Isn’t It? (2)
I wiped the sweat from my forehead.
“Mister, this is the 5th. We need to catch five more, right?”
It went better than I had anticipated.
I had predicted it would take us three days, but we had killed half of the monsters in less than a day.
I stopped dead in my tracks. We had hit a dead end.
To be precise, there was a large rock in front of the cave entrance.
“Hyun-woo. What do you see inside?”
“Hold on…”
The five remaining monsters were in this cave. They all would have strange mutations.
“I can see something very strange. What’s this…all their arms, legs, and faces have mouths…”
“Right. Let’s go in.”
When he said it, I remembered their mutations. I stepped forward, right in front of the rock blocking the entrance.
And…
“Ji-Yeon.”
“Yes!”
At my signal, Yoo Ji-Yeon, who was making up the rear, started moving her arms. Clear mana started emanating from her.
Kugugugu…
The ground beneath the rock became soft like a swamp and started swallowing the rock. I had certainly become more creative in my magic utility. I would have been a little disappointed if I had smashed the rock on accident.
“Go.”
We entered the large cave.
As many as six passages were leading further into the cave. Luckily, I knew where to go.
Tap. Tap.
As we walked along, I looked up. Red bugs were all over the walls and ceiling.
They looked dangerous, but they were harmless.
“Uh….”
Nevertheless, it looked disgusting. Yoo Ji-Yeon pulled a grimace, and Zhang Wei looked pretty disgusted as well.
“How much further do we have to go?”
“It’s another 30 minutes.”
The only ones who didn’t mind the bugs were Sung Hyun-woo and me.
Hyun-woo stepped on a bug crawling on the floor with a nasty cracking sound.
“How long will it take us to kill the next five monsters?”
He looked tired. Seeing his childlike face made me chuckle.
“Don’t worry. These will be a lot faster.”
* * *
We had gotten close to the end of the cave. The ambient temperature had risen dramatically, even with Zhang Wei’s blessing, we were sweating profusely.
“Wow…”
No one cared about the heat.
The horror in front of us was too distracting.
“Really…”
It looked like a giant ogre, with one big distinction. Its face and body were covered in ‘mouths’. It’s cheeks, backs of hands, wrists, and even knees had mouths that kept opening and closing, showing sharp teeth and tongues.
‘That’s one of the mutants that are trickier to fight.’
This phenomenon was a common occurrence in cracks. Monsters that could not withstand the high mana density had evolved to adapt to the new circumstances. Some of them had special abilities; other’s bodies changed. In this case, it was both.
[‘Information view’ activated.]
.
.
.
[Name: Red Ogre “Food”]
[These giants are born with thick skin that can even withstand the heat of a fire.]
[During its evolution, its skin turned from green to red, and the muscles and bones strengthened dramatically.]
[It is not very intelligent, but its strength is almost unmatched, ranking it very high in the food chain.]
[*It’s a creature that has evolved to adapt to a higher mana density.]
[*By eating other monsters, it can absorb their power and evolve even further.]
This wasn’t an easy opponent to begin with, but to make matters even worse, there were five of them.
If it consumed one of us…I didn’t even want to think about that.
‘The monster with the most efficient healing ability, the most proficient magic skills, and the best Esper ability…and of course, it also had impeccable analytical skills.’
No matter who, if it absorbed any of us, it would be over. There would be no way to stop it.
‘In the past, I simply destroyed the cave…’
That’s how I had killed these creatures the last time. I wasn’t able to deal with the beasts after they had devoured numerous of our best hunters. I had to destroy the cave by placing explosives.
At the time, it was the only choice. However, after sifting through the rubble, we somewhat regretted that decision.
‘An immensely powerful Artifact of Grade S had been destroyed in the explosion.’
It was damaged beyond repair. We didn’t know exactly what it had been, but its mana signature was unlike anything we had ever seen.
‘At least that meant I couldn’t miss it when searching for it.’
As long as they haven’t absorbed any powers yet, they are only a bit tougher Ogres. I was confident we could deal with these monsters easily,
Tap. Tap.
I walked forward.
“Si-woo, can you fight those things? At first glance, they look incredibly dangerous, but maybe we stand a chance…”
Yoo Ji-Yeon was so frightened. She kept muttering silently to herself. It might look very intimidating, but that didn’t stop me.
“It might be worth a try, but I doubt I’ll ever forget these creatures,” Zhang Wei said, surprisingly calmly.
‘How weak do they think I am? It didn’t matter. Maybe it was better when they underestimated me.’
“Woo.”
I activated my ability, which had returned to the back of my hand. The colorful lights suddenly appearing around me got the Ogres’ attention. Being attracted to shiny things, like most dumb creatures, they would surely focus on me.
“Let’s get this over with as fast as possible. Give it all you have.”
“UUUUUUGHHH!”
The Ogres shouted a frightening battle cry in unison.
‘…fast.’
I began to analyze their strength by the way they moved. I wanted to take it more slowly, but the notification window that had just popped up reminded me that I was running out of time.
[Information view]
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