Episode 68: The Dark City of S-Class Dungeon (3)
Six years ago, a saying originated at Suhomun: “The Guardian Gate has been blessed by a god.”
That was before the succession system had been shaken. Kang Min-hyuk showed tremendous talent and swept deftly through martial arts competitions, and Lee Jun-ho was always beside him. If Min-hyuk was first, Jun-ho Lee was his right-hand-man. Kang Min-hyuk consistently triumphed, but Lee Jun-ho was the son of a vassal, so the interplay was perfect.
The best warriors of the age were all born in Suhomun – the future of the gate was bright, and it was assumed that even when the era of Kang Deok-cheol had ended, Suhomun would not only survive but thrive.
However, those expectations soon collapsed. Kang Min-hyuk’s mana talent gradually declined as he aged. He was still young, so most people believed that time could fix the issue, but the opposite turned out to be true. The difference between Kang Min-hyuk and his friends gradually lessened. Excellent swordsmanship and high intelligence were of little use if the essential raw skill to use mana – the real power that governs the world – wasn’t present. Other talents were no substitute.
Min-hyuk fell into a pit of despair. When the family’s vassals questioned his qualities, Lee Jun-ho showed talent even in mana. He was in perfect condition to ascend – with mana’s wings on his shoulders, Jun-ho soared. Although Kang Min-hyuk’s swordsmanship skills exceeded those of Lee Jun-ho, there was no competition in mana battles. The latter was the true test of strength, so Kang Min-hyuk cast aside his place as successor.
The accident’s impact during the subjugation process was also great, but Lee Jun-ho was behind the scenes.
“Hyyah!”
Lee Jun-ho stabbed Durahan deep in its chest. Aura, rising in vivid blue, sliced through Durahan’s hard skin like tofu. Lee Jun-ho stepped forward, and monsters attacked his whole body – dozens, or hundreds of monsters. They rushed, thirsting after Lee Jun-ho’s life, but as time passed, the corpses piled up under his feet.
“Don’t approach the enemy! If we’re going to face the Dark Lich at the end of the dungeon, there is no reason to consume excessive stamina against lower-level monsters. Stay in a position you can protect each other, and deal with incoming enemies first!” Lee Jun-ho shouted.
At the command, the advance team moved in unison, and they stopped the enemies invading in waves. The battle continued.
After first meeting the undead group, they moved swiftly into the fourth battle. Still, the starting team, under the command of Lee Jun-ho, did not show any signs of struggle. Thanks to the strong support of Lee Jun-ho, who received most of the damage inflicted, the members of the advance team were able to face the enemies more easily than expected.
Lee Jun-ho was the perfect leader, showing outstanding selflessness and leadership. If it wasn’t for his background as the son of a vassal, he might have competed with Kang Min-hyuk for the successor’s position in the first place. From the rear, Kang Min-hyuk watched Lee Jun-ho’s performance. There was nothing for the lower teams to do yet.
Most of the battles were handled by the starting team and the main team, and at the center was Lee Jun-ho, who stood in the spotlight. The disciples of Suhomun looked at him enviously, and the reporter continued to praise him – a treatment he deserved.
It struck Min-hyuk that it was down to Lee Jun-ho that he could leave Suhomun at all. He knew that there would be an ideal replacement for the role of successor. He was convinced that the future of Suhomun without him would still be bright.
As Lee Jun-ho slaughtered monsters one after another, Kang Min-hyuk’s shadow was not seen in his luminous glow.
* * *
There was a reason for dividing the troops into three units. Gomjin, the chief of the intelligence unit, who went on an expedition before the subjugation, reported the information he had confirmed for a week.
[Monsters in the Dark City resurrect after a certain time. It is the effect of a field full of dark mana, and the resurrected monster pursues the humans who attacked them to the end. You can’t take a long break in the Dark City. Even a brief delay could lead to having your ankles caught by monsters, so it’s important to defeat Dark Lich as quickly as possible.]
The S-class dungeon had characteristics worthy of its reputation, so Lee Joon-ho moved forward quickly, and the main and later units never deviated from their position. It is not known when the resurrected monsters would catch up. If monsters attacked all sides, positions without a system could quickly collapse, so the unit divided into three meant that each area had equal focus. The first squadron was forward, the main corps supported according to the situation, and the second squadron was at the rear. So, in the beginning, it was unavoidable that Lee Joon-ho’s advance team had to suffer, but soon afterward, the second team was launched.
“Ready to fight!” Jeong Pan-ho cried out.
Corpses of monsters that had been defeated already seemed to reach the chin. The numbers were high. About two or three hundred monsters flocked at once, bringing a sensation of pressure, but the people of Suhomun were not shaken. Fortunately, most of them were D-class ghouls.
“Wizards!”
“Yes!”
The fourth circle wizards prepared to defend.
“Light!”
“Fire Sword.”
Pop.
The light attribute weakened the undead monsters’ skin, and sword-power was added with enchant-type magic called Fire Sword. The fire has the power to destroy darkness. Fire Sword is very valuable magic, and fortified warriors were blessed with blazing flames that struck down enemies at once.
Ahhhhhh!
“Die!”
Boom. The battle commenced. The third group showed superior power while they were entangled in a sea of monsters. Most of their opponents were Class D, which didn’t pose much of a challenge for the guardian gate warriors. The main unit in the center moved to assist the parties further back. The first and second squad held the position, but Kang Deok-cheol’s party was distributed in a balanced way according to the situation.
Hundreds of monsters battled dozens of warriors. At that tremendous sight, Kim Sung-ho and his party were captivated.
“Wow.”
The scene showed why the Guardian Gate was the dominant Korean armed force. Kim Sung-ho was awe-struck just watching. It was then that Kang Min-hyuk yelled, raising mana.
“From now on, I entrust my safety to you.”
This subjugation was the event in which Kang Min-hyuk intended to prove the power of a magician to the people of Suhomun. Because he knew the power of the guardian gate better than anyone else, he knew that they wouldn’t be successful if they moved in moderation – it had to be impressive.
“Blast Furnace!”
He used fourth-circle fire magic to reveal the circles he had accomplished so far.
Rumble.
A powerful burning flame arose, and Kang Min-hyuk joined in the battle in earnest.
* * *
There were 300 Eulchu. However, these B-class monsters had no hope of injuring the guardian gate’s troops – those who went to subjugation were the elite forces, capable of dealing with groups of A-class monsters. For them, the situation wasn’t a challenge, and nobody was intimidated. However, time could be an issue. Techniques such as Aura Wave would wipe many enemies out at once, but in the end, excessive mana consumption against the resurrected monsters could lead to mana depletion later.
In preparation for the fight against the Dark Lich, Min-hyuk saved as much mana as possible. The reason for bringing the fourth Circle wizards was to actively use them to enhance the hunt’s efficiency. It was an excellent opportunity for a wizard to show his skills. How many monsters were there? Hundreds? The exact number didn’t matter. There was a lot. They crowded together, unwittingly making themselves a perfect target for magic.
“Double casting.”
Min-hyuk’s head turned tight. It wasn’t time yet for quad casting. He focused both minds on one spell, and the cast was completed quickly.
Kang Min-hyuk used his experience at the Monster Wave training ground to inform his decisions on the battle-field. The experience came alive in the subjugation.
“Rune flare.”
“Rune flare.”
Rrrumble!
Quaang!
Kang Min-hyuk’s magic exploded. A great impact under its power blasted the D-class ghoul and the B-class Durahan. Kang Min-hyuk’s magic exerted more than five circles of strength. The people at the guardian gate were confused by the flames that devoured Durahan and sought to find the master of magic. The plan was delivered several times for this expedition, but in the process, nobody had heard that a fifth circle or higher archmage would provide fire-support.
That was just the beginning—Kang Min-hyuk, who was triggered, cast magic ceaselessly.
“Rune flare.”
“Rune flare.”
Kwakwakwang!
Rrrrumble.
The flames burned white-hot.
Wizards of the Korean Magic Association tend not to use fourth circle attack magic for multiple reasons. The first reason was that it doesn’t work against Durahan, and after a few uses, mana undergoes a significant depletion. They were yet to familiarise themselves with the method of the mana fairy tale. Min-hyuk’s aggressive abilities were exposed for all to witness.
Behind the reinforced warriors, the other wizards played their role by providing additional magic support. However, Kang Min-hyuk was different. He actively changed all the mana that filled the circle with magic. The casting was extremely fast. The brain he’d trained in the Tower of Trials had adapted to a high-speed cast beyond imagination, and the number of monsters decreased noticeably every time his magic was emitted. Monsters attacked Kang Min-hyuk, ignoring the reinforced warriors, but Kim Sung-ho’s party completely blocked them.
Puck!
“No, you don’t!”
Kim Sung-ho’s party clenched their teeth and stopped them in their tracks. They were not familiar with the battle against hundreds of monsters, but they were fixated on the idea that they had to defend Kang Min-hyuk regardless of the means and methods. Thanks to such dedicated protection, Kang Min-hyuk focused solely on magic, and his explosive mana eventually cleared up the situation.
“Rune flare.”
Bang!
Rrrumble.
It was his last use of magic. Durahan fell into the blazing fire before anything that even resembled a crisis was born. Still, in the face of so many enemies, it would have been possible for ankles to be caught for quite a long time, decreasing their chances of successfully seizing the dungeon.
“…What is going on?!”
The disciples of Suhomun were confused. They’d never witnessed such powerful magic before. Kang Min-hyuk’s performance left them wide-eyed. Even though it was fourth circle magic, the power exceeded five. The casting speed was ridiculously fast, and Kang Min-hyuk used a whopping ten spells in a short time. It was different from anything they could have imagined that Kang Min-hyuk would still be in good shape.
The magic itself wasn’t as important as the person who had cast it, though. Jeong Pan-soo, who dropped a Durahan’s charred remains, looked at Kang Min-hyuk with amazement.
“…What has happened to you?”
The people of Suhomun knew the life he had lived. Up until a few months ago, he’d never turned his hand to magic at all. He was the underdog. But then…there he was, a wizard, breaking the prejudice of those who thought they knew him.
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