LRIC Chapter 48

Screeeech-

“Hurry… Hurry!”

The thick door of the shelter slowly opened.

As soon as a space wide enough for one person to pass through was created, Park Tae-sang immediately squeezed in.

And he closed the door. With a thud, the door was completely locked.

“Phew…”

Park Tae-sang plopped down, leaning against the door. He let out a big sigh of relief.

“Team Leader?”

“Team Leader Park Tae-sang?”

People looked puzzled seeing his appearance. Why was a hunter who should be fighting outside in such a hurry?

Those who were quick to catch on already had their expressions hardened. What reason would a B-rank hunter have to come running and dodge like that? Wasn’t it because a monster appeared that even he couldn’t handle?

‘No way…’

‘Did an A-rank appear outside?’

‘Still, it should be fine here…right?’

Uneasiness spreads like a virus. Especially in a shelter where seeds of unrest were already rampant from the start. The murmuring of people began to grow louder.

‘I’m saved…’

However, only Park Tae-sang felt greatly relieved.

At that moment.

Boom-!

The door shook loudly, and the entire shelter vibrated. Park Tae-sang was startled and backed away from the door.

Boom! Boom-!

Consecutive sounds. The noise seemed to be getting louder.

Kwang! Kwaddeuk!

The door warped. A huge root, as thick as the World Tree’s roots, was prying open the shelter’s door.

Soon, when a hole large enough for one person to pass through was created, Eldora lowered his body and entered.

“Why is it so hard? That guy earlier was like that too, and all the buildings are so hard. Is this an iron-clad civilization or something?”

Eldora grumbled as he entered.

When the delicate-looking handsome man entered, people’s murmuring momentarily ceased. They, especially the women, looked at Eldora with dazed expressions.

On the other hand, Park Tae-sang only stammered with a pale face.

“H-how did that door… D-don’t come! Don’t come here!”

Park Tae-sang hurriedly stepped back.

Only then did people come to their senses, realizing the situation was taking an odd turn. They retreated following Park Tae-sang.

Eldora approached them with a strange smile.

But then.

Pat!

A wall appeared between him and the people.

“What’s this now?”

Eldora immediately frowned.

Bang! Bang bang!

He then raised his fist and struck the wall several times. However, the wall only trembled slightly and didn’t budge at all.

His face distorted as if possessed by an evil spirit.

The contrast with his originally beautiful face made people feel even greater fear. The evaluation of being a first-time-seeing handsome man now vertically plummeted to being a psychopath with just a pretty face.

‘Damn it!’

On the other hand, Eldora felt like going crazy when things didn’t go his way.

He already had a tough time because the human he met earlier had such a sturdy exterior. Having to call upon Sylphe meant he had used almost his full power.

Still, he somehow finished him off and came down, only to be greeted by a thick door this time. He had scattered the seeds of Hlebrucarita he brought to somehow open it and enter.

But now, he was blocked by a wall again.

‘Is this related to those dwarves?’

He even had such suspicions. However, he soon shook his head. Such a thing couldn’t be possible.

Kwang-!

Eldora struck the wall once more, filled with resentment.

With a crazy guy with strange ears acting like that, people were naturally terrified. They were all pressed against the opposite wall, not knowing what to do.

Eldora scanned those people with scary eyes.

Then, his eyes narrowed at one spot. There was a woman emitting the same energy as this wall.

It was Sivellin.

“Open this.”

He glared at Sivellin as if he would kill her and spoke. However, she remained silent.

Eldora calmed his anger again and spoke.

“If you open it now, I’ll spare only you. How about it?”

“…”

Sivellin held So-eun tightly with a stiff expression. As if to prevent the child from seeing that bastard.

She was not someone who would fall for such empty words. Even if those words were true, she would never remove the wall.

Her face was filled with worry.

What happened to Do-joon who was outside? He’s not dead. Because if Do-joon dies, she too would no longer be able to remain in this world.

Then did he step away for a moment? And in that gap, that bastard barged in?

However, that possibility was also slim.

So-eun and herself remained in this shelter. But Do-joon was not someone who would leave his spot for a long time without a word.

She wanted to go out and check what happened right away. She wanted to go up to the surface and find Do-joon.

However.

“Unni…”

The small child tightly snuggled against her.

She couldn’t leave this child behind. In a place with such a dangerous person.

―If a situation comes where you can only save either me or my daughter, don’t hesitate. Save my daughter first.

Do-joon’s words she heard before flashed through her mind.

In the end, she could only wait. While believing he was safe.

Sivellin lightly bit the inside of her lip.

Believing was her specialty, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t painful.

“Damn it, do I have to call it one more time… It’ll make a fuss later.”

Eldora scratched his head when there was no sign of removing the wall.

Sivellin stared intently as if not to miss a single movement of the creature.

He glared at Sivellin and placed his left hand on the wall.

“Sylphe.”

And he called the name he used earlier to destroy Do-joon’s insides.

Wind arose from his hand. It soon transferred to the space beyond the wall. The entire atmosphere of this shelter, this space, was placed under his will.

“…!”

Sivellin was the only one who noticed the strange sign. Even though she had put up a wall, the creature’s energy began to stir inside.

A wall alone wasn’t enough. Judging so, she prepared her next move.

Like putting up another wall inside, or if that doesn’t work, individually shielding each person here. There were many things she could try.

Sivellin, who was about to speak to stop the ‘something’ the creature was preparing…

At that moment, her eyes widened.

Bzzt!

From the warped entrance of the shelter, a spear of blue lightning was flying in.

“What the…!”

Eldora was startled and turned around. He was hit head-on but still had no damage.

However, just like before, his vision and hearing were taken away for a very brief moment.

And in his vision that immediately returned.

“Cough.”

Do-joon was reflected, blood flowing from his mouth.

“This guy…”

Grrrr. The sound of teeth grinding echoed from Eldora’s mouth.

***

“W-who is that?”

“Looks like he came to finish off that bastard!”

People began to murmur at Do-joon’s appearance. Because his figure throwing the Thunder Spear undoubtedly seemed like a high-ranking hunter.

Relief flashed across Sivellin’s face upon seeing him.

Thank goodness. He’s safe.

He seems badly injured, but as long as he’s alive, they can somehow manage. Because she was confident.

At the momentary relief, her arms loosened for a moment. In that gap, So-eun looked back.

“Daddy!”

Then she screamed in horror.

So-eun saw Do-joon’s appearance. His blood-soaked figure, his exhausted breathing, and the fresh blood still flowing from his mouth.

The child began to sob. She burst out from Sivellin’s arms and ran toward Do-joon. However, there were hands that hurriedly grabbed her.

“Unnie! Daddy is…!”

Sivellin shook her head and hugged So-eun again. So-eun struggled in her arms but couldn’t break free.

“So-eun’s father! How…!”

Meanwhile, Kwon Sooyoung fidgeted next to them.

The crazy bastard in front of the wall was the man B-rank Park Tae-sang had run away from in terror. How could Do-joon, an E-rank, handle him?

They seemed safe thanks to this strange wall, but wasn’t Do-joon outside the wall?

“R-run away! It’s too much for an E-rank hunter!”

Kwon Sooyoung shouted at Do-joon. The surrounding people heard those words and began to panic.

“An E-rank hunter?”

“He didn’t come to save us?”

People who naturally thought Do-joon was a skilled hunter. However, upon hearing he was E-rank, their expressions immediately soured.

This calamity was not over yet.

But no matter how much people murmured, the two outside the wall paid no attention.

They were only aware of each other.

“Persistent, so persistent. You’re still alive after Sylphe stirred your insides? And even chased after me like this?”

Eldora laughed as if dumbfounded. But soon madness swirled in his eyes.

At first he was careless, but after several exchanges, he had discarded any thought of carelessness.

And at this very moment, his mind had risen to the level of caution.

Pat!

Do-joon pulled the spear towards his body and charged. Attempting attacks that didn’t work without getting tired.

Eldora clicked his tongue and raised his left hand.

Sylphe had already been summoned into this space. A spirit only visible to his eyes.

Now he just needed to touch like before.

But the situation flowed unexpectedly. Thinking the opponent would obviously swing the spear, he was also reaching out his hand, wasn’t he?

Tak! Kwak!

As if in a contest of strength, their hands grasped each other.

Eldora’s eyes twitched. To send it accurately, he needed to touch the chest… Well, it doesn’t matter. Taking out an arm first would be good too.

‘Sylphe.’

The spirit of fierce wind enveloped Do-joon’s arm.

Tuduk! Tududuk!

As all the capillaries ruptured, his entire forearm turned blue with bruises.

“Nngh!”

Do-joon gritted his teeth as if they would shatter. His daughter was here. He couldn’t show the pitiful sight of screaming as if asking to leave, could he?

A father should naturally remain composed in front of his child.

Pat!

The next moment, Do-joon let go of the hand and greatly retreated back. His arm was dangling blue all the way to the shoulder.

―A-are you okay?

‘I can… endure it.’

―You fool!

Do-joon smiled wryly, wiping cold sweat. Kalish’s shout somehow felt heartwarming to him now.

‘But I succeeded.’

Naturally, he didn’t reach out his arm without any plan.

[Eldora]

Compatibility Rate

– 0%

[Additional Option]

Agility -31Lv

The moment their hands overlapped, he took out a ring from the inventory. He succeeded in sticking the minus option attached to that ring onto the creature.

The effect appeared immediately.

“What did you do to me! Why is my body so heavy?”

Eldora began to panic.

Of course he would be flustered if his agility was suddenly reduced by that much. Wouldn’t it feel like driving a rental compact car after riding the latest sports car?

“You still had tricks up your sleeve even after being hit like that…”

The creature spoke through gritted teeth. The sense of wariness deepened.

In fact, there were no more tricks left. The copying ability was once a day. This was the end of the minus options to stick to the creature.

‘The fact that he avoided the aerial attack. That would mean his ability doesn’t manifest when he’s in the air.’

Then there was no need to reduce his defense. Additionally, nullifying regeneration was also unnecessary.

If he had regeneration on the level of a troll, he wouldn’t have twisted his body in the air like that to avoid the attack.

‘The fact that he avoided it in midair could itself be to deceive me…’

If that’s the case, there’s no way for him to deal with it anyway.

In the air, the creature’s absurd defense isn’t exhibited. He had no choice but to bet everything on this hypothesis.

Do-joon gripped the spear with his remaining arm. Seeing that, the corners of Eldora’s mouth twitched.

“Hmph. What are you going to do with that mangled arm? You seem to have succeeded in placing a curse or something, but the result will be the same.”

“Is that so?”

Do-joon showed a strange confidence.

Eldora’s eyebrows wriggled, and soon his eyes widened.

Do-joon’s blue arm was rapidly healing.

And upon closer look, the blood flowing from his mouth had also stopped now.

‘This energy!’

Eldora whipped his head around.

Beyond the wall, the woman from earlier was staring intently this way. The white flower blooming in one of her eyes.

As someone who liked all kinds of plants, only that flower felt strangely unpleasant to him. To the point he wanted to rip it out.

“Damn it… So she was a healer after all.”

The creature clicked his tongue and looked at Do-joon. In this short time, Do-joon’s condition had improved considerably.

Boom!

Eldora kicked the ground. Then his figure slid towards Do-joon. It was an incredibly fast speed, but to Do-joon now…

‘Slow.’

It was too slow. Compared to before, it looked like a snail crawling.

Do-joon thrust his spear. Straight towards the approaching Eldora’s forehead.

Thud.

However, the spear that clearly touched the forehead couldn’t pierce the creature’s skin. It only deflected.

Eldora reached out his hand while taking Do-joon’s strike with his bare body.

Do-joon avoided that hand. No matter how much Sivellin’s healing was there, he had to avoid dangerous things.

“Kuh!”

Eldora wildly swung both hands without even holding a sword. But the creature’s speed had dropped significantly now.

Moreover, Do-joon had received Sivellin’s blessing again.

Thanks to that, there was a considerable difference in their speeds.

Swish! Swish swish!

Eldora’s hands continued to slash the air.

Do-joon moved around and avoided all of the creature’s hands. In between, he tried thrusting his spear, but there were no effective hits at all.

In the end, a stalemate continued where neither side took any damage, just like before.

Then.

“Over here!”

Eldora smiled triumphantly and reached out his hand.

In front of him was not Do-joon, but…

“…!”

The wall where So-eun, the people, and Sivellin were hiding.

“Sylphe! Kill that woman!”

When fighting an opponent with a healer, it’s natural to target the healer first. From the beginning, the creature’s goal was Sivellin.

Eldora reached out to the wall and called the spirit.

However.

“Got you.”

There’s no way Do-joon wouldn’t know it’s natural to target the healer first.

<Sheer Shader’s Thorns>

The black spike extending from the creature’s shadow pierced through Eldora’s chest.

Eldora stopped, frozen with his hand outstretched and his back turned to Do-joon.

Kwang-!

Do-joon swung his spear greatly and sent the creature flying into the air.

“Kuk! You bastard!”

The air doesn’t work. When floating, when not touching the ground, he becomes defenseless.

But there’s no way a renowned knight like him would just leave a weakness alone.

Controlling posture in midair was the area he was most confident in. Just like before, twisting his body and landing would end it.

However.

“Ha!”

It was a bit different from before.

Before, it was Do-joon who released the thorns while lifting the creature. The moment it floated in the air, he thought it was already caught, and maintaining the thorns was just a waste of mana.

But it’s different now. Now he was rather pouring more magic power to tightly maintain the thorns.

―Good! Now’s the time!

Kalish shouted heartily as if now was the opportunity.

Do-joon lowered his body and gripped the spear. The cold chill of mana released from his body split into two strands, three strands, and eventually ten strands.

Thin, thread-like mana was billowing around his body.

―Just do as I taught you! End it with this one chance!

Kalish was excited as if it was his own business.

Do-joon also agreed that it had to end in one go. Because there might not be another chance.

That’s why Do-joon…

‘This might not be enough.’

His current limit was ten strands. However.

Pluck.

He tore the flow of mana one more time.

Blood vessels began to rise in Do-joon’s eyes.