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Solo Leveling Novel Chapter 34 Average 5 / 5 out of 1
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26th, it has 4 monthly views
Summary
The shadow soldiers rapidly closed in on their targets. Unfortunately, the angry swipes of the Ice Bears’ front paws were faster than their movements.
Swing!
Kwajeek!!
A single hit, and one shadow soldier was obliterated.
If it wasn’t a ‘shadow’ underneath the armours but an actual human being, that attack would surely have ripped him apart into several pieces.
‘Hmm…’
Jin-Woo frowned deeply.
‘As I thought, did I ask for too much?’
Whether it was their physical strength or their body sizes, these Ice Bears were difficult enemies for the shadow soldiers to fight against.
However, something quite surprising happened next.
‘Heok!’
Jin-Woo’s eyes opened wider.
The soldier with its chest torn open by the Ice Bear’s attack suddenly transformed into a clump of black smoke just before it fell to the ground.
Pooof!
The black smoke coagulated in a spot a couple of steps away and it reverted back to its original appearance.
‘Very good!’
Jin-Woo’s expression brightened up.
The ‘undeads’ – he remembered this crucial fact that he had unwittingly forgotten about until now.
The Ice Bear became even more agitated than before after realising its attack was all for nothing, and it roared out loudly.
ROOOAR!!
And so, as the infantrymen bought time out in front, the magic soldiers standing at the back had completed their spells.
Boom!!
Kaboom!!
The balls of flames leaving the ends of the magic soldiers’ hands exploded here, there, and everywhere. The shadow soldiers swept up in the explosions regenerated right away, but on the other hand, the Ice Bears could only roll around screaming in sheer pain and agony, as their bodies caught on fire.
Roooar!!
Growl!!
Meanwhile, the shadow soldiers didn’t waste time and swiftly approached the defenceless Bears, before stabbing down on them with their blades.
Stab!!
Staaaaab!!!
One by one, the triumphant and arrogant Ice Bears were falling at the cooperative tactics of the shadow infantrymen and the magic soldiers.
‘Hiya….’
Jin-Woo continued to spectate on the proceedings with an expression filled with great interest and happiness.
The infantrymen and their quick regenerative abilities; the magic soldiers and their superb firepower.
The overall combat prowess of the shadow soldiers had far exceeded his initial expectations.
Soon, the Ice Bears were forced into retreat by the might of the shadow soldiers and were pushed back towards the entrance of the caves.
He was thinking that the end of the battle was drawing near, but then….
ROOOOAR!!
Accompanied by the eardrum-shaking roar, a huge shadow slowly emerged from one of the caves.
“Isn’t that…..”
Even Jin-Woo’s eyes grew extra round and super-large.
The bear that came out was at least a head taller and double the body size compared to others around it.
Rooar!!
Just a single swipe from this huge bear, and multiple soldiers were blown away.
SWOOOSH-!!
Kabboooomm!!
The regeneration rate of the soldiers could not keep up with the huge Ice Bear’s relentless attacks.
Kwajeeeck!!
Slam!!
Jin-Woo could only leak out a groan after seeing that.
“So, it’s the leader of the pack, is it….?”
He kind of suspected that, since there was a pack, there should be a leader leading it, too. However, the b*stard turned out to much bigger and stronger than he had anticipated.
“Krooaar!!”
The huge Ice Bear leader obliterated all the shadow soldiers appearing before it, and approached Jin-Woo at a frightening speed.
It was at this point that a message popped up in his view.
Tti-ring.
[Your Mana has been depleted and shadow soldiers cannot regenerate anymore.]
[Your Mana has been depleted and shadow soldiers cannot regenerate anymore.]
‘What??’
He hurriedly checked his MP value, and just as the System had warned him, it was totally gone.
[MP: 0/1860]
Once his MP had been drained. The obliterated shadow soldiers didn’t regenerate and simply entered back into Jin-Woo’s shadow.
In other words, in order to regenerate the lost soldiers, he needed lots more Mana.
‘That d*mn Mana….’
One more reason to enhance his Intelligence Stat, then.
Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head. With the appearance of the Ice Bear leader, the flow of the battle had reversed completely.
However, Jin-Woo still had plenty of leeway.
‘Since their boss has shown up, this side should also step up.’
Jin-Woo, still standing there with his arms crossed, summoned the ‘boss’ of the shadow soldiers.
“Igrit!!”
One more shadow escaped from Jin-Woo’s shadow.
And from that shadow, a knight wearing a helm with decorative mane rose up soundlessly.
Jin-Woo pointed forward with his chin.
Igrit bowed to Jin-Woo, before rushing towards the Ice Bear leader.
Tap, tap, tap, tap!
Igrit lightly evaded the Ice Bear leader’s front paw, and slid between its hind legs. It brushed past the hind legs again, pulled out a dagger and cut the Bear’s tendon.
“Rooar?!”
That was the beginning.
Igrit unsheathed his longsword and deftly evaded the Bear’s enraged attacks, all the while shaving away at the giant monster’s body with his blade.
Tendons, claws, front paw, legs, torso – bits and chunks of meat from various areas of the monster sheared off and fell to the ground piece by piece.
“Huh….”
Jin-Woo could only gasp out in admiration at Igrit’s crafty and elaborate movements.
The last place Igrit hit was the bear’s head.
Slice!
The giant Ice Bear’s head separated from its body and flew away. Before it landed on the ground, though, Igrit easily snatched it. He trod proudly towards Jin-Woo, and knelt before him.
Plop.
And then, he placed the dead bear’s head before Jin-Woo’s feet. It was as if the knight was presenting the spoils of victory to his sovereign.
Jin-Woo swallowed dry saliva and gazed at the kneeling Igrit and his bowed head.
‘If Igrit decided to use his sword from the beginning, would I have been able to defeat him?’
The Ice Bears, without their leader present, lost all semblance of order and became utterly confused, before they were cleanly swept away by the remaining shadow soldiers. That brought about the end to the battles.
The result was truly satisfying.
[Shadow Infantryman Lv. 2]
[Shadow Infantryman Lv. 3]
[Shadow Infantryman Lv. 2]
[Shadow magic soldier Lv. 2]
The levels of the soldiers had risen up nicely. Also, as these shadow soldiers were seen as a part of his skill, even Jin-Woo’s level had risen up by 3.
Most of all, there was another point he found much to his liking.
“Rise up.”
[Shadow extraction was a success.]
[Shadow extraction was a success.]
[Shadow extraction was a success.]
….And that point would be the fact that he could recruit new ‘friends’ now.
Roooarr….
From the shadows of several Ice Bears that Jin-Woo had selected, which obviously included the boss bear, black shapes began to slowly rise up.
‘And I thought that armour-wearing bears would pop up….’
His expectation turned out to be far off the mark, unfortunately.
These creatures came with the name tag that said ‘shadow beast soldier’; at a casual glance, they kind of resembled bears, but it was still difficult to tell whether these monsters were actually corporeal or not.
The creatures continued to pant as the black steam-like fog rose up from their backs.
‘Well, uh, they might not look that great but, they are definitely the shadows of the Ice Bears.’
That explosive strength, that destructive power!! Without a doubt, they would prove to be useful.
It happened then.
Rooaarrr…
Jin-Woo’s ears twitched after hearing the roars of bears coming from the distance. There were several of them, as a matter of fact.
‘Meaning, this isn’t the only bear farm, huh?’
It was already getting too late today, so should he pay a visit there tomorrow?
A bright smile formed on Jin-Woo’s face.
“Uwaaahk!!”
“Keo-heok!!”
His comrades screamed in despair.
Kim Cheol’s bloodshot eyes shot open wide.
‘No, this can’t be!!’
How can I….
How can this Kim Cheol fail?!
He was supposed to become the elite of the White Tiger Guild. They even trained him with the special program so he’d enter the Guild’s main combat force right away.
However, to fail like this?
He could not acknowledge it.
While enduring against the biting cold and starvation, they fought off against a group of snowmen. Then, they encountered snow giants. They lost two of their numbers, but in the end, emerged victorious against the giants. He thought that the conquest of this ‘dungeon’ was going according to plan.
However….
However!!
As soon as the desperate struggle against the snow giants ended, the White Phantoms sneak attacked from the rear as if they were waiting for this chance.
These wicked, treacherous b*stards had been in hiding, waiting for the raid team to exhaust all their stamina first.
What happened next was a one-sided massacre. In the blink of an eye, the Hunters were annihilated.
“C-captain!!”
A fallen Hunter reached out towards Kim Cheol with his bloodied hand.
Kim Cheol could only retreat in faltering steps.
Suddenly, a White Phantom appeared on top of this fallen Hunter. It pulled out a dagger and swiped it under the Hunter’s neck.
“K-keogeok?!”
The White Phantom smiled as it sliced the neck off and raised its head to look at Kim Cheol.
Kim Cheol could only scream in terror.
“U, uwaaaaaah!!”
And then, not even taking one look behind him, he ran straight into the forest.
There were Ice Bears in the forest?
Compared to snowmen, snow giants, and the White Phantoms that appeared before him, those unseen Ice Bears came across as laughable existences right now.
Kim Cheol summoned every ounce of his energy and ran, and then ran even harder.
The White Phantoms glared at the departing back of fleeing Kim Cheol and raised their bow. Just as they took aim and got ready to fire….
A White Phantom with white hair extending all the way down to its waist raised its arm and stopped the attack.
The White Phantoms lowered their bows.
‘…….’
When the long-haired ‘Elf’ signalled the others to follow Kim Cheol, the White Phantoms began disappearing from where they stood one by one.
Kim Cheol ran out of the thick bushes.
“Pant, pant, pant….”
He couldn’t catch his breaths at all. Still, when he recalled the derisive smirks on the White Phantoms’ faces as they massacred the Hunters, he felt like peeing himself from fear.
His gaze inexplicably lowered to his hands.
He couldn’t feel much from his frozen hands now. He had lost all feelings in his feet a long time ago.
In his current condition, he couldn’t even fight properly.
‘If it weren’t for this d*mn cold…. No, if we weren’t starving for several days, we wouldn’t have been annihilated like that.’
In the end, Kim Cheol couldn’t acknowledge the failure of the raid team… no, his own failure.
Muttering to himself, Kim Cheol raised his head.
‘By the way, where am I? How deep in the forest is this?’
Kim Cheol began scanning the surroundings. Then, he picked up on a faint smell coming from a distance.
Kim Cheol began following that smell.
It wasn’t that far.
Once he walked past the trees and escaped out into an open area, he was greeted by an unbelievable spectacle.
‘But, how can this be?!’
He found over twenty dead Ice Bears surrounding a cave entrance.
And he thought it was odd to not see a single Ice Bear when every single tree was marked by them!
“What is going on here?”
Kim Cheol investigated the conditions of the carcasses. They all showed sword-inflicted wounds. Some of them even had signs of being burnt alive.
Almost immediately, Kim Cheol thought about Seong Jin-Woo and the Hunters following him.
“Could they have….? Did they do this to these Ice Bears?”
No, it couldn’t be.
Kim Cheol shook his head.
The wounds on Ice Bears were inflicted with long swords. As far as he knew, none of the Hunters that went into the forest used a sword.
‘Besides, the two rank E Hunters didn’t even wield any weapons.’
If he were to look at the situation objectively, then there was no chance that those people were still alive. In that case, there could be only one explanation.
‘There are White Phantoms nearby!’
His heart fell to the pit of his stomach.
Here he was, thinking that he had finally lost those d*mnable White Phantoms, yet they were actually residing close by!
Scared stiff now, Kim Cheol held his breath and hurriedly returned to the forest.
A little bit further away, and a little bit faster than before…
He wanted to escape from the territory of the White Phantoms as soon as possible.
Around the same time.
“Krrooaar….”
An Ice Bear cried out and fell to the ground.
Shadow soldiers pounced on it and made sure it was no longer able to draw breath.
[Level up!]
“Very nice….”
Jin-Woo was standing at another ‘bear farm’.
It had been five days since his arrival in this snowy world. He had already cleaned up three bear farms in the meantime.
‘Looks like I’ve killed most of the bears in this forest.’
His level had risen up quite a bit during this time. It was the same story for his soldiers, too. Initially, they had to attack a bear in a pair to kill it, but now, they could eke out a victory in a one-on-one fight.
This was very satisfying.
Once the Stats of the soldiers rose up, Jin-Woo assigned them different roles.
He could store 30 shadows now. 28 soldiers participated in battles, one went around picking up magic crystals, while the remaining one secured the bear meat.
He didn’t even have to move a finger but still ended up with loot from the Hunts, so this was proving to be oh-so-convenient for him.
‘I can’t sense the presence of other monsters around here anymore.’
It seemed that he had more or less took care of all the monsters inside the forest.
In that case….
‘Should I think about killing the boss?’
It could be at least a month, or in the worst case scenario, several months before the dungeon break occurs. He couldn’t just sit here and wait for a Gate that who knows when it’d open up.
‘And, I still need to kill that insolent little Elf b*stard, too….’
That measly monster that dared to provoke Hunters. Its cocky grin still remained etched in his memory.
The scent of meat coming was from somewhere.
Sniff, sniff….
Kim Cheol sniffed the air with his nose, now super-perceptive due to his extreme hunger.
The only food he ate since his imprisonment behind the Red Gate was a single rabbit. Picking up on the smell of food, he reflexively swallowed down his ravenous saliva.
‘Gulp.’
Perhaps, the White Phantoms were having a meal nearby.
‘Still, if their numbers are low, then….’
Then, he could subdue them and snatch away their food. His hunger was extreme enough for him to arrive at such a conclusion.
‘Let’s go and take a look.’
Kim Cheol walked as silently as possible and cautiously approached the source of the smell.
And eventually….
He hid inside the bush, and discovered the Hunters who had left along with Jin-Woo. Kim Cheol’s eyes grew wider from the revelation.
‘What the hell??’
The smell of meat was coming from the campfire they had raised.
‘How can they still be alive?!’
Kim Cheol began glaring.
He couldn’t find one rank E Hunter among their midst.
‘He must’ve been killed first after taking the lead like a fool.’
That would be an obvious thing, wasn’t it?
However, there was a not-so-obvious spectacle unfolding before his eyes. So, how should he go about explaining this situation, then?
Something didn’t add up.
‘Wait, hold up. Their attire….?!’
Clothes and blankets designed to keep warm, tents and several pieces of equipment could be seen. They were obviously well prepared.
‘Just how can this be?!’
Kim Cheol was getting flustered even more, but then, his gaze had stopped by at a certain place.
It was a piece of bread sitting next to sizzling meat.
Meaning, these people even had food ready.
His confusion immediately morphed into a rage.
‘These b*stards….!!’
Grit.
Kim Cheol began gritting his teeth.
They had enough supplies to ensure their continued survival, yet they wanted to hog them all for themselves?!
‘If my hands hadn’t frozen up, no, if only I wasn’t starving, I’d have easily dealt with those Ice Elves!!’
Realising that these b*stards had snatched away the crucial supplies that should’ve been shared among the rest of the team, he couldn’t hold back his fury anymore.
Kim Cheol angrily ran out of the bush.
“You sons of b*tches!!”
Park Hui-Jin quickly shot up from her spot, clearly surprised.
“Kim Cheol? How did you get here??”
She found it rather difficult to lie here and say it was good to see him again. Because… Kim Cheol’s glare was full of murderous intent.
Indeed, he didn’t even bother to mask his hostility.
“My raid team failed to conquer this dungeon because of the lack of supplies, yet how can all of you find yourselves with this much food and this type of equipment?!”
“That is…..”
Park Hui-Jin couldn’t continue on. If she mentioned Jin-Woo here, then Kim Cheol’s rage would be directed towards the youth. To her, Jin-Woo was her saviour.
‘Also, that man always looked at Jin-Woo in a suspicious manner.’
Park Hui-Jin shut her mouth immediately.
That prompted Kim Cheol’s eyes to open even wider in anger.
“Even I don’t think all of you were complicit in this crime. So, who had hidden these?! Tell me the truth, and I will ignore everything else.”
A thick vein popped up on Kim Cheol’s neck.
“Tell me who monopolised all the gear and drove his comrades to death!!”
His angry roar reverberated throughout the forest.
Kim Cheol was planning to shed blood here if it would appease the sin of betraying his comrades.
“I’ll count to three. If you don’t reveal who it was by then, I’ll take it as the sign of all of you being complicit in this matter.”
Hahn Song-Yi tugged at Park Hui-Jin’s sleeve.
“U-unni….”
Park Hui-Jin hugged Hahn Song-Yi. Both Goh Myung-Hwan and Yun Ki-Joong swallowed their saliva as cold sweat soaked their backs.
Kim Cheol was a rank A. Even if everyone present worked together, they wouldn’t be able to win against him. However, none of them still mentioned Jin-Woo’s name.
“One.”
Kim Cheol yanked loose his sword from the scabbard attached to his waist.
“Two!”
Even then, the lower ranked Hunters showed not one sign of opening their mouths.
How dare lower ranked Hunters ignore his order?
That point alone stoked the flames of Kim Cheol’s anger even higher.
‘Just what these b*stards think of me as….?’
Murderous intent burned brightly in his eyes.
He’d kill that woman first.
He’d kill Park Hui-Jin before anyone else, the one who betrayed the raid team and left along with these lower ranked Hunters.
‘That’s right, she left the raid team because she must’ve been scheming something.’
He could only think that way.
Kim Cheol stood before Park Hui-Jin and spat out the last countdown.
“Three.”
Park Hui-Jin squeezed her eyes shut.
It was then.
“Four.”
POW!
Kim Cheol was struck super-hard by something in the back of his head and kissed the ground as his entire body slid across the snowy ground for several metres.
The eyes of the Hunters grew wider.
“Team leader!!”
Jin-Woo had hit Kim Cheol so hard that steam was still rising up from his palm.
Jin-Woo spoke in a dumbfounded voice.
“How dare you speak rubbish when it was you who drove your friends to death?!”
“Jin-Woo oppa!”
Hahn Song-Yi displayed her happiness as tears formed in her eyes.
“Team leader!”
It wasn’t as much as Hahn Song-Yi, but still, the two male Hunters’ expressions also brightened up considerably. Park Hui-Jin also breathed a sigh of relief after confirming Jin-Woo’s face.
Unfortunately, Jin-Woo didn’t have much leeway to respond to their welcomes.
“Ssh!”
Jin-Woo placed his finger on his lips and gestured them to keep quiet. The four people, seemingly getting ready to embrace Jin-Woo at any moment now, all froze up like ice statues.
Park Hui-Jin cautiously asked.
“W-what’s the matter?”
Jin-Woo glared at the fainted Kim Cheol, the dumb b*stard who deserved to be beaten up, before turning around.
“Looks like Kim Cheol brought along unwanted visitors.”
He sensed countless presences hiding in the forest. Right now wasn’t the time to worry about Kim Cheol or Go Cheol or whatever. The real problem lay elsewhere, after all.
Shururu…
After sensing Jin-Woo’s glare, the White Phantoms undid their stealth and revealed themselves one by one. At a quick count, there were around 20 of them.
And among them…
Jin-Woo’s glare was fixed on a long-haired White Phantom riding on horseback.
‘….That has to be the boss.’
An overwhelmingly mighty aura was coming from that creature, incomparably heavier than any Ice bears and the White Phantoms near it.
If that guy wasn’t the boss of this dungeon, then just who else could be?
For the first time in a long while, Jin-Woo’s skin broke out in goosebumps.
Just as Jin-Woo was shivering ever so softly from its powerful aura, the boss also recognised Jin-Woo’s strength in one go.
“So, there really was one. A truly worthy being among all the human trash.”
“….What did you just say?”
“…?”
When Jin-Woo spat out a response purely out of reflex, the boss displayed an expression of pure surprise.
“You, can you understand our language?”
Jin-Woo was also taken aback.
‘How is it possible to converse with this guy?!’
Not only could he understand what a monster was saying, but he could also actually converse with it, too.
A language he couldn’t even remember learning before fluently rolled out of his mouth as if it was his mother tongue.
“You…. You know how to speak the language of the monsters?!”
Park Hui-Jin’s expression said her shock was so extreme that she didn’t know what to do now. Seeing that, Jin-Woo realised that only he could understand what that boss was saying here.
‘Is this because of the System?’
Like, an automatic translation feature?
Jin-Woo shifted his gaze back to the boss. The boss returned the gaze with great interest.
“To be able to converse…. Very good. There is someone I wanted to introduce to you.”
The boss pointed at one of the White Phantoms standing behind it.
“I’m sure you’re familiar with him already.”
Jin-Woo’s glare sharpened instantly. Indeed, he recognised that particular White Phantom.
‘That guy is….’
That guy was none other than the b*stard that fired an arrow at Hahn Song-Yi before breaking out in a mocking grin. How could he forget that arrogant b*stard’s face?
That exact same smile was still etched on the monster’s face.
“This friend informed me of a truly strong being among the humans. And this friend wishes to challenge you to a duel, so how ab…..”
Even before the boss finished his words, the ‘Knight Killer’ Jin-Woo threw flew in a straight line.
Stab!!
And the dagger landed right in the middle of the grinning White Phantom’s face.
“Heok!”
The shocked cry came from the Hunters, though, Yun Ki-Joong hurriedly covered his mouth to stifle the cry he let loose inadvertently just now.
Plop.
The White Phantom collapsed on the ground.
Jin-Woo extended his hand out, and the ‘Knight Killer’ buried in the dead Elf’s face shook around a little before it got pulled out and flew back to him. Jin-Woo grasped the returned ‘Knight Killer’ in reverse grip and lowered his posture.
“Anything else you want to say?”
The boss spoke up in admiration.
“….You are indeed very strong.”
Then, it climbed off the horse. However, as if it wasn’t planning to fight yet, it didn’t draw its weapons nor showed any willingness to engage in battles.
“However, you know this already, don’t you?”
The boss maintained a leisurely expression and continued to engage him.
“….That you can’t fight this number all by yourself.”
There were over twenty Ice Elves here.
However, their number wasn’t important. No, the real danger came from the fact that there was the boss monster among them.
The rest of the White Phantoms were no match for Jin-Woo, who had raised his level as much as he could by hunting every single Ice bear in this forest.
….Exactly like the fool who got killed with a dagger to its face.
‘So, how should I go about killing the boss?’
While Jin-Woo began kicking his brain into gear, the boss continued on.
“So, I shall make a simple suggestion.”
“A suggestion?”
“That’s right. It won’t be such a bad suggestion for yourself.”
“….”
Jin-Woo was inwardly surprised.
It was a well-known fact that humanoid type monsters possessed intelligence. But he never expected to see a monster trying to negotiate with a human. So, he couldn’t help but get curious here.
“….I’ll hear it.”
The boss smiled as if it had expected that answer and opened its mouth.
“Before that, I want to ask you something.”
“…..?”
“Why are you among these humans, when you’re not one of them?”
Jin-Woo’s expression crumpled deeply.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Ahaha. It seems that you have no idea.”
The boss guffawed out loudly, before pointing to its temple.
“Every one of us can hear a certain voice repeating itself in our heads. It tells us to kill humans. However, I can’t hear that voice when I’m looking at you.”
‘Ah.’
That’s what this guy meant?
In that case, Jin-Woo could think of a reason for that.
‘When the boss says humans, it’s probably talking about Hunters.’
The thing was, he had changed to this strange something called ‘Player’ through the System, during his ordeal in the underground temple. Technically speaking, he was slightly different from other Hunters – meaning, other Awakened human beings.
‘That’s why that guy thinks I’m not a human.’
That made perfect sense.
When Jin-Woo’s expression slowly changed to that of an understanding, the boss nodded its head.
“There is no need for us to fight each other. And our side does not wish to see needless casualties, as well.”
The boss finally got to the main topic.
“Hand over the humans behind you. Then, we will guarantee your life. How does my suggestion sound to you?”
Before he answered, Jin-Woo asked back.
“I want to ask you something, too.”
“Fine. Go ahead.”
“Just who are you? Where did you come from, and why do you wish to kill humans?”
“We are….”
It happened then.
The smiling face of the boss suddenly froze stiff. But, that odd state lasted only for a brief moment. The boss regained its original expression and continued on.
“There is no need for us to fight each other. And our side does not wish to see needless casualties, as well.”
‘What the hell was that?’
Jin-Woo frowned deeply.
The boss repeated itself like an NPC from a game that was asked a question that was not in the script, or one that it was not permitted to answer, to begin with.
“Hand over the humans behind you. Then, we will guarantee your life. How does my suggestion sound to you?”
Its expression showed how relaxed it was. In other words, it had not recognised how odd its own actions were. The White Phantoms standing behind didn’t display any reaction towards the boss’s strange behaviour, either.
‘…….’
Jin-Woo continued to wordlessly observe then, prompting the boss to begin urging him.
“Will you accept my suggestion or not?”
Jin-Woo wanted to find out more about the monsters’ origins and their true intentions, but as it turned out, it was all a waste of time.
‘In that case….’
The only thing remaining was to choose. But then again, he had made up his mind already a long time ago.
“I refuse.”
The corner’s of Jin-Woo’s lips arched up.
‘You see, you possess a far too tempting shadow for me to let go.’
He was planning to kill the boss and take away its shadow. And there was no way he’d change his mind now when he was constantly thinking about how to carry the plan out ever since the boss made its entrance.
“Are you planning to fight my soldiers all by yourself? Do you truly believe that you can overcome the disadvantages in numbers all alone?”
Jin-Woo smirked derisively.
‘Soldiers’, was it?
‘You think you’re the only one? I’ve got them too.’
He summoned his shadows. According to his wishes, the soldiers hiding in Jin-Woo’s shadow all revealed themselves in the blink of an eye right behind him.
“Uwa?! Uwaaak!”
Again, the cry came from the Hunters this time as well.
Yun Ki-Joong cried out in fright as the shadow of the Ice Bear, the shadow beast soldier, suddenly materialised right next to him and he fell hard on his a*s.
“Ah, ahh….”
When Jin-Woo took a glance at the pale faces of the surviving raid team, he felt that it was a bit regretful, but this was an emergency situation. There was no time to explain things to them here.
‘Well, I wouldn’t explain things to them even if this wasn’t an emergency, though.’
After summoning 29 shadow soldiers, Jin-Woo stood before them and glared at the boss.
“So, who’s disadvantaged now?”
Finally, the boss displayed its hostility.
“…You seem to know some petty tricks, don’t you? Fine. If it’s your wish, I shall grant your death.”
The boss unsheathed two daggers from his sides.
This was what Jin-Woo wanted, as well. He grasped the ‘Knight Killer’ in his right hand, while the left grasped the ‘Poison Fang of Kasaka’ as he got ready for battle.
‘Petty tricks, is it?’
The boss had a point there. Jin-Woo might hold an advantage in numbers, but his ‘army’ was slightly lacking if he wanted to hunt the boss down.
Jin-Woo knew this very well.
The boss’s self-confidence could have come from this fact.
Indeed, he now needed more comrades. Powerful comrades.
‘If it’s a powerful comrade, then….’
There was one candidate here.
Jin-Woo sneaked a glance to his side. The still-unconscious Kim Cheol was lying there, unmoving.
“Attack!”
When the boss issued the order, the White Phantoms pulled on their bowstrings.
“Bears!”
Jin-Woo placed the beast soldiers at the front.
Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!
Kkrrroooar!!
The beast soldiers, with arrows sticking out of their bodies, all roared out in anger.
Before the White Phantoms could nock the next volley of arrows, the infantrymen rushed forward. The magic soldiers also began chanting their spells.
Meanwhile, Jin-Woo’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
‘You’re mine!’
Jin-Woo deliberately pushed Kim Cheol’s longsword towards its owner with his heel, before pouncing forward himself as well.
His sight was fixed solely on the boss of the White Phantoms. The boss too was waiting for Jin-Woo’s arrival.
Soon, sparks endlessly flew as the four daggers wielded by two creatures clashed in mid-air.
Clang! Clang!! Clllaang!!
At the same time, the shadow soldiers and White Phantoms also slammed into each other as well.
Goh Myung-Hwan looked at Park Hui-Jin next to him.
“Uhm…. So, like, shouldn’t we lend assistance here?”
Park Hui-Jin shook her head.
“This isn’t a fight where we can butt in, you know.”
This was a battle where huge black monsters were swinging their giant claws; the destroyed black soldiers were regenerating to their original state in the blink of an eye; and the gleaming blades and the arrows fired from the upper-rank monsters, White Phantoms, were chaotically flying around in the snowy field.
‘So, what can a rank B or C do in this place?’
Indeed, the only thing they were permitted to do here was to pray. Park Hui-Jin could only stare at Jin-Woo with a tight chest as he fought the long-haired White Phantom.
“Keu-heuk!”
Jin-Woo gasped out.
As expected of a boss from the high-ranking dungeon!
The fight looked to be even from the side, but Jin-Woo was getting cut and sliced constantly all over his body. Would he be able to last three minutes at this rate?
His MP was also rapidly depleting away as his soldiers constantly regenerated.
Finally, the magic soldiers managed to finish their chants. A ball of flames larger than a volleyball flew in the midst of the White Phantoms.
KABOOM—!!
That was the power of the levelled-up magic soldiers in full display.
Awakened by the resounding eardrum-shaking explosion, Kim Cheol regained his consciousness and opened his eyes.
“M-mm…..”
Kim Cheol raised his head to look.
Clang! Clang!! Pow-!!
His blurry vision picked up on the sight of White Phantoms fighting against the unknown black soldiers.
‘What the… hell is going on here?’
He couldn’t figure out what happened while he blacked out, but at least, he knew very well why he was lying on the ground like this.
The hand that slapped him in the back of his head!!
And the voice that came from behind him!
‘That voice definitely belonged to Seong Jin-Woo!!’
Now that he had regained his bearing, the sense of shame and rage bubbled over like crazy and the ends of his fingertips trembled.
How fortunate that he could feel the hilt of his sword.
If he was surrounded by the White Phantoms, then he’d not get out of here alive. In that case, he must….
‘I’ll kill that b*stard Seong Jin-Woo with my own hands.’
His maddened eyes finally spotted the back of Seong Jin-Woo.
…..There he was!
He was too busy fighting a White Phantom and wasn’t paying any attention to his rear.
This was his chance.
Kim Cheol stood up right away. And then, ran.
“Uwaaaahhhhh!!!”
After sensing Kim Cheol running towards him, Jin-Woo laughed out inwardly in elation.
‘Right, if it’s you….’
Kim Cheol ran with all his might and after taking aim at Jin-Woo’s neck, swung the sword, hard.
“Die!!”
In front, the boss. From behind, Kim Cheol.
Even though he was stuck in a seemingly dangerous situation, Jin-Woo still managed to shout out.
“Igrit!!”
As if he’d been waiting for that call, Igrit jumped out from his shadow immediately and easily deflected Kim Cheol’s sword.
Clang!!
“No!”
Kim Cheol’s bloodshot eyes opened wider.
However, even before he could say anything, Igrit’s sword pierced deeply into his chest.
Stab!!
The blade ran straight through his chest and emerged from his back.
“Keo-heok!!”
Jin-Woo quickly took several steps back.
‘I knew Kim Cheol would act this way.’
This fool was someone who didn’t think about anything in depth, and only acted according to his emotions. They had been together only for a short while, but that was enough for Jin-Woo to figure this guy out.
Kim Cheol glared at Jin-Woo.
“You…. You….!”
And with that, Kim Cheol breathed his last.
As Igrit stepped up to delay the boss, Jin-Woo issued an order to the shadow of the dead Kim Cheol.
“Rise up!!”
When that happened….
Uwaaaahhh-!!
Accompanied by a heavy, sombre cry, a huge hand emerged from the shadow.
< Chapter 34 > Fin.
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