It was a firm belief that Ashran was a fair being who gives rewards commensurate to the price paid.
What kind of reward could wait? Just thinking about it made Kwon Baek swallow involuntarily.
“Hehehehe, khehehe—”
“Hey, Kwon Baek. Stop that laugh and get on with it! I need to go eat chicken!!”
Despite the young man’s rude annoyance, Kwon Baek politely bowed his head toward the red-haired man and replied.
“Is there any question? This is a day we have long awaited, so could you bear with me a little longer? Today marks a great day of first steps, does it not?”
“Fine, fine, just hurry up—”
The red-haired man, looking frustrated, forcefully sat the branch manager onto the ley lines connected to the barrier.
Kwon Baek smiled gently at the man’s rough touch and silently began the ritual to open the transition gate.
* * *
We arrived at a horrifying scene where hundreds of hunters were impaled by thorns.
To be more precise, there were 203. Even for a dungeon that sees thousands of entries a day, that was by no means a small number.
Some hunters who were skewered appeared like aged persimmons, with only shriveled skin left on their bones.
“Ugh—wretch—”
A man from Noh Ha-yoon’s party threw up at the sight.
“Crazy bastards…”
Even I, who was always evaluated as dry and unemotional in life, found this hard to watch.
“Uuugh—”
Yeon-hee and Helen’s duo seemed unable to keep their rising nausea at bay, likely due to the foul stench in the air.
“So this is the Blue-eyed Organization’s ritual I’ve heard rumors about? Oh my… Those who did such things will never be able to die and will suffer forever!”
“Has the ritual already progressed this far?! So quickly? Didn’t we rush enough? It feels like something we couldn’t have stopped from the start!”
“Whoever it is must be extremely impatient. Damn it!”
Even as our party said that, our actions were still cautious.
It was natural. Since it was those guys who had blocked us from coming here, they likely had prepared countermeasures for our arrival.
However, as soon as I arrived, I sensed that there were no threats prepared in this area. Rather, I focused on the hazy, shimmering square border surrounding the area where the thorns were impaled.
‘A barrier… It’s hard to break without a Barrier Mage.’
– It’s a barrier! To approach that square, we need to deactivate the barrier!
– Damn, what kind of barrier is there in an E-rank dungeon?
– Can we break it using magic?
As Ji-woo revealed the existence of the barrier, about thirty hunters who had arrived behind us displayed looks of astonishment.
It’s understandable because Barrier Mages are a rare class, usually appearing very rarely as a result of a second awakening.
The barrier is said to be a very complex and delicate puzzle. It requires a delicate touch to carefully unravel the intricately tangled threads of countless magical circuits, and that’s what a Barrier Mage does.
So unless we were extraordinarily lucky and found a Barrier Mage here, there was no immediate way to rescue those inside the barrier.
‘To have a barrier of this scale in an E-rank dungeon… These must be truly insane bastards.’
I became more alert than ever with an ominous premonition.
– My goodness… what is this…
– Oh God…
– Is there anyone who can explain what’s happening?!
The hunters who arrived behind us rushed to us to ask about the situation, and we also stated that we just arrived and didn’t know anything.
Then the next actions were already decided.
Search.
‘There must clearly be those maintaining the barrier nearby.’
We had no choice but to kill those who set up the barrier to forcibly deactivate it.
Of course, in the process of forcibly deactivating it, the still-living people inside the barrier would likely suffer unforeseen damage, but it would be better than just sitting and taking it.
Hmm…
If those guys weren’t hiding in the sky, it certainly meant they were somewhere underneath where we were stepping. They might have a setup going on underground.
Phew…
I closed my eyes and concentrated the waves of my senses underground.
The colorless waves broke through the ground and quickly delved beneath the surface.
‘Not here… Here, is this it?…’
However, after searching here and there for quite a while, I found no traces of them, contrary to my expectations.
‘Huh? Not here? That can’t be right?’
It was a barrier that had trapped hundreds of hunters. There had to be a considerable number of people clinging to maintaining it.
-Ggghiiiii…
The people trapped inside the barrier were suffering such terrible pain that they couldn’t even groan properly.
– It seems there’s nothing there?
– No way!!
Other hunters seemed to have similar thoughts as they used their abilities to dig into the ground, but it was futile.
‘They must be nearby. If not underground, then the alternatives are…’
I withdrew the waves of my senses and sat down directly on the ground.
“Wow…”
Noh Ha-yoon’s admiration, directed solely at me, stimulated me, but it was soon completely erased from my mind.
I raised my concentration to the limit, expanding the area from the part closest to the center of the barrier.
With my completely narrowed waves, the efficiency of my senses was peaking.
‘Where is it… it must be nearby…’
Ziiiiiing—
All the actions of everyone within the swept range, each piece of information flowed into my mind.
If I thought of acquiring information as power, then I would undoubtedly be the ruler of this area.
Thoooom—
‘I found it…’
The cunning bastards were hiding behind a massive rock, a bit distanced from the barrier with a recognition-inhibiting magic.
Common sense dictates that the further away from the barrier, the harder it is to maintain it.
If those creating the barrier were D-rank, then it would make sense. So, they would have to have delayed being found.
Considering that even I found it difficult to detect them, it was likely that they used a much higher-quality recognition-inhibiting item in mass than the one used by the killer Lee Young-chul.
(Ran, Ran!)
(I understand even if you say it lightly, what’s up, Il-wol?)
I indicated the place where those guys were hiding to Ran, who had been perching on my shoulder, and the quick-witted Ran immediately flew over to Yeon-hee to inform her of the fact.
Ran might be talkative and always nagging, but he definitely knows what to do.
Hearing the chattering of the fluffy white bird, Yeon-hee nodded vigorously and soon conveyed this to Helen.
Helen swiftly approached the other hunters around her, relaying the same information.
Before even a minute passed, we had surrounded the space where the bastards were hiding.
Woooooong—
The rippling recognition-inhibiting magic indicated that those inside seemed to be getting ready to come out as they noticed us approaching.
Ssssshh—
Just as we stealthily approached, the hidden bastards made their moves, with the waiting hunters charging in to unleash their skills.
Storage Bomb: 41/62
I also wrapped up the waves of my senses and threw a few Skeleton Bombs into the spot they were hiding.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
With a tremendous explosion, the figures of the bastards hidden inside were clearly revealed.
Due to the concentrated attack of the hunters, dozens of Deities had been turned into a mess, and quite a few of the ones who hadn’t died remained standing.
And the ones that survived quickly hid behind the heavy-bodied monsters, which all looked like monsters any hunter would recognize, leading to a collective gasp.
“Damn… Why are those bastards…?”
“Something… feels really off here…”
The sight revealed after the recognition-inhibiting magic was dispelled far exceeded our expectations and was enough to freeze even the hunters who had been attacking madly.
“Chirya Koomchik—!”
The creatures, with their unique vocalizations, declared their presence.
Ssssssssss— Kwooooooooor—!!
Their booming roars erupted onto the battlefield.
Those witnessing this sight quickly reacted, judging for themselves.
“Orcs… With that build, they are warrior grade…”
“No way…”
“W-We need to run… we have to escape.”
Among countless monsters, the orcs, known as the dominating species— for some reason, they had crossed over to this place. Moreover, they were at the orc warrior grade, which can only be reached after a certain evolution of Dotti.
Each one was on par with the leader of the Blue-eyed Organization who had been killed.
Over fifty of these had already emerged, and they were continuously pouring over through the gate.
‘I’m going insane. Why are such things suddenly crossing over? If you’re going to hold an event, at least turn on the blinker when you come in, you bastards.’
This was strikingly similar to the invasion of the Orc Legion Commander that I didn’t want to think about either.
It was abrupt without even a minor plausibility, and I had no way of knowing how it was possible, and the strength of the invaders was overwhelmingly strong.
The only difference was that the size of the gate was very small.
‘I need to set off a bomb to seal off the front of the gate… but that won’t work because of that monster. Should I spread this instead?’
[Corrupted Breath]
In an open space, it wouldn’t have a huge effect, but it felt like I needed to do something to ease my mind.
The most ideal scenario would be to dump all bombs at once for massive damage, then all attack in cooperation to wipe them out, and then kill any ochre that came through the gate.
But everyone in the area, including myself, was rendered unable to attack by a single person. No, it would be more accurate to say we were unable to move at all.
The red-haired tall man with sharp features.
“Wow…”
Jin-kyeong was amazed by the unreal proportions of his face.
He stood over 190cm tall, and his physique looked slender and sinewy.
His heavily irritated face stared at us intently. He looked somewhat worn out, but regardless of that, he was a strength beyond comprehension. A monster that shouldn’t be present here.
With just a slight exposure to the aura emanating from his body, hunters trembled as if they were caught in the grip of icy frost.
As if their legs were frozen, they fell to the ground, unable to move.
More cunning than an orc, with the cold rationality of a sorcerer, and known to possess innate talents that surpass any race.
‘An Elf…’
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