Chapter 37
Episode 4: Fate Ride the Wind (12)
“Did you call for me, Lord?”
“Hello, Lord!”
A deep voice and a bright voice echoed simultaneously in the vast cavern.
There were hundreds of monsters around, but they seemed indifferent to them.
It was understandable.
Although Jejangi had grown a lot, Taeseng GilgeoI’s level was 999.
Even the enhanced experimental subjects couldn’t tighten the encirclement any further and awkwardly retreated a bit when Taeseng GilgeoI appeared.
They instinctively felt it.
Taeseng GilgeoI was an opponent they could never defeat.
The pressure from the level difference was tremendous, but since they were comrades, Jejangi didn’t seem affected at all.
In fact, he greeted cheerfully.
“Wow! Nice to see you, Guardian Knight! How have you been?”
“It’s been a while, little blacksmith.”
Taeseng GilgeoI responded to Jejangi with a kind voice he had never shown before.
Han Sang-woo asked curiously at the sight.
“Do you two know each other?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Yes! We sometimes met at the forge! I also repaired the armor the Guardian Knight is wearing right now!”
Come to think of it, when progressing through the main episodes in Hiyo, characters from different professions would occasionally join forces, and it seemed this was being reflected in reality.
And the relationships between characters weren’t limited to just exchanging pleasantries.
[You have summoned two characters simultaneously.]
[Simultaneous summoning effects occur based on character compatibility.]
[Guardian Knight – Blacksmith]
[Simultaneous summoning effect: Symbiosis. The Guardian Knight and the Blacksmith have a symbiotic relationship. Simultaneous summoning increases the Guardian Knight’s equipment stats by 5%. The Blacksmith gains pride, increasing all his stats by 5%.]
Upon summoning Taeseng GilgeoI and Jejangi together, a simultaneous summoning effect, [Symbiosis], occurred.
Summoning two characters together not only recognized each other but also triggered additional system effects.
‘This might make us even stronger than I thought.’
Even with Taeseng GilgeoI already at level 999, to the point where leveling up was no longer possible, an additional effect was added.
What if multiple characters’ synergy effects overlapped?
Not only could weaker characters like Jejangi become stronger, but even powerful characters like Taeseng GilgeoI could become even stronger here.
But that was for the future; there were urgent matters to handle now.
First, quickly supporting Gang Jeolman was the top priority, which required dealing with the monsters first.
“Car…”
“Con…”
The enhanced experimental subjects couldn’t approach Taeseng GilgeoI easily due to his aura, but they didn’t seem to want to retreat either.
They hesitated at first but gradually bared their teeth and growled as they approached.
Moreover,
[Emergency Quest Activated]
[You have detected a malevolent aura that must be eradicated as a lord.]
[Defeat the enhanced experimental subjects that have turned into monsters (0/976)]
The system issued a quest to warn them, just like when Kyu-jin turned into a monster.
Almost a thousand enemies.
It was too many to handle alone, but Han Sang-woo stood calmly without being disturbed.
In fact, he even slightly raised one corner of his mouth.
To Han Sang-woo, the monsters surrounding him seemed more like experience points than life-threatening enemies.
“Guys.”
Han Sang-woo raised his Volcano Sword and commanded.
“Sweep them away.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Understood, Lord!”
With Han Sang-woo’s command, the battle began.
Taeseng GilgeoI quickly charged forward and slashed at the attacking monsters, while Jejangi moved to the rear and raised his hammer with one hand.
And then,
“Here we go!!”
[Character: Jejangi uses Iron Rage.]
[Character: Jejangi uses Downstrike.]
[Character: Jejangi uses Upstrike.]
Jejangi used his skills to smash the approaching enhanced monsters.
Though he hadn’t even reached level 100, making it difficult to face average B-rank enemies, he fought them using [Iron Rage], which temporarily increased the blacksmith’s attack power by 40%, and [Downstrike] and [Upstrike], swinging his hammer up and down.
Of course, his low level had its limits.
He couldn’t defeat the monsters in one strike, and there were too many enemies for him to handle all those charging at Han Sang-woo.
So, Jejangi chose an alternative strategy.
“Lord, I’ll cast a buff on you!”
[Character: Jejangi uses Little Blacksmith’s Courage.]
[Skill: Lv 1. Little Blacksmith’s Courage. Increases the user’s stats by 20% for 1 minute.]
Jejangi judged and cast a buff on Han Sang-woo before he could even command it.
‘Is it because his loyalty has increased?’
Previously, he wouldn’t do anything special until ordered, but now he was taking care of things on his own.
“Thank you, Jejangi. Well then, shall I start warming up?”
He had hunted B-rank monsters alone in unresolved dungeons before, and although he was stronger now, even a single buff was valuable.
With so many enemies, it was likely to turn into a long battle, and considering the fight with Luminous afterward, he needed to conserve his strength as much as possible.
Han Sang-woo, wielding the Volcano Sword and Volcano Shield, jumped into the areas Taeseng GilgeoI and Jejangi couldn’t cover and started fighting.
And then.
“Yelp!!”
“Grr…!!”
The massacre began.
[You have slain the Enhanced Experimental Wolf (B).]
[The Lord’s trait, Solitude, is activated.]
[You have gained 10 times the experience points.]
[Character: Taeseng GilgeoI has slain the Enhanced Experimental Dog (B).]
[The Lord’s trait, Solitude, is activated.]
[You have gained 10 times the experience points.]
[Character: Jejangi has slain the Enhanced Experimental Rat (C).]
[You have gained 10 times the experience points.]
[Level Up!]
[All stats +1.]
With every swing of Han Sangwoo’s sword, more than ten reward messages for Jejangi and Taeseng GilgeoI appeared.
There were many enemies, but they felt weaker than the B-grade monsters in the dungeons, perhaps due to being neglected experimental subjects for so long. There were even some C-grade and D-grade monsters mixed in.
Thanks to that, dealing with the monsters wasn’t too difficult.
After about 10 minutes of hunting.
Han Sangwoo beheaded an Enhanced Experimental Dog lunging for his head with his Volcanic Sword and checked the remaining number of monsters.
[Emergency Quest]
[Slay the monsters that have become Enhanced Experimental Subjects (403/976)]
Even though it had only been a short time since the battle started, over 400 monsters had been killed due to summoning both characters simultaneously.
It was an excellent achievement.
But.
“Phew, still more than half left….”
Han Sangwoo took a moment to catch his breath and wiped the monster blood off his Volcanic Sword.
He then took out a mana potion from his inventory and gulped it down while thinking.
‘This is taking longer than I thought.’
Clang!
As he dropped the empty potion bottle, it clinked against the other bottles piled on the ground.
The speed at which they were killing monsters wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t fast enough compared to the mana consumption rate.
There was a reason.
Han Sangwoo glanced at Taeseng GilgeoI and Jejangi, who were fighting the monsters.
“Roar…”
“Screech!!”
Boom!
Even a small swing of Jejangi’s hammer made the underground cavity shake, dropping rock dust. Taeseng GilgeoI’s attacks caused even more to fall.
It seemed the cavity had been hastily constructed. Because the ceiling and the ground were weak, Taeseng GilgeoI couldn’t use his wide-area skills freely.
In fact, Han Sangwoo also realized the risk from the beginning of the battle and refrained from using [Eruption].
In a normal dungeon, he could wipe out 1,000 monsters in 5 minutes using wide-area skills, but here, he had to fight them one by one, so they hadn’t even cleared half yet.
Moreover, the mana consumption rate was too fast.
Until now, he had never had to summon two characters simultaneously, so he didn’t realize it, but even with Jejangi, who consumed relatively less mana, adding Taeseng GilgeoI’s mana consumption resulted in a significant amount.
However, to shorten the time, summoning both was inevitable, and the result was.
Clatter.
The potion bottles piled at his feet.
In other words, the mana consumption rate was faster than usual, but they couldn’t use wide-area removal, so the perceived speed was slower.
Given the situation, there was only one solution.
‘For my sake, I have to work harder and finish this quickly.’
Han Sangwoo adjusted his grip on the mana potion in his left hand and the Volcanic Sword in his right, and then he dashed forward.
And then,
[Empire Knight Order’s Swordsmanship, Second Style – Crescent Slash]
He created an aura at the tip of his sword, extending the blade further with [Crescent Slash], slicing through the enemies and cutting down the Enhanced Experimental Subjects.
Slash!
“Screech!!”
Every time Han Sangwoo swung his Volcanic Sword, more Enhanced Experimental Subjects were cut down.
An ordinary B-grade hunter wouldn’t have been able to cut down the Enhanced Experimental Subjects with one strike, but Han Sangwoo, wielding the Volcanic Sword and receiving Jejangi’s buff, made it possible.
Of course, this tactic wasn’t without its downsides.
Charging into the enemy’s midst and cutting them down meant he would naturally be surrounded and exposed to attacks from behind.
But Han sangwoo had someone covering his back.
“Watch your back, Lord!”
Thud!
“Chirp…!!”
[Character: Jejangi has slain the Enhanced Experimental Rat (C).]
As an Enhanced Experimental Rat lunged at Han sangwoo’s back, Jejangi rushed in and smashed it away with his hammer.
“Roar!!”
As dozens of enhanced experimental subjects lunged at Jejangi.
“Ha!”
This time, Taeseng GilgeoI quickly closed the distance and knocked them away with a [Shield Bash].
The expression “perfect synchronization” would be apt here.
“Little Blacksmith, don’t overdo it.”
“Thank you, Guardian Knight!”
The characters fought with perfect coordination without needing verbal communication.
‘It feels like party play. No, it’s incomparable to anything I’ve done so far.’
As Han Sangwoo cut down the enhanced experimental subjects with his Volcanic Sword, he assessed the ongoing battle.
Although he didn’t have much experience with party play, fighting with his summoned characters felt the most comfortable.
How should he put it?
When fighting with other hunters, some form of communication was always necessary, but his characters seemed to act perfectly without needing any words.
It felt as if they were part of him.
Until now, he had only summoned one character or used instant summons to respond to emergencies, so he hadn’t realized it. But summoning two characters at once made it clear.
And it wasn’t just his imagination.
“Screech!!”
[Slay the monsters that have become Enhanced Experimental Subjects (923/976)]
Fifteen minutes into the hunt.
Han Sangwoo, along with his two characters, had almost wiped out the 1,000 enhanced experimental subjects.
Although Taeseng GilgeoI was powerful, he was limited by the structure of the cavity, and Jejangi’s combat power wasn’t very high.
But under Han Sangwoo’s command, the three of them worked together seamlessly and effortlessly took down nearly 1,000 monsters.
And the one who made the most significant contribution was Han Sangwoo. While Jejangi provided buffs, unlike Taeseng GilgeoI, Han Sangwoo didn’t need to hold back and could go all out in the middle of the fight.
Of course, this came at the cost of his stamina.
“Haah, haah…”
With his surroundings now clear and his breath catching in his throat.
Han Sangwoo lowered his Volcanic Sword and walked wearily toward the end of the cavity.
Then.
Along with the stairs leading to the upper floor.
“Roar!!”
[Giant Enhanced Experimental Bear (A)]
A creature that appeared to be the boss monster emerged.
