NOVEL WEB Chapter 92
Chapter 92 – Devouring and Evolution (2)
“What on earth…”
“Don’t worry too much. His choices have never been wrong until now.”
From Eva’s perspective, who was dragged away while quietly staying at home, this was entirely bewildering. She never even imagined that she would be chosen.
However, the senior hunters comforted her. They too were surprised that someone from a different race like her had been selected, but they decided to trust this was his choice.
After all, they were individuals who, recognizing their own talents, had chosen the path of hunters. Because they had experienced it themselves, they could assure Eva that everything would work out well.
“The process of crafting equipment from by-products of mutants is not just about skill. If you can’t properly feel and handle the power within, no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to utilize that power.”
In the meantime, the master of the workshop handed Eva one of the crafting tools, a hammer.
“Give it a try. Whether you have talent or not will become apparent with this.”
“But…”
Eva hesitantly took the hammer with her trembling hands. The way to check if she had talent was to use the hammer to split the hard carapace and see if she could maintain the integrity of the power within.
In the game, this would be like a rhythm game, but Eva had to rely on her own senses to swing the hammer.
‘Is this… maybe.’
Of course, failure was not an option for her. They had brought her here already knowing that. As Eva touched the large, thick carapace of the monster thrown in front of her, she flinched as she sensed something unknown.
‘Where did this raccoon find someone like her?’
The master’s eyes widened as he watched. He recognized the discerning gaze of the raccoon who seemed to know this would happen.
And right after that, Eva began to tap the carapace with the hammer, breaking it apart bit by bit. She carved the carapace as if sculpting, relying solely on her own senses, and the magic of the mutant gathered in the processed carapace without loss.
[Trait: Handiness, Artisan]
‘Awakened.’
As he watched this unfold on the monitor, his expression turned satisfied when the latent trait on her status sheet fully blossomed.
“Impressive. What a splendid talent. You’ll learn quickly.”
The master chuckled as he gazed at the carapace that Eva had initially processed. It was the moment a craftsman capable of processing the bugs’ by-products was born in the village.
[Achievement Unlocked: Self-Sufficiency]
‘If we can supply equipment steadily, that’s another task accomplished.’
He dismissed the achievement notification that appeared on the screen and looked at Eva, who was about to learn equipment crafting in earnest.
It wasn’t like in the game where skills magically appeared. Having talent simply meant you could learn quickly, but the learning process was still necessary.
However, if Eva learned the skills like this inside and then set up a workshop in the village to teach others, just as the number of architects and miners had increased, so too would the craftsmen.
“It seems like there was a bit of a crisis, but you got through it well.”
As he stretched with a yawn, he grabbed the mouse and keyboard again.
On one side, Eva was diligently learning equipment crafting, on another, monsters were battled repeatedly for training, and on yet another side, residents were actively building walls or scouting while fighting the bugs.
Now, with Balun leading the way, the growing residents were handling things well on their own, reducing his worries, but his responsibilities hadn’t vanished.
“You’ve arrived.”
He logged back into Dark Blood where Riena was online. As his character moved, Riena greeted him with a smile.
‘This game is purely for her now.’
Watching Riena, he gave a thumbs-up as a form of greeting.
While other games strongly focused on maintaining the village or gathering resources for the residents, Dark Blood was now entirely running for Riena alone.
Class changing the warriors, bestowing skills, and training them was more than sufficient for now. Yet, as the chapters repeated and advanced, Riena, who had practically become the protagonist of the game, was visibly growing as if she truly were a player.
Experiencing things she could never encounter in her original world, facing challenges, both her body and mind were becoming tougher.
‘I wonder how far she can go. Will she really reach a half-god state by the end? Or will there be changes even then?’
He had now become a spectator, anticipating and watching Riena’s growth. Plus, the stronger she became, the easier it was to defeat formidable foes, so the practical justification wasn’t diminishing.
“The cold…”
Riena bit her lip, shrouded by the chilling cold that enveloped her.
Now, the enemy they faced was the boss of Chapter 3. The Demon Lord of Cold had taken control of the valiant Baron and transformed into a more powerful being by also seizing the bugs’ strength.
“Come forth, Hunter. The divinity I sense from you is strangely different. Could it be that you’re also connected to these bugs?”
The boss laughed sinisterly as he watched them arrive after having dealt with all his minions.
Wearing black armor and riding a huge Skeleton Dragon that crashed through the fortress walls. A gigantic tumor, formed from parasite-like bugs, writhed in the dragon’s chest.
“These monsters exist only to devour the world. Even a demon cannot contend with this.”
Riena shouted at the demon lord who intended to use the bugs. She could speak those words because she had witnessed firsthand the dangers posed by the bugs intending to destroy the Dwarf Kingdom and consume the world.
“Don’t get cocky. These creatures are nothing but mindless beasts. I can see how simple their thought processes are… Their sole purpose is merely to kill you.”
The boss sneered, exuding cold. The demon, who possessed the ability to pierce through others’ psyches, could also see through the bugs.
To the boss, the bugs were just a single beast. Of course, the intense purpose behind killing everyone belonging to the Master Program was far too firm to be described as merely beastly, but that was something the boss didn’t need to know.
“The fact that these creatures have appeared means your era is coming to an end. It’s those behind you who I speak of.”
“I will never…”
Riena’s anger flared at the boss’s mocking remarks pointing at her, but she couldn’t continue her sentence.
Someone had moved their hand and grabbed her shoulder.
‘Since we have to fight anyway, no need to waste breath.’
The one listening to the boss was stopping Riena. Though his expression was hidden behind a mask, she understood what his words meant and nodded.
“Is your preparation complete? Then disappear!”
The boss confirmed his intent and smiled wickedly. Simultaneously, the Skeleton Dragon spread its wings wide and unleashed a powerful cold breath forward.
*
‘Is this even possible?’
As I maneuvered the character and barely dodged the enemy’s breath attack, I frantically looked at Riena. I could die, but she couldn’t.
Fortunately, she, possessing far superior reflexes and physical abilities than I, had already lowered her body and kicked off the ground, skillfully evading the breath attack.
“—!”
Then, she countered. A cross-shaped attack, glowing with golden light, burst forth from her drawn sword and struck the Skeleton Dragon’s body.
“How dare this creature…!”
The wing that was about to spread and take off was shattered with that one strike. With Riena’s quick judgment, the troublesome pattern of attacking while flying around in the sky was completely wiped out.
‘We’re flanking from both sides.’
I dashed in the opposite direction to redirect the enemy’s aggro while unleashing magic spells.
Fixed patterns were meaningless, so I focused all my concentration on the enemy’s movements. Fortunately, the actions signified what kind of attacks were coming.
‘Dodge.’
I jumped, rapidly hitting the jump key to avoid the Skeleton Dragon’s tail sweeping the floor. Meanwhile, it extended its sword to make a slash at Riena, but her eyes gleamed as she vertically countered the enemy’s attack, deflecting it with a blinding flash from her sword.
“Has the Light of Judgment always been this strong?”
I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. Although the original effect of Celestial Blessing’s Light of Judgment was to enhance damage, there was too great of a difference compared to the descriptions in the game.
Logically, the Light of Judgment was a manifestation of the caster’s faith. That meant Riena possessed strong faith.
“Get lost! No way!”
Our joint attack continued, and the damage kept piling up on the screaming enemy.
After dodging an enemy trying to bite her, she punched the enormous head of the Skeleton Dragon, larger than a truck, shattering its jaw, while I accurately struck the boss’s back, whose attention was diverted by Riena with my magic.
It was effectively maximizing the advantages of multiplayer.
“Ugh, Aaaah! Aaaah!”
The problem arose from there. The boss, clearly on the brink of death, suddenly let out a monstrous scream and staggered.
“—!”
‘Could it be this guy.’
I stepped in to block Riena, who was running toward me. Before our eyes, the boss was being devoured in reverse by the bugs from whom he had borrowed power.
“Where do you think you’re crawling to, you beast!”
The bugs that had been parasitizing on the Skeleton Dragon, lending it power, all stretched out simultaneously, covering the boss’s entire body.
As the boss’s power weakened, it was as if they had been waiting for this moment, and they started devouring his body in return.
‘Not happening.’
I hurriedly used a skill to hit, but the bugs’ devouring was done in an instant, as the arrogant Demon Lord, who had obtained the avatar, was consumed by the parasites.
[Cold Lord Barros (Contaminated)]
The label that had been hovering over his head changed. The writhing black parasites seized control of the boss, who raised his sword with a creaking body.
“—. –.”
At that moment, Riena stepped forward, brandishing her sword towards them.
As I saw her face, looking at me through the screen, I flinched. She naturally intended to fight and win.
As someone playing this game with her for her growth, I had no right to stop that.
‘Focus. I should at least be a meat shield.’
I hurried to follow behind her.
“Ki, this…”
The boss, whose mind had been lost to the control of the bugs, maneuvered the Skeleton Dragon to block us. Unable to bite with its broken jaw, the dragon swung its skull like a weapon, and the boss extended his arms to send the parasites wrapped around him flying like tentacles.
“–!”
Convinced that the same flanking strategy wouldn’t work against the bugs, I dashed forward rapidly, taking the tentacle attack meant for Riena. It was a gamble worth taking for the sake of achieving the most efficient victory.
Immediately, my character began moving erratically as if under a debuff. It didn’t follow my control anymore, moving aimlessly and experiencing delays.
Riena was horrified at the sight of me, but she didn’t stop. Since we hadn’t practiced coordinating at all, she seized the opportunity I created and quickly sliced off the Skeleton Dragon’s neck with a single stroke, toppling the boss to the ground.
‘We won.’
In the gradually noisy screen, I saw Riena stabbing the fallen boss with her sword and stomping on him with her glowing golden foot. With every thud of her foot on the ground, the remaining bugs were obliterated, and those that had clung to my character also fell away.