The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-114

The energy forming in Seol's hands was clearly the same energy that Karen released.

“Shadow…”

“D-Don’t tell me..”

“You aren’t, right? Oppa, you’re not–”

Karen’s violent attacks were blocked by Turiax’s club.

However, that was just Karen sizing Turiax up. Karen shifted to a more offensive stance after realizing that she could easily take care of the ogre.

“Still, your club… it might be a bit annoying?”

Crack!

The club seemed extremely crude, but the fact that it blocked Karen’s attack was more than enough proof that it was effective.

After all, Karen’s sword was a Peerless-quality item.

Slaaaaash!

Kuaaaaaargh!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Blood painted the grass red.

And that blood belonged to Turiax, the ogre.

“Hm… I thought my attacks cut you deeper… you must be pretty sturdy.”

That was also a characteristic of the trolls.

Their thick skin, almost akin to a hide, was surprisingly resistant to a variety of things.

Not only was it excellent at resisting physical attacks, it was also great at resisting elemental attacks. As such, ogre skin was considered a high-quality material for all kinds of equipment.

‘It’s not catching fire.’

Monsters typically met one of two fates when facing Karen.

Either their bodies were engulfed in flames and reduced to ash, or their heads were swiftly severed by Karen's sword.

‘I guess this one will be the latter.’

Seol originally hoped to clear this Adventure quietly, but the situation changed and not allowed him to do so.

Somi’s party mumbled between themselves before finally speaking.

“Wh-what should we… So, uh… Excuse me, uhh…”

“We can survive then, right? We’re making it out of here alive, right?!”

“Hyung! We’ll be able to make it out of this, right?”

Seol just silently looked forward and read through Turiax’s information.

[[Turiax, the Bone Lover]

Rank: Rare

Estimated Level: 18~22

Forest Ogres have higher intelligence compared to other ogres.

Not only can they use simple tools, but those tools become threatening weapons in their hands against humans.

Turiax is a Forest Ogre who left the center of the Great Forest, and he enjoys consuming his meals down to the bones.

His sturdy teeth make him more than capable of doing so.

His diet includes any living creature, and obviously, humans are included as well.

Basic Skills: [Bone Break 1], [Flatten 2], [Excite 1], [Grab and Crush 2], [Passive: Ogre's Hide 2], [Passive: Ignore Pain]

Unique Skills: [Horrifying Shout 1]]

After quickly reading through Turiax’s information, he noticed that he received more messages.

[The main contents of ‘Overflowing Hell’ have changed.]

[‘Overflowing Hell’ has changed to ‘Shake It Off’.]

[Adventure 16-1. ‘Shake It Off’

The Adventurers stranded in the Great Forest were ordinary. However, being just ordinary in this situation is exceptionally dangerous.

It is now revealed that the monster chasing them is a Forest Ogre.

This massive ogre has emerged from the heart of the Great Forest to hunt them.

Ordinary Adventurers would find it challenging to take down such an ogre.

You must ensure their safety.

Objective: Escort the Adventurers to Nobira.

This Adventure is a Sudden Adventure.

Remaining Time [About 6 days]]

Seol confirmed both the Adventure information and the monster information.

- Are these the effects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?!

- The Information Age!

- Ah! I see! So it was an ogre!

Seol had to defeat the ogre while protecting Somi’s party.

The objective was simple and not too difficult.

An ogre was tough but it would eventually die in the end to Karen after multiple attacks. In fact, it would end even quicker if Seol summoned Karuna as well.

However, something was on Seol’s mind.

It was the knowledge of The World of Eternity that he had.

The unspoken warning of not relying solely on your strength made Seol hesitate again and again.

‘It’s only one Forest Ogre?’

Seol recalled the Forest Ogres he faced before while playing as his 30 pieces. Seol was practically a walking encyclopedia about them at this point.

As those monsters appeared frequently, he not only knew about their reasoning but also their habits.

‘Forest Ogres know about the importance of pack hunting. They’ve learned that hunting in a group is much more effective than hunting on their own.’

And for those reasons, they always hunted in groups.

In fact, Seol had never even seen a lone Forest Ogre.

‘There has to be more around here, then.’

After all, defeating the Forest Ogres wasn’t this Adventure’s objective. The objective was to help the other Adventurers safely arrive in Nobira.

Even if Turiax was the only ogre here and Seol’s assumptions were wrong, there was no need for him to take a risk here.

Karen could handle Turiax easily on her own anyway.

Kuaaaaaargh!

[Turiax used Grab and Crush.]

Turiax reached his large hands out at Karen.

Somi, scared, screamed out and warned Karen.

“U-Unni! Be careful!”

Flames erupted from Karen’s body.

“What do you think you’re doing, huh?!”

[Karen used Red Lotus Slash.]

Flaaaaaare!

Slaaaaash!

With a swift, refreshing sound, Karen cut off Turiax’s right hand, the one he was holding his club with, at the elbow.

Kuaaaaaargh!

Kuaaargh!

[Turiax used Excite.]

[Turiax’s Unique Skill: Horrifying Shout activates.]

Kuaaaaaaargh!

This scream was a bit different from the other ones.

Unlike the rage-filled screams of before, this one was filled with pain and panic.

The sound quickly shocked everyone as if a bomb had exploded.

“Nice!”

“Noona!”

“She beat him! It’s all over now!”

Despite Somi’s party shouting with excitement, Seol had not let his guard down yet.

‘They’re coming.’

Thuuud!

Kuaargh…

“...Huh?”

It wasn’t Turiax’s cry. It was another monster’s cry.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

“There… there was another one?”

“There were two of them?”

“It’s coming here!”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Turiax might have lost his arm to Karen, but due to his tenacity and cleverness in avoiding a direct confrontation with her, he managed to stay alive.

Somi’s party was also weak. So weak in fact that they would not even be an opponent for the injured Turiax.

This meant that Karen had to face both ogres at the same time.

And at the moment…

Kuaaaaaargh!

The shouting monster came closer. It finally revealed itself to Seol.

“Oh my god!”

Somi let out a scream as an ogre bigger than Turiax showed up, carrying a cleaver.

[[Guliam, the Forest Predator]

Rank: Rare

Estimated Level: 20~24

Forest Ogres have higher intelligence compared to other ogres.

Not only can they use simple tools, but those tools become threatening weapons in their hands against humans.

Guliam is an exceptional ogre, even among the Forest Ogres. He once led a large pack before, but as his vigor is no longer the same, he is no longer a leader.

However, the experience he had built up has not gone anywhere. He remains a significant threat.

Basic Skills: [Wring Blood 1], [Calm Down 1], [Methodical Swing 1], [Stomp 2], [Passive: Ogre's Hide 2], [Passive: Ignore Pain], [Passive: Sharp Senses]

Unique Skills: [Indiscriminate Destruction 1]]

“I-It’s an even bigger one!”

“What do we do?! Do we run away?”

“Isn’t it better to fight it?”

“Are you out of your mind? You think arrows would work on it?!”

“Obviously… not.”

Somi’s party had an awful matchup with ogres.

The ogre’s thick hide could deflect not only Somi’s arrows but also Munho’s daggers, leaving Gyeongtaek's spear the only thing capable of damaging it. However, due to the ogre’s massive size, Gyeongtaek’s spear was nothing more than a chopstick in comparison.

Kurrrrrgh…

It was a primitive type of strength.

The ogre froze Somi’s party with nothing more than the fact that it was born a demonic beast.

Thud…

Guliam joyfully approached Somi’s party like he was reaching into a freezer to grab ice cream.

“I-If Unni… If Unni helps us…”

“Noona!”

“We can’t rely on her, she’s busy too!”

Somi might have been in a terrifying position, but she was still able to swiftly make a decision.

“Run! We need to group up with Karen unni and finish off that one first!”

“Won’t we just get in the way?”

“Regardless of whatever happens, we can’t just do nothing!”

“Run!”

Seol nodded as her decision was the proper one to make.

He understood how she had been able to survive up to now.

As Somi’s party agreed to a decision, they instantly started sprinting to the injured Turiax.

“Unni, we’ll help you!”

“What?”

[CollegeStudentsMustDie used Piercing Shot.]

[CollegeStudentsMustDie’s arrows are given a 50% increased penetration rate.]

[The target will be inflicted with a bleed status if the arrows pierces through them.]

Fwoosh!

Ffft!

Grgh…

The arrow managed to connect, but it was incapable of piercing Turiax.

“Haaaargh!”

Gyeongtaek roared and charged in with a spear in his hand.

[OnlyIAmCatless used Grand Charge.]

[OnlyIAmCatless ignores all abnormal statuses, and inflicts damage to every enemy that comes into contact with them.]

[While charging, damage taken is reduced by 50%.]

Chaaarge!

Stab!

His spear landed perfectly in Turiax’s knee.

“Nice!”

Kuaaaaargh!

The attack seemed to have landed properly, Turiax screamed in pain.

Munho stumbled for a second, not knowing what to do, but then quickly grabbed his daggers and joined in on the Turiax fight.

But then, Somi quickly shouted.

“S-Seol oppa? What are you doing?! Why are you still there?!”

“Oh no… Did he not hear us deciding to go over to Karen?”

Seol blankly stood tall, remaining in front of Guliam.

Krrrrrrrgh…

Drool…

Guliam drooled, stepping closer to Seol.

[Guliam used Stomp.]

[Targets caught underneath Guliam’s feet will be dealt damage proportionate to his Strength.]

Guliam raised his foot, preparing to stomp on Seol. Seol still stood there, ready to accept the attack.

Fwooosh…

Dust scattered in the air as Seol’s vision was filled with Guliam’s foot.

But then… Seol released the black energy he had been building up in his hands.

Fwirl!

The black energy slowly took a knight’s form before fully transforming into Karuna.

Unsheathe…

Karuna unsheathed Breath immediately as he was summoned. The blade shone in the light as it was taken out.

Gloooow…

[Karuna has entered the 1st Stage of Soaring Moonlight, Crescent Moon.]

After that, multiple messages followed it.

[You have currently summoned both Twin Knights.]

[Twin Knights’ Connected Soul activates.]

[The two summons’ current stats are doubled.]

[Twin Knights’ Equilibrium activates.]

[The two summons’ stats are summed together and divided equally.]

Slash…

Splaaatter!

Guliam’s foot was cut off at the ankle.

All it took was a single attack from Karuna.

Kuaaaaaaargh!

Now that both ogres were severely injured, Karuna and Karen would have no difficulty in killing them.

“Oppa, no!”

However, Somi screamed out once more.

“Hyung! Above you…”

Something had appeared behind Seol.

It appeared without a single sound…

Without ever revealing its presence…

[Toria releases Tiptoe.]

[Toria releases Hold Breath.]

[Toria is exhausted.]

[Toria’s damage is reduced by 30% for 5 seconds.]

An ogre, a bit smaller than Guliam, appeared behind Seol.

“Noooooo!” shouted Munho.

However, it was too late. Toria’s fist was already shooting toward Seol.

[The main contents of ‘Shake It Off’ have changed.]

[‘Shake It Off’ has changed to ‘Trio’.]

Fwooosh!

However, something black quickly covered Seol in that critical second.

Toria’s blow had landed after it.

Slaaaaam!