Monster Heavenly King - Chapter 168



Only Noblemtl

168. Elf

A soft sigh escaped from between Hyunseong’s teeth.

It’s a trap as soon as you get here.

‘There’s no time to rest even for a moment.’

-It’s all your bad luck. Think of it as fate and accept it.

‘No, don’t try to get away with it like it doesn’t matter.’

To be honest, if you’re unlucky, even Seol-ah won’t be able to defeat you.

Even when I was in the martial arts world, I never got involved in incidents like this every day.

As the skeleton and sword clashed, Kangcheol, who had been touching his chin from the side, opened his mouth.

“This doesn’t seem like an ordinary forest. It seems like I’ve entered a maze or something.”

“I have a headache.”

“This is the most annoying case.”

Guild members expressing displeasure.

However, he didn’t show any troubled expression, just a hint of annoyance.

“I guess this happens quite a bit?”

“Well, this happens often when you conquer dungeons.”

Since the location where the portal appears is random, this kind of accident happens occasionally, although not often.

As soon as you enter the third floor, you get caught in a spider web that overlaps the portal.

As soon as you enter the 5th floor, you fall into lava.

As usual, this time I just got lost in a forest maze.

Hyunseong nods his head after hearing that.

‘Then it’s half the steel’s fault.’

Because he told himself to go to the 7th floor.

If Kangcheol hadn’t suggested it, Hyunseong would have stayed on the 6th floor for a while longer and wouldn’t have gotten caught up in this situation.

-What about the other half?

‘It’s your fault for finding the portal.’

-… You blame others as if you were breathing. I just looked for it because you told me to.

However, Seol-ah decided to change her target because she knew that if she blamed Hyun-seong here, he would somehow avoid it.

-Let’s say this isn’t all our bad luck, but Kang-chul’s fault. If Kang-chul hadn’t told us to go, wouldn’t this have happened?

‘… … ‘

Hyunseong noticed that they were trying to just lump it all together and move on, but he decided to compromise at an appropriate level because he thought it would be a headache if he kept nitpicking.

I’m not sure what the compromise is about, though.

It seemed that, since some time ago, whenever he and Seol-ah got involved in an incident, there was a war of nerves over who would bear the greater share of responsibility.

-Then let’s focus on getting out of here.

‘okay.’

The skull and sword that made that truce.

Hyunseong looked at Kangcheol and asked.

“So, in times like this, is there a special method that only veterans have?”

Kangcheol shook his head at his own question.

“No, if it was before I got caught, I could have prepared for it, but this isn’t it. For now, my goal should be to get out of the forest.”

It seemed like there was no clear solution.

As he said that, Kangcheol took something out.

What he was holding in his hand was none other than a smartphone.

“…What? Why a smartphone all of a sudden?”

“This is one of the recently discovered methods.”

“?”

Smartphones are one of the strategies.

What does this mean?

Steel’s explanation continues as he tilts his head.

“Aren’t these traps meant to confuse human perception and cause them to wander?”

“yes.”

“That’s why we’re using the power of machines that are immune to cognitive impairment. People just wander around, and what’s there doesn’t disappear.”

“… It’s amazing?”

-Yeah. This is an unexpected method.

Not only Hyunseong, but even Seol-ah was amazed.

“This is a brand new strategy that was discovered less than a month ago.”

It was something I happened to obtain while gathering various information at the guild level before going on a raid.

At first, I thought it was just aggro information because it was such a simple method, but after a few experiments, I realized that it wasn’t.

The reason this method had not been discovered until now was simple.

“When you’re in a trap, how could you possibly have time to leisurely observe whether what you see is the same as what’s on camera?”

“but.”

Because if you don’t get out, it’s literally a life-or-death situation.

There was no one to take out their phone and ask for help, let alone take a commemorative photo with their camera.

“Is this some pretty high-level information?”

-It’s certainly a simple and good method. Who would have thought that magic could be overcome by science?

A thought suddenly crossed my mind while I was listening to the story.

‘Huh? Hey, isn’t it dangerous to go to a castle that you can’t go to?’

Doesn’t the barrier spread out there work in a similar way?

If this strategy started to spread, it was certain that some of the Awakened would try to go to the castle that couldn’t be reached on the 4th floor.

-Hmm, it’s not something to worry about that much. That barrier and this barrier are similar, but different.

‘okay?’

-This barrier is one that distorts people’s perception, so you can check it with your smartphone, but the sacred barrier that you can’t enter is a bit different.

The barrier that was centered around the castle that could not be reached was essentially a space-distorting barrier with illusion magic added.

Since the space itself is distorted, even if you check it with a camera, it will be no different from what a person sees.

-The possibility of the distortion barrier being broken through has increased since the welcome magic doesn’t work, but it’s not at an immediate level of danger.

‘I see.’

-Besides, didn’t he say that he was strengthening the external barrier as well as the attack and defense? If a few Awakened people come in, he’ll notice right away and take care of it.

‘but.’

Seo Yi-an, unlike me, was the type of person who would definitely prepare for that kind of situation.

Hyunseong, who had been worried about the castle that he couldn’t go to, decided to put it aside and focus on getting out of the forest maze.

Like everyone else, he took out his smartphone and looked around with the camera.

However, this was not as easy as it sounds.

Although it felt awkward because the difference between my field of vision and the screen captured by the camera was slightly different, it wasn’t that different.

“… It’s like playing a game of find the difference.”

-By the way, didn’t we talk about formations and such earlier? What was that?

Seol-ah is curious about unfamiliar words.

Hyunseong was troubled over how to explain it.

‘I’m not an expert on that, so it’s a bit difficult to explain… but to put it simply, think of it as something like a martial arts barrier.’

To keep out enemies from outside, or to make people inside wander.

-Is it different from the list of successful candidates?

‘If you look at it broadly, it’s the same, but the details are different. The passing formation is called Insuljin (人術陳), which means it’s formed by people, while the current formation is called Gimunjin (奇門陣), which utilizes nature… To be honest, I don’t know much about it either.’

Hyunseong recalls the explanation he heard a while ago and tries hard to explain it.

Although he himself didn’t understand the part, Seol-ah might be able to figure out something from that awkward explanation.

‘If you had experienced it as much as the successful candidates, you would be able to explain the feeling.’

In the case of Kim Moon-jin, it was difficult for even he, a Cheonma, to properly explain it because he had only experienced a handful of it.

However, I thought it might be a truth because it felt similar to that time.

‘But when you said it was a boundary, I thought no.’

-… No, maybe you’re right.

‘It’s not magic, it’s a formula?’

-To be exact, it’s a mixture of the two.

Now that I think about it, I remember Seol-ah saying that there was something mixed in with the distortion barrier.

Hyunseong, who had heard that far, scratched his skull as if he had realized something.

‘Hey, wait a minute. If what you said is true…’

Doesn’t that mean that the guy who created this barrier can use both magic and formations?

Besides, being able to mix two different things meant that you were quite proficient in both.

Somehow, a bad feeling was creeping up on me.

‘I’d better get out of here quickly.’

-I agree. I’ll do my best to help.

She spread her magical power by swinging her sword.

at that time,

“uh?”

One of the guild members let out a curious voice, wondering if he had discovered something.

The moment I turned my head towards the sound, wondering if I had figured out something.

Kwak! Pok!

An arrow pierced the guild member’s head through the smartphone he was holding.

He collapsed without even being able to utter a single word.

“…!”

“?!”

The remaining four, including Hyunseong, drew their weapons without saying who would go first, turned their backs to each other, and looked around cautiously.

and,

Swaaaaaaah!

An arrow flying with the blowing wind.

Kang Hanna’s eyes shone sharply.

“Ugh!”

As she took a short breath and swung a battle axe that was larger than her height,

Kwaaaaah!

A storm arose and swept away all the arrows.

However,

Phew!

The arrows that were shot next.

The arrow, shot with a burst of air, pierced through the storm caused by Kang Hanna in an instant.

Seol-ah saw the arrows coming towards them and rang the sword bell.

-Magic Arrow…! Elf!

It seemed as if the master of the barrier had come out to hunt prey himself.

Steel, who repel the magic spell flying towards his granddaughter.

Boom!

He threw the axe in the direction the arrow had come from, but the sound had already disappeared.

Kang Chul clicks his tongue as if he is embarrassed.

“Tch, even if I wanted to attack, I couldn’t.”

Since we were still in the enemy’s trap, we couldn’t move rashly.

Even if you pretend to be crazy and jump in, you won’t be able to catch the enemy they want, and you won’t be able to join your comrades, and you’ll just be defeated one by one.

While I was racking my brain, wondering what to do, Hyunseong asked quietly from the side.

“Can you hold on for a moment?”

“I think it’s possible to hold out to some extent… but what are you going to do?”

“What should I do… It should be like this!”

Hyunseong, as if he couldn’t wait any longer, kicked the ground and ran into the bushes.

The enemy’s presence itself didn’t feel that far away, but with each step I took, I felt a strange sensation of not getting closer to my target but rather going somewhere else.

but,

-To the right!

Overcome it with Seol-ah’s help.

It was only a short distance of less than twenty steps, but it felt like I was going through a maze.

And then, once again, the magic arrow flew.

Tsutsuji!

Boom!

A magical arrow that explodes when it collides with the sword.

And, Hyunseong reached near the enemy.

“Let me see that famous face!”

As his teeth chattered, the snow in his hand began to move.

Shhhh!

Clang!

Thread-like afterimages left in the air.

In an instant, he cut down everything around him and cornered the elves who were hiding.

and,

Chomp!

“Ugh?!”

The sensation of striking the target was felt from the tip of the sword.

Just twist your wrist bone,

Kwaaaaang!!

A storm arose, blowing away all the bushes in the vicinity, and finally revealing the hidden target.

However, Hyunseong had a question mark above his head as if he was wondering something.

“Hey, didn’t you say you were an elf?”

-That’s right, elf.

“really?”

-I’m sure that the magic arrows just now were created with the magic unique to elves.

Hyunseong listened to Seol-ah’s words and stared at the being in front of him with bloodshot eyes.

What kind of beings are elves?

They were said to be similar to humans but closer to fairies and all of them were said to be beautiful.

‘It’s definitely pretty, but…’

The face revealed by his attack was neutral and pretty.

But underneath that are the firm looking muscles.

A wolf skin wrapped around the waist.

And, the axe stuck in the belt.

Hyunseong, who had been watching quietly, blurted out his thoughts.

“Rather than an elf… aren’t you a barbarian?”