CH 230

“W-What’s wrong, hyung-nim…?” Seung-Gu asked. He started sweating after realizing that something must have gone awry because Siegfried didn’t use the Mass Teleport Scroll.

“Erm… That is…” Siegfried muttered.

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“Yes, hyung-nim?”

“It says that we can’t teleport out of here…?”

“WHAT?!” Seung-Gu was stupefied, and he shouted, “W-Why are you only bringing that up now, hyung-nim?!”

“I just found out, too!” Siegfried shouted as well and explained, “I’m not sure how deep underground we are right now, but it seems that we’re too deep that Teleport can’t bring us above ground.”

“That means… we’re fucked, right, hyung-nim…?” Seung-Gu perfectly described their situation. Fucked was the perfect word to describe their situation, as they initially planned to locate General Overlock and the officers before escaping with Mass Teleport.

However, that was no longer an option because they couldn’t use the scroll, and escaping seemed quite difficult now.

No, saying that it was quite difficult was an overstatement.

They were currently in the Cryptid’s main base, and it was unknown how many powerful Cryptids were here. However, Siegfried was sure of two things—there were a lot more Cryptids here than in the great lair above ground, and the Cryptids here would be at least B-rank.

In other words, it was impossible for them to escape with incapacitated people in tow.

“L-Lieutenant Colonel Sieg… Just what on earth is going on….? Why am I here?” General Overlock asked, seemingly confused about everything. It seemed that he had no recollection of what happened from the moment he was abducted by the Cryptids.

“Hmm…” Siegfried muttered, seemingly troubled. However, he eventually decided to just tell him the truth. “You have been abducted, General.”

“Abducted?!”

“Yes, and I am here to rescue you, but… It seems like we’re fucked just like you, and we have to fight with our lives on the line for us to have any chances of making it alive out of here.”

“A-All right…” General Overlock nodded in response. The general couldn’t understand what Siegfried was saying, but he somehow got the gist of their current situation.

“Hey, Seung-Gu. I’ll fight at the front, so you make sure to protect those guys,” Siegfried said.

“Yes, hyung-nim!”

Siegfried and Seung-Gu escorted General Overlock and the other officers out of the room. They numbered around thirty, including the two rescuers, but they were greeted by an even larger number of Cryptids in the tunnel.

In fact, the Cryptids were so great in numbers that they filled the entire tunnel.

[Cryptid Knight]

[A humanoid Cryptid. It is the knight of the Cryptids, and it is extremely powerful.]

[Type: Monster]

[Race: Cryptid]

[Class: Cryptid Knight]

[Level: 230]

[Rating: S]

[Warning: This monster is extremely powerful. Caution is advised when fighting it.]

The Cryptids were all Cryptid Knights, and Siegfried couldn’t even see the end of the line. One thing was for sure, the Cryptid Knights had truly filled the tunnel to the brim.

“I used up most of my mana after Torrential Flower Rain, so…” Siegfried muttered before drinking a mana potion. He gripped his +15 Gaia’s Fist tightly and said, “I’ll just beat the shit out of them.”

This was the perfect opportunity to test the +15 Gaia’s Fist’s true power, and Siegfried smiled in excitement despite their despairing situation.

Fwaaaaaah! Fwaaaaaah!

He placed down Blaze Field and growled. “Fuck off!”

With that, he started beating up the Cryptid Knights.

***

Bam!

A Cryptid Knight’s head exploded after getting smacked by the +15 Gaia’s Fist.

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes after he smashed the Cryptid Knight’s head open, and another message popped up after he smashed another Cryptid Knight’s head.

Bam!

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

One shot, one kill!

Siegfried dealt insane damage with every swing of his mace. The Gaia’s Fist was a powerful weapon, but the enhancement coupled with Blaze Field exponentially amplified its damage.

“Kill them in one blow. It won’t look cool if you have to hit them twice, so it has to be in a single blow.”

Siegfried was starting to become the true Debuff Master, just like his master, Deus. Of course, Deus could beat an adult dragon with just his fists and without any enhanced weapons…

Anyway, Siegfried’s damage was insane, and he plowed through the Cryptids as if he were a bulldozer.

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

He gained a ton of experience points from bulldozing through the S-rank Cryptids, but it seemed that he still had a long way to go to fill his experience bar.

“H-Hyung-nim! They’re coming from the back as well!” Seung-Gu screamed.

“What?!”

“We’re going to get sandwiched!”

“Take care of the back! Stop them from breaching the rear!”

“Yes, hyung-nim!”

Seung-Gu summoned two Iron Golems and completely blocked the rear.

It was an excellent choice. The two Iron Golems completely filled up the narrow tunnel, and Siegfried’s party managed to remain safe from the S-rank Cryptid Knights that were charging at them from the rear.

However, the issue was that the Cryptid Knights were much more powerful than the Iron Golems. In other words, it was only a matter of time before the Iron Golems collapsed.

“Hyung-nim! I can’t hold them off for much longer!”

“How many golems do you have?!”

“I still have eighteen more!”

“Then, try to hold them back for as long as you can! I’ll try to push through the front!”

“Yes, hyung-nim!”

Siegfried swung his +15 Gaia’s Fist faster than ever as he carved a path and bulldozed his way to their one and only escape hole—Cryptid Tunnel 718.

***

“Kireuk! Kireuk Kiek Kireuk! Kireuk!”

“What?!”

“Kireuk! Kireuk! Kireuk!”

“Damn it!” Crypt Commander 981 gnashed his teeth in fury after receiving the report while he was discussing talking to Blue Cardinal Horacio.

“That damned Adventurer is running away with the human officers?” Crypt Commander 981 asked the Cryptid.

“What do you mean by that?” Horacio asked.

“Adventurer Sieg is here…”

“Hmm?”

“That damned bastard infiltrated our main base and is currently escaping with the human officers!”

“…!”

“We need to go catch him now!”

“I’ll go with you. I want to have a look at this Adventurer’s face,” Horacio said.

“All right,” Crypt Commander 981 replied. He hastily moved toward where the Adventurer was found.

***

The power of the +15 Gaia’s Fist was beyond Siegfried’s imagination.

Puk! Puk! Puk!

A Cryptid would die whenever Siegfried swung his +15 Gaia’s Fist. Their rank didn’t matter at all, and the number of Cryptids became visibly fewer than before.

However, it wasn’t really a strange change because Tunnel 718 was located in a straight tunnel without any forks or feeding tunnels. Therefore, Siegfried bulldozed through the Cryptids until they were almost at the end of the tunnel.

‘We’re almost there!’ Siegfried could already see the hole in the distance.

There were only around a hundred and fifty meters between him and the hole, and there were less than two hundred Cryptids standing in his way.

Siegfried and the others would be able to escape safely as long as he defeated the two hundred Cryptids in front of him.

‘Ah… I can’t use an AOE attack…’ Siegfried bit his lower lip in frustration.

The tunnel was too narrow, so he would end up killing everyone if he were to use Irradiate. The entire tunnel would also collapse if he were to use Splitting Heaven and Earth.

The two skills couldn’t be used here.

“H-Hyung-nim! There are some tough-looking guys coming over here!” Seung-Gu shouted urgently.

Siegfried turned around and swept his gaze across the newcomers.

[Cryptid Vanguard]

[The evolution of the Cryptid Knight. They are incomparably stronger than the Cryptid Knights.]

[Type: Monster]

[Race: Cryptid]

[Class: Cryptid Vanguard]

[Level: 260]

[Tier: Champion]

[Warning: They will explode upon death. Caution is advised when fighting it.]

The Cryptid Vanguards were Level 260 monsters, and they could be considered the elites of the elites among the Cryptids.

“Why are there so many Level 260 monsters…?” Siegfried muttered in disbelief. A Level 260 monster was definitely a powerful monster. After all, a monster possessed greater stats compared to an Adventurer or NPC of the same level.

There was a reason why monsters were called monsters.

However, Siegfried was even more stupefied to see the two figures in the midst of the Cryptid Vanguards.

[Cryptid Commander: 981]

[HP: ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛]

[Blue Cardinal Horacio]

[HP: ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛]

It would have been a different story if he were facing them in a different situation, but these two were enemies that he wanted to avoid right now at all costs.

“Are you that Adventurer?” asked Crypt Commander 981.

“It’s time for you to come clean now. You’re Siegfried van Proa, right?” asked Horacio.

Siegfried didn’t bother responding to them.

He shouted at Seung-Gu, “Hold them back as long as you can! A minute is all I need!”

“Yes, hyung-nim!” Seung-Gu replied.

He summoned all of his Iron Golems to form a barricade.

Meanwhile, Siegfried imbued lightning attribute energy into his +15 Gaia’s Fist after recovering quite a bit of mana.

‘I have to pierce through these monsters!’ He gripped his +15 Gaia’s Fist imbued with lightning attribute energy and swung it with all of his strength.

Bzzt! Bzzzt!

Kwaaaaaaaang!

The +15 Gaia’s Fist unleashed a bolt of terrifying lightning that devoured everything in its way.

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

Siegfried became a killing machine.

“Hey, 981! Hurry up before he escapes!” Horacio urged Commander Crypt 981 after seeing Siegfried’s fearsome power.

The Blue Cardinal was worried that Siegfried and the others would escape.

However, Crypt Commander 981 smirked and replied, “You don’t have to worry about that. They’re nothing more than rats in a cage right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I called all of our kin above ground to gather where they’re going to pop out. They’ll be instantly surrounded the moment they surface, even if they manage to escape right now. Hoho!”

“I see…” Horacio nodded.

It seemed that Crypt Commander 981 was quite intelligent.

A full encirclement without any way out.

There was no reason for them to rush since the Cryptids on the surface were waiting for the humans. They could slowly tire them out and capture them alive once the humans were exhausted.

Meanwhile…

Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!

Siegfried and the others were already shoving themselves up the butt hole.

“Y-You’ll pay for this!” Seung-Gu was the last to dive into the tunnel, but he didn’t forget to threaten the Cryptids and give them the middle finger before shoving himself up the butt hole.

“Let’s take our time,” Crypt Commander 981 said with a leisurely smile.

“Sure.”

The Cryptids took their time destroying the Iron Golems that Seung-Gu had left behind before giving chase.

Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!

The Cryptids went up the tunnel one by one and went to the surface to chase after Siegfried and the others. However, they were stupefied by the scene they saw upon surfacing.

“Kireuk! Kireuk!”

“Kieeeek!”

“Kideuk! Kideuk!”

The humans were nowhere to be seen.

There were only Cryptids as far as their eyes could see.

“Damn it! They actually had a teleport scroll?!” Horacio was furious.

Meanwhile…

Shwooooong…!

A meteor was falling from the sky.