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Chapter 88
Chapter 88
Grand Maze (2)
In a large dark corridor, a group of large wolves gathered under a faint magical light.
Called Abyssal Wolves, they were powerful monsters in the late level 70s.
“Oh, my God! You damn monsters!”
With a shout, Clend swung a Blade Aura against the wolves.
Blade Aura flew towards them one after another toward the pack of wolves.
But it didn’t work.
Ouch!
The Abyssal Wolves gathered into one spot and covered themselves with a dark red light.
It was an Aura defender.
Those monsters could utilize Aura.
The wolves pounced away as they held on to the Blade Aura.
Grrr!
They flew to the floor, walls, and ceilings, seeking food with three-dimensional movements.
In an instant, one of the wolves bared its sharp fangs at Clend.
Boom!
It successfully lodged its fangs deep into Clend’s right arm.
It wasn’t just a normal bite. Its pointed teeth pierced deeply, causing extreme pain!
“Argh!”
Struggling with pain, he slit its neck as best as he could.
He then gasped for breath as he looked at his colleagues behind him.
“Huh, Argh…”
It had been a long time since all the other team members had fallen.
The Mage, Lianna, was confused by Mana’s exhaustion. The Magic Swordsman Julius was so heavily injured that he barely breathed, and the Spiritist Anton was on the verge of spilling his guts due to the deep wound on his stomach.
The situation couldn’t get any worse for them.
There was no way out of it.
But they couldn’t expect help from anyone.
The whole place was far too huge for anyone else to find them in time.
It was a miracle they could only dream of.
Clend smiled in the face of despair.
‘… Here is the end.’
But their dream happened anyway.
“Well, it’s my first time meeting other Hunters in the Dungeon…”
On the other side of the hall, they heard a loud man’s voice.
Abyssal Wolves turned their heads towards the sound, nervous about the advent of a new enemy.
Grrr?
Grrr…
The voice’s owner appeared.
He was a muscular man with a sword on his back.
Unsheathing the sword, the man warned his party members.
“Everyone, be careful. Those guys are pretty strong. They’re almost level 80.”
“I know.”
The retort came from a beautiful black-haired woman with a slim figure.
A handsome young man and a frightened silver-haired girl walked down the hall with them.
Looking at the group, Clend lost his mind for a while.
‘What are they?’
The two in the lead wore odd clothes.
They had no armor apart from fur shorts and belts.
Black-haired beauty was still wearing a brazier, but it wasn’t a dress that any sane woman would wear.
Considering that they were in the worst Dungeon in the area and the Grand Maze, it was a poor choice of equipment.
No, it was weird, even if they were in the middle of the city.
He suddenly remembered a story he had heard before.
‘The Legend?’
The group of Abyssal Wolves roared after getting over their hesitation.
Argh!
Simultaneously, they exploded their anger and rushed toward their new ‘foods.’
Muscular and strong, Ryu Han-bin smiled, swinging his greatsword.
“Come on, puppies.”
* * *
Clend stared blankly at the battle.
“…”
As a level 75 Swordsman and an Aura user, all of the warriors were under his eyes.
He gained fame by clearing countless Dungeons and eventually earned the right to challenge the Grand Maze, the strongest among the Four Prohibited Areas.
He also boasted that he wouldn’t be pushed back even if he joined the Continental Top Three’s renowned knights.
But the giant in front of him was different.
The Abyssal Wolves, who didn’t budge even after pouring all sorts of attacks against them, screamed in pain as they rolled around the floor.
Argh!
A disaster took place due to a single middle kick by the Valtara warrior.
The red Blade Aura then roamed through the hall like a storm.
“Huh-up! Yup! Huh!”
The canine monsters were slashed away with every swing of his sword.
No one could withstand his aggression.
The beastly screams echoed through the hall nonstop.
Some of the wolves even tried to find a way out of his offensive.
“Where are you going?”
Before being bitten, the Valtara warrior grabbed the wolf.
A gigantic hand gripped at the monster’s head and smashed it.
Its skull was destroyed, causing its eyes to burst out.
Bam!
Clend got scared.
It looked way scarier than watching two monsters devour each other.
‘Oh, my God…’
He found it hard to understand.
“It reminds me of the old days. It’s easy to catch because it looks like a dog. I’ve caught dogs so many times. Oh, I used to like puppies…”
‘What is he talking about?’
Regardless, it was clear that he was incredibly strong.
Clend didn’t even dare look at his eyes.
Though Ryu Han-bin’s performance was far too great to ignore, the other party’s skills weren’t ordinary either.
A black-haired beauty, a powerful Mage, and a silver-haired Magic Swordswoman also skillfully dealt with Abyssal Wolves, reducing their numbers.
Finally, the last Abyssal Wolf was killed by Han-bin’s sword.
Arghhhh!
After shaking off the bloody sword, he examined the message in front of him.
‘Oh, I’ve got a lot of experience.’
[Lv. 78 Abyss Wolf cleared. You have earned 39,160,000 XP.]
[Current Experience: 2,711,903,100/54,581,975,800.]
He gained a lot of XP from the Huel Dracodile as well, who was level 83.
He could finally realistically see himself leveling up.
Ryu Han-bin looked around after sheathing the greatsword.
“Are you all okay?”
Kibie and Artis were also safe.
However, blood was dripping from Effir’s right arm.
“Effir, your arm…”
The girl laughed, feeling embarrassed.
“It’s okay. It’s just a scratch.”
Since their level difference was quite high, it was difficult to clear them without injury.
Effir quickly took out a healing potion and stopped the bleeding.
When the situation cleared up, Artis looked back at Clend.
“Are you feeling all right?”
* * *
Clend didn’t even have time to thank them.
Saving his dying colleagues was the top priority.
Clend was in a hurry.
“Is there a Spiritist in your team? We need a cure.”
Kibie replied in embarrassment.
“Oh, we don’t have a Spiritist in our team…”
Instead, she brought a box of healing potions out.
First, she poured the potions around their wounds and gave first aid.
The female Mage was just exhausted, so there was no problem. The young Magic Swordsman soon began to breathe normally as well due to his good physical strength. However, the middle-aged Spiritist was a different story.
Effir was worried.
“Oh, of all these people, he’s the most injured. What am I supposed to do?”
Rather, she would have cured the Spiritist first if only his wounds weren’t that dire.
“I’ve got an idea. Wake up the Spiritist first.”
Artis pulled out his bracelet and put it on the arm of the Spiritist.
The Spiritist asked Artis a question.
“Uh, w-what is this?”
“It’s the Absolute Cure Bracelet, an Artifact.”
Healing items were powerful enough to replace the Spiritists’ healing spirit arts, but they could only heal the wearer.
That was why Spiritists were still an integral part of the team.
“Oh, this precious thing…”
Despite his hazy mind, Anton tried to concentrate.
Due to the ability of the bracelet, the abdominal lacerations began to heal little by little.
Watching the scene, Ryu Han-bin suddenly wondered.
‘You’re healing slower than you should be.’
When Alejandro used that bracelet, it showed tremendous regeneration speed.
In comparison, its healing ability was too slow in the hands of the Spiritist.
Artis explained the reason.
“That’s because I was only physically injured. Abyssal Wolf’s Aura injured them.”
Aura, mana, Prana, and Force.
The injury caused by Latna’s four top powers left residual power in their wounds.
That caused the healing effect to decrease as well.
“In high-level combat, one of the important factors for victory is how much residual energy remains in the wound. We have to interrupt the Spiritist’s healing as much as possible.”
Healing was not all-around.
They couldn’t raise their fallen colleague and keep them in combat.
Anton’s complexion improved over time.
“Whew… I think I’m going to live now.”
He thanked him, taking the bracelet off and handing it back to Artis.
“I think I’ve got first aid. The rest of us will need time to heal. Thank you very much. You saved my life.”
* * *
The temperature was also an important factor for the injured.
The entire vicinity was as cold as their blood.
Artis made a magical fire and laid the wounded next to it.
Only then did Clend express his gratitude properly.
“Thank you very much for saving me. Please forgive me for being so out of my mind and only being polite now.”
“Getting help from another Hunter team in this vast Maze is a miracle,” he said.
Ryu Han-bin grinned.
‘It’s not a miracle.’
Ordinary dungeon attack teams rarely met each other.
However, Han-bin and his party had been wandering around the Dungeon for ten days.
They also only went to places that others might have targeted.
That way, they could find the trail left by the Sword King.
“It’s a coincidence, but it’s not a miraculous possibility.”
Julius, a Magic Swordsman, suddenly tilted his head as he listened.
“Did you say you were looking for the Sword King Baotolt?”
Kibie’s eyes glistened.
“Yes. Do you know where he is?”
“I’ve never met him in person, but…”
It was three days ago.
While attacking Katrack Dungeon, the team saw a strange sight in the corner of underground ruins.
“It was a hut. It’s pretty well-built.”
It was made out of monsters’ bones and leather, so he thought it was likely a nest of a monster.
But when he looked inside, it looked like a place where people could live.
He could tell by the furniture and the utensils.
“Monsters pick up human utensils, but they don’t wash the dishes, do they?”
At that time, he couldn’t understand why the hut was there.
Hunters usually moved in and out of the Dungeon every few days, but they didn’t live in it.
“That sounds interesting. It must have been where the Sword King stayed.”
Kibie’s complexion brightened up.
They finally found a clue about the Sword King’s whereabouts!
Clend said with embarrassment.
“There’s no sign of the hut being used recently. I think he left a long time ago.”
“That’s fine.”
Once a clue was found, Shadow-Reading would help them find the next clue.
All they had to do was put the first button in.
Kibie urgently asked, unfolding a three-dimensional magic map.
“Where is it?”
Pointing to one side of the map, Julius replied.
“It was probably around here.”