Ch. 32 - Chapter 32

The two groups, desperate to kill each other, had the same expression on their faces.

Harpies.

And the hunters of 'Orenoton'.

Team Leader Choi Inho, in particular, had such a pale face one would think he was on the verge of dying.

"A healer... with that kind of killing power… that's impossible...?"

He couldn't even form a sentence properly.

I called out to Lee Yechan, who was standing next to Choi Inho with his mouth agape.

"Hunter Lee Yechan!"

"Yes... yes!!"

"When any of them latches on me, unleash a lightning strike!"

"Huh?! But..."

He might be a promising prospect, but he was still a 'C' rank hunter.

It would be impossible to make such a precise strike as to hit only the harpy that had latched on.

But I ordered him to just shoot roughly, not caring if I got hit in the process.

Harpies were especially vulnerable to electric-type attacks, so even if I took some damage in the process, it would still be in our favor in the end.

More than anything, I couldn't stop attacking just because the number of harpies had decreased.

“If I say shoot, then shoot!”

With that sharp command, I moved my body again.

Sswaek.

This is why monsters with a semblance of intelligence are such a pain.

The swarm of monsters that had been chasing me in a group seemed to sense danger, spreading out across the sky and attacking sequentially.

I tried to catch them off guard by throwing Exa like a boomerang, but it wasn't as effective as before.

'If only I could use 'that technique' right now.....'

The skill Kiril used to wipe out the mobs in one fell swoop.

'Poison Rain'.

If I could use ‘Poison Rain’, the skill that spread from the sky to the ground, covering the whole battlefield, I would have wiped those damn harpies out in one hit.

But suddenly awakening a skill in the middle of a battle is absurd.

Right now, I have to decide the outcome with the resources I already have.

It was not on the same level as Kiril’s skill, but I had a weapon with endless potential.

“Damn it. At this rate, Exa’s efficiency is absolute crap.”

I grumbled on purpose, loud enough for it to be heard.

Twitch.

The bait landed perfectly.

Kirik, kirik.

The Exa in my hand suddenly shot out on its own and began to change its form midair….!

"Oooh!!!"

At the strange and mysterious sight, the hunters’ eyes went wide.

I must have had that same expression when I first saw it too.

Clank.

Unlike V1, I couldn't have a conversation with Exa.

But it definitely possessed ‘artificial intelligence’ of its own.

Dr. Jin said that Exa changes forms efficiently depending on the situation.

On the premise that a ‘special condition’ is triggered.

And based on my experience so far, that ‘special condition’ is….

"Now it's finally somewhat useful."

Provocation.

Jiiiiiiing.

[User Information

Exa Shift Evolution: You can now use, in addition to the Defense-Type (Dagger) and Mobility-Type (Booster), a new randomized Offense-Type (Shotgun).]

Perfect.

Just like before, Exa seemed offended by being called ‘useless’ and transformed its form.

Could a device really have an ego of its own, too?

I figured that scratching its pride could get me an immediate reaction.

Exa, which had previously shifted from cube to dagger form, and at times into boosters on the soles of my feet, now transformed into a ‘shotgun’ with a long, imposing barrel.

Considering the original size of the cube form, it felt like the laws of physics had been violated.

Maybe Dr. Jin is actually a blacksmith from another world?

Flap flap.

The harpies seemed agitated by the appearance of a new weapon.

With targets lined up all across the sky, I didn't even need to aim.

I didn’t expect Exa to transform into a shotgun, but I have a good guess what the ‘bullets’ were.

The Black Aether contained in my body would turn into hundreds of bullets and slaughter them at random.

I aimed at the cluster closest to me and then…

Bang!!

Thud!! Thud!!

"...!!"

Wow.

The moment I pulled the trigger, dozens of harpies in the sky came crashing down.

Should’ve transformed like this from the start.

That felt damn satisfying.

I fired the shotgun in rapid succession, and by the time the tenth shot rang out, fewer than twenty harpies remained in the sky.

Alright, just one or two more...

Whish.

My vision suddenly went white.

I almost stumbled.

Why was this happening?

[Warning: Rapid consumption of Black Aether will damage the user's stamina.]

So that's it.

Firing off hundreds of Aether rounds in quick succession must’ve caused a bit of an overload.

This was actually the first time I’d used Black Aether like this in a real battle.

What should I do?

Those crafty bastards must have sensed it and were swarming in all at once.

Sswaek!

The claw of the one charging first shot toward my throat.

Crackle, crackle.

At that moment, a dazzling electric shock crackled right in front of me.

When I turned my head, Lee Yechan was over there giving a thumbs-up.

“Hunter Chun Haesun!! Just trust me!!”

The electric shock only singed a bit of my bangs, it didn’t turn me into a roasted sparrow.

It seemed the urgency of the situation had sharpened Lee Yechan’s focus.

He was more useful than I thought.

Led by the now-emboldened Lee Yechan, the hunters rushed in and quickly surrounded me.

With only a few harpies left, they were finally in a position to handle things on their own.

Yeah.

I’ve done enough, time for a break.

I slumped down onto the field and checked my condition, while the other hunters took down the remaining harpies one by one.

Only three harpies were left now.

Zero casualties on our side.

Considering it started as a battle of hundreds versus just ten, this was unprecedented.

Wiiiiing...

Suddenly, a high-pitched sound pierced my ears from far away.

It felt familiar.

It was exactly how it felt when I met Gu Gyeon and Yaksha.

An unusual, ominous resonance, a voice laced with a ‘special energy’.

Looking around at my teammates, who were still riding high on the thrill of victory, I spoke.

“Stay sharp.”

“Huh?”

“It seems the boss has appeared.”

“!!!”

Wiiiiing...

The irritating, tinnitus-like sound grew closer.

What was unusual was that the harpies were even more restless than the hunters here.

Three times the size?

No.

The monster flying slowly toward us was at least five times larger than a harpy.

At that size, calling it a ‘Flying Troll’ instead of a harpy wouldn’t even be an exaggeration.

But then, just as it reached the other harpies, the boss monster suddenly swung its front claws.

Chwaaak.

The harpies’ heads dropped one after another, and the boss monster devoured them greedily.

“Urgh…!!”

At the horrifying sight, the female Esper covered her mouth with one hand.

Monster or not, watching one devour its own kind alive was clearly a shock, especially when they were of such similar form.

Flap flap.

The massive boss monster hovered above, its beak stained with the blood of harpies as it looked down on us.

First things first, I needed to figure out what we were dealing with.

‘Info.’

[Singing Harpy (BOSS)

Type: Psychokinetic, Flying

Elimination Difficulty: 6 stars (★★★★★★) 

Physical Level: C-rank

Other Attributes: S-rank 

Unique Skill – Echo: Emits a sonic wave that paralyzes hearing and stuns the target.]

Damn it.

The moment I read the text, I had to shout to my teammates.

“Everyone, cover your ears!”

"??”

At the same moment, the ‘Singing Harpy’ took a deep breath.

Wiiiiing wiiiiing wiiiiing!!

“AAAGH!!”

The hunters’ screams were mixed in with the creature’s sonic blast.

Two knights, caught off guard and unaware of what was happening, screamed in terror and collapsed, while two Espers, unable to strengthen their bodies, bled from their noses and ears before fainting.

“Ugh... ughk!!”

The other hunters weren’t doing any better.

They might reinforce their bodies with Aether, but how much could that really protect their eardrums?

It seemed the inner parts of their ears had been damaged too as hunters staggered, unable to keep their balance.

Me?

I’d already given up trying to stay upright and just flopped flat onto the ground.

My balance was impaired, but I could still fire even when lying down.

Well, it was actually easier because the target was in the sky.

Whether it's a small fry or boss mob, they all die the same to the Poisoner's toxin.

I barely managed to control my now very shaky hand and fired a bullet in its direction.

Bang!

Whirring, whirring, whirring!!

“……!!!”

Oh, damn it.

I hadn't expected this.

The creature must’ve been watching me fight from the start, it unleashed a sonic blast straight in my direction.

The bullets, rising against gravity, couldn’t hold out against the sonic wave.

The dark red, circular Black Aether crystal lost its power in midair and plummeted downward.

Bang!!

Bang!!

No matter how many times I tried, it was the same.

It seemed I wouldn't be able to deal any damage to it with this form of attack.

And now, even if I wanted to shoot again, I couldn't.

“Urgh!!”

After rapidly burning through my Black Aether and taking back-to-back sonic blasts, I finally couldn’t hold it in and vomited my own blood.

I was incredibly dizzy and nauseous.

Looking around, I saw that all the hunters except me had passed out cold.

My vision shifted from white to blood-red.

“Damn it…”

I had forgotten.

The fact that normal monsters were far more difficult for me than Poison-types.

Until now, I had found that Poison-type monsters were easier to handle compared to their difficulty level.

That's because the ‘poison’, which is a significant penalty for others, posed no threat to me at all.

But a 6-star (★★★★★★) ‘normal’ monsters are strong.

At the moment, I felt in my bones just how brutal taking down a boss monster really is.

If it were a close-range physical type, I might still have had a shot at taking it down.

But with it attacking from a distance using only sonic waves, the matchup couldn’t be worse.

Wiiiiing wiiiiing.

I barely escaped the danger zone using Poison Step.

It was not just me, if those sonic waves kept coming, the unconscious hunters might never get back up again.

‘Damn it. If I could just get close enough, I could do something.’

Maybe because I fired the shotgun, the ‘Singing Harpy’ showed no intention of coming down. 

If I could just nick it a little with Exa, I could finish the bastard.

If I could somehow concentrate all my power on 'movement,' I would be able to reach the bastard.

Maybe if I transformed Exa into booster form, I could leap incredibly high.

The problem was that once I got there, I wouldn't actually have a blade to swing.

Without Exa in dagger form, even if I reached it, I wouldn't be able to inflict a lethal blow.

Drip.

Dark crimson blood was trickling from my eyes.

‘Blood…’

No.

There was definitely a weapon to swing.

'If we keep going like this, we will be finished anyway.'

After deciding to take a gamble, I bluntly asked Exa.

“Can’t you make it all the way up there in booster form?”

Whiing.

Kiiing kiiing.

As always, the effect was immediate.

Exa, almost irritably (….), split itself in two and slid beneath the soles of my shoes.

Swish.

Meanwhile, I smeared the blood flowing from my eyes, ears, and nose across my palm.

This would probably be my final attack.

If it succeeded, I would live. If it failed, I would die.

“What a damn brutal probation period.”

I poured every last drop of my Aether into the booster-form Exa attached to my soles.

The creature looked down at me with arrogant eyes, like a cat watching a cornered rat dart around.

You know what?

I hate that condescending look from above more than anything.

“Arrhhhh!!”

I kicked off the ground with every ounce of strength I had.

My body shot upward like a rocket.

The distance between me and the creature closed in an instant.

I could clearly see the panic on its face.

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It probably never expected the thing that was writhing on the ground to suddenly take flight.

The creature hastily tried to unleash a sonic blast, but my weapon was faster.

Pook.

There was no blade.

But what I had was deadlier than any blade.

A dark crimson liquid, saturated with Black Aether.

My blood.

I shoved my bloodied palm into the creature’s mouth.

“Gah…!!”

It swung its massive arm, grabbing me.

It felt like my waist was about to be crushed.

This must be karma.

The kind of pain I put Lee Yechan through when I grabbed him as he fell.

But the agony didn’t last long.

The struggling harpy’s wings stiffened solidly, and its pupils darkened to black.

“I killed it…!!”

I actually killed it.

A 6-star (★★★★★★) ‘normal’ boss monster.

Shuuk.

But there was something I hadn’t considered.

I’d thought only as far as killing the harpy, but how do I get back down? 

I didn’t have any Aether left.

“Oh, no.”

My body plummeted to the ground, fused with the harpy in my grasp.

Its grip was so fierce that even after dying, it wouldn’t let go as I tried to pull myself out.

Fuck.

How many times am I going to fall today?

Still, experience can't be ignored.

I've personally learned how to minimize the shock.

Before, I turned my body downward to shield the hunters, but this time, there was no need for that.

With luck, this thing’s thick feathers might just work as padding on impact.

Whoosh.

With every ounce of strength I had left, I twisted my body midair, positioning the harpy’s corpse beneath me.

I may survive if I'm lucky.

That was my only thought as the ground rushed up to meet me.

Thud!

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