The light emitted when the beastmen activate their skills constantly flickers.
Sang-gun, who is at a reasonable distance from me, naturally accepts that energy.
– The Owl Beastman “Jang Heung” overlays [Veil of Night].
– Defense rises by 26% temporarily!
“Whoa…”
– The Honey Badger Beastman “Gwang-jin” activates [Rage Disorder] on five designated targets.
– All attack power temporarily increases by 50%!
– All defense temporarily decreases by 34%!
– Temporarily granted resistance to the status effect ‘Fear’!
– The Swan Beastman “Woo-yuri” launches [Heavenly Underwater Ballet].
– Attack speed increases by 15%!
– Attack range increases by 3%!
…
…
“Uh, excuse me. Um, enough—”
The buffs keep stacking up.
Surely there must be a limit to how much power I can absorb based on my capacity.
However, the effects of the overlapping skills continued to pile up without dilution.
“Ugh… This fullness feels like I might burst…! Not bad, huh? By the way, everyone is amazing.”
I thought beastmen were specialized for combat through physical clashes, but it seems that was just my prejudice.
Support skills I’ve never seen before keep seeping into my body and filling me up.
Woooo—
At some point, the buffs stacking on Sang-gun reached a limit and stopped rising.
But the energy I was radiating soared up to the sky without a hint of stopping.
“……”
Sang-gun looks at me with a meaningful gaze.
It could be curiosity or a hidden wariness he doesn’t want to show.
How much stronger have I become compared to my original self? Twice? Three times?
Thanks to that, my confidence was fuller than ever.
At this rate, even if the ‘First Escalon’ I barely defeated showed up, I felt I could take it on.
“Bring it on. I’ll tear you apart.”
I released [Camouflage].
I need to add a little more power, after all.
Crack—
I twisted my bones again, reshaping them into a completely different form from my original Flame Armor.
Then I was reborn as a warrior in full armor, quite similar to the Balrog I once saw in a picture—radiating an imposing presence.
“This should be enough to deceive Jo Gi-man’s eyes for a while.”
The beastmen’s eyes widened at my suddenly changed, ferocious appearance, but it was just for a moment.
Receiving their heated gazes, I fell into thought for a moment.
Yeon-su had said my weakness was the delay to prepare for strong attacks.
“That weakness has vanished.”
There was ample time to gather strength, and those tearing through the rift didn’t seem to expect that I would attack.
Usually, they would sense the dimensional energy when such fissures formed, but the extraordinarily sticky mana density of this world was disrupting that sensing ability.
Whiiing—
I compressed my magical power again and again.
The three attributes merged into one, and the repelling force grew stronger.
I almost lost my balance several times, but against all odds, I managed to stabilize.
– You take one step closer to the possibility of Aquakanum.
“───?!!”
The ultimate water attribute magic, ‘Aquakanum.’
Have I approached that realm already?
Calming my somewhat excited heart, I immersed myself in my work.
“Done. Hoo…”
A tremendous 14,000 magical power was condensed into a tiny orb, ready to be unleashed.
My mana, which had nearly depleted, began to surge again at an incredible speed.
I poured all my effort into maintaining the elemental orb while gradually adding a bit of mana until they emerged.
“If only Ran were here, I could launch an even more powerful attack with better stability.”
“It’s lonely without him.”
Still, I was confident that this attack could deliver a critical blow to them.
Zzzzz—
The rift was torn apart, and soon the dimensional pathway opened about 80%.
The creatures must be anxious; the clones were thrashing their arms, trying to crawl out first.
– Hehehehe, is it finally open? Damn, that took forever!
A familiar voice spiked my nerves.
An extremely arrogant tone and manner, totally unlike the refined gentleman’s voice I heard when other hunters were around.
Jo Gi-man’s face briefly peeped through the crack.
He seemed delighted, drooling with excitement.
Could this be the face of a madman in front of his lifelong goal?
“Come on. Crazy psychopathic bastard.”
If he didn’t have the confidence that no one could touch him, he wouldn’t be able to show his true self like that.
– I demand it! Hand it over! Now!
He left the work of prying open the rift to his clones, theatrically reciting exaggerated lines like the star of a monodrama.
“This guy’s completely lost it. He’s become far removed from the Jo Gi-man I knew in my past life.”
Perhaps he and I have finally received a chance to meet in our true forms.
Yet the burning energy within me makes me uncertain if my prepared finishing attack will even work on him.
– Hahhh──
One by one, the weakest clones began to cross into the ‘Beastmen’s Nest’ territory.
Sang-gun and the beastmen had no choice but to be shocked.
“What?!”
“This is ridiculous…”
Six clones at the level of Sang-gun.
Moreover, the original Jo Gi-man, who landed a hit on Sang-gun, emanated a monstrous aura at an unknown level that they had never experienced before.
Just the fact that they didn’t turn tail and run should earn them some respect.
Boom!
I shot a firework into the sky as a hit to bring them back to their senses, and the beastmen quickly regained their posture.
“I’ve concentrated this much; it’s a waste to only use it against the clones.”
I waited for the original Jo Gi-man to arrive.
It was a painful moment of patience.
As the number of clones crossed over increased, our preparations, ready and waiting, would surely reach the heart of the evil one.
– Damn it! Those guys are doing something!!
– What, what is that?
It was time for a decision.
As soon as the first two clones revealed themselves, they began to mutate.
“This is showing up and immediately transforming into a dragon?!”
Just like Yeon-su had no intention of showing mercy to the Orc Battle Commander, this guy clearly had no desire to drag out a struggle with us.
Once the others emerged, their bodies began twisting in various ways.
Just as Jo Gi-man, who had been gazing down at us with an arrogant gaze, was about to step into the beastmen’s territory—
Crack───!!
“Guh?!!”
Jo Gi-man’s knee buckled the other way, letting out a chilling sound as his bones twisted.
And with an explosive rebound sound, he was sent stumbling backward.
“What, what was that?”
The timing to release the fireball that I had been prepared to use was just barely delayed by the sudden turn of events.
I intended to time my shot with his emergence, but his bones shattered?
What on earth happened?
Boom──!!
As the fireball I let go engulfed the clones in the brief period, Jo Gi-man attempted to cross into the beastmen’s area with surprising speed, but kept bouncing back.
– The power of the Goddess of Water Irmana is rapidly waning!
– The quest requester is urgently modifying the content!
– Quest: ‘Expel the Collective of Evil with “Ryun’s Precious Gem”!
She asked to protect Ryun, and suddenly switched the quest to using the gemstone.
But when I asked where the gem was, Irmana had no answer.
Is she all out of energy?
It seems she can’t just answer my requests as casually as if chatting with a person.
– Stop them!
– What kind of ridiculous sight is this?!
The fireball I launched and Sang-gun’s giant energy cannon swallowed the creatures whole.
But they were lumping together, trying to block it with a massive magical barrier.
Boom───!!
At that moment, the shockwave lifted me off my feet, pushing me back.
Crash! Crash!—
The instant they set up the barrier, a thunderous roar erupted from the center as lightning surged into the sky, electrocuting all the clones.
“Oh, that’s an unexpected effect!”
– Ughhh—!!
– Graaaahh!
The creatures could no longer maintain their barrier.
Bang bang bang──!!
Another explosion followed, leading to a series of chain detonations.
Dark fires spiraled toward the sky, casting a shadow over the once brightly lit green world.
It was like witnessing a gigantic tornado from a movie.
“Wow, Sang-gun truly lives up to the reputation…”
I couldn’t possibly generate that level of natural disaster on my own.
Our joint attack had unleashed a synergy that ripped the clones apart.
– Heeeek!! It’s too hot!!
– Aahhh!!!
The rapidly transforming clones obviously hit a wall.
Their skins burned off, bodies igniting as thick smoke billowed.
Muscles that seemed indestructible splattered like ash under Sang-gun’s energy cannon, revealing the white bones hidden within.
“Unbelievable…”
Though it was my power manifesting, I was the most surprised.
The firepower was far greater than what I unleashed against Orc Battle Commander Krabe.
The clones, burning to the point of being reduced to ash, were screaming horrifically, but surprisingly, they weren’t dying.
“They can survive this?!”
Upon closer inspection, a transparent tube connecting them to Jo Gi-man had been detected.
Something was being continuously injected through that tube, extending their lives.
Healing.
“Does Jo Gi-man have healing skills too? Wow… This is insane.”
The Incarnation of the Seven-headed Dragon had a broader array of abilities than I thought.
Would it be quicker to find out what he lacks instead?
Whoosh──!!
Right after, a tremendous pressure surged as Sang-gun shot forward like a bullet.
The clone, having sensed the charging Sang-gun, desperately swung its sword with a skeletal arm but was utterly ineffective against Sang-gun, who was armed with dozens and hundreds of support skills.
Bang!
Crash! Crash!
The two clones that had suffered the most damage from the fireball were helplessly hit by Sang-gun.
Sang-gun held onto the necks of both clones, dragging them over a hundred meters and slamming them down, following up with a sequence of punches to the face and stomach. If they survived that, I’d have to elevate my perception of Jo Gi-man as a formidable foe.
“Is that the same person who was dying earlier?”
Crunch crunch—
The other clones were melting away in the black flames, regenerating, as their dragon transformation process approached its final stage.
I hurriedly set to attack them, and the beastmen charged in, furiously assaulting them.
Each beastman’s strike had a power that made me flinch even, and their determination to see this to the end ignited a flame in me.
After separating and obliterating all the clones’ bones and flesh.
Just when I thought we had them—
– Did we take them down?
In the midst of the crowd, someone’s resurrection spell floated in the air, blending with Jo Gi-man’s chant.
– [Evil Dragon’s Touch] descends on the area!
As the message appeared, everyone retreated from the dimensional rift.
Almost simultaneously, the once-mangled clones stood upright with a rattling sound and began healing at an astonishing rate.
“Damn… So he’s finally intervening.”
The Seven-headed Dragon seems to desire that Jo Gi-man’s clones do not disappear.
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