## Chapter 64 – 64. Into the 3rd Tier (5)
#64. Into the 3rd Tier (5)
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Su-in’s excellence lay in their innate physique.
The fact that most people from construction workers, who had to use their bodies, to even Hunters were Su-in, supported this.
“Ah, don’t step there.”
Noel’s skills were impeccable.
Despite grumbling, she was a reliable tank who didn’t let monsters slip past her and even identified trap locations in advance to inform me.
She was competent enough that it was hard to complain about her eating so much.
However.
“I’m so tired…”
This rabbit had terrible gas mileage.
One of her few weaknesses was that she’d be exhausted after just one or two hours.
I was sure I’d heard that Su-in had good stamina.
Of course, people varied widely, so not all Su-in could be the same.
Besides, I could adjust my condition to some extent while moving, but Noel had to move according to my commands, so it wouldn’t be easy for her to manage her condition.
In that situation, it wasn’t right to push on relentlessly just because time was a little tight.
Moreover, it was more accurate to say that we had some time to spare, as we were taking the shortest route thanks to Noel, the time to deal with monsters was faster than usual, and we were going without worrying about traps.
It would be okay to take a short break.
“But what are you doing now?”
“…Resting.”
Unlike when we rested while eating earlier, I was dumbfounded by Noel’s appearance as she confidently lay down, using my lap as a pillow.
A summoned beast’s life is the best life?
“I’m catching monsters, finding traps, and even guiding you, so this much is okay, right…!”
Perhaps unsure herself, Noel trailed off and avoided my gaze.
“No, well… it’s not like it’s not okay.”
But why is she so confident?
If she was forcibly given a uterine massage by me, shouldn’t she be avoiding me?
It was just amazing how she was trying to stick even closer.
“Heh, heh…”
As soon as permission was granted, Noel readjusted her position and lay down comfortably.
In Noel’s head, which was humming a tune, there was a completely different thought than Kang Hyun-woo’s.
Basically, the Toin race, unlike other Su-in, tended to have strong sexual desires even when they weren’t in heat.
Of course, in that respect, they were similar to humans, but sometimes they were even more so.
The case where a fire was ambiguously lit, like Noel now, was exactly like that.
The uterine massage, which was intended to establish discipline, had instead ignited her sexual desire. For Noel, who had only ever gently rubbed her clit her whole life, it was even more maddening.
She didn’t know how to extinguish the ambiguously lit fire, and the good smell coming from Kang Hyun-woo’s body kept stimulating her, so it was inevitable that her crotch would feel strangely itchy.
‘Ah, if I could have my lower abdomen touched like before…’
Her mind was dominated by the thought that it shouldn’t happen, but her increasingly heated body was not.
The fact that she was lying defenselessly with her belly exposed, using his lap as a pillow, was proof of that.
If she stayed like this, wouldn’t he touch her?
‘…I can’t resist anyway.’
At his one command, she was in a position where she had to expose her belly and lie on her back at any time.
She couldn’t even think of resisting.
Besides, there was no way that pervert would end with just touching her belly.
He would definitely unleash his shameless and accumulated lewd desires on her.
Noel’s mind, which had never had contact with the opposite sex in her life, was chaos itself.
All the dark fantasies she could have were gathered in one place and mixed together.
She resented her increasingly heated body, but on the other hand, she couldn’t help but look forward to when he would press his big, thick palm against her lower abdomen and rub it roughly.
‘Heh, heh…♡’
Holding in a hot breath that she couldn’t bring herself to exhale, Noel only looked at Kang Hyun-woo’s palm. At the same time, she didn’t forget to subtly stick out her lower abdomen.
But her expectations were shattered before long.
“Are you done resting now?”
“…Huh?”
“Get up.”
Kang Hyun-woo didn’t forcibly violate her, who couldn’t resist his commands, but instead got up as if he had no interest.
Noel, with her head on the cold ground, stared at Kang Hyun-woo’s back with a hollow look.
***
In determining the grade of a monster, some things are considered in addition to the individual’s strength.
The accessibility of the habitat where the monster lives, the rarity of the monster itself, and monsters with special abilities were included in that.
“Uh… Customer?”
What appeared before us as we crossed the dungeon, defeating monsters, was a somewhat familiar stone gate and a monster.
It was undoubtedly the boss of the 2nd tier, the gatekeeper.
However, something was strange.
Judging from the circumstances, it was clearly the boss of the 2nd tier, but the aura felt far weaker than the Lizard Warrior.
Of course, if that was all we were feeling, we would have dealt with the monster right away and headed to the 3rd tier.
But we couldn’t move rashly.
We didn’t say it to each other, but it was clear that we were feeling the same thing.
That this was no ordinary monster. The moment we faced it, something unpleasant swept over us.
“What the heck is that…?”
All magic is unique.
Some magic is destructive, and some is gentle.
Of course, it’s not easy to argue about the superiority of magic based on that, and the same was true for monsters.
‘…Is that magic?’
Just the lingering scent of magic from that guy made me want to vomit and gave me a headache.
An overwhelming sense of disgust based on instinct stopped us in our tracks.
Soon, the guy raised his head towards us.
Beyond the robe, which was so old that it seemed like it would break at any moment, there was no warmth of a living creature.
The soul had left, and the body, which had cooled down, was being moved by an unpleasant magic that aroused disgust.
The burning eyes and the emotions glimpsed beyond them made my spine tingle.
There was an individual who, despite having an appearance no different from other skeletons, was registered as an S-class monster for using powerful magic.
“…Lich.”
An immortal being who made himself undead by contracting with an evil god for eternal life, a powerful magician who retained his martial power from his lifetime, and a monster who commanded thousands of undead alone.
With my current skills, it was a monster that I couldn’t even run away from, let alone fight.
However, ironically, my brain was working fine, even though I was facing such a monster. No, it felt like I was more clear-headed than usual.
Thanks to that, I was able to judge the situation a little more objectively.
Logically, there was no way a Lich would be here.
There was no way the World Tree wouldn’t have told me that an S-class monster would appear in just the 2nd tier.
As I gathered my thoughts and examined the situation, I realized that the magic emanating from him wasn’t that intense.
Of course, if you only looked at the magic itself, it was disgustingly dirty and evil, but the absolute total amount was actually less than mine.
He only looked like a Lich, but he wasn’t.
He was probably just an elite individual of a Skeleton Mage.
“Noel!”
If so, it was worth a try.
“You stay back.”
Noel was very tired from being the vanguard all the way here.
Besides, I was going to fight the boss anyway, so it was right for me to catch that one alone.
The magic stone attached to the pommel of Gillennium emitted a strong light.
[Strength Enhancement]
[Haste]
[Balance]
[The Steps of Fire]
I used all the auxiliary magic I could use, but the preparation didn’t end there.
I took out a holy water from the inventory and poured it directly onto the blade of Gillennium.
I couldn’t imbue the sword with divine power because there was no priest, but if it was the exorcising energy attached to Gillennium itself and the holy water made by a bishop-level priest, it would work to some extent in an anti-undead battle.
Of course, even while I was preparing, the guy wasn’t just standing still.
-d,c,k,rc…
A bizarre voice, as if insects were crawling, flowed out.
‘Could it be chanting?’
I had only heard about it, so I was a little late to react because I never imagined that a monster would chant.
Before I could stop him, he quickly finished chanting and slammed his staff on the ground.
At the same time, a wave of unpleasant magic that I had felt earlier spread in all directions from the end of the staff.
I immediately put up a barrier for Noel and me, but I knew.
That the chanting and the wave of magic just now were not means to attack us.
Only then did I realize why I had initially suspected that skeleton of being a Lich.
A knight in rusty armor rose from near the guy where the wave of magic had swept through.
He was about the same size as the Lizard Warrior, but the heavily armed armor and huge greatsword caught my eye.
Necromancers, also known as summoners or spiritists, are a subspecies of summoners.
It was one of the forbidden arts to forcibly summon and control the souls of the dead, and it was usually magic used by high-ranking monsters with negative magic.
The moment I realized that the identity of that monster was a Necromancer, I immediately kicked off the ground and ran forward.
Even if a Necromancer has a strong summoned beast, his own martial power is more miserable than that of a typical summoner.
This is because the magic power that must be used to forcibly handle the souls of the dead is absolutely insufficient to use for other magic.
Of course, there are irregularities like Liches, but that guy wasn’t one of them.
For now, it was necessary to figure out what level of summoned beast that knight was.
[Fireball]
I increased the power a little more than when I dealt with the Lizardman. It was an investment I could afford because I had no intention of saving magic power when fighting the boss anyway.
As a huge fireball, more than three times the size of a normal fireball, flew at a rapid speed, the rusty knight immediately blocked the skeleton.
Bang!!
I felt a tremendous explosion and high-temperature heat, but the knight seemed fine except for being slightly scorched.
‘His magic resistance is considerable.’
His durability seemed similar to that of the Lizard Warrior, but in the end, he couldn’t overcome the penalties that summoned beasts have.
Summoned beasts must protect the magician.
This meant that they had to forcibly block even attacks that they could avoid.
[Fireball x3]
I fired fireballs again as much as my magic power allowed.
Perhaps thinking that this one would be difficult to block, the rusty knight rushed towards the fireballs.
He swung his sword while holding the greatsword with both hands.
A spectacular sight of the fireballs splitting to the left and right along with a tremendous wind pressure came into view.
I could see his determination not to allow freeloading.
“Are you even trying to fight a magician in close combat?”
He was a makeshift knight who couldn’t be found even if you washed your eyes and looked for chivalry.
The rusty knight didn’t care about my sarcasm and rushed towards me.
His speed was so fast that it was difficult to follow with my eyes, but that wasn’t a big problem.
[Enhanced Dynamic Visual Acuity]
The magic-enhanced eyesight allowed me to keep up with the knight’s speed, and the auxiliary magic-enhanced strength allowed me to block his sword.
The blade of Gillennium emitted a blue light and deflected the sword swung by the knight. Of course, I had no intention of receiving the heavy greatsword head-on.
I continued the offense and defense by avoiding it as much as possible or knocking it aside.
While sparks flew as swords clashed.
[Thought Acceleration]
All time except for me slowed down.
From the development to the construction and activation of magic. It happened naturally like flowing water.
The speed was rough and rapid, like the river after a storm.
[Flame Circle]
KWA-AAANG!!!
The rusty knight was blown away by the flames that exploded right next to his head.
I swung my sword down in the posture I had practiced tens of thousands of times under my eccentric teacher.
[The exorcising energy contained in Gillennium flashes]
As a golden wave and blue light gathered into one point and shot out a pillar of light, the rusty knight didn’t even dare to think of resisting and disappeared into dust.
The skeleton’s eyes, which were watching the scene, trembled slightly.