Chapter 97: Verification of Doom (3)

It was decided.

Sa-hyeok decided to clear the root gate possessed by In-su with the Hunters from Seongan Madang.

In return, he would receive the right to see the stele located inside the dungeon and the analysis data.

It was a simple transaction.

“I’ve called the Hunters of Seongan Madang, so they’ll be here soon. Sa-hyeok-ssi, please go with them and get your potions and armor.”

“Will the Lamplighter accompany us?”

“No, you’ll see when you get there. This dungeon doesn’t need a Lamp.”

Ding-dong

Soon, three Hunters summoned by In-su entered the house.

“We’re here, Village Head-nim.”

“You’ve arrived. This is Hunter Min Sa-hyeok-nim. He will be helping you with the root gate raid today.”

“Hmm.”

“Please take him to the shared storage and lend him equipment and potions. Especially the ‘healthy’ ones.”

In-su put a particular emphasis on the word ‘healthy’.

“Ah, alright. Hunter Min Sa-hyeok-nim? This way, please.”

Sa-hyeok followed the Hunters to the shared storage.

Now, only the brothers remained at the living room table.

Sung In-su and Sung Jang-hoon.

Jang-hoon asked.

“You had a root gate too?”

“It’s been about half a year since we settled here. It suddenly appeared around that time.”

“The appearance rate of root gates has dropped significantly these days. Why not just sell it to a guild? Hundreds of billions of won would just roll in.”

“Money is futile, Jang-hoon-ah. Do you think the value of money will last forever?”

“That’s……”

“And actually, there’s a bigger reason than that.”

“What is it?”

“If we sell the root gate, we can no longer live here.”

“Is that so?”

“You know that root gate transactions are treated as real estate transactions, right? We have to sell not only the gate itself but also all the surrounding land. And guild buildings will be built there to manage the root gate. Eventually, we’ll have no choice but to leave here. We’ll make a lot of money, but if we have to lose our home for money, we’ll choose our home without hesitation.”

“Home…… bullshit, you’re from Seoul, hyung.”

“Are you going to keep pretending you don’t understand, little brother?”

Jang-hoon closed his mouth with a short sigh.

In-su said.

“Get up.”

“Why?”

“I told you I had something to tell you separately, right? Let’s talk while we walk.”

Saying that, In-su packed a thermos and paper cups.

The two went outside.

The morning sun was faintly dawning outside.

In-su and Jang-hoon started walking.

They slowly walked along the path on the low ridge.

Below the path, the vast farmland of Seongan Madang unfolded.

Many people were farming there.

The countryside was quiet at dawn.

Meanwhile, occasional laughter and the sound of tractor engines mixed with the hazy morning air and scattered.

In-su asked.

“Peaceful, isn’t it?”

“……”

“Do you still see me only as a cult leader?”

“Are you trying to change your image now?”

“I want to show you that I’ve changed.”

“That doesn’t change the past. I still remember. In the early days of the gate outbreak, you raised and manipulated fanatics.”

At those words, In-su just smiled, a little bitterly.

Jang-hoon continued.

“The people you led right after the gate outbreak, I don’t know how you brainwashed them, but they killed people instantly at your word. They said they would offer them as sacrifices. That’s why I left you, hyung. I was afraid I’d go crazy too if I stayed by your side.”

“It was to maintain order. If we hadn’t calmed people down like that, more people would have died.”

“Even so, there’s a line that people have to keep, hyung.”

“That line is just a promise. In h*ll, you can’t promise anything recklessly. But, little brother, how is it now?”

In-su pointed to the unfolding fields and said.

“Does this place still look like that to you?”

“……”

“Come back, Jang-hoon-ah. Let’s cultivate this village with me.”

“……I don’t want to.”

“Do you still think we can stop the doom?”

“You never know until you try.”

“We call it doom because we can’t do anything about it with our own power, little brother.”

“……”

“Honestly, I’m not telling you to leave Kwonmu-mun right away. Let’s restore our own exchanges first. Contact each other, visit sometimes. Think carefully. Whether to stay there, or cultivate even a small peace.”

“Even so……”

“Honestly, you wouldn’t want to keep living with your feet soaked in the blood of monsters, would you?”

Jang-hoon didn’t speak.

But deep down, his heart was shaken little by little.

Suddenly, the long scar across his chest throbbed.

It was a wound he received from a monster a few months ago.

A wound that would have been instantly fatal if it had been slightly off.

Little by little, his job as a Hunter started to feel heavy.

Pour-

In-su poured a cup of warm tea from the thermos and handed it to Jang-hoon.

“Drink.”

Jang-hoon silently accepted the cup and sipped the tea.

His body felt relaxed as the warm tea entered him.

His vision pleasantly blurred.

“Good, isn’t it?”

“……Yeah, it’s good, d*mn it.”

Seeing that, a faint smile appeared on In-su’s lips and then disappeared.

═════════════════

Meanwhile.

Sa-hyeok was preparing for the raid in the warehouse.

“Hunter Min Sa-hyeok-ssi? Take these potions and bag.”

Two Healing Potions, one Mana Recovery Potion, and a hip sack to carry them.

Receiving the potions, Sa-hyeok thought.

‘The color of the Healing Potions is a bit dark.’

After taking them, Sa-hyeok took out a bottle of his own potion from his backpack.

Super Powerful Stimulant, Mandrake Bile.

Sa-hyeok took a sip of the stimulant and put it in the hip sack.

Seeing that, another Hunter asked in disgust.

“Isn’t that terribly disgusting……?”

“You get used to it after a few months. Want a sip?”

“Ah…… no. I’m fine.”

Thus, the armament was completed, and the briefing on the dungeon environment and monsters was also finished.

“If you’re ready, we’ll now move to the gate.”

A total of three Hunters were participating in this raid with Sa-hyeok.

One was a Sorcerer, and the other two were Combat-type Hunters.

And the Sorcerer was the Raid Leader.

The raid party moved, following the Raid Leader.

To a warehouse-like building where the root gate was located.

Rumble-

Opening the heavy door, they saw the root gate located inside the building.

The Raid Leader took out a key from his pocket.

“Opening.”

The Raid Leader inserted the key into the gate and turned it.

Ripple-

The surface of the gate rippled like liquid.

It was time to enter the dungeon.

Splash-

All four Hunters stepped into the gate.

Whoosh-

The first thing that greeted the party as they entered the dungeon was the dry heat that rushed in.

“Oh……”

Sa-hyeok glanced around.

It was a cave-type dungeon of considerable size.

The ceiling was twice as high as a typical cave-type dungeon, and the width was three times wider.

But there was another difference from typical cave-type dungeons.

Fire.

Fire was rising everywhere in this dungeon.

The stalagmites rising from the ground were spewing flames like torches, and flames intermittently leaked from the cracks in the walls.

Thanks to this, there was no problem seeing ahead.

‘That’s why they said they didn’t need a Lamplighter.’

But while it was good that there were no worries about visibility, there was a different problem.

It was hot.

It was d*mn hot.

It felt like his stamina was draining just by standing still.

He just wanted to k*ll the boss and run out as soon as possible.

‘Deploy.’

Clatter!

Sa-hyeok deployed the Iron Arms of the Bone King.

Metallic bandages wrapped around Sa-hyeok’s arms.

Soon, the Raid Leader gave instructions from behind.

“Everyone, get in formation. The monsters are coming!”

Clank, thud, clank, clank.

Irregular footsteps coming from inside the cave.

Their shadows stretched long.

Shadows ominously undulating along with the flickering flames.

Soon, the monsters and the raid party met.

“Those are the……”

“Yes, they are Decapitated Demons (絶頭鬼).”

Sa-hyeok saw them.

They were tall and thin, taking the form of humans.

Their height was about 2 meters, and they weren’t wearing any clothes.

Their skin had a pale color like corpses, and their nails were long, hard, and sharp.

And their real peculiarity.

Their heads were cut off.

They were each holding their severed heads in their arms.

And those heads were engulfed in flames, burning brightly.

Monsters holding their severed (絶) heads (頭).

That was why they were called Decapitated Demons.

Swish-

Then, one of the Decapitated Demons raised its head high.

Seeing that, the Raid Leader shouted.

“Incoming!”

Whoosh!

The monster threw its burning head.

The fireball flew in quickly, drawing a tight parabola.

It was fast.

But not so fast that he couldn’t avoid it.

So, it was a natural attack for a Hunter who was facing a Decapitated Demon for the first time to avoid.

But the moment the burning head rolled on the ground.

The hunt would instantly turn into a mess.

Because.

The burning head would roll around, spewing flames and destroying everything around it.

If the raid party’s formation collapsed while avoiding the scattered flames, that’s when the monsters would rush in and ravage them.

The monsters had quite high fire resistance, so they wouldn’t get burned by the scattered flames.

That was the Decapitated Demons’ main attack strategy.

Therefore……

-You must destroy the heads before they touch the ground. If they fall on the ground, you must destroy them as quickly as possible.

That’s what the Raid Leader had emphasized several times during the briefing before entering the dungeon.

Whoosh!

The burning head flew in quickly.

One of the Combat-type Hunters took a swing stance with his axe.

He seemed to be thinking of splitting the head with the axe blade.

But-

Step.

Sa-hyeok was a step faster.

Grab!

Sa-hyeok grabbed the flying head with his right hand.

Seeing that, the other Hunters were inwardly shocked.

He had grabbed the fireball with his hand covered in thin metallic bandages.

“Sa-hyeok-ssi……?!”

But they didn’t know.

That neither heat nor cold, not even electricity or corrosive power, could penetrate those metallic bandages.

Crackle-

As Sa-hyeok tightened his grip on his right hand, cracks began to appear on the burning head.

And-

Crack!

Sa-hyeok crushed the head in his hand and shattered it.

Burning skull fragments rained down.

Sa-hyeok muttered.

“I’ve confirmed the throwing speed, and the strength of the head is about this much. Then……”

Shing.

Sa-hyeok drew a Thunderbolt Needle from his waist and said.

“This will do.”

At that moment, the Decapitated Demons simultaneously threw their burning heads.

Dozens of fireballs flew through the air.

The Hunters also took a full combat stance.

Whoosh-

Sa-hyeok emitted his telekinesis to grasp the position and speed of the flying heads.

Thud!

The Thunderbolt Needle pierced through the Decapitated Demon’s head.

But the Thunderbolt Needle was, after all, a ‘needle’.

Therefore, it could pierce, but it was difficult to crush.

Of course, that was only when considering a single Thunderbolt Needle.

Crackle-

The Lightning Ring flashed.

Crackle!

The electricity released from the ring extended to the Thunderbolt Needle.

And towards the burning head, it crackled.

Crack!

The head, directly hit by lightning, instantly shattered.

Thus, a long lightning bolt connected the Thunderbolt Needle floating in the air and the Lightning Ring.

The electricity would always connect to the Thunderbolt Needle.

That meant that the electricity would follow the movement of the Thunderbolt Needle.

The Thunderbolt Needle was the needle, and the electricity was the thread.

The Thunderbolt Needle pierced the head, and the attached electricity crushed it.

Crack!

Shatter!

Crack!

The snake-like wriggling lightning crisscrossed the air, instantly piercing and crushing the flying heads.

The heads exploded in the air like firecrackers before they could even touch the ground.

And the Hunters watched the scene in disbelief.

“Is that Lightning Magic……?”

“I definitely heard it was Telekinesis……”

But there was no time to be surprised.

The Decapitated Demons, whose heads had exploded in the air, started to run.

“Kyaahaack!”

They rushed in, swinging their sharp claws.

Of course, their strategy was completely disrupted because all their heads had exploded.

Shing-

Sa-hyeok drew the Mubuchamdo.

The other two Combat-type Hunters drew their axe and iron club.

Now it was time for the Hunters to ravage them.