Episode 208 [ Checkmate – 2 ]
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King of the Black Orcs.
World Boss Monster Stonox.
The name of an entity that shook the entire great nation of China to the point where it could not recover, and further put the entire Northeast Asia in fear.
Although the Black Orc army’s invasion of the Korean peninsula failed, Stonox gave up the kingdom and disappeared… but that only served as an even greater fear.
It meant that such a large boss monster was wandering around the world somewhere.
And just now it has been proven that that notoriety does not exist for nothing.
Even though the monster army advancing towards the camp was stranded, didn’t they suddenly attack alone and create a way out?
It was as if he was a general from an old legend.
But now, such a powerful boss monster…
“Ugh—”
He was lying face down on the dark red ground, where the heat from the magma had not yet cooled down, and his blood was pouring out.
One of its arms was completely cut off, one of its legs was twisted, and various swords and spears were stuck all over its body.
The wounded body was bound with ‘Gleipnir’.
The end of an enemy heroically defeated.
It couldn’t have been anything other than that.
In front of them, a man slowly came down from the air.
Stillane Hyeonwook Lee.
He, who defeated the Black Orc army once, finally defeated the Black Orc King.
It’s very easy too.
“what…….”
The other players who were watching this looked dumbfounded.
“What happened?”
“…You just disarmed the black smoke, right?”
Stonox’s unique attack method of turning into black smoke.
The past few battles have proven that it is quite difficult to attack.
Electric current attacks were also eliminated, and due to the nature of smoke, wind attacks seemed to be compatible, but even those were blocked.
However, Lee Hyun-wook’s attack, strangely enough, subdued him very easily.
That’s because Lee Hyun-wook knew how to attack that guy in the first place.
‘All monsters have a definite weakness. There is a strategy. It just takes trial and error to figure it out.’
In the past life, humanity fought against it several times and was defeated by the same number. Based on the big data accumulated in the process, Kim Se-hee and other members of the Black Tiger unit succeeded in assassinating him.
Lee Hyun-wook also helped with the operation in many ways.
“What happened?”
Kim Se-hee landed next to Lee Hyun-wook and asked.
Now that I think about it, it was her destiny to be with Stonnox in her previous life. However, this life took a completely different turn and led to the current situation.
“But what did you just spray? I guess that worked, right?”
Lee Hyun-wook just scattered something into the black smoke.
Immediately after that, he launched an attack, and effective damage began to be inflicted on Stonox, and he was completely suppressed.
“When this guy turns into black smoke, it’s not the black smoke itself. The black smoke is just a trick.”
Also known as the devil’s shadow.
The black smoke is drawn like a curtain and an ‘overlapping space’ is created within it. And avoid attacks by going in and out of it.
Since it existed in a different space in the first place, it was impossible to attack it.
In that case, the priority was to break down that overlapping space.
So what Hyunwook Lee sowed was ‘mana reflux stone’ that he had obtained in large quantities from China not long ago. After grinding it into fine powder and scattering it, the flow of mana in the area stopped.
‘Then the subspace magic of spatial overlap is broken.’
In other words, Stonox was unable to avoid Lee Hyun-wook’s attack, and his actions slowed down as steel weapons were hurled all over his body, and his arm was cut off with a single Mogley blow.
“Wow… Still, that boss monster was caught quite easily. “I guess I’m weak because I’m a warlock.”
“Yes.”
As she said, Stonnox’s defense was relatively weaker than expected. That is why they always had escort troops with them. Sumakt, the military commander that Lee Hyun-wook handled in Seoul, was one of them.
However, they all died during the invasion of the Korean Peninsula, so the current one is practically half-hearted, so if you know how to attack it, you can catch it easier than you think.
Lee Hyun-wook looked down at the guy.
The guy looked up at Hyunwook Lee.
“Kill the human leader gracefully.”
As befits the setting of an emperor, his tone was noble until the end.
Lee Hyeon-wook also lifted the moglai without much hesitation. He was no longer the final boss, but rather a mid-boss. There was no need for him to engage in useless conversation.
puck-
With a single blow, its head rolled down the slope.
“…With this, one of the monster species that killed the most humans has been destroyed.”
Brian Thiel said from behind him.
As an analyst player who has studied monsters around the world for a long time, he was amazed as if he were encountering a historical scene.
“I thought it would take about 5 years…”
As expected, his judgment was quite accurate. In fact, if it weren’t for the variable named Lee Hyun-wook, it would have been targeted about 5 years later.
“Anyway, it seems like everything is being sorted out now.”
Bang—bang—bang—bang—
The most difficult enemy, Stonox, was taken care of, but the battle against thousands of monsters was still in full swing.
Lee Hyun-wook turned his head and looked at his battlefield.
The momentum has already passed perfectly.
A mechanical dragon and dozens of airships in the sky were taking over air superiority and bombing indiscriminately.
Qua—and—and—and——!
In particular, although it was a mechanical dragon that had not yet been maintained, it still showed overwhelming firepower. Each time it circled and unleashed its firepower, dozens of titans fell down.
And like that, various troops advanced towards the enemy camp, which was unable to regain its senses after being hit by a barrage of bombings.
“Kazua——!”
Talos and the giant soldiers who jumped out of Laputa first landed in the middle of the enemy lines like airborne troops.
Thump—thump—thump—thud—
The moment those huge bodies weighing hundreds or even a thousand tons each stepped onto the ground, the thinly solidified magma was crushed and bounced in all directions, but they moved without any problem as if they were just wading through a swamp and formed a formation.
And the weapon they are holding is not a sword or spear, but a machine gun… and it looks like a multi-barrel machine gun, commonly referred to as a ‘minigun’.
Soon the barrel began to rotate slowly…
To—do—do—do——!
It spewed fire.
It began firing thousands of rounds per minute, tearing everything within range to pieces.
That wasn’t all.
“Prepare to fire Titan Breaker!”
At Talos’ order, the particularly large giant soldiers waiting in the rear knelt.
The square device mounted on their backs opened and closed with a clanging sound. It looked like a rocket launcher.
“launch! Smash it to pieces! Hahaha! chaos! Destruction! oblivion!”
Fu—su—su—su——!
A bunch of gray smoke billowing out from there. They tracked and intercepted the titans like guided missiles.
bang-! bang-! bang-! bang-!
Dozens of titans collapsed at once.
It felt like a change in genre as it was truly like a giant battle robot that appears in science fiction.
“Wow… it feels like a completely different world now.”
“It’s just a method of modern warfare… no, it’s a future warfare.”
Players who had been fighting by squeezing out magic based on cold weapons held out their tongues in front of the firepower of magical engineering that had reached its peak.
And on one side, Agaidica and the Ancient Red Drakes advanced like cavalry, cutting through the titans and trampling on hordes of black orcs and ice trolls.
Just looking at it, it clearly looked like a cavalry, but soon it kicked off the ground with great elasticity and flew up, and from the moment it started biting the titan’s neck, the image of a pack of wolves was projected.
Most players didn’t know why they became allies. But I felt very fortunate that we were not enemies.
Meanwhile, the airship fleet that appeared with Laputa had a second reinforcement force on board, and they also entered the battle.
“—Let’s go too!”
“You can’t be defeated by monsters and robots!”
And the attacks from high-level players from all over the world were working very effectively.
They advanced using the traditional raid method they were good at, hunting down the titans one by one. Although it may be lacking in firepower, it was the safest and most certain method.
Within…….
“They’re running away!”
In the end, the monster army chose to run away.
“Keep following! “Kill them all!”
They scurried in one direction like a flock of fleeing rats.
The target was the pit they had crawled out of.
“Damn it! Run underground!”
“You have to catch as much as you can in there.”
but….
quaddd——
A vine began to grow from that area.
And in just a few minutes, it grew rapidly to a size that could be called a forest.
Green Wave.
As its name suggests, it rose up like a green wave and rushed towards the fleeing monsters.
The Dark Elf army led by Clypheus Griseo, the second prince of the Dark Elves, was ambushing the rear and attacked.
“—Arrest everyone, leaving no one behind!”
They tied up the few remaining monsters and dragged them into the vines, and the sound of squeezing juice began to sound.
“…finished.”
Cheers were heard from everywhere.
“We won!”
The players could not hide their joy. They couldn’t help but be impressed. This was because the overwhelming monster allied forces achieved a complete victory with almost no damage to our troops.
‘Yes, it was perfect.’
Lee Hyun-wook thought so.
‘And he used so many things to stop me.’
And all the power that Lee Hyun-wook had prepared has finally arrived.
In other words, the time had come to begin a proper counterattack.
‘…I’m sure now. ‘I am stronger than that guy.’
So, rather than confronting Lee Hyun-wook directly, he is anxious to somehow complete the privilege called ‘Devil Castle’.
At that time, the airship ‘Ship of Theseus’ approached Hyunwook Lee. Of course, the one who got off was Donald Harris.
“Mr. Harris, are you ready for what I asked you to do?”
Hyunwook Lee had asked him a favor a long time ago.
In response, he pointed to the floating city of Laputa, floating in the sky and emitting white light.
“Yes, Mystiltein. That horrible thing is safely stored away in Laputa.”
Mystiltein, a weapon that can kill a god.
It was imbued with the nourishment of Yggdrasil, a mythical weapon, and finally blossomed into a weapon.
“It seems to me that it is a really crazy thing. So… you will have to handle it with special care. There is no way that the tip of the knife I am holding will not dig into my flesh.”
Lee Hyun-wook nodded his head and walked to the middle of the battlefield.
Players who applied in the second round, including Lee Seong-yoon, Kang Seo-yoon, Han Tae-san, and Kim Kang-seok, were gathered there.
And on the left, a group of Ancient Red Drakes and on the right, a group of Dark Elves were waiting far away.
And some players showed signs of anxiety, as if they were concerned about their approach.
Because of the fundamental difference between players and monsters, they could not easily mix together even though they fought together.
Still, the goal was the same.
Devil.
Killing that guy.
“I know we don’t have much time, but we should start counterattacking right away, right?”
Seongyoon Lee said.
Hyunwook Lee nodded his head.
“Now… it’s time to pull the queen out of the anthill.”
“It’s an ant cave… it must be quite complicated inside.”
Some players groaned at this.
Players entered the gate and conquered an unknown world—a dungeon, but conquering the dark basement was something they were most reluctant to do.
A narrow, dark place full of traps.
Such places were the most difficult battlefields.
And it was also the place where the most victims occurred.
Lee Hyun-wook shook his head.
“There is no need to go directly into the anthill.”
At the same time, two beams of light fell from the sky.
bang–! bang–!
Everyone was shocked by the shock.
A wave of wind approached from far away, and a cloud of white dust rose along with it.
“woah-”
“What a surprise.”
“Are you Mogley?”
Hyunwook Lee shook his head.
“I mounted a few more on the warbox with similar weight.”
“Ah… but where did you attack?”
That was the spot that Lee Hyun-wook had beaten with his mogul ray when he first came here. Therefore, immediately after being properly crushed once, a tectonic shift occurred and the ground must have become even weaker—
Lee Hyun-wook led the players towards it and encountered a huge sinkhole in the middle of the mountain… no, in fact, a basin-sized pit.
quaddd——
Then he started crushing the piles of rocks that filled the hole. Maru used his strength. Next, Seongyoon Lee lifted out the entire pile of rocks through ‘gravity reversal’.
OK…….
“Huh? I see a pillar!”
“That looks like some kind of historical site.”
Inside the pit, huge structures that could be called buildings were lined up along the walls.
“…It’s not a historical site, it’s our city.”
It was Agaidika who said that.
He said with a frown on his face, as if he was bitter that their home was being destroyed like this.
But he couldn’t help it.
“Where is the Demon Castle of Agaidica being built?”
At Lee Hyun-wook’s question, he closed his eyes for a moment.
As a guardian of this land, do you communicate with the land itself?
Soon he opened his eyes and turned his head to the right.
“It’s a little further to the right. And you have to pass through three cities.”
“Three cities? “What is that?”
“Our cities are built on multiple levels.”
“So, it’s the third floor. “How deep is it?”
The Ancient Red Drake race’s weights and measures are not in the metric system, so after hearing several explanations, I made a rough guess…”
“They say it’s about 4km deep…”
The players who heard those words clicked their tongues.
“4km… It’s much deeper than I thought.”
“What kind of city is that big?”
Aghaidika then explained with a displeased expression.
“It was our temple, called the Heart of the Earth. It is a place where the divine power that governs the entire region resides. But… this guy has taken over and is plotting something evil.”
“So, how much time will there be until the Demon King’s Castle is completed?”
Hyunwook Lee asked, looking down the pit.
“…I didn’t hear exactly, but I heard at first glance that it would end today.”
This meant that there was not even a single day left.
No, maybe just a few hours.
‘How can I break through and get down as quickly as possible?’
The worry was actually meaningless.
As was done before, the method of lifting Mogley back to low-Earth orbit and slamming it down was the best physically.
However, penetrating through as much as 4km of stratum was bound to have limitations in many ways. Of course, if you keep going, it will eventually break through…
“I think the other side will respond if we can’t penetrate through the Mogley drop. If we don’t have time, we need another method.”
It was Seongyoon Lee who said that.
As he said, it may not have been difficult to physically break through whether it was a Mogley fall or another attack. However, the Demon King’s side would also endure by continuing to use a magic shield.
“Direct entry may be the answer. Rather than tearing it down for no reason. If we break through carelessly, our path could be blocked.”
Seongyoon Lee’s argument was correct.
That method might not be close to the right answer at the moment.
‘But that too is a waste of time. And it is the most dangerous.’
Lee Hyun-wook thought quickly and thoughtfully for a short period of time.
Soon an idea occurred to me.
He quickly lifted up the Mana Messenger.
Chick—
“This is Team Leader Lee.”
– Yes, please say so.
Kyojun Lee was the team leader.
“Please connect me with Kang Hee-seol.”
After a while….
– yes! Did you call me?
It was Kang Hee-seol.
She seemed very excited as the numerous magical engineering weapons she created were in great use.
“I need to modify one of my weapons.”
– Oh, a dog? What is it?
“Sudarsana.”
– Uh… wasn’t that already completed? I haven’t used it yet, are you modifying it?
Lee Hyun-wook had previously asked the Gray Mountain Dwarves to make Sudarsana into a giant weapon, and it was currently made into a cannon-shaped weapon.
However, Lee Hyun-wook planned to use it in a different way.
“Sudarsana spins at incredible speeds when used. Convert it into a kind of motor. As fast as possible.”
***
“Gasp—gasp—”
Rachel Hardy took a deep breath and lifted her stealth spell.
She couldn’t use her stealth magic, but her bracelet item she was wearing had that effect.
Because she had been living as a wanted person as a Red Player, she was equipped with a lot of items necessary for escape.
That’s why I was able to escape like this even in the mess I just got into.
And then a large figure suddenly appeared next to her.
As expected, the hiding state had been lifted.
“Damn it! How many weapons does that bastard have hidden away!”
Anton Blachowicz, a large man, appeared and let out a curse.
“Shh! Shut up! Don’t you know how sensitive Steelein’s two crows are?”
“Oh, that’s right. sorry.”
They hid behind a pile of stones on a mountain and surveyed the battlefield.
There was already not a single monster left.
It wasn’t just a partial retreat… it was total annihilation.
“That’s a mess.”
“You’re screwed.”
The two people muttered at the same time.
Then something fell from the sky and a large hole was created.
Steele Lane and the players went there and started scooping up dirt.
“Damn it… I’m going to dig a path underground. I know there’s a demon castle down there.”
Rachel Hardy said.
“That Drake bastard told me! Damn Rachel, didn’t you say how long it was until the Demon Castle was completed?”
“Gordon said 7 hours earlier, so there must be about 6 hours left.”
“Hmm… I think I can handle that much.”
Rachel Hardy frowned at those words.
“…Anton, please don’t be too optimistic. You said earlier that the old man orc would show up and everything would be resolved. “But what the fuck is this situation now?”
But Anton Blachowicz did not give up.
“No, think about it carefully. The most powerful destructive power that Steele Lane can use is dropping that big sword, right?”
“…yes.”
“With that, can you dig into that really deep cave where the Demon King’s Castle is? You might be able to shake it and collapse the ground itself, but for that level, you just need to put up a thicker magic shield, right?”
“…….”
“It won’t be difficult to hold out for 6 hours like that, and when the Demon King Castle is completed, His Majesty the Demon King will gain strength and launch a counterattack. There is still hope. That’s enough.”
Because it was a plausible statement, Rachel Hardy did not question it.
“…I hope so too.”
“That will happen. Even if Steelaine brings a Mowglei father or a Mowley grandfather, it would be impossible to penetrate there within 6 hours. His Majesty the Demon King must have calculated everything and selected that place.”
“Okay, so don’t get excited. Now, to be honest, I feel uneasy when you do that.”
But then…
“huh? “Do you think they’re doing something strange over there?”
Rachel Hardy has found her something.
“…I took out all 4 Moglei. What is it?”
That ignorant giant sword sent chills down the enemies’ spines just by appearing. But with as many as four gathered in one place, I couldn’t help but feel nervous.
At that time, Steelein launched four Mogleys into the sky at the same time.
Then she created metal from both her hands and made it look like a cable…
“…weaving?”
She began to weave the four giant swords together.
It also had a strange shape, with the tips of the four swords forming a single dot.
“…What are you trying to do?”
“Well, but what else did you bring out?”
Meanwhile, Stillane took out another item.
“Hmm… it looks like a gold pipe.”
“…Is this a pipe item?”
But the item started to get longer and longer…
Huh—ugh——!
In an instant, it grew to an enormous size and created a gust of wind.
“omg!”
The size and thickness grew so much that it felt as if a building had soared before my eyes. It will probably be over 100m.
Only then did the two realize what it was.
“…It’s Yeouibong!”
“But can it get that big?”
Yeouibong, an item that increases in size depending on mana injection.
How much mana does it take to get to that size?
“…But what are you trying to do with that?”
It was still a series of unknown actions.
Stillane attached a piece of woven mogley to the end of the female pole. He even had the ability to melt metal, so he was able to stick it together as solidly as if he were welding it.
“Are you making a long spear?”
“…I don’t think it will become more powerful like that.”
Even if you pounded the ground with that thing, it would have been difficult to break through 4km of ground.
At that time, an airship flew in that direction.
Then, he went to the upper edge of Yeouibong, opened the lamp door, took out a circular mechanical device, and placed it on top.
Tongue—
Next, Stillane came forward and attached the circular device to the end of the female pole.
Clap—
As a result, a strange object was completed, with four moglais attached to the lower part of the Yeouibong and an unknown circular mechanical device attached to the upper part.
“…What the fuck are you trying to do?”
Rachel Hardy muttered, suppressing her impatience.
Since Steele Lane, and no one else, was combining legendary weapons… no matter what would happen, it would definitely happen.
Steel Lane then slowly lifted both his hands and pushed the object into the pit.
thud…….
And after a while—
Wing—wing—wing—wing——!
Doesn’t the circular mechanism at the top of Yeouibong begin to shake with that sound?
And from within, a dark energy burst out along with red light.
“…Wow, that’s a lot of energy!”
Such a powerful force made the huge Yeouibong rotate counterclockwise. And very quickly.
Then, the four moghlays attached to the end received all of the rotational force and gravity and began digging into the ground.
Qua—de—de—de—de——!
“ah….”
Only then did I know what Steele Lane was trying to do.
“Crazy… that’s a drill.”
Sudarsana as a motor.
With Yeouibong as the axis.
Drill Mowglai.
In an instant, the vertical passage began to open.