Chapter 87: Seed of Contaminated Stone (7)
The moment Sa-hyeok unexpectedly drove the Thunderbolt Needles into the ceiling.
Bang-ul-i asked in surprise.
[What are you doing, Hyeong-nim?!]
“Just watch.”
Sa-hyeok raised his left hand high.
The hand with the Lightning Ring on it.
“I forgot for a moment. That this place was originally a quarry.”
[What does it matter that it’s a quarry…… ?]
Sa-hyeok activated the Lightning Ring.
Bzzzt!
A thick bolt of lightning shot up toward the Thunderbolt Needles.
A rare sight of lightning flowing upwards from the ground to the sky.
The lightning soon struck the ceiling, directly hitting the Thunderbolt Needles embedded there.
Crackle! Bang! Boom!
A massive amount of electricity began to penetrate the surface of the ceiling.
Deep fissures started to spread across the ceiling.
Bang-ul-i couldn’t figure out what Sa-hyeok was up to.
Because he was just randomly zapping the ceiling with electricity.
And the boss didn’t just stand by and watch.
Thud!
The boss flew towards Sa-hyeok.
Sa-hyeok quickly dodged.
Crash!
The boss crashed into the floor behind Sa-hyeok.
The boss began to roll towards Sa-hyeok.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The boss’s attacks surged.
Sa-hyeok only dodged without any counterattack.
But even in the midst of that, Sa-hyeok didn’t stop the flow of electricity.
Even amidst the urgent battle, the lightning emanating from the Lightning Ring didn’t stop.
Crackle! Bang! Boom!……!
It zapped, dug in, and exploded.
The cracks, which were initially just small gaps, began to spread uncontrollably due to the continuous influx of electricity.
[Hyeong-nim, what are you doing? Are you trying to break through the ceiling?!]
“Yeah.”
[What?!]
It splits.
It cracks.
And-
Thud.
It breaks through.
Rumble, Rumble-
An ominous sound came from above the ceiling.
Sa-hyeok stopped activating the Lightning Ring and said.
“Bang-ul-ah, do you remember the scene you saw when we crossed the quarry by helicopter?”
[Of course I do. But why……]
“What was above this underground cavity?”
[……Ah.]
Only then did Bang-ul-i realize.
What Sa-hyeok had done.
“Stay right next to me if you don’t want to malfunction.”
══════════════════
Thump.
Do-sik, Polar, and the rest of the raid members all came up to the surface.
They had succeeded in escaping the underground golem dungeon.
Do-sik counted the number of Hunters who had come up.
Of course, excluding those who died from the boss’s attack.
But……
“Why is one missing?”
“Mr. Min didn’t come up!”
“What?!”
Even they thought Sa-hyeok wasn’t skilled enough to d*e there.
Then……
“Did he stay behind to make us retreat?!”
Polar’s heart sank.
It was understandable, since Sa-hyeok was the Hunter he had personally nominated and brought.
He couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of responsibility for Sa-hyeok’s safety.
“D*mn it, d*mn it……!”
“Oh, wait a minute, look over there!”
Rob pointed his finger somewhere.
The place Rob’s finger pointed to was the center of the quarry.
The center of the quarry, due to its nature, forms a huge pit.
Such a pit is prone to accumulating rainwater and forming a lake.
This quarry had also been abandoned for a long time, and was in a state of being a rainwater lake.
Polar, Rob, and Sa-hyeok had all seen this lake while flying over it in a helicopter.
It was this rainwater lake that Rob pointed to.
“It’s just rainwater collected in the quarry, isn’t it? Why is it…… Huh?!”
Rumble, Rumble-
A whirlpool formed in the center of the rainwater lake.
The water in the lake began to be sucked down.
Just like when you pull the plug of a bathtub and the water drains.
Rumble, Rumble, Rumble!
A tremendous roar echoed as a massive amount of water swirled down.
At that moment, no one could easily figure out why it was suddenly doing that.
“But based on the location, isn’t that lake right above…… the boss room?!”
Someone pointed out the core of the situation.
Hearing those words, Polar’s face, already pale, turned even whiter.
“No……!”
The only ones left in the boss room were the boss and Sa-hyeok.
Polar tried to go back in through the hole they had come out of.
Grab!
Rob grabbed Polar’s arm.
Polar shouted.
“Let go!”
“Are you crazy? If you go in now, you’ll d*e for nothing!!”
“Then Mr. Min……!”
Rob shook his head silently.
Polar bit his lower lip tightly.
Rumble, Rumble, Rumble-
They could only helplessly watch the water of the lake being sucked down.
══════════════════
And at that time, in the boss room.
Splash!
Sa-hyeok saw it.
The water from the lake pouring down through the hole he had just made in the ceiling.
At first, the water poured in through a narrow hole.
But due to the water pressure, the hole grew uncontrollably.
Accordingly, the amount of water pouring in increased exponentially.
This cavity began to be submerged in water at a terrifying speed.
[Hyeong-nim, are you perhaps…… going to use this water?]
“Yeah. I’m going to use it.”
In a situation where there was no suitable medium to capture and attack the boss.
That’s why Sa-hyeok had pierced the ceiling to draw in the water.
To attack it with that water.
“Let’s begin.”
Sa-hyeok turned his palm towards the floor.
Swoosh-
First, he pushed away the water that had risen up to his knees.
He didn’t want to be submerged himself.
After the waterproofing was done, he turned his palm upwards.
Whoosh!
The surrounding water swirled and soared into the air.
A pillar of water defying gravity and flowing upwards.
It was proof that Sa-hyeok had begun to control the water with his telekinesis.
Rumble, Rumble……!
The small water pillar began to grow in size, sucking in the surrounding water.
Was it because the situation was too unexpected?
The boss momentarily couldn’t make any move.
Sa-hyeok said.
“Let’s see if you can dodge the waves with that speed.”
Splash!
The giant water pillar transformed into a wave and crashed over the boss.
It couldn’t dodge even if it tried.
There was nowhere to dodge.
Because the approaching wave had taken over the space itself.
Splash!
The wave engulfed it.
The moment the round granite sphere was completely trapped underwater.
The capture was complete.
But he couldn’t be complacent yet.
“Haa!”
Sa-hyeok gathered more of the surrounding water and layered it around it.
More firmly, more thoroughly.
He intended to trap it in the water and crush it with water pressure to completely neutralize it.
Gurgle……!
The boss didn’t just take it lying down either.
It soon began to struggle violently.
But Sa-hyeok didn’t mind at all.
The water kept pouring in, and therefore, there was more than enough water to suppress its struggles.
Thus, the first goal, stopping it, was successful.
Taking away speed from the one whose weapon was speed, the rest was easy.
Ping-
Sa-hyeok threw the Mubuchamdo towards the boss.
The Mubuchamdo pierced the boss trapped in the water and began to burrow fiercely.
As it dug in, creating deep cracks……
Crack!
The boss, like before, completely cut off that part from its body.
It was a wise move.
If only it had a way to repair it.
Currently, it was trapped underwater and separated from the ground.
It couldn’t pull up the sand and gravel from the ground to use for repairs.
In the end, all it could do was……
“D*e, shattered in that water.”
Crackle! Bang!
The Mubuchamdo began to dig into the boss’s body again.
Water began to seep into the newly carved cracks.
Sa-hyeok began to widen the gaps with the seeping water.
Crack-
Crack!
Even a large dam collapses due to a small crack.
The speed at which the boss’s body was splitting and breaking apart was getting faster and faster.
The giant sphere with a diameter of 3 meters shrunk into a stone ball with a diameter of less than 50 centimeters in an instant.
But the fight wasn’t over yet.
The seed.
The
He couldn’t end this fight until he stopped its operation or destroyed it.
Splash!
Sa-hyeok gathered even more water and tightened the pressure on the boss with higher water pressure.
“Let’s finish this now.”
Crack, Crack……
Crack!
Unable to withstand the water pressure, the boss’s body finally shattered completely.
Among the shattered granite fragments, a square gray cube was floating.
The Seed of the Contaminated Stone Golem, the very seed that was first planted in this quarry.
Sa-hyeok manipulated the water current and pulled the seed towards him.
Grab!
Finally, the seed was in his hand.
The seed that caused this operation to begin, and the seed that caused the deaths of Hunters.
Sa-hyeok clenched the seed tightly, intending to crush it.
But-
“……It’s not breaking?”
Sa-hyeok stabbed the seed with the Mubuchamdo.
Screech……!
Even the Mubuchamdo could only make a small scratch.
Its durability was on a different level compared to other golem seeds.
‘This is why they tried so hard to bring me here.’
If they were trying to break this, the Hunter casualties would have been high.
But with Sa-hyeok involved, the story was different.
Because Sa-hyeok had the power to manipulate artifacts regardless of their durability.
Sa-hyeok closed his eyes and poured his telekinesis into the seed.
Tsss-
Calmly and surely.
Sa-hyeok tangled the internal structure of the seed, rendering it inoperable.
Click-
The sealing process was complete.
Now, no one but Sa-hyeok could activate this seed.
With this……
“Finished.”
Golem Dungeon Raid Operation, complete.
“Let’s rest for a bit.”
Sa-hyeok took out the Mandrake Bile from his hip sack and took a few sips.
Maybe it was because he drank it so much.
It was something that could keep him awake for a whole day with just one sip, but now he had to drink half a bottle to feel somewhat awake.
……He had even gotten used to this awful taste.
[Hyeong-nim.]
“Yeah?”
[Can, can you let me off the drone for a bit?]
“Why…… Ah.”
The water had risen almost to his chest.
And Bang-ul-i had a personality that loved water.
“Okay, I understand.”
Sa-hyeok detached Bang-ul-i from the drone.
[Yay!]
Bang-ul-i excitedly bounced around, floating and sinking on the surface of the water.
“Have fun. When will you ever get to go to such a large swimming pool again?”
Thus, Sa-hyeok left Bang-ul-i alone for a while.
But……
[Hyeong-nim!]
“Why?”
[Come over to this wall! Quickly!]
“……?”
Sa-hyeok cut through the water and approached the wall.
“Why the wall? What’s there?”
[It’s hard to see because it’s dark, but there’s something engraved on the wall. Can you attach me back to the drone?]
Sa-hyeok reattached Bang-ul-i to the drone.
Pak!
Bang-ul-i turned on the drone’s headlight.
The wall revealed itself.
And on the wall……
“Hey, there’s nothing there.”
[Look at the part submerged in the water!]
Sa-hyeok lowered his gaze below the water surface.
“Huh?!”
Unidentified characters were engraved on the submerged wall.
“What is this……?”
[It seems like the material reveals the letters when it gets wet.]
Sa-hyeok scooped up some water and splashed it on the wall as a test.
Splash!
“……It’s real.”
Letters appeared where the water touched.
This time, Sa-hyeok scooped up a large amount of water and splashed it all over the wall.
Splash!
Letters appeared wherever the water touched.
The entire wall of this massive cavity was densely filled with letters.
It was an overwhelmingly vast amount of text, almost bewildering.
[But Hyeong-nim, don’t these letters…… look familiar?]
“Look familiar?”
[Yes. You have the book you looted from the dungeon where the knight and slime appeared, right?]
“I put that in the boarding house safe…… Ah!”
[Except for the last 18 pages, the rest couldn’t be deciphered, right? The letters there are the same!]
The first thing needed for deciphering a text is a sufficient amount of text.
He couldn’t understand the meaning now, but these letters engraved on the wall were needed for future deciphering.
“……First, take pictures of all the letters on this wall.”
[Okay. But it’s hard to take pictures of the part submerged underwater……]
“Barrier release.”
Sa-hyeok released the
Whoosh!
As the barrier blocking the exit disappeared, the water inside the cavity began to drain quickly through it.
The water level soon dropped to ankle level.
Sa-hyeok found and retrieved the Mubuchamdo, Thunderbolt Needles, and Kalduran’s Barrier, then said.
“How is it? Did you take pictures of everything?”
[Yes, taking pictures is quick. But this……]
“Why?”
[If we do this right, we might be able to decipher these letters!]
“What? Really?!”
That’s when it happened.
Swoosh!
The seed Sa-hyeok was holding in his hand disappeared.
