CH 140

/Response confirmed. Searching for field. Complete. Mission start./

‘Search? Didn’t the system previously use the term “create”?’

Whoosh!

Regardless of Merlin’s question, the scenery changed, and they found themselves in a pitch-black area. It was night, and they could see several bonfires scattered in the distance.

“… Hmm?”

Upon his arrival, Merlin felt a strange sensation. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the surroundings. Of course, he hadn’t seen this place before, but DIO was a game that could create any sci-fi world… however….

‘Something’s changed.’

The blowing wind and the firm ground… everything seemed normal yet different. It was hard to pinpoint, but something was off about this world compared to the one he’d been roaming around in DIO. Minutely, Merlin always felt a slight sense of alienation whenever he entered DIO, but this place didn’t feel that way. It was as if he’d logged out. Soon, Merlin heard a scream.

“Help! Help! Ack!”

“Ack!”

Dead bodies were strewn across the ground. A group of people ran past Merlin’s party without paying any attention to them.

“What’s going on here?”

“The building has an oriental style. I think it’s a traditional martial arts temple of some sort.”

“Let’s check the quest description-”

Bang!

Right then, a building exploded and crumbled, and darkness crept in. The true nature of the darkness was a three-meter-tall beast. At first glance, it appeared to be a four-legged animal, but its skeleton and body structure were strangely abnormal. The beast’s body wasn’t made of bones and flesh but connected by darkness itself.

Kyak!

Alongside a roar, fear and panic-inducing killing intent rushed out and engulfed its surroundings. The killing intent was so intense that it was impossible to withstand through sheer mental willpower alone, but none of the five users were swept away by it. Cruze even snorted.

“What’s with that dog head?”

Bang!

As the Desert Eagle Mark XIX spewed its rounds, a hole appeared on the roaring beast’s head. When the monster opened its mouth, a grenade was immediately thrown inside.

Boom!

With the grenade’s signature boom, the beast’s body collapsed and smashed onto the ground. However, the black smoke-like energy that made up the beast’s body reformed and rushed towards Cruze.

“Careful!”

“Do you think I’d succumb to that? Delete and Loading!”

Whoosh!

A flamethrower appeared in Cruze’s hands, and it started spewing flames, incinerating the black smoke-like energy.

“Hmm. It seems like that black energy turns into a spirit and seeks a new host when it sustains critical damage. That energy isn’t a problem for those who can deal with spirits, but I bet it wreaks havoc on normal people.”

“Huh? Hey, look at this. It’s a Darkness Stone!”

At that moment, Ilyia called out to the other party members as she pointed to the beast’s burning corpse, where a fist-sized stone was located. Though it was night, the burning buildings illuminated the small town, yet, the immediate surrounding light seemed to be absorbed by the Darkness Stone.

[Item: Darkness Stone

Rank 7

Uncommon

Description: A magic stone that contains the properties of darkness, it is obtained after defeating a mysterious darkness beast. The stone has 150 tetras of magic power. When consumed, it can raise one’s magic power maximum capacity; however, one’s magic power will lean towards the darkness attribute. Furthermore, continued consumption will cause impurities in one’s magic power.

The Darkness Stone can be converted into a regular magic stone, core, or inner core by a Rank 5 Alchemist or a Magic Store employee.

The Darkness Stone contains the darkness attribute.]

“Oh, it’s nice. We only defeated one of these things, but it dropped an Uncommon Rank 7 magic stone; these types of magic stones can be converted into many different things.”

“It seems there’s a 100 percent chance for it to drop as well. Apparently, these magic stones are part of the beast’s body. In the level-up exams, when it’s allowed, you guys know that we can loot the targets dry, right?”

“Anyway, this one’s mine.”

Cruze picked up the Darkness Stone. Obviously, no one challenged her. Even if they wanted to, the system granted her ownership over the stone, so no one else could possess it.

“Just be alert when these beasts are near other humans. The spirits will probably move on and take over a new host as soon as it sustains critical damage.”

After hearing Arthur’s comment, Merlin took out his Beholder and opened the quest description window. When Merlin did this, the other party members looked toward his Beholder.

[Mission: Escort/Extract/Party Mission

Remaining Time: 02:59:11

Objective: Defeat the monsters. Save human lives.

Mysterious beasts from unknown origins have descended upon this small town! The beasts range from Level 6 to Level 10, and once they’re all defeated, the being that summoned them, the Mother, shall appear.

Looting Allowed / Target: The mysterious beasts of unknown origins.

Minimap Operational / Living Human Beings: 1,670. Mysterious Beasts: 130

Gem points will be calculated based on clear time and how many lives are saved. Gem points will be distributed appropriately.]

“Ack! A timed attack! And as the number of survivors lessens, we get fewer Gem points.”

“I’m not sure about the boss called Mother, but all the beasts are either Level 10 or lower… the setting is a town… let’s split up.”

“I agree.”

“Agree! Let’s keep the death count below 100!”

“Then, let’s head off.”

Bam!

As if any additional words weren’t necessary, the five users instantly split off in different directions. Merlin took out a glass goblet, The Goblet of Sorrow. As long as he didn’t overdo it, the goblet was a treasured item that could constantly produce deadly poison.

“Gravity Distortion.”

Merlin started operating his magic power and reduced his weight to about one kilogram. Then, he kicked off the ground and shot into the air. Merlin could jump several tens of meters high with only his lightness skill, so with this additional weight reduction, he could reach heights of around 100 meters.

Clasp.

Once he was up in the air, Merlin chose one of his two spirits, Younghwi, to grab him. Though 100 meters might not sound that high, it was much higher than traditional bungee jumps on Earth, which averaged around 50 meters high.

“First off, let’s create a water droplet….”

Merlin operated his attribute affinity, created a fist-sized water droplet, and then placed the droplet into his goblet. The water droplet quickly turned red inside the goblet before becoming transparent. It had fully absorbed the poison.

“Gear 4.”

Merlin summoned his Mithril Bow before taking out a few arrows and notching them. Then, Merlin divided the water droplet multiple times so that he could easily dip his arrows in them before firing. He could only do this because of his water attribute affinity.

“Let’s take one down.”

Ping!

From high in the air, and with the help of gravity, Merlin’s arrow soared to the ground like a lightning strike, aiming at a beast that was attacking someone.

Screech!

Directly before it could go for the kill, the monster was struck by Merlin’s arrow and started writhing in pain. The beast had taken on the human form of its host, and it tried to remove the lodged projectile. Yet, by this point, half its body was already melted from the poison.

“As I thought, it works.”

A smile bloomed on Merlin’s face. Since the darkness-attribute beasts weren’t living beings but spirits, Merlin wasn’t sure if his poisoned arrows would work. Yet, he was relieved to find that they were effective. The One-Horned Fire Snake’s poison seemed to work just as well on spirit beings. Considering that the poison from the Human-Faced Centipede, Inyup, could melt Younghwi and Shining, the One-Horned Fire Snake’s much more advanced and higher-ranked poison likely had drastically higher efficacy.

Plop!

Kyak!

The spirit escaped the beast’s body but was immediately met with another arrow as it rushed toward the vulnerable human that it had just been attacking.

“So, two arrows for one beast. This poison is quite effective, no?”

Merlin notched another arrow, being careful not to let any of the poison touch his body. Though he was placing the poison on the arrow tips as if it was nothing, Merlin had no defenses against it. If even one drop of the poison touched him, he’d fall into a critical state. The poison was quick acting, and if a drop landed on his finger, it would take less than three-tenths of a second before it spread to his head. If he hesitated, he wouldn’t even be able to cut off his arm and stop the spread in time.

Ping!

The Goblet of Sorrow could make two types of poison. One was a type of acid-based poison that could melt anything, while the other type was fatal to the living but harmless to non-living things.

Currently, Merlin was using the latter poison, allowing him to dip his arrowhead into the poison without any issue for easy use. However, the inherent weakness of this approach was that the enemy could use a shield to block his attack and not sustain any damage.

“Eleven, twelve… ack! This is too slow! Wait, the speed of the arrows doesn’t matter that much, right?”

Merlin notched three arrows at once. After shooting, Merlin’s spirits guided each one to adjust their direction. This method and capability to accurately shoot multiple arrows in one go seemed as though he was using a Divine Weapon, but Merlin wasn’t satisfied. This was because Merlin could see Arthur’s progress in the distance.

Flash!

Kyak!

“Dang it, so loud.”

Flash!

It was literally a light show. Whenever Arthur swung his sword, sword light filled the area. Arthur’s sword was enveloped with materialized mana in the form of sword qi; hence, without any additional effects, he could wipe away the beasts with every swing.

Flash!

Kyak!

“Wow, what the hell is that? Isn’t a sword normally used in close combat and in one-on-one situations?”

Arthur’s sword strikes were being used as a mid-range attack with broad coverage. Moreover, each attack possessed an AOE (area of effect) that rivaled an advanced magic spell. With every flash, droves of beasts collapsed. Though Merlin had seen Arthur’s offensive skill before, he couldn’t help but still feel flabbergasted by its effects. Even the humans who had been running from the beasts stood dumbfounded with surprised expressions.

“Everyone, clear the way! Yahoo~!”

Whirl!

At that moment, a helicopter, a real helicopter, rose into the air. It was an Apache AH-64!

Brr!

The M-230 30mm chain gun started shooting 30mm bullets at 625 rounds per minute. The darkness beasts tried to react, but they were instantly mowed down by the oncoming barrage.

“I won’t lose out!”

Ping!

Ack!

Eek!

The darkness beasts were literally being massacred. Though not as effective and efficient as Arthur, Cruze, or Merlin, Ilyia and Lancelot were also dispatching the beasts. Since the beasts were cleared away in an instant, there weren’t too many human deaths.

Tap.

“A-a human descended from the sky.”

“Oh my god! I’ve seen martial artists before, but never ones like them. They’re wiping out the beasts.”

When Merlin landed, the survivors started talking amongst each other, but Merlin didn’t pay any attention to what they were saying and continued to move. As he stepped forward, all the Darkness Stones from the beasts he felled rose into the air and gathered before him.

“My goodness! Qi-based Gathering!”

“He’s so young, though!”

Qi-based Gathering was a skill that could be done when one had absolute control over one’s genuine qi, allowing the genuine qi to materialize. Although, what Merlin just did wasn’t Qi-based Gathering. Instead, Younghwi and Shining had gone out to collect the Darkness Stones, and they couldn’t be seen by others.

“Let’s see. The remaining beasts are… only three? It’s almost over. Well, I was running low on poison anyway.”

Merlin had shot off 64 arrows, and he had killed 24 beasts. Among the beasts he killed, there were a few that didn’t die after one hit, so Merlin had to expend a few more arrows.

“Wait, who are you….”

When Merlin collected all the Darkness Stones, a group of martial artists approached and spoke to Merlin. The group was comprised of swordsmen in blue uniforms and Taoist magic martial artists in red uniforms. All of them had tired expressions and various injuries on their bodies.

“Ah, I’m sorry, but can you round up the people and take cover? The boss of those beasts will be coming out soon.”

“Boss?”

“Please hurry!”

“No, wait….”

Bam!

A middle-aged man tried to grab Merlin, but Merlin kicked off the ground and rose tens of meters in the air. Merlin hadn’t used any special powers. With his weight of only one kilogram and his internal energy, Merlin could jump like this with ease, as easy as breathing. Though gravity-based magic spells were widely considered one of the more challenging spells to master, this limiting factor didn’t apply to Merlin.