chapter 406
406 – Unexpected Intervention (2)
The manager doesn’t appear often, but this time he did something I liked.
‘Hmm…’
There was no need to continue the standoff with the Paladins.
[Reckless Charge]
[Phantom Dash]
I used my mobility skills and ran straight towards them.
“Ugh?! Running on all fours?!”
‘Why do you have to distort it like that…’
“There is no such thing as an animal!”
“Quick!! Avoid it first!”
The paladins were unable to respond to my speed at all and threw themselves into all directions of the mountain in complete confusion.
‘Running at an orc on all fours… If you distort it that much, you can freely use other skills, right?’
“Push through with shield techniques!!”
“”Yes!!””
‘I guess I’ll have to start by pestering the leader.’
I glided over to the leader of the paladins and swung my great sword.
[Gongcham (空斬) fire slash]
Oh my!
“Hmm?! When did it come-“
‘Tch… Was it shallow? I was planning on causing moderate injury.”
It split the space nicely, but it only limited to splitting the paladin’s shield of light in two.
“W-the shield is cracked?!”
“Arena’s shield is splitting!! That’s ridiculous!”
Still, the majesty of the spatial slash that gently split the golden shield, which is said to be able to withstand even an opponent one or two levels higher than oneself, was amazing even to me.
The paladins could not hide their bewilderment when the shield, which they thought could never be destroyed, split into two like a piece of paper.
Nevertheless, they encouraged each other to form a tight formation and attacked me as one body.
‘Still, the momentum has been lost.’
[Lightning walk]
Purgejik─
“Damn! It’s too fast!”
“Time is on our side! Keep the pressure on!”
[Skull Bomb]
[Fire Ball]
[Special strong acid]
If they attack you, you fall back, circle around, and use long-distance skills to reduce your stamina.
In particular, the skill of summoning a dagger made of bone from subspace and throwing it with telekinesis did an excellent job of bridging the gap between my attacks.
“Damn it! They even use rock magic?!”
“Rocks keep flying at the right time to hit!”
‘The ability revealed through the window of darkness is more effective than expected.’
The Paladins, who had become sandbags at some point, tried to overcome the situation somehow, but it was not easy.
“Damn it!! Orc magic swordsman? So you’re saying that bastard is a ‘barbarian grade’!”
“That’s ridiculous!” They’re monsters well above Class A?”
“There is no way such a monster would have been allowed to enter this dungeon! Everyone, don’t be scared!”
“Please share your stamina!”
“Calm down. Arena is watching.”
The paladins clearly mistook me for a mutant orc.
However, since the leader did not waver, the confusion quickly subsided.
“It’s a little late!! But the person who was the guide, the one with blue eyes… More than that, what on earth is that orc?”
In addition, one more paladin was added after completing the doppelganger.
I think I figured out the identity of the guide, which was fortunate.
Led by the leader who abandoned his broken shield and took out a new shield from subspace, the six paladins are slowly putting pressure on me.
‘Because my stamina and magical energy recovery are so good. Even if it’s a long-term game, it’s difficult…’
Let’s exchange arguments for about ten minutes.
Thanks to my overwhelming speed, I continued to beat them without receiving any attacks, but in fact, I was fighting with more tension than ever.
If you get caught even once by those ignorant maces and shields filled with divine power, you can suffer great damage through your defense.
And just because it wasn’t attacked, it didn’t mean there was no damage at all.
So bad ─
‘Damn… The armor is cracking, isn’t it?’
Even though my armor contained the energy of fire, it seems to have become weak to the energy of light as it merged with me.
– We are continuously exposed to a space filled with sacred light.
– The Supreme Being of Light is on guard against you with foreign energy!
‘Wow, where can there be a skeleton as kind as me?’
“Good! Arena’s energy is overwhelming him! There will definitely be a special kill reward! Let’s do our best!”
“”Yes!!””
‘You look at me like a treasure chest.’
[Window of Darkness]
‘Please come out with something good!’
However, even when I tried to use it in actual combat, the hatchet with its blade gone out was just pulled out.
‘Eray.’
I suddenly thought after throwing the ax at them.
‘Definitely… It’s hard to subdue it without killing it.’
I have already received all the rewards I had planned for today in this dungeon.
Moreover, they were constantly receiving God’s protection, and their movements were getting better.
“Woahhaha- that’s really awesome!”
“God protect us!!”
“No one can stop us!!”
‘That’s good, you guys.’
Perhaps unable to contain their indescribable excitement and joy, the Holy Knights continued to laugh despite being outnumbered.
The divine beings connected to me appear only when conditions are met, so even in this situation, they were not providing any help.
‘Uhm… It’s okay because that’s something I knew from the beginning. It must have been almost as long as that, right?’
I was dealing with them appropriately, waiting for that moment to come.
When thinking about improving the proficiency of a newly acquired skill, it was difficult to see it as just wasting time without any results because there was no partner like this to practice with.
And as if they sensed that I was buying time, the paladins began to spread out their formation left and right.
To avoid being surrounded, I widened the distance behind me. As time goes by, the physical abilities of the Paladins have gradually improved, and their speed has reached a point where they cannot easily be shaken off.
‘The sky is also blocked, so it’s difficult to escape using [High-speed flight]… I think they’ll just blow it all over.’
Just when I was starting to feel irritated, the strong signal I felt when entering the dungeon passed through my mind.
(Ilwol-ah······.)
The sweet voice echoed a few times, and then the summoning door opened and swallowed me up.
Before being sucked into the door, I raised my middle finger to the paladins.
They were astonished with disbelief when they saw me escaping the barrier set by God.
– To escape from Arena-sama’s barrier…!
– How can this be?!
– What is that giant palm for, helping the orcs?
Those were the last words the paladins uttered.
As I soon entered a space filled with darkness, I thought about the space I had just been trapped in.
‘The space is distorted so that the arena cannot go out, but it does not prevent the action itself from being performed inside. There would have been no reason why the summons could not be lifted.’
Even though I was buying time with that thought, the pleasure it gave me when things actually went as I thought was something else.
“Tick, tick, tick.”
I looked at the summoning gate for a moment.
The guy who always spit me out and disappeared as if running away was staying in his place this time.
‘Call me quickly.’
Perhaps because it heard my wish, the door that had been closed for a while opened again, returning me to the original world.
*
An hour before Yeonhee cancels Ilwol’s summons.
After entering the boss battle and fighting for about ten minutes, the ‘White Coat Alliance’ ran into an awkward situation.
“Woah, there’s a lot of stuff in the water!!”
This is because while they were steadily pushing forward with the ‘golden pastiche’, monsters they had never seen in this dungeon came towards them.
“It’s Wear Croc!!”
‘Wear Croc’, which shows off fluid swimming skills with a translucent body.
– Were Crocs, looking for an opportunity, are joining in large numbers!
As monsters joined in, the boss battle time extended to an hour.
The fact that the subjugation time has been increased by three times means that the situation is not easy.
“Crazy… Breaking into a boss fight? This is my first time experiencing these conditions.”
“There will definitely be a reward if you clear it.”
Were Crocs climbed aboard the ‘Wandering Boat’ one by one, holding spears made of water.
Even though they were much more numerous, they dared to come aboard the ship and challenge them to a duel.
A man with a crocodile’s head flashes a wry smile and flicks his tongue.
Due to the small size of the ship, only a few could come on board, but their bodies as strong as the Lizardmen and their agile movements were enough to threaten the ‘White Coat League’.
“Lee In- Jook- Yeeo- Self-“
They climbed onto the boat, fluttered their reptile-like eyelids, and muttered something unintelligible.
“What do you mean?”
“Lee In- Jo-ok- Yeeo- Self-“
“Human… Woman…”
“Ah-“
When they realized what they wanted, they immediately got goosebumps all over their bodies.
“Did those kids also have a habit of targeting women?”
“Damn… “
In the front, ‘Golden Pastiche’ is sucking up the river water, and in the back, Were Croc is attacking.
“You can do it!!”
“If we can’t overcome even this, we can’t move forward!!”
They strengthened their resolve again and engaged in a fierce battle with monsters.
“Kuhuhuhhh… Cough…!”
“Ah… I’m dying…”
After a fierce battle that lasted nearly an hour, I somehow cleared the boss battle.
Lee Yeon-hee and her colleagues who jumped out of the gate after the boss battle.
They were joined by over 50 Were Crocs and went through an ordeal they had never experienced before, but they successfully overcame it.
Of course, thanks to Fibrin and Azraelon’s performance and Castle’s protection, we regained our composure toward the end. When I think about how comfortably I ran through the dungeon with Ilwol, these were truly distant moments.
Ten minutes later.
Five female hunters were lying side by side in the lounge next to the hunter management office, catching their breath.
Embarrassed by the surprise attack, they used their magical powers more heavily than usual and fell asleep.
I stared down at that figure for a while.
‘What happened? There wouldn’t be an enemy strong enough to go through this much trouble, right? No matter how strong Were Croc is…’
“You’re here?”
“Tick, tick, tick.”
I was able to hear the story of the boss battle from Noh Hayun, who was the only one who was not sleeping, and understood the situation only after hearing that a group of various Were Crocs had invaded the boss battle.
‘Monsters invade during the boss battle? This is my first time seeing this pattern…’
It is common sense that other monsters cannot enter the area where the boss battle takes place, but now even that rule is about to be broken.
‘You worked hard. I didn’t want you to grow up through this much hardship.’
I felt sorry for no reason.
“Just…”
“Silwol…”
After some time, Yeonhee woke up and looked up at me and smiled.
Everyone looked quite tired, but looking at the satisfied expressions of the colleagues who had recovered, it seemed like there was a clear result.
(Please help me understand why these stupid humans don’t want to use you. Ilwol.)
Azrael Ron licked the cheek of Ham Eun-young, who was still unable to wake up, then tilted her head and asked.
‘It’s training, it’s training. In order to become stronger, you sometimes go to strong people or cliff climbs on your own. That’s what it feels like. Do you know what I mean?’
(How did you know that I was wandering the demon world looking for the strong?!)
‘······.’
I once again asked Azraelon, who distorted my words into what he wanted to hear, to protect the children.
(Hmm- The only one I protect is Eunyoung. The rest is none of my business!)
Even so, I heard that a lot of energy was wasted for our party.
I asked about one thing I was curious about while watching the tsundere cat.
‘Azra, do you know a guy named Merothena?’