Using the Enemy Against Itself
Flap-flap.
Whoooosh!
KRAAAANG!
"KRAAAAAAAAH!"
"Ugh!"
The massive Manticore that had just touched down on the ground unleashed a wave of Fear, and Canteas's face locked up solid.
It was nowhere near Dragon Fear, yet a Manticore could still radiate a terror no one could simply shrug off.
"Do… Do-ha…"
His entire body rigid, Canteas spat a curse inside his head.
Damn it…
To think a mere Manticore had frozen him in place.
His pride stung.
If this had been his true body, he would have summoned a Bone Dragon and ended the thing on the spot.
Crackle.
"Oof—my whole body's tingling."
Do-ha, who had simply blasted the pressure away with raw aura, rolled his neck from side to side.
The single decisive reason the Hunters had never managed to retake Paju.
It was the Manticore standing right in front of them.
There were already a ridiculous number of monsters, and with a Manticore thrown into the mix they simply could not handle it.
Tremble-tremble.
An SS-Rank monster really is on another level.
One Fear had been enough to cow every A- and B-Rank monster in the vicinity.
"Wh… what now? Are we fighting it?"
"Against that? Nah. If we go head-on right this second, we both die."
The Manticore was SS-Rank.
Even if he and Canteas threw everything they had at it, they could not take it down in a straight fight.
"What?! Th… then why the hell did you lure it?!"
Canteas shrieked.
Knowing that, he had still used the Minotaur to draw the thing over?!
"Iijeji."
"What?"
"It means we're not the ones who fight that thing. Or more precisely—wearing it down isn't our job."
A smile tugged at Do-ha's lips as he moved his hand; a vast magic circle bloomed into existence.
Zwaaaang.
Confuse Flood.
Kieek?
Kyaaaak!
Uooooh!
The wide-area spell unfurled, and the eyes of the trembling monsters turned blood-red as they all began to howl as one.
At the same moment—
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Tsk tsk. Stupid beast."
When the Manticore, sensing the magic, let out a cry of its own, Do-ha shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"You should have stayed quiet."
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Hundreds of frenzied monsters heard the roar and charged the Manticore in a single seething wave.
If it had kept silent, they would have gone after him—the human. Instead it had chosen that exact moment to cry out and steal every last scrap of their attention.
Boom!
Confuse Flood.
Do-ha's magic sowed chaos through the horde and drove them into a full berserk state.
"Canteas. Send your summons too. Stick them in among the monsters."
"Got it!"
The words had barely left his mouth before Canteas summoned ghouls, skeletons, and wraiths and hurled them at the Manticore.
"KRAAAAAAANG!"
Irritated by the swarming pests, the Manticore roared as it tore into them.
Drip.
Yeah. Keep it up.
Tiny wounds opened across the Manticore's hide and a thin trickle of blood began to flow; Do-ha's smile turned cold and thin.
A little longer and the beast would be painted red from head to tail.
Of course the monsters alone could never kill it.
At best they would burn through some of its stamina, leave a scattering of shallow cuts, and then be wiped out.
But this place did not contain only monsters.
Baek Do-ha was here.
Fight hard. I'll be the one who takes your head.
Do-ha's killing intent coiled around the Manticore like a noose of ice.
Zwaaaang.
"Dark Spea—"
"Idiot, don't. Why waste energy?"
"Huh?"
Canteas, about to loose a spear of darkness, stared at the man who had just stepped in front of him.
He was only trying to summon a spear—why stop him?
"Have you never fought a Manticore before?"
"I have."
"Then why are you using magic attacks?"
Manticores possessed magic resistance that simply bounced every spell off their hide.
That was exactly why the Confuse Flood earlier had failed to touch it.
"I know that."
"Then why attack? You were about to cast Dark Spear."
"Dark Spear isn't for attacking."
"Then what?"
Zwaaaang.
Dark Spear.
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
Dozens of small spears of darkness formed and began to move in perfect, disciplined formation.
Thud.
"I was going to make a ladder with them."
A ladder of shadow took shape in midair and locked itself against the Manticore's flank.
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
"Oh. Well done this time."
As skeletons and ghouls scrambled up the ladder and onto the beast's back, Do-ha actually praised him.
Using Dark Spear like that…
"Hehehe—since I did good, how about buying me a game disc? There's a brand-new Playbox exclusive that just dropped…"
"…S… sure…"
"Yes!"
Canteas whooped; Do-ha only shook his head.
This guy… really did not look like he planned on returning to Belhart anytime soon.
No computers, no phones, no game consoles there.
"KRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
Time crawled past.
As the wounds multiplied, the Manticore began to thrash in earnest.
Scattered A-Rank monsters had landed heavy blows in the middle of the chaos, carving out a number of genuinely deep gashes.
On top of that, Do-ha's Confuse Flood had driven every last one of them into a berserk frenzy.
The monsters were now anywhere from one-and-a-half to twice as strong as normal.
"The numbers are dropping fast."
Canteas watched the dwindling horde around the Manticore with a worried frown.
Only a short while ago there had been hundreds; now barely eighty remained.
No matter how berserk they became, the Manticore was simply stronger.
"Canteas."
"Yeah?"
"I've got a job for you."
"A job for me?"
Canteas tilted his head at the words.
Rumble-rumble!
Crunch!
"Kyaaaaah."
The Manticore crushed the final monster underfoot and wore a thin, bloody smile.
It had finally finished off every last insect that had tormented it for nearly an hour.
"Wow. Impressive. You cleaned up that whole swarm in an hour."
"Kyaa?!"
The Manticore, still grinning down at the ground, jerked in shock and lashed a foreleg toward the top of its own head.
When had the human climbed up there?!
"Ah-ah. Not so fast."
Wuuuung!
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong, Second Step: Muje-gak.
THOOOOM!
The same Unbroken Leg that had once finished a Hound Boss slammed down; the Manticore's entire body shuddered.
Normally that should have crushed it flat…
Watching the beast rock under the blow, Do-ha let out a dry laugh.
Once again he was reminded how far he had fallen.
The Muje-gak he had created poured the principle of the Ten-Thousand-Catty Hammer into a simple kicking technique.
It had begun as pure curiosity: What happens if I just jam that much force into a kick?
That was why a move that looked like any ordinary foot strike packed such terrifying power.
And yet the Manticore had taken it and stayed standing.
"Definitely SS-Rank."
"KRAAAAAH!"
Whoooosh!
The Manticore shook its head a few times, then whipped its tail at Do-ha.
It was only a tail, yet it felt like a massive utility pole coming at him.
Wuuuung!
Taegeuk Hyegeom, Fourth Form: Wonyeong Iro.
Shhhhrak!
Do-ha's sword flashed toward the onrushing tail.
At his current level he could not sever a Manticore's tail.
But I can change its direction.
Trying to redirect it with the Whirlwind Palm would have been suicide—the force packed into that tail was simply too great.
Slash!
He guided the straight-line strike aside; the Manticore's own tail opened a gash across the back of its skull.
Nothing life-threatening, yet Do-ha smiled coldly at the sight.
"I've been waiting for a wound on the head."
Even in their berserk state, hundreds of monsters had never managed to land a single cut on the Manticore's skull.
Wuuuuung!
Thud!
Hwaneum-yeyang-gong, Second Form: Pungeum Sohwa.
Kiiiiiiing!
Do-ha pressed his palm to the open wound and immediately poured sound into it.
Pungeum Sohwa.
It carried the principles of Internal Heavy-Hand techniques; the sound that rode the wind tore through the body from the inside out.
Back in the Central Plains of Moorim, Do-ha himself had once taken a Pungeum Sohwa from the Sound Sovereign and been rendered completely combat-incapable.
"KRAAAAAH!"
Its head felt ready to split; the world spun. The Manticore went berserk, thrashing wildly.
Because the sound art had been forced in through an open wound, every nerve had taken the full shock.
Flutter-flutter!
Tap!
Good. It's finally drawn its spines.
Sharp quills erupted across the Manticore's entire body; Do-ha, as if he had been waiting for exactly that, launched himself clear and dropped to the ground.
Spines meant the beast was so far gone it could no longer tell friend from foe.
A Manticore's quills punched outward through its own hide—the absolute last-ditch defense, used only when it was truly cornered.
Blind, skull on fire with pain… of course it panicked.
Gush-gush-gush.
Drip-drip.
As the spines burst free, blood poured from the Manticore in rivers.
Wuuuung!
Yeoraesingjang.
CRACK!
A colossal palm of force shot forward and smashed the Manticore square across the snout.
"KRAAAAAH!"
Whoosh!
"Hup!"
Watching the beast whip its foreleg around at terrifying speed, Do-ha drew up his power.
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong, Third Step: Cheonhyeon Geumgang.
Wuuuung!
A gigantic arm of pure force formed behind him, clenched into a fist, and met the Manticore's oncoming paw.
THOOOOM!
Whoooosh—
"Damn. That strength really is something else."
Power had met power, and he was the one who had been shoved back.
It did not matter.
He was not attacking to land decisive blows.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
Just a little more.
Sliiiide.
Do-ha gave ground step by step, then glanced over his shoulder at the bus roughly a hundred meters away.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The enraged Manticore charged.
"Canteas!"
"Now! Jump!"
Tap!
Still retreating, Do-ha launched himself high into the air the instant Canteas gave the signal.
Thud-thud.
Rumble…
"Kyaak?"
The charging Manticore cocked its head at the sudden, bone-chilling roar rising from the earth.
In that same heartbeat—
CRASH-CRUMBLE-CRUMBLE!
The ground beneath the Manticore collapsed, revealing a vast sinkhole.
Its depth was impossible to gauge at a glance; the bottom bristled with a thousand Bone Spears.
Every last one of them had been prepared long beforehand on Do-ha's orders.
Whoooosh!
"Do-ha, it's falling like you said—but that thing can fly!"
Slash!
Flap!
The words were barely out of Canteas's mouth before the plummeting Manticore snapped its wings wide and began to climb.
Do-ha, of course, had no intention of simply watching.
Whoooosh.
"This is your grave."
"KRAAAAAH!"
Do-ha dove into the pit after it; the Manticore felt a chill race down its spine and screamed.
Wuuuuuuung!
Sparkle-sparkle.
Bingbaek-singong, Second Form: Hanbing Jiok.
SHHHHHHHHHHH!
Do-ha flung both arms wide; a torrent of absolute cold erupted from his hands and flash-froze the Manticore's wings solid.
He would have preferred to freeze the entire body, but the beast's thrashing was too violent.
He had been forced to pour every scrap of internal energy he possessed just to lock the wings alone.
In the end—
Crack-crack-crack.
"KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Wings sealed in ice, the Manticore could no longer rise. It loosed one final, ear-splitting scream as it plummeted.
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!
BOOOOM.
"Haa… finally got it."
The Manticore was dead. Do-ha let out a long breath, then rose on Fly magic and climbed out of the sinkhole.