Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 208: Asus (4)

[Wow, this is the first time you’re summoning all of them since the Thousand Armed Bodhisattva raid, right?] Mujahid whistled and asked after seeing the Void Devils.

[Yeah, you’re right.]

[Hohoho! It’s over for those monsters. Is there any monster that can survive once hyung-nim gets serious?]

Mujahid buttered up to Han-Yeol in an awkward manner. He was not the type to curry favor with another person, so he felt a bit uncomfortable doing it. Nevertheless, he did it merely for the sake of doing it, and there wasn't much meaning behind it.

[Quit playing around and focus on the battle. I have a feeling it’s going to start real soon.]

[Hehe~ Just leave it to me! I’ll sweep all of them up!]

Mujahid showed no signs of slowing down, despite not having properly rested for the past five days. On the contrary, he seemed to be even more fired up and in much better shape than when the hunt first started.

The secret behind his current state was none other than Han-Yeol. Being around Han-Yeol gave him a ten percent buff to his stats, and the Enhance Han-Yeol spell kept his mana always at its peak. Furthermore, Han-Yeol would draw mana from his Mana Pouch and replenish Mujahid's mana whenever it ran low, making him feel almost invincible during this hunt.

In fact, Mujahid's mana in this hunt was close to infinite, with Han-Yeol continuously replenishing it on top of Mujahid's innate ability that replenished mana whenever he was hit.

Mujahid couldn't help but feel on cloud nine during this hunt, and he was gradually starting to believe that hunting with Han-Yeol alone was far superior to hunting with raid parties. After all, like Han-Yeol, Mujahid detested the conservative hunting style of raid parties, and both of them synced incredibly well in their daring and crazy way of hunting.

‘Enhance! Mana Explosion!’?

Shwooong… Kabooom!

Han-Yeol’s skill signaled the start of the clash as the Mana Explosion he sneakily shot wreaked havoc amongst the Ice Demons.

However, he was not satisfied with the result of his sneak attack.

‘Hmm… Mana Explosion is slowly starting to show limitations… I think I need to get a new area of?effect ranged?offensive skill…’?he thought.

Only briefly lost in his thoughts, Han-Yeol was forced to snap out of it when the Ice Demons charged toward him and his party after being hit by the sneaky explosion.

“Kwuoooooooh!”

The Ice Demons let out a hideous cry as they commenced their charge.

“Aaaaack!”

“Please god… Watch over us so that we could live to see another day…”

The members of the Special S raid party were quite commendable, as they did their best to follow every single one of Han-Yeol's commands. The sight of the horde of Ice Demons rushing toward them definitely scared them out of their wits, and some of them started to consider running away from the battle.

However, all of them were S Rank Hunters, and they knew that they would not amount to much if they ran from this battle.

“Haa… Let’s win and make it out alive…”

“Yeah!”

“Should we go to Hawaii with the money we earned after this hunt, Yoon-Ho?”

“Oh? That sounds like a great idea.”

“…if we make it out alive.”

The Special S raid party consisted of only ten members, which was quite uncommon in the current trend where raid parties moved in groups of at least thirty Hunters. The recent changes in dimensional holes appearing inside the hunting grounds, triggering monster waves, had made most raid parties opt for safety, fearing being wiped out.

The Hunters' Association, witnessing a steep rise in Hunter fatalities in hunting grounds, suggested larger groups as a precautionary measure.

Initially, many Hunters ignored the association's suggestions due to being unaccustomed to moving in larger groups. However, the continuous rise in fatalities forced the Hunters' Association to take action. While they couldn't force the Hunters to change their ways, the association decided to use the media to convince them.

The association utilized its influence to ensure that fatalities were reported not only by major news outlets but also by online platforms. They even arranged programs analyzing the causes of fatalities in the hunting grounds, with some TV stations airing three-hour specials on the topic.

The inundation of such news convinced the Hunters to change their approach, and they began entering hunting grounds in groups of thirty or more. The association's tactic proved successful, stabilizing the death rate of Hunters in the hunting grounds and making hunting in large groups the norm.

However, the Special S raid party remained steadfast in their format of having only ten members. Each of them was considered an elite, and their chemistry with each other was absolutely solid. Their small numbers facilitated natural bonding, significantly contributing to their strong chemistry.

“We’re going to Hawaii and have a good time with the babes on the beach!”

Hunters were sought after anywhere in the world, and most women would try their luck to seduce them anywhere they went.

“Keke! Crazy bastard!”

The Special S raid party members joked with each other while the Ice Demons were rushing toward them.

“They’re coming!”

“Bring it on!”

BAAAAAAM!

The Ice Demons rammed into the Special S raid party.

***

Meanwhile, Mujahid and Balrog led the Egyptian Hunters to fight against the horde of Ice Demons.

[Bwahahaha! Bring it on, fools!]

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!?

There were all sorts of skills flying around the battlefield, but Mujahid and Balrog stood out among them as they bravely fought against the monsters.

The Special S raid party might be composed of elite S Rank Hunters, but facing one hundred Ice Demons was simply too much for them. It was not that the S Rank Hunters were weak or lacking, but going up against one hundred monsters considered to be the strongest in this hunting ground was simply too overwhelming.

However, the reason they were able to fight against the Ice Demons without being annihilated was thanks to Mujahid, Balrog, and...

“Kieeeeek!”

Bam!

“Kwuoooooh!”

…Mavros.

Poison Arrows rained from above, incapacitating dozens of the Ice Demons. It might seem strange that these monsters were getting damaged by poison when they used poisons themselves, but the Ice Demons did not produce their poison in their bodies, so they did not have much resistance to it.

Furthermore, the Poison Arrows raining from above were not ordinary skills; they were conjured from the mana of a dragon.

The black dragon seemed to be upset about something as he unleashed a torrent of Poison Arrows from above, and the barrage dealt massive damage against the horde of Ice Demons.

‘Good…’?Han-Yeol nodded in satisfaction after seeing that Mavros was carrying out his command very well.

Crack… Crack…?

Han-Yeol redirected his focus toward the boss monster, Asus, and walked toward it while stretching and cracking his neck.

Sseuuu…

Of course, the Arch Lich was floating close behind him.

‘Mavros is useful against large boss monsters or masses of enemies, but the Arch Lich’s buffs and debuffs are much more useful against boss monsters like this one,’?Han-Yeol thought.

This was the reason Mavros was venting his anger at the Ice Demons. He had expected to fight against the boss monster alongside Han-Yeol, as they always did. However, he was surprised when Han-Yeol asked him to go and help the others against the Ice Demons. This greatly upset him, as he loved fighting against strong enemies alongside Han-Yeol more than anything else in this world.

In the end, the obedient black dragon had no choice but to carry out Han-Yeol’s order, but he could not help but redirect the frustration and anger inside him against the Ice Demons.

"Hey, Tin can. It’s one versus two now, are you happy?" Han-Yeol taunted the boss monster once again.

Shwooo…

Asus simply exhaled in response, just as it always did.

‘Hmm… Is this guy just slow or stupid?’?

Han-Yeol could tell that the demon could understand human language, as there were numerous cases of boss monsters understanding and even speaking human language. This was the reason it was not strange at all for Asus to understand what Han-Yeol was saying.

Oddly enough, Asus reacted to whatever Han-Yeol said, but its exhales were just about it. There were a couple more strange things about the boss monster. Asus managed to block every single attack thrown at it, but it never once made the first move against them. The only 'attack,' if it could be considered one at all, it did was to summon the blizzard and unleash its mana, and that was just about it.

"I have no idea who you are, but I know for a fact that you’re going to lose against me," Han-Yeol confidently said.

It did not matter to him what or who the boss monster was, as his main objective was to hunt it.

‘I’ll leave the?supporting?to you, Arch Lich-nim.’

[As you wish…]

Tak!

Han-Yeol kicked off the ground and rushed at the boss monster.

Whoosh!

‘As expected,’?Han-Yeol expected the boss monster to only move once he made a move himself.

Asus was displaying the complete opposite of what most boss monsters do.

While typical boss monsters would not concern themselves with anything happening in the hunting ground, they would suddenly become extremely aggressive once a Hunter stepped into their territory. On the other hand, Asus did not seem to react much unless and until it was attacked first.

‘Well, that’s not important since they’re all just mana stones in the end! Chain Smite!’?Han-Yeol threw his chain attached with a hammer at the end toward the boss monster.

It was an attack that had already failed once, but the previous attempt was merely a warm-up to test the boss monster out. Han-Yeol was serious this time as he threw his chain with the intent of following it up with Sword Breath.

Clang!

As expected, Asus deflected the chain with its sword, and Han-Yeol did not miss the opening to get near the boss monster and swing his Thousand Armed Bodhisattva Sword, which was set ablaze by Sword Breath.

Clang!

Their swords clashed against each other.

Ding!

[You have been affected by the Ice Aura of the boss monster, Asus.]

[Ice damage will be inflicted upon you for one minute.]

As expected, the same message popped up this time as well.

‘Not so fast!’?

However, the situation was quite different now from a while ago.

Ding!

[The Arch Lich has temporarily increased your resistance to ice attribute.]

[Your resistance has nullified Asus’ Ice Aura.]

[Your resistance to ice attribute has slightly increased.]

‘Now we’re talking!’?Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly, now able to withstand the boss monster's aura.

“Haaaaap!”

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!?

Han-Yeol went on the offensive.

“Restrain!”

Chwiiiiik!

He had no problems using both hands after getting drilled—no, trained—by the Demon Sergeant, Kajikar.

Han-Yeol swung his sword while simultaneously controlling his chain.

"Have a taste of this, you tin can!" Han-Yeol shouted.

He was doing whatever he could to gain the upper hand, even shouting loudly to distract the boss monster by even a split second.

Shwooo…

Clang!

However, Asus skillfully evaded Han-Yeol’s sword before deflecting the chain.

‘Tsk…!’

It was an attack that Han-Yeol was certain would work, but he could not help but click his tongue after seeing it fail so easily.

‘Oh… Is this how Jung Woo-Hyun and Jung Soo-Hyun felt when fighting against me…?’?he suddenly remembered the two S Rank Hunters.

Of course, he was only talking about the frustration they might have felt and not the despair and hopelessness they actually felt against him.

It was true that he felt frustrated by his attacks not working against the boss monster, but he felt really good right now. He was having a lot of fun fighting against Asus. The Thousand Armed Bodhisattva had simply been colossal, and it had definitely felt more like a raid than a regular fight.

On the other hand, Asus was slightly taller than an average human, but the boss monster possessed skills far greater than most Hunters. This was the reason that this fight felt more like a duel to Han-Yeol than an actual boss raid, and he loved the thrill and adrenaline he got from dueling with his life on the line.

He felt like some kind of brave warrior fighting against evil… or something like that…