Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: The Rampage of Oriax
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Unlike the first through fifth floors, the sixth floor was utterly vast. It was as if the entire floor was a single room.
About ninety players had reached the sixth floor. Of them, over thirty had already met their end.
The Demonic Beast Oriax was a red, lion-headed beastman riding a massive chariot.
Oriax himself was a giant larger than any ordinary ogre, making the chariot reminiscent of a tank. What's more, the flaming, four-legged beasts pulling the chariot were also exceptionally powerful.
But the Demonic Beast Oriax was not the players' only opponent.
A creature resembling a giant griffin with the head of a lion, the Demonic Beast Vapula, ravaged the players, moving between the ceiling and the floor.
Two demonic beasts, appearing at the same time.
Screams erupted one after another from among the players.
“Yu-ra!”
“Move! Don't stand in the chariot's path!”
Choi Yu-ra shouted as she ran, clutching the Bow of Landrus.
To stop for even a moment meant being run over and killed by Oriax's chariot. Hadn't more than ten players already been ground to death under its wheels?
The players didn't even dare to approach Oriax as he swung his massive warhammer from atop the chariot. Melee-focused players like Kim Kang-san were busy just trying to evade it.
But over ninety players had reached the sixth floor.
Though some thirty had lost their lives, sixty players still remained, and among them were a great many capable of ranged attacks.
Choi Yu-ra, who had enchanted her magic gauntlets to draw out the power of light, loosed arrow after arrow. Oriax was so large that she hardly needed to aim.
“Lightning Bolt!”
“Fire in the hole!”
“Fire all rounds!”
A mage player cast a spell, and an FPS user fired a heavy weapon.
The most impressive of all was a player who seemed to come from an SF game. Clad in ivory-colored power armor, their gender was indiscernible due to the bulky suit and a ferocious-looking helmet. Eight missiles launched at once from square pods on the armored section covering the back of their head.
A series of explosions rang out. The ground shattered as flames and smoke engulfed Oriax. But he was unharmed. His golden armor blocked the fire and lightning, and the physical force of the heavy weapons and missiles was not enough to hurt him.
Still, the attacks were not entirely without effect. Parts of Oriax's chariot were damaged, and the beasts pulling it screamed in agony.
Oriax, gripping the giant hammer in one hand, let out a roar.
He suddenly unfurled bat-like wings covered in a dark red membrane and soared up from the chariot.
It was an overwhelming and terrifying sight. Some players even collapsed to the ground, stunned by Oriax's roar.
A demon.
An apostle of despair from myth and legend.
The players had shown overwhelming growth since coming to this world, but it had only been four months. Whatever their combat power, it was too short a time for their ‘spirits’ to be reforged into those of powerful warriors.
Fear spread. It slowed the players' movements.
But not everyone was affected.
Nine thousand out of three hundred and eighty thousand.
And among those nine thousand, a select few with innate talent.
Choi Yu-ra was one of them.
“Destroy the chariot!”
The Demonic Beast Oriax had left his chariot. It was easier to land a decisive blow on the chariot than on Oriax. One problem at a time, starting with the easier one. That would stop them from having to fight Oriax and the chariot separately.
Choi Yu-ra fired an arrow of light, aiming for the eye of one of the beasts pulling the chariot. Other players followed her lead.
The melee players, who had hesitated to approach until now, charged the chariot with Kim Kang-san at the forefront. While the ranged players laid down suppressing fire on Oriax, they smashed the chariot and the beasts.
It wasn't easy. Each of the beasts pulling the chariot was a powerful monster in its own right. But the players were strong, too. The beasts were helpless against the barrage of coordinated attacks.
“Uwoooooh!”
With an exceptionally loud roar, the SF player who had launched the missile barrage leaped forward.
Draped over the chest and waist of his ivory power armor was an old-fashioned green robe. In his right hand, he held a massive hammer crackling with lightning, and in his left, a cross-shaped shield that generated a force field.
The player, Christian.
A player from an SF game set in the distant future, where humanity waged war against aliens across the entire galaxy!
The massive, heavy hammer struck the beast's head, and lightning flared. The creature, which looked twice the size of a bull, collapsed, its head crushed in a single blow.
While being attacked by other players, the remaining beast raised its foreleg and slammed it down on Christian. But Christian, raising his shield, stood firm as a rock and withstood the attack.
Instead of firing at the beast again, Choi Yu-ra looked up at Oriax in the air. The ranged players had formed a web of fire to draw his attention.
Choi Yu-ra drew the string of Landrus but didn't release it immediately. She activated the scope mounted near her right eye and studied Oriax's expression.
She shouted urgently.
“Straight ahead! Dodge!”
The players on the ground directly in front of Oriax.
But her cry was a little too late. The moment she shouted, Oriax spread his wings wide and charged toward the ground. He took the barrage of fire head-on and swept the ground with his hammer.
Blood, bone, and flesh flew through the air. The distinctive light that appeared when players died flashed as five or six of them lost their lives.
She couldn't stop moving.
Choi Yu-ra quickly backed away, firing at Oriax. It seemed his defense had its limits, as his armor was cracked in several places from the concentrated fire.
Oriax roared again as he landed on the ground. He generated a spherical force field that momentarily enveloped his entire body, blocking the players' attacks, and stared straight at Choi Yu-ra.
A hearty, gruff voice echoed in her mind. Being singled out by the enemy in the middle of a chaotic battle was hardly welcome. She didn't even notice the players destroying the chariot, or Park Chang-ho and the Seven Sword Knights fighting the Demonic Beast Vapula in the distance.
Choi Yu-ra fired an arrow at Oriax's face. In that instant, new vitality flowed into her weary legs.
Go Min-gu's totem and his song!
Once again, Go Min-gu's choice of buffs was superb. Since ‘evasion’ was paramount in this situation, he had focused all his power on buffs that increased agility.
The arrow of light Choi Yu-ra had shot collided with the force field. She kicked off the ground repeatedly to retreat, and with another roar, Oriax charged toward her.
It was a terrifyingly ferocious charge. Even without his chariot, Oriax himself was like a raging tidal wave.
A charge no one dared to stand against.
But the players knew that if they just stood by and watched, they would be picked off one by one.
Once again, ranged attacks rained down. And there was one who bravely leaped between Choi Yu-ra and Oriax.
It was Christian again. Firing a blast of air from the backpack on his back, he closed the distance in an instant and swung his hammer at Oriax's side.
Oriax raised his left arm to block Christian's hammer.
It was a blow heavy enough to make Oriax's massive body tremble, but it failed to crush his arm. Staggering for a moment, Oriax roughly swung his bloodied left arm, then brought his hammer down on Christian.
Christian calmly raised his shield to block Oriax again. But Oriax's monstrous strength was incomparable to that of the beasts that pulled the chariot. He was sent flying like a golf ball, crashing into a wall.
Oriax let out a pained groan, his knee buckling for a brief moment. And that was enough to boost the players' morale.
The players, exhausted from continuously casting spells, rallied once more, and this time, even the FPS players didn't spare their bullets.
Oriax gritted his teeth. He spread his wings and kicked off the ground again. He raced on, not losing sight of his original target, Choi Yu-ra.
Flames erupted from Oriax's entire body.
As Oriax charged toward her, Choi Yu-ra—who, instead of collapsing or losing control of her bladder, pulled out the heavy weapon she had obtained from her class advancement—had a premonition.
The ‘transformation’ that the Demonic Beasts Cimeries and Andras had shouted so much about.
He had taken to the air in the first place to undergo that transformation, and now it was complete.
A yellow light shone from Oriax's eyes. His golden armor had shattered completely, and the bulging veins on his enlarged upper body muscles squirmed grotesquely.
This time, truly no one could stand between Oriax and Choi Yu-ra. Closing the distance in a single breath, Oriax slammed his hammer into the ground. A thunderous roar echoed as the entire tower vibrated.
Choi Yu-ra didn't die. She had thrown herself aside, tumbling messily across the floor, but she had managed to avoid being crushed by the hammer.
But she wasn't entirely unscathed.
Shrapnel from the floor, which Oriax had half-destroyed, struck her, and the lightning from the hammer ravaged her slender body. Having rarely taken a direct hit in battle until now, it was all the more difficult for Choi Yu-ra to bear.
But even amidst the excruciating pain, Choi Yu-ra quickly raised her heavy weapon. The energy-blasting firearm was fully charged.
Oriax looked down at her. He raised his bleeding left arm and generated a force field. Blocking the other players' ranged attacks, he lifted his hammer toward Choi Yu-ra.
His voice flowed with a pleased emotion, perhaps because he had regained his composure after his transformation, or perhaps because he was about to kill her.
She had no skill for reading a monster's mind, but he genuinely seemed to think it would be a waste to kill her.
But Choi Yu-ra was not swayed.
From the start, the way he looked at her was no different from a human who had stumbled upon a curious insect. She glanced down at the half-shattered floor between them, then unhesitatingly raised her middle finger.
“Fuck you, you asshole.”
The unrestrained profanity only seemed to delight Oriax more.
Oriax laughed cheerfully and raised his hammer, but Choi Yu-ra fired the energy blast not at him, but at the half-shattered floor.
A large hole opened up in the floor that was already half-destroyed by the hammer. Oriax, who had naturally expected her to shoot at him, flinched involuntarily. Park Han-yeong and Kim Kang-san, who were racing to save her, also blinked in surprise.
Could she have misfired?
No.
Looking at Oriax's puzzled face, Choi Yu-ra raised her middle finger again. She forced a smile onto her face.
“Because my prince is coming.”
Oriax didn't listen to another word. He brought the hammer down with a hearty swing, and Choi Yu-ra barely suppressed the urge to close her eyes. She gritted her teeth and stared at the hammer.
*CRASH!*
A deafening roar echoed.
It was the sound of the hammer smashing through a wall of ice, then a thick force field, before striking a black shield that emitted a green light.
Choi Yu-ra saw the hem of a red coat fluttering before her eyes.
The player who had shot up from the hole in the floor.
The Shield of the Adamas Guild!
Kim Kang-san and Park Han-yeong let out a cheer. Choi Yu-ra, who had been on edge, finally let out a breath.
Facing the platinum-blonde female player—Seong Yu-jin—who had blocked his attack, Oriax tilted his head for a moment. It wasn't just because a human had blocked his attack after he had transformed.
At the utterly bizarre question, Choi Yu-ra's face went blank for a moment. It wasn't just her; most of the players who heard Oriax's voice had the same reaction. What in the world was he talking about?
Oriax raised his hammer again. This time, Choi Yu-ra aimed her weapon at him, and Kim Kang-san and Park Han-yeong started running again. But Seong Yu-jin turned around. Instead of fighting, she wrapped an arm around Choi Yu-ra's waist and ran.
The reason she did so.
A jet-black sword, shooting up from the hole in the floor!
[Choi Yu-ra's prince has arriiiiived!]
At the sudden sound of Iris's voice, Choi Yu-ra shrieked. Piercing through that sound, a mixture of embarrassment and joy, a sword of light shot up and struck Oriax's abdomen. Immediately after, a crest of light pushed his massive body back.
Black chains coiled around his right arm. Black flames surged upward.
Having activated Black Flame Dragon, Kang-seok charged toward Oriax.