Chapter 116

A Separation-type Dungeon.

It is a type of dungeon where personnel are deployed into several individually divided zones, and the Boss Room can only be reached once every single zone has been cleared.

And this place where Taewoon and his companions had fallen, while slightly peculiar, clearly followed that method.

‘The personnel… were they divided into roughly three groups?’

The only person who had fallen into the passage with Taewoon was a mysterious woman whose appearance was hidden by a hood.

In other words, until they reached the Boss Room, Taewoon and the woman had to break through all the assigned zones together.

“Are you injured anywhere?”

“…….”

The woman nodded silently, and since no particular wounds were visible, Taewoon also felt relieved and rolled his stiff shoulders.

“It seems it was a Separation-type. It looks like the two of us will have to clear this entire zone; will that be alright with you?”

The woman nodded lightly once again.

Seeing that no worry or anxiety showed in her actions, it seemed she felt that the current situation was not a great threat to her.

‘…As I thought, is she a fairly powerful Hunter?’

Regardless, if a combatant of that level was with him, Taewoon could feel reassured.

Since she didn’t seem to have a very sociable personality, Taewoon took the lead and advanced through the zone, soon confirming a wide, cube-shaped space and the monster residing within it.

“Another one… and based on that appearance, it seems to be a mutant type of Mirror Cube.”

Ⅵ-130-Mirror Cube.

A Type-6 monster equipped with powerful psychokinesis and reflection abilities. While its own defensive power was not high, it was evaluated as a Level 5-rank monster with extremely troublesome abilities.

‘Fortunately, neither of us here is a magic-type Hunter.’

The creature was a monster with particularly poor compatibility against magic-type or long-range Hunters; for an honest vanguard-type Hunter, the situation was relatively better.

“Do you have a way to deal with the psychokinesis?”

“…….”

The woman nodded lightly. As expected, no palpable tension could be felt from her.

If that was the case, Taewoon simply had to launch a frontal attack without much hesitation.

“I’ll take the lead. Let’s begin.”

Taking out the Red Wax Mask and putting it on his face, Taewoon vanished in an instant and began to dig into the Mirror Cube’s rear.

The Mirror Cube noticed, but the distance had already been closed.

As a powerful psychokinetic force began to press down on the surroundings, Taewoon circulated the magical power throughout his body and began to offset it using the principles of Repelling Weapon Aura.

“…Now!”

While the creature was concentrating its psychokinesis to stop Taewoon, it could not perfectly respond to an attack from another direction.

Knowing this, the woman surged forward, blooming with red magical power, and leaped off the ground to strike the Mirror Cube’s body directly.

The woman, having her impact reflected, was sent flying and crashed into the wall, but the creature also suffered a blow significant enough to leave a dent in its body.

Furthermore, the woman, who stood up while dusting off her shoulders, showed no signs of having taken much damage.

‘Both her attack and defense power are immense. At this level, is she a seasoned Level 5-rank?’

It wasn’t a particularly flashy exchange of offense and defense, but through that sequence, Taewoon could feel a glimpse of the formidable power the woman possessed.

In terms of pure martial force, she likely belonged to a realm that surpassed even the experts of the Flower Realm he had encountered in the Heavenly Secret Manual Theater.

Having taken a severe hit, the psychokinesis that had been suppressing Taewoon since earlier also weakened in aura.

If so, all that remained was to break through it and deliver the finishing blow.

• I will visualize the psychokinetic waves as colors! Marking the points where the waves fluctuate!

“Good job.”

With Aquila’s support, Taewoon found the gap where the concentration of power had slackened. Using the power of the Star Absorption Great Technique and the Remegethon, he tore through that spot and broke through the psychokinetic barrier in one breath.

And then.

【Condition Fulfilled】

【Cinema Skill: The Red Man】

‘…Eight Ghost Spear: Fifth Form, Soul-Severing Whirlwind!’

The circulating magical power accelerated, and as Taewoon widened his stride in an instant, his Barata wrapped around it and began to rotate rapidly.

The tip of the spear drew a single circle, sucking in the surrounding air, and several spear strikes extending in all directions simultaneously pierced and shattered the cube’s body.

“…It seems it’s over. Is it alright to keep moving?”

Staring at the woman’s now-familiar nod, Taewoon continued to hunt the appearing monsters and smoothly broke through the zone.

There was always only one monster blocking the way, and the difficulty gradually increased as slightly more powerful individuals appeared.

The nature of the dungeon, which felt more like a series of duels, was strange, but what captured Taewoon’s attention more was none other than the woman’s skill.

‘Her handling of weapons and magical power is top-tier… and above all, this person’s energy is becoming stronger as the battles continue.’

If the change was this significant, it was more likely to be the effect of a Trait rather than a mere feeling.

For instance, perhaps she could exert even greater power the longer she maintained a combat state or the more injuries she sustained?

Just hearing that made her a terrifying existence.

‘That aside, the way she uses her sword feels strangely familiar.’

However, it wasn’t at a level where he could definitively name it, and for an expert of this caliber, it wouldn’t be strange to gather techniques learned from various places and use them in her own way.

‘No, but…’

Taewoon recalled the face of a certain woman in his mind, but soon shook his head and stopped the thought.

As mentioned before, it was not industry etiquette to pry into someone’s identity.

“Even so, all the way to Rock Glast… the difficulty of this dungeon is quite formidable.”

“…….”

Though they hadn’t faced great difficulty in combat, the woman also nodded with a somewhat stiff expression, as if agreeing with that thought.

If any of their companions had been separated alone or faced an enemy with poor compatibility, they might have struggled.

And that worry soon became a reality.

“Damn it… was this the wrong path? I was hoping the Healer would be waiting here.”

In a space where the entrance split into two paths, Taewoon and the woman encountered and joined one of the scattered party members.

However, the problem was that the condition of the assassination-type woman on that side did not look very good.

“Huu…”

“She got hit by a Type-3 ghost that uses poison. She’s holding on because she has some resistance, but she’s in bad shape.”

The slender man, unlike his initial cold demeanor, seemed very concerned about the woman before him.

“…I’m asking just in case, but do you have any abilities related to detoxification?”

Seeing the woman immediately shake her head, Taewoon first struck the ground, enveloping the fallen woman in a Golden Barrier.

【Condition Fulfilled】

▶【Cinema Skill: Final Rampart】

【Creating a Level 3 Equivalent Semi-Automatic Protective Zone!】

Since it was a mere Level 3-rank ability, it wouldn’t have a great effect, but it was far better than leaving her lying on the bare ground.

‘Damn, maybe I shouldn’t have sold Fenrir’s Claw.’

Fenrir’s Blue Flame had the effect of driving out curses or wicked energy, making it possible to exert a certain degree of detoxification.

But now that he had sold it, it was meaningless.

Taewoon himself did not possess any particular abilities related to detoxification or healing.

[Tsk, has the young master already forgotten my existence? Stop talking and bring out the Remegethon.]

‘Reje?’

Come to think of it, the Remegethon might be capable of absorbing poison to some extent.

As Taewoon brought out the Remegethon and spread it in the air, Reje—who had absorbed all the magical power from the Mirror Cube earlier—appeared as a translucent phantom and began to approach the fallen woman.

[This much is entirely possible. It is a powerful poison, but not to the extent that it cannot be handled.]

The pages of the Remegethon floating in the air turned on their own, and Reje, after chanting a certain spell, tore out one of the pages and held it toward the woman.

Then.

The poison, which had condensed into the form of a black mist and been expelled from the woman’s body, was sucked into the page and vanished into dust.

Seeing this, the man, Choi Taegil, let out an exclamation of admiration with a surprised expression.

“Huh, you handle a mysterious ability. Can you even perform healing on your own?”

“It’s not my power; I simply used the power of an item I possess.”

“That’s the same thing. Anyway, thanks to you, she’s saved. You’d better squeeze a proper reward out of her. I can clearly see her bragging last time about picking up and selling a fantastic treasure.”

Taegil chuckled and sat down to take a rest, and soon the fallen woman, Yoo Hyeeun, regained consciousness.

“Huh? There’s no Healer… so who treated me?”

“It was me. I happened to have an item related to detoxification.”

“Wow, that was a close call. But I don’t have anything on me right now… would it be okay if I gave you all of this raid’s reward?”

“Half would be enough. After all, I only performed the role of a party member.”

“Well… if you put it that way, I’m grateful.”

Hyeeun stood up and waved her arms as if checking her condition, and the dungeon raid began once more.

“Looking at the situation, it’s safe to assume the other side has also encountered each other, right?”

“Probably. And as we move through the zones, we’ll eventually be able to merge with them.”

“I’m worried… troublesome things popped up even when there were only two of us; I wonder how it’ll be now that the numbers have increased.”

As if Hyeeun’s concern hit the mark, what awaited Taewoon’s party in the next zone was a spirit entity resembling a Grim Reaper, its entire body covered in iron-clad scales.

“Ironclad Reaper… a top-tier Level 5 monster.”

“Recommended combat personnel is one high-level individual or four of equivalent rank. This is quite tight.”

Upon identifying the opponent, Taegil and Hyeeun frowned, showing signs of distress.

That was because the Ironclad Reaper was a monster usually treated as a boss of a Level 5-rank dungeon, and among them, it possessed an extremely troublesome level of danger.

‘The recommended personnel count is met… but it wouldn’t be strange if someone were seriously injured or died.’

However, for some reason, Taewoon felt a bit excited rather than anxious.

After the battle with Kalliedu, the opportunity to test his further strengthened power had arrived.

Regripping the Barata in his hand, Taewoon pointed the tip of the spear toward the black iron-clad Reaper.