Chapter 74: Blooming (5)
Chapter 74: Blooming (5)
The ground across the entire hillside shook as if an earthquake had struck, and the boulders that filled the landscape began to move.
The thunderous sound of rolling stones echoed from every direction.
Belatedly, Grace realized her mistake.
After becoming a follower, she had read extensively in the Sanctuary about non-biological monsters, but she had never actually faced them in Nippur. Because of this lack of experience, she hadn't considered the possibility until now, finally identifying the monsters of this dungeon.
Stone Beasts.
Unlike Golems, which were created by mages to serve as subordinates, these were natural monsters of unknown origin. Though their beginnings were a mystery, their characteristics were well-documented; they appeared in various forms, ranging from animals and monsters to even humanoid shapes.
Han Shin and Grace watched as the objects they had assumed were mere rocks rose from all sides, shedding stone dust as they moved.
From tiger-shaped creatures to wolves, raptors, and basilisks, Stone Beasts of every imaginable form were awakening around them.
"Han Shin, these are monsters called Stone Beasts. You must be careful—you have to destroy the core inside them."
"Right. Is their exterior harder than normal rock?"
"Yes. They are harder than most types of steel."
"So, if I can't use Sword Energy, cutting them will be difficult?"
"Yes, it will."
Han Shin could wield the Power of the Dragon derived from Tiamat, but he was unable to manifest Sword Energy on a blade.
Grace, who used Tiamat’s Divine Power in a similar way, had originally been a knight who handled Qi. Upon becoming Tiamat’s follower, her Qi had been infused with Tiamat’s Divine Power, essentially making her a Holy Priest of battle. Han Shin’s case was different.
Consequently, with the sword he currently had equipped, Han Shin couldn't land an effective blow on the Stone Beasts closing in on them.
He needed a solution, and one came to him immediately.
"Grace, can you pull my hammer out of the subspace?"
"Yes."
Grace immediately reached into the subspace and pulled out a warhammer—essentially a massive sledgehammer—and handed it to Han Shin.
It was one of the weapons Han Shin had trained with during the time he had been an Awakener but had yet to discover his true talent. He figured a blunt weapon would be perfectly suited for monsters with rock-like skin.
Grace was impressed by his quick thinking. Since he couldn't coat his weapon in Qi, changing the weapon itself was the best tactical move he could make.
Han Shin gripped the handle with both hands.
The silver hammer, which matched his silver full-body armor, was a top-tier weapon from Tiamat’s treasury. Its durability was such that it was virtually indestructible.
Rather than waiting to be attacked, Han Shin and Grace decided to strike first. Staying still and allowing themselves to be surrounded was never a good strategy.
They charged toward the leopard-shaped Stone Beasts in front of them, their eyes glowing with a red light.
This time, it was Han Shin, not Grace, who took the lead.
Using a different style of attack than usual, Han Shin accelerated, holding the hammer slightly behind him. Carrying that momentum, he swung the hammer horizontally at the Stone Beasts.
BOOM!
The sound was like dynamite exploding in a mine. With a deafening blast, the heads of two Stone Beasts shattered into fragments that flew in every direction.
Han Shin’s physical abilities, fueled by the Power of the Dragon, were stronger than any human's. His greatest advantage was that he could draw out physical power exceeding that of most Awakeners while maintaining perfect conscious control over it.
If his weapon had been ordinary, or if he were a weaker Awakener instead of a Dragon Knight, such an attack would have only dented the Stone Beasts' faces or caused minor cracks.
Naturally, such a large, sweeping attack left an opening.
The remaining leopard-shaped Stone Beasts, seeing their kin fall, lunged to exploit it. However, Han Shin reversed his swing, bringing the hammer up in a diagonal arc. They met the same fate as the ones who had just lost their heads.
CRASH!
Since Stone Beasts were denser and more massive than ordinary rock, a significant shock traveled through the handle into Han Shin’s hands.
However, his dragon-strengthened body was more than capable of enduring it.
‘This is fine.’
As he pulverized the Stone Beasts' heads, Han Shin felt a sense of catharsis. These were small individuals, but he felt confident he could handle them.
Targeting their heads had been a wise choice. Even if the core wasn't located in the head, a Stone Beast that had lost its eyes was no longer a major threat. Just as he expected, the headless leopard-shaped beasts began to flounder blindly.
Meanwhile, Grace’s sword began to emit a faint, silver Sword Energy.
Her blade was also a masterpiece from Tiamat’s collection, capable of slicing through rock with ease. However, unsure of exactly how hard these beasts were, she chose to use Sword Energy to ensure the blade wouldn't get stuck mid-cut.
Thanks to her steady leveling up—achieved by hunting dungeons with Han Shin and receiving Tiamat’s Divine Power converted from dungeon cores—she now had the capacity to use Sword Energy with some ease.
Of course, she hadn't mastered it perfectly, and it was still weak compared to her full potential.
‘This should be enough.’
Grace muttered to herself as she cleanly severed the limbs and heads of the Stone Beasts. The sword wielded by the platinum-haired knight moved through the stone as if it were cutting through tofu.
Perfectly straight slabs of rock fell and tumbled across the ground.
Just as they finished neutralizing the leopard-shaped beasts, Han Shin and Grace’s senses screamed a warning.
Their heightened instincts pointed toward the upper right.
They saw a boulder the size of a house hurtling toward them. Without a moment's hesitation, the two dove forward. An instant later, the boulder slammed into the spot where they had just been standing.
THOOOOM!
CRACKLE!
The ground shook and groaned as if a localized earthquake had occurred. The leopard-shaped Stone Beasts that had remained where Han Shin and Grace had been were caught directly by the boulder and literally ground into powder.
While this was technically helpful, as it finished off the enemies whose cores they hadn't yet destroyed...
A new problem immediately followed.
Because the dungeon floor was also made of hard rock, the impact of the massive boulder caused the ground to shatter and splinter. Sharp stone shards sprayed in every direction.
Since the house-sized boulder itself had shattered upon impact, the resulting shrapnel rained down on Grace and Han Shin.
They had avoided being crushed, but even with their speed, they couldn't escape the radius of the flying debris.
Grace quickly raised her shield.
Clang! Thud! Crack!
The sound of stone fragments pelting the shield was chaotic. She held her sword out to the side, parrying the larger shards away.
However, Han Shin, wielding a two-handed warhammer, had no shield to hide behind.
"Kh!"
Fortunately, the armor Tiamat had given him was a full-body set with exceptional defense. Though he felt the blunt force of the impacts, no stone shards managed to pierce his body.
Still, the force was considerable enough to make him groan. He moved quickly to dodge the fragments flying at his head, but one grazed his cheek, leaving a long gash.
Blood trickled down Han Shin’s left cheek, and he felt a stinging pain, but he didn't have the luxury of worrying about it.
He saw the shadow of the monster that had thrown the boulder.
It was a Stone Beast shaped like a massive giant.
‘So that’s the boss monster.’
He knew instantly that something that enormous had to be the boss. Even though it was over 200 meters away, its sheer scale was obvious.
‘It looks like it’s over ten meters tall...’
This was Han Shin’s first time facing a monster of such massive proportions.
Grace wanted to check on Han Shin’s wound, but the situation didn't allow for it. She kept her eyes peeled for a follow-up attack.
However, they couldn't focus solely on the giant; other Stone Beasts were closing in from all sides, sensing an opportunity. The rhythmic sound of stone grinding against stone echoed from every direction.
Having seen the leopard-shaped beasts defeated, these new attackers approached with much more caution.
‘These things actually have some intelligence.’
The fact that they weren't just moving on instinct but were learning in real-time was a troubling development.
The same thought flashed through both Han Shin and Grace’s minds: they couldn't afford to let this battle drag on.