Chapter 324. Crossing the Line (2)
For a moment, everything seemed like it would go perfectly.
Fortunately, I had joined forces with the Hunters of Korea. I thought there would be no problem now.
But as soon as I laid eyes on that book, despair struck me.
“Magic Book…”
All the legendary items discovered so far had originated from the Planet of Magic, Alphauri.
So, how could there be one exception now?
“An actual magic book containing high-level spells!”
While Kim Gi-ryeo was in shock.
Flap flap flap.
A figure wearing a bone mask lifted the book.
Then the item began to move on its own like a possessed artifact.
With a noise like a flock of crows taking off, it immediately displayed the stored magic.
And the spells unleashed by the item were nothing short of a nightmare.
“I need to hit the book…!”
Gak!
“Mommy!”
Wak!
“What the…!”
From a point in the air of the cave, dozens of arms emerged.
These long, golden-colored summoned entities soon intertwined and increased in volume explosively, standing upright and feeling around in every direction with grotesque movements.
What appeared began charging at the surrounding creatures.
“What is that? It’s disgusting!”
Of course, the word “arms” from earlier was a metaphor based on Alphauri anatomy, making the form of the summoned creatures feel quite foreign to mammalian beings.
“I knew it would be like this…”
Swish.
The arms from another world were smooth yet frighteningly quick.
The nearly transparent golden appendages brushed off all primitive magic as they advanced.
And when this golden wave crawled up to meet the A-Class Hunters…
Surprisingly, the situation took a drastic turn.
“Ah!”
“My skills aren’t working!”
“Why is it passing through the barrier…”
Waaah!
“Everyone, fall back!”
“Jin, sis!”
The kind of ‘low-grade’ miracle that could be activated even by primitive magic.
At the same time, this weapon, highly effective against any race lacking resistance, was all they had.
All A-Class Hunters present in the right corridor were swept away in the blink of an eye.
“Damn it, all those who haven’t entered the corridor yet…”
That mass of golden arms contained the iconic [Mana Burn] effect once popularly used in Alphauri.
In Earth terms, that’s the very technique often mistranslated as [Soul Strike].
Thus, even a brief touch would send an unbearable pain deep inside, and the foreign hands recognized the drained prey, clutching hold.
In an instant, all the Hunters fell into a state of continuous mana depletion.
“This is the worst.”
It was genuinely a horrifying scene.
A-Class Hunters present collapsed within mere seconds.
The summoned creature emerging from the book sensed the life force of the beings around it, and fortunately, the Awakened could escape the grip of the arms just as their mana was nearly exhausted…
“That’s just a death waiting to happen, isn’t it?”
Should I really be grateful that there weren’t any fatalities from [Mana Burn]?
F-Class…
No.
With his pathetic, newly formed E-Class eyes, he couldn’t even capture the situation.
BANG!
Just as a scraping sound reached my ears, the left corridor was also thrown into chaos.
“AAH!”
Ugh!
The S-Class Hunters attempted to join the fray, but ultimately their efforts were in vain before a legendary-grade summoned creature.
It seemed the spellcaster had little experience handling third-party objects.
One Earthling barely managed to use their clumsy manipulation skills to steal a golden arm, blocking the restraints affecting them.
Then, due to the powerful effects of [Mana Burn], the items binding someone else were damaged. Thus…
Crack.
The spellcaster was soon free.
“……”
Although the mask obscured their face, there was an unmistakable look of exhaustion on Enzo Chiano.
“I guess you’re using a famous book; there’s no point in hiding your identity here anymore.”
Enzo grabbed beneath his bone mask with his free hand and tossed it aside.
Seo Esther and Jeong Ha-seong nearly fainted when they recognized him.
In contrast, Kim Gi-ryeo immediately sprung into action.
“Take your hands off that book right now! I’m serious; this is for your own good! If you maintain that item, your life force will be drained!”
In truth, he was lamenting that the [Book of Extermination] had a penalty that cut down life expectancy.
It was widely known that Korea’s Fourth S-Class had emotional functionality; he attempted to use that to briefly deceive the enemy.
But Kim Gi-ryeo’s efforts returned empty.
Flick.
Without dragging it out, Enzo launched another attack.
Since the [Book of Extermination] had been placed on reuse cooldown, Enzo immediately heightened his awakening skill.
The hulking foreigner next aimed at the sole human in the golden arm mass who had escaped its grasp: a Korean Awakened.
“Huh?”
In front of the F-Class and B-Class Hunters in the left corridor.
Two S-Class Hunters were distracting the summoned creatures, so they had no choice but to focus their efforts elsewhere.
Sizzle, sizzle…
From one side of the dark cave came a sound reminiscent of a malfunctioning power line.
Sunwoo-yeon sensed the impending danger and tried to interfere with the spellcaster, but despite her efforts to hasten the wind, it was impossible to match the speed of the electrical discharge.
Thus, in the end, the situation concluded like that.
Flash!
When the enemy fired the plasma straight at him, Kim Gi-ryeo pushed Sunwoo-yeon away with no scream or warning.
“This is bad.”
That was the last action he took.
As it turned out, avoiding it was ambiguous, and leaving a B-Class Earthling right in front would result in needless penetration.
Sizzle!
The blond hunter drained every ounce of magic and grasped the guild member, throwing him aside.
Then the bolt of lightning struck target cleanly without obstruction.
Bang!
It was clear that human and weightless energy collided, creating a deafening sound.
“……”
So what happened to the blond hunter who got hit?
Sunwoo-yeon unconsciously checked the direction where her comrade flew.
However, the state of the man struck by the high-temperature plasma looked, unsurprisingly, poor.
“……!!”
Most of all, the head was exposed.
Beyond the hair and scalp, his skull had cracked from the blow.
While other areas might still give a chance, if half of someone’s face was blown off, survival seemed bleak.
“AAAAARGH!”
Huff…
Ugh…
They say being too surprised can leave you speechless. Was this the situation?
Sunwoo-yeon couldn’t rise again, gasping for breath.
And by this time, the remaining two Koreans, convinced of Kim Gi-ryeo’s death, erupted in chaos.
Even the fearless Curse Mage, who usually ate meals calmly while watching well-produced horror films, trembled and screamed.
Clang.
Jeong Ha-seong sank into despair and gave up any retaliation.
The Sword of Sunset dropped from his hand and rolled on the floor like a shabby plastic toy.
In truth, despite how things had turned out, he had somewhat hoped for that man.
“This can’t be happening…”
Kim Gi-ryeo.
He had defended against the Imugi.
He had actually slain a real Beast.
In any case, every time a crisis arose, he was the one called upon to somehow resolve situations.
The sadists of Korea frequently experienced that kind of sight.
Yet when the Fourth S-Class, who had navigated so many challenges, fell so easily, everyone panicked, reacting in kind.
Ha.
Only when the mental and physical suppression of his enemies was complete did Enzo quietly speak.
The brown-haired giant returned the [Book of Extermination] he had held to the item box.
As the alien had briefly threatened, maintaining the summoned creature was slowly draining his mana to the limits.
Moreover, his threshold had reached more than just that.
Rip.
Enzo tore off a continuous recovery invention stuck somewhere on his skin and made a remark.
-Using this legendary item, I would lose my life force…
Today, the AI voice streaming from the translator felt ominous.
-Of course, I’d sacrifice a few years if it meant getting the job done.
The next words would surely have shocked any Alphauri who heard them.
Enzo declared that he would willingly sacrifice several years of his life for the company’s work.
“Whew, huh…”
Thump!
As the golden summon disappeared, Ha-seong and Esther fell to the stone floor.
Sunwoo-yeon trembled in fear as she witnessed a hellish scene unfolding before her.
But Enzo observed the Koreans’ reactions, mixing in some laughter.
-See? Just by closing your eyes and bowing to a couple of people, you could have the entire world beneath your feet.
“……”
-Working is a good thing… a really good thing. I don’t care about immortality or anything, I just want to be safe while I’m alive. You Only Live Once! You know?
That was the extent of the conversation.
Enzo pondered what to do about the long-haired woman who was nearly fainting when he noticed that the end of the corridor had grown brighter.
“Huh?”
It was noon in the dungeon!
That meant, according to the rules, the ant nest chamber had advanced one step forward.
“What? I was wondering what happened to those bugs…”
The room where countless A-Class Hunters had collapsed vanished, and the interior of the gate returned completely to the initial state of abduction.
Soon, the two Beasts, previously facing off against Jeong Ha-seong, arrived back on this floor.
-Just like strawberry jam!
Hahaha.
As soon as Enzo spotted the Beast companions, he approached and used an item.
It was originally the best remedy for curses, but nonetheless, the appearance of [Holy Water] worked on all status ailments.
Cough!
Hack!
As expected…
Once he scattered the first-grade [Holy Water] that had been directly transported from Europe, the crimson petrification instantly broke.
Hy sht! What the hell did this bastard do to me…!*
-That sword is the problem! That legendary sword clearly emitted light!
-By the way, why are you naked? Did you break the [Doppelgänger] and mask while fighting or something?
The flicker of a remaining resolve vanished in an instant.
Enzo Chiano.
That one Hunter felt like an unbreachable wall. But now, even the remnants of the Beasts, locked away in other levels, had returned.
Is this a dream? Is this truly a nightmare?
-Anyway…
-I’ve finally cleaned it up.
-Indeed, the dungeon is a comfortable system. Metaphorically speaking, it’s like a naturally occurring EMP apocalypse.
-…I must admit it was hard to use such books outside where so many eyes are watching.
Exhausted by [Mana Burn], Esther and Ha-seong only rolled their eyes to check on the enemy forces.
Seo Esther still seemed to harbor malicious intent, waiting for a moment to regain her strength, her eyes glinting with deadly intent.
Thud, thud.
Ha-seong struggled to break free from the confusion; when the Beasts started to move, he shut his eyes tightly.
A surge of resignation and fear filled him instantly.
-…
-…?
But as he closed his eyes and mulled in the dark, he felt an unexplainable sensation in his chest lingering since a few seconds ago…
Wait.
What is this?
It felt somewhat like the thrill of consuming around 400mg of caffeine.
Against his will, his heart began to pound, bringing along feelings of discomfort or panic, resembling the onset of an anxiety attack.
Having closed his eyes, Ha-seong opened them once again, startled by the sudden change in sensation.
“?”
Yet, no matter how deeply he breathed or what he did, the excessive heartbeat refused to settle down.
Wait a sec, what on earth is happening…?
Moreover, everyone present was experiencing the same phenomenon.
Seo Esther, with her rich purple hair spread around like blood, lay on the ground.
And the group of Beasts that aimed to suffocate the Koreans were also oddly perplexed by the mysterious sensation.
The S-Class Hunters, unable to grasp the phenomenon, had only one person who understood it.
“……”
The B-Class tracker from the South Korean national agency knew very well what this sensation was.
‘It feels like I just turned a corner and unexpectedly faced something immensely massive, like a whale’s eye.’
Because…
This pounding feeling was something she frequently experienced in that position.
‘…The presence of someone with a significantly different awakening level…’
If it were localized and emanated from just one spot, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out its origin.
But when the entire space filled with the same energy, pinpointing its source became challenging.
The Beasts tightening their grips on their weapons scanned the surroundings for the cause of this strange change.
And in that moment…
Finally, something moved in their line of sight.
Stealthily.
Someone who had slammed hard enough against the wall to create a crater was silently standing up.
