Chapter 30

Chapter 30.

 

Ha-kyung felt his vision go faint.

‘There are far too many of them.’

The number of Schism Wretches had more than doubled.

And just because they had split did not mean their bodies had grown smaller.

It was simply as if one creature had become two.

The raid party was being pushed back helplessly.

“Look at these rotten thugs. Fight us one-on-one, fair and square!”

“You want to come at me in a group? You think that will make me back down? Come on! Get in here!”

Of course, the Death Hound guild members were determined not to retreat.

But that was only their spirit.

Reality was not that forgiving.

The Schism Wretches knew no fear either.

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!

Countless spiked arms hammered against the tanks’ shields.

Groans burst out from all over.

“Uwaaagh! That hurts like hell!”

“I am dying from the pain too, so stop yelling!”

“Wait, damn it! Who are you?”

“John.”

“If you have the strength to talk nonsense, then help push these bastards back!”

“My name really is John! John Nager!”

“You are making jokes in this situa…… Huh? You really are a foreigner.”

“Never seen a foreign worker before, you idiot? Look ahead! Ahead!”

BOOM!

There was some minor discord with the guest members.

Even so, the raid party’s front line was holding up well.

But Ha-kyung felt as if the world in front of him had gone dark.

‘There are too many.’

Was that not a monster army of nearly a thousand?

On top of that, each individual creature had fairly high combat ability.

Ha-kyung quickly scanned the dungeon.

‘There is no angle to use Kin-Eater.’

The Abyss of Infestation had been a dungeon inside the body of a giant monster.

That was why he had been able to use Kin-Eater on that unidentified creature.

But right now, there was no being with powerful abyss energy nearby.

Then the edge of the corridor suddenly entered Ha-kyung’s eyes.

“Huh? They are falling.”

Because of the overwhelming proliferation, there was no room left to set foot.

The Schism Wretches were trying to secure space however they could.

However, because the corridor was so narrow, the ones on the outer edges were being pushed outside.

Into the pitch-black space that looked like the universe.

Naturally, the ones that fell out of the dungeon could not return.

Ha-kyung recalled the Abyss of Collapse.

‘There was a place similar to this back then too.’

Had the Black Water guild members not fallen there?

That was why Diamond Wall, Yoon Chang-ho, had also been unable to return to the dungeon.

Naturally, throwing monsters out would produce the same result.

Ha-kyung felt as if his mind had suddenly lit up.

He immediately headed toward the outer edge of the corridor, which was bordered by jagged stone.

Then several Schism Wretches unleashed attacks at him.

SH-SH-SH-SH-SH!

A barrage of spiked arms poured down like machine-gun fire.

One wrong move, and he might be turned into a pincushion.

Ha-kyung deflected the attacks precisely with his karambit.

At the same time, he thrust out his left arm.

WHIRL! SNAP!

Abyss Refinement unfolded in the form of a rope and seized a Schism Wretch.

Immediately afterward, Ha-kyung shifted his center of gravity in the opposite direction.

“Hraaaap!”

The muscles and veins in his arm bulged.

One Schism Wretch was dragged over whole.

“Kieeet?”

SH-SH-SH!

The creature flailed its spiked arms, but it was useless.

Ha-kyung’s Abyss Refinement was much longer, so its attacks could not reach him.

Soon, the Schism Wretch had become a gigantic flail.

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!

The huge lump of flesh swept through the corridor like an iron mace.

The monsters crowded along the edge were knocked out in droves.

Outside the dungeon’s corridor.

Into the abyssal pit whose depth could not be known.

Ha-kyung cheered inwardly.

‘That is it!’

However, it was not without problems.

His body kept staggering.

The difference in weight between him and the Schism Wretch was simply too great.

Ha-kyung grabbed the “refinement rope” with both hands.

Then he planted his feet into the floor.

Only then could he swing it more steadily.

WHOOM! WHOOM! WHOOM! WHOOM! THUD-THUD-THUD!

After swinging the flail for a while, the area around him was cleared.

Ha-kyung threw even the creature he had been holding outside the dungeon.

‘It is all broken up, so the efficiency has dropped.’

But that did not matter.

He just had to get a new one.

WHIRL! SNAP!

Ha-kyung caught another Schism Wretch with the refinement rope.

Then he began swinging it madly, just as before.

After moving along the outer edge for roughly five minutes,

Kang Woo-jin’s shout came through Whisperer.

―Lee Ha-kyung is devastating the enemy’s rear! Hold on just a little longer!

It was a hopeful message.

However, the raid party’s morale did not improve.

They could not see what Ha-kyung was doing.

And the front line was still at a disadvantage.

“Master! At this rate, we are all going to die!”

“Even a headbutting dinosaur’s skull can crack!”

“John tired! John damn tired!”

Then the moment came when the healers’ care was cut off abruptly.

It could not be helped.

There were forty people on the front line.

But only fourteen healers.

The fact that they had held out until now was entirely thanks to the Great Sage’s existence.

However, no matter how outstanding an Awakened person was, there was a limit to their mana.

Once the healers fell silent, the front line reached the brink of destruction.

THUD-DUDUNG! KRA-CLANG!

“Aaaagh! John dies! Save the foreign worker!”

With that single scream, the foreign tank named John was sent flying.

Soon, the Schism Wretches surged toward the hole in the front line.

It was a tremendous crisis, enough to invite total annihilation.

But right then,

WHOOM! WHOOM! WHOOM! RUMBLE!

With a distinctive roar cutting through the air, the Schism Wretches flew away like bowling pins.

At that moment,

The raid party’s front line collectively wore blank expressions.

The scene was so absurd that their minds had simply frozen.

“Wh-what is this?”

“Isn’t Lee Ha-kyung the Immortal Tyrant? The one who joined as a guest member.”

“I could not even see him, so what exactly did he…… Huh?”

Just as someone’s doubtful remark was about to end,

The team members finally saw the true nature of his performance.

WHOOOOSH! THUD-THUD-THUD!

Ha-kyung was spinning a gigantic lump of flesh in circles.

He was skillfully sending the Schism Wretches flying.

There was not even any need to fight them.

All he had to do was knock them out of the dungeon, and it was over.

While everyone stared with stunned faces,

John, who had fallen earlier, stood up and lamented.

“Oh no! All those precious things are going straight to hell.”

“What are you talking about? Your life comes before monster loot.”

“That is true, but…… this is an Extreme-grade dungeon, bro.”

“Hm. Now that you mention it, it does feel like a bit of a waste.”

Perhaps he had heard the team members’ voices,

Because Kang Woo-jin gave an order through Whisperer.

―Lee Ha-kyung, I think that should be enough. Thank you for your hard work.

Ha-kyung released the refinement rope he had been swinging.

Then the Schism Wretch hanging from the end flew away like a cannonball.

CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!

It felt too disappointing to end it there, so he had given it one last satisfying shot.

Now there were roughly fifty Schism Wretches left.

Ha-kyung shrugged.

‘They should be able to win against that many.’

Sure enough,

The raid party cleanly wiped out the monster army.

Ha-kyung soon returned to his original position near the rear line.

Then the Great Sage spoke to him with a slightly flushed face.

“H-how did you do that just now?”

“Do what?”

“Using your refinement ability like a rope…….”

“Did I not show you before? At the stone mountain in The Void.”

When the Obsidian Titan had attacked,

Ha-kyung had rescued three team members with the refinement rope.

However, it seemed the Great Sage had not seen that scene.

Because Ha-kyung had thrown them more than ten meters upward at the time.

In any case, Ha-kyung found it strange.

“Can’t everyone do that?”

“Of course, a few short strands might be possible. But what you used just now was far too large and majestic…… no, I mean, long and sturdy.”

Now that they mentioned it, Ha-kyung noticed what had changed from before.

Originally, his refinement rope had been about three centimeters thick.

But just now, it had been nearly ten centimeters thick.

That was why he had been able to swing around a Schism Wretch.

Even though it was large enough to be considered a medium-sized monster.

Ha-kyung felt keenly that he was different from other Awakened people.

‘It is because of the abyss energy. It is much stickier and stronger than mana.’

On top of that, when mixed with mana, it became even more powerful.

That was the secret that allowed Ha-kyung to stand shoulder to shoulder with top-class Awakened people.

Then the Great Sage suddenly asked a rather different question.

“By the way, why are those people rushing over here?”

“Yes? What do you mean all of a sudden…….”

“I should step away for now.”

Ha-kyung could not help but be puzzled.

This was where the Great Sage should be.

Where were they going?

Soon, Ha-kyung understood the reason.

The front-line team members were rushing toward him all at once.

“Uwaaah! What are you?”

“Grab him! Grab him and throw him!”

“Toss him up! Toss him!”

“John feels damn good!”

Ha-kyung instinctively stepped backward.

However, there was nowhere to run.

If he went any farther back, he would be outside the dungeon.

He would be sent flying into the abyssal pit.

With no other choice, he was caught by the front-line team members.

“Long live the Immortal Tyrant!”

“Hey, hey! Be gentle. He might get hurt.”

“They say he is immortal, right? He should be fine.”

“Ah, who cares? Throw him!”

Ha-kyung repeatedly shot up more than ten meters and fell back down.

It was a truly dizzying level of celebratory tossing.

The frenzied party only ended after Kang Woo-jin intervened.

―Now, now. That is enough. We will reorganize and then proceed with the raid.

Ha-kyung sat down on the floor.

While he was catching his breath for a moment, Kang Woo-jin approached.

“Hah! Our guild members are rather hot-blooded. I hope you can understand them generously.”

“They were doing that because they were grateful, so what is there to understand or not understand?”

“As expected, you are broad-minded. Unlike someone else, you think deeply.”

“Deeply? I was only thinking that I should never get caught by them again.”

“……Ahem!”

Perhaps Ha-kyung’s answer had caught him off guard,

Because Kang Woo-jin merely cleared his throat for no reason.

A short while later,

The raid party began exploring the Abyss of Proliferation.

After that one scare, their scouting became thorough and cautious.

Thanks to that, they managed to avoid the next group of Schism Wretches.

After passing through tangled corridors, the raid party finally arrived at its destination.

It was the space where the guardian slept.

[You have encountered Crack Swarm, the guardian of the Abyss Dungeon]

A dark red mass was crouched in the center of a wide, round space.

Dozens of cracks opened and closed repeatedly each time they pulsed.

As the raid party entered the guardian’s nest, a horrifying phenomenon occurred.

From within Crack Swarm’s fissures, arms and legs emerged.

Things like eyeballs attached to long tissues popped out.

It was far more repulsive than the Schism Wretches.

Perhaps it had discovered the raid party.

Crack Swarm opened its fissures and roared.

“Kweeeeek!”

Immediately afterward, eight legs and dozens of spiked tentacles sprouted from it.

Its form looked as if several monsters had been fused together.

But unlike the Schism Wretches,

Its ability was not so simple.

[Crack Swarm releases Colony Overlap]

Ha-kyung could not help but tilt his head.

‘It is not using a skill, but releasing one?’