Lee Hyun surveyed his surroundings. There were no signs that anyone had passed through before him. In fact, he couldn’t sense anyone’s presence at all.
He let out a sigh of relief inwardly. It was a blessing that no one had been harmed by the monsters, and even more fortunate that no student had activated their identification token before him. Also, with no eyes watching him, he was grateful for the ability to use his other powers.
Lee Hyun currently had three predictive paths opened up, but even that felt a bit lacking given the current situation.
The Aiteranus was a first-tier monster that instinctively knew how to use magic, boasting unparalleled danger and strength, so much so that some scholars insisted it needed to be reclassified.
Moreover, the creature in front of him had undergone even further mutation.
He layered magic onto his predictions and fixed them at six paths. Then, he spread the power that had gathered around his heart outwards. The whole process flowed as smoothly and naturally as a river.
Lee Hyun raised his blade, aiming it at the monster. He infused particles into the edge made of Stella Alloy, getting ready to pierce through its field.
The monster sensed Lee Hyun’s hostile intent and immediately prepared to retaliate. Soon, he felt his body’s hairs standing on end.
Crackle…
A strange sound emanated from the vicinity of the monster’s face, and unstable glowing spheres began to form at the tips of its antennae.
The monster fired one of the completed lightning spheres directly at him. There was no need to mention that the target was, of course, where Lee Hyun stood. According to its calculations, in the next moment, he should be reduced to a pile of black ash.
Eeeeek?
However, the next moment, the monster let out a sound of surprise, as if it were flustered. Lee Hyun was still standing there completely unharmed.
The bolt of lightning that the monster had shot fizzled around him, flickering as it converted back into ether and vanished into thin air. It was like a swarm of tiny fireflies dancing around him.
Now was the chance, while the monster was still confused. Lee Hyun quickly moved, approaching the creature and leaping onto its back. In that fleeting moment, the monster’s venomous fangs barely missed him.
Eeeek!
Since the joints of the Aiteranus couldn’t bend upwards, its back was practically its blind spot. The monster twisted its body to continue targeting Lee Hyun with its fangs while shaking violently to throw him off.
Lee Hyun, despite slipping, managed to grab onto the gaps between its exoskeleton and withstand the shock.
Now wasn’t the right time to sever the monster’s waist. The dispersed nerve clusters throughout its body could lead to facing two powerful monsters moving independently at once.
The target he aimed for was the creature’s head, where its sensory organs and magical apparatus were clustered. Lee Hyun evaded the monster’s attempts to obstruct him, continuing to advance with a rhythm of forward movement and stabilization.
The incessant blasts of lightning around him were blinding, but the bolts that reached him shattered like fireflies.
Ultimately, he was able to fully mount the wide head of the creature.
Dozens of compound eyes suddenly focused on him, filled with a fear that he couldn’t quite understand. Its antennae trembled uncontrollably, and venom was gushing out from its fangs in every direction.
However, there was no longer a way for it to resist.
Lee Hyun plunged his hand into the joint area to fasten himself securely. He then began to stab repeatedly with his blade between the exoskeletons.
With the standard blade of the cradle, a single slash could damage the blade itself due to the rigid outer shell.
Thud! Thud! Crash!
Lee Hyun continued to strike at the monster’s weak points. If the blade broke, he switched it out and relentlessly targeted the same spot. Before long, he was drenched in the monster’s blood, entirely covered in green.
Thud! Thud!
Right before consuming the last blade, the area between the monster’s head and torso had become nearly unrecognizable, resembling a tattered rag. The pulsing veins could clearly be seen now. Its four antennae had given up resisting, hanging limply.
But still, the monster clung to life. If he left it like this, it would quickly regenerate with its formidable recovery ability. That was a scenario Lee Hyun wouldn’t allow.
He instinctively knew it was time to finish it off. Manipulating the particle arrangement on his wrist, he created a small but intensely burning fireball on his palm.
Though it looked fragile, this was the most powerful spell he knew that could inflict pain on his opponent. The memory of the dark wizard screaming to his death in the fire column made by Yoon Chae Won was still vivid in his mind.
Lee Hyun hurled the ‘Flame of the Grand Duke’ into the monster’s torso. Immediately, he rolled off and jumped away, distancing himself from the creature.
Eeeek!
Boom!
The monster writhed in agony as its insides burned away. The ground cratered, and thick trees snapped one after another as it wreaked havoc around it.
And as the smoke from its charred organs began to seep out, the massive creature finally collapsed with a thud. No movement could be seen from the monster any longer.
“…Hoo.”
Finally, Lee Hyun let out the breath he had been holding. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. Being an arthropod, it smelled oddly similar to grilled shrimp.
He leaped over its massive corpse and made his way to the open area ahead. At the center of that place was a large metallic mechanism made of complex gears and hydraulic tubes.
Lee Hyun approached the machine and laid his identification token against it.
Ding!
A cheerful chime sounded, and the machine seemed to come to life but then fell silent once more. He wore a puzzled expression for a moment, but he instinctively felt that he was definitely the first to arrive.
Feeling refreshed, he decided to take a short break before heading back when suddenly—
Ugh…!
A sharp pain began to spread from his chest, feeling as if a blade was stabbing him.
Now that he thought about it, he realized time was a bit tight. He deactivated his predictive paths and gathered his powers back inside.
“…”
Lee Hyun thought it would be nice to have something large and soft to lean against. But the surrounding area had been turned into chaos, with trees wrecked by the monster thrashing about.
“Ugh…”
All that remained was a massive creature right in front of him that smelled of grilled shrimp. But he didn’t have any other choice.
*
“Ha, I never thought there would be others thinking like me.”
A short-haired, bulky male student muttered. He was covered in green and dark red blood, as if he had just finished a fierce battle.
“Especially Seung Hun. That’s surprising. What happened to your girlfriend?”
“I sent Yeoull back, just in case. But I felt it would be a waste to give up now… haha…”
Woojins’ question was met with Seung Hun’s characteristic smile. Next to them stood a blonde-haired, green-eyed female student with a displeased look on her face.
“Hah, I never thought I’d end up thinking like a monkey…”
Her protective gear was equally tattered. Her beautiful hair was tangled and dirty, but she brushed it off as if it didn’t matter.
“So, how many did you catch?”
“Hiro’s 2, Nibalus’ 2.”
Despite being two-tier monsters that were tough to deal with, Woojin puffed up with pride upon hearing Seung Hun’s reply.
“Tch, tch. I caught 1 Scropha, 3 Mustela, and 2 Flavita. I guess that means I’ve won…”
“3 Lhasidoras, 5 Canadends.”
Woojin’s boastful tone abruptly halted at Jin Yeseo’s unexpected interjection.
“So, what now?”
Jin Yeseo asked with a voice still filled with discontent.
“Well… since it’s come to this, how about we team up to head to the center? We all look a bit tired, and facing monsters separately could be really dangerous…”
“…”
Seung Hun’s suggestion held no flaws. After encountering second-tier monsters unexpectedly in their first real battle, they found themselves in this situation.
Despite everything, they had handled it surprisingly well, but they’d expended considerable stamina and particles, leading to significant fatigue.
“…Then let’s go ahead and agree. What about the order for activating our identification tokens?”
Jin Yeseo pondered for a moment before asking again.
“You two can go first. I don’t mind going afterward.”
“That’s boring. Hey, Jin Yeseo. How about we decide the order with a duel?”
“Sure. Just hold back until I arrive, or I’ll beat you senseless.”
Jin Yeseo promptly replied to Woojin’s suggestion. Having reached a consensus, they began their advance in formation.
However, the deeper they proceeded towards the center, the stranger the scenery around them became.
“…Doesn’t it feel like they were fighting among themselves and died? And that, isn’t that a blade mark?”
Jin Yeseo remarked as she assessed her surroundings. In front of her lay the body of a Lhasidora, its abdomen and chest cleanly split in half. The sight of its trembling legs inevitably made one furrow their brows.
“Could someone have passed through already? Is there someone else who thought like us?”
“…Did the professors pass by? Their skills seem above average…”
Feeling a sense of urgency, they quickened their pace. The deeper they went, the more monster corpses piled up around them. At a glance, there were easily over twenty, each appearing to have been brutally defeated.
After their tiring expedition, they finally reached the center of the northern section. However, it wasn’t an identification device waiting for them. It looked as if a low hill was blocking the path, but dozens of legs protruded from various places.
Then they saw the silhouette of someone leaning against that leg-riddled hill, taking a rest.
“…You…!”
Jin Yeseo shouted, soon recognizing the figure. The face of the shadow was adorned with a sleek mask that shimmered in the moonlight.
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