Chapter 132
Chapter 132
I wore a fairly surprised expression. I hadn't expected them to be able to catch it.
“How did you catch it? Did that bony dragon have osteoporosis or something?”
Jung Oh-hoon replied to my words.
— What the hell are you saying, you bastard? I thought I was going to die!
I didn't think the probability of Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon catching this dragon bag of bones was that high. In truth, it wasn't exactly a weakling.
I had used a slightly cheap method of slipping inside the creature's body and shattering only the core.
However, that wasn't a method Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon could take. Anyway, that wasn't what was important.
“Don't break the idol yet.”
The fight we were currently engaged in wasn't one where we could seize victory by smashing everything immediately as it appeared.
We had to drag out time while extracting maximum efficiency.
We had to aim for the moment when we broke all the corrupted idols at once to smash the teleportation jamming devices in a batch, allowing Ramin to replenish a massive number of troops and launch a counterattack.
— I know that too. I'm just leaving it alone.
The corrupted idols secured by Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon had to be saved for later, when more time had passed and the monsters Ramin's troops faced became too strong.
Every time an idol was broken, the strength of the enhanced monsters would reset. We had to make the most of that benefit.
“It's very good news that the two of you can handle a Bone Dragon.”
While giving instructions to Ramin, I heard about the method the two used to smash the thick-boned dragon.
“So it's a kind of railgun, then.”
Han Sang-ah would charge Jung Oh-hoon's rifle with electricity. Meanwhile, Jung Oh-hoon desperately drew the Bone Dragon's attention.
Afterward, when Han Sang-ah finished charging and threw the rifle to Jung Oh-hoon, he would use that rifle to fire a bayonet.
It was a collaboration between Han Sang-ah's electricity and Jung Oh-hoon's ultimate skill, Bayonet Fighter.
They said it was a victory obtained after repeating this several times.
— There's never been a struggle like this. I thought I was gonna die. Why is it so strong?
It's dragon bones. It would be strange if it were weak.
— If I tear off some of those bones, would it be worth money?
“It'll be worth money. But don't be too greedy.”
If you take too much, the load becomes too heavy. Anyway, Jung Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah also faced a Bone Dragon in front of an idol, just like me.
In other words, it meant there was a high possibility that all the remaining corrupted idols were guarded by Bone Dragons.
“Since you've won once,”
It meant there was a high possibility of winning even if they fought again. They had already succeeded in creating their own strategy.
Then there was no reason to join up. I would continue wandering the cave alone to secure teleportation jamming devices and corrupted idols, while Jung Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah worked as a team to do the same.
— Oh dear, won't you be lonely?
Jung Oh-hoon said a word after hearing my opinion. I clicked my tongue and replied.
“Why, is your heart fluttering because you're alone with Han Sang-ah?”
Jung Oh-hoon replied firmly to my words.
— I'm sorry, but being with her makes my head feel strange, not my heart.
Han Sang-ah must have been right next to him, yet the reply came back instantly.
— Do you need Tylenol?
Jung Oh-hoon fell silent at Han Sang-ah's words.
“Hey, stop the comedy and get to work quickly.”
There was no time for that. We were planning to take a little rest after clearing this Erosion Core, so play then.
“I think we'll need additional reinforcements around now.”
I checked the 3D map and spoke to Ramin.
“Reinforce additional troops.”
— The speed is too slow. It's a close call. You need to pick up the pace a bit more.
It was a situation where I was intentionally controlling the reinforcements. From the perspective of a commander on the battlefield, I was certain he would strongly dislike what I was doing right now.
I was literally draining the energy of the fighting troops to the bone while maintaining them so they wouldn't collapse.
“I'm sorry. Please wait just a bit longer.”
There was no reason to tell Ramin about the situation over here. I just had to say that we were also working hard and to endure a little longer.
In fact, what would he do if he didn't endure? It wasn't like there was anything he could do. And it wasn't that we weren't hurrying.
Even right now, I was sprinting through the dark cave so hard my legs couldn't be seen, smashing everything I encountered. It's not like we were sitting on a mat eating kimbap and sandwiches.
I was busy as hell. Even while fighting, I had to check that damn 3D map, and in the meantime, I was dealing with all sorts of hideous corpses and insects, including creaking dragon bones that were alive.
“And this probably isn't the end.”
After returning to the middle and breaking one teleportation jamming device to replenish Ramin's troops, I fell into thought.
The gimmick of an Erosion Core could be summarized by a famous villain's line from an old cartoon.
Don't think it ends with this.
“Agh, don't bother me.”
A large centipede crawled over and pounced on me. I grabbed its front teeth, broke them, and drove them into its forehead, causing the centipede to squirm grotesquely before curling its body and dying.
Similar moments continued after that. Killing monsters, destroying teleportation jamming devices, narrowly commanding Ramin's troops, and replenishing them at the vital moments.
And destroying the corrupted idols.
“23 of them?”
The number of teleportation jamming devices we had secured in this cave so far was a whopping 23. That meant there were approximately 230,000 troops that could be replenished for Ramin.
“It's too many.”
It was excessively many. However, there was no way this Erosion Core would work in a way that was favorable to us.
The fact that we could utilize 230,000 troops meant we had to assume something so massive was about to happen that it would be impossible to push through even with that many heads.
“Because....”
This damn world had almost never been helpful to me. I was a fairly unlucky bastard.
— I found the last idol. But I think you need to help us with this one, Chan-seok. It feels different from the others.
Upon receiving the contact, I immediately followed the markings Jung Oh-hoon left and headed toward his location while speaking.
“First, you leave a mark and back off, then get ready to blow up the teleportation jamming equipment. Then, when I give the signal, you smash them all.”
The idol Jung Oh-hoon found was the last one. Once that was broken, Ramin would start his counterattack immediately.
This gimmick would end, and the next gimmick would begin.
Arriving near the location Jung Oh-hoon mentioned, I stopped my footsteps.
“Wow, this is nasty.”
I put a little strength into the hand holding the spear. I felt a distinct difference in power compared to the Bone Dragons I had faced to break the corrupted idols before.
The last one remaining, that's what it was. I slowly moved my steps. In a space carved from the cave to be flat, a large table and four chairs were placed.
A moldy, grimy teddy bear sat on a chair. And in front, a girl wearing a black robe was visible.
“Ah, a guest!”
“Oh, shit.”
It was an undead. A lich, at that. It wasn't the level of a skeleton wearing a rag like a robe acting like a lich.
It was a real lich. Its state of preservation was also perfect. Looking at its appearance alone, it looked so perfectly human that one could only describe it as a small girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.
And that kind of appearance was like a certificate proving it was a powerful undead.
“Nice to meet you.”
The girl stood up, smiled at me, and walked beside the table. The hem of her long robe swept the floor.
As the hem of the robe swept the floor, red lumps like mud poured out following the robe's movement and pooled on the ground. Faint groans echoed from inside the red puddles.
Something resembling hands, eyes, and mouths popped out from under the bubbling swamp and were sucked back in repeatedly.
“It’s not nice for me.”
At my words, the girl burst into laughter and looked at me. Her blue eyes were like glass beads, but they were dull as if covered in thick dust.
Her eyes were looking at me expressionlessly, but only her mouth was smiling.
“My toys. You broke them all. What should I play with from now on?”
“I don't know. Go out and play. See the sunlight, make some friends.”
From under the robe, black tar like liquid dripped down. It was a resentment so intense that just looking at it made my face scowl.
“In your common terms, I'm a homebody. I don't really like moving around.”
When the creature laughed, thousands of voices inside her robe burst into laughter all at once.
Ordinary people would have died from that laughter. Even hunters with some skill would have been frozen in fear.
“Hmm? You seem to be okay.”
Instead of answering, I flared up the fire on the spear in my hand and pushed mana into the crown I held. The Paradoxical Flame flickered at the tip of the spear, and a light of authority that weakened the undead radiated from the crown in my left hand.
“I'm fine. You're the one who's about to be not fine.”
“Oh my, what a joke. It's a bit bright, won't you turn off that fire?”
Exposed to the light of the crown, the lich frowned slightly and wore an expression as if the light were blinding. At a glance, it seemed as if she were unaffected by the crown's power.
“No need to bluff.”
But that wasn't it. She was intentionally acting as if it were nothing. The power of the crown certainly weakened the strength of the lich standing before me.
“You're quick on the uptake. Ahem, first,”
The lich said so and bowed slightly.
“It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Parhel, the High Priest of Valea and the Feudatory of Gonsalok. My acquaintances call me Purgatory. Thank you for coming all this way and....”
Before the words were finished, I kicked off the ground and charged, thrusting my spear at her throat. Parhel stopped what she was about to say. A red lump that popped out from under her robe became a wall and blocked my attack.
It was a wall where bones, eyeballs, teeth, and limbs were grotesquely tangled and squirming. A small voice was heard from beyond that horrific wall.
“I was in the middle of introducing myself. Where did you leave your manners?”
“The only manners I have for a corpse is the wine I'll pour on its grave.”
Once you return to being a corpse that doesn't move again, I'll pour you a drink. With a squelching sound, the meat wall that stood between me and Parhel melted away.
Parhel was looking down at me with her legs crossed, sitting on a black throne floating in the air.
“Normally, I would kill you, extract your soul, and trap it inside me... but my banshee friend, who has now completely returned to nothingness, told me about your soul.”
What a shame. If she had attempted such a thing, she would have died just like the banshee from Jaun Valley.
“Has my rumor spread that quickly?”
“They said it's special. They even said the Emperor of Gonsalok, who appointed me as a feudatory, wouldn't be able to handle it.”
Parhel moved her hand slightly, looking down at me in a quite arrogant posture.
“I wonder if you have a body worthy of that special soul.”
Centered around the throne where Parhel sat, a sticky red color gradually spread out. The floor, walls, and ceiling all turned into squirming, blood-red meat.
Ah, to be precise, I should say this cavern revealed its true form.
“If you wanted to live, you shouldn't have entered here. You're already inside my stomach. You've been eaten.”
Oh, is that so? I drove my spear, burning with the Paradoxical Flame, into the floor. Black flames covered the red meat in an instant.
“Eating just anything will give you a stomachache.”
Consider yourself as having enteritis today. Corpse mage.