novelThe ruins of an Ancient Empire
| ← Ch.073 | Ch.075 → |
Editor: Arya
Translator: Leyy
'W-What the hell...'
Kang Chul-In cursed, and nearly dropped his katana due to the astonishment he felt.
"Sigh..."
Nilus also sighed, as if he was speechless.
"S-Secretary Lucia."
James, who was also startled, called for Lucia.
"D-Do you know what those things are?"
"Do you think I would know?"
Lucia also said, and closed her eyes tightly.
"Be careful guys!'
Those things are very powerful!"
Only Dorian, who had experienced those 'things' was still tense, and nervous.
"This puppeteer's tastes... sigh..."
Kang Chul-In said, and sighed loudly.
The monsters that came out from the dark were... like Dorian said, dolls. They were dolls, and dolls that had cute designs.
They were even diverse.
Dolls ranging from teddy bears, wooden dolls with tuxedos, metal dolls shaped like knights, and even wax dolls shaped like beautiful ladies. It was as expected of a dungeon that seemed to have a puppeteer.
"Kang Chul-In! Be careful!"
Dorian said, like a stressed cat.
"I know."
Kang Chul-In then regained the focus that he had momentarily lost.
Although these dolls had cute exterior appearances, Kang Chul-In knew that they were monsters that just followed the order of the evil puppeteer.
The second that they relaxed was the second that they would die to the arms of these dolls.
"Milord!"
Lucia warned in her angelic voice. There was a gigantic teddy bear doll that was running towards them.
BOOM! BOOM!
Inside the small cave, the loud footsteps of the doll reverberated around the walls.
"I will stop it!"
Lucia held up her shield, Aegis, and stood in front of the Teddy Bear.
BANG!
And Lucia faltered.
'I-I'm getting pushed back?!'
Lucia was someone who had even stopped the attacks of an ogre. And she had even fought for a while against a female peacock dragon while using her 'War Machine mode'.
And that Lucia lost in terms of power. Although the Teddy Bear was over 3 meters tall, it was a sight that was difficult to believe.
Kang Chul-In caught the faltering Lucia. And holding the katana, 'Ifrita' in his hands, he stabbed towards the Teddy Bear.
Puuk.
And the pinkish sword stabbed itself in the midriff of the doll.
'Intraburst. '
After swinging a couple times, Kang Chul-In started using his most powerful moves. Due to the fact that these dolls had power exceeding that of an adult ogre, it was better to finish them off as quickly as possible.
Pzzt.. Pzzztt..
Sparks flew, and Kang Chul-In's mana flowed through Ifrita, before going inside the Teddy Bear. And....
BOOM!
With a loud sound, the Teddy Bear exploded, and fell backwards.
'Its working!'
Kang Chul-In was satisfied with the effect that the intraburst had on these dolls.
However impossibly... what Kang Chul-In thought was thoroughly wrong.
Like a zombie, the Teddy Bear stood back up, despite it's poor shape. Although the Intraburst and the fact that Ifrita was of the fire category, the Teddy Bear was on fire, it was still fully capable of moving.
'Cotton?'
Kang Chul-In was surprised.
He thought that if he had broken the machinery inside the doll it would be over, but that was not true.
There was just cotton inside. Just cotton, and no 'core' that most monsters would have.
'To think that it was pure Telekinesis...'
In order to control all of these monsters, the boss monster in this dungeon would have to be ridiculously powerful, and have to be the highest of the highest ranked Espers.
Did this make any sense?
Kang Chul-In thought to himself.
No named unit he had seen before, or even Overlord that he had seen before had this level of Telekinesis, and this was completely overturning everything that he had learnt about psychic users.
"Milord! The 'Dispel' spell isn't working on them!"
Nilus spoke, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"These things... they seem to be pure..."
"I know!"
Kang Chul-In shouted back.
"They are controlled purely by Telekinesis."
And as Kang Chul-In said that, he started chopping up a wooden doll in front of him.
"But there is no other way. We have to just fight."
If Nilus's dispel or Kang Chul-In's Intraburst didn't work, they could only force through using brute strength.
"Lucia!"
"Yes, milord!"
"Let's go!"
And the fantastic duo started running towards the dolls, and fought.
"I'm going to!"
And as Dorian shouted, a spike about 40cm came out of his gauntlet.
POW!
POW! POW!
And Dorian, who had learned from Kang Chul-In, started also using his own version of 'Intraburst'.
"Kuku... Telekinesis, huh."
Nilus chuckled, and two flames from each hand started to rise.
And these flames started to divide into many pieces before becoming snake-shaped, and wrapping around the dolls. Due to the fact that Nilus's mana control was so good, the serpents seemed to be alive, as they coiled around the dolls.
'Stupid dolls'.
Although these things were not technically dolls, it still made Kang Chul-In angry, as their attacks seemed to be useless against these cute little things.
WHINGG!!!
And as Kang Chul-In raged, a whirlpool comprised of mana started forming around him.
"Milord!"
"Stay back."
Kang Chul-In with Overdrive, an angry Kang Chul-In started dashing towards the dolls.
They stood up if he beat them up?
... Well then he would cut them up so bad that these dolls would not be able to move at all. Kang Chul-In was someone that could not stand frustration.
Shiiing!
Kang Chul-In's sword started shining brightly, due to the fact that so much mana was compressed into the sword at once.
This move was 'Sword Light', where once would be able to cut through anything.
PANG!
Kang Chul-In started to rampage around the battlefield...
Shing!
Crack, Crackk...
And the limbs of the dolls were cleanly chopped off.
"What the hell is that..."
Dorian, who was already shocked at the fact that Nilus was literally melting the living daylights out of the dolls, was once more shocked when he saw 30+ arms and legs being chopped off at once due to Kang Chul-In's Sword Light.
"Finish them off quickly."
Saying this, Kang Chul-In slowly and quietly left the battlefield.
"...Milord."
Knowing that Kang Chul-In had slightly overexerted himself, Lucia looked at him with worried eyes.
"Quickly."
But as Kang Chul-In ordered, she quickly began to finish off the dolls left behind.
"Nilus, burn them all up."
While the rest of the squad were fighting, Kang Chul-In leaned against the wall. Just like Lucia had thought, Kang Chul-In had overexerted himself while fighting.
Although it was for a short while, he had turned on Overdrive, and even activated 'Sword Light'. For someone of his level, this was something that should be carefully controlled.
Kang Chul-In was currently Level 36.
Although he was definitely at the top of the top out of all of the Dimension Travellers, it still was a little bit off of using Sword Light.
Sword Light was a move only meant for high leveled warriors.
Looking at the fact that Kang Chul-In had learned 'Sword Light' when he was Level 60, he had used a move that exceeded his Level by 24.
And thanks to this, Kang Chul-In's mana was at a measly 10%.
'Why was such a hard, difficult quest issued towards me?'
Kang Chul-In thought, while drinking a mana potion.
Normally, these kinds of insanely difficult quests would not be given without a reason. Yes. A reason. There must be a reason behind all of this.
"Milord, are you alright?"
Lucia was the first one that headed towards Kang Chul-In.
"I'm alright, I just used up an excessive amount of mana."
Kang Chul-In waved her away, showing that he was fine.
"From now on, we move slowly. We will try to avoid unnecessary fights, and keep our focus on finding and beating the owner of this dungeon quickly."
2nd day of the Dungeon Raid, Morning.
After fighting over 7 battles, the squad decided to take a short rest. The one on guard duty was Lucia.
'Milord...'
Lucia looked at the sleeping Kang Chul-In with warm feelings.
'He always tries to carry the weight of everything...'
The past two days, the one that had done basically all of the work was Kang Chul-In.
And the main reason for this was that the further they went in the narrower the cave got, which made Nilus unable to cast his wide-range spells that he was especially proficient in.
And due to the fact that Kang Chul-In was by far the strongest in One on One situations, he had to do most of the work.
'This Lucia, wants to become powerful...'
Nilus wasn't able to show his true prowess due to the size of the cave, and although Dorian was learning the 'Sword Light' from Kang Chul-In, he still had a long way to go.
Although James was doing his role fine and Lucia was also her doing her role well, the difficulty of the dungeon was just to high.
And due to these reasons, it came to the fact that Kang Chul-In was doing over 50% of the team's work.
'I must train more. '
Lucia told herself, thinking that she had to get rid of Kang Chul-In's load and help him.
'But the way he sleeps...'
Looking at the sleeping Kang Chul-In, Lucia's face turned red.
Kang Chul-In when sleeping had an ability to shake a woman's heart.
Due to the fact that Kang Chul-In lacked 'human like emotions', his sleeping self was something that was completely unexpected.
And especially for women like Lee Chae-rin or Lucia who had Kang Chul-In in their minds, it was easy for their thoughts to go astray.
'Milord... I... Milord... '
Thinking about this matter, Lucia's shoulders fell. It was obvious that something made her feel sad, and upset.
2nd day of the Dungeon Raid, Afternoon.
"Ohhh? Is this how it works?"
Dorian finally succeeded in putting some sword light onto the Needles of his gauntlet, albeit the fact that it was just a meagre amount. It was as expected of Dorian, who had monstrous natural talent.
3rd day of the Dungeon Raid, Morning.
The dungeon was like a maze.
No matter where they went, they seemed to be lost.
"Go on, dog."
Kang Chul-In used Jackpot, the seeker of Dorian actively.
Ruff... Ruff...
Jackpot looked exhausted, but always followed Kang Chul-In's orders, maybe out of fear.
"... Why are you bullying little Jack?"
Dorian complained.
"You should practice a bit more, untalented student."
But Kang Chul-In couldn't care less.
"This, I thought you said that I was the first person to learn this technique within two days..."
"Obviously, due to the fact that you were the first person I've taught this technique."
"... You conman."
Bark Bark!
But at that moment, Jackpot, who had traced the smell of the hostages, led the way.
'There is no blood stains or marks. '
Following Jack, Kang Chul-In thought that the hostages might still be alive.
3rd day of the Dungeon Raid, Afternoon.
"Damned... Bastard.. Psychopath... I will kill you..."
Out of Dorian's mouth came some terrifying words.
It made sense that he was angry.
If someone had to make it through everyday while fighting against gigantic doll monsters, barely making it alive every single encounter, it was understandable that one would be angry.
"I'm sick... and tired... of these dolls now..."
James, who was severely injured in his midriff and his left arm, spoke. No matter how powerful they were, they were just dolls. And due to this, their pride was severely damaged.
"Just endure for a little while. The dog while lead us there."
Kang Chul-In pointed towards Jackpot.
He was also very angry, and wanted to see the owner of the Dungeon right this instant to beat him up, but for now, Jack was the shortcut and the fastest way to the Boss.
4th day of the Dungeon Raid, Afternoon.
At this point, they lost track of time, and just followed aimlessly to where Jack went.
"This way."
Following Dorian and Jackpot, it lead to the end of the cave, and a gigantic metal door that was waiting for them.
"Ah..."
Looking at this, Nilus shouted in shock, as well as excitement.
"Your highness."
"What is it?"
"This place is no dungeon! This is your final safehold!"
Listening to this ridiculous story, Kang Chul-In's veins throbbed.
"Are you joking with me?"
"Your highness, I'm not joking right now! Look at this symbol over here!"
Nilus pointed at a symbol carved into the door, a mythical beast shaped like a Tiger.
"This is the god-beast of the Ancient Kingdom, the Altaica. This is definitely the emblem of the Ancient Kingdom, and there's no doubt that this is your safehold."
"This is an old ruin of an old kingdom, it seems."
What 'your highness'. Kang Chul-In only heard the words that he deemed useful to him.
"God-beast? A tiger that hatches from an egg? Don't tell me that there's going to be a tiger's egg in here or anything, right?"
Dorian said, without any sort of common sense.
'The ruins of an Ancient Republic, huh. It seems like the real dungeon begins from here onwards. '
With the end of the maze-like cave, the appearance of these huge metal doors meant the beginning of the true dungeon inside.
'I have to finish this off quickly, or the promise with Old man Kwon will become a mess. Do I really have to use that...'
But instead of showing interest, Kang Chul-In was preoccupied with other thoughts, and wanted nothing more than to kill the boss, collect the rewards, and leave.
But it was at that moment.
"M-Milord!"
Lucia spoke, surprised, and pointed towards Kang Chul-In's waistband. She was pointing at the Soul Core of the Laputa territory.
'It's reacting!'
Just like when they had first arrived in the dungeon, the Soul Core was shining in a bright light.
Creakk...
The giant metal doors started opening, and within the door came golden lights that flooded their eyes.
- I've been waiting, Lord of the Laputa territory. Now, I will test you...
A deep voice spoke towards them in the dark.
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