Chapter 181: Crest of the Red Oath (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 181: Crest of the Red Oath (1)
Once the decision to enter was made, everyone's expressions shifted.
Fear crept up on them at the thought of having to step inside.
"Are you sure about this?"
A Black man clad in full armor spoke up.
Yoris, one of the people Friedman had called out, was the raid team's main tank.
As the anchor of the raid team, his voice naturally carried significant weight.
"Even if the casualties are high, we have no choice. We only have one hour left. If we don't reach the second zone by then, the strategy we know will become useless."
The layout of the 8th floor's maze shifted entirely every 24 hours.
Because the players who had previously cleared this place had memorized the maze's layout based on that cycle, they had to reach a specific location within the time limit.
If they were even slightly late, they would end up hopelessly lost in a completely restructured maze.
"But moving blindly is too dangerous when we don't know what kind of traps lie ahead."
"It's not traps. There's likely something else."
Setting and disarming traps was the specialty of rangers.
The fact that A-rank rangers, seasoned with various unique abilities and skills, had been wiped out meant that traps weren't the only culprit.
"Something else... What do you mean by that?"
"I can't be sure yet, but if my guess is correct... D-dodge!"
Friedman screamed at the top of his lungs, swinging his longsword.
Crash!
He barely managed to deflect the projectile flying toward the raid team.
However, he had only blocked one out of more than a dozen.
Thwack!
Thud!
"Aaargh!"
"Aaah!"
Gruesome screams erupted from all directions, accompanied by the sound of steel armor and flesh being pierced.
Deadly weapons measuring two meters in length had been hurled at a speed barely visible to the naked eye.
They were closer in size to harpoons than arrows.
Moreover, their power was absurd.
A mere graze was enough to tear off entire arms and legs.
...It was an enemy.
And one possessed of a monstrous strength that defied belief.
Throb! Throb!
A numbing pain still throbbed in the wrist and arm he had used to block the attack.
"Don't block them! Dodge!"
Friedman roared at the top of his lungs.
If even he, capable of wielding an Aura Blade, felt this much shock from a single clash, the other players stood absolutely no chance of enduring it.
"Scatter!"
"Damn it! Cast detection magic first! We need to identify the enemy and their location!"
The mages began casting.
A transparent wave rippled down the dark corridor.
Far away.
At a great distance, a mana signature estimated to be about three meters in size was detected.
It was a familiar type of mana signature.
It was the mana of an 'Ogre', a predator notorious for its ferocity even among mid-sized monsters.
The fact that monsters known for being solitary were roaming in packs made no sense, but they had no time to worry about that.
The moment the detection magic exposed their presence, the enemy also realized they had been spotted.
The reaction was instantaneous.
"Something is coming! The count is eighteen, nineteen... twenty-one. They're fast!" a female mage reported urgently.
This time, it wasn't ogres.
Their mana signatures were small, and the speed at which they closed the distance was mind-boggling.
It was as if... they had buffed their entire bodies with something.
Tap!
Tap!
Just as the sound of light footsteps brushing the ground echoed, small-statured monsters emerged from the corridor.
"G-goblins?"
But their movements were far too bizarre for mere goblins.
"Kieek!"
"Keeek!"
Red, mane-like patterns stood out, blooming across their green skin.
The goblins lunged into the midst of the players, daggers in hand.
Slash!
Slice!
Their daggers targeted the exposed areas unprotected by armor.
Since their natural physical strength was weak, they aimed for the exposed flesh.
"Tch!"
"Slippery bastards!"
Clicking their tongues at the shallow cuts, the players swung their weapons wildly.
Minor wounds like these were negligible in a raid.
However, that complacency led to a fatal consequence.
"...?!"
"Ugh... cough... vomit!"
"Gurgle..."
The wounded players suddenly rolled their eyes back and began vomiting up their guts.
"P-poison!"
"Damn it! How can a poison act this fast?"
This was no ordinary poison either. The healers cast detoxification skills, but it only delayed death by a few dozen seconds.
"H-help me!"
"Aaaargh!"
The players were being swept away helplessly.
In stark contrast, the monsters moved in perfect unison, as if they had undergone rigorous training.
From long-range support with javelins to disrupting the vanguard in close combat, it was a flawless ambush.
"T-this can't be..."
Friedman realized instinctively.
He understood why, after the 8th floor opened, so many raid teams had set out to conquer the maze, yet not a single one had reached the end.
It wasn't because the maze was complicated.
It was simply because the monsters roaming inside were strong beyond all common sense.
He had to escape immediately and report this anomaly to the Lockheed Guild and the rest of the guilds worldwide.
But how?
His comrades were dying without even putting up a proper fight, and high-ranking players were struggling to take down a single goblin.
He, too, would die here, just like the countless players who had gone missing before him.
"I'll take at least... one of you down with me!"
Friedman made a desperate, suicidal gamble.
Abandoning all defense, he launched an attack aimed at mutual destruction.
Even so, his blade failed to graze even a single hair of the goblin.
The goblin dodged the attack with another bizarre movement and swung its dagger toward Friedman's shoulder.
Or rather, it tried to.
Splurt!
The goblin suddenly froze.
"Kek?"
The blood spurting from its neck...
Considering the movements they had shown so far, it was an incredibly surreal sight.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, the goblin's body collapsed sideways.
H-how did it die so easily...?
Friedman's eyes shook violently.
He had swung his sword dozens, hundreds of times just to catch this one, yet he hadn't been able to inflict even a scratch.
And yet, it was taken down in a single blow...?
Right then.
"Clear out all the nuisances."
A cold voice echoed from beside Friedman.
He hadn't even noticed the person's approach.
The owner of the voice simply commanded to clear away all obstacles.
"Understood."
That was enough.
Dozens of shadows moved at a speed incomparable to the goblins' earlier rush.
Slash!
Slice!
"Keeeeeek!"
"Keeek!"
The tables had turned completely. This time, severed goblin limbs flew through the air.
No monster could survive in the path of this raging tempest.
A one-sided massacre.
There was no better way to describe the blood-soaked path.
Friedman slowly turned his head.
There stood a man wearing a mask with geometric patterns, a red-haired woman, and thirty masked figures surrounding them like bodyguards.
Every single one of them possessed strength on a completely different level compared to the elites of the Lockheed Guild.
He couldn't even begin to imagine what their levels were, or what kind of brutal training they had undergone.
Among them, the masked man stood out the most.
There was no way he wouldn't recognize him.
How could he not?
"Un... known."
Friedman slowly muttered the name as he identified the man.
* * *
As expected... it has come to this.
Jinhyuk examined the dismembered corpse of a goblin.
The patterns blooming across its entire body.
There was no mistake.
Not only had the 8th and 9th floors allied, but "that guy" was also backing them.
A named monster specialized in buffing monsters with sorcery and commanding legion-scale forces.
"We have dealt with all the small ones. There are a few larger ones at the end of the corridor. What shall we do with them?"
Wolyeong pointed toward the end of the corridor with the tip of his sword.
Right on cue, three spears flew out from the darkness.
A terrifying, wind-splitting screech pierced their eardrums.
Whoosh!
It was the exact same javelins that had torn the Lockheed Guild's formation to shreds.
"..."
Wolyeong was about to step forward, but soon withdrew the sword qi he had partially manifested.
This was because he saw a black energy envelop Jinhyuk's entire hand.
[Unique Ability 'Moon-Shrouding Claw' has been activated!]
The unique ability used by Michael of the Decasus bloodline had fully bloomed.
Crackle!
His hand was completely dyed in pitch black.
It looked as if the claws of a wild beast had grown.
Jinhyuk reached out toward the incoming spears.
Crunch!
Shatter!
And just like that, he grabbed and crushed them in midair.
The three spears instantly shattered into pieces and fell to the floor.
This was the top disciple of the Dark Emperor.
A monster deemed easily the strongest even barehanded.
At least...
...The battle is already decided.
That was how it looked in Wolyeong's eyes.
* * *
Tap!
His body, enhanced by the Sword Demon Emperor Stepss, vanished like the wind.
A faint cloud of dust rose, and in the next instant, Jinhyuk was right in front of the ogres.
Three in total.
He saw them holding spears, preparing for their next attack.
"Kroooar!"
An ogre let out a monstrous roar.
This one also had red, mane-like patterns covering its entire body.
At this rate, it's safe to assume it has spread to almost the entire pack.
There wasn't much time.
To take advantage of this situation, he had to move as quickly as possible.
Jinhyuk lightly dodged the spears aimed at his head and waist.
The two spears plunged into the ground.
Their strength and speed are more than three times that of a normal ogre.
To be honest, he was slightly surprised.
There was no way brainless ogres could display such systematic movements.
However...
That was all.
Thud!
The black claws pierced the ogre's heart.
"Gurgle..."
The hand protruding from the ogre's chest created a grotesque sight.
"Kroooar!"
"Ooooh!"
The remaining two ogres quickly attempted a follow-up attack.
This time, it wasn't a ranged attack, but a siege-grade war hammer slicing through the air.
Common sense dictated dodging. Until now, he had overwhelmed his opponents through finesse and skill rather than raw strength against strength.
But why?
There's no need to do that...
Instead, Jinhyuk threw a punch.
Boom!
Accompanied by a terrifying gust of wind, the iron masses from both sides collided head-on with Jinhyuk's fist.
If a fist clashed with a hammer weighing over 100 kilograms, the outcome was practically predetermined.
Of course,
that was assuming they were an ordinary fist and hammer.
Creeeeak!
Crack!
Cracks resembling a turtle's shell spread across the surface of the iron.
At the same time...
Rumble!
The same cracks began to appear on the ogres' bodies.
Red blood sprayed from their seven orifices.
Thud!
Their massive bodies collapsed to the ground.
But before he could even savor the victory...
Ring!
A status window appeared before Jinhyuk's eyes.
[......]
The blood-red status window exuded an ominous energy as dark as its color.