The Flame Eagle Descends
The detection ability of Ultrasonic Wave was every bit as effective as using my own eyes.
Even while hidden behind a boulder, I could clearly make out the composition of Hwarang Guild’s promising rookie team.
Two close-combat fighters.
Two ranged players.
And one support-class player to round them out.
I had zero long-range attack options. If I let them create distance, I’d be pelted one-sidedly.
‘Guess I’ll close in first.’
The moment negotiations broke down, I tensed both legs and activated Agile Hind Legs.
The distance between me and the Hwarang prospects was roughly a hundred meters. One leap cut that in half.
I didn’t kill my momentum. Instead, I dropped my waist low to the ground like a sprinter preparing to explode forward.
“Crazy bastard.”
A curse slipped from Park Jongwon’s mouth.
Almost simultaneously, a scorching wave of heat rolled in from the opposite direction. His mage teammates were already rearranging their mana.
Not bad. They didn’t panic; they immediately prepared spells. Looks like Hwarang Guild raised their kids pretty well.
Thorn Carapace
A gray carapace wrapped around both arms and my back. The instant I covered myself with it, two flaming arrows slammed into my back and arm.
With a fierce crackle, the carapace’s durability dropped by nearly thirty percent.
“He’s charging straight through Fire Arrows?”
“That’s impossible!”
Shocked voices rang in my ears. I take back what I said earlier. They’d clearly received some training, but they still reeked of beginners. If an attack doesn’t work, you should immediately prepare the next move.
“Your opponent is me!”
Park Jongwon raised the shield in his left hand and stepped in front of me.
Target is using Iron Wall.
Defense decreases by 20% the farther away the target is.
Iron Wall was a useful tanking skill on the lower floors of the Tower. He must have realized my target was the mages. Not bad at all.
I changed direction and charged straight at Park Jongwon. The distance closed rapidly. I took a deep breath and roared.
“Haaaaah—!!”
Roar
All creatures within a 20-meter radius suffer a 10% reduction in Strength and Agility.
Duration: 20 seconds.
Park Jongwon and the spearman both flinched. They clearly hadn’t expected a Strength and Agility penalty.
“Even so…!”
Park Jongwon gritted his teeth and swung his blade. A curved sword sliced toward my shoulder with a sharp whistle.
So he wasn’t trying to kill me. If he had mixed killing intent into that strike, I would have returned the favor. Consider yourself lucky, Jongwon.
I dug my heels in and decelerated hard. Even though I’d wrapped my soles in Carapace, sparks flew from the friction. The blade missed me by a hair’s breadth.
I clenched my fist.
Monstrous Strength
Booom—!
My right fist smashed into the shield Park Jongwon was holding. Sixty points of pure Strength, amplified by three hundred percent. There was no way his strength could hold him in place.
“Kuhuuuugh!”
Park Jongwon vomited a mouthful of blood and was sent flying dozens of meters. Even though he’d protected himself with the shield, he couldn’t completely nullify the impact.
If I had used Sharp Claws, I could have killed him in one blow, but I held back since he hadn’t shown any killing intent. Consider it a favor from your senior.
The target using Iron Wall has left his position.
The binding effect has been removed.
That was the penalty of Iron Wall. The moment the user moved from his spot, the skill canceled. That was why I had used Monstrous Strength to knock him away. The chains that had bound me vanished.
“Fire Ankle!”
A rope made of flames wrapped around my arms and legs. Oh, so he used the time I gave him productively. The areas touching the flaming rope turned black and scorched.
“You’d better not struggle. The more you resist, the more it will—”
Crack. I poured mana into Sharp Claws and the flaming rope was sliced apart.
“The more I resist, the more what?”
The mage’s mouth fell open in shock.
“Haaah!”
A sharp spearhead aimed for my blind spot and stabbed toward my side. Ah, right. You were still here.
Thanks to Ultrasonic Wave, blind spots didn’t exist for me. Without even looking at the incoming spear, I snatched it with my left hand. Then I yanked the shaft hard.
“U-ugh?!”
The spearman was dragged forward like a fish hooked on a lure. I covered my entire body in Thorn Carapace. The sharp spikes protruding from it could neutralize the spearman without me even needing to attack.
Divine Shield
Clang!
A milky-white barrier wrapped around the close-combat fighter’s body. The Divine Shield, completed by a hair’s breadth, blocked the spikes rising from my carapace. The support player’s handiwork.
“It won’t end like this.”
Park Jongwon, who had been sent flying by Monstrous Strength, returned to the battlefield. The team quickly regrouped.
“Good. I was afraid it would end too boringly.”
I curled the corner of my lips into a smirk.
The Hwarang prospects were no pushovers. Every one of them was armed with at least Rare-grade gear, and their traits and skills were powerful. Even though I had raised my stats through Devour, the gap in equipment had closed much of the difference.
But.
“Ughhh…”
“Cough.”
After five minutes, the only Hwarang prospect still standing was Park Jongwon. The mages had been unconscious for a while. The other two were conscious but completely neutralized.
“H-how are you so good at fighting?”
The spearman squeezed out the words like a scream. It made sense. I was used to fighting multiple opponents. It was all thanks to the penalty of Devour—the one that reduced monster corpses to zero value—meaning I had spent most of my time hunting alone.
“It’s not over yet.”
The only one still on his feet, Park Jongwon, swung his blade desperately.
Sharp Claws
Hook-shaped claws caught the blade of his unique-grade sword. Scratch. The tip of one claw was slightly shaved off. Unique items really were on another level.
I poured mana into my claws and held on. Even reinforced with mana, they would only last another two seconds at most. That was more than enough.
At the same time, I stepped forward and slipped inside Park Jongwon’s range. At this distance, neither of us could swing our arms properly. That meant I, covered in Thorn Carapace, could inflict damage one-sidedly.
“You been brawling in the club or something?”
Just by swaying my body left and right, I gradually shredded his armor.
“D-damn it.”
Park Jongwon’s face was drenched in panic. This must have been his first time in a situation like this. Consider it valuable experience. Blood and flesh make the best teachers.
“I’m out of mana… I can’t help Player Park Jongwon anymore.”
The support player looked like she was about to cry. After using recovery and shields several times, her mana had bottomed out long ago.
On the other hand, I was still fresh. Even without Devour, I showed no signs of losing stamina or mana. It was all thanks to Blessing of the Earth Mother Goddess. As long as my feet touched the ground, my stamina and life force recovery skyrocketed. The skill Dragon Heart I had obtained from the dragon soldier also played a big part. No matter how many skills I used, my mana refused to drop.
“Ughhh!”
Park Jongwon gnashed his teeth and tried to shove me away with everything he had. The moment he overcommitted, I lowered my stance and swept his leg.
“Huh?!”
Park Jongwon lost his balance and fell. A completely defenseless opening. I planted my foot on his exposed chest.
“If you want to have a real conversation with your body, you’ll need to get stronger first.”
“Kuuuugh…”
Park Jongwon’s eyes turned bloodshot. The veins on his face bulged; he looked utterly humiliated. I liked his tenacity, but it seemed difficult to break his stubbornness like this. If I let him go now, he’d come at me again aiming for first place.
Hmm. No choice then.
Dying in the tutorial didn’t lead to actual death. Not in 2025, anyway. So why hesitate? Because receiving a death verdict in the tutorial meant having your player rights revoked. It was like winning the lottery only for the claim period to expire.
Well, it was better to finish things cleanly than leave loose ends. Don’t feel too wronged. You brought this on yourself.
The moment I aimed Monstrous Strength at Park Jongwon’s head—
“Screeeeech—!!”
A piercing cry that threatened to rupture eardrums echoed across the mountainside.
“T-this sound?!”
“The monster that should be at the peak of Emirit Mountain… why is it here?!”
The conscious Hwarang prospects pointed at the sky in panic, their fingers trembling. At the end of those shaking fingers, a red eagle was looking down at us.
Talon Flame. The apex predator that ruled Emirit Mountain.
Talon Flame was a rare species, just like the Deep Slime or the Wolf King Serrin. In other words, if I killed it, I could obtain its complete essence!
“I was planning to hunt it anyway. How kind of it to come to me.”
I licked my lips, wetting them thoroughly. I had been feeling a bit hungry, but the moment the rare species appeared, my stomach began to rumble violently.
“A-are you serious?”
“Talon Flame’s charge attack is incredibly powerful. It’s on a completely different level from the Thorn Boar!”
Dark shadows fell over the Hwarang prospects’ faces. These guys had been so full of spirit earlier, yet the instant Talon Flame showed up they started acting like they were about to die.
“Was that birdbrain really that strong?”
“Birdbrain?! Talon Flame is one of the top player-killers on Rainbow Island!”
“Its charge speed is as fast as a bullet, and there’s no way to stop it, so you can’t even run away!”
So that was how highly rated this monster was. Before my regression, fighting mythical enemies had been an everyday occurrence. Maybe that was why a mere red bird didn’t feel scary at all.
I glanced at the Hwarang prospects. They had already lost half their will to fight, and the appearance of the birdbrain had completely crushed what remained.
I looked down at Park Jongwon.
“You think so too?”
“At our level, we won’t even survive a single hit.”
Park Jongwon’s face hardened. Tsk. I clicked my tongue.
“The fun’s ruined.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s boring now.”
I walked past Park Jongwon and headed up the mountain.
Screeech!
Talon Flame’s eyes gleamed. It had marked me as prey.
Park Jongwon stood up and followed behind me.
“P-Player Yu Jinho! Facing that monster alone is impossible!”
“Why? You want to team up?”
“This might sound ridiculous, but… I’ll help you.”
I shot Park Jongwon a cold glare.
“That birdbrain is my food.”
“E-excuse me?”
“Don’t interfere.”
Look at this guy. Trying to freeload on a boss raid without even a hint of shame?
After glaring at Park Jongwon, I turned my gaze to Talon Flame. At that moment, the creature that had been circling in the sky began a steep dive. Roaring flames wrapped around its wings.
Talon Flame plummeted at a speed several times faster than the Horned Rabbit. The claim that it was as fast as a bullet wasn’t an exaggeration. At that speed, even Park Jongwon—the strongest among the Hwarang prospects—wouldn’t be able to block it.
But it didn’t work on me.
The instant Talon Flame flew in on a straight path, I calculated the angle perfectly and tensed my legs.
Agile Hind Legs
My body shot upward at a diagonal. It was slightly slower than when I kicked off the ground, but it didn’t matter. The reason I jumped was to steal the timing of its charge.
Thorn Carapace
Monstrous Strength
A spiked carapace wrapped around my right arm. Its shape resembled a cast fixing a broken forearm. At almost the same moment, I thrust my clenched fist straight forward.
At the end of that fist’s trajectory was the head of Talon Flame, diving rapidly toward me.