Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 209: Asus (5)

Tak!

Han-Yeol kicked off the ground and swung his sword at Asus once again.

“Haaap!”

Whoosh! Clang!

Asus blocked the sword, and they were now locked in a contest of strength.

Woooong!

Two massive balls of mana clashed against each other, with neither side trying to give an edge to the other. The collision of these two gigantic mana balls sent shockwaves rippling throughout their surroundings, wreaking havoc along the way. On Asus' side, ice and blizzard raged, while on Han-Yeol's side, a firestorm roared.

Of course, Han-Yeol remained unaffected by the blizzard due to his possession of the Ice Attribute skill. While he could have potentially controlled Asus' blizzard and utilized it, his skill level was still too low, making any attempt pointless.

Besides, there was no reason for him to waste his mana trying to control ice when he could simply use fire, which naturally countered ice.

“Keuuu…!”?

Whooosh!

Just as they were still locked in their contest of mana and strength, Han-Yeol sent a signal to the Arch Lich, [Now!]

“Hey! Tin can!”

Clang!

Han-Yeol gave up on the contest of strength and pulled back his sword before jumping up in the air.

[Mana Rocket.]

Shwoooong… Kabooom!

The skill that the Arch Lich had been channeling for the past three minutes was finally completed, and a powerful burst of mana slammed into Asus’ body.

“Kieeeeek!”?Asus finally made a different sound as it cried out in agony.

It did not matter how powerful the boss monster was as it was not invincible to begin with.

‘I can just fight together with my comrades if it’s too much for me to handle alone. I’m not that stupid, you know? Heh,’?Han-Yeol thought.

Yes, he was obsessed with fighting, but that did not mean he was a fool who would rush into a losing battle.

He could tell that Asus’ mana was far more powerful than his, so he had no choice but to devise a plan with the Arch Lich by communicating through Telepathy II.

‘Nice, Arch Lich-nim!’

[This is nothing… for me…]

Han-Yeol couldn't help but feel that the Arch Lich's voice and manner of speech sounded familiar the more he listened. However, for some reason, he couldn't quite put a finger on it.

‘Hmm… It feels like it's right around the back of my mind, but I just can't seem to grasp it,’ he thought in frustration. Nevertheless, he decided to ignore the feeling for now.

“Kieeeeeek!”

Bam!

The boss monster was down on one knee after taking a direct hit from the powerful Mana Rocket of the Arch Lich, but it quickly unleashed its own powerful mana in response, getting back up to its feet.

"Wow, you're quite the tough one," Han-Yeol remarked.

The Mana Rocket shot by the Arch Lich was formidable even by Han-Yeol's standards, but the boss monster that withstood it was truly a formidable foe.

“Tsk tsk…?I guess I’ll be exerting myself today.” Han-Yeol clicked his tongue before setting his sword ablaze once again.

Fwaaaaa!

Crack! Crack!?

He cracked his neck and prepared to start another round with the boss monster.

***

The boss monster raid continued on for nearly four hours.

There was only one hour left before the sun was going to set, but the boss monster gathered whatever remaining monsters to the flatlands, allowing Han-Yeol and his party to continue the raid without worrying about being ambushed.

However, Han-Yeol had to defeat the boss monster within seven hours if he wanted to make it in time to meet the Americans. Unfortunately, the raid did not seem like it was going to be over anytime soon.

Whoosh! Clang! Clang! Clang!?

“Keuk!”?

Han-Yeol and the Arch Lich combined their strength against Asus, but the boss monster showed no signs of slowing down. Despite getting hit by numerous attacks, it would simply get back up as if nothing had happened.

‘What’s going on? What’s the problem?!’?Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly in frustration.

He could not help but slowly start to get annoyed after seeing the boss monster brush off any damage they dealt and get up nonchalantly. He was sure that the damage they inflicted was considerable, but the boss monster seemed unscathed every single time.

Wooong! Shwoooo!

Asus got back up once again and unleashed its mana.

“Ugh…?This is getting quite frustrating,” Han-Yeol grumbled under his breath.

The situation was not looking good for him. While he might be able to recover mana faster than most Hunters, he could feel that he was starting to consume more and more mana as the battle progressed.

Whooosh! Clang!

His concentration was thrown off for a second after worrying about his depleting mana, and he threw his chain in a manner that resembled a mistake he would seldom make. The chain flew toward the boss monster without a hint of killing intent, as if it was thrown for the sake of throwing rather than achieving anything.

However, Asus gave it its all to block the chain, treating it as if it were a lethal attack. It swung its sword as hard as it could to parry Han-Yeol’s attack.

‘Huh? Does he have magic resistance…?’?Han-Yeol came up with a theory after seeing the boss monster’s reaction.

He and the Arch Lich cooperated quite closely, dealing significant magic damage to the boss monster—or so they thought. However, the boss monster emerged unscathed every single time it was hit by the Arch Lich's magic attack.

Han-Yeol had failed to notice this during the battle due to his adrenaline pumping, but now in hindsight, he realized that the normal response of any creature would be to intentionally get hit by his physical attack while evading the powerful magic attack.

No, Asus could have evaded both Han-Yeol's attack and the Arch Lich's magic attack, but the boss monster seemed more focused on blocking Han-Yeol's attack, even if it meant getting hit by the Arch Lich's powerful magic attack.

‘What if he's not really tough but actually weak against physical damage, while being extremely strong against magic damage…?’?

Han-Yeol was not certain of his theory, but he believed that it was definitely worth a shot.

‘But do you agree that it is worth testing out, Arch Lich-nim?’

[I see… Alright…]

They were communicating through telepathy, allowing the Arch Lich to effortlessly read Han-Yeol's thoughts without the need for him to convey them verbally.

‘I don’t know what’s the right answer, but you’ll never know until you try it out!’?Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly before he jumped.

Tak!

Shwiiiiiik!

‘Restrain!’

He employed his most basic combat maneuver, which involved throwing the chain and using Retrain. However, this time, he held his HSK-447P instead of the Thousand Armed Bodhisattva Sword, and his gun was loaded with a 7.76mm armor-piercing bullet coated with his mana, rather than the mana bullets he usually used.

He made this choice because shooting mana bullets was essentially equivalent to dealing magic damage. Therefore, he opted to load real bullets to deal physical damage instead.

Ratatatata!

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!?

As expected, Asus reacted strongly to the bullets, immediately raising its sword to block them the moment it realized they were going to deal physical damage this time. It was the complete opposite of how the boss monster nonchalantly allowed magic attacks to hit it directly.

‘This means… That bastard is almost immune against magic damage but weak against physical damage.’?Han-Yeol understood the boss monster now.

He might have found out the strategy to raid the boss monster, but that did not mean things were going to be any easier from now on.

‘But that bastard’s swordsmanship is on a whole different level, and its reflexes are lightning quick…’?Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly.

It was futile to try and distract the boss monster with the Arch Lich's magic, as it solely focused on Han-Yeol and Han-Yeol alone. In fact, it didn't even bother evading any of the attacks the Arch Lich threw at it since they were all magic attacks.

Whoosh! Clang!

“Keuk…!?As expected…!” Han-Yeol gritted his teeth after his sneak attack failed.

As expected, the boss monster was still only defending and did not show any signs of wanting to attack.

‘What’s this bastard trying to do?’?Han-Yeol wondered.

“Haa… Haa… Haa…”?

This was the first time he had run out of breath since becoming a Master Rank Hunter. He had reached a level where training at the Hunter Gym no longer tired him, even if he pushed himself to the limits.

Most Hunters would supplement their stamina with their mana, enabling them to push their bodies to the extremes. However, that was not the case for Han-Yeol. His physical stats had reached a point where physical labor no longer placed any strain on his body, and his monstrous mana recovery made it almost impossible for him to run out of mana simply by performing exercises.

Han-Yeol had tried countless times to tire himself out at the gym, but he soon realized that it was all in vain. In other words, training no longer had any effect on him.

***

There were only five hours left.

Han-Yeol had learned how to raid the boss monster, but that knowledge could not be put into action as the boss monster stubbornly blocked every single one of his attacks. However, it wasn't that Han-Yeol hadn't achieved anything within the two hours; he managed to remove the boss monster's epaulet and cause its cape to fly away.

“Haa… Haa… Haa…?As expected, it can’t recover from physical damages,” Han-Yeol muttered with a smirk while catching his breath.

The boss monster instantly recovered from any magic damage it suffered, no matter how powerful it was, but it couldn't recover from the physical damage it received.

However, the situation was not looking favorable for Han-Yeol. He had been running around and attacking ceaselessly for the past two hours, but the only result he managed to achieve was the removal of the boss monster's cape.

‘Haa… Damn it… I’m starting to get exhausted now…’?Han-Yeol slowly started to feel his body slowing down.

He was the type of person who started to get lazy whenever he was tired, and he wanted nothing more than to finish this raid before his frustration took a toll on him.

Whoosh!

"Hey, Tin can. Let's end this once and for all!" Han-Yeol confidently said.

Ironically, he didn't have any good strategy in mind, but that didn't mean he could let this drag on forever.

Tak!

He kicked off the ground and swung his sword once again.

Whoosh!

Asus was about to swing its sword to block the attack, but something suddenly popped up behind the boss monster that shocked Han-Yeol.

“…!”

“Kieeeeeeek!”

“Mavros!”

The black dragon suddenly appeared behind Asus, and a brilliant idea flashed in Han-Yeol’s head.

‘Arch Lich-nim! Please go handle the Ice Demons!’?he immediately conveyed.

[Alright…]

He asked the Arch Lich to handle the Ice Demon in Mavros’ absence.

Then, he sped toward Mavros and Asus.

Puk! Puk!?

Mavros was so close to the boss monster that they were entangled with each other at this moment, leaving no space for Asus to swing its humongous sword. As a result, it started to punch the black dragon instead.

Puk!

Cold mana reverberated across Mavros' body whenever he was punched by Asus. The black dragon appeared to be in obvious pain from the punches, but he withstood the agony and retaliated by biting Asus on the neck.

“Kieeeeek!”

The biting force of a dragon was bound to be incomparably stronger than any normal monster or beast.

C-Craaaack!

On top of that, Mavros possessed the Poison Attribute that allowed his teeth to go through the boss monster’s armor.

Tak!

Han-Yeol hopped onto Mavros and said, “Let’s fly, Mavros!”

He finally thought of an idea that could finish the boss monster, Asus, once and for all. He felt sorry for Mavros since he was going to be in a lot of pain, but this was the only method he could think of at the moment. He couldn't pass up this golden opportunity that presented itself.

There was only one method in Han-Yeol's mind right now, and he was certain that this method would definitely kill this stubbornly tenacious boss monster.

Chwak!

Mavros might have found the command cruel, but he followed Han-Yeol's command despite experiencing excruciating pain whenever Asus punched him. He spread out his wings and flew up to the sky with the boss monster in tow.

Asus seemed to realize what was going on and viciously punched the black dragon's body, but the black dragon stubbornly held onto the boss monster despite the agonizing pain he was subjected to. Then, in the process, Asus made a fatal mistake...

Clang!

The boss monster dropped its sword, a mistake that was definitely going to cost it its life.

Han-Yeol smiled upon seeing Asus drop its sword, and he was now certain that the chances of his strategy being successful had increased significantly.

"This is the end for you, Asus! Mavros! Go up as high as you can!" Han-Yeol shouted.

Mavros replied by biting down harder on the boss monster's neck and vigorously flapping his wings, carrying them higher and higher into the sky.