The ground shook with tremendous explosions and vibrations repeated several times.
At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if the First Escalon, who was guarding the main body, came rushing in, gasping for breath.
‘Did I just get hit?!’
As I was flung through the air, crashing through dozens of single-story houses, that thought was all that filled my mind.
Boom—!
After flying for a while, I was finally able to come to a stop, but I looked ridiculous.
‘Aah… damn it. Yeon-hee’s protective spell got ripped apart in one hit.’
The armor around my chest was completely dented in the shape of a fist, pressing against my ribs.
I pounded the armor to roughly restore it and then checked my status window in shock.
– Status abnormality ‘Slow’ activated.
– Movement speed decreased by 25%.
‘What the…?!’
On top of that, I had lost more than half of my health, so it was a truly staggering amount of damage.
‘Damn it… I think I’ve cracked bones all over my body. If ‘Jim’ hadn’t thrown himself to block that, I might have been done for.’
And what was even more shocking was that the bull-headed monster approaching me looked completely unharmed.
‘No way… Even if the bomb did that, my bone dagger ignores defense, so how?’
Did it somehow deflect all the daggers in that brief moment? Even considering the [Root Chain], that made no sense!
“Oh? Hohoho!”
The monster looked at me as I picked myself up, wearing an expression of almost proud disdain.
‘You little bastard, stop making that ridiculous face.’
I wanted to land at least one solid hit.
[Root Chain]
The bony tails that sprang up from the ground lay in wait as it approached.
But I had zero hope that such a pathetic attack would actually hurt it.
‘Maybe things would have been different if Ran were here…’
I longed for the spirit’s buff that always lightened my body.
‘This is annoying, but what the hell do I do to escape now…’
The intangible connection to Yeon-hee transmitted her will continuously.
[Are you okay? Come back quickly. I’m worried. Don’t get hurt. You can’t die! Don’t self-destruct!]
Emotions flooded me like a tide.
I wanted to live up to her expectations as much as possible. If I died now, I would be trapped in the Dark Space for hours in this urgent situation, so I had to survive at all costs.
[Chain of Flame]
Crack-!
“Uugh?”
– The Creeper Escalon resisted the binding!
‘What the… it easily resisted my fire magic like that?!’
That monstrous thing needed a different kind of attack.
‘Can I successfully hit it with a sword?’
That would probably be impossible.
Before the great sword even touched it, my head and torso would separate first.
I needed an attack that was fatal yet subtle enough that it wouldn’t even react.
Such an ability that I had never had before was needed.
‘Huh──’
I imagined and visualized the ability I had only dreamed of until now.
An intensity of focus I had never experienced circulated high-level thoughts continuously.
Death.
A desperate struggle to reject it turned the surroundings into a white space.
Wooooo─
The place called ‘Void Space.’
I’d occasionally stumbled into it in moments of near death or during training.
‘This is the first time I’ve come here while using magic… It turns out it’s not just a place for handling swords.’
Flaaaaash─
In the world painted white, there was only that monster and me. Just the two of us.
I focused all my nerves on my index finger and conjured a small sphere of fire.
Even in this slowed world, Escalon clearly sensed me.
I could see its pupils dilate in shock watching the flame energy gathering on my fingertip.
‘Compress, compress, compress, compress…’
I imagined forcing dozens of fireballs into a small sphere the size of a fingertip, maximizing its density.
‘Grrrrrr──!!’
The more I compressed the fireballs, the more the space around me distorted horrifically as it let out terrifying screams.
Finally, the flame armor wrapped around my finger shattered to ash, leaving behind only the small crimson sphere.
‘No more!’
As I retracted my magic power, the world began to return to normal, and I saw Escalon charging straight at me without any comical gestures.
“…”
It seemed this attack was somehow different, even to it.
‘Too late, you bastard!’
I could see its movements clearly through the waves of sensation.
By now, my level of perception had reached that extent.
Of course, whether I could react was another matter, but I wasn’t completely blank either.
[Chain of Flame]
[Thunderhorn]
[Root Chain]
“?!”
In that fleeting moment when another attack was launched at me, the three skills were activated.
And right in that brief gap of resistance that ‘Escalon’ had created, I spotted its ominous black eyes between its fists.
Without hesitation, I targeted that spot and unleashed the gathered blazing flame.
‘Even you can’t escape this.’
Watching its arm retract to block my ‘Flame Shot,’ I felt my conviction turn into reality.
Boooooooom───!
It struck cleanly against its face.
‘Got it!’
With enormous force, Escalon was sent flying backwards.
I watched it crash to the ground, hoping it wouldn’t get back up, but it immediately shook itself off and shook its head vigorously.
‘That insane monster… Just a single eye took all that damage?’
The left eye burned, pouring out thick fluids—the 29th Escalon.
‘I thought it was going to work, but clearly, it wasn’t enough!’
Even though I had entered the Void Space, I evidently hadn’t completely compensated for the inadequacy of the ability I was using for the first time.
“Kuhhh?! Hoo-hoohooo─”
The Escalon, having been knocked hundreds of meters away by my attack, looked back at me in disbelief.
It might have received the most powerful attack it ever had since its birth, I thought.
Drip- drip-
“Uugh?! Uwaaaahhh!!”
A massive amount of blood stained the ground.
It roughly wiped it away with its palm, wildly smashing the ground with its club in a frenzy, destroying everything in sight.
Seeing it get so overly excited, I wondered if this was perhaps its first injury.
‘It’s about time to go…’
Once again, I felt my limits deeply.
If my Creeper Guard hadn’t been affected by the stealth, things might have turned out differently, but as it stood, I couldn’t handle ‘Escalon’ alone.
As I unconsciously started to retreat, a long message floated in the air.
– You have created a new fire magic, named [Flame Shot]!
– The achievement [Pioneer] is activated!
– All Attributes increased by 1 each!
– You have achieved a remarkable feat by recording a new fire magic in [Akasha’s Book]!
– Acquired the achievement [Flame Origins].
[Flame Origins]
– Magic cost for the spells you create reduced by 50%.
– Grants ‘Flame Mark’ once to a single target that received damage from your created magic.
– You can pass on the magic you created to fire mages who have reached a certain level.
The messages were lengthy, but I had no time to check them.
– Status abnormality ‘Mana Exhausted’ activated.
– Due to the effect of the high-grade mana circuit, mana is being replenished.
– Quickly recovering from ‘Mana Exhausted.’
‘What the… using all my abilities has taken more of a toll on me than when I expanded my fireball.’
I had exhausted myself using most of my powers.
But thanks to the mana circuit, I quickly recovered and sprinted in the opposite direction of where Yeon-hee was.
“Uoooooahhh!!”
The face of ‘Escalon’ was flushed red, roaring at the top of its lungs. The roar it released was filled with a fierce determination to suppress feelings of disbelief.
‘It’s amazing that I could deal damage and trigger the Flame Mark, just by thinking of an enhanced area spell…’
Surprisingly, the effect had been so great that it shocked me even more.
“Uwoooohhh!”
An infuriated ‘Escalon’ soared high into the sky.
It leaped so high it looked like a tiny dot in the distance.
‘Whoa… this is something else.’
The intensity of its spirit seemed to have escalated to another level. If I were to face that monster in the state it is now, I’d be turned to dust in half a second.
In the end, I had only one choice.
– Activating the [Combat Type] of Lightning Armor.
[Blink]
Booooom──!!
With a blink, I created hundreds of meters of distance in an instant and could still hear the tremendous explosion of the ground where I had just been.
Had I been even a moment late, what had exploded wouldn’t have been the ground but me.
‘Huh— Get out of here. Quickly! I’m really scared.’
The chill I felt when it lunged down still lingered around my neck.
Ding─
Thanks to the Flame Mark, its location was clear in my mind.
After Escalon’s attack failed, it seemed to have noticed exactly which direction I was in and started charging that way, but as I activated [Stealth] and [Dark Illusion], I twisted my escape path, and it began to run towards a direction further and further from me.
‘I made it! Wait— I survived? Yeon-hee was only a hair’s breadth away; I thought it was the end for me.’
As I watched ‘Escalon’ demolishing buildings and ripping through my Creeper Guard as it ran in a completely different direction, I let out a breath of relief.
‘That was just a temporary dodge, it’ll be after me again.’
I had a gut feeling about that.
Quickly I turned my direction toward where my party was.
‘By sheer luck and the Escalon’s carelessness, I survived… but I shouldn’t have thought there was no chance of death. Of course, I’m not ruling out the possibility of dying here.’
The problem is that this could just as easily happen to Yeon-hee.
Chills ran down my spine—
The moment I imagined Yeon-hee facing Escalon, spikes of bone erupted all over my body, and my steps quickened.
Shwaaa─!
‘Huh— nothing happened.’
Upon arrival, my companions were standing there with somewhat confused expressions.
And it wasn’t just our party gathered there. It seemed like over 20% of three different teams had come together.
“I summon you— Il-wol, come forth! Hooh~! Ooohhh!”
I appeared in front of my companions just as Yeon-hee was fumbling through her summoning incantation.
I confirmed that more than 20 parties had gathered, looking seriously concerned.
“Il-wol!”
“Whoa— You finally made it! Our Il-wol! Ugh… We were so scared without you. I had no idea Yeon-hee could fail a summoning.”
‘Failing, huh…?’
“Hehe…”
It seemed Yeon-hee was making excuses for not summoning me immediately.
“Now that Il-wol’s here, I can relax. Right, sis?”
“U-um…”
Ham Eun-young, who shared senses with Azraelon, seemed to realize that I hadn’t just been summoned but had actually run here.
(Do these guys really think you just summoned me? What good are their eyes?)
‘What good are their eyes if they can’t see?’
(No mana’s eye, I see!)
Azraelon looked around at the others with a look of exasperation.
In fact, it seemed that even Azraelon didn’t realize I had approached using Stealth until we became connected with achievements. Even demonic beings forget their humble beginnings—just like frogs forget their tadpole days.
‘Everyone looked like they were eagerly waiting for me, probably because of the scouting ability. The lack of information must have been hard for them to handle.’
When you have access to information as easily as though seeing it in the palm of your hand and then find yourself suddenly in a situation where you can’t do that, it’s sure to be frustrating.
“Il-wol, could you check if there are any dangerous monsters around?”
“Clap, clap, clap.”
All I had to do was provide the information in my mind.
I pulled out a notebook from my Space and drew detailed maps of the locations of Creeper Guards and the ‘Escalon’ I had just faced within a radius of about 12 km.
“…… Is this really accurate information?”
The map I had drawn was soon relayed to the leader, and as she gazed at it, Shin Young-ah tilted her head repeatedly in disbelief.
She seemed unable to believe that a summoned creature like me could explore such a vast range and even represent it visually in under five minutes since my summoning.
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