Chapter 4 - Vampire Bat Cave 2 (1/2)
“...”
The party members hesitated to act, fearful of what might happen to them. After all they had just seen one of their own die.
If they were to do as Kang Taejoon said, many of them would share the same fate.
“If you don’t act, we will all lose our lives here. Hurry up!”
“Ah, okay….”
The party members slowly began to make their way forward.
“I’ll be borrowing this.”
Kang seized the trident from the man next to him.
He took a deep breath and thought to himself.
‘I have to succeed.’
Failure would result in all of them dying here.
Opening his eyes, Kang shouted out.
“Now, let’s rush at it together!”
“What?”
“I’ll be the vanguard!”
Seeing Kang Taejoon run ahead, the other members soon followed with a loud battlecry.
Although they were terrified, they didn’t have any other option.
Wharrr
Kang threw a spinning torch flew towards the Fossil bat’s left wing.
Wham
The Fossil Bat easily slapped it away with its wing.
‘Now’
Making use of this opening, Kang Taejoon lunged forth with the trident, aiming for the bat’s right wing.
Chizizic
Black blood spilled out of the wound as they heard the sound of leather being torn.
“Kyaaahk!”
The Fossil Bat screeched angrily as it emitted a circular red pulse with its body at the center.
“What is that?”
“AOE magic?”
The party members tried to run away, but the pulse travelled too quickly and none were able to escape
“Ahhhakkk”
“Kaaaak”
Screams filled with agony echoed across the cave as everyone crouched down on the ground holding their head in pain.
“Go away you bat monster!”
“I will kill you, disgusting creature!”
A feast of slaughter had begun. Other members would appear as monsters in their eyes, and when they tried to speak to others it would only come out as unnatural shrieks.
The first casualty was the man holding a longsword as he died to an arrow from the woman holding a short bow. She in turn had her heart pierced from behind by a dagger, while her assailant was likewise stabbed by another.
A literal abyss.
It wasn’t long until all except Kang Taejoon were nothing but cold corpses. He was able to hold on due to his ability to see in the dark allowing him to move around with greater ease.
Kang breathed heavily as he examined the scene.
They all lay dead around him.
‘There is only one left now.’
He turned his gaze toward the Fossil Bat.
Because of the grievous injury it had suffered, he guessed that it wouldn't be able to move much.
‘I should catch my breath first.’
‘I can always find more people.’
From the very beginning, he didn’t really care much whether they lived or died. They were but tools to be used in order for his plans to succeed.
“Khaha”
He let out an evil laugh, it was time to deliver the killing blow to the Boss.
Woosh!
However the Fossil Bat didn’t simply stand idle and accept death as it casually slapped Kang Taejoon away with a flick of its left wing.
“Ugh!”
Kang was sent tumbling across the floor.
Unable to even move a single muscle, he fainted on the spot.
‘This is a good time to step in.’
Woohyuk who had been watching the entire scene from the corner of the room, raised his black machete. Although he had been in the same room as the rest, he hadn’t been affected by the illusion of the Fossil Bat’s pulse.
‘Looks like my Magic Resistance was sufficient.’
It was only possible due to having inhaled the smell of the silver bark. Of course, it wasn’t like he had gained total immunity. Although he didn’t fall under any illusions, he still had to endure the splitting headaches.
‘There is a time limit of 15 minutes.’
That was how long he had until the effects of the silver bark wore off.
As Woohyuk rushed towards it, the Fossil Bat swung his wing to intercept his approach. However he was on a different level compared to Kang. He dodged the gust of wind produced by the bat’s wing, as he moved forward. Sometimes he would be pushed back, but he would always be making ground.
‘It is easier than before.’
The injury Kang had caused to the bat’s wing made things easier than in the past
After closing the distance, it was the Fossil Bat which made the first move.
“Kiyaaa”
Woohyuk rolled to the side, dodging past the bat’s large fangs, as he prepared to climb it.
‘It should be close enough.’
Woohyuk took a running start, then leaped into the air, landing on the Fossil Bat’s chest.
Pukkk
He sunk his sharp dagger deeply into the bat’s neck. Then, using it as leverage, he hoisted himself up and landed on its head.
“Kyaaah!”
Suddenly the angered Fossil Bat let out a piercing cry and the dangerous red pulse appeared.
“Ugh!”
Woohyuk nearly lost his footing as a headache assailed him, but quickly managed to recover his balance. He then stabbed his black machete deeply into the Fossil Bat’s head.
Although it struggled desperately in an attempt to throw him off, Woohyuk held on tightly.
‘This is nothing.’
He is someone who had sat on the Steel Throne, overlooking all other Lords.
The strongest being on Earth.
It would be ridiculous for him to lose to a simple bat, now that he was aiming for Divine throne
‘5 minutes left.’
Not much, but still plenty of time to finish this guy off. Woohyuk clung tightly like a leech, as his machete continued to dig deeper into the Fossil Bat’s head.
A few seconds later….
Thud!
It fell down heavily to the ground. Woohyuk wiped the sweat from his forehead and then pulled out the black machete.
‘I did it.’
All that was left now was to get the loot, so he headed to where he knew the hidden room would be. Touching a familiar engraved rune on the wall, a blue light appeared, revealing a door.
‘That was a few hours faster than I had expected.’
It was all thanks to joining Kang Taejoon’s group. Woohyuk walked into the hidden room and examined the items which rested on the altar.
[Vampiric Dagger]
Type: Weapon
Rank: D
Durability: 3200
Effect: +5 Strength, Health absorption.
[Gladiator’s Belt]
Type: Accessory
Rank: D
Durability: 2600
Effect: +5 Stamina, 5 Equipment slots.
[Adventurer’s Stimulant]
Type: Consumable
Effect: +15 to all Stats (1 hour)
All three were very useful items for him right now.
The Vampiric dagger would increase his sustainability in combat, the Gladiator’s Belt gave extra equip slots while the Adventurer’s Stimulant would be key for Boss fights, making his current solo play slightly more viable.
‘In the past I had only gotten the Vampiric dagger.’
Back then he had to split the items with the other survivors who had helped out. It was only natural to divide the loot according to everyone’s contribution, so he hadn’t monopolized everything. Instead, it had been more important to develop good relationships with trustworthy comrades.
‘I will still need to build some good relations.’
It wasn’t that he was shunning all help this time around. When the right people came around, he would spare no expense to help them develop well.
‘Let’s take the rest of the loot.’
There were still a few things left to collect, such as the Bloodstone inside the Fossil Bat’s corpse.
When Woohyuk went to leave the hidden room, he heard a voice in front.