episode_0107

Passing through the red corridor, we saw a group of incubi running towards the end of the hallway like us.

They greeted us not to escape, but to guard something inside.

-Oh my, they’re coming at us!

-What do we do!?

-What do we do? The supervisor ordered us to protect whatever is inside here even if we have to die for it!

-I don’t want to die for real though!!

-Ahh they’re coming~!!

-Everyone, get into a defensive position! Push them back!!

“Don’t just push them back! [Heavenly Sword]-!!”

“Here comes the power-!”

『『『Ahhhh!!!』』』

With one strike from me and Natalia, the incubi blocking the corridor vanished through the holes in their shields.

Dozens of incubi turned into dust at once, making me cough briefly.

“Ugh, look at all this dust. It’s not good for the lungs~!”

“Ugh….”

As Yeonyoung fanned the dust away with her hand, Natalia, with her beast-like nature, responded with a displeased groan.

Meanwhile, the surviving incubi called for reinforcements and filled the gap.

-They’re here! Everyone, gather around!

-Block them from going any further!

-Push them back!!

-Don’t let them make contact with him!!

“Eek~! They’re back again! It seems like they’ve gathered a lot, maybe it’s the last floor!”

“Yeonyoung, hide behind me! Hey, pillar guy-!”

“I’m not a pillar guy!”

As the corridor was straight, I gathered my hands and concentrated my energy to release it.

What I imagined was the ultimate move from a boy’s comic.

It was a move that any man would have imitated at least once.

“Energy release…! Aaaah-!!”

With a thunderous shout, I released the beautifully concentrated energy.

At first, it took the form of a sphere, then turned into a thick beam of light that swept my vision in purple.

My dark purple beam, reflecting my aura, gnawed at the surface of the corridor, sweeping the enemies away.

『『『──!?』』』

A torrent of light rays scattered from the palms of my hands, wide open like a dragon’s mouth.

It was perfect even in my eyes.

Unlike before, they couldn’t even scream, oxidizing and turning into particles, disappearing into nothingness as the beam vanished.

“Wow, he’s really something. Why doesn’t his energy decrease even after using it like that? Is he a mutant with multiple energy sources attached?”

“We’ll analyze that later! Thanks to Changgi, they used up their reinforcements, let’s move quickly! If we delay any longer, they’ll take big action on their end too!”

“Ugh. Got it!”

Satisfied with Natalia’s response, we ran straight ahead and soon faced a giant door at the end of the bright red corridor.

The bright yellow warning sign, as if storing nuclear waste, was impressive.

“Oops. Look at this. What’s this restricted area?”

“They’re kidding.”

Just by looking at it, it seemed to be saying ‘there’s something important here,’ and both Natalia and I stepped on it simultaneously.

“Let’s go! One, two-!”

“-Three! Charge!!”

Thud!

The concentrated aura of the two hunters’ kicks. No matter how sturdy the door was, it couldn’t withstand it and cleanly flew off.

Immediately after, the red light surrounding the corridor intensified, and the entire underground rang with beep! beep! beep! warning sounds endlessly.

“They’re going crazy. We’ve already come this far, what’s going to change now that they’re making noise?”

With Natalia’s laughter, we entered inside the door.

Unlike the outside corridor, the inside was filled with darkness, with not a single beam of light to be seen, blocking our vision.

“I know it’s spacious, but what’s in here?”

Sniff, sniff. Sniff, sniff. Hmm, is there something here or not? And it’s something huge~?

With a raised nose, she smirked.

Like a beast that had found something, she walked confidently, and this time, Nayoung and I followed behind.

“If it’s something huge, then it must be someone among the Rankers here as expected, right?”

“Exactly. And not just any Ranker. You know who’s in front of us.”

“Really?”

“It’s a familiar scent. It’s been years since I’ve smelled this. I really missed it.”

Advancing through the darkness, she suddenly stopped in the center of the room.

In front of us was a huge stone wall, and feeling puzzled as if we had lost our way, she confidently commanded, “Oro, show some light here.”

-Of course, from the beginning.

Regretting the belated realization, I created a sphere of light with Oro.

“…Whoa!?”

“Ahahaha~!”

Our screams overlapped.

Even though no one had made a sound, it felt like a thunderous roar echoed.

And no wonder, the wall in front of us was not just a wall.

“A, a fox?”

“This is not a wall, it’s all a statue!!”

Upon Nayoung’s words, I also took in the overall outline.

A large fox, looking like it was 7, 8, or maybe even 9 meters tall, carved out of stone.

Despite being made of stone, it looked incredibly lifelike, with its tail wrapped around itself as if protecting its body, gazing down at us.

“Could it be?”

“Master! Are you awake!? Answer quickly!”

As I asked, Natalia shouted abruptly, and the air around us changed.

The energy emanating from the giant fox statue.

Although it didn’t move or twitch, the moment we perceived it as ‘awake,’ we heard a voice.

“Natalia… we have an unexpected visitor… how did you find your way here…?”

A voice.

And a very tired female voice.

In response, Natalia wagged her tail and jumped around.

“How did I find my way here! Obviously, I came to rescue my doomed master! If I can speak, then you must be unharmed, right!?”

“Should I say unharmed… or not… ugh….”

The fox let out a short sigh.

It tried to move but couldn’t.

Because it was made of stone.

“Why on earth are you turned into stone? And why this appearance? What happened while I was away?”

“You should know by looking… this is to protect my true form….”

“Huh? Your true form!?”

“Those vile creatures… despite my fox form, they tried to defile me… with the help of 【Baekan】, I turned into stone before being dragged here….”

“With your top skill? And for how many years!?”

“That’s right… thanks to that, I protected my true form, but now they are trying to invade my dreams… it was becoming difficult to resist, and you came just in time….”

The rough breath repeated.

Even though its eyes didn’t move, it felt like it was staring at me.

“You two are Natalia’s companions… I am Uudong, known as the ‘Ever-changing’… the master of this Thunder Beast… and the former 2nd-ranked Hunter….”

The name of a famous parasite I had heard somewhere before.

I only knew the name, and it wasn’t well mentioned on TV or the internet, so I didn’t know much about it. I never expected to meet them like this.

“Master, enough with the greetings. Let’s get out of here quickly. If we stay here, these bastards will surely destroy this place or kill you.”

“I also want that… but it’s not going as I wish….”

Crackle, crackle.

Crackle, crackle.

Every time she tried to move, the stone pieces clinging to her body scattered like hail.

But in the end, she couldn’t do it and settled down again.

“What’s the problem?”

“Unnamed companion… As you can see, my body has been petrified for too long, so I can’t move… I don’t have any skills related to petrification… And I don’t have the strength to break free either…”

“Really!?”

“W-well, that’s right! If this is the work of the former 1st ranker, Baek An, then it won’t be easy for an ordinary hunter to break through!”

“So the problem is… even if you came all this way to find me… if there’s no one here who can help with petrification, we might have to turn back… In the meantime, I might be moved or destroyed…”

In a petrified state, it was added that the body could easily break apart.

It’s not just the outer appearance that’s petrified, but even the inside is a mess, which is quite remarkable.

I’m curious about how I’m still alive at this point.

“Oh, damn. What should we do? How about this, I’ll stay here to protect the master, and you two go out and bring back a hunter with petrification skills!?”

“Natalia, that seems difficult…”

“Why? What’s so difficult? If it were me, I could easily kill those bastards one by one, so don’t worry!”

“That’s not the issue…”

Krrrrrash!!!

“Ugh!?”

“Ah, dust is falling!”

We heard a sound of something exploding right above our heads on the surface.

The aftermath reached this underground place, and we realized what they were up to.

“They’re planning to collapse this place!”

“As the companion said… if the cliff collapses, even if you guys survive, I won’t be able to hold on…”

“Ugh!”

Then something exploded again, and dust fell heavily. Natalia hurriedly kicked the ground in desperation, and I quickly took out a potion to deal with the situation.

“Natalia!”

“What, why!? What is this!? It’s a potion!”

“I-I really didn’t want to use this on a person, but first, apply it! Hurry!”

“Huh? Oh, okay!”

She didn’t ask twice. The situation was urgent.

After receiving the potion from me, Yeonyoung narrowed her eyes and frowned.

“Could this be… the one that’s been circulating lately…?”

“Shh!”

“Eeek!”

Realizing what kind of potion it was made of, she frowned and quickly sprayed it on Yeodong.

It was at that moment.

*Sizzle!*

“Oh, oh, it’s working! The petrification on my body is being lifted!”

Fortunately, my potion worked even on the 1st ranker’s petrification skill.

Even though it was a 1st rank skill, I considered the risk of it not working, but perhaps because of the risk of the potion, it was truly surprising that it easily countered the petrification.

“Hey, Yeodong! Where did you get this!? This potion is amazing!”

“Uh, Natalia?”

Then Natalia unknowingly sucked up a few drops of my potion like a thirsty dog licking an empty bowl.

As if a thirsty dog was sucking up the last drops in an empty bowl.

“Oh… something, something, tastes weird? I feel strange!”

“……”

“Y-yeah… let’s talk about that later…”

“Huh? Oh! Right! We have to save the master!”

Yeonyoung turned her gaze.

I also turned my gaze and sprinkled the remaining potion around.

Although the fox’s body was huge, when the three of us sprinkled it widely, more skin was exposed than the petrified parts.

“Ohhh… I’m starting to feel some strength returning… Almost all the petrification is gone, so at this rate-”

At that moment, the pile of rocks started to fall.

A large boulder that collapsed hit the part where the petrification hadn’t been lifted yet, making a dangerous sound.

“Yeodong Master!”

“Teacher! Are you okay!?”

While we were panicking about whether he would break and die, the fox stood up between me and Natalia.

“Ah, this should be enough! You all did really well!”

Just before the underground began to collapse, the former 2nd ranker shouted.

The massive front paw tore through the ceiling as Natalia and I followed, unleashing punches and sword strikes.

“Stretch out! [Heaven and Earth Sword] -!”

“Hyaa! Take this!!”

The deafening roar reached such an extreme level that it could make your ears ring, and the snail chamber shook.

With the combined attacks of the two of us and a single creature, a hole was punched through the ceiling.

We escaped faster than the collapsing sky, welcoming the sky as we left the incredulous incubi behind and laughed heartily.

– Natalia and Mr. Changki have been successfully rescued! Please send the signal!

– The transition is beginning!

– Build walls and demolish the detention center!

– It’s the final bonus time!!

– Take this!!!

Immediately after, beams of light poured from where Nayami was, and the hunters waiting on the lower floors began to appear one by one.

The elite members of the Mechanic Guild had already established a barrier, and the assault on the detention center began.

The 29th floor, the day of reckoning.

With the giant fox bathed in moonlight by our side, we emerged as the victors.