Demon King
chapter-54

3F Breakthrough (2)

There were flying monsters on the third floor. Giant vampire bats, floating wriggling ones with large eyes, and even giant moths.

The first ones to arrive after the War Cry was these flying monsters. Since most of them have the ability to attack from a distance, it was annoying to deal with them along with the monsters on the ground.

Therefore, as soon as they appeared in my field of vision, I fired several daggers at them and caught them in traps. The traps consumed by-products from the monsters that were overflowing on the third floor.

“The main herd is coming, Captain. Move fast!”

“I know!”

As I swung my Blood Shadow using one hand, another hand held a long, black lightning bolt that made a crackling sound in the air.

It was a new ability that emerged when Black Lightning reached the Intermediate level. Not only could I shoot black bolts, but I could wield it in the form of a whip.

I hit the floor and ran, swinging the hip. It caught the monsters that fell to the floor and dragged them to the direction I was running to.

Then, I charged Black Lightning on them and slashed at them with Blood Shadow.

Blood Flame and Power Attack, plus the new speed gained from annihilating the Phoenix hunters!

To use both skills at the same time, the consumption of stamina and mana was extreme, but it was not that bad for me.

“Kick!”

I swung a long sword horizontally. The flaming blood flying in the air was an energy that even intermediate monsters would find difficult to touch.

The Blood Shadow possessed terrible power. Combined with Black Lightning and the strength of a bugbear, all the monsters within the horizontal orbit the sword made lost their lives.

[You gained 23,600 experience.]

[You acquired 25 silver.]

As more monsters surrounded me, I activated Surprise and Fairy Tale. All their attacks missed their aim. Projectiles that come too close get slashed down by Blood Shadow.

I picked out a monster that looked moderately delicious and bit off its head, before quickly hiding again.

Only the screaming of my victims gave a clue to where I was.

Each moment, one of them dies again.

I have no intention to rest.

“Kiyii”

“Kiik, Kikik!”

Attack, predate, hide. The secret to constantly accumulating death counts without getting attacked is that simple.

One more thing. I have Detection. All my senses are improved, easily searching for gaps in the monsters around me.

I could grasp and respond to their movements, their attacks, their evasion – everything.

Traps continue to pop up and immobilize enemies within my sight’s reach.

There is no need to imbue lethal power on the traps. Tie their feet, and in the next moment, cut their throats!

“Quaah quaah!”

“Captain! Armored Bear!”

“To your left!”

The ground monsters who made the dungeon floor vibrate has come. They were covered with hardened pelts, which attacks could not break through. In fact, it even hurts to hit them.

Of course, they have weaknesses. The back, head, and their necks are hard, but there are spots around their belly button which were not hardened. You could shove a sword into it and burst the creature’s heart.

The moment they appeared, I hit the floor with Beast Charge. They broke through the wall and were running directly at Lee Chan-yu.

Lee Chan-yu was running to the left, as I instructed. His feet were glowing with silver light as if he had activated skills to increase his speed.

If I didn’t help him, he would be crushed soon. I quickly brought up the inventory.

There were ten consumable items called Devil’s Hooks. They are items I received upon evolving into a bugbear, and its description was extremely simple.

Creates a sharp hook on the floor and grabs a monster’s ankles.

I used monster by-products and two demon hooks and created a trap in the path of the armored bear group while killing monsters that flocked around me.

The group of the armored bears and Lee Chan-yu collided.

With his tackle, some of the bears got thrown in the air, like cartoon characters.

The rest of the group got caught in the trap I set up, causing them to stumble upon each other.

Now, it’s time for me to finish them off.

However, the number of monsters surrounding me was by no means small. While I sprinkled traps to support Lee Chan-yu, I got fully surrounded.

If I focused on these monsters around me, Lee Chan-yu would suffer serious damage from the bears.

But I know what to do.

“Hoo!”

Using Lower level Fantasy Magic, I created an illusion of my image standing at my spot, and with Fairy Tale, I hid, melting into the illusion I created.

Then, when all the monsters charged at the illusion, I escaped using the full Leap and Beast Rush.

[Lower Fantasy Magic has become Lv9.]

“Kia ahhh!”

By the time they have realized that they have been tricked, I was already at the armored bear group.

A trap that used Lunatic Trickster was also installed in the place where my illusion stood, so they were immobilized for a while.

The various skills I used are gradually increasing in level as I use them.

“Arghh, they keep coming! Let’s finish this quickly!”

I swung Blood Shadow. There can be no failure with my attack.

Advanced Detection and Martial Arts are making my movements sharper and deadlier!

Since these monsters seem to be never-ending, my movements had to be quick and accurate.

[You gained 27,810 experience.]

[You acquired 31 silver.]

[You gained 29,708 experience.]

[You acquired 34 silver.]

“Fuck it! Yes, everyone, come one!”

Lee Chan-yu’s eyes burned fiercely. His nails and legs were covered with a more intense glow.

His desire to win was as strong as his abilities. As I continued to reduce the number of monsters without much difficulty, he seemed to have the idea that he was doing it all on his own.

“Kohohohohohoh!”

He was different from the first time I met him when he was passive towards the idea of hunting intermediate monsters.

He thought it was impossible, but he changed. That’s why I liked him.

“Go take a mana potion, I’ll drive them away!”

“I trust you, Captain!”

The werewolf roared fiercely. It was so fierce that even the armored bears could not help but tremble!

I smiled and lifted Blood Shadow. While I finished them off, I detected a group of other intermediate monsters approaching.

One by one, they were no match for me.

Against hundreds or thousands, a little moment of carelessness will end up with fangs on my neck.

In the past, I have cursed myself for creating such a situation. But now, I knew better.

It’s not just this dungeon that I have to fight.

Even at this moment, there are unknown enemies outside the dungeon who wanted to bite my neck.

As soon as I’m satisfied with my power, as soon as I rested, I’ll fall into a pit and never get up again.

In order to survive, I have to keep risking my life to get stronger.

It’s really a paradox, but that is my life now as a monster.

This tension and fear make me stronger and faster.

I dashed. Every movement was infused with Leap and Beast Charge.

It would be more exciting if other monsters had skills that assist them in movements, too.

I smiled bitterly at the thought.

After this mass appearance is over, I could definitely get another skill or two that I can use.

With that in mind, I kept swinging Blood Shadow.

And time passed.

[Predation after hunting regular monsters in Black Palace 3F 100,000/100,00]

[Predation after hunting high-level species in Black Palace 3F 20,000/20,000]

I can’t help but feel proud as the two notification windows announced my accomplishment.

In fact, the chain of mass appearances didn’t even end long after I reached the quest requirement, so it was a bit of a disadvantage that I had to continue moving instead of devouring the enemies.

But finally, the third floor was quiet.

Now, I have finished predating the last horde of monsters. It was a pleasant coincidence that I achieved two of the quests at the same time.

“Captain, did you eat them all?”

“Didn’t you see it?”

“But… there were hundreds, thousands…”

“You kept moving and didn’t see it. I even ate about 70,000 in one seating.”

“That’s impossible! I only ate seven, and my stomach is bursting!”

Lee Chan-yu is also a monster who didn’t hesitate to eat monster meat.

However, without Predation, he could only get a feeling of fullness and nutrition.

He could even get poisoned unless his Resistance could make up for it.

“Hoo. Imagine. I survived.”

Lee Chan-yu mumbled to himself in disbelief.

Then, his eyes began to droop.

“I don’t know how long we’ve been fighting without sleeping.”

“The hour hand rotated a little over thirteen laps.”

“So, you mean, for over six days now, I have been swinging my claws through intestines and screaming my War Cry?”

“Something like that, yes.”

I swung Blood Shadow, soaking up the river of blood flowing in all directions.

This battle was nothing compared to what I experienced on the first floor of Jinma Tower.

We were greatly outnumbered, but I was fully in control. All I had to do was keep swinging my sword.

“Lee Chan-yu, are you ready now?”

“I just need to rest a little…”

“Then, let’s go.”

“I need a little rest!”

Lee Chan-yu complained loudly, but he stood up, nevertheless.

“There must be a reason why you wanted to move again so quickly. What is it?”

“Simple.”

[Predation after hunting rare species in Black Palace 3F 0/500]

“We’ve cleared the 3F, but we still haven’t encountered a single rare species. Obviously, they must be in an area that we haven’t figured out yet. In order to find it, we must move now while the dungeon is empty.”

“Rare higher-level species…”

Lee Chan-yu seemed to be mumbling to himself, agonizing.

Then, he nodded and clenched his fists.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter. I can catch them.”

We ran down the third floor.

It didn’t take long for a monster to get caught in my Advanced Detection.