Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: A Swift Rescue
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"I'm not too late."
Do-jae immediately shoved the Dullahans aside, pulling Young-jin and Ji-yoon back with him.
He then opened his subspace, releasing his golems to confront the Dullahans.
"How did you get here…?"
"Boss…"
Fortunately, Young-jin and Ji-yoon didn't seem to be seriously injured.
Ha Tae-seong and Gong So-eun, whom he'd met on the way, were badly hurt, but their lives could be saved if they received treatment quickly.
"We'll talk later."
Leaving the bewildered Young-jin and Ji-yoon behind him, Do-jae strode forward.
The Dullahans were locked in a balanced fight with four Black Stone Golems, who were being assisted by the Elatra Golems.
The problem, however, was the Death Knight watching from behind them with its arms crossed.
Death Knights were Grade 2 monsters, each one strong enough to rival an A-rank hunter.
However, a Death Knight appearing in a boss room could sometimes manifest with the strength of a Grade 1 monster.
*Shing—.*
Do-jae drew the Black Scale.
He then walked into the fray between the Dullahans and the golems.
"I have been waiting. I was growing bored."
Despite the clamor of the battle, the Death Knight's chilling voice rang out clearly.
Do-jae could feel Gellahan's energy pouring out of the creature.
"Are you another one of Gellahan's slaves or followers?"
As Do-jae approached and asked, the Death Knight's blue eyes flickered.
"A mere mortal like you has no right to speak his name."
"Insignificant, you say… I think I've heard that a few times. I wonder what happened to all the others who said that to me."
"I do not wonder. I fight only for Lord Gellahan. Face Lord Gellahan's sword!"
The Death Knight charged, brandishing a pitch-black sword.
It was a blade far deeper and darker than the Black Scale.
*Clang—!*
*Screeeech—.*
When the Death Knight's sword clashed with the Black Scale, a shower of sparks erupted, and Do-jae was pushed back.
It had been a long time since he'd been overpowered in sheer strength, and Do-jae was slightly surprised.
But that was all.
In terms of defense and speed, Do-jae was far superior.
*Crunch—!*
Do-jae blocked the Death Knight's sword with his left arm and brought the Black Scale down.
*Clatter—.*
While Do-jae's Golem Armor was unharmed, the Death Knight's armor was deeply dented, and broken pieces fell to the floor.
"What are you? How can you be stronger than I, who serves Lord Gellahan!"
The Death Knight launched an even fiercer assault.
But Do-jae dodged most of the attacks, and those he couldn't avoid, he blocked with his arms or legs.
In the process, the Death Knight's armor was gradually destroyed. Its breastplate was completely shattered, revealing what lay within.
"There it is."
An orb rested inside the armor, which was filled with black smoke.
Do-jae plunged his hand inside.
Gellahan's energy resisted fiercely.
*Sssss—*
The Golem Armor covering Do-jae's hand cracked and crumbled to dust.
But Do-jae didn't pull his hand back. Instead, he used his other hand to tear off a piece of the Death Knight's armor.
He brought the fallen pauldron to his own arm and used the Blood Armor of the Golem skill.
*Crr-unch—!*
The Death Knight's pauldron changed shape, flowing down Do-jae's arm and onto his hand.
His hand, now coated in a sleek, glossy material, withstood Gellahan's energy, and Do-jae ripped the orb out with all his might.
*Fwoosh—!*
Gellahan's mana, dragged out along with the orb, swirled in the air before being sucked back into it.
And yet, for some reason, the Death Knight didn't die and continued its assault.
*Creek— Creak—.*
Its movements were slower, its attacks cruder, its strength diminished.
Everything about it was weaker, but the Death Knight relentlessly targeted Do-jae.
"So even without its Sealed Memory, an undead is still an undead?"
Do-jae felt a headache coming on.
Zombies might be an exception, but other undead were nearly impossible to kill.
How could you kill something that was already dead?
The only way to deal with the undead was to destroy or sever their mana source.
This meant either shattering a mana-infused crown to disperse its energy and kill a lich, as was done in the magic kingdom, or using a holy weapon or sacred mana—which were incredibly effective against the undead—to directly scatter their mana and destroy them.
For Dullahans and Death Knights, in particular, only the latter method worked.
"Hm?"
Just as he was fending off the Death Knight's attacks and wondering what to do.
The Black Scale began to vibrate.
*Shhhk—!*
At first, he didn't know why, but as the attacks continued, he realized what was happening.
The Black Scale was absorbing the Death Knight's mana.
"Well now."
Do-jae glanced at the vibrating Black Scale, then began to swing it with even more force.
***
*Thwump—!*
The last Dullahan collapsed, turning into a pile of armor.
Do-jae gathered the armor, tossed it into his subspace, and said.
"You all head back in, too."
At Do-jae's command, the golems walked into the subspace.
Their number was ninety-six.
Of the 108 golems, twelve had their mana stones shattered and had disappeared.
They were nine of Elatra's golems and three of the original golems that had survived the Red Orcs and the battle with Li Shun.
Losing twelve golems to four Dullahans was a bit painful, but it also meant that his golems alone could hunt Grade 3 monsters.
Besides, since the number of golems that could fight a single Dullahan was limited, it was less a 108 vs. 4 battle and more like several 5 or 6 vs. 1 fights. By simple calculation, it was like Do-jae was leading around sixteen B-rank or higher Awakeners.
It was an incredible force.
"Boss!"
"Vice Guild Master!"
Young-jin and Ji-yoon ran over.
Their eyes were filled with a mix of emotions.
And the first to surface was curiosity.
"Boss, what are all those golems? When did you get so many…!"
Young-jin was astonished by Do-jae's massive golem army.
During the Red Orc suppression, he'd had just over fifty.
Even then, the golems had been an imposing sight.
But now, Do-jae had nearly twice that number.
"They were a gift."
"From who? What rich person just gave you that many mana stones?"
"Quiet. You'll get hurt if you know."
"Aw, tell me! I want to go ask for some too."
*Thump—!*
Do-jae gave Young-jin a light knock on the head.
Young-jin winced and rubbed the spot.
"Geez, for a guy who was F-rank, you hit hard. Boss! When did you get so strong? You weren't this powerful when we first met."
"That's because you and I live in different worlds."
"Huh? What kind of cringey nonsense is that? Ah! I take it back, I take it back!"
When Do-jae raised his hand again, Young-jin backed away.
It was as if he'd completely forgotten he'd nearly died; he was back to his usual self.
"Anyway, how did you get here? And how did you know we were in danger?"
"Ji-yoon, the boss always shows up to save me whenever I'm in danger. That's just the kind of man he is."
"You be quiet. And didn't I tell you to call me 'sis' when we're alone!"
"But the boss is here too, so that makes three of us, right?"
Do-jae chuckled at their unchanged dynamic.
They must have been terrified facing death, so he was relieved to see them so full of energy.
"Ji-yoon's sword. I attached a golem to the pommel."
"I thought that was just an ornament."
"Just in case. I was worried a situation like this might happen."
Ji-yoon was touched and hugged the sword even more tightly.
"Whoa, whoa? What's this between you two? So the 'special someone' who gave you the sword was the boss? And he even attached a golem to it. Isn't that basically a GPS tracker?"
"What are you talking about? It's just... a Vice Guild Master looking out for a guild member, right? Don't be ridiculous!"
*Thwack, thwack—.*
Embarrassed, Ji-yoon started punching Young-jin.
Young-jin dodged Ji-yoon's fierce fists and clung to Do-jae.
"W-wait, stop! Wow… Boss, you only gave Ji-yoon a gift. Is that all our relationship means to you?"
"What relationship?"
"We've faced life and death together! We almost died because of that Chinese guy. Oh? Was I the only one who almost died…?"
Young-jin thought for a moment, then hung his head.
He had been the one about to be killed by Li Shun, and Do-jae was the one who had saved him.
Of course, Do-jae had also nearly died and ended up in another world, but Young-jin didn't know that.
"Whatever. Let me see your sword."
"My sword? Why?"
Young-jin held out his sword for Do-jae to see.
It had only clashed with the Dullahans a few times, but the blade was chipped and had a large crack.
"This is useless… Even if you got it repaired, I doubt it would ever be the same."
When he checked with Eye of the Golem, the word 'Damaged' was stamped on Young-jin's sword.
Its options also showed a minus sign next to its attack power, indicating a drastic decrease.
"I was planning to give you this later, but…"
*Whaamm—.*
Do-jae opened his subspace.
He took out a long box and a single golem.
*Creeak—.*
Opening the box revealed a sword wrapped in cloth.
Do-jae unwrapped the cloth, then unsummoned the golem and extracted its mana stone.
He then re-formed the golem at its minimum size and attached it to the sword.
Since the mana stone was larger than Ji-yoon's, he attached it to the guard below the blade instead of the pommel.
"It's a gift. The sword you were using was a good one, so you might not feel a huge difference, but this one should be decent."
"Gasp… Really? Is this really for me?"
"If you don't want it."
"Hey, don't be like that. Thank you, Boss!"
As Do-jae made a move to take it back, Young-jin hastily accepted it.
*Swoosh— Swoosh—!*
Young-jin swung it a few times as soon as he got it, then bowed his head in satisfaction.
"I love it. This is the first time I've ever received a gift from someone… I'll take good care of it!"
"Good. There won't be a next time, so use it well."
Young-jin adjusted the strap of the scabbard and slung it over his back.
He then sheathed his original sword and carefully leaned it against a wall.
It was a sword he had managed to get only after pestering his uncle for it.
It had served him well, and he was attached to it, so rather than repair and sell it, Young-jin wanted to leave it here as a memory.
"By the way, what happened to our people? They were badly hurt. Especially Tae-seong and So-eun…"
Ji-yoon asked with a worried expression.
"They'll be fine. I gave them some styptics and potions for first aid."
On his way, Do-jae had handed over some Surta Leaves and the low-grade potions he had on hand.
"But we're so deep inside. What if they collapsed on their way out of the dungeon?"
"That should be fine, too. How do you think I got here so fast?"
Do-jae pointed past the entrance to the boss room.
A hole in the wall.
A tunnel, large enough for two or three people to pass through comfortably, stretched out as far as the eye could see.
"Don't tell me you just smashed your way through the wall?"
"That's right."
Indeed.
Do-jae didn't know the dungeon's layout and had no time to check.
He had simply followed the energy of the golem on Ji-yoon's sword, smashing through walls as he ran.
"Wow… Boss, you're really something else…."
"I know… That's insane…."
Young-jin and Ji-yoon were astounded, realizing they were standing in front of someone even crazier than them.
"So, should we get going? We can't stay here forever."
"Right. I want to check on the others and make sure they're okay!"
Do-jae nodded.
Young-jin shouldered the backpack Gong So-eun had left behind, while Ji-yoon carefully picked up Ha Tae-seong's severed arm.
Then, they began to exit the dungeon, following the path Do-jae had carved.