Chapter 231
Chapter 231
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 231
Chapter Title: ACT. 45 Han River Recapture (3)
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Even Kim Hyo-jong, who had looked so confident just moments ago.
And Choi Dae-han, who had insisted on joining me to fight the boss.
Both were unconsciously taking a step back.
Then, as if realizing what they were doing, they hastily glanced at me.
“No, this is…”
I turned my gaze to the Red Gate without a word.
*Goooo…*
An ominous energy surged, sending a chill down my spine.
It was a monster that could easily be classified as a Disaster.
The only reason it wasn't was because the Disaster of Defiance had appeared before it.
“Do you remember the King of Disease?”
“…I do. It was a truly terrible opponent. Fists were useless, and all sorts of weapons just passed right through it. Just getting close meant getting infected and poisoned to the brink of death. The White Death, was it? I think that was its name.”
“You’ve all grown stronger since then, but so have our enemies. The monster lurking in there is surely even worse. You can all feel it, I’m sure.”
Choi Dae-han slowly closed his eyes.
“I understand what you're trying to say. But to send you in alone again… no, to leave it all to you again doesn't sit right with me.”
“What are you talking about? You all have a very important role to play.”
I pointed to the four remaining gates.
The appearance of a boss is like a buff for all the other monsters.
They'll become more ferocious, and greater numbers will pour out in shorter cycles.
“If you two come with me, it'll disrupt our defense of these gates. Stopping those things from reaching the residential areas… in a way, your job is far more critical. If I fail, I can just try again, but if you're overrun, this whole operation will be a failure.”
At my words, the eyes of the Taegeuk Guild players changed.
Possessing the spirit of a vigilante corps, hearing that people's lives were in their hands must have ignited their sense of duty.
Kim Hyo-jong scowled, clicking his tongue in displeasure.
“You've got a silver tongue, like a damn nine-tailed fox. Curses. Just a background character again. I don't like it.”
“I'll take that as a compliment. You'll do it anyway, won't you?”
“Who said I wouldn't? Of course, I will. Damn it.”
Kim Hyo-jong grumbled and turned away.
[Nine-tailed fox, my foot… He's a human who'd swindle a devil. Calling him a fox is letting him off easy.]
“What are you talking about? I've only tricked two devils. It's not like I've fooled many. You just feel that way because you were one of them.”
[That's because you've only dealt with two devils!!]
He's not falling for it.
Besial has gotten a little smarter.
I chuckled and asked the twins.
“Have you found an answer yet?”
“A little.”
Jo Min-ah had a troubled expression.
Jo Min-woo's reaction was similar.
Well, it wasn't a problem that could be solved so easily.
Leviathan would show them the answer.
“Let me ask one thing.”
Choi Dae-han spoke with a deliberate, heavy tone.
“I know you're strong. Perhaps you're the strongest player in Korea, aside from the Crow. Still, the mana I felt was anything but ordinary. Can you, with just those children, truly defeat the monster lurking inside? No, can you even make it back alive?”
Choi Dae-han's eyes were filled with worry.
My gaze unknowingly shifted to Kim Hyo-jong.
Kim Hyo-jong, who had been looking away with his arms crossed, frowned when he felt my stare.
“Why are you looking at me? Answer him instead of staring. Say it's possible. If you can't say that, then don't go.”
“Pfft.”
“Are you laughing? You're laughing? You find this funny?”
“No, sir. I was just reminded of the past.”
They've changed.
Both Kim Hyo-jong and Choi Dae-han.
The unexpected changes caused by the sudden variable of a 'second regressor' were finally returning to how they should have been.
“Well then, we're off.”
“We'll be back.”
“I don't know what kind of monster it is, but we'll beat it and be back in a flash!”
“Be a little more serious. The monster we're going to fight… Oppa said it's an S+ rank.”
“Aw, what's there to worry about when Hyung is with us? Besides, we did great earlier!”
“Aish. Honestly.”
Jo Min-woo was the only one excited.
A bitter smile formed on my lips as it seemed he was only getting more reckless over time.
The Jo Min-woo I remembered was a cold man who had weathered every storm the world could throw at him.
And Jo Min-ah, with her distrust of humans, was practically a psycho who, true to her title of 'Witch', would burn anything that displeased her.
‘Still.’
This isn't so bad.
I smiled faintly as I watched their backs.
***
The moment I stepped through the Red Gate, my vision was plunged into darkness.
The cold touch of water, now familiar.
Thinking how much the presentation had changed, I focused mana into my eyes.
‘A massive cavern?’
A vast cavern, larger than a gymnasium.
There was no sign of any lesser monsters, only the quiet flow of water transmitted as vibrations.
The twins, as I'd instructed, held their breath and remained silent.
I felt like I'd seen terrain like this somewhere before.
As I was thinking this, Besial muttered quietly.
[…This is not good.]
‘Of course the inside of a Red Gate wouldn't be advantageous for players. That's a given.’
[Still, this is… To use an analogy, it's like walking into a dragon's lair to fight it.]
A dragon's lair.
The moment I understood the meaning of his analogy, I remembered where I had seen this terrain.
‘I never thought it would send us straight into Leviathan's den.’
Was it tired of waiting?
Or had it prepared a trap in advance?
No, the Leviathan at this point in time couldn't have done the latter.
*Goooo…*
I spread my mana into the surroundings.
At that moment, a serious-faced Jo Min-ah grabbed my sleeve.
*KWAAAA!!*
A violent current of water swept through the area.
If I had reacted a second later, we might have been slammed against the cavern wall by the current.
I let go of the twins' arms, which I had been holding.
“We're alive thanks to you, Hyung. Phew!”
“We're in the heart of enemy territory. Don't let your guard down.”
Through Extreme Eye, its form became clear.
The king of the seas, its body dozens of meters long.
A monster so overwhelmingly stronger than existing S-rank monsters that it earned the rare classification of S+ rank.
Leviathan.
An eye, larger than a dozen people lined up, watched us silently, as if it had been waiting for us to find it.
“Dodge!”
*KWAAAAAA!!*
Pushing the twins aside, I moved in the opposite direction.
A breath attack in the distinct form of 'flames' cut through the space between us.
A being that could use a fire breath, undeterred by the fact that it was underwater.
This was, in fact, the very reason I had brought the twins.
“Flames underwater…? How did it do that!? Min-ah, do you get it!?”
“No, I don't get it either…! But that monster definitely used flames!”
Their way of thinking is still trapped in a shell.
To truly wield power, one must break that mold.
Creative application.
Jo Min-ah had previously come up with the idea of rapidly raising the water temperature by heating it, but that alone wasn't enough.
“This is your homework. Learn to control flames even underwater. Don't be too bound by Earth's laws of physics. There's no need for that.”
Of course, you can't ignore them completely.
But the power that lets you defy them is mana.
The twins had been training to increase their mana proficiency since they'd first become players. If they could just grasp a single thread of a clue, they would be able to break out of their shells.
[How dare you enter my home… Don't think you'll leave here alive!!]
It can talk?
Does it still have its reason?
*KWAAANG!*
I dodged its massive charging head and observed the Leviathan.
At this point in time, the Leviathan should have lost its reason due to the aftereffects of the Disaster of Defiance, left with only its destructive instincts.
I remembered it being unable to even speak properly.
‘…Did its delayed appearance lessen the Disaster's influence?’
Originally, the Leviathan was supposed to rampage in the Han River alongside the Disaster of Defiance, drastically increasing the difficulty.
But that didn't happen this time.
It had remained quiet, only starting its rampage after everything was over.
The twins stepped forward.
“Wait. If you can speak, let's talk first…”
[The reason doesn't matter! What matters is that you've trespassed in my home!]
“We're not trespassing! The gate sent us here!!”
[So, it was you! You must be the ones who did something to Behemoth!]
“It's only saying what it wants to say!?”
Behemoth?
Did something happen to it?
Questions arose, but I decided to deal with the current situation first.
“It's no use. It won't listen to a word you say.”
Communication is impossible.
In that case, there's only one answer.
“If talking doesn't work, we'll have to make it work.”
First, one hit.
*KWANG!*
‘Huh?’
Even though I'd swung my sword imbued with darkness, it was blocked by something solid and didn't even leave a scratch.
It was strangely resilient, even considering that my attack's power would be somewhat diminished underwater.
[It's useless!!]
The Leviathan unleashed its breath again.
The twins fled in terror, but I had anticipated it and dodged with ease.
‘What is this?’
No damage is getting through.
At first, I thought its Dragon Scale might have been strengthened, but I realized it was something else entirely.
‘A blessing.’
For some reason, the Leviathan had a blessing from a god-like being applied to it, allowing it to ignore most damage.
Considering Leviathan's origins, it wasn't impossible for it to have a blessing.
I remembered the story saying the blessing had vanished due to the passage of time… Ah.
“Now I get it.”
The reason Leviathan couldn't rampage alongside the Disaster of Defiance.
The Disaster of Defiance was strengthened by the dimension stone, and its influence had grown as a result.
When the situation became so dire that not only was its reason paralyzed, but its very life was in danger, it hid in its lair to recover.
After the Disaster was killed and its influence gradually waned, the threat to its life passed, but its sanity was shot.
It had recovered so much in its lair that the 'blessing' it was born with had been partially restored.
Just like an immortal god, a nuisance even in death.
“Besial. Open the Devil's Shop.”
[What do you need now?]
“Behemoth's Fang.”
[…Hey, aren't you trying to cheese this game too much? Using Behemoth's Fang against Leviathan is like using the flame sword Laevateinn against a plant-type monster.]
“So there's no reason not to use it, right?”
I chuckled at Besial's words and checked the Devil's Shop.
Just as I expected, an item named 'Behemoth's Fang' was proudly displayed at the top of the list.
Given the nature of the Devil's Shop, there was no way it wouldn't appear while I was fighting Leviathan.
[You have purchased 'Behemoth's Fang'.]
An ivory-colored sword appeared in my left hand.
I could feel a certain power emanating from it.
With this, I could tear through that 'blessing' in a single strike and damage its main body.
“Min-woo, Min-ah! I'll attack first and create an opening, so don't miss it! Pour on everything you've got!”
“Leave it to us!”
[Where do you think…!]
An ink-like substance spewed from around Leviathan's mouth, instantly dyeing the surroundings black.
It was a tricky pattern, blocking vision over a wide area before attacking freely.
But to me, it was a rather meaningless pattern.
[Activating skill, 'Extreme Eye'.]