Chapter 280

Chapter 280

The Gray Ogre went berserk.

Its eyes rolling back, the Gray Ogre hammered wildly at Moby Dick’s shield.

CRASH! CRASH!

Each time the aura-covered club struck, Moby Dick’s shield rippled as if it would shatter at any moment.

If it had only been the Gray Ogre’s attack, Moby Dick’s shield would not have shaken like this. This was possible because the attacks of the other monsters had been added as well.

The Crimson Drake was firing Fire Breath at random, and the Giant Spider was pounding the shield with its ten legs.

On top of that, medium-sized and small monsters had joined in and were rampaging madly, so the chaos in the area had reached its peak.

CRUNCH!

Kieek!

Monster after monster was trampled to death beneath large-class monsters like the Gray Ogre. Even so, not a single monster retreated.

The monsters’ obsession with breaking through Moby Dick’s shield, even at the cost of their lives, surpassed imagination.

No one knew what was driving those monsters to such extremes. But one thing seemed certain.

They were desperate.

It was just as the monsters’ attacks were growing fiercer.

Ssssss!

The fine powder floating in the air like plankton began moving soundlessly. But the monsters, their eyes already rolled back, did not notice the change at all.

Each time the monsters struck the shield, the air trembled.

Riding the air that rippled like waves, the plankton-like powder settled over the monsters’ heads and bodies.

Some of it was inhaled into the monsters’ bodies through their respiratory tracts.

Kraaaa!

Kaoooo!

At that moment, the smaller monsters began rampaging madly.

The plankton-like powder was a kind of parasitic lifeform.

A microscopic lifeform that lived while parasitizing Moby Dick’s enormous body.

They possessed the trait of resonating with Moby Dick’s emotions.

Normally, they had no effect at all. But the moment Moby Dick harbored negative emotions, they transformed into deadly poison.

After entering a living creature’s body through the respiratory tract, they stimulated the brain and made it rampage madly.

At least monsters of Grade B or higher, which could protect their entire bodies with force fields, were not affected, but lower-ranked monsters went berserk immediately.

Just like now.

The lower-ranked monsters forgot they had been striking the shield and attacked the other monsters.

The monsters, already mad, attacked even Grade A monsters like the Gray Ogre and Crimson Drake with their eyes overturned.

Enraged by the lower-ranked monsters charging without fear, the Grade A monsters changed targets.

They intended to slaughter all the lower-ranked monsters first, then attack Moby Dick’s shield again.

No matter how many lower-ranked monsters there were, they could not be opponents for Grade A monsters. But they could become bothersome. The more numerous they were, the more bothersome they became. And right now, there were more than enough lower-ranked monsters here.

They surged endlessly like waves and attacked the Grade A monsters.

Among them were Grade C and Grade B monsters as well.

Because Grade B monsters also had force fields, they were not affected by Moby Dick’s parasitic lifeforms. But they instinctively knew that unless they brought down the Grade A monsters, they could not approach Moby Dick, so they attacked together.

ROOOAR!

Kaoooo!

CRASH! RUMBLE—!

The monsters’ roars and the explosions from their clashes made Moby Dick’s domain thunder with noise.

“Crazy!”

“This makes no sense......”

Pabilsa and Kaylee forgot even that they were being threatened by Lee Jung-ho and stared blankly at the monsters clashing.

Pabilsa had wandered the desert for nearly a hundred years. But even he had never seen so many monsters tangled together in battle like this.

“What on earth is Moby Dick, for this many monsters to......?”

At first glance, it looked chaotic, but even monsters had their own ecosystem.

Other Grade A monsters rarely invaded the domain of a Grade A monster. Unless they were one hundred percent confident they could win.

Since there was no such thing as a one hundred percent victory rate in the world of monsters, they avoided clashes.

The same was true for Grade B and Grade C.

Once they established a domain, they did not leave that place unless something unusual happened.

That was why it was impossible for so many different kinds of monsters to gather in one place and fight like this. Under normal circumstances, at least.

Moby Dick was clearly the problem.

Something about that mysterious whale was clearly disturbing the monster ecosystem.

Pabilsa looked at Lee Jung-ho with an anxious expression.

Even while they wasted time here like this, Archelon was growing weaker and weaker.

If they delayed any longer, they might miss the golden time to save Archelon.

Once he thought that, Lee Jung-ho’s blade no longer felt like a threat to him.

‘Let’s go, Archelon.’

He spoke to Archelon in his heart.

Having spent more than a hundred years together, they understood each other’s hearts even without speaking.

THUD! THUD!

Archelon, which had stayed motionless until then out of concern for Pabilsa’s safety, moved its steps with difficulty.

In that instant, Lee Jung-ho’s complexion changed.

“Why did you move Archelon?”

“I did not move it.”

Pabilsa lied calmly without changing his expression. But Lee Jung-ho did not believe him.

“If you do not wish to die, stop Archelon at once.”

“Hoho! How could I stop this enormous turtle? You may as well kill me.”

“Killing you would not cancel the order, would it? Then what about your granddaughter?”

Lee Jung-ho’s sword blade turned toward Kaylee’s neck.

Gulp!

As the cold blade touched her neck, Kaylee swallowed dryly. But like Pabilsa, she did not beg for her life.

At the sight of the grandfather and granddaughter refusing to budge even under threat, Lee Jung-ho’s expression grew even fiercer.

He had not expected them to rebel.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Even at that moment, Archelon was moving toward Moby Dick.

Lee Jung-ho’s blade dug into Kaylee’s neck, and blood flowed.

“Hrk!”

Startled, Kaylee let out a groan. But even as tears fell from her eyes, she did not tell Pabilsa to stop Archelon.

Suddenly, Lee Jung-ho laughed.

“It seems I have looked too easy to you all this time. Since we have come this far, you are no longer needed anyway.”

The reason he had ridden Archelon was because he needed a guide to Moby Dick.

Now that his intended goal had already been achieved, it no longer mattered what happened to Archelon. Nor did the lives of Pabilsa and Kaylee......

It was the moment Lee Jung-ho was about to cut Kaylee’s neck.

CRASH—!

With an explosion, Archelon’s enormous body shook as if there had been an earthquake.

Because of that, Lee Jung-ho briefly lost his balance and staggered.

Pabilsa and Kaylee did not miss that opening and leapt into a hidden space inside Archelon’s shell.

It was a space like a kind of shelter.

Normally, it did not appear before people’s eyes, but the moment Pabilsa sent a signal, it appeared and activated.

From the moment Lee Jung-ho had threatened him, Pabilsa had prepared the shelter.

“This!”

By the time Lee Jung-ho realized it, the two had already vanished inside the shelter.

SLASH—!

He swung his sword, but it only passed through empty air.

That was because the shelter was a place similar to a kind of subspace.

“Damn it!”

At his failure after so long, Lee Jung-ho clicked his tongue.

If he followed his heart, he wanted to drag the two out immediately and cut off their heads, but the situation was not so simple.

CRASH—!

With an explosion, Archelon’s body shook again.

When he looked outside, the Gray Ogre was attacking Archelon with its aura-covered club.

Archelon’s enormous body was a perfect target to attack.

Moreover, right now, Archelon had lost its force field and was wounded, leaving it with no means of attack at all.

To the Gray Ogre, it was an ideal target.

It had already been enraged to the top of its head by the attacks of the lower-ranked monsters. There was nothing better than Archelon as a target to vent its anger on.

That was why the Gray Ogre had attacked Archelon.

CRASH! CRASH!

WOOOOR!

Each time the enormous aura-covered club struck its shell, Archelon screamed in pain. But Archelon stubbornly continued walking toward Moby Dick.

CRACK—!

Under the Gray Ogre’s attack, pieces of its shell broke away.

It was truly terrifying power.

Claire shouted to Lee Jung-ho,

“At this rate, even we’ll be in danger. We have to escape.”

“Can’t you control Archelon?”

“That’s impossible with my current ability. To take control of Archelon, I’d have to use the Rainbow Pendant, and if I do that, I won’t be able to use it on Moby Dick.”

“It cannot be helped. We abandon Archelon.”

“You made the right call.”

The two leapt from Archelon’s back at the same time.

As soon as they landed, the two ran into difficulty.

That was because monsters were swarming on the ground as well.

SLASH—!

“Do not fall behind. Follow me.”

Lee Jung-ho cut down the monster in front of him as he spoke to Claire.

Claire silently nodded and stuck close behind Lee Jung-ho.

It was literally a world of monsters.

Small monsters charged at Lee Jung-ho and Claire.

Wide-split mouths, sharp teeth, drool hanging long, and eyes filled with madness. All of it frightened Claire.

If she had been thrown into this situation alone, she would have become prey for the monsters in an instant. Fortunately, right now, she had someone to protect her.

SWISH! SLASH—!

The man cutting down the lower-ranked monsters without hesitation was Lee Jung-ho.

Claire did not like Lee Jung-ho.

That was because she knew his coldheartedness, which would allow him to cut down even his own blood relatives for the sake of a mission.

Conversely, because of that very trait, when he was on her side, he was more reliable than anyone.

Claire moved while sticking close to Lee Jung-ho’s back.

Kieeek!

Roooar!

Even at that moment, lower-ranked monsters were surging in like a tidal wave.

And on top of that, there was the Gray Ogre attacking Archelon.

They could not afford to look away or let their guard down for even an instant.

Just then—

ROOOAR!

The Crimson Drake, which had been attacked by lower-ranked monsters capable of flight, suddenly roared loudly and unleashed Fire Breath.

The Fire Breath burned not only the nearby lower-ranked flying monsters, but also the lower-ranked monsters on the ground.

The Giant Spider’s web also played a part.

The web that flew out, spreading widely like a net, melted countless lower-ranked monsters.

Most of the monsters that had covered Moby Dick’s domain in black were cleared out like that.

Only a few large-class monsters remained, including the Gray Ogre.

Among them was Archelon.

“Haa! Haa!”

Claire exhaled roughly.

Her face was scorched black.

She had avoided the Crimson Drake’s Fire Breath by a hair’s breadth. If her reaction had been even a little slower, she would have been roasted whole.

The same was true for Lee Jung-ho.

He wiped the sweat flowing down his forehead with his sleeve and looked around.

The scenery of the area had changed greatly from before.

Most of the lower-ranked monsters had vanished, and the plankton-like parasitic lifeforms that had been floating in the air had also burned away.

The area grew quiet enough that it was hard to believe such chaos had happened only moments ago.

Just then—

FLASH!

The shield protecting Moby Dick shone intensely for an instant, like a candle about to go out, then vanished in an instant.

When the shield disappeared, Moby Dick’s form, which had only been faintly visible, was revealed clearly.

A super-large monster, a full one hundred twenty meters long and with a body circumference of over thirty meters, floated gently in the air and looked down at them.

In that instant, Lee Jung-ho and Claire felt their minds grow distant.

It felt as if they were looking not at a giant monster, but at an omnipotent god.

An incomparable difference in standing made them tremble.

‘Crazy!’

Blood flowed from Lee Jung-ho’s mouth after his mind took a severe blow merely from facing Moby Dick.

Needless to say, it was even worse for Claire, whose mental strength was weaker.

At that moment, Claire’s eyes caught sight of a creature looking at them from directly beneath Moby Dick.

A pure white baby whale, like Moby Dick reduced to one hundredth its size, was sticking out its head.

“D-Don’t tell me it gave birth?”