Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Battle with the Cunning Crocodile King
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Guerrilla Gate clear: the boss monster battle had begun.
"Su-ho, you're on point for starting the fight."
At Kang Han's command, Jang Su-ho felt a joy as if he'd achieved the purpose of his life.
The guild master had assigned him a role in combat.
That meant he'd earned his trust.
'Finally, I can do something.'
He'd always been seen as someone unreliable at his back—no, a walking bomb that could trigger a crisis.
Now, even he had been given a role.
'I'll make it happen, no matter what it takes.'
Jang Su-ho clenched his fists tight with that resolve.
And that's when Kang Han pulled something from his subspace inventory and handed it over.
It was an iron shield about half Jang Su-ho's height, scarred and battered all over.
"Hyung."
He didn't need words to know.
Kang Han had been keeping this shield for him all this time.
"It's a D-rank item. Don't count on the durability too much."
It didn't matter.
If the shield broke, he'd block with his body.
To keep his precious comrades from getting hurt.
That was the role of a shielder like Jang Su-ho.
"Ji-seong hyung, get your casting ready."
"Got it."
"Yu-chan, hide somewhere safe and hunt for weak spots to maximize your damage. Yu-eul, you're with me up front."
"Yes!"
"Let's go."
Kang Han's word was the signal.
Jang Su-ho hefted the heavy iron shield and charged straight at the Crocodile King in an instant.
Kuwoong-!
The thunderous crash echoing through the dungeon was unbelievable for a clash between a man and a house-sized monster.
"Keurheong!"
The Crocodile King skidded back, claws gouging deep furrows in the floor.
Stunned by the intruder's unexpected strength for just a moment, it then gaped its jaws to bite.
But the shield-bearing human had already retreated a few steps, and survival instincts flashed red.
The Crocodile King twisted its body in a panic.
Too late.
Whiik, hwik!
Sharp whistles cut the air from both sides, blades carving long gashes into its flanks.
The wounds weren't deep thanks to its thick hide, but they were enough to ignite the beast's rage.
"Kraaaaaah!"
Confirming Lee Yu-eul and Kang Han retreating after their strikes, Jang Su-ho slammed the shield into its maw again, denying it even time to roar properly.
Thud!
But the weight transmitted through the shield felt different this time.
Kwajik!
The Crocodile King's thick, razor claws raked four sinister lines across the iron shield.
The moment the shock sent Jang Su-ho staggering back, the Crocodile King seized the opening and raised its forepaw.
That was when it happened.
Piriric-!
A thin, flute-like whistle pierced the air, an arrow embedding in the beast's pale underbelly.
Lee Yu-chan's shot from his perch atop a nearby tree.
"Nice one, Yu-chan!"
Lee Yu-eul shouted at her brother as she slashed the crocodile's exposed armpit amid its imbalance.
"Keuherng!"
Thick black blood oozed from the long, curved gash torn along the blade's arc.
The Justice Guild gave the Crocodile King no chance to recover.
Jang Su-ho would charge with the full weight of his body behind the shield, creating openings for Lee Yu-eul and Kang Han to stab.
Followed by Lee Yu-chan's ranged attacks.
The cunning Crocodile King grew even more furious at being pushed into a corner.
"Krwaaaaaah!"
The beast had only survived this long against the invaders by devouring "that thing" from the ruined temple and gaining immense power.
A crocodile risen from the depths to claim kingship—its rage burned with venomous spite.
The three attackers nearby were annoying enough, but the most threatening strikes came from the archer lurking in the trees, targeting weak points relentlessly.
When the third arrow flew at its most vulnerable eye, the beast charged the tree without hesitation.
Kung, kung, kung, kung.
With eerie tremors shaking the ground, the Crocodile King reached the tree and whipped its thick tail to shatter the trunk at the base.
Kwaang!
"Yu-chan!"
The leafy tree tilted slowly sideways.
If it fell like this, the gaping maw of the Crocodile King waited directly below.
But Lee Yu-chan didn't release his drawn bowstring.
Instead, he pulled it tighter, and the moment the crocodile's face appeared through the leaves—
Ping!
The close-range arrow struck dead center into the Crocodile King's eyeball.
"Keurueong! Kreueok!"
The Crocodile King thrashed in agony, losing its mind, while Lee Yu-chan tumbled to the ground and was flung far by the tail.
"Ack!"
Sliding to a stop against a thick tree trunk with his back, Lee Yu-chan finally let out a pained groan.
"You... damn reptile brat."
Seeing Lee Yu-chan curled in excruciating pain, Jang Su-ho's eyes flashed crimson-black.
Hoo-uk, hoo-uk.
In the seconds he panted like a raging beast, his dark pupils were fully consumed by madness.
"Gonna... kill you."
Just like the Crocodile King moments before, Jang Su-ho charged.
An unbelievable speed, considering he bore a massive iron shield.
No body charge like before.
Jang Su-ho raised the shield high overhead with both hands.
And then—
"Die."
Kwajik! Kwajik! Kwajik!
"Kuweeeek!"
Before the berserker's savage smashes with the shield's sharp edge, even the Crocodile King's thick hide was powerless.
Kwaduk! Kwadduduk!
Black blood splattered Jang Su-ho with every blow, but no rationality remained to notice.
Swinging the shield meant for protection like a madman, he looked less like a shielder and more like a warrior.
While everyone stared dumbfounded at the demon-like figure, Kang Han moved with cold precision.
"Yu-chan, snap out of it."
Kang Han scooped up the defenseless Lee Yu-chan and handed him to Han Ji-seong.
"Fall back as far as you can."
Leaving those words, Kang Han headed straight for Lee Yu-eul.
"H-Han-i oppa."
Stunned by her brother's injury and Jang Su-ho's berserk state, Lee Yu-eul hesitated.
Rather than soothe her, Kang Han explained the plan in a low voice.
"Attack from outside Su-ho's line of sight as much as possible. Berserkers can only lock onto one target at a time."
"O-Okay."
"Focus especially on the wounds Su-ho's already made. And..."
After briefing the plan, Kang Han charged first toward Jang Su-ho and the Crocodile King.
Lee Yu-eul wiped her dirt-smeared face and followed with a hardened expression.
Kwajik!
"Kaaak!"
The Crocodile King was no longer just taking hits.
It swung its forepaw with devastating force and snapped relentlessly at the shield, trying to wrench it away.
Jang Su-ho, streaked with red eyes and inky black blood, and the blood-soaked Crocodile King lunging at him.
It looked like two monsters locked in mortal combat.
Kang Han exploited the gap, thrusting his sword into the Crocodile King's flank wound from the opposite side of Jang Su-ho, while Lee Yu-eul slashed its tail.
"Kreue!"
As the beast faltered with its tailbone severed, Kang Han stabbed again.
The strike plunged in up to his elbow—a full-force blow—but failed to reach the massive crocodile's vital organs.
But it wasn't over.
Patsutsutsut-!
"Kek!"
Golden lightning sparked from Kang Han's eyes and surged into the Crocodile King's body.
The beast's jaws gaped from the powerful shock, but it couldn't even scream properly as its massive frame seized up.
Gripping his sword with both hands and sustaining the skill, Kang Han bellowed.
"Now!"
At the same moment, potent mana converged in one spot.
Han Ji-seong's fingertips, right at the edge of the battlefield.
His voice, as icy as his blue eyes, murmured low.
"Ice Spear."
Was this thing really called a spear?
Lee Yu-eul wondered as she rolled aside on instinct to dodge.
An ice lance the size of the Crocodile King's head gleamed brilliantly under the jungle dungeon's sweltering lights and shot forth.
"Guk!"
The tip pierced perfectly between its gaping jaws, bursting out the other side of its skull.
The system announced victory before the eyes of the entire Justice Guild.
Everyone heaved sighs of relief.
All but one.
"Kreururur."
The berserker, having lost its target, slowly shifted its gaze.
Searching for the next one.
Its red eyes turned toward where the powerful attack had come from—Han Ji-seong.
But the berserker's stare didn't linger there.
Ultimately, it fixed on a spot behind him.
The figure frantically healing Lee Yu-chan.
The one that had been unbearably nagging at its nerves for a while now.
"Nayeo-ju. Na...yeo...ju."