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chapter 349




Once Sephiro and Darion had gotten a reasonable distance away from the battlefield, they carefully placed Eder and Soren on the ground.
Eder hadn’t regained consciousness yet, and Soren stayed quiet, waiting patiently for her HP, MP, and Stamina to replenish. Sephiro gave Eder another health potion, and used First Aid to wrap bandages around his wounds.
Then…
“Mr. Sephiro!” Darion yelled urgently.
“What is…” Sephiro turned his head and furrowed his brow.
Monsters appeared in a corner of the Black Forest. They were Shadow Leopards!
“Damn.” Sephiro pulled out his bow and notched an arrow. Darion also drew his gladiuses, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.
Swish.
The Shadow Leopards simultaneously sank into the shadows. Neither Sephiro nor Darion knew where they’d show up. After all, they could appear anywhere within the Black Forest.
Haahk!
The Shadow Panthers aimed for the weakest one (Eder) first.
“No!”
Sephiro and Darion responded immediately. Man and beast engaged in battle. Though for Kang Oh’s party, it was an undesirable one.
‘Ugh, please hold on, Mr. Kang Oh!’ Sephiro inwardly whispered.
* * *
Sephiro was worried over nothing. Kang Oh was completely overpowering Diak.
‘Speed Steal. It’s better than I expected.’
By inflicting a critical hit, Kang Oh had stolen some of Diak’s speed. Plus, the speed he’d stolen couldn’t be recovered. Diak’s Self-Heal ability was completely useless in that regard.
Which meant that Kang Oh’s stolen speed progressively made him faster, while Diak became slower as the battle went on. It was a vicious cycle.
Kang Oh eventually stole half of Diak’s speed. The combination of Gluttony and the stolen speed made him even faster than Diak.
“Hahaha.”
Once he surpassed its speed, things started to look up for him.
Bam, bam, bam!
Kang Oh attacked it one-sidedly.
Kuha! Kuhaahk!
Diak used Tyrant’s Claw, Shivering Roar, Full Moon slash, and other such skills, but it didn’t matter. Light Bombardment didn’t help either.
Countless light spheres fell from the sky! However, only one of them came at him, so he just absorbed it with Ubist.
Diak was gradually being backed into a corner.
“Alright, then. Hurry up and enter the 4th phase or die! Your choice!” Kang Oh swung his sword, cleaving through its body. Then, the crescent moon on its forehead turned into a full moon.
‘The 4th phase!’
As expected, it wouldn’t go down easily.
Uwaaah!
Diak roared. Then, the moonlight shined upon it.
Whir!
[Diak has absorbed as much moonlight as it can. It has become the Incarnation of Moonlight, and its power over the moon has increased.]
What a bizarre sight. Diak had transformed into the Incarnation of Moonlight; its silver fur began to radiate moonlight like the moon.
Moonlight Barrage!
It unleashed beams of light everywhere. Kang Oh easily dodged them.
However, this was only the beginning. Beams of light continuously shot out of its body. It was as if the moon itself was shining light across the land!
Kuha!
Diak spun like a top, and charged at Kang Oh. Spinning caused the beams of light to shoot everywhere.
Whoosh!
It was like a drill made of light. However…
“You’re slow!”
To think a time would come when anyone would call ‘Swift’ Diak slow.
Though it had become the Incarnation of Moonlight, half of its speed was still in Kang Oh’s possession. Thus, it couldn’t help but be slow.
Moreover…
Transforming into the Incarnation of Moonlight made it more akin to a spirit than a beast. In other words, it was easy prey for his demon sword; its special effect, Abyss Blade, would allow him to cut through ghosts and spirits!
Like Eder from the past, or Taksen Castle’s Galmoss!
‘No way I can lose this!’ Kang Oh was sure of his victory now. However, something unexpected happened.
Swish!
When he sliced through it…
Boom!
There was a sudden explosion. It wasn’t just loud. He was caught in a wave of light.
“Ugh!”
This was the first time he’d gotten hit since he’d used Gluttony. He rolled on the floor a couple of times, but quickly stood up and got back into position.
Diak came charging at him. Kang Oh sharply swung his sword while avoiding its light beams.
Bam!
The same thing happened again. Kang Oh was caught in a wave of light once more; with a message indicating how much HP he’d lost too.
‘You’re annoying till the bitter end.’
If he backed off, then it’d shoot its light beams at him, and if he got close, then it’d explode. It was so bad that he automatically thought, ‘What the hell do you want me to do then?’.
Diak quickly closed in and tried to tackle him. Kang Oh instantly backed off.
Boom!
Once it touched the floor, it exploded. Only then did Kang Oh understand what was happening.
‘It’s a really sensitive bomb!’
Kang Oh briefly thought about the best way to beat it, and eventually came to a decision.
“Just beat him down!”
‘That’s my style!’
Kang Oh rushed at the ‘bomb’.
* * *
Sephiro and Darion managed to drive off the Shadow Leopards. They weren’t tough opponents, but they wasted a lot of their time!
“Are you alright?” Sephiro asked.
“Yes. I’m hanging in there.” Eder woke up, pulled out some drugs from his medicine bag, and ate them. Then, his condition noticeably improved. Soren had improved beforehand, so she was able to help with the Shadow Leopards.
“We have to hurry back and help Mr. Kang Oh.”
“Yes!”
Sephiro and his teammates rushed towards the giant boom.
A short while later…
They arrived at the sight of Kang Oh fighting Diak, which had turned into light.
“Mm.”
“Huh?”
However, it was completely different from what Sephiro had expected. He assumed that Kang Oh would be just barely holding on against Diak. However, what he was actually seeing was…
“Uhaaaahk!”
Kang Oh crazily swinging his sword at Diak! His movements were so fast that he couldn’t properly see each swing. Moreover, he used all sorts of skills too.
Abyss Claw, Tempest Tiger, Slash, Fire Bomb, Darkness Chain, Lightning Breath, and even Everlasting Darkness! Kang Oh was using every single one of his skills.
Bam, bam, bam!
Whenever he landed a hit, Diak would explode. Kang Oh would get caught in the aftermath too. However, Kang Oh would just cleave through the explosion and attack again.
Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t taking any damage. Shards of light kept falling from Kang Oh’s body. But compared to the damage Diak was taking, his damage was negligible.
Bam, bam, bam!
So many shards of light fell from Diak’s body that it was hard to count at this point.
“I don’t think we need to get involved,” Darion said, scratching his cheek.
“Seems that way,” Sephiro said.
“You can do it, Oppa!” Soren yelled. ‘All I can do is cheer at this point!’
“It’ll be over soon,” Eder said calmly. He was right. Diak’s luminescent body was beginning to crumble.
Sometime later…
“Huahp!” Kang Oh fiercely cried out, and diagonally swung his blade.
Bam!
The final explosion was the flashiest.
[You are the first to defeat the Master of the Black Forest and Moonlight Shard, Diak.]
[As a reward, Diak will drop its highest rank items.]
[You have acquired the title, Moon Child.]
[Diak will respawn in 30 days.]
“300 million!” Kang Oh roared, opening both his arms. ‘The reward is mine!’
* * *
First Hunter’s conference room.
“He did it!”
“Yes!”
“Ooh, Mr. Kang Oh!”
Once he defeated Diak, cheers filled the conference room. Of course, there were some people who weren’t all that happy with the result.
“Wait, he actually did it? Just take it all, why don’t you?”
“Ah, I should’ve bet on Kang Oh this time too. I didn’t have enough faith.”
“It went as expected.”
Those who’d lost said their piece.
“I knew he’d do it,” Jin Cheol said.
“Why was it so weak?” Yoon Mi asked. She was referring to Diak.
“You were the one who said it was too strong for him to handle.”
“It looks weak since Kang Oh beat it all on his own.”
So much so that Galmoss and Benolov, which had lower bounties, looked much stronger than it.
“Diak wasn’t weak. Kang Oh’s just insanely strong.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure, we’ll go with that. Should I schedule the next shoot?” Yoon Mi asked.
“Yeah. We have to give Kang Oh his reward, and reveal the last monster too,” Jin Cheol said.
“Then I’ll schedule the shoot like last time. In three days.”
“No, wait. It’ll be crazy busy next week, since the first episode of First Hunter will air.”
“That’s true.”
“So let’s have the shoot after the first episode airs. We can see how people feel about the first episode, and take a look at the feedback.”
“Understood. Then I’ll schedule it after the first episode airs.”
“Yeah.” Jin Cheol nodded his head and clapped. “Listen up, the first episode will air soon. Do your jobs well, and get ready for it. You got it?”
“Yes!”
The staff was bustling with activity.
* * *
Diak dropped four items.
“Let’s distribute the items at Eder’s house, since Karin’s not here,” Kang Oh said.
“Ok.”
“Alright.”
Kang Oh collected the dropped items, and returned to Altein.
Karin, who’d died and come back to life, was waiting for them at Eder’s house.
“How did it go?” Karin asked.
Kang Oh gave her a V for victory.
“We beat it,” Soren said.
“Wow! You really beat it? I wasn’t even there.”
“Kang Oh Oppa pretty much beat it by himself.”
Kang Oh raised his nose. ‘I did good, right?’
“You’re awesome, Oppa.” Karin gave him a thumbs up.
“Follow us. We’re going to distribute the items now.”
“Ok.”
Kang Oh spread Diak’s loot on the table.
“Let’s take a look at them first.”
Kang Oh picked up the most expensive looking item, the necklace, first. “Item information.”
[Moonlight Beast Diak’s Necklace]
A necklace that the Beast of the Black Forest, Diak, dropped. It is surrounded by a dim light, and you can feel incredible strength coming from the necklace. It feels like whoever equips it will be blessed by the moon.
+ Moon’s Blessing: Receive the moon’s blessing. All abilities increase by 10%.
+ Moon’s Protection: Moon’s Protection is a barrier that protects you from all attacks for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
Rank: S.
Abilities: Main stats +40, Charm +60.
Minimum Requirements: Level 450, or the title, Moon Child.
“Hoh.” Kang Oh’s eyes gleamed. He really wanted this item.
‘Moon’s Protection, huh… It’s amazing.’
A barrier that protected you from all attacks for 3 seconds! In other words, if you use Moon’s Protection, then you’ll be able to survive a Dragon’s Breath.
It was on a completely different level when compared to other barriers, which could only endure so much!
While his attack power was off the charts, he was rather weak in the defense department. So this was something that Kang Oh was definitely interested in.
‘I call dibs on this one.’
“Here, take a look at this.” Kang Oh passed the necklace off to the next person, and looked over another item.