Chapter 49

At that desperate moment, Jang Taeju’s eyes widened when Siyoon appeared.

Even if he had used his skill, there might have been casualties.

Reading the gratitude on Taeju’s face, Siyoon took the initiative first.

“I’ll take the rear, so focus up.”

Trivial matters like gratitude could wait.

Dealing with the magic beasts took priority right now.

Having switched positions, Siyoon swung his fists with veteran prowess, smashing the magic beasts.

Kwadeudeuk!

His fist struck the Aindar’s chest area.

The impact transmitted inward, shattering its ribs and crushing its heart.

Unable to withstand the single blow, the Aindar vomited blood and collapsed.

Though reptilian, its torso was essentially that of an orc.

Since their internal organs were similar, the location of their vital points was similar as well.

It was a rather sudden change in position.

However, none of the party members questioned it.

They already knew he was a sniper and a martial artist.

Above all, they could feel that he had anticipated this from his initial positioning.

The area where the pillar stood was wide open on all sides.

But the only side, where Siyoon stood, had a shallow waterfront.

It couldn’t block the magic beasts’ entry, but it could slow them down.

Siyoon had taken his position there.

It meant he would dispatch the magic beasts through sniping as much as possible before joining them.

Udeudeuk.

Siyoon slammed his fist toward the Aindar right next to him.

The fist pierced the tough hide, transmitting the force inward and turning its viscera to mush.

It was the destructive power of instantaneous stacked Enhancement.

“Watch out!”

Slicing through the magic beasts, Seo Eunhyun shouted as he looked above Siyoon’s head.

Three Kised were thrusting their venomous stingers toward Siyoon.

Tatatatatang!

Siyoon grabbed the sniper rifle slung around him with a flicking motion and fired in rapid succession.

The Kised hit by the bullets were pierced through and died instantly.

Seeing this, Eunhyun was inwardly amazed.

A sniper rifle was not a firearm specialized in rapid fire.

Because while its penetrating power was maximized, the recoil was strong and it was heavy.

But Siyoon handled it as familiarly as if it were a toy.

Enough to mix it appropriately into close combat.

‘Impressive.’

There was not a single hesitation between aiming, firing, and reloading.

This meant he had already finished calculating in his head, and that such combat was familiar to him.

He knew he was skilled, but this exceeded his expectations.

While he was admiring him, Siyoon looked around and spoke.

“Jang Taeju and Jin Baekseon will take the front, and the rest will take the back.”

“Understood.”

With the formation changed, a new distribution was necessary.

Having analyzed the party members beforehand, Siyoon distributed the roles appropriately.

‘Jang Taeju is a typical shield warrior. The power of his mace is great, but his mobility is a bit lacking.’

What suited such a warrior best was a solid swordsman who could guard his flank.

Placing Jin Baekseon with him was a decision made under that judgment.

With his characteristic fast swordplay, Jin Baekseon could quickly eliminate multiple magic beasts.

It would help solidly secure the space Taeju held.

On the other hand, there was no one in the rear to hold the line and create space.

It meant they had to help each other while taking down enemies on their own.

For the side he intended to watch over, Eunhyun was a better fit.

It wasn’t a matter of a difference in skill.

It was literally synergy.

Just as each excelled in different fields, the resulting synergy effect was different.

‘Seo Eunhyun’s attack style is quickly subduing enemies and constantly making evasive maneuvers.’

A unique combat style using dual reverse-grip daggers.

He freely wielded both hands and was adept at offense and defense.

That didn’t mean his attack power was low, either.

With a few swift slashes, he could dismember an Aindar.

Furthermore, he was quick-witted and had a wide field of vision.

The fact that he could keep an eye on Siyoon while dealing with the magic beasts on his side said it all.

In other words, he matched extremely well with Siyoon, who had a lot of melee experience.

“You’ve got a good eye.”

Eunhyun must have thought similarly, as he muttered words of agreement.

It wasn’t bad, but now was the time to focus on the enemy.

[ 40 / 100 ]

There were still 60 magic beasts left.

With his back to the party members, Siyoon glared at the magic beasts.

It was time to clean them up.

* * *

The Monster Wave was much fiercer than expected.

A hundred mid-rank magic beasts swarming in at once.

Perhaps because they grew receiving the extreme vitality of the tropical rainforest, they were quite tricky to deal with.

They were tougher and stronger than typical mid-rank magic beasts.

But Siyoon’s party was fending them off well.

Kwadeuk!

As his straight knife-hand struck the Aindar’s abdomen, the sound of internal organs bursting echoed.

Siyoon then used his rear foot as a pivot, spinning and kicking its head.

Teung!

The mantis head, as hard as iron, fell to the rainforest floor, splattering blood.

Meanwhile, the hornet magic beast, Kised, lunged at him, aiming for the gap in his attacks.

The sharply raised stingers dripped with a colorless, odorless, deadly venom.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

At that moment, Seo Eunhyun appeared like lightning and swung his reverse-grip daggers.

The sharply curved blades diced the Kised’s entire body.

Despite their comrade’s death, three more Kised swooped down from above.

“Excuse me for a second.”

Lightly stepping on Siyoon’s shoulder, Eunhyun’s figure soared into the air.

He swung his daggers at the Kised.

Every time lightning-fast sword flashes gleamed, the Kised’s bodies were severed and fell to the ground.

A few Kised, feeling threatened, switched targets and aimed for Eunhyun.

But this wasn’t a problem either.

Peopeopeopeok!

Because the bullets Siyoon fired like lightning shot them down.

He leisurely sniped the Kised, then swung his gun barrel toward the charging Aindar.

Kang, kang, kaang!

Every time he blocked their scythe-like legs, the sound of metal clashing rang out.

Siyoon pulled his tempo back before the Aindar charged.

He dug inside a step ahead, deflecting the attack while simultaneously aiming for its head.

Peogeok!

Green slime and red blood oozed from the bullet that pierced its head.

Siyoon rolled his eyes to the side.

There was a message there.

[ 67 / 100 ]

Out of the 100 magic beasts, they had already taken down 67.

It was by no means easy, but it was still quite manageable.

‘Not bad.’

Siyoon thought as he struck the magic beast lunging from the side with his fist again.

The current situation wasn’t bad.

Because he had distributed the personnel well.

In the front, Jang Taeju and Jin Baekseon held the space and blocked steadily.

In the rear, Seo Eunhyun and Siyoon executed joint attacks, slicing down the magic beasts.

Considering it was a magic beast Wave composed of mid-rank magic beasts, it was a considerable achievement.

‘If we keep going like this, we can smoothly achieve the target.’

It was somewhat optimistic, but it wasn’t baseless hope.

They were all veteran hunters.

But he didn’t let his guard down.

Variables could pop out anytime, anywhere.

Situations in dungeons rarely went this smoothly.

Especially in a tropical rainforest with a high density of magic beasts.

Taking into account that they had found the pillar relatively smoothly, there was a high possibility something would happen.

Siyoon kept paying attention to that.

That was the moment.

Kuwoong.

Far away, something heavy shook the earth.

The sound of trees being uprooted and swept away by something massive was also heard.

A weight that made the entire ground of the area tremble.

Feeling a chilling aura, Siyoon instinctively stared beyond the forest.

There was the giant tree magic beast he had first encountered.

-Geuuuuu.

-Kiik!

-Kiriririt!

The moment the dozens of blinking eyeballs looked this way, an intense pressure washed over them.

It felt like they would be eaten alive at any moment.

The magic beasts reacted violently to this.

Some even forgot they were attacking the party and tried to flee.

Then, the tree magic beast twitched its main body.

Pupupupupuk!

In an instant, something sharp swooped in between the tree’s trunks.

They were smooth, black branches without a single leaf.

Flying in like arrows, the branches indiscriminately pierced living magic beasts and corpses alike.

The branches that pierced a certain number of them returned to the tree magic beast.

Jang Taeju and Seo Eunhyun spoke as they looked at it.

“That’s the magic beast we saw earlier.”

“I had a feeling, but I didn’t expect it to come here.”

“Tsk.”

Siyoon clicked his tongue.

He had a feeling it had been bothering him for a while.

It seemed that guy’s aggro had been pulled after all.

“I thought it was a special magic beast… but looking at it like this, I get it. That guy is an Ascent, classified as a plant-type magic beast.”

“An Ascent?”

Jin Baekseon asked back at Seo Eunhyun’s words.

That was because Ascent was originally a small magic beast.

The mid-rank magic beast Ascent mainly appeared in forest-type dungeons.

Their characteristic was growing by extorting sap and nutrients from other plants.

But the Ascent in front of them was very different.

Jjuwaaak.

The moment its torso twitched, the magic beasts and corpses pierced by the branches instantly shriveled.

As if their bodily fluids had been sucked out, the branches wriggled slightly and were absorbed into the main body.

It was an incredibly bizarre phenomenon.

[ 98 / 100 ]

Even in the midst of this, the kill count of the dead magic beasts steadily rose.

Just a moment ago, it was definitely 67.

The tree magic beast had taken out and absorbed 31 magic beasts at once.

But what were the remaining two?

It was the moment the question arose.

Puk!

One of the branches pierced a fleeing Kised.

As the Kised’s torso instantly lost its shape and shriveled.

Tiring!

[ 99 / 100 ]

The kill count rose again.

Seeing this, Jang Taeju spoke as if he had a headache.

“In the end, we have to catch that guy.”

There were no more magic beasts left around.

Even the mountain of corpses had been taken away and absorbed by the Ascent.

In other words, the remaining one in the kill count was that mutant Ascent.

To progress further, they inevitably had to face it.

There were no options anyway.

The party calmly glared at the giant Ascent.

* * *

A presence that could be called overwhelming even compared to other magic beasts.

A massive size easily exceeding 10 meters.

Sharp branches without a single leaf.

It was a magic beast that looked extraordinary at a glance.

‘I knew I’d encounter it while exploring the dungeon, but it’s a bit faster than expected.’

At first, he didn’t know it was an Ascent.

The existing Ascent, classified as a mid-rank magic beast, had a maximum size of only 3 meters.

Compared to that, the mutant in front of them was quite massive.

It was clearly completely different from the Ascent they had encountered.

‘At the very least, there was no information about it absorbing magic beasts.’

Its primary attack method being branches was similar, but its absorption method was different.

The corpses of the absorbed magic beasts were melted onto its torso.

Moreover, the dozens of eyes embedded in its torso rolled in different directions.

It was an incredibly bizarre and gruesome appearance.

The size was vastly different, but they couldn’t back down.

They had already opened the Hidden Route.

If it were before, maybe, but having already walked the path, it was impossible to turn back.

To survive, they had no choice but to move forward.

‘And it’s not necessarily only disadvantageous for us.’

The moment he saw the Ascent, Siyoon intuited.

That this was a fight they could not lose.

It wasn’t a result born from hope or optimism.

His analytical power, honed through countless battles, predicted victory.