Chapter 116. Avarice Devours Everything (3)
There was a total of 50 soldiers, consisting of 40 knights and 10 magicians. They were all dungeon explorers and experts who were at least level 70. Amongst them, there were even 20 First Dungeon explorers. In truth, I was surprised so many of them were still alive, given the fierce battle they must have been having with the Demon Army. If the 50 of them fought with Earth’s rankers, they would win without doubt. Was Earth weak? Or was Luka continent strong…? If they lost even with such strong forces, just how strong was the Demon Army?
In addition to the 50 soldiers, there were 14 Dimensional Mercenaries. Everyone other than me seemed to at least be level 60, and as they were First Dungeon explorers and passed the tricky requirements to become Dimensional Mercenaries, they were all formidable in their own regard.
Then, there was Ludia and Bellode, making the number of people going on this expedition 66. Bellode, who was in charge of leading the expedition, was also in charge of protecting Ludia. As she was a priestess, she was valuable even though she was relatively low leveled.
“By the way, are there no Dimensional Mercenaries in the Second Dungeon?”
“There are. I heard there aren’t any in the Third and Fourth Dungeons, but I know Dimensional Mercenaries can come from the Second Dungeon. It just looks like no one accepted the request this time.”
Ludia answered my question, then Bellode added to her explanation.
“Second Dungeon explorers, especially ones strong enough to be Dimensional Mercenaries, have extremely cautious nature. There are rumors that they never accept requests from worlds that have lost their Heroes.”
“I see…”
Although I thought they were cowards, I didn’t voice my thought out loud.
“We will move by specially trained horses. They listen to people well, so you can be rest assured and ride on them.”
Thirty knights rode on the horses alone, while ten knights rode with magicians behind them. The Dimensional Mercenaries, who were watching them, seemed to get on the horses too, but two of them didn’t.
“My subclass is Summoner, so I don’t need it. Come, Wyvern.”
A middle-aged ajusshi who looked to be in his 40’s reached out and summoned a house-sized dragon. Although I didn’t want to admit it, it was damn cool. Damn it, how did he obtain the Summoner subclass? I’m jealous! I really am!
While I was watching him blankly, one other Dimensional Mercenary reached into her inventory and took something out. It was a wide, metallic board big enough for a person to lie on. Was that a hoverboard? That was a hoverboard!
“I’ll ride this, so don’t worry.”
“Mm, how is its speed compared to the battle horses?”
“Of course it’s faster! I have to be the one to slow myself down for you, so don’t worry about the speed!”
It was the voice of a woman! She was a violet-haired beauty who looked to be in her 20’s, but because her hair was pushed together to one side, half of her face was covered. From the visible half, however, I could tell that she was a beauty. It was then that her green eyes met mine. She was glaring at me frighteningly. It was then that I remembered, she was the woman who glared at me before!
I continued to stare at her, not knowing why she was glaring at me. Then, one of the knights not going on the expedition approached me with the rein of a cool white horse in hand. For some reason, I felt that the white horse was cooler than the horses other people got. Not to mention, it looked incredibly similar to the white horse Ludia was on. Plus, the knight had an overly respectful attitude.
“Kang Shin-nim, this is the horse assigned to you.”
“Ah, I’m fine too. Sorry for saying it late.”
It was clearly prepared for me, so I felt a bit sorry to decline, but I already had an excellent ride. In front of the knight looking puzzled, I materialized Ruyue, who I had already summoned beforehand. When a huge silver wolf appeared, a few people flinched, but I ignored their gazes and scratched her neck. With breath mixed with freezing energy, she asked.
[Do I kill them all?]
“No, Ruyue. We’re going to run for a while.”
[Okay!]
“An elemental.”
“A materialized elemental. It’s been a while.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen an Elementalist. They’re still being passed down?”
“He might have been born as one. The elemental seems pretty weak too.”
“Yep, weak.”
“Still a rookie, I see.”
Of course, Ruyue might seem weak in their eyes, but that was because I couldn’t draw out all of her strength. When my skills grew, Ruyue and Peika would get stronger as well.
“We’ll be setting off now! May the fortune of Goddess Mitarus be with us!”
When everyone got on their rides, a knight in charge of leading the way set off. The other knights on their horses followed him, and the Dimensional Mercenaries followed suit.
The wyvern-riding middle aged explorer flew a bit higher than everyone, and the woman on the hoverboard floated at the same height I was in, lying comfortably on the hoverboard. As for me, I asked Ruyue to run at the same speed as the battle horse.
“Bellode-ssi, before we catch up to the retreating Demon Army, will we not run into other monsters or demons?”
“Yes. We’re taking the fastest route with the least amount of enemies, and we will continue adjusting our route by scouting with magical familiars.”
For a moment, I thought of Earth’s GPS system.
“Pft. What’s up with that shocked face? This much is standard.”
“In your world, maybe. Though, there’s something similar in my… Nevermind.”
Perhaps it was because she rode horses often, but Ludia skillfully rode her white horse and kept up with Bellode, laughing cheerfully as she made fun of me. While we were in the Imperial Palace, she looked down the entire time, but she seemed happier now that we were on the move. I smiled in relief.
“You’re prettier when you’re smiling. I couldn’t bear to see you the way you were before.”
“Hmph! You only just realized I was pretty? Stupid!”
While we were joking around with each other, Bellode smiled lightly and spoke.
“You two suit each other well.”
“Bellode, I already told you! We’re still just friends!”
“Huhu, ‘still,’ I see.”
“No! I said it wrong, we’re just friends!”
Bellode also seemed to be skilled in teasing Ludia. While the three of us were chatting, someone approached my side. When I turned my head, the hoverboard was flying next to me! The violet-haired woman lying on the hoverboard glared at me and spoke.
“You, I’ll kill you.”
“Why!?”
“I called dibs on her… If you steal her away, I won’t forgive you!”
“… You, don’t get near Ludia!”
Run, Ludia! An unexpected person is aiming for you!
Although I didn’t think the rescue mission would be a walk in the park, we ran for the whole day and got ambushed when we stopped to take a rest and eat.
[Guoooooooo!]
“It’s the monster unit under the demons’ command! Kuk, I couldn’t even detect them with familiars!”
“Magicians, take your distance and prepare your magic!”
“Knights, protect the magicians! Squad One, to the front! Space out and cover the area!”
While the knights were moving busily, the mercenaries each took out their weapons and confirmed the monsters. Strangely enough, none of them stood near each other. Come on, nobody trusted each other!? How did you climb the dungeon until now!?
[Guaaaaaaa!]
“Kuk, someone help out in the sky! These damned chimeras!”
All of the monsters were peculiar. They had black bodies and looked like several monsters mixed together. The one closest to me was at least 3 meters tall, had scaly skin, and had four arms of different thickness. The arms looked like they were taken from four different creatures.
Plus, it had two heads, one that looked like a komodo dragon’s and one that looked like a human’s.
“It’s the Demon Army’s trait. They create chimeras from mixing multiple lives together, without their consent, of course. They’re evil and cruel.”
Bellode explained to me while gritting his teeth. Before taking on the monsters, I looked at the others fighting the chimeras. The knights and magicians were working together to push back the chimeras, and the Dimensional Mercenaries each took on a chimera, weaving in and out of fights.
The most eye-catching among them was the hoverboard and the wyvern. They were both fighting the flying monsters. The wyvern breathed out strong flames, and the woman on the hoverboard swung a strange weapon filled with her aura that seemed to be made of clumps of steel linked together.
Although they were strong, I didn’t think they were much stronger than me. I thought anyone who could be Dimensional Mercenaries would have grinded elixirs like me, but was I wrong?
“Ah, I see. If they were like me, the moment they cleared the 50th floor…”
The moment they became a Gold ranked explorer, they would have become Dimensional Mercenaries. However, they became Dimensional Mercenaries past level 60 or 70. They had taken a different route than me. Up until now, I felt that I was lacking compared to them, but I decided to let that thought go.
I held my spear and aimed at the chimeras that had appeared in groups. I didn’t know where they were coming from, but they were popping out from all directions of the forest we were walking through. Everyone was currently busy fighting them, but the mercenaries were clearly not trying their best. Shouldn’t they hurry up and take care of them, so we could get our rest!?
“Alright, Ruyue… Let’s go! Gale Track!”
[Auuuuuuu!]
Ruyue exerted her presence with a howl filled with freezing energy. At the same time, I poured an abundant amount of mana into Peika. With Zeus’ power, my bond with Peika had gotten deeper. Just by activating Spirit Aura, Gluttony Spear lost its original color and transformed to a golden lightning bolt.
Immediately afterwards, Ruyue ran forward!
“Haaaaap! Fight me!”
[You used Provoke! Enemies from all sides attack you with hostility!]
[Kiaaak!]
[A lightning elemental!]
[An Elementalist!]
[A new sacrifice…!]
Chimeras of all sizes and shapes pounced towards me. Each and every one of them were strong! Some had poisonous claws, some had eyes that charmed, and some spit out acidic saliva.
[Auuuuu!]
However, they could not match Ruyue’s Ice Breath. Immediately afterwards, they were sent flying by Ruyue’s body and my lightning spear.
Ruyue was in charge of defense and Peika was in charge of offense! Gale Track! In its path, Peika and Ruyue’s effects became one, displaying the greatest synergistic effect. It didn’t matter how strong the chimeras were. My destructive power increased by 110% during charge type skills! I had confidence that even Floor Masters couldn’t withstand my charge.
[Critical Hit!]
[Critical Hit!]
Chimeras were made of other creatures. As they weren’t invertebrates, they had bones. With Skull Breaker’s title effect, once a critical hit was dealt, parts of the chimeras blew up no matter how big they were. My charge continued without stopping. If there was one thing I wasn’t happy about, it was that my enemies were too few in number!
In the blink of an eye, I reached the rearmost chimera, which was over 3 meters tall and was riding on a large lizard. It was easy to tell that it was a chimera. It had four arms, each carrying a large weapon! From the aura it was emitting, it seemed to be the chimera squad’s captain.
[Kugagagaga! You are truly fast and strong! I’ll take your legs and make them mine!]
“Like I care!”
In addition to charging, Gale Track also let me deal a final blow imbued with wind! I pulled my spear in front of my chest. Above the lightning spear, a gust of wind appeared, rotating at an astonishing speed. Originally, it would end with a simple addition of wind, but Hermes and mastering Divine Speed let my affinity to the wind elemental reach the peak, making the wind more formidable. It didn’t seem like a low-rank skill at all.
[Kugaga, take this! Giant’s…!]
You dare to interrupt my skill!? The moment the chimera moved its four arms to use a skill, I activated Divine Speed. Its movements immediately slowed down, almost as if it stopped completely. On the other hand, I had become incredibly fast, as if I had grown wings. Although Divine Speed itself protected by body to a certain degree, it was still hard to handle 1000% of my speed.
However, there was no problem with one specific motion. It was the motion I made the most since I was born, and the motion that first made me get called a Hero.
“Die!”
The wind-lightning spear shot out, aimed at a single point in the giant’s chest. The attack that contained my body’s concentrated energy easily broke through the giant’s chest, and the power that was imbued in the spear then exploded.
[Critical Hit!]
[Low-rank Gale Track became level 3. Your acceleration during charging increases, and the power imbued in the final blow becomes stronger.]
Divine Speed’s duration also ended. Feeling the slightly creaking body, I pulled out my spear from the giant’s chest. At that moment, green blood spurted out toward me, which I dodged frightened. After hitting the ground, the blood melted the ground. So it really was acidic!
I froze the blood continuing to spurt out with Ruyue’s ability, then checked the state of the chimera. Its chest was caved in, like a bomb had struck it. Its internal organs, bones, and muscles had all blown up, and it was clearly in an irrecoverable state. If it could move after this, it wouldn’t be a chimera, but a Gamera.
As expected, the chimera had stopped breathing without even letting out death throes. Confirming that there was no sign of life, I put the corpse in my inventory. Then, I turned around and checked the state of the battlefield. Most of the knights were looking at me surprised, and a few of the Dimensional Mercenaries were nodding their heads.
“He’s quite good.”
“Ha, we can’t fall behind. The newbie took the head! You guys better try harder!”
Hu, it seemed I had successfully raised everyone’s fighting spirit. I nodded my head in satisfaction, and looked for my next opponent.
Although I didn’t realize, this was the moment I engraved the name, Kang Shin, in the entire dungeon.