NOVEL NEXT Chapter 67
Chapter 67
After Se-woon and Riel joined forces, their pace more than doubled.
It wasn’t just due to the power of the elf’s inherent magic, Breath of Nature, which Se-woon was using.
Whoosh!
Se-woon blew wind into the spirit’s flames, causing the fire to grow even larger.
Crunch!
He added sharp stones to the spirit’s wind, greatly enhancing its power.
By providing magical support at the right moments, the spirits’ attacks became even stronger, causing the monsters to fall swiftly.
“Wow!”
“I’ve gotten stronger!”
“No, it’s thanks to that boy.”
“Amazing!”
As a result, the spirits naturally took an interest in Se-woon.
Riel, watching this, wore a curious expression.
‘Who exactly is he?’
Although she had joined forces with him to achieve her goals, things had seemed strange from the start.
Not only was he using the elf’s inherent magic despite being human, but now the spirits were taking an interest in him.
Spirits, being close to nature itself, are typically extremely wary.
Unless one is a being blessed by nature, like an elf, it’s difficult to even see them, let alone communicate with them.
That’s why human spirit users are known to be exceedingly rare.
And yet, the spirits were now showing great interest in this human.
Moreover,
– The Constellation, ‘Fifth Day,’ smiles gently.
The goddess who had been so worried about her was now watching the situation calmly, without concern.
However, there was no time to ponder the situation deeply, as things were too urgent.
Though they were steadily moving forward, the number of monsters remained immense.
“Focus. We’re almost there.”
“I know.”
Her tone was cold, but Se-woon was impressed by Riel’s combat skills.
He had heard that even contracting with two elemental spirits was difficult for an ordinary spirit user, yet here she was, contracted with all four major elemental spirits.
Before he regressed, he hadn’t fully understood how she had deservedly held the top rank in merit points.
Moreover,
‘So Riel is contracted with Freya.’
The message from the Constellation floating above her caught Se-woon’s eye.
The Constellation, ‘Fifth Day.’
Not long ago, when Se-woon had unlocked the third circle, this goddess had shown interest in him, surpassing even Mammon’s influence.
Freya is known as one of the chief gods who rules Asgard alongside Odin.
Her power acted as a booster for Riel, who handled the four elemental spirits. If it wasn’t for Se-woon, Riel would undoubtedly have claimed the top rank in this life as well.
‘But I can’t just hand over the boss monster.’
From what he had observed, even someone as strong as her wouldn’t be able to hunt the boss monster alone.
It is undesirable for someone destined to become one of the Tower’s top powerhouses to die here. However, I have no intention of conceding the boss monster either.
Therefore, I will join forces with her to defeat the boss monster together.
This way, the merit points will be equally distributed, preserving my ranking, while also ensuring her safety.
“Ssssh—”
“Gruk, gruk.”
As we pressed forward, the boss monster of the fifth chapter, the Sea Drake, finally came into view.
Perhaps due to its overwhelming presence, most of the smaller monsters had kept their distance, but large monsters of quasi-boss caliber remained, as if guarding the boss monster.
The moment he spotted them, Se-woon quickly leapt out of his position.
“Hold them off for a while.”
“What? Where are you going?!”
He didn’t have time to answer.
Confident that she wouldn’t flee, Se-woon ignored her shout and circled around the boss monster.
In the process, his eyes met those of the Sea Drake, which moved with an unhurried gait befitting its status as the boss.
“ROOOOAARR—!”
– The enraged tyrant of the Sea, Drakan, unleashes Dragon Fear.
– The overwhelming fear from the dragon’s roar invades your body and mind.
Dragon Fear, one of the dragon’s innate powers.
It was a roar infused with magic, designed to shake both body and mind, plunging its target into overwhelming fear.
Though the roar of the Drake didn’t contain mana, it was powerful enough to instill fear in every living being on the battlefield.
“Ugh…”
Even Se-woon wasn’t immune.
He gritted his teeth to dispel the fear, but Dragon Fear was not something that could be overcome by sheer will alone.
His swiftly moving legs halted, and his hands and feet started trembling.
Had it not been Se-woon, he would have collapsed to the ground, losing his sanity.
Thud, thud!
Drakan approached leisurely towards the immobilized Se-woon, seemingly confident that his prey wouldn’t even attempt to escape.
At that moment,
– The Stigma of the Satyr (Sealed) is partially released due to the overwhelming fear.
– The first ability of the Stigma, ‘Fear,’ awakens.
The stigma engraved on Se-woon’s right hand emitted a chilling, dark blue light.
The shape of a goat’s horn became distinctly visible, beginning to drive away the fear that was encroaching on his mind.
– The ‘Stigma of the Satyr’ devours all forms of fear.
The more potent the fear it devours, the stronger the Stigma of the Satyr becomes.
Se-woon overcame the fear in an unexpected way. Strength returned to his trembling limbs, and his eyes calmed.
“ROOOAAARR—!”
Whack!
Drakan calmly closed his mouth, but Se-woon was nowhere to be seen in that spot.
Shaking off his fear, perhaps due to the stigma, he ran around the area even faster than before.
Watching this, Riel was astonished, her mouth agape.
‘What the hell did he do?’
Se-woon was not the only one subjected to the Dragon’s Fear. Riel and the Four Elemental Spirits were also paralyzed by the overwhelming pressure, caught in a crisis.
Then, suddenly, as a dark blue light glowed from Se-woon, the state of fear was lifted.
Drakan, too, was in bewilderment at the unexpected turn of events.
“That was scary!”
“It’s not scary anymore!”
“The dragon did that?”
“A bad dragon!”
The spirits, momentarily forgetting their paralysis, circled around Riel excitedly.
However, despite this, they still couldn’t understand Se-woon’s actions.
‘What is he trying to do?’
He didn’t seem interested in fighting at all.
He was merely circling around Drakan.
“Grrrooooar!”
As Drakan roared, the monsters in the vicinity started approaching.
Though they were originally too terrified to come near despite being on the same team, it seemed they had been commanded to deal with those who did not tremble before him.
“There are just… too many!”
Though her spirits were doing their best, there was no way she could fend off hundreds or thousands of monsters alone.
Completely surrounded.
Thinking she might have to borrow the power of the Wind Spirit to escape alone.
“Good job.”
“What?”
Se-woon, who had circled around Drakan and returned, placed a hand on Riel’s shoulder.
And at that moment…
– A ‘Karmelther’s Defensive Magic Circle’ unfolds around Darakan.
Wooooong!
The path Se-woon had run along started to shimmer, centering on Drakan.
Karmelther’s Defensive Magic Circle.
It was a magic circle he had used before to protect the clan.
“What is this?”
“As you can see, it’s like a barrier. I used all the mana stones I had, so we won’t have to worry about external attacks for a while.”
“Mana stones, you mean all of those?”
Riel looked around at the glowing mana stones.
Even with a rough glance, there were easily over a hundred.
‘How did he get so many mana stones in the tutorial?’
No player, not even a dragon, could bring any items into the tutorial.
In other words, all those mana stones were items he had obtained within the tutorial.
Was such a thing even possible?
It was hard to believe, but that wasn’t the issue right now.
“Groooar-!!”
Realizing the barrier, Drakan roared in fury and unleashed another Dragon’s Fear.
However, the Stigma of the Satyr being activated rendered Se-woon immune to its effects.
Instead, it was the monsters outside the barrier that fell into panic.
“Aren’t you going to fight?”
With a swift motion, Se-woon took the initiative.
He pulled out the weapon he had previously taken from the lord of the filthy mine, Dantan: the ‘Gnome’s Compressed Mineral,’ and charged rapidly towards Drakan.
“Wait a minute! Shouldn’t we make a plan first?”
Kuuu-
Drakan’s mouth opened wide.
What would happen next was obvious even without seeing it.
Breath.
A dragon’s unique ability to exhale its inherent attributes condensed to the utmost limit.
No matter how adept the opponent was at handling mana, if they were hit by the Breath, they would be done for.
Even so, Se-woon didn’t stop.
Instead, he gathered inner strength in his legs, increasing his speed as he rushed towards Drakan’s head.
Riel gritted her teeth at the sight.
Such a reckless attack was exactly the method she despised, but for now, she had no choice but to assist him.
“Silph!”
“Yes!”
“Boost that human’s back!”
“Got it. Got it!”
Whoooosh!
The wind spirit, Silph, whipped up a breeze to aid Se-woon’s movement.
Boosted by the spirit’s wind, Se-woon’s speed increased to more than 1.5 times his usual rate, and he promptly arrived right in front of Drakan.
Drakan, not expecting Se-woon to arrive so quickly, was taken aback and released an incomplete Breath attack in his panic.
However, Se-woon swung his blunt weapon faster than Drakan could expel his Breath.
– Opened the Treasury of Greed.
[ Hercules’ Bronze Club ]
– A club forged by Hephaestus at Zeus’s request, for Heracles, before he undertook his Twelve Labors.
Crack!
Se-woon’s blunt weapon glowed yellow, inheriting the power of the bronze club.
A godly weapon that, in the hands of Hercules, crushed countless monsters and even shattered city gates with a single strike.
That weapon came crashing down on the bridge of Drakan’s nose.
Crack!
Despite swinging a mere club the size of his forearm, it was enough to completely crush the nose bone of the monstrous creature, which was over 10 meters long.
However, this was not the only issue.
The intense shock of the bronze club striking his nose caused Drakan to instinctively close his mouth.
Boom!!!
The hastily prepared Breath, unable to cease its activation, exploded inside the closed confines of Drakan’s mouth.