Chapter 64
Kekek!
Gyagyagya!
Seong-Hwi was surrounded by Pirupikos, the fairy Invasive Chaos, laughing at him as they appeared between the thick forest trees.
[Briar Pirupiko of the race Chaos, discovered.]
They looked similar to the Pirupikos he encountered in the Dark Forest. They were about a meter tall, had black dragonfly wings, melting skin, hook-like hands, and only a giant mouth with grotesque teeth for a face. The main difference was that the Pirupikos in the dungeon were enveloped in grey briars.
“Are those briars supplying them with Chaos Mana?”
Seong-Hwi could feel the briars were like an IV drip filled with Chaos Mana. There were twenty Pirupikos—three of them were Lapang-rank with two pairs of wings—but Seong-Hwi was relaxed. He could feel the mana from his C-rank Magic rapidly flowing throughout his body like fuel pumping into a supercar engine.
A card with a golden sheen emerged from the Tarot Deck of Destiny. It showed a knight praying on his knees before a grave. Three light blue swords hung on the wall and one was next to the coffin.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Four of Swords]
Four light blue swords were embodied and fused into one with a wave of Seong-Hwi’s hand, creating a light blue longsword enveloped with a ferocious storm. Seong-Hwi grabbed the condensed longsword and charged at the nearest Pirupiko.
“Hup!”
A crescent wave flew once Seong-Hwi swung the sword, splitting the Pirupiko and everything behind it in half.
“Nice!” Seong-Hwi smiled as he felt the power of his C-rank Magic stat.
It was nothing close to his prime in his past life, but it was an extraordinary improvement considering he had only entered the Mirror World two months ago.
Gigigik!
Gyagyagya!
The Pirupikos flew at him simultaneously.
Seong-Hwi smiled as he raised his longsword, shouting, “You’re the perfect fodder to refill my Karma!”
Explosions echoed throughout the forest.
***
[180 Karma obtained.]
[212 Karma obtained.]
[1,455 Karma obtained.]
...
[Minor purification merits obtained.]
Seong-Hwi’s surroundings were filled with Briar Pirupikos with broken os.
“Very nice,” Seong-Hwi mumbled.
The Pirupikos strengthened by the briars gave more Karma than he had expected. The purification merits mentioned in the last Akasha Message were useless until the dungeon was closed. Hunting Chaos accumulated purification merits while hunting residents accumulated corruption merits. The merits were added to the quest rewards once the dungeon closed, allowing one to earn high-ranking dungeon cubes or more Karma.
Whine! Whine!
Seong-Hwi turned away from the Akasha Messages and stared at the Foolish Dog whining as it hid behind a large rock and peed, terrified by the Chaos Mana.
“Huuu, what a sorry sight.”
Seong-Hwi stared disappointingly at the Foolish Dog. He had spent half a day wandering through the forest, following the guide to fortune, but had not found any information regarding the Fairy Queen or the Shadow Fairy Queen.
I could use the Hunting Feather if I had any object associated with them, Seong-Hwi thought as he approached the Foolish Dog.
Although it looked like an idiot, it was one of his symbols. It was the only thing he could trust unless he were to borrow the destiny of a figure specialized in location.
Whine! Whine!
“Alright, alright. Stop crying and get—huh?”
Seong-Hwi noticed something strange as he lifted the crying Foolish Dog by the back of its neck. The rock, which should have been wet with urine, was dry.
Could it be?
Seong-Hwi brought his hand toward the rock. His hand went through it.
[Hidden entrance of Larayu Cradle, discovered.]
The entrance? I thought this entire forest was called Larayu Cradle.
Seong-Hwi shoved his head and torso into the rock and was met with a forest—nothing like the forest outside. He heard the chirping of birds, the shifting of insects, and the flowing stream of water. He could see no signs of the grey briars in this forest teeming with life.
“Is this the true Larayu Cradle?” Seong-Hwi mumbled as he stared at the Foolish Dog dangling from his grip.
However, the Foolish Dog only panted as if having no idea.
“Heh. Fantastic job,” he remarked as he smiled and patted the Foolish Dog’s head.
I knew none of my symbols were useless.
***
Beautiful, colorful birds flew as they weaved between the thickets in groups. One landed on Seong-Hwi’s head as he hid in the thicket, but Seong-Hwi couldn’t chase it away.
The lifeforms in here have no caution, Seong-Hwi thought as he looked forward.
A humming female fairy was right before his eyes. She was much bigger than regular fairies—about 160 centimeters tall. Her golden hair looked as if the sun was weaved into silk. She also had golden eyes and two pairs of translucent wings that looked like they contained every color imaginable.
She must be a resident.
Seong-Hwi simply watched the female fairy.
“Hum, hum—cough! Cough!”
The female fairy seemed unwell, as she kept coughing. She gently stroked each of about a hundred egg-shaped cradles made of leaves and smiled lovingly at each one.
Seong-Hwi was so expressionless that it seemed like he was wearing a mask. He silently unsheathed the Ackher Ring Dagger, staring fixedly at the two pairs of wings on the female fairy’s back. He could feel the clear energy that embraced everything from the beautiful wings shining prismatically as they reflected the light.
I’m sure of it. Those are the Ancient Fairy Queen’s Wings I’m here for, meaning that’s the Fairy Queen.
Seong-Hwi’s black eyes were calm, carrying only his determination to fulfill his objective. As long as the fairy before him possessed the Ancient Fairy Queen’s Wings, she was but prey in his eyes.
[Activating Skill: Rust of Ruin.]
A dark red aura enveloped the Ackher Ring Dagger. Seong-Hwi waited until the Fairy Queen turned her back to him to check on the other cradles and threw the dagger at her heart. The bird on his head flew away and the Fairy Queen turned around, alerted by the noise.
It worked! Seong-Hwi shouted inwardly.
“Kyaah!” the fairy screamed.
However, the surprise attack failed. A rectangular steel shield suddenly appeared from her bracelet and blocked the dagger.
That’s an automatic defense item!
Seong-Hwi immediately jumped out from the thicket and pulled on the Longus String to retrieve the Ackher Ring Dagger. Since the ambush had failed, it was time to use pure firepower.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Four of Wands]
Four red wands appeared behind Seong-Hwi and emitted four large fireballs. They destroyed the rusted shield and were about to engulf the female fairy, but she had already recovered from the surprise.
Her hands emitted a multicolored light, and a rainbow appeared before her. The four fireballs vanished, unable to cross the rainbow. However, Seong-Hwi’s eyes shone once he confirmed she had not moved from her position.
She’s trying to protect the leaf cradles!
It was common sense in battle to take advantage of the opponent’s weakness. Seong-Hwi waved his hand and the four embodied wands fused into one. The wand twirled in the air and stopped, pointing at where the leaf cradles were gathered, and spit blazing fire like a flamethrower.
“No!” the female fairy shouted as she flew to protect the cradles.
Seong-Hwi used that opportunity to run into her blind spot.
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Chasing Bow, one of the symbols of No.3 The Hunter]
A black recurve bow appeared in Seong-Hwi’s hand. He pulled the bowstring, and a black arrow automatically nocked itself. The female fairy was full of openings because she was busy protecting the cradles from the flames.
I got her! Seong-Hwi shouted inwardly as he was about to let the arrow loose.
“Kurgh!” he grunted. He was suddenly blown away like a giant sledgehammer slamming into his back. He tumbled across the ground and grunted, “Argh! Who are you?!”
“Who am I? That’s my line, damn intruder!”
A large bald white man stood between Seong-Hwi and the female fairy. He was covered in muscles and his many scars showed his abundant battle experience. A black scorpion tattoo from his left ear to the crown of his head caught Seong-Hwi’s attention, but his right arm was the most eye-catching part about him; the entire arm was covered in a silver gauntlet.
“A human?” Seong-Hwi mumbled as he wiped the blood off his mouth.
What’s a fellow human doing here? he wondered.
Just then, the only possibility flashed in his head. The dungeon entrance was hidden inside the metal chair of the seventh torture chamber on the Tin Can’s sub-second floor. Thumper had begun his investigation because of rumors about the prisoner who vanished.
He must be that prisoner!
“How dare you attack Dryas and the cradles while I was away, motherfucker?”
The man’s silver right arm changed form. A rocket nozzle appeared from the elbow region and emitted a stream of blue mana. The man let his rocket arm propel him toward Seong-Hwi.
So fast! Dammit! He must be carrying out the dungeon purification quest!
Seong-Hwi could feel the mana inside him running wild. His hands shook and he felt dizzy—they were negative effects of his Health stat being unable to contain the rampant mana. His face turned red as he struggled to control his mana, and he bared his teeth at the man flying at him, carried by his rocket arm.
I’ll finish this quickly!
The battle began.