[ VULCAN'S GUARD DETECTED AN ENEMY ]
[ VULCAN'S GUARD DETECTED AN ENEMY ]
[ VULCAN'S GUARD DETECTED AN ENEMY ]
They succeeded in attracting the enemies' attention. Jin-woo activated "Concealment", his plan was to flank the guards and get to Vulcan himself.
Contrary to Jin-Woo's expectations, Vulcan got up from his weird huge throne made of strangely gigantic bones and rushed hastily towards the Shadow Army first.
For such a fat and massive monster, he moved surprisingly quickly.
Passing by his guards, Vulcan focused on Jin-Woo's soldiers.
Vulcan raised his club and struck with it. The club flew towards the mages, Iron suddenly appeared before them and raised his pitch-black shield to block the attack.
It was a brave effort... While the gigantic knight managed to block the attack thus protecting the mages, both his arms were completely destroyed. The Shadow Soldier with the highest defense became useless after one attack.
As if disappointed with his last attack, Vulcan tilted his head and glanced at his club. Well, the demon's confusion only lasted a fraction of a second. The wooden club was raised up high again.
Watching this scene, something snapped inside Jin-Woo.
The hunter bit his lower lip. His body moved before his mind could issue an order.
Before he realized it, Jin-Woo was already in the air, flying towards Vulcan. His goal was clear. Compared to the mountain-like body, the demon's head was tiny. Jin-Woo twisted his hips in the air, pulling his right hand back. The muscles of the Hunter's right arm tensed.
Jin-Woo's clenched fist struck the demon's enormous cheek.
The gigantic boss's body was thrown back. The demon tumbled on the ground for some time, eventually stopping when he hit a building, collapsing it completely.
Jin-Woo nimbly landed on the ground, but he was quite surprised by the result of the attack.
The demon flew quite far.
He looked at his fist in disbelief. There was not a single scratch on the fist despite having just hit an gigantic demon with it. That's when he realized something important.
Jin-Woo opened the stats window.
[ STRENGTH: 150 ]
[ ENDURANCE: 109 ]
[ AGILITY: 139 ]
[ INTELLIGENCE: 109 ]
[ SENSES: 111 ]
Oh.
Right.
Although he had recently invested every point into intelligence, his strength was still the highest stat.
Moreover, in the last few days, he had rapidly increased his levels.
And the result was the knocked-down Vulcan.
He heard the sound of the system in his head and a window appeared before his eyes.
[ RULER OF THE LOWER FLOORS, GREEDY VULCAN, USED THE SKILL: "RAGE" ]
[ VULCAN HAS ENTERED BERSERKER MODE ]
[ VULCAN'S STATS INCREASED BY 50% ]
[ VULCAN'S PAIN TOLERANCE HAS BEEN REDUCED ]
Before Jin-Woo could recall Cerberus and his attack which was practically identical, Vulcan attacked him while the color of his eyes changed to furiously red.
The ground shook with every deafening step. Jin-Woo quickly looked behind, his Shadow Soldiers and Vulcan's servants were still locked in fierce combat.
Amidst the chaos of battle, Jin-Woo found Iron. Evidence of Vulcan's destructive power was the fact that the knight kept regenerating the whole time.
- Iron!
His knight immediately understood the order. He threw his huge shield towards Jin-Woo. The Hunter quickly caught it mid-air.
When he turned his gaze forward again, Vulcan was already in front of him.
If he dodges his soldiers will get hit.
Without his army defeating Vulcan and his servants would be impossible. Thus Jin-Woo chose the best method to protect his soldiers.
He raised the shield up and braced himself.
Brutal attacks that made the earth start to weep mercilessly rained down on Jin-Woo, but the hunter did not give in. It was only possible thanks to his high physical damage reduction and endurance stat.
Enraged that his attacks were ineffective, Vulcan began to swing his club furiously.
One of Jin-Woo's knees began to buckle.
Simply blocking would never bring down that mountain of meat. Jin-Woo's eyebrows furrowed. Unlike Cerberus, Vulcan's "Frenzy", although less effective than the canine's, had no time limit.
Jin-Woo gritted his teeth.
The moment Vulcan's club pulled back to prepare for another blow, Jin-Woo jumped towards the demon's head again. However, the hunter was not the only one looking for an opportunity.
Vulcan leaned back as if expecting this attack.
Jin-Woo noticed the club flying towards him positioned horizontally.
Dodging was impossible in this case.
Had he been on the ground, it would be a different story. But there was no way to dodge in the air. Even if he blocked, the attack would shatter something.
If only he could move his body somehow.
As soon as he thought that, he realized that he actually could do something.
He could move his body in a way.
There was no time to think. Jin-Woo quickly used the "Dominance Touch".
Of course, moving that gigantic body with his current level of mastery was impossible. However, the recoil instead pushed Jin-Woo's body back.
Due to such a movement, Jin-Woo lost his balance and tumbled on the ground a bit, but it was nothing compared to the damage he would have received if he had been hit by that attack.
He would have lost at least 1/3 of his health.
On the other hand, Vulcan's face wrinkled unpleasantly with anger. His victim's escape apparently really infuriated him.
Seeing his opponent's fury Jin-Woo scratched his chin silently asking: What now?
He didn't really know how to attack in order to kill this giant.
Looking around, Jin-Woo came up with a risky idea.
The Hunter turned around and started running.
Mistakenly thinking Jin-Woo was trying to escape, Vulcan immediately chased after him.
Jin-Woo controlled the pace to make sure Vulcan could keep up. His eyes lit up in triumph as he found a suitable building.
As the distance between him and Jin-Woo decreased, the demon swung his club.
Once they were both under the building he had spotted, the Hunter slammed into it and escaped.
The wall he had jumped at cracked and something flew at Vulcan's face faster than he could react.
Vulcan's eyes widened in shock as Jin-Woo smiled vengefully. Holding Baruka's dagger in his right hand, Jin-Woo cut the bulging artery on the demon's neck.
Proportionate to his large body, blood gushed from the wound like a fountain.
At the same time, the huge building finally collapsed on the stunned Vulcan who still stood in the same place. Right on the path of the toppling building.
An unbelievably loud crash echoed around the area as Vulcan's carcass was crushed under the building while blood continued to spurt from the artery.
He was about to go assist his army, but it looked like they were finishing up their job as well.
Thanks to the combined might of the Shadow Army, Vulcan's servants quickly fell left and right.
Jin-Woo looked at his status window. Having just leveled up, he regained full health, mana, and stamina.
With refreshed mana, he didn't need to help them.
As long as Mana existed, the Shadow Soldiers were immortal. That was the might of the undead army.
Besides, watching his soldiers fight always filled him up with pride and satisfaction.
Deciding to leave the small fry to the soldiers, Jin-Woo turned to Vulcan's corpse to collect the dropped items.
Feeling as if he was about to open a Christmas present, Jin-Woo smiled broadly.
Four differently colored lights emanated from the corpse.
[ YOU'VE ACQUIRED, ITEM: DEMON LORD'S EARRING ]
[ YOU'VE ACQUIRED, ITEM: SPHERE OF GREED ]
[ YOU'VE ACQUIRED, [VULCAN'S HORN] X2 ]
[ YOU'VE ACQUIRED, ITEM: FRAGMENT OF THE WORLD TREE ]
As he immediately guessed, Vulcan's horns were simply trash. Expensive trash he assumed.
The first thing that caught his attention was the "Fragment of the World Tree."
A huge irregular piece of wood. It didn't look as majestic as the name suggested.
[ ITEM ]
[ ITEM: FRAGMENT OF THE WORLD TREE ]
[ ITEM CLASS: ??? ]
[ TYPE: INGREDIENT ]
[ REMNANTS OF VULCAN'S CLUB, MADE FROM A BRANCH OF THE WORLD TREE. A FRAGMENT FROM THIS TREE CONTAINS TREMENDOUS MAGIC POWER WITHIN. AND SO IT IS USED AS AN INGREDIENT IN TOP-CLASS MAGIC ITEMS. ]
The first thing that struck Jin-Woo was the fact that this huge club was made from a tree branch.
Earlier he wondered where to find such a huge tree to make such a club out of. Now he wondered where the hell one could find a tree so freakishly large that even just one of its branches was enough to make such a club.
The second thing that caught his attention mentioned creating top-tier items.
Jin-Woo wanted to know what he could make out of it. Unfortunately, that information was not recorded anywhere. But it was clear this was no ordinary item. Standing close to it, he could feel the tremendous energy emanating from the piece of wood.
Knowing it'd be insanely stupid to sell this piece of wood, Jin-Woo stored it in his inventory.
Next, he checked the next item.
[ DEMON LORD'S EARRINGS ]
[ DIFFICULTY LEVEL: S ]
[ TYPE: ACCESSORY ]
[ STRENGTH +20, VITALITY +20 ]
[ SET BONUS ACTIVATES IF YOU ALSO EQUIP: ]
[ DEMON LORD'S NECKLACE ]
[ DEMON LORD'S RING ]
[ SET BONUS: ]
[ BONUS.1 (????) ]
[ BONUS.2 (????) ]
Not only did this item increase both strength and vitality, but one could also unlock a set bonus.
As usual, after clipping it onto his ear the earring disappeared and its effects were imposed on Jin-Woo.
He was almost certain he'd find the rest of the set in this castle as well.
With the name containing the word "Demon", it was easy to understand the whole set would drop from the place called the Demon Castle.
He looked at the next item.
[ ITEM ]
[ ITEM: SPHERE OF GREED ]
[ DIFFICULTY LEVEL: A ]
[ TYPE: MAGIC ITEM ]
[ A BALL CREATED FROM THE HARDENED BLOOD OF A HIGH-LEVEL DEMON, VULCAN. THE ITEM WILL PROVIDE ADDITIONAL MAGICAL EFFECTS THAT WILL INCREASE DAMAGE. ]
[ EFFECT - DESIRE FOR DESTRUCTION: DOUBLES MAGIC DAMAGE. ]It was a billiard ball sized red sphere. For him the item was useless because it didn't boost shadow related skills and he didn't use normal magic.
Doubling magic damage output was astounding.
In the real world, magic items that enhanced the magic power of the user were insanely expensive. For this reason they were only used by a handful of hunters, the ones who could afford such a huge expense. However, Jin-Woo had never heard of an artifact that increased offensive power by a whole 100%. If something like that had been discovered, it would cause a real media storm across the entire world. There was no way someone would be able to hide something like that.
And now he held such an item in his own hands.
An item that simply boosted magic damage output could provide nothing for him. After all, shadow skills technically didn't deal any damage on their own. His offensive abilities weren't even magical to begin with. If only an intelligence boosting item appeared...
While he tossed and turned the sphere up and down in disappointment, thinking about what to do with it, the Shadow Soldiers finished fighting and gathered in front of him. The fastest among them was Igris.
Three in the right hand. Three in the left hand.
That's how many heads he held.
The Knight approached Jin-Woo and placed the six demon heads before the Hunter.
Jin-Woo scratched his temple as he looked at the kneeling knight.
- You did great as usual. It's just... Could you stop doing this?
Of course, the respectfully bowed head of the knight did not reply.
- Because you see...
He wasn't sure when the other knight managed to do it, but Iron beheaded Vulcan and dragged his head to his master.
- He does this too...
Jin-Woo sulked thinking that he was the one who killed Vulcan, so why did Iron dragging a head not of his own kill look so pleased with himself.
Jin-Woo glared at Iron and sighed deeply. Looking at the kneeling giant, an interesting idea came to his mind.
What if he could give the sphere to one of his shadows like Iron gave him his shield for protection?
At his beckoning, the Shadow Mages slowly approached Jin-Woo. Compared to the knights or even infantry, the mages were rather sluggish. Jin-Woo called out the closest one. When he gestured with his hand, the indicated mage slowly approached his master.
The guy really dragged his feet.
Jin-Woo shook his head and quickly went up to the mage. He placed the Sphere of Greed on the mage's palm, then pointed at the building he had jumped from towards Vulcan. Since the Shadow Soldiers moved according to his will, he didn't need to explain specifics.
A fireball twice the size of what the mage usually created appeared in the mage's hands.
Jin-Woo's eyes widened. Ignoring his shock, the fireball flew out of the mage's hands.
The force of such a great explosion easily reached them, heating Jin-Woo's body with a strong gust.
The Hunter's mouth gaped open. The building was swallowed by the explosion and shattered like a house of cards. The fire consuming the building didn't look easy to extinguish.
Watching the fireworks caused by the mage's spell, Jin-Woo quickly took back the Sphere of Greed. He searched through its description again looking for a specific phrase.
No matter how much he read the description from top to bottom and bottom to top, there was no mention that the item couldn't be sold.
So he could sell the sphere?
Jin-Woo looked at the destroyed building where only a huge burning crater remained.
On second thought, could such an item simply be sold?
Such might... seemed practically priceless.
It would drive hunters of the mage class across the entire world insane.
Everything here was already taken care of, and he'd think about the sphere later.
It was time to move forward.
***
Hwang Dong-Su was a ruthless person. Especially when it came to magical beasts. Due to the opening of the gate, he lost his parents and grew up under the watchful eye of his older brother. And when he awakened as an S-rank hunter, he considered it a blessing.
A chance to tear those disgusting bastards apart with his bare hands...
And it was as a merciless S-rank hunter that he entered the interrogation room. The man from the underground.
If it was a beast posing as a human...
He would kill it on the spot without any mercy. That's why he agreed to the bureau's request in the first place.
The pair looked at each other in silence. Hwang Dong-Su placed the man's file on the table and sat down in the chair.
- I didn't expect to come across such an interesting case right after returning to Washington. A monster that can speak our language. And on top of that, he's Korean.
- I told you I'm not a monster. If you have any doubts, you can do DNA tests.
- You came out of the gate so we have to be careful with you. They suspect you of being a monster, so I suggest you cooperate. My word will determine whether you are a human or a monster.
- Alright.
Before starting the official questioning, Hwang Dong-Su asked a personal question. They said his brother died in the underground. Was there a chance he could come back? The hunter wanted to know.
- You survived 10 years in the dungeon, how?
- No. I'm still alive rather.
- Can someone who died in the underground come back like you?
The man shook his head.
- I don't think so. The dead can't come back to life. I'm not dead.
- Name, Sung Il- Hwan
The photo in the file matched perfectly. If not for the beard and hair, there wouldn't be much difference visible.
- Your career was quite impressive. You would be earning huge money right now.
Sung Il-Hwan did not answer. At that time there was no Hunter classification system. They didn't even get ranks.
- Now we use a ranking system. Someone with your skills would be able to live without money worries. You need to adapt to modern times. Wife's name is Park Hyung-He, two children.
Reading through the list absentmindedly, Hwang Dong-Su froze for the briefest moment when he got to the son's name,
Sung Jin-Woo?!
He continued calmly as if nothing in the interrogated man's file surprised him.
- Do you know what your daughter's name is?
- Sung Jin-Ah.
- And your son?
- Sung Jin-Woo.
Hwang Dong-Su was about to flip the file to the next page when Sung Il-Hwan stopped him. The S-rank hunter looked up. Sung Il-Hwan's face became as cold as Hwang Dong-Su's face,
Sung Il-Hwan's eyes lit up when he sensed the other hunter's brutal power swirling in the air around them. He felt like the man had already decided his fate before even walking in here. Further conversation was pointless.
How dare a common magical beast threaten a Hunter? Sensing that Sung Il-Hwan was emanating tremendous hostile energy, Hwang Dong-Su decided that was evidence enough to claim the man was a monster.
- Secretary, this is a beast. It will attack soon, please evacuate.
- What?! W-Wait a minute! - The secretary shouted in vain. Hwang had already turned off the intercom and ignored the people on the other side of the one-way mirror.
- I just got back from Korea. I know a thing or two about your son. He's dead. But don't worry, you'll join him soon enough.
***
Jin-Woo recalled the first and only boss of the Demon Castle he fought, Vulcan. That bastard's title was: "Ruler of the Lower Floors." After passing the 50th floor where the demon was located, the difficulty of each floor increased dramatically. Previously, he was able to climb 10 floors a day, 15 on a good day. Now he could barely clear 6-7 floors a day.
Jin-Woo was currently on the 74th floor. Normal monsters here were top-level demons and sometimes archdemons. They were in a different league than the demons from the lower floors.
The Greed Ball's description indicated that Vulcan himself was an archdemon. While Vulcan may have been the boss on the lower floors, archdemons were ordinary monsters here where Jin-Woo currently was. After passing the 70th floor, these bastards started appearing more frequently.
If only the monsters were getting stronger, he would still be able to cope. However, it wasn't the monsters that were his biggest concern right now.
The changing environment on the upper floors was more problematic. From floor 51, entire cities began burning, no longer just one or two small fires. Everything on subsequent floors began catching fire. By floor 70, the heat had become strong enough to sap his health. And moving around further increased his fatigue due to the omnipresent heat.
He would end his raid here for now. He needed a way to deal with the flames.
He had to acquire an artifact with fire protection.
Equipment used by high-ranked Hunters was incredibly expensive. Moreover, if they were enchanted with protective magic, it would be double the expense. He recalled seeing in the news that some of the more costly items cost tens of billions of won. Although he had earned quite a bit of real money during raids with Jin-Ho, Jin-Woo wasn't sure if it would be enough to buy the artifacts he needed.
Jin-Woo looked at the Greed Ball in his inventory and grimaced. Any Mage-class Hunter would drool at the sight of such an item.
What would happen if he put the orb up for auction?
Selling the orb would certainly allow him to acquire funds, potentially even twice as much as he needed.
But he didn't want to sell such a powerful item, even if he couldn't use it himself. He had already seen how potent that orb could be in the hands of his mage.
He could still utilize it.
Jin-Woo looked up at the counter.
[ DEMON SOULS OBTAINED: 9624 / 10,000 ]