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In the blink of an eye, Woo Ragi was transported right in front of [Daji]. Seo Dawon used his [Warp] to send the swordsman to the boss monster’s vicinity.
Because he was far away, it was hard to hear exactly what Woo Ragi was shouting, but my ears caught the faint sound of curses. Seo Dawon, the one who sent Woo Ragi into harm’s way, simply smiled and took no further action.
“…Will he be alright?” I asked.
“Who knows?” After the Mage responded ambiguously, he turned from [Daji] to stare at [De Xin].
I also turned to stare where Seo Dawon was looking, but, strangely, [De Xin]’s movements had changed somehow. Until earlier, he focused on attracting our attention with his brutal attacks, but now staggered around in a circle before taking faltering steps towards [Daji].
“Since [De Xin] is a puppet controlled by [Daji], she can’t easily hold and control her doll now that an enemy is right in front of her.” Seo Dawon, observing this scene, calmly continued to speak. Simultaneously, the gem embedded in his staff began to heat up, scattering brilliant light–more light than before.
“[Thunder Calling].” Seo Dawon shouted the magic keywords and drew a long horizontal line of light with the staff in front of him. The line soon wrapped around [De Xin]’s body, which was moving in choppy jerks as if the puppet was broken; the glowing light soon exploded. Dozens of lightning struck the ground where he stood, as if to demolish the area.
Furthermore, at that moment, Woo Ragi hit Bae Jaemin in the back of the head and knocked him out. He then dragged the Priest into the [Thunder Calling]’s trajectory. I wondered if he would be worried about being caught in the falling lightning strikes, but his echo swords pointed straight into the sky, letting the current flow through them. The swords served as lightning rods.
Even in this situation, [Daji] couldn’t get close to the dying [De Xin].  Moreover, Bae Jaemin, who she had enslaved, had been stolen in an instant; face filled with anger, she turned towards Seo Dawon.
Because of the unusual bloodthirst pouring forth, I instinctively stood in front of the Mage.
[Grrrrrrrr….]
A bird’s feet talons grabbed [Daji]’s forehead. A great force must have been exerted–I could see the claws digging into her forehead skin.
While [Daji] was distracted, Jo Chanyoung attacked her from behind. Following this initial attack, he grabbed her right shoulder with the other foot and flapped his large wings. White smoke began to curl up from the contact points; soon, his whole body began to catch on fire.
In pain, [Daji] violently grabbed the bird’s ankle with her hand, but she quickly removed her grasp after a sizzling sound. Perhaps due to a phoenix’s nature, Jo Chanyoung’s entire body must have been made of fire.
[Arghhhh–!]
Afterwards, [Daji] struggled and resisted, but nothing worked. Eventually, she was quickly dragged far above ground; soon, her ashes rained down.
[You’ve defeated the ‘Hard Core’ route boss monster, ‘Daji (Hardcore).’]
Alongside the notification, the lightning strikes that seemed to tear through the sky calmed down; Jo Chanyoung descended onto the ground and returned to his normal human form.
And Woo Ragi, who survived the [Thunder Calling] through his echo swords turned lightning rods, stepped out of his sword cocoon and grabbed Seo Dawon by the collar. Of course, Seo Dawon didn’t seem to care. With a sincere voice, the Mage said “I believed in you,” and earned Woo Ragi’s ire.
“Huh…? Why am I here…” At that time, Bae Jaemin, who had been lying on the ground, also returned to his senses. After hearing an explanation, he seemed very ashamed to have been defeated by [Daji]; the priest flushed red, all the way down to his neck, and bowed his head. I didn’t even say anything, but, as soon as Bae Jaemin met my gaze, he frowned and turned away.
I didn’t think much of Bae Jaemin’s sensitivity, but, after seeing his upset expression, I felt like I had properly observed how he felt pitiful. He had rolled around on the ground during [Thunder Calling], soiling his clothes… was that enough to hurt his pride?
“Looking good.”
“……”
I mumbled, loud enough for the Priest to hear. Judging by how the  Priest’s back recoiled, Bae Jaemin must be sensitive about his looks. Moreover, he even turned around to glare at me this time.
I glared back, not breaking eye contact, daring him to fight with me. Seo Dawon, whose collar had been grabbed this entire time, suddenly broke free from Woo Ragi’s hands and pointed someplace with his finger. “The road’s open.”
Following Seo Dawon’s gaze, we looked at the destroyed pavilion; just as he said, there was a small entrance underneath the pavilion that seemed to lead to some basement. ‘Like usual,’ I lead the pack towards the entrance. Then, using skills, I observed the surroundings. “I don’t think it’s trapped.”
“You don’t know where it leads?”
“Yes… Maybe because space is twisted? Was there always a road here?”
“Ordinarily, this is the way to the exit.” After contemplating for a while, hyung turned back to me, “There’s no choice. Can you go in first and mark the road on the map? We’ll follow afterwards.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
After receiving my hyung’s farewells, I grabbed the ladder that led down to the basement, descending one rung at a time. Honestly, if someone hadn’t bothered me, I could have jumped straight down.
Bae Jaemin had attacked me verbally once again, “Is it okay for Jung Garam to go alone?”
“What?”
“He’s clumsy and takes risks… I’ll go with him.”
Of course I jumped up and said I hated that. How could I trust him to come along with me? I recalled how he’d killed me in the past…
‘…Huh, what’s that? Why would I die?’
Soon, contrasting memories emerged; my head suddenly felt blank. Nausea rose up within me.
The problem, though, was that my timing was off–my strong protests were cut off.
“Fine. Then the two of you go.”
“Huh? Ah–don’t want that!”
“I’m a little worried to send you alone on such a twisted map. If you go with Jaemin-ie, you’re less likely to be hurt.”
“Ah, hyung! I really don’t want that. I’d rather go alone.”
Dawon had already adopted a smooth smile–his expression conveyed his staunch resistance against anything I’d say. I’ve never beaten an argument when hyung adopted that face, so, in the end, I accepted my defeat and sighed.
Hyung clearly knew how much I hated Bae Jaemin, but he had never accepted my opinions in the dungeon. Even if I grumbled openly about how it would be better to deal with ten [Daji]s simultaneously rather than to move with that pretentious lump, hyung still stared at me without backing down.
Eventually, I was the one to step down. I glared at Bae Jaemin, who dutifully insisted on following me, without hiding my annoyance. I had also resolved inside to kick him in the back and push him into a trap.
However, facing my blazing eyes head on, Bae Jaemin simply looked at me with a strangely calm demeanor. In the end, I had to descend down with the annoying Bae Jaemin on my tail.
The ladder leading down to the basement was really endless. We descended so far that no light from the opening of the entrance could eventually be seen.
Honestly, if I were alone, I could let go of the ladder and quickly crash to the bottom instead of dealing with this long ordeal. That would be far faster. However, since Bae Jaemin wouldn’t be able to keep up with that kind of performance, such actions were impossible. Of course, this fact also played a role in my irritation.
“Hey, since when have you cared about me enough to make a fuss about following me?”
“……”
“Just what are you up to?” In the end, I couldn’t endure so I took sarcastic potshots at the Priest. Bae Jaemin said nothing even after hearing my insults. However, it was a little difficult to assume that he was ignoring me; he stopped in his tracks and clung to the ladder.
“Your way of speaking… It’s truly like Jung Garam,” He mumbled, strangely. The underground passage was far too quiet–I couldn’t have misheard him.
After thinking for a long while, I frowned and asked, “What bullshit are you saying now?”