Chapter 92
[Taurus]
[Height 3.98m] [Weight 1.1t]
[Strength 406] [Agility 365] [Vitality 429] [Magic 214]
[Skills]
[Tough Skin (E)] [Weak Regeneration (E)]
Taurus, a mix of a bull and a person, stands before me. And alongside are four Stalkers who look slightly weaker, like a hybrid of lizard and human.
‘…This shouldn’t be too much trouble.’
But this is just the beginning. There are worse things lurking, and before the boss shows up, I must team up with Fairy and get through to Area 2 as fast as possible.
“Guuuuoooor!”
Taurus charges at me with arms crossed in an X, rumbling as it runs. With its massive body and over 400 strength, it quickly closes the distance, pulling its iron-like arm back to slam down. I felt the pressure as I leapt on top of it.
“—?!”
Taurus’s eyes widen in disbelief. Not that it mattered, I climbed up its arm. Following its charge, black flames ignited. Just as I reached the back of its neck, Taurus swung its arm. Its horns aimed at me to knock me off, but already, the tentacles had burrowed into its skull, and the Shadow sliced through the tough skin, severing its spine. Moments later, Taurus lay lifeless against the stone floor.
‘…It didn’t have synergy with the Stileton.’
These creatures don’t have weak points. It was more about the status and skills. Besides, Transformation, Shadow, Tentacle, and Wind. Even with those skills, dealing with them was a hassle. My only option was to escape. But—
‘These monsters are different.’
Before I knew it, the Stalkers had gone invisible. You’d think they couldn’t hide in this open plaza, but true to their name, they had D-rank Stealth. However, they couldn’t outsmart Detection. The moment I found them, their forms became visible again.
‘This must be puzzling for them.’
Noticing I didn’t panic at their disappearance, they must have felt an uneasy fear about my Detection. In this strange standoff, I decided to devour Taurus first.
[You have consumed Taurus. Experience and fullness have increased.]
—I gained a decent amount of experience, but when I glanced around, the door was still shut tight.
‘Is Taurus not enough?’
Just then, the pondering Stalkers crouched down and leapt high into the air. Launching surprise attacks while concealed. With arms stretched out, they looked intimidating. Their long claws reflected the light.
‘They’re dumb.’
As they swooped down, I released spikes, turning them into a pincushion as they fell. The spikes burrowed deeper into the ones that crashed to the ground. The arena floor was now filled with their essence. I had cut off their breath, but I bit my lip.
‘…Is this still not enough?’
[Second test!]
Before I knew it, other monsters were appearing from the outskirts. I glanced around and used Insight, but—
[You have proven your resilience!]
Not yet, not yet they hadn’t come out. Just as I thought everything was still alright—
[Meet the Executioner!]
‘…Damn it.’
From beyond the outer edge, the silhouette I dreaded appeared—the Executioner, a half-goat, half-human monstrosity, wielding a horrid sickle.
“…Well, that happened.”
Looking back, my party lay sprawled out, exhausted. Two days of a grueling push in the worst dungeon, Neverland. The fatigue felt on an entirely different level.
“What the hell are you doing?! This is your home turf?!”
Baek Gun-tae yelled, and the raid group grimaced. Sure, a Hunter could stay sharp even after three days of no sleep, but that was just in normal circumstances. They were all downing potions and stimulants, barely holding on.
“Do you want to die?! The Area 1 clear isn’t done yet! Are you looking to greet more monsters?”
Of course, Gun-tae and the leaders understood the situation.
‘I thought it was going smoothly…’
The absence of Square and the highlands had created a massive hole. Though other clans had decided to participate, the overall quality and quantity were lacking. Plus, we had to protect the chick, which only made things tougher.
‘In the end, I might have to take a step back.’
Plans had derailed a bit, but since the goal was just to secure the route to Area 2, it wasn’t a time crunch. I could join the rear guard for some rest before continuing the raid…
Such thoughts vanished with Euna’s shout.
“Add! North-East at 1 o’clock, 6!”
—Monstopia.
In this endless jungle, we couldn’t afford even a second’s respite until every last monster was defeated. I realized that renewed necessity. The raid members had to pull their weary bodies up once more.
***
The Executioner—a monster with the head of a goat and the body of a human. Additionally, the large sickle it wielded showcased terrible cutting power. It was undoubtedly the boss of this plaza, and without a doubt, of Area 1.
[Baphomet (Executioner)]
[Height 2.67m] [Weight 448kg]
[Strength 651] [Agility 628] [Vitality 641] [Magic 611]
[Skills]
[Gangsiny (A)] [False Immortality (B)] [Great Magic (B)] [Servitude (C)] [Mitigation (C)] [Regeneration (D)] [Insight (E)] [Analysis (E)]
“Kyu, Kyuuuuu!”
Fairy dug deep into my fur, sensing an instinctive dread, while I frowned at the monster’s appearance.
‘…Faster than I expected.’
I thought it might not come out. After all, it was just me and Fairy in the plaza. Maybe the difficulty could adjust—
‘…What a naive thought.’
The Steel Giant. The Underground Demon. Both were formidable monsters, but you couldn’t honestly call them bosses of Area 1. The reason was right there—the Executioner.
‘Defeating it is out of the question.’
Striking it down was nearly impossible—if you were extremely lucky, maybe you could take it down, but that’s a big ‘if.’ Facing it was certain death, no questions asked. Even being lucky enough to inflict a critical hit would just heal up from its False Immortality. Even the Broken Finger only caused mild headaches with about 5 or 6 stocks. But here, it was practically immortal.
‘The Broken Finger can’t even be compared…’
It’s not that the Broken Finger was bad; it’s just that this Neverland dungeon plays by a different set of rules. Even with the Seven Heroes and the Square raid team challenging it, they couldn’t clear it, and there are reasons for that. I looked around and noticed I was already surrounded by monsters. That put my mind at ease.
‘Just ignore it and take down the rest.’
I dashed towards the Executioner. As if confused, it tilted its head when the black flames began consuming the monsters. Even as various hybrid beasts fell in the plaza, the Executioner remained unconcerned.
However, it slowly raised its sickle.
“…!”
Once it swung, columns supporting the walls broke, and the outer walls crumbled down.
‘Insane…!’
It didn’t use any special method; it just infused mana into its regular strike. But that mana was off the charts. It couldn’t use magic, but considering the Great Magic it possessed, it had more power than Hong Yu-ri. —And all that from an immortal creature whose physical abilities greatly exceeded A-rank.
‘…!’
The Executioner seemed displeased that its attack didn’t hit. It tilted its goat head. Again raising its sickle, a dreadful anticipation filled the air.
‘Here it comes…!’
The moment I predicted it, the Executioner swung its sickle again. A direct strike from a distance. A brutal slash like before—while it was bone-chillingly powerful, dodging a linear attack wasn’t too difficult.
As its attack failed, the creature froze momentarily, giving off a foul aura. An eerie presence filled the air, and fragments of the stone floor shot up into the sky.
“—.”
Muttering in some incomprehensible language, it transformed the foul air into ominous gray mana, choking the monsters buried under the fallen outer wall.
‘It worked…!’
Finally, a space warped behind the Executioner, beginning to open. At the same time, its limbs bent grotesquely. The whites of its eyes disappeared, leaving them entirely black.
‘Gangsiny…!’
“First death penalty…”
The skull split open, twisting upwards, with horns sprouting from the center of its head as the mana intensified.
“—!”
The creature was slowly transforming. I seized the chance, charging forward and launching mana-infused spikes, all of them hitting their target.
‘Damn it.’
Yet, undeterred, the transformation continued. The Regeneration pushed the spikes out, and the wounds healed almost instantly.
Even being engulfed in black flames, it treated the spikes like nothing major.
‘Quickly!’
Fairy used Blink toward the opened dimensional rift. The carefully timed Blink couldn’t break through the Executioner’s ominous mana, blocked for the first time.
“Kyu…?!”
It wasn’t that there were no ways to counter Fairy’s Blink, like when Hong Yu-ri trapped Fairy in a barrier. This time was different. It wasn’t suppressing Fairy’s ability to Blink; it simply couldn’t pass through the pervasive gray mana clouding the area, despite already using Blink.
‘Damn it…’
As Fairy trembled in fear from her first failed Blink, I unleashed a powerful gust. I fast bypassed the Executioner, who was finally ready to unleash its full power—
In an instant, the giant goat’s hooves thumped on the ground, chasing after me.
“—!”
Gangsiny—this creature that was already monstrous became even more terrifying. The suffocating gray mana tightened around me, making me feel like I’d crumble at any moment. If I hadn’t learned to channel mana in the fantasy world, I would have collapsed. Still, I couldn’t shake off the overwhelming pressure from this mana, but I could use bliss to consume some of its gray mana.
“…!”
As that gnawing sensation pulsed, I raised my mana. The quality of my mana felt drastically different…! Even after consuming it, my eyes turned bloodshot, feeling as if I’d swallowed poison, struggling to breathe. Just when the Mitigation and mana barely restored my condition—
“…!”
[Weak Sixth Sense (E) Lv.6 has maxed out. Weak Sixth Sense (E) Lv.6 → Weak Sixth Sense (E) Lv.7]
In that instant, I ducked low at the unsettling aura approaching. A terrible mass of mana whisked just above me. The Executioner’s slash grazed past me, splitting the rift in the dimensional space.
‘…!’
But the Wolf didn’t hesitate. Without a moment’s thought, it hurled itself through the opening in the divided dimension. The Executioner’s jaw, having already stretched wide in preparation, was ready to devour the Wolf at the last possible moment. And just then, a fierce gust obscured the Executioner’s sight.
“—!”
In an instant, draped in the black flames scattered by the gust, the frustrated Goat howled. The Wolf finally managed to break free from Area 1, but amidst such chaos, it was unaware.
—That something had entered the first section of Neverland.
***
While Euna was scanning the area, she tilted her head curiously.
“…?”
It shouldn’t be, but for some reason… she felt a strangely familiar mana. Yet, focusing back on her Detection, that presence had already vanished. Euna, attributing it to fatigue-induced illusion, took another potion.
