Episode 228: Upgrade (3)
The search war began immediately.
This is because the moment Kanghu’s location was confirmed, Leo moved first.
Usually, it is said to be a ‘boundary range’ and it is common to react to outsiders only when they are within that range.
However, in the case of highly aggressive boss monsters, they would move simply by visually recognizing them.
From the opposing hunter’s perspective, it is like entering battle right away without any time to prepare or develop a strategy.
“after.”
Ganghu immediately lowered his posture.
The dagger was also held in the right hand. There is no time to relax and practice against boss monsters.
“Kwaaaa!”
Leo roared and threw his body towards Ganghu with all his might.
The ten sharply sharpened claws – which were actually claws – were shining and aimed at Kang-hu’s neck.
【Quick Evasion】
The first response is quick evasion.
I was able to easily avoid Leo’s attack just by moving slightly back. And then he took a leap right away.
It was a response similar to an offensive evasion as it was a form of falling backwards and immediately striking forward.
“Tsk!”
Was it because Ganghu’s evasive maneuvers and counterattacks were faster than expected? Leo sounded slightly embarrassed.
but.
【Grave Decapitation】
Leo’s immediate response was as if the target had opened an aggressive attack with a massive beheading from the start.
That’s right.
Slurp.
‘…Dematerialization?’
It was a change in which the very existence of the body disappeared.
Leo was clearly in his place. This is because I was able to see the opaque appearance of the guy.
However, the decapitation attack split the air.
This was not invisibility. If it had been invisible, it wouldn’t have been visible, but the substance would have been there and the dagger would have stuck in it.
But the dagger waved through the air as if cutting through the air, and it ended.
in between.
Leo, who leisurely stepped back, concentrated all his magic power on his ten fingernails and came in aggressively clawing.
Your confidence has increased significantly as you have successfully defeated the previous attack.
“Tsk.”
It seemed like he was even laughing openly.
【Protection Barrier】
Kang! Kakkang! Kang!
First of all, the first attack was blocked with a protective barrier.
Because it was deployed in one piece for safety, Ganghu’s body was pushed back every time his nails hit the barrier.
Kaduk.
Kanghu chewed a solarium he took out from his pocket. 13 stems remaining. There is still plenty of room.
‘I need to explore more.’
In a typical search battle, the judgment ends in about 10 seconds from the start of the battle.
Leo seemed to have to take a different approach. It seemed like the search would end once we found a weakness for dematerialization.
If you don’t find a way, no matter what attack you make, it will all be evaded by that method.
Although Leo’s abilities were perplexing, I did not think they were perfect.
There is no omnipotence in this world. If there are advantages, there are always disadvantages.
If it seems like there are only advantages, it doesn’t mean there are no disadvantages, they just aren’t visible.
after that.
Even though they didn’t inflict a single wound on each other, the exploration battle continued, more thrilling than ever.
Both Kanghu and Leo were aware of this themselves. Right now, we’re just going back and forth between offense and defense without any noticeable results.
From the moment this delicate balance collapses, the side that collapsed will face destruction.
Both were full power.
So, not even a single gap was allowed. I had to concentrate. The moment you become distracted, everything ends.
‘I think I understand.’
Ganghu’s eyes sparkled.
The defense was the result of persistently reading and analyzing Leo’s patterns while paying close attention to the defense.
Bow to the pattern theory of all things! It was now that I remembered Takashi again.
‘then!’
Shhh!
Kanghu narrowly avoided Leo’s claw attack and dug into the guy’s abdomen.
It was not an attack aimed at an opening. This guy definitely had a way to deal with this kind of digging.
Coooooo!
As expected, in order to block Kang-hoo’s approach, Leo raised his muscular leg and aimed at Kang-hoo upside down.
That moment.
【Clone Art】
【Illusion Art】
【Lateral Movement】
I deployed three skills in succession.
The self-immolation was placed in place, and the illusion was placed next to the self-immolation as if to assist.
At the same time, Kanghu moved neatly behind Leo with a lateral movement.
【Stealth】
【Muyeong】
Concealed both appearance and presence.
Pow!
Then, Ganghu’s clone caught Leo’s kick and his body floated into the air and then fell.
Kanghu was controlling the movements of his alter ego.
It becomes the ultimate, and thanks to the added learning ability, it is possible to ‘act’ naturally enough even if you leave it to your alter ego.
That wasn’t enough.
Kang-hoo’s aim was focused on one sure shot that went beyond his acting ideals.
Next moment.
Gooooo!
Ganghu’s alter ego rushed at Leo while deploying the skill – a fake action imitating a decapitation.
Leo was also learning.
When he uses Decapitation, one of Ganghu’s powerful attacks, he rushes in aggressively like that.
Of course, this was the result of Kanghu intentionally teaching Leo.
As he continued to show off his skills, he disguised that the decapitation was a special move and was based on a frontal charge.
It was a trap designed based on the expectation that Leo had higher intelligence than ordinary monsters.
Slurp.
As expected, Leo’s body became blurred and he easily avoided the clone’s decapitation attack.
The clone’s attack split the air meaninglessly.
Leo leisurely slipped out to the side, holding his ten sharp claws forward.
It dematerialized and began to return to its original form.
The blurry shape became clearer, lines were added to the opaque exterior, and its original appearance was restored.
No, I had to get it back…
“Gagging?”
Leo groaned and looked down as he felt his chest being clogged.
There is nothing to see.
However, I felt stiff and stuffy, as if a thick stone had been placed inside my chest.
Right then.
Grumble!
“Off!”
Leo could feel it.
A fire with extremely high heat began to rise from within the body, not from the outside.
Although I couldn’t see anything from the outside, I could fully feel the sensations inside my body.
The fire was burning!
The fire of death goes beyond the level of heat and causes so much pain that you can’t even scream!
“Fatal weakness.”
Ganghu muttered.
The downside to Leo’s ability is that the presence of foreign substances is fatal when returning to its original form.
For example, what would happen if you placed a stone where the heart was?
A blocked space the size of the stone will be created inside the heart, or the heart and stone will collide and rupture.
What if the long spear is laid down in the middle of the abdomen where it is being reassembled? It will be a penetrating wound right away.
Taking this into account, Ganghu extended his left hand to the spot where Leo’s solar plexus was returning to its original state.
When the recovery was completed, it became the situation where one’s hand was deeply embedded in Leo’s body.
So I used the Flame of Death skill.
This is because active types who create flames from their hands cannot transmit any burns or heat to ‘their hands’.
“Kaaaaak!”
Leo couldn’t even move his fingernails, and his whole body was frozen and he was trembling in place.
To begin with, there was no way I could think normally when my body was burning with high fever.
The fire, which burned all of his organs and bones without any care, instantly reduced Leo’s stamina.
【Blood Flower】
Soon, Kanghu took his left hand out of Leo’s body and burst into blood fire.
Then Leo’s body started shaking from side to side.
From the outside, nothing had happened, but seeing the bulges and retractions of various parts of the body made it clear that an internal explosion had occurred.
and.
‘Enable condemnation.’
The condemnation option of Great Decapitation, upgraded to the ultimate, has finally been revealed.
An activated icon in the shape of a dagger dripping with blood blinks above Leo’s head.
[Execution]
The execution that follows.
That moment.
“…!”
Leo’s eyes widened as he felt the tight, painful feeling in his heart.
It feels like my body is becoming stiff and I can’t do anything. It was clearly a heart attack.
“Cruck…”
Leo, clutching his chest, spouted foam and fell forward like a stiff log.
It was instant death.
【The level has increased significantly to 240!】
The level has jumped by 4 at once.
The experience reward was good, perhaps because I caught the boss monster of the mystery dungeon that had not been conquered before.
Then, skill theft was activated.
What was the original name of the skill that Ganghu arbitrarily called dematerialization?
【Intangibility】
【Sense Concentration】
Looking at the list of activated robbery skills, Intangibility seemed to be correct. If you look at the implemented form, it is an appropriate name.
When I first saw it, it was quite an eye-watering skill, but now I thought differently.
It is a skill with a very clear weakness.
When your body returns to its original state.
If foreign substances overlap or recombine into a form that shares space with the structure, instant death or serious injury occurs.
It would be perfect for dealing with incompetent hunters.
When dealing with hunters with good eyesight, you end up creating weaknesses that didn’t exist before.
So I wasn’t planning on robbing him. A skill that has as many disadvantages as advantages is always a double-edged sword.
The final choice is sensory concentration.
Although it was overshadowed by the splendor of Leo’s intangibility skill, it was a very useful skill in Ganghu’s opinion.
【Sense Concentration】
【Skill Proficiency: Lv. Max]
【You can activate one of sight, smell, hearing, taste and pain by concentrating your magic power.】
‘Activating pain sense is crazy. The rest of your senses can be used in a variety of ways.’
Kanghu immediately used the Sensory Concentration skill. As the tooltip states, you can feel your magic power continuing to be consumed and your senses strengthening.
The first thing we dealt with was vision.
As your senses become stronger, things that are much further away begin to appear clearer and clearer.
‘Is your vision around 5.0 or 6.0? It feels like observing at high magnification through a telescope.’
I definitely felt it.
At this level, it seemed possible to conduct reconnaissance without having to send people over long distances.
In particular, since it can utilize night vision, it will be able to function well even in dark places.
The sense of smell was also enhanced to the point where one could smell the scent of plants in the distance that one had seen a long time ago.
The same goes for hearing and taste. It was a very good structure to use depending on strategically necessary factors.
‘How would we have grown if there had been no dimension stealer? It’s a picture I don’t even want to imagine.’
Kanghu nodded, feeling the deceptive nature of skill theft once again being felt. It really is the best ability.
I added one skill to Robbery and picked up 3 green magic stones that had fallen on the floor.
Appraised value: 300 million won. This would be perfect to give as a gift to Han Seung-hyuk when leaving the dungeon.
But right then.
“This?”
Another piece of loot was seen underneath the green magic stone.
A ‘rare material’ given to Leo.
The material that Kanghu had decided to farm at least once was dropped from this guy.
I was just thinking that it was a dungeon that was only available in China and couldn’t be accessed at my current level.
I was able to get a pleasant surprise from an unexpected place earlier than expected.
[Claws of Hatred]
When crafted into a dagger.
This was the emergence of a special material that would allow cutting power to be at least twice that of today.