Chapter 65: To the Snowfield (10)
Top floor of the White Giant Tree.
There was a huge hollow where the boss resided.
On the floor of the hollow, an archer lay sprawled, his chest caved in.
It was the price he paid for recklessly allowing Sa-hyeok’s strike, trusting only in the sturdiness of his armor.
Of course, the armor’s material, Daitonium, was a strong enough substance to allow for such arrogance.
It was a metal made by processing the scales of the Dragon-type monster, Daitoros.
The problem was that the strength of the metal bandages deployed from the Iron Arms of the Bone King was much higher, no, ridiculously higher.
A collaboration of well-founded arrogance and the worst match-up luck.
As a result, all of his ribs were shattered, the ends of his lungs were crushed, and his liver was split in half.
Of course, this wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t initiated the attack in the first place.
“Gasp…… Gasp……”
Sa-hyeok confirmed that the archer was still breathing.
At that moment.
Swish-
A short man embraced the fallen archer.
The man placed his hand on the archer’s deeply sunken chest.
Buzz-
A green energy emanated from the man’s hand.
The Healer’s basic skill, Healing.
However, no matter how much Healing skill he poured in, the crushed chest showed no signs of recovery.
The extent of the injury was too severe to be healed with Healing.
The man, the Healer, asked Sa-hyeok.
“You…… just who are you?”
“That’s my line, you bastards. Who are you? What are you scheming by sneaking into the dungeon? No, before that, why did you attack us?”
The Healer didn’t answer Sa-hyeok’s question.
He just stared silently.
Sa-hyeok spoke.
“Speak.”
“……”
“If you want to light incense at your friend’s altar while you’re still alive, open your mouth. Or you’ll be lying down there with him, smelling the incense.”
Rumble-
The stones and wood fragments around Sa-hyeok rose into the air.
At that moment.
“Kill him.”
Another heavy voice flowed out from the dark depths of the hollow.
The Healer was startled and responded to the voice.
“As you command……!”
Clang!
The Healer pulled out a dagger from his bosom.
It was a peculiar dagger with a jet-black blade.
Sa-hyeok said.
“Make the right decision. If you swing that knife at me, you die too.”
“It’s not aimed at you.”
The Healer raised the dagger high.
Sa-hyeok was puzzled.
Because the tip of the knife was pointed at the archer’s neck.
Seeing this, the archer’s eyes trembled uncontrollably.
“Gasp……!”
The archer shook his head from side to side, desperately trying to say something.
However, there were no words he could utter with his damaged lungs.
The Healer said.
“I’m sorry.”
Stab!
The Healer plunged the dagger into the archer’s neck.
The archer trembled, leaving behind his last struggle, then went limp and died.
Sa-hyeok was bewildered.
“……Did you just kill your comrade?”
“You mortals wouldn’t understand.”
“What are you talking about, you crazy bastard.”
Tsss-
A black energy spread from the stabbed wound and enveloped the archer’s corpse.
Then-
Thud!
The archer’s body, which should have been dead, suddenly sprang up.
Sa-hyeok asked.
“……Did you just revive the corpse?”
“Yes. This dagger is the artifact
Swish.
The Healer then took out his wand and pointed it at the revived corpse, chanting a spell.
“Surge, Physica Overclock.”
Crackle-
With a bizarre sound, the corpse’s muscles began to swell and rearrange.
Physica Overclock, a spell that drastically amplifies physical attack power by pushing the function of muscles and bones to their limits.
However, after the buff ends, it’s practically a suicide move as it completely destroys the musculoskeletal system due to the backlash.
Therefore, it’s a spell that no sane Healer would ever use.
Moreover, in most cases, the Hunter receiving the buff experiences a rejection reaction from their body, preventing it from activating properly.
Crackle……!
However, it was a different story if the target of the buff was a corpse.
The corpse’s body doesn’t show a rejection reaction and doesn’t even have the will to reject the spell.
Therefore, this kind of self-destructive buff, which forces a suicide attack, is applied 100% perfectly.
Sa-hyeok also vaguely sensed this fact.
That the revived corpse in front of him was abnormally, beyond the limit, strengthened.
Sa-hyeok asked the Healer.
“Are you not going to answer my questions obediently?”
“I am going to answer. After I kill you, and in front of your corpse, I’ll tell you everything.”
The Healer flicked the black dagger he was holding.
Clank-
In sync with the movement of the dagger, the corpse began to move like a puppet.
One foot forward, the upper body slightly bent.
A clear attack stance.
The Healer intended to attack Sa-hyeok with this corpse puppet.
Sa-hyeok said.
“Last time I’m asking. Reveal your identity, purpose, and why you tried to kill us.”
“You’re wrong. You shouldn’t have acted so leisurely.”
Whoosh!
The corpse puppet dashed in at high speed.
The air trembled with just its movement.
Moreover, the corpse was still wearing Daitonium armor.
Although the chest area was destroyed, the armor on the arms and legs was still intact.
Terrifying speed and extremely hard metal.
All of that combined and flew towards Sa-hyeok.
Thwack!
A straight punch aimed at Sa-hyeok’s face.
Boom!
It was just a simple punch, but the pressure from it caused a cloud of dust to explode.
However, the fist didn’t even graze Sa-hyeok.
Because Sa-hyeok twisted his body and lightly dodged the fist.
The moment the attack missed.
Whirl-
Slash!
The puppet instantly changed its posture and launched a counterattack with a kick.
A sudden shift in axis, joints twisted beyond their range of motion.
A movement near impossible for a normal body.
It was performing feats that a living human couldn’t do, using a corpse’s body.
However, Sa-hyeok calmly dodged that counterattack as well.
Crash!
The missed kick struck the ground, shattering the surface.
Its destructive power was certainly formidable.
“This……!”
Thud!
The Healer put down his wand and began to control the dagger with both hands.
At that moment, the puppet’s movements changed.
Swish!
Much faster, much more refined movements.
The puppet momentarily created distance from Sa-hyeok, then instantly closed in from a blind spot.
Swish!
A sharp uppercut thrusting upwards from the lower left.
The Healer was certain.
This blow would be unavoidable.
Indeed, until the puppet’s fist reached just below the chin, Sa-hyeok didn’t even glance at the fist.
He didn’t even show any signs of preparing a counterattack, drawing a weapon, or taking a defensive stance.
He was completely unguarded.
‘Got him!’
Just as the Healer’s certainty was about to turn into a strike.
Halt.
Stop.
The corpse puppet’s movement came to a standstill as if rooted in place.
The Healer was bewildered.
“What……?!”
No matter what he did, the puppet wouldn’t budge.
As if it was being held by an invisible force.
His confident demeanor vanished, and the Healer began to break out in a cold sweat.
“Why…… what is this……!”
“Hey.”
Sa-hyeok’s voice pierced the Healer’s ears ominously.
“You said it earlier, right? That I shouldn’t have acted so leisurely.”
“This……!”
“You’re wrong. You should have thought about why I was acting leisurely in the first place.”
Sa-hyeok flicked his finger upwards.
Whoosh-
The puppet rose into the air.
Sa-hyeok had lifted it with his telekinesis.
The biggest weakness of telekinesis is that it can’t affect living beings.
In other words, if something appears to be alive but is lifeless, it falls under the influence of telekinesis.
This puppet, made from the archer’s corpse, was human in its material, but its essence was a corpse.
A lifeless lump of flesh.
Therefore, it was helplessly caught by Sa-hyeok’s telekinesis.
From the moment he saw the Healer create a puppet from a corpse, Sa-hyeok had anticipated this outcome.
That was the reason for Sa-hyeok’s composure.
Meanwhile, the Healer couldn’t comprehend the situation even though he was seeing it with his own eyes.
The unidentified power that so effortlessly subdued the corpse puppet, which was wielding tremendous strength.
Just what was that?
“You…… just who are you?!”
“I’ll answer you. After I kill you, and in front of your corpse, I’ll tell you everything.”
Returning the words the Healer had spoken earlier, Sa-hyeok snapped his fingers.
Thud!
The right arm of the corpse puppet floating in the air was ripped from its torso.
That was the beginning.
Thwack!
Thud!
Crack, Thwack!!
The sounds of joints rupturing and muscles tearing echoed through the hollow.
Right arm, left leg, right leg.
Sa-hyeok tore the puppet’s limbs from its torso one by one.
With this, the puppet was completely neutralized.
No matter how much the user tried to control it, there was nothing a puppet with its limbs dismembered could do.
The Healer realized this too.
That he had completely lost this fight.
No, that it was a losing battle from the start.
From the moment he pulled out the clever trick of reviving a corpse with the Corpse-Raising Black Blade, he was nothing more than a plaything in Sa-hyeok’s hands.
Nevertheless, instead of kneeling, he chose to struggle.
“Surge, Physica Overclock!”
Crackle!
The muscles and bones in the Healer’s body rapidly grew.
Physica Overclock, practically a suicide move.
Seeing that, Sa-hyeok’s expression changed.
“……I didn’t expect this.”
To think he would choose to struggle even at the cost of destroying his own body.
“I’ll kill you……!”
Whoosh!
The Healer charged towards Sa-hyeok with ferocious speed.
Holding the Corpse-Raising Black Blade in his right hand and the wand in his left.
A sharp green energy was swirling around the wand.
Mana Scalpel, a surgical knife forged from mana.
The Healer rushed in, intending to stab Sa-hyeok with these two daggers.
The problem was that it was just an intention.
Thud –
The knives were embedded.
In the Healer’s knees.
Sa-hyeok’s Mubuchamdo was faster than the two knives he was holding.
“Kuaaack……!”
The Healer collapsed to his knees.
It couldn’t be helped as the tip of the Mubuchamdo precisely pierced the intersection of the cruciate ligaments in his knees.
Excruciating pain shook the flow of mana within his body.
As a result, the Physica Overclock buff was dispelled.
Immediately, a severe backlash overwhelmed his body.
Thwack!
Thud!
The muscles all over his body, which had been swollen, began to rupture violently.
It was the price for wielding power he couldn’t handle.
“Kuaaaaaack!!”
Pain so intense that his consciousness faded.
The Healer collapsed onto the floor.
Sa-hyeok looked down at him and said.
“This is the last time.”
“……!”
“Tell me your name, affiliation, purpose, and your identity.”
“That’s……!”
“I clearly said this was your last chance.”
Swish.
Sa-hyeok said, taking a potion bottle from the hip sack at his waist.
“This is a Healing Potion. If you answer my questions truthfully, I’ll let you live.”
The Healer looked up at the potion bottle.
He wanted to live.
He wanted to escape this excruciating pain as soon as possible.
And to do that, he felt like he could do anything.
Slowly, he opened his mouth.
“My name is Lee Ji-ho.”
“Your affiliation?”
“My affiliation is……”
At that moment.
“……Ugh?!”
“What?”
“Guh……!”
The Healer’s tongue stopped moving.
No matter how much he moved his lips, his tongue wouldn’t budge, so no words came out.
Sa-hyeok also felt something was strange.
“What the……?!”
“Guh!!”
Kiiiiiing!
Light began to emanate from the Healer’s tongue.
The Healer let out a final scream with his stiffened tongue.
“Guuuuuuh!!”
A death rattle.
And then there was an explosion.
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, nothing remained above his shoulders.
Just like that, what he was about to say scattered into a bloody mist.
