Symbol of gluttony (1)
“Contaminated area?”
“yes. It is literally a polluted area. There is a barrier spread there, and it is said that there is something harmful to the human body inside the barrier. Rumor has it that life is quickened. Anyway, the more you go to the center of this contaminated area, the stronger the power becomes, and you suffer damage as if you were poisoned. The power of the barrier is so strong that even hunters with some degree of poison resistance cannot withstand it, so it is a place that no one has explored.”
“Ah…”
Contaminated area.
Sang-woo was curious.
It means that if there is a place where no one has been able to explore, there is still much to be gained.
‘Should I bring my alter ego in and take a look?’
It seemed like all I had to do was send my alter ego in and check it with the Familiar skill.
“Team leader, I want to visit the neighborhood once. Is it okay?”
“To the polluted area?”
Sang-woo explained to Bae Chul-min about his alter ego.
“Hmm… I’m sure it would be possible to detect it to some extent by using an alter ego. Shall we stop by?”
“I am in favor. I’ve never been there either.”
“I’m curious too.”
“The viewers say they want to see it too.”
The guild members stopped by because they wanted to see it at least once.
“great. Anyway, since the leader of the Yolo Guild is there, I think it’s safe. let’s go.”
Bae Cheol-min led the party to a contaminated area rather than the existing route.
* * *
Meanwhile.
The Napoleonic Guild, which had headed to Saint-Denis, was now in great danger.
“Captain! It’s blocked here too!”
“Here too!”
“There is no road!”
“wait!”
Chateaubriand, who was standing at the rear while listening to the shouts of the guild members running down the aisle, looked back.
The opponent chasing them is an iron skeleton knight the size of which fills the middle of the aisle.
As if he were a knight, he was heavily armed with armor and a mace shield.
Chateaubriand gritted his teeth and swung his sword.
Chae Chaeng!
His two swords were blocked by his shield.
‘Normal attacks do not work.’
In that split second, he realized that pure physical attacks alone would not be able to pierce its defenses.
As soon as he made up his mind, he took a big step back to avoid the mace and for the sake of the technique.
Afterwards, his swords in both hands crossed in the middle.
Two swords interlocking with an X.
An aura rose from the two swords like a haze.
By the time the sword that couldn’t overcome the energy trembled.
“Yea!!!”
His sword cut through the air.
However, it was not empty space that split.
Chow-!!!
The aura fired from the twin swords cut most of the undead lined up behind the Iron Skeleton Knight crosswise.
The front of the aisle was cut.
The undead fell like dominoes while being quartered.
“Haa… haa…”
Chateaubriand took a deep breath, his whole body sagging from the strain of using the big technique.
“Captain, this is a contaminated area!”
“There is no road!”
The guild members’ cries of despair.
‘How did this happen?’
It wasn’t like this at first.
Napoleon’s guild was proceeding with an easy raid along the way and reached the Saint-Denis area.
However, when I reached the location where the road was clearly indicated on the map, something was blocked as if it was collapsing.
“It seems to have collapsed. I will go back.”
Chateaubriand didn’t think it was a big deal because it was something he often encountered while wandering around the dungeon.
So it was time to turn around and go the other way.
“I got stuck again. Leader.”
Another road was also blocked.
In the end, I avoided the blocked wall and turned and turned again.
Then, when they met a huge group of monsters, they realized.
‘It must have been a trap.’
By the time I realized it, it was already too late.
I have no choice but to fight and run away.
“The front is a polluted area. I can feel it slowly affecting my body.”
“I have nowhere else to go.”
“Captain, what should I do now?”
But now there was nowhere to retreat.
Because it was a polluted area.
Despair hung over Napoleon’s guild.
The guild members all looked exhausted.
“There are two options.”
The guild members paid attention to Chateaubriand’s mouth with some anticipation.
“It’s to pierce the undead.”
“… Ah…”
Guild members in despair.
“And… break through the contaminated area.”
“Nonsense. No matter how much the barrier is blocked, there is a limit to the holding time, so it is impossible to penetrate the contaminated area.”
“you’re right. I’d rather break through the undead.”
The clamor of the guild members.
From a reasonable point of view and according to the opinion of the majority, going through the undead seemed the best in the current situation.
But Chateaubriand couldn’t make up his mind.
‘It makes no sense to penetrate the contaminated area. But…’
Chateaubriand had a strong feeling that there might be a symbol of gluttony in the contaminated area.
And he came this far, but his pride did not allow him to survive being battered by the undead.
“First, we go as close as possible to the contaminated area and decide. There might be a possibility or a way to break through.”
As a leader, Chateaubriand made a decision against the opinions of the guild members.
The guild members seemed dissatisfied with that decision.
“But, Captain. Wouldn’t that decision be too risky? At that time, it may become more difficult to break through the undead hordes.”
“If you pierce the undead, you have a better chance of surviving, but you will inevitably suffer damage. Do not worry. I will take responsibility and I will take you out without fail. So please abide by my decision for now.”
Chateaubriand spoke with determination.
In the end, the guild members inevitably followed.
Looking at their drooping shoulders, Chateaubriand strengthened his resolve.
‘I will definitely do it.’
The symbol of gluttony and the comfort of the guild members.
In the name of Duel Saber Chateaubriand, I will definitely take it with me.
* * *
After moving while hunting the undead, Sang-woo and his party finally arrived near the contaminated area.
“I don’t think we can go any further?”
Bae Cheol-min told everyone.
He was right.
My skin was prickled by something I couldn’t tell if it was poison or what.
Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa –
And the wind was blowing down the dark passage towards the contaminated area, and the wind sounded like the cry of something.
Perhaps because of this surreal situation and gloomy atmosphere, the human body was furiously warning that it was dangerous to go in this direction.
“Once we’ve come this far, I’ll send the alter ego.”
“yes. You see.”
Sang-woo sent only one alter ego forward.
‘It’s hard to call names, so I’ll send them from behind.’
So, number 12 was selected.
A kind of discard card.
12, who had a shared view, followed Sang-woo’s instructions and headed for the contaminated area along the passage.
By the time I headed for only about 100m like that.
[Poison resistance has increased by 0.001.]
[Magic resistance has increased by 0.001.]
‘Magic resistance has increased. Is the barrier a magic barrier?’
Magic resistance was very difficult to raise because it is a stat that sometimes rises only when you are hit by magic.
However, within the barrier here, the magic resistance, which was said to be difficult to raise, was rising.
In other words, if you hunt here, it is possible to work on magic resistance.
It was an unexpected harvest.
‘But you have to be able to endure it to raise your magic resistance while hunting or not. It hurts terribly.’
The tingling sensation felt through the shared senses gradually intensified, and now the skin ached.
When I turned my head and looked at No. 12’s body, the skin was visibly cracked and ooze and blood were flowing down.
And even though the skin was dripping with such ooze, something looked crumbly.
My eyes also felt itchy and stuffy.
‘Wow, isn’t this a joke?’
The contaminated area that no one had explored was not a lie.
At this rate, it would be impossible to go deep.
Sang-woo realized that he had to pass through No. 12 quickly before it was reverse summoned.
‘Then I’ll have to run. But I think just running is not enough.’
At that time, there was a scene that went through Sang-woo’s head.
The scene where Bae Cheol-min passed through the passage through the tower shield.
He was rushing at great speed.
‘Right, I think I can apply that method?’
On the way to the contaminated area, Sang-woo asked Bae Cheol-min what that skill was.
It’s a skill called ‘Rush’, but each person has a different way to use the skill, so he can’t tell you, but in the case of himself, he said that the trick is to just run with all your strength.
Sang-woo tried the tips he gave.
‘Run with all your might. No. 12, run with all your might.’
After hearing Sang-woo’s order, No. 12 started to sprint.
No. 12 goes deep in an instant.
At the same time, the intangible power applied to No. 12 became stronger.
‘Ugh.’
I felt something being sucked out of No. 12’s body through my skin.
The energy that escaped was not like mana, but like life force, the power that makes up life.
At the same time, I could feel the pain of the flesh falling off.
When I looked closely, I could see that the flesh was actually falling apart little by little from the arm.
‘I can’t stand this for long?’
Looking at the stamina of No. 12, it seemed insufficient to go deep into the contaminated area at this speed.
To make matters worse, a group of several skeletons appeared in front.
‘what? Are there undead in the contaminated area?’
Embarrassed Sangwoo.
Dealing with the undead by No. 12 alone seemed impossible.
‘A, I can’t break through. will you run away? Or self-destruct with Mana Explosion? Or shall we fight a bit with a bang?’
at that time.
In an instant, an idea crossed Sang-woo’s head.
‘that’s right. Why should I only attack with a slam? Smash is a skill that delivers blows with full power. then… What if I put all my energy into my legs and hit the floor to run?’
Sang-woo put that ingenious idea into practice right away.
‘Hey No. 12, hit the floor with a bang and run!’
Then, No. 12’s arm drew a strong arc.
The centrifugal force from the arms flowed through the shoulders, upper body, waist, thighs and calves.
12’s body bends like a spring.
12’s swelling legs.
Then, the strength of the legs rode to the feet and eventually kicked the ground.
It was a fleeting thing that happened during the 0.8 second casting time of the blow.
bang!
12’s body was shot.
Number 12 runs after pushing the undead away with a torso headbutt.
‘Every time I run, I keep using the bang like before!’
At Sang-woo’s spell, No. 12 uses a bang with every step.
If it was like before, I would have run out of stamina after using only 5 or 6 hits, but since my stamina and stamina regenerative power supported me, I was able to maintain it to some extent even if I used too many hits.
However, the power consumption was enormous.
No. 12 rushes like crazy.
[Strike skill level increased.]
[Charge skill created]
[Run skill level increased]
[Magical resistance increased by 0.001]
[Regeneration increased by 0.001]
[Vitality increased by 0.001 [
Increased by 0.001 quickness.]
…
Perhaps because of the extreme situation, his ability level rose steeply.
But it was too painful.
‘Ugh… This hurts so much.’
From Sang-woo’s experience, it seems that he ran a distance of about 1-2 km in an instant, but the power of the energy-absorbing barrier became so strong that No. 12’s body was about to break down.
Fingertips, toes, nose, ears, and other parts of the body were gradually dispersing like sand.
The terrible pain of his body breaking down was transmitted to Sang-woo through the Familiar skill.
In the end, Sang-woo let out a moan.
“Keep it off…”
“Sangwoo, are you okay?”
Bae Cheol-min and the guild members around him showed a worried reaction.
But Sang-woo had no time to care.
All his attention was on No. 12.
‘Let’s go a little bit more… a little bit more.’
What the hell was there to form such a barrier?
Sang-woo was already sick enough to go deep into the contaminated area, so he got sick.
Now, even if I stay still, I can’t stop because it will soon be reverse summoned.
It was a signpost.
‘Toward the strength of the barrier!’
When a two- or three-pronged road comes up, without hesitation, it’s time to head toward the stronger barrier.
A small circular cavity appeared in front of No. 12. The size of the cavity was
small
, but the cavity was a cliff.
The hole was so wide that the bottom could not be seen.
And the wind that blew through the passage was being sucked towards it like crazy.
‘Ugh… It hurts like hell.’
But I didn’t even have time to take a good look at the scenery.
It was so painful that Sang-woo didn’t have time to make a cool decision.
And soon, No. 12 would be reverse summoned.
Sang-woo gave the last command.
‘run!’
No. 12 jumped down toward the hole in the middle of the cavity with the same momentum as it was running.
‘Mana Explosion!’
And impulsively, he ordered self-destruction.
It was Sang-woo’s annoyance and resentment toward the unknown contaminated area.
The fact that explosive skills were dangerous in such a basement had already been heading to Andromeda for a long time.
Peeeeeee-
When Mana Explosion was cast, two lines of light began to emanate from Number 12’s body.
It must have been that I was already very energetic, but the momentum was not as good as before.
At that moment, the headlamp on No. 12’s head, which fell to the floor, illuminated something.
‘Hmm? What is that?’
It was a small orb in black, nestled in a cleft at the bottom of the cliff.
and that moment.
A mana explosion was about to happen.
Right before it exploded, Sangwoo ended his familiar skill.
Aaaaaaang-!
The pressure and light of the mana explosion swept through the cavity.
A cavity that instantly brightens as dust and darkness are swept away.
The black orb remained embedded in the rock without budging from the pressure.
and.
The rock was in the shape of a molar.