# Chapter 55
Perhaps thanks to having rested sufficiently, Ko Eungyo felt that his physical condition had improved considerably. Instead of being carried by Lee Seungwoo, Ko Eungyo walked close beside him. Since Lee Seungwoo might need to use his full power in the boss room, it was better for them to move separately rather than having Lee Seungwoo carry him in.
This was precisely why they had done the guiding at the lake before entering the boss room.
In fact, Lee Seungwoo had suggested that rather than entering the boss room together with Ko Eungyo, it would be better for Ko Eungyo to remain at the turning point and then escape together after he defeated the boss. The boss room was a place where anything could happen.
But Ko Eungyo objected to this. If there was a loud noise in the boss room, it would definitely attract the aggro of any remaining monsters. Of course, they had cleared all monsters in the gate on their way here to prevent such a situation.
But if they had missed even a single one, Ko Eungyo would have to face that monster at the turning point. While the turning point was relatively safe due to the absence of monsters, it wasn’t perfectly safe. It meant any remaining monsters could still come here.
This beautiful amethyst lake was essentially the passage right in front of the boss room, so if there was a loud noise, any monsters would have to pass through here to reach the boss room.
And naturally, since guides were ordinary people, they couldn’t win against monsters with bare hands. Hiding would probably be impossible too.
Ko Eungyo’s opinion was that it would be safer to enter the boss room together, distract the boss mob’s attention, and stay within Lee Seungwoo’s line of sight. This was also the standard protocol for ability users.
Gates were places where one could never be too careful. In the end, Lee Seungwoo accepted Ko Eungyo’s opinion and agreed to enter the boss room together.
The last room was about three times larger than the other rooms. It wasn’t a cave of sparkling crystals but of black limestone.
“It’s dark…”
Lee Seungwoo murmured. Ko Eungyo lightly placed his index finger on his lips, signaling him to be quiet.
As soon as they entered the boss room, they smelled a faint scent of sulfur.
From the darkness that resembled an abyss, they heard a growling sound.
It sounded less like a cry and more like the sound of stone scraping against stone. Or perhaps like a moan made when wind passes through oddly shaped rocks. It could be the sound of a beast with a terribly painful wound, or even the whispering curse of a demon.
In the darkness, they met ominously glowing red eyes.
It moved its eyelids very slowly, as if it had just awakened from sleep. Then, discovering them invading its lair, it rapidly contracted its pupils.
It displayed reptilian characteristics. As if threatening them, it let out a strange sound that seemed to vibrate from within—like an elephant’s or whale’s cry—and then shook its head once.
Because blue crystals were shining light from behind them, they could clearly see what form the boss monster had.
“…That’s an enormous size.”
Without exaggeration, it was as large as the huge lake they had seen earlier. Instinctively, he took a step back to measure the boss monster’s size.
The boss monster looked like a giant turtle. No, could you even call that a turtle?
The massive rock the monster carried on its back was covered with craters that looked like barnacles, from which lava seemed ready to burst forth at any moment. Actually, every time it moved on its four legs, visible hot steam erupted from its back.
It was literally in the form of a fire turtle.
“This looks dangerous.”
As Lee Seungwoo said, it was very threatening.
Usually, larger creatures move more slowly, making them easier to tackle, but it was questionable whether this one would be so manageable. Ko Eungyo watched with a furrowed brow as the fire turtle gradually revealed its form.
It was when Lee Seungwoo glanced sideways to check Ko Eungyo’s position.
The fire turtle let out a strange cry and charged toward them without warning. Lee Seungwoo very calmly took Ko Eungyo and leaped away from that spot.
With a loud bang, stalactites fell from the cave ceiling. The impact of the collision with the cave entrance wall was so powerful that it made the hairs on their skin stand on end.
“Faster than I expected.”
Lee Seungwoo said calmly.
But Ko Eungyo thought the boss monster wasn’t as fast as anticipated. At least it didn’t move at a speed that could only be captured by an esper’s dynamic vision.
As soon as he avoided the fire turtle’s attack, Lee Seungwoo immediately unleashed his power.
The wind power that had annihilated the monsters in the Jeju Island gate engulfed the giant fire turtle, but perhaps due to its weight, the fire turtle wasn’t sucked into the wind. Nor was it torn to pieces like the golems.
A wind esper against a heavy monster with strong destructive power.
‘The compatibility isn’t very good.’
He stood slowly against the gate wall, careful not to attract the boss monster’s aggro. Basically, the formation of ability users places espers at the front and guides at the rear. Here, “front” refers to the position closer to the monster.
Especially in the case of boss monsters, since they were mostly single entities, espers would typically proceed with the gate operation by protecting the guide from the front.
One might think espers would be anxious if the distance between guide and esper increased, but in reality, they weren’t. The greater the distance between them, the further the guide was from the boss monster, and the esper could freely use their abilities with minimal effect on the guide, making the esper’s movements much smoother. It was also convenient for guiding in emergencies.
After confirming that Ko Eungyo was positioned near the boss room entrance, Lee Seungwoo shaped the wind into blades, increasing its cutting power. This was because the boss monster appeared to be a living creature rather than a golem, so he judged that if its body was split in half, it would likely die.
When he wielded the wind blade, there was a loud bang, and a massive impact shook the cave.
“…Oh no.”
Ko Eungyo sighed upon seeing the result of Lee Seungwoo’s attack.
Despite receiving a tremendous shockwave, the boss monster appeared completely unharmed. Even after several more powerful attacks were unleashed, the boss monster refused to yield and charged at Lee Seungwoo through the cloud of dust.
It seemed as if the wind power had no effect on the boss monster at all. More precisely… just as the gate door had absorbed the wind power when they first discovered it, this fire turtle appeared to have a skin that absorbed the wind in the same way.
‘At this rate, it’s not just bad compatibility… it’s the worst.’
Lee Seungwoo seemed to sense this too. Flying through the air to distract the fire turtle’s vision, he wrapped his ability around his hands and charged at the black muzzle.
Seeing Lee Seungwoo flying toward it, the fire turtle opened its mouth wide. There was a sense that it intended to swallow Lee Seungwoo whole.
Instead of entering the fire turtle’s mouth, Lee Seungwoo struck its jaw with his fist. The fire turtle seemed slightly shocked, shaking its head a little before glaring at Lee Seungwoo. Well, I’m not sure if “glaring” is the right word. Its black pupils were fixed on Lee Seungwoo and wouldn’t look away, so I described it as “glaring.”
The fire turtle had the property of absorbing Lee Seungwoo’s wind ability. In other words, it even absorbed the ability surrounding Lee Seungwoo’s fist. Therefore, what hit the fire turtle was Lee Seungwoo’s bare fist.
This wasn’t good. Even from a distance, Ko Eungyo could see Lee Seungwoo wrapping the hand that had touched the fire turtle with his clothing.
Just looking at it, the surface temperature of the fire turtle seemed incredibly high.
If there was any good news, it was that physical force, not ability power, seemed to have some effect on the fire turtle. Consistently applying physical impact might allow them to tackle the fire turtle, but Lee Seungwoo appeared to have been burned by the recent attack. It didn’t seem possible to defeat the fire turtle by hitting it with his hands.
Moreover, the fire turtle seemed to have very strong defense against physical impacts as well, so they needed to revise their plan.
The boss monster charged at Lee Seungwoo again, as if it had never shaken its head.
This fight would be disadvantageous if it became prolonged. Since there was no one who could replace Lee Seungwoo, if he fell, this gate would be a failure. Failure meant death.
They needed to find a way to quickly tackle the fire turtle.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
