Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 109: This Damned Astaroth (1)

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!?

When his ears picked up the sound of a dozen feet stomping on the ground, Han-Yeol shouted, “Lights!”

“Yes, Hunter-nim!”

The live stream had already started, so Han-Yeol ordered the Mulan film crew to switch on the large lighting equipment they had prepared but not used until now.

Tak! Tak! Tak!?

Three large light sources illuminated the areas where Han-Yeol’s skill and Balrog’s flame had failed to illuminate.

“Kieeeek!”?

The monsters’ horrifying shrieks of agony at the sudden bright light could be heard.

The light managed to momentarily stop the monsters in their tracks, allowing the party to get a good look at the monsters’ appearance.

“What the hell are those…?” Han-Yeol muttered with a grimace.

The monsters were not simply walking on the ground but crawling from all over the place. They could be found on the walls and across the ceiling. These monsters looked completely different from the Banshees, Trappers, or Phantoms found aboveground, and they looked more like the Arachnid that could be found in legends.

The monster’s lower body looked like a spider, while its upper body was that of a humanoid, and its skin was so ghastly pale that not a single drop of blood seemingly existed in its body. In fact, even though its pale upper body resembled a marble sculpture of a naked woman, it was not one that could arouse any feelings of lust. The monster looked too void of emotion for that to happen.

‘I’m sure there will be some perverts?who?have?a thing for such creatures,’?Han-Yeol thought.

The monster’s main weapon seemed to be its long arms, which resembled sharp spears. Two of its legs were off the ground, so they could possibly be its sub-weapons too.

In short, it could be said from visual deduction alone that this monster had four weapons in its arsenal.

‘It does look kind of strong,’?Han-Yeol said to Balrog.

[Not bad for the first battle! That is surely not going to disappoint!]

Even now, Balrog still seemed to be only thinking of fighting to his heart’s content.

‘They say that dealing the first blow will dictate the rest of the battle, Void Devil-nim.’

[Void Storm!]

Shwaaaaak!

The ranged Void Devil opened its mouth at Han-Yeol’s request and used Void Storm, which was the only offensive skill among its three skills. It looked like a normal skill that only carried a current of electricity, but it was undoubtedly a powerful one that could inflict a tremendous amount of damage if it as much as grazed its target.

“Kiek!”

The Labyrinth Spiders, which was a temporary name Han-Yeol had come up with, scurried around the walls and ceiling to avoid the Void Storm.

Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!?

The Labyrinth Spiders moved quite fast and even rushed toward the Void Devil, but…

[Where do you think you are going?!] Balrog exclaimed before he took in a deep breath and unleashed it. He commanded, [Breath of Fire!]

“Kieeeeek!”

The demon was able to speak and breathe at the same time as he was using telepathy, and his breath instantly covered the entire passage with flames. The flame was extraordinary, being conjured and filled with mana. To increase its destructiveness even more, the demon had compressed it before spreading it all over the place.

Even Han-Yeol, who was standing right beside Balrog, could feel the blistering heat from the demon’s flame.

‘As expected of an intermediate demon…?He is on a different level.’?Han-Yeol was in awe despite the demon only having used one skill so far.

The Labyrinth Spiders let out an ear-splitting screech as the powerful flames burned them, but they were not simple monsters that were going to go down without a fight.

‘They are strong, much stronger than the three monsters above ground. The three monsters would have suffered critical damage after that attack, but these monsters seem fine,’?Han-Yeol thought as he further raised his guard.

It was difficult to tell if the Labyrinth Spiders actually suffered damage or not as they looked fine now.

[Bring it on! You will never be able to get past me! Kwahaha!]

‘Huh…?’?Han-Yeol was surprised at Balrog’s reaction.

The flames around Balrog’s body grew even stronger as three Labyrinth Spiders attacked him.

‘Don’t tell me… He has a skill to get the enemy’s aggro?’?Han-Yeol thought as he did not recall seeing any such skills in Balrog’s status window.

The Labyrinth Spiders completely ignored the Void Devil, which had fired the powerful Void Storm a while ago, and directed their focus toward Balrog.

‘I might have summoned a demon that is even more amazing than I initially thought.’?

Han-Yeol felt proud and elated at the thought of having summoned such a dependable Tank. He was now able to leave the front to the demon without having to worry, judging by the demon’s stats and skills.

As the only Hunter, Han-Yeol was technically alone. He also hadn’t been sure of the monster’s characteristics, so he had been reserved when it came to fighting with them. He had been worried of something unexpected happening that would put Yoo-Bi and the Mulan film crew in danger, but that worry was now alleviated with him having a dependable Tank in front.

“Yoo-Bi, it seems that Balrog has the monsters’ aggro, so feel free to shoot as much as you want,” Han-Yeol said.

“Yes, oppa!” Yoo-Bi replied enthusiastically.

Ratatata!

She immediately pulled the trigger of the enhanced HSK-447P without a hint of hesitation, and the bullets smashed into the Labyrinth Spiders.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!?

The bullets failed to do much, barely scratching the monsters. However, she could not afford to stop as this was the only way for her to Awaken.

Shwik…

Han-Yeol made his way to the front after issuing the command to Yoo-Bi. He spun his chain with his left hand while walking.

Whoosh… Whoosh… Whoosh…?

The sound of the mace splitting the air was more than enough to send chills down the spines of all onlookers.

Tak!

Han-Yeol kicked off the ground and threw his chain as he commanded, ‘Chain Smite!’?

Whoosh… Pukeok!

He did not just wildly swing his chain around without aiming. In fact, he swung the chain to let the Ego, Kavis, imbued in the chain and his skills do the rest of the work to attack the Labyrinth Spiders.

A single swing of his chain was able to deal a powerful blow to three Labyrinth Spiders.

“Kiek!”

The three Labyrinth Spiders shrieked in agony after being struck by the chain, and one of them turned their attention toward Han-Yeol.

Tatatak!

It rode the walls at a frightening speed and crawled up the ceiling before jumping down toward Han-Yeol.

The Labyrinth Spider’s attack was a very threatening one. Any poor attempt to block it was bound to end up with Han-Yeol being crushed underneath the monster’s weight.

“Kyak!”?one of the Mulan crew members screamed in horror.

Her scream could have interrupted the live stream, but the background music they played to further fuel the broadcast’s suspense was able to mask it.

The current situation seemed so dangerous that even the crew members could not help but be horrified.

‘Heh,’?Han-Yeol smirked.

Most people might believe Han-Yeol’s defense to be quite low, since his fighting style was quite aggressive. That was only because they were unaware of the many defensive skills in his arsenal.

‘Force Shield!’

Wooooong!

A kite shield appeared on Han-Yeol’s left hand.

Shwik…! Clang!

The Labyrinth Spider clashed with Han-Yeol’s Force Shield, pushing him a few meters back. However, that was all the monster could achieve despite throwing its full weight behind the attack.

After blocking the monster’s attack, Han-Yeol immediately canceled Force Shield and activated another skill. ‘Sword Breath!’

The sword in his right hand was now engulfed in flames.

It was the deadliest skill in Han-Yeol’s arsenal, and it was also one of his favorite skills in close combat. The skill’s deadliness was further enhanced by the fact that Han-Yeol no longer depended on his skills alone after having gone through Kajikar’s grueling training. Needless to say, he was now quite skilled with the sword.

Han-Yeol nimbly moved with the help of Cat Walk and displayed his dazzling swordsmanship against the monster.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Labyrinth Spider’s arms and Han-Yeol’s sword clashed against each other, sending sparks around them.

Han-Yeol was only using a single sword while the Labyrinth Spider had four arms, but they were neck and neck when it came to exchanging blows.

The Labyrinth Spider tried to use the numerical advantage of having more weapons to strike Han-Yeol successfully, but it failed to get past his sword’s defense. The monster simply did not have the skills or strength to get past Han-Yeol’s Sixth Sense.

“Kieeeeek!”?The Labyrinth Spider shrieked in frustration.

When it paused for a split second to prepare to deal a powerful strike…

Kwachik… Tak!

Han-Yeol did not miss the opening. He infused his mana into his legs and shot forward like an arrow.

‘Head Cutter!’

Sukeok!

In the blink of an eye, Han-Yeol was behind the Labyrinth Spider.

The monster stood still for a second before its head cleanly fell off of its shoulders.

Thud…!

The Labyrinth Spider fell to the ground with a thud.

[The rank of ‘Head Cutter’ has risen from (E) to (D).]

[The rank of ‘Cat Walk’ has risen from (D) to (C).]

‘Alright!’?Han-Yeol rejoiced at the alert message of his skills leveling up.

It was a message that always brought him great joy as most of his skills were quite useful. He could see himself growing stronger whenever they leveled up.

[Kwahahaha! Look at these imbeciles! Kwahaha!]?

Meanwhile, Balrog was still enjoying his fight against the two Labyrinth Spiders that could not seem to penetrate through his defenses.

But unfortunately, the demon could not deal damage strong enough to kill the Labyrinth Spiders in a single blow. He kept the monsters at bay with his spear, but the monsters were not a bunch of simpletons that would just stand and get skewered by his spear.

In other words, the demon’s attack was quite hopeless.

Did that mean Han-Yeol was suddenly disappointed by the demon? Not at all. He expected Balrog to be a dependable Tank, but he did not expect him to be an all-rounder.

‘I guess it’s time for me to do my job,’?Han-Yeol thought as he fixed his grip on his sword.

[Eat my flaming spear! Kwahaha!]?

Balrog suddenly deactivated his shield after defending against the monsters for quite a while. He conjured another flaming spear in his free hand.

It was hard to tell if the Labyrinth Spiders were unlucky or Balrog was just really good at gauging his timing, but he accurately stabbed the monsters at the exact timing their guards were down.

Kwachik! Kwachik!?

The flaming spears pierced through the Labyrinth Spiders’ hard carapace and turned them into barbecue on skewers.

“Kieeeeek!”?The monsters cried out in agony after being skewered by the flaming spears.

Everything happened instantaneously, so the cameras failed to capture the sudden turn of events. The only scene shown on the screen was the Labyrinth Spiders crying in agony.

However, the monsters did not die in an instant as they possessed quite a lot of HP.

Kwachik! Tak!

Han-Yeol concentrated his mana on his legs, kicking off the ground once again. Then, he used Head Cutter to put the Labyrinth Spiders out of their misery. He didn’t pity them or anything, but he did not want to waste any more time with them.

“Haa…”?Han-Yeol let out a sigh of relief after the battle ended.

[I love it! You are quite strong, human.]

‘Do you think so?’

[Kwahaha! You, humans, are too humble for your own good! I really like you!]

Han-Yeol could only shrug in response to the demon’s praise.

The one-man raid party proceeded further into the dungeon and killed every single Labyrinth Spider they came across. The effect of having a dependable Tank in the party was quite visible, since even these difficult monsters were made quick work. This wouldn’t have been the case without a dependable Tank at the front.

Thanks to that, the chat room, which was switched on now that they had ventured deep into the dungeon, was in an uproar.

[Where is this?!]

[There was another hunting ground within a hunting ground?!]

[How is this possible?!]

[Awesome!]

[Those Labyrinth Spiders look quite powerful. I think this is still in the Paradise Field, but those monsters look much stronger than the three monsters usually seen in that hunting ground.]

[But Hunter Han-Yeol is not losing to them!]

[Let’s go!]

The common rule was that the one who first found a monster got the right to name them, so the monsters here were going to be known as the ‘Labyrinth Spiders’ from now on. That was the reason why the viewers were calling the monsters with that same name.

[What in the world is going on?!]

[Who the hell is this guy…?]

[I know right?! This guy came to this hunting ground with the Horus raid party, but he is now soloing it!]

[Am I the only one seeing that Balrog guy? What in the world is that?!]

[AAAAACK!]

[This is too much for my brain to process!]