Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Temple Defense
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I burst through the door and saw Park Hyeong-sik, who had apparently rushed out in a similar hurry. Panting, his face flushed, Park Hyeong-sik asked urgently.
“Y-You saw the quest, right?”
A large-scale monster raid.
Kang-seok understood Park Hyeong-sik's panic. For someone who couldn't even converse with Iris like they could, the confusion would be even greater.
But this was no time for a long chat with Park Hyeong-sik.
Kang-seok spoke in a calm tone, as if to soothe him.
“Inform Priest Jade of the situation. Tell him to gather everyone in one room.”
“Ah, I will.”
The temple was quite large, and so was its population. There were young acolytes and female priests unrelated to combat, so gathering everyone in one place was the first priority.
“What about you all?”
Daniel Kim asked before he could follow Park Hyeong-sik, who had started running off in a flurry to find Priest Jade.
Kang-seok replied with a bitter smile.
“We’ll have to go out and meet them.”
“Meet them? The monsters?”
“No, the Players.”
That was all. Instead of saying more, Kang-seok turned and started running, with Choi Yu-ra and Seong Yu-jin following close behind.
“Iris! Give me a status report on the Players!”
The Temple of Gawain didn't have a complicated internal structure. As I ran down the straight corridor and shouted into the air, letters of light soon appeared.
[I am not an operator...]
“Hey! Is this really the time to be arguing about that?!”
Choi Yu-ra snapped. Her voice was incredibly harsh, as if she were angry at the situation itself.
[The more I intervene, the more my detection range and authority become limited... Eek! Understood!]
Iris, who had answered with a slight whimper, suddenly shouted in a firm tone, as if she had steeled her resolve. She explained quickly in a much calmer voice.
[The Players are moving from west to east, toward the temple entrance. It seems they've chosen to retreat rather than fight in the forest.]
“The number and type of monsters?”
[Ugh, there are already restrictions on information gathering...]
[It's ogres! Three ogres and about a dozen Rat Scavengers are pursuing the Players!]
“What, are the Players weak?”
The ogres were an unknown factor, but a dozen or so Rat Scavengers shouldn't have been that difficult of an opponent. Weren't there supposed to be seven Players?
Iris immediately replied to Choi Yu-ra’s bewildered question.
[Ogres are not easy monsters! And it seems they were worried about being isolated in the forest.]
Iris had initially used the expression ‘a troop of monsters.’
Encountering a large number of monsters in the forest, retreating was the right call.
Passing through the corridor connecting the annex to the main building, we entered the main hall, where the frantic ringing of a bell sounded from above, signaling an emergency. It seemed Park Hyeong-sik's group had met with Priest Jade and alerted him to the crisis.
As befitting a temple of its size, there seemed to be a pre-arranged emergency manual. Despite their panic, the people inside the temple began moving in one direction.
Kang-seok's party ran against the crowd, toward the temple entrance.
“Go back! This is an emergency signal!”
A couple of burly young priests who were about to seal the temple entrance shouted at Kang-seok's group.
Kang-seok leaped over them with an Air Dash, and Seong Yu-jin quickly yelled.
“Wait just a moment! We'll be back with the other Players!”
“I'll hate you if you don't wait!”
Choi Yu-ra added as a final note, and the young priests watched with dumbfounded faces as Kang-seok's party exited the entrance.
Iris’s voice reached them.
[It’s west from here! I wish you Players the best of luck. I must go for now...]
Iris’s voice faded. Instead of cursing, Choi Yu-ra raised her crossbow, while Seong Yu-jin raised her shield and watched the west. Kang-seok, gripping the hilt of Durandal, ready to draw it at any moment, shouted.
“They’re coming!”
Rough sounds came from beyond the western bushes. The sound of heavy footfalls pounding the earth, some unknown roar, and the distinct crack of breaking branches!
[First Wave]
[Ogres 3 / Rat Scavengers 12]
The moment the letters of light appeared, just like in a defense game, the bushes ahead parted violently. Along with a sound like a dog’s bark, something enormous shot up into the air.
Two four-legged beasts, too large to be called dogs, a large vehicle connected to them, and four Players riding on top!
“A dogsled?”
Choi Yu-ra exclaimed in confusion. The dog-like beasts and the sled landed with a thud, and behind them, ogres and gnolls revealed themselves.
“Woooooah!”
The one who shouted was a burly man sitting in the driver's seat of the sled.
He was a very bear-like man, perhaps because of the leather clothes he wore. He glanced back once, then swung his arm wide.
Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin could only stare blankly at the object that left the man's hand and flew through the air.
‘A banana?’
It didn't look like he threw many, but as if by some special power, a zone of banana peels spread out behind the dogsled.
“Kiyaow!”
“Krrang!”
The Rat Scavengers chasing the sled slipped on the banana peels and tumbled over. In the chaos, some were even crushed to death by the ogres.
The dogsled sped on. Barely shaking off his bewilderment, Kang-seok kicked off the ground and ran toward the monsters.
***
The dogsled headed for the temple, while Kang-seok charged from the temple toward the monsters!
As they passed each other, their gazes met. The Players on the dogsled saw Kang-seok, and Kang-seok, in turn, gave them a quick once-over.
A bear-like man driving the dogsled.
Also on the sled were a bald, muscular man, a yellow-haired boy of slightly smaller than average build, and a silver-haired girl in a white dress who looked to be about the same age as the boy.
That was all. There was no time to observe any further. Kang-seok kicked off the ground again, launching himself into the air, and followed up with an Air Dash.
The fallen Rat Scavengers had yet to get back up. Two ogres were cautiously stepping forward from beyond the banana peel zone, while one of them charged out, trampling the Rat Scavengers underfoot.
An ogre. A representative man-eating monster that invariably showed its face in any given online game.
Its body, with short legs and a large torso, stood nearly three meters tall. Its skin was reddish, and it had almost no body hair.
It was nearly naked, with only its privates barely covered by some unknown animal hide, and though it was fleshy all over, it gave off an impression of solidity.
The one facing Kang-seok let out a monstrous roar and swung a huge wooden club in its hand.
Kang-seok focused. He leaped at the perfect moment, dodging the club that came at him with enough force to shatter his entire lower body. He spun his body in mid-air and swung Durandal as if throwing it.
A sharp sensation, as if Durandal itself were an extension of his body, told him he had cut through something.
But it was shallow.
As soon as he landed, Kang-seok prepared for his next move. A loud noise came from behind him.
The sound of the dogsled scraping against the ground.
Someone’s shout.
Followed by two voices!
“Area Taunt!”
“One more time!”
The first was Seong Yu-jin, the second was Choi Yu-ra.
A pure white light surged from behind, stealing the gaze of the ogre that had been glaring at Kang-seok. In that instant, an arrow flew and, with pinpoint accuracy, pierced the ogre's eye.
The body had vital spots that could never be trained.
It was the same for the ogre. It roared in pain from its pierced eyeball, and its posture naturally crumbled.
The meaning behind Choi Yu-ra's shout of 'one more time'!
Kang-seok swung Durandal again and again, slashing the ogre's belly. Wounded in both its eye and its stomach, the beast was driven mad with pain and couldn't even properly counterattack.
Kang-seok looked at the ogre. He recognized the need for a finishing blow. But it wouldn't be Knight of Knights. There were still two more ogres and the Rat Scavengers.
Thus, the skill he chose.
Kang-seok pulled back Durandal. He adjusted his stance, preparing to execute a martial arts technique, not a sword skill.
His target was the ogre's abdomen.
Another crossbow bolt from Choi Yu-ra bought him more time. Once again, it pierced the ogre’s eye, and the ogre screamed in agony, raising both its hands.
Kang-seok didn't miss the opening. The moment he thought of the command, he flawlessly replicated the movements that formed in his mind.
↓↙←←←+K
Lightning Kick!
The moment the pushing side kick landed, a thunderclap erupted.
A deafening boom came from the point of impact, and with a sound like a drum bursting, the massive ogre was sent flying backward. Its belly hadn't been torn open, but its internal organs must have been scrambled, as it coughed up a large amount of blood before collapsing.
The power was enough to surprise even Kang-seok, who had executed the technique.
But as expected, it wasn't without a penalty. The recovery time was longer than he had thought.
The two ogres that had passed through the banana peel zone charged at Kang-seok simultaneously. But Seong Yu-jin would not allow it.
“Look at me!”
Another Area Taunt!
The ogres were forced to turn toward Seong Yu-jin.
Seong Yu-jin didn't just watch from a distance; she moved actively to draw the ogres' attention. The effect of a knight's taunt skill grew stronger the closer the knight was to the monster.
As both ogres lunged at Seong Yu-jin, Kang-seok felt his lips go dry.
No matter how much of a tanker Seong Yu-jin was, the size difference between her and the ogres was just too great!
[Steadfast Defense Lv1]
But his fears were unfounded. Seong Yu-jin blocked the ogre's club head-on.
She was pushed back, but it wasn't a messy stagger from a broken defense. It was more like she was simply pushed back by the sheer force.
As proof, Seong Yu-jin's defensive stance didn't falter in the slightest.
Kang-seok’s recovery time ended. And the other Players weren't just watching this fight, either.
“Hraaaah!”
The bald Player with a body like steel delivered a flying side kick to one of the ogres.
An arrow that looked twice as large as a normal one embedded itself in the other ogre's chest, and was immediately followed by a beautiful voice.
“O roar of the steel dragon that shatters trials! O courage that burns like a wildfire!”
It wasn't just a pleasant voice. The moment he heard it, he could feel power welling up from deep within his chest.
Kang-seok couldn't see his stats directly like Seong Yu-jin could, but he instinctively felt his strength increase.
‘A buffer!’
He quickly looked back to see the girl on the dogsled, standing tall with her eyes closed and her arms raised to the sky. A white light emanated from around her.
“Wocha!”
The bald man unleashed a storm of blows on the ogre's abdomen. Since no commands were visible, it seemed he was simply landing a flurry of normal attacks.
“Kang-seok!”
At Seong Yu-jin's call, Kang-seok readjusted his grip on Durandal.
Seong Yu-jin once again lured an ogre with her taunt, and Kang-seok exploited the opening.
A Swift Swallow Strike deeply gashed the ogre's thigh. As the ogre staggered and collapsed, Seong Yu-jin, who had been waiting for the right moment, plunged Almas into its neck.
[Meteor Thrust Lv1]
A single, lightning-fast strike tore through the ogre's throat.
Seong Yu-jin didn't get greedy and leaped back, while Kang-seok finished it off by striking the ogre's neck with Durandal.
The ogre the bald man was fighting was also nearly finished. Riddled with arrows across its upper body, the beast couldn't hold out any longer and collapsed.
Now, only the Rat Scavengers remained.
Of the twelve Rat Scavengers, about a third had been trampled to death by the ogres, and another third had been killed by Choi Yu-ra's crossbow.
And the remaining third.
“Roadkill!”
The dogsled mercilessly ran over the fallen Rat Scavengers. It was a gruesome sight in a way, yet strangely exhilarating.
As Kang-seok let out an involuntary, hollow laugh, letters of light appeared before his eyes.
[First Wave Cleared]
[Ogres 3/3 Rat Scavengers 12/12]
[Good work. The monsters observing the fight from a distance have begun to regroup instead of attacking immediately. It seems you will have a little bit of time.]
[* Quest rewards, including Kron, will be distributed all at once at the end.]
Only Kang-seok, Seong Yu-jin, and Choi Yu-ra heard Iris's voice, but the other Players saw nearly identical letters of light.
“Is this really a defense game?”
The boy with the large bow lamented, his face contorted.
Instead of the boy, Kang-seok looked at the bear-like man who had been driving the dogsled.
He, too, met Kang-seok's gaze before shouting loudly to his companions.
“Everyone gather up! Let's go inside and talk!”
The bald man and the boy quickly climbed onto the dogsled. Seong Yu-jin and Choi Yu-ra naturally stood behind Kang-seok.
Kang-seok also turned to Seong Yu-jin and Choi Yu-ra and said.
“Let’s go to the temple. Mr. Hyeong-sik and his group should be waiting.”
Kang-seok's and the bear-like man's gazes met again. The bear-like man gave Kang-seok a slight nod.
“Thanks for the help. Let's talk more inside.”
Kang-seok answered with a nod of his own and headed toward the temple with his party.
The first wave.
Of the seven Players who had gone into the forest, only four had returned.
The quest had only just begun.