Chapter 22 (1/2)

Chapter 22 – Day 6, 6th Floor Wind

The leech swallowed the number two and the darkness started to lift. The scene that unfolded in front of my eyes was really quite surprising.

”&h.e.l.lip; Peaks?” Someone's mutter represented everyone's feelings. The darkness on the stairs had been lifted with the sacrifice of just one person.The darkness was very thin, and only blocked the visibility due to the wide area it spread over.

”Hah&h.e.l.lip;” Sighs of relief flowed from the mouths of the three low ranking people, including Yoon Ji-hee. They thought they wouldn't need to be sacrificed to the leeches anymore. A few people were more cautious and remained silent.

There were three staircases descending from the peak, and on top of the peak was a huge creature.

[Rock Lizardman Chieftain. Type: Ajin (Demi-human). Rank C+.]

[Due to the species characteristics of the lizardmen, their size is proportional to how many years they have lived. Therefore, the oldest lizard will naturally become the leader. Since the leader's age and proficiency will be different for each tribe, it isn't unreasonable to judge the strength of a tribe based on the leader's ability.]

There was just one. I could see it clearly from a distance. Its size reminded me of Kitchen Knife on the fourth floor, who was several times bigger than general lizardmen.

Besides, rank C+? The former lizardmen were rank E&h.e.l.lip; The chieftain had a much higher rank. So far, it was the highest ranked monster that I had encountered.

Come to think of it, there was always significance to these things. From the first floor to the fifth floor, as well as the two peaks I encountered on this sixth floor&h.e.l.lip; There was no section that didn't have meaning. Two teams of seven were a.s.sembled and the chieftain appeared on the peak after the darkness was lifted.

That bonus was to offset the formidable presence in front of us&h.e.l.lip;

”Ah!” Yoon Ji-hee screamed. She wasn't the only one who was surprised.

The lizardman was jumping up the stairs, and the stairs behind them were already disappearing. Retreat wasn't the answer.

”Lee Min-ju! Your wand&h.e.l.lip;” Just as I was giving instructions, something was quickly throw from the hands of the lizardman. I realized it was a noose after it caught around Yoo Su-jeong's neck. She thought she had avoided it with her reflexes, but it wasn't aiming for just a single point.

The rope tightened around her neck and she briefly moaned. The lizardman took two steps back on the stair, both hands holding the rope attached to Yoo Su-jeong's neck. Immediately after the lizardman's foot hit the top of the peak again, its body swung in a neat, semicircular pattern.

A normal person would explode. ”Sha&h.e.l.lip;?” There was a small sound and Yoo Su-jeong's body that hit the ground, suddenly disappeared. It was clear that the lizardman hadn't done anything. It stared with surprise at the empty noose.

A technique, perhaps a type of avoidance? Either way&h.e.l.lip; That lizardman was strong.

The purpose of its existence was to reduce our numbers. The number of humans was a bait. “Go down! Quickly! Leave anyone who is trapped!” Kim Ha-jong and Kwak Yu-han, who were in the lead, hesitated for a while before following my orders.

As a C+ ranked monster, it was fast. My conclusion was that it wasn't something that could be easily killed, no matter how excellent one or two people were. The two groups had just come together so there would be no teamwork to defeat the monster.

I also ran down quickly. Kim Ha-jong and Kwak Yu-han were fighting well. They boldly attached themselves to the lizardman to prevent the use of its la.s.so. Lee Min-ju also used her staff and a painful gale of cold wind was shot at the lizardman.

Okay. Once I joined forces with them&h.e.l.lip;

Pak!

”What?!” Kim Ha-jong suddenly shouted with shock. The lizardman had tumbled back and jumped down the peak. Everyone hesitated, but I could hear it–the sound of stones falling down from the peak.

The sound of the stones falling stopped at one point. ”Lee Min-ju! Right!”

”Eh?” Her biggest mistake was looking at me, who shouted, instead of to the right. On the right. A noose protruded from the edge of the cliff and went exactly over her neck. ”Keok.” Her head was yanked upside down with a moan. It was the end. The noose was fastened and Lee Min-ju was pulled over the cliff.

”Noona!” Lee Sang-hoon ran towards the edge of the cliff and shouted downwards. The sounds of stone falling could be heard from everywhere. The lizard was moving around by hanging onto the cliff.

“Move to the centre! Form a circle to watch the outside.”

“How about fleeing?” Yoo Su-jeong spoke up. Just as she had vanished suddenly, she just popped up in front of my eyes. Her HP Bar was reduced by one-third, so she had still received a blow. “We can't beat it. Even if we win, more people here will die.”

Then she pointed to the upper stairs. Five people were coming down late. “We can use three of them as bait in order to walk down the stairs.”

“Is there any guarantee that it will be safe?” I shook my head. We couldn't escape down the stairs. The lizard definitely had intelligence and there would almost certainly be victims of the noose. &h.e.l.lip; In fact, there was no other answer. It was probably impossible to escape down the stairs. If it was difficult to fight, scatter.

Then, was it impossible to catch the lizardman? ”&h.e.l.lip;Fight.” I concluded. If we concentrated our talents then we could break down the lizardman. By gathering in the centre to avoid the noose, it was an opponent we could fight. There was still time to go down the stairs. We just needed to hold on for a little longer.

That was the conclusion I came to. Suddenly, I felt pressure from behind me. A strong wind like a typhoon was suddenly blowing.

”Kyak!”

”Uck?”

I couldn't withstand the pressure and rolled forward two or three times. It wasn't just me. All the people in the circle were pushed out of the center by the wind. The cause of the storm stood there calmly: Lee Sang-hoon. No, I should say Lee Chang-ju.

I was able to identify the second name on the list because it was right under me. It was a male with the surname of 'Lee.' Also, the remaining four people had showed no need to hide their skills. In the end, the answer was almost certain. The so-called 185th ranked person was hiding his claws.

Immediately after entering the sixth floor, I had focused half my concentration on him. Yang Su-jin also smelt something suspicious. If I could prove that he was hiding his second place rank, I could publicly execute him without any rebellion.

But I hadn't expected this at all. The reason he had the second rank wasn't such a ridiculous thing.

”Ah&h.e.l.lip; Ohh&h.e.l.lip; Noona&h.e.l.lip;” As he shed tears, another bar appeared on top of his head–a blue bar underneath the red bar. Technique? Talent? Was it a system that couldn't be invoked until there were intense emotions? The only thing that was certain was that I couldn't identify that child's power.

“Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Stop!” Kim Ha-jong shouted. The force that pushed everyone out didn't come back again, but an enormous amount of wind pressure was coming from Lee Chang-ju. It was at the level of a weak typhoon. It wasn't impossible to walk or run, but it made a great difference in a situation where a single moment could cost us our lives.

However, Lee Chang-ju's eyes weren't seeing Kim Ha-jong at all. The lizardman had just climbed back over the cliff. It was because the ice wand, what it considered the biggest threat, had disappeared. It seemed completely unaffected by the wind.

”Dog sc.u.m!” Lee Chang-ju stretched out his hand. An airflow formed that was visible to the eye and struck the lizardman. The body of the lizardman staggered back due to the airflow, but that was it. The strong wind just disoriented it, but there were no injuries.

In the end, he was still a lower rank than me. The situation was difficult due to the peaks and the lizardman, but it was really hard to kill something using wind. Lee Chang-ju was unable to grasp this at all.

”Die! Die!” The blue bar visibly decreased every time an airflow was sent out and the lizardman staggered. The aftermath of the attack left it vulnerable to damage, but everyone else was pushed towards the edge and couldn't move properly.

“Lee Chang-ju! Stop!”

“Shut up!” Lee Chang-ju shouted crazily and stretched out a hand towards me. The airflow struck my chest. Indeed, there was little impact. At best, it was like a shove. However, that was enough to make me step back.