Chapter 164
Chapter 164
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: 5-Star Boss Magic Beast, Giant Elder Centipede
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The 5-star boss magic beast crawled up from underground, radiating an immense presence.
Its overall form resembled a centipede, with a body stretching a whopping 15 meters long and over a meter wide.
Atop its head sat a mouth like that of a seven-armed eel, and it had no fewer than 150 pairs of legs sprouting from its sides.
Its entire form was encased in a hard, pitch-black chitinous exoskeleton.
"Pretty big, huh?"
Shin Yu-hyun clicked his tongue as he eyed the Giant Elder Centipede, which loomed beyond the horde of magic beasts, asserting its overwhelming dominance.
Even among 5-star bosses, this one looked like top-tier.
And right now, countless death worms and centipedes were closing in.
The first enemies to engage were the swarms charging straight at them—death worms and centipedes each at least 5 meters long.
"Defensive formation."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At Shin Yu-hyun's command, the 150 Skeleton Sabers, spread out widely, slammed their kite shields into the ground, sending tremors through the earth.
Behind the Sabers forming the front defensive line stood 150 Skeleton Lancers equipped with long spears, at the ready.
Beyond them waited 100 Skeleton Archers.
That wasn't all.
Shin Yu-hyun had even deployed Janissaries to each unit.
To the Saber unit: the Scarecrow. To the Lancer unit: the Phalanx. To the Archer unit: the Frost Ranger.
Commanders for each Skeleton squad, essentially.
And for Choi Jin-seong handling long-range sniping, he'd assigned Saber No. 23, wielder of Thunderclap Sword and Lightning Blade, along with Lancer No. 52, master of Advance Spear and Brave Heart.
In an emergency, even if Choi Jin-seong was ambushed, Saber No. 23 and Lancer No. 52 could protect him adequately.
'This force should be enough for now.'
Shin Yu-hyun curled the corner of his mouth upward.
The Immortal King's legions he'd prepared to reclaim Gangneung.
Besides the deployed troops, there was a cavalry of 100 riders in Ka-mang-i's shadow space, centered on Frost Wolves.
More precisely, 100 Frost Wolves and 100 Skeleton Soldiers.
In total, that meant Shin Yu-hyun had readied 600 troops for the reclamation of Gangneung.
Of course, this force alone couldn't conquer the magic beasts rampaging through Gangneung or even their hive.
He didn't know exactly how many magic beasts were there, but it was easily over a thousand.
Even with the Seven Arcs or boss-grade summons, this many troops might struggle against Gangneung's beasts.
But,
'If numbers are short, just conscript more on the spot.'
Shin Yu-hyun's smile deepened.
The undead legion's greatest strength was forcibly recruiting troops right there in the field.
Summoning more undead using the corpses as mediums.
Of course, that required mana and dominance.
But Shin Yu-hyun could already command over 1,500 basic undead.
His mana was replenished thanks to his Chakra stat, and he could recover with short breaks in between.
Or he could recharge from Shuvna or Ruber.
The catch was that recharging mana meant exchanging bodily fluids.
Kieeeek!
Kroooar!
As he pondered briefly, the magic beasts drew near, and Shin Yu-hyun raised his hand slightly, opening his mouth.
"Prepare."
Creeeak.
At his words, starting with the Frost Ranger in the rear, the 100 Skeleton Archers drew their bowstrings.
Shin Yu-hyun gazed at the death worms and centipedes charging from the front.
They'd soon enter the Archers' range.
"Fire."
Twing! Twang! Twiiing!
He lowered his raised arm with the command, and the Archers loosed their arrows.
Shuuuwaaa!
The Frost Ranger's Frost Arrows, fired from her ice bow, stood out especially.
They rapidly froze moisture in the air while hurtling forward at blinding speed.
Like pillars of blue ice shooting forth.
Centered on those Frost Arrows, countless streaks of blue light—like arrows—rained down on the black wave of death worms and centipedes.
Boom! Crackle-crack!
When the Frost Arrows struck, massive blue ice flowers bloomed amid the magic beasts.
Several beasts were instantly engulfed and flash-frozen.
Pfbt! Pfbt!
Then the Archers' arrows pierced the death worms' and centipedes' bodies.
Enchanted with mana, they punched through the beasts' tough chitinous hides.
Shaaa!
Next came arrows whistling from even farther back.
The Golden Bow Squad joined the attack in sync with the Archers.
Pfbt! Pfbt!
Kieeeek!
The Golden Bow Squad's arrows dealt serious damage to the death worms and centipedes too.
Dudududu!
Yet the beasts' momentum didn't falter.
There were over 200 charging in.
Bam!
Moments later, the Sabers' defensive line clashed with the magic beasts.
Kroooaaar!
The first wave of dozens thrashed against the Sabers' kite shields, trying to break through.
The worm-like death worms with massive maws chomped at the shields, while the centipede-like ones spewed green poison mist from their mouths, using their myriad legs to clamber over.
But the death worms and centipedes couldn't breach the Sabers' kite shield wall easily.
"Shield Charge!"
Kwaang!
The Sabers unleashed their signature basic defense skill: Shield Charge.
Kieeeek!
The powerful shockwave from the kite shields repelled the oncoming death worms and centipedes.
Kiiik!
But more followed behind the bounced-back foes.
Trampling their own, fresh waves slammed into the kite shields anew.
Kuung! Boom! Boom!
They couldn't use Shield Charge again—cooldown.
"Protect Guard!"
So Shin Yu-hyun ordered a different skill.
Protect Guard boosted the kite shields' defense.
The reinforced Sabers threw their full weight into the shields, enduring the death worms' and centipedes' assaults.
Then,
Shoo! Shoo-shoo!
Pfbt! Pfbt!
Bone long spears flew from behind the Sabers toward the beasts.
The waiting Lancers had activated their attack skill: Charging Lance.
Kieek!
Impaled death worms and centipedes writhed and screeched.
Green blood and poison sprayed thickly from the centipedes' wounds.
Pfbt!
But the Lancers and Sabers jammed spears and swords into the cracks in the centipedes' chitin armor.
'Petty poison like that won't work.'
Shin Yu-hyun smiled at the sight.
Skeletons were bone undead to begin with, and with Bone Reinforcement maxed, they'd evolved into steel skeletons.
Plus, every Skeleton Soldier's gear had full attribute resistances enchanted.
Thus, they resisted status effects handily.
And their equipment had bleeding and life steal properties.
Inflicting wounds on beasts caused nonstop bleeding for sustained damage, while the Skeletons recovered life force via lifesteal.
As long as they weren't utterly destroyed, they could fight endlessly.
"They're holding up decently, aren't they?"
Shuv, watching the battle from Shin Yu-hyun's right, covered her mouth as she chuckled.
As she said, the Skeleton Soldier legions were holding firm against the magic beasts, steadily whittling down their numbers.
Of course, the Sabers took losses too.
Shields shattered here and there, opening gaps.
But whenever that happened, Sabers shifted sideways to plug the holes.
The line shrank bit by bit, but far more beasts were falling.
And with ongoing ranged support from the rear Archers and Golden Bow Squad, the beasts' numbers dwindled further.
Kiyaaaaak!
Then the Giant Elder Centipede, rearmost of the death worms and centipedes, let out an enraged cry.
Kroooar!
In response, the death worms screeched back and began burrowing into the earth.
Chulk.
"These vermin, pulling tricks."
Ruber, standing to Shin Yu-hyun's left, unfolded a blood-red folding fan before her mouth as she spoke.
Her eyes brimmed with crimson murderous intent.
"Master, leave it to me. For you, I'll tear those bugs limb from limb."
Ruber gazed at him with seductive eyes and a soft voice.
But her words dripped with menace.
"What've you got in mind?"
"Something like this."
At his question, Ruber flashed an enchanting smile and folded her fan.
It melted and morphed, gooey and fluid.
Transforming into a whip.
It was a blood folding fan made of blood to begin with.
Now a red blood whip gripped in Ruber's hand.
"Master, I'll keep dancing!"
Finally, Dia was performing her second-stage cat dance right in front of Shin Yu-hyun.
Her adorable cat dance buffed the Skeleton Soldiers.
Ka-mang-i perched atop Dia's head, while the now Great Dane-sized White Wolf Fluffy spun circles playfully around her.
Seeing Dia, Ka-mang-i, and Fluffy's utterly cute display, Shin Yu-hyun smiled warmly.
"Go ahead."
At that moment,
Kwaang!
A roar erupted nearby, hurling rock debris skyward.
Kieeeek!
A death worm burst through the ground right after.
It had tunneled up to the surface.
Shiiik! Shiiik!
Then grotesque centipedes followed, crawling out.
Shaaa!
A sharp whoosh rang out as something scarlet streaked toward the first death worm.
Snap!
Kieeeek!
In an instant, the death worm sprayed green blood and flew back.
Its tough, flexible skin split wide open.
"How dare vermin invade this place."
Ruber had struck the death worm.
She glared at it with cold contempt and disgust in her red eyes.
Turning from the collapsed, gushing death worm, her icy gaze shifted to the centipedes.
Shiiik? Shiiiik?
The centipedes, which had blindly followed the death worm out on instinct, shuddered under Ruber's chilling stare.