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chapter-54

Phantom Dragon, Ride the Wind (3)

Spider, spider, spider. There were spiders everywhere the eye could see. The poisonous webs flying in from each side were blasted away by the blades of wind. Several egg clutches had been caught in the fray, raising the ire of the spiders even further. Even though it was temporary, with his agility at A-rank, Kang Shin-hyuk’s speed had risen to a level beyond the imagination. The spiders also boasted a considerably faster speed than the mantises, but they couldn’t catch up. If there were only ten of them, he would be able to take care of them easily.

‘Although the problem is that there are at least a hundred of them!’ He did it because he thought there was no other way, but still. His feet collided with the bare ground in that space teeming with spiders, kicking off quickly as he swore in his heart.

-Click click click

The creepy noises of the monsters overlapped and assaulted his ears. They attacked him with reckless abandon, unconcerned of any spider eggs nearby. Venomous fangs and webs, as well as blade-sharp legs, came at him from every angle. He focused his eyes as he looked at the countless attacks crossing dizzily in front of him, raising the forelimb blade. In his immediate vicinity, he only had to deal with so many enemies at once. He just had to keep hacking his way through.

‘My increased agility is improving my visual acuity…good!’ Examining the attacks, he figured out how to evade them and which spiders to attack first.

“Kh!” He immediately charged at them. The dragon engraved on the mantis blade had it’s mouth wide open as the blade cleaved through the legs of the nearest spider. Cutting through one more quickly after, he fired off a wind blade to defeat some more nearby spiders and destroy the closest egg clutch.

-Kiii!

-Kyaaaak!

Quickly ducking under the spiders’ legs, he drew the forelimb blade upward to cut off the poisonous web spewing toward him. Then, avoiding the blade-like limbs, he swung his blade horizontally to cut down two spiders blocking him. Several spiders climbing on the sidewall spewed out poison toward him. He evaded what he could and blocked what he couldn’t, avoiding direct hits. The attacks couldn’t be completely prevented, however.

-Poison has been mostly resisted with Poison Resistance. However, the effects may remain.

“But it won’t interfere with the battle…Onyx, you okay?” Kang Shin-hyuk quickly evaluated the damage caused by the poison and decided it was safe, turning his attention to Onyx. Onyx was silent, however.

“Ah…I see.” Kang Shin-hyuk let out a sigh as he cut down the spiders left and right. He had already leaped out of his arms sometime during the fight. Looking around for him, he quickly decided it would be impossible to find him in the chaos.

‘He must have a plan of his own…right?’ He had no choice but to trust in him.

-Kiiiii!

-Click click click

Not giving him a chance to think about it anymore, the spiders stormed him. It was better to stop thinking and let instinct drive him. He struck out at the monsters threatening him, seizing the opportunity to counter-attack. There was no need for complex thought.

-Kiiii!

Although the weapon he was holding was not the Godslayer sword, he gradually unfolded the Godslayer swordsmanship he remembered through the forelimb blade. His efforts to replicate that sword dance with various weapons were bearing fruit. It destroyed the enemy’s movement through a unique dance that even Kang Shin-hyuk couldn’t interpret. It was infinitely short of the original but effective enough for spiders.

-Kyak

-Click click…click

The spiders’ movements started to gain a sense of urgency as they kept dying. The poisonous webs shooting out were wrapping around the bodies of other spiders instead of him, and their stinging blows passed by him to hit eggs instead. It was thanks to him adapting to his heightened agility.

“Break…!”

-Kiiiiii!

The spiders screamed at the sound of the cracking of eggs. The spiders relied mainly on agility, and thus had a weak defense. It was easy enough to break through them with the forelimb bladed in his hands. He didn’t know how many spiders he had already killed, nor how many eggs, but the HP gain was enormous. It was a shame he couldn’t be leisurely shopping on the trading board right now.

‘I can’t see the end.’ How long had it been since the battle began? He fired off another blade of wind imbued with his spiritual power and checked the time. Exactly eleven minutes had passed.

‘Right…’ He was running out of spiritual power, so he immediately grabbed a recovery potion and drank it, asking the administrator to buy two more. He had nineteen minutes to finish this.

‘If I don’t, it’ll be over anyway.’ He knew he couldn’t end the battle through fighting blindly like he was. He was convinced he had killed plenty of them so far, but it was nothing compared to the amount still overflowing the tunnel.

‘It isn’t enough, I need a different approach.’ Kang Shin-hyuk raised his head and looked at the magic circle shining from one corner of the cavern. The spiders had stopped him hard, so the distance hadn’t closed at all. Rather than killing the spiders, he knew he had to get there somehow.

‘If don’t get there, I’ll have no choice but to lay down and die.’ He would destroy as many egg clutches as possible in the process, too. If he could raise his status before the potion ran out, he would be able to last longer.

‘Go.’ Kang Shin-hyuk, sure of what needed to be done, focused his spiritual power in his legs. At the same time, he attempted to lighten his body with Wind Mastery, which had grown to F+ rank during the battle.

-Click click click

“…Ha!” It was open for only a moment, but he saw the best path before him. Wondering if it was the result of his dragon’s dance, he intuitively followed it. Crushing the heads of spiders and firing off wind blades, he threw his body forward again and again while letting his eyes pass over the HP acquisition messages popping up in front of him.

-Kiiiii!

‘Wind Mastery with my other skills… it’s not just a force that summons wind, it’s involved in the flow.’ And indeed, he flowed down the path before him. He analyzed the movements of all enemies before him so that he could respond more actively, aided by Wind Mastery. However, it wasn’t purely his skills, as it was also based on his experiences so far.

-You have realized the essence of the skill through combat. Wind Master (A-) has grown to E Rank. Spirit and agility have been adjusted, but they may not grow to the next rank.

-You have brought out the potential of your skill and embodied it. Dragon’s Fan Dance (S+) has grown to B+ rank. The effect of the trait has increased.

Kang Shin-hyuk didn’t even recognize the messages passing over his retina as he moved without hesitation. All of his experience up until now harmonized with his abilities. Each movement was engraved into his mind, materialized from a realm of intuition.

-You have suppressed several beings that are harmful to the order of things. Bonus based on membership level! You received 150,500 HP! As a VIP bonus, you received an additional amount of HP equivalent to 50% of the reward, for a total of 225,750 HP!

-You have suppressed several beings that are harmful to the order of things. Bonus based on membership level! You received 115,000 HP! As a VIP bonus, you received an additional amount of HP equivalent to 50% of the reward, for a total of 172,500 HP!

-Click click

-Kiiiii!

The message covered his eyes as screams reverberated around him. Lifting his head, the magic circle was only a hundred meters away.

-The status potion has five minutes remaining!

The administrator’s message seemed to announce the climax of the battle.

“What’s my status right now?”

-Strength B+, Agility A-, Health A-.

“I’m still lacking in strength.”

-You have to hurry, member. They appear to be hatching!

“I know, it’s too noisy to stand.” A vibration like a steady heartbeat emanated throughout the cavern from the egg in the center of the magic circle. He knew if it hatched, something bad would happen. The issue was the remaining one hundred meters. The spiders were desperately rallying to defend the magic circle, forming a wall around him, without defeating them. He couldn’t move forward. But, he expected this to some extent. In fact, he prepared for it.

“Administrator, please buy me an Ogre Power Gauntlet.”

-Sorry, member, but it was just sold…artifacts like those are immensely popular…

Kang Shin-hyuk lost any ability to blame the administrator for the sorrowful message. In that case, there was no other way. He blasted away the closest spiders with a wind blade and pulled three times from his inventory. The first was a javelin. The second was the items he bought to boost his power. The final was the javelin he forged for practice. It was the javelin made out of Alite, which could penetrate through magic.

Only

-Are you going to eat all of it?

“I’m not going to risk failing.”

-…I see.

He grunted and swallowed the three eggs in succession. His whole body began to boil without delay. With the addition of his potion, his strength had risen to the S-rank for a moment. He could feel his power overwhelming him.

“Oh, this is… this’ll be bad once the three minutes are up.”

-So destroy it quickly!

Since the administrator used an exclamation point, he felt like he had to hurry. Kang Shin-hyuk smiled in the midst of the chaos and prepared the Alite javelin.

Pulling it back, he threw it with all his might.