Chapter 85: Seed of Contaminated Stone (5)
The enormous and majestic pillars that supported the ceiling of this vast cavity.
Those pillars began to move.
“What?!”
“Those weren’t pillars……?!”
No, they weren’t.
The true identity of those gigantic stone pillars, over 20 meters tall, were golems.
These giants, these guards, had been standing with their arms raised, supporting the ceiling of this cavity, this boss room.
Thud, Thud-
These giants began to take steps.
The ground shook, and an ominous roar struck their ears.
The morale of the Hunters, which had been heightened by their previous victory, plummeted in an instant.
A long, dark shadow fell across their path.
But it wasn’t time to back down yet.
They still had Do-sik, and Sa-hyeok.
Do-sik spoke to Sa-hyeok.
“Sa-hyeok-ssi!”
“Yes.”
Sa-hyeok, who had been standing at the very back of the Hunters, stepped forward.
Swish-
Hundreds of granite chunks rose up behind Sa-hyeok.
This was the reason why Sa-hyeok had been following behind the Hunters.
He had brought the previously used granite chunks to reuse as throwing weapons.
Thud-
The giants took a step forward
Swish-
Sa-hyeok extended his fingertips.
Once again, a meteor shower of granite raged.
Crackle, Crackle, Crackle!!
Explosion.
The granite chunks struck the bodies of the giant golems.
Stone fragments and thick dust erupted from the impact points.
But-
“……Huh?”
They didn’t suffer any significant damage.
Rather, the granite chunks that had collided were the ones that shattered.
The reason why the damage wasn’t inflicted was simple.
No matter how much they bombarded the golems with a meteor shower of stones, the golems’ bodies were simply too massive.
No, in fact, the difference in size was a secondary issue.
Just as a person doesn’t d*e from being shot because they are smaller than a bullet.
The real problem that prevented damage was the difference in hardness.
‘The skin of that giant golem is harder than granite……!’
It was clearly a golem made of granite, yet it was harder than granite.
‘Did the material become harder during the process of being formed into a golem?’
In any case, hitting something hard with something less hard would inevitably result in no damage.
‘This is unexpected.’
As the meteor shower storm, which had achieved a terrifying feat in the previous battle, was so easily neutralized, bewilderment and anxiety subtly spread among the crowd.
At that moment.
Thud-
Someone dashed forward.
“Sama Sword Technique 3rd Form, Inverse Moon, Flash.”
A long slash that exploded like a flash of light.
Do-sik charged straight ahead and slashed at the giant golem’s ankle.
Just one strike.
A deep wound was carved into the thick ankle.
Do-sik shouted.
“What are you all doing!! What kind of Hunter is overwhelmed by fear in front of their prey!!”
Do-sik’s blade didn’t stop.
Sharp flashes of light raged towards the golem.
Ka-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak!!
Dozens, hundreds of slashes that penetrated in the blink of an eye.
Do-sik instantly climbed up the golem’s body.
He was facing this colossal golem single-handedly.
“Grab your swords! Chant your spells! If you’re paralyzed by fear, you’ll all d*e!!”
His shout washed away the fear that had momentarily crept up the Hunters’ spines.
His roar began to push the Hunters forward.
Finally, the Hunters began to take steps, weapons in hand.
Whooosh!
The giant golem swung its fist at Do-sik, who was climbing its body.
It was a simple punch, but it was enough to make the air tremble.
However-
Thud!
Do-sik twisted his body and effortlessly dodged the punch, then jumped onto the arm.
Ta-da-da-da!
He ran along the outstretched arm and reached the shoulder in an instant.
At the same time, he lowered his blade and deeply bent his upper body.
Sa-hyeok could tell with a glance.
It was the preparatory movement for a technique.
“Sama Sword Technique 5th Form, Entangling Snake.”
Do-sik momentarily disappeared under the golem’s arm and then reappeared above it.
Simultaneously, a slash like a snake coiling upwards wrapped around the golem’s arm.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!
The slash instantly tightened and crushed the golem’s arm.
The golem’s forearm and shoulder were torn to shreds in an instant.
While Do-sik was putting up such a fierce fight, the other Hunters weren’t just standing around either.
Pak!
Polar Greyney broke the necklace she was wearing and grabbed it.
Hanging at the end of the necklace was a 10cm long iron nail.
“……It’s a pain to file an artifact usage report, but it can’t be helped.”
Puk!
Polar Greyney pricked the back of her hand with the sharp end of the nail, drawing blood.
Blood stained the tip of the nail.
Ssssss-
The nail began to suck Polar Greyney’s blood.
The black nail began to turn a dark reddish color.
As it absorbed the blood, the size of the nail began to grow.
30 centimeters, 1 meter, 1.5 meters.
It soon became not a nail, but a massive stake.
“Tansellion’s Stake, user designation complete through blood absorption.”
Swoooosh-
The stake floated into the air.
“Now this stake will follow its blood owner for 10 minutes.”
The stake floating in the air began to move according to Polar Greyney’s will.
With the stake afloat, Polar Greyney tightly gripped the oversized hammer she was holding.
And she swung the hammer with all her might at the head of the stake.
As if hammering a nail.
Kwang!!
With the stake’s own acceleration combined with Polar Greyney’s hammer blow, the stake flew with the speed of a bullet.
Kwajik!!
The stake plunged into the golem’s chest area.
However, it was slightly off.
Even though it missed the mark, the impact was undeniable, causing the massive body to momentarily lose its balance and tilt.
Pshhew!
Polar Greyney pulled out the embedded stake and called it back.
And once again, the hammer struck the returned stake.
Two-hwak!
The stake was launched again at high speed, flying towards the golem and embedding itself.
She hammered the stake, called it back, and hammered it again.
Polar Greyney unleashed this attack over a dozen times in an instant.
It was truly long-range nailing.
As Polar Greyney unleashed a barrage of attacks, effectively stunning the golem, the other Hunters seized the opportunity and launched their own offensive.
While Polar Greyney’s squad was putting up a fierce fight, Sa-hyeok was dealing with the golem in a similar yet different way.
King-
Sa-hyeok levitated one of the Thunderbolt Needles in the air.
Sa-hyeok’s eyes were focused on the golem, specifically the giant golem’s knee.
The knee joint, the moving part.
The part of any machine that needs to constantly move is the weakest.
Just like the hinge is the weakest part of a foldable phone.
Sa-hyeok aimed the Thunderbolt Needle at the golem’s knee.
And, shot.
Pshew!
Puck!!
The Thunderbolt Needle, accelerated and rotating, instantly pierced the knee.
Of course, he couldn’t expect any significant damage from that alone.
What harm could a tiny needle do to that massive body?
But the true terror of the Thunderbolt Needle lay in what came next.
Crackle-
Sa-hyeok extended his left hand.
To the Lightning Ring he wore on his left middle finger.
Crackle-crackle!
Electricity surged from the ring.
The electricity converged towards the Thunderbolt Needle embedded in the golem’s knee.
The moment an immense amount of electricity concentrated at that single point.
A straight bolt of lightning struck the golem’s knee.
Pa-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak!
The electricity penetrated the crack created by the Thunderbolt Needle.
The electricity widened the crack, and more electricity surged into the widening crack.
Bang!!
Unable to withstand the accumulated electrical energy, the golem’s knee exploded in an instant.
There was no way the leg with a shattered joint could function properly.
The giant golem lost its balance and collapsed.
Thud!!
It ended up propped up on one arm and one knee.
The golem’s weak point, its chest, was now much closer to the ground.
The seed was embedded in the golem’s chest.
Moreover, this had also sealed the movement of both legs and one arm.
The difficulty of the strategy had drastically decreased, naturally.
The Hunters were momentarily stunned.
“Is he using Lightning Magic too?!”
“Is that the legendary multi-tasker we’ve heard about……?”
“Who cares!! Attack!!”
The surprise and curiosity about Sa-hyeok’s Lightning Magic were short-lived.
The Hunters’ morale soared as they charged towards the golem Sa-hyeok had brought down.
However, the Hunters’ attacks wouldn’t reach the golem.
Sa-hyeok was one step ahead.
Whoosh!
Sa-hyeok pushed off the ground with his telekinesis and jumped.
Towards the giant golem’s chest.
And he pulled back his right arm, wrapped in the Iron Arms of the Bone King, with all his might.
Crack-
His right arm muscles, brimming with concentrated power, the target right in front of him.
Sa-hyeok prepared for the maximum impact he could deliver.
His right arm, capable of fine control through telekinesis thanks to the poison that had killed it.
A punch delivered with that arm.
‘Kwonmu Fist Technique 3rd Form, Siege.’
His fist exploded.
Kwang!!
The point of impact was precisely the golem’s chest.
The golem’s outer layer, which hadn’t even flinched from the granite meteor shower, instantly caved in and shattered.
The Hunters, watching from a step behind, wore expressions of astonishment.
‘Was that just now…… a punch?!’
‘Was he not a mage?!’
‘Then what about the Lightning Magic and telekinesis?!’
‘What is he?!’
A punch that would rival even the most skilled martial artists.
……Delivered by a mage.
The Hunters felt their common sense crumble in an instant.
And Sa-hyeok saw it.
The seed embedded deep within the shattered outer layer.
“There it is.”
Grasp!
Sa-hyeok grabbed the seed with his right hand.
Simultaneously-
Rumble!
The golem began to rapidly repair the outer layer around its chest.
Sa-hyeok’s right hand was buried in the swelling stone.
And following his right hand, his forearm was also quickly trapped within the stone.
He was completely buried alive in the stone.
The Hunters watching from below had their eyes shaking.
“Wh-what do we do?!”
“Someone use magic!! We need to break the outer layer!!”
“But what if that Hunter gets hit by the magic?!”
In the midst of the urgent discussion.
Sa-hyeok, on the contrary, closed his eyes.
Kuruk-
And Sa-hyeok’s entire body was buried within the golem’s body.
“No……”
The moment the Hunters fell into despair.
Sa-hyeok poured his telekinesis into the tightly grasped seed.
Tsssss-
Telekinesis seeping through the cracks of the seed.
Soon, the internal structure of the seed began to flow into Sa-hyeok’s mind.
“……Let’s give this a try.”
Artifact manipulation.
The technique he had used to unlock the functions of junk artifacts by releasing their internal locks.
Now it was time to do the opposite.
If he had only been releasing locks until now, it was time to lock them instead.
Sa-hyeok closed his eyes and concentrated on the internal structure of the seed.
He took very shallow breaths.
Completely trapped within the stone, there wasn’t much oxygen left around him.
Moreover, the pressure from the surrounding stone was gradually increasing.
If this continued, he would be crushed to death, not just buried alive.
In this situation, an ordinary person would have lost consciousness from claustrophobia and panic.
But Sa-hyeok was different.
An extreme calmness, almost inhuman.
Sa-hyeok focused all his attention on manipulating the seed.
Time passed.
5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds.
The people watching from outside were on edge.
Some were already predicting Sa-hyeok’s death.
At that moment.
Crack-
A long crack appeared on the golem’s upper body.
Crack, crack, thud-
Soon, spiderweb-like cracks began to cover the golem’s body.
Rumble!
Thud!
The golem’s arm and head fell off.
The golem’s body crumbled at an unstoppable pace.
The incredibly hard body of the golem collapsed and crumbled like a sandcastle.
The giant golem instantly turned into a pile of sand and gravel.
The Hunters couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
But Polar Greyney was different.
“……You did it.”
Fwoosh-
Sa-hyeok emerged from the pile of sand.
In Sa-hyeok’s right hand was the golem’s seed.
The seed, completely deactivated.
Polar Greyney took the seed and said.
“Do this during the boss fight too.”
Thud!!
Soon, another giant golem collapsed.
Do-sik had finally managed to take down one of the giant golems on his own.
“D*mn thing, that was a tough one to catch.”
Thus, three golems were completely deactivated.
One taken down by Do-sik, one by Polar Greyney’s team, and one by Sa-hyeok.
However, there were a total of four giant golems.
One still remained.
The problem was, the three strongest fighters on their side were still alive and well.
Step, step, step.
Do-sik, Polar Greyney, and Sa-hyeok.
Three Hunters capable of facing a giant golem single-handedly.
They all walked towards the golem.
“Suicide would be easier, wouldn’t it?”
Do-sik muttered, the tip of his sword gleaming ominously.
