The administrator isn’t commonly seen, but this time, he did something I like.
‘Hmm…’
There was no need to continue the standoff with the paladins.
[Reckless Charge]
[Phantom Dash]
I activated my movement skill and charged straight at them.
“Ugh?! Are you coming at me on all fours?!”
‘Why are you distorting it like that…?’
“What a beast!”
“Fast!! Avoid for now!”
The paladins couldn’t respond to my speed at all and panicked, throwing themselves in every direction.
‘Charging at them like an orc… If I can distort it that much, I might as well use other skills freely.’
“Push through with shield skills!!”
“Yes!!”
‘First, I need to take care of the leader.’
I glided towards the leader of the paladins and swung my great sword.
[Void Slash – Flame Cut]
Whoosh─!
“Huh?! When did you get close-”
‘Tch… Was that too shallow? I meant to inflict just adequate damage.’
I elegantly cleaved through space but only managed to split the light shield conjured by the paladin.
“The shield… it’s cracked?!”
“A-Areina’s shield cracked?! No way!”
Even so, the majestic power of slicing through that shield, which should have easily withstood an opponent a level or two higher, was impressive to me.
As the shield that should have been indestructible split like paper, the paladins couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
Despite that, they encouraged each other and formed a tight formation, attacking me as one.
‘Still, their momentum has decreased significantly.’
[Lightning Step]
Scorch─
“Damn it! Too fast!”
“Time is on our side! Keep the pressure on!”
[Skeleton Bomb]
[Fireball]
[Special Strong Acid]
Whenever they tried to attack, I would retreat, circling around as I chipped away at their health with long-distance skills.
In particular, summoning a dagger made of bone from the void and launching it with psychokinesis filled the gaps between my attacks remarkably well.
“Damn! Even using rock magic?!”
“When’s the right time to charge in with rocks flying everywhere?!”
‘The ability manifested through the Window of Darkness is proving to be more effective than I expected.’
The paladins, who became punching bags at some point, tried desperately to turn the situation around, but it wasn’t easy.
“D-Damn!! An orc magic swordsman? Does that mean that guy is ‘Barbarian-grade’?”
“No way! Those things are monsters well over A-rank!”
“There’s no way a creature of that caliber would be allowed in this dungeon! Everyone, don’t panic!”
“Please share health!”
“Stay calm. Lady Areina is watching over us.”
The paladins were completely mistaking me for a mutant orc.
However, since their leader didn’t waver, the confusion soon subsided.
“I’m a little late!! But the guide, the blue-eyed… More importantly, what is that orc?”
At that point, another paladin came in after dealing with the doppelganger.
It seemed they finally caught on to the guide’s identity, which was somewhat of a relief.
Discarding the broken shield and brandishing a new one from the void, the leader slowly began to apply pressure on me with six paladins.
‘With that health and magic recovery rate, even a prolonged battle would be tough…’
After about ten minutes of exchanging blows.
I kept pounding on them with overwhelming speed, not receiving any attacks, but I was actually fighting with more tension than ever.
If I were to get hit by that stupid mace and shield filled with divine power even once, I would suffer significant damage, piercing through my defense.
And just because I wasn’t getting hit, it didn’t mean I was completely unaffected.
Crash─
‘Damn… is my armor cracking?’
Despite my armor being infused with fire energy, it seems that merging it with me exposed its weakness to light energy.
– You are being continuously exposed to an area filled with divine light.
– The supreme being of light is wary of you, who carries an alien energy!
‘Man, where else can you find a good-natured skeleton like me?’
“Alright! Lady Areina’s aura is overwhelming that thing! Surely the defeat reward will be something special! Just a bit more, let’s push through!”
“Yes!!”
‘They see me as a treasure chest.’
[Window of Darkness]
‘Come on, give me something good!’
But even using it in practice yielded nothing but a dull axe.
‘What a disaster.’
I thought as I hurled the axe at them.
‘It’s definitely… tough to subdue them without killing.’
I had already gathered all the rewards I planned for today in this dungeon.
Moreover, they were not lacking in God’s blessing, and rather, they were getting stronger and more agile as time passed.
“Ha ha ha- this is fantastic!”
“Our god is protecting us!!”
“No one can stop us!!”
‘Must be nice, you little brats.’
Unable to contain their excitement and glee, the paladins laughed heartily despite being at a disadvantage.
The divine being connected to me only appeared when conditions were met, so they weren’t providing any help even in this situation.
‘Hmm… I knew that already, so that’s okay. But it must nearly be time, right?’
I was definitely waiting for that moment while adequately dealing with them.
Considering I was raising the proficiency of my newly acquired skills, they were not a bad practice opponent, so it wasn’t completely wasted time.
And perhaps sensing that I was buying time, the paladins began to spread their formation wide.
I tried to create distance at the back to avoid being surrounded. But as time passed, the increasing speed of the now enhanced paladins had reached a point I couldn’t easily shake off.
‘With the sky blocked, it’s difficult to escape with [High-speed Flight]… Should I just turn everything upside down?’
Just as I was starting to feel annoyance build up, a powerful signal I felt when entering the dungeon flashed through my mind.
(Il-wol…)
A sweet voice echoed a few times, and then, the portal to summoning opened, swallowing me whole.
Before being sucked into the portal, I raised my middle finger at the paladins.
They stared in disbelief as they saw me escape the barrier set by the god.
– Escaping Lady Areina’s barrier…!
– How could this happen?!
– What is that enormous palm helping the orc?!
That was the last words the paladins let out.
Soon, entering a space filled with darkness, I recalled the area I had just been trapped in.
‘Areina twisted the space to stop me from going out, but she wouldn’t stop what I do inside, so there was no reason for summoning to fail.’
I was buying time with those thoughts, but when things proceeded exactly as I imagined, the thrill was something else entirely.
“Clap, Clap, Clap.”
I briefly glanced at the summoning portal.
The one who always spat me out and fled was now holding its ground.
‘Hurry up and call me back.’
As if hearing my wishes, the portal, which had been closed for a moment, opened again, bringing me back to my original world.
*
An hour before Yeon-hee tried to cancel Il-wol’s summoning.
The ‘White Alliance,’ having been engaged in a boss battle for about ten minutes, found itself in a tricky situation.
“S-Something’s gathering in the water!!”
While they were steadily pushing ‘Golden Pastiche,’ monsters they had never seen before in this dungeon swarmed toward them.
“Were Crocs!!”
The ‘Were Croc,’ boasting its translucent body and exquisite swimming skills, appeared.
– The lurking Were Crocs are joining in large numbers!
Their entry caused the boss battle time to increase to a full hour.
Doubling the hunting time meant that the situation was far from simple.
“Damn… Is there an intruder in the boss battle? I’ve never faced such conditions before.”
“There must be some rewards if we clear it.”
Lifted by the water, the Were Crocs climbed onto the ‘Wandering Ship’ one by one, wielding spears molded from water.
Though they were far greater in number, they deliberately approached the ship to challenge them to battle.
A human with an alligator head grinned sinisterly, licking his tongue.
The size of the ship was small, preventing many from boarding, but their sturdy bodies and nimble moves were enough to threaten the ‘White Alliance.’
“What are they saying?”
“A-In-Click-Yeah-”
They climbed onto the ship, flashing their reptilian eyelids while mumbling incomprehensible words.
“What are they saying?”
“In-In-Click-Yeah-”
“Humans… women…”
“A-”
Realizing what they wanted, the members were suddenly covered in goosebumps.
“Do these guys have a craving for women too?”
“Damn…”
Front had ‘Golden Pastiche’ sucking up the river, while at the back, the Were Crocs were closing in.
“We can do this!!”
“If we can’t overcome this, we won’t be able to move forward!!”
Reaffirmed, they engaged fiercely with the monsters.
“Ugh… cough…!”
“Ahh… I’m dying…”
After nearly an hour of a fierce battle, they somehow managed to clear the boss battle.
After the boss battle, Lee Yeon-hee and her companions were catapulted outside the gate.
Despite the addition of more than 50 Were Crocs who joined in and subjected them to an unprecedented trial, they overcame it brilliantly.
Of course, with the efforts of Fibryn and Azraelon, along with the protection of the castle, they regained their composure as the fight dragged on. But looking back at the comfortable dungeon runs alongside Il-wol, those moments felt incredibly distant.
Ten minutes later.
Five female hunters lay side by side in the break room next to the Hunter Management Office, catching their breath.
Having been ambushed and caught off-guard, they had overexerted their magic use more than usual and collapsed.
I stared down at them for a while.
‘What the heck happened? There can’t be a strong enough enemy to make them struggle like this, right? Even if Were Crocs are strong…’
“You’re here?”
“Clap, Clap, Clap.”
I could roughly hear from the only one still awake, Noh Ha-yoon, about the boss battle and the fact that a large number of Were Crocs mixed in with their vermin had crashed the boss fight. Only then did I understand the situation.
‘Monsters invading the boss battle? That’s a first. This never happens…’
It was common sense that the area where the boss battle took place wouldn’t allow other monsters to enter, yet now those rules were crumbling.
‘They’ve had a tough time. I didn’t intend for them to struggle this much…’
I felt somewhat guilty.
“Clap…”
“Il-wol…”
Yeon-hee awoke shortly after and looked up at me, managing to force a smile.
Although everyone looked quite fatigued, seeing the satisfied expressions on my allies’ faces suggested that there was indeed some achievement.
(Please make sure these dumb humans understand why they shouldn’t underestimate you, Il-wol.)
While Azraelon was still licking Ham Eun-young’s cheek who had yet to wake up, he tilted his head and asked.
‘It’s training, training. You know how to seek strong opponents or climb cliffs to improve, right? It’s like that. You understand what I mean?’
(How did he know I wandered the demon realm in search of strong foes?!)
‘……’
I making another request to Azraelon, who interpreted my words however he wanted, to please look after the kids.
(Well, my responsibility is only Eun-young. The rest is not my concern!)
Despite saying that, I heard he had spent considerable effort for our party.
Curiosity about the tsundere cat prompted me to ask one thing.
‘Azra, do you know someone named Merotena?’
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