Chapter 136: The Call of Tolvern (7)
[……You’re saying the golems escaped the island?]
If that were true, it would be a truly horrifying scenario.
“I’m not saying they escaped, but we can’t rule out the possibility.”
[We destroyed all the golems that crossed over to Tolbanieu, and we destroyed the bridge they used to cross. How could they possibly escape the island?]
“That’s true, but…… as I said earlier, the number of golems is too small for a year-old golem dungeon.”
[Then let’s sweep the entire dungeon first. We’ll find the answer then.]
“I guess so……?”
Sa-hyeok continued walking into the empty cavity.
But this cavity……
“It’s getting narrower as we go deeper.”
[You’re right, it’s like a funnel.]
The width, which had been tens of meters, soon narrowed to just a few meters.
After walking and walking, they finally saw the end.
“There’s a door at the end of this hallway. Can you see it?”
[See what? I don’t have telekinesis, brother.]
“Ah, you can’t see in the dark.”
Now the distance to the door was only about 20 meters.
Sa-hyeok walked towards the door without hesitation.
But then.
Splash-
The sound of water came from under Sa-hyeok’s feet.
A clear sound that would be heard when stepping onto the surface of the water.
The solid floor had suddenly turned into liquid.
D*mn it.
“It’s a trap.”
Swish!
The liquid under his feet transformed into giant tentacles and attacked Sa-hyeok.
══════════════════
USA, Antenon Headquarters.
The Chairman, Damian Calderon, was also receiving reports on the events unfolding on Tolvern Island and Tolbanieu.
Naturally, he knew exactly how the current situation was progressing.
Damian swallowed his coffee and muttered.
“To call Min Sa-hyeok, the European Hunters made a foolish move.”
The problem wasn’t that Sa-hyeok went there.
The problem was that they called Sa-hyeok even though it was a problem Europe could have handled sufficiently.
It felt like they were trying to use a battle axe to stop something they could have stopped with a h*e.
In Damian’s view, the metallic golems on Tolvern Island were at a level that the combined forces of all S-rank Hunters in Europe could handle.
Thanks to the advancements in magic and martial arts over the past year, the Hunters had become much stronger than before.
In other words, the Tolvern Island incident was something that could have been resolved if all the Hunters in Europe had joined forces.
However, due to the majority of Europe’s high-ranking Hunters avoiding this fight, this method had gone down the drain.
“They don’t even know how much stronger they’ve become because of the trauma from a year ago…… Fear has blinded them.”
It was pathetic and regrettable at the same time.
‘If they had known that there was a future where they could win, would they have acted so passively?’
Humans cannot know the future.
Therefore, they can only speculate about the uncertain future based on the past.
And when they become fixated on the past, things like this happen.
‘If only we could know the future…… all this chaos could be prevented.’
Suddenly, Damian felt a throbbing pain in the X-shaped scar on his forehead.
He rubbed the scar with his fingertips and thought.
‘……No, now is not the time to be lost in thought.’
Anyway, that’s why Damian believed the biggest beneficiary of this Tolvern incident was Min Sa-hyeok.
He would gain fame, money, and even experience.
‘But it’s strange. It’s as if the situation is moving in Sa-hyeok’s favor, as if it were planned.’
Suddenly, the Tolvern Bridge self-restored, and the Quarantine Organization agent who happened to be there was acquainted with Sa-hyeok.
The collaboration of these various factors had summoned Min Sa-hyeok to Tolvern.
‘By the way, why did the bridge suddenly restore itself?’
In Damian’s view, this was highly likely the work of a mage.
But there was no evidence.
He didn’t even know of a magic that could restore a large structure that had collapsed over a year ago.
……No, wait.
‘There was one person. A mage who could even restore objects.’
Cheon H*n.
The former Master of DAVO and a Regeneration Sorcerer who was among the best in the world.
As far as Damian knew, he was the only one among Regeneration Sorcerers who could restore inanimate objects.
But……
‘Cheon H*n is dead.’
He was beheaded and killed by an Antenon agent.
The dead cannot return, so naturally, Cheon H*n couldn’t be the culprit.
‘……For now, let’s put aside things we can’t do anything about.’
Damian began to calculate in his head in a different direction.
About what stance Antenon should take on this situation and what response they should make.
Furthermore, what kind of benefits Antenon could gain from this situation.
And what should be the priority of the benefits they should gain.
Step by step, he organized his thoughts.
First, the most important thing was……
‘The Seed.’
The Contaminated Golem Seed that was planted on Tolvern Island.
They had to retrieve it no matter what.
Because the most necessary thing for Damian right now was the Contaminated Golem Seed.
And it had to be one that had been planted for more than three days.
It was quite a troublesome and demanding condition, but there was no other way.
The ingredients needed to create
Anyway-
‘Once I obtain this, only one ingredient remains until the completion of
Muttering to himself, Damian clenched his fist.
‘……I need to send someone.’
Damian made up his mind.
══════════════════
Back to Tolvern Island.
Several tentacles made of liquid sprang out from under Sa-hyeok’s feet and attacked him.
Moreover, the floor, which had been fine until just a moment ago, had suddenly turned into liquid.
It was a trap without a doubt, and Sa-hyeok had definitely fallen into it.
But Sa-hyeok didn’t move a muscle.
It was definitely not because he was frozen in fear.
And the ones that were actually frozen were the liquid tentacles.
Gurgle……!
The tentacles froze in the shape they had sprung out in.
Sa-hyeok had stopped them with his telekinesis.
“The hospitality here is terrible.”
In fact, it was a near-perfect trap.
The floor that instantly turned into a pool of liquid.
And the liquid tentacles that dragged the victim into the pool.
It was a well-made trap that would have dragged an ordinary Hunter in without a chance to react.
But today, the trap was unlucky.
It had caught a human who could walk freely on water and control liquids without touching them.
But the trap didn’t give up on its prey.
Swoooosh-
Suddenly, the liquid under his feet began to swirl.
It seemed like it was trying to s*ck him in since it couldn’t drag him down with its tentacles.
“What is this now?”
But Sa-hyeok still wasn’t surprised.
Sa-hyeok lifted one knee up to his waist and then-
C*ack!!
He stomped on the surface of the water.
At the same time, Sa-hyeok’s telekinesis exploded from under his foot.
The telekinesis instantly plunged below the surface of the water.
And it directly hit the whirlpool that had begun to stir in the depths.
Fwoosh!
The whirlpool, which had been slowly taking shape, was instantly shattered.
It wasn’t just the whirlpool.
The liquid itself under Sa-hyeok’s feet was shattered.
The shattered water splashed in all directions as if a meteorite had fallen on the calm surface.
Splash!
The water that had shot up poured back down.
It was the moment the trap itself was disarmed.
Step.
And Sa-hyeok finally stepped back onto the solid, firm ground.
B*ng-ul-i said.
[Brother, that doesn’t seem like ordinary water.]
“Yeah, it felt a bit more viscous than water.”
[No, I’m not talking about its composition…… How should I put it, it feels like it’s not from this world……]
“What exactly do you mean?”
[I don’t know. There are no words to describe this feeling.]
“Hmm……”
But wait.
“You say you can’t see in the dark, but how can you analyze it?”
[I’m the god of the river, brother. I instinctively sense things when liquids are nearby.]
“Oh.”
Sa-hyeok kept forgetting that B*ng-ul-i was a god.
Anyway.
“It’s the door.”
Finally, Sa-hyeok stood in front of the door.
The giant door located at the end of this dungeon.
[What the h*ll did these b*stards hide beyond this door?]
“It’s one of three things. The boss golem, or Ukvaron’s final weapon, or both.”
Sa-hyeok reached out towards the door.
His telekinesis pushed the door with all its might.
But no matter how hard he pushed, the door wouldn’t budge.
It was locked.
“……I went through all the trouble of passing the trap, and now you won’t open it?”
But as is often the case with doors, if you knock hard enough, they all open.
Sa-hyeok clenched his right fist.
Kwonmu Fist Technique 1st Form, True Strike.
The fist strike exploded.
B*ng!!
A deafening roar, like a bomb exploding, echoed.
The area hit by the fist strike caved in.
[You couldn’t break the entire door.]
“I intentionally broke it only this much.”
The inside of the door was revealed through the broken part.
Sa-hyeok placed his hand on it.
“If the door is locked, you just have to unlock it.”
[Oh.]
Sa-hyeok poured his telekinesis into the door.
Clank, click, click!
Sa-hyeok instantly unlocked the locking mechanism built into this giant door.
[……That was over in a flash.]
“Unlocking a dungeon gate is hundreds of times more complicated than this. After dealing with those, this is nothing……”
[Aha.]
“Shall we go in then?”
Sa-hyeok thought.
Beyond this, it’s either the boss, or……
Rumble-
Sa-hyeok pushed the door open with his telekinesis once more.
This time, the door slowly began to creak open.
“……Huh?”
Bright light poured in through the gap in the door.
Sa-hyeok was puzzled.
There were no light sources anywhere in this golem dungeon.
Then where was this light coming from……?
“Huh?”
As he crossed the threshold, the question was answered.
The pouring light wasn’t from luminous stones or luminous candles.
This light was sunlight.
Beyond this door was the outside of the dungeon.
“……What the……”
Sa-hyeok stepped outside the door.
“I thought we went pretty deep underground, but how is there a direct exit like this?”
But as he looked around, he understood what was going on.
This place was the inside of a giant pit.
A terrain that was sunken tens of meters below ground level.
That’s why they could come out to the surface immediately even though they had been walking through the underground.
‘The diameter of the pit is about 30 meters, and the peculiarity is……’
Nothing.
There was really nothing.
There were no boss golems, no final weapons, not even any significant structures.
There weren’t even any trees or grass, just sand and gravel.
It was literally an empty wasteland.
[……Brother, what the h*ll is going on?]
“I wonder……?”
It didn’t make sense.
They placed traps and locked doors just to prevent entry to this empty place?
[Maybe someone came first and already killed the boss golem?]
“If the boss golem is killed, the entire dungeon collapses. The boss is still alive.”
[Then maybe…… someone already took the final weapon that was here……?]
“Don’t say ominous things.”
At that moment.
Rumble-
The ground began to shake.
At first, he thought it was the golems approaching.
But this wasn’t it.
The ground itself, the island itself, was shaking.
As if an earthquake was happening.
Rumble-
Then, a giant shadow fell over the pit.
Evidence that something massive was blocking the sunlight.
Sa-hyeok looked up.
“……H*ly s*it.”
In the center of Tolvern Island, there was a small, but pointed rocky mountain.
No, everyone had been mistaken.
It wasn’t a rocky mountain.
Because right now, that rocky mountain was moving.
[Brother, is that…… the boss golem?!]
“……It seems so.”
Rumble……!
The rocky mountain, the crouching figure, raised its head.
It opened its mouth wide.
And from deep within its maw, a yellowish light flashed.
Sa-hyeok instinctively knew that it was a prelude to some kind of attack.
Click!
Sa-hyeok immediately opened his case and summoned an artifact.
And right at that moment.
A beam was fired from the creature’s mouth.
Whoosh!
Boom!
A massive explosion occurred inside the pit where Sa-hyeok was standing.
