Chapter 69 (1/2)
Five minutes flew by very quickly.
Two hours — that was the length of time they needed to endure.
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The thudding footsteps and screeches of the creatures could be heard coming from all five paths.
The bizarre, sorrowful-sounding wail of the Silk Mermen was mixed among them, too. It seemed that every type of monster they had encountered so far while reaching this place was going to flood out from those paths.
Hiiii-eeeek—
Bark, baaaark—!
Their initial number didn’t seem high, at one creature per path.
Su-hyeun looked back at the other three in the group and addressed them. “Let’s take care of one each.”
“One each?”
“A monster will emerge from each of the paths.”
“But, that means one of them won’t be dealt with?”
“It’ll be fine since I’ll be hunting down both of them.”
Aile groaned deeply as if she already guessed Su-hyeun would answer like that. “Alright. We’ll go with your plan, then.”
“H-hold up. You defeated dozens of monsters all by yourself while coming here, yet you want to fight only two this time?” Howal asked in sheer dumbfoundedness.
With the skills Su-hyeun had displayed until now, he should have no problems dealing with all five monsters, never mind just the two. But now, he wanted them to fight the monsters here?
“Well, were you thinking of lazing around forever, then?” Su-hyeun asked.
Howal found it impossible to argue back after being smacked by that loaded question.
The reality was, both he and Keshunirn could only hide behind Su-hyeun and pick up the stray Ether stones until now. That was all they could do. The description of them lazing around doing nothing was pretty accurate.
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Howal glanced at the bulging bundle still on his back.
At this rate, he’d end up getting only a couple of Ether stones and nothing else, since he hadn’t done anything of note so far.
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Five minutes flew by while he was thinking of this and that.
Keshunirn and Howal grew deeply tense. They had been hiding in Su-hyeun’s shadow ever since entering this dungeon, but for the first time ever, they needed to do their jobs and fight against the monsters for real.
<<30 minutes.>>
Howal’s eyes gleamed as he stared at the path about to spit out a monster.
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Act 2
Countless monsters poured out.
The first five monsters were merely the start. Soon, the number gradually grew to ten, then fifteen, and eventually, a whole horde poured out next.
“Pant, pant, ha-ah—”
Once the fighting was underway, it quickly revealed who among the group possessed the weakest constitution.
The first one to get injured was Keshunirn. He was currently resting on the sideline after experiencing a near-death encounter.
“Are you alright?”
Su-hyuen’s question was met by Keshunirn’s rough, heavy breathing as he held the wound on his waist.
“Ah, yes, I’m fine. I’ll be back on my feet if I rest for a bit longer.”
The wound itself was minor, but the real issue was his stamina. His complexion was deathly pale after having to rapidly exhaust his magical energy, and his movements had become unnatural from all the bleeding.
“Please rest for a little while. Or, would you like to wait for a bit and leave first since the exit should open up soon?”
“N-no, not at all!”
Keshunirn was stunned by Su-hyeun’s question and shouted out loudly. He even hurriedly got up and waved his hands in denial, too.
“I’m really fine. Ten minutes. I’ll be alright if I can just rest for ten minutes.”
“….Is that so?”
The group had already made a pledge to one another. Even if the exit opened up, no one would try to escape from the dungeon first. If that happened, the remaining people would have to shoulder the additional burden.
Keshunirn swore that he’d uphold that pledge no matter what.
“In that case, please go ahead,” said Su-hyeun.
“Thank you.”
Keshunirn bowed his head towards Su-hyeun.
Soon, another five minutes went by. The remaining time was about an hour and a half.
Kiiiaaaahk—!
“….They are rushing in like a pack of wild dogs again,” Aile muttered out as if she had grown sick and tired of this situation.
That was understandable, however. Dozens of them appeared the last time and that was enough to cause the group a lot of headaches, but the next incoming wave of monsters would be higher in numbers than before.
If Su-hyeun wasn’t here, never mind two hours, they wouldn’t have lasted even one.
“Here they come.”
Su-hyeun completed his preparations to fill the void left behind by Keshunirn’s absence. Just as the monsters poured out and the battle commenced again.
“Ahh-aahk!”
Howal’s scream exploded out from the side.
Su-hyeun’s gaze immediately spun in that direction. He spotted Howal sprayed out on the floor, while Keshunirn was hurriedly dashing towards the round tower, the location of the exit.
He instantly figured out what happened.
Keshunirn’s shoulders were currently carrying Howal’s bundle filled to the brim with the Ether stones.
Rumble—
Kkaah-aahk—!
The bird created out of the Flame, Phoenix, appeared on Su-hyeun’s hand. It quickly flew past the gaps of the monsters and headed straight to the fleeing Keshunirn.
“W-what’s this?”
He panicked at the sudden entrance of the Phoenix and cried out. He mistakenly thought that a monster supposed to be fighting against the other three people had slipped past and was somehow blocking his path.
“Eeeek!”
Keshunirn hurriedly swung his hand in the Phoenix’s direction. Unfortunately, his swatting attempt only managed to scatter the small figure of the bird for a moment but failed to stop it from reforming again to torment him endlessly.
“Dammit, just… get out of my way!”
It was then.
Ka-booooom—!
Rumble, ruuuumble—!
Gigantic walls of flames suddenly raged on in every direction, and the high-density magical energy started oppressing the atmosphere.
The deeply-stunned Keshunirn fell into even deeper panic and tried to look behind him.
“Where do you think you’re going?” a voice abruptly said.
“Heo-urk!”
However, he was shocked by the voice coming from right behind him and ungainly fell to his side. After his behind crashed on the floor, he raised his head only to discover Su-hyeun’s face.
But, didn’t he witness him fighting against the monsters on the other side just now…?
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Keshunirn’s eyes shifted in the direction where Su-hyeun was fighting earlier. In the next second, those very eyes were jerked violently open.