Ch.70The Sea Journey Is Dangerous (4)

Whoosh!

“What’s the situation?”

“Evacuation of nearby residents is almost complete, but there are citizens who refuse to move, which is causing difficulties.”

“As expected. What about the first line of defense?”

“We don’t have confirmation, so I’m not sure. However, there are no damage reports yet.”

“If we don’t arrive on time, this could get serious. We need to increase our speed even if it’s pushing it.”

Currently, the nearby navy, army, and guild forces are heading toward the destination together.

Since it’s a large dungeon, a boss will likely appear soon. They absolutely needed to arrive by then at the latest.

Following the captain’s orders, the soldiers in the unit also began busily preparing.

Thud!

Boom!

Thud!

Patter patter!

“What on earth is going on?”

“I know, right! One wrong move and we could be holding a mass funeral.”

Even while rushing around, the unit members continuously chatted, seemingly trying to ease the tension.

In the midst of this, one squad member who had finished preparations casually asked a question to his superior.

“Sergeant Choi. Is the situation really that urgent? I heard A-rank and B-rank Hunters are already at the scene.”

“Who? Baek Seoha and his lackeys?”

Sergeant Choi Chang-il snickered self-deprecatingly and addressed the soldier who had asked the question.

“You haven’t been here long, have you?”

“Yes, sir! That’s correct.”

“Then I guess you wouldn’t know.”

To the dumbfounded soldier, Choi Chang-il calmly explained the gravity of the situation.

“Listen, this is an A-rank large dungeon break. You think a couple of Hunters can stop it?”

“…Is it that serious?”

“I guarantee you, even if the four of them hold out for 10 minutes before running away, it would be a miracle. Having Baek Seoha there doesn’t change much.”

That’s what a dungeon break is.

It’s completely different from a normal dungeon raid.

“Twenty Hunters of equal rank.”

“Pardon?”

“That’s the minimum standard considered necessary to stop a medium-sized dungeon break without casualties. For large dungeons, there isn’t even a standard. Do you understand the situation now?”

“That can’t be…”

“That’s why we need to get there as quickly as possible, every minute counts.”

Patting the back of the now completely stiff soldier, Choi Chang-il continued with his preparations.

‘They need to buy us more time…’

Though he said that, Choi Chang-il was also praying for the Hunters on site to do their best.

To be honest, in the current situation, they were the only ones he could rely on.

‘Whoever you are, please hold out until we get there.’

Sending a prayer to unknown individuals, Choi Chang-il gazed with mixed emotions toward his hometown, which was likely under monster attack right now.

#

“Undead call.”

Whoosh.

Rustle.

Crunch!

Crunch crunch!

Song Hayeon had forgotten to command her undead and was staring at the scene before her as if entranced.

‘……’

The battle was incredibly fierce.

Both the pouring monsters and the undead fighting against them were causing numerous casualties.

Nevertheless, their side was at a disadvantage. That should have been clear.

‘What is this…’

The enemy was strong and incredibly numerous. She thought the mere dozens of undead summoned by just two people would be swept away in no time.

But the front line was holding. Even now, 20 minutes after the battle began.

“Kekeke. I feel power surging.”

Boom.

When Gordon thrust his staff into the ground, an eerie death energy spread widely across the entire beach in an instant.

It was an action he had repeated several times already. Though Song Hayeon couldn’t fully understand the principle, she sensed he was turning the surroundings into his territory.

Similarly, what Baek Eunha was doing wasn’t much different.

“……”

Swish.

Whoosh.

Rustle rustle.

Taking it a step further, she showed no signs of using any spells. Just by wiggling her fingers, the death energy filled the surroundings.

And now, the effect was becoming visibly clear.

Rustle.

Crunch.

Crunch crunch.

“She… she didn’t even chant a spell.”

The corpses of fallen enemy monsters absorbed the death energy floating around and naturally raised their bodies.

Then, like zombies from a movie, they immediately charged toward the living monsters.

Honestly, it was quite a terrifying sight.

“This is getting difficult.”

Baek Eunha, who hadn’t shown any signs of fatigue until now, frowned for the first time.

Fifty bodies.

That was the number of undead Baek Eunha was controlling simultaneously.

Sighing as if deeply dissatisfied, Baek Eunha shifted her gaze to Song Hayeon, who was standing blankly beside her.

“Raise and use the remaining ones.”

“Ah, yes…”

Song Hayeon honestly found it hard to comprehend the scene before her eyes, even while witnessing it directly.

‘With that level of corpses, I could only manage twelve at most.’

Though there was a clear difference in the quality of death energy, the actual quantity wasn’t that different between Song Hayeon and Baek Eunha.

Yet there was such a huge gap between them.

‘I’m not the strange one.’

Setting Helena aside, there were certainly high-ranking necromancers in various countries around the world.

However, none of them could control as many corpses as Baek Eunha.

Controlling 50 B-rank or higher monsters alone—if that were possible, necromancers would have been treated like one-person armies.

Crash!

“Ah.”

Lost in thought, the Doom Warrior that had been holding out for a long time finally collapsed, unable to withstand the enemy’s attack.

But when Baek Eunha raised her hand, the scattered death energy gathered and raised the battered Doom Warrior again.

[Grooooar!]

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Crash!

While allied undead recovered even after falling, enemy monsters became our minions the moment they died, consumed by death energy.

Even thinking simply, it was an impossible exchange.

‘…Isn’t she just invincible?’

It was absurd, but that’s what it seemed like.

Surely there must be limits to such things. However, the majesty Baek Eunha was displaying now made one completely forget such obvious facts.

Then, after staring at the sea for a while, Baek Eunha spoke softly.

“Seems like it’s out.”

At the same time, waves surged at the edge of their vision.

#

It’s out. Definitely the dungeon boss’s presence. Using mana to carefully examine the source, I could see tentacles like those of a giant octopus roaming the water’s surface.

“Huff! Huff! Each of these bastards is tough! How long do we have to hold out?”

With the boss’s appearance, Kwak Minji’s cry came from a corner of the beach, sounding completely exhausted. I responded with slight bewilderment.

“You were still fighting? It doesn’t make much difference whether you’re there or not anyway.”

“Fuck, you should have said so earlier!”

It’s already four in the afternoon. I called over the sweating Kwak Minji and handed her a phone.

“Go to the car and play some gacha games.”

“…You’re really insane.”

Kwak Minji glared at me like I was some kind of freak, but honestly, this was much more productive.

After sending Kwak Minji away, Seoha, who had left to assess the situation, returned.

“Sorry. I was delayed because of residents refusing to evacuate.”

“I figured as much.”

Seoha briefly surveyed the battlefield, then asked me with a surprised expression.

“Isn’t this too much strain for you?”

“…I’m fine with this much.”

Anyway, with this, all our forces were gathered. And with perfect timing, a notification came through Seoha’s phone that reinforcements had arrived.

So we maintained the front line a bit longer, and soon we could sense multiple presences approaching hastily from the rear.

Patter patter.

Rustle.

“Huff, huff. Are you Baek Seoha’s group? You really held out well.”

At the same time, they looked with shock at the beach that had completely transformed into a land of death.

“Good heavens…”

“How many monsters are there?”

“Just four people held back this many monsters?”

But now wasn’t the time for such pointless reactions.

The leader quickly calmed his group and relayed the situation to us.

“The naval forces are approaching the dungeon’s origin point from the rear. They’ll soon begin operations to eliminate the boss.”

“…So what should we do?”

“After the boss is defeated, we’ll work with the maritime units to tighten the encirclement and eliminate the remaining monsters.”

“In that case…”

“Yes. You can join us then. Of course, if you’re not in good condition, you can sit this out.”

It could be called a textbook plan. However, after hearing it, I muttered with a subtle expression.

“Seems too hasty…”

“Haha. It’s fine. Both we and they are experts in these matters. The confirmed boss monster, Great Octopus, is A4-rank. We’ve faced it before, so we can handle it sufficiently.”

From behind, I could even hear some mocking voices among the group.

Moreover, before I could say anything to stop them, the naval ships had already approached close to the Great Octopus.

Soon the navy’s awakened unit engaged with the Great Octopus, and the situation seemed to favor our side at first glance.

“See, no problem, right? No need to worry too much.”

However, as I carefully observed that area, I realized my prediction was correct and sighed with undisguised contempt.

“That’s not it.”

“Pardon?”

“That. That’s not the boss.”

At that moment, with a tremendous roar, the naval ship began to capsize.

“Wh-what?”

What appeared then was a massive creature resembling a mythical imugi.

This was the true boss of this dungeon break.