Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 127
Chapter 127: Episode 37. Shadow of Nothingness, Contegnome (2)
Mago kept her eye on the shadow. It looked like her beautiful eye, which was extolled as Sage’s Eye, was looking through the shadow.
“Fortunately, she is in a normal state.”
Mago sometimes had seizures because the Spirits of Darkness did not bond her properly. It had happened because they did not know very well about the proper methods to catch the highest monster. So, whenever she had a seizure, I had to deal with her. I played with her once a week until she was exhausted to calm her down.
Today, she was calmer than usual. She moved her one eye and read everything about Contegnome’s shadow.
Whoosh!
Soon, a gust of wind rose next to Mago, and she disappeared.
Mago had a habit of riding the wind. I laughed with satisfaction as I recalled her skill and status window.
Name: Mago
Capability:
Power 89 Intelligence 93 Speed 92 Strength 68 Mana 93
Potential (435/446)
Others: This subordinate’s contract is unstable.
Skill: Full Typhoon (Epic), Sage’s Eye (Epic), Wind Treading (Epic)
It was a surprising status window fit for her level, the highest monster at level 2. Her Strength was a bit low, but that was not a problem in the current situation.
Mago reappeared behind Contegnome. Her blue eye shorn in the dark, and she plunged her hand into the center of the shadow.
Stab!
―Arrrgg!
Contegnome, who had been pressuring Tashumal, screamed. It was the first time that an attack actually succeeded. Mago had the skill “Sage’s Eye (Epic)” to see the physical form of Contegnome.
She managed to spot something that even I couldn’t figure out, so I was convinced of the reason they became extinct. Mago’s eye was a real merit.
Contegnome jerked back from the unexpected blow. But that wasn’t the end.
Mago strongly yanked something out of the shadow of Contegnome. Then, the figure that was hiding in the shadow was revealed.
―You bastards!
What appeared from the shadow was a terrible thing beyond description. It was literally just flesh with melted eyes and sunk nose. The only thing that remained in normal shape was its mouth.
He was about six to seven meters tall and walked with two feet, but it was hard to say he looked like a normal creature.
“He had lost all his shape.”
Indeed. If I lost my memory and figure, I would look like that too. Something like pus was dripping from his skin, giving off a terrible smell. Bubbles constantly burst from place to place throughout his body. He was a “mess.” No one would be surprised if he collapsed right now.
Contegnome hurriedly wore its shadow again. His ugly appearance was once again hidden in the darkness. But this time, he had a clear shape.
“Gigantes,” I called Gigantes to verify this.
“Enemy! I win!”
Boom! Boom!
Gigantes moved triumphantly. He wielded the giant club that was made by the Dwarking. Gigantes was thrilled about using his new weapon. He was roughly snorting since he finally got the chance to fight.
His new weapon was a unique grade one with a skill called “Instant Acceleration.” It would help him to make up for his weakness of slow movement due to his large size.
Gigantes also knew about his weakness, so I understood that he was really anxious to try out the skill.
Wham!
He swung down with the club and accelerated. Gigantes had incredible Herculean strength. The whole room would shake from Gigantes just hitting the ground, but now he even had acceleration skills. I expected him to put on a good show.
However, unlike my expectation, the impact was not that great. Contegnome in the shadow did not even flinch. It looked like the shadow acted as some sort of armor.
― I will kill you all!
Soon, Contegnome spread his shadow. His real body was revealed in an instant, but soon it hid, and the shadow swallowed Gigantes.
“Cough! Can’t! Breathe! Let go!”
The shadow that covered his entire body did not come off. It slowly encroached Gigantes. The parts that the shadow touched was turning dark.
“Come out! You will get dyed with ‘Nothingness!’ ” Tashumal shouted.
Boom!
She struck down Thunders of Darkness, but it was not very effective. It also had dark properties, so the effects were cut in half. Plus, the shadow itself had great defensive power.
Mago was trying hard as well but it seemed like she had a hard time just dealing with the real body of Contegnome.
And I―
“Did you come here to look for your coffin? Randalf Bruciel!”
―had to receive Oculus who was slowly coming down with monsters.
There were about a hundred high-grade monsters such as Bug-bears, 30 Death Knights that he had purchased from the auction, Dark Warriors, and so on.
Also, there was an angry Ant King, a high-grade monster at level 4, and a lot of Gigantic Ants. It seemed like it would not be an easy fight.
Of course, his annoying face was still the same.
“Damn you, Oculus, what have you summoned?”
“I brought him from Nothingness, the prison for the beings who could not become God.”
The word “Nothingness” came out again. I still had no idea what that place was. When I frowned, Oculus smiled bigger.
“By the way, how did you find my dungeon’s location?” Oculus asked.
“You don’t need to know.”
“Indeed. I don’t need to ask. Once you are tainted by Nothingness, you will obey my words anyway.” Oculus glanced at Gigantes.
Gigantes, who gradually faded into the shadows, soon stopped retaliating. The shadow turned its body dark, then, it flowed into Gigantes’s head. His gaze became different.
His eyes were still filled with hostility, but his target had changed. He suddenly began to rush to me, and to my monsters.
“So, that is what you called ‘dyed’…,” I muttered.
“Hahahaha. That is correct. Once someone is dyed with Nothingness, they will be subordinated to the shadow. How long will it take for all of your proud monsters to become mine? I think it will take less than an hour.”
“Then, I should kill you before that happens.”
“Do you think that will be easy? Just as you got the title ‘hunter’ after crossing the line, I also became a ‘predator.’ A battle between the hunter and the predator! I’m thrilled just thinking about it! It won’t be as easy as last time.”
He proudly spoke about breaking the taboo.
He was just hopeless. He could go insane in a much nicer way. What a shameful conduct as an Archduke! I decided to kill him as soon as possible before he went crazier.
I clenched my two swords, Rage and the Sword of the Emperor. I had fully charged the necklace with moonlight. I had been practicing the skill of Highendall, “Moonlight Drop.” It would not be as good as Highendall’s, but it should be enough.
“My Dungeon Master. Give me a command.”
Krithli spoke on behalf of the monsters. She was holding a fist-sized red jewel in her hands.
Rumble.
Ruuumble.
A loud ringing was constantly emerging from the jewel. It was the item Krithli had received from the Unknown Box!
“Break the seal.”
“I will follow your command.”
Gulp!
Krithli swallowed the red jewel without any hesitation.
Rumble.
Ruuumble!
When she raised the Death Cane, hundreds of shades appeared. Skeleton Soldiers emerged from the ground and the Death Cane became a giant crow.
“The King of Death. Ganak’s essence.”
It was the name of the item that appeared from the Unknown Box.
Krithli owned the Death Cane and was a powerful Necromancer. It looked like that was why the item related to it had appeared.
“Krithli. Stop Gigantes and wipe out the enemies!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Krathra. I will entrust to you the use of the monster troops.”
“Leave it to me, sir.”
“I… will go cut off his neck.”
I divided the work, turned my head, and looked at Oculus. Oculus had already finished Naturalization, and I could see relaxation on his face.
He had a completely different attitude than before. Confidence. Arrogance. Those feelings were underlying him.
“Let’s end this, Oculus.”
“That is what I hope for, Randalf Bruciel!”
Boom! Boom!
The corps of monsters clashed with each other. At that vanguard, I swung the sword towards Oculus.
Moonlight Drop!
It was a skill that consumed the charged moonlight to form the light on the sword.
It increased the destructive power of the sword and could confuse the enemies. It was a great match with the Dark Sword skill.
“You became stronger! Ha-ha-ha!” Oculus laughed.
“You are too loud.”
Oculus still looked relaxed. By now, his demons had probably left their dungeons and were heading here. Was he thinking he just needed to buy time until then? No… He was relaxed because he really believed that he could win.
In place of his right arm that had been cut, several branches sprouted and worked as his arm. Countless branches also emerged from the ground. The branches gathered and became something that looked like Oculus. It was not different from the Clone Technique.
Two branch clones appeared. And the two were showing strong power that was not lacking at all compared to Oculus.
“Look! The demons I have preyed upon became my clones! Randalf Bruciel, you should feel honored that you can also join the ranks!”
Now, there were three enemies. A one to one fight would be easy. Two would not be too bad, but three was a little too much.
Those two clones could use the same skills as Oculus as well. The only difference was that they could not recover infinitely.
The injuries inflicted by the Dark Sword could not heal, but the naturalized Oculus could replace the wounded parts with his other parts. But, his clones could not do that.
In short, I needed to handle the clones first in order to increase the chances of winning.
“Lightning God!”
I did not have a clone, but I had a strong ally.
Roar!
Lightning God, who manifested near the orb, protecting me against attacks, inflated its size. Soon, it became a giant dragon and rushed at Oculus.
Meanwhile, I dealt with the clones.
Clang!
The sword and long stem clashed. I could not cut it off. It looked like it was strengthened. But it could not be strengthened all over its body. So, I immediately turned my body to aim at the clone’s side with the Sword of the Emperor.
Clang!
But just as I had two swords, there were two clones. The two complemented each other and were weighing me down.
“If only I learned Highendall’s swordsmanship perfectly…”
I felt sorry. The basic swordsmanship that I had learned from actual fights had a limit. I could kill an enemy, but I could not read and prepare the next moves.
If I had learned Highendall’s swordsmanship more perfectly, things would go easier. But I did not, so I had a difficulty now.
“It’s not easy.”
The situation was even. I was superior in the monsters’ fight. However, Oculus and Contegnome were outliers.
Tashumal was wounded, Mago was barely standing. Only Krithli was dealing well with Gigantes, who was dyed with Nothingness.
If I lost one of them, Oculus would have more chance of winning.
“Time.”
I did not have much time, but it looked like I could not finish things as quickly as I wished, because there was another problem. Oculus’s demons were coming at the moment as well. If they joined, there would be no chance for me to win.
“It can’t be helped.”
I quietly sighed and took a deep breath. I did not want to use it, but there was no help for it.
The skill had appeared after I had gathered the three items of the Seven Sins. It had absorbed the original skills, and even I didn’t know what it was. There was only a short explanation; warning.
But that was the only skill I could use now. My face became hard. I said quietly, “Depravity.”
