Ch.18Dungeon Tour Is Dangerous (4)

Crack!

Whoosh!

Bang!

BOOM─!

The battle was quite fierce.

But perhaps not entirely brainless, Choi Seongcheol relied on his high defense to endure attacks while figuring out the boss’s patterns.

However, it was absurd.

Within the totem’s domain, the boss could cast spells with remarkable efficiency, and no matter how good one’s instincts were, this couldn’t be overcome with simple physical attacks.

In the end, Choi Seongcheol was the first to reach his limit.

“Kuhup!”

Thud.

Drip.

Dark blood trickled from his mouth as he fell to his knees. After taking so many hits with his body, this outcome was practically inevitable.

Watching Choi Seongcheol, Kim Seungmin and Seo Yuna gulped nervously.

They hadn’t deliberately avoided helping. As an assassin, Seo Yuna couldn’t recklessly approach an enemy capable of area-of-effect attacks, and Kim Seungmin didn’t have Choi Seongcheol’s durability. Simple attacks weren’t a good strategy.

With Choi Seongcheol’s retirement, only three remained. Kim Seungmin tensely looked toward Baek Eunha, who stood in the back corner.

‘Not yet?’

There must be a reason why the strongest among them wasn’t moving.

That’s why Kim Seungmin had decided not to fight alongside Choi Seongcheol and conserve his strength for now.

He believed she must have some plan in mind.

Tap.

And finally, the silent Baek Eunha began to move.

Step.

Step.

Her footsteps showed no hesitation.

Each step was calm and light. Not a trace of tension could be found.

Approaching the kneeling Choi Seongcheol, she hesitated for a moment before carefully poking him with her finger.

Poke.

Poke.

After confirming he could no longer move, she slightly raised the corner of her mouth and said to his face:

“…Weakling.”

Choi Seongcheol’s face contorted strangely at those words, and finally unable to hold onto his fading consciousness, he collapsed completely.

Thud.

Step.

Step.

“Kehik.”

And so Baek Eunha and the dungeon boss faced each other.

In this explosive situation that could become the final battle, Kim Seungmin desperately gripped his sword and shield.

#

‘Tough life force.’

To be honest, Choi Seongcheol was an extremely tempting talent.

He hadn’t awakened long ago, yet he possessed such a sturdy body. He would have made excellent material for necromancy.

If I had turned the dead Choi Seongcheol into a subordinate, dealing with the boss monster before me would have been much easier.

However.

‘…Usually people die from this much damage.’

Despite pushing his body to the limit, Choi Seongcheol was still breathing. He didn’t even seem likely to die. That meant I couldn’t deliberately end his life.

‘Still, he was somewhat useful.’

Thanks to Choi Seongcheol’s mindless charging, the shaman boss had no choice but to reveal more of his techniques than expected.

And through him, I had already figured out everything about my opponent.

Just as the shaman had revealed himself earlier after determining he could identify and kill us.

I too had completed all preparations for the hunt.

“Soul Extraction.”

Whoosh.

[Kieek!]

[Keeeek─!]

Except for the ten I had turned into undead, I had converted the rest of the hunted Antwurfs into soul form and stored them all in magic stones.

And now, I took out those stones and summoned all the souls inside.

[Keeeek!]

The Antwurfs continued to scream as if lamenting the pain of their deaths, their soul forms all grotesquely distorted.

In that state, I slowly walked into the boss’s domain.

Step.

Step.

“Kihik?”

Seeing my seemingly defenseless appearance, the boss sneered with a questioning look.

Perhaps inwardly, he thought all humans were blockheads like Choi Seongcheol had been earlier.

But I was no fool.

I was a wise and intelligent pure necromancer.

“Kiieek!”

Whoosh.

Crack!

The boss activated his totem and deployed a spell formation, with runes beginning to appear within the totem’s domain.

At that exact moment, I shot the souls into various points of the formation.

[Keeeek!]

[Gigik!]

The Antwurf souls writhed as they seeped into the formation points, screaming horribly at the sensation of their existence being eroded.

Then, suddenly, cracks began to appear in the totem.

Crack!

Craaack─!

“Kehik?”

“Buff ended.”

It was quite a decent spell.

The totem was well-made, and the circuits within the domain were efficiently arranged.

However, frankly, it was too obvious to me. Just a brief observation was enough to clearly understand its process, flow, cause, and effect.

So I used the souls to block all the spell’s pathways.

That was it. Now the shaman had to fight with just his own body.

He had been thrown from his home ground onto the street.

“…Attack.”

At my command, the ten Antwurfs waiting nearby simultaneously surrounded the shaman.

Of course, being a boss, he could easily defeat a few of them, but with his abilities weakened now, he couldn’t possibly defeat all ten even if he died and came back to life.

Moreover, the Antwurfs were enhanced by my necromancy. There was no way out.

It was a perfect checkmate.

“…Kehik.”

The shaman looked around in unprecedented confusion, but there was no one to help him.

After assessing the situation, instead of giving up, the shaman began using his last resort with a contorted face.

“Keeeek─!”

As he chanted, the shaman’s body suddenly twisted.

Crack.

Crackle.

What emerged was a muscular lizardman over 2 meters tall, completely different from his previous appearance.

Wait, he’s transforming here?

“Kiyaak─!”

Roar!

The shaman, now completely transformed into a Godzilla-like creature, began rampaging and attacking the Antwurfs with tremendous strength.

That power was quite formidable, enough to surprise even me who had been maintaining composure all along.

“I’ll help!”

Sensing the strange turn of events, Kim Seungmin rushed forward and pressed the shaman with his shield.

At the same time, Seo Yuna circled around to the back for a surprise attack.

Boom!

Bang!

Slash!

The battle was being maintained somehow thanks to the two’s skilled judgment and technique, but given the basic difference in specs, victory seemed difficult.

So I had no choice but to reluctantly take out my last magic stone.

‘This took a long time to make…’

But resources only have meaning when used when needed.

Whoosh.

As I activated the magic stone, the death energy contained within began to surge.

Currently, I only had the undead Antwurfs as materials, nothing else.

And there were no higher entities among the undead Antwurfs.

So I had to create one directly.

Whoosh.

“Undead Call.”

“Kieek!”

Crack!

Snap!

I selected a total of five as materials.

From their bodies, I quickly sorted and classified the necessary materials and inefficient parts.

Snap!

If an ordinary necromancer had seen this, they would have been horrified. This was absolutely not a normal method.

It was an extremely dangerous act that should never be attempted without the skill that comes from vast experience and knowledge.

‘…The jaw and front legs seem ideal as attack means.’

But it didn’t matter to me.

Among the necromancers over there, I was one of those with a peculiar interest in corpses who had conducted countless studies and experiments, commonly called “Straw Men.”

I was classified at a completely different level even among them.

Crack!

Crunch─!

“Grk. Gik.”

What was completed was a massive arthropod with considerable bulk.

It looked somewhat like an armored soldier ant, and at a glance, it could also be mistaken for a vicious stag beetle.

The motif was the bullet ant I had seen in various encyclopedias after returning to Earth. So if I were to give it a name.

“Dinoponerae.”

Through the name, its existence was defined, and it was finally reborn as a species of death.

“Kieeek─!”

“Huh, huk.”

Kim Seungmin, who had been desperately buying time, quickly moved away, and Seo Yuna also retreated, dripping with sweat. It didn’t take long for the boss and Dinoponerae to face each other.

“…Kiek.”

The dungeon boss, who had been rampaging so fiercely, let out a groan filled with terror in an instant.

He instinctively understood at first sight.

No matter how much he struggled, he could not defeat this thing.

Crunch!

“Kieek!”

So the outcome was as good as decided. It was a one-sided slaughter.

Under Dinoponerae’s overwhelming violence, the boss’s skin was torn, bones were crushed, and his life ended.

At the same time, the last magic stone that had used up all its power shattered.

Crack.

Craaack─!

Looking at the brutally mangled corpse of the boss, the people rushing in through the now open boss room door, and the portal beginning to form in midair, I thought with my slumped body:

I want to go home quickly and order some chicken.

And then.

Ding!

【Baek Eunha】

▶Title:

▶Level: 1

As if it had been waiting for this moment, a single number was engraved in the level section of my status window.