Chapter 81: El Quero (3)

"ROOAARR!!"

Three giant ogres came running toward them while screaming ferociously.

The body of one of them was easily five meters tall. Just the body was a weapon by itself.

"These damn guys are still noisy."

Not a single one of the people there was scared of giant ogres.

Chae YeonJoo frowned and raised her hand.

Chains with sharp thorns spread from her wrist.

Crack-!

"AARRGGHH!"

The chains hit the ogres.

"You're bothering us."

Echidna opened her mouth.

She let KangWoo's clothes go and raised the demonic energy from inside her.

Black energy gathered and turned into fire.

Fwoosh-!

Three fireballs formed, each directed toward a different ogre.

The chained giant ogres struggled.

Then Baek HwaYeon, Goo HyunMo, and KangWoo hopped on top of the giant ogres.

Just like characters in a famous series that was about killing titans, they quickly moved to the ogre's backs and cut their necks.

Slash-! Boom!

Dark blood sprouted, and the corpses of the giant ogres fell to the ground.

Goo HyunMo landed on the ground, whistling.

"His name was KangWoo, right? I heard that he's the rookie from the Red Rose Guild, but he's no joke. Wait, is he really a rookie?"

He was so good that it was a bit embarrassing to call him a rookie.

Goo HyunMo looked at KangWoo with his eyes shining.

He thought that he was participating in the plan because of his intelligence.

But after seeing how KangWoo had hunted the ogre, he realized he was wrong.

"Hmm... I'll explain about that player later on. You just need to know that he's someone as strong as Chae YeonJoo."

"Eh? Ch-Chae YeonJoo?"

"It's a bit long to explain."

Goo HyunMo looked at Chae YeonJoo with a confused expression.

Seeing how she didn't deny it, it seemed like Baek HwaYeon was telling the truth.

"H-how...?"

According to the rumors, he'd become a player three months prior.

But how could a player like that be as strong as one of Korea's top rankers, Chae YeonJoo?

Goo HyunMo looked at KangWoo, wondering if he'd heard wrong, but he saw no reaction from him, it was as if she'd said something obvious.

"I can see the lake."

"It's quiet."

"All the areas around the lake are El Quero's territory."

KangWoo narrowed his eyes.

It was so silent that one wouldn't believe it was in the middle of the gate.

But even if the surroundings were silent, they could hear the low sounds of steps.

KangWoo turned his head to the place where he could hear the sound.

It was a place he'd seen while investigating the gate for the past three days.

"Here."

"But... Is that really going to work?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Hmm... No."

Chae YeonJoo looked at the giant rock next to the lake with an expression that made it seem like her head was hurting.

They could see golems walking around covered with green moss around the rock.

They were mountain giants, the third type of monster that appeared in Suwon's S-rank gate.

They were a rare monster amongst the ones that appeared in the gate, and they were closer to being spirits rather than monsters.

Their bodies were made of stones rather than flesh and bones.

Was it because their bodies were made of stones? El Quero didn't think of them as food, so they were the only monsters that could wander around the lake.

"Good. Should we start?"

"Okay?"

"You're the center of this plan. You remember that, right?"

Chae YeonJoo nodded with a heavy expression on her face.

Tens of chains came out of her wrist while making a red light.

"Let's get going."

While Chae YeonJoo was making the preparations, they also had things to do.

KangWoo raised part of the chains that Chae YeonJoo had created.

Unlike the ones she usually created, it had a smooth surface.

"..."

Chae YeonJoo and Go HyunMo nodded while making nervous expressions.

"Oof."

They each took a deep breath.

You could feel the nervousness in the air.

KangWoo looked at the lake.

It was such a beautiful lake that one wouldn't think such a dangerous monster was hidden inside it.

"Okay, then..."

He raised his foot and concentrated the demonic energy into it.

—He stomped the ground.

SLAM-!!!

A sound loud enough to make you go deaf spread through the surface and expanded to the lake.

Boom-!

"It's coming!"

Its reaction was fast. The lake's surface began rippling, and something came out of the water.

—A giant stingray of about 30 meters moved toward them at a fast speed.

Swoosh-!

"Echidna!"

"Okay!"

As El Quero twisted its giant body, hundreds of poisonous needles about the size of a palm were shot toward them.

Echidna walked to the front and extended both arms, and a black shield made of demonic energy appeared.

Thud-!!

A loud sound that resembled a windstorm hitting a window could be heard.

Echidna frowned, and her thin hands trembled a bit.

"Advance!"

KangWoo stepped forward.

After going through the shield created by Echidna, he used the Authority of Sky and levitated.

"Ha-ab!"

"Woah! This is no joke!"

* * *

Baek HwaYeon and Go HyunMo grabbed the chains that KangWoo was holding. As KangWoo flew, both of them also went up to the sky.

All three of them were high above the ground in just an instant. Goo HyunMo shouted.

"We're falling!"

"I'm afraid of heeiigghhttss!"

Even while shouting, Goo HyunMo gripped the chains tightly.

KangWoo climbed onto El Quero's back.

"We must end this before it returns to the water!"

"Okay!"

They spoke without honorifics, but no one cared.

El Quero moved violently, and Goo HyunMo lost balance.

"It's too damn slippery!"

Goo HyunMo took out a sword and stabbed El Quero's back.

"WUUOONNGG!"

"Huh? Why does a stingray cry like that?!"

Even while complaining, he did his part.

He grabbed one of the chains KangWoo had brought and inserted it into El Quero's skin where he'd cut it with his short sword.

"Ha-ab!"

It was the same for Baek HwaYeon.

While showing an impressive sense of balance, she swung the long sword.

El Quero's skin was cut.

She inserted her hand with the chains into El Quero's skin.

Red chains were inserted into El Quero's body.

"UOOOO!!!"

El Quero struggled.

Baek HwaYeon and Goo HyunMo were pushed back.

KangWoo levitated and dodged it.

El Quero lowered its body.

'It's trying to return to the water.'

The only place El Quero could guarantee its safety...

It was trying to return to the giant lake.

KangWoo dived into the water faster than El Quero. His field distorted, and he got hit by the strong scent of water.

Once inside the water, he moved toward its stomach, where the monster's gills and giant mouth were..

KRRGG-!

KangWoo moved his body, and demonic energy started to gather around his fist.

'Sky Break.'

A babbling sound came out of his mouth as he chanted under the water.

KangWoo extended the fist that had demonic energy concentrated within it.

Boom-!!

A huge fountain spewed out of the water as if a bomb had exploded.

El Quero's body rose to the sky within the fountain.

Considering that it had received a strong attack, it didn't seem to have suffered much damage.

Because the attack had been done under the water, KangWoo couldn't fully use his strength. It probably only received about 10% of the original damage.

'Now!'

KangWoo glared at El Quero.

He kicked under the water and shot up into the air. The pressure of the water weighed him down.

"UUOONNGG!"

El Quero flapped its fins while making a gruesome sound.

A spark began gathering around its fin.

"Get off its back!"

Baek HwaYeon and Go HyunMo jumped into the air.

An electric shock hit KangWoo.

Bzzt-!!

"Ugh!!"

It was electricity strong enough to make your eyes turn white.

KangWoo frowned.

"KangWoo!"

A wall that Echidna created from a distance covered KangWoo.

The effect of the electricity got weaker.

'Authority of Ice.'

The surface of the water froze.

El Quero landed on the surface of the ice, but the ice couldn't withstand the weight of a monster over 30 meters big and started to crack.

KangWoo was waiting for that moment.

He grabbed the chains even tighter and ran toward it.

KangWoo, who leaped toward El Quero while stepping on the ice, threw himself toward its gills.

Crack-!

Dark blood leaked from the gills that were forcibly spread open. Blood was coming from KangWoo's mouth, but he didn't care.

He grabbed the chain and ripped apart the skin covering its body.

Thanks to the Authority Divine Power, he was able to make the wound on El Quero's body bigger.

He dug deeper...

KangWoo tore down as much of El Quero's skin as possible and dug into a deeper part of El Quero's body.

The monster's body shook.

Because he was covered in blood and his vision was obstructed, he couldn't see anything, but he just ignored it.

Even if he couldn't see, he could still move.

KangWoo moved forward by tearing through El Quero's flesh.

Crack-!

KangWoo went through its body and came out from its back.

He used the chains on his hands to chain down El Quero's body and bent down and grabbed onto the monster.

"Pull!"

KangWoo shouted.

"Grab tightly!"

He could hear Chae YeonJoo's shout from a distance.

Thump-!

While making a sound that was similar to the one an earthquake made, El Quero's body was dragged to the surface.

Holding onto El Quero's back, KangWoo looked toward Chae YeonJoo.

Tens of mountain giants that had their bodies surrounded with chains were following her from behind.

"Good."

KangWoo smiled, covered in blood.