episode_0037

Lee Hyun looked around. Other than him, there was no sign that anyone else had passed by first. At first, I didn’t feel like I was popular.

He internally breathed a sigh of relief.

It’s fortunate that no one was harmed by the beast, and it’s fortunate that no student got a dog tag before him. Also, it is fortunate that since he does not have eyes to see, he can use another power of his.

Lee Hyun has now opened the prediction plan up to 3 paths, but in the current situation, he feels that it is a bit lacking.

Aeteranus is a first-class magical beast that can use magic instinctively, but it boasts unrivaled danger and power to the point that some scholars argue that it should be reclassified.

What’s more, the guy in front of me has created another mutation.

He added a magic formula and fixed the prediction down to 6 paths. And he spread his power, which had been concentrated near his heart, to the surroundings of his body. The entire process flowed smoothly and naturally like a river.

Lee Hyun raised his blade and aimed it at the magical beast. Then, particles were blown into the blade made of Stellite alloy, ready to dig into the field.

The demon beast instinctively sensed Lee Hyun’s hostile attitude and immediately began to actively respond. Soon, Lee Hyun felt the hair on his entire body stand up stiffly.

-Pazy…

A strange sound was heard from near the beast’s face, and soon a brightly shining, unstable sphere began to form at the end of each antennae.

The demonic beast fired the sphere of electricity that had already been created. Needless to say, the target was the location where Lee Hyeon was. According to his calculations, Lee Hyun should have been reduced to pitch black ash the next moment.

-Kick?

However, the next moment, the demon beast let out a deflated sound as if it was embarrassed. Lee Hyun was still standing there just fine.

The thunderbolt orb fired by the demonic beast flickered around him and disappeared back into the ether of the sky. It looked like small fireflies were circling around Lee Hyeon.

Now was an opportunity as the demon beast had not properly grasped the situation. Lee Hyun quickly moved his body to approach the guy and then jumped onto his back. The fangs of the demonic beast that attacked me in a split second narrowly missed me.

-Key profit!

Because Aeteranus’s joints could not bend upward, his back was almost square. In response, the demon beast turned its body to the side and continued to attempt to target Lee Hyun with its fangs. On the other hand, he continued to try to shake his body violently to make Lee Hyun fall.

Even as Lee Hyun slipped, he held onto the gap between the exoskeletons with his hands to withstand the impact.

Cutting off the magical beast’s waist now is not a good choice. Because of the ganglia distributed throughout the body, it could have been like having to deal with two powerful magical beasts that move independently at once.

What he was targeting was the guy’s head, which was full of sensory parts and magic organs. Lee Hyun continued to move forward, repeatedly moving forward and fixing, avoiding the interference of the demonic beast.

His eyes were hurting from the constant lightning striking around him, but the lightning that reached him was bound to shatter and scatter like fireflies.

In the end, Lee Hyun was able to completely climb on top of the guy’s head, which was as wide as usual.

Dozens of compound eyes growing upwards were watching him at once. Those pupils were still filled with fear that I did not know the basis for. Its antennae trembled frantically as if there had been an earthquake, and its teeth continued to spurt venom in all directions.

But there was no longer any way for him to resist.

Lee Hyun put his hands into the joints and fixed the body firmly. He then began slashing repeatedly between the exoskeletons with the blade.

With Cradle’s standard blade, the hard outer shell would have damaged the blade if it had been cut in one go.

-bang! bang! bang! Cheer up!

Lee Hyun continued to attack the magic beast’s weak points. When the blade broke, I changed it several times and persistently struck one point. Before he knew it, he was covered in the blood of the demon beast and his entire body was stained green.

-bang! bang!

Just before the last blade was consumed, the area between the demon beast’s head and body was almost a tattered rag. Now even its pulsating blood vessels were clearly visible. The four antennae have given up resistance and are just hanging down.

But it still lives on tenaciously. If you let it go like this, it will regain its original form in an instant thanks to its incredible resilience. That was an assumption that was not in Lee Hyun’s options.

He sensed that it was time to finish. By manipulating the particle array on his wrist, he created a small but fiercely burning fireball on his palm.

Although it looks weak at first glance, this is the most powerful and painful magic he knows.

The day I first met them, the memory of the warlock crying until he died in the pillar of fire created by Chaewon Yoon still remained strong.

Lee Hyeon threw the ‘Archduke’s Fire’ straight into the guy’s body. And immediately rolled over and jumped down, increasing the distance from the demon beast.

-Key profit!

-Quaang!

The demon beast struggled back and forth, suffering from the pain of its internal organs burning. The ground caved in and several thick trees were broken at once, creating a mess all around.

And when the smoke from the flame that burned all the organs was barely breaking through the carapace, its large body finally fell to the ground with a thud. The magical beast did not show even the slightest movement anymore.

“… Phew.”

Lee Hyun finally let out the breath he had been holding. The smell of burning meat was all around. Perhaps because it is an arthropod, it smells similar to the smell of grilling shrimp at first glance.

He climbed over the giant corpse and headed towards the open area. At the center of the place, on a well-trodden foundation, was a large, metallic mechanism made of complex gears and hydraulic pipes.

Lee Hyun placed his dog tag on the machine.

-Tiring!

A cheerful sound was heard to indicate that the machine was running, but it soon became quiet again. Lee Hyun looked skeptical for a moment, but he intuitively believed that he was sure to win first place.

Feeling so refreshed, I took a break and was about to head back.

“Ugh… !”

Suddenly, a throbbing pain began to spread around my chest. It was intense, like being stabbed with a knife.

Now that I think about it, it seemed like time was a little bit tight. Lee Hyun canceled the prediction plan and collected the powers again and pushed them in.

“… ”

Lee Hyun thought it would be nice to have something big and soft to lean on. However, it had been a long time since the demonic beast had turned the normal trees in the open area into a mess as it struggled.

“Ugh… ”

Now all that remained was something huge in front of me that gave off the smell of grilling shrimp. But he had no other choice left.

***

“Ha, I didn’t know there were other people with similar thoughts as me.”

A large male student with short hair muttered. As if he had gone through an intense struggle, his protective clothing was covered in green and dark red blood.

“Especially Seungheon. It’s a bit surprising. What about your girlfriend?”

“Yeoul sent it back just in case. Still, it would be a shame to give up on myself… haha… ”

Seungheon answered Woojin’s question with his signature smile. Next to them, a female student with blonde hair and green eyes was making an expression on her face that said she didn’t like something.

“Ha, I didn’t know you would think the same way as this monkey… ”

There was no intact part of her protective clothing left either. Her beautiful hair was tangled and dirty here and there, but she brushed it off as if she didn’t care.

“So how many did you catch?”

“2 Hiros, 2 Nibalis.”

Although they were all level 2 demon beasts that were difficult to deal with, Woojin looked proud after hearing Seungheon’s answer.

“Tsk tsk. I have 1 Scropa, 3 Mustella, and 2 Plavita. I guess I won… ”

“3 Lacidoras, 5 Canadens.”

Woojin’s proud tone was blocked by Jin Ye-seo’s sudden words.

“So, what should we do now?”

Yeseo asked, his voice still full of dissatisfaction.

“Um… Now that things have come to this, why don’t we join forces to reach the center? I think all three of us are a little tired, but if we leave like this and face the demon beast alone, it could be really dangerous… ”

“… ”

There was nothing particularly wrong with what Seungheon said. The current situation is that in my first real battle, I encountered second-class demonic beasts without warning.

Although all three of them coped quite well after going through such hardships, they had already consumed a lot of stamina and particles, and their bodies were accumulating quite a bit of fatigue.

“… So, assuming we do that, what is the order of stamping the identification tag?”

Jin Ye-seo thought for a moment and asked again.

“Which one of you takes the picture first? I don’t mind being next.”

“It’s not fun. Hey, Jin Ye-seo. What should I do? Decide the order by duel?”

“Good. Stay safe until you arrive. I’ll beat you like you’re the one behind.”

Jin Ye-seo readily responded to Woo-jin’s words. After reaching a consensus, they formed a line and began to advance.

But as they progressed towards the center, a strange scene unfolded around them.

“… Why do you think they died fighting among themselves? And isn’t that a mark where the blade cut it?”

Yeseo said while looking around. In front of her was the corpse of Lacidoras, its stomach and chest cut neatly in half. The tips of my legs, which were still trembling, made me frown.

“Could it be that someone has already passed by? Is there anyone else besides us who had similar thoughts?”

“… Did the professors even pass by? I don’t think your skills are average… ”

For some reason, I felt anxious and started to walk faster. The further we went, the more corpses of demonic beasts piled up. At first glance, there were about 20 of them that were easily overcome, and all of them looked like they had been mistreated by someone.

After a forced march, they were finally able to reach the center of the northern sector. But it wasn’t the recognition device that welcomed them. At first glance, it seemed like a low hill was blocking the road, but there were dozens of bridges stretching out all over the place.

Then, they were able to see the human figure of someone resting against a hill with a bridge.

“… you… !”

Ye-seo soon realized his identity and shouted. On the shadow’s face was a mask that glowed smoothly in the moonlight.