“It won’t be a problem to blow his head off if I shoot with intent.”
But that guy’s abilities can’t be omnipotent, right?
“There has to be someone marking the coordinates for them, right?”
However, no matter how much I looked around, it was hard to find anyone like that.
Seriously, did they come this far all alone?
“Ugh… I don’t know. Still, it’s fortunate I’ve seen their attack in advance.”
Someday, I’ll collide with Inessa, and thinking about that, this experience turned out to be a big win.
I’ve learned that if things go south with Inessa, Patrick could kill me at any time.
But I have my doubts.
Patrick’s attack alone can’t take down the Great Beast.
Let alone receiving the rewards given to top-tier contributors.
“Isn’t the reward the purpose? I seriously can’t figure it out!”
A gigantic snake lunges at me like it’s going to swallow me whole.
“Fast!”
I quickly dodged the Necrosquall’s tentacle attack.
Kiiiii──!
Did my evasion provoke it?
The Great Beast raised its body and started to strike down with thousands of tentacles in all directions.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!!
It was a simple yet immensely powerful upper-tier physical attack.
With that one thrash, the hunters bravely fighting back began to fall one by one.
The ground cracked and sunk from the relentless shocks, making it difficult to stand properly.
Eventually, having flown into the sky, I aimed my index finger at the creature’s gaping mouth.
“Ah, damn it, you little shit!!”
[Flame Shot]
The only part that didn’t have a magic power barrier around it was its mouth, the passage where its minions called “Shajo” came out.
Firing a Flame Shot packed with a thousand magic energies—
Boom!!
The Flame Shot exploded, destroying dozens of “Shajo” blocking my way and finally creating a massive explosion near its maw.
But that was it.
“…Nothing popped up? Don’t individual kills count for minions?”
No skills, no experience points, not even a Mana Stone. I got zero rewards.
It felt like the only thing I managed was to chip away at the barrier a bit.
Grrrr──!!
Jo Gi-man’s [Thunderbolt] struck the Great Beast once again.
Kieeeee!!
The ones riling up the Great Beast were that damned guy, Liu Xiao-Wo, and Patrick.
– Oooooo!
– Who the hell is that person?
– That’s insane destructive power. Could they be a hidden Transcendent?
Jo Gi-man’s influence quickly became the talk of the town.
– Kiiiii──!
Its lightning attack was so powerful that it even wrapped the “Shajo” flying in the sky in a massive magical hand before slicing them like balls.
I kept an eye out for any openings in the beast even while progressing through the battle.
“None… Can’t see any.”
Even if I used Blink in stealth, I doubt I’d land a hit easily.
Jo Gi-man’s power in battle mode was astounding.
If I hadn’t recently undergone rapid growth, I wouldn’t have even understood what was happening back then.
“It’ll be tough unless another opening appears…”
I focused on taking down the minions while keeping an eye on the beast.
“I need to make use of my damage ignoring attack when it comes into contact. Damn it.”
Just revealing my intent to attack would result in me getting bounced back, so I had no choice but to take down the small fries as instructed by Liu Xiao-Wo.
After mindlessly fighting for about 20 minutes…
“Huff— Huff— Master, are you okay?”
“Why not focus on catching your breath instead of worrying about me? Here.”
“Thanks.”
I handed a water bottle to Jo Gi-man, who was on the verge of collapsing.
After gulping down the refreshing water, Jo Gi-man tilted his head for a moment and said:
“It doesn’t seem to be ending, Master.”
“True. Where’s all that strength coming from? Did it store up power for ten years or something?”
Contrary to what Liu Xiao-Wo had asserted, the Necrosquall’s barrier didn’t weaken but grew even denser.
Even though Jo Gi-man kept hammering the Thunderbolt whenever he had a chance, it was easy to gauge the level of the Great Beast.
– That thing has grown way bigger than when it first appeared. How do we deal with it?
– What the hell is this? It seems even the Dragon Lord is losing energy. Is this how the world ends?
– Where did the five cats go?! The release? Didn’t we push it back with that ability last time?
“…Sorry, I didn’t think we’d be this hard-pressed either.”
Jo Gi-man continued his massacre with an emotionless face.
At least the Necrosquall staying fixed in place was preventing other significant damage from being inflicted, thanks to that guy.
“Shouldn’t he use the power of a Dragon Knight? Is that also too much pressure?”
Liu Xiao-Wo and Jo Gi-man weren’t even putting in their full strength yet.
Especially Liu Xiao-Wo was staring at Jo Gi-man’s alter ego with a serious glare.
Did he sense a similar aura even though Jo Gi-man’s appearance had changed?
“Anyways, something needs to change—”
While I was thinking that, a negative change was detected.
– Kieheheheh!! Hihihihi!!
“Why is that thing showing up here?”
It was the emergence of “Grave Lord,” dubbed the king of incorporeal monsters.
The being that usually appeared only in top-tier A-rank dungeons suddenly popping up caught even the struggling hunters off guard.
Half of it was rotting flesh, dripping like a zombie, and the other half was a ghostly appearance with no clear identity.
– Hwaaaaaakh──!!
As it reached out its hand forward, the ghosts, wraiths, and specters that hadn’t been able to show their true power up until now began to swarm the hunters with tremendous momentum.
Support type hunters and sorcerers tried their best to fend them off, but with overwhelming numbers, the first, second, and third lines of defense were breached in turn.
Eventually, more hunters began to fall into the unique status effects of incorporeal monsters.
– Hwaaaaaah…
– I need to die… I’m a hopeless piece of trash…
The despairing screams echoes around as top-tier hunters began to waver one by one.
The status effects from the monsters gathered under the “Grave Lord” were displaying an even stronger power than usual, making them hard to deal with.
– Help is coming soon!! Just hold on a bit more!
– Soon, soon! When the hell is the damn support coming?!
At the height of the chaos in the battlefield, Jo Gi-man instead became more determined.
I could vividly sense the black energy lingering behind him.
“The Seven-headed Dragon has returned.”
– The Evil God Seven-headed Dragon is watching you.
– The Evil God Seven-headed Dragon finds you interesting.
“Ugh, creepy. Stop staring at me!”
As I shuddered at the attention of that guy, Jo Gi-man started whispering sinister things.
“Did you really make a promise?”
[…..]
Seemingly satisfied after conversing with the Seven-headed Dragon, Jo Gi-man nodded vigorously and filled the air with magical energy.
“What kind of nonsense is he planning now? It’s not something that can be done with just Thunderbolt, right?”
[Storm of Celestial]
[Ruins of Ground]
“Tsk… You finally feel like actually doing something?”
Jo Gi-man began to unleash upper-tier elemental magic one after another.
Soon, a colossal storm raged around the Great Beast, obliterating everything in its wake, while the undead legions crawling from the ground sank away as if ensnared in a swamp.
– Now’s the time!!
As if it were a scheduled event, Liu Xiao-Wo launched himself toward the Great Beast.
Grabbing a massive hammer from the space, Liu Xiao-Wo soared high into the sky and slammed it down onto the Great Beast’s head.
Kwaaaang───!!
I wondered if it’d actually land, but unexpectedly, the Necrosquall received a tremendous shock and sank several meters into the ground. It even sustained injuries, with body fluids bursting out from various places.
Creeeak—
“Is the barrier starting to crack?”
[Earthquake Explosion]
[Death of Darkness]
Jo Gi-man displayed a miraculous ability to continuously cast upper-tier magic without a second to breathe.
Chinese hunters could only watch in disbelief as if they were witnessing a miracle.
With crackling sounds, after Jo Gi-man used the spells over twenty times, the barrier began to visibly fracture.
“Did the ancient defensive technique break?! This is our chance!”
As if thinking the same, the hunters specialized in close combat simultaneously attacked the Great Beast.
I felt like this was our winning moment.
I wasn’t thrilled to be teaming up with Jo Gi-man, but experience points take priority!
[Frost Enamel]
[Thunderhorn]
[Empty Slash – Flame Cut]
Squeak──!
“Oh! This works!”
Finally, I marked the Flame Mark!
Having stuck with it, I executed consecutive attacks, and in just three strikes…
[Flame Explosion]
Kwaaaang────!!
I erected a pillar of Black Flame.
A horrific blaze began gnawing at the colossal form of the Great Beast, which soared an astounding 500 meters into the sky.
“It’s been a while since seeing a Great Being like this!!”
[Flame Explosion]
[Flame Explosion]
Kwaaakwakwal──!!
While I was gleefully slashing away, a huge tentacle from the side wanted to take a swing at me.
Whew──
Boooom──
“Ugh?!”
I quickly did a forward roll to escape, but I saw a gigantic crater forming in my place.
Moreover…
Phew phew phew phew──!!
Along with the shockwave came a black magic thorn, resulting in a chaotic defense, while dozens of tentacles sprouting from the Great Beast relentlessly attacked me without respite.
“Come on, can’t you chill out a bit?!!”
Maybe the series of Flame Explosions had hurt it enough; now it seemed that it had no intention of letting me off easy.
I was busy dodging attacks instead of adding to the Flame Mark, but even amidst that, other hunters’ attacks kept piling up damage on the Necrosquall.
Countless top-tier hunters from China were joining forces.
The skills soaring toward it filled my vision to the brim.
There’s no way these powerhouses would let such an opportunity slip!
“This is definitely over.”
Jo Gi-man did something right this time.
Is there any beast in the world capable of casting spells on par with Thunderbolt dozens of times? The Necrosquall must be surprised too.
It seemed like it was just a matter of holding out a bit longer, but part of me wondered if this would truly be the end.
This legendary Necrosquall, the one rumored to be incredible… is it really going to end here?
Moreover, the ally Inessa had mentioned hadn’t even shown their face.
“Something feels off…”
While barely dodging the Great Beast’s attacks, those thoughts traversed through my mind.
“Wrap this up quickly while you can! I’m starting to feel it.”
I shot an unspoken glance at Jo Gi-man and Liu Xiao-Wo, but they continued fighting while blatantly keeping an eye on each other without realizing the greater danger.
Other transcendent-level hunters were focused completely on blocking the Necrosquall’s undead legions and breaking down its barrier.
Isn’t that what they said about being careful right before the finish line?
A sense of unease.
I had a feeling that something was about to explode.
– I need to end this.
At that moment, the dog of a guy named Jo Gi-man declared his intention to end this battle.
[Thunderbolt]
The Thunderbolt, packed with magical energy.
His body seemed to adapt well to the lightning attribute. He kept doing that nonsense day in and day out.
“……Huh? What’s that?”
When the Thunderbolt began to manifest in the sky, I caught sight of a rapidly expanding crack behind Jo Gi-man.
“Th-That—!”
Before I knew it, just as I pointed behind Jo Gi-man with my finger.
The crack opened up and something gaped wide to swallow Jo Gi-man.
Chomp───!!
– ?!!
[······?!]
“What the hell…?!”
Some fish-shaped thing with sharp teeth completely engulfed Jo Gi-man.
Sizzling and crunching, the creature chewed Jo Gi-man like a piece of jerky.
“Was that its target… I feel chills.”
Another Great Beast emerged.
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