This time, Kang Yeon-su tried to hold back, but watching their meeting filled her with a sense of unease, leaving her no choice but to intervene.
However, the only response she received was a dismissive “Don’t doubt us.”
“I didn’t think it would come to this. Something’s off.”
Kang Yeon-su was taken aback by the sudden change in the senior members of the association, including Choi Gang-han and Maeng Seong-yong.
“They wouldn’t rely on Yoon-seul this much unless something else is going on.”
The girl known as “The One Who Shows the Way” was So Yoon-seul.
When her mother, who served as a guide in the association, tragically lost her life to an unexpected attack, it was Kang Yeon-su who saved her from the ruins.
That’s why Kang Yeon-su held a great affection for Yoon-seul, a child who inherited special abilities just like her mother.
“Could I really be doubting Yoon-seul…? That’s ridiculous. Yoon-seul doesn’t lie like you all do; she simply says what she sees.”
The One Who Shows the Way had only acted strangely once before, more recently when she said she would go see Lee Yeon-hee herself.
“If I had been there, I could have confirmed if anything was off. I saw the message too late.”
The elders and senior members of the association seemed to be ensnared by something.
They were pretending to follow The One Who Shows the Way’s words entirely, but it was clear they had ulterior motives.
Kang Yeon-su knew well that these schemers only acted this way when they stood to gain something significant.
“No way… have they found a way to regain youth or escape death?”
There were legendary items known by names like “Elixir,” “Staff of Rebirth,” and “Star of Beginnings.”
Though no one had ever seen them, someone once said belief stemmed from the moment the existence of dragons was confirmed.
“Everything we imagine exists… There must be items that defy the laws of the world, and they will stop at nothing to obtain them.”
It was understandable for a hunter who had hit a wall to turn their gaze elsewhere.
“Wait… Yoon-seul meeting Yeon-hee means…”
Yeon-su suddenly remembered “The Philosopher’s Elixir of the Alchemist Who Touched Death,” located in a spatial realm.
“Could it be…?”
She completely overlooked the meeting’s contents, slipping into a hypothetical reasoning.
“Were they going to meet Yeon-hee?”
“Hey there. It’s your turn to speak.”
“Huh? Oh! I think I’ll head out now!”
“Ha ha, what a sight.”
“Ugh, such a disgrace—tch.”
In the end, Kang Yeon-su had to leave without revealing her thoughts about the Orc Legion Commander.
Of course, the information about the elixirs made by Il-wol was similarly stowed away.
“I can’t take everything with me…”
Thus, from that day on, Kang Yeon-su decided to temporarily suspend collaboration with the association.
“It’s a shame, but there’s nothing I can do.”
She wasn’t anxious, as she had already wrapped up discussions with the major guild leaders by over 60%.
The rapid progress was likely a reflection of her positive reputation and the activities she had carried out thus far.
While she left in a huff, the association went on to make the decisions they wanted.
Days later, after much effort, they found two owners of unique classes and began preparations for an expedition.
Little did they know it would hasten the catastrophe.
* * *
Thud—thud—thud—thud—
“What is that…?”
Her heart raced as if she shouldn’t have been running.
Something massive was approaching.
Thud—thud—thud—thud—
It was a completely different level of pressure compared to when the “Bakkaer” boss came over earlier.
– Raaaarrrr!!
With a horrifying roar, a sinister energy surged, and the monsters that had been lunging at me began to retreat in unison.
“Damn… this matchup doesn’t bode well.”
Given the number of monsters, I had expected something to emerge, as one individual couldn’t control all those many.
But I was completely taken aback when faced with an enemy either on the same level as “Bakkaer” or a bit stronger.
– The Blue-Eyed Devouring Terror “Jiksructor” watches you.
“….”
The transformed dual-headed beast of Jo Gi-man’s Clone and the Devouring Creeper, the First Escalon.
Now, Jiksructor, who slowly crawled toward me, was an insane monster bridging that gap.
“I can’t win this.”
There was no guesswork about it.
“The Blast of Madness…”
I had sworn off self-destructing for now, but things were different now.
I had to keep it as an option.
However, there were promises I had made to my master, so it wasn’t something I wanted to resort to either.
“Well, for now, I must try.”
The creature Jiksructor, swelling to over double the size of a castle, momentarily shrank to a height similar to mine without settling into any specific form.
“Feels like seeing an irregular monster, Debsorpia.”
When in a humanoid form, it didn’t look much different from “Bakkaer,” but the presence it exuded was hundreds of times worse.
Its leisurely gait approached me with increasing pressure, and whenever it half-shifted back into a humanoid form, it wore a smirk that seemed to say it wouldn’t chase me if I chose to run now.
“How humiliating… But there’s a clear difference. I don’t think it would fall for restraint… Binding it with an artifact wouldn’t be easy either.”
My instincts warned me.
So, I had to throw myself into action.
Attack is the best defense.
[Lightning Step]
Crackle—
“Ugh…”
With a short sneer, I aimed my great sword at Jiksructor’s head.
Whoosh—
“I missed—?!”
Crash—!!!
After so long, I heard the sound of bones shattering as my head struck the ground.
I had made the first attack, yet here I was ended up being the one lying on the ground.
“I couldn’t see. Damn it.”
Monster that had retreated was now merging back with others.
I felt despair for the first time in a while as I watched Jiksructor grow even more powerful in real-time.
– How amusing. It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone attack me first. Usually, they freeze and can’t do anything. How is it possible? Your level shouldn’t allow for that.
In humanoid form, Jiksructor, resembling a rat that had just crawled out of a sewer, continued its grotesque movements toward me.
– By the way, this is nearing the end here. If you had entrusted me with this duty instead of leaving it to the dying “Malachias,” it would have already been finished. Tsk tsk—
“Huff—”
I couldn’t remain pinned down any longer.
Standing tall, I felt his gaze no longer taken seriously, but a shred of hope flickered within me.
First, I unleashed all my binding abilities.
Swish—
– Hmm? No, you should show the resolve you displayed earlier. Otherwise, I have no reason to let you live.
Seeing the flames of the chains binding me, he said so.
Eight stones roared as thunder struck, bearing down on him, but he shook his head, displaying boredom.
While the artifact’s effects momentarily held Jiksructor in place, his legs were slowly moving toward me.
Thud—thud—
The petrifying effects and taunts were entirely ineffective, and he advanced with the stones still coating him.
Now he was close enough that I could reach out and touch him.
“This artifact smells faintly of Shinyinbane. It’s a nostalgic scent. I once had a connection with that person long ago. Heh heh heh—”
“….”
He gazed at me intently, now wearing a chilling smile as he continued.
“Oh… your essence is of a skeleton soldier… Climbing from a being lesser than dust to reach this point requires a considerable stroke of fortune multiple times over.”
“….”
He could swallow my head at any moment, but it seemed he wanted to talk a bit more with me.
“If I keep a specimen like you by my side, unexpected opportunities might arise for me as well. What do you say? Why not join our monster legion?”
Having received such a ridiculous proposition to come in as a totem that brings good fortune, I needed to respond with action rather than words.
– The Blast of Madness—
Eliminating this guy might change something.
Just as I was about to unravel my restrained powers.
“Huh?!!”
Crash—!!!
Suddenly a crack appeared in the air, and another mysterious being swooped in, striking Jiksructor’s torso with force.
It was an event so instantaneous that I could only barely perceive sensory traces.
I quickly halted the skill activation.
Rumble—
I turned my eyes toward the gigantic beast that sent Jiksructor flying.
“Close the door!!”
Following behind the monster who hurled Jiksructor away, twelve other beings simultaneously formed ranks.
But I was unable to cast my gaze at those behind him.
“You… you?! How did you get here?!”
As I gasped in shock, an orc with a burning red body gestured at me while shouting.
“Get lost! We are not equipped to deal with that monster!”
A gigantic being towered over me.
A muscle-bound body that seemed unbreakable, no matter how hard I tried to hit it.
Tusks reaching nearly to its nose.
A blood-red body and enormous twin-handed axe radiating even redder light.
“Por, Por…?!”
The Orc Legion Commander Por, who had once led an invasion to bring destruction to our world in my past life, stood before me.
What’s more, he seemed much larger than I remembered.
“Coming through!!”
“Commander!! You still have your consciousness—!!”
“I’ll hold the line!! Come at me, Blue-eyed insect!!”
A massive shadow soon loomed overhead.
With a killing intent emanating from the Orc Legion Commander, Jiksructor, who had been ambushed, descended from the sky, exuding even darker energy.
– Kahhahahahahahaha!!
I thought it was an attack that I could never hope to withstand.
Was there even enough power among more than ten transcendent beings to offset such a tremendous magical force?
But the Orc Legion Commander Por leaped up to clash with Jiksructor, astonishingly not falling behind in their contest of strength.
After a brief but fierce clash of magical forces, the world seemed on the verge of exploding.
Boom—boom—boom—
The heat rose to the point of boiling the lake, and the world shook violently for some time.
“Ugggh!! Is it over yet!!”
The first to look away from the fierce energy clash was the Orc Legion Commander Por.
Por had used all his strength at once to barely hold back Jiksructor, but his magical power was quickly dwindling.
“Still not on par with the Orc Commander from my past life?”
If it were the one I had encountered before, he wouldn’t have been struggling so easily.
“Raaahhh!! You filthy blue-eyed slave!!”
“Kahhahahahahaha!! Today truly feels like a festival!! It’s just the kind of day I wanted to stretch my legs outside!!”
“Weren’t they supposed to be on the same side?”
Though they had seemed like allies under the blue-eyed, these two were somehow trying to kill one another.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
