63 Chapter 62 (1/2)

The shadow soldiers rapidly closed in on their targets. Unfortunately, the angry swipes of the Ice Bears' front paws were faster than their movements.

Swing!

Kwajeek!!

A single hit, and one shadow soldier was obliterated.

If it wasn't a 'shadow' underneath the armours but an actual human being, that attack would surely have ripped him apart into several pieces.

'Hmm…'

Jin-Woo frowned deeply.

'As I thought, did I ask for too much?'

Whether it was their physical strength or their body sizes, these Ice Bears were difficult enemies for the shadow soldiers to fight against.

However, something quite surprising happened next.

'Heok!'

Jin-Woo's eyes opened wider.

The soldier with its chest torn open by the Ice Bear's attack suddenly transformed into a clump of black smoke just before it fell to the ground.

Pooof!

The black smoke coagulated in a spot a couple of steps away and it reverted back to its original appearance.

'Very good!'

Jin-Woo's expression brightened up.

The 'undeads' – he remembered this crucial fact that he had unwittingly forgotten about until now.

The Ice Bear became even more agitated than before after realising its attack was all for nothing, and it roared out loudly.

ROOOAR!!

And so, as the infantrymen bought time out in front, the magic soldiers standing at the back had completed their spells.

Boom!!

Kaboom!!

The balls of flames leaving the ends of the magic soldiers' hands exploded here, there, and everywhere. The shadow soldiers swept up in the explosions regenerated right away, but on the other hand, the Ice Bears could only roll around screaming in sheer pain and agony, as their bodies caught on fire.

Roooar!!

Growl!!

Meanwhile, the shadow soldiers didn't waste time and swiftly approached the defenceless Bears, before stabbing down on them with their blades.

Stab!!

Staaaaab!!!

One by one, the triumphant and arrogant Ice Bears were falling at the cooperative tactics of the shadow infantrymen and the magic soldiers.

'Hiya….'

Jin-Woo continued to spectate on the proceedings with an expression filled with great interest and happiness.

The infantrymen and their quick regenerative abilities; the magic soldiers and their superb firepower.

The overall combat prowess of the shadow soldiers had far exceeded his initial expectations.

Soon, the Ice Bears were forced into retreat by the might of the shadow soldiers and were pushed back towards the entrance of the caves.

He was thinking that the end of the battle was drawing near, but then….

ROOOOAR!!

Accompanied by the eardrum-shaking roar, a huge shadow slowly emerged from one of the caves.

”Isn't that…..”

Even Jin-Woo's eyes grew extra round and super-large.

The bear that came out was at least a head taller and double the body size compared to others around it.

Rooar!!

Just a single swipe from this huge bear, and multiple soldiers were blown away.

SWOOOSH-!!

Kabboooomm!!

The regeneration rate of the soldiers could not keep up with the huge Ice Bear's relentless attacks.

Kwajeeeck!!

Slam!!

Jin-Woo could only leak out a groan after seeing that.

”So, it's the leader of the pack, is it….?”

He kind of suspected that, since there was a pack, there should be a leader leading it, too. However, the b*stard turned out to much bigger and stronger than he had anticipated.

”Krooaar!!”

The huge Ice Bear leader obliterated all the shadow soldiers appearing before it, and approached Jin-Woo at a frightening speed.

It was at this point that a message popped up in his view.

Tti-ring.

[Your Mana has been depleted and shadow soldiers cannot regenerate anymore.]

[Your Mana has been depleted and shadow soldiers cannot regenerate anymore.]

'What??'

He hurriedly checked his MP value, and just as the System had warned him, it was totally gone.

[MP: 0/1860]

Once his MP had been drained. The obliterated shadow soldiers didn't regenerate and simply entered back into Jin-Woo's shadow.

In other words, in order to regenerate the lost soldiers, he needed lots more Mana.

'That d*mn Mana….'

One more reason to enhance his Intelligence Stat, then.

Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head. With the appearance of the Ice Bear leader, the flow of the battle had reversed completely.

However, Jin-Woo still had plenty of leeway.

'Since their boss has shown up, this side should also step up.'

Jin-Woo, still standing there with his arms crossed, summoned the 'boss' of the shadow soldiers.

”Igrit!!”

One more shadow escaped from Jin-Woo's shadow.

And from that shadow, a knight wearing a helm with decorative mane rose up soundlessly.

Jin-Woo pointed forward with his chin.

Igrit bowed to Jin-Woo, before rushing towards the Ice Bear leader.

Tap, tap, tap, tap!

Igrit lightly evaded the Ice Bear leader's front paw, and slid between its hind legs. It brushed past the hind legs again, pulled out a dagger and cut the Bear's tendon.

”Rooar?!”

That was the beginning.

Igrit unsheathed his longsword and deftly evaded the Bear's enraged attacks, all the while shaving away at the giant monster's body with his blade.

Tendons, claws, front paw, legs, torso – bits and chunks of meat from various areas of the monster sheared off and fell to the ground piece by piece.

”Huh….”

Jin-Woo could only gasp out in admiration at Igrit's crafty and elaborate movements.

The last place Igrit hit was the bear's head.

Slice!

The giant Ice Bear's head separated from its body and flew away. Before it landed on the ground, though, Igrit easily snatched it. He trod proudly towards Jin-Woo, and knelt before him.

Plop.

And then, he placed the dead bear's head before Jin-Woo's feet. It was as if the knight was presenting the spoils of victory to his sovereign.

Jin-Woo swallowed dry saliva and gazed at the kneeling Igrit and his bowed head.

'If Igrit decided to use his sword from the beginning, would I have been able to defeat him?'

The Ice Bears, without their leader present, lost all semblance of order and became utterly confused, before they were cleanly swept away by the remaining shadow soldiers. That brought about the end to the battles.

The result was truly satisfying.

[Shadow Infantryman Lv. 2]

[Shadow Infantryman Lv. 3]

[Shadow Infantryman Lv. 2]

[Shadow magic soldier Lv. 2]

The levels of the soldiers had risen up nicely. Also, as these shadow soldiers were seen as a part of his skill, even Jin-Woo's level had risen up by 3.

Most of all, there was another point he found much to his liking.

”Rise up.”

[Shadow extraction was a success.]

[Shadow extraction was a success.]

[Shadow extraction was a success.]

….And that point would be the fact that he could recruit new 'friends' now.

Roooarr….

From the shadows of several Ice Bears that Jin-Woo had selected, which obviously included the boss bear, black shapes began to slowly rise up.

'And I thought that armour-wearing bears would pop up….'

His expectation turned out to be far off the mark, unfortunately.

These creatures came with the name tag that said 'shadow beast soldier'; at a casual glance, they kind of resembled bears, but it was still difficult to tell whether these monsters were actually corporeal or not.

The creatures continued to pant as the black steam-like fog rose up from their backs.

'Well, uh, they might not look that great but, they are definitely the shadows of the Ice Bears.'

That explosive strength, that destructive power!! Without a doubt, they would prove to be useful.

It happened then.

Rooaarrr…

Jin-Woo's ears twitched after hearing the roars of bears coming from the distance. There were several of them, as a matter of fact.

'Meaning, this isn't the only bear farm, huh?'

It was already getting too late today, so should he pay a visit there tomorrow?

A bright smile formed on Jin-Woo's face.

”Uwaaahk!!”

”Keo-heok!!”

His comrades screamed in despair.

Kim Cheol's bloodshot eyes shot open wide.

'No, this can't be!!'

How can I….

How can this Kim Cheol fail?!

He was supposed to become the elite of the White Tiger Guild. They even trained him with the special program so he'd enter the Guild's main combat force right away.

However, to fail like this?

He could not acknowledge it.

While enduring against the biting cold and starvation, they fought off against a group of snowmen. Then, they encountered snow giants. They lost two of their numbers, but in the end, emerged victorious against the giants. He thought that the conquest of this 'dungeon' was going according to plan.

However….

However!!

As soon as the desperate struggle against the snow giants ended, the White Phantoms sneak attacked from the rear as if they were waiting for this chance.

These wicked, treacherous b*stards had been in hiding, waiting for the raid team to exhaust all their stamina first.

What happened next was a one-sided massacre. In the blink of an eye, the Hunters were annihilated.

”C-captain!!”

A fallen Hunter reached out towards Kim Cheol with his bloodied hand.

Kim Cheol could only retreat in faltering steps.

Suddenly, a White Phantom appeared on top of this fallen Hunter. It pulled out a dagger and swiped it under the Hunter's neck.

”K-keogeok?!”

The White Phantom smiled as it sliced the neck off and raised its head to look at Kim Cheol.

Kim Cheol could only scream in terror.

”U, uwaaaaaah!!”

And then, not even taking one look behind him, he ran straight into the forest.

There were Ice Bears in the forest?