Dungeon Predator (WN)
chapter-127

Clang!

Crack!

Kang Oh's sword shattered the Evil God Worshipper's bronze arm.

Thud.

The monster fell backwards, and then Kang Oh finished it off. He then chose his next target.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Kang Oh and Bleo's swords clashed, the friction producing sparks.

But neither Bleo’s swordsmanship nor his physical abilities were a match for his.

At some point, Kang Oh overpowered Bleo and instantly finished it off.

There were three monsters left, including the one Asu was fighting against.

'Let's take out the weak one first.'

Kang Oh rushed at whip-wielding Wicker.

Wicker lashed him with its whip.

Kang Oh barely dodged the whip, and then threw a dagger!

Thwock!

Bzzzzz.

The dagger emitted sparks upon impact.

"Huahp."

Slash, Abyss Aura.

Kyahk!

A fist came flying at him from behind.

An Evil God Worshipper had attacked while he was busy with Wicker.

'Forget dodging. I'm just going to finish him off.'

Kang Oh instantly made his decision.

Kang Oh forcefully thrust his sword and used Abyss Shield.

Stab.

Bam.

He heard two sounds simultaneously.

One resulted from him stabbing Wicker's neck, and the other resulted from Abyss Shield clashing with a bronze fist.

Thud.

The dead Wicker dropped its whip.

Wicker's death was confirmed via a system message; Kang Oh immediately turned around and rushed at another Evil God Worshipper.

It threw a fireball at him as if it were saying 'Get away!'.

However, his demon sword greedily devoured the spell; Demon Kang Oh, whose face was covered by a beast mask, appeared right in front of it!

"Atatatata!"

A horizontal cut, a thrust, a slash, a downward strike, and a diagonal upward strike!

The monster's head slammed onto the ground as if it were bowing for forgiveness.

Kang Oh's fight against the four monsters had ended one-sidedly.

"Oppa!" she desperately yelled after forcefully parrying a bronze fist.

Her voice seemingly said, 'I can't hold out any longer!'.

Kang Oh instantly closed the distance via Abyss Transfer.

Then, he unleashed a barrage of quick, sharp, and powerful attacks! Darkness Strike activated too, which let him finish it off even quicker.

Kang Oh and Asu overcame A course's most difficult obstacle. What remained was...

"The boss is all that's left. Let's go!"

All that remained was the Tarnatose Prison's boss, the monsterized chief guard!

* * *

Tae Gyu and Se Hwa encountered Bleos and Wickers on the B course too.

Like Kang Oh, Tae Gyu was able to defeat the Evil God Worshippers rather quickly due to his healing debuff sword and his S-rank equipment.

But now...

They had come across something that wasn't an Evil God Worshipper.

It was a high wall.

This 'wall' was characteristic of the B course.

If they didn't scale this wall, then they'd have to go the long way around, which would waste a substantial amount of time.

But that didn't mean that scaling the wall was some easy feat.

If one lost their concentration halfway through, then they would have to start all over again.

Or they could fall to their death too.

It seemed impossible for Yoon Se Hwa to scale the wall; after all, her character had low physical abilities and her control wasn't the best either.

"Please wait here. I'll lower a rope for you after I scale the wall."

Taking all that into consideration, this is what Tae Gyu had come up with: scale the wall first and then lower a rope for her.

"Please hurry."

"I have this, so I'll be done in a flash."

He pointed at his boots and then nimbly scaled the wall.

His boots shone as he quickly climbed the wall.

Mountain Patrol Bayavan's All-Purpose Boots!

The boots ramped up his climbing speed.

Of course, the boots possessed two other abilities, and also offered incredible defense and stat bonuses as well, cementing their status as S-rank boots.

His guild had provided them for him, as they were a perfect fit for the B course.

Tae Gyu, who'd reached the top, took out a tough rope from his inventory and threw it down the wall.

"Please tie it around your waist."

Yoon Se Hwa did as he instructed.

"I'm ready," she looked up and yelled.

"I'm pulling you up now!"

He forcefully dragged the rope up.

Tae Gyu had invested everything into the Physical stat, so he didn't have much problem with pulling Yoon Se Hwa all the way up.

"Hoo," she sighed in relief after reaching the top.

'Let's see here... What time is it?'

Tae Gyu checked the time.

[17:30]

'Tch. We've wasted more time than I thought.'

He attempted to scale every wall as quickly as possible, but they'd taken more time than he would've liked.

'I guess it doesn't matter. We should still be far ahead.'

Tae Gyu planned on clearing the Tarnatose Prison within 30 minutes.

Clearing it before then was considered an extremely fast time.

After all, the Crazy High Schooler, Bart, had cleared it in just 27 minutes.

'If I wasn't hamstrung by Yoon Se Hwa, then I could've gotten that kind of a time too.'

All things considered, Yoon Se Hwa was definitely a liability for someone going for the fastest time in an escape game.

If he managed to clear the Tarnatose Prison with a handicap like her, then his victory would be guaranteed.

'Then again, the other team has a handicap too. Finishing within 40 minutes is good in and of itself. They could fail too.'

"Let's go," Tae Gyu said.

"Ok."

They ran once more. A short while later, they encountered some more Evil God Worshippers.

There were three of them: one Bleo, one Wicker, and one regular Evil God Worshipper.

A sword with a tongue cleaved through the air, and a whip lashed the ground.

Tae Gyu used all his strength to fight off the three.

He combined Air Slash and Septuple Slash!

Tae Gyu showily slashed the monsters with his red sword.

Then, he got in between them and used Lorian's Spinning Slash!

His S-rank equipment activated their effects as well!

Not only that, but Yoon Se Hwa's healing spell replenished his HP as well.

Ultimately, Tae Gyu was able to defeat the last Evil God Worshippers that appeared on the B course.

"Let's go!"

Tae Gyu and Se Hwa sprinted.

All that was left was...

The Tarnatose Prison's final boss!

* * *

Kang Oh and Asu passed through a dark and dreary passageway, ran up the stairs, and were met by the sight of a vast hall.

At the end of the hall, there was a tightly shut wood door. One could only open the door with a key.

[You have encountered Jaila's Fourteen Disciple, Rondark.]

It was Tarnatose Prison's final boss, the chief guard, Rondark! One could only obtain the key by defeating him.

Of course, Rondark had completely monsterized, so he didn't look human at all.

The best way to describe him was...

First off, his entire body was covered in dark red fur like the other Evil God Worshippers.

You would have to line up three of the others side-by-side to match his width, and his pudgy stomach protruded out like a hill.

Although there were bat wings that sprouted from his back, he was so big that they looked like baby wings.

A single horn protruded from the right side of his forehead, and his eyes glowed in a purple hue.

His lips went all the way to his ears, and his saw teeth looked like they could crush through anything.

However, Rondark's most eye-catching feature was his arms. He had four of them.

The arms over his shoulders were made of bronze, while the arms underneath them were much longer and thicker.

He held a blade with a tongue attached to it in his right non-bronze hand, and a whip in his left.

This was Rondark's monster form, and Kang Oh and Asu's final test to determine whether they were worthy of passage.

Kang Oh checked how much time he had left on Gluttony.

'I have about 4 minutes and 30 seconds left.'

If that's the case, then he needed to deal as much damage as possible within that time frame, and then finish it off while in his Devil Trigger state!

"Let's go."

"Ok."

They'd come knowing how Rondark fought, as well as how best to deal with him, so Kang Oh didn't need to tell her anything in particular.

Kang Oh and Asu simultaneously kicked off the floor and rushed at the boss. Then, Rondark widened his mouth.

Dark red flames arose from his mouth.

Hellfire Dedicated to Jaila!

Roar!

The fire blazed as if it were dancing, and came flying at them in a fan shape.

Kang Oh and Asu threw themselves out of the way. If they had reacted even a second slower, then they would've been burnt to a crisp.

'We dodged the fire, so next up is...'

Kang Oh rushed forward, aiming for Rondark's right side.

But Rondark attacked first with his right bronze arm.

Whoosh!

His bronze arm flew through the air.

Bam!

It felt like he'd be flattened with just one hit of that; then again, it wouldn't matter if it didn't hit.

Kang Oh, whose evasion was without peer, easily dodged Rondark's attack.

'My turn!'

Kang Oh swung his sword diagonally.

Abyss Aura!

The bottomless aura of darkness followed the path of his sword.

Swish!

Once his aura struck Rondark's pudgy stomach, a shard of light the size of a human head burst forth.

Then, Shadow Ubist clawed at and bit Rondark's leg.

"Kuaaahk! You worm!"

Rondark's face contorted, and he shook from the severe damage he'd just sustained.

Even a boss couldn't withstand Kang Oh when he was buffed by potions, Baramut's Roar, Gluttony, and Devil Trigger.

Of course, Rondark possessed the same tremendous regenerative abilities that the other Evil God Worshippers possessed.

'I can't give him the opportunity to heal!'

So Kang Oh swung his sword even more forcefully than before.

Swish.

Swoosh.

Two sounds intertwined.

One of them denoted Kang Oh swinging his sword, while the other was the sound of Rondark brandishing his own blade.

'Danger!'

Kang Oh felt a chill on his side.

'I can't block it completely with Abyss Shield. If that's the case, then...should I follow through with my attack and let the Baramut set cover me?' he quickly thought.

But the Wind Shield was his trump card; it was reserved for something he couldn't account for. He couldn't afford to use it now. It'd be a waste.

In the end, Kang Oh chose to turn his sword around, sacrificing his attack to slap away the incoming attack.

Clang!

Kang Oh's strength overpowered his own, so Rondark's sword was pushed aside.

Normally, when players fought against bosses and they were evenly leveled, the boss would overpower the player. However, that rule only applied to normal players.

At full strength, Kang Oh could overpower a boss.

Rondark hadn't expected to be pushed back in a contest of strength, and slightly turned to regain his bearings.

Kang Oh seized the opportunity.

He immediately swung his sword.

Tempest Tiger!

The golden tiger pounced on Rondark.

Kuhaahk!

Rondark writhed as shards of light fell from his body like dandruff.

'I need to use it again when it's off cooldown.'

Tempest Tiger had a 1 minute cooldown. However, the MP usage was severe, so he could only use it about twice more.

If that's the case, then he should use two more before Gluttony ends.

After that, Kang Oh landed a few more hits in, inflicting a substantial amount of damage.

Shadow Ubist increased/decreased its size at will, inflicting a moderate amount of damage as well.

However, Rondark wouldn't just take this lying down.

Rondark alternated between his bronze arms, choosing to either launch a downward strike or just swing them haphazardly.

Kang Oh quickly retreated.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Several bronze fists struck the area he'd once occupied, forming craters that hadn't existed before.

That wasn't the end of Rondark's assault. With Kang Oh stepping back and widening the distance between them, Rondark unleashed flames from his mouth.

Roar!

Jaila's Burning Brand x3!

Three fireballs came flying at him.

One came straight for him, while the other two blocked his escape.

'I'll throw the dagger first and then get out of here with Abyss Transfer.'

Kang Oh immediately thought up a strategy and then carried it out.

He drew a Gladion's Dagger and threw it, his hand as fast as lightning.

Swoosh!

The dagger spun in the air and flew in between the fireballs, embedding itself in Rondark's pudgy stomach.

Bzzzzzz.

It discharged sparks, but Rondark wasn't shocked, perhaps because it was a boss.

Anyway, the fireballs engulfed Kang Oh at almost the same time.

However, Kang Oh had already fled using Abyss Transfer.

Roar!

The fire spread everywhere as if it were searching for him. However, Kang Oh had already left the premises.

Kang Oh appeared right in front of Rondark and began barraging him with attacks whilst Rondark counterattacked.

Whereas...

Asu had her own job to do, one that was quite important at that.