Chapter 58: To the Snowfield (3)
Hwa-reu-reu-reuk!
The flames, spreading out in a fan shape, engulfed the Snow Wolves.
“Kreu-reuk……!”
“Kya-hak!!”
Several of them let out agonizing screams.
Those that managed to scream were the lucky ones.
The ones closest to the flames, hit directly, turned into charcoal before they could even make a sound.
The shimmering ice manes they boasted melted away, and the cold air they exhaled scattered before the heat.
Now, all they had left were their teeth.
Towards the weakened wolves, the Mubuchamdo flew.
Swish!
Slice!!
The daggers, cutting through the air, began to pierce and tear through the wolves, overwhelming them.
This was possible because their defense had drastically decreased due to the previous flame emission.
Red blood splattered on the white snowfield, along with screams.
A smile crept across Sa-hyeok’s face once again.
At that moment.
“Kwaa-ang!!”
A wolf, desperately dodging the blades of the Mubuchamdo and conserving its strength, lunged towards Sa-hyeok.
Ferocious speed, perfect angle.
It even calculated Sa-hyeok’s line of sight and precisely targeted his blind spot.
The problem was, Sa-hyeok wasn’t a human who only saw the world with his eyes.
As long as it was within the range of Sa-hyeok’s telekinetic wave, the wolf’s movements were as good as read.
Unaware of this, the moment it tried to sink its teeth into Sa-hyeok.
Thud!!
Instead, its lower jaw was caught by Sa-hyeok.
The wolf’s teeth grazed his fingers, but Sa-hyeok didn’t care.
His hand was already wrapped in metallic bandages.
Whoosh!
Sa-hyeok gripped the wolf’s long lower jaw like a sword hilt and started swinging it.
He swung the beast, which was at least 2 meters long, like a blunt weapon, striking the monster in front of him.
Thwack!
Crack!
Crunch!
After striking the wolf with another wolf a few times, his right hand suddenly felt lighter.
Only the torn-off lower jaw of the wolf remained in Sa-hyeok’s hand.
What the, where did the body go?
“Uh, um……”
The Hunters wielding their swords nearby were even more bewildered.
“You’re…… a Mage, right?”
“Well, on paper, I am……”
Sa-hyeok tossed the torn-off jaw to the ground and finished off the remaining wolf with his fist.
Meanwhile, the other Hunters took care of the remaining wolves in the pack.
As a result, the raid team suffered two minor injuries and zero deaths.
The wolf pack had one injured survivor and the rest were all killed.
The battle concluded like this.
The first battle after entering the Snow Dungeon ended successfully.
However, only the battle was over. One thing remained unfinished.
The investigation.
The difference between this raid team and others was that they also had to conduct an investigation.
An investigation into how and why monsters escaped from a dungeon where a dungeon leak hadn’t even occurred.
“I brought what you requested before the battle, Raid Leader-nim.”
With those words, Sa-hyeok dragged a Snow Wolf towards them.
“Keu-reuk…… Keuk……”
The wolf that had been struck by the other wolf’s corpse that Sa-hyeok had swung.
Surprisingly, that Snow Wolf was still alive.
Although its legs and mouth were bound and tied with metallic bandages.
Ui-jun spoke to Sa-hyeok in astonishment.
“You actually caught it and brought it back……”
“Well, it wasn’t that difficult. But what are you planning to do with it?”
“There were a total of three monsters that escaped from this dungeon, and all of them were Snow Wolves. You know that, right?”
“Of course, I remember.”
Sa-hyeok had caught one of them, after all.
Ui-jun continued.
“So, I thought, maybe the Snow Wolves know a way to enter and exit this dungeon.”
“So, to this one……”
“We’ll attach a tracking device. And then release it.”
Ui-jun implanted a tracker, smaller than a 10 won coin, onto the wolf’s skin.
Beep.
A dot, representing the location of the tracker, appeared on the LCD screen installed in the Silver Box.
Seeing that, Sa-hyeok spoke.
“Ah, so if we track it like this and its location suddenly disappears from the screen……”
“That means it exited the dungeon at that location. We just need to follow that location.”
“Then shall we release it now?”
“Please do.”
Sa-hyeok dragged the struggling Snow Wolf away from the raid team.
To prevent it from rampaging and injuring other team members after being released.
Cha-reuk-
Thud!
Sa-hyeok released the metallic bandages and threw the wolf onto the snow.
The wolf quickly regained its composure and glared at Sa-hyeok with a ferocious look.
Of course, Sa-hyeok didn’t care in the slightest.
“What, you wanna try me?”
Sa-hyeok’s eyes radiated an even more intense killing intent.
Furthermore, the distinct smell of bear and wolf blood emanating from him was enough to instill fear in the wolf.
In the end, the wolf was the first to tuck its tail.
Ta-da-da-dat!
The released wolf turned its back and ran towards the snowfield.
After confirming its departure, Sa-hyeok returned to the raid team.
Once Sa-hyeok returned, Ui-jun began briefing them on the plan going forward.
“First, we’ll set our general direction of travel towards that forest.”
Ui-jun pointed his finger towards the massive forest located in the center of the snowfield.
And within that forest, a single gigantic white tree stood tall.
“The boss is inside that White Giant Tree. This was a common fact revealed in previous Snow Dungeons, so there’s no mistake. Since the dungeon closes after killing the boss, that White Giant Tree will definitely be our final destination.”
“Then the wolf we just released……”
“The point where it disappears is our waypoint. We must investigate that location. But since it’s still moving, we’ll observe its movement pattern as we travel.”
Thus, they began moving again.
They weren’t attacked by monsters along the way.
This was because the number of monsters within a certain range had significantly decreased thanks to eliminating the wolf pack.
After traveling for some time, the raid team set up a temporary camp.
A location where giant rocks were scattered around.
It was a much better place for defense and vigilance compared to a wide-open plain.
Kking- King!
The Silver Box, which had been in snowmobile mode, switched to patrol mode, circling the camp and strengthening security.
The Hunters finally took a breather, using potions to heal themselves and eating food.
Sa-hyeok gulped down the Mandrake Bile.
It tasted like crap as always, but now he felt something was missing without this level of stimulation.
“Should I try this too.”
Sa-hyeok tore open the package of Esca and popped one into his mouth.
Ultra-high-calorie compressed nutrition special preserved food, Esca.
Sa-hyeok chewed and swallowed one.
Bang-ul-i, who had been inside the bag, asked.
[How does it taste?]
“Sweet…… and nutty……”
[For something that looks like a clump of dirt, it tastes pretty good?]
“But it’s incredibly dry……”
It was like a mixture of grain powder, sugar, and chicken breast powder, baked into a hardtack.
It was definitely not something to eat more than three at a time.
Still, it was high in calories, so he felt a bit energized after eating it.
“Huu……”
Sa-hyeok leaned back against a large rock and sat down.
The scenery, filled with large rocks scattered around, caught his eye once again.
“I hate places like this.”
[Why?]
“When there are rocks like this everywhere, my telekinetic detection doesn’t work well.”
[Ah, because the waves hit the rocks and bounce back?]
“Exactly.”
[Just turn off your detection and rest when it’s like this.]
“I’m already doing that. It gives me a headache if I keep it on all the time.”
Detection off, tension released, nutrition replenished.
Sa-hyeok stretched and was about to start resting properly when……
Fwoosh!
Suddenly, a blizzard erupted somewhere nearby.
Everyone’s eyes focused on the spot where the blizzard had erupted.
“What the……?”
“What’s going on?!”
A brief moment of confusion. And soon, a Hunter near the scene realized what had happened.
“Hunter Kim Dong-su has disappeared……!”
Kim Dong-su, a B-rank Lightning Sorcerer, Magic-type Hunter.
A blizzard suddenly erupted where he was sitting, and he vanished.
Without any detection of monster approach.
“What?!”
“Hunter Kim Dong-su-nim!!”
“Where did he suddenly disappear to……?!”
“There! He’s there!!”
One person pointed their finger towards the sky.
The sky.
Hunter Kim Dong-su was plummeting from high above.
“Uwaaaaaaaagh!!”
His scream tore through the air.
An incredible height, a fall from which death was certain.
At that moment, everyone thought the same thing.
Why is the person who disappeared a few seconds ago suddenly falling from the sky?!
That question was immediately answered.
“Kieehhh-”
A sharp shriek, winged creatures circling high in the sky.
Sa-hyeok immediately recognized their identity.
‘Snow Black Eagles……!’
Monstrous birds of prey, at least five times the size of Earth eagles.
One of them had snatched Hunter Kim Dong-su.
These monsters employed a hunting method where they swooped down at tremendous speed and killed their prey with their talons.
However, if they couldn’t kill their prey completely with that method, they added one more step.
They swooped down, grabbed their prey with their talons, and soared into the sky.
And when they reached a sufficiently high altitude, they dropped their prey to ensure its death.
This was why the Hunter was suddenly falling from the sky.
Moreover, that Hunter was a Magic-type Hunter, whose physical durability was no different from an ordinary person.
The moment he hit the ground, he would certainly die.
But no one stepped forward.
More precisely, no one could step forward.
No one had the ability to save a 70kg adult male falling at a terrifying speed from such a height.
Shuuuuu!
The moment a man’s predetermined death fell like a meteor.
Cha-ra-ra-rak!
Sa-hyeok activated the Iron Arms of the Bone King.
But not in the usual way, wrapped around his arms.
All the metallic bandages were loose and flowing.
After completely unraveling them, Sa-hyeok began reshaping the metallic bandages.
‘Heup!’
Cha-rak-
Clang!
Several strands of metallic bandages instantly transformed into a cone-shaped spring.
Kang!
Ka-kang!
Sa-hyeok plunged one end of the springs into the ground.
And using his telekinesis, he compressed the springs, maximizing their elasticity.
He intended to use these springs to launch himself into the sky.
‘Will it work……?’
Whether it worked or not, it had to succeed.
If he failed, Hunter Kim Dong-su would die.
Initially, he considered grabbing the falling Hunter’s clothes with his telekinesis, but that was too risky.
If he missed and the clothes ripped off, the body would be flung away, resulting in instant death.
The safest method.
Sa-hyeok would jump into the air himself and then catch him.
Kee-gi-gi-gi-
The moment the spring’s elasticity reached its limit.
‘Here I go!’
Thung!!
Sa-hyeok’s body shot upwards at high speed.
The Hunters who witnessed this murmured.
“What was that just now?”
“How did he do that?!”
Shuuuuu!
One man fell, and one man soared.
The distance between them rapidly closed.
The moment Hunter Kim Dong-su entered the range of the metallic bandages.
Cha-ra-ra-rak!
Sa-hyeok extended the metallic bandages, wrapped them around him, and pulled him in.
Whee-
Thud!
And in an instant, he caught him with one arm.
Hunter Kim Dong-su’s eyes widened in surprise.
“M-Min Hunter-nim……!”
“Hold on tight.”
Now, only one step remained: landing.
Sa-hyeok held Kim Dong-su with his left arm and extended his right hand towards the ground.
Cha-ra-rak!
And like before, he deployed the metallic bandages into a spring.
Although the telekinetic buffer alone seemed sufficient, considering the height of the fall, he utilized all available cushioning measures.
The remaining distance to the ground.
15 meters.
10 meters.
5 meters.
And-
Thump!!
The sound of the spring hitting the ground.
A blizzard erupted from the impact.
The raid members’ eyes were fixed on the thick snow cloud.
The moment everyone’s anxiety, hope, and worry swirled together.
Step.
A footstep echoed from beyond the snow cloud.
