102.
“Everyone, hang in there a little longer!”
Siyun encouraged the struggling Hunters. His fingertips itched with the desire to use his ability right away.
Injuries were occurring one after another. Each time, Hyunsu suppressed the urge to use his recovery skill.
“Now let’s prepare for battle.”
When they were about 100 meters away from Cerberus with the help of A-rank Hunters, Siyun spoke up. Everyone had conserved their strength while coming this far.
Jian exhaled deeply and tensed his lips, ready to call out his skill name at any moment.
Though 100 meters still remained, Cerberus’s massive size made it feel like it was right in front of them.
Grrrr…
Cerberus’s low growl reverberated through the surrounding air. Instinctive fear ran down their spines.
Its blood-red gleaming eyes were as large as boulders. With a height equivalent to a 10-story building, it had not one but three heads.
They looked identical, but the color of breath flowing from their open mouths differed.
“Hunter Lee Jian, use your defense skill as soon as I give the signal.”
“Yes.”
Siyun gave Jian a meaningful look. Jian moistened his dry lips with the tip of his tongue.
Cerberus lowered its upper body as if ready to pounce at any moment. Its muscular hindquarters were raised high toward the sky.
Three pairs of eyes remained fixed on the humans, emanating killing intent.
“Now!”
Siyun raised his voice the moment Cerberus leaped high into the sky. Jian immediately used his defense skill. A barrier with a lustrous blue glow spread around them.
WHAM—!
Right after the barrier was completed, the beast’s massive forepaw struck the air. Jian exhaled trembling breath as he saw the paw stopped above their heads.
If they had been just a little late, they would have been flattened like dried fish.
“Good job. Everyone attack with full power for 10 minutes!”
The duration of Jian’s defense skill was 10 minutes. It wasn’t a very long time. Before Siyun could finish speaking, someone had already moved.
Sehun’s cold eyes focused on Cerberus’s forepaw that had threatened Jian. One of its sharp claws was yanked out.
Black blood gushed out like a waterfall from the punctured hole.
WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!
Blood splattered in all directions each time the excited Cerberus struck the barrier.
“Hunter Han Sehun, may I have just one drop of that blood?”
Siyun approached Sehun and asked. Sehun nodded and used telekinesis to bring Cerberus’s blood to Siyun.
After tasting the blood with the tip of his tongue, Siyun shuddered with a disgusted expression. It was bitter, fishy, and revolting, and it made his head spin.
“This seems a bit strange…”
Siyun staggered, pressing his palm against his forehead. His skin, which had been healthy just moments ago, was turning dark blue.
“Y-your face…”
Hyunsu, who was standing nearby, ran over in surprise. Siyun also sensed something was wrong and immediately stuck his finger down his throat to try to induce vomiting, but Cerberus’s blood had already been absorbed into his body.
“He’s been poisoned. Hyunsu, could you use your purification skill?”
Jian swallowed and calmed the panicked Hyunsu. In the brief interval, Siyun’s face had turned as black as his clothes. His bloodshot whites of his eyes looked ominous.
Hyunsu regained his composure at Jian’s words and quickly used his ability. Blue light enveloped Siyun’s body.
“Uwehk…”
Siyun vomited a bowlful of dead blood. His skin, which had turned black, gradually returned to normal.
However, he didn’t fully recover. Hyunsu stamped his feet anxiously at the black spots that still stained Siyun’s face and neck.
“There’s a 10-minute cooldown left, what should we do?”
“Don’t you have a detoxification artifact? Use that first.”
“Yes!”
Siyun, the central figure of their group, had suddenly become incapacitated for battle. After entrusting Siyun to Hyunsu, Jian walked over to Sehun.
Sehun and Yongho were attacking Cerberus with all their might. Monsters turned into undead clung to Cerberus’s body like ticks.
KWAAANG…!
One of Cerberus’s heads shot black acidic substance like breath from its mouth. Three eagle-type undead floating in the air melted instantly.
Another head chomped and chewed the snakes that had clung to its back. While the heads on both sides dealt with the monsters, the middle head growled directly at Sehun.
The claw that had been pulled out had already regrown perfectly. Its recovery speed was tremendous.
Sehun made eye contact with Cerberus. His iris turned red from the edges. He attempted mental control, but Cerberus blocked the attack by simply shaking its head lightly.
“I’ll use an attack skill too.”
They needed to drain Cerberus’s strength as much as possible before the barrier disappeared, but they were taking more damage.
They hadn’t expected Siyun’s ability to be ineffective. Hyunsu was alleviating Siyun’s poisoning symptoms with a detoxification artifact, and while his life didn’t seem in danger, he appeared unable to rejoin the battle immediately.
As Jian activated his skill, Cerberus turned lime green. The moment he used the attack skill, the green changed to red.
HUFF!
Cerberus’s heads, which had been moving as if each had its own consciousness, simultaneously snorted.
Like a dog needing to defecate, it paced restlessly near the barrier. It also raised its forepaw to scratch its neck and chest vigorously.
Jian wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand. It was the first time he had used an attack skill against an S-rank monster.
The rate at which his life force decreased was tremendous. Fortunately, the attack was working, but his heart throbbed painfully.
“Hyung, are you okay?”
Sehun grabbed Jian’s staggering shoulder. Jian leaned his forehead on Sehun’s shoulder, breathing heavily.
“…Yes. I’m fine.”
Though he said he was fine, his already pale face had turned even paler. Sehun gritted his teeth. A flash of killing intent gleamed in his eyes as he looked at Cerberus.
The blood pooled on the ground moved as if alive, creeping stealthily. The round mass of blood soon formed a shape.
A broadsword as large as Cerberus’s head was formed. The dark-colored sword circled once in the air, then flew toward Cerberus’s neck with lightning speed.
SLICE.
The left head was cleanly cut off. The head with its tongue hanging out fell to the ground with a thud, and an enormous amount of blood burst from the severed surface.
Sehun’s complexion turned blue as if he himself had lost blood. Yongho glanced briefly toward where Sehun was standing, then flipped his robe back.
The face that had been hidden by the robe was revealed. Jian’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar face. Rumors had abounded about Ahn Yongho’s appearance since he always wore a robe wherever he went.
The handsome man with dark circles under his eyes moved his lips slightly. His skin rapidly decayed, revealing stark white bones.
Black armor attached tightly over the skeleton. A skull missing its lower jaw sat on the right shoulder like an epaulet.
A blue light settled in the empty eye sockets. As Yongho stretched his right arm, a giant scythe suddenly appeared out of thin air.
“Ugh. It’s the Dark Knight. Been a while since I’ve seen it.”
Siyun, who had barely regained consciousness with Hyunsu’s help, groaned as he got up. The fact that Yongho was displaying his ultimate secret technique meant Cerberus’s aura was unusually threatening.
Despite losing one head, the beast didn’t fall. Blood foam bubbled up from the severed surface. The two remaining heads opened their mouths wide.
On one side, ice-blue ice formed into a spherical shape, and on the other, bright red flames formed into a ball. The swirling spheres sucked in even the surrounding air.
“It seems difficult to copy its physical form, so I’ll have to confront it directly. I’ve partially copied its ability, so my regeneration is enhanced.”
Siyun said as he pulled out a greatsword from his inventory. While copying was his main ability, his other abilities were also useful.
They had to fight with whatever they had. The blue light of the barrier had noticeably diminished from before, indicating that the 10 minutes were almost up.
“It’s going to concentrate its attack on Hunter Han Sehun. Dodge to the side!”
Almost as soon as Siyun shouted, having predicted Cerberus’s next attack with his mind reading skill, Sehun grabbed Jian and rolled to the side.
It was almost simultaneous with the disappearance of the barrier. Perhaps sensing the weakening of the barrier, Cerberus’s breath poured down onto the ground.
Everything touched by the blue-tinged breath froze. Even the lava was useless. Dense smoke rose from the lava that had instantly turned to fossil.
In contrast, everything burst into flames when touched by the flame breath. Two snake-type monsters swimming in the lava turned black in an instant before turning to ash.
Jian took out a palm-sized square box from his inventory. It was a birthday gift from Hyunwoo a few years ago.
The head that Sehun had cut off was already more than halfway regenerated. Despite not much time having passed, its regeneration speed was remarkable.
