Gallic looked unconvinced. “That fast?” He meant that was too quick compared to how much they themselves had suffered.
“We told him the path. Since we also got rid of all the traps, he should easily be able to get here in four or five days. Though it might take longer, y'know.”
Hon made a decision as the party's leader. “Then since we can't waste our time either, let's hunt in the area while we wait.”
“Shall we?”
“Look around you. The others are all hunting too.”
There was a considerable number of monsters in the underground prison. Because it was a place where light didn't shine in, it was inhabited by hideous demons or creatures that had been cursed by the Embinyu. They were also at a pretty high level. For the most part, level 350 monsters emerged.
“He should be able to get here within five days if he hurries.”
Weed closed in on the Dark Knights guarding the entrance to the underground prison. Since he was appreciating the effects from making a legendary sculpture and also had the Shaman's skill on him, he moved as fast as if he were flying.
“The enemy we have to face is fifteen Dark Knights.”
They were the gatekeepers of the Embinyu Church. An excommunicated priest of the Demeter Church was also helping the Dark Knights, but they absolutely had to be taken down in order to enter the underground prison. It had only been a short amount of time, but it was common for people to fight the gatekeepers when a certain number of parties hunting in the River of Lamentation basin gathered. They needed at least 20 people in order to fight the Dark Knights at ease!
Weed was going to fight them with Hwaryeong, Da'in, and Yurin.
'It'll just be cumbersome if there are too many people.'
There were a lot of times when he also hunted alone, so he thought this many teammates was more than enough. If there were more people, he even had to distribute the japtem; the agony he would feel then would be indescribable!
“What, is he going to go hunt with just those people? Is he crazy?”
“You saw in the broadcast. He's super strong.”
“He succeeded in the quest because there were a lot of barbarians who helped him.”
“He'll only be able to go into the underground prison if we fight with him…”
“Let's just wait and see for now. He'll probably ask us to help if he needs it.”
The God of War Weed. Without concealing their excitement at being able to become his teammate, the watchers looked on from afar.
Of course, they would leap up right away to help him if he called and would be able to show off their strength. That was because being in the same party as Weed was a tremendous honor.
Hwaryeong spoke as if worried, “Around what level are the knights?”
“In the early 330s. The Elite Dark Knights are about 380.” There weren't any Elite Dark Knights here, but Weed explained for now. “If the knights have firm wills, the Seduction Dance probably won't work well on them.”
Hwaryeong's Charm was enough to make Yellow wag his tail. Besides the Charm skill that was vital for her as a Dancer, with the combination of her clothes and accessories, there was no man who wouldn't fall over if she flirted with her flashy and evocative dance.
“It's just that my Health is low. I'll die pretty quick if I take a hit from a monster at the level of a Dark Knight; do you think it'll be okay?”
“I'll draw their aggro first, so please dance after that.”
“I'll only believe in you, Weed.”
The Dark Knights recognized Weed and reacted.
“Our church's enemy!”
“He's the conspirator who destroyed our religion's headquarters and caused the High Priest's death.”
“The vicious guy who lured in the uncivilized barbarians with his cunning tongue and challenged us, the followers of a sacred purpose, has come.”
The Dark Knights charged with fierce rage.
The charge of knights!
There were many cases where knights insisted on single combat. Because they had honor and pride, knights did offer to fight one to one. However, such a regulation didn't didn't apply to Weed. He had become an enemy who could not coexist with the Embinyu Church.
Clink clink clink.
Rushing in with the sound of their armor joints clattering, the charge of the Dark Knights was tremendous. A charge of the knights had been enough to deal a wound even on the former King Hydra's thick body. Because they carried the weight of their great armor, Vitality and Health would fall even if the charge was blocked with a shield. Cases where you were paralyzed from the impact were also numerous.
But Weed had a defense skill as well.
Close Eyes Tightly!
It was a Warrior technique that raised Perseverance and Toughness through the restriction of vision.
That wasn't all; he hardly used it, but the Moonlight Sculpting Blade was a skill that integrated attack and defense. When he used it as an attack skill alone, he could ignore the enemy's defense and deal a lot of damage. It was thanks to the characteristic of a Sculptor, who carved into actual materials, and the technique that was capable of handling light. It was also possible to use light to blind the enemy's eyes or to surround himself completely in light to use it for defensive purposes. There were the disadvantages that it couldn't block a physical blow as well as a magic attack and consumed Mana quickly, but the results Weed had gotten from experimenting with it had been fearsome.
His entire body covered in light and his wings spread out, he had penetrated the clump of monsters. A precise swordsmanship directed at the monsters that were approaching at rollercoaster-like speeds! He could have also shot out light and hit them, but the Mana consumption was too severe if he did that. Even when he tore them apart by swinging his sword himself, it only took a moment to reduce the monsters to ashes. 7 Caltrops! A battle against them would have taken a while if he fought normally, but they had been annihilated boringly in just 30–40 seconds with the Moonlight Sculpting Blade. Granted, he had to rest for a long time after ending the battle since he used up almost all his Vitality and Mana.
He could also use the Wings of Light that had been granted life to bypass monsters or assault them from behind. The fighting methods he could use were endless.
However, there was almost no occasion where he had to fight to the best of his ability. The biggest fighting opportunity had been when he was seizing the Embinyu Fortress, but the summoned Balkan, King Hydra, and Imoogi had fought better than he had expected. He tried to reveal his true skills for a bit when cutting the King Hydra's necks all at once, but he was so tired that it had ended all too blandly.
“I'm fed up with hunting, it's boring.”
Following his own growth, Weed was at the point where he was bored of most battles. He couldn't raise Perseverance or Toughness in a fight where he had to do his best. For the ultimate hunting efficiency, there were things he needed to sacrifice out of necessity.
The underground prison was said to have monsters everywhere. Since he expected that the fighting would go on continuously, he couldn't rely on a skill that consumed Mana.
“Dirtman, turn the ground around me into mud.”
The earth spirit was summoned in the blink of an eye. It was fresh since Weed had made it himself, took little Mana besides the summoning, and it was an obedient spirit. In his current state of very accelerated Mana recovery, he could use as many spirits as he wanted.
“I came because I received the command of Weed-nim, the most handsome man in the Versailles Continent. I will make the earth into mud right away.”
Other spirits were arrogant and wasted a lot of time in responding to a summoning. Even with high intimacy with the Elementalist, it was rare for them to be obedient. However, Dirtman popped out as soon as it was called.