#89
Watching this, Seo Yi-young felt a sudden chill. But he couldn’t tell if it was because Choi Do-jun’s eyes seemed to flash, or if it was fear at seeing how much power Choi Do-jun had displayed despite his handicap.
If Choi Do-jun’s words were true, it meant he hadn’t been able to use his full power until now, and this time he could finally fight using 100% of his ability.
That fact alone was shocking, but what was even more astounding was how Choi Do-jun seemed to be enjoying the prospect of fighting with his full abilities. For the first time, Choi Do-jun seemed like a stranger to Seo Yi-young.
“…Crazy bastard.”
Seo Yi-young muttered quietly as he rubbed his arms. The goosebumps weren’t just his imagination—his exposed wrists were actually covered with them. Seo Yi-young rubbed his goosebump-covered arms without trying to hide them. Choi Do-jun looked at Seo Yi-young but spoke with an attitude that suggested he didn’t care at all.
“You just protect yourself and heal when necessary.”
“What? And you?”
“Put up as many barriers as you can.”
Having delivered these one-sided instructions, Choi Do-jun leaped into the air. Seo Yi-young bit his lip as he watched him. But there was no time to say anything. He had thought it would be fine as long as abilities weren’t used, but watching Choi Do-jun, he had no chance to think about that.
He had thought the attack target was unclear, but it seemed Choi Do-jun felt the same way.
“This crazy psycho…!”
But most people wouldn’t think of completely vaporizing an entire lake.
Choi Do-jun’s body began to glow white as he moved toward the shore. At the same time, a hazy mist began forming over the lake’s surface. The heat Choi Do-jun was generating was causing the water to evaporate.
Seo Yi-young looked up at Choi Do-jun and gritted his teeth. Before the acidic mist could engulf him, Seo Yi-young quickly surrounded himself with a protective barrier. Since he didn’t know how long it would hold, he created the strongest barrier he could around his body.
Then he immediately created a barrier around Choi Do-jun too. Although Choi Do-jun had said he didn’t need one, that couldn’t possibly be true. Breathing alone would be difficult. Evaporating the water meant this acidic water would become mist. Even if he evaporated it all, inhaling even 0.1% would damage the lungs.
Choi Do-jun really intended to evaporate all of this water.
No, not just evaporation. If it turned into gas, clouds could form and rain could fall. So he planned to completely destroy the water to prevent that from happening. This would require using even more power than he had in the desert earlier.
Seo Yi-young had wondered why Choi Do-jun had brought him along, but now he had his answer. Choi Do-jun planned to unleash all his power. While dodging streams of water attacking him, Choi Do-jun sliced through them. Surprisingly, Seo Yi-young’s mouth fell open as he witnessed the water columns being cut. More water columns had appeared than when Choi Do-jun first used his ability.
Like a bird attacking a small insect, the water shot toward Choi Do-jun, but he managed to dodge direct hits while cutting through the streams and evaporating what remained. Soon, even seeing this became impossible. The mist was so thick that it was hard to see even a foot ahead.
“Damn it.”
In this situation, even Choi Do-jun would certainly have difficulty breathing. Seo Yi-young’s barriers were breaking every second and had to be regenerated, so the barriers around Choi Do-jun, who was at the center of the attack, would be breaking even faster.
Gritting his teeth, Seo Yi-young pulled out an item from his pocket. It was an item that improved visibility. But even that had its limits. Choi Do-jun was controlling the evaporation so that rain clouds wouldn’t form.
Damn him. How am I supposed to heal in this situation?
Seo Yi-young gritted his teeth. He really is a guy who only knows how to attack. But he couldn’t just stay still. He had to do something. Though he couldn’t see, he could hear.
Seo Yi-young heightened his senses. He couldn’t use his ability right now. If he did, the acidic water would attack him. As Seo Yi-young closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearing to estimate Choi Do-jun’s location, his barriers were breaking one by one. He couldn’t put up new ones either. If he tried to create a barrier, the water would attack again, and he would lose track of Choi Do-jun’s presence.
He could hear the sound of water colliding and Choi Do-jun cutting through it, but he still couldn’t pinpoint Choi Do-jun’s exact location. If only those cumbersome water streams weren’t there…
Wait. Why did I only think about throwing healing like a ball?
Couldn’t I shoot it like a stream of water? Even if it’s healing, it won’t heal the water. It can heal Choi Do-jun. It could also recreate his barriers.
Without a second thought, Seo Yi-young immediately stretched out his hand. Continuously streaming healing rather than just casting it once certainly consumed more mana.
There…!
The moment he felt the healing connect, only one layer of the protective barrier around Seo Yi-young’s body remained. The barrier crackled and thinly shattered as acidic mist penetrated from his feet up. But Seo Yi-young’s concentration didn’t waver at all. Choi Do-jun was right there. Seo Yi-young shot both a barrier and healing toward that single point while simultaneously creating a new barrier around himself.
SPLASH!
In that instant, Seo Yi-young took a direct hit from a water stream and rolled across the ground. Fortunately, his barrier worked properly, but his elbow was exposed to the water pooled on the ground. With the acrid smell of burning flesh came an indescribable pain, and he immediately cast healing on himself while running.
Even amid all this, Seo Yi-young saw another water stream flying toward him. Could he dodge it at the last moment by moving in another direction? As he was calculating in his head, light struck the ground in front of Seo Yi-young like a shield, evaporating the water.
“I told you to just protect yourself.”
Choi Do-jun’s grumpy voice through the hissing communication had never sounded so welcome. But there was no time to respond. Suddenly, something seemed to emerge from the now half-drained massive lake. Though he couldn’t see clearly, it appeared to be quite large.
“Finally it appears.”
Seo Yi-young heard Choi Do-jun mutter. He immediately understood what Choi Do-jun meant in the next moment.
“Ahh!”
Something flew toward Seo Yi-young as if to strike him down. The ground where Seo Yi-young had been standing sank deeply. He had barely dodged it. If he had been just 10cm short, his thigh would have been torn off. A chill ran down his spine. When Seo Yi-young raised his head, his mouth fell open at the identity of the revealed mob.
“Wh-what…”
Seo Yi-young couldn’t finish his sentence.
It seemed to be a mob that had been hiding in the lake until just now. Here was the issue. A lake is water. Generally, one would think of water attributes, but what was in front of Seo Yi-young’s eyes now?
It was a moth.
An enormously large moth.
It wasn’t similar to a butterfly; its body was much larger than its wings. It looked like it might not even be able to fly properly. Was that why it had been hiding its body underwater instead of revealing itself immediately?
He instinctively understood. This must be the boss mob.
Despite having entered numerous dungeons and becoming desensitized to many things, he couldn’t help but feel his skin crawl at the sight of a giant, fluffy moth.
During his momentary hesitation, the moth’s proboscis extended toward Seo Yi-young. Gritting his teeth, Seo Yi-young quickly rose from his position and dodged. As the moth moved slightly, sparkling powder fell from its body. He didn’t know what it was, but he definitely shouldn’t inhale it or let it touch his skin. There was no way it was just ordinary powder.
As if confirming Seo Yi-young’s suspicion, the skin on the back of his hand where a little powder had fallen turned black. Grimacing, Seo Yi-young immediately cast healing.
It might have been his imagination, but it seemed like the moth was staring intently at Seo Yi-young. Choi Do-jun landed in front of Seo Yi-young, who had furrowed his brow. Though he hadn’t seen him for just a short while, it was reassuring to see him appear again without any injuries.
“I wondered what was in the water, so it was this.”
From Choi Do-jun’s reaction, it seemed he had already anticipated something like this.
When Seo Yi-young belatedly looked up at the sky, he saw that the mist that had been covering everything was completely gone. It seemed Choi Do-jun had eliminated it all while Seo Yi-young’s attention was on the moth in front of him.
Seo Yi-young initially thought that if Choi Do-jun had anticipated this, he should have given him a hint, but then changed his mind, thinking this was better than being flustered like himself.
“Is it the boss?”
“Who knows.”
Choi Do-jun answered Seo Yi-young’s question halfheartedly. But Seo Yi-young couldn’t complain. What Choi Do-jun said next made him close his mouth.
“Everyone stay in position. Join the battle when I give the signal.”
Choi Do-jun gave quick and clear instructions. They still couldn’t get a sense of what type of mob this was. The moth’s eyes glistened almost overwhelmingly. Where is its mouth…
Before Seo Yi-young could complete his thought, he was grabbed with strong force and rolled backward. He caught sight of the moth’s proboscis stuck in the ground. It seemed Choi Do-jun had embraced Seo Yi-young to dodge the moth’s proboscis.
“Th-thanks.”
Though he thanked him in a dazed state, Choi Do-jun didn’t say anything.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
