CH 187

Crush!

After smiling casually, Hanma raised his right hand and slammed it down on the Infected’s body, squashing it in a manner akin to being squeezed by a massive press.

“Kyak!”

This time, an Infected from outside attacked, targeting Adol. It was a surprise attack, but Adol merely sneered as his inhuman reflexes took over.

“So annoying.”

Adol stepped forward and smashed the charging Infected with his large Tower Shield. For him, using his Shield Charge skill was as easy as breathing. The Infected was instantly crushed and, like it had been hit by a dump truck, bounced off the shield. Adol was already Level 13, so the Level 4-equivalent Infected was an insignificant opponent that he could kill in his sleep.

“Hmm, this is such a grind. They don’t seem to have any brains or strategy; they’re just rushing in to attack. Killing them is easy, but the experience points they give are nice. Dang… I never thought I’d wipe out 3,000 of them in one area.”

Hanma grumbled his complaints after hearing Adol’s words.

“Ah, I really don’t understand. Why is a Level 15 user required for a mission like this?”

“Isn’t that because there’s something called a Slayer in the quest? However, if we have our wits about us and don’t go crazy, why would we ever wait for an Infected to evolve into the third stage, let alone become a Slayer?”

As the battle came to an end, the party members gathered and started chatting. They wondered if more enemies would come soon, but there was no sign of anything imminent, so they just remained on standby.

Yet, at that moment….

Boom!

The space began to [Rip] with a noise akin to a blackboard being scratched but a hundredfold louder. A dimensional rift was forming.

“Prepare for combat!”

“Is the real thing coming this time?!”

Ohje circulated his internal energy into his twin swords, and Scorpion started chanting a spell. Experienced in battle, the party members didn’t wait for their enemy to arrive.

Woong! Pop!

With a heavy sound, Scorpion’s spell, a deathly wave, hit the vast snake that stuck its head out from the torn space. However, the snake had thick skin commensurate to its immense size, so it flinched but wasn’t seriously injured.

“Kyak! Who are you guys?! And why have you killed all my young children! They were only at the second stage of evolution!”

The giant snake was furious. There was no need for Slayers to appear on a planet with such a trifling level of civilization, but the number of Infected had dramatically decreased in an instant, eventually dropping to one-tenth of its original size. Thus, a Slayer-ranked snake hurriedly traveled through space to see the situation.

“Oh, sorry.”

Of course, Ohje had no intention of conversing with the enemy, and he dug into the Slayer’s side and cut its torso. Due to the Slayer’s durable body, his sword couldn’t pierce through the snake’s skin, but since he struck with sword qi, the outer layer of skin was marked.

“What’s the snake’s level?”

“Around Level 15, give or take one! It seems to have high physical resistance, but I don’t know what else!”

“I guess we’ll find out once we slap it around a few times!”

Swoosh.

After shouting, Hanma put his fingers on the floor and took a starting pose as if he was a sprinter waiting for a signal. In preparation, his thigh muscles swelled greatly, and steam rose from his body.

“Eight Ways of Fighting.”

Hanma was using a technique that Dongyun, the werebear knight who fought the players in the past, had displayed. Any life force practitioner could use this ability. The technique compressed the user’s muscles to a certain limit and launched their body as if a spring were underneath them. It was initially created to give a headbutt greater momentum, but once the user’s body developed to a certain level, they could output extreme destructive force by treating themselves like a bullet, nearly reaching the speed of sound.

Moreover, Hanma had undoubtedly caught up, if not already surpassed, the Dongyun of the past!

“Earthly Thunder Strike.”

Whoosh! Bam!

Hanma surpassed the speed of sound for a moment, so compressed air burst out and emitted a whistling noise. A bullet was only ten to 20 grams, and it contained a formidable lethal force if it exceeded the speed of sound. So, it went without saying that the 192-centimeter-tall Hanma, a fully-grown young man who weighed 120 kilograms, was an imposing weapon.

“Eh?!”

The colossal snake contorted and flew into the air from the unexpected attack. Its huge body, nearly 70 meters long, was airborne for several dozen meters before it crashed into a building, destroying the structure as it rolled and tumbled across the ground.

“It’s not as strong as I thought!”

“Great. Then hit it!”

“Y-you… bastards!!”

The Slayer emitted an extremely high-temperature heat wave with a deafening scream, but Adol negated the attack by lifting his Tower Shield. Adol didn’t simply build a physical barrier but also completely blocked the heat wave with the magic effects and internal energy applied to his shield. Furthermore, Scorpion, Ohje, and Hanma had hidden behind him, so they didn’t take a single point of damage. Thus, within a short period of time, they were already preparing for their next attack. Their movements operated like clockwork without any need for conversation or orders.

“May you be cursed… you big, fat snake!”

Although Scorpion’s spell chant wasn’t too formal, his magic spell chant and magic power distribution were executed perfectly, causing a daunting dark magic spell to seep into the Slayer’s body.

Whoosh!

Next, Ohje slashed out with his dual swords and weakened the snake’s skin once more. Deep marks were left on the leathery skin, which had once again deflected the hits. As veteran users who had fought many battles and countless enemies, the party members had formulated a strategic [Method] to combat their enemy.

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

“Die!”

At that moment, the enraged Slayer raised its head. If it were a small snake, this action wouldn’t have caused any secondary effects. However, since the Slayer was over 70 meters long, when it raised its head upright, it exuded tremendous pressure. It looked as if a towering building had suddenly appeared before the party.

Woong!

Naturally, the Slayer, which evolved after completing the Infected’s four stages of evolution and met various special conditions, wasn’t just huge but a veteran amongst veterans. In terms of fighting power, it was comparable to a seasoned fighter who had felled an innumerable number of high-level demons.

“Ack!”

“Oh, damn it, we got caught up- uh!”

The moment the Slayer’s eyes flashed red, Hanma momentarily lost his resistance, and Ohje, Scorpion, and even Adol were all affected by the Slayer’s gaze as well, suffering a devastating blow. The Slayer’s Magic Eye was strong enough to pierce their spiritual barriers. Yet, what made the situation fatal wasn’t the Slayer’s Magic Eyes but the fact that they had stopped moving.

Whoosh!

Once the users stopped, the Slayer launched its massive head at them like a lightning bolt striking the ground… it wasn’t just a simple headbutt.

“Shoot! The gravity also changed! It’s only about five times stronger, but….”

The players were suppressed and immobilized by the Slayer’s Magic Eye, and if the Slayer slammed its head on them now, their lives would be in immediate danger. The five-fold increase in gravity wasn’t difficult to resist, but if the monster simultaneously attacked at high speeds, the impact would inevitably exceed thousands of tons.

“Adol!”

“I know. Damn it! Activate Divine Weapon, Aegis!”

Instantly, a silver light flashed from Adol’s body, and the Magic Eye that had been suppressing him was released. Adol then raised the iron shield, which was as large as his entire body, above him. His divine weapon was named Aegis after the shield carried by Athena, the Goddess of War, and was an absolute barrier that deflected the malicious features of all concepts held within an attack.

‘Actually, it would have been better if I had activated my Master Skill as well.’

If Adol had done so, he could’ve inflicted a fatal blow on the enemy beyond the counterattack, but unfortunately, his Master Skill took several tens of seconds to cast, so it was impossible for Adol to use it in a critical moment during a battle.

Therefore, Adol hastily placed his Tower Shield behind Aegis. It wasn’t effective to take such a cumbersome action while fighting, but since the enemy was attacking from above, putting Aegis on top of his Tower Shield would amplify the effects of his Tower Shield’s spells.

“Heavenly… Maneuver! Counter-Strike!”

A blue aura emanated from the Tower Shield. Additionally, Adol injected his internal energy into Aegis to activate his special ability, Heavenly Maneuver, Counter-Strike.

Clang!

The Slayer’s head, which had slammed down onto Adol’s shield and created a shockwave so violent that the surrounding space seemed to shake, bounced up violently like a rubber ball that collided with an immovable wall.

“What?!”

The Slayer screamed at the unbelievable result stemming from such a little guy’s defense, having expected to deal a colossal blow to its target. The resulting impact was so great that its Magic Eye effects were naturally broken. Moreover, the Slayer briefly lost control of its body because of the injuries it had sustained. The wounds were so extensive that the Slayer would likely need an entire month of recovery time to return to its prime, healthy state.

Yet, the users, now free from the Magic Eye’s oppressive force, had no intention of allowing the Slayer to recover.

“Activate Divine Weapon, Splinter.”

Two dark swords appeared in Ohje’s hands. It was Ohje’s Master Weapon, which amplified the power of his swords and the damage inflicted on the enemy with its inherent divine power.

In truth, Ohje’s Divine Weapon lacked a bit of flair and splendor and did not have a powerful [One Shot]-type attack that other Divine Weapons featured. However, what Ohje gave up in looks was made up in the [Extreme Practicality] of his Divine Weapon.

Unlike other users’ Divine Weapons, his appeared as soon as he called upon it, and the effects of his weapon started immediately. His Divine Weapon didn’t contain a particular lethal skill, but it could be summoned and used for a long time since it didn’t consume any [Durability]. Though he couldn’t activate any special ultimate moves, the general effects of his Divine Weapon were extremely powerful.

In addition to his Divine Weapon, Ohje also activated his Master Skill and started his ultimate move.

“Final Crescent.”

His Master Skill was also a practical skill, as it emitted a crescent-shaped sword qi without the need for any casting time or preparatory motions, dramatically lowering his opponent’s resistance abilities and defenses.

However, combining his Master Skill with his ultimate move would damage his weapon based on the force he applied to the swords, and unlike the nature of his Master Skill, his ultimate skill was a [One Shot]-type attack. Also, since the range of his ultimate skill wasn’t too wide, he was essentially screwed if his enemy managed to evade.

If a weapon and skill were both extremely efficient, the power and force behind them would inevitably suffer. Due to his sword technique’s rapid summoning and casting time, the added efficiency meant that he had to give up on other aspects. However, when the effects were superimposed in the optimal situation and timing, the result could go beyond any imagination.

Boom!

A huge silver crescent moon passed through the Slayer’s head. The Slayer’s body, shaped like a giant snake, was so thick that even four adult men couldn’t encircle it with their arms interlinked. Yet, Ohje’s silvery sword qi strike cut the snake’s neck as easily as a hot knife cutting through butter before immediately disappearing.

Bam!

The Slayer collapsed with a heavy thud. Of course, the result was instant death. After expending such an extensive amount of internal energy in one go, Ohje’s Divine Weapon immediately disappeared, and he grumbled and complained.

“Ah, in the end, I eventually had to use it. The cooldown is a whole week in real-time… but I only used it in-game for five seconds.”

“Still, that ultimate skill of yours is quite strong. Its combat power is comparable to a high-level demon, but it can kill your opponent in an instant. Also, isn’t your Master Skill more effective on humanoid targets rather than monsters?”

It had been seven months in real time since DIO had opened its service. Most of the early Masters, often called pioneers, had already evolved their Master Weapons. Of course, once used, the cooldown period between uses was extremely lengthy, so observers couldn’t fully grasp what kind of Divine Weapon another Master had. However, these party members had fought together for a long time, so they knew the characteristics of each other’s Divine Weapon.

“Ugh, I’m so tired.”

“Damn bastard. You didn’t even use your Divine Weapon or Master Skills, so stop complaining.”

“Ah, why~ I mean, I’m having a hard time because I used Eight Ways of Fighting. My stomach churns whenever I use that skill to reinforce and strengthen my body.”

The party members conversed and complained even though the survivors were looking at them as if they were monsters. The rest of the users frowned as the giant man-child continued to complain. For the survivors, the whole scene was surreal, and it made the observers feel as if they were having a nightmare.

/The Slayers location has been detected! Fifteen minutes and 12 seconds until the next dimensional rift opens!/

The party members’ faces hardened at the message that suddenly appeared in their minds. Hanma grumbled.

“What the hell… the first attack didn’t even give us a countdown. I wonder if the next Slayer will be around the same level….”

“Well, I’m glad they gave us a countdown this time. I can activate my Master Skill before it appears.”

“Ah, if a Slayer comes out three more times, my Master Skill capacity will run out, and the number of times I can use my magic weapons will be exhausted… I’m done for at that point….”

The users began to rest for the next battle. And then, suddenly, a question popped into Adol’s mind.

“I wonder how the other teams are faring?”