body on the verge of being swept away. He called over a nearby Hellhound and braced himself against its chest.
Whoooosh-!
At last, the hulking gargoyles took to the skies.
A touch smaller than the 4-meter Hellhounds but still over 3 meters tall, they shot upward in an instant, shrinking into specks.
"...This is bad."
As the battle shifted into the dreaded 'aerial monster fight' he'd anticipated, Kang Sa-hu gritted his teeth.
Right now, none of his summons could engage airborne foes.
The Hellhounds looked to him in confusion as the gargoyles ascended.
To their querying gazes—as if asking what to do—Kang Sa-hu immediately commanded them.
"We have no way to attack them now. But they'll have to come down to hit us, so wait for that moment and..."
Before Kang Sa-hu could finish, a strange change overtook the airborne gargoyles.
Woooong-!
Mana concentrated on the stone wings of the gargoyles.
Kang Sa-hu locked eyes with a gliding gargoyle that had paused its flapping—and without a word, he recalled all the Hellhounds into their soul cores.
The moment he collected the Hellhounds' soul cores,
Flaaap-flaaap!
the mana-infused gargoyles beat their wings with ferocious power.
Shiiiik! Shiiiik!
Boom! Bang! Crash!
With every flap, massive mana slashes—like enormous reaping blows—rained down.
Purely formed of mana without physical substance, they cratered the earth on impact and sheared trees effortlessly.
Attacks that combined sharpness and weight in equal measure.
The word 'skill' naturally sprang to Kang Sa-hu's mind.
"Hup!"
He dodged an incoming strike while swinging [Hell Duke Demadr's Blood-Drinking Scythe] at a gargoyle attack grazing past him.
Slaaash!
Boom!
The scythe's blade cleaved the gargoyle's attack in two, which then detonated in a small explosion. Kang Sa-hu narrowed his eyes.
'Can't even dispel it, huh.'
He'd tested by slicing an attack he could have dodged, but now he abandoned any thought of blocking the gargoyles' strikes with [Hell Duke Demadr's Blood-Drinking Scythe].
Dodging was better; the accumulating explosion damage from each block would wear him down badly.
Instead, Kang Sa-hu chose another approach.
Revolving Death
The great scythe spins like a boomerang, blocking incoming attacks.
As Kang Sa-hu activated the skill Revolving Death, the launched great scythe obeyed his will, circling around like a boomerang to intercept the gargoyles' assaults.
There were about twenty gargoyles in the sky.
Thus, every time the twenty gargoyles flapped once, two attacks emanated from each pair of wings—some forty strikes pouring down like rain.
But as Kang Sa-hu fine-tuned the scythe's trajectory with his mind, it began orbiting him like a planet, perfectly shielding his front within range.
The distant gargoyles weren't precisely aiming anyway; they were just unleashing barrages indiscriminately, so the number of attacks reaching Kang Sa-hu wasn't overwhelming.
-Kuuguuga!
Frustrated that their attacks kept getting blocked, the gargoyles bellowed and ceased their flapping skill.
Spotting no Hellhounds nearby, they switched to diving straight at Kang Sa-hu to strike him personally.
This time, it wasn't random fire—they were zeroing in precisely.
But that was exactly what Kang Sa-hu had hoped for.
-Kueeong!
As the gargoyles entered range, Kang Sa-hu—who had secretly used telekinesis to levitate Hellhound soul cores around the area—summoned them at once.
The Hellhounds, already briefed on his intent via mental link, sank their massive white fangs into the gargoyles the instant they materialized.
-Ku, kukuw aaa!!
-Krrruuurrrung!
As before, the Hellhounds' teeth couldn't fully pierce the gargoyles' bodies—and earlier, they'd been caught off guard by the first encounter.
But having confirmed via Kang Sa-hu's intent that the gargoyles used skills, the Hellhounds now remembered their own new ability.
Hellhound (Summon) - Hellfire Breath
Scorching flames erupt from the jaws, infused with sulfurous heat.
Roooaaar!
A pungent sulfur stench filled the air as blasts of inferno-hot flames poured from the mouths of the Hellhounds clamped onto the gargoyles.
-Kukuwaaa-!
-Urrruuung!
With all thirty Hellhounds summoned, each had latched onto a gargoyle—one per beast in most cases.
Some gargoyles had two or more Hellhounds tearing into them.
A single Hellhound's assault was plenty devastating, but those bitten by multiples couldn't endure the blistering heat for long.
-Kukuwaak!
Kwaaang!
The gargoyles plummeted one by one, smashing face-first into the ground.
True to its name, the Hellhounds' Hellfire Breath carried devastating heat that melted the gargoyles from the inside out.
A acrid stench of melting rock wafted as the gargoyles breathed their last in succession.
"Phew."
Shiiik! Shiiik!
With the gargoyles downed and motionless, Kang Sa-hu caught his breath and recalled the great scythe that had been circling overhead, gripping it firmly.
Tension had gripped him for the first time in a while, so he stabbed [Hell Duke Demadr's Blood-Drinking Scythe] into the ground and leaned against it briefly.
"B-rank lives up to its name, alright."
The ability to revert Hellhounds to soul cores, plus the telekinesis skill he'd gained from the rite of necromancy.
Without either one, the fight would have dragged on endlessly—or absent a desperate, life-risking push from him, he'd have been pummeled unilaterally in a dire spot.
Had he known they could soar that high, he'd have orchestrated the battlefield with necromancy from the start to end it swiftly.
But once they were airborne, options were severely limited.
Still.
"Looks like I've finally got summons that can handle aerial combat."
Kang Sa-hu gathered the gargoyles' soul cores with telekinesis and smiled in satisfaction.
As he'd just experienced, facing another flying monster would be tricky and taxing with his current lineup.
But incorporating these necromanced gargoyles? Game-changer.
He pictured loading Corpse-Eating Apes and orc Divorers onto their backs for long-range drops.
Or mounting Bae Deok-ho up there for aerial support fire.
The images brought a pleased grin to his face.
"That said..."
Having collected every gargoyle soul core, Kang Sa-hu fixed his gleaming gaze on the grand mansion's entrance—which still hadn't budged.
"What to do about that thing."
The gargoyles had proven to be this Gate's main monsters, judging by the situation.
But that left the mansion's odd presence here utterly inexplicable.
Of course, with the Gate uncleared, a separate boss monster surely lurked.
And the gargoyles numbered more than just those twenty or so—victory wasn't total.
Yet instead of hunting more gargoyles, Kang Sa-hu turned toward the mansion's doors.
Thud-!
He pushed again, but the doors merely rattled without opening.
Not even with full strength—or mana-boosted power surging through his body.
Staring at the unnaturally immovable doors, Kang Sa-hu ran through possibilities.
'Not a weight issue. My strength could shift boulders.'
Abandoning the doors, he circled to a window.
It wouldn't budge either—like space itself had frozen it in place.
But this time, he sensed mana currents—and tracing them led right back to the doors.
'Guess it all points to opening the door.'
Kang Sa-hu glanced at the mansion's outer wall, where Hellhounds had stomped for purchase while biting gargoyles.
He'd seen their immense weight and power crush down firsthand, yet the structure showed zero damage.
'Breaking it in is off the table too. And even if possible, this level of security means countermeasures for forced entry.'
Returning to the massive doors, he propped [Hell Duke Demadr's Blood-Drinking Scythe] against them and leaned back.
But Gates had always held far more unknowns than revelations, so Kang Sa-hu didn't dwell long and shook his head.
"Come to think of it, I need to check the spell I planted on the prophet too."
Sighing as thoughts spiraled from door puzzles to Gates in general, then every Gate he'd encountered—their spawn points, ranks, and the Monolith's hidden job changes and shop functions—all known to the prophet he'd briefly met.
"Too much on my plate, and I keep overlooking stuff."
For now, he was with the Necromancer Society to craft Death Knights and Draugr.
But back in Korea? Guilds, National Intelligence Service, the prophet, Meister.
Plus the military land in Pocheon he'd earned from Han Si-yeon's hunting payout.
As obligations piled up like an endless sweet potato vine, frustration welled. He shot a glance at the stubborn door.
"...No forcing it."
Why a mansion in a Gate? Did this vast Gate hold only the estate?
Suspicions abounded, hints absent.
Wasting time on a no-lead puzzle? He yanked the blade free and turned away.
Tok.
As Kang Sa-hu pivoted, [Hell Duke Demadr's Blood-Drinking Scythe] lightly bumped the door.
And then.
Clank, clank, clank.
Ruuuuumble.
The doors emitted an ominous groan in response. Startled, Kang Sa-hu kicked backward, swiftly putting distance between them.