blueteamnovel Chapter 25: Seventh Floor, The Eerie Forest and the Mad Weretigers (2)
Chapter 25: Seventh Floor, The Eerie Forest and the Mad Weretigers (2)
Chapter 25: Seventh Floor, The Eerie Forest and the Mad Weretigers (2)
[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s party must kill at least three weretigers. If they kill more than five, the Weretiger King will appear. Time remaining: 4 hours 42 minutes.]
[Number of weretigers killed by Kwon Su-Hyeok's party: 0/3]
Despite my earlier resolve to embrace any potential consequences, I found myself holding back, unable to attack the weretigers with my full force.
“Grragh!”
A weretiger charged at me from the right, and I swung my mace at its shoulder. I heard its bones shatter from my strike.
Crunch!
The weretiger staggered, clutched its now-sunken shoulder, and then collapsed.
Of course, I hadn’t hit it with all my strength. I was being careful, aiming only to incapacitate and not to kill. Every strike I made was measured and deliberate.
“Su-Hyeok! Slow down a bit!”
Cole’s shout from behind prompted me to swing my lightning-wreathed mace ahead of me in a wide arc. The lightning crackled outward, causing the weretigers to hesitate. Seizing the moment, I glanced back at my team.
I was positioned at the head of the group while Ha Hee-Jeong and Seo Ho-Su covered our rear. Cole, Doppy, and Seo Ha-Rin were sandwiched between us, supporting the rest of us.
“Are we slowing down for Ha-Rin and Doppy?”
“Yeah, they’re starting to tire out. We’ve been running for too long.”
As I had expected, the priests were the first to show signs of fatigue. The weretigers had been relentlessly chasing us for over fifty minutes now.
... They have held out long enough.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected them to last for this long.
The mist that clung to the forest had softened the ground and turned it into a quagmire. Each step seemed to pull at our feet as if the earth itself was trying to drag us down.
While it wasn’t too much of a problem for me, the priests were clearly struggling. Their legs must have been growing heavier with each step. Thankfully, everyone had taken the Physical Enhancement Potion before we started climbing the seventh floor, and the boost to their stats was already paying off.
“Ha-Rin! Doppy! Start casting vitality spells on yourselves from now on!”
Until now, the priests had been exclusively casting spells on Seo Ho-Su and me. It made sense then, as we were the ones doing the most physically demanding work. Now that I still had plenty of stamina left and Seo Ho-Su seemed to be holding up fine, we had to adapt our strategy.
After shouting out the command, I focused on our front again. Just before I finished turning, I glimpsed Seo Ha-Rin and Doppy nodding in acknowledgment.
“Okay!”
“Kriee! Understood!”
At least they were still hanging in there. Their energetic responses brought a faint smile to my lips as I swung my mace at the weretigers closing in on us again. rAɴȪ₿Èș
“Ugh!”
“Grragh!”
One of the weretigers took a direct hit from my mace and collapsed, losing its balance.
Before I pulled my mace back, another one charged at me from the opposite side. I raised my shield and struck it under the chin, then quickly dropped my stance, following up with a kick to its shin.
Snap.
The weretiger’s bone broke with a sickening crack, and its leg twisted grotesquely.
“Raaagh!”
Since the fallen weretiger lay on our escape path, I couldn’t just leave it there. I kicked the weretiger in the chest, sending it flying backward until it slammed into a tree trunk. Its head snapped back with a loud thud. Leaves rained down from the impact.
... Fuck. I hope I didn’t kill it.
***
[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s party must kill at least three weretigers. If they kill more than five, the Weretiger King will appear. Time remaining: 4 hours 11 minutes.]
[Number of weretigers killed by Kwon Su-Hyeok's party: 0/3]
“To the left!”
We had been locked in this relentless chase for over an hour and a half now. This eerie forest seemed to stretch on endlessly, with no end in sight despite our constant running.
Of course, we had been constantly changing direction, dodging the weretigers as best we could, while we fled.
But seriously, shouldn’t something have shown up by now?
If I relied solely on my strength to get through every situation, what would happen to my party?
These people had so much potential, and I would only stunt their growth if I only used my strength.
And now, on the seventh floor, it was time to show the world what our team could do by working together.
“Grragh!”
As if reading my thoughts, a wall of flames over three meters high flared up around our group. Ha Hee-Jeong had decided enough was enough. The advancing weretigers recoiled, startled by the sudden barrier.
“So, what now?” Ha Hee-Jeong asked calmly, her face displaying a serene expression.
Beneath the calmness, I could see a faint glimmer of anticipation in her eyes.
“Hee-Jeong.”
The decision had already been made. It was time to end this relentless chase.
“Put out the fire.”
Ha Hee-Jeong grinned, and the wall of flames dissipated gradually from the ground up. As the fire receded, we saw the weretigers’ legs and tails come into view.
The real battle was about to begin.
I felt liberated as I resolved to stop running, feeling a sense of lightness spread from my heart to the rest of my body. Everything I had held back for over three hours felt like it was about to explode all at once. I was ready to charge in and scream, all in the name of our growth and uncovering the true purpose of the seventh floor.
“Come at me, you damn tigers.”
The moment the hovering wall of fire completely disappeared, I kicked off the ground and charged toward the weretigers. The wind brushing against my cheeks felt exhilarating.
The first weretiger lunged at me, and I slammed my lightning-charged mace straight down on its crown. There was a sickening crack as its skull shattered.
Two.
More weretigers leaped at me from all directions.
I swung my shield, knocking away a weretiger charging at my left. Then, I quickly ducked to avoid the set of claws coming from my right. Going on the offensive, I drove my mace upward into a weretiger’s abdomen, sending a surge of lightning through its entire body as the mace tore through its flesh.
Three.
I brought the mace down onto the chest of the weretiger I had knocked down with my shield. Its ribs cracked as the mace drove deep into its chest, and its eyes rolled back.
Four.
Each swing of my mace signaled the end for another weretiger Just two more strikes, and the King would appear.
I lunged forward, kicking a weretiger squarely in the chest and sending it sprawling backward. Its claws slashed aimlessly at the air as it fell. As soon as its back hit the ground, I flicked my wrist and brought my mace down on its skull.
Crunch!
Bone and flesh mixed with brain matter as it splattered everywhere.
Five.
I could feel bits of flesh sliding down my cheek, but I didn’t care.
I sensed another weretiger leaping at me from behind... but it was already too late. I spun around, using the momentum from my twisting torso to swing my mace in a 180-degree arc. The force from the strike to its chest slammed the weretiger firmly into the ground.
Six.
Including the one Cole had taken down earlier, we had now killed six.
The notification window updated.
[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s party must kill at least three weretigers. If they kill more than five, the Weretiger King will appear. Time remaining: 2 hours 35 minutes.]
[Number of weretigers killed by 'Kwon Su-Hyeok's Party': 6/3]
[The Weretiger King will now appear. Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok must either kill the Weretiger King or offer a sacrifice that satisfies the Weretiger King.]
A sacrifice? That wasn’t an option. Whether it was a king or an emperor, I would crush them all.
“Grrraaagh!”
A deafening roar echoed from the distance, far more powerful than any we had heard so far. There was no doubt that it was the Weretiger King.
We had killed six weretigers, and now it was time to face their king.