97.
“Aaargh!”
A scream from somewhere indicated this was no time to linger. Jian tilted his head at the familiar voice.
“Could that be Jihwan?”
As if confirming his guess, the voice sounded closer than before.
“Jian, where are you! I’m dying!”
“Ah, be quiet! Why do you keep drawing aggro?!”
Hearing Jihwan and Jungsu’s voices, Jian looked up at Sehun. Sehun, who had been blocking the attacks of dwarves and vines with telekinesis, stretched his arm toward the direction of the voices.
The walls blocking their path began to break open in circular shapes. Meanwhile, Jian used his attack skill to deal with the monsters swarming around them.
Though Siyun had informed them that the maze itself was a monster, the maze wasn’t included in attack targeting skills, so Jian could only eliminate the dwarves and vines.
After breaking through about three walls, familiar faces appeared. They also spotted Jian and Sehun.
“Jian…!”
Jihwan, upon seeing Jian, called out with a tearful voice. His eyes were reddened, making Jian grimace.
Jihwan’s clothes had been reduced to tatters, showing how much he had struggled during their separation.
Jungsu, standing beside him, was in slightly better condition, but his clothes were torn around the waist and the bloodstains hadn’t even dried yet.
“Are you both okay? Are you hurt?”
Jian hurried toward them. He could move quickly because he had already dealt with the monsters swarming around.
“Haah, now I can live…”
Jihwan slumped to the ground as the tension left him. Jungsu gulped down bottled water he had taken from his inventory. The monsters hadn’t given them a moment’s rest, not even time to drink water.
“Is it normal for the difficulty to increase this dramatically?”
Jihwan lamented, looking like he had aged ten years. Strong monsters had appeared continuously before, but this was the first time they had been separated from the S-rank hunters.
Even though they were A-rank monsters, there were many of them attacking from blind spots, creating several dangerous moments.
It had been so difficult that Jihwan thought someone would have been seriously injured if he had been separated with someone he didn’t know well, instead of Jungsu with whom he often coordinated.
“Did you encounter anyone else on your way?”
After confirming they had no visible injuries despite looking exhausted, Jian asked Jungsu. Jungsu pointed to the 7 o’clock direction with his fingertip.
“I’m not certain, but I heard something from over there. I don’t know if it was a monster or a person. Have you two been moving together the whole time?”
“No. I was separated with the team leader, and Sehun was with Sunghyun before we met up just now. They went toward the portal. I suggested we should install the safety stone first, since the second team will be entering soon.”
“Good thinking. So we need to find the others?”
“Yes.”
Jihwan and Jungsu were among the stronger A-rank ability users. The same applied to other Blue Dragon Guild hunters, but Jian was still concerned.
“I’ll use a detection artifact.”
Jungsu took out a spider-shaped figurine from his inventory. It was an A-rank detection artifact, a one-time use item he had been saving.
They had used Jihwan’s artifact to find Jian and Sehun earlier.
When the artifact was activated, the spider figurine’s eyes glowed red and it began to move on its own.
As soon as Jungsu placed it on the ground, the spider scurried in one direction. Thanks to the artifact, Jian’s group discovered two Blue Dragon Guild members in less than five minutes.
One person was collapsed against a wall, while the other stood in front, blocking attacks from dwarves and vines.
“Thank goodness…”
The guild member who recognized Sehun’s face collapsed to his knees. Alarmed, Jian quickly approached to check his breathing.
Jihwan took out a wound healing potion and poured an entire bottle on a wound that had pierced below the chest.
Shriik! Shriik!
The dwarves, excited by the sudden increase in people, made metallic sounds as they jumped up and down in place.
Sehun extended both arms forward and clenched his fists. The bodies of the dwarves, who were preparing to shoot poisoned needles, burst like water balloons.
“Ugh. Sehun, couldn’t you deal with them in a more elegant way?”
Jihwan pleaded, horrified by the blood and flesh splattering everywhere, but Sehun merely glanced aside before continuing to deal with the remaining monsters using the same method.
“Stop saying weird things and carry them. They’re both unconscious.”
Jungsu, who had one person on his back, signaled to Jihwan. Both injured individuals remained unconscious despite treatment with healing potions, likely due to the severity of their injuries.
“We’ll move immediately.”
Jian, worried about the people who hadn’t yet joined them, looked at Sehun. They had used up all the detection artifacts.
Now Sehun was their only hope.
“I’ll keep breaking walls in this direction.”
Sehun pointed to the right. As he extended his arm and used telekinesis, a hole large enough for one person to pass through formed in the middle of the wall.
Complex mazes typically caused people to lose their sense of direction when following the paths. Sehun used a simple but brute force method to create new paths while searching for traces.
“There’s blood here!”
Jihwan shouted after discovering blood drops on the floor. It was when Sehun had broken through the fifteenth wall.
“I think I hear a wind sound from that direction?”
Jian ran in the direction Jungsu, who was sensitive to sounds, pointed, calling out the names of the Blue Dragon Guild members he remembered.
“Over here!”
Finally, the voice they had been waiting for came from nearby. When Sehun broke through the completely blocked wall, they could see inside.
Jian swallowed hard at the scene, which was more horrific than expected. The hunter who appeared to have just called out was holding another colleague in their arms, barely enduring inside a barrier.
Blood was everywhere. The numerous vines surrounding them were covered with blood that the hunters must have shed.
The defense barrier, glowing blue, seemed to be nearing its end as dozens of vines were poised to attack the two Blue Dragon Guild members at any moment.
“I’ll use my barrier first!”
Jian, who had rushed forward, used his defense skill. At the same time, the previous barrier completely disappeared.
The face of the hunter who made eye contact with Jian was filled with relief. Soon after, Jihwan and Jungsu, carrying the unconscious Blue Dragon Guild members, also entered the barrier.
“Sehun, will you be okay alone?”
“Yes. Don’t worry.”
Sehun was the only one standing outside the barrier. The vines trying to attack him were currently caught by an invisible force, writhing in mid-air.
They almost completely surrounded the space, giving the impression of being swallowed inside a beast’s stomach.
“I’ll take care of the dwarves.”
Jian, unable to let Sehun face the monsters alone, used his attack skill.
The skill, which designated and attacked targets, shone at times like this when monsters were hiding in places invisible to the naked eye.
When he used the skill, the hiding dwarves fell to the ground one by one, making painful noises.
Their eyeballs rolled back, foam frothed at their mouths, and then their movements suddenly stopped. In the places where they turned to ash and disappeared, only mana stones, poisoned needles, and tattered leather remained.
“What is he doing, knitting with those vines…?”
Jihwan muttered in amazement. The monsters that had been too much for him to handle had become mere playthings for Sehun.
Dozens of vines intertwined haphazardly before bursting with sticky fluid. If not for the barrier, they would have been drenched in vine fluid.
By the time all the surrounding monsters were dead, Jian’s barrier had also reached its limit.
“Have you seen our guild leader?”
Among the Blue Dragon Guild members who had joined them, only one was conscious. A young man with hair cut so short his scalp was visible asked in a gloomy voice, looking at Jian and his companions.
“He went toward the portal. We’re heading that way too, since we have many injured. Junghyun, can you walk on your own?”
“Yes! I’m fine. My sister got hurt badly trying to save me…”
Junghyun made a sad face, looking at the woman he was holding in his arms. She was the only female hunter in Team 1.
“Her life isn’t in danger, so she’ll be okay.”
Jian patted Junghyun’s shoulder and stood up.
“But where is the portal? Do we need Sehun to break through all the walls again?”
At Jihwan’s words, Jian also pondered. He approached Sehun and checked his complexion. Just in case, he used a recovery skill, which made Sehun’s eyes waver.
“Hyung.”
Sehun grabbed Jian’s arm with an expression that suggested he had much to say. Although he couldn’t talk about abilities with others present, his eyes interrogated Jian.
“It’s okay.”
Despite being told that Jian had 10 million life force, Sehun still looked anxious. Jian was stroking Sehun’s head to comfort him when…
