Chapter 45

“Hup!!!”

Gareth drove the hatchet at his waist into the wall.

WHIRRR...!!

The rope connecting the hatchet’s handle to his belt pulled taut, and he leaned back. With the rope anchoring him against being pushed backward, he raised his crossbow and unfolded its limbs.

CLICK!!

“Out of the way!!!”

Once a bolt as long as he was tall was loaded into the crossbow, he pulled the trigger with all his might.

BOOOM!!

The bolt, so long it was more like a harpoon, hurtled toward Taikan with a deafening report.

CLANG!!

But despite its considerable weight, it bounced off with absurd ease.

“Wh-what the hell...?”

Gareth stared incredulously at the fallen bolt, its tip completely flattened.

“Rakna.”

Sharp winds rose around Kim Chan’s arms.

WHOOSH!!

As he swept his arms, bladelike winds streamed along his sleeves and flew toward Taikan, carrying snow and frost.

PAT! PAT-PAT!!

Yet astonishingly, the fierce winds dissipated without effect as soon as they reached Taikan’s vicinity.

“Wh-what?”

Flustered, Kim Chan stared at the creature in bewilderment.

“Save your mana!! Its fur resists magic! Spells won’t work!”

[GRRRR...]

Kim Chan’s attack seemed to have provoked Taikan. Baring its enormous teeth, it strode toward him.

[ROOOAR!!!]

The ear-splitting roar left Kim Chan frozen stiff.

“Huh...?!”

While he stood there bewildered, a fist as large as his entire body came crashing down before his eyes.

“Watch out!!!”

At Ruen’s cry, a translucent barrier formed in front of Kim Chan.

BOOOM!!!

The barrier shattered, but Taikan seemed entirely unaffected and continued targeting Kim Chan.

“Tch!!”

Biting her lip, Ruen hurled herself forward.

“Look out...!!”

Gareth cried out urgently at the sight, but unfortunately, the dwarf’s short arm could not reach her.

BOOOOM!!

Taikan slammed its fist down with all its strength, and the impact sent Ruen flying violently backward.

“... Gah!!”

She struck the wall and tumbled across the floor, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

[Taikan casts [Great Earthquake].]

BANG! BANG! BANG!

BOOOOM!!!

As it pounded the floor with both arms like a gorilla, everything around them began to shake.

[The Ice Cave is shaking.]

A warning sounded as the shock traveled up the walls and shook the ceiling. With loud cracks, the hanging icicles began to fall.

“Focus. You were more than capable of dodging that.”

“I-I’m sorry!”

Woojin had dragged the fallen Ruen between the rocks, avoiding the falling ice. Sheltered there, he poured a potion into her mouth.

“Kim Chan!! Use detection magic to find Charlson’s son!!”

Helping Ruen to her feet, Woojin shouted sharply toward Kim Chan’s hiding place.

“Everyone, keep your heads! Your mistakes can get your teammates killed!!”

[Kim Chan casts Haste on all party members.]

[All party members’ Agility increases by 2%.]

Rather than offer excuses, Kim Chan began casting whatever buffs he could.

GRIND.

But anger still lingered on his face. It was directed not at Woojin for his harsh words, but at himself for freezing in fear.

For some reason, the sight of him reminded Woojin of Irurin.

“Bolts bounce off and magic doesn’t work! We... can actually kill that thing, can’t we?”

Gareth shouted as he loaded another bolt into his crossbow, sheltered between the rocks on the opposite side.

BANG!! BANG!! BOOOM!!!

The creature began rampaging through the cave, smashing everything in its path.

“We’ll all die if we just sit here!!”

“What should we do?”

“Wait. This isn’t something we can beat by rushing in recklessly.”

“... Then?”

Woojin looked at Kim Chan.

“Huh?”

It happened then. Kim Chan, who had his eyes closed, looked slightly bewildered.

“Did you find him?”

“I am picking up one life sign, but...”

Kim Chan’s voice trembled.

“It’s underground.”

“What does that mean? Are you saying Charlson’s son is hiding underground?”

Gareth asked again, unable to understand, but those words only confirmed Woojin’s suspicions.

‘So this really was Lake Darin.’

The site of Ratan’s laboratory in the other world.

Presumably, the snowy region had changed over those fifty years, and the ice had melted into a lake.

‘If these really are elven ruins...’

Woojin began surveying the cave.

“There.”

He spotted an old, stafflike handle protruding between the ice-covered rocks. It had to be the mechanism Irurin had used to open the door beneath the lake.

‘Lucky bastard.’

He did not know how Charlson’s son had figured it out, but there was a good chance he, too, had taken shelter down there.

“Ruen, see that over there? I’ll draw its attention. Pull that handle.”

“Understood.”

She steadied her breathing and took her stance.

“Take this. If it’s frozen shut, you’ll have to break it open.”

“Yes!”

Woojin pressed the explosives he had bought at the trading post into her hands.

“Run!!”

At his shout, the two of them darted off in different directions.

“Gareth!! Cover us!!”

WHOOOOSH!!!

Another bolt shot out from between the rocks.

BOOOM!!

Unlike the previous one, which had fallen harmlessly away, this bolt exploded the instant it struck Taikan’s head.

[GRR?!]

The impact made its head reel, and it turned toward the direction the bolt had come from.

[Hungry Brand activated.]

▶ Taikan the Snow Demon has been branded.

▶ One-third of its highest stat (Strength) is stolen.

▶ Your Strength increases by 80.

▶ Taikan’s Strength decreases by 80.

“Eighty Strength? One hit and I’m fucking dead.”

Woojin tightened his grip on his sword as strength surged through him.

[Acceleration activated.]

[Sprint activated.]

Woojin shot forward with explosive speed and slid straight between Taikan’s legs.

BOOOM!!!

He slashed his sword across its leg. As the sharp lightning pouring from his blade struck Taikan’s body, black smoke rose.

[ROOOOAR!!]

The creature screamed at pain unlike anything it had ever felt.

“Hup.”

Emerging from between its legs, Woojin planted a hand on the ground, sprang up, and climbed onto Taikan’s back.

THUNK!!!

From atop its back, he thrust his sword into it.

GRIND...! GRRRIND...!!

‘The sword won’t go in.’

Even with his Strength boosted by Hungry Brand, Woojin’s sword could not pierce its skin. Looking closer, he realized that even the leg he had slashed had no cut on it. The damage had come solely from Wielding Heaven’s lightning.

Taikan raised a hand to grab Woojin.

“Ruen!!!”

RATTLE!!!

At that moment, Ruen, who had reached the handle between the rocks, pushed it with all her might.

CLUNK! CLUNK!!

They could hear the mechanism working, but nothing seemed to change.

‘Right here.’

Realizing something was shifting beneath the icy floor where she stood, Ruen took out an arrow and drove it into the ice to make a crack.

“Everyone, watch out!!”

She shoved the explosives Woojin had given her into the crack and threw herself clear.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The explosives detonated, spraying powdered ice in every direction.

[You have discovered a hidden location in the Ice Cave.]

‘Got it.’

An old iron door emerged beneath the shattered ice.

THUD!!

Woojin kicked off Taikan’s head and leaped away. He stomped down with all his strength on the iron door in the floor, revealing a passage underground.

“Everyone, inside!!!”

At his shout, the party hurried toward the passage.

“Well, well, a Hidden Spot? How did you know about this place?”

“I just got lucky.”

Running down the underground passage, Gareth gave Woojin a wondering look.

THUD!! THUD!! THUD!!

As Taikan’s footsteps echoed in the distance, the party picked up speed.

“This place...”

Instead of taxidermied monsters, the passage walls were densely covered in indecipherable writing. Ruen looked disconcerted, as though she recognized it.

It was the runic language of the ancient elves.

“Wow...”

Upon reaching the end of the passage, everyone began exclaiming in wonder. They looked around, forgetting they were in the middle of a battle.

‘It looks completely different from back then.’

Instead of the horrific sight of piled corpses, brilliant golden murals covered the entire walls.

“These... are elven ruins...”

As if to prove Ruen’s words, all the people depicted in the murals had pointed ears.

“To think a place like this still survives...”

An emperor, a staff-bearing mage, an enormous World Tree, and hundreds of elves were depicted in exquisite detail. The murals truly preserved the history of the elves in its entirety.

“Is this real gold? It’d fetch a fortune. The texts say the ancient elves were once the most prosperous race. Looks like they were right.”

“You see this, and all you think about is its price? Dwarves, honestly...”

Ruen gave Gareth a mild glare as he ran his hand over the wall in fascination. Anyone watching would have thought she was speaking to an actual dwarf.

“P-please save me!!!”

Just then, a small gnome came running toward Woojin from a corner of the room, his face deathly pale.

“Are you Charlson’s son?”

“Yes! Yes, I am! My name is Chason!!!”

Looking ready to burst into tears, the gnome clutched Woojin’s trouser leg.

“Don’t worry. Your father sent us to find you.”

“Th-thank you!!!!”

Chason cried out through his sobs at Gareth’s reassurance.

“Please get me out of here! I’m begging you!!”

“Not right now.”

“... What? Wh-why?”

BANG!! BANG!!! BOOOM!!!

“Hear that? Taikan’s still outside the door. Going out now would just get us killed for nothing.”

Chason’s face crumpled at Woojin’s words.

“Then... what should we do?”

“What else? Kill it.”

“That’s impossible! How could we kill that monster...!!”

“Didn’t you notice anything strange while you were here?”

“... Pardon?”

Woojin walked past him and inspected the mural-covered wall.

“Something looks odd to me.”

“What do you...?”

Slowly running his hand over the wall, Woojin pressed as hard as he could on the staff held by the elven king in the mural.

RUMBLE...!!

To everyone’s amazement, the mural parted to either side, revealing another space.

“Hidden Spots exist for a reason.”

In the chamber concealed behind the wall lay an enormous magic circle.

“Ruen, what are those?”

Woojin pointed at the stones rising around the magic circle.

“Those are...”

Her eyes widened at his question.

“Essence Stones?”

As though entranced, she ran toward the stones. Then she took a dagger from inside her clothes, cut the back of her hand, and let drops of blood fall onto a stone.

F WEEEE...!!

With a shrill whine like a boiling kettle, the stone began to swell.

“Wh-what is this?”

Gareth frowned slightly at the stones’ bizarre reaction and questioned her.

“... Elven magic circles always have traps.”

‘Just as I thought.’

Hearing those words again after first hearing them in the other world, Woojin slowly nodded.

“These stones are traps designed to protect the magic circle. They contain poison.”

BOOOM!!

It happened then.

[ROOOOOAR!!!]

Taikan smashed through the iron door and began charging toward them.