“Lily, meow!!”
I was sent flying after being ‘hit’ by something, and below, Yena was rushing towards me in shock.
Except for the internal injuries, I hadn’t really faced a proper attack here, but unfortunately, this time I had to allow it.
[???]
[What the hell, damn it?]
[Oh]
[?]
[What’s wrong with that?]
“Ugh, Aaaah!!”
Enormous power was radiating from Ryuin, who was rampaging while holding his head.
‘Intermediate. No, has it exceeded that?’
A monster is embedded in the Iron Soul Sword.
The Iron Devourer is awakening.
Ding!
[Danger! A disaster-level boss has appeared.]
[If we cannot subdue this boss or match it, the World Boss, ‘Iron Devourer, 철식귀 (鐵食鬼)’ will emerge in the world.]
[LV.160]
Kwaaaang!!!
With just one gesture from Ryuin, the mountains flipped, and thousands of rocks began to float and morph.
Each of them was a Level 1 Sorcerer…
No, that metaphor doesn’t mean anything anymore.
‘Intermediate Angel, it’s the same as the attack of the Demon Race.’
It means clumsy attacks won’t work.
Instead of the hammer in my hand, I took out a long spear from a small area.
It was a spear made using a First Level Gemstone, one of the jewels I brought from Wuz’s storage, who was Yena’s enemy.
It was a much better weapon than the Level 2 Magical Object, the spear of Chasu, introduced by Geomhon.
I immediately gripped the spear and twisted it toward the rapidly approaching rocks.
‘Spear’s Roar.’
The storm created by the spear obliterated the rocks.
Sharply or bluntly transformed, the rocks were ground away without being able to attack, leaving Yena with her mouth agape below, but it didn’t mean much.
“Ugh… My head! My head!!”
Ryuin was rampaging.
Something huge made of iron was undulating around him, and once again, thousands of rocks floated up.
It seemed quite painful, as if his body and soul couldn’t handle it, but he didn’t appear to have much difficulty using the power.
I ground the rocks once more, and soon I witnessed massive iron ores, the size of skyscrapers, crashing down upon me from the ground, sky, and all directions.
Kwagakang! After grinding the rocks again, I turned the spear to aim at Ryuin.
However, around Ryuin, there were mainly dense rocks stacked in dozens and hundreds of layers, making it challenging to break through with just the power I currently possessed.
All the power I had was replaced with Spiritual Power, and all my weapons were sealed. The absolute power itself was at a lower level.
Moreover, Spiritual Power is basically a force that favors ‘living beings,’ so it isn’t very effective against a ‘non-living being’ like the Iron Devourer.
Of course, it’s hard to say that the Iron Devourer isn’t a living being at all…
Splat…!
“Oh no.”
After using it a few times, my weapon broke.
The weapon that was broken over there was not capable of withstanding the Celestial Race’s technique and excessive power.
Even if I had Holy Power, I might have been able to recover to some extent, but since I didn’t have that, I discarded the broken spear without hesitation and drew a new weapon.
[Whoa]
[Eh]
The weapon…
[Lily, don’t hold back and go for it]
[W-w-w-w-whaaat]
[Seems serious though]
[Is it a bit strong?]
A small mountain of iron flies towards me.
Literally a ‘mountain’ in the air, and using the new weapon, I created thousands of cloned weapons.
The new weapon was a halberd with a small axe at the tip, but I didn’t care and all the cloned weapons used the roar of the spear.
As thousands of storms surged, grinding the mountain to dust, I could feel Ryuin flinch in surprise.
Yet, the situation remained disadvantageous.
I tossed aside the halberd making dangerous creaking noises and pulled out another weapon.
As the weapons Wuz had been diligently gathering were smashed one by one, soon there was only a small hand axe left in my grasp.
I had used a few First Level Gemstones in between, but it was difficult to change the tide of battle with just gemstones.
“Lily! Ugh! Lily!!! Are you okay!!”
“It’s dangerous, stay back.”
“T-that’s not a monster! How can you defeat a monster that throws mountains! We need to get out quickly!!”
“Is that so?”
“Absolutely!”
“Got it. For now…”
“No matter how strong Lily is, that’s impossible. Hiiieek?!”
I knocked away the giant boulders flying towards Yena and opened a space to teleport us dozens of kilometers away.
Then, I handed her a half-torn fragment of the Iron Soul Sword while she trembled in fear.
Receiving the Iron Soul Sword fragment, she momentarily spaced out then looked at me with a confused expression.
“Uh…?”
“I don’t know if half of it will work. Just hold onto it. If you bring the rest, you’ll probably fully awaken.”
“No, wait. My head…”
“Then stay here.”
“Lily…? Lily!”
Leaving Yena behind, I crossed back through the space, and Ryuin, surrounded by countless boulders, was looking down at me.
His gaze appeared rather calm.
‘Strangely different.’
The Iron Devourer is a beast with little intelligence.
While it’s not completely stupid, just like any animal, it lives relying solely on its instincts.
If it were the Iron Devourer I knew, it would be rampaging without a care or digging underground searching for mineral ores at any moment…
“……”
But now it was different.
The Iron Devourer was ‘on guard’ against me.
It’s strange enough that it’s facing me without even a shard of iron but this hand axe.
If there is a possibility, it must be due to the ‘growth’ brought by the long years.
“Growth.”
With the increase in strength and rank, it wouldn’t be strange for intelligence to arise as well.
“Seems like intelligence has developed… Can you talk?”
“……”
“And it feels like some tricks have increased too. You didn’t throw rocks like this before.”
You used to just try to headbutt or munch on things.
Boom, boom…
As the Iron Devourer nestled within Ryuin reached out, the ground between us was torn apart.
Numerous life forms living here hastily fled in the opposite direction of the disturbance, and the giant iron monsters began to rise.
The monsters resembled those I had once sealed away.
They weren’t truly manifesting their physical bodies or powers but instead had imitated the powerful forms of their own physicality.
The monsters, exuding the aura of at least lower angels or demon races, threatened me, but the Iron Devourer’s “main body” remained small and simply observed from the back.
[Wow]
[There are a ton, huh?]
[W-w-w-w-wait!]
[Must be around 50!]
[Lily, can you win?]
[Massacre incoming!]
[Outside the dungeon, it’d be an instant death… Ugh…]
[Seriously lol]
‘An Iron Devourer not swelling up…’
The Iron Devourer was the monster I had sealed away in the past.
As well as I knew it, the Iron Devourer knew me well too, realizing that simply puffing up would become a weakness.
I had sufficient strength and technique to destroy a gigantic body.
If it were before, I would have combined all those monsters to create one powerful “main body,” but it didn’t do that.
Thump, thump!
The giant iron monsters charged at me.
A steel mask statue resembling a Pharaoh clenched its fist and smashed the ground, while a human made of iron resembling Lasty aimed for me.
Thousands of iron chains lunged to bind me, but I shattered all the chains with my last remaining axe.
After sweeping away half of the other monsters waiting for an opportunity from behind, I discarded my axe without regret.
Ultimately, what was left was the jewel that had initially been given to me, a hammer.
Just when I was about to swing the hammer, the sky turned dark.
Screech!
“Griffin!”
Crash, crash, crash!!
A steel monster with the wings and beak of an eagle and the body of a lion began to pin me down with its front paw.
The Iron Devourer was putting in some effort, making it heavier than expected, but it was bearable.
The problem was the two monsters rushing towards me, seizing the opportunity.
One was Lasty, riding a liquid river of iron, and the other was a Myeosin with sharp claws gleaming.
The iron monster resembling Myeosin was about three times my size and, for some reason, appeared to be trying to use Myeosin’s technique.
‘Is Myeosin the one sending them here? But has the Iron Devourer really gained that much intelligence?’
I had no idea what had happened, but I judged that it wasn’t just the Iron Devourer’s ability alone.
No matter how long the Iron Devourer has lived, it’s never going to use advanced techniques.
Whatever it is, the immediate priority is to block that attack.
I unleashed a massive amount of spiritual power, ready to blow the hammer apart and moved from my spot.
The explosion engulfed all the Iron Monsters resembling the Griffin and Lasty.
Additionally, the shockwave devastated all nearby monsters, but the iron debris effortlessly absorbed back into the Iron Devourer.
Flop… Bang!
The half-destroyed hammer dropped with a thud and rolled on the ground.
Just the handle left of the hammer.
Still, it had been somewhat useful since I brought it into the dungeon. This made me feel a bit forlorn.
[It’s trembling]
[No weapon left?]
[Oh no]
[What now?]
[Is it golden or an Iron Devourer? They’re fighting well;;]
“It’s over. Destroyer.”
“What? You could talk?”
“Here. Beating me is impossible. Unless you use that.”
The Iron Devourer declares.
Defeating the Iron Devourer without a proper weapon, divine power, or abilities is a bit tough.
Especially with strength reduced to that of a Lower Angel or Demon, it gets even harder.
I’ve managed to hold on decently so far, but I can’t turn the tide without using Sacred Transformation or Annihilation.
However, I had no intention of using them under these circumstances.
The Iron Devourer showed confusion.
The reason was quite simple.
“Those techniques are too expensive to use for such ‘merely’ a situation.”
Once used, I’d be bedridden for days. How can I just throw that around?
Unless it’s against an opponent like the Administrator or Black Lily. Or at least not someone on the ‘five disaster level,’ there’s no need to use them.
And the Iron Devourer wasn’t even among the stronger monsters.
The Iron Devourer, occupying Ryuin’s body, grimaced.
“Arrogant.”
“But it’s the truth.”
“You’ll regret it. You will die.”
Kugugugugu…!
The ground trembles.
The earth shakes, and the monsters I worked hard to take down began rising again.
I spotted the chaotic chat window and noticed Yena darting toward me, shouting, “Lady Lily!” as I pulled a stone from my ‘inventory.’
It looked just like a rock axe.
The Iron Devourer seemed to have sensed the stone’s true nature and hurriedly tried to gather its strength, but it was already too late.
“I found an appropriate opponent.”
‘Stone of the Celestial Being.’
The master of Ertarn, the Celestial Being Ertarn, descended upon this land.
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