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Terms used in this chapter:
Silpi (싀플) – Literally means ‘loss of blood,’ but ‘Blood loss’ sounds better. It is a Korean gaming term which meant that the player/character’s HP is seriously low. Games that use HP bars for their characters, e.g. PokĂ©mon, have HP bars that turn red in color when the HP is low. And HP is tied to the character’s life, so ‘red + life = blood.’
Baby Shark – a Korean children’s song about a family of sharks, that went viral worldwide. Its lyrics usually have ‘doo doo doo doo doo’ in the end.
“The flock is endless!”
“Master Farragut!”
“Ahh! Save me!”
The screams of the combatants were heard throughout the cold and harsh winds of Frost Anvil.
Demonic human Farragut glared straight ahead as he roughly breathed.
There was a red glare in his eyes as he had already activated his demonization, and Farragut saw the monsters hidden among the rushing snowstorm.
‘Too many.’
There were hundreds to perhaps, even thousands or more monsters.
There were also various types. The monsters weren’t just divided into several species. Among them was a type of monster that even Farragut had never seen before.
“Master Farragut!”
He heard a scream again that came from his back and not in the front.
It was because the flying monsters known as Winter Harpies, stormed through the back of Farragut’s battle formation.
“Lowly monsters!”
Farragut yelled in anger and struck his right fist. A terrifying shock wave then rose and spread out, hitting the Winter Harpies.
The strength of his attack’s power made the blizzard and gale covering the whole area disappear for a moment.
Bang!
The Winter Harpies hit by the shockwaves became a handful of blood that scattered in the area, and some of the survivors ran away in horror.
But it was only for a short time.
Soon, the blizzard struck again, and monsters came flocking too.
“Damn it!”
It wasn’t like this from the beginning.
At best, it started with a few Snow Goblins appearing, so it wasn’t strange.
Frost Anvil was a snowfield area, and Snow Goblins lived in snowfields.
But as time went by, things got weird.
The number of Snow Goblins kept increasing as if they were moving in groups, and later, Winter Bears who were the Snow Goblins’ predators, also appeared.
Several hours have passed since then.
“Master Farragut! I can’t hold on any longer!”
The combatant’s heartbreaking scream proved to be true.
However, it wasn’t possible for them to leave this place.
‘We can’t get away!’
The monsters were too many.
There was no way for them to escape because the monsters endlessly came like turbulent sea waves.
“Master Farragut! Master Vilkay!”
Farragut turned his gaze as he smashed the head of a Winter Bear that came right behind his back.
He could see Vilkay in the distance surrounded by countless monsters, as she rose to the sky by spreading her wings. Her eyes glowed red and released a terrifying magic power.
Booom!
An intense red wave swept around Vilkay and the surrounding area. It instantly created a huge vacant lot that was 20 meters in diameter, with its inside filled with the blood of monsters.
“Gaak-!”
However, Vilkay did not come out unharmed.
After using too much mana in succession, she collapsed on the floor and vomited dark red blood.
“Vilkay!”
Farragut roughly kicked on the ground.
The monsters attacked Vilkay again as if their sense of fear was paralyzed.
“Farra
gut
”
The horns protruding through Vilkay’s red hair gradually became smaller.
Her demonization was released because of excessive use.
“Uwwwoooh!”
In one fell swoop, Farragut struck with his huge fist the monsters rushing at Vilkay, before quickly holding her by the waist using his left arm.
“We have to get out.”
It was unreasonable to hold on to this position any longer. They had to escape somehow.
“Let’s fully unseal Sisioth.”
“Then
”
“He’ll run wild, but it’ll buy us some time.”
It wasn’t that the demons summoned by the Devil’s Hand were perfectly manageable.
Most of the time, they formed partnerships through contracts, but the other party was a demon after all.
There were some demons who one-sidedly exploited the Devil’s Hand too.
Sisioth was a demon belonging to the latter.
Therefore, their leader sealed some of Sisioth’s power with the power she received from Asmodeus, making Sisioth a slave of the Devil’s Hand.
“For now, we must live.”
“If Sisioth goes mad, he’ll kill us first.”
It was true.
Farragut struck the ground with his fist, causing a shockwave again. He then saw the combatants desperately fighting in front of the Great Gate. They had brought close to a hundred people, but only thirty people were left.
“We can’t run out there.”
The monsters endlessly came in droves.
If the number of monsters exceeded one’s imagination, even Farragut would get swept away by the monster waves and be killed.
Farragut knew of that fact too, so he said with a heavy breath.
“Let’s go inside.”
Inside the Great Gate.
Go inside, seal the doors and unseal Sisioth.
“The door?”
Vilkay asked in confusion.
The Great Gate was tightly sealed.
Count HrĂŠsvelgr had newly installed a huge seal to prevent thieves from entering Frost Anvil.
“I will open it. If I use all my remaining power, it would be possible to break the seal and open the door.”
Go inside, close the doors, and unseal Sisioth.
Let Sisioth deal with the monsters while they rest inside to restore their strength.
Removing the seal would make it conspicuous from afar so Cordelia might feel that something is strange and not approach this place out of concern, but now wasn’t the time for them to think about that.
“After we’ve recovered, we just need to seal Sisioth again. Even Sisioth would be exhausted from dealing with all those monsters.”
“Okay, I agree to that.”
Vilkay nodded. Farragut took a deep breath and gathered all his remaining mana into one place, and he strongly kicked the ground again.
“I’ll open the doors! Evacuate inside!”
As he shouted loudly, he threw up Vilkay into the air towards the combatants.
As soon as the combatants scurried and caught Vilkay, he pulled his fist and focused all his strength on one point.
It was not a technique or skill, but just the manifestation of pure power.
The moment he punched the doors, a red flash of light struck the Great Gate. The entire Great Gate, which stood at 20 meters high, shook greatly. Count Hrésvelgr’s golden magic seal that was spread out on front of the Great Gate was shattered all at once.
“Uoooohhh!”
Farragut didn’t stop. The Great Gate was slightly opened from the shock, so he inserted his hands on the gap and opened the doors with all his might.
“Uuoooooh!!!”
The Great Gate boasted an enormous weight as much as its size.
Despite all his efforts, the gap he created was only enough to fit a couple of people.
“Hurry up!”
Farragut was the first to enter as he shouted, and the combatants followed behind Farragut, rushing inside the doors.
“Master Farragut!”
“We too!”
“Ahhhhh!”
The combatants, who stood at the very back of the formation and stopped the monsters, all cried out to Farragut, but he ignored them.
About ten combatants were dying in the struggle while Farragut closed the Great Gate with all his might.
Boom!
With a dull sound, the doors were closed together. At the same time, Vilkay finished the ritual to release Sisioth’s seal.
“Haaa
.haaa
”
Farragut roughly breathed as he broke into a cold sweat. Beyond the doors, he could feel the powerful magic of Sisioth that had been unsealed.
“Farra
gut
”
Vilkay was covered in sweat as she called Farragut.
There was a mixture of terror and fear in both their eyes, and a sense of relief that they lived at the same time.
Farragut spoke.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Inside?”
“A little more inside. It’s dangerous to be right in front of the doors.”
Since the seal was gone, anyone could open the doors as long as they have muscle strength.
Whether it was the monsters or Sisioth going crazy, it was equally dangerous.
So they should go inside and hide themselves.
Make a fire to drive away the cold and eat anything to restore their stamina.
“You’re right.”
Nodding her head, Vilkay ordered the combatants to move forward and then supported Farragut, who had sat down on the floor.
“Cordelia is probably dead already.”
“Yes, they must have died.”
So many monsters flocked to this place.
They would have probably been eaten by the monsters that flocked near Frost Anvil.
“I have no idea why this happened.”
The reason why the monsters suddenly gathered here.
The Sunflower was kind of a legend.
Therefore, the fact that monsters flocked to the Sunflower when it blooms was not widely known in the world.
No one lived near Frost Anvil in the first place.
“Anyway, let’s go.”
“Yes, we have to recover our strength.”
Kill a few combatants and absorb their souls and vitality, and their strength will return to some extent.
It was at that time when Farragut and Vilkay were having similar thoughts.
At a certain point.
Exactly when they entered a certain point in the corridor.
Farragut felt something.
Vilkay was the same.
“What is this?”
Right after the words came out.
Magic flames shot up from the ceiling, walls, and the floor.
***
“Eh?”
“Huh?”
Jude and Cordelia looked at each other.
A ring of pure white light had suddenly surrounded each of them.
“Level up?”
“Ah, did the monsters get caught in the trap?”
“Wow, is this the range of experience that we gained thus far?”
“Aren’t they almost close to the borderline? We’re on the 3rd floor now.”
The magic circles that were installed in the corridor on the 1st floor were a joint work of Jude and Cordelia, so it was natural that they gained experience together.
However, Cordelia tilted her head again as she wondered.
“Uh
by the way, isn’t this indirect hunting very effective in gaining experience?”
Didn’t they level up at once? Aren’t they already level 20?
“Well, it’s just a small profit compared to the number of magic circles we installed. Haven’t the monsters triggered most of it already?”
It was at that moment when Jude had said those words.
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
Once again, a ring of light surrounded the two.
They leveled up again.
Moreover, three rings have appeared in a row this time.
At this point, Jude had no choice but to look confused.
“What happened?”
“Maybe a big fish got caught?”
“I made it myself, but I don’t think the magic circles are enough to catch a big fish though?”
“I don’t know, maybe it’s ‘Silpi’ and then they got hit by the magic circle and went aaahh.”
T/N: ‘Aaahh’ refers to one’s death cry.
At Cordelia’s assertion, Jude’s eyes widely opened and then said as he clenched his fist.
“It’s possible!”
“Uh, that’s my line.”
“What are you saying?”
“On another note, it’s nice that we’ve leveled up. I’ve been running out of mana nowadays.”
The performance of ‘Witch Transformation’ is dramatically improved the more mana one has.
As a magic-specialized character, Cordelia’s mana grew greatly every time she leveled up, so this level up was like the long-awaited rain for a drought.
Furthermore, the effect of level up did not simply stop there.
The witch’s spell book had a structure in which the number of pages that could be opened were increased every time one reached a certain level, so if she increased by one more level now, Cordelia could open a new chapter.
When Cordelia bubbled over with joy, Jude’s expression naturally relaxed. He spoke in a serious tone again afterwards.
“I find it nice too
but we’d better hurry. The monsters have entered the 1st floor after all.”
“Okay, let’s hurry.”
After agreeing with Jude, Cordelia walked for a while before stopping again.
“Ah, I think I know the way from here. We can go that way, right?”
“Oh, that’s right. There is a secret passage over there that leads you to the 5th floor.”
Originally, they had to fight with various monsters that lived in Frost Anvil between the 3rd and 5th floors, but the two decided to skip them all for now.
‘Because you can get a weapon that can help in defeating them.’
It would be a lot easier to defeat monsters after they’ve grabbed power weapons from the armory.
It was not an option for the two who were rotten water, to pass by without defeating the monsters, who were the treasure trove of experience points.
“Po~wer weapon doo doo doo doo doo~
It’s so sweet~ doo doo doo doo doo~
In the Anvil ~ doo doo doo doo doo~
Power Weapon!”
“What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? It’s a song of joy.”
In the original story, they got a Power Spear to defeat the giant White Snake that guarded the Sunflower, but this time, it would be different.
She wondered what else is there.
She thought about what she could bring.
“It’s so sweet~ doo doo doo doo doo~ Power Weapon!”
Cordelia took the lead as she hummed, and Jude thought as he unconsciously giggled and smiled.
‘She’s cute.’
She’ll growl if he said it, so Jude kept his thoughts to himself.
“What are you doing! Come quickly!”
“Yes, yes. Doodoodoodoo Power Weapon.”
“Doo doo doo doo doo.”
“Doodoodoodoodoo?”
“Doo doo doo doo doo.”
“Okay, doo doo doo doo doo.”
“Hmm, good.”
Cordelia smiled in great satisfaction, and Jude grinned too as he began walking again.
And 30 minutes later, the two arrived in front of the ancient dwarves’ armory.