Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 84
Chapter 84: Episode 23. Pandemonium (1)
The Invisible Insect, a Lv1 mid-grade monster that naturally turned invisible when the sunlight hit it. Only about the size of a young child, each individual couldn’t be considered all that strong, but the story would change drastically if there were more than several thousands of them.
They confused their enemies by vibrating their wings. Then, they pounced on a target in big groups like a school of piranhas. The story went that… the victim whose brain was turned into a figurative mush by the vibration created by thousands of pairs wings supposedly couldn’t feel much pain as the monsters gnawed on and devoured them.
And right at this moment, the thousand-odd Invisible Insects took aim at the awakened and were rushing in our direction.
“Lightning Bolt!”
Boom!
Yoo Eunhye pointed with her fingers and took a gun-firing pose – then, as sparks danced, arcs of electricity exploded forth everywhere. This was a rare-grade skill that showed up after her Lightning Bolt had leveled up.
Many of the insects sneaking closer in their invisible state were swept away by the electrical impact. Even if they were the infamous Invisible Insects, there was no way to fool the awakened humans possessing highly-attuned five senses.
“Wall of Water!”
Right afterward, Lee Jihye raised a wall five meters wide and two meters high. It was a new skill she mastered after tasting humiliation against the King Bees in the dungeon. It acted to block out the vibration attack shot out from the Invisible Insects’ wings.
The skill levels of the awakened gathered here were fairly good and the Invisible Insects were the weakest among the mid-grade monsters, so the human fighters were able to easily fend off their attacks.
“Unit leader, doesn’t look like we need to butt in anymore, right?” Yoo Eunhye said that while wiping away the thick sweat drops off her forehead, having already dealt with the nearby Invisible Insects. Edward was smiling cheerfully next to her.
“Not bad.”
I observed the two and nodded my head.
The combination of Edward and Yoo Eunhye was truly excellent. Just the two of them alone managed to kill close to ten Invisible Insects. The meeting between a man ranked in the top ten, and a woman who rivaled him in strength; it seemed that watching these two’s growth could prove to be a rather amusing prospect.
“Unit leader?”
Yoo Eunhye blinked her eyes.
Only then did I reply dismissively, “This battle will no doubt turn into a protracted one. We only need to do what we can and advance little by little.”
“Fuu! Honestly, I’ll be glad if we don’t get massacred in the process. Besides all that, though. That angel with six wings, she’s ridiculously strong, isn’t she? It’s my first time feeling sorry for the monsters.”
The battle between the Celestials and the demons. Spectacles capable of overwhelming you just from watching from a distance continued to unfold.
Especially so with Hashumal; she was truly eye-catching. Watching her fling hundreds upon hundreds of spears over and over again to kill off monsters was like looking at an elephant crushing ants to death.
Even the demons, who initially were thinking of killing Hashumal first, switched tact and focused on attacking the surrounding angels, instead.
No matter how good she was with instant healing, recovery would become impossible if the limbs were cleanly cut off and hearts/brains were completely crushed. So, they were thinking of dealing with the surrounding angels first and then focus on Hashumal next.
As for me… I used the Lightning God to disrupt the formation of the monsters and the demons. Even now, it was swimming unchecked among the monsters and devoured whatever was in the near vicinity.
It was rather obvious that the angels would be defeated at this rate. And I certainly didn’t want to see such an obvious end. My plan was to have both sides lose. I fervently prayed for both sides to inflict grievous, fatal damage to each other.
The demons seemed to be flustered by the sudden appearance of the Lightning God. They soon discovered that it was merely a “skill” and began searching for the user, but they couldn’t think of any other likely suspect besides other demons and the Celestials.
They didn’t even consider the awakened humans as a possibility. They probably couldn’t even imagine that a mere human was capable of using such a skill. Of course, I wasn’t a human, to begin with, and their carelessness would bring about their downfall later.
“Return, Lightning God.”
This should be enough. The Lightning God had been active for only around five minutes, but I still managed to create enough of a gap for the angels to mount their counterattack. As the amount of the electrical charge that naturally recovered was too small, I was planning to rely on the Lightning God only when it was necessary from now on.
The Lightning God with the silhouette of a massive dragon simply vanished like a lie. It was already back inside my body, curled up and waiting for the next time it’d get to come out.
“M1, M2. Activate.”
It was right then.
Jiiii-iiiing…
Crimson light began shining from the eyes of the automated Golems M1 and M2 on standby above the dungeon’s outer wall.
The directives for the M1 and M2 were pretty straightforward.
I ordered them to automatically attack those who targeted the Golems themselves or the dungeon’s barrier.
Two Golems kitted out in silver armor and freely flying around in the air displayed a considerable destructive power. Their physical ability levels alone rivaled the highest-grade monsters. Unless Hashumal personally intervened, there was no way for regular angels to deal with the two Golems.
Swiiiish!
However, the angels weren’t pushovers, either. They got into defensive formations and systematically targeted M1 and M2. Every time the bow-wielding Rulers pulled on their bowstrings, powerful gusts of wind were whipped up. The weapons of the angels were made out of divinity, so they were definitely a threat to the two Golems with low magic resistance.
But, none of it mattered if you failed to land a hit. The Golems’ combat method was simple. Evade, then get in close to grab the wings of the angels. And then, viciously rip them off.
“Aaahhhk!”
An angel’s wings were masses of divinity. Not only did it take a really long time to heal when damaged, even the instant recovery didn’t work on them.
The angel who lost its wings fell to the ground and soon ended up as a snack for various monsters.
“…”
Hashumal drew a cross with one hand, while with the other, a circle. That prompted the angels to stop their bombardment of the dungeon’s outer wall, and hurriedly distance themselves away from the M1 and M2.
That was a commendably calm and succinct analysis of the situation. Even while fighting against many enemies at once, she managed to accurately pinpoint the two Golem’s operational parameters. What a stunning level of concentration that was.
Both the M1 and M2 faithfully carried out only the orders given to them. Since no one targeted them and the barrier was left alone, they immediately ceased their operation. And Hashumal stopped paying attention to the Golems when that happened.
Kwa-booooom!
Soon, the Thunderous Light submerged the world in bright light.
“What a bunch of idiots. If anyone sees this, they might think today is the first time we’re fighting against the Celestials.”
Saman cackled insidiously.
Count Saman. A demon under the banner of Archduke Ufa. He decided to join this battlefield in the hopes of hunting himself some angels today.
“With the sun so obviously shining above us, there’s no advantage in attacking the Celestials, so why… Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
The sun enhanced the Celestial’s overall strength. If you were a demon, you should know this commonest of all common knowledge. Despite that, they still dared to clash against the angels – not only because of their inflated ego being what it was, but also the nature of the event as a competition was to blame here. The pressure of knowing that other demons might snatch away your prey spurred on their hasty actions.
However, Saman was not in a hurry. No, he was planning to make his move only after the sunset, as per common sense.
With his hands on his back, he shifted his head slightly to take a good look at the monsters he brought with him. Unlike other demons, Saman didn’t mobilize a lot of monsters.
A Bug-bear, a vampire, and a Werewolf King!
There were only three, yet they were a thousand times more dependable than your average monsters. These creatures exhibited an even greater level of power under the moonlight, and as such, could be considered as the natural enemy of the Celestials.
“Soon, it will be evening. Then, my world will begin. Ehehehe!”
Saman stared at Hashumal while licking his lips.
The sun eventually set.
The surroundings were plunged into darkness. No, it was the entirety of South Korea that found itself in pitch-black darkness.
The night was so deep that you couldn’t see one inch in front of you.
Rays of radiant light came out from the angels’ wings and illuminated the surroundings. However, their numbers were pathetically small. Excluding the two hundred that went inside the dungeon earlier, only about 130 now remained.
On the other hand, what about the monsters?
Still way too many of them. Over seven thousand, as a matter of fact. Around three thousand had been incinerated in the past half a day, but their vigor didn’t seem to wane one bit.
Even Hashumal was displaying a hint of fatigue. No change of expression was visible on her face, yet she clearly could no longer fling those spears of light as much as she wanted to as when the sun was still up. But that was obvious, since she single-handedly managed to massacre over one thousand monsters so far.
It was around then that Count Saman and his three monsters decided to act.
The Bug-bear was a chimera-type monster with a pitch-black body, an unexpected fruit of labor when a higher-grade insect monster and a Dark Bear were combined. It was famous for its tendency to get even more violent with the moon in the sky.
The vampire, and the Werewolf King… You didn’t even need to mention them. Well, both of these creatures were powerful high-grade Lv4 monsters, after all. And they grew even more powerful during the night, too. Utterly destroying a regular angel was indeed a definite possibility.
“Ku-hahahaha! Annihilate every Celestial!”
Saman cracked his whip. He cackled loudly in pure delight as if he wanted other demons to hear him, and pounced on the angels.
Right afterward, the vampire transformed into a bat and snatched up an angel, then bit into the victim’s neck to suck out the blood. The angel shuddered as the blood was drained out, the vitality visibly disappearing from the winged creature’s complexion. The curse contained in the vampire’s bite was an opposing attribute to divinity. Once bitten, recovery attempts through divinity would stop working on the victim.
The Werewolf King. Fitting for a monster with “King” in its name, this creature fought in an exciting, stirring manner, as well. It leaped around rapidly and split an angel apart in two. The angel, its wings and torso sliced in half, obviously could no longer carry on living.
“…”
Hashumal witnessed all this and brought out yet another several hundred spears of light. They all flew out and aimed at the vampire and the Werewolf King. However, the lack of sunlight plus her depleting stamina meant they could no longer display their previous splendor. Both their speed and accuracy had fallen considerably.
A handful of nearby mid-grade monsters were killed off, but the true targets of the attack, the vampire and the Werewolf King, emerged unscathed.
“You stupid broad! You think your measly attacks can kill my monsters?!”
Saman loudly guffawed.
Hashumal readied yet another volley of hundreds of light spears. However, she didn’t fire them this time. No, she actually chose to combine them into one.
Once the three-meter long trident was completed, she immediately grabbed it. This was her very first time picking up a weapon ever since the battle had commenced. Which signified how desperate the situation had gotten for her.
Light gleamed from within the observing demons’ eyes.
“Bring me Hashumal’s head.”
“Now is my chance.”
The demons then began unleashing the high-grade monsters they had been saving up one by one. Considering that the monsters used so far had been around mid-grade, this meant that they were getting really serious now.
Saman frowned deeply. “You shameless bastards! However, your monsters don’t even have a hope in hell!”
The demon count riding on the back of Bug-bear cracked his whip even harder and fiercer than before. Even if a few more high-grade monsters were thrown into the mix, it’d still not be anywhere near the capabilities of the vampire or the Werewolf King. Especially so when these two were natural rivals to the Celestials.
The demons began their earnest attack and eventually, the sole Virtus defending Hashumal’s side had no choice but to breathe its last.
The smooth, faultless forehead of Dominion Hashumal finally creased up.
Pah-ahk!
She systematically sliced apart dozens of Wyverns with each swing of her trident and dealt with high-grade monsters as they came before her, but there didn’t seem to be an end in sight. Hashumal was slowly but surely being forced towards the edge of the cliff.
She even managed to successfully kill the Werewolf King, but that meant she was left defenseless as a whip viciously slapped towards her right afterward.
“Ku-hahahah! You’re mi…”
Just before Saman’s whip touched Hashumal…
Kyah-oooooh!
The Lightning God’s massive maw swallowed up Saman and everything near him in one go before disappearing.
The moment Saman vaporized along with his trusty Bug-bear…
I smiled softly on the ground.
“Indeed, there was a reward for forcing ourselves in.”
I led the awakened and before anyone had noticed it, we were standing in the middle of the battlefield.
I figured that Hashumal was slowly reaching her limit, so I forcibly led everyone and joined the fray which resulted in the casualties of over one hundred humans, but considering their sacrifices was all for taking care of a demon, I’d say the price was worth paying.
I got to devour the careless Saman, so it worked out well in the end.
[You have successfully hunted a demon. Due to the effect of the title ‘Dungeon Hunter’, one additional ability point has been generated.]
[Acquired 500,000pt.]
The reward payout was rather stingy, maybe because it was a no-name count. Still, earning an extra stat point was quite satisfactory.
I would’ve loved to target the other demons, but they should be in high alert now after witnessing the Lightning God devour Saman whole just now.
It was right then that Hashumal shifted her gaze, and her eyes locked squarely with mine.
“She figured it out.”
She had figured out who the master of the Lightning God was.
The real issue was, though, did she also figure out that I was a demon, too? Currently, I was aiding the Celestials in their quest to eliminate the demons, but if she viewed me the same as every other demon, then things would no doubt get mighty annoying in the future.
I had been suppressing my Mana as much as possible, but who knows? I held Hashumal’s gaze while growing even tenser than ever before.
A few seconds flew by, and the angel turned her head away.
“Did she fall for it?”
Hard to know. However, at least those weren’t hostile eyes.
“Unit leader, we need to withdraw from here. Advancing further forward will be too dangerous!”
Lee Jihye got closer to my side and desperately pleaded with me.
All the powerful monsters were currently rushing towards Hashumal. However, it’d still prove to be fatal if more and more monsters of lower grades began focusing on the humans, instead. Even now, the awakened were struggling to contend with one, maybe two mid-grade monsters, after all.
Almost every awakened around me were wounded in some way. All they could do right now was to liberally apply potions and stubbornly grind it out. Monsters like Trolls, Beholders, and Banshees were overflowing in our surroundings. Monsters that could easily reap their lives in the blink of an eye if they showed even the smallest openings!
However, I… still shook my head. “We must stand our ground.”
“Everyone might die, unit leader! This is definitely not a good plan. If the angels get pushed back, we humans will become their next target!”
Of course Lee Jihye understood it. She could see that Hashumal and the army of angels were steadily being pushed back. They were clearly losing in the contest of strength.
Even then, my reply remained the same. “Stand your ground.”
“You…! You’re not planning to blow all of us up or something, right?!”
“Of course not.”
Lee Jihye bit down hard on her lower lip, before raising her cane. With that action, she had indicated her intent to rejoin the fray.
Meanwhile, I briefly shifted my gaze over to the entrance of the dungeon. Then, while helping out Lee Jihye, Yoo Eunhye, Edward, and the rest, I waited for the “moment” to arrive.