Chapter 82

“Morning Dew.”

Jun-sang quietly summoned the water spirit to clean the squirrel’s mouth, then turned to Heness, who was standing beside him. “You should go back in now.”

Heness replied with a gloomy expression, “I want to come with you…”

“No.”

While he wasn’t without preparations—like the foul-mouthed old woman, the whip, or the dagger—putting her on a battlefield soaked in blood and gore was problematic in many ways. It was absurd to take her to a battlefield with two boss-level enemies, especially when she was already unstable fighting mere zombies. At Jun-sang’s firm refusal, Heness lowered her head with a dejected look. She couldn’t help but feel that she was still a burden. Jun-sang gave a wry smile, gently stroking her head.

“If you’re by my side, I can’t focus on the fight.”

“So… I’m a burden, then?”

Jun-sang shook his head at her words. “No.”

“Then…”

“I’m worried about you.”

“…”

In some ways, it might have seemed like the same answer, but Heness felt the sincerity in Jun-sang’s words and smiled brightly. “Alright. If you put it that way.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

Heness stood still, closing her eyes with her hands clasped together. Jun-sang watched her for a moment, then quietly initiated her reverse summoning. As Heness’s body vanished with a flash of light, Jun-sang sighed softly and turned to the squirrel perched on his shoulder. “Alright, let’s see what you’ve got.”

The squirrel cocked its head, then leaped to the ground, spilling a cascade of objects from its pouch.

“…”

Before Jun-sang’s eyes, a sizable pile of gold bars and jewels accumulated. He was momentarily speechless, gazing at the mountain of treasure that reached his chest. He had indeed ordered the squirrel to grab whatever it could out of spite for the lord’s son, but he hadn’t expected this much.

“Good job.”

Jun-sang pulled out a cabinet and gave the squirrel a few walnuts as a reward. The squirrel accepted them, stored them in its pouch, and began nibbling on one, shell and all.

“Let’s see…”

Jun-sang began sorting the gold bars and jewels, dividing them into appropriate boxes. It took a considerable amount of time due to the sheer volume, but with this much, he wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while—assuming he could find an easy way to dispose of it, of course. After sorting and packing all the gold and jewels, Jun-sang finally stood up.

“You go back in for a bit too.”

The squirrel, diligently gnawing on a walnut, quickly finished its remaining nut upon hearing him, then rubbed its small front paws over its mouth to wipe away the crumbs. Jun-sang chuckled at the sight and then performed the reverse summoning only after the squirrel was completely ready.

With all preparations made, a small voice escaped Jun-sang’s lips.

“Courier.”

As he spoke, the previously equipped skill cards swiftly detached, replaced by new ones:

Dash,

Leap,

Instant Acceleration,

Instant Acceleration (R).

The moment these four cards filled the slots, the combo card ‘Deandalas’s Courier’ was completed. Jun-sang modified his shortcut command to equip Blood-Soaked (H) in the remaining card slot, then slowly stretched.

“Alright then… shall we run?”

Jun-sang took a deep breath, slowly lowered his stance, and then suddenly pushed off the ground, dashing towards the red quest marker on his minimap. Even without the combo, Jun-sang had already moved at the speed of a runaway train with just Dash. But with the ‘Deandalas’s Courier’ combo card equipped, he now unleashed an acceleration so immense that “human bullet” seemed an understatement. Both his movement speed and leaping power increased by 50 percent, while his stamina consumption decreased by 20 percent. The efficiency of this combo needed no further explanation.

Jun-sang weaved through the forest trees, moving at incredible speed. Before long, he spotted the Army of Darkness entering the forest.

“Hoo…”

Jun-sang abruptly halted, exhaling the heated breath from his rapid acceleration, then slowly came to a stop and used Grunval’s Cloak to become invisible. He quietly assessed the new enemies’ positions via the quest marker. The bosses were easy to find. The first thing he saw was a colossal monster with a hulking, boarlike face, its lower tusks protruding, its thick belly jiggling as it walked. In its hand was a massive pole, better described as a pillar, topped with a strange flag that seemed to swirl with blood and darkness, flapping fiercely in the harsh winds of the wasteland. Beside it, a slender, agile-looking monster walked quietly, two long swords strapped to its back. His Insight ability marked the hulking, flag-bearing creature in yellow and the slender, agile monster in green. From this, he inferred that the large one was likely General Sapathan, and the agile, snake-headed one was Elite Captain Tashas.

“…”

Jun-sang was already incredibly powerful, but he had no intention of risking a direct confrontation with two boss-level monsters simultaneously. When facing strong enemies, it’s best to find their weaknesses and exploit them rather than attacking head-on. Therefore, his first target had to be Elite Captain Tashas. Having set his target, Jun-sang activated Phase Shift while still invisible.

Like a ghost, he passed through the shadows of the forest, instantly appearing behind the enemy. He quietly changed his combo to Martial Artist as he observed Tashas slowly walking. Then, as soon as he shifted behind Tashas with Phase Shift, he immediately activated Shoulder Charge. While Crushing Blow or Blood Sucker would have boasted the greatest power, using a skill that caused side effects was too risky, given Sapathan’s close proximity.

Whoosh!

The air before him split, and Jun-sang’s body shot like a beam of light towards Tashas’s back. Activated at nearly zero distance, there was no way for even the most perceptive creature to dodge it.

-Kiiak!

Tashas sensed a strange presence and tried to twist its long neck to look back, but before its head could fully turn, it received a powerful blow to its spine and was sent flying.

“Tsk!”

Jun-sang clicked his tongue. The sensation transmitted through his shoulder was too shallow. He immediately pulled Langdazal’s Fury from his inventory, gripped it, and charged towards Tashas, who was tumbling forward.

However, at that moment, a colossal flagpole flew towards Jun-sang. Sapathan, sensing the surprise attack, had swung the flagpole it held to save Tashas.

“C-ck!”

Jun-sang swung his iron ball at the massive, log-like flagpole hurtling towards his torso.

-CRASH!

A huge explosion erupted, and Jun-sang’s body was pushed back.

“Tsk!”

Jun-sang clicked his tongue, but Tashas, freed from the fear that had momentarily paralyzed its body, got up and drew the two long swords from its back. No, it drew them, but upon seeing the two blades broken, it began to shriek in rage. The shallow impact on Jun-sang’s shoulder must have been because the two large swords absorbed the shock of the Shoulder Charge. Jun-sang quickly activated Invisibility and then used Phase Shift to leave the spot.

Just as he thought.

Sapathan plunged its flag into the ground beside its foot, then pulled out an entire tree nearby and threw it where Jun-sang had been. Jun-sang frowned as he watched the massive tree trunk crash down on his previous location. With the surprise attack having failed, the surrounding monsters began to converge. But there was no need to despair. Unlike the open wasteland or the desert beyond, where cover was scarce, here in the forest, Jun-sang had plenty of places to conceal himself.

“Hoo…”

Jun-sang took a light breath, then quietly activated Phase Shift, reappearing in the midst of the gathering monsters. He then deployed Dual Storm, holding two massive iron balls in his hands.

Kwakakakak!

The two iron balls, leaving Jun-sang’s hands, swirled around, destroying every obstruction in their path—trees, rocks, and the bodies of monsters. Nothing could withstand the powerful storm; everything was instantly shattered. When the two iron balls finally returned to Jun-sang’s hands, all that remained in the wake of the massive storm were broken fragments. After casting Dual Storm, Jun-sang vanished again with Invisibility and then used Phase Shift through the shadow of a colossal tree whose trunk was breaking and falling.

The monsters were momentarily stunned. Their comrades had been instantly turned into minced meat before they could even comprehend what had happened. With the situation like this, Sapathan and Tashas stood back-to-back, guarding their surroundings. However, this wasn’t a good strategy. The size difference between them was too great for them to effectively guard each other’s backs. Jun-sang attempted to Phase Shift into the large shadow cast by Sapathan’s massive back. From the air, he immediately launched Dual Storm. Tashas held a large sword, seized from a subordinate, but it was no match for the two iron balls that suddenly dropped from the air and spun violently.

-Clang!

The large sword in Tashas’s hand shattered like glass once again. However, Tashas, with its agile movements, used the recoil to escape the attack range of the iron balls. It truly was a slippery one. But Jun-sang had no time to curse at it. Sapathan immediately swung its large flagpole at Jun-sang, who was falling from the air.

“Tsk!”

Jun-sang hastily activated Phase Shift to evade the attack, then as soon as he reappeared, he immediately used Invisibility to hide himself again. Indeed, fighting both of them together was incredibly difficult. As Jun-sang pondered how to break through this tricky situation, an idea suddenly popped into his head. It was a bit risky, but definitely worth a try.

Having decided, Jun-sang immediately moved to the top of a tall tree, then summoned Heness there.

“Ugh!”

Heness instinctively almost screamed when she suddenly appeared high up in the tree, but Jun-sang quickly grabbed her waist and covered her mouth with his hand. In that state, Jun-sang quietly spoke to Heness.

“Quiet.”

Heness was disoriented by the sight of the swarming monsters below the tree and Jun-sang’s hand on her waist, but she snapped to attention when she heard his low voice in her ear. Jun-sang looked directly into her eyes, removed his hand from her mouth, and whispered quietly.

“Heness.”

“Yes.”

“Swear.”

“Huh?”

Heness’s eyes widened in surprise at Jun-sang’s sudden request, but she soon understood what he meant. With a determined expression, she nodded, looked down at the base of the tree, and took a deep breath. Then, closing her eyes tightly, she screamed with all her might.

“You poop bugs!!!”