“How’s that?”
The orcs charging in tried to stop short at the terrain that had suddenly changed, but it was too late.
They tumbled down in a heap.
“Graaaah!”
The watching warlord hurriedly pointed toward the road that was still intact.
‘That path!’
Sinhyeok staggered as he listened to the orcs’ roars.
“Holy shit! I can actually see a chance of surviving! Ah.”
After firing off one massive shot, Sinhyeok reeled and ended up sitting delicately on the ground like the Little Mermaid.
“My head hurts.”
“You’re quite frail, aren’t you?”
“This doesn’t run on mana, that’s why.”
She checked the only open path and grabbed Sinhyeok’s hand, pulling him to his feet.
“Did you perhaps gain a Mental Strength stat?”
Sinhyeok looked surprised as he took her hand and stood.
“You know a thing or two?”
“I have a similar ability. For now, the more complicated it is, the more it’ll drain your stats. So make it as simple as possible and cut down the process. That way your head will hurt less.”
She pushed Sinhyeok back for a moment and said,
“Rest in the back for a bit. I’ll buy you a few minutes. Think up the next plan.”
“Th-thanks.”
Sinhyeok staggered again.
She leisurely stepped forward and waved her hand at the horde rushing toward them.
“Why are you running so hard? You could just walk slowly.”
A faint ripple of mana wavered in her eyes and wrapped around them.
The speed of the front line gradually slowed.
“Now, how about that troll over there does a little dance?”
At those words, the enormous troll began swinging its club with gusto on the narrow path.
“That’s it!”
She did her utmost to hold back the monster horde.
“Mr. Soldier! I’m starting to run out of strength!”
Sinhyeok slowly stepped forward in her place.
“Here I go.”
Looking at the approaching horde, he thought calmly.
‘If I want to save Mental Strength, I have to use it as simply as possible.’
As he watched a goblin running toward him, he clutched his head and used Transmutation.
‘Use Transmutation to the bare minimum. Originally, it’s a combination of several skills. Think of it as only using Melting.’
[Using Partial Transmutation - Melting.]
‘There.’
“G-gyaaah!”
A bit of the goblin’s head peeled away.
Its skin vanished, and its skull was laid bare.
“Oh my.”
He grabbed it as it was and threw it.
“It’s lagging.”
‘Melting doesn’t work very well on living things.’
[Using Sensory Acuity.]
As he began to concentrate, Sensory Acuity opened on its own, and the sensations throughout his body sharpened.
“Hup. Hah!”
[Using Partial Transmutation - Melting.]
“Now! Get lost!”
He used it by melting only the bare minimum.
“Come at me, you bastards.”
At the bizarre sight of everything that came at him melting one after another, the monsters flinched.
‘Go.’
While they hesitated, the orc’s command fell.
Then the trolls began charging all at once.
“Ah, shit. Hey, that’s cheating!”
[Pet: Blue Jjambap Tiger has detected its master’s danger signal.]
[Automatically summoning through the system’s function.]
“Huh? Hey! No! What am I supposed to do with him!”
A slightly large dog with blue flesh flopping in midair fell with a splat.
“No! Blue!”
Blue got up, shook himself off, and glared ahead with a fierce expression.
“Grrk!”
The trolls tried to ignore Blue and pass by.
Blue let out a small, low bark, then went patter-pattering over and pounced on them.
“Huh!”
In an instant, Blue’s body swelled enormously and engulfed six trolls at once, melting them.
“Grrrgh!”
The trolls were rapidly melting inside Blue’s flesh.
Regenerating and melting over and over, the trolls slowly exhausted themselves and collapsed.
Myang myang.
Blue looked at Sinhyeok, smiling as he barked soundlessly.
“As expected! Our Blue is amazing!”
Hong Juyeon was dumbfounded as she recalled how he had been about to make a fuss earlier.
“This is ridiculous.”
Woooong.
At that moment, they caught the ripple of a portal.
“Hyung!”
“Mister!”
Arin and Ichan joined them belatedly.
“No, why did only you two come!? Have all these soldiers gone insane together?”
Hong Juyeon was horrified at the sight of the soldiers who had arrived.
“Mister, why is this person here?”
“Hyung, what’s with this noona?”
The two calmly ignored her and approached Sinhyeok.
“Leave her be. She’s having a slightly rough day.”
After melting all the trolls, Blue shrank back down.
Blue smiled cutely and barked at the horde.
“That’s it, good job! Our Blue, come back now!”
At those words, Blue scampered over and nestled into Sinhyeok’s arms.
Once the blue monster disappeared, the endless monster wave began again.
“Ichan.”
When Sinhyeok called Ichan,
Ichan stepped forward with a solemn expression, ready to act.
He pulled out two daggers, gripped them in both hands, and was about to dash out.
“Don’t step up for no reason. Bring out the wraiths. I’m going to make some golems.”
“Ah, damn it.”
Ichan glared at Sinhyeok, who had completely deflated his momentum.
“Hyung, I’m not your personal supply warehouse.”
Sinhyeok smiled and politely held out his hand.
“Our poor wraiths.”
He immediately summoned wraiths into the air and began extracting soul crystals.
“Arin, go buy us time. I’ll replenish the troops.”
“Okay~”
Shing.
Arin drew her sword and stepped forward.
Seeing that, Blue also slipped out of his arms and headed with her.
Blue jumped energetically and landed on Arin’s shoulder.
Arin scratched Blue under the chin and said,
“I’m counting on you. Watch my back.”
Blue barked soundlessly.
Myang myang.
“Let’s go!”
Dazzling sunlight settled over her entire body, and merciless holy power burst forth.
At the appearance of the brilliant holy power, the orc warlord frowned.
“Grrk, troublesome.”
Even so, he waited.
“Not enough blood has been spilled yet.”
The warlord waited until the earth was sufficiently soaked in blood.
One rampaging paladin and one blue monster.
Knowing that this was merely the work of two, he sneered.
“Grrk. Only two. Is this all you have?”
Soon after, one golem made of rock joined the two.
“Hmph, a mere doll.”
After watching that golem in action, the warlord’s assessment changed.
“It is a little sturdy and fights well.”
Then another golem was added.
“Hmm.”
A short while later,
Golems equivalent to half an army occupied the gate.
“I-impossible…”
“Ah, I’m tired.”
Sinhyeok stretched and came out from where he had been hiding behind the wall.
Sinhyeok looked at the trembling orc and waved his hand.
“I’m out! Hello!”
The warlord flared up at his impudent greeting and leaped into the battlefield.
‘How dare you!’
His axe turned blood-red and slammed hard into the earth.
At that, the golems fell back in droves, and several were shattered.
The warlord smiled at the sight and approached Arin, who was rampaging in the front line.
“Grrk.”
Arin tightened her grip on her sword as she watched the orc approaching with terrifying momentum.
“Come on.”
At that moment, Sinhyeok’s shout rang out.
“Hey! Retreat!”
“What?”
“Fall back! Why are you trying to slug it out there!”
At those words, Arin grabbed Blue and sprang backward. The warlord stared at her in disbelief.
“Y-you! Have you no honor! A wench who claims to be a servant of god! Come back at once!”
As Arin ran away, she stuck her middle finger back at him.
“Graaaaah!”
The warlord’s entire body became dyed in blood, and he absorbed the blood flowing around him.
Watching him, Sinhyeok quickly moved his hands.
[Beginning Golem Transmutation.]
[A rock golem has been transmuted.]
‘Save as much as possible and supply them quickly.’
Once he had grown somewhat used to golems and the process had become familiar to his hands, this much was possible.
He stripped away as much as possible, put in the minimum functions, and sent them out.
Even so, they were quite capable.
“Now, please don’t forget to use Mind Control here and there.”
“Yes~”
Ichan asked cautiously,
“Hyung, what about me? What do I do?”
“We’re running out of soul crystals. Bring out more wraiths.”
“Hmph.”
Arin returned, set Blue down, and asked Sinhyeok,
“You’re trying to wear him down?”
“Yeah. No need to get hurt if we don’t have to. Just wait calmly.”
Sinhyeok looked at the three cores whose movement had stopped.
“He’ll be getting desperate. At this rate, he can’t get outside.”
The orc warlord, absorbing blood and rampaging madly, was trapped within a wall of golems and fighting desperately.
“How dare you! Come! Stop hiding behind them like a coward!”
Filled with rage, the warlord prepared to throw his axe at Sinhyeok, who was hiding over there.
Crrrrk.
The axe, imbued with considerable power, was ready to be thrown.
“If you won’t come, I’ll drag you out myself.”
The warlord looked puzzled when he saw Arin emerge from the wall.
“What?”
Even so, he took his stance to throw the axe.
Arin was holding a red rock golem, preparing to throw it.
“Hmph! A pathetic thing like that!”
The axe and the red rock golem were thrown.
“Die!”
Boom!
The two exploded in midair, their forces canceling each other out.
The warlord stretched out his hand, emitting a fierce fighting spirit.
The blood-red axe was retrieved again.
When the smoke cleared, Arin was once again holding that red rock golem.
“Fine, let’s see this through to the end!”
He grabbed his axe again and readied himself to throw.
While keeping the charging golems in check, the warlord threw it once more.
Boom!
The mutual throwing continued, and the warlord’s expression grew strained.
“Uaaaaaah!”
Sinhyeok watched the scene and checked his inventory.
“Ah, I used up all the Explosion Potions I’d been saving. I didn’t even get that many.”
When he left the training camp, he had received a few from his first teacher, Parell, for self-defense, and now he was using them.
“Hyung, there’s only one bottle left. Even diluted, we can make about ten.”
Sinhyeok looked at the exhausted warlord in the distance and said,
“Give them all to me. You never know, so let’s throw all of them.”
[Beginning Golem Transmutation.]
[An explosive rock golem has been transmuted.]
“Arin, keep throwing.”
Arin rolled her shoulders and nodded.
“Okay~”
She threw again.
After five more were thrown, the warlord’s reactions gradually slowed.
“Mister, he’s getting tired.”
“Yeah? Hurry and throw the rest!”
Seizing the opportunity, Sinhyeok quickly produced five more golems and handed them over.
When Arin threw them, he managed to block two with difficulty,
but the remaining three struck him directly.
Kwa-kwa-boom!
“Nice!”
The group came out in a line and looked at the orc warlord.
Seeing him lying on the ground, they all murmured among themselves.
“Hyung, is he dead?”
“Mister, should I go close and poke him?”
Hong Juyeon raised her hand slightly and said,
“I’ll check. If his mind is intact, that means he’s alive.”
She immediately used her ability.
Then the warlord twitched.
“He’s alive.”
“Playing dead so shamelessly.”
Sinhyeok smiled wickedly and emptied Ariel’s Sunstones out of his inventory.
“These are a bad match for them too, after all.”
With a vicious smile, he prepared another explosive golem imbued with holy energy.
[Beginning Golem Transmutation.]
[An explosive golem imbued with holy energy has been transmuted.]
After making it, it seemed to have consumed quite a bit of his Mental Strength.
“Ugh…”
He staggered.
Sinhyeok trembled as he handed it over to Arin.
“Throw.”
“Yes, sir!”
Arin took her stance and poured holy power into it.
“Huuuuup!”
She filled it with all her strength and threw.
“Go!”
A dazzlingly shining golem was falling onto the battlefield.
The warlord watched it with a strained expression.
“You… despicable…”
Kwaaaaaang!
Holy power resounded, and the entire area shook.
Arin looked over the battlefield and said in relief,
“Clear.”
The boss monster had been reduced to a complete pulp.
Lying down, Sinhyeok gave instructions to the others.
“Look around thoroughly, and if there’s nothing wrong, destroy the core right away.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
Hong Juyeon stayed beside Sinhyeok and patted his shoulder.
“That was impressive. I really thought we were going to die today.”
Sinhyeok looked at her and let out a faint laugh.
“I’ve got a long lifeline. At least until I smack that demon bastard in the face, I can’t die.”
She looked around the scene for a moment, then stood up.
“I’ll be going now.”