âTch, I thought Iâd be able to kill two of them. What terrible timing.â
Lee Shin Woo smiled bitterly. Heâd only killed one of the undead heroes that had been hidden amidst the beasts, yet the Beast General was already coming to intervene. He couldnât even imagine how much influence Ethan Cruz had on the Beast General.
âStill, I canât just sit here and do nothing⊠Alright, letâs retreat to Retadane.â
âWhat about them?â
âNot yet. Seems like theyâre going to act once the heroes are fatigued.â
Lee Shin Woo and Jin conversed and then began to move. The nearby remaining beasts gritted their teeth and charged, but once Jin began to sprint at full speed, there was nothing they could do to stop him.
Jin was so fast that he couldnât be seen, as lightning struck his surroundings. Jin ran wildly, as the beasts caught aflame and were split apart.
[Stoppppp!]
As they attempted to group up with Retadane, a boulder suddenly flew towards them. Lee Shin Woo threw his Breath of the Lightning God and broke it apart. Immediately after, a bear-shaped beast charged from in front of them.
[Lv7 Werebear Suranta Bennett]
[I canât allow you to face the Beast General in person! Be a good boy andâŠ]
âI donât have time for that!â
[Keuk!?]
Lee Shin Woo charged without waiting for it to finish. The level 7 elite stretched its thick front legs and blocked his sword; it looked surprised.
[To think you could stop my strike head on!]
âHeuuupâŠ!â
[This is⊠LightningâŠ!?]
Lee Shin Woo concentrated and the Breath of the Lightning Godâs lightning briefly intensified; it then spread across the bearâs body.
Suranta wasnât an elite in name only. It responded by using its mana to activate a skill, which fortified its body. However, that was the worst decision it could make. When skills clashed head on, the one that was a higher level would triumph!
[H-How can this be? My skill isâŠ!?]
The lightning enveloped its body and burned bright. The lightning ate through its fur and skin, as well as the skill. Suranta was shocked once it realized that Lee Shin Wooâs lightning had essentially canceled its skill. Then, Lee Shin Woo grinned and lunged with his Breath of the Lightning God.
âNice. Then⊠Rest in peace!â
[Kahak!]
Lee Shin Woo was even able to convert all the mana on the battlefield into lightning through his intense âbreathingâ, so doing this was just childâs play. Then, using Bursting Thunder, he thrust with his lightning clad sword, splitting the bear in half. Although it was indeed a level 7 elite, Lee Shin Woo had easily taken care of it in less than 30 seconds!
[You have acquired 7,194,070 Perium.]
[You have acquired the Lv7 Werebear Suranta Bennetâs front foot bone.]
Lee Shin Woo absorbed the bone immediately, but his Strength and Health only increased by 7 a piece. Once he saw how lousy its magic was, he figured it was weak, and it did seem like it was in the lower echelon of level 7s.
âHoo. Whatâs with the attitude? You were the same level as me.â
âAre you going to go kill the Beast General now?â
âLetâs think about that after I level up.â
Even at this very moment, the Beast General was chasing after Lee Shin Woo. He could tell what state the battlefield was in based on how the Beast General was moving. Unfortunately, it wasnât Lee Shin Wooâs style to fight him head on.
âJin, run. That reliable old lady will protect us.â
âJust make sure you donât say that in front of her.â
Jin ran quickly, even as he grumbled. Now that the Beast General was coming for them personally, the surrounding beasts attempted to stop them, but⊠they werenât enough to stop Jinâs sprint.
He was like a meteor as he shook off anyone following them and ran straight for Retadane! Retadane soon noticed them whilst crushing nearby beasts and yelled in surprise.
âLee Shin Woo!?â
âRetadane, the Beast General is coming this way!â
âYou really do the most outrageous thingsâŠ! Please stay behind me!â
[Kuoooooooooooh!]
Lee Shin Woo successfully joined up with Retadane, and immediately after, the Beast General screamed and pushed aside the nearby beasts. It was obviously none other than the Beast General himself, but⊠Lee Shin Woo was somewhat doubtful when he finally saw him.
âThatâs the Beast GeneralâŠ?â
[So many annoying pests have gathered in one place! Iâll round you up and kill you all!]
The giant undead yelled and charged. Its entire body was composed of bones. He couldnât believe it, it was a skeleton!
The higher level an undead, the more they resemble a human, so it made sense that Lee Shin Woo was suspicious, but⊠perhaps because it was a skeleton, it looked incredibly formidable! He thought it may be a stand-in or something to that effect, but when he checked the name, he confirmed that that wasnât the case.
[Lv7 Bone Werewolf â Beast General Jilun Pelta]
âIt really is the Beast GeneralâŠâ
âIndeed. No one can even come close to his savagery and cruelty; the Tyrant of the BattlefieldâŠ! We should take him out while we have the chance!â
[Kuheu, what do we have here? Itâs the little lady of the Retadane house! What a joyous occasion. Iâd always wanted to just eat you up!]
Once she saw the Beast General, Retadaneâs red eyes eerily lit up and she charged. She swung her flail with unimaginable force and her weapon was filled with a blinding light, her inherent magic.
[Kuhak! Keuk!?]
The flail cleaved through the air, and the giant bone wolf boldly took it head on. It opened its mouth wide and caught the flail. The moment they collided, the Beast General emitted a truly awful sound.
[Kuhak⊠How have you become so strong!?]
âItâs funny when I look at you, still trapped in the pastâŠ! Keep yourself buried in the past and choke on it!â
âBuried in the past⊠Pfft.â
Lee Shin Woo watched on, and acquired some useless information, like the fact that âwhen Retadane starts fighting, she begins to say some really infantile thingsâ! ButâŠ
âBut her strength is real. Just by looking at her overwhelming physical strength and the magic within that flail will tell you how powerful she is. MoreoverâŠâ
Those were all her own abilities⊠They (the undead) were nothing compared to the power of light. Even now, Lee Shin Woo felt Retadane converting a portion of the mana that spilled out from her body into light. It was such a radiant light that most undead would shrink from her approach!
Most of the undead are maintained by darkness magic, but Retadaneâs light magic âdeniesâ the root of their existence and puts them in their proper place⊠In other words, she was trying to send them to their death. And the Beast General was no different.
[Keuk, this light magicâŠ!]
âAs the last light priest in the land⊠I will exterminate the undead!â
The Werewolfâs fingernails, which emitted a blue light, and Retadaneâs flail clashed in the air a few times.
In terms of force, they were evenly matched, but whenever her weapon came into contact with him, the Beast General would become noticeably more tired. The Beast General, which wasnât able to reach level 8, wasnât able to deal with the light which covered the entire area!
[Alright⊠I admit, youâre no longer a coy maiden anymore⊠Now that itâs come to this, Iâll fight you with my true form!]
âWhat? Weâre on the second phase already?â
In the end, the Beast General admitted that he couldnât let this go on, retreated, and gathered himself. For the time being, Lee Shin Woo watched their fight and attempted to analyze it. He couldnât help but feel disappointed after watching the Beast General get hit a few times!
âLee Shin Woo, how long do you intend to just sit there and watch? Youâre the one who lured him over here.â
âOf course Iâll help. Haha. I was just looking for the right opportunity since itâs so hard to keep track of your movements, Ms. Retadane.â
Lee Shin Woo was done being a spectator. If he could, he wouldâve waited until the Beast General showed the trick up his sleeve, but he couldnât just do anything when Retadane was staring at him and asking for assistance.
Moreover, Lee Shin Woo had been overlooking this, but with the continual expenditure of mana and stamina, Retadane would eventually get tired (as she wasnât undead, but a human being)! Even now, her breathing had become haggard, albeit slightly. If he took into account the fact that this was the opportunity Ethan Cruz was looking for, then he couldnât just let her be.
âBeast General, itâs my turn!â
[Kuha. Youâre going to face me now?]
âYou despoiled my seniorâs bodies! Iâll take your life in exchange!â
Lee Shin Woo said, which was just as embarrassing as anything Retadane would say, and rushed forward. He let Retadane catch her breath and charged! He concentrated his mana into a Breath of the Lightning God, and the Beast General faced him while smiling, as if finding him ridiculous.
[In the end, you will all serve His Majesty⊠As proof, Iâll take you first!]
At that moment, splitting sounds came from the Beast Generalâs body as his bones broke apart. No, at least thatâs what he thought was happening. Then, the broken areas were repaired with new bones. Bone was tangled with other bones in a complicated manner, and the Werewolf began to grow! He was transforming!
[Kureureureureu⊠Kuhaaaaaah!]
He was already quite large, but he had grown in size by about two or three times. Sharply split bones sprouted from his back, resembling thorns.
They sprouted on his arms, down to the back of his hands, his stomach, and even all the way down to his legs! His entire body was covered in a bone armor, which made it difficult to even make out his original form. What Lee Shin Woo was sure of however was that the Beast Generalâs strength had increased significantly!
[The strength of the 12 generals is absolute, and cannot be measured with mere levels! No matter how much you look at my level, or measure my magic, theyâre ultimately just numbers! Iâll kindly teach you that lesson with your bodies!]
âWerewolf transformation⊠To think that you could develop that technique even further as an undead.â
Retadane focused her light magic into her flail and gritted her teeth. Lee Shin Woo listened and had some idea of what she was talking about. Just a little while ago, Bisher Moon had explained this to him.
The Beast Tribe possesses a separate human and animal form, but by using magic, they can topple this balance. They would strengthen the animalâs unique characteristics and temporarily increase their strength through the transformation technique.
However, high rank members of the Beast Tribe could go one step further and surpass their limits, further reinforcing their bodies or even awakening an unknown specialty that could not normally exist in this world. At the time, Lee Shin Woo had just wrote it off as them transforming into a fantasy beast, butâŠ
[Thorn Wolf. Thatâs my special ability⊠Keuk, keuk. Can you still stay that Iâm still âburied in the pastâ or what not? Fool. I gained a new body and became stronger than you could ever imagine!]
âKeukâŠ!â
He declared and launched a left straight at Lee Shin Woo. Lee Shin Woo calmly blocked the blow with his Breath of the Lightning God but was pushed by the Werewolfâs ridiculous strength. To think that he would be pushed back, especially when Jin had increased the force with his charge!
[Iâll skewer both you and your horseâŠ!]
âTch!â
Heâd thought that the Beast Generalâs transformation was over with, but the sprouting thorns continued to get larger and larger, and attacked Lee Shin Woo and Jin simultaneously!
They attempted to get away from him, but his Breath of the Lightning God was stuck between two of the generalâs fingernails. Whatâs worse, nails sprouted up from between his fingernails as well, wrapping around his blade like vines. It was honestly quite disgusting.
If it were the average day, then he wouldâve blown up the Breath of the Lightning God, or summon a new weapon to block the generalâs attack, but Retadane was watching him right now, so he couldnât show off his skills. If thatâs the case, thenâŠ
âI have to go with Bursting Thunder!â
Lee Shin Woo rapidly circulated his magic and focused it into his Breath of the Lightning God. He used his High Rank Mana Bone skill as a base to activate his Mana Acceleration skill, forming magic that would be effective against the general! He used High Rank Combat Sense as well in order to calculate the optimum course of actionâŠ!
âHeup!â
[Kuhak!?]
For a moment, the lightning reached its peak. The electric discharge burned the generalâs fingernails and thorns instantly, and the freed Breath of the Lightning God moved at blinding speed; cutting through all the thorns that had been coming their way!
He cut through dozens of thorns at lightning speed, which resembled exploding lightning. It had both goosebump inducing precision and destructive power, so no matter how many thorns came at him and obstructed his vision, he could cut them all down, so long as he moved optimally.
âHuhâŠ?â
But at that moment, Lee Shin Woo realized something that was completely unrelated to Bursting Thunder.
âHow was I able to see those thorns and cut them down all at once?â
Of course, it was likely due to his Combat Sense, as well as his connection with Jin, which amplified his reflexes, but that definitely wasnât everything. It felt like he could naturally perceive the thorns with something else before his senses picked them up. Yeah, as if he could see the right course of action beforehandâŠ
[Youâre quite powerful as wellâŠ! Iâll crush you!]
âIâve had just about enough of you doing whatever you want!â
But before Lee Shin Woo could come to an answer, Retadane, who had caught her breath, took the opportunity to swing her light covered flail at the Beast General.
[Keuk!?]
âDonât leave me behind!â
âStop talking like a guy who has been dumped by his girlfriend!â
The Beast General was shocked and attempted to retreat, but it was Lee Shin Wooâs time to pay him back now! He was weak compared to Retadane or other level 8s, but his âbreathingâ, which utilized Mana Acceleration, converted the areaâs mana into lightning and stopped the Beast General for just an instant. That small span of time was enough for Retadane to get a direct hit on the Beast General.
[Kuhak!]
âThat ability just now⊠That was good. Letâs talk after we take him down!â
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âOk!â
Like Lee Shin Woo had done, Retadane had also analyzed Lee Shin Wooâs fight with the Beast General while she was catching her breath, and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. Now was the time to make use of that information for the two to push him back!
[Kuhu⊠Youâre trying to handle me, the Beast General, with just the two of you!?]
The Beast General used the force behind Retadaneâs strike to retreat and activated an ability to restore his bones. Then he shouted bravely, but on the inside, he felt that he was in danger; if things went wrong, then he might die before their plan was even set into motion.
And thus, the battle between the strongest hero duo and one of the 12 generals began.