Chapter 114: Ingrit Outpost (2)

Creak.

Kang Oh opened the door and went inside. Asu followed right behind him.

The first floor of the 2-story wooden building was a maintenance area for the assassins.

Daggers hung on the wall, and several sealed jars lay on the other side.

There had to be something extremely dangerous inside, considering how many layers of seals there were. It must be the poison that the assassins use.

There were five assassins sitting around a table, playing a card game like go-stop.

"A Human!"

"An Enemy!"

"A trespasser!"

Once they discovered Kang Oh and Asu, the assassins stood up and drew the weapons at their waists.

"Haht!"

"Yahp!"

Both Kang Oh and Asu attacked, and the trolls responded in kind.

It was chaos inside.

Kang Oh attacked ferociously, deliberately yelling more than usual. He was essentially saying 'Come at me!' in order to draw their attention away from Asu.

Whack!

Bam!

Thwack!

In the midst of this chaos, the trolls began to fall one or two at a time.

Hearing the chaos below, a troll came down the stairs.

"What's going on!?" the troll shouted.

[You have encountered the Troll Assassin, Sneaker.]

'A named!'

Kang Oh observed the named troll.

Unlike the other trolls, the lower half (below its nose) of Sneaker's face was covered by a black bandana.

Of course, the pride of the trolls', its tusks, were still visible and protruded outwards.

"They're trespassers!" one of the surviving trolls yelled.

Kang Oh thrust his sword into the back of the screaming troll.

"Human!"

Sneaker suddenly jumped and drew its daggers.

Its daggers were slightly different from the ones the others used. Although it wasn't coated in the black toxin, there was a red spot on the blade.

Swoosh!

Sneaker swung its dagger.

Danger, danger!

Hyper Intuition warned him of danger. This was the strongest feeling of danger he'd felt here.

That's why he decided to dodge it.

Hiss!

Upon contact, the corner of the downed table melted instantly.

'It's really potent!'

Sneaker seemed to use a more potent toxin than the other Troll Assassins.

Kang Oh gritted his teeth and swung his sword.

Swish.

Sneaker tilted its head back, and Kang Oh's sword grazed its bandana.

Then it counterattacked.

The two exchanged attacks.

Adding the two surviving Troll Assassins and Asu into the equation was a formula for chaos.

"Haht."

Asu deflected an assassin's dagger. Sneaker seized the opportunity and discreetly rushed forward, aiming for her neck.

"Not going to happen!"

Kang Oh swung his sword, aiming for Sneaker's neck, thereby forcing Sneaker to retreat.

Then, another assassin swung their dagger, aiming for Kang Oh's side.

Kang Oh tossed his body to the side and threw a dagger.

He'd thrown the dagger midair, so there wasn't much force behind the dagger, but his timing had been perfect.

Thwock.

The dagger pierced its thigh, paralyzing the assassin.

At that moment...

Asu rushed in and thrust her sword at the paralyzed assassin's heart.

Spurt!

Ice formed at the blade's tip. Her necklace's effect had activated.

Asu attacked once more, intent on inflicting even more damage through the ice shards.

However, Sneaker attacked her side, forcing her to protect herself.

Then...

Kang Oh pulled Asu towards him and swung horizontally.

Whack!

Both Sneaker and the ice flower were in the path of his blade.

Sneaker dodged his blade by a hair's breadth, but the Troll Assassin wasn't so lucky.

Crack!

His jet-black blade struck the ice, causing it to break and skewer the assassin.

'Hoh. I can break the ice too and it'll still do damage.'

Then, an assassin rushed towards Kang Oh, aiming for his back.

"Go away!"

They stood back-to-back; Asu stopped the assassin in its tracks.

Honorable Strike!

Once her sword made contact, feathers flew into the air.

Because of her, Kang Oh didn't have to worry about any enemies coming from behind. Thus, he focused entirely on the dying assassin and Sneaker before him.

Tempest Tiger!

The appearance of the golden tiger!

Sneaker didn't dare take this attack head-on, and quickly threw his body to the side.

"Uhahk!"

But the Troll Assassin wasn't able to do the same.

Boom!

The assassin was swept up by the aura and was shoved into the wall.

Kang Oh followed Sneaker's movements in order to finish him off. However, Sneaker's form suddenly faded and then disappeared.

'He's using Disguise,' Kang Oh assumed.

Sneaker had used an assassin class skill, which caused it to instantly disappear from the blind spot of one's vision.

By the time he found it, it was by his side swinging its dagger.

'Not a chance!'

Kang Oh simultaneously twisted his body and swung downwards.

Swish.

He narrowly dodged the dagger, whereas Kang Oh's strike landed true.

Whack!

Kang Oh immediately followed up with another attack.

If he held the advantage, he would always follow through and finish his opponent. Sneaker desperately fought back, as if it was saying 'I can't die like this.'.

However, it wasn't on the same level as Kang Oh.

"Ugh. How could I lose to a pathetic human..." Sneaker said once Kang Oh's sword pierced its stomach.

[You have defeated the Troll Assassin, Sneaker.]

Kang Oh moved immediately. Asu was barely holding her own against the assassin.

"You did well."

"Haa, haa."

Kang Oh took over and finished off the Troll Assassin.

With this, they had defeated two of the three named monsters. Now they only had one left!

* * *

The last remaining named troll resided in the largest building in the outpost. Not only that, but there were also six trolls guarding the door.

Thus, Kang Oh and Asu were forced to fight the gatekeepers in the empty area in front of the building.

"Be careful."

"Ok."

Kang Oh and Asu drew their respective weapons, fighting back-to-back.

They were up against four Troll Warriors and two Troll Assassins.

The warriors surrounded the two while the assassins stood behind them, waiting for their opportunity to strike.

However, Kang Oh and Asu had good teamwork, so finding such an opportunity was difficult.

Ultimately, Kang Oh and Asu gradually gained an advantage.

They hadn't actually defeated any of the trolls yet, but they'd done quite a bit of damage to them.

'If we kill one, then the rest will fall like dominos.'

Kang Oh's eyes gleamed, looking for the first troll to die.

However...!

Creak.

The door opened and out came hordes of trolls.

Not only that, but...!

The last one out was a troll that wore a headdress and wielded a staff.

[You have encountered the Troll Shaman, Kazun.]

It was the last named troll!

'Saves me the effort of going and finding it.'

Kang Oh grinned.

Whereas...

"O-Oppa!"

Her voice shook at the appearance of reinforcements. They were already at a numerical disadvantage before, yet even more trolls had appeared!

"It's ok. Just trust me."

Kang Oh calmed her down first.

'Asu won't last while I'm taking them all down. If that's the case...'

Kang Oh retrieved the BB-rank item, 'Colsica's Needlessly Large Rod' from his inventory.

Gluttony!

The darkness emanating from the demon sword greedily consumed the staff.

[Demon Sword Ubist has consumed Colsica's Needlessly Large Rod.]

[It is a BB-rank item.]

[Entering Gluttony mode.]

[For 10 minutes, the demon sword and the character's abilities are doubled.]

Jet-black energy spewed out of Kang Oh's body.

"Asu, I'm going to break through their perimeter, so when I give the signal, run through the opening, ok?"

"Pardon me?"

"Don't fight and just watch me this time."

"Ok."

Asu looked disappointed, but she quickly agreed. After all, if she got a game over, then their mission would end in failure.

"I'm going!"

Kang Oh charged at one end of the siege.

Boom!

Kang Oh rained down attacks upon them; any troll in his way fell immediately due to his amplified strength and speed.

"Go."

Asu ran through the opening and escaped the siege.

"Good. Let's really go at it, shall we?"

Kang Oh rested his sword on his shoulder and walked forward confidently.

"I feel something strong coming from him!"

"Be careful!"

The trolls were able to sense Kang Oh's augmented strength.

At that moment, the Troll Shaman, Kazun, entered the fray.

"We're the proud Ingrit Trolls!"

Kazun raised its staff. The staff glowed a yellow-green, which spread outwards like an aura.

Courage of an Eagle!

Strength of a Bear!

Speed of a Cheetah!

Kazun had buffed the other trolls.

"Ooh!"

"Uoh!"

The trolls swelled with power.

'You're still nothing but trolls!'

Kang Oh rushed into the center of the trolls.

Kuheong!

He roared as an enraged tiger would, and began to pounce on the trolls like a starving tiger.

Whack!

Whenever his sword struck, multiple trolls would fall.

"Stop him!"

"Attack!"

The trolls, likewise enraged, rushed towards Kang Oh. They were like honeybees that were risking their lives to stop an invading wasp.

"Come on!" Kang Oh screamed and attacked the closest troll.

It felt like he'd only tapped it, but it keeled over and died.

After that...

Whack!

"Ugh!"

Thwock!

"Urgh."

Whack, whack, thwock, swish, slash!

Kang Oh crazily swung his sword. Of course, he wasn't swinging it haphazardly.

It was fierce, but precise!

He didn't forget to add in a Slash whenever he felt it would do the most damage.

Not only that, but...!

The trolls couldn't deal with any attack amplified by Darkness Strike, the familiar jet-black wave that manifested as a savage beast and circled around his blade.

Like right now.

Bang!

Kang Oh swung horizontally, striking four trolls simultaneously. One of the Troll Warriors died instantly.

Or it should've died at least...

Strange letters surrounded Kazun's staff. Then, it pointed its staff at the dead troll.

Return Soul!

The fallen troll stood back up, resurrected.

That wasn't all.

Wave of Natural Healing!

Kazun had also cast a healing spell that increased one's health regeneration to its maximum.

The wounds left behind by Slash, or the tottering trolls began to heal back to full.

'As I thought, I have to take that guy out first.'

Kang Oh stared at Kazun.

However, there were too many trolls in his way, so he couldn't go without clearing them first.

If that's the case, then he just had to make a path.

"Out of my way."

Kang Oh swung downwards.

Tempest Tiger!

He unleashed the beautiful aura, larger and more powerful than before, from his sword.

As he'd hoped, the golden aura swept through the trolls in his way.

'Now!'

The path towards Kazun was clear.

Kang Oh kicked off the floor without an ounce of hesitation, and charged like the wind.

A short while later...

Kang Oh stood right before Kazun.

Behind him, there were more than ten fallen trolls, or those that were barely getting up.

"Nice to meet you."

Kang Oh grinned and thrust his sword. Kazun attempted to dodge, but it was a shaman, not a warrior. Its physical or combat abilities were terrible.

Stab!

"Uahk!"

Kazun swung its staff in agony.

Kang Oh dodged it with ease and followed up with another attack.

But by that time, the trolls behind him had rushed forward in an attempt to aid Kazun.

However...!

Kang Oh grabbed his sword with both hands and spun like a spinning top!

He swept through the front, back, side, everywhere.

As a result, he cleaved through Kazun, as well as the trolls coming from the rear.

'Now!'

Kang Oh stopped spinning and rushed towards Kazun. He felt slightly dizzy, but he pushed through, gritting his teeth, and swung downwards.

Slash!

Luckily, Darkness Strike had activated.

Boom!

A destructive force of entwined white and black fell upon Kazun.

Then, Kang Oh stabbed Kazun's heart.

Stab!

"Ugh."

After that, he continued to attack until Kazun was dead.

Whack! Whack, whack, thwock, whack!

[You have defeated the Troll Shaman, Kazun.]

[Gluttony is active.]

[Stats have been stolen.]

[Magic +1]