Chapter 53 : Into the Dungeon. (11)
Chapter 53: Into the Dungeon. (11)
Before we scattered, we decided to regroup on Dosan-daero once the mission was over.
Since the main gate had been closed, I returned to the rendezvous point.
Jaryong and Cream took the lead, with the interns following behind.
Slaaash!
Jaryong’s sword cleaved through a monster.
As the legs of the boar-like creature were severed, Cream followed up with consecutive shots using white arrowheads.
“Gueeeek!”
Thanks to their combined attack, we were able to clear the path quickly.
“The numbers have definitely dropped.”
“Yeah. The wave’s stopped too.”
With the main gate closed, the remaining gates had also vanished.
The monsters could no longer cross over to this side.
Thanks to that, the fighting became much easier.
Jaryong and Cream turned their gazes toward me.
“Yo. Hunter Choi. Good work.”
“I ended up owing you one.”
They had regained their composure and smiled.
Now that we belonged to different guilds, there was no more hostility between us.
We were destined to die on Yanghwa Bridge,
but having returned from the brink of death,
we were bound tightly together by comradeship.
Jaryong raised his thumb.
“You’re the hero who suppressed this multi-gate.”
Cream nodded, as if agreeing with him.
“Seriously. You’re basically a real-life hero.”
I hadn’t acted for praise or recognition.
I had simply done what a hero was supposed to do.
“Any interest in joining our guild? I’ll promise you better conditions than Dio.”
“You’ve got no shame. If you were recommending Superior, that’d be one thing.”
“Hmph. That place is just a gathering of sanctimonious pricks.”
“Isn’t that better than a bunch of smelly country bumpkins?”
“You’re really getting on my nerves now!”
While Jaryong and Cream bickered, we arrived at our destination before we knew it.
At the sight before us, the hunters’ faces darkened.
On the eight-lane road.
Far ahead, a single massive-looking monster stood there.
A pale pink mass of flesh, well over two meters tall, glistened slickly on the surface.
It was shaped like a human brain with limbs attached.
That thing’s name was—
Cancer Golem.
Because of its grotesque appearance, it was commonly nicknamed a cancer cell.
“After Bater, now it’s a Cancel?”
“It’s one hill after another.”
Jaryong and Cream clicked their tongues as they looked at the new enemy.
Normally, golems didn’t roam around alone like that.
They followed a summoner’s orders, guarding cave entrances or temple gates.
They were called the gatekeepers of hell.
For a summoner’s puppet to be rampaging on its own—
‘It must be because the gate was closed.’
A golem that had lost its master broke free of its restraints and became like an enraged dog running loose.
“Yelp!”
The Cancer Golem crushed a Cerberus to death with its fist.
“……What? Why Cerberus?”
“Doesn’t it even recognize allies?”
Monsters killing their own kind was a rare occurrence.
Everyone was puzzled, but—
I alone noticed the anomaly.
‘Could it be.’
It might have been acting according to the summoner’s final command.
Something like, kill everything that comes near!
‘Or maybe there’s another scheme at play.’
One might say it wasn’t a problem as long as we didn’t approach.
But once a Cancer Golem left its designated location, it wandered aimlessly.
If we left it alone—
‘All of Gangnam would be reduced to ruins.’
I hurriedly formed a strategy.
The only weapon I currently had was <Alusia>.
An ability that could brainwash monsters with low intelligence.
It didn’t work on humans.
I made myself the sole exception.
However—
Mental-type magic couldn’t be used on golems.
That was because powerful summoning sorcery was already placed upon them.
‘What do I do.’
Not only me, but the hunters facing it also couldn’t move rashly.
“Tch! What’s the strategy for dealing with that bastard?”
“You’ve got to destroy the core.”
“Like that’s easy to say.”
“Just try attacking it first!”
Unlike other golems, the Cancer Golem had a unique characteristic.
The more damage it took, the more it grew, like cancer cells spreading.
The hunters inflicted scratches on the Cancer Golem, but each time, its cells rapidly regenerated, and its body gradually swelled in size.
Squish! Squiiish!
The Cancer Golem grew as large as a bus.
“Don’t provoke it unnecessarily!”
“Yeah. It doesn’t work anyway!”
The Cancer Golem, which grew stronger the more its physical attackers struck it, was a troublesome opponent to deal with.
“Move aside!”
At that moment, someone stepped forward with a booming voice.
It was Na Sang-min, the head of the Dio Guild.
Holding a spear, he vanished from sight in an instant.
Whoosh.
A speed impossible to follow with the naked eye.
Before we knew it, Na Sang-min appeared in midair.
He precisely aimed for the back of the Cancer Golem’s head.
The spear pierced through the Cancer Golem’s face.
The Cancer Golem’s arms and legs drooped limply.
“Did it work?”
“We got it…….”
Then the Cancer Golem’s head swelled up like a balloon.
And then it swung its limbs even more violently than before.
“Tsk.”
Na Sang-min clicked his tongue and retrieved his spear.
Bongseon of the Jincheon Guild, who had been watching, clicked his tongue as well.
“Ts-ts. I told you. It’s useless. It got even bigger. What are you going to do now.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If you hadn’t failed, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Because Bongseon had failed to annihilate it, the Cancer Golem had burst out of the gate.
“And you think it would’ve been different if it were you?”
“Isn’t that obvious? You pathetic bastard.”
“What? Bastard?”
Na Sang-min and Bongseon glared at each other as if they might lunge at any moment.
While they were locked in a battle of nerves, Balkan of the Superior Guild stepped forward.
He drew back a golden bowstring.
“Thunder Bow(Thunder Bow)!”
An arrow imbued with lightning strike(雷擊) lodged itself into the Cancer Golem’s heart.
The Cancer Golem shuddered as if it had been electrocuted.
Charred marks formed around its heart, and a nauseating stench like burning flesh spread through the air.
For a moment, a glimmer of hope appeared, but it quickly faded.
“Graaah!”
As if performing CPR on itself, the Cancer Golem hammered its heart with its fist.
The fat covering its entire body swelled to twice its thickness.
Neither the head nor the heart worked.
‘This won’t do.’
Like smashing a stone golem only for it to reassemble.
That mass of cells would continue to grow forever unless its core was destroyed.
The problem was—
“Where is the core?”
“Isn’t it usually in the skull or chest?”
“Is it the dantian……?”
No one knew the location of the core.
“Graaah!!!”
The Cancer Golem grew even larger.
Now, from below, its face was no longer visible.
Its massive hands shot up toward the sky.
“Dodge!”
“Ugh!”
The hunters fled in utter panic.
If the Cancer Golem wasn’t dealt with, this fight would never end.
Na Sang-min, Bongseon, even Balkan.
The representatives of each guild had gathered in one place.
Yet they couldn’t escape their struggle.
There was a separate reason.
‘The compatibility is bad.’
Na Sang-min and Bongseon wielded power-type mana.
Balkan was energy-type.
Against enemies where physical blows and long-range attacks worked, they would’ve been outstandingly effective.
But against that monster that grew from taking heavy hits,
they were poison instead.
The Cancer Golem couldn’t possibly defeat S-rank Hunters.
But conversely, it wasn’t easy for S-rank Hunters to suppress the Cancer Golem either.
In the end, the leaders came to an agreement.
“We have to finish it before it regenerates.”
“I agree.”
“Let’s divide the zones.”
The tactic was simple.
Just like when I defeated Bater.
The plan was to endure with stamina and drag it into a contest of strength.
“Dio, gather!”
“Jincheon forces, move in!”
“Superior, over here!”
The voices of the S-rank Hunters rang out thunderously.
Na Sang-min spoke.
“This isn’t a single-point breakthrough. We pound it to death from all directions. We’ll take the rear. From fingers to toes, crush everything without missing a spot. If you find the core, destroy it immediately. Got it?”
The hunters nodded with resolute eyes.
“Yes!”
Our eyes met—Na Sang-min’s and mine.
“Choi Yong-gi. Why aren’t you answering?”
It wasn’t a reproachful tone.
Na Sang-min also knew that the main gate had closed.
Which meant I had completed my mission flawlessly.
“Do you have some trick again this time?”
Everyone in the Dio Guild looked at me.
An S-rank Hunter asking advice from an F-rank Hunter.
Aside from his eccentric personality, Na Sang-min had the qualities of a good leader.
However.
“No. I don’t know.”
I didn’t know where the Cancer Golem’s core was either.
As was revealed in my previous life.
The location of that cancer cell’s core wasn’t fixed.
Unlike other golems, Cancel was treacherous beneath its appearance.
“But I think I know.”
There was a place I could guess.
‘If my guess is right…….’
Na Sang-min didn’t bark or get excited.
By now, he trusted me enough.
“Good. Choi Yong-gi, you move on your own. I’ll cover the other guilds.”
Na Sang-min turned around, gripping his spear.
“Charge!”
Dio, Jincheon, Superior.
And even the remaining guilds.
The hunters’ all-out offensive began.
Like an army of ants swarming to tear apart a fat pink sausage.
“Graa! Graaah!!!”
All kinds of weapons gouged into the Cancer Golem.
Its flesh was torn away and regenerated.
Its flesh was carved open, then regenerated again.
The desperate struggle continued endlessly.
Chunks of the Cancer Golem’s flesh that had fallen all around twitched.
I didn’t participate in the engagement.
I dodged back and forth, picking up stones and checking the shattered areas.
Bongseon and Balkan saw me and protested.
“What the hell is that bastard doing?”
“What are you doing right now?”
Na Sang-min swung his spear.
“Leave him alone! He’s the Dio Guild’s……. no, all of our savior.”
He added,
“He’s the one who closed the main gate.”
Hearing that, Bongseon and Balkan shut their mouths tight.
As time passed, the hunters’ once-ferocious momentum gradually faded.
“Huff. Haaah. There’s no end to this.”
“Where the hell is the core…….”
“Did it even exist in the first place?”
The hunters’ breathing grew ragged.
Our side was the first to tire.
Meanwhile, the Cancer Golem’s size…….
Thud.
When it took a single step, the ground caved in deeply.
“I-It’s as big as a building.”
“How are we supposed to bring that down?”
The shoulders of the hunters who had lost their fighting spirit drooped.
At this rate, it felt like the Cancer Golem would grow to the size of an island.
It was to the point where we’d have to drop a nuke as a last resort.
‘Not that we could.’
Why were hunters needed?
Because they could eliminate monsters in the most efficient way with minimal damage.
If monsters were annihilated using nothing but indiscriminate firepower, the losses would be far greater.
Bongseon let out a sigh.
“For now, let’s pull back. An S-rank Magician is said to be coming from the Gyeonggi region…….”
“Bullshit! Are you saying we should run away like cowards?!”
Na Sang-min grabbed Bongseon by the collar.
“Fuck! Then what do you suggest we do!”
“We try anything!”
Balkan didn’t stop the two.
Judging by how he let the golden bow he had been holding drop downward,
it looked like he, too, was vaguely considering giving up.
Amid the smoke-filled battlefield.
Gasping for breath, I thoroughly searched my surroundings and ran toward a single spot.
Even if the Cancer Golem’s body had been reduced to minced meat, not even a hint of a weakness—let alone the core—was visible.
‘This is the last chance.’
I stopped at my destination.
On the ground lay the corpse of a Cerberus.
It was the spot where the Cancer Golem had crushed the approaching Cerberus to death with its fist.
Inside the dog’s belly, a dark purple object pulsed.
“Found it.”
I grabbed it and lifted it up.
A warm heat, like a beating heart, was transmitted into my palm.
The Cancer Golem looked stupid, but it actually had a cunning side.
Killing the Cerberus early on had been a feint.
‘So it hid the core underground.’
The Cancer Golem stopped moving.
Like a madman having a seizure after its shame was exposed, it came charging toward me in a frenzy.
Boom! Boom! Kraaang!!!
The earth shook with every leap.
“Graaah!!!”
The Cancer Golem spread both arms wide and flew through the air.
Its body was so massive that if it crashed down like this, any hunter beneath it would obviously die instantly.
“Damn it.”
“S-Save me!”
“……Honey.”
In that fleeting moment,
some squeezed their eyes shut tight.
Some offered up prayers.
Some collapsed to their knees in despair, calling out the names of their loved ones.
A black shadow covered me.
“You sickening bastard. Get lost.”
I lifted my head and clenched my fist.
As the balloon-thin pouch burst, hot purplish blood flowed down along my wrist.
The Castle Golem that had been blotting out the sky exploded like a charge going off.
Massive amounts of bones and cartilage painted the air as if dancing.
Huge chunks of fat poured down below like a rain of oil.
Shaaah.
The hunters, drenched by the downpour, trembled as they struggled to grasp the situation.
“……We lived.”
I brushed off what clung to my hands and brought the long war to an end.