NOVEL WEB
Chapter 74
Suho’s powers as Querehsha’s shaman immediately manifested. Working in sync with Kandiaru’s Blessing, not only was he immune to poison, but he could also handle toxins with ease and even incorporate them into his attacks.
Since I can manipulate with great freedom, can I do things like this? Suho stretched his hand out toward Miho and Taegyu.
[Blessing: “Poison Mastery” has activated.]
The poisonous mist scattered by the exploding bees began to dissolve upon contact with the light emitted by Suho.
“Is that a detoxification skill?!”
“Suho! Are you a healer, not a summoner?” Miho asked, looking perplexed. Almost every ability Suho had demonstrated so far seemed to be unrelated to healing.
Taegyu, on the contrary, was buoyed by the new development. “You should’ve mentioned it earlier! Can you detoxify the poison inside of me?” The healer from the Fiend Guild had failed to detoxify him, but Suho’s skills seemed special.
[Poison that was not ingested by the player cannot be detoxified.]
However, the poison afflicting Taegyu wasn’t Minsung’s royal jelly but Arsha’s.
I should have taken a sip of that poison Arsha gave me. But there’s no time for regrets. “Detoxification will have to wait. First, let’s deal with these insects,” Suho said.
As they prepared to attack, arrows began flying from all directions. The Contaminated Ghouls that had been hiding suddenly emerged to launch an attack on Suho and his companions.
“I’ll take care of the ghouls!” Miho leaped forward, slamming her fist into the ground. Violent Quake! A circular wave of mana emanated from her fist as she struck the ground.
The Contaminated Ghouls, as if possessed, all turned simultaneously and lunged at Miho.
Following suit, Taegyu rushed forward, ready to fight by her side.
However, he was struggling to cope with the fact that the beasts were once his hunters. They had followed his lead and looked up to him like younger siblings. Needing to kill every one of them was a heavy burden.
“Minsung! What do you want from all of this?” Taegyu exploded in frustration, shouting angrily at his old friend who was hiding somewhere.
“All I want is for things to go back to how they were.”
To Taegyu’s surprise, Minsung’s voice echoed from all directions as if every bee swarming the beehive was speaking for him.
“Minsung! Where are you?! Stop hiding like a coward and come out this instant!” Taegyu said, scanning his surroundings.
“I was...” The bees swirled together in an instant, forming the shape of a human. “...never hiding.”
As Minsung descended, the entire area fell silent as if time had come to a halt.
“Minsung! I’ll handle this!” Taegyu gritted his teeth and lunged at Minsung, who was staring back at him without emotion.
Miho urgently shouted, “It’s dangerous to fight him alone!”
But Taegyu didn’t stop. Even without mana, he believed that he could overpower Minsung with sheer strength. This was the difference in rank that Minsung had envied so much. However...
“Arrogant fool.” Minsung chuckled as he dispersed into numerous bees.
Taegyu’s fist cut through the empty air in vain.
Minsung reformed into a human shape behind Taegyu.
Taegyu swiftly turned and attacked Minsung again with his incredible reflexes, but the villain scattered into the wind once more. In a matter of seconds, numerous attacks were exchanged, but they all ended in the same way.
Suddenly, Taegyu found himself surrounded by dozens of copies of Minsung. “What’s going on?!”
Soon, sharp spears extended from their hands as they transformed into beasts that resembled Arsha’s lancers. As the battle continued, more copies of Minsung transformed into lancers.
Taegyu, bewildered, tried his best to avoid the relentless onslaught.
“Quite impressive.”
“I’m surprised you can fight this well since you can’t use your mana.”
“A damaged S-rank is still an S-rank, huh?”
Minsung’s copies taunted Taegyu.
“Young Monarch.” Beru gazed at Suho.
Suho lifted his head and looked toward the sky. “It’s all an illusion.” No, it’s mimicry.
Minsung was just a worker bee, so he lacked the ability to create lancers like Arsha could. If he could, the ghouls Miho was facing would have been lancers instead. The ghouls were his failed attempts to mimic the queen bee. The creatures Taegyu was facing were actually bees banded together to create the illusion of Contaminated Lancers.
“Beru, where is the real Lee Minsung?”
“I apologize, but the bees are aimlessly buzzing around, disrupting my senses.” Beru had been tirelessly tapping his antennae to track down the villain’s whereabouts.
“Let me help. ” Suho lifted his head, surveying the bees that filled his field of vision. I wonder what they taste like.
Having recently feasted on Querehsha’s insects, the creatures before him seemed like a familiar delicacy.
[Title: “Natural Enemy of Insects” buff effect has been activated.]
The bees, buzzing around in confusion, trembled with fear. Pressure from a natural predator had awakened their instincts for survival.
[Title: Natural Enemy of Insects]
[It’s a title given to the predator of insects. When facing insect-type monsters, all stats increase by 40%.]
Suho swiftly crossed his swords, and an immense aura emanated from Rakan’s Fang in his right hand.
[Skill: “Scorn of the Weak” has activated.]
[Effect: “Fear” has been activated.]
[The target’s stats are reduced by 50% for 1 minute.]
Rakan’s Fang induced a state of terror in weaker opponents. When this effect was combined with Natural Enemy of Insects, an incredible synergy erupted. Suho’s blades were also imbued with the essence of the wind.
[Skill: “Storm Slash” has activated.]
A whirlwind of tremendous force, palpable even to Suho himself, wrapped around him. He began to spin his entire body, wielding his swords like a giant windmill.
A fiercely violent storm engulfed the bees, swallowing them all at once. Even the imitation lancers surrounding and pressuring Taegyu were engulfed in the storm.
[Contaminated Hornet has been defeated.]
[Contaminated Hornet has been defeated.]
[Contaminated Hornet has been defeated.]
[Contaminated Hornet has been defeated.]
Countless bees were ripped apart as if they had passed through a grinder. An overwhelming flood of messages poured in endlessly. Alongside them, another system message also appeared.
[Skill: The level of “Storm Slash” has increased!]
How is this power possible?! Hastily escaping the storm’s influence, Taegyu turned around, astonished. Wasn’t he a healer?
Suho resembled neither a summoner nor a healer, which made Taegyu feel like his knowledge was shattering into pieces. Naturally, he was unaware of Suho’s title buffs and debuff effects that increased his power.
“Wait, what happened to Minsung?” Startled, Taegyu quickly turned to check where Minsung had been.
His copies had scattered and vanished in the storm.
As a momentary stillness took over after the storm, Beru shouted, “I Found him!”
Suho’s sword leaped forward menacingly, slashing through the air. The empty space he attacked began to crumble into pieces as if something was beneath it.
“You found me quite easily.”
Ominous eyes peered through the gaps of the hidden space. Minsung slowly walked out but his appearance was different from before.
[Queen Bee’s Lancer]
Not contaminated, I see, Suho thought.
Unlike the Contaminated Lancers they had encountered so far, Minsung appeared as an uncontaminated lancer—a humanoid soldier, fully clad in armor. His aura was more formidable than any lancer he had faced so far, likely due to his A-rank.
“For someone who wasn’t hiding, you were well hidden.” Suho teased.
“It’s beneath a king to appear in my servants’ playground,” Minsung said mockingly.
He’s strong... Suho sensed he wasn’t like the other beasts he had encountered so far.
However, he was much weaker than the deceased Monarchs he’d bested. Having already encountered Querehsha, Suho’s spirit remained unbroken in the face of Minsung’s overwhelming presence.
However, Miho and Taegyu’s reactions were different.
“Th-this is unbelievable...”
“How did he become so powerful?”
Minsung was Arsha’s ultimate soldier, one that she spent enormous effort and time on. An overpowering aura emanated from him, having been made for battle, instilling a profound sense of despair. fre(e)
Miho’s instincts were sharper than anyone else, and she clearly felt Minsung’s colossal presence.
For Taegyu, it was a sense of humiliation. “Ugh. If only I could use mana...” No matter how strong Minsung had become, he believed that he could defeat him if he was at full strength.
“Let’s combine our strength,” Suho said, unfazed by the villain’s aura.
“What?” Taegyu was confused by the suggestion.
“Come again?” So was Miho.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Then should we just run?”
Any shred of wanting to retreat to regroup was crushed by Suho’s words.
“Our formation is a mess right now, so let’s just overwhelm him all at once.” Suho’s strategy was straightforward. “He’s good at hiding, so let’s start by tearing off his wings so he can’t escape, and then let’s all gang up on him until he’s defeated.”
Minsung laughed at the simplicity. “How pitiful. Do you think you can take me on? You are in the presence of the new Monarch of Plagues!”
“The new Monarch of Plagues?” Suho scoffed at him. “She didn’t taste that good though.”
Minsung suddenly felt uneasy before Suho. His dismissive attitude appeared sincere enough to make him shiver.
[Querehsha observes Minsung’s misguided choice to confront the formidable Suho, scoffing and shaking her head in amusement.]
“What will your poison taste like?” Suho smiled sinisterly.