Chapter 914 – Otherworld Dungeon
“Oooooooooh!!!!!!”
It was the side view of a gigantic monster!!!
A hideously grotesque beast with a massive body, just as I’d heard!!!
It was emerging from the corner, its terrifying form slowly revealing itself, head and torso first…!!!
Its face was covered by a pure white mask, but its body was far beyond the realm of normalcy.
—A larva!!!!
That bloated torso, reminiscent of a blunt, fat grub, felt like the most horrifying thing, like a larva from the deepest, most rotten depths of the earth, sinking its teeth into a decaying corpse, relentlessly digging in and gnawing at its entrails…!!!
Even its skin was an unpleasant flesh color, almost white, wrinkled like the skin of a burned old woman, making it utterly repulsive!!! And on top of that, black blood vessels were bulging out!!!
It was exactly as George had described!!!
—Squirm, squirm.
—Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft.
But what was most unbearable of all were the dozens of tentacles writhing madly below it…!!! Even live eels wriggling on a grill wouldn’t squirm like that!!!
That enormous monster was floating in the air, advancing like an inhuman blimp born from some mad scientist’s homicidal idea, specially designed to carry out missions of mass slaughter and destruction!!!
An advance that reeked of blatant murderous intent!!!
The mad scientist had implanted a devastating AI suitable for a murderous blimp!!!! A cold AI that wouldn’t yield to anything, devoid of emotions, thinking only to accomplish its mission!!!!!!
“Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Imagining that, I couldn’t stop screaming!!!
“Kyaaaaaaaaah!!!!”
Hilde, terrified, leaped and clung to me like a cicada, screaming. I was terrified too, so I had no choice but to hug her back.
—Thwack!
The monster, having fully exposed its side to us, stopped.
Of course, that pause lasted only a moment.
—Swoosh.
It immediately began to turn…!
Toward us!!!
“I, it’s turning…!”
Liz noona exclaimed in shock.
“That crazy monster…!”
“W, what the hell is that monster…?”
Karin and Risha recoiled in disgust.
“Father…? Have you ever seen anything like that?”
“No!!!!!!!! Never seen anything like that before!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I’d never seen anything like that, even in the depths of my worst nightmares!!!
Even the legendary man-eating beasts said to live in the deepest, most hellish jungles of South America were just cute clay-dough vacation projects made by three-year-olds compared to that hideous sight!!!
Even if you took the most evil thoughts of Hitler, Stalin, Hideki Tojo, and Leopold II, shaped them, mixed them up, and kneaded them together for the purpose of punishment, you wouldn’t get a monstrosity like that!!!
“Good heavens… how can something be so hideous…”
Claudie, who had drawn her curved sword, frowned.
“Blackie… you can scream as much as you want this time…”
Winia, looking disgusted, stepped back and said that.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Amid the continuous screams, I instinctively drew my sword. In response, Hilde spread her wings and floated into the air.
In any case, to stop my screaming, I had to kill that thing. If we didn’t, no one could…! Who outside could catch something like that!!!
—I finally understood!!
That inhumane, murderous monster was why this palace had fallen.
I finally realized it.
That must be the king or queen leading this terrifying otherworld race. Naturally, it possessed that much power and undoubtedly possessed abilities that could be called a tremendous disaster.
If we didn’t kill it, no one could!!!
—Thwack.
Everyone finished preparing for battle with practiced ease.
Anyway, we had encountered the enemy, so we had to fight.
“We have to kill it!!!”
I shouted.
—Boooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!
The monster, having turned toward us, began to slowly fly forward while emitting a monstrous roar. But where the hell was its mouth? Its face was covered only by a mask with a cross-shaped eye, and I couldn’t find any vocal organs.
But…
“What’s that…?”
But what was strange was that it was wearing something like a hat on top of its mask. No, rather than wearing it… should I say it was just placed on its head?
No.
Not that either.
It was fixed on its head.
The thing was none other than a fancy-looking crown. A crown studded with jewels, gleaming with a golden light.
“It’s wearing a crown?”
I had just noticed it because the monster’s appearance was so gruesome.
“Hoo… I wonder why it’s wearing a crown.”
Risha was also intrigued by it.
—Clang.
“Well, it’s fucking hideous.”
Karin said, drawing her sword and advancing.
“Let’s just kill it for now. We can run away if we can’t, right? Isn’t that right?”
That was true.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
We’d fight for now, and if we couldn’t, we’d run away. Above all, there was no reason we couldn’t catch it. Karin had a confident look on her face. Of course. She had fought countless battles in her life, and that gave her confidence in her skills.
“What’s there to fear when we’ve even killed a Spirit King?”
Liz noona clenched and unclenched her gauntlet-clad fists as she stepped forward.
“Katt. You know what to do, right?”
Claudie, holding two curved swords, smiled at me.
“Of course, I know. Watch for the timing and strike.”
“Okay. I will.”
Claudie was an expert in ambushes, so I just had to leave it to her.
—Thump, thump.
Thus, Karin, Liz noona, and I took the front line and advanced toward the monster king flying toward us.
—Swoosh!
At that moment, like a rocket accelerating.
—Whoosh!
The monster king flapped its long tentacles and drastically increased its speed. It looked like a subway trying to break free from a station that was like a prison.
We had to respond!
—Crackle, crackle, crackle!!
—Wooooooom!!
—Whoosh!!
At the same time, all sorts of murderous magic flew from behind. Black lightning, crimson rays, and masses of blue flames. Each of them flew in succession and struck the monster king’s armor.
—Crash!!
“What!”
But they were all blocked.
The transparent energy barrier surrounding the monster king’s surface distorted all the magical attacks while absorbing the impact. It defended against all ranged attacks.
“To that extent!”
Was its magical defense power on par with a Spirit King’s…!
No choice!
—Flash!
The three of us charged forward at once. Karin was in the center, with Liz noona and I on either side. If we could land physical attacks, we could do something.
—Screeeeeeeeeech!!!
But we weren’t the only ones moving. The monster king’s dozens of tentacles became murderous spears, shooting out at inhuman speed.
“Not so fast!!”
—Thwack!
—Crack!
Of course, they weren’t enough to harm us. I charged forward, grinding up all the incoming tentacles, and so did Karin and Liz noona. In a normal situation, they could do what I could do.
—Bang!
Karin, having chewed up the tentacles, kicked off the ground first and shot her body out diagonally. Since it was flying, she had no choice but to jump to attack.
“Haaaaaaap!!”
As she flew up, she covered her rare-metal sword with sword aura and swung it powerfully.
—Kaaaaaaabang!!!
With a sound like a massive traffic accident.
—Shudder!
For a moment, the monster king’s body shuddered, and its momentum died. It had been charging with the speed of a subway, but Karin’s single strike had completely stopped it.
“Grrr… you bastard!!”
However, there were no visible wounds.
It had only stopped due to the impact, and the monster king, which had been pushed back slightly, began to advance again, and Karin was bounced off. Damn it, Karin’s attack hadn’t even injured it!
—Flash!
As Karin landed stably, the tentacles flew again.
—Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!
—Kagagagagagagag!
—Kugugugugung!!
We immediately evaded, but the tentacles that pierced the floor made us realize their power. The solid palace corridor made of stone was utterly destroyed. But the important thing wasn’t that.
“Did it… regenerate!”
The tentacles were regenerating.
I had clearly cut them all off, but they had regenerated perfectly.
“This is a tough opponent.”
We defended against the attacks, cutting down all the incoming tentacles. But there was no end to it, no matter how many we cut down. It instantly regenerated its tentacles and attacked us.
—Crackle, crackle, crackle!!
Even in the midst of that, magic flew in, but it wasn’t very effective.
“I’m going again!!!”
Karin kicked off the ground once more.
—Bang!!
She struck the monster king’s body like a meteor, but that wasn’t very effective either.
“Damn it, it’s fucking tough!!!”
That was Karin’s honest assessment. No matter how hard she struck with all her might, its body didn’t burst or break. Was this the defense power of a Spirit King?
What should we do? I could easily cut off the tentacles. Should we aim for a war of attrition?
“There’s no other way but to hit it like crazy, noona!! We’ll take care of the tentacles, so just beat the shit out of it!”
“Okay!!”
Just as Karin answered powerfully to my words.
—Swoosh.
—Swoooooosh.
Green vines that had grown thickly along the walls stretched out branches like tentacles, and —Flash!!— instantly grabbed the monster king’s tentacles.
—…!
Right, Ari was helping us!!
“Alright!!”
Taking advantage of the gap when the tentacles were temporarily neutralized, the two women shot out their bodies. Karin flew and struck the monster king’s body again, and Liz noona also unleashed an uppercut with all her might, striking what was presumed to be its Adam’s apple.
—Kaaaaabang!!
It didn’t seem effective, but we had to hit it anyway!
—Flash!
I also waited for an opportunity and jumped high, landing on the monster king’s back. Fortunately, Ari was still holding the tentacles, so there were no obstacles.
But!
“You fucking bastard!!!!”
Its back was by no means ordinary!!!
A carapace!!
A hideously shaped pure white carapace had sprouted on its back! So this bastard was protecting its back with something like this…!
“I will never forgive such a miscreant!!!!!!”
—Pfft, pfft, pfft!!
I immediately overlaid my full power onto Vügal.
—Goooooo.
The surging energy flowed down my arm, wrapped around my wrist, and burst out fiercely between my fingers!!!
—Uwaaaaaaaaah!!
—Aaaaaaah!
—Stop, stooooooop!!
—My store…!
—Motherrrrrrrrrr!!!!
—H, black rioters are looting my store…!
—Kyaaaaaaaaah!!
—My shop…!
—Black people burned down my shop!!!
—This isn’t the American dream!!! It’s the American nightmare!!!
—Was America not a land of opportunity…!
—Such looting cannot be forgiven!!
—What did we do wrong!! What did we do wrong to have my store set on fire!!! Why…!
—What did we do wrong…! Sob!!
—Stop…! Please stop!!! Don’t destroy my store anymore, please!!!! I’m begging you!!!
—I’ve never discriminated against black people…! Why… are they looting my store!!!!
—At this rate, I won’t be able to earn my children’s tuition!!
—Stop the arson!! You can steal everything, but please don’t burn down my store!!! I have never discriminated against black people!!! Please… sob!!!
—Don’t set it on fireeeeeee!!
—Please!!!
—That store is the foundation of my life…!
—Why are black people looting my store… ah…!
—Stop… please… stop now… that store is everything to me…
—My dream…! My dream…! Stop!!! Stop it! Don’t set my store on fire anymore!!!!
—Stop it now! This is wrong!!! This is strange!!!
—Ha, hahaha… my store… my shop… is all burning down…
—Why…? I didn’t do anything wrong, why are black people looting my store…?
What I heard in my ears were the desperate cries of Korean merchants in LA who had come to America dreaming of the American dream.
The powerlessness of having to watch their store, the foundation of their lives, burn down.
The injustice.
And the infinite despair.
—Around the end of the 20th century.
Koreans who had come to America with dreams of the American dream.
Became targets of armed black rioters and lost the foundations of their lives. They defended as hard as they could with guns, but all they could save was their own lives.
Only their lives.
If you take away a merchant’s goods and set fire to their store.
The merchant cannot live as a merchant.
Black people protested vehemently against the white police officers who were oppressing them, and in order to correct the justice of American society and guarantee the human rights of discriminated black people, they looted all the property of innocent Korean merchants.
They burned down all the stores.
—Whoosh.
The despairing flames that spread from the burning stores of Korean merchants.
—Whoosh!!!
Filled my sword with sword flames.
“Real Sword Flame.”
—Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh!!!!!!!!!!
The fiercely burning flames of sword energy proved my rise in realm. The inhumanly exploding power, more than ever before. It felt like it could surely burn away all the evil in the world.
Victims do not have the right to create other victims.
If black people had truly risen up for justice and human rights, they should not have driven innocent Korean merchants to despair.
Because that.
Wasn’t that the same as the imperialists who had been exploiting black people until now?
It was no different from the Western imperialists who brutally pushed innocent black people into cruel sugarcane fields and cut off their wrists, ankles, and lives for failing to meet the rubber harvesting quotas.
—That is wrong.
With that in mind.
I raised my sword.
“Dejaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!”
And slammed it down with all my might!!!!!!
—Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabang!!!
An explosion was heard along with the fierce strike.
“Mother, fuck!!!”
But damn it, there wasn’t even a scratch!!!
Of course!!! Karin, who was at a higher realm than me, was hitting it like crazy, but far from making an impact, she was only pushing it away, so there was no way I could break it!!!
“I’ll still hit it!!!”
But I have the Supergravity Method that Karin doesn’t have!!
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!”
Amid the crumbling chaos, I frantically hammered the monster’s back armor with the blade of Vügal, which had ignited sword flames.
