Chapter 43. Event Dungeon (6)
As we walked further forward, the forest became more and more like a vast plain. How could a forest become a plain?
It was simple. You just had to put a bunch of spiders in the forest along with Mastiford. With that, you"ll be able to see the forest become a plain with your very eyes. More precisely, the forest would become a field of ash.
"Mastiford-ssi, are you fine on mana?"
"Yea, light flames like these don"t use up much mana. Impressive, right?"
"Yeah, it"s impressive."
"H-Hmph! Even if you honestly praise my ability now, I have no intention of letting you enter my organization!"
"No, I"m telling you, I don"t want to."
"Why!?"
"I wonder why." I mumbled.
Why were all girls around me so strange? There was Yua, who was strange as her cuteness went beyond the realm of humans, Palludia, who after seeing me only once 4 years ago, shamelessly asked me to climb to the 25th floor in just three months, Su Ye-Eun, who had a bigger monsterphobia than ordinary people even with her cheaty stealth ability, and Mastiford, who I couldn"t tell if she wanted to fight me or draw me into her organization… and Loretta too.
Loretta was too complicated a person, no, elf, to describe in just one sentence.
"Mm?"
Mastiford who was excitedly setting the forest ablaze suddenly frowned.
"It won"t burn."
"Where? Oh."
It was true. In contrast to the barren surroundings, there was one area of black trees where her flames could not invade. She tried once again using her sun-yellow flame, but it was only enough to burn a few branches of the trees. The black trees were clearly special.
Suddenly, black smoke began to rise amongst the trees. It was as if the trees were calling us.
"Mastiford-ssi, we should go in. It doesn"t look like we can burn them."
"B-But! What if a spider falls from above!?"
"Then just burn the spider to your heart"s content."
"Eeek! You think I won"t!?"
She became angry at my words and produced a white flame this time. I was curious what rank her different colored flames were cla.s.sified as, but I decided to just watch for now.
The white flame she shot out flew like an arrow and seemed to envelope the entire forest, but before we noticed, it suddenly disappeared. It was almost like…
"I don"t think your flames are the problem. Doesn"t it look like the trees are absorbing the mana?"
"You"re right. The trees got bigger too."
With that, Mastiford bit on her lips, drawing blood. She then used the blood to draw something on her palm.
"Tsk. I"m forced to use a skill. Hmph, I don"t like it. Go, Flame Beast!"
I doubted my eyes. Blue flames erupted from her palm and took the form of a tiger as big as the giant spider from before.
"If you had a skill like that, why didn"t you use it before?"
"I have to concentrate to use it, so I couldn"t use it staring at the spiders."
"Don"t say that so proudly!"
The giant blue flame tiger wagged its tail once, then ran toward the black tree forest. Meanwhile, we dealt with the spiders appearing from the flat earth. As they did not appear from hard-to-see trees, but from an open field, we didn"t even break a sweat dealing with them.
When the tiger reached the forest, it swiped at the tree with its huge front paw. This time, there was a reaction! As the attack wasn"t purely made of mana, containing some of the tiger"s physical strength, the tree broke and fell. The tiger seemed excited as it set its fire ablaze and rampaged. Suddenly, however, something swooped down and pounced on the tiger.
"Ah, Cutie!"
"It has a name!?"
I wanted to ask just what part of that 4 meter tall tiger was cute, but now was not the time. A spider leg that suddenly popped out from the black trees had pierced the tiger"s body. The huge spider leg, which looked sharper than blades, then dealt a second and third blow without giving the tiger any chance to escape. In the end, the tiger disappeared into flames. Mastiford"s eyes were set aflame.
"You dare kill my Cutie, I won"t forgive you! I shall transform a piece of my soul into an undefeatable army! Army of Flames!"
Mastiford chanted in rage. Although I thought the chant was cringy, father thought it was cool. Soon, the temperature around us shot up, and flame incarnations like the tiger Cutie began to appear around us. Tiger, lion, bear, wolf, leopard, elephant, eagle, hawk, owl… the entire animal kingdom was here.
"Oh, it"s the animal kingdom."
To my dismay, father had thought the exact same thing. Mastiford quickly turned around and glared at father, then ordered the animal king… the Army of Flames.
"Burn up all the spiders in that forest!"
The animal army answered with their own cries and charged at the forest. Seeing the army, I understood why she was an SS-rank ability user. Who could possibly fight an army of intelligent flame incarnations? If they were my enemies, the result would be tragic.
Just like that, the rampage of the animal army began. Their goal, to destroy the forest. If this was a movie, it would undoubtedly be a blockbuster. An army of animals destroying the environment and the flame witch commanding them.
But there was one animal who did not join in on the environmental destruction, but was instead wagging its tail on Mastiford"s shoulder. The other animals were white or red, but this one was made of blue flames. Mastiford seemed to have noticed my gaze as she said, "Isn"t my Cutie cute?"
"Is it the same one?"
"Yeah. It"s smaller now because it was reverse-summoned once."
When it was big, it looked like a tiger. Now that it was small, it was more like a cat. Flame Witch and her pet flame cat. It was the perfect picture.
Kuk, for someone who looked like an evil witch commanding her demon soldiers, how could she look so lovely now…? I shook my head and looked away to prevent myself from being sucked in by her charming appearance. My body then stiffened.
Rather than shrinking, the black forest was expanding!
The barren ground became dyed in black. Seeds sprouted up and grew to black trees in an instant. The black earth continued to expand and approached where we were. Although the animal army roared and set the trees on fire, spider webs that endlessly shot out from the trees restrained them as sharp spider legs cut them in half. Every time the army went down in number, the black forest"s rate of expansion was increasing.
[Kiyaaaaa!]
A deafening shriek rang out from the forest. At the same time, a killing intent sharper than razor blades shot out toward us. There was no doubt. The owner of the forest had locked onto us.
"Mastiford-ssi, cancel your skill! They"re only fertilizer for the forest at this point!"
"Unni, hurry!"
"Kuuuk… Sorry, guys! Big Bang!"
Our shouts and Mastiford"s judgement were both swift. The moment she yelled Big Bang, an explosive boom rang out. It was undoubtedly a self-destruction skill. All the animals besides Cutie, who was standing on Mastiford"s shoulder, had exploded!
The result was enough to instantly shrink the expanding forest. At the same time, a sharp shriek flew out.
[Kiyaaaaa!]
"Everyone prepare for battle! Minami-ssi, protect Mastiford-ssi!"
"G-Got it! Haap, Guardian!"
Minami shouted something and she began to shine with a golden light. I was curious as to what skill she used, but I decided not to look her way as the light was almost blinding.
Father and I stood on guard on the left and right side respectfully when suddenly something flew toward us.
[It"s poisonous! The spider web is poisonous!]
"It"s poisonous, be careful everyone!"
Thanking Peika for warning me, I punched at the spider web and burned it up with Peika"s lightning. Not one or two streams of spider webs, but hundreds flew toward us consecutively. d.a.m.n, if collected, there were enough to make several shirts!
Mastiford also created a few b.a.l.l.s of flames in mid air, and was freely controlling them to burn up incoming spider webs. Father consecutively shot out light shockwaves and exploded spider webs mid flight. Watching it, I realized people"s abilities could be used in various ways. I thought to develop new ways to use my ability as an Elementalist.
By the time all the spider webs had been leisurely taken care of, someone"s voice flowed out.
[Ah, humans. I finally meet you.]
Because the voice was so sweet, I stopped moving for an instant. Where was this voice coming from? Who"s was it? I was shaking just by hearing the voice.
[Come, come to my embrace.]
I raised my head. Everyone else did so as well. That"s where the owner of the voice was.
From beyond the burnt up trees, the abdomen of a spider appeared. It was slightly bigger than the giant spider from before at about 5 meters, but on the place where the spider"s thorax should be, there was something one would not expect to see on a spider.
[Spider Den"s boss monster, Arachne, appeared! Defeating Arachne and clearing the dungeon will grant special rewards!]
[Come, hurry. I will give you everything you desire.]
"A girl…?" Father quietly whispered.
Yes, it was a human. An extremely beautiful one at that. She had flowing black hair and a pair of big eyes. The irises which carried a web shape left a deep impression.
It was a beauty that could not exist in reality. A mystical, illusionary beauty.
She had the power to grasp people"s attention and not let go. Without wearing any clothes, her seductive figure was hard to describe with words…!
[Master, snap out of it!]
The moment Peika"s shout rang out in my head, I bit down on my cheek. Although it bled, it roused me completely. Thinking that I was about to run into its embrace, I couldn"t help but get gooseb.u.mps all over me. Not to mention, the temptation had not ended yet!
However, with my years of experience as an explorer, I knew what I had to do now. It was something that never let me down once!
"Ut!? Who"d fall for it!? A mere monster, you"re a hundred years too early to try and seduce me!"
[You used Orc Lord"s Warcry! All party members are cleansed of negative status effects. All party members" attack power increases by 50 percent for the duration. All party members become super-armored, unfazed by enemy attacks.]
In that instant, my somewhat hazy mind became clear. The girl on the spider"s abdomen was certainly beautiful, but it was still a monster. How could anyone be mesmerized by a girl with a spider body and spider legs!?
"W-What!? I, just what happened?"
"M-Monster! It"s a monster!"
"… Huk! W-Wife! I"m sorry!"
Father, we"re going to need to have a deep conversation about this later!
Chapter 44. Event Dungeon (7)
After questioning what thoughts father had in my mind, I urged everyone on.
"Attack! Now!"
"D-Did you do that, Yeon Hwawoo?"
"Less questions, more attacking!"
With that, I charged at Arachne. Warcry lasted for 5 minutes. If we couldn"t defeat Arachne in 5 minutes, her charm would likely wipe us out.
"I-I don"t have mana right now! I used it all up exploding the army!"
"Are you really SS-ranked!?"
"Hey, we wouldn"t be doing so well without me! I"m recovering, so wait!"
It was true that she played a big role. Arachne"s most feared weapon, the Black Forest, was restricted for now. The huge explosion from just now seemed to have reached Arachne too, as one of her legs were missing and green goo was coming out of what should be a hard carapace.
That said, Mastiford was a magician. Shouldn"t she have learned how to manage her mana from the time she spent exploring the dungeon? For someone with such a powerful ability, she wasted too much energy in using her skills. In a way, her ability was something that went beyond her league.
For the record, Arachne"s bodily fluid sizzled upon contact with the air and rose up as smoke. It was poisonous as well!
[Kiaaaaaak!]
What sounded like the singing of a beautiful voice was now nothing more than a monster"s roar. At the same time, two of Arachne"s legs flew toward us. I instinctively knew that if I was. .h.i.t, I"d die! The gooseb.u.mps I instantly received urged me on. Using Divine Speed, I charged past its attacking legs and sent a punch toward its upper body.
[Kiaaak!]
"Letting a grappler approach, it"s over! Thunder Beast!"
Since I used 20 percent of my mana with Divine Speed, I could only maintain Thunder Beast for 80 seconds. The moment I activated Thunder Beast, the lightning that was staying in my gauntlet expanded to cover my entire body. I could feel it strengthening my muscles and nerves. I could tell that this powerful ability had at least doubled my overall power.
From the outside, I looked like I was simply shining, as if I was shooting out lightning from my body. So that"s why it"s called Thunder Beast! To anyone looking at me, I probably looked more like a lightning beast than human.
[Master, something is forcefully taking my power!]
"Just hold on a little, Peika. I"ll end it soon!"
[O-Okay, I"ll do my best. Do Master"s best too!]
With Peika"s cute voice cheering me on, I struck my lightning clad fist on Arachne"s face. Although it looked like a weak woman"s face from the outside, there was not even a scratch, as expected of a boss.
In fact, Arachne screamed and tried to bite down on my fist. At the same time, she raised her two legs to attack me. Thankfully, father was there to stop it.
"You dare seduce me, when I have a wife!? I"ll take your silk and make my wife and Yua a dress! Mega Wavelance!"
Father seemed to have used a major skill as Arachne screamed as her huge eyes trembled. Using this opening, I quickly wrapped my legs around her waist. Although she was a monster, I had still come in close contact with a naked woman"s body. As such, her sweet scent and soft skin distracted me. After seeing this, father shouted, "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I"ll tell Yua about this!"
"Shut it, Kang Yungoong-nim!"
"Can you not make it obvious that we"re father and son!?" After shouting at father, I continuously punched Arachne"s fair face. Tactile feeling aside, she was still a monster! Her beautiful looks made me feel like I was doing something inhumane, but I chose to ignore it.
[Kiaaaaaaa!]
"Don"t open your mouth, your spit"s getting on my fist!"
Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!
After continually pummeling her face with all my strength, Arachne"s face finally tore up from the heightened impact from Thunder Beast, and poisonous blood began to shoot out.
However, the lightning enveloping my entire body did not let the poison reach me in the slightest. I continued to punch her to do as much damage as I could before the time ran out. At the same time, just in case I couldn"t finish her off in the time frame I had, I did not forget to prepare the highest-grade Health and Mana Potions I had.
[Kiaaaaaaaa!]
Arachne seemed frustrated that she was unable to do anything as she wildly shook her human arms to attack me. Although they looked like a frail girl"s arms, the impact they had upon hitting my armor was indescribably painful. Although they weren"t as strong as her spider legs, they were as strong as my own arms. Furthermore, as time went on and she realized the life-threatening situation she was in, she crazily shot out spider webs from her bottom half.
The streams of spider webs flying out in all directions then joined into a single large stream and attacked father and me. As we were both super-armored, receiving the attack didn"t hinder our movements by much. That said, we would still be injured. At that moment…
"Uuu, if I collapse from anemia, it"s you two"s fault! Cutie, hold out a little longer!" Mastiford shouted.
As if to prove the saying that "a diamond on a dunghill was still a diamond," Mastiford made her final move. I felt something flying past my shoulders like an arrow. At the same time, the poisonous spider webs that were attacking me were burnt up and disappeared.
Not only that, a white ball of flame that was flying through the air struck Arachne"s body, making her cry out in pain. In just this short moment, Mastiford had recovered enough mana to use another skill! Although she was regretful in some areas, her ability was undoubtedly shocking.
In truth, I almost fell for Mastiford who managed to play such a pivotal role even after using skill after skill. Thankfully, I held on with Warcry"s effect. As I thought, love was a status effect! It wasn"t normal! I converted all of my emotions into rage as I pummeled Arachne.
"Haaaaaa! Diediediediediedie!"
[Kiaaaaaaak!]
"Die! Wave Gatling!"
It was the moment where I found out from who exactly that I inherited my harsh tongue. Father and I both yelled out crudely as we beat up Arachne. She in turn screamed and thrashed about with her two human arms and five spider legs. In response, I used Dragon Skin. When Arachne hit my body, her eyes opened wide in pain.
[Kiik! Kiiik!]
"Yep, that"s what I wanted to hear! A mere arthropod should not try to seduce a human! You"re 5 million years too early for that! Die!"
I considered using Dark Thunder Explosion, but I saved it in case an Event Raid broke out afterwards. Plus, I felt it wasn"t necessary now either.
Because of Dragon Skin, the speed brought up by Thunder Beast was halved. Even so, I was fast enough that Arachne could not dodge me. My fists hardened by Dragon Skin had more than enough destructive power to make up for the decrease in speed.
Eventually, the end arrived. My fists pummeling her face finally penetrated skin and broke her bones.
[Kiii!]
The headless Arachne let out a short shriek and went limp. I finally got up from my mounted position and deactivated Thunder Beast. The party members then eased their tension after knowing the boss fight had ended.
"Whew, haaa…. I"m exhausted."
"Good job, so… Yeon Hwawoo!"
"Nice finish!"
"You looked cool!"
The moment the Thunder Beast"s effect went away, exhaustion swept over me. I felt like collapsing in place. The drained mana gave me a headache and the overexertion of my body made my muscles convulse. Dragon Skin was the only thing keeping me from falling on my knees.
When I tried to pull my hand out of Arachne"s head, I felt something in the way. When I dug through its brain and looked, a Bluestone glowing deep-blue came out. Although it was small, its brilliance was incomparable to the giant spider"s. I suddenly felt strength in my body again. With sparkling eyes, I showed everyone the Bluestone.
"Oh, this looks expensive! Everyone, look!"
"Hey, I know it"s a monster, but you shouldn"t dig through a beautiful woman"s head like that…"
"Mastiford-ssi, you yourself called it a monster. Don"t be so picky…"
"You were cool, Yeon Hwawoo-nim! Really cool! You were like the incarnation of Takemikazuchi1!"
Unlike Mastiford who gasped and backed away, Minami applauded me with sparkly eyes. I didn"t know what Takemikazuchi was, but I let it be since it sounded like a compliment. I gave her a thumbs up and slid down Arachne"s body. I then saw father rubbing his chin while staring at Arachne"s leg that he had ripped off. When he saw me looking at him in antic.i.p.ation, he knocked on the leg"s carapace with his spear and said, "This. Don"t you think it would taste great if you fry it? Like crabs."
"It"s poisonous!"
He calmly said something I never would have imagined. Then, a fanfare suddenly rang out.
[You defeated the Event Dungeon boss monster, Arachne!]
[100,000 gold is distributed evenly amongst party members. You received 25,000 gold.]
[Kang Shin-nim"s contribution is the highest. Choose your reward.]
[1. Arachne"s Silk Dress
2. Arachne"s Black Earthen Spear
3. Arachne"s Cobweb Earrings
4. Arachne"s Cobweb Bracelet]
Gasp! My contribution was the highest!? I definitely thought Mastiford would have the highest contribution. Now that I thought about it, although Mastiford showed great firepower throughout the dungeon, the only damage she did to Arachne was through the initial explosion and Cutie"s final attack.
She would have high contribution points, but it seemed it wasn"t higher than mine, as I dealt most of the damage against Arachne and even dealt the final blow.
As expected, Mastiford was complaining.
"What? Who has the highest contribution? Why isn"t it me?"
"It"s me, Mastiford-ssi."
"Mmm, if it"s you, then… though I don"t want to admit it…"
Thankfully, it seemed other people couldn"t see the [Kang Shin-nim"s contribution…] message. I had forgotten about it, but my real name would have been found out.
After answering Mastiford, I slowly examined the reward list. Perhaps because it was an Event Dungeon, or because all four of us made good contributions, all four items seemed excellent.
That said, I knew the items higher up on the list were better than the ones below. Since the dress and earrings were likely for females only, I had to choose either the spear or the bracelet. I glanced at father. His weapon was the Silver Spear just like mine. I wondered if I should give father the spear under the "elder"s first" spirit.
"Alright."
I contemplated for about 0.01 seconds before I picked the Black Earthen Spear without hesitation. I then quickly stuffed it into my inventory so father wouldn"t see it. It was the perfect crime.
j.a.panese G.o.d of thunder ↩